Europe

Power failure: What Britain should learn from Finland's nuclear saga

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

It was hailed as the template for all future reactors – but then they tried to build it.

The island of Olkiluoto, off Finland's west coast, seems like the perfect picture of Nordic serenity. Surrounded by the still, idyllic waters of the Gulf of Bothnia, it looks like an ideal spot for a peaceful retreat away from it all. Anyone wanting to visit the island has to travel down a long, lonely road, hugged tightly on each side by a thick forest of spruce and birch, and avoid the many elk that roam freely.

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Bulgaria considers plan to reopen closed nuclear reactors

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

SOFIA, Bulgaria: Plagued by electricity shortages, Bulgaria on Wednesday announced it was considering plans to reopen nuclear reactors it had to shut down before joining the European Union a year ago.

The two Russian-made units at Bulgaria's only nuclear plant, Kozlodui, were switched off just hours before the Balkan country joined the European Union on Jan. 1, 2007.

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Britain has "ambitious" nuclear plans -UK minister

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

PARIS, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Britain has ambitious plans for nuclear power expansion but it will not subsidise this development, UK Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks said on Tuesday.

Britain will let private utilities freely set up the country's energy mix, Wicks also said in a press briefing at the British Embassy.

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Yushchenko approves work plan of Chernobyl closure by 2012

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

15.01.2008, 20.12

KIEV, January 15 (Itar-Tass) -- Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has approved a work plan for closing the Chernobyl nuclear power plant by 2012, Chernobyl NPP Director General Igor Gramotkin said on Tuesday.

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Nuclear power won't cure climate change: Finnish PM

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Mon Jan 14, 2008 9:34pm GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Building more nuclear power plants to reduce global warming emissions is not the way to fight global climate change, Finland's prime minister said on Monday.

Many energy experts say one key to cutting back carbon dioxide emissions that heat the Earth's atmosphere would be to rely more on nuclear power to generate electricity instead of coal-fired plants

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Belarusian leader calls for swifter progress on nuclear plant

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

MINSK, January 15 (RIA Novosti) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday he was not satisfied with the speed of progress on a project to build the country's first nuclear power plant.

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Swedish politicians call for rethink on nuclear phaseout

Monday, January 14, 2008

Sweden's Liberal Party, a member of the country's ruling coalition, has called for the country to build four new reactors in its preliminary climate strategy.

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How the nuclear industry lost its power

Monday, January 14, 2008

Nuclear power is back on the agenda in Britain. If more nuclear stations are ordered, which is far from certain, it will mark a fresh start for an industry in which Britain once hoped to lead the world, but which was crippled by a series of misjudgments on the part of politicians, managers and investors.

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With Nuclear Rebirth Come New Worries

Sunday, January 13, 2008

By GEORGE JAHN, The Associated Press

VIENNA, Austria -- Global warming and rocketing oil prices are making nuclear power fashionable, drawing a once demonized industry out of the shadows of the Chernobyl disaster as a potential shining knight of clean energy.

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New generation of nuclear reactors promises ‘greener and safer’ energy

Friday, January 11, 2008

Mark Henderson, Science Editor

Energy companies building the next generation of nuclear power stations will choose between four models, the manufacturers of which have already applied to have their designs approved for use in Britain.

The four reactor types were all accepted into a “prelicensing process” in July. This will assess their safety and efficiency before any orders are placed or sites chosen.

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