December, 2007

[Reuters, 20 December] Bulgaria's National Electricity Company (NEK) has asked strategic investors to submit improved offers by 9 January to acquire a 49% stake in the planned Belene nuclear power plant. Lyubomir Velkov, executive director of NEK, said that the five shortlisted bidders - Belgium's...

[White House, 20 December] During a press conference at the White House, US President George Bush turned his attention to nuclear energy and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. He said: "If you are truly serious about dealing with greenhouse gases, then it seems like to me you ought to be...

Another long dormant South African uranium venture could be enjoying a new lease of life following the proposed sale of uranium and gold assets at Randfontein.

The Fennovoima consortium has named another site in Finland it will study as a potential location for a new nuclear power plant. In January 2008 the company will start an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure considering Kristinestad, Pyhajoki, Ruotsinpyhtaa and Simo, opening offices in each...

[RIA Novosti, 20 December] The Bushehr nuclear power plant under construction in Iran will not be commissioned until late 2008 at the earliest, according to Russian contractor AtomStroyExport (ASE). On 13 December, ASE reported that Moscow and Tehran had reached agreement on a schedule for completing...

Unistar Nuclear Energy (UNE) and PPL Corp have agreed to prepare and submit a combined construction and operating licence (COL) application for a potential third reactor at PPL's Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania.

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 the plant in La Hague left the shut down Caorso nuclear power plant.

US authorities have already reached their 2012 targets for dismantling nuclear weapons, while the facility to turn weapons fuel into power reactor fuel is 25% complete.

First Uranium Corporation has announced it has acquired the remaining 10% of the Ezulwini Mining Company, completing its ownership of the Ezulwini gold and uranium mine in South Africa. Ezulwini, an underground gold and uranium mine 40 km from Johannesburg, operated from the early 1960s to 2001 when...

Exelon has selected a site some 20 miles (32 km) south of Victoria in Victoria County, Texas, as the site for a combined construction and operating licence (COL) application for a new nuclear power plant, the company announced on 18 December. Exelon said in June that two sites in Texas were under consideration...

A new evaporator was lifted into Sellafield's Thorp facility today as part of work to bring the reprocessing plant back to full operation. The plant has already completed its first reprocessing campaign.

Canada's National Research Universal reactor (NRU) returned to service in the early hours of 16 December, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL) has confirmed. The removal of medical isotopes for processing and distribution was expected to begin within four days of the restart. The reactor, at the Chalk...

A year-end spending bill has slashed the yearly budget for Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository by $104 million, putting the project schedule in further doubt. It has also increased the amount of new plant loans to be guaranteed.

VT Group - a UK defence and support service company - has agreed to acquire the British Nuclear Group Project Services (BNGPS) business from British Nuclear Group (BNG), itself a subsidiary of BNFL. The sale is expected to be completed in January 2008.

A Nuclear Power Institute (NPI) is to be established at Texas A&M University to ensure the state has sufficient qualified workers for its growing nuclear power industry.

French engineering group Alstom announced that it will spend over $200 million on constructing a new facility in the USA for the manufacture of steam turbines, gas turbines, generators and related equipment for use in US power plants.

Exelon Nuclear will replace the security force provided by Wackenhut Nuclear Services with its own in-house team. In September it was reported that Wackenhut guards were found sleeping whilst on duty.

On 16 December, Russia delivered the first shipment of fuel for the Bushehr nuclear power plant, which it is helping to construct in Iran.

Climate talks in Bali, Indonesia continued past their scheduled end as ministers attempted to reach agreement. Indonesian ministers said nuclear power was to be part of their country's answer to climate change.

[Nuclear.Ru, 12 December] Plans have been revealed for a new office complex in Moscow that will become the new home for Russia's nuclear energy industry. A presentation on the new complex was hosted by the Alikhanov Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEF) on 11 December. The complex...

Duke Energy has submitted a combined construction and operation licence application with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the proposed new William States Lee III plant in Cherokee County, South Carolina.

The IBM Nuclear Power Advisory Council held its inaugural meeting last week, emerging with a list of 'top nuclear power industry imperatives'. The meeting was held at the company's Global Center of Excellence for Nuclear Power at La Gaude, France. Concluding that "efforts to increase...

Exelon Nuclear has signed a contract which should see decommissioning of its shut-down Zion power station completed a decade early. It has also signed a major order for heavy forgings and components for two new reactors it is considering building in Texas.

Plans for potential new nuclear power sites in Idaho and South Carolina are moving forward with the companies involved - nuclear newcomer Alternate Energy Holdings and the long-established Duke Energy - making announcements on pre-construction activities.

[Les Echos, 12 December] Christophe de Margerie, CEO of French oil giant Total, said in an interview with business newspaper Les Echos that he expects the company to expand its activities and to enter the nuclear energy industry. He said, "In twenty years, I don't see how we could be absent...