2010 August 04 « nuclear-news

France’s dubious dream of global nuclear power empire

France’s recent nuclear record is so ragged, it may struggle to win orders whatever the ownership structure. A new generation nuclear-power station being build by French state-owned reactor maker Areva in Finland is years behind schedule and nearly 80% over budget. A new EDF plant in France using the same Areva technology is also behind schedule……

France’s Tricky Nuclear Fusion, – WSJ.com, Matthew Curtin, AUGUST 3, 2010 “…..President Nicolas Sarkozy wants to create a French nuclear powerhouse. France believes 250 nuclear power stations will be built worldwide over the next 20 years, requiring total investment of $1 trillion or more. But dominating this market may be harder than Mr. Sarkozy thinks. Continue reading →

August 4, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, France | antinuclear, AREVA, nuclear, nuclear costs, reactors | Leave a comment

Israel a wild card on possible strike on Iran’s nuclear sites

Israel more likely to strike Iran than U.S., analysts say, Washington Examiner, By: Sara A. Carter, August 3, 2010While the U.S. military has developed a first-strike plan to take out Iranian nuclear facilities, the political and security consequences of taking that step make it an unlikely option, analysts said.
But the wild card in the deck remains Israel, and there is a growing sense among experts that the Jewish state make act first, and explain later, if the threat of a nuclear strike from Tehran continues to grow……..

Israel more likely to strike Iran than U.S., analysts say | Washington Examiner

August 4, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

USA wants UN inspections for Syria’s possible nuclear sites

IAEA should look at mandatory Syria inspection: U.S. By Adrian Croft, LONDON Aug 3, 2010 LONDON (Reuters) – The U.S. envoy to the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog said on Tuesday it should consider pressing for a mandatory special inspection in Syria to resolve allegations of covert atomic activity.A confidential International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report, obtained by Reuters in May, said Syria had revealed some details of past nuclear experiments to U.N. inspectors. But it was still blocking access to a desert site where secret atomic activity may have taken place.

U.S. intelligence reports said the desert site, bombed to rubble by Israel in 2007, had been a North Korean-designed nuclear reactor under construction, geared for atomic bomb fuel.

Syria allowed the IAEA to inspect the site, known as either al-Kibar or Dair Alzour, in June 2008 but has not allowed the agency to revisit it since then…….The IAEA lacks legal means to get Syria to open up because the country’s basic safeguards treaty covers only its one declared atomic facility, an old research reactor IAEA should look at mandatory Syria inspection: U.S. | Reuters

August 4, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Syria, weapons and war | nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment