Augusta Chronicle: Concerns over quality control prompts violation notice to MOX plant contractor
’The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has leveled new criticisms of quality control programs involving material for use in the U.S. Energy Department’s $4.8 billion mixed oxide fuel fabrications facility under construction at Savannah River Site. In a preliminary report made public Friday by the Friends of the Earth environmental group, NRC inspectors issued a notice of violation to the facility’s contractor, Shaw Areva MOX Services, which has 30 days to respond. The allegations stem from visits by NRC inspectors to two facilities that manufacture piping and tanks, according to a letter from M. Scott Freeman, acting chief of the NRC’s Construction Inspection Branch, to Shaw Areva MOX Services President David Stinson.’

BBC News: Pakistan in 'French nuclear deal'
’France and Pakistan have agreed to co-operate on civilian nuclear power, officials said, with Islamabad calling the move a "significant development". But there is confusion over the deal reached by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his Pakistani counterpart. Pakistani officials said Mr Sarkozy had undertaken to supply Pakistan with "civilian nuclear technology". But the Elysee Palace said France had agreed only to co-operate in the field of "nuclear safety". But later a spokesman for the French presidency was careful to rein in expectations, saying Mr Sarkozy had "confirmed France was ready, within the framework of its international agreements, to co-operate with Pakistan in the field of nuclear safety."’

World Nuclear News: Simulator contract for Flamanville EPR
’L-3 MAPPS is to provide Areva with an engineering simulator based on the Flamanville 3 Evolutionary Power Reactor (EPR) design. The contract is part of the continuing services L-3 MAPPS provides to Areva’s Real-Time Simulation Centre in Paris and closely follows the Olkiluoto 3 EPR engineering simulator that was put into service by L-3 MAPPS at Areva’s test facility in Erlangen, Germany, in October 2008. The Flamanville 3 engineering simulator is expected to be delivered at the end of 2010. It will be used to perform plant engineering and emergency response training, operating procedures analysis and improvement, system design modifications, and preliminary safety analysis.’

The London Times: EDF hires bank for £4bn sell-off
’FRANCE’s EDF Energy has appointed Deutsche Bank to auction the biggest electricity distribution network in Britain. The sale is part of an aggressive plan by the state-owned group to ease the debt taken on during its £12.5 billion purchase last year of nuclear monopoly British Energy. The distribution network is the largest in Britain, transmitting power to almost 8m homes in east and southeast England. Deutsche will begin sounding out bidders for a possible auction this summer. EDF’s debt rose to 25 billion euros (£22.3 billion) after it took over British Energy. It has begun an asset-disposal programme to reduce the debt and provide the cash it needs for new plants. EDF plans to build four nuclear reactors in the UK alone, which are expected to cost at least 5 billion euros each.’

MarketWatch: Areva sells stake in Total to fund new projects
’PARIS (MarketWatch) -- French nuclear power group Areva has sold its stake in oil giant Total in order to fund its own projects, according to a newspaper report Saturday. Neither company would comment on the report in the Figaro newspaper, which said that Areva gave up its 0.4% share of Total (TOT) valued at nearly 400 million euros ($540 million) about two weeks ago. Areva is seeking some 3 billion euros to finance its investments and said in February part of the cash would be raised by divesting its holdings in other companies.’

The Guardian: Safety scares at Sellafield threaten to undermine nuclear 'renaissance'
’New safety scares at Britain's largest atomic site - including a 14-month radioactive leak and the loss of two toxic containers - are threatening to undermine confidence in the government's nuclear renaissance. Nuclear Management Partners, which runs Sellafield complex, admitted a spillage found in January, the day before Gordon Brown visited, was "level two", the worst since a 2005 accident that saw then-owners British Nuclear Fuels Ltd fined £500,000. A board of inquiry has concluded that the drip from a faulty flange went unnoticed "because managerial controls over the line were insufficient and there was inadequate inspection". NMP says the leak was small and there was no threat to human safety.’

New York Times: Pakistan Is Rapidly Adding Nuclear Arms, U.S. Says
’WASHINGTON - Members of Congress have been told in confidential briefings that Pakistan is rapidly adding to its nuclear arsenal even while racked by insurgency, raising questions on Capitol Hill about whether billions of dollars in proposed military aid might be diverted to Pakistan’s nuclear program. Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed the assessment of the expanded arsenal in a one-word answer to a question on Thursday in the midst of lengthy Senate testimony. Sitting beside Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, he was asked whether he had seen evidence of an increase in the size of the Pakistani nuclear arsenal. ‘Yes,’ he said quickly, adding nothing, clearly cognizant of Pakistan’s sensitivity to any discussion about the country’s nuclear strategy or security.

The Guardian: UK Government pressed to hold inquiry into construction of nuclear stations
’The government is under growing pressure to hold a public inquiry into building new nuclear stations amid claims that the current system of "justification" is fatally flawed and that public confidence in ministers is at an all-time low. A group of leading academics has joined green pressure groups and others in demanding greater transparency. The justification process is required by the European Union as a high-level assessment to ensure the benefits of new-build nuclear stations outweigh potential detriments. The academics, part of the Nuclear Consultation Group (NGC), have written to the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) calling for an inquiry, not least because the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, has made himself the final authority in the justification of new power stations, even though he has voiced support for building more atomic reactors.’