France

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France, Britain deny seeking subsidies for nuclear industry

Monday, April 16, 2012

(BRUSSELS) - France, Britain, Poland and the Czech Republic rejected a report Friday that they want nuclear energy to receive subsidies similar to the ones enjoyed by renewable energies.

The German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported earlier that those four countries sent letters outlining their request to Brussels ahead of a meeting by European Union energy ministers next week.

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Fire and abnormal primary circuit leak occured at Penly NPP n°2 reactor

On 5 April 2012, at around 12 midday local time, ASN was informed by the operator EDF that a fire had started in the n°2 reactor building of the Penly NPP (North-West of France). The reactor automatically shut down.

EDF teams and the local firemen brigades entered the reactor building and extinguished burning oil. The firemen ensured the fire was totally extinguished.

Category: Power Reactor France »

Sixteen states talk nuclear power

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

The representatives of the 16 EU countries that have opted for nuclear energy have identified the four 'pillars' on which the EU's energy policy must be built: safety of sourcing, consumer purchasing power, industrial competitiveness and the fight against global warming.

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Nuclear outage lifts French weekend price

Saturday, February 11, 2012

PARIS, Feb 10 (Reuters) - French weekend prices jumped early on Friday as a second unplanned nuclear outage within 12 hours caused panic in the market about a supply shortage, but prices for next week were steady as warmer weather was expected to ease demand pressure.

French baseload power for Saturday delivery traded nearly twice as high as in the neighbouring German market at 100.00 euros, after EDF's 1,300 Cattenom 2 nuclear reactor went offline unexpectedly overnight, tightening supply margins already under strain from high winter demand.

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Level 2 incident on INES scale concerning a pipe nonconformity in two Cattenom NPP fuel storage pools

On 18 January 2012, Cattenom's operator (EDF) notified ASN that the absence of a \siphon breaker\ orifice on the fuel storage pools of reactors 2 and 3 had been detected during an inspection performed by EDF teams.

Category: Power Reactor France »

Areva confirms private investigator was hired

Saturday, January 21, 2012

A senior director at Areva, France’s state-owned nuclear champion, has confirmed that he did hire a Swiss intelligence firm to examine its disastrous €1.8bn purchase of a uranium miner but denied that it was part of a plot against Anne Lauvergeon, the company’s former chief executive.

Ms Lauvergeon, known as “Atomic Anne” after 10 years at the helm of one of the world’s leading nuclear manufacturers, shocked the French business and political elite this week when she accused her former employers of spying on her and claimed that she had been victim to a long-running “plot” to destabilise her, directed from the “highest levels of the state”.

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EDF Pegs Nuclear Upgrade Cost at $13 Billion

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

PARIS—France's nuclear-safety watchdog ordered immediate upgrades to nuclear reactors to guard against natural disasters, which Électricité de France SA said could require €10 billion, or roughly $13 billion, in additional costs.

In a review following last year's Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan, the Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire concluded that no plants needed to be shut down immediately but that steps should be taken as "soon as possible" to improve safety at France's 58 reactors.

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France's Areva to announce big losses-minister

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Dec 11 (Reuters) - French nuclear reactor maker Areva will announce large losses on Tuesday when the group unveils its strategy, French Industry Minister Eric Besson said on Sunday.

"I can confirm that Areva will announce losses," Besson told Radio J. "In all likelihood, they will be big."

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Explosion and fire at Centraco CENTRACO waste processing and conditioning plant

On 12 September 2011 at 11h45 pm (9.45 UTC), the explosion of a furnace used for melting low-level (LL) and very low-level (VLL) metallic radioactive waste triggered a fire at the CENTRACO nuclear installation located in Codolet, adjacent to but separate from Marcoule nuclear site (France, Gard Département). The fire ended at 1.00 pm (11.00 UTC) on the same day.

This explosion caused one worker's death and injuries to four others, including one seriously due to deep burns.

Category: Radwaste Facility France »

Explosion at French Nuclear Site Leaves One Person Dead

Thursday, September 15, 2011

PARIS — One person was killed and four were injured Monday afternoon in an explosion at a nuclear waste treatment site in southern France, according to the French Nuclear Safety Authority.

The authority and local police officials said there had been no radiation leak. About five hours after the explosion, the authority announced that the episode was over. The site, about 20 miles from Avignon, has no nuclear reactors, the authority said. A spokesman for the French power utility Électricité de France, which owns the site, said, “It is an industrial accident, not a nuclear one.”

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