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…)

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…)

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — The Slovak government has chosen the Czech Republic’s main power utility CEZ AS as its strategic partner to build a new nuclear power station in Slovakia.

CEZ spokesman Ladislav Kriz said Wednesday the two planned to establish a joint company next year that will build and operate the plant by 2020.

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Nov 17 (Interfax) – The Russian nuclear fuel producer TVEL and Slovenske Elektrarne signed two long- term contracts on the production and delivery of fuel to Slovak nuclear power plants on Monday, an Interfax correspondent reported from the signing ceremony.

Slovenske Elektrarne Director General Paolo Ruzzini and TVEL President Yuri Olenin are signatories to the document. The ceremony took place at the TVEL Machine-Building Plant. (more…)

Projected cost of Mochovce’s completion has ballooned

10 Nov 2008 Beata Balogová Business – JUST weeks after the government approved its strategy on energy security, which is intended to guide policy for the next 20 years or so and which defined nuclear energy as one of its key pillars, Slovakia’s dominant power generator started the construction phase of two further blocks at the Mochovce nuclear plant. (more…)

Prime Minister Robert Fico said he was unpleasantly surprised by the European Commission’s (EC) lack of a response to the meeting of the European Nuclear Energy Forum (ENEF).

“I am sorry that, despite the renewed interest in nuclear energy, the European Commission did not nominate a single member to attend the forum,” he said at ENEF’s opening session. “Neither Slovakia nor the Czech Republic came to the ENEF. Nonetheless, I’d like to confirm that we are interested in its activities.”

MOCHOVCE, Slovakia, Nov 3 (Reuters) – Italy’s utility Enel SpA plans to spend around 90 billion crowns ($3.8 billion) in Slovakia through its 66 percent-owned power generator Slovenske Elektrarne, Chief Executive Fulvio Conti said on Monday.

Conti said the company may reassess other Slovak investment plans worth another 20 billion crowns. (more…)

Paris, 17 September: Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and French President Nicolas Sarkozy today signed an agreement on cooperation in nuclear energy and agreements on strategic partnership which is expected to enhance all-round relations between the two countries.

“France and Slovakia have clearly opted for nuclear energy. It covers 50 per cent of electric energy consumption in Slovakia,” the French presidential office said on the meeting. (more…)

MILAN, Sept 19 (Reuters) – Italy, which rejected nuclear power 20 years ago, may see a nuclear plant up and running in 2017, the country’s biggest utility, Enel, said on Friday.

Italy banned nuclear power after holding a referendum on the issue in 1987, following the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine. But the nuclear-friendly government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has pledged to lift the ban and create conditions for a nuclear energy relaunch by 2012. (more…)

Twenty-two years ago, the most serious accident in nuclear history disrupted the lives of millions of people. Massive amounts of radioactive materials were released into the environment resulting in a radioactive cloud that spread over much of Europe. The greatest contamination occurred around the Chernobyl nuclear power station in areas that are now part of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. People in Czechoslovakia were not in acute danger, but like others in the communist block they learnt about the nuclear accident many days after it happened and the media censorship ordered by the communist regime prevented them from taking even the most basic precautions. (more…)