French regulators allow oldest nuclear reactor to keep going
French nuclear watchdog allows Fessenheim to continue, PARIS, July 4 (Reuters) – France’s nuclear watchdog on Monday gave its go-ahead for France’s oldest operating nuclear reactor in eastern France to continue working for another 10 years, a move that will anger ecologists.
But the government could still decide to shut the plant, commissioned in 1978, permanently after results of post-Fukushima stress tests are made public around mid-November.
There has been mounting pressure from ecologists over the last few years to permanently shut the plant because of its age, location in a seismic area and its proximity to the German border.
Fessenheim’s opponents stepped up their pressure after Japan’s nuclear disaster in March and after Germany decided last month to pull out of nuclear energy by 2022, arguing the plant would not resist an earthquake…….http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFWEB831820110704
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French government rejecting poll showing unpopularity of nuclear power
French Industry Minister Rejects Poll Backing Nuclear Withdrawal Bloomberg, By Tara Patel June 11 French Industry Minister Eric Besson rejected the findings of an opinion poll that called for the gradual phasing-out of the country’s 58 nuclear reactors…..Fifty-one percent of respondents in an Ifop survey commissioned by the European Green party published March 21 said France’s reactors, along with its nuclear energy policy, should be phased out in the next 25 years. Just 19 percent wanted a more rapid pullout.
France, which depends on nuclear power for about three quarters of its electricity, should “progressively” exit from atomic energy, according to 60 percent of respondents to a Viavoice opinion poll published in today’s Liberation newspaper. Thirty-five percent are against the change, the newspaper said……http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-20/french-industry-minister-rejects-poll-backing-nuclear-withdrawal.html
As nuclear power unpopular, France gives Anne Lauvergneon the chop
French Government Fires Anne Lauvergeon, Forbes, Maha Atal, Jun. 17 2011 – The Wall Street Journal reports that Anne Lauvergeon, the longtime CEO of France’s state-owned nuclear firm Areva SA, has been asked to step down when her term expires in June. There’s been no comment from Lauvergeon, but the WSJ has a few hypotheses as to what happened:1. Nuclear energy is unpopular, to put it mildly, following the disaster at Fukushima Daiichi. France is unique in its dependence on nuclear power (80% of French power generation), and can’t afford to pull back on the technology. Indeed, Lauvergeon has been traveling the world defending the technology in the wake of the disaster. Replacing her pays lip service to public outrage at nuclear execs without making any changes to France’s overall nuclear position. …..
French Government Fires Anne Lauvergeon – Maha Atal – Foreign Exchange – Forbes
AREVA struggles to cope with freeze on nuclear investment
Investors demand clear Areva strategy from new CEO– By Marie Maitre The replacement of Areva’s charismatic head by a top executive little known outside the company ends a drawn-out battle for the group’s top job but offers no clues on how Areva plans to overcome project delays after the Fukushima disaster. PARIS, June 17 (Reuters) – Investors called for clarity on Areva’s strategy for dealing with a global nuclear investment freeze on Friday after a power struggle at the French nuclear power plant maker led to the dismissal of its long-serving boss.
Areva’s thinly traded shares were down 2.2 percent at 25.81 euros by 0950 GMT, lagging France’s CAC-40 .FCHI blue chip index, which was up 0.1 percent….http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/17/areva-ceo-idUSLDE75G0K820110617
French Green coalition party pledge to end nuclear power in France
French Greens prepare presidential poll with no-nuclear call By RFI 6 June 11 French Greens pledged to fight to rid France of nuclear energy in the next 20 years at their conference this weekend. The demand is part of the party’s programme for next year’s presidential elections……With support growing for their traditional opposition to nuclear power traditional boosted by the Japanese nuclear disaster, they called for no more nuclear in France within 20 years…..Whoever wins is likely to play a decisive role in the election, as the Socialists may have to turn to them for support in winning the presidency from President Nicolas Sarkozy’s right-wing UMP.
The party in its present form, which goes by the initials EELV, was formed by the fusion of the Green Party (Les Verts) and another party called Europe Ecologie……http://www.english.rfi.fr/environment/20110605-french-greens-prepare-presidential-poll-no-nuclear-call
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Problems in France’s plan for 100,000 years of nuclear waste storage
“No geologist can guarantee that there will never be water infiltration in the places intended for storage,”
Europeans Pursue Labyrinths of Nuclear Waste, NYTimes.com, By SUE LANDAU, June 2, 2011 BURE, FRANCE —”…….Gérald Ouzounian, the international director at Andra, said that research had found that this hard clay had a water content of just 15 percent, and that water remained in the clay rather than moving through it. This is critical for the repository, because it must prevent radioactivity seeping out into groundwater and contaminating soil, plants, animals, and ultimately, human beings. Continue reading
France’s nuclear wastes must be secured for over 100,000 years
The repositories are supposed to remain hermetically sealed for at least 100,000 years — roughly the length of time human beings have existed on Earth
Europeans Pursue Labyrinths of Nuclear Waste, NYTimes.com, By SUE LANDAU : June 2, 2011 BURE, FRANCE — Reached by narrow roads that meander through picturesque villages, a high-tech laboratory sits in a corner of France so remote that until construction started on it a decade ago, the local inn was not connected to the electricity grid.
Beneath a plateau surrounded by fields of colza and wheat, the underground laboratory, located near the village of Bure, in the eastern French region of Lorraine, is run by the Agence Nationale pour la Gestion des Déchets Radioactifs, or Andra, the national authority charged with the safe disposal of nuclear waste. Continue reading
AREVA neglecting France’s old radioactive uranium mining sites
Today, the site is the responsibility of Areva, a majority state-owned French multinational that builds nuclear power stations and manages uranium mines around the world……
France’s respected Independent Research and Information Commission on Radioactivity (CRIIRAD). is similarly critical of the situation. “These exposures are totally unjustified and levels should be reduced by properly redeveloping the site and removing radioactive material,”
Radiation fears surround France’s old uranium mines, Google News, By Simon Coss (AFP) 27 May 11, ROSGLAS, France — It looks like any other another leafy woodland path in Brittany, but campaigners say ramblers on this particular trail may face levels of radiation at least 10 times higher than normal. Continue reading
Global nuclear industry slowdown, as investment in renewables grows
The deepening nuclear debate over nuclear energy in France, meanwhile, may have global implications…….Even France’s allegiance to nuclear appears to be loosening…..several candidates vying to take on Nicolas Sarkozy in the presidential election next year have called for France to begin shifting from nuclear to renewable energy.China and the U.S. are also showing signs of strain over the issue…..In the U.S., nuclear investment plans are wavering
A Worldwide Nuclear Slowdown Continues – Technology Review, May 18, 2011, By Peter Fairley“……….The German government has already identified renewable energy as the future, setting plans to boost renewable generation to 50 percent of electrical consumption by 2030 (from 17 percent last year) and to 80 percent by 2050.
….Germany’s accelerated nuclear phase-out may also threaten plans in Eastern Europe by undermining support for subsidies. Continue reading
Greenpeace now blocking construction of dangerous Flamanville nuclear reactor
The EPR design in particular has a number of safety risks similar to Fukushima, as the French nuclear safety authority ASN pointed out a few weeks ago.
Greenpeace Blocks Construction at France’s Flamanville Nuclear Reactor, Greenpeace by Justin – May 4, 2011 , At dawn on Monday this week, Greenpeace activists began blocking the construction of the European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) under construction at Flamanville, France. Two trucks were anchored to the ground, blockading the entrance carrying activists. More activists scaled four cranes, attempting to impede further construction work at the site. Continue reading
World must “embrace nuclear power” says AREVA
“Nuclear is the cheapest” power source, Besnainou said
Areva Executive Praises Nuclear Power, Urges Loan Guarantees – WSJ.comBy Yuliya Chernova Of DOW JONES VENTUREWIRE NEW YORK 4 April 11, –-Jacques Besnainou, chief executive of the U.S. arm of nuclear giant Areva SA (CEI.FR, ARVCY), said that the world must embrace nuclear power and advocated the continuation of U.S. federal loan guarantees for new nuclear power plants. Continue reading
France’s nuclear plant owners not liable for accident costs
Whereas nuclear power plants are liable under German regulations for damages of up to 2.5 billion euros, for example, those in France can be found only liable for just 91.5 million.
“It is unfair that a nuclear power plant only needs to insure itself against a fraction of its risks.” Green European MP Claude Turmes told the business magazine.
Pressure rising on Europe’s nuclear plant owners Reuters Apr 3, 2011 “….. FATAL EXPANSION Separately, WirtschaftsWoche reported Oettinger plans to talk to nuclear power plant operators and insurers in Brussels on Tuesday about harmonising liabilities across the EU, seen as an implicit subsidy for operators in certain countries. Continue reading
Nuclear power now losing its glow in France
France has quietly begun reassessing the risks of nuclear power…… “Climate change is changing the situation,” he said, “Extreme events that so far happened every thousand years along the coast now happen every hundred years.”…..
France Gives Its Nuclear Power Industry a 2nd Look NYTimes.com By KATRIN BENNHOLD and DAVID JOLLY March 31, 2011 PARIS — The Fukushima nuclear crisis has prompted anti-nuclear marches across the world, persuaded the Chinese authorities to delay the construction of new reactors and helped the German government lose an important state election. Continue reading
France wants to keep NATO’s tactical nuclear weapons in Europe
France is biggest obstacle to ridding Europe of tactical nuclear weapons – report |guardian.co.uk, Julian Borger, 30 march 11, IKV Pax Christi, a Dutch nuclear abolitionist group, is putting out a report today on its findings from talking to Nato member states about what they think about the estimated 180 remaining US tactical nuclear weapons on European soil.
The key findings of the report show that there is sufficient political will within NATO to end the deployment of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons in Europe. Fourteen, or half of all NATO member states actively support the end of TNW deployment while ten other countries say they would not block a consensus decision to removed the weapons. Only three NATO members (France, Hungary and Lithuania) say they oppose an end to the TNW deployment, and only France has is willing to invest political capital to keep the weapons on the territory of Belgium, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and Turkey…..
Anxiety in France about its nuclear reactors
French atomic security unready for repeat disasters: agency Expatica France, 30 march 11, French nuclear security has not yet taken into account the kind of accumulation of natural catastrophes that led to Japan’s atomic disaster, the head of the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) said Wednesday.”How do we deal with an accumulation of assaults? This is something that we have not yet taken into account,” ASN head Andre-Claude Lacoste said when asked about lessons to be learnt from the unfolding nuclear accident at Fukushima……
“We cannot live on quiet certainties, in fact who can after what’s just happened?” he said, adding that the ASN’s position remained that “no one can ever say that there will never be a nuclear accident in France.”
The French government last week told the ASN to carry out a security audit at France’s 58 active atomic reactors. France is proportionally the world’s largest user of nuclear power…..French atomic security unready for repeat disasters: agency < French news | Expatica France
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26 September – International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
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