Nuclear waste train meets strong protest in France
Nuclear waste train spurs protests in France, Nov 23 (Reuters) – French anti-nuclear activists scuffled with police in Normandy on Wednesday as they tried to hold up a train transporting radioactive waste processed by nuclear producer Areva to a storage site in Germany.
Several hundred protesters tried to occupy the train tracks near the town of Valognes in northwestern France before being repelled by police in riot gear. Police said they had detained five people. Before the train eventually departed around mid-afternoon, the activists played a cat-and-mouse game with police officers, who launched canisters of tear gas to disperse them before charging the crowd with batons.
“This movement is about the indignation of people who are aware of the dangers of nuclear power and who reject politics geared only toward the profit of certain businesses,” said a 60-year-old activist, who did not want to give his name……
The train carried 11 tubular containers of highly radioactive nuclear waste processed by Areva at its treatment plant at La Hague, northwest France. The treated waste, which originates from German nuclear plants, was en route to the nuclear waste facility of Gorleben in northeastern Germany for storage. Wednesday’s train marked the last of 12 shipments of treated nuclear waste sent in recent years from France to Gorleben. An expired contract between the two countries is not expected to be renewed. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/23/france-nuclear-protests-idUSL5E7MN30R20111123
French activists try to stop nuclear waste train
The shipment from the French nuclear giant Areva’s reprocessing plant at La Hague is the last planned to Germany. Germany has stopped sending nuclear waste for reprocessing in France, as it winds down its nuclear power plants. Chancellor Angela Merkel said this year that all plants would be shut down by 2022.Wednesday’s train left more than an hour late as a result of the disturbances, which were frequently violent, correspondents report…. The demonstrators managed to remove a rail and destroy electric junction boxes before the train left, according to France’s AFP news agency.
‘Radical opposition’ Further protests are expected when the train enters Germany on its way to the nuclear waste facility at Gorleben. Protesters say the shipment presents an environmental hazard but Areva insists the rail shipment is perfectly safe.”Beyond the danger that this waste poses, we’re demonstrating our radical opposition to a means of production that means we’ll always need more power,” said one Parisian protester, Anna, 24. “We’re against endless growth.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15861761
Danger of AREVA’s nuclear waste convoy from France to Germany
If the radioactivity from the transport was dispersed in an accident or an attack, Areva would be discharged from almost all liability.
Last Minute information – high-risk transport from France to Germany leaving one day early, 21 Nov 11 Transport of highly radioactive nuclear waste will again cross France from west to east, and part of Germany, exposing people and the SNCF agents to nuclear risks. Originally scheduled this Thursday, 24 November, the train from Valognes railway terminal has been advanced one day by AREVA and SNCF to try to avoid the huge mobilisation that is being prepared. The convoy should leave Valognes on Wednesday 23 at 14:36.The two routes planned by the authorities from Amiens remain unchanged, the convoy could head north towards Arras or south to Reims. Eleven containers carrying 301 barrels of high activity waste “re-treated” at the Areva plant in La Hague (Manche).
A rolling Chernobyl : Europe again under the threat of a nuclear convoy at high risk The official inventory of radioactivity in the transport amounted to 3756.5 peta becquerel (PBq) or 3.75 billion billion Becquerel of Becquerel. For comparison, the convoy will transport many times the radioactivity released during the Chernobyl disaster [i]. Scattered in the environment, the radio-toxicity potential [ii] this convoy would be enough to poison the whole human race [iii]. Continue reading
Anti nuclear movement gaining political strength in France
Green party presidential candidate Eva Joly has denounced claims of hundreds of thousands of job losses as “scandalouslies” and said 600,000 jobs would be created by tapping alternative energy sources like solar and wind power.
Sarkozy has insisted he will continue supporting nuclear energy, saying the Fukushima 
disaster was “not a nuclear accident, it was an enormous tsunami”…..
France opposition to reduce nuclear power , SMH, Michael Mainville,November 17, 2011 – France’s long-held support for nuclear energy has emerged as a key issue in next year’s election after the opposition Socialists and Greens agreed to joint efforts to reduce reliance on atomic power.
The deal marks the first significant move toward limiting nuclear power in France since it embraced atomic energy after the oil shocks of the 1970s and comes amid growing disquiet here after Japan’s Fukushima atomic disaster in March. Continue reading
France: pact between Greens and Socialists threatens nuclear industry
Parties clash over future of nuclear power in France, BBC News, 17 Nov 11, France’s government has accused the opposition Socialists of planning to undermine the nuclear industry in return for Green party support…..
Opinion polls suggest Socialist presidential candidate Francois Hollande will defeat Nicolas Sarkozy in next year’s vote. On Tuesday, the two opposition parties sealed an electoral pact under which the Socialists will not stand in a number of constituencies, thereby giving the Greens the prospect of at least 15 seats in the new parliament. Continue reading
France’s nuclear watchdog warns of safety flaws in reactors
France must tighten nuclear security after Fukushima, watchdog says, By RFI 17 November 2011 France must urgently improve safety in its 58 nuclear reactors in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima disaster, an official report published Thursday said. The head of the French nuclear watchdog warned of “small faults that could have serious consequences”. Continue reading
France – politics – opposition to nuclear power
Green party presidential candidate Eva Joly has denounced claims of hundreds of thousands of job losses as “scandalous lies” and said 600,000 jobs would be created by tapping alternative energy sources like solar and wind power.
Sarkozy has insisted he will continue supporting nuclear energy, saying the Fukushima disaster was “not a nuclear accident, it was an enormous tsunami”…..
France opposition to reduce nuclear power , SMH, Michael Mainville,November 17, 2011 – France’s long-held support for nuclear energy has emerged as a key issue in next year’s election after the opposition Socialists and Greens agreed to joint efforts to reduce reliance on atomic power.
The deal marks the first significant move toward limiting nuclear power in France Continue reading
France grapples with the eternal unsolved problem of nuclear wastes
A pyramid to warn of a French nuclear waste site?, By Muriel Boselli, PARIS | Tue Nov 8, 2011 (Reuters) – How can mankind signal to future generations thousands of years from now that hazardous radioactive waste is buried deep underground in eastern France — by building a giant pyramid, a museum or a site for art projects or by employing geology? Continue reading
France’s spy court case shows up dirty tactics of nuclear lobby
This spying scandal and verdict against EDF couldn’t have come at a worse time for the global nuclear industry
Nuclear giant EDF found guilty of spying on
Greenpeace, Greenpeace, by JustinMcKeating – November 10, 2011, As the great Mahatma Gandhi (nearly) said, ”First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they spy on you, then you win”.
That’s pretty much the chain of events that lead to today’s conviction by a French court of French state electricity company, Electricité de France SA (EDF) for spying on us. The court fined the company 1.5 million Euros and ordered it to pay €500,000 in damages to Greenpeace France. In addition, the court sent the four men involved, two of them senior EDF executives, to jail as well – and fined three of them. Continue reading
France to consider all nuclear options, including exit from nuclear power
French 2050 committee will consider all nuclear options: BessonParis (Platts)- –Anna Crowley, -8 Nov 2011 A committee tasked with reviewing France’s energy supply options to 2050 will consider all options for nuclear energy, energy minister Eric Besson said Tuesday.
Besson told a Paris conference that scenarios under review included expanding the lifespans of existing reactors, “accelerating” the move towards a new generation of third- or fourth-generation nuclear reactors, a gradual reduction of nuclear’s share of the energy mix and full exit from nuclear generation. …. Continue reading
Uranium price falling – AREVA stops African project
Areva suspends uranium mine project, SMH ,November 3, 2011 – French nuclear giant Areva says it is suspending a mining project in the Central African Republic for “a year or two” because of a drop in uranium prices since the Fukushima disaster.
Work on developing the Bakouma mine, which is estimated to hold about 32,000 tonnes of uranium, has been suspended until the market value of the commodity rises again, an Areva spokesman said on Wednesday……
The price of uranium subsequently dropped by about 30 per cent, at a time when Areva was hoping for a global nuclear power renaissance.
On Wednesday the price of a pound (450 grams) of uranium was at $US52 ($A50.49), down from $US68 in March before the accident…..
Areva began development works at the mine under a deal signed in 2007 and to date has spent 106 million euros on developing the site.
The 2007 deal ended friction between Areva and the country’s authorities, who had handed mining rights to British-Canadian firm UraMin in 2006.
Areva bought out UraMin in July 2007 to the displeasure of the government, which said the “irregular” sale showed “disregard for the rights and interests” of the Central African people…..
Areva is expected to present a plan next month on a rethink of its corporate strategies in the wake of the Japanese disaster.
AREVA’s uranium mining revenues fall
Areva 9-month revenues fall 3.5 pct,
By Caroline Jacobs and Christian Plumb PARIS, Oct 27 (Reuters) – French nuclear group Areva posted a 3.5 percent decline in nine-month sales on Thursday, squeezed by weakness in its uranium mining and waste-processing businesses.
Revenues reached 5.95 billion euros ($8.4 billion) and were down 1.5 percent on a like-for-like basis, state-owned Areva said in a statement. For the third-quarter alone, revenues fell 2.9 percent to 1.95 billion euros, Areva said, without providing details about specific business lines’ performance for the period…..
Since the nuclear disaster at Japan’s Fukushima power plant in March, order cancellations have been just 301 million euros, Areva said.
Countries such as Germany, Switzerland and Italy have shelved nuclear plans after the incident, but others such as Britain, Poland or the Czech Republic said they would go ahead with the construction of new plants.
Areva is assessing what consequences Fukushima will have on its business and will announce its five-year strategy plan in December….
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/27/aereva-revenue-idUSL5E7LR5BZ20111027
At last, France reveals, and questions, the safety of its nuclear industry
institutions are showing greater boldness in convicting nuclear operators guilty of negligence or issuing reprimands and demanding immediate corrective measures from giants like EDF or Areva..
With accusing fingers increasingly pointing towards the nuclear industry, a hesitant debate is beginning to open up in France. Socialist leader Segolene Royal who was defeated by Nicolas Sarkozy in France’s last presidential poll but hopes once again to be her party’s candidate, said she would close down the EPR under construction at Flamanville and completely abandon the EPR technology being pushed by Areva.
Post-Fukushima, France breaks silence on nuclear safety, The Hindu VAIJUNARAVANE, 11 Oct 11 “…….Doubts have been raised about the benefits of the EPR reactor, of which India plans to buy six. For a country as given to debate and argument as France, there has been a deafening silence surrounding the choice of nuclear as the prime source of energy. With a population of 62 million, France boasts 59 nuclear reactors — the highest per capita in the world, with over 75 per cent of its electricity coming from the power of the atom.
In the post-Fukushima period, however, that tacit silence is being broken with increasing frequency not just by anti-nuclear associations or candidates hoping to win elections but by French courts and the Nuclear Safety Authority. Continue reading
France increases fines, cracks down on anti nuclear protestors
Post-Fukushima, France breaks silence on nuclear safety, The Hindu VAIJU 
NARAVANE, 11 Oct 11 “…….France has always come down hard on any anti-nuclear protests and there has been very little debate on the decision taken in the 1950s or under the post-oil-crisis Messmer Plan of 1974, to wholeheartedly embrace nuclear energy. An appeals court in the northern city of Caen on September 27, upped the fines slapped on Greenpeace France for occupying the nuclear site at Flamanville (Normandy) where France’s first EPR reactor is under construction.
Greenpeace France will now have to pay €2,500 instead of the initial €1,500 and individual protesters will have to cough up fines of €200 each. The French electricity giant EDF, which is the constructor and future operator of the reactor, had called for damages and interest amounting to €155,000…. http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article2526288.ece
Delays, defects, and “social dumping” in France’s Flamanville nuclear reactor
Post-Fukushima, France breaks silence on nuclear safety The Hindu VAIJU NARAVANE, 11 Oct 11“…….Construction of the Flamanville EPR reactor which began in 2007 is experiencing significant delays with a large number of accidents including two fatalities. The EPR reactor, of which India plans to buy six, will now not be completed before 2016 at the earliest and its price tag has climbed to an estimated €7 billion per reactor of 1,650MWe capacity. Not a single EPR is as yet operational.
Of the four currently under construction, (one each in France and Finland, two in China) the Finnish reactor (construction began in August1985) is now slated to go on stream in 2013 but costs have risen from €3 billion to over €7 billion and the Finnish utility TVO is locked in costly arbitration (€2.7 billion) with Areva….. Continue reading
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