Climate change is an often heard argument for the once called nuclear "renaissance". However, if one looks closer, there was something fishy about the industry using climate change protection as its most prominent feature... » Read more
More then thirty years of debate, and the controversy remains as polarised as ever. This website (to be fair - whose maintainer is anti-nuclear) collects news about nuclear power in Europe, sorted by nuclear power plant, type of power plant, country etc.
By presenting different (media) angles on current nuclear issues, we hope to be able to cut out some spin, either pro or against, and to allow the reader to make up his or her own mind about today's pro's and con's of nuclear power.
In the menu on the right you can select your country, the nuclear power plant in your neighbourhood, or your favourite company and read latest (most English) news about it.
Latest nuclear news
Used nuclear fuel shipments start
Thursday, December 20, 200720 December 2007
On 17 December the first transport to France of irradiated fuel still present in Italy was completed. The first two special containers, with 34 of the 1243 fuel rods that will be reprocessed at La Hague, left the shut down Caorso nuclear power plant.
CzechRep needs nuclear power in future - govt report
Tuesday, December 18, 2007Prague- The Czech Republic cannot do without nuclear power in the future, Interior Minister Ivan Langer (Civic Democrats, ODS) told journalists today after a meeting of the National Security Council that dealt with the report on energy security.
Bulgarian nuclear plant's units 5 and 6 to be upgraded by 2009
Monday, December 17, 2007(Text of report in English by Bulgarian national news agency BTA website) Ihtiman, 14 December: At the moment the fuel of Units 5 and 6 of the Kozloduy nuclear power plant is being replaced by a better one, Nuclear Regulation Agency (NRA) President Sergei [Sergey] Tsochev told reporters in Ihtiman. The licences for the operation of Units 5 and 6 expire in 2009 and the NRA expects to be submitted a report by the N-plant on their safety in 2008. The upgrading of the units will be completed within the validity of the licences, Tsochev said. An invitation has been extended to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and by the end of 2008 it will inspect the observance of the respective technical requirements at the Bulgarian N-plant.
Italy begins shipments of uranium to France: report
Monday, December 17, 2007ROME, Dec 16 2007 A first shipment of uranium bars left a disused nuclear plant in northern Italy on Sunday bound for France, where they will be reprocessed in Le Hague, Normandy, the ANSA news agency reported.
The 34 uranium bars -- the first 7.5 tonnes of 235 tonnes of waste to be sent to France for disposal -- were first loaded in two casks onto a truck under heavy guard, then placed on a special train for the journey across the Alps.
Russian atomic power chief hails new plant in China
Monday, December 17, 2007MOSCOW (Thomson Financial) - Russia and China will inaugurate an atomic power station in Jiangsu province on December 20, as Moscow steps up construction of such stations worldwide, a top Russian official has said.
The head of Russian atomic power station contractor Atomstroiexport, Sergei Shmatko, told journalists Russia was shaking off the stigma attached to its nuclear industry after the Soviet-era Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986 and was in talks with European and Asian countries.
Swiss Consortium Planning New Nuclear Power Plants
Friday, December 14, 2007Global Insight, December 14, 2007, Matthew Hall
Swiss energy groups Axpo and BKW have established a joint company to carry forward plans to build two new 1,600MW nuclear power plants in the country. The new plants are to be located at Beznau and Meuhleberg, where existing nuclear plants are due for decommissioning. The joint company, Resun, has indicated it will lodge planning applications by the end of 2008. The permitting process is expected to take four or five years, followed by several years of construction work, meaning the plants are not scheduled to be commissioned until after 2020. Axpo has estimated the plants will cost between 5 billion and 6 billion Swiss francs ($4US.4 billion-$5US.3 billion) to build.
Lithuanian power plant to take eur 81 mln syndicated loan from five domestic banks
Thursday, December 13, 2007Copyright 2007 Baltic News Service
Five Lithuania's commercial banks will extend a 81.46 million euros (LTL 281.3 mln) syndicated loan to Lithuania's state-controlled Lietuvos Elektrine (Lithuanian Power Plant).
On Dec. 12 the company and the consortium of Hansabankas, SEB Vilniaus Bankas, DnB Nord, Sampo and Nordea Bank Finland signed a loan agreement on the financing of 400 MW gas unit construction, the power plant said in a statement to the Vilnius Stock Exchange (VSE). Another bidder in the 15-year loan tender, which the power plant announced in August, included Nordic Investment Bank.
Switzerland to return decommissioning funds to nuclear plant operators
Tuesday, December 11, 2007Switzerland has issued a new decree to address excess funds for nuclear decommissioning and waste disposal, the Swiss Energy Office said on Monday.
The decree will take into account the longer-expected lifetime of nuclear power plants from 40 to 50 years, which has left excess sums totalling around CHF 600-700 million (EUR 363-423 million) in the funds. These sums must now be returned to nuclear power plant operators. The total cost of decommissioning and waste disposal for Switzerland's five nuclear power plants was estimated at CHF 13.7 billion in 2001, the majority of which (CHF 11.8 billion) was allocated for the disposal of waste. By the end of 2006, around CHF 4.4 billion had accumulated in the funds.
Bulgaria To Start Building Belene Nuke in 2009 - Official
Tuesday, December 11, 2007(Novinite) Bulgaria will be able to start construction works on the planned Belene nuclear power plant no sooner than 2009, the head of the country's nuclear regulator said on Monday.
The regulator is yet to rule on the technical details of the project and the proposed safety measures, said Sergey Tsochev, who chairs Bulgaria's Nuclear Regulation Agency.
Legality of Law on Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant questioned
Tuesday, December 11, 2007Vilnius, Dec 10 (ELTA) - State institutions and courts might soon receive a request to amend or recognize the law on the Ignalina
Nuclear Power Plant as illegal. The winners of the Constitution exam who now make up the Citizens' Council on Constitutionality think that a decision to build a nuclear power plant and the principles of formation of the national investor are in conflict with the
Constitution.