Welcome to Nuclear Reaction, Greenpeace’s latest blog, where we’ll be recording for history the meltdown of that most over-rated, over-subsidised and over-confident of industries, the nuclear industry.

The nuclear industry is always running late, is extremely high maintenance, constantly stealing from your wallet, and very likely to be ruining your life for years to come. If it was your boyfriend or girlfriend you’d have changed your name and fled to another country years ago.

So, want to hear about the nuclear reactor built in an earthquake zone? Or the one built with watery concrete? Or how taxpayers across the world will be financially (not to mention physically) liable in the event of a nuclear accident? What about how, if we want to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by just five percent with nuclear power, we need to be building a new reactor every week until 2030?

Want to meet the politicians, denialists and apologists with the 10,000-year radioactive legacies? See through their false promises and false hopes? Maybe find out how easy it is to build a ‘quick and dirty’ reprocessing plant capable of turning black market nuclear waste into a bomb’s worth of plutonium every day?

Then join us. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll wish we were making it up.

Being a player in the nuclear industry is very much like being a big, lumbering baby learning to walk. You blunder along putting one clumsy foot in front of another, safe in the knowledge that if you look like you're going to fall, a big pair of comforting hands will be there to catch you, pick you up, give you a lollipop, and make it all better.

Take the companies bidding for the contract to decommission the Sellafield nuclear site in Cumbria in the north of England, for example. According to documents recently seen by the Observer newspaper, the four consortia involved (which include Fluor, Bechtel, Washington Group and CH2M Hill, Areva, Toshiba, Serco and Amec) have clenched their little fists and stamped their little feet and demanded that the British government bail them out in the event of an accident at the site.

The government (meaning the British taxpayer) will pay out for any 'property damage' or 'damage to human health', 'cost of measures of reinstatement of significantly impaired environment' and 'the cost of preventative measures'. The companies will also be compensated for any loss of income after an accident even - and this is the best bit - if they caused the accident themselves.

It's a pattern that you see repeated across the world wherever these strutting, dynamic nuclear behemoths, with their bold promises to save us from everything from rocketing oil prices to global climate cataclysm, decide to set up shop. The building of the Olkiluoto reactor in Finland, as another example, has relied on funds from export credit agencies, money usually reserved for projects in the developing world.

The titans of nuclear energy won't lay a single brick in a new reactor if there's the slightest hint of financial risk. To put it another way, if you crashed your car into a nursery and you weren't insured, there's a good chance you're going to jail. Irradiate that same nursery with your power plant and, well, don't worry, here's a cheque.

But who do you blame for this state of affairs? The complacently wobbling child who might topple any second or the over-protective parent hovering nervously mere inches away? This is the price paid for relying on nuclear energy and these companies for vital issues such as power generation.

If the lights go out or there's a nuclear accident it's the government that will get the blame from the people and the media. There are political reputations at stake. Witness the British government's desperate bailout of a failing British Energy a few years back, showing a history of government subsidies that now extends to the proposed new generation of nuclear power stations.

One wonders whether this baby can ever walk unaided, or whether it should just give it all up as a bad job. From a political standpoint, if the baby ends up with a bump on its head, who looks bad? It's certainly us tax payers who'll end up paying for the bandages.

Update July 11 2008: For updates on this, see the Fallout from July 11 2008.

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

Reuters: CEZ may ask for review of new nuclear projects
‘Czech power firm CEZ may ask the state to launch an environmental assessment study on a potential new nuclear power plant, Prime Minister Miroslav Topolanek said on Friday.’

Thought Leader: Lights out in the Niger
‘Even though the Niger is sorely lacking in access to electricity, they are the third largest suppliers of uranium in the globe, providing up to 32% of France’s energy requirements.’

Herald Sun: Massive cache of uranium removed
’THE last major remnant of Saddam Hussein's nuclear program - a stockpile of uranium - has reached Canada, ending a secret US operation.’

Good news everyone! It's been estimated that over the next 40 years the Japanese Rokkasho nuclear recycling plant will only release a collective dose of radiation equivalent to half of that released during the Chernobyl disaster.

We say 'good news'. What we mean is good news for the Japanese nuclear industry's spin doctors who, in 2048, will be able to say: 'What are you complaining about? It could have been worse.'

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

Forbes: France's Borloo says 2nd EPR 'marginal' for electricity production
‘France's second European pressurised water nuclear power reactor, proposed by President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday, would be 'marginal' for electricity production, Jean-Louis Borloo, the environment minister, said on France Inter radio.’

Yahoo! News: US, Germany differ on nuclear energy on sidelines of G-8 summit
‘Differences over nuclear power surfaced on the sidelines of the Group of Eight summit Monday, with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, which is phasing out its nuclear plants, arguing that its use is not the only way to combat climate change.’

World Nuclear News: Volgodonsk 2 set for 2009 completion
‘After a change of contractors, Russian officials have put forward the start-up dates of three new reactors.’

Foreign Policy in Focus: Nuclear Recycling Fails the Test
‘The key to recycling is being able to reuse materials while reducing pollution, saving money and making the earth a safer place. On all accounts, nuclear recycling fails the test.’

iStockAnalyst: Suez Picks Up 5% Ownership Interest in Georges Besse II Enrichment Plant
‘French energy major Suez and nuclear engineering company Areva have signed an agreement, giving Suez a 5% ownership interest in the company that holds the Georges Besse II uranium enrichment plant.’

What the nuclear industry gives with one hand, it takes with the other, it seems. Take the news this morning that French EDF and GDF Suez are going toe-to-toe on who gets to build France’s freshly announced second European Pressurised Reactor (EPR).

The (not so) innocent bystander in this brawl looks to be the British power industry which, short of its own nuclear know-how was looking to French boffins to launch the UK nuclear ‘renaissance’ and build Britain’s very own EPR.

(The use of the word ‘renaissance’ is a very cheeky bit of spin, by the way. The word evokes a golden age in world history that heralded exploration and endeavour rather than, in the instance of nuclear power, a retreat to reactionary viewpoints. The artists of the true Renaissance were on a quest for knowledge. The architects of the nuclear renaissance want you to be ignorant.)

British nuclear insiders are worried that state-owned EDF’s bid to build Nicolas Sarkozy’s new baby will torpedo the deal of EDF buying the much maligned and over-subsidised British Energy, the UK’s major nuclear power lemon that we mentioned yesterday. But take a look at how EDF’s construction of France’s first EPR at Flamville is going...

In April this year, inspections by the French nuclear safety agency found a quarter of the welding in the reactor’s steel liner (the rather important protective shell of the reactor) was substandard. Cracks were also already appearing in the concrete base which resulted in the French Nuclear Agency halting the construction work.

EDF claim they are working it put this right but we wonder if the philosophy of ‘if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again’ is a particularly sensible or safe one in the construction of nuclear reactors. And yet countries are queuing up all around the world to build EPRs – untried, untested and to the detriment of cleaner more sustainable alternatives.

It is just – just – possible that one day a nuclear reactor will be built on time, on budget and without the terrifying defects that emerge with equally terrifying regularity. It’s looking a long, long way off - definitely too late to halve our emissions by 2050, too late to keep global warming below two degrees, and too late stop the drastic effects of climate change.

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

Washington Post: New Life for the India Nuclear Pact
‘Less than a month ago, unnamed U.S. officials hit the front page of the Financial Times by indicating that the U.S.-India nuclear pact was "almost certainly dead." This past weekend the corpse suddenly twitched back to life, thanks to sharp political maneuvering by India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, and his Congress Party. Now, the deal will almost certainly be signed by India's government -- putting the onus back on the United States to get it implemented.’

The News & Advance: NRC to discuss Areva's safety record at public meeting
‘The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a public meeting in Lynchburg on July 24 to discuss Areva NP's safety record.’

Reuters: EU's Solana to visit Iran for nuclear talks
‘EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will travel to Iran to hold talks over its nuclear program, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Tuesday on the sidelines of the G8 summit in Japan.’

South China Morning Post: Details of quake damage to Sichuan's biggest nuclear dump site under wraps
‘The biggest nuclear-waste storage facility in southwestern China was paralysed after the Sichuan earthquake but its parent company, the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), refuses to provide details of the massive damage to the complex...’

In case you hadn’t noticed, the G8 leaders’ summit (http://www.g8summit.go.jp/) was held in Hokkaido, Japan this week. The outcome of the summit was everything we’ve come to expect when the world’s eight most powerful people sit down together, that is, a disappointing anti-climax so massive it’s visible from outer space. An old ladies’ knitting club would have got more done.

After sensitively highlighting the growing crisis of world hunger by enjoying a much-publicised 18-course banquet, Bush, Brown, Merkel, Fukuda, Sarkozy, Medvedev, Harper, and Berlusconi worked off their repast by paying lip service, once again, to climate change. To give them credit, it takes real talent to do that much talking and yet fail to produce so little of anything tangible.

On the issue of nuclear energy the news is, as with pretty much all the other issues discussed, there is no news. The same old line about the development of nuclear energy contributing to ‘global energy security, while simultaneously reducing harmful air pollution and addressing the climate change challenge’ was rolled out once again as it has been at so many summits before. We’ve debunked, disproved and destroyed these myths so often, we’re almost as tired as they are. Come on G8, give us a fresh challenge!

The magic nuclear 3Ss – non-proliferation safeguards, safety and security – were also mentioned at Hokkaido. They’re very, very, very important, don’t you know? It’s nice to see that they’re being thought about even if they’re not being followed. Despite the G8 ‘underlining the paramount importance’ of the 3Ss, there are still cracks in the concrete bases of reactors, their welding is substandard, and France’s nuclear ‘experts’ Areva have just poured 30,000 litres of radioactive liquid into the Gaffiere and Lauzon rivers in the south of the country.

And that was G8 for another year. You’ll have to dig very deep to find any diamonds in the communiqués. If only they were as rich as the leaders’ banquet. The signatures of the most powerful people on Earth might come in handy. We could forge them on a nuclear energy abolition treaty.

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

Space War: Indian nukes and the G8
‘The most important event at the G8 meeting in Hokkaido, Japan, was a meeting on the sidelines between U.S. President George Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that will change the geopolitics of Asia. It also could implode what is left of the world's control regime against nuclear proliferation, the Non-Proliferation Treaty.’

The Japan Times: More nuclear power OK’d
‘The Group of Eight leaders gave the green light Tuesday to expanded development of nuclear power, saying it is a vital energy source in the fight against global warming.’

People’s Daily Online: Ukraine to accelerate nuclear power development
‘More nuclear reactors will be brought into operation in Ukraine by 2013, said Yushchenko, who was on a one-day visit to Vienna.’

Bloomberg: Japan May Build 12 Nuclear Plants in South Africa, Kyodo Says
‘Japan is studying building 12 atomic reactors in South Africa as part of a plan to cut greenhouse emission and offer assistance to African nations, Kyodo News reported, citing unidentified government sources.’

Trading Markets: Mitsubishi buys rights to Rio Tinto uranium deposit
‘Mitsubishi Corp. and Canadian uranium producer Cameco Corp. have jointly acquired interests in an Australian uranium mine from Anglo-Australian resource giant Rio Tinto for about 53 billion yen (US$496.82 million).’

Gulf News: Total and Eni dangle nuclear bait in Mideast
‘Total and Eni, two of Europe's biggest oil and gas companies, each plan to bring nuclear power to countries in the Middle Eastin what would be a controversial shift in an industry that is finding itself squeezed out of many of the world's biggest oil and gas fields.’

The Press Association: Warning over nuclear power sites
‘The £73 billion cost of decommissioning [UK] nuclear power sites could be increased "significantly", the head of an influential committee of MPs have warned. Edward Leigh, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee said the cost of work over the next five years had already risen "steeply."’

Don’t panic! Don’t panic! Apparently, only 18,000 litres of the 30,000 litres of the liquid containing uranium spilled by French nuclear ‘experts’ Areva at the Tricastin nuclear site this week reached the ground and the Gaffiere and Lauzon rivers in southern France.

Now, call us cynical if you like but this is a definition of ‘only’ we’ve been unaware of up until now. ‘Only’ 18,000 litres out 30,000 containing 224 kilograms of unenriched natural uranium. We’re sure this ‘only’ comes as a great comfort to the local residents who’ve been told not to drink well-water, water their crops or swim or fish in the rivers.

Let’s have one or two other ‘only’s, shall we? This weeks leak constitutes ‘only’ 130 times the level this reactor alone is permitted to release in an entire year. Read that again. In a single day Tricastin leaked 130 times its permitted annual allowance. It was ‘only’ a faulty valve and a damaged retention tray that caused the leak

France’s nuclear safety agency said the uranium solution was toxic but only slightly radioactive. And that’s supposed to be reassuring is it? Thousands of litres of the stuff find their way into two tributaries to the Rhone, one of Europe’s largest rivers, but it’s ‘only’ toxic and ‘only’ slightly radioactive even though the radioactivity levels caused by the leak are 6000 times higher than regulatory limits allow.

It’s fortunate for Nicolas Sarkozy that he made his speech announcing France will build a second European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) last week and not this week when industry incompetence disproved the lie – yet again – that nuclear energy is clean and safe. If ‘only’ it was.

Uranium: dealing with devils

The nuclear industry certainly makes for strange bedfellows and if we’re going to maintain ‘energy security’ with nuclear power, it’s going to mean getting into bed with some very ugly characters indeed.

One of the reasons given for the push for nuclear power is that it will help wean us off reliance on Middle Eastern oil. The problem is that, with only 18 countries in the world who mine uranium, it means replacing one reliance with another.

To be sure, some of the uranium producing nations are nice, friendly democracies. Others, unfortunately, are unstable, violent states with human right records that would make the Devil wince. Are we going to tolerate their abuses to get our hands on their uranium just as we tolerate the floggings and beheadings in Saudi Arabia so we can get our hands on their oil? The depressing answer, right now, seems to be: Of course we are.

Take Kazakhstan for example. Apart from gas and petroleum resources, the country is the world’s second largest uranium producer after Australia. As the demand for uranium increases in a nuclear future, Kazakhstan can expect to become a major player on the world stage.

But take a look at the country’s human rights record. Despite backslapping photo opportunities with George Bush, Kazak president Nursultan Nazarbayev rules a corrupt legislature where opposition parties are not represented. His own election was criticised by the US State Department as falling ‘far short of international standards’. You can see why Nursultan and George might have things in common.

As documented by Human Rights Watch, arbitrary arrest, torture, beatings and mistreatment are widespread within Kazakhstan’s criminal justice system. Freedom of expression is largely suppressed. Libel is a criminal offence. ‘Unapproved’ religious practices will penalised under the terms of a new draft law.

Kazakhstan isn’t alone. Third largest uranium producer, Niger, supplies up to 32 per cent of France’s requirement. And yet the country is near the bottom of United Nations Human Development Index revealing catastrophic levels of life expectancy. While France is reaping the benefits, the dividends of Niger’s enormous uranium resources simply haven’t been passed on to its people. Couple that with a violent conflict between Tuareg rebels and the government and stability and security aren’t words that readily spring to mind.

And coming up fast is Uzbekistan, It turns out Uzbekistan has the seventh largest uranium reserves in the world. Good news for the kleptocrat Karimov but not so good for those hoping for democratic change in the country any time soon. The country is being actively courted by South Korea. Relations with the US, frosty since the Andijan massacre in 2005 when hundreds of protesters were gunned down by government troops, are said to be, unsurprisingly, warming up again.

These are the issues that the world will turn a blind eye if they decide to go down nuclear road. The price of so-called clean and cheap energy is, and will continue to be, blood. This is yet another unintended consequence of nuclear power. It doesn’t just pollute the environment, it’s also polluting people’s human rights.

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

Top News: Japanese nuclear fuel plant worker exposed to radiation
‘Global Nuclear Fuel-Japan Co said a worker at a nuclear fuel producing plant in the central Japanese city of Yokosuka had inhaled a small amount of uranium on Wednesday.’

The London Times: Sellafield to be taken private this week
‘The management of Sellafield, Britain’s key nuclear reprocessing site, will go into private hands on Friday when a contract to run the site is awarded. One company and three consortia have been battling for the contract - one of the biggest ever awarded by the Government. They are CH2M Hill, the US engineering group bidding on its own; Areva of France in partnership with Britain’s Amec and the US’s Washington Group; the US’s Fluor bidding with Japan’s Toshiba; and Bechtel and Babcock and Wilcox of the US bidding with the UK’s Serco.‘

The Guardian: MPs fear taxpayer could end up paying nuclear clean-up bill
‘A parliamentary watchdog has accused the government of failing to provide sufficient safeguards to ensure that the clean-up costs of a planned new generation of atomic power stations do not end up in the lap of the taxpayer. A damning report from the House of Commons committee of public accounts (CPA) also criticises ministers for providing no certainty over the future cost of decommissioning Britain's existing nuclear sites - estimated at £73bn.’

Bloomberg: EDF Battles Hedge Funds, Power Traders to Keep Nuclear Secrets
‘EDF is at the center of a battle over the disclosure of data Citigroup Inc. says may save European electricity users billions of euros a year. The state-owned utility refuses to release information on plant operations that its biggest competitors, E.ON AG and RWE AG, began reporting last year. Now the European Union may force the company to be more transparent.’

The London Times: British Energy's nuclear power output slides
‘British Energy, the UK's largest nuclear power plant operator, said that its electricity output fell by 17 per cent in the second quarter. A glitch at Sizewell B, the nuclear power station, triggered blackouts that hit up to 500,000 homes in May. Figures yesterday showed that the company's entire electricity output was only 11.4Terawatt hours (TWh), down from 13.8 TWh in the same quarter last year.’

Forbes: Italy govt to set up nuclear safety body as part of nuclear power plans
‘Italy's minister for economic development Claudio Scajola said the government will be setting up a nuclear safety body as part of its policy for reintroducing nuclear power generation.’

MarketWatch: Gain Insight in to Brazil's Nuclear Power Market Potential
‘This report covers all the aspects of the Brazilian nuclear power industry and analyzes each point in detail, dealing with market analysis, production/consumption data, energy industry reforms, regulatory frameworks, and much more. It is a complete coverage of the Brazilian nuclear power industry.’

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

Reuters: Spain's Cofrentes nuclear plant in power drop
‘Spain's 1,000 MW Cofrentes nuclear plant had to cut power early on Sunday due to technical problems -- for the second time in three days -- the nuclear watchdog said.’

The Local: Merkel calls for slower nuclear phase-out
‘Germany plans to mothball the last of its 17 nuclear power plants, which emit no carbon dioxide and produce a quarter of the country's electricity, by 2020 under a plan approved under Merkel's predecessor Gerhard Schroeder. But soaring energy costs and pressure to slash CO2 pollution have led conservatives like Merkel to call for a rethink against fierce opposition from their coalition partners, the Social Democrats.’

International Herald Tribune: Greenpeace climb Eiffel Tower in nuclear protest
‘About 15 environmental activists climbed the Eiffel Tower on Sunday to unfurl a banner protesting against France's nuclear energy policies, on the day when it hosts a major summit of heads of state. Campaign group Greenpeace said the banner showing the nuclear logo was placed in the middle of a circle of stars representing the European Union displayed on the tower to mark France's six-month term as EU president.’

Financial Times: PM pushes for more nuclear power stations
‘Gordon Brown wants at least eight new nuclear power stations to come on stream during the next 15 years and says there should be no upper limit if energy companies want to build more. Mr Brown has become a zealous advocate of nuclear power in recent months, arguing that the world could need about 1,000 new stations to help to meet targets for cutting carbon emissions and reduce oil dependency.’

Herald Sun: Nuclear power push comes as report attacks Aussie energy efficiency
‘AUSTRALIA'S wasteful use of energy has come under the spotlight as Kevin Rudd faces a new push to accept nuclear power. New research shows Australia must dramatically improve its energy efficiency and productivity.‘

‘Clean, safe and cheap’, that’s how energy produced by nuclear reactors is described by the industry’s cheerleaders. Unfortunately, with incidents like last week’s leak at France’s Tricastin nuclear site giving lie to the ‘clean and safe’ parts of the argument, the claims of nuclear being ‘cheap’ are also being showed up to be increasingly ridiculous.

Rocketing cost overruns and delays in construction are all too common features of the nuclear industry. According to a report by independent researchers Worldwatch Institute, 12 of the 34 reactors currently being built across the world have been under construction for 20 years or more. Estimated costs of building a Westinghouse reactor have doubled to $12-18 billion.

So, we have to ask the question, despite the likes of Gordon Brown’s and Angela Merkel’s seemingly unshakeable faith in the power of nuclear to save us all, is the world going cold on the idea? The growth in the output from nuclear power in 2007 was absolutely pitiful: a mere tenth of the output from newly-installed wind turbines. The United States has not commissioned any new nuclear power stations in the last 29 years.

The Worldwatch Institute report is full of jaw-dropping facts and we recommend reading it. . The same problems of substandard welding in the steel lining that have delayed the construction of France’s first EPR site have also been found in reactors being built in China and Taiwan. Construction has been delayed for a year in China and five years in Taiwan, adding to the spiralling costs.

Surging steel prices are eating subcontractors’ profits. Wall Street’s Moody’s credit rating agency has stated it believes investment in the nuclear industry could wreck corporations’ credit ratings. The likes of Gordon Brown, whose ludicrous hope is that the private sector will build up to 1,000 new reactors worldwide, are going to have to offer significant tax-payer funded inducements and concessions to attract risk-averse and profit-hungry companies. Again, all ramping up the overall costs of nuclear build.

The industry’s PR men might still peddle the line about nuclear’s clean, safe and cheap industry. But instead of queuing up for a piece of the action, there’s evidence that private companies are dashing away in the opposite direction.

Welcome to Reactor of the Week, Nuclear Reaction’s profiling of the nuclear reactors and power plants whose reputations have made the nuclear industry the global laughing stock it is today.

Meet gorgeous, pouting Bataan, from the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines. Born in 1976, Bataan is one high-maintenance lady, with a taste for the expensive, but who’s never done a day’s work in her life.

Work was completed on her in 1984 after costing the country somewhere in the region of $2.3 billion. For 20 years funding Bataan was the Philippine government’s largest overseas debt. It was only paid off last year, 32 years after construction began, at a final cost of 21.2 billion Philippine Pesos ( $460 million dollars at today's exchange rate).

Still, it wasn’t bad news for everybody in the Philippines. Former president Ferdinand Marcos helped himself to $80 million in kickbacks from the deal. Attempts to sue the builders, Westinghouse Electric Company , for corruption and overpricing on the contract were thrown out of US courts.

From the start, Bataan was a lady with a few problems. Four thousand defects and safety issues to be precise. And despite her sugar daddy’s generosity, Bataan has never been put through her paces. Not a single fuel rod has ever been processed, not a single watt of electricity has ever been produced. On that score, at least, Bataan is our favourite nuclear reactor in the whole world – truly clean and safe.

And there she sits to this day, unloved and unemployed. She was built in response to the 1970s oil crisis. Now a new oil crisis is here, there are rumours that the old girl is going to be brought out of retirement and put to work after all this time. According to the IAEA rehabilitation would cost additional $800 million dollars, and will take five more years. We say leave the poor thing alone – she’s not hurting anybody, is she?

Here, according to energy news agency Platts, is Ed Cummins, vice president of regulatory affairs and standardization for Westinghouse, on the topic of the cost of building one of his company’s reactors…

At a conference in late June at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, Cummins stated the cost of building a Westinghouse 1,154-MW AP1000 reactor to be around ‘$3,000-plus’ per installed kilowatt.

However, the estimated cost of building two of the reactors at the Turkey Point nuclear site in Florida is between $6,000 and $8,000 per kW. Those figures, said Cummins, ‘are also correct. They have transmission, inflation, [and cost of project financing] in their definition of cost. So it’s difficult to have an intelligent conversation about costs.’

So it´s difficult to have an intelligent conversation about costs?

Don’t look at us, we didn’t say it.

More details are emerging about just what happened in the aftermath of the leak at the Tricastin nuclear site in southern France last week where thousands of litres of a uranium solution reached local rivers.

While local residents are still not able swim and fish in the rivers, the French nuclear safety authority (ASN) have criticised Areva subsidiary Socatri for their handling of the leak.

Though the leak took place on Monday evening, it was not reported until Tuesday morning. Leak prevention measures at the plant were found to be substandard. A previous leak at the plant had been ignored by Socatri.

Which all prompts the question: if this is Areva’s record on safety at nuclear sites, how did they win the contract to clean up Sellafield in northern England, the most radioactive site in the UK? How big a disaster does Areva have to cause before they are no longer given these jobs?

And how big a disaster is needed to stop governments promoting nuclear energy at the cost of clean renewable energy options? We don’t even want to think about it.

‘Areva in uranium drive to tap nuclear boom’

‘Nuclear’ and ‘boom’ are not two words that should go together in the same sentence.

(Actually, we don’t mind. ‘Nuclear boom’ at least describes the situation more honestly than ‘nuclear renaissance’.)

US Senator Larry Craig toured Areva’s nuclear facilities in France at the beginning of July. Writing about his holiday, ‘as a guest of its government’ (he means ‘of its taxpayers’), Larry described Areva’s sites as ‘outstanding’.

To describe Areva’s operations as ‘outstanding’ depends very much on what you mean by the word. Last week’s uranium leak was pretty outstanding, if you ask us. It’s a real shame Larry wasn’t around a week later to witness Areva’s ‘outstanding’ response to the leak. Outstandingly bad, that is.

The senator was in France to inspect Areva’s facilities as the company is to build a uranium enrichment plant in his state. ‘I was very impressed with the transparency and willingness of officials to engage in a frank dialogue with the public,’ writes the senator. It’s a shame then that his fine words have since been made to look ridiculous by the incompetence, obfuscation and cover-up displayed by Areva over the Tricastin leak.

Larry also visited the construction site of France’s reactor at Flamanville. He doesn’t seem to have the space to tell us that construction at the site was halted earlier this year because of faulty welding in the reactor’s steel core. It remains to be seen whether safety factors at the site have been adequately addressed. It’s an ‘outstanding’ issue, you could say.

‘Clearly the United States has a lot to learn from our French friends,’ said Senator Craig at the end of his tour. We couldn’t agree more. That Areva are incompetent and can’t be trusted would be a good first lesson to learn.

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

The Jakarta Post: Nuclear power is a false solution to climate change
‘Put simply, investments in nuclear power are much worse at emitting greenhouse gases than pursuing wind, solar, and other small-scale power generators. Indonesians would be wise to embrace these more environmentally friendly technologies if they are serious about producing electricity and mitigating climate change.’

The Hindu: U.S. Congressional clock ticks away; uncertainty over lame duck session
‘The decision of the Manmohan Singh government to give a final push to the civil nuclear deal comes at a time when the calendar for the 110th U.S. Congress is almost over. There is a very small window for the lawmakers here to take a final look at the deal, once President George Bush submits his report to Capitol Hill.’

BBC News: Pakistan scientist court action
‘Lawyers acting on behalf of Pakistan's government say that restrictions on disgraced nuclear scientist AQ Khan should be maintained.’

Mark Mardell's Euroblog: France builds nuclear future
‘This is Flamanville Three, where France's latest nuclear reactors are being built. The two cranes wear concrete jackets, to make sure that in the unlikely event they fell over, they wouldn't crash into either of the live reactors next door.’

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

UPI: Areva launches an investment program
‘French nuclear company Areva started an investment arm. Through its new financial program based in Le Creusot, Areva announced it will work to increase its nuclear power program.’

The Guardian: Suez, GDF shareholders back birth of energy giant
‘[Suez Chief Executive Gerard] Mestrallet has said GDF Suez may bid for one or two new-generation EPR nuclear reactors in Britain, and would decide at the start of 2009 whether to take part in the construction of a second EPR in France -- where it would compete with EDF.’

The Australian: Nuclear waste trade ruled out
‘THE Rudd Government has ruled out accepting international nuclear waste, but says it is considering a continued role in an international forum as part of its global efforts against the proliferation of atomic weapons.’

The Guardian: All aboard the nuclear power superjet. Just don't ask about the landing strip
‘Even our language fails, then, when faced with the challenge of alerting future generations to the dangers we have introduced into the world through the use of nuclear power. Seen in this light, the actors who are supposed to be the guarantors of security and rationality - the state, science and industry - are engaged in a highly ambivalent game. They are no longer trustees but suspects, no longer managers of risks but also sources of risks. For they are urging the population to climb into an aircraft for which a landing strip has not yet been built.’

RIA Novosti: Russia's Tvel to supply fuel to Slovak reactors up to 2015
‘Russian state nuclear fuel producer Tvel has won a tender to supply enriched uranium to power plants in Slovakia up to 2015, Slovak power utility Slovenske elektrarne said on Wednesday.’

For an industry so heavily subsidised and bailed out by governments and taxpayers, you really have to wonder about its business model. The model is probably based on a greedy and spoiled child who always has its chubby hands out, demanding more allowance, and who always gets it from its over-indulgent parents. Think of an even more toxic version of Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

The latest whining brat to have its allowance increased is Yucca Mountain, the US’s first nuclear waste dump, being built in Nevada. Already 20 (yes, 20) years behind schedule, it was announced this week that the project’s costs have rocketed to $90 billion, up $32 billion on the previous 2001 estimate of $58 billion.

(To put this into perspective, take a look at the wind power generation programme in China’s Bayan Nur region. The Chinese government has given the go ahead for 2,100MW of generation in the region. This is 500MW more than the 1600MW produced by a EPR nuclear reactor. And, of course, with wind power you don’t have to hollow out mountains to hide waste.)

Exactly what Yucca Mountain’s managers have found to spend all that money on has yet to be revealed (precise costings aren’t due to be released for several weeks). As pointed out by Las Vegas congresswoman Shelley Berkley who opposes the project, however, at least one idea for the money is to build a fleet of robots to send into the mountain in a hundred years to maintain the facility. We’re really not making this up.

Imagine the scene as a group of cigar-puffing industry figures sit around a conference table:

Industry figure 1: We’ve got all this money. We’ve got to spend it on something. What to spend it on? Improved safety? Speeding up construction?

Industry figure 2: Have we budgeted for robots? I like robots. I want robots!

It turns out these people are like children after all. If you had a friend who told you he was planning to send robots into the future in order to do his job for him, you’d tell him to lay off the crappy sci-fi movies for a while and to probably seek professional help. In the nuclear industry, however, this is apparently all perfectly acceptable and normal.

As with all dreadful over-budget blockbusters, someone should tell them that amazing special effects won’t save you if you’ve lost the plot. Not even Will Smith could save this one.

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

Energy Daily: Russia's Uranium Breakthrough
‘Russia has overtaken Niger to become the world's fourth largest uranium producer, after Canada, Australia, and Kazakhstan. Russia received its new rating in 2007, when it produced 3,527 tons of uranium’

The Whitehaven News: Action prompts ban on further plutonium movements
‘SELLAFIELD’S MOX fuel business has suffered another embarrassment after the French nuclear safety authorities spotted an alleged certification problem over the status of plutonium sent from Sellafield to France on May 21. As a result of the mistake, the UK Department of Transport has slapped a ban on any further plutonium movements from Sellafield until the issue is resolved. Sellafield Ltd has immediately issued a legal appeal to fight the prohibition order.’

The Guardian: Rolls-Royce seeks role in UK's nuclear power revival
‘Rolls-Royce, one of the most prestigious names in manufacturing, has thrown its weight behind the nuclear power renaissance by unveiling plans for a division it believes could become one of its biggest.’

Space War: Afghanistan to look into Pakistan nuclear dumping claims
‘President Hamid Karzai appointed Wednesday a team of experts to investigate allegations that Pakistan had dumped nuclear waste in southern Afghanistan, his office said.’

Tri-City Herald: Environmentalists praise Gregoire for raising concerns about Areva plant
‘A collection of environmental groups is asking its supporters to thank [Washington] Gov. Chris Gregoire "for standing up for our health, safety and our environment by raising concerns over nuclear wastes from a uranium enrichment plant," once proposed for Richland.’

The Indypendent: Walking for the Earth
‘For the last five months, several hundred Native Americans and their supporters walked coast-to-coast through 26 states, gathering on-the-ground testimonials about pressing environmental and cultural concerns. […] Since 1940, it is estimated that more than 50 percent of all uranium extracted for nuclear energy and weapons has been mined from indigenous lands, leaving massive radioactive contamination’

The Guardian: Bill for Britain's nuclear clean-up increases by another £10bn
‘It said the most accurate estimate of the clean-up bill over the next 130 years was £73bn, which included £10bn for the future construction of a high level waste depositary. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority 's estimates for that project have not been revealed before.’

Trading Markets: British Energy delay to return shutdown reactors; costs to double
‘British Energy Group has said it expects a delay to the scheduled return to service of its Hartlepool and Heysham 1 reactors, and for the costs of returning them to service to increase significantly above initial estimates.’

Daily Yomiuri: N-power plant remains offline / Pressure mounting to resume operations at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa site
‘On July 16 last year, a quake measuring 7 on the Japanese seismic scale of 7 was registered at the compound of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant. The quake's epicenter was close to the plant. […] In the past year, it was discovered that TEPCO did not thoroughly survey faults near the nuclear plant and its earthquake-resistance measures were insufficient. This led some voters to express concern about the plant's safety.’

National Post: Uranium price has likely hit bottom, Denison chief says
‘It is starting to look like the long, steep decline in uranium spot prices is coming to an end. And for producers like Denison Mines Corp., it couldn't come soon enough.’

The big news is Al Gore’s speech outlining what the United States must do to save itself and the planet. Within ten years, according to Gore, the US must have converted to carbon-free energy.

It’s a noble aim. Forgive us for being cynical, however, but in the face of the vested interests of the fossil-fuel and nuclear industries and the grip they have on US government policy, we’re not sure if we rate Gore’s chances in realising his ambitions very highly.

Gore says he’s spoken to both Barack Obama and John McCain about his radical vision. We don’t know what their responses were – Gore isn’t telling. However, we do know McCain has received large campaign donations from Big Oil and has voted in favour of the industry including in support of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve. Obama has spoken out against Big Oil but whether or not he has received donations from it has been the matter of some dispute.

Where Obama and McCain are publicly united is in their advocacy of nuclear power. In his speech, Gore said the US needed to continue to rely on nuclear for 20 per cent of its electricity generation. McCain has gone further and called for a hundred new nuclear power plants across the country. Employees of Exelon, America’s largest nuclear operator, have contributed large sums to Obama’s campaign and there are signs that he is willing to listen to and act on the company’s concerns.

There’s much talk about ’new’ ideas but ‘business as usual’ is still the highest priority on the policy agenda. Our Energy Revolution shows that with intelligent policy and infrastructure choices made now, renewable energy such as wind and solar, along with energy efficiency, could supply 50% of global energy by 2050.

Al Gore has called for ‘a new start’. A new president could bring new ideas to the Whitehouse but it looks that whoever wins, Obama or McCain, they’ll be bringing the same old and discredited ideas with them.

More details of the leak at France’s Areva-run Tricastin nuclear plant (see here and here ) are emerging. While the story gets murkier it becomes clearer that things have been very wrong at the plant for some time.

The French authorities have now agreed to test the ground water at all its nuclear sites after it was found that there were additional traces of uranium found in the water near the Tricastin site from an earlier leak.

In 1998 it was revealed that military nuclear waste was being secretly stored at the Tricastin site in mounds of dirt. It was suggested that rainwater could wash the uranium into the ground. When you read stuff like this, it makes you realise that disposing of nuclear waste is less based on sound science and more on reckless wishful thinking.

How does this happen? Is it incompetence or malice that leads people to make decisions like this? Whichever it is, neither are reassuring. Would you prefer to be poisoned deliberately or by accident? Either way, you’re still poisoned.

The ban on drinking well water, and swimming or fishing in the two contaminated rivers near Tricastin is still in place more than ten days after the leak. It looks like the ban should have been put in place ten years ago.

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

Reuters: Niger's Tuareg rebels demand share of uranium cash
‘Niger's Tuareg-led rebel movement chief said his Niger Justice Movement (MNJ), whose desert fighters have waged a rebellion against Niamey government troops, wants up to 30 percent of uranium revenue to be allocated to the northern region populated mainly by Tuaregs.’

NPR: Nuclear Power A Thorny Issue For Candidates
‘Nuclear power doesn't usually make for an applause line in a stump speech, but it has come up on the campaign trail. Both Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain see it as a way to combat climate change, though they've sometimes chosen their words with care.’

WRS: Swiss 'playground' for radioactive waste testing
‘Deep inside the Swiss Alps, scientists from around the world are testing how to dispose of radioactive material. The Grimsel Test Site is a series of tunnels dug deep into the mountains. It’s operated by the National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (NAGRA). The cooperative was started in 1972 by nuclear power plant operators and the Swiss government. World Radio Switzerland’s Alex Helmick reports from the underground laboratory near the Grimsel Pass on the cantonal border of Bern and Valais.’

The Independent: Indian government drafts in jailed MPs to avert collapse
‘The so-called "trust vote" was called two weeks ago by the coalition government headed by the centrist Congress Party under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. It decided to call the vote after a group of Communist allies withdrew their support for the coalition in a row over the nuclear deal, fearful that it would give the US too much influence over Indian foreign policy.’

Democracy Now: Amory Lovins: Expanding Nuclear Power Makes Climate Change Worse
‘There’s one issue that President Bush and presidential hopefuls John McCain and Barack Obama all agree on: expanding the use of nuclear power. We speak with Amory Lovins, the co-founder, chairman and chief scientist of Rocky Mountain Institute in Colorado, who has been described as “one of the Western world’s most influential energy thinkers.”’

With all the darkly comedic inevitability we’re coming to expect from France’s foremost nuclear ‘experts‘, the news of the leak at Areva’s Tricastin nuclear plant has been followed fast by news of another leak at the company’s Romans-sur-Isère site.

According to the ASN nuclear safety authority, the fault in the pipe that caused the leak may have been several years old. Which would suggest that safety inspections at Romans-sur-Isère are not all they should be. How can a pipe carrying radioactive material be allowed to be faulty for years? It makes you wonder what Areva employees homes are like…

Areva employee’s wife: ‘Darling, the washing machine is leaking.’

Areva employee: ‘OK, I should be able to fix it in several years.’

You wouldn’t tolerate a pipe in your house leaking just water let alone uranium but Areva are much more relaxed about these things. If Areva were plumbers they’d repair your leaking pipe for you just before you drowned.

The ASN said there had been ‘no impact at all on the environment, because the quantity of uranium was very small, in the order of a few hundred grammes’. The spokesman refrained from using the magic ‘only’ but it was ‘only’ a few hundred grammes of uranium.

We can only hope they’re right but as we’ve seen with the slow drip, drip, drip of more and more information (a bit like an Areva pipe) coming out about the leak at Tricastin, it doesn’t do to accept these things at face value. And there’s been no mention of any effects on the two plants’ workers.

We can only hope they are more fortunate than the workers at the Hanford nuclear reservation caught in a leak at the plant last month. They suffered ‘respiratory problems, upset stomachs, headaches, dizziness, eye irritation and blurred vision’. The contractor running the plant (having the dubious distinction of being the most contaminated nuclear site in America) said it did not believe ‘workers were exposed to enough chemicals to be harmed’. They obviously work to a definition of ‘harmed’ than the rest of us.

You only have to witness the struggles (physically, legally and financially) of American nuclear workers chasing compensation for the terrible damage wreaked on their bodies by radiation to see that this isn’t an industry with people’s best interests at heart.

Why was the damaged pipe at Romans-sur-Isère left for years until the leak became serious enough to report? Whose interests were being served in ignoring it? Lazy or incompetent employees? Areva with its eye on costs, profits and the bottom line? Whoever it was, are they really the kinds of people we want supplying our electricity? Is this the kind of energy we want? Especially when clean energy sources exist.

Good news, everybody! Nuclear power with all its connotations of bombs and death is getting a makeover. William Tucker, writing in the Wall Street Journal want to rename dirty, contaminating and incompetent nuclear power as ‘Terrestrial Energy’.

‘Terrestrial Energy’ comes from the Earth itself, you see. Something that comes from Mother Nature can’t be dangerous or nasty, can it? (Apart from sharks, wasps, volcanoes, earthquakes, appendixes…)

It isn’t ‘unacceptably dangerous or diabolical’, apparently. ‘You could not blow up a nuclear reactor if you tried,’ says Tucker, who obviously hasn’t heard of Chernobyl. Or the TOMSK reprocessing in western Siberia which literally blew its own roof off in 1993.

Still, ‘Terrestrial Energy’. Sounds lovely, doesn’t it? The wondrous, bounteous Earth providing energy for its children. While poisoning them, giving them cancer, and making them fight with each other.

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

The Canadian Press: Nuclear safety watchdog rejected AECL report into isotope controversy: documents
‘The nuclear safety regulator wanted Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd to explain why an earthquake-resistant emergency power supply wasn't connected to the aging National Research Universal reactor's two most crucial heavy water pumps. […] In December 2005, AECL had declared that all safety upgrades made to the NRU reactor were "fully operational" - neglecting to mention that the back-up emergency power supply wasn't connected.’

International Herald Tribune: Court softens restrictions on Pakistani nuclear scientist
‘A high court here ordered the easing of some restrictions Monday that had been placed on the disgraced Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who confessed to having run an illicit global nuclear-proliferation program. Khan has been under de facto house arrest since 2004.’

Yahoo! News: US offers nuclear proposal to NKorea
‘The United States has proposed a mechanism for verifying North Korea's claims about its nuclear past, Washington's top envoy to the nuclear talks said Monday.’

RIA Novosti: Russia's leading uranium miner to set up JV with France's Areva
‘Russia's leading uranium mining company Atomredmetzoloto, owned by state nuclear power corporation Atomenergoprom, said on Monday it intends to set up a joint venture with France's Areva.’

Yahoo! News: 15 French nuclear employees contaminated
‘Electricite de France says 15 workers were exposed to radioactive contamination while carrying out maintenance at a nuclear plant in the French Alps.’

iStockAnalyst: Wind, Wave and Tide Can Make Our Nation World Giant in Green Energy
‘Speaking to The Scotsman ahead of the conference, which is taking place at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow this week, Dr Sayigh said: "The Scottish Government wants to be the Saudi Arabia equivalent of renewable energy in the world. They can be that.”’

So, nuclear energy. It’s clean, we’re told. It’s safe. It’s cheap. It has the power to save us all say its friends. Did you know it also has the power to bring down governments, release criminals from jail, and make the seriously ill walk? That’s what they’re finding out in India right now.

A proposed deal between the Indian government and the US – which would see India given access to American nuclear technology – has brought the government to the brink of collapse. The Communist element of the ruling coalition withdrew from the government in a row over the deal. The government now faces a vote of confidence which could trigger a general election.

The scramble to win the vote and save the nuclear deal has seen the government planning to transfer three critically ill members of parliament to the vote. Nuclear energy works its magic once more.

But the miracles don’t stop there. Mohammed Shahabuddin, a member of parliament jailed for kidnapping, and facing further charges for murder, attempted murder, and extortion, has been given a holiday from his life sentence to attend the vote. Another MP, Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, jailed for his involvement in the murder of a trade unionist, was also allowed a few days out of prison to help save the government. It’s a delightful way for India to secure its nuclear future, we’re sure you’ll agree.

The objections to the deal with the US are many. P. K. Iyengar, former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, says it is not in India national interest, does not guarantee energy security, and puts the country’s energy production at the mercy of a uranium cartel.

Which just goes to prove yet again nuclear’s shortcomings when compared against wind, solar, and tidal energy solutions. We defy anyone to form a cartel that can corner the markets in gales, sunlight and waves.

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

Space War: Nuke-proofing the U.S. border
‘Confusion and miscommunication at border crossings allowed large amounts of potentially dangerous materials to enter the United States without adequate checks, a government investigation has revealed.’

Bloomberg: Hitachi, GE to Develop Midsize Nuclear Reactors, Nikkei Says
‘The compact boiling-water reactors with outputs of 1 million kilowatts or less may meet demand in Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand, which together may have plans to build as many as 12 facilities by 2025, Nikkei said. Eastern European and African countries also are expected to seek the smaller units as they introduce their first nuclear power plants.’

RIA Novosti: Russian nuclear project in Bulgaria gets the green light
‘The clock was started by the National Electric Company of Bulgaria, which gave the official go-ahead to Atomstroyexport, the Russian company that deals with overseas nuclear projects. This means that the basic construction cycle can begin, building machinery can be delivered to the site and work can start in earnest. Infrastructure is already being put into place, and a tender has been announced for Bulgarian building contractors.’

World Nuclear News: Russian reactor designer and constructor to merge
‘Russian reactor builder AtomStroyExport (ASE) and design organization St Petersburg Scientific Research and Design Institute AtomEnergoProekt (SPbAEP) are to merge to boost their chances in the international nuclear reactor market.’

World Nuclear News: ARMZ links with Areva, plans new U plant
‘Russian uranium mining company Atomredmetzoloto (ARMZ) has said it intends to set up a joint uranium prospecting and mining venture with French nuclear company Areva. Meanwhile, its Lunnoye subsidiary is to build a new uranium processing plant in Siberia.’

And finally, some good news…

Becks County Courier Times: Radioactive waste plan 'suspended'
‘Waste Management has “suspended” plans to dump 750 tons of radioactive sludge at its landfills in Falls and Tullytown after news reports in the Courier Times. The landfill operator said it received a “surprising” public response to the project, which was authorized by both the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The radiated material originated at the Limerick Nuclear Power Plant. “For the time being we will be suspending this project until such time as we can address the concerns of the public,” said company spokeswoman Gerri Rush.’

The UK’s government announced its ‘Strategic Siting Assessment system’ this week. It will decide on ‘credible’ sites for the country’s new generation of nuclear power stations.

Moving past the multitude of problems and potential disasters the industry presents (as Greenpeace have pointed out), we note that the UK Business Secretary, John Hutton, had this to say in the announcement:

‘Nuclear power is an essential part of our future energy mix. And, alongside a 10-fold increase in renewables and investment in clean coal technology, it will help wean us off our dependency on oil and protect us against the politicisation of energy supplies.’

You read that correctly. The British government believes that nuclear energy will protect the country against ‘the politicisation of energy supplies’. Just how Mr Hutton thinks this is the case he doesn’t explain. Probably because the assertion is wrong, rubbish, and risible.

Is the UK self-sufficient in uranium? Certainly not. That means it has to buy it from other countries. As we’ve already discussed, there are only a number of uranium producing countries and you don’t have to travel very far down the list before you’re dealing with hardcore human rights abusers. How’s that for the ‘the politicisation of energy supplies’? How does dealing with unstable regimes provide ‘energy security’?

And then, a US State Department advisory body (chaired by no less a figure than Iraq war architect Paul Wolfowitz) has recently suggested the US and six other producer nations get together to form a ‘uranium bank’ to control supply. The world already has an oil cartel and now we’re to have a uranium one as well? Again, how’s that for the ‘the politicisation of energy supplies’?

Are we to expect that this cartel’s decisions won’t be politicised in the face of growing competition for uranium whose supply, we might add, is expected to run out before the end of the century at current rates of consumption?

With a reckless push for nuclear power about to commence across the planet, that rate of consumption and competition would accelerate. We risk swapping fighting over scarce oil resources for fighting over scarce uranium resources. What could cause more ‘politicisation of energy supplies’ than that? We wonder if the likes of Mr Hutton are fooling anybody but themselves.

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

World Nuclear News: Contracts for new US Areva plants
‘Two contracts have been awarded related to new Areva facilities in the USA. One concerns an environmental study of an enrichment plant; the other, detailed engineering of sintering furnaces for a MOX plant.’

Bloomberg: Centrica to Take Controlling Stake in Belgium's SPE
‘Centrica Plc, Britain's biggest energy supplier, will take control of Belgian power generator Societe de Production d'Electricite after doubling its stake, thwarting a rival offer from Electricite de France SA’

Platts: Uranium spot price of $64.50/lb lower than expected: analysts
‘The spot price for uranium now stands at $64.50/pound for U3O8, up 50 cents/lb according to Ux Consulting's report released Monday and up $1.25/lb according to TradeTech's Friday report.’

Bloomberg: Uranium Leaks Rattle France's Nuclear Support, Anger Villagers
‘For years, Sophie Delmas took her horse and her four dogs for a swim in the Trop-Long lake, a stone's throw away from the Tricastin nuclear site in southeast France. Not anymore.’

Press Trust of India: China's quake-hit province to build nuclear power station
‘China's earthquake-devastated Sichuan province plans to build its first nuclear power station in five years on a site with sound "geological structure", state media said.
Findings of a feasibility study of the USD 3.7 billion project with an installed capacity of four million to six million KWh would soon be submitted to the country's top economic planner - the National Development and Reform Commission, an official said.’

News 24: Eskom warns of power cuts
‘Consumers have been warned of possible unexpected power cuts after unit two at Koeberg nuclear power station was switched off. Eskom had to switch the unit off on Monday night after a technical fault with power generation.‘

The Guardian: New French reactor to supply nuclear-shy neighbours
‘Atomic power champion France is building a new generation reactor largely to supply power for neighbours that are wary of having nuclear plants, although its own need is for more flexible sources of energy such as gas.’

The Guardian: Nuclear clean-up industry in chaos
‘Chaos at the heart of Britain's nuclear clean-up industry has been laid bare by an internal government audit after embarrassing cost overruns and bureaucratic bungling. […] Figures released by [UK Department for Business] in February showed that at least £15m that was meant to be used on "sustainable energy capital grants" had been switched to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.’

It could be argued that the ultimate aim of Greenpeace (and by extension this blog) is to put itself out of a job. If everybody would just do their bit for their environment, all the lovely people at Greenpeace could pack up and go home and quit bugging you. There are nicer things in life, after all, than constantly having to remind people how they’re flushing their planet down the toilet.

The thing is, looking around the place, that’s not going to happen any time soon. There’s been another leak at another French nuclear power plant. That makes four in two weeks alone. The nuclear power plant in question? Why, it’s our old friend Areva’s Tricastin which, only two weeks ago, was pouring thousands of litres of uranium into the local rivers.

This time, 100 staff were exposed to radioactive particles from a leaking pipe. A spokesman for Electricite de France (EDF) said the workers were only ‘slightly contaminated’ which in no way takes away from the fact that these people should not have been contaminated at all, however ‘slightly’. Nuclear contamination is like being pregnant – you either are or you aren’t. You can’t be ‘slightly’ pregnant. And like pregnancy, if you don’t want to be contaminated, you really should take the proper precautions.

So, yes, as long as the likes of EDF and Areva continue to display spectacular incompetence and a downright dangerous attitude towards safety, Greenpeace will have a job to do. We’re also starting to wonder if these leaks aren’t being orchestrated by Areva or EDF’s extremely busy PR departments. Unlike us, they seem to want a job for life.

A lot of propaganda surrounding the so-called benefits of nuclear power comes out of the industry. It’s clean, they say. It’s safe, they insist. It’s cheap, they declare. It’s going to help us cut CO2 emissions, they pronounce.

It’s a full-time job documenting and debunking it all. Sometimes, however, there are those inside the nuclear industry who help do our job. The latest nuclear figure doing their best to show nuclear energy as the unsafe, dirty, expensive, environment damaging white elephant we’ve all come to know and loathe is the CanDU facility in Ontario, Canada.

The site needs a massive 17 million litres of water a minute from Lakes Huron and Ontario to keep its six reactors from going into meltdown. The heated water is then poured back into the Great Lakes. This process has gone on for years. The temperature of the lakes has been raised to such an extent that ice is no longer forming on them as it has in the past. This means the water in the lakes evaporates at a greater rate, forming clouds and trapping solar radiation.

In short, we have a nuclear power plant that, not only undermines climate protection by distracting decision makers from real solutions such as renewable energy and energy efficiency, but is actively contributing to climate change.

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

Yahoo! News: India's global ambition and the nuclear deal
‘For three decades, India has craved a nuclear energy deal that would bring prestige and advanced technology. Yet when the coalition government declared this week that it would move ahead with one, it triggered a crisis and a no-confidence motion in Parliament, which it had to scramble to survive.’

The Australian: Nuclear India is good for globe
‘LAST Tuesday's vote of confidence in the Indian parliament supporting an international agreement on the use of uranium for clean energy production means that Kevin Rudd must correct the snub to India by reversing his earlier decision to abandon uranium sales for clean electricity generation.’

Bloomberg: Chernobyl Memories, Cancer Deaths Haunt Turkey's Nuclear Plans
‘Hale Oguz blames the cancer deaths of six relatives on the Chernobyl disaster across the Black Sea more than 20 years ago. Now she's fighting plans for a nuclear plant near her home in Sinop on Turkey's northern coast.’

I.T. Vibe: Wave Power Proposals Planned For Severn Estuary
‘News that the Severn Estuary will be the base for a revolutionary development in the world of wave power has been welcomed with open arms by the vast majority of environmental groups and charitable organisations in the UK. This is the latest in a long line of similar ventures throughout the UK which have been grabbing the headlines for some time.’

Reuters: Eskom shuts down second unit at nuclear station
‘South African state power utility Eskom [ESCJ.UL] has shut down a second unit at its Koeberg nuclear plant after detecting a suspected fault in the cooling system, the South African Broadcasting Corp reported.’

The Associated Press: Report: Iran now has 6,000 centrifuges for uranium
‘President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday that Iran now possesses 6,000 centrifuges, a significant increase in the number of uranium-enriching machines in its nuclear program, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.’

The Independent: Ferry shipments of 'terror-threat' plutonium end
‘Top-secret shipments of weapons-ready plutonium through British waters have been stopped, after their exposure by The Independent on Sunday. The Department for Transport (DfT) said last week that it had taken "regulatory action" to prohibit the shipments from Sellafield to Normandy on an unarmed old roll-on, roll-off ferry, with few safety or security features. The prohibition, the first of its kind, was imposed after complaints by the French nuclear safety authorities.’

The Times: Share deal to sweeten British Energy sale
‘SHAREHOLDERS in British Energy, Britain’s nuclear power group, are to be offered a share of the company’s future profits in a plan that should clear the way for it to be taken over by the French.’

Mathaba: Germany reports 122 'notifiable incidents' at nuclear power plants
‘German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety said Saturday that 122 incidents were subject to reporting at the country's nuclear power plants last year, according to the Munich-based Focus news magazine.’

Canwest News Service: Ontario nuclear plant weld failure "unprecedented," documents show
‘When the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission was struggling last December with a shortage of medical isotopes sparked by the Chalk River reactor shutdown, it was also dealing with another Ontario nuclear plant where there had been an "unprecedented" weld failure on one fuel bundle.’

The Guardian: MPs warn about EDF takeover
‘If EDF takes over British Energy, it could undermine competition among UK electricity generators, MPs warn today. In a move that could derail EDF's expected £12.4bn bid for the nuclear power station operator, a report into energy markets by the Commons business select committee warned that Britain's "diverse electricity generation portfolio ... may be undermined by consolidation, such as a takeover of British Energy or Scottish Power".’

Reuters: FACTBOX-Nuclear projects in central and southeast Europe
‘A number of countries in central, eastern and southeastern Europe plan to build new nuclear power reactors or extend the life of existing ones to meet growing domestic demand and replace ageing power capacity.’

‘Well, what do you know? Another news story has broken which demonstrates that the UK's nuclear industry is not the robust, well-managed machine our ministers would have us believe. The government has sneaked out a report assessing the working practices of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) which is managing the clean-up of existing power stations and waste. They were clearly hoping no one would notice as there's no doubt that many people have been caught with their pants anklewards.’

Read the rest…

There was mystery and intrigue at Canada’s Bruce nuclear power station over the weekend as it was revealed that a highly radioactive metal part of the reactor was ‘lost’ by the company refurbishing the reactor.

We say ‘mystery and intrigue’ but farce and black comedy would be nearer the truth. Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd misplaced the part, a calandria tube insert ring, after removing it from the reactor in April. Under current regulations, AECL weren’t obliged to tell anyone that a piece of metal radioactive enough to give a maximum yearly dose of radiation in a few minutes was missing. That’s quite some regulations.

The piece was only discovered when it set off one of the plants workers’ radiation monitors. The only reason he didn’t receive a harmful dose of radiation was because he backed away ‘quickly’. That ‘quickly’ is probably the understatement of the year. Coming across such an item would probably lend the motivation to break the 100 metres sprint record.

A spokesman for AECL said that the metal hadn’t harmed anyone in the two months it was missing because workers weren’t in that area of the plant. That was more by good luck than good management, we say. That worker had an extremely lucky escape. Sooner or later, someone is going to be less fortunate.

The nuclear industry is fast coming resemble the nuclear power plant in The Simpsons. This episode in Canada compares with the bit at the beginning of the show when Homer goes home with a fuel rod down his shirt. Can three-eyed fish be far away?

No doubt you were staggered by the German government’s announcement that ‘122 incidents were subject to reporting at the country's nuclear power plants last year’.

Well, how about this. According to the French nuclear watchdog ASN’s 2007 annual report, at France’s nuclear power plants last year, there were 928 events were recorded on the International Nuclear Event Scale, the measure introduced after Chernobyl to communicate incidents at nuclear installations.

That’s 928 events. In one year. That’s over two events a day, every day, for year.

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

AJC: Has the time come for nuclear power? No: Price is high in so many ways
‘[S]ome want to see a hundred or more new reactors built here, which will produce even more nuclear waste while leaving little money to invest in real solutions that we can safely transfer around the world, such as energy efficiency and renewables, including wind, solar and biomass. As we're seeing with Iran, it's unlikely that the U.S. would be keen on having nuclear power technologies shipped all over the globe. Global warming and all smart energy policies require terror-resistant solutions. No matter what you think about nuclear power, it will not solve global warming and it can only complicate strained international relations.’

The Standard: CNNC plans first nuclear power plant in Hainan
‘China is considering to build the first nuclear power plant on the tropical island of Hainan, as the country struggles with power shortages and aims to expand nuclear power use and reduce its heavy reliance on dirty coal.’

Business Week: Will French Leaks Harm Nuclear's Revival?
‘France gets 80% of its electricity from nuclear plants, more than any country in the world, and its largely unblemished track record is often cited as evidence that nuclear power can be safe and efficient. But recent problems at French nuclear facilities have shaken confidence in the industry, just as French nuclear giant Areva (CEPFI.PA) is joining the government in pushing for a global nuclear power revival.’

Power Engineering: AmerenUE submits COLA for 1,600 MW nuclear generating unit
‘AmerenUE said it submitted a combined Construction and Operating License Application (COLA) to the NRC for a potential new nuclear power plant in Missouri. AmerenUE said it intends to seek approval to build a new 1,600 MW pressurized water reactor adjacent to its existing nuclear unit, Callaway Plant. The company's single-unit, 1,190 MW Callaway electric generating plant accounts for 19 percent of the company's total generation.’

Daily Times: No country can intervene in Pak nuclear plan: FO
‘Pakistan is not a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and as such, the group has no say in Pakistan’s nuclear programme or its assets, Foreign Office spokesman Muhammad Sadiq said on Monday.’

Newsweek: Anatomy of a Nuclear Deal
‘Historians may one day call it the "duty-free demarche." In December 2006, U.S. arms negotiator Victor Cha was departing Beijing after another failed round of talks on North Korea's nukes. While waiting in the baggage line, Cha suddenly found himself standing next to Kim Gwe Gwan, Pyongyang's lead negotiator. The two men chatted amiably for a few minutes and then Kim suggested they meet at the duty-free shop after Cha passed through security. Once there, standing between the cigarette and liquor counters, Kim told Cha that Pyongyang favored direct Korean-American talks in the hope this would revive the moribund negotiations.’

Yahoo! News: Huge losses for Japan's TEPCO as energy costs soar
‘Tokyo Electric Power Co., Japan's biggest electric utility company, said Monday it lost more than 700 million dollars in the three months to June due to soaring fuel costs at its power plants. The operator of the world's largest nuclear plant, which was shut down by an earthquake last year, warned it expects to end the year deep in the red. […] A quake in July 2007 caused a slew of problems at the group's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant, including a fire and a small radiation leak. The plant was shut down and the company was forced to shoulder higher prices for oil and other fossil fuels as it raised thermal power generation to make up for the shortfall.’

Welcome to Reactor of the Week, Nuclear Reaction’s profiling of the nuclear reactors and power plants whose reputations have made the nuclear industry the global laughing stock it is today.

As nuclear reactors are prone to do, the Belene Nuclear Power Plant in Bulgaria has suffered problems before it’s even in operation (which isn’t due to happen until 2015). Construction began in 1981 but was abandoned, 40 per cent complete, in 1990 after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

In 2002 the Bulgarian government announced it was restarting construction at Belene after having had to close four reactors at Kozloduy under the terms and conditions of the country’s entry to the European Union (the reactors had structural defects and it was decided they could not be refurbished at a reasonable cost).

However, The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the Belene site produced at the time did ‘not contain adequate information on the seismic conditions, nor does it address beyond design basis accidents or give details of the potential impacts of decommissioning’.

The three important elements of nuclear power station construction were not adequately addressed – whether the site is geologically stable, what happens in the event of an accident, and what happens to the reactors at the end of their life. It’s like Star Wars without Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. If you don’t have them, what have you got?

To make matters worse, the preparation of the EIA was a farce, full of lies, misinformation and deception. False and inadequate information was given during public hearings called to discuss the building of the plant. The number of jobs it was claimed the construction would create in the local area was vastly inflated. Concerned locals were prevented from speaking at hearings or their speaking time was restricted. People in surrounding villages were not even informed about the hearings.

Support for the project from the public and NGOs were declared where it didn’t exist. After hearings were called in Romania (Belene sits close to Bulgaria’s border with Romania), important documentation was not made available in Romanian. Despite the EIA running to 1,500 pages, only a month was given for people to read it and feed back. There have also been allegations of corruption in the process. The state-owned electricity generator NEK signed a $7.8 million contract with Parsons E&C Europe for a EIA - state firm Energoproekt had already done the job for a mere $150,000. If the people in and around Belene have nothing to fear from having a nuclear installation, why was the public consultation conducted in such a way?

Then there’s the money involved. At a cost to the Bulgarian people of $5.8 billion, the project will be Bulgaria’s most expensive public project in the country’s post-Communist era. Despite the European Commission giving their approval of the financial arrangements, BNP Paribas, the project’s ‘lead arranging and structuring bank’ has refused to put in any of its own money – a sign that major financial institutions are being scared off by the huge financial outlays nuclear build demands. Deutsche Bank and UniCredit have also bailed out.

It may now fall to Vladimir Putin to put up the cash after the Russian leader offered to cover some of the reactors’ costs. The project is being built by a consortium featuring Russia’s Atomstroyexport (majority owner, Gazprom) and serial leakers Areva. Bulgaria already relies on Russia for its entire uranium supply and reprocessing. So much for nuclear’s promise of ‘energy security’.

A corrupt, misleading consultation process, uncertain financing, and the placing of Bulgaria’s nuclear industry in the hands of another country, Belene truly is a nuclear poster child.

Hello there, and welcome to Nuclear Reaction. We started writing this blog three weeks ago but today's the day we're inviting the world in to see what we've been up to.

Why the delay? Well our mission is to record the meltdown of that most over-rated, over-subsidised and over-confident of industries, the nuclear industry. Perhaps we were being overcautious, but we were wondering if there'd be enough material to sustain a daily weblog.

Well, in those three weeks we've racked up

Governments promising to pay the damages in the event of nuclear disaster
A slow burning demi Chernobyl in Japan
A nuclear leak in France
And the consequences
And another one
And another one
And another one
Some farcical nuclear spin
A 32 billion cost overrun at Yucca Mountain
Nuclear induced Miracles in the Indian Parliament

We've also found time to write about what importing uranium might do to your human rights record, the inability of the nuclear industry to deliver on time and on budget and the nuclear industry's influence on both candidates at the US election.

And those are just the juicy bits, in each days Fallout section you'll see the rest of the days' nuclear news.

Whatever were we worried about?

Welcome to Nuclear Reaction, where as we like to say you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll wish we were making it up.

Following the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for Bulgaria’s Belene nuclear plant failing to adequately address seismic considerations, accident response, and decommissioning, we have this from a report by Greenpeace Canada on nuclear power plants in Ontario.

I think most Canadians would be surprised to learn that historically environmental reviews on nuclear stations in Canada haven’t assessed the environmental impacts of nuclear power’s biggest hazards, such as the long-term storage of radioactive waste and nuclear accidents leading to large radiation releases. Unsurprisingly, this leads to misleading environmental assessments that conclude there will be “no significant environmental impacts.”

Who knew the standards in producing EIAs was consistently lax on opposite sides of the planet?

The report also highlights how…

…Canada’s nuclear safety standards fail to protect Canadians from the full range of real accident and terrorist threats posed by nuclear stations. It also finds that all three reactor designs being considered for Ontario contain flaws that leave them vulnerable to radiation releases following an accident or terrorist attack.

Go and have a read.

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

Wales Online: Wave hello to sea power proposals
‘THE full list of options for bringing the world’s most ambitious green electricity scheme to South Wales have been unveiled. Over the next two years, these 10 rival schemes will be studied in depth and whittled down into one proposal for generating environmentally-friendly power from the Severn Estuary. The list includes six barrages, two types of lagoon, a tidal fence and a tidal reef.’

RIA Novosti: Russia's Rosatom to bid to build nuclear reactor in Belarus
‘Russian state nuclear power corporation Rosatom has agreed to take part in a tender for the construction of a nuclear power plant in Belarus, the ex-Soviet republic's energy ministry said Tuesday.’

RBC: TVEL to boost its nuclear fuel market share
‘TVEL Corporation plans to increase its share on the global nuclear fuel market to 30 percent by 2030, the Rosatom state corporation said in a statement. The document reads that there are currently 67 Russian-designed reactors in operation worldwide, while western-made pressurized water reactors (PWRs) number 214. The plan is to increase Russian-designed reactors to 145 by 2030, while the number of PWRs will rise to 350.’

Bloomberg: Japan to Curb Emissions With Hybrids, Nuclear Power
‘Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda vowed to make half of vehicles sold in his country run on hybrid or other clean technologies by 2020 and to build nine nuclear reactors in as many years to fight global warming.’

World Nuclear News: Nuclear cooperation to come with Italy
‘Italy's economic minister, Claudio Scajola, held meetings with energy minister and former AtomStroyExport president Sergei Shmatko, with the Russian ministry saying their talks had set priorities for their countries' cooperation in gas, electricity and nuclear power generation.’

World Nuclear News: Entergy helps extend life of Taipower plant
‘Entergy Nuclear will assist in a project to extend the operating life of Taiwan Power Co's (Taipower's) Kuosheng nuclear power plant. The Kuosheng plant comprises two boiling water reactors (BWRs), which were constructed in the early 1980s. The plant is considered a sister plant to Entergy's Grand Gulf plant in Mississippi, USA, in terms of age and design.’

Yahoo! News: Rice warns Iran against stalling on nuclear offer
‘US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Iran Tuesday not to delay a decision on an international offer of incentives if it halts sensitive nuclear work, ahead of a Saturday deadline. "The Iranians should know that this is not going to be a matter that they can stall," Rice told reporters after talks with her Italian counterpart Franco Frattini at her office. "The world is watching...," she said.’

George Monbiot: Nuking the Treaty
‘Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s insistence that Iran enriches its own fissile material, and the guessing game he is playing with Israel, the atomic energy agency and the UN Security Council is irresponsible and staggeringly dangerous. But if I were in his position I might be tempted to do the same.’

Quamnet: Shandong Nuclear Power Company and Westinghouse Electric Start Excavation on New AP1000 Plant in Haiyang, China
‘The Shandong Nuclear Power Company with Westinghouse Electric Company LLC and its consortium partner The Shaw Group Inc. (NYSE: SGR) broke ground today one month earlier than scheduled on the Haiyang Nuclear Power Facility in Shandong Province, one of the most highly advanced nuclear power plants being constructed in the world.’

The Hindu: No ‘unconditional’ NSG nod for India, says U.S.
‘Though India has made it clear that it expects the United States to deliver a “clean and unconditional exemption” for it from the export guidelines of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, Washington says it is committed only to a “clean” and not “unconditional” waiver for New Delhi.’

RIA Novosti: Jordan seeks nuclear cooperation deals with Russia, U.S., China
‘Jordan plans to sign nuclear cooperation deals with Russia, the United States and China in the fall, Jordanian Atomic Energy Commission chief Khaled Tukan told reporters Tuesday. Amman, which is seeking to develop a civilian nuclear energy program, signed preliminary nuclear cooperation agreements with Canada and Britain in late June. It signed the first such agreement with France at the end of May.’

Reuters: Fire at Finnish nuclear reactor construction site
‘A small fire at the construction site for a new nuclear reactor in Olkiluoto, western Finland, spread to two floors of the reactor building, before it was put out, plant operator Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) said on Wednesday.’

Tricastin, the accident-prone French nuclear power plant is in the news again this morning. It almost deserves a blog of its own. If the plant was a celebrity it would be Britney Spears, a person for whom there were once high hopes but now, despite her best efforts, can’t help but find herself in very public compromising and embarrassing situations as the rest of look on in horror.

Not content with creating real alarm with leaks and contamination in the last few weeks, the plant had a false one on Tuesday this week when over 120 workers had to be evacuated.

At least the owners of Tricastin EDF say it was a false alarm. French nuclear watchdog ASN, having seemingly learned to take nothing coming out of the mouths of nuclear PR spokespeople at face value, are awaiting the results of an independent examination of the site.

Forty-five employees were found to have small traces of radiation on them but these were found to be from the leak that took place last week. Talk about stressful - we bet the plant’s workers’ hearts are beating a little bit faster these days.

Tricastin is starting to resemble one of those circus clown’s cars, with its belching tailpipe, its doors falling off, and its alarming honking noises. We dread to think what might happen next. A clown’s car traditionally collapses with a bang. We hope there'll be a full national debate on nukes in France soon to avoid any crash.

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

World Nuclear News: Visaginas recognised with nuclear site name
‘New reactors in Lithuania would be built at a site called Visaginas, it was agreed today by partners in the project. A firm with the same name is being set up as a joint venture for the new plant.’

Yahoo! News: Iran says to continue nuclear path before deadline
‘Iran will press ahead with its nuclear path, the country's highest authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Wednesday, speaking just before a deadline set by Western officials in a nuclear dispute.’

BBC News: 'Major step' for nuclear clean-up
‘The Chapelcross nuclear plant has been given formal permission to start the three-and-a-half-year defuelling of its four reactors. It is the latest step in the lengthy process to decommission the Dumfries and Galloway power station.‘

CNW Group: Azimut's new discovery at North Rae and AREVA's findings at CAGE confirm district-scale uranium potential of the Ungava Bay region
‘Azimut Exploration Inc. ("Azimut") reports the prospecting discovery of a 2.4-km-long mineralized zone on its North Rae property located in the eastern part of the Ungava Bay region in Nunavik, Quebec. The discovery of this new zone (the "Cirrus Zone") further confirms the district-scale uranium potential of the region. Seven other outcropping mineralized zones totalling a cumulative length of 10 km with grades up to 3.3% U3O8 were previously reported by Azimut.’

Business Standard: Indian companies sought an early modification to the Atomic Energy Act, 1962
‘Indian companies have sought an early modification to the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 to facilitate the entry of the private sector in nuclear power generation, an Assocham statement said today. Asking for the amendment to be carried out through a Presidential notification, Assocham said Indian companies are confident that the nuclear cooperation deal with the United States would be implemented in the next few months.’

Arabian Business: UAE begins site surveys for first nuclear reactors
‘UAE energy experts have started the process of locating possible sites for the country's first three nuclear power stations, the Gulf News reported on Wednesday.’

What is it with the nuclear industry and their obsession with robots? They love them, the big kids. Apparently at insanely over-schedule and over-budget nuclear dump Yucca Mountain in Nevada, they’re planning to build a fleet of robots which will maintain the site in a hundred years (we suppose we should be grateful the US nuclear industry is thinking even that far ahead).

Now we’re introduced to the cute yellow critters currently helping with the clean up of hyper-contaminated Scottish nuclear site, Dounreay, because large parts of the site are lethal to humans. The dinky ROVs (remotely operated vehicles) have been compared with cute movie clean-up robot Wall-E who’s currently wowing kids in cinemas around the world.

The thing is, in his film, the lonely Wall-E is cleaning up an Earth that has been so devastatingly polluted and contaminated the human race has had to flee to outer space…

(Thanks to No 2 Nuclear Power for the link)

Considering many former Eastern Bloc countries did their utmost to escape the control of Moscow, the likes of Bulgaria and Belarus are now working as hard to place themselves back under the capriciousness of the Kremlin. And it’s not just Russia and former Soviet satellites who are working towards a nuclear imperialism.

As we showed the other day, Bulgaria in its push for its own ‘nuclear renaissance’ has made itself totally reliant on Russian designs and uranium in order to get its power stations online. With uncertainty surrounding the financing on the new reactors at Belene, there are signs that the Bulgarians are about to make themselves reliant on Russian funding as well.

Lacking their own expertise in nuclear technology, many countries are throwing their energy production open to foreign consortiums and, by extension, future insecurity. Former Soviet satellite Belarus have invited Russian state-owned corporation Rosatom to tender for a new nuclear power plant. Russia has offered to supply credit for the plant.

But as we said, it’s not just Russia seeking to put itself at the centre of the nuclear web. Things take a potentially sinister turn when we watch French president and nuclear salesman Nicholas Sarkozy, in a bid to secure markets for French companies, working overtime to sell nuclear energy to the Middle East. As if that part of the world didn’t have enough problems right now, Sarkozy wants to give some of the most nasty and unstable regimes on the planet access to the most nasty and unstable technologies. These Middle Eastern countries certainly risk putting themselves at the mercy of the particular brand of Gallic nuclear incompetence for which the likes of French nuclear ‘experts’ Areva are rightly derided.

We hear today that the United Arab Emirates are now inspecting potential sites for three new reactors. According to UAE nuclear expert Khalid Malallah Al-Awadi, the sparsely-populated coastline between Abu Dhabi and Ruwais is a candidate. ‘Two nuclear power plants could be built here, 50km apart,’ he said.

That's a huge piece of land. Imagine the size of the concentrated solar power plant you could put there at the sun-belt of the world. The Middle East is one of the most sun-drenched regions in the world. The average irradiation there is 80% more than it is in Europe.

Plans have recently been announced for a €45bn solar farm in the Sahara that will supply electricity to Europe. It would make much more sense if the UAE invested solar technologies. So the question is why are they doing this? Ah yes, the Nuclear Napoleon, Nicholas Sarkozy and his battalions marched on the Emirates earlier this year and a treaty was signed.