LE CREUSOT, July 3: President Nicolas Sarkozy announced on Thursday that France will build a second third-generation EPR nuclear plant, arguing that nuclear power was France’s best answer to soaring energy prices.
“We are going to build a new EPR nuclear reactor, separate from the one in Flamanville,” Sarkozy said in a speech on energy policy as he visited an ArcelorMittal steel factory in central France.
PARIS, July 4 (Reuters) - French alternative power supplier Poweo on Friday said it was interested in taking part in the construction of new-generation European Pressurised nuclear Reactors (EPR) in France.
"Poweo has long expressed its interest in co-investing in an EPR, and today confirms its interest in being associated either to the Flamanville site under construction, or to the new project along with other energy players involved," the company said in a statement.
France’s nuclear safety watchdog intends to “make an example” of the country's first reactor project in 20 years, amid concerns that many of the skills for building nuclear power stations may have been lost.
The watchdog had ordered EDF, operator of France’s 58 nuclear power stations, to halt work three weeks ago after it discovered problems with quality controls and with the iron frame of the concrete structure being put in place by Bouygues, the French construction group.
France’s nuclear safety watchdog has ordered EDF to halt work temporarily at its flagship new generation nuclear power station after finding that the French electricity giant had failed to address deficiencies in quality controls.
The Nuclear Safety Authority, charged with inspecting France’s 59 reactors, said on Tuesday that it had detected anomalies in the reinforcement of concrete for the 1,600MW EPR reactor being built at Flamanville in northern France.
It seems like a no-brainer. Make uranium burn stronger, hotter and longer in nuclear reactors, and you'll need less fuel, and there'll be less waste to deal with when it has been exhausted.
For decades, nuclear operators have done just that, but emerging safety and waste-disposal issues are raising questions about this approach. The latest high-efficiency fuel may prove to be unstable in an emergency, and so poses a greater risk of leakage of radioactive material into the environment. What's more, the waste fuel is more radioactive, meaning it could prove even more difficult than existing waste to store in underground repositories.
Safety investigators uncover cracks in the concrete base and substandard welds. Lack of recent experience in building nuclear plants said to have caused problem.
PARIS (Thomson Financial) - France's nuclear safety authority identified 'shortcomings' during an inspection in March of the Flamanville site where Bouygues is building a new nuclear power plant for EDF, Les Echos reported.
The authority criticised Bouygues for bad preparation of a concreting operation and asked EDF to supervise the work more closely, according to the business daily.
Nuclear reactors of the kind France wants to sell to Britain suffer from "potentially catastrophic" problems, it was claimed yesterday.
News of the structural flaws came days after President Nicolas Sarkozy used a state visit to Britain to boast about his nation's nuclear expertise.
With France pushing for greater cooperation on nuclear power with Romania, the Canadians who first introduced nuclear tech to Romania argue the Gallic technology comes at a cost the country may not be willing to pay.
Romania plans to build a second nuclear power station, but its rumoured interest in French nuclear technology may prove too expensive an option. News of the country’s flirtation with French nuclear technology arose when President Nicolas Sarkozy visited Bucharest last February.
It was hailed as the template for all future reactors – but then they tried to build it.
The island of Olkiluoto, off Finland's west coast, seems like the perfect picture of Nordic serenity. Surrounded by the still, idyllic waters of the Gulf of Bothnia, it looks like an ideal spot for a peaceful retreat away from it all. Anyone wanting to visit the island has to travel down a long, lonely road, hugged tightly on each side by a thick forest of spruce and birch, and avoid the many elk that roam freely.
