Russia to supply nuke plant gear to Iran
’MOSCOW, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- Iran's first nuclear power plant will come equipped with a Russian-made automated control system, company officials say. The Russian civil nuclear power company Atomenergoprom said Wednesday it is completing work on the system for the Iranian facility in Bushehr, RIA Novosti reported. The Russian news agency said the power plant was begun by German engineers in 1975, but work was stopped after the United States slapped an embargo on Iran after the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution and the subsequent siege of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Russia signed an agreement in 1998 to complete the plant with an aim to finish it by 2006. But continuing sanctions and financial problems have delayed its completion. RIA Novosti said Russian officials delivered nuclear fuel to the Bushehr plant in January.’

Iranian Leader Says Nuclear Experts May Meet With U.S. Scientists
’UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 23 -- Iran is willing to have its nuclear experts meet with scientists from the United States and other world powers as a confidence-building measure aimed at resolving concerns about Tehran's nuclear program, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday. At international talks next week on its nuclear ambitions, Iran also will seek to purchase enriched uranium needed for medical purposes from the United States, he told reporters and editors from Newsweek and The Washington Post. Agreement by the Americans, he suggested, would demonstrate the Obama administration is serious about engagement, while rejection might give Iran an excuse to further enrich its stock of uranium. "These nuclear materials we are seeking to purchase are for medicinal purposes . . . It is a humanitarian issue," Ahmadinejad said in the interview. "I think this is a very solid proposal which gives a good opportunity for a start" to build up trust between the two countries and "engage in cooperation." Nuclear research reactors are used to create radioactive isotopes for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. The Iranian president said about 20 medical products are created at a reactor in Tehran but more fuel was needed. Ahmadinejad made his proposal against the backdrop of increasingly urgent efforts by the United States and other major powers to prod Iran to fully disclose its nuclear program or face stricter sanctions.’

U.S. deal offers Eni chance to go nuclear: paper
’MILAN (Reuters) - Oil company Eni SpA (ENI.MI) would be well placed to enter the nuclear power sector on the back of a development accord that Italy and the United States will shortly sign, a government minister said in a newspaper interview. The bilateral agreement on nuclear research and industrial cooperation will be ratified in less than a week, giving Italy options beyond its existing nuclear alliance with France, Industry Ministry Undersecretary Stefano Saglia told daily Corriere della Sera on Wednesday. Italian power company Enel SpA (ENEI.MI) and French peer EDF SA EDF.SA agreed last month to set up a 50:50 joint venture to develop nuclear power in Italy. A nuclear role for Eni would complement the U.S.-Italy accord, Saglia said. "In the case of a second link-up, Eni would have the ... industrial and financial trump cards," he told the newspaper. The Italian state owns 30 percent of Eni.’

U.S. Panel Shifts Focus to Reusing Nuclear Fuel
’OXON HILL, Md. - With a federal plan to handle nuclear waste in deadlocked disarray, an advisory panel that has spent 20 years studying a proposed repository at Yucca Mountain turned Wednesday to discussing ways of reusing the fuel instead. But the meeting of the panel, the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, made evident that such reuse was uncertain, along with the future of Yucca Mountain, in Nevada, about 100 miles from Las Vegas. The board heard presentations from three major nuclear companies on strategies for sorting out the components of nuclear waste: burying some, recovering others for use as fuel and putting some in reactors to be transformed into materials that are easier to handle. But developing such plans would take decades, experts said, and deciding which path to follow would depend in part on the kind of rock chosen for burial. Yucca Mountain, a ridge of volcanic rock, has been the main focus of a federal program that has spent $10.4 billion seeking a repository for nuclear waste. Opposition to such a repository has been fierce in Nevada, and President Obama spoke out against the project during his campaign. In February, he released a proposed budget cutting off most of the money for Yucca Mountain and promised to appoint a commission to look into alternatives.’

U.S. shows cool reaction to President Lee's "grand bargain"
’The U.S. government showed a cool reaction Monday (local time) to the "package agreement," or "grand bargain," proposed by President Lee Myung-bak as a solution to the North Korean nuclear issue. This indicates a difference of opinion on the issue between two countries known to be staunch allies. In response to a question about the government's position on President Lee's "grand bargain" during a regular briefing Tuesday, U.S. State Department Spokesperson Ian Kelly responded evasively, saying that the agreement "is his (President Lee's) policy, these were his remarks," and that it is "really not for me to comment on the particulars." Instead of offering a direct response to the follow-up question about whether Lee's grand bargain represented a change in approach, Kelly explained, "I think we all agree that the final goal is the complete denuclearization" of North Korea. This reference to a statement made by the leader of an ally as "his policy" and "his remarks" in a U.S. State Department briefing explaining the official position of the U.S. government is exceptional enough to be viewed as a "diplomatic slight." A former South Korean senior official in foreign affairs and national security explained, "Even when two countries have policies that don't coincide, the general rule is to stop at something like, 'We have no misunderstandings on each other's position.'" The former official interpreted Kelly's comments as indicating that the U.S. is "displeased or nonplussed with the South Korean government."’

What Was Missing from Obama's Climate Speech? Nuclear Power
of the post-game analysis of yesterday's big UN climate summit dwells on the lack of specifics offered by the U.S. and China-lack of specific commitments to curb emissions, pass legislation and the like. But there was one interesting difference in the speeches of President Obama and Hu Jintao: The specific role each country sees for nuclear power. President Obama dedicated the first part of his talk to a recital of what his administration has done to make the U.S. a cleaner-energy economy. He cited renewable energy, wind power, solar panels, hybrid cars, energy-efficient buildings, offshore wind power, new fuel-economy standards for cars, and work on clean coal. He did not mention nuclear power once. In contrast, the Chinese president embraced nuclear power as part of the country's clean-energy push. Mr. Hu said the country will "vigorously develop" renewable energy and nuclear energy as part of the plan to generate 15% of China's electricity from non-carbon-emitting sources by 2020.’