Nuclear News: US reactors to be abandoned as decommissioning cost rocket
Today's big stories from the nuclear industry:
AFP: Funds to shut nuclear plants fall short
’VERNON, Vt. (AP) - The companies that own almost half the nation's nuclear reactors are not setting aside enough money to dismantle them, and many may sit idle for decades and pose safety and security risks as a result, an Associated Press investigation has found. The shortfalls are caused not by fluctuating appetites for nuclear power but by the stock market and other investments, which have suffered huge losses over the past year and devastated the plants' savings, and by the soaring costs of decommissioning. At 19 nuclear plants, owners have won approval to idle reactors for as long as 60 years, presumably enough time to allow investments to recover and eventually pay for dismantling the plants and removing radioactive material. But mothballing nuclear reactors or shutting them down inadequately presents the most severe of risks. Radioactive waste could leak from abandoned plants into ground water or released into the air, and spent nuclear fuel rods could be stolen by terrorists. During the past two years, estimates of dismantling costs have soared by more than $4.6 billion because rising energy and labor costs, while the investment funds that are supposed to pay for shutting plants down have lost $4.4 billion in the battered stock market.’
World Nuclear News: Areva wins Korean steam generator contract
’Areva, working in a consortium with Korean engineering contractor Daelim Industrial Co, has won a contract to provide six new steam generators for two Korean nuclear units. Areva has set up a consortium with Daelim for the purposes of the project to supply six replacement steam generators for units 1 and 2 at Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power's (KHNP) Ulchin plant. Areva is to head the consortium and take the lead equipment manufacturing role. The French nuclear company will perform primary system and licensing operations in cooperation with KHNP and Korea Power Engineering Co (KOPEC), while Daelim will implement all secondary and local activities associated with the project. The new components will be installed during outages planned for 2011 and 2012. Ulchin 1 and 2 have been operating since the late 1980s. The two 950 MWe pressurised water reactor (PWR) units were built to designs by Areva forerunner Framatome with the involvement of local contractors and manufacturers.’
AFP: Syria plays down uranium find by UN nuclear agency
’VIENNA (AP) - Syria's nuclear chief is suggesting the U.N. nuclear agency's discovery of new uranium traces in the country do not harden allegations that Damascus has a hidden nuclear program. Ibrahim Othman's comments are the first from Syria about the International Atomic Energy Agency's recent announcement that it found unexplained traces of uranium at a Syrian site for the second time. Othman played down the discovery Tuesday and described it as only "one particle or two particles."’
BBC News: Trident move 'prompts confusion'
The UK's decision to renew its Trident nuclear deterrent is seen by some foreign states as a contradiction of its non-proliferation stance, MPs say. The Commons foreign affairs committee urged the government to "intensify its public diplomacy work... to explain the reasons for the renewal decision". However, the MPs went on to praise the UK's arms control record as the best of the five global nuclear powers. CND welcomed the report, but renewed its call not to replace Trident.’
Guardian: Heavy shopping - London, for all your plutonium needs
’Where in London can one purchase plutonium? In Covent Garden, at the Helios Homeopathy shop. Dr Fiona Barclay, a chemist at RGB Research in west London, made this discovery. Her company specialises in selling collections of the periodic table elements (with the exception of those elements that are illegal or are so very short-lived - a few seconds or less - that they invite frustration). Some elements are easy to purchase: carbon, sulphur, iron. For others, one can turn to eBay, where arsenic, uranium (in the form of uranium-tipped missiles), and other elements of ill repute are commonly on offer. But plutonium proved hard to find ... until Barclay turned to Google, which directed her to the Helios shop. She explains what happened next…’
Nuclear N-Former: Nigeria and 16 others may turn to nuclear power
’NIGERIA and 16 other African countries may soon start power generation from nuclear plants, under a power base diversification programme being backed by the Austria-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Already, IAEA has organised a regional training programme for personnel from countries participating in the project. Some of the other countries involved in the project are Tunisia, Namibia, South Africa, Ghana, Ethiopia and Tanzania. The countries decided on the project with the conviction that nuclear plants are more economical to run, while their availability and productivity have risen with less down-time for maintenance. As a major step towards actualising this, the countries gathered in Abuja yesterday for a regional training course on self-assessment of national regulatory infrastructure for safety.’
Wall Street Journal: U.S. Chooses Four Utilities to Revive Nuclear Industry
’Four power companies are expected to split $18.5 billion in federal financing to build the next generation of nuclear reactors -- the biggest step in three decades to revive the U.S. nuclear industry and one that could vault the utilities ahead of some of the sector's strongest players. UniStar Nuclear Energy, NRG Energy Inc., Scana Corp and Southern Co. are expected to share a set of loan guarantees to be awarded by the Energy Department. The guarantees would enable the companies to start building the reactors as early as 2011, with the plants likely to come online by 2015 or 2016.’
