nuclear-news

The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope

Vietnam’s nuclear plans unlikely to succeed

A recent World Bank study found Vietnam could produce more than 500 gigawatts of electricity from land-based and off-shore wind farms, 10 times the country’s expected national demand in 2020.

Vietnam’s unnecessary nuclear ‘renaissance’ Greenpeace International, by jmckeati – June 23, 2010 The news just in from Vietnam is that Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved the construction of eight new nuclear power plants in the country. Each plant will feature ‘at least’ four reactors and all will be operational by 2030.

So, that’s ‘at least’ 32 reactors built within the next 20 years. Good luck with that, Mr Dung, because you’re really going to need it. Continue reading →

June 28, 2010 Posted by | ASIA, business and costs | , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Nuclear resuscitation is struggling in France, Finland, England

Generation III nuclear reactors: late again, Greenpeace International, by jmckeati – June 25, 2010T he continuing and farcical story of the state of the art European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) being built by AREVA at Olkiluoto in Finland. The many, many diverse delays incompetence in the project have led to it being (at the time of writing) four years behind schedule and 2.3 billion euros over-budget. Continue reading →

June 26, 2010 Posted by | 2 WORLD, business and costs | , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Gloom persists in uranium market

Quiet uranium market impacts on prices | Industrial Fuels and Power, 24 June 2010, “……..The market was very quiet with muted buying interest and discretionary demand. While the price spread between buyers and sellers has continued to narrow to US$0.50-0.75, the gap appears to be too large still to bridge, according to TradeTech.

Meanwhile, the Noble Group, the world’s second-largest commodities trading and logistics company, has bought a 5.1 per cent share in USEC, the sole American-owned provider of enriched uranium for use in civilian nuclear reactors. The acquisition is seen by some quarters as China’s move into the enrichment industry as the Chinese government’s sovereign wealth fund owns a minority stake in Noble. Noble wants to become USEC’s partner in marketing uranium enrichment for reactors in Asia, particularly mainland China, according to Richard Elman, Noble’s founder and executive chairman………. Quiet uranium market impacts on prices | Industrial Fuels and Power

June 24, 2010 Posted by | 2 WORLD, business and costs | , , , | Leave a comment

Germany to introduce tax on uranium fuel rods

Merkel rebuffs industry opposition to tax on uranium fuel, Monsters and Critics, Jun 23, 2010, Berlin – Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday rebuffed opposition from German industry to a planned tax on the uranium fuel rods used in nuclear power stations, her spokesman said.  Current legislation requires all the German reactors to cease operation by about 2022……….. Continue reading →

June 24, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, Germany | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Low uranium prices, concerns about Uranium One merger

Uranium One shares in limbo ahead of merger – MarketWatch By Rebecca L. McClay,  24 June 2010, SAN FRANCISCO  — While Uranium One executives wade through the details of granting a Russian government-owned company a controlling stake, minority shareholders must decide whether to keep their stock or sell it…….analysts say investors have had serious concerns about the change of control, including political risk and Russian corporate governance. Uranium One  , one of Canada’s largest uranium mining companies, announced June 8 that ARMZ, a Russian company controlled by the state, will acquire a 51% stake in the Vancouver-based company………..
Uranium prices have fallen sharply in the past two years………

June 24, 2010 Posted by | 2 WORLD, business and costs | , , , | Leave a comment

Uranium One company to be controlled by Russia

Russia’s ARMZ gains control of Canada’s Uranium One, Industrial Fuels and Power, 9 June 2010, Russia’s ARMZ has agreed to acquire a controlling stake in Canada’s Uranium One Inc by buying 356m new shares, effectively raising is current 23 per cent holding to at least 51 per cent. ARMZ will pay the Toronto-based company US$610m cash as well as interests in two Kazakh mines. Uranium One will gain 50 per cent of the Akbastau mine and 49.7 per cent of Zarechnoye in the south of the country.
The acquisition is part of the expansion plans of Rosatom Corp, ARMZ’s parent company and represents the first North American uranium venture for the firm. Russia’s state-owned nuclear company is seeking more uranium sources to supply the nuclear reactors its is building outside Russia. Last month, it revealed plans to invest US$1bn in Namibian uranium deposits. “We’ll use Uranium One as a platform for growth,” Rosatom CEO Sergei Kiriyenko said.

Russia’s ARMZ gains control of Canada’s Uranium One | Industrial Fuels and Power

June 24, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, USA | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

AREVA supplying parts to attempt to re-start damaged nuclear reactor

FirstEnergy to place lid on Davis-Besse nuclear power plant cleveland.com, June 21, 2010, “………Davis-Besse has been shut down since Feb. 28 for extensive work to repair cracks in the lid that sprouted unexpectedly in critical components. Such cracks can allow radioactive coolant into the reactor’s containment building — or worse.

Federal rules require an immediate shutdown if leaks are detected.The cracks are similar to fissures that opened up in the late 1990s in parts of Davis-Besse’s original lid and led to a pineapple-sized corrosion hole in that lid before it was discovered in 2004 Continue reading →

June 22, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, USA | , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Future is a gamble for uranium companies

Companies Bet on Rise in Demand for Uranium, By MATTHEW L. WALD NYTimes.com June 18, 2010 WASHINGTON — Uranium enrichment, the market that the Noble Group has entered with its purchase of USEC stock, is a globalized business fraught with uncertainty.
Besides rapidly changing technology and questions about how many new reactors will be built, the market can be affected by vagaries like future arms control agreements……….. Continue reading →

June 22, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, USA | , , , , | Leave a comment

Uranium not such a good investment now

Uranium Investors More Cautious ,   Uranium Investing News Jun 21, 2010 By Dave Brown – Interest in uranium investing has declined, according to a recent survey conducted by Resources Investing News.  The results indicate that fewer investors were placing their bets on uranium companies, down to 12 percent from 16.9 percent at the end of 2009. Surprisingly, uranium spot prices have declined almost 20 percent since October 2009,……Since last year, the number of operating nuclear power facilities increased by 1 …….. the lag between price and production and future uranium price due to the challenges and complexities of the nuclear fuel cycle.

June 22, 2010 Posted by | 2 WORLD, business and costs | , , | Leave a comment

As nuclear waste mass accumulates, so does the COST of it

There is no national disposal spot for the spent fuel, and for 32 states, no place to send their low-level wastes. Around the country, the inventory of low-level wastes with no place to go is growing by about 10,000 cubic feet a year……...as much as $1,625 per cubic foot of waste. Even with waste reduction technologies, the amount of waste per year amounts to thousands of cubic feet…………

Nuclear Dumps Argue Over Diluting Waste for Burial – NYTimes.com, By MATTHEW L. WALD June 17, 2010 Even low-level radioactive waste is a growing problem, with few licensed repositories to dispose of it. The problem dates from the early 1980s, when Congress said that the federal government would take care of high-level waste, like spent fuel from nuclear power plants, but that the states would have to find sites for low-level material, Continue reading →

June 21, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, USA | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tax-payers liable if nuclear reactor plan goes belly up

It’s Official – Taxpayers Take On Nuclear Risk, CleanEnergy Footprints, 18 June 2010, Today the utility giant Southern Company agreed to the terms of its portion of the $8.3 billion conditional loan guarantee awarded by the Obama Administration back in February for the proposed two new reactors it wants to build along with its utility partners at Plant Vogtle in Georgia. So now U.S. taxpayers are officially on the hook if the project goes belly up. Continue reading →

June 19, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, USA | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

British govt axes nuclear industry loan – a blow to the industry

The announcement is a blow both to the company and the nuclear sector

UK Axes GBP80 Mln Sheffield Nuclear Industry Loan – WSJ.comBy Selina Williams Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES LONDON (Dow Jones) 17 June 2010, –The U.K. government Thursday axed an GBP80 million loan to Sheffield Forgemasters International Ltd. for equipment to make the large forgings for nuclear power stations as part of broader spending cuts. Continue reading →

June 18, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, UK | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

No sign of any improvement in price of uranium

Uranium oxide price shows no sign of moving | Industrial Fuels and Power News . Trading June 17th, 2010 by IFandP NewsroomThe uranium spot market remains in the doldrums. The weekly spot price for uranium oxide hovered at US$40.75 in the week ended June 14 with no change from the previous week, according to Ux Consulting Co, a view echoed by TradeTech. ….

Uranium oxide price shows no sign of moving | Industrial Fuels and Power

June 18, 2010 Posted by | 2 WORLD, business and costs | , , | Leave a comment

Bill Gates’ pie in the sky idea for prolonging the agony of declining nuclear industry

TerraPower’s Multibillion-Dollar Nuclear Reactor Plan – Venture Capital Dispatch – WSJ, 16 June 2010, By Yuliya ChernovaIf your first product is due on the market in nine years, at a cost of between $3 billion and $4 billion, can you raise venture money now? In the case of TerraPower LLC, the answer is yes. The Bellevue, Wash.-based nuclear technology developer announced this week it raised $35 million in its Series B round from new investor Khosla Ventures and returning backers Charles River Ventures and Bill Gates.
…………. there are still years of engineering and development work ahead for the team………
Besides having to overcome technological and financial challenges, TerraPower would also have to deal with a difficult regulatory framework. In the U.S., the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issues licenses for new nuclear power plant designs; it typically takes years to secure one.


June 17, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, USA | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

In light of new tax, Europe’s nuclear industry faces uncertain future

other countries could adopt similar measures on all utilities, or on target nuclear….the new move will bring uncertainty in the European nuclear sector,

Huge nuclear tax on the cards in Germany, World Nuclear News, By Rumyana Vakarelska, 15 June 2010 The German Ministry of Finance has envisaged an additional €2.3 billion ($2.8 billion) per year ‘windfall tax’ on nuclear operators as part of the 2011 Federal Budget and its financial plan up to 2014………..According to the German Finance Ministry the charge “will be necessary, as part of an overall energy concept, to prolong the operational life of nuclear power plants.” At a time when Germany is looking for tens of billions of euros in budget savings, the ministry said that the money will be used to meet nuclear decommissioning and final repository costs…… Continue reading →

June 17, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, Germany | , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

« Previous Entries     Next Entries »