Nuclear power in Europe

High-level nuclear waste from across the European Union could be shipped to eastern Europe for burial in a central underground storage facility under plans being considered by EU member states.

The Times has learnt that the project, which comes amid a resurgence of interest in nuclear power, could be given the green light later this year by the European Commission. Ewoud Verhoef, deputy director of Covra, the agency responsible for the storage of the Netherlands´ nuclear waste, said: “The nuclear programme in Holland is small and the cost of building a geological repository is very high. We only have one nuclear reactor in the Netherlands so there would be big advantages to a shared solution.” (more…)

One day after German utility RWE said that it was pulling out of the proposed Bulgarian nuclear power plant at Belene, Russia’s state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom said that it was still interested in taking a stake in the project, Russian business daily Vedomosti said on October 29.

Rosatom’s interest in the plant, announced earlier by chief executive Sergey Kirienko, remained unchanged by RWE’s announcement, Vedomosti quoted a company spokesperson as saying. The spokesperson did not provide further details, the newspaper said. (more…)

FRANKFURT (Dow Jones) – German utility RWE AG Wednesday said it has terminated a joint venture agreement with Bulgaria’s state-owned National Electricity Co., or NEK, due to problems with the financing of a nuclear power plant that was planned to be built near the town of Belene.

“We have terminated the joint venture agreement with NEK today because of problems financing the project,” said Stephanie Schunck, spokeswoman for RWE’s power generation unit RWE Power. (more…)

The European Commission decided to extend the period of financial support to Bulgaria for the decommissioning of units 1 to 4 of the Kozloduy nuclear power plant. On top of the EUR550 million already allocated, the Commission has pledged a sum of EUR300 million for the time period 2010-2013. (more…)

The threat of global warming has given a boost to the nuclear industry in many countries as one way to provide electricity without increasing carbon emissions. But what to do with the nuclear waste, especially the most toxic form – spent nuclear fuel. Nick Thorpe went to see how Bulgaria is coping.

Kiril Nikolov smiles a big, nuclear smile. (more…)

PARIS, Feb 18 (Reuters) – French utility GDF Suez has decided to pull out of Bulgaria’s planned atomic power plant of Belene to focus on its other nuclear projects, a company spokesman said on Wednesday. GDF Suez’s Belgian subsidiary Electrabel had been in talks to take part in German utility RWE’s 49-percent stake in Bulgaria’s 4 billion euro plant.

The Balkan country is building the 2,000 megawatt plant to help it regain its position as a major exporter in Southeast Europe and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. (more…)

Balkan states are gambling on the nuclear option as the best way to reduce the energy shortage but whether the risks pay off remains to be seen.

The three guards stand at the gate in the 40°C afternoon heat, ignoring the bustle around them. Grim-looking barbed wire coils round the top of the tall fence, as if designed to stop convicts escaping from prison. (more…)

NPP Belene meets the highest requirements for third generation NPPs, Harmut Pam, vice president of ‘Nuclear Power Plants’ department at RWE Power, said. The Bulgarian government has chosen RWE Power as the main investor in the construction of the second NPP in Bulgaria. Harmut Pam gave a lecture before the 3rd Annual European Conference on ‘Next NPPs generation’ currently taking place in Sofia. According to RWE Power’s strategy, NPP Belene will meet all safety and long-term exploitation requirements, Harmut Pam said. He also pointed out that the development of EU energy production needed secure supply, stable prices of raw materials and climate protection.

SOFIA, Nov 18 (Reuters) – French power giant GDF Suez said on Tuesday it would decide whether to share a stake in a Bulgarian nuclear project with RWE after examining a deal agreed between the German utility and Sofia.

The Bulgarian government last month chose RWE to become a strategic partner for a 49 percent stake in the planned Belene plant and gave the option to split the stake with the second-listed bidder, Belgian Electrabel, owned by GDF Suez. (more…)

Bulgaria’s sole nuclear power plant at Kozloduy on the Danube River said on November 14 that it paid back early a $52.5 million loan to Russia’s state-owned Roseximbank, which it took to upgrade its two working 1000MW reactors.

The reason for the early repayment of the loan, due in 2021, was avoiding currency risks, the plant said, as quoted by website mediapool.bg. The loan was denominated in US dollars, while its revenue was in leva and euro, the plant operator said. (more…)