Nuclear power in Europe

SOFIA, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Romania is due to sign a deal with selected foreign bidders to build two more reactors at its nuclear power plant in Cernavoda on Nov. 20, one of the investors, GDF Suez, said on Tuesday. Earlier this year, the Balkan country decided to retain a 51 percent stake in the planned reactors and leave the remaining 49 percent for the six bidders it chose last year as partners.

The partners are Belgian Electrabel, owned by French power giant GDF Suez, German power giant RWE, Czech utility CEZ, Italy’s Enel, Spain’s Iberdrola and a Romanian unit of steel giant ArcelorMittal. (more…)

PRAGUE (AFP) — Central Europe’s top power producer, Czech-based CEZ, is pinning hopes on the financial crisis to thwart the approval of the EU’s green package, saying it would hit hard at the region’s coal-dependent industry.

The EU’s climate-energy package seeks to raise the share of renewable sources in power production by 2020, boost energy savings and tighten the rules for trading in CO2 emission permits in a bid to cut greenhouse gas emissions. (more…)

VIENNA (Reuters) - Czech power firm CEZ will file for an environmental impact assessment (EIA) of a new unit at its Dukovany nuclear power station in weeks, CEZ sales chief Alan Svoboda said on Tuesday.

CEZ already filed a request to add two units at its Temelin plant earlier this year as it prepares to renew and expand its nuclear portfolio. (more…)

BANDIRMA, Turkey, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Energy import-dependent Turkey is pressing ahead with large energy investments despite global financial woes and ongoing private sector projects will raise capacity to 62,600 megawatts from 40,000 MW.

Turkey, a major energy importer, is under pressure to increase power capacity and liberalise the sector in the face of sharply rising demand, fuelled by economic growth and a rapidly growing population.
However, the shrinking global liquidity and lessening risk appetite generated by the financial crisis has raised concerns about companies’ ability to raise the necessary funding and uncertainty surrounds some projects. (more…)

DOLNI ROZINKA, Czech Republic, July 30 (Reuters) - Renewed interest in nuclear power and high uranium prices may extend the life of Czech uranium mines or even reopen closed deposits, said the head of the country’s sole, state-owned miner Diamo. The centre-right cabinet of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek gave the ailing industry a boost last year, allowing Diamo to explore uranium reserves at its only remaining mine in Dolni Rozinka, 180 km (113 miles) east of Prague. (more…)

CEZ Romania expects the construction of the third and fourth reactors at the Cernavoda nuclear plant to be delayed about one year. On the other hand, CEZ bought in Eastern Romania a wind energy project evaluated at 100 million euro.

“We haven’t been invited until now to continue the negotiations for the construction of the two Cernavoda rectors”, said the CEZ Development Manager, Doru Voicu, who added that the company also waits for a response from Termoelectrica, in order to establish a partnership and build two thermal plants. (more…)

Two reactors for CZK 80 billion or for 353 billion?

Temelín - Czech energy giant ČEZ wants to expand the Temelín nuclear power plant with building two new reactors by 2013 but has not published the costs of the project yet.

“The costs of the Temelín expansion may be published only after the contract is signed,” explains ČEZ´s web site. Ministry of Environment has already received a study on the impact the two new reactors will have on the environment. The ministry was asked by ČEZ to evaluate this question. “Expanding the Temelín power plant will meet the growing demand for energy in the Czech Republic and will create a sufficient reserve,” claims ČEZ. Now, a public discussion on the issue is expected to emerge. (more…)

PRAGUE, July 11 (Reuters) - Czech power firm CEZ asked the Environment Ministry for an environmental impact study of the potential construction of two extra units at its Temelin nuclear power plant, the company said on Friday.

The central European country’s government has pledged not to approve construction of new nuclear power stations before its term ends in 2010, but has said CEZ could go ahead with the assessment. (more…)

Prague - The Dukovany nuclear power plant, owned by Czech power giant CEZ, nearly shut down one of its four units Tuesday owing to an employee’s mistake, the company said.

Unit’s two turbines were automatically switched off from the grid after a technician mistakenly turned off one of its six cooling circuits. (more…)

Romania is eyeing construction of a new nuclear plant with capacity of between 2,000 and 2,400 megawatts, whose first unit could come on line after 2020, the head of the state nuclear operator Nuclearelectrica said on Friday.

Along with some other former communist EU members, Romania is at the forefront of a renewed push for nuclear energy as an alternative to coal and gas which emit carbon dioxide, blamed for global warming. Nuclearelectrica operates Romania’s only nuclear power station in Cernavoda, where the first of two 706MW units went on stream in 1996. (more…)