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President Zuma “knows nothing” about nuclear corruption in South Africa, or his family benefiting

ZUMA ‘HAS NO KNOWLEDGE’ OF HIS FAMILY BENEFITING FROM NUCLEAR PROGRAMME http://ewn.co.za/2017/06/22/zuma-has-no-knowledge-of-his-family-benefiting-from-nuclear-programme, President Jacob Zuma said the government will pursue a nuclear power project at a pace and scale that the country can afford. Rahima Essop CAPE TOWN – President Jacob Zuma has told the National Assembly he has no knowledge of his family benefitting from South Africa’s proposed nuclear build programme.

He was responding to a question by Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane, who asked him directly, whether he or any of his family members have received payments related to the project.

Zuma was asked questions about state capture, the recession and his government’s nuclear power ambitions.

The president was terse in his response to Maimane’s frank question about the possibility of corruption in the proposed nuclear build programme.

Zuma said the government would pursue a nuclear power project at a pace and scale that the country could afford.

He also reaffirmed the state’s position that nuclear is a clean and reliable form of energy.

Earlier this year, the Western Cape High Court dealt a legal blow to government’s plans when it found certain agreements related to the project were unconstitutional and unlawful.

June 23, 2017 Posted by | politics, South Africa | Leave a comment

South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma says South Africa is committed to nuclear power expansion

South Africa committed to nuclear power expansion, process to be open – Zuma, http://www.reuters.com/article/safrica-politics-nuclear-idUSJ8N1H5007

South Africa is committed to an “open, transparent” process to build new nuclear power plants and the government planned to go through with its plans for nuclear expansion, President Jacob Zuma told parliament on Thursday.

South Africa is planning to build 9,600 megawatts (MW) of nuclear capacity, a project that could be one of the world’s biggest nuclear contracts in decades.

But Energy Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi said on Wednesday in Moscow that the plans will be reviewed as the country is in a recession. (Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Writing by Ed Stoddard; Editing by James Macharia)

June 23, 2017 Posted by | politics, South Africa | Leave a comment

USA Congress move to widen nuclear tax credit access, and remove the 2020 deadline for the credits

House advances legislation to provide nuclear production tax credit access to non-profits, Daily Energy Insider, June 22, 2017  The U.S. House of Representatives advanced legislation Tuesday that would expand access to the nuclear production tax credit (PTC) to nonprofits and eliminate the 2020 deadline for the credits.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Tom Rice (R-SC), would amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005, through which the PTC was established.

Under current law, ratepayers to for-profit partners can receive savings from the credit, while ratepayers to nonprofit partners do not. The bill would allow non-profit partners to utilize the credit. The current law also requires that nuclear facilities must enter service by the end of 2020 in order to qualify for the credit, a stipulation the bill would eliminate……..

Four new nuclear power units are currently under construction in South Carolina and Georgia. For each project, one partner is a non-profit entity.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) introduced companion legislation in the Senate. https://dailyenergyinsider.com/news/6025-house-advances-legislation-provide-nuclear-production-tax-credit-access-non-profits/

June 23, 2017 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

India gives up on importing Western nuclear reactors, to save face, will build its own.

India’s inward nuclear turn, ECONOMIC TIMES,  JUN 22, 2017, By Brahma Chellaney Just as Japan’s Diet has ratified the civil nuclear agreement with New Delhi, India has decided to build 10 nuclear power reactors of indigenous design in what is the largest such construction decision in the world since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. India’s turn to a “fully home-grown initiative“ reflects the continuing problems in implementing the 2005 Indo-US nuclear deal.

India, duped by its own hype over the nuclear deal, had announced plans to import Western reactors costing tens of billions of dollars. The Indian plans helped to motivate Toshiba to acquire Westinghouse ­ a takeover that ultimately proved a huge blunder, plunging Toshiba into a grave financial crisis.
Japan, a top nuclear-equipment supplier, signed a separate nuclear agreement with India only last year after other supplier-nations had already concluded such accords. The recent Japanese parliamentary approval removes a critical missing link in commercialising the IndoUS deal. It, however, has come when Westinghouse, GE Hitachi and Areva ­ which dominate the international reactor export business ­ are in a dire financial state, with their futures hanging in balance.

Having invested considerable political capital in the vaunted Indo-US deal, India today confronts an embarrassing situation: the nuclear power promise is fading globally before New Delhi has signed a single reactor contract as part of that deal.To save face, India, with one of the world’s oldest nuclear energy programmes, has embarked on a major expansion of domestically designed power reactors.

That the decision to construct 10 reactors of 700 megawatts capacity each is monumental is underscored by the fact that the total size of these units surpasses the current installed nucleargenerating capacity in the country . India has 22 nuclear power reactors in operation, with capacity of 6,780 MWe but producing 6,219 MWe. To be clear, the 10 reactors will be in addition to seven others already under construction, with a combined capacity of 5,300 MWe.
……..It has taken 12 years for Indian hype over the nuclear deal to give way to sober realism. A cost-benefit analysis has helped to lower India’s expectations from the deal.India may still buy some Western reactors, but the latest decision clearly signals that its focus will be on building its own reactors.  http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/59270683.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

June 23, 2017 Posted by | India, politics | Leave a comment

USA Congress passes tax bill to help nuclear industry

House passes nuclear energy tax bill http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/338653-house-passes-nuclear-energy-tax-bill, BY DEVIN HENRY – 06/20/17 The House quickly passed a bill extending a nuclear energy tax credit on Tuesday.

The bill, bipartisan legislation from Reps. Tom Rice (R-S.C.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and others, would increase the number of utilities that can qualify for the tax credit and remove construction deadlines for facilities that use it.

The House passed the bill, which would cost $16 million over 10 years, on a voice vote.

The legislation lifts a requirement that nuclear facilities be placed into service by the end of 2020 in order to receive the 1.8-cent-per-kilowatt-hour tax credit.

It would also allow government-owned utilities and nonprofit electric co-ops to receive the credit and give them the power to transfer credits to other partners on the facilities, such as the projects’ designers.

The bill is especially important for the states of Georgia and South Carolina, the only two states where new nuclear power plants are under construction.

“Without this legislation, the nuclear power industry may cease to exist as we know it in this country, which is exactly why passing this bill now is more important than ever,” Rice said.

“We need to give these plants the certainty of these tax credits, just as Congress intended.”

Only one member spoke out against the bill on Tuesday. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) criticized the measure as a reward for the nuclear sector, which he said has a “record of miserable failures” when it comes to getting more reactor projects up and running.

“Instead of today’s measure, our focus should be on safe, healthy forms of energy instead of an industry that costs too much and poses too much danger to humans,” he said.

The nuclear energy sector supported the bill, with five industry groups telling lawmakers in a letter last week that the bill supports the “strategic national imperative” of supporting nuclear power projects.

June 21, 2017 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

USA Energy Secretary Rick Perry will push for “new nukes” – Small Modular Reactors

Nuclear power on the ‘front burner,’ says Energy Secretary Rick Perry

  • Nuclear power as “a very important part” of the White House’s energy strategy, Department of Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Monday.
  • Projects such as small modular reactors are on the front burner, he said. CNBC, 
Tom DiChristopher | 

Monday, 19 Jun 2017 The Trump administration sees nuclear power as “a very important part” of an all-of-the-above energy strategy, Department of Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Monday.

“Bringing our nuclear energy industry back, small modular reactors for instance, that’s on the front burner so to speak,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on the sidelines of the SelectUSA Investment Summit, which promotes investment in the U.S.

Perry’s comment offers some insight into the administration’s spending priorities as it seeks to slash funding for Energy’s research and development programs by 54 percent from 2016 levels. Offices that would see deep cuts — unless Congress intervenes — include those responsible for promoting energy efficiency and extending the life of nuclear power plants.

 Nuclear reactors currently generate about 20 percent of the country’s power. The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects that share will decline to 11 percent by 2050 as some of the nation’s aging nuclear power plants retire, and due to competition from natural gas and renewable sources…….http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/19/nuclear-energy-is-on-the-front-burner-says-sec-rick-perry.html

June 21, 2017 Posted by | politics, USA | 1 Comment

South Korea’s major turn away from nuclear energy with Kori-1’s permanent shutdown

With major turn away from nuclear energy, Pres. Moon signals major turn away from nuclear energy http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/799538.html

 Jun.20,2017 , Changed energy policy prioritizes public safety, in line with South Korea’s turn from developing to developed country

“Permanently shutting down operations at Kori-1 is the beginning of a journey toward a nuclear-free country; it is the turning point toward a safe country. I will soon be preparing a roadmap for the nuclear power phase-out that can set South Koreans’ hearts at ease,” President Moon Jae-in said on June 19. With anxiety increasing around the world about the safety of nuclear power following the nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan, Moon has become the first South Korean president to declare a nuclear power phase-out, signaling a major change in the country’s energy policy.

“Since South Korea has to import the majority of its energy, nuclear power was the energy policy chosen when we were still a developing country, but now it’s time to change that,” said Moon during an address delivered at a ceremony marking the permanent shutdown of Kori-1. The ceremony took place at the Kori Nuclear Power Headquarters of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), located in Gijang County, Busan.

Moon’s declaration of the goal of making South Korea nuclear-free signifies his willingness to turn the country’s current energy policy paradigm on its head. It affirms a transition from the energy policy of developing countries, which prioritize cheap power and efficiency, to that of developed countries, which place a premium on the environment and on the people’s right to life.

The key message offered by Moon is “public safety.” While mentioning the earthquake that struck Gyeongju in Sep. 2016, Moon emphasized that South Korea is no longer safe from earthquakes. Citing the fact that 3.82 million people live within a 30 km radius of the Kori plant, he argued that a nuclear accident in South Korea could be even more horrific than what happened at Fukushima

“The world today is moving irreversibly toward phasing out nuclear power. This is something we have to start now on behalf of our descendants, who will live in this country for millennia to come,” Moon said, making clear that it was impossible to return to the energy policy of the past.
Moon’s address also marks the point when he begins to specifically implement the pledges he made as a presidential candidate. He had promised to scrap all plans for building new nuclear reactors, to immediately shut down reactors whose operational life cycle has ended, to suspend construction on Shin Kori-5 and Shin Kori-6, and to shut down Wolseong-1. “It’s as if the people of Busan [who live close to the Kori nuclear plant] have to live with this bomb by their beds that could go off at any time,” Moon said, after watching the nuclear disaster film “Pandora” at the end of last year. “We shouldn’t be asking whether or not to open up Pandora’s box [nuclear power]; we should be getting rid of the box altogether.”“The reason we haven’t been able to phase out nuclear power is not because of a lack of researchers but because of a lack of government will. The fact that the new government has not only shut down the Kori-1 nuclear reactor but also announced a new energy policy and declared its intention to phase out nuclear power in this address is very significant,” said Yun Sun-jin, a professor at the Graduate School of Environmental Studies at Seoul National University.“The next stage is to draw up a detailed roadmap for the nuclear power phase-out. Developed countries are reducing their consumption of electricity. A superficial comparison should be avoided since their industrial structures are different from ours, but in the future, we too should be able to move in the direction of the efficient consumption of energy,” Yun added.By Jung Yu-gyung and Lee Jung-ae, staff reporters

June 21, 2017 Posted by | politics, South Korea | Leave a comment

License renewal for Point Lepreau nuclear power plant , despite lack of transparency, and indigenous opposition

Point Lepreau nuclear power plant gets 5-year licence renewal, Commission says it’s satisfied plant will protect environment, safety and security By Viola Pruss, CBC News  Jun 16, 2017 Point Lepreau’s nuclear power reactor is good to go for another five years.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission announced its decision this week to renew the NB Power nuclear generating station’s operating licence until June 30, 2022.

The current licence runs out on June 30 of this year.

In a summary report, the commission said it found NB Power, “in carrying on that activity, will make adequate provision for the protection of the environment, the health and safety of person and the maintenance of national security,” as well as follow international obligations.

Lack of transparency

The commission said it considered a number of issues and submissions related to NB Power’s qualifications to receive an extended licence, including an environmental assessment and emergency plans in the event of a nuclear emergency.

An environmental assessment found that “adequate measures are in place to protect the environment and human health.”

However, the commission noted a lack of transparency and public availability of emergency planning documents, and directed the utility to disclose them……..

Indigenous land

In making its decision, the commission also considered information presented at two public hearings in January and May, including submissions from members of several Indigenous groups.They told the commission the plant was built on traditional and ancestral territories, and the facility “adversely affected their Aboriginal and treaty rights.”

While the commission recognized that Indigenous groups were not consulted when the plant was built, it “acknowledges the current efforts and commitments made by NB Power in relation to Aboriginal engagement,” the report said…….

Disaster-proof

A good portion of the first public hearing in January 2017 also focused on Point Lepreau’s ability to withstand a significant earthquake and other potential risks, including dam failures, shipping disasters, plane wrecks and meteor strikes……http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/point-lepreau-nuclear-power-licence-renewal-commission-safety-nb-1.4164700

June 19, 2017 Posted by | Canada, politics | Leave a comment

France: nuclear power gets special privileges – undermining credibility of the Green Energy Minister Nichals Hulot

Dave Toke’s Blog 15th June 2017, The French Government’s announcement that it will legislate for a carbon floor price of 30 euros per MWh marks a dramatic turn in EU energy markets which will now be shifted to favour nuclear power above renewables. This is because just over half of nuclear power generated in the EU come from reactors in France, whereas less than 10 per cent of EU renewable energy production comes from France.

The fact that nuclear power is being given special privileges undermines the policy credibility of the Green Energy
Minister Nichals Hulot who has just been appointed by President Macron.

Given that three-quarters of electricity in France comes from nuclear power, and very little from fossil fuels, this measure is a thinly disguised extra incentive for nuclear power, an incentive that the large bulk of renewable generation in the EU will not be able to receive.

Only the UK has a carbon floor price, which is around 17 per cent lower than the proposed French one. A case in point is Germany, which generates a third of the wind power in the EU. German electricity wholesale power prices are
relatively low – much lower than in the case of the UK for example, and there are fears that some windfarms will no longer be economic after their feed-in tariff contracts end after 2020. But they would be likely to stay online of they had access to the carbon floor price being set in France.

There is no carbon floor price in Germany. Macron seems, in energy at least, to be continuing ‘business as usual’ in letting EDF run the French state. The French Government has effectively ploughed several billions into bankrupt nuclear generators AREVA and also injected money to EDF through a ‘share flotation’ (EDF is 85 per cent owned by the French Government) that seems associated with building Hinkley C power station.
http://realfeed-intariffs.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/france-to-tilt-eu-energy-market-towards.html

June 19, 2017 Posted by | France, politics | Leave a comment

Washington subcommittee passes bill on licensing f Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site in Nevada

Bill to expedite Yucca Mountain licensing clears 1st hurdle,  Martin Review-Journal Washington Bureau, June 15, 2017 WASHINGTON — A bill to expedite the licensing and development of Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site in Nevada was passed by a subcommittee Thursday, clearing the first hurdle for legislation expected to be taken up in the House this year.

The House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on environment approved the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act on a voice vote. The bill now goes to the full committee for approval…..

Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., who is not on the committee, attended the hearing and spoke on the House floor later to denounce the bill as one that ignores serious challenges from Nevada, which has denied the federal government water rights to develop the site.

Titus said the bill “usurps the state’s water rights, one of our strongest legal defenses against the repository.”

During the hearing, the ranking Democrat on the panel, Rep. Paul Tonko, D-N.Y., agreed. He said the bill as written would “essentially override the state of Nevada’s objection over its water rights.”

Tonko said that would also draw opposition from lawmakers in other Western states, where water rights have been a long source of contention…..

The House bill mirrors the Trump administration call for a restart of licensing for Yucca Mountain. The president included $120 million in his budget blueprint for fiscal year 2018, which begins Oct. 1.

The Department of Energy first sought an application for a license with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to develop and operate Yucca Mountain in 2008. The DOE tried to withdraw the application in 2010 and President Barack Obama defunded the program in 2012.

More than $15 billion has been spent studying the site and preparing for the licensing procedure, which includes adjudication of legal challenges.

200 challenges

Nevada has filed more than 200 challenges, mostly citing safety over groundwater and transportation issues.

Titus on Thursday handed lawmakers a state-produced research paper that showed moving nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain would cross through 329 congressional districts nationwide by rail or highway.

Yucca Mountain licensing also faces legal challenges in U.S. circuit courts.

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval this week reiterated his pledge that the state would oppose the Yucca Mountain project.

“The state of Nevada will continue to fight and defeat this dangerous project at every opportunity and in any venue,” Sandoval said in a statement……https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/nevada/bill-to-expedite-yucca-mountain-licensing-clears-1st-hurdle/

June 19, 2017 Posted by | politics, USA, wastes | Leave a comment

Lobbyist for Nuclear-Plant Tax Credits succeeded by funding politicians

Donor Lobbying for Nuclear-Plant Tax Credits Brags of Dinners With Trump, Bloomberg, by Bill Allison
 and John McCormick June 14, 2017, 

  • Developer earlier gave millions to Democratic committees
  • GOP senators called tax-credit allocation ‘very troubling’

  • After Franklin L. Haney made his first million-dollar contribution to a super-PAC, his dream of owning a nuclear power plant took a big step forward.

    That gift went to a group to help re-elect President Barack Obama in 2012. Haney followed up with two more million-dollar donations in 2012 and 2014, both of which went to a committee run by former aides of then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

  • Between the first million and the third million, U.S. officials cleared Haney’s company to eventually receive as much as $2 billion in tax credits for owners of nuclear plants that use advanced technology. Federal documents obtained by Bloomberg News show that the approvals came despite two complications: First, the plant in question depends on 40-year-old technology. Second, Haney didn’t own it.

    Haney ultimately purchased the unfinished, decades-old nuclear plant in northern Alabama at auction last November. Now, he has what may be an even bigger challenge — getting the mothballed plant into working order and finding customers for its power. That will require billions of dollars and some serious political help: For one thing, the tax credits he qualified for are set to expire in 2021, well before his facility could split its first atom.

    While lobbying to extend the credits, Haney made a familiar political move: He gave a fourth million-dollar donation, this one to the inaugural fund of President Donald Trump…..

  • During meetings, he mentions that he has dined at least a dozen times with Trump since the election, said the people, who asked not to be named because Haney made the comments in private settings. Haney, who didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment, is a member of Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club in Florida. The White House referred questions to the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Security Council, neither of which responded to requests for comment.
  • Gaining Trump’s support could be invaluable to Haney’s nuclear ambitions. Over the next 18 months, Trump will have the authority to appoint five of the nine board members who oversee the Tennessee Valley Authority, the government-owned utility that supplies power to 9 million customers in seven states, including Alabama. TVA represents the most likely customer for Bellefonte’s electricity, and Haney said in bid documents that he wants to sell power to the utility. But there’s a problem: TVA has already decided it doesn’t need Bellefonte……
  • Haney began trying to get into the nuclear-power industry, at an unfinished site in the Alabama countryside. The Bellefonte plant includes two partially built nuclear reactors, cooling towers and other facilities on 1,400 acres. TVA began construction in 1974 — then abandoned it in 1988. Today, one of the units is about 55 percent complete, and the other is about 35 percent finished.

    Haney’s 15-year quest to own the plant reached a climax in November, when he won Bellefonte in an auction, bidding $111 million. The only other bidder planned to sell the plant’s parts as scrap in India or elsewhere. Haney has two years to close the sale, which is conditional on his acquiring federal regulatory approvals and commitments for financing.

    ‘White Elephant’

    In the meantime, Haney has been lobbying officials on legislation that would extend the tax credit allocations that he’d already won for Bellefonte, federal lobbying disclosures show. But even if he wins an extension, many industry experts say they doubt Bellefonte can be profitable. Competition from low-cost natural gas and renewable energy sources has created difficult market conditions for nuclear plants nationwide. At least five have been retired in the past five years…….https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-06-14/million-dollar-donor-touts-dinners-with-trump-in-nuclear-quest

June 16, 2017 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

State of Nevada moves to prevent restart of licensing for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site.

Nevada moves to dismiss lawsuit that could restart Yucca Mountain licensing http://mynews4.com/news/local/nevada-files-motion-to-dismiss-lawsuit-that-could-restart-yucca-mountain-licensing by Matthew Seeman,  CARSON CITY, Nev. (News 4 & Fox 11) —  The state of Nevada has filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit that aims to restart licensing for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site.

Gov. Brian Sandoval’s office released a statement announcing the motion, saying in a statement the suit, filed by Texas, would “undercut Nevada’s opposition” to Yucca.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals previously granted Nevada’s motion to intervene as a party in the lawsuit.

The governor’s office says the motion to dismiss, filed June 12, “is the first of several legal challenges” state officials, including Attorney General Adam Laxalt, plan to bring forward.

“Yucca Mountain would come at the direct expense of the health and safety of Nevadans and this petition would diminish Nevada’s ability to make its case against this ill-conceived project,” Sandoval said in a statement regarding Texas’s lawsuit.

The suit would require the Nuclear Regulator Commission to start and finish licensing proceedings for the Yucca site within a one-year time frame.

The motion filed by Nevada argues that Texas missed the 180-day window to bring civil action over the federal law that created Yucca in the 1980s.

The Silver State also argues that federal courts cannot force the White House to require a certain level of funding from Congress for the licensing process.

President Donald Trump has asked for $120 million in his 2018 budget to restart licensing at Yucca Mountain, a move that Sandoval, Laxalt and almost all members of Nevada’s Congressional delegation oppose.

June 16, 2017 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

USA Congress Committee narrowly votes to extend tax credit for nuclear power

House panel votes to extend tax credit for nuclear power, The Hill, BY NAOMI JAGODA – 06/15/17, The House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday approved a bipartisan bill that would lift a deadline for the nuclear power production tax credit.

The panel passed the bill by voice vote.

The legislation would lift a requirement that nuclear facilities be placed in service by 2020 to be eligible for the credit. It would also allow public and nonprofit entities to transfer credits to other partners on the facilities, such as the projects’ designers.

The bill, which was introduced by Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Tom Rice (R-S.C.), is of particular importance in South Carolina and Georgia, where new nuclear power plants are being constructed.

“We need to give these plants the certainty of the tax credits as Congress originally intended…..http://thehill.com/policy/finance/337967-house-panel-votes-to-extend-tax-credit-for-nuclear-power

June 16, 2017 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Kentucky Governor signs measure lifting nuclear moratorium

Bevin signs measure lifting nuclear moratorium. , Lexington Herald Leader, BY DAVID ZOELLER, 15 June 17  Gov. Matt Bevin came to Paducah Wednesday to sign the “Robert J. Leeper Act” lifting Kentucky’s 33-year-old moratorium on nuclear power plant construction.

June 16, 2017 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

France set to close some nuclear reactors

France to close some nuclear reactors, says ecology minister Hulot, Reuters, 13 June 17,  French environment and energy minister Nicolas Hulot said on Monday that the government plans to close some nuclear reactors of state-controlled utility EDF (EDF.PA) to reduce nuclear’s share of the country’s power mix.

He gave no indication of timing.

Hulot told reporters at the G7 environment summit in the Italian city of Bologna that it was too early to give numbers about France’s aim to reduce the share of nuclear in its power generation to 50 percent from the current 75 percent.

“We are going to close some nuclear reactors and it won’t be just a symbolic move,” he said.

EDF shares, which were down 0.8 percent before Hulot’s comments, immediately fell further to stand 2.2 percent lower.

Asked about the possibility of introducing a carbon tax, Hulot said “France already has a carbon tax which we increase every year. At an EU level we want to increase the threshold,” he said……https://www.reuters.com/article/us-edf-nuclear-idUSKBN1931AD

June 14, 2017 Posted by | France, politics | Leave a comment

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