Nuclear power in Europe

REPAIRS at British Energy’s coal-fired Eggborough power station will be delayed until next year after the company said maintenance of its ageing nuclear power reactors is taking longer than expected.

The nuclear power group, which recently agreed to a £12.5bn marriage with French giant EDF, said maintenance of a unit at Eggborough in North Yorkshire will now happen in the first quarter of next year rather than November. (more…)

Vincent de Rivaz, the chief executive of France’s EDF Energy, which is now in control of the UK’s nuclear energy programme, doesn’t laugh when I ask if he has succeeded where Napoleon failed.

“It’s not a war,” he says, very seriously. “This is an amicable agreement between two companies which will bring good news to everyone involved. Will it bring stability to customers for electricity bills? Yes. Will it bring new jobs? Yes. Will it improve climate change? Yes.” (more…)

Nuclear power firm British Energy looks poised to fall into foreign hands after it was reported French power giant EDF has agreed a £12.4 billion takeover of the firm.

The deal is worth 774p a share, the Wall Street Journal said, 9p higher than a rebuffed offer made in July. (more…)

The credibility of the nuclear industry was shaken last night after the estimated cost of cleaning up Britain’s atomic waste was raised by a further £10bn.

The latest clean-up estimate from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) suggests the commonly accepted figure of £73bn should rise to £83bn. But the agency insisted that £10bn of income from generating and fuel reprocessing plants should also be taken into account. (more…)

The nuclear industry in Britain is killing billions of fish every year and taking a devastating toll of stocks, an Oxford University academic suggests.

The impact can be so severe in the worst-affected regions of the seas around Britain that death rates are equivalent to half the commercial catch for some species. (more…)

British Gas owners Centrica may join a £10billion consortium vying to control the UK’s nuclear power plants.

Centrica hopes to lead a continental group bidding for British Energy, which runs all of the UK’s nuke sites. (more…)

The public will get the chance to hear the outline proposals for new nuclear power stations at Sizewell and Bradwell next month.

British Energy is arranging public meetings “to keep people informed on the decision-making process and to hear views on the impact this may have on the area”. (more…)

LONDON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - British Energy will inspect three more reactors at its Hunterston B and Hinkley Point nuclear power stations later this year after stopping one unit over the weekend for boiler checks, a spokeswoman for the company said on Monday. (more…)

British Energy has said that it would extend the lives of Hinkley Point B and Hunterston B nuclear power stations by five years to 2016.

The two sites, which are currently running at around 60% capacity due to boiler issues, began generating power in 1976.

Further studies will be conducted by 2013 regarding the potential for additional life extensions beyond 2016, the company added. (more…)

Shares in British Energy closed down 8% after problems uncovered by a routine inspection forced it to take four nuclear reactors out of service.
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