How AREVA and EDF of France sell the nuclear industry
The many financial failure tsunamis of nuclear power Ace Hoffmann October 7th, 2009 “………No country has ever “solved” its nuclear waste problem. France grinds stuff up, releases much of it directly into the North Sea, and stores the rest with no idea of what to do with it. Continue reading
France’s nuclear industry not safe or clean
European Expert: U.S. Policymakers Are “As Wrong As They Can Be” About the French Experience With Nuclear Power
The Alliance 27 Sept 09 “…………French nuclear power is not “safer” … and the nation does not have a long term solution to waste storage. Continue reading
French authorities try to silence anti-nuclear protest
Beyond Nuclear, Linda Gunter 25 Sept 09 With 10,000 people or more already expected to gather in the French border town of Colmar for an anti-nuclear rally on October 3, local authorities are attempting to renege on their agreement to allow the demonstration.
The rally, which will call for the phase-out of the nearby 30-year old Fessenheim reactor, the oldest in France, coincides with an expected decision to extend the reactor license for another 10 years. But now the prefect of Upper Rhine and the mayor of Colmar, both nuclear power advocates, are trying to move the rally out of the town center and away from the media spotlight.
Raising the specter of “German rioters”, news reports claim the authorities are preparing tear gas-armed police to disperse the rally. Beyond Nuclear joined many others in writing to the two officials, pointing out that their decision further confirms that the French nuclear system and democracy are incompatible.
France’s failing atomic energy industry
Tom Friedman’s Idiocy Atomique
COUNTER PUNCH By HARVEY WASSERMAN 23 Sept 09 France’s atomic power industry is a failed radioactive flame. Its 58 reactors are unpopular, unsafe, uneconomical, dirty, direct agents of global warming, weapons proliferators and major generators of atomic waste for which there is no management solution. Continue reading
France’s nuclear waste disposal methods – costly and unsafe
No easy way to dispose of nuclear waste
TheDay.comBy Los Angeles Times 9/21/2009 By Frank Von HippelThe Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository project is now comatose, if not dead. And that puts us back at square one on a crucial question: What are we going to do with all the radioactive waste being discharged by U.S. nuclear power reactors?Many conservatives on Capitol Hill favor the French “solution”: spent-fuel reprocessing. But reprocessing isn’t a solution at all: It’s a very expensive and dangerous detour. Continue reading
Nuclear power, tax-payer subsidised, and not popular in France
European Expert: U.S. Policymakers Are ‘As Wrong As They Can Be’ About The French Experience With Nuclear Power Marignac Says
REUTERS WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 /PRNewswire-
Nuclear power in France is not popular. The pursuit of the nuclear program in France is a permanently undemocratic choice. Contrary to the image presented in the United States, the French population is no more in favor of nuclear power than the European average – indeed a majority is opposed to the building of new plants. Surveys repeatedly show that the public lacks confidence in the institutional promoters of nuclear power. Continue reading
France has no solution for nuclear wastes
European Expert: U.S. Policymakers Are ‘As Wrong As They Can Be’ About The French Experience With Nuclear Power Marignac Says
REUTERS WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 /PRNewswire-
“…………………French nuclear power is not “safer” . . . and the nation does not have a long term solution to waste storage. The operators of the 200 nuclear facilities in France declare a very large number of events – considered relevant for safety – every year. EDF alone declares between 10,000 and 12,000, of which 700 to 800 are deemed “incidents” or “significant events”. Continue reading
Myth that nuclear power promotes ‘energy security’
European Expert: U.S. Policymakers Are ‘As Wrong As They Can Be’ About The French Experience With Nuclear Power Marignac Says
REUTERS WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 /PRNewswire
“………– Nuclear power in France has not promoted energy independence. Nuclear power in France is a major presence, providing 76 percent of electricity produced in 2008. However, electricity accounted for only 20.7 percent of the final energy consumption in France that year. Excluding electricity exports, the overall contribution of nuclear power to France’s final energy consumption is only in the range of 14 percent. Continue reading
AREVA’s flagship nuclear reactors – costs are out of control
European Expert: U.S. Policymakers Are ‘As Wrong As They Can Be’ About The French Experience With Nuclear Power Marignac Says
REUTERS WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/
………………..The French EPR Reactor is a new reactor design developed by the company Areva in cooperation with the German firm Siemens. Serious doubts have been raised about the safety and cost of the EPR. Experience in the construction at the two sites where EPRs are being built, in Finland (Olkiluoto 3) and France (Flamanville 3), has revealed serious and fundamental weaknesses in design, problems during construction phases and soaring costs. Continue reading
US govt warned on failure of France’s nuclear system
European Expert: U.S. Policymakers Are ‘As Wrong As They Can Be’ About The French Experience With Nuclear Power Marignac Says “Far From Being a Model, France Should be a Powerful Cautionary Tale for the U.S. about the Folly of a Headlong Rush into More Nuclear Power” Continue reading
AREVA’s profits wiped out by new nuclear reactor troubles
OL3 EPR wipes out AREVA profits
Nuclear Reaction 5 Sept 09
The OL3 nuclear European Pressurized Reactor (EPR), being built by French nuclear giant AREVA at Olkiluoto in Finland, is in such desperate financial trouble it has single-handedly wiped out the company’s half year profits. Continue reading
Nuclear risks rise for French workers
French nuclear workers see risks as conditions worsen
* EDF subcontracts 80 percent of nuclear maintenance
* Nuclear workers say they are under mounting time pressure
* Safety margin is narrowing, expert says
* EDF denies it cuts corners, says subcontracts by choice
Forbes Reuters FEATUREBy Muriel Boselli
PIERRELATTE, France, Aug 31 (Reuters) – Worsening working conditions, inadequate pay rises, pressure to work faster and safety concerns — these are the familiar grievances of a disaffected work force.
When such complaints arise in France’s most sensitive industry — nuclear power — alarm bells start ringing.
Cyril Bouche and his colleagues at the Tricastin nuclear plant in the rolling hills of the Drome region say the state-owned utility EDF, which runs France’s 58 nuclear reactors and has been expanding into the United States and Britain, is not only cutting costs, but also cutting corners.
The 39-year old, who works for one of EDF’s many subcontracting firms, says working conditions at the plant — hit by a series of incidents that shook public trust in 2008 — have deteriorated over the past five to 10 years.
“Today France is selling reactors abroad but it should first put its own house in order,” said Bouche, the only one of 10 workers interviewed by Reuters who was prepared to be identified.
The French government has put forward state ownership of its nuclear sector as a guarantee of its safety, but former monopoly EDF subcontracts 80 percent of the maintenance at its nuclear reactors to firms such as Vinci, Areva ( ARVCF.PK – news – people ), GDF Suez or Bouygues ( BOUYF.PK – news – people )………….
Independent experts including Yves Marignac, executive director of the information agency Wise-Paris, say safety margins in French nuclear power plants are shrinking as plants age, economic pressure mounts and trained staff retire.
FEATURE-French nuclear workers see risks as conditions worsen – Forbes.com
Conflict on African continent hampers mining industries
Conflict on continent hampers mining industries Mining Weekly
By:Megan Wait 10 July 09Foreign nations’ and companies’ interests in African resources also lead to negative effects. Many foreign companies on the continent are primarily extractive. This means that the countries are seen as suppliers of raw materials, which are exported for processing to other countries. This prevents the esta- blishment of manufacturing and service industries in these countries, which inhibits job creation. The export taxes also create expenses for the country, which is chroni- cally strapped for revenue.Meanwhile, French nuclear company Areva’s subsidiary, uranium explorer UraMin, reports that the company, although at peace with the government, is concerned about its uranium-excavating project Bakouma, in the Central African Republic (CAR)……………………………….The negative perception of the political, societal and economic situation in Africa, weak leadership and poor governance, and the lack of regional coherence and identity create structural problems that continue the cycle of poverty and insecurity.
The nuclear option [Areva]
The nuclear option – AREVA
appomattox’s posterous 2 July 09 “………………………………”Though Niger is the fourth-largest producer of uranium in the world, it sees almost none of the wealth. Because of a long-standing contract, the French consortium* pays only 5.5 percent of its revenue in taxes, and most of it goes to subsidize elites in the dusty capital of Niamey. Almost three-quarters of the people cannot read, and those who survive to the age of forty-five are living on statistically borrowed time. Niger was recently named the most deprived country on earth by the United Nations, ranked dead last among the world’s sovereign nations on a comprehensive scale called the Human Development Index, which charts life expectancy, education, and standard of living…””Uranium: War, Energy, and the Rock that Shaped the World,” by Tom Zoellne……………..…………..President Nicolas Sarkozy has been active in trumpeting his country’s know-how to win French companies new business abroad…Areva needs between eight and 10 billion euros by 2012 to fund its investment program, notably to develop its third-generation EPR nuclear reactor. It also needs an estimated two billion euros to buy out Siemens’ stake in Areva NP, its reactor subsidiary.” ………………….
…………..Areva needs between eight billion and 10 billion euros (11.2 billion and 14.0 billion dollars) by 2012 to fund its investment program, notably to develop its third-generation EPR nuclear reactor. The company also needs an estimated two billion euros to buy out Siemens’ stake in Areva NP, its reactor subsidiary.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i7L4s3lyWXxYV0rTTNpBou6r7Jeg
In other words, it appears Areva is in deep financial doings, and ownership of the company is being diluted from a state-run operation to privatization – a movement that seems to annoy the French government.While financial doings are deep (albeit perhaps not troublesome, depending on the availability of investors), the climate in Africa poses some problems:
“After a visit in late March from French President Nicholas Sarkozy to Niger, residents in the uranium-exporting desert country continue questioning whether AREVA, a company primarily owned by the French government, will honour its promise to protect communities from mining hazards.” On the other side of that coin, Areva faces problems with water shortages in its mining and milling processes.
The nuclear option [Areva]: Virginia Business – News – appomattox’s posterous
France imports UK electricity as plants shut
July 3, 2009 France imports UK electricity as plants shut TIMESONLINE
France is being forced to import electricity from Britain to cope with a summer heatwave that has helped to put a third of its nuclear power stations out of action.
With temperatures across much of France surging above 30C this week, EDF’s reactors are generating the lowest level of electricity in six years, forcing the state-owned utility to turn to Britain for additional capacity.
Fourteen of France’s 19 nuclear power stations are located inland and use river water rather than seawater for cooling. When water temperatures rise, EDF is forced to shut down the reactors to prevent their casings from exceeding 50C.
1 This Month
Shut down the radiation-damaged Heysham nuclear reactors now
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
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