Blogs

From Reuters : China is expanding nuclear power construction plans faster than earlier planned, a senior energy official told state media on Saturday, saying installed power capacity by 2020 could be 50 percent above the initial goal. China's nuclear energy development plan had called for operating...

[Associated Press, 7 March] Areva Inc has reportedly narrowed its search for a possible site for its proposed US uranium enrichment plant from some 200 to five locations. The locations under consideration are in Idaho, Ohio, Texas, News Mexico and Washington. In a letter to Washington governor Chris...

Ontario's Minister of Energy, Gerry Phillips, has announced a two-phase competitive Request For Proposal process to select a nuclear reactor vendor. Four international vendors, Areva NP, AECL, GE Hitachi and Westinghouse have been invited to bid.

[Reuters, 8 March] "Construction of nuclear power plants has been progressing faster than planned" in China, Zhang Guobao, a vice minister of the National Development and Reform Commission told the Xinhua news agency. He said that he now expects installed nuclear power capacity to reach 60...

On Saturday, I had the opportunity to chat with three other people spread around North American and Europe about my favorite topic - energy. It was fun to share ideas and disputes with Ben Kenny from Canada ( The Watt ), Robb Worthington from the UK ( Sustainable Living ), and Mark Seal from Switzerland...

Jobs are going begging in the booming nuclear industry The Philadelphia Inquirer has a report this week that "a job boom is shaking the nuclear industry." In an economy that is headed south my almost every measure, one of the bright spots is nuclear energy. The newspaper says that industry...

Transition Power tells the NRC it will file a reactor license application by 2010 Utah State Rep. Aaron Tilton is jolting some neural neutrons in Utah with a letter he sent to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ( NRC ) this week. In it Tilton, the nominal head of a shell corporation called Transition...

Dailytech.com posted a blog titled Toshiba Establishes New U.S. Nuclear Business . It provides some details about Toshiba's plans for developing its nuclear business here in the United States. It emphasizes the fact that the Westinghouse purchase from last year is only a part of a larger plan. The...

I like the United Kingdom's new approach to solving its future energy demand problem. It has done the studies, analyzed the options and determined that nuclear fission can play an increasing role in providing clean, reliable, indigenous, affordable, and sustainable electricity. It is an interesting...

The cat might be out of the bag with comments from one of the firm's VPs Oregon Public Broadcasting reports that a senior Areva executive says that even with the legislation now pending in the Idaho state legislature, it still isn't as competitive as Washington state where Areva already has a...

That's what this article from Reuters Canada seems to be saying: Ontario, keen to close its remaining coal-fired power plants, said on Friday it has asked four nuclear firms for proposals to replace the Canadian province's aging nuclear facilities with new reactors. The provincial government...

Here is an update from the World Nuclear News : A total of 325 tonnes of Russian ex-military highly enriched uranium – equivalent to 13,000 nuclear warheads - has so far been downblended for use in civilian nuclear power stations under the so-called Megatons to Megawatts programme , USEC has announced...

Negotiations have been completed for six European utility companies to partner Romania's Nuclearelectrica SA in a joint venture to complete and operate two new units at the Cernavoda nuclear power plant in Romania.

Left-wing political parties have asked the Indian government to convene a meeting of a joint committee with the governing UPA coalition to discuss the stalled US-India nuclear cooperation agreement.

A total of 325 tonnes of Russian ex-military highly enriched uranium – equivalent to 13,000 nuclear warheads - has so far been downblended for use in civilian nuclear power stations, USEC has announced.

[Thomson Financial, 6 March] CEZ is reportedly completing a feasibility study on the development of nuclear energy in the Czech Republic. Company spokeswoman Eva Novakova said that it is possible that an environmental impact assessment (EIA) on the expansion of the utility's Temelin nuclear power...

[RIA Novosti, 6 March] The Armenian government has authorized the establishment of a joint venture with Russia for additional prospecting for uranium deposits in Armenia. In February, Russian state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom and the Armenian environmental ministry signed a memorandum to set up...

Many of my colleagues in the energy business try to be environmentally correct and do not like to make clear statements that criticize any particular energy source. They especially avoid any hint that they actively oppose the development of the "popular" renewable energy sources like wind and...

Regional synergy with LES plant in New Mexico possible. Andrews, Texas is just across the border from the LES uranium enrichment plant now under construction in New Mexico. Economic development officials in that town today revealed they are in the running for a $2 billion uranium enrichment plant to...

From Reuters: Britain said on Thursday it was making 18 more sites available for the next generation of nuclear power stations and gave operators four weeks to pick the ones they wanted. "Interest in building new nuclear power stations in the UK is strong," Business Secretary John Hutton said...

Here's a summary of what went on in the energy markets last week: Electricity peak prices increased $2-9/MWh at all hubs except ERCOT. The ERCOT hub decreased $10/MWh trading as low as $27/MWh on Friday the 29th (see pages 1 and 3). Gas prices at the Henry Hub increased $0.18 to $9.02/MMBtu due to...

From the Heritage Foundation's blog : According to a recent article in Energy and Environment News, the Air Force is planning to build a 100-225 megawatt nuclear power reactor. It will not only provide affordable, reliable electricity to an Air Force base, which has yet to be chosen, but will also...

The UK's Royal Society has published a report which highlights the need for the world to share technical data on nuclear and other radioactive materials in order to deter smuggling of such material and nuclear terrorism.

The UK needs to build new nuclear power stations as fast as possible and the government is working for legislative and regulatory change in order to achieve this, according to UK business secretary John Hutton.

6 Mar (NucNet): The UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) today called for proposals from developers interested in using NDA land such as for the possible construction of new reactor units. ...read more