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…)

ISTANBUL, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Turkey will make changes to a nuclear energy tender law nearly two months after it received just one bid in a tender to build the country’s first nuclear power plant, an Energy Ministry source told Reuters on Tuesday.

A consortium comprised of Russian Atomstroyexport and Inter Rao along with Turkey’s Park Teknik Group was the sole bidder in a tender to build and operate Turkey’s first nuclear power plant in Mersin on the Mediterranean coast. (more…)

MADRID, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Spain’s 1,000-megawatt Vandellos II nuclear power station was reconnected to the national grid on Thursday afternoon, the plant’s operators said in a statement.

The plant near to the northeastern port of Tarragona had been disconnected since early on Wednesday after a control rod had fallen into the reactor core on Saturday. (more…)

MADRID, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Output at Spain’s 1,000-megawatt Vandellos II nuclear plant was cut to 49 percent from full power at 1425 GMT after a power surge caused overheating, a spokesman for the plant said on Saturday.

Operators reduced output after the surge sent temperatures 20 percent above the maximum allowed for the installation. (more…)

MADRID, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Spain’s 1,000 megawatt Vandellos II nuclear power station was working at about 30 percent of capacity on Friday morning after being reconnected to the grid on Thursday afternoon, technicians said.

The Iberdrola-owned plant near the northeastern port of Tarragona had been halted since one of its generators caught fire on Aug. 24. (more…)

MADRID, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Spain’s 1,000 megawatt Vandellos II nuclear plant was reconnected to the grid early on Tuesday morning after an absence of nearly two months, technicians said.

“We’ve been back on line since 4:26 (0226 GMT) and are stepping up power. We need to do tests before reaching full power,” said a technician from the plant, which is near to the northeastern port of Tarragona. (more…)

MADRID, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Spain’s nuclear power stations must invest in safety if their operating permits are to be renewed in the next three years, Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian said on Monday.

Permits for seven of Spain’s eight ageing nuclear plants expire between 2009-11, or within the mandate of the recently re-elected Socialist government. (more…)

ANKARA, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday there was no plan to postpone a tender to build and operate Turkey’s first nuclear power plant, scheduled for Wednesday.

Turkey has set a deadline of Sept. 24 for bids to build the plant at Akkuyu near Mersin on the Mediterranean coast with a capacity of 4,000 megawatts, plus or minus 25 percent. (more…)

VALENCIA, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Spain’s nuclear watchdog told plants on Wednesday that renewing their operating permits would depend on how they implemented tighter safety procedures spurred by a rash of unscheduled stoppages.

Among others, the Nuclear Safety Council reviewed safety plans at the 1,000 megawatt Asco I plant, which faces a hefty fine after the regulator asked for government sanctions over the management’s handling of a radioactive leak last November. (more…)

MADRID -(Dow Jones)- Spanish electricity company Iberdrola SA is considering bidding for a license to build Turkey’s first nuclear power plant, a company press official confirmed Tuesday.

The official couldn’t comment on whether the company is mulling a joint bid with other companies, or a stand-alone bid. (more…)