August, 2009

Korea Electric Power Company is emerging as a reactor vendor and its units could perhaps be built in India after a set of agreements signed off yesterday in Mumbai.

Eskom, South Africa's state-owned utility, has reported a record annual loss and has warned of a funding gap for an expansion program needed to prevent a repeat of the blackouts the country experienced in 2008.

Italy should have locations for its new nuclear plants within six months, a Finnish-style consortium approach is likely for financing and a cooperation deal with the USA is forthcoming.

Certain work can start immediately towards building two new reactors at Vogtle after the Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted an Early Site Permit (ESP) as well as permission for limited safety-related construction.

George Felgate will take over as managing director of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) from 1 September, replacing Luc Mampaey. The safety organisation said that Felgate had joined its sister body the US-based Institute of Nuclear Power Operators (INPO) in 1982 and risen to become vice...

Egypt is considering six bids from international firms to provide support and advice on setting up the country's nuclear safety regulatory framework. Site selection is already in progress for a proposed 1200 MWe nuclear power plant.

Another reactor is repaired and returning to service after the earthquake that shut down all seven at Kashiwazaki Kariwa two years ago.

Two new steam generators have been delivered to Electrabel's Doel nuclear power plant near Antwerp, Belgium. They were made by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) at its Kobe shipyard.

The prospects for nuclear energy in Germany's September election look good, according to an analysis by Deutsche Bank, but coalition politics remain finely balanced.

A Canadian firm has been pushed aside from a uranium deposit in Mongolia so that the country could set up a tax-break company with Russian interests instead.

Last year's uranium production was the highest since 2005, mainly thanks to the absence of the difficult weather conditions that have hampered work in recent years.

The new Bulgarian right-of-centre government could soon be making very tough decisions on the country's long-term energy security, with RWE rumoured to be ready to pull out of the Belene project.

Inspectors have been allowed to visit the IR-40 heavy water research reactor for the first time in a year as Western relations with Iran appear to be picking up.

Authorities in Bangladesh continue to plan and prepare to introduce nuclear power, but deny they have reached terms with Russia's Rosatom atomic energy corporation to build the reactor.

Newly released UK government files of reported sightings of UFOs - Unidentified Flying Objects - include a 1993 sighting of a strange object hovering over the Hartlepool nuclear power station. The object was seen in the skies over the Teeside and Cleveland area of northeast England on several occasions...

Eletronuclear, Brazil's nuclear utility, has opened an office in Recife in the northeast of the country to conduct studies into the siting of a new nuclear power plant in that region. Four states in the area have already expressed interest in hosting the proposed plant.

Five companies have been selected for support under a Japanese scheme to support high-tech heavy nuclear manufacturing.

PSEG Nuclear has applied to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for 20-year extensions to the operating licences of its Salem and Hope Creek nuclear power plants, both in New Jersey. Some 54 US reactors have already had such an extension, with 19 more now in the pipeline.

The purchase of an EPR simulator has revealed the seriousness of GdF Suez's ambitions in nuclear power. The company is working to build a portfolio of projects including majority stakes and operator rights.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has accepted for formal review an application by Global Laser Enrichment (GLE) for a combined construction and operating license (COL) for the world's first uranium enrichment facility based on laser technology. GLE - a venture launched by GE-Hitachi and...

First Uranium is ramping up production at its South African gold and uranium operations following the first yellowcake production at Ezulwini, but has put the construction of a third uranium module at another South African site on hold.

The first flask of used fuel has been dispatched from the Sizewell A nuclear power plant to Sellafield. The two-unit plant was permanently shut down in 2006.

[Times of India, 15 August] The Jaitapur nuclear power plant took a step forward with approval from the Bombay High Court for purchase of the necessary land. Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) may now purchase the plot, on which it wants to build at least two - but up to six - Areva EPRs...

The European Union (EU) and Canada are about to embark on detailed negotiations to upgrade their existing long-standing nuclear cooperation agreement.

Nukem of Germany has announced that it has agreed to sell its Nukem Technologies subsidiary, which specialises in decommissioning, waste management and engineering services, to Russia's AtomStroyExport.