nuclear-news

‘Madame Non’ in battle to keep the nuclear hot seat FT.com UK By Peggy HollingerPublished: March 13 2009 02:00 “……………….The French government is nearing a decision on the future of Areva, its state-owned nuclear champion, and with it the fate of one of France’s most internationally recognised business figures.In recent weeks criticism has intensified over the chief executive of Areva, Ms Lauvergeon’s management of the group, which she has led since 1999. It has been fuelled by a series of mishaps that could jeopardise France’s proud boast to be the world’s leading player in the nuclear renaissance.

First there was the sudden decision in January by German partner Siemens to withdraw from a long-standing reactor venture, to set up a rival alliance with Russia’s Rosatom.

Then there was the revelation of a staggering €1.7bn ($2.2bn) loss on Areva’s first new generation EPR reactor in Finland, raising questions over the costs of the technology that will spearhead France’s nuclear ambitions…………………………..The setbacks come as the government reflects on how best to guarantee Areva’s future as a nuclear champion, while her relationship with Mr Sarkozy is strained.

TAKE-A-LOOK-France’s nuclear industry seeks global role REUTERS Mar 13, 2009

 The French nuclear industry aims to turn its decades-long experience in
building and running nuclear power stations into an export engine and the
country's companies are busy scoring contracts around the world as diminishing
reserves of oil and gas facilitate a rise in atomic energy.

 But waste and security issues keep nuclear energy a hot political potato and
not just another economic option for a country's energy needs.

 Reuters reporters cover the industry closely and detail its plans and
challenges in a series of articles involving EDF (EDF.PA), GDF Suez (GSZ.PA),
Areva (CEPFi.PA) and Alstom (ALSO.PA), among others.

  - (detailed list of articles follows)

Dangerous Times: Indifference Toward Panic canada.com By Ray Grigg, Courier-Islander March 13, 2009 “……………………..We are beginning to see such ineffective responses to the issue of climate change. Politicians and the public and are now realizing that global warming is actually happening, that it is serious and we must take corrective action. In the evolution of awareness, we are just beginning the move from indifference toward panic. And just when we need cool reason and strategic wisdom, we are inclined to try solving new problems with old solutions…………………….

Nuclear power is another. The cost of building large stations is huge and rising. The time taken to plan and construct them also makes them impractical as a solution. Disposal and supervision of radioactive waste remains a multi-millennial problem. As well, uranium supplies are limited and would still expose nations to strategic shortages – just like oil. And the price of dismantling old reactors is staggering. At a minimum of $500 to $800 million per reactor, the world is facing at least $1 trillion over the next 30 years to decommission its 440 aging reactors and decontaminate their sites – whatever “decontaminate” means.

And this dismantling cost produces no new energy……………………………….

With so many intelligent options before us, we don’t need old rationales that justify more destruction of a planet already in peril from excessive abuse.

Instead, we need cool, pragmatic and visionary thinking to guide us wisely into a sustainable future.

Analysis: Nuke waste problem unsolvedBy STEFAN NICOLA, UPI Europe Correspondent  March 13, 2009 March 13 (UPI) — In Europe, nuclear power is undergoing a revival, but the problem of how to best store highly radioactive nuclear waste is still not solved……………………one key issue hasn’t been solved yet: the storage of highly radioactive waste produced by nuclear reactors…………………..storing nuclear waste may be a bit harder than it sounds. The different types of waste radiate from 10,000 years to several million years; they would need to be sealed in repositories that are completely secure for such a period of time to avoid potentially catastrophic consequences in the case of leakage. Naturally, there exists no practical experience with such a long-term project — and short-term experience, alas, has been quite worrisome. Last September it surfaced that a German nuclear-waste storage site intended to simulate permanent storage was leaking, causing its security to rapidly deteriorate

Found out under the shade of a Coolibah Herald Sun

Olga Galacho

March 12, 2009 – “………………….. the big polluters’ favourite bedtime reading — the Coolibah newsletter.

Coolibah is an “energy communications and issues management consultancy” that “provides advisory services to government, industry associations, management consultancies and companies engaged in a wide range of energy activities and services”.

Its director is Keith Orchison, whose services to the petroleum and electricity industries earned him a Member of the Order of Australia award.

But, more significantly, he was a founding member of the Australian Industry Greenhouse Network — the greenhouse mafia — whose sole raison d’etre over the years has been to lobby governments hard to go softly on climate change policy…………………………….members include Alcoa, Bluescope Steel, Caltex, Cement Australia, CSR, Rio Tinto, Xstrata Coal and so on and so forth — the big polluters or in Senator Wong’s jargon, “the emissions intensive trade exposed groups”.

Most in this cohort have managed to extract concessions (free pollution permits) so significant from Senator Wong that now, the rest of the economy will have to foot the carbon reduction cost . . . thanks a lot, chappies.