Taipei Times: Defectors detail Myanmar's nuclear ambitions: report
’Myanmar's military regime has collaborated in recent years with North Korea and Russia to develop a reactor capable of producing one nuclear bomb a year by 2014, a news report based on the testimony of two defectors claimed yesterday. The report, published in the Bangkok Post's Spectrum magazine yesterday after a similar article appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, was the result of a two-year investigation into Myanmar's nuclear ambitions by Desmond Ball, a regional security expert at the Australian National University, and Phil Thornton, an Australian journalist based on the Thai-Myanmar border. Basing their report primarily on the testimony of two defectors from the Myanmar regime, including one army officer and a book keeper for a trading company with close links to the military, the report claimed that Myanmar, also called Burma, is excavating uranium in 10 locations and has two uranium plants in operation to refine uranium into "yellowcake," the fissile material for nuclear weapons.’

Indian Express: India will achieve uranium self-sufficiency by 2013: Anil
’India is expected to achieve self-sufficiency in uranium production to feed its existing nuclear power projects and proposed plants by 2013, Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar said. With the Jadugoda Uranium mill in Jharkhand expanded and the proposed expansion of Turamdih mill expected to be over next year, uranium production would go up. Besides, exploration of uranium is underway at Tummalapalle in Andhra Pradesh and it is expected to go on stream by 2013, he told reporters here.’

Mail & Guardian: Why go nuclear when better and cheaper options exist?
’Eskom's hikes in the electricity price by around a quarter and a third in two years and its need to repeat such price increases for the next three years bring one issue to a head. Why are Eskom and the departments of energy and public enterprises so grimly determined to generate electricity by the most expensive and complicated of all options -- atomic power stations and their high-level radioactive waste depositaries? Eskom and other power companies have set up Westcor (Western Corridor Power Company), incorporated in Botswana. This has spent years conducting road shows for the World Bank and others, estimating the Inga3 hydro-electric power project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at around R70-billion. By contrast, French multinational Areva's tender for an atomic power station generating a similar amount of power was reported variously at R140-billion and R200-billion. That Eskom refuses to release the price indicates defensiveness, suggesting the higher price tag is the actual one.

Africa News: Niger: Tension mounts days before referendum
’Days before Niger's critical referendum, the opposition coalition has blasted President Mamadou Tandja for wanting to remain in power in order to protect the financial interests of his collaborators, most of whom are involved in the country's uranium business. The government immediately responded by issuing an international arrest warrant against former prime minister, Hama Amadou, who is presently the regime's fiercest adversary, according to AFP. Amadou had earlier been accused of embezzling public fund and was arrested in 2008, but was released in May 2009. Some independent analysts in Niger say his detention was purely political, since he was becoming a challenging figure to the president.’

Barcelona reporter: IBERDROLA BID FOR CUMBRIA SITE PUTS HEAT ON RIVALS
’Spanish energy group Iberdrola has expressed interest in buying land near Sellafield, Cumbria, where one of Britain's new nuclear power stations is likely to be built. Sweden's Vattenfall and Germany's RWE are also tipped to lodge an interest in the site, which is being sold by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). Expressions of interest for the land are due in tomorrow. Iberdrola confirmed its bid had gone in. RWE declined to comment. Its partner for nuclear energy projects, Eon, is unlikely to participate, having secured the sites it wanted in previous auctions. France's Edf is also unlikely to take part in the land auction. The French firm plans to build nuclear reactors at Hinkley point and Sizewell, sites it acquired when it bought British Energy. Some 250 hectares (618 acres) at Sellafield has been nominated for a new reactor.’