Nuclear power in Europe

The European Commission will table a legislative proposal on the treatment of radioactive waste before the end of the year, commission president José Manuel Barroso told a conference on nuclear energy in Paris on Monday.

Energy commissioner Günther Oettinger hinted at legislation on nuclear waste management at a European Parliament hearing in January. He said setting the “highest possible” safety standards for disposal would be a priority. “Further costs cannot be a consideration,” he warned. (more…)

Platts – The US, France and Japan are working to put international mechanisms into place to help finance construction of nuclear power plants in the US and elsewhere, government officials and financial analysts said this month.

Two principal targets are international financial institutions, such as the World Bank, and national export credit agencies, the sources said. (more…)

MAILUU-SUU, 10 September 2008 (IRIN) – “I carry clean [drinking] water with my truck to the villages upstream almost on a daily basis. I was born here and I remember that in the past the road on this side of the river was closed to traffic. They say that was because of some mines and radioactive waste tailings,” Bakyt told IRIN in Kairygach, about 10-15 minutes’ drive from Mailuu-Suu.

There are some signs warning about radioactivity – meaning there are waste dumps located not far from the road and the river. Actual waste dumps are natural or artificial holes filled with the toxic waste and covered with soil as a protective cover. (more…)

ORLOVKA, 1 March 2006 (IRIN) – Hundreds of people dressed in dirty clothes and masks are digging in a refuse site for lumps of silicon just 10 metres from a radioactive waste dump in the northern Kyrgyz village of Orlovka, 100 km east of the capital, Bishkek.

Through the stench of rotting rubbish and the dust, “miners” sitting around eating and drinking become aggressive when asked if they are aware of the dangers they face. (more…)

OSH, 14 April 2005 (IRIN) – A landslide which hit the area surrounding the southern Kyrgyz town of Mailuu-Suu on Wednesday evening is causing concern among the authorities because of its proximity to huge radioactive dumps from Soviet-era uranium mines.

The land movement halted the flow of a key river and water source in Mailuu-Suu and blocked the road linking the town with the adjacent village of Sary-Bee, an official told IRIN on Thursday. (more…)