Nuclear power in Europe

Brussels is against member states exporting their nuclear waste to countries outside the EU or to store it in joint sites, energy commissioner Gunther Oettinger said, as the commission is working on a set of common safety standards for this dangerous material.

“It is the duty of national politicians to do their homework,” Mr Oettinger told Financial Times Deutschland in an interview published on Wednesday (10 March). The German commissioner warned against common storage sites, as well as exporting the radioactive material outside the EU, for instance Russia. (more…)

The Russian military allegedly dumped nuclear waste into the Baltic Sea in the early 1990s, according to a report on Swedish television.
Radioactive material from a military base in Latvia is thought to have been thrown into Swedish waters. For many the biggest shock is that the Swedish government may have known at the time and done nothing about it.

The partly enclosed Baltic Sea is known as one of the most polluted seas in the world. But now it seems it was also used as a dumping ground for Russian nuclear waste and chemical weapons. (more…)

The European Union is heading for a clash with other major economies over the timetable for building an experimental fusion reactor.

European governments want to slow down construction of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) because they are paying for the bulk of the construction costs and are concerned that the budget is spiralling out of control. Other countries involved in the ITER project are, however, strongly opposed to any kind of delay. (more…)

BELGRADE — Russian Ambassador Aleksandr Konuzin has confirmed that Russia offered to build a nuclear power plant in Serbia.

But the idea, he said during his visit to Zrenjanin in the north of the country, came from the Serbian side. (more…)

The Western media reported last week on how the German company Urenco shipped nuclear material to Siberia, where the highly toxic waste was stored in containers in the open air. The company has stopped deliveries and will store the material with higher standards in Germany in the future.

The radiation warning sign was so small that few passers-by took note in the commuter rail station in Kapitolovo, Russia. Fifty-six steel canisters were sitting there on a summer day three years ago. Just a stone’s throw away, people were waiting for trains to take them to downtown St. Petersburg. (more…)

Although the information hasn’t made front page headlines yet, the biggest behind-the-scenes swarm of lobbyists is now hovering over the construction of two additional reactors at the Temelín nuclear plant. The actual deal looks “somewhat” different. The state-owned energy giant ČEZ is looking to secure five nuclear reactors: two for Temelín and another three for power plants that the energy company plans to build abroad, altogether, a contract worth CZK 500 billion. It’s a gigantic tender, the biggest in Czech history. (more…)

MOSCOW, Oct 1 (Reuters) – Italy’s power firm Enel is interested in joining a project to build a nuclear power station in Russia’s region of Kaliningrad, the project leader Inter RAO said on Thursday. Inter RAO’s Chief Executive Yevgeny Dod told reporters his company was also talking to other potential foreign partners. (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…)

Dec 5 (Interfax) – Russia’s Federal Service for Ecological, Technological and Nuclear Oversight (Rostekhnadzor) registered two minor events at nuclear power plants in November 2008.

On November 12, Balakovskaya NPP’s power unit N2 switched off without activation of the emergency system, the agency said in a press release. Rostekhnadzor has already completed an investigation of this incident. The discharge occurred as a result of a switch- off of the primary circulatory pumps, caused by the loss of a pressure signal in the lubrication system’s oil pumps, the agency said. (more…)

Kyiv, November 26 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers has approved a draft agreement with the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan about the joint participation in the International uranium enrichment center in Angarsk, Irkutsk region, Russia.

The Cabinet of Ministers passed a respective resolution on November 19 2008. (more…)