VILNIUS, July 14 (Reuters) - Lithuania's parliament voted on Monday to hold a non-binding referendum on extending the life of its Soviet-era nuclear power plant, despite a promise to the European Union that it will be shut down in 2009.
The parliamentary press service said 88 of 141 lawmakers had voted to hold the referendum on Oct. 12, the same day as a general election. Five voted against and 11 abstained.
MADRID, Spain: A Spanish nuclear power plant reported an unexpected power surge Sunday, the fourth safety alert there in 12 days, the country's nuclear authority said.
Safety systems prevented any radiation leak at the Cofrentes reactor when power surged by more than 20 percent just before 5 a.m. Sunday (0300 GMT), the Nuclear Security Council said in a statement.
Britain must build "at least" eight new nuclear power stations during the next 15 years to replace its ageing plants and contribute to a "post-oil economy" that is cleaner and much more efficient than in the era of "cheap energy and careless pollution", Gordon Brown signalled last night. The first new reactors could feed electricity into the national grid by 2017.
Ministers want the private sector to make the running, but fear that the parallel contraction of the UK's coal and oil-fired generating capacity, on environmental grounds, will trigger a serious energy gap unless the government moves decisively.
There is a possibility that a corruption scheme for the supply of nuclear fuel was created at the Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) "Kozloduy", according to statements made before Darik radio by Georgi Kotev.
Kotev is an employee of the NPP and had initially made his accusations through a popular video clips Internet site.
According to the NPP employee beginning in 2004, "Kozloduy" might have been importing recycled fuel instead of new one and the NPP's top management has been personally profiting from the price difference.The NPP Director Ivan Genov firmly denied Kotov's allegations.
PARIS (Reuters) - France's nuclear safety authority (ASN) said on Friday that Areva-subsidiary Socatri had poorly managed a leak of liquid containing uranium that occurred in southeastern France this week.
The nuclear watchdog inspected the site on Thursday.
"The management of the crisis by the company involved has shown omissions in terms of communication to the authorities," the ASN said in a statement.
DOETTINGEN, Switzerland - The Swiss atomic energy plant Beznau 1 will be shut down for 12 hours on Saturday so two valve seals in the plant's non-nuclear section can be replaced.
The plant's operating company Nordostschweizerische Kraftwerke AG says the interruption will cause a visible collection of steam to be released from the non-nuclear part of the center.
The Washington Division of URS Corp. was picked as the preferred bidder to lead a group that will clean up and shut down the Sellafield nuclear complex in England.
Sellafield, on the coast of the Irish Sea in Cumbria in Northwest England, is a major nuclear power and reprocessing facility.
PRAGUE, July 11 (Reuters) - Czech power firm CEZ asked the Environment Ministry for an environmental impact study of the potential construction of two extra units at its Temelin nuclear power plant, the company said on Friday.
The central European country's government has pledged not to approve construction of new nuclear power stations before its term ends in 2010, but has said CEZ could go ahead with the assessment.
STOCKHOLM, July 11 (Reuters) - A fire broke out on Friday on the roof of a turbine facility at Sweden's Ringhals nuclear power plant but was brought under control, rescue services said.
A spokesman for the plant said there was no risk to the reactor.
"It's ... a fire on the roof of one of the turbine facilities at Ringhals 2," said Fredrik Akesson, of the fire brigade in Varberg. "I would say it's under control."
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- Europe draws nearly a third of its energy from nuclear power and just 15 percent from renewable sources such as hydroelectric dams and windmills, according to European Union figures released Thursday.
Seeking to cut its reliance on imported oil and natural gas, the European Union is trying to reduce energy consumption and develop more homegrown sources of power -- such as renewables -- that would also limit its output of greenhouse gases.
