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
German Leaks Raise More Nuclear Fears
Tuesday, July 8, 2008BERLIN, July 8 (IPS) - Confirmation that radioactive brine has been leaking for two decades from a German underground deposit for nuclear waste is yet another blow to the idea that nuclear power can safely increase electricity generation and simultaneously reduce emissions.
Radioactive leaks from the nuclear waste deposit Asse II near Braunschweig in Lower Saxony, some 225 km southwest of Berlin, were first discovered in 1988. The state-owned Helmholtz Institute for
Scientific Research, which operates the centre, officially admitted the leaks only Jun. 16, under pressure from the German press.
President: Ukraine to accelerate nuclear power development
Tuesday, July 8, 2008VIENNA, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine will accelerate the development of nuclear power in a bid to reduce dependence on imported energy, visiting Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said here Tuesday.
More nuclear reactors will be brought into operation in Ukraine by 2013, said Yushchenko, who was on a one-day visit to Vienna.
Nuclear industry undermined by savage science cuts
Tuesday, July 8, 2008Cuts of up to 40 per cent in grants to scientists have been announced, triggering a warning they could undermine the nation’s ability to build and decommission nuclear power plants.
The reduction in support for individual scientists stems from the budget squeeze experienced by the funding agency which oversees astronomy and physics - the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).
To Hit EU Between Eyes
Tuesday, July 8, 2008Journalist Goldirova sent, from Brussels, a report on a letter written by the Slovak prime minister, in which he warned the European Commission that, unless it soon announced its position on the completion of Mochovce [nuclear power station], the Slovak Government would have to "consider all options, including a proposal to postpone the decommissioning of the second block of the V1 reactor [in Jaslovske Bohunice nuclear power station] until 2010." It follows from the report that Prime Minister Fico now behaves in the same way towards the EU as he behaves in domestic politics.
Incident in Hungarian nuclear plant due to maintenance error
Tuesday, July 8, 2008Budapest/Vienna - Faulty maintenance procedures led to an incident in the Hungarian nuclear power plant in Paks on Monday, but no radioactivity was released, a report by Hungarian authorities to the UN nuclear agency said. It was the second incident in Paks caused by human error since 2006, the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority said in its report to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
On Monday morning, two workers failed to properly seal an air- locked area during maintenance of the first unit of the power plant, 100 kilometres south of Budapest.
Suez Picks Up 5% Ownership Interest in Georges Besse II Enrichment Plant
Monday, July 7, 2008French energy major Suez and nuclear engineering company Areva have signed an agreement, giving Suez a 5% ownership interest in the company that holds the Georges Besse II uranium enrichment plant.
The facility, built by Areva at the Tricastin site in France's Drome department, is based on ultra centrifuge technology. Suez, through its energy services business line, is building the electrical installations, and supplying the fluid management systems and the HVAC and process cooling equipment of the new plant, which is scheduled for startup in 2009.
French nuclear rivalry may hamper UK energy plans
Monday, July 7, 2008France's two biggest energy groups, EDF and GDF Suez, are vying to build the country's latest nuclear power plant, casting fresh doubt on their participation in Britain's planned nuclear renaissance.
Last week President Nicolas Sarkozy gave the go-ahead for a second new-generation European pressurised reactor (EPR) on an existing site. It will be France's 60th nuclear power plant.
German coalition renews dispute over nuclear power as election comes into view
Sunday, July 6, 2008BERLIN: Germany's research minister said in comments published Sunday that the nation should stop phasing out its nuclear power stations and even consider one day building new ones — fueling a dispute in the governing coalition that could be an issue in next year's election.
Chancellor Angela Merkel's left-right "grand coalition" government has stuck with its center-left predecessor's decision to phase out Germany's 17 nuclear power plants by 2021 — but the plan has caused repeated political friction.
Taxpayers to back Sellafield £7bn clean-up
Saturday, July 5, 2008Taxpayers are being forced to indemnify the winner of the £7.5bn contract to decommission the highly toxic Sellafield nuclear site in Cumbria against an accident because the bidders are based overseas. The preferred consortium will be announced on Friday.
Four consortia are vying for the contract, which could be worth £20bn over its lifetime, including US engineering giants Fluor, Bechtel, Washington Group and CH2M Hill, as well as French nuclear power group Areva and the Japanese firm Toshiba. UK companies Serco and Amec are also members of overseas-led consortia.
France to build new generation nuke plant
Saturday, July 5, 2008LE CREUSOT, July 3: President Nicolas Sarkozy announced on Thursday that France will build a second third-generation EPR nuclear plant, arguing that nuclear power was France’s best answer to soaring energy prices.
“We are going to build a new EPR nuclear reactor, separate from the one in Flamanville,” Sarkozy said in a speech on energy policy as he visited an ArcelorMittal steel factory in central France.