Having spent five years combining its nuclear power, engineering and research enterprises into the single entity of Rosatom, the Russian government now sees privatisation of the firm as part of a plan for industrial modernisation.
Rosatom is just one of several vertically integrated state holding companies Russia established to "discourage the decline of the more intellectual sectors of national industry" in the post-Soviet era, wrote Vladimir Putin in the Vedomosti newspaper on 30 January.
AMSTERDAM -(Dow Jones)- Dutch utility Delta NV said Monday it has shelved its plan to build a second nuclear plant in the Netherlands, in the latest example of waning appetite for atomic power in Europe.
Delta NV, which aimed to build the plant together with Germany's RWE AG, said the current market climate makes it no longer viable to move ahead with the project and that it will shelve its plans for two to three years.
A senior director at Areva, France’s state-owned nuclear champion, has confirmed that he did hire a Swiss intelligence firm to examine its disastrous €1.8bn purchase of a uranium miner but denied that it was part of a plot against Anne Lauvergeon, the company’s former chief executive.
Ms Lauvergeon, known as “Atomic Anne” after 10 years at the helm of one of the world’s leading nuclear manufacturers, shocked the French business and political elite this week when she accused her former employers of spying on her and claimed that she had been victim to a long-running “plot” to destabilise her, directed from the “highest levels of the state”.
Spain's new government will ask nuclear regulators for advice on the continued operation of the Garoña nuclear power plant, which was dealt an arbitrarily short operating licence by the previous administration.
Yesterday the Spanish cabinet revoked an order from 2009 that set July 2013 as the latest time that Garoña may be used for power generation. The next step is for the Nuclear Safety Council (Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear, CSN) to consider the technical possibilities for longer operation and what technical improvements it may require. The Spanish government is expected to order this work imminently.
PARIS—France's nuclear-safety watchdog ordered immediate upgrades to nuclear reactors to guard against natural disasters, which Électricité de France SA said could require €10 billion, or roughly $13 billion, in additional costs.
In a review following last year's Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan, the Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire concluded that no plants needed to be shut down immediately but that steps should be taken as "soon as possible" to improve safety at France's 58 reactors.
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Start of a fire in decontamination machine |
On December 22nd 2011 Sogin S.p.A, which operates the former plant Fabbricazioni Nucleari of Bosco Marengo (AL) currently under decommissioning, communicated to ISPRA (Institute for Environmental Protection and Research)-which perform the functions of Nuclear Safety Authority- an anomalous event related to the decontamination machine by 'shot blasting' located inside the plant occurred at 9:25 am local time. The machine is used to treat solid materials with very low contamination, resulting from the dismantling activities, in order to be cleared from the plant.
Dec 11 (Reuters) - French nuclear reactor maker Areva will announce large losses on Tuesday when the group unveils its strategy, French Industry Minister Eric Besson said on Sunday.
"I can confirm that Areva will announce losses," Besson told Radio J. "In all likelihood, they will be big."
The nuclear reactor at Oskarshamn was closed down late on Saturday night after a fire broke out at the plant.
Although the fire, which broke out in the turbine hall of Unit 2, was quickly put out by the plant’s own emergency services, the reactor and the turbine were closed down as a precautionary measure.
It is still unclear when the reactor 2 can be restarted again, with investigations ongoing.
PARIS Oct 21 (Reuters) - Unions at Areva Areva fear up to 4,000 staff, or 10 percent, will lose their jobs in a strategic review of the French nuclear reactor to be presented by CEO Luc Oursel in mid-December, Le Figaro newspaper said without citing sources.
Earlier this month, Areva said it was reviewing its investments, and may postpone some, after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March impacted decisions on nuclear investments worldwide.
German energy giant RWE has appointed advisers for a strategic review of Urenco the nuclear power company it co-owns with the British and Dutch government.
The move could press the UK Government to formalise its own strategy on disposal of the company, which is expected to net UK taxpayers 1bn.
