Gordon Brown has committed Britain to a nuclear future, but can a new generation of reactors shed their murky, costly image in time to solve the looming energy crisis?
Europe
Britain to sign nuclear pact with Jordan this week
Thursday, June 26, 2008Britain will sign a nuclear deal this week with Jordan, which is struggling to find alternate resources to generate electricity and desalinate water, the British Embassy said Wednesday.
The head of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, Barbara Thomas Judge, will arrive Saturday in Amman on a two-day visit to sign a "nuclear cooperation" agreement.
Greenpeace tries to delay French reactor work
Wednesday, June 25, 2008PARIS (Reuters) - Greenpeace France activists on Wednesday blocked for the second day the entrances of three of the four quarries used by EDF to build its new-generation nuclear reactor, the environmentalist group said.
But French power group EDF said the action was not preventing building of the 1,600-megawatts reactor.
Bulgaria Energy Minister: NPP "Belene" Delayed
Tuesday, June 24, 2008There are delays in the projects for the Nuclear Power Plant "Belene" and the power plants in the "Maritsa-East" basin, according to Bulgaria's Minister of Economy and Energy, Petar Dimitrov.
Dimitrov made the above admissions just before the meeting of the National Security Council convened by Bulgaria's President Georgi Parvanov Tuesday to discuss the Bulgaria's participation in major energy projects and their effect on the country's security.
Safety authority asks for steam generator measures
Tuesday, June 24, 2008Electricité de France has been given until 30 September to implement preventative safety measures in steam generators at its French nuclear reactors including plugging tubes affected by an anomaly in anti-vibration measures.
France's Nuclear Safety Authority (Autorité De Sûreté Nucléaire, ASN) has released a letter issued to the utility on 24 April calling for some steam generator tubes to be plugged to prevent the risk of their rupturing. The company must also implement enhanced measures to detect leaks between primary and secondary coolant circuits pending the completion of the plugging work.
Gordon Brown seeks Sellafield nuclear deal with Japan
Monday, June 23, 2008The Prime Minister Gordon Brown will talk to his Japanese counterpart, Yasuo Fukuda, at the G8 meeting in Hokkaido next month about a potential £1bn a year deal which would boost the UK's nuclear industry.
Mr Brown and Mr Fukuda will discuss a contract to reprocess fuel at Sellafield in Cumbria to be used in Japan's nuclear reactors, industry sources said.
French watchdog fears for reactor project skills
Monday, June 23, 2008France’s nuclear safety watchdog intends to “make an example” of the country's first reactor project in 20 years, amid concerns that many of the skills for building nuclear power stations may have been lost.
The watchdog had ordered EDF, operator of France’s 58 nuclear power stations, to halt work three weeks ago after it discovered problems with quality controls and with the iron frame of the concrete structure being put in place by Bouygues, the French construction group.
Emissions Trading Windfall For Nuclear Plants
Monday, June 23, 2008The newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reports that nuclear power companies in Finland are enjoying massive subsidies from emissions trading rights.
It reports that companies producing electricity with coal and other emission-causing fuels pass on the value of emission rights to their electricity prices, even though they receive the bulk of the rights free of charge. The paper calculates that of the 28 euro per tonne value of emissions rights, 22 euros are passed on to the price of each megawatt of electricity.
Lack of engineers puts government's nuclear power ambitions at risk
Monday, June 23, 2008Government plans for a new generation of nuclear power stations risk delays after warnings by its own inspectors that no decision can be made on reactor designs because of a shortage of skilled engineers.
Delays in receiving documentation from various parties and the difficulties of talking to overseas regulators and receiving final reactor designs are referred to in a letter from Mike Weightman, chief inspector at the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII), to the Department for Business Enterpriseand Regulatory Reform.
France signs Algeria nuclear deal
Saturday, June 21, 2008France and Algeria have signed an agreement on civil nuclear co-operation during a visit to Algiers by the French Prime Minister, Francois Fillon.
Mr Fillon described the agreement as a sign of a "transformation" in the countries' ties.
Relations were very bad for years after the Algerian war of independence forced France to abandon its treasured colony.
