Europe

170 billion rubels to go toward nuclear power plant

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Some 170 billion rubels to go toward 2009 preparations for nuclear power plant construction, deputy minister says.

Around 170 billion rubels in public funds is projected to be spent on 2009 preparations for the construction of a nuclear power plant in Belarus, Deputy Finance Minister Uladzimir Amaryn said at a meeting with members of the House of Representatives on Thursday.

Under the ministry's 2009 budget estimates, some 700 billion rubels is to be earmarked for support of the real economic sector, 1.5 times more than this year, with 262 billion rubels to account for direct subsidies.
Some 2,000 billion rubels in loans and subsidies from the state budget is to go toward housing construction projected at six million square meters. In addition, 314 billion rubels from the state and local budgets is projected to be spent on the laying of supply pipelines at new developments.

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Romania to spend over 2 bln dollars for geological nuclear waste repository

Saturday, September 6, 2008

The geological nuclear waste repository due for completion in 2055 will cost Romania over two billion dollars, president of the National Radioactive Waste Management Agency (ANDRAD) Gheorghe Ionita stated on Aug. 28.

No country has yet such a deep geological repository and the first might be constructed in the US by 2020, probably at the same time with similar facilities in Sweden and Finland.

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Belarus, Russia Emergencies Ministries to mull over joint exercises at Smolensk Nuclear Power Station

Saturday, September 6, 2008

On September 5, the Emergencies Ministries of Belarus and Russia will consider an opportunity to conduct joint exercises at the Smolensk Nuclear Power Station, BelTA learnt from Press Secretary of the Emergencies Ministry of Belarus Vitaly Novitsky.

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Poles divided over nuclear power

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Over 47% of Poles in a survey by the portal Money.pl opposed plans to build a nuclear power plant in Poland. According to latest government reports a nuclear plant will not be built in Poland before 2020.

42% were in favour of a nuclear plant, the remainder could not say, Money.pl wrote.

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'Sloppy security' at Forsmark nuclear plant

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Forsmark nuclear power plant has been criticized by the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) for slack security after it found that an emergency cooling system vent had been shut for a year.

During a routine inspection on August 18th this year, SSM inspectors discovered that an emergency cooling vent in reactor 2 at the Forsmark nuclear plant on Sweden's east coast had been closed since their inspection there a year earlier.

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RWE Is Among Bidders for Turkish Nuclear License, Dunya Says

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) -- RWE AG, Germany's second- biggest utility, is among 12 bidders which received tender documents to build Turkey's first nuclear-power station, the Dunya newspaper said.

RWE got the tender documents this week, Dunya said citing officials at the energy ministry. Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., Japan's Itochu Corp. and Turkish companies Haci Omer Sabanci Holding AS and Alarko Holding As are also among the companies which received the tender documents, the newspaper reported.

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Energy firms to invest around PLN 135 billion by 2030

Friday, September 5, 2008

Energy firms plan to incest around PLN 135 billion between 2008 and 2030, which will bring almost 22,000MW of extra power and, counting withdrawn power, a netto increment of nearly 6,700 MW, Energy Regulatory Authority (URE) President Mariusz Swora said Thursday quoting an inhouse survey.

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EDF says Tricastin 2 reactor stopped for refuelling

Thursday, September 4, 2008

PARIS, Sept 4 (Reuters) - EDF said on Thursday it had stopped its 900-megawatts nuclear reactor 2 at its Tricastin plant in southeast France for refuelling on Aug. 30.

The reactor 4 at the 3,600-MW plant was halted on July 12 for maintenance.

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Utilities turn to US, Europe for uranium enrichment

Thursday, September 4, 2008

LONDON, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Uranium enrichment companies in the United States and Europe have seen an increase in customer interest after the recent conflict involving Russia and Georgia, industry sources said on Thursday.

Nuclear reactors are dependent on reliable supplies of fuel, made from uranium ore that has been converted into a gas which in turn is enriched into nuclear fuel.

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Government promises to secure sufficient electricity for industry

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Sixth nuclear installation possible

Government promises to secure sufficient electricity for industry

The government hopes to make sure in its new energy and climate strategy that Finnish industry will get the electricity it needs.

Helsingin Sanomat has learned that a ministerial working group estimates that the need for electricity in 2020 will be about 103 terawatt hours (TWh). After that year, demand for electricity is expected to decline slowly.

The estimate means that in addition to the fifth Finnish nuclear reactor currently being built in Olkiluoto, only one more such installation would be built in Finland.

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