San Luis Obispo: Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant gets a new reactor head
’Pacific Gas and Electric Co. project manager Jude Fledderman showed off a new reactor vessel head delivered to Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant Wednesday. The component will be installed during a refuelling shutdown this fall. The vessel head is one of the main components of a nuclear reactor and maintains pressure within the water cooled reactor. The old reactor head, which is slightly radioactive, will be stored in the same building that houses the plant's eight steam generators, which were also recently replaced. The building is in a canyon behind the plant.’

Construction News: EDF bidders could win French reactor
’Construction firms that make it through the EDF Energy procurement process will be eligible to win work on a new nuclear reactor in France, on top of the four planned new builds in the UK. EDF wants to build four reactors in Britain at two sites, Hinkley Point in Somerset and Sizewell in Suffolk, and has begun the procurement process in earnest. Pre-qualification questionnaires have been sent out for the enabling works package, main civil contract and M&E works for the first reactor in the UK - expected to be built at Hinkley Point between 2013 and 2017. Firms that qualify will also be able to win work on a new reactor to be built at Penly in Northern France between 2012 and 2017. Although no specific figures are available as yet on the total value of the Penly project, it is expected to be similar to the current reactor being built at nearby Flamanville, worth nearly 4 billion euros (£3.4bn). Like Hinkley Point, the Penly project will see around 150 contracts put up for grabs.’

Time: Areva's Field of Dreams
’This should be Areva's time in the sun. As governments search for clean, renewable energy sources and consumers worry about volatile oil prices, nuclear power is hot again. The fear of nuclear accidents like the one at Three Mile Island in 1979 or at Chernobyl in 1986 has begun to fade as nuclear's backers make their case in a world growing warmer. Nuclear plants, goes their argument, provide a steady supply of relatively cheap energy with zero carbon emissions. The new enthusiasm for nuclear is measurable. Over the next decade, the world is expected to build 180 nuclear power plants, up from just 39 between 1999 and today. With the long nuclear winter finally over, you might think that execs at Areva, the world's biggest nuclear-energy company, are strutting just now. But you'd be wrong. The state-owned French giant is scrambling not just to rectify a series of snafus at a high-profile reactor it's building in Finland, but also to raise more than $10 billion in new capital and weather the loss of an important industrial partner.’

Monday Morning: Jordan: Seeking to join the nuclear club of energy exporters
’Jordan is forging ahead with a peaceful nuclear program that would turn the energy-poor kingdom into an exporter of electricity, nuclear chief Khaled Tukan told reporters. "We're moving in great strides in the field of civil nuclear energy in order to stop being dependent on the import of fuel", said Tukan, who chairs the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC). Jordan is the latest Arab country, among them Egypt and pro-Western Gulf states, to announce plans for nuclear power programs in the face of Iran's controversial atomic drive. "Our goal is transform Jordan from net energy importing to net electricity exporting country by 2030", added Tukan, whose country imports 95 percent of its energy needs. Jordan's 2007 energy bill was 3.2 billion dollars, the equivalent of 24 percent of its total imports and 20 percent of gross domestic product. The kingdom has six power stations with a total generation capacity of 2,400 megawatts, but it has been forced to buy five percent of its electricity needs from other Arab countries in the face of growing demand.’

Yonhap News Agency: U.S. to continue sanctioning N. Korea until it returns to 6-way talks: White House
’WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 (Yonhap) -- The United States Thursday warned that it will continue sanctioning North Korea until Pyongyang returns to the six-party talks on its denuclearization. In a daily news briefing, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said, "Regardless of this mission or not -- we certainly hope that they'll come back to implementing the agreements that they entered into, while at the same time we will continue to take the steps necessary to enforce Security Council resolutions to ensure that weapons of mass destruction are not spread by the North Koreans." Gibbs was referring to the just-concluded visit to Pyongyang by former President Bill Clinton to win the release of two American journalists held there since March for illegally entering North Korea to cover refugees fleeing to China. "There was no quid pro quo." he said. "I think our policy to ensure that U.N. Security Council regulations are implemented is no different today than it was Monday before President Clinton left. This was a private humanitarian mission, with only the goal of bringing back two journalists to safety."’

Uranium Investing News: Mining in Mongolia-Part One
the mining industry expands into resource-rich developing nations around the world, its mining companies are becoming increasingly exposed to all manner of political risk from guerrilla warfare to regime changes. In the case of Mongolia, many mining firms are finding the government is their biggest challenge. Recently, three Canadian miners reported receiving notice that their licenses have been suspended by the Mineral Resources Authority of Mongolia (MRAM). Last month, Western Prospector, newly purchased by China-based CNNC International for $25 million, said the MRAM has suspended their uranium exploration licenses for three months due to alleged violations of various Mongolian laws. Western, which owns the Saddle Hills uranium project, also faced license suspensions in April; at that time the reason given was for "violations cited by inspectors from Mongolia's Atomic Energy Agency."’