Nuclear power in Europe

PRAGUE (AFP) — Central Europe’s top power producer, Czech-based CEZ, is pinning hopes on the financial crisis to thwart the approval of the EU’s green package, saying it would hit hard at the region’s coal-dependent industry.

The EU’s climate-energy package seeks to raise the share of renewable sources in power production by 2020, boost energy savings and tighten the rules for trading in CO2 emission permits in a bid to cut greenhouse gas emissions. (more…)

The former Finnish prime minister Paavo Lipponen (soc dem) said at an energy seminar Thursday that Finland should greenlight all three nuclear power stations planned by utilities in order to bolster the country’s energy security.

He added Finland should simultaneously boost spending on energy research and development and investments. (more…)

The EU needs to invest more in research if it is to meet its climate-change targets.

The world will need to generate 50% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2050 to minimise climate-change impacts, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said, an awesome challenge that once again underlines the importance of investing in the next generation of renewable energy. (more…)

The European Union and India are to co-operate more closely on civil nuclear research and development as a way of strengthening a partnership that has often been seen as falling short of its potential.

Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s president, and Manmohan Singh, India’s prime minister, announced the agreement on Monday at an EU­-India summit that also produced promises of closer co-ordination of climate change and energy security policies. (more…)

SOFIA, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Bulgaria’s nuclear regulator on Friday rejected accusations that nuclear power plant Kozloduy used dangerous recycled fuel, firing back against sustained criticism of the plant’s safety.
In July, a nuclear scientist and long-term Kozloduy employee, Georgi Kotev, accused the plant in his web blog and several media interviews of using second-hand fuel. (more…)

Russia and the European Union will embark on a new round of negotiations to lift hidden quotas on Russia’s nuclear exports in September 2008 during the Russia-EU summit, the head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, said today. He reiterated that the two sides were currently negotiating a new cooperation agreement. In addition, the EU presidency is currently held by France, Europe’s largest nuclear power producer and consumer. It’s time to step up talks on the matter, Kiriyenko noted. (more…)

Macedonia, under international regulations applying to countries with nuclear waste, must construct a depot to store radioactive materials. However, opposition by residents of potential locations has thwarted the country from complying with the requirement. The struggle to find a depot site has continued for five years.

The latest case attracting public attention is that of Sopiste Municipality, outside Skopje, which refuses to allow construction of a depot on its territory. The facility would store residues from devices using radioactive elements — such as old lightning rods or laboratory and X-ray residue. Currently, temporary dumps in unsafe urban locations, namely, the grounds of the Brazing Institute and former Radioisotope Centre, contain the country´s nuclear waste. (more…)

Britain has been accused of trying to water down a European Union directive designed to give renewable energy sources such as wind, wave and solar power easier access to national electricity grids.

The UK has been pushing to amend a key passage in the directive, so that instead of saying EU member-states “shall” give priority access to renewables, it would say only that they “may” do so if they wish, The Guardian reported. (more…)

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — Europe draws nearly a third of its energy from nuclear power and just 15 percent from renewable sources such as hydroelectric dams and windmills, according to European Union figures released Thursday.

Seeking to cut its reliance on imported oil and natural gas, the European Union is trying to reduce energy consumption and develop more homegrown sources of power — such as renewables — that would also limit its output of greenhouse gases. (more…)

A coolant leak at a nuclear power plant in Slovenia has been contained, but the incident has brought renewed attention to the debate over whether nuclear offers a safe low-carbon option in the fight against climate change.

“Slovenian authorities have confirmed that there has been no discharge to the environment. The situation can be considered fully under control,” the Commission said in a press statement today (5 June). (more…)