Nuclear power in Europe

BERLIN, Feb 12, 2010 (IPS) – The enormous technical and financial risks involved in the construction and operation of new nuclear power plants make them prohibitive for private investors, rebutting the thesis of a renaissance in nuclear energy, say several independent European studies.

The risks include high construction costs, likely long delays in building, extended periods of depreciation of equipment inherent to the construction and operation of new power plants and the lack of guarantees for prices of electricity. (more…)

COPENHAGEN — Six Greenpeace activists Monday boarded a ship carrying French-made steam turbines bound for a new nuclear power station in Finland, the environmental group said.

The protestors climbed on board the Happy Ranger as it made its way through the Fehmarn Belt strait between Denmark and Germany and unfurled banners including one which read “Nuclear madness, made in France”. (more…)

The executives of electric utilities worldwide are dreaming of a renaissance in nuclear power. But problems with a new, state-of-the-art reactor in Finland suggest that this is unlikely to happen. The industry’s alternative strategy is to modernize older plants to drastically extend reactor lifetimes.

The managers at Finnish electric utility TVO expressed one last wish before ordering what would be the world’s largest nuclear power plant from Siemens and the French nuclear power conglomerate Areva. They wanted the reactor to be painted oxblood red and white, the traditional colors of the picturesque summer homes on Finland’s western coast. (more…)

OLKILUOTO, Finland — As the Obama administration tries to steer America toward cleaner sources of energy, it would do well to consider the cautionary tale of this new-generation nuclear reactor site.

The massive power plant under construction on muddy terrain on this Finnish island was supposed to be the showpiece of a nuclear renaissance. The most powerful reactor ever built, its modular design was supposed to make it faster and cheaper to build. And it was supposed to be safer, too. (more…)

Power company TVO denies that Finland’s Nuclear and Radiation Safety Authority (STUK) has threatened to stop construction of a nuclear reactor at its plant in Olkiluoto. Nonetheless both TVO and French contractor Areva say they take the criticism seriously.

TVO and Areva admit that plans for an automation safety system have been delayed, but say that STUK has not suggested it would order a stop to construction for this or any other reason. (more…)

Anne Lauvergeon is used to fighting tough battles, but this time the chief executive of Areva, whose combative style has in the past earned her the soubriquet “Madame Non”, is in danger of facing her final round.

The French government is nearing a decision on the future of Areva, its state-owned nuclear champion, and with it the fate of one of France’s most internationally recognised business figures. (more…)

FLAMANVILLE, France, Dec 11 (Reuters) – France’s main electricity provider EDF, under pressure from cost overruns on a key project, said it was open to work with partners over building new EPR nuclear reactors.

EDF Chairman and Chief Executive Pierre Gadonneix told reporters on Thursday that EDF aimed to have control over the various nuclear energy projects in which it was involved. (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…)

A Finnish energy company wants to build a nuclear power plant along the Botnia Bay. Local authorities in neighboring Sweden consider the analysis of the project’s environmental consequences to be insufficient.

The Finnish energy company Fennovoima Oy wants to build a nuclear power plant in the Botnia Bay, close to the Swedish border. The company has made an analysis of the project’s environmental consequences, but this has been met with criticism and distrust from locals. Municipal authorities in the Swedish town of Luleå consider the analysis to be “lacking objectivity”. (more…)

HELSINKI, Nov 28 (Reuters) – Nuclear power will play a key role in helping the European Union cut its dependence on fossil fuels and secure future energy supplies, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said on Friday.

“Nuclear energy will have a prominent role in leading the EU towards a low-carbon society,” Rehn said in the text of a speech at a conference in the Finnish city of Turku. (more…)