Asia

Armenia to set up uranium prospecting joint venture with Russia

Friday, March 7, 2008

YEREVAN, March 6 (RIA Novosti) - The Armenian government authorized on Thursday the establishment of a joint venture with Russia for the additional prospecting of uranium deposits in the South Caucasus republic.

Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom and the Armenian environmental ministry agreed in February to set up a joint venture on a parity basis for the additional prospecting of Armenian uranium, which will be enriched in a specialized international center in Angarsk, East Siberia.

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Norway to offer Russia $2.4 mln to upgrade nuclear storage facility

Friday, February 22, 2008

MURMANSK, February 21 (RIA Novosti) - Norway is to provide 58 million rubles ($2.4 million) for the overhaul of a nuclear waste storage facility in northern Russia, a spokesman for the Murmansk Region governor said on Thursday.

The plan was announced during a meeting between Governor Yury Yevdokimov and the governor of Norway's Finnmark county, Gunnar Kjonnoy, in Kirkenes, a Norwegian town near the Russian border.

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Turkey delays inauguration of first nuclear plant tender

Friday, February 22, 2008

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP): Turkey on Thursday delayed the opening of a tender for the construction of the country's first nuclear power plant.

The energy ministry was waiting for a government audit agency to comment on the tender's technical details before potential bidders could be invited, state-run media said. Officials said earlier but it was not clear how long the delay would be.

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Russia ex-nuclear energy minister found guilty of theft

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

MOSCOW, February 19 (Itar-Tass) - The Zamoskvoretsky court of Moscow recognized ex-nuclear energy minister Yevgeny Adamov guilty of stealing over 30 million dollars.

The court considered proved his guilt of fraud and abuse of office.

“The court has ascertained that defendant Adamov has committed fraud by stealing a major amount of property abusing his office, which entailed substantial damage to the interests of the state,” the judge said on Tuesday.

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Areva declares interest in Turkey nuclear plant project

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

ISTANBUL (Thomson Financial) - French nuclear giant Areva said it is interested in a planned tender for the construction of Turkey's first nuclear power plant.

'We are going to meet the (Turkish) energy minister (Hilmi Guler) and we will clearly indicate to him that the Areva company is interested,' Gabriel Saltarelli, head of the company's commercial affairs in Central and Eastern Europe, told reporters.

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Turkey to invite bids for first nuclear power plant on Feb. 21

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

ANKARA, Turkey: Turkey has revived plans to build its first nuclear power plant on the Mediterranean coast despite warnings from environmentalists that the site was in an earthquake prone location, the energy minister said Tuesday.

The minister, Hilmi Guler, said everything was ready for construction at Akkuyu, near the Mediterranean coastal town of Silifke, the state-run Anatolia news agency said.

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Russia plans bid to build nuclear plant in Armenia

Thursday, February 7, 2008

YEREVAN, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday it will bid in a tender to build a nuclear power station in Armenia to replace an ageing Chernobyl-style plant that has provoked safety concerns.

Armenia, which imports most of its energy, has said it will close down its Soviet-built Metzamor nuclear reactor, which supplies up 40 percent of the country's power, only when it can add new generating capacity. The government said last year it would hold a tender to build a new 1,000 megawatt reactor at the site near Yerevan, which could be ready by 2016.

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Russia Moving Ahead With Plant Closings

Saturday, February 2, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two of Russia's plutonium-producing reactors may be closed six months ahead of schedule this summer, a major milestone in U.S. nuclear nonproliferation efforts, a senior Energy Department official said Friday.

The official said Sergey Kiriyenko, the director of Russia's nuclear agency, Rosatom, told Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman during a 40-minute meeting Friday that shutting down the two reactors in the Siberian town of Seversk so soon was "realistic."

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Turkey Sabanci to pick nuclear partner by mid-March

Friday, February 1, 2008

ISTANBUL, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Turkey's Sabanci Holding SAHOL.IS will choose by mid-March from up to six European and Asian companies to partner its bid in a Turkish nuclear power plant tender, the head of Sabanci's energy group said on Monday.

"We are looking for a utility company and are in talks with five or six companies ... (We can decide on one) at the end of February or the beginning of March," Selahattin Hakman, the president of the conglomerate's energy group, told Reuters.

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Ecologists Warn of Dangers to City of Nuclear Waste Cargo

Friday, January 25, 2008

By Galina Stolyarova, the St. Petersburg Times

As 2,000 tons of radioactive cargo arrived at St. Petersburg’s port from Germany on Thursday, environmental groups took to the streets to inform city residents about the growing imports of nuclear materials and the dangers the trade imposes.

The MV Schouwenbank cargo ship, carrying containers with a total of 2,000 tons of depleted uranium hexafluoride, came from the Gronau uranium enrichment facility that belongs to Urenco Deutschland. The radioactive load on board the ship is due to be sent by rail to the town of Novouralsk in Siberia for reprocessing and storage.

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