EDF desperate for business? trying to quickly sell 6 nuclear reactors to India
EDF to propose deal for six nuclear reactors in India by year-end By Reuters | 12 May, 2016 PARIS: EDF will deliver a proposal to theIndian government by year’s end to build six nuclear reactors, an executive at the French utility said on Thursday, in what could be the world’s biggest nuclear deal.
“Hinkley Point will help us continue our activities and preserve our skills base and jobs,” he said. ……..
Chief Executive Jean-Bernard Levy told shareholders that EDF needs growth in international markets because European power markets are stagnant. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/52240726.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
China General Nuclear Power Corporation denies plan to take over Hinkley nuclear project build
China nuclear company will not build Hinkley alone if EDF drops out CGN, which is helping French energy company with Hinkley Point C scheme, denies it will build reactors independently, Guardian, Terry Macalister, 13 May 16, The Chinese company helping EDF with plans to build new nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset has flatly dismissed the idea it would go it alone if the largely state-owned French company dropped out.
“As a partner to EDF supporting the Hinkley Point project, CGN [China General Nuclear Power Corporation] has no independent plans to build reactors at Hinkley Point C,” it said in a statement.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change reiterated the message with its own statement, which said: “There is no proposal for the Chinese to build a reactor at Hinkley.”
The denials come after George Osborne’s father-in-law, Lord Howell, told the House of Lords that the Chinese were working on a “plan B” to step in if, as some expect, EDF abandons the controversial scheme…….https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/may/13/hinkley-point-cgn-china-general-nuclear-power-corporation-edf-energy
Chinese govt – secret plans to take over the UK’s Hinkley nuclear project?
Secret Chinese plans to take over nuclear power station Sam Coates, Deputy Political Editor | Robin Pagnamenta, Energy Editor May 13 2016, The Times, China is drawing up secret plans to build two nuclear reactors on the site of Hinkley Point in Somerset if the existing £21 billion deal collapses.
The Chinese government has a “plan B” to bypass EDF, the French energy giant responsible for the project. China believes that it can build its own reactors on a faster timetable than the project run by EDF, in which they have made an investment, according to Lord Howell of Guildford, the former energy secretary and father-in-law of George Osborne.
His statement will raise the pressure on the beleaguered Hinkley C project, which intends to…. (subscribers only) http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/secret-china-plans-to-take-over-nuclear-power-station-z7qjn0cqk
Armenia might have stockpiles of radioactive trash
Armenia may have stockpiles of highly radioactive materials – Ex-CIA analyst http://en.azvision.az/Armenia_may_have_stockpiles_-37406-xeber.html#.VzWPutP6fH8
| Date: 12.05.16, Even talking about nuclear things is dangerously destabilizing, the former analyst at the CIA and the US Department of State, publicist Paul Goble exclusively told Trend May 12.
He was commenting on the statement earlier made by Armenia on possession of a nuclear weapon. “The Soviet Union had so many places where such things were kept that it is unlikely there isn`t some in Armenia,” he said. |
USA’s missile defense site in Romania provokes Russian anger
U.S. activates Romanian missile defense site, angering Russia, Reuters DEVESELU, ROMANIA | BY ROBIN EMMOTT , 12 May 15, The United States switched on an $800 million missile shield in Romania on Thursday that it sees as vital to defend itself and Europe from so-called rogue states but the Kremlin says is aimed at blunting its own nuclear arsenal.
To the music of military bands at the remote Deveselu air base, senior U.S. and NATO officials declared operational the ballistic missile defense site, which is capable of shooting down rockets from countries such as Iran that Washington says could one day reach major European cities……..
When complete, the defensive umbrella will stretch from Greenland to the Azores. On Friday, the United States will break ground on a final site in Poland due to be ready by late 2018, completing the defense line first proposed almost a decade ago.
The full shield also includes ships and radars across Europe. It will be handed over to NATO in July, with command and control run from a U.S. air base in Germany.
Russia is incensed at such of show of force by its Cold War rival in formerly communist-ruled eastern Europe. Moscow says the U.S.-led alliance is trying to encircle it close to the strategically important Black Sea, home to a Russian naval fleet and where NATO is also considering increasing patrols……
Joe Cirincione, an American nuclear expert who is president of Ploughshares Fund, a global security organization, told reporters in Geneva that the shield should be scrapped.
“It was designed to protect Europe from a missile from, well, the only country we were afraid of was Iran. The system was designed to protect against an Iranian nuclear missile. There is not going to be an Iranian nuclear missile for at least 20 years. There is no reason to continue with that program.”…..
Douglas Lute, the United States’ envoy to NATO, said NATO would press ahead with NATO’s biggest modernization since the Cold War. “We are deploying at sea, on the ground and in the air across the eastern flanks of the alliance … to deter any aggressor,” Lute said.
At a cost of billions of dollars, the missile defense umbrella relies on radars to detect a ballistic missile launch into space. Sensors then measure the rocket’s trajectory and destroy it in space before it re-enters the earth’s atmosphere. The interceptors can be fired from ships or ground sites.
The Romanian shield, which is modeled on the United States’ so-called Aegis ships, was first assembled in New Jersey and then transferred to the Deveselu base in containers…….http://www.reuters.com/article/us-nato-shield-idUSKCN0Y30JX
£21bn the likely cost of ever more expensive Hinkley Point nuclear power station
Hinkley Point nuclear power station costs could rise to £21bn, EDF says, Belfast Telegraph, 12 May 16 Energy giant EDF has said the cost
of building the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station could jump to almost £21 billion, about £3 billion more than it said last year.
In a statement ahead of its annual meeting, the French group estimated the cost of building the twin reactor plant at the Somerset site would be £20.7 billion. EDF said it would provide up to £13.8 billion, while Chinese utility CGN will bring £6.9 billion of financing to the project. It said these latest set of figures provided “a contingency margin”.
However, in October EDF said the project would cost £18 billion, with it providing £12 billion and £6 billion from CGN.
EDF said that the building plan for Hinkley would take around 115 months (nine-and-a-half years) “after the final investment decision until commissioning of the first reactor”.
The French firm had said in October that it expected a final investment decision within weeks and first power in 2025, but that decision has now been delayed until September as the company bids to arrange financing.
This now suggests that if the project completes its financing in September, the plant would not be able to pump out power until the first half of 2026.
This is three years behind EDF’s estimate in 2013, that the plant would be operationalin 2023……..http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/news/hinkley-point-nuclear-power-station-costs-could-rise-to-21bn-edf-says-34709042.html
Germany’s biggest power utility in financial problem about nuclear wastes costs
Eon warns on capital raise to cover extra €2bn nuclear waste bill Guy Chazan in Berlin Ft.com 12 May 16 Shares in Eon, Germany’s biggest power producer, fell 5 per cent after it said it might have to raise capital to pay its share of the cost of storing Germany’s nuclear waste.
Eon has provisioned €8bn for waste storage, but under a proposal published by a government commission last month it would have to pay an extra €2bn into a special waste storage fund. Altogether, Germany’s four big utilities have been told they have to contribute a total of €23.3bn into the pool.
Michael Sen, Eon’s chief financial officer, said the company could pay the money, but doing so would reduce its equity capital and could hurt its credit rating.
He said Eon would be forced to postpone investments, cut more costs and potentially sell off marginal assets to cover the €10bn. A company presentation also said it could trigger unspecified “capital measures”.
Eon’s share price was trading down nearly 5 per cent at €8.14 on Wednesday……
The nuclear issue is just one of the problems weighing on Eon’s stock. Like its rival, RWE, Eon has been hit by Germany’s radical shift to renewables, which has squeezed electricity from fossil fuels out of the energy market.
It reported its biggest annual loss last year after writing down the value of its coal and gas-fired power plants by €8.8bn.
The company has responded by splitting itself in two: Eon is grouping its conventional power generation assets and energy trading in a new company, Uniper, while the new-look Eon will focus on renewables, networks and customer solutions. ……http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/52d0c36e-173d-11e6-b8d5-4c1fcdbe169f.html?siteedition=uk#axzz48VIfeQb0
Britain failed to consult Europe over Hinkley nuclear safety dangers – UN
Hinkley Point: UN says UK failed to consult over risks UN Economic and Social Council says Britain has not met its obligations to discuss the impact of nuclear accident with neighbouring countries Terry Macalister, Guardian, 9 May 16 The British government has run into a major new problem with the Hinkley Point C nuclear project, with a United Nations committee ruling that the UK failed to consult European countries properly over potential environmental risks.
Documents seen by the Guardian show Britain “is in non-compliance with its obligations” (page 21) to discuss the possible impact of any accident or other event that could affect those nations in proximity to Hinkley.
This is just the latest in a string of problems connected with the planned £18bn project to construct new reactors in Somerset, with the developer EDF of Francerecently delaying a final investment decision until September.
Paul Dorfman, a senior researcher at UCL’s energy institute, said the ruling from the UN Economic and Social Council throws great uncertainty over Hinkley.
“This is a huge blow to the government and introduces a whole new element of doubt over the scheme. It is hard to see how EDF can sign off any final investment decision whilst the government has yet to resolve this important issue.”…..http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/may/08/hinkley-point-united-nations-says-uk-failed-to-consult-over-risks
Russia’s new more powerful nuclear missiles
Russia Developing New Nuclear Missiles Capable of Penetrating US Defenses
Russia wants to modernize 70 percent of its intercontinental ballistic missile arsenal by 2018, The Diplomat, By Franz-Stefan Gady May 11, 2016 Russia is developing new intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) specifically designed to penetrate U.S. missile defense systems, Russian Commander of Strategic Missile Forces Colonel-General Sergei Karakayev told Russian state-owned news agency TASS on Tuesday.
“This is conditioned by the fact that the United States is not stopping after what it has achieved and continues improving its missile defense system, including the deployment of its elements in Europe. That is why special attention in the development of new missile complexes is paid to the issue of overcoming the missile shield,” Karakayev said.
As I reported previously, Russia announced in January that it would conduct a total of 16 ICBM test launches in 2016 with 14 dedicated to testing new missiles and warheads (See: “Russia to Launch 16 Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles in 2016”). The Strategic Missile Forces are also holding more than 100 command and staff, tactical and special exercises throughout the year.
According to Karakayev, the Russian military is introducing new types of warheads with a difficult to predict flight path in order to overcome U.S. missile defenses. “This is achieved both through the ICBM’s shorter acceleration phase and new types of warheads with a hard-to-predict flight trajectory and new means of overcoming the missile shield,” he said.
Russia has been testing a new hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV), the YU-71, a warhead capable of accelerating to up to ten times the speed of sound descending from the atmosphere on an erratic flight path without following a predictable ballistic trajectory. (The YU-71 performs evasive maneuvers making it very difficult for conventional missile defense systems to intercept.)
By 2021, the Strategic Missile Forces (SMF) plan to have an equal number of stationary and mobile ICBM systems. “Considering the ratios of stationary and mobile groupings of the Strategic Missile Forces, it can be noted that at the turn of 2021, the quantitative indicators of these groupings will come to equal each other. However, the capabilities of the stationary grouping will continue to be higher due to the availability of heavy missiles,” Karakayev noted…….
As I noted in a previous piece (“Russia to Add 40 New ICBMs: Should the West Be Worried?”):
Russia is in the middle of modernizing its strategic and nonstrategic nuclear warheads. According to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Moscow has currently 4,500 nuclear warheads, of which roughly 1,780 strategic warheads are deployed on missiles and at bomber bases. An additional 700 strategic warheads are kept in storage along with approximately 2,000 nonstrategic warheads. “Russia deploys an estimated 311 ICBMs that can carry approximately 1,050 warheads,” the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists further notes.
The SMF’s most powerful future weapon will be the RS-28 Sarmat, Russia’s newest super heavy liquid-propelled ICBM, currently under development with first test-launches scheduled for later in the year. “The development of the Sarmat silo-based missile system with a heavy missile is nearing completion,” Karakayev said.
“The performance of the stationary grouping of the heavy ICBM (of the Voyevoda or Sarmat class) will four times surpass that of the stationary grouping of the light-class ICBM (Topol-M, Yars) by all the RVSN grouping tactical effectiveness parameters,” he added. The Sarmat purportedly can carry ten heavy or 15 lighter warheads and is expected to become operational by 2020.
A YU-71 HGV warhead mounted on a Sarmat ICBM could be one of the deadliest nuclear weapons fielded since the end of the Cold War. Sputnik News bombastically claims that the Sarmat ICBM can wipe out an area the size of Texas or France, while “its higher speed performance will enable it to speed past every missile defense system in existence.” http://thediplomat.com/2016/05/russia-developing-new-nuclear-missiles-capable-of-penetrating-us-defenses/
Nuclear corporation EDF’s Annual General Meeting faces more financial gloom
Nuclear giant EDF Energy reports sales fall as AGM looms, BBC News, 11 May 16 French energy giant EDF says sales fell 7% in the first three months of the year in the face of stiff competition, a mild winter and lower energy prices.
The figures come ahead of Wednesday’s AGM where investors will quiz management over their plans for the Hinkley Point nuclear plant in the UK.
EDF, 85% controlled by the French state, has struggled to find the cash for its 66.5% stake in the project.
In April it pushed a final decision on the £18bn plant back to September.
Chief financial officer Thomas Piquemal resigned in April following an internal disagreement over whether to press on with the controversial project.
However, EDF has outlined plans to raise €4bn, with up to €3bn provided by the French government.
Tough markets
Credit rating agencies are due to assess the group in the coming days and their verdict on its finances will determine how easy it will be for the group to raise cash.
Meanwhile, tough market conditions mean EDF is cutting costs and planning to sell €10bn in assets by 2020, including a stake in French power-grid operator RTE……http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36262029
Widespread concern about Nuclear Reactor Baffle Bolt Problems
Nuclear Reactor Baffle Bolt Problems Are Widespread Concern, POWER, 05/04/2016 | Aaron Larson Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) anticipates extending Salem Nuclear Generating Station’s Unit 1 refueling outage, which began on April 14, so it can inspect, repair, and replace damaged baffle bolts within the plant’s reactor vessel, according to information presented in the company’s first quarter earnings announcement.
A PSEG spokesperson told POWER that visual inspections at Salem had identified 18 of the metal insert liner’s 832 baffle-former bolts exhibit degradation, which means they had at least some indication of cracking. The news comes roughly a month after inspections at the Indian Point nuclear plant determined that 227 of its Unit 2 baffle-former bolts were degraded.
“As part of our license renewal commitments to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission [NRC], Salem Unit 1 was scheduled to conduct ultrasonic testing of the baffle bolts in 2019. Based on the visual inspections, we made the decision to conduct ultrasonic testing of the bolts now to determine the full extent of condition and to make appropriate repairs,” the PSEG spokesperson said.
Problems in Europe
It’s the first time that Salem has identified any problems with baffle bolts on either unit, but it is far from the first time for the industry. As far back as the 1980s, cracking was identified in French pressurized water reactor (PWR) baffle bolts.
In March 1998, the NRC issued an Information Notice to alert U.S. PWR license holders of the cracking found in reactor vessel internal baffle-former bolts at “several foreign PWRs.” The intent of the notice was to inform recipients of the problem so they could consider actions to avoid similar troubles. The suggestions in the notice were not necessarily requirements, however.
Are There More Potential Problems?
Neil Sheehan, public affairs officer for NRC Region I, told POWER that all U.S. PWRs—of which, there are currently 65 licensed to operate—utilize baffle plates as part of their reactor core internals. The baffle plates help direct water up through the nuclear fuel assemblies………
The NRC is still weighing the significance of the recent inspection findings. It expects analysis performed by both Entergy and PSEG will help in its assessment. http://www.powermag.com/nuclear-reactor-baffle-bolt-problems-are-much-more-widespread/?pagenum=2
Global danger in transporting nuclear wastes by plane
Whether it is transported by sea, or even by air, there is real concern over the potential for an accident or a malicious attack that would put the public at risk.
How many nuclear weapons could be made if such material got into the wrong hands? Why risk global nuclear security by transporting this waste across the Atlantic by air?
We call for this deal to be cancelled forthwith. The waste should be stored on-site at Dounreay and not moved over 6,000 miles away.
UK-US air transports of high enriched uranium: global security at risk for commercial gain, Ecologist Ernie Galsworthy / NFLA 3rd May 2016 Planned air transports of high-enriched uranium from Dounreay in Scotland to the US state of Tennessee would risk of accident or a terrorist seizure of weapon-usable nuclear material. The motive for the transport appears to be purely commercial – and would thus put the public at needless risk for the sake of a cut-price nuclear waste / fuel deal between US and UK authorities.
There has been a recent flurry of media reports suggesting that a proposed transport of radioactive materials from the Caithness Dounreay site to the United States could be sent by plane. Continue reading
Former Electricite de France SA Chief Financial Officer says he quit because of financial risks of Hinkley nuclear project
Ex-EDF CFO Quit Over Financial Risks From U.K. Nuclear Project, Bloomberg, Francois De Beaupuy FrancoisDeBeaup
-
Piquemal says French utility needs to strengthen balance sheet
-
EDF can’t afford significant downgrade in rating: Piquemal
Former Electricite de France SA Chief Financial Officer Thomas Piquemal said he quit two months ago to highlight the risks of proceeding with the 18 billion-pound ($26 billion) Hinkley Point nuclear power project without additional financing.
The timetable pushed by EDF Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jean-Bernard Levy for an investment decision on the U.K. project meant there wouldn’t have been time to strengthen the utility’s balance sheet, Piquemal told a hearing at the National Assembly in Paris. That would have left the company reliant on its 85 percent shareholder, the French state, providing funding and threatened EDF with the same fate as troubled nuclear-reactor builder Areva SA, he said.
“A new nuclear project is an extra risk for a company,” Piquemal said in his first public statement since quitting. “I didn’t want to approve a decision that could leave EDF in Areva’s situation one day.”……
Financial Strain
Speculation has mounted over the future of Hinkley Point since Piquemal resigned amid concerns the project would put EDF under too much financial strain, while labor unions have called for a three-year delay until similar nuclear plants built by the company start operating in France and China…….
EDF has held off on making a final investment decision even after forming a partnership with China General Nuclear Power Corp. and securing guaranteed power prices from the U.K. government at almost three times the current market rate for 35 years.Rating companies will probably downgrade EDF because large nuclear projects such as Hinkley Point will increase its risk profile, the ex-CFO said. While EDF had no financing problems at the end of 2015, it can’t afford a “significant” downgrade that would push its hybrid debt into the “junk” category because it would complicate a potential refinancing from 2020, Piquemal said. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-04/ex-edf-cfo-quit-over-financial-risks-from-u-k-nuclear-project
UK nuclear parts made at French plant in fakery probe
Telegraph Emily Gosden, energy editor 4 MAY 2016 Parts of the Sizewell B nuclear power station in Suffolk were made at a French plant being investigated over possible fake manufacturing records, EDF Energy has confirmed.
Mr Piquemal said he had sought a three-year delay to Hinkley as he was not prepared to “bet 60 to 70pc of [EDF’S] equity on a technology that has not yet proven that it can work and which takes 10 years to build”.
He said the proposed reactor technology involved “major construction risk”.
EDF has already postponed a decision on the £18bn Hinkley project until September as it consults with unions on a plan to shore up its balance sheet, but the problems at the Le Creusot plant have raised further doubts about the project and as well as nuclear safety at existing plants………http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/05/04/uk-nuclear-parts-made-at-french-plant-in-fakery-probe/
Leaked TTIP documents cast doubt on EU-US trade deal
Greenpeace says internal documents show US attempts to lower or circumvent EU protection for environment and public health, Guardian, Arthur Neslen , 2 May 16, Talks for a free trade deal between Europe and the US face a serious impasse with “irreconcilable” differences in some areas, according to leaked negotiating texts.
The two sides are also at odds over US demands that would require the EU to break promises it has made on environmental protection.
President Obama said last week he was confident a deal could be reached. But the leaked negotiating drafts and internal positions, which were obtained byGreenpeace and seen by the Guardian, paint a very different picture………
Jorgo Riss, the director of Greenpeace EU, said: “These leaked documents give us an unparalleled look at the scope of US demands to lower or circumvent EU protections for environment and public health as part of TTIP. The EU position is very bad, and the US position is terrible. The prospect of a TTIP compromising within that range is an awful one. The way is being cleared for a race to the bottom in environmental, consumer protection and public health standards.”
US proposals include an obligation on the EU to inform its industries of any planned regulations in advance, and to allow them the same input into EU regulatory processes as European firms.
American firms could influence the content of EU laws at several points along the regulatory line, including through a plethora of proposed technical working groups and committees.
“Before the EU could even pass a regulation, it would have to go through a gruelling impact assessment process in which the bloc would have to show interested US parties that no voluntary measures, or less exacting regulatory ones, were possible,” Riss said……. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/may/01/leaked-ttip-documents-cast-doubt-on-eu-us-trade-deal
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
-
Archives
- October 2026 (302)
- September 2026 (339)
- August 2026 (330)
- July 2026 (355)
- June 2026 (287)
- May 2026 (306)
- April 2026 (356)
- March 2026 (251)
- February 2026 (267)
- January 2026 (308)
- December 2025 (358)
- November 2025 (359)
-
Categories
- 1
- 1 NUCLEAR ISSUES
- business and costs
- climate change
- culture and arts
- ENERGY
- environment
- health
- history
- indigenous issues
- Legal
- marketing of nuclear
- media
- opposition to nuclear
- PERSONAL STORIES
- politics
- politics international
- Religion and ethics
- safety
- secrets,lies and civil liberties
- spinbuster
- technology
- Uranium
- wastes
- weapons and war
- Women
- 2 WORLD
- ACTION
- AFRICA
- Atrocities
- AUSTRALIA
- Christina's notes
- Christina's themes
- culture and arts
- Events
- Fuk 2022
- Fuk 2023
- Fukushima 2017
- Fukushima 2018
- fukushima 2019
- Fukushima 2020
- Fukushima 2021
- general
- global warming
- Humour (God we need it)
- Nuclear
- RARE EARTHS
- Reference
- resources – print
- Resources -audiovicual
- Weekly Newsletter
- World
- World Nuclear
- YouTube
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
