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11 September 2012
Spanish Garoña Plant Likely to Close in July 2013
On 5 September 2012, the operator of the Spanish Garoña plant wrote to the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism that it is “not in a position to request the renewal of the operating license”, which runs out in July 2013. The operator Nuclenor claims that “regulatory doubts” have lead to a level of uncertainty that “puts the economic feasibility of the plant in doubt”. Nuclenor estimates that the continued operation of the 446
MW
Boiling Water Reactor (
BWR
) would require investments of (…)
11 September 2012
US
‑
EX
‑
IM
Bank Grants Loan for
UAE
Barakah Project
On 7 September 2012, the United States Export-Import Bank announced that it had granted the Barakah One Company a $2 billion loan to underwrite the export of
US
components and services as part of Westinghouse’s involvement in the Korean Electric Power Company (
KEPCO
) led construction of the United Arab Emirates’ (
UAE
) first nuclear power plant at Barakah. The loan is the bank’s largest ever transaction in the
UAE
as well as its first financing of a ’greenfield’ nuclear plant in over a (…)
10 September 2012
Final Blow to
EDF
’s
US
Adventure?
The
US
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (
NRC
) Atomic Safety Licensing Board (
ASLB
) has ruled on 30 August 2012 that the French State utility Électricité de France (
EDF
) is “ineligible to obtain a license” for the construction of Calvert Cliffs Unit 3 in Maryland “as long as the current ownership arrangement is in effect”. Furthermore, the Board stated that it “will terminate this proceeding 60 days after the issuance of this order” unless
EDF
finds a new
US
partner. (The full text of the ruling (…)
24 July 2012 [fr]
UK
Parliament Slams Government Proposed Energy Bill
On Monday 23 July 2012, the
UK
Parliament’s Energy and Climate Change Committee released its report on the Government proposed Energy Bill. The report is highly critical of the process and possible outcome of the negotiations around the setting of the ‘strike price’ for nuclear new build. The strike price is the price the nuclear operator would be guaranteed to get under long-term contracts for power from its planned reactors. The Times and other press are reporting that
EDF
, currently the (…)
22 July 2012 [fr]
Construction Start in the United Arab Emirates
Construction of the first nuclear plant in the United Arab Emirates (
UAE
) started with the pouring of part of the base slab at the Barakah site on 19 July 2012, according to a press statement by the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (
ENEC
). This is the first of four 1400
MW
proposed reactors that the Korea Electric Power Corporation (
KEPCO
) plans to build at the site. Start-up is scheduled for one unit each year between 2017 and 2020. Cost estimates have risen to between $36 billion and «
(…)
21 July 2012 [fr]
Nth Delay For Finnish
EPR
On 16 July 2012, the Finnish utility
TVO
announced that the Olkiluoto-3 reactor «
will not be ready for regular electricity production in 2014
».
TVO
stated that it is «
not pleased with the situation
» of the
EPR
under construction that should have been connected to the grid in 2009. Construction costs have soared from an estimated €3 billion at construction start to between €5.7 and €6.6 billion, depending on the source. French nuclear builder
AREVA
immediately reacted by blaming
TVO
and (…)
19 July 2012 [fr]
Nuclear Phase‑out in Belgium : Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
On 4 July 2012, the Belgian Government confirmed the scheduled phase-out of two of the country’s seven reactors. The two oldest reactors, Doel-1 and -2 with 433
MW
each, will be shut down in 2015 as stipulated by current legislation. However, operational lifetime of the 37-year old 962
MW
Tihange-1 reactor, originally also scheduled to be disconnected from the grid by 2015, shall be extended by 10 years, «
in order to avoid the risk that 500,000 to one million inhabitants are plunged into (…)
19 July 2012 [fr]
Japan : Second Ohi Reactor Restart
On 18 July 2012 at 21h00, Kansai Electric Power Company (
KEPCO
) began the restart procedure of its Ohi-4 reactor. Criticality was reached in the morning of 19 July with grid connection expected for 21 July. This reactor reactivation is the second after grid connection of Ohi-3 on 5 July since all Japanese nuclear power plants were progressively shut down after 3/11. The restart was decided in spite of unprecedented protests in the country and a peak load in Kansai area 9% to over 20% lower (…)
5 July 2012
Japanese Reactor Restart and Parliament Report on Fukushima
On 5 July 2012 unit 3 at the Ohi nuclear power plant restarted and became the first working nuclear unit in Japan since May. Since the Fukushima accident in March 2011, the country’s reactors were all gradually closed for refuelling, for further safety assessments and due to local opposition to their restart. Public attitude towards to restart will likely be a determining factor to how many more reactors will be re-opened. Simultaneously "The official report report of The Fukushima Nuclear (…)
16 May 2012
Incoming French Government and Nuclear Power
The incoming French President François Hollande and his Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault have presented the composition of the new government. Designated Ministers include explicit opponents of nuclear power as well as outspoken proponents. Relevant positions for energy policy include the following positions (unofficial English translation): • Jean-Marc Ayrault, Socialist Party, Prime Minister • Nicole Bricq, Socialist Party, Minister for Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy • (…)
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