The European Nuclear Energy Leadership Academy (ENELA) is going to open in Germany to attract university graduates to the nuclear energy sector and train future leaders in the field.
The founding treaty of ENELA was signed here on Thursday by six European nuclear energy companies, which are shareholders of the academy. (more…)
The revival of atomic energy in Europe and a new nuclear-friendly mood in both the EU Commission and the EU Parliament has given the industry’s powerful lobby in Brussels a
shot in the arm. (more…)
Back in 2003, it had seemed like such a good idea, at least to the European Commission (EC). Nuclear energy safety lapses can have transnational consequences and so surely the European Union (EU) should have an active role in making sure its member states’ nuclear power plants are safe? After all, there are EU agencies controlling the safety of food, chemicals, civil aviation, shipping and a host of other issues – so why not nuclear power? A directive was duly proposed detailing powers and responsibility for the EU in nuclear safety. Well, as it turned out, national governments just did not like this idea. Nuclear power proved just too strategic an industry for member states to want to hand over authority to Brussels, and the proposal ran into the sand, which is where it has stayed. (more…)
Two previous proposals failed; European Commission seeks greater interest in nuclear energy.
All nuclear activity in the EU will be subject to common safety rules, if a draft directive adopted by the European Commission wins the backing of member states.
Under the plans, published on 26 November, international nuclear safety standards – the 1996 Convention on Nuclear Safety (CNS), and the 2006 International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Fundamentals – would form the backbone of legislation that would be mandatory for all EU member states. (more…)
BRUSSELS, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) — The European Commission on Wednesday adopted a revised proposal for legislation setting up a European Union (EU) framework for nuclear safety.
The proposed legislation, in the form of a directive, defines basic obligations and general principles for the safety of nuclear installations in the EU while enhancing the role of national regulatory bodies. (more…)
Regulators warn against common EU standards.
The European Commission will scale down its ambitions for EU-wide nuclear-safety rules when it publishes a draft directive next week (27 November). (more…)
Brussels (Platts) – 13 Nov 2008 – The European Commission has stopped just short of directly exhorting EU countries to develop nuclear power in its updated overview of the EU nuclear sector unveiled Thursday as part of its second strategic European energy review.
“The choice to include nuclear energy in the energy mix lies with [EU countries],” said the EC in its nuclear overview, known by its French acronym PINC. (more…)
MADRID, Nov 2 (Reuters) – European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs will propose a new EU-wide energy regulator with equal powers to national regulators and will push for greater independence for those state watchdogs, he said on Sunday.
“I am going to propose a new regulation both for national regulators, to increase their real independence and their capacity to intervene, and a new Agency of European Regulators, which has to have powers comparable with national regulators,” Piebalgs told the Sunday edition of Spanish newspaper ABC. (more…)
BRUSSELS, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) — The European Commission underlined on Wednesday the need for a higher level of nuclear safety as a high-level group on nuclear safety and waste management met.
“While we can see a potential rise in the use of nuclear energy around the globe as well as in the EU, European citizens call for a strong European role in the field of nuclear safety,” said European Union (EU) Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, who opened the meeting. (more…)
Sofia. National movement Ecoglasnost has sent a letter of request to the European Commissioner for Energy Andris Piebalgs, whereby it insisted that Commissioner Piebalgs should take a stance on the NPP Belene issue. (more…)
