20 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.
Thu Dec 20, 2007 8:04am EST
SOFIA, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's state power utility NEK said on Thursday it had asked strategic investors to file improved offers to acquire a 49-percent stake in a planned new nuclear power plant by Jan. 9.
NEK executive director Lyubomir Velkov told reporters all five short-listed bidders had been invited to sweeten their bids for the 2,000 megawatt, 4.0 billion euro ($5.75 billion) power plant at the Danube river town of Belene.
Prague- 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.
MOSCOW (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.
ROME, 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.
(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.
Global 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.
Copyright 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.
By Ben Hall in Paris
Muammer Gadaffi, the Libyan leader, on Monday began a five-day visit to Paris to buy arms, nuclear power and civil airliners, triggering a storm of criticism from campaigners and an outburst from a government minister who said France should not accept his “kiss of death”.
Colonel Gadaffi was last night expected to sign a clutch of contracts valued at about €10bn ($14.7bn, £7bn) with French companies at the Elysée palace following talks with Nicolas Sarkozy. The Libyan leader is looking to buy 26 Airbus aircraft, a nuclear power station, French Rafale fighters and missiles, spare parts for his fleet of Mirage fighters and military helicopters.
By Sami Torma
HELSINKI, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Finland is pressing ahead with construction of its fifth nuclear reactor but the plant has faced long delays and seems unlikely to herald a quick revival of Europe's atomic industry.
Construction of the reactor -- one of only two major atomic projects underway in largely nuclear-sceptical Western Europe -- was originally scheduled to start in 2009 but construction delays and rising costs have now pushed that back to 2011.
