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
Albania postpones building of nuclear power plant
Tuesday, February 14, 2012Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha recently announced that the government will postpone the construction of a nuclear power plant in the Shkoder region until issues regarding its potential impact on the environment and territory are fully resolved, AENews reported.
Nuclear outage lifts French weekend price
Saturday, February 11, 2012PARIS, Feb 10 (Reuters) - French weekend prices jumped early on Friday as a second unplanned nuclear outage within 12 hours caused panic in the market about a supply shortage, but prices for next week were steady as warmer weather was expected to ease demand pressure.
French baseload power for Saturday delivery traded nearly twice as high as in the neighbouring German market at 100.00 euros, after EDF's 1,300 Cattenom 2 nuclear reactor went offline unexpectedly overnight, tightening supply margins already under strain from high winter demand.
Czechs Won’t Build New Nuclear Power Stations, Hospodarske Says
Wednesday, February 8, 2012The Czech Republic won’t build new nuclear power plants and instead plans to expand its existing capacity, abandoning the envisaged construction of as many as 18 new reactors, Hospodarske Noviny reported, citing a minister.
A realistic plan is to build two new reactors at the Temelin power plant and extend operations of the Dukovany station until 2035, the newspaper said, citing an interview with Industry and Trade Minister Martin Kuba.
Research plan for nuclear waste issued
Monday, February 6, 2012An EU consortium on the geological disposal of radioactive waste has issued a research plan to deliver scientific and technological information on the construction of permanent underground sites. A consultation on the plan runs until next week.
The IGD-TP group wants Europe to have built its first disposal facilities by 2025. It aims to provide common advice on the safe disposal of highly radioactive waste. France, Finland and Sweden have the most advanced projects.
Privatisation of Russian state nuclear giant
Friday, February 3, 2012Having spent five years combining its nuclear power, engineering and research enterprises into the single entity of Rosatom, the Russian government now sees privatisation of the firm as part of a plan for industrial modernisation.
Rosatom is just one of several vertically integrated state holding companies Russia established to "discourage the decline of the more intellectual sectors of national industry" in the post-Soviet era, wrote Vladimir Putin in the Vedomosti newspaper on 30 January.
RWE AG : Dutch Utility Delta Shelves Plan To Build 2nd Nuclear Plant
Monday, January 23, 2012AMSTERDAM -(Dow Jones)- Dutch utility Delta NV said Monday it has shelved its plan to build a second nuclear plant in the Netherlands, in the latest example of waning appetite for atomic power in Europe.
Delta NV, which aimed to build the plant together with Germany's RWE AG, said the current market climate makes it no longer viable to move ahead with the project and that it will shelve its plans for two to three years.
UK 'subsidising nuclear power unlawfully'
Sunday, January 22, 2012Green energy campaigners are attempting to block new nuclear power stations in the UK by complaining to the European Commission that government plans contravene EU competition regulations.
They say financial rules for nuclear operators include subsidies that have not been approved by the commission.
Areva confirms private investigator was hired
Saturday, January 21, 2012A senior director at Areva, France’s state-owned nuclear champion, has confirmed that he did hire a Swiss intelligence firm to examine its disastrous €1.8bn purchase of a uranium miner but denied that it was part of a plot against Anne Lauvergeon, the company’s former chief executive.
Ms Lauvergeon, known as “Atomic Anne” after 10 years at the helm of one of the world’s leading nuclear manufacturers, shocked the French business and political elite this week when she accused her former employers of spying on her and claimed that she had been victim to a long-running “plot” to destabilise her, directed from the “highest levels of the state”.
Garoña awaits a new decision
Friday, January 6, 2012Spain's new government will ask nuclear regulators for advice on the continued operation of the Garoña nuclear power plant, which was dealt an arbitrarily short operating licence by the previous administration.
Yesterday the Spanish cabinet revoked an order from 2009 that set July 2013 as the latest time that Garoña may be used for power generation. The next step is for the Nuclear Safety Council (Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear, CSN) to consider the technical possibilities for longer operation and what technical improvements it may require. The Spanish government is expected to order this work imminently.
EDF Pegs Nuclear Upgrade Cost at $13 Billion
Tuesday, January 3, 2012PARIS—France's nuclear-safety watchdog ordered immediate upgrades to nuclear reactors to guard against natural disasters, which Électricité de France SA said could require €10 billion, or roughly $13 billion, in additional costs.
In a review following last year's Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan, the Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire concluded that no plants needed to be shut down immediately but that steps should be taken as "soon as possible" to improve safety at France's 58 reactors.