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AFP: Greenpeace boards reactor equipment ship
Six Greenpeace activists Monday boarded a ship carrying French-made steam turbines bound for a new nuclear power station in Finland, the environmental group said.
The protestors climbed on board the Happy Ranger as it made its way through the Fehmarn Belt strait between Denmark and Germany and unfurled banners including one which read "Nuclear madness, made in France".
Greenpeace wants construction halted on a third-generation nuclear reactor currently being built at Olkiluoto, in southwest Finland, by the French company Areva.
CVC pulls out of GE talks over Areva unit: report | Deals | Reuters
Private equity fund CVC has pulled out of talks with General Electric (GE.N) about a possible joint bid for the power and transmission unit of France's Areva (CEPFi.PA), a French financial news service reported on Sunday.
Spokesmen for the firms involved could not immediately be reached for comment.
State-owned nuclear reactor group Areva is selling its T&D unit and has selected Japan's Toshiba (6502.T), a consortium led by U.S.-based GE, and French partners Alstom (ALSO.PA) and Schneider Electric (SCHN.PA) as possible buyers.
Binding offers are expected for November 9 ahead of an Areva decision set for November 16.
Joint Regulatory Position Statement on the EPR Pressurised Water Reactor
The UK nuclear safety regulator (HSE's ND), the French nuclear regulator (ASN), and the Finnish nuclear regulator (STUK) are currently working to assess the EPR Pressurised Water Reactor.
In carrying out individual assessments, we have all raised issues regarding the EPR Control and Instrumentation (C&I) systems, which the proposed licensees and/or the manufacturer (AREVA) are in the process of addressing.
Although the EPR design being developed for each country varies slightly, the issues we raised with the current C&I system are broadly similar, our aim being to collectively obtain the highest levels of safety from the EPR.
The issue is primarily around ensuring the adequacy of the safety systems (those used to maintain control of the plant if it goes outside normal conditions), and their independence from the control systems (those used to operate the plant under normal conditions).
Saudi may go it alone on nuclear energy, Saudi Arabia Nuclear Energy, Energy - Maktoob Business
Saudi Arabia is conducting studies into the use of nuclear energy in meeting soaring power demands, the country’s water and electricity minister said on Saturday.
Abdullah al-Hussayen said the kingdom is looking at the use of nuclear power on its own as well as in conjunction with other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states.
"We are looking into the feasibility of nuclear energy (on our own) … and also with the GCC," Hussayen told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Dubai.
Britain's nuclear strategy threatens destruction of Kalahari | Environment | The Observer
Namibian environmentalists warn expansion of uranium mining could devastate spectacular natural landscape
The hidden cost of Britain's new generation of nuclear power could be the destruction of the Kalahari desert in Namibia and millions of tonnes of extra greenhouse gas emissions a year, the Observer has discovered.
The desert, with its towering sand dunes and spectacular lunar-like landscapes, is at the centre of an international uranium rush led by Rössing Uranium, a subsidiary of the British mining giant Rio Tinto, and the French state-owned company, Areva, which part-manages the nuclear complex at Sellafield and wants to build others in Britain.
FT Energy Source | A bad week for French nuclear
As if it wasn’t enough that three countries - including France - had raised concerns about safety in the new EPR nuclear reactor design, concerns are building over delays to another big European reactor.
France remains a leader in world nuclear power, with almost 80 per cent of its electricity supply sourced from its reactors. The reactor under development by Electricite de France in Flamanville, northern France, and the Finnish Olkiluoto reactor are meant to be showcases for the new EPR reactor, largely designed by French company Areva.
Delays over Olkiluoto have been well-publicised this year, and it’s also been the subject of a public spat between Areva (which is building the plant) and Finnish utility TVO, which will operate it.
Now the French project in Flamanville is coming under fire for delays, too. It is due to be commissioned in 2012, but sources close to the project told the FT the project is already six months behind, and that EDF is wrestling with Bouyges, the engineering company contracted to build the reactor, over budgets and round-the-clock shifts to advance the project.
Areva shares fall over nuclear safety concerns | Markets | Markets News | Reuters
* New reactor design criticised by French politicians
* Follows calls for modification by nuclear safety bodies
* Shares close almost 4 percent down
PARIS, Nov 3 (Reuters) - A new generation of French nuclear power reactors came under attack on Tuesday as opposition parties called for an inquiry into their security systems, after three nuclear safety bodies asked for changes to their design.
In a rare joint statement, nuclear safety bodies in France, Britain and Finland on Monday ordered France's Areva (CEPFi.PA) and EDF (EDF.PA) to modify the safety features on its European Pressurised Reactors (EPR) due to insufficient independence between the day-to-day systems and the emergency systems.
Opponents to nuclear power latched on to the news, with France's opposition socialist party calling for a parliamentary inquiry.
Approval helps clear way for reactors' construction | Lynchburg News Advance
A Maryland agency has given a key approval to a deal between two companies that hope to build an Areva-designed nuclear reactor.
The approval lets Electricite de France buy about half of Constellation Energy Group’s nuclear business, seen as an important step in the two companies’ plans to build new nuclear reactors.
The two companies partnered two years ago to form UniStar Nuclear Energy, a joint venture. UniStar has been working to promote the construction of Evolutionary Power Reactors in the U.S.
AREVA TA Wins a Contract to Design a Low and Medium Level Waste Disposal Center in Lithuania | Reuters
ollowing an international tendering process, the team of companies headed up by AREVA TA (Paris:CEI) was awarded a contract to design a near surface repository for low and medium level waste on the Ignalina nuclear power plant site in Lithuania. The project, funded primarily by the EBRD, includes the design studies for the repository and on-site support during construction. The repository will receive low and medium level operational waste recovered from the dismantling of the Lithuanian power plant. As part of AREVA's Reactors and Services division, AREVA TA has extensive experience in the design of such facilities for radioactive waste, or in providing support to projects for their design and construction. Other team members include the French national radioactive waste management agency ANDRA, which will provide its expertise in this field, the Lithuanian Energy Institute (LEI), which brings experience in safety an environmental assessment, and knowledge on national regulations, the company Specialus Montazas-NTP (SM-NTP), which contributes skills in geology, civil engineering, seismic design and mechanical design, and the company Pramprojektas (PP), which brings infrastructure know-how.
TVO: Start-up of Europe’s First EPR Postponed to Mid-2012 :: POWER Magazine
Start-up of Europe’s first EPR nuclear power plant, the Olkiluoto 3 under construction in Finland, has been postponed beyond June 2012 because civil construction is taking longer than was previously estimated, according plant owner Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO). Finland’s nuclear regulatory agency has, meanwhile, called attention to “deficiencies” in the welding of the plant’s cooling system, potentially causing further delays.
The Finnish utility said last week that the plant’s supplier, an AREVA-Siemens Energy consortium, is responsible for the current schedule, and that it has requested a re-analysis of the anticipated start-up date.
Work on the long-awaited nuclear power project began in 2005, and the plant was originally due to come online in 2009, but the project has been consistently plagued with faulty materials and planning problems. AREVA in September revealed that the total cost of the flagship third-generation reactor had risen to some €5.3 billion—up from the originally estimated cost of €3 billion. Costs could go up even more because of timeline uncertainties.
Areva closing Lynchburg plant -- dailypress.com
The company building a new facility in Newport News to build components for nuclear reactors has decided to end its fuel-assembly production in Lynchburg and expand its operations in Richland, Wash.
Areva said this week it will consolidate the two operations, resulting in a job loss of about 150 in Lynchburg. Areva has operated the Washington facility for 40 years. Areva spokeswoman Judy Thomas told the Tri-City Herald, a newspaper based in Kennewick, Wash., that the 150 employees in Lynchburg will be given first choice for 50 new jobs in Richland, where Areva has 700 employees.
The French-owned energy service company announced last year it will build a $2 billion uranium enrichment plant at Idaho Falls, Idaho. It will produce a raw material for the Richland plant to turn into fuel assemblies for nuclear reactors.
Areva plans to open its Newport News manufacturing plant, a joint venture with Northrop Grumman, by 2011 on the James River waterfront near the shipyard.
Areva and Progress Energy form alliance
Areva Inc has announced a five-year deal that will see it become the comprehensive supplier of services and products for Progress Energy's four nuclear power plants.
The deal will see Areva provide refuelling and outage services, replace and repair plant equipment, and provide engineering and maintenance support plus other technical services to Progress Energy's plants in North and South Carolina and Florida.
.jpg "Brunswick (Progress)")
Areva Unit Bids Said to Fall Short of 4 Billion Euros (Update1) - Bloomberg.com
Areva SA, the biggest builder of nuclear reactors, received three offers of less than 4 billion euros ($5.9 billion) for its transmission and distribution unit, according to three people familiar with the sale.
General Electric Co. teamed up with CVC Capital Partners Ltd. to make an offer, while Toshiba Corp. submitted a separate bid, said the people, who declined to be identified because the talks are private. France’s Alstom SA and Schneider Electric also submitted a joint offer, the people said.
The bids fell short of the 4.25 billion euros analysts had estimated the unit to be worth. Areva is selling the business to raise money to develop uranium mines and buy Siemens AG’s share of a nuclear-reactor joint venture. The company bought the division from Alstom for 920 million euros in 2004. The French state, Areva’s biggest shareholder, may favor a domestic buyer, analysts surveyed ahead of the bidding deadline last week said.
Japan: AREVA Signs a Contract to Supply MOX Fuel to Chugoku | Reuters
AREVA (Paris:CEI) has signed today a contract* to supply 40 MOX fuel assemblies for unit 2 of the Shimanenuclear power plant, owned and operated by Japanese utility Chugoku EPCo. Under the terms of the contract, the fuel will be fabricated at AREVA`s MELOX plant in southern France, using plutonium recovered from the treatment operations performed at AREVA`s La Hague plant, thereby recycling it to be used in Japan as MOX fuel.
MOX hearing delayed as more details sought 090809 - The Augusta Chronicle
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission wants more details on how waste generated by the Energy Department's mixed oxide fuel facility will be managed.
Until more information can be gathered and evaluated, a hearing to discuss environmental groups' concerns over the waste stream will be postponed -- possibly until 2010 or later, according to a letter dated Monday from commission staff to the Atomic Safety & Licensing Board.
The $4.86 billion MOX plant under construction at Savannah River Site will dispose of plutonium from dismantled warheads by blending it with other materials to make fuel for commercial nuclear reactors.
Because commercial power plants would use the fuels, the MOX plant will require an NRC license.
More Delays at Finnish Nuclear Plant - Green Inc. Blog - NYTimes.com
Areva, a French nuclear construction company, said this week that its project to build the world’s most powerful reactor remained mired in delays and was over-budget by 2.3 billion euros, or about $3.3 billion.
The price tag of the plant in Olkiluoto, Finland — the first of a fleet of so-called evolutionary power reactors that Areva foresees building in coming years — was about $4.3 billion in 2003 and costs have steadily increased.
The reactor was meant to have gone online early this summer but Areva no longer is committing to any dates for its completion. Patrice Lambert de Diesbach, an energy analyst with CM-CIC Securities in Paris, said the latest developments were “bad news” for Areva and “should be sanctioned by the market.”
Hanford News : Areva to boost security after violation at Richland plant
Areva will improve security and site access procedures at its Richland plant and its other facilities as part of a settlement agreement with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission that was announced Friday.
Areva used a neutral mediator to resolve a security process violation issue. The company reported it to the commission last year after it found a security guard forged a signature on site access authorization forms and allowed unescorted access to individuals at the Richland plant on five occasions.
The commission spared Areva a civil penalty and a notice of violation. The NRC will evaluate Areva's corrective measures during future inspections.
Areva, Northrop Grumman break ground on Virginia nuclear facility
Areva and Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding broke ground Wednesday on the first manufacturing facility for heavy commercial nuclear reactor components to be built in the US in 35 years. Michael Rencheck, CEO of Areva NP, said in an interview that once operational in mid-2012, the plant will turn out all of the heavy components needed for one Evolutionary Power Reactor a year. That involves a reactor vessel, four steam generators, and four reactor coolant pumps, he said. The plant will be built on Northrop Grumman property in Newport News, Virginia. The joint venture represents a $360 million investment and will have a global market, supplying heavy components for future EPR reactors in the US and other EPR projects, according to Rencheck. UniStar Nuclear Energy, a joint venture of Constellation Energy and France's EDF Group, is seeking a license from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build and operate an EPR at the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant in Maryland.
Constellation appeals decision on PSC investigating EDF nuke deal
Constellation Energy Group said Tuesday that it has appealed a Baltimore judge's decision to dismiss the company's request for review of a plan by the Public Service Commission to investigate the proposed sale of half the company's nuclear operations. The PSC said in June that it has jurisdiction to review the sale plan to French firm EDF because it would give EDF major control over Baltimore Gas and Electric, Constellation Energy's regulated utility. The PSC is considering whether the proposed $4.5-billion transaction is in the public interest. Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Stuart Berger on July 2 said the court lacked the jurisdiction to hear the appeal of the PSC decision because the commission's decision to review the sale was not a final decision and therefore not subject to review. The company filed the appeal Monday to the Maryland Court of Special Appeals. "We are taking this step to preserve our legal rights in the future," spokesman Robert Gould said.
AFP: Poor plans halted Finnish nuke reactor: officials
Poor planning has led to rising costs and huge delays for a nuclear reactor going up in Finland, the country's biggest-ever construction project, officials have said.
The plant on the island of Olkiluoto in western Finland, to be run by Finnish nuclear power company TVO, was meant to start production this summer.
But it is now not expected to open for another three years and Finnish authorities cannot hide their disappointment with Areva-Siemens, the Franco-German contractor running the building operations.
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