Top News: Areva to sell its Indian operations with proposed sale of business
Areva, the French nuclear reactor group, has said that it would sell its T&D India business with proposed sale of its power transmission and distribution division. However, its Indian arm - Areva T&D India, 72-percent owned by T&D, will continue with its planned market strategies. Areva Chief Executive Anne Lauvergeon said that the entire sale process is likely to complete by the end of this financial year. The company, on Tuesday, gave final touch to sell T&D following approval by its supervisory board. The move is aimed to fund the financial needs of state-controlled group. Meanwhile, group's spokeswoman said, "It is up to the new owner of T&D to decide whether to keep or sell Areva T&D India, but in any case Areva T&D India will be sold
under the T&D package."

Monsters and Critics: Jordan-French uranium exploration "promising", says official
Amman - Jordanian officials on Saturday said initial results from uranium exploration being carried out in a joint venture with the French nuclear company Areva in central Jordan were 'promising'. 'The results so far are promising and positive and indicate the existence of uranium ores in commercial quantities,' Khalid Touqan, the head of the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) said. The exploration of the 1,400-square-kilometre site by the Jordan Energy Company and Areva that is set to be expanded at a later stage, he said.

Joongang Ilbo: South Korea - Tread carefully on nuclear pact
Speaking to international and local press, Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said South Korea should revise its nuclear power accord with the United States in the near future to incorporate our commercial needs for supplying and reprocessing nuclear fuel. In sum, the country is looking to get back its rights to complete the nuclear fuel cycle through the self-enrichment of uranium and the recycling or reprocessing of used nuclear fuel. According to the pact with the United States agreed to in 1974, South Korea cannot domestically enrich uranium and reprocess used nuclear fuel without the consent of Washington.

Global Arab Network: Nuclear Iran: A Headache or a Heal?
The foundation of Iran's nuclear programme was laid in 1960 during the Shah of Iran Reza Pahlavi's era under the patronage of the US within the framework of a bilateral accord between the two countries. The late Shah had a plan to build a couple of nuclear power reactors. The most interesting thing is that the Tehran Nuclear Research Centre (TNRC) was equipped with a
US-supplied 5-megawatt nuclear research reactor in 1967 and was run by the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI). Iran signed and ratified the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1968. Since Iran's atomic agency was established and the NPT was signed, the Shah of Iran planned to construct 23 nuclear power stations across the country with the help of the US by the year 2000. The Iranian nuclear programme faced setbacks twice and was brought to a standstill. When the Shah of Iran was deposed after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, and during the Iran-Iraq war, two unfinished power reactors were bombed and ruined by the Iraqis in Bushehr on the coast of the Persian Gulf.

New Europe: Banking on Asia’s nuclear revolution is an uneasy bet
In 1945, Asia was the site of the first and only nuclear attack. Asia has been the location of most nuclear weapons proliferation challenges in the past 10 years: North Korea, Iran, and Iraq. According to the World Nuclear Association, “Asia is the only region in the world where electricity generating capacity and specifically nuclear power is growing significantly.” The association reports that “in East and South Asia, there are over 111 nuclear power reactors in operation, 21 under construction and plans to build about a further 150.” At the same time, Asia is the region of the world most opposed to the nuclear weapons policies of the United States and Russia, and most critical of their failure to make more rapid progress to nuclear disarmament. Some leaders in Asia say they want a revolution in nuclear affairs: an end to limits on their access to civil nuclear technologies and massive reduction in the nuclear arsenals by Russia and the United States. For most states in Asia, some fundamental reform of international order itself is seen as central to progress on the major threats facing the world, including those related to nuclear technologies and weapons.

The Guardian: EDF threatens to scale back nuclear power plans
EDF Energy will scale down plans to build a new generation of nuclear reactors in the UK unless the government fixes the price of carbon, its chief executive, Vincent de Rivaz, has warned. De Rivaz said that EDF's business case to build four new reactors depended on a carbon tax or minimum carbon price being introduced. The government will publish a wide-ranging white paper this month detailing plans to meet the UK's new carbon budgets. It is expected to discuss measures to prevent the carbon price fluctuating wildly.

This Is Money: EDF to place £11bn of nuclear orders
EDF Energy, the French company that recently acquired nuclear power station operator British Energy, plans to place orders worth £11bn with UK firms.The contracts will start this year and should mean British groups end up with about 70% of the planned nuclear building programme. Over the next five years EDF Energy will offer 150 contracts to British companies to help build four new plants. The ultimate prize for UK companies could be worth much more. EDF Energy plans to open a centre of excellence in nuclear power plant building in the UK, allowing British firms to use their expertise to work overseas.