Nuclear News: EDF plays down concerns over Flamaville nuclear plant
Today's big stories from the nuclear industry:
New Civil Engineer: EDF plays down concerns over Flamanville nuclear plant
French energy giant EDF this week insisted that construction of its flagship Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor in France was “on time and on budget” amid claims that the project was running late and that costs were increasing. EDF managing director of nuclear new build Humphrey Cadoux-Hudson said: “We are still on our construction target to date. These are very big and complex sites so you can never say that nothing is ever going to happen on such an enormous construction programme but overall we are inside what we were expecting.” The Flamanville plant on the north coast of France is EDF’s first attempt at building its European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) and the project is being closely monitored as the firm plans to build four identical plants in the UK. The EPR was designed jointly by EDF and energy firm and rival Areva. Construction of the world’s first EPR reactor by Areva at Olkiluoto in Finland is already running three years behind schedule due to a multitude of factors including quality control issues. Industry insiders believe Flamanville is facing similar problems which are pushing up costs.
Huffington Post: Iran Uprising Changes Nuclear Calculus
The Iran Uprising is a game changer. The regime has been delegitimized for large portions of the Iranian population. If Mahmoud Ahmadinejad prevails--and that is by no means certain--he will be greatly weakened, handcuffed in his ability to play the nuclear card as a nationalist rallying cry. Pressed at home, the regime will need to show some gains internationally; the nuclear issue must be compromised to realize those gains.
The Telegraph: Japan plans underwater sponges to soak up uranium
Japan is drawing up innovative plans to extract uranium from seawater in an attempt to end the country's reliance on imports for nuclear power stations. Government-funded scientists have proposed placing huge "uranium farms" on the seabed, consisting of anchored sponges which soak up the element. Dr Masao Tanada, of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, has developed a fabric made primarily of irradiated polyethylene that is able to soak up the minute amounts of uranium – around 3.3 parts per billion – in the seawater. The world's oceans contain an estimated 4.5 billion tons of uranium, around 1,000 times the amount that is known to exist in uranium mines. Dr Tanada claims Japan's nuclear power industry could harvest the 8,000 tons it needs each year a year from the Kuroshio Current that flows along Japan's eastern seaboard.
Washington Post: Expansive Energy Bill Advances In Congress
A Senate energy bill was voted out of committee yesterday, but not before losing the support of two Democrats and a dozen leading environmental organizations. The measure would be the third energy bill in four years -- not counting the huge energy provisions in this year's economic stimulus bill. Like the others, it is rife with controversy over new offshore drilling plans near Florida, the sharing of federal offshore oil and gas royalties, and a mandate for renewable energy that alternative-energy executives and environmentalists say is too weak. It would require 15 percent of electricity to come from renewable sources by 2021, but would allow exemptions that would diminish that target. The proposed bill would also create a new "clean energy" financing agency that would extend subsidized loans and loan guarantees to a variety of projects, including nuclear plants.
Swedish Wire: Finnish company on Greenpeace hunt
Finnish energy company TVO said Tuesday it had asked police to investigate whether environmental group Greenpeace had committed a crime by distributing fake electricity bills bearing its name. Greenpeace activists distributed some 20,000 leaflets resembling electricity bills around Finland to raise awareness about the ballooning costs of a delayed nuclear reactor project in southwestern Olkiluoto. In the leaflet, Greenpeace said Finns' electricity bills would increase by more than 3.0 billion euros (more than 4.0 billion dollars) because of TVO's "failed" Olkiluoto project. The environmental group claimed TVO and other companies would raise prices to cover the cost of the delays.
