Engineering News: First floating nuclear power plant to be operational in late 2012
The world's first floating nuclear power plant (FNPP), which was being constructed in St Petersburg, in Russia, would be operational by the fourth quarter of 2012, Russian diversified corporation United Industrial Corporation (OPK) has reported. The construction of the plant, which was being undertaken by OPK's subsidiary Baltiysky Zavod for Russian nuclear power plant operator Concern Energoatom, was due for completion in the second quarter of 2012, after which it would undergo testing. On May 14, OPK had reported that the project could cost about 9-billion roubles. At the time, it said that the project, which would be set in service in Kamchatka, in the port of Viluchinsk, in Russia, would consist of a nonself-propelled vessel with two icebreaker class reactors. It noted on Monday that the exploitation of the head floating power-generating unit, with a KLT-40C type reactor, would be the final step of this project.

Reuters: Ex-Merrill banker heads China nuclear fund -sources
HONG KONG, July 6 (Reuters) - Wilson Feng, a former senior banker for Merrill Lynch, has become a top boss of China's newly established $1.46 billion nuclear investment fund, two sources briefed on Feng's new job said on Monday. In April state-owned Guangdong Nuclear Power Group announced the establishment of the 10 billion yuan ($1.46 billion) China Nuclear Power and New Energy Industry Investment Fund -- the first such specialist fund approved by the cabinet.

Fox Business: USEC Anticipates Loan Guarantee Decision by Early August
BETHESDA, Md., Jul 06, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) ----USEC Inc. today announced that it expects the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to make a decision on a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee by early August. A loan guarantee conditional commitment would allow USEC to continue deployment of its American Centrifuge Plant, currently being built in Piketon, Ohio, and would ensure the security of thousands of jobs created across the country by the plant's construction and manufacturing activities. The Company also said that at the direction of its board of directors it is preparing demobilization plans for the American Centrifuge Plant if it does not receive a conditional commitment by early August. USEC announced in February a slowdown in the planned escalation of spending on the project and has stated that a further delay in obtaining a DOE loan guarantee would require the Company to implement further project spending reductions.

Rooted: Ooops. The nuclear 'solution' just melted down.
For all those who suggest that nuclear power is the only solution to climate change, there's a little spanner in the works - nukes don't deal with the heat. The Times of London is reporting that: France is being forced to import electricity from Britain to cope with a summer heatwave that has helped to put a third of its nuclear power stations out of action. As temperatures in France head up over 30C (not hot for us, sure, but it is for them!), the cooling water gets too hot and the plants need to be ramped way down or even shut down to avoid breaching safe operational temperatures. Coinciding with increased demand for electricity in hotter weather, this ain't good news for the world's only power sector heavily reliant on nukes.

OPB: Recipe Of A Tank: A Close Look At Liquid Radioactive Waste
At the Hanford Reservation in south-central Washington, 53-million gallons of radioactive waste sits in underground tanks. That's enough to fill 80 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The government's been trying to clean up that mess, but it's slow going. This year, President Obama's federal stimulus package includes $2 billion to speed up the pace of cleanup at Hanford. But getting rid of nuclear waste is incredibly complicated. Richland Correspondent Anna King uses a series of food analogies to examine the complexities of just one of those tanks of waste: It's called C-110. Hanford's tank C-110 is buried underneath what looks like a gravel parking lot. Tubes, monitoring equipment and venting pipes jut out of the ground. It's eerie here. Tank C-110 is like a jar of old-fashioned peanut butter that's been sitting in the back of the pantry for too long. It's a layered, sticky mess for the government to clean up. But hold up. To understand how it got that way, first a little history. During WWII and the Cold War the government built 177 underground tanks at Hanford. The tanks hold all the gunk that was left over from producing plutonium for atomic bombs.

Your Industry News: Sandvik signs agreement for delivery of steam generator tubes to Areva
Sandvik Materials Technology has signed a multi-year delivery contract for steam generator tubes for the nuclear power industry. The contract is valued at more than SEK 2 billions, and deliveries will begin in the end of 2013. The customer is the French company AREVA NP SAS, and the steam generator tubes will be used in nuclear power plants all over the world.

Contract Journal: EDF contractors will be under 'significant surveillance'
Contractors chosen to deliver EDF's newbuild nuclear schemes will be subject to "significant surveillance" on site, according to Chris Bakken, EDF's Nuclear New Build (NNB) division's safety director. Bakken said suppliers will be subject to stringent controls on site, needing to comply with tough safety and quality standards "from day one, with absolute compliance". Bakken told EDF suppliers' day forum: "You will need to raise your game, do not underestimate our requirements. We need and expect a productive, modern site committed to safety with work done on time and to cost."