Nuclear News: Australia's Future Power Sources Won't Include Nuclear
Today's big stories from the nuclear industry:
Australia's Future Power Sources Won't Include Nuclear - PM
‘CANBERRA -(Dow Jones)- The future sources for Australia's power needs include coal, natural gas and a range of renewables rather than nuclear, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Wednesday. Australia's challenge for power generation, as the world's biggest exporter of seaborne coal, is to invest in "clean coal" technology that captures and stores carbon and to develop the vast array of gas sources available including using liquefied natural gas onshore, he said. As well, Australia needs to invest in renewable energysources including large-scale solar and wind, to meet the government's target of sourcing 20% of its power needs from renewable sources by 2020, he said. "This is the future for Australia, other countries will reach their own decisions" about their sources of energy, Rudd said in an interview on radio 4BC when asked about developing nuclear power domestically. Australia sells uranium overseas because countries such as France don't have the same range of options for sourcing power as Australia does, he said. Rudd also argued against nuclear power on the basis of cost, the relatively modest amount of power that modelling suggests would be available from this source and the difficulty of locating a nuclear power station near water.’
Czech CEZ says 3 bid for Temelin nuclear tender
‘PRAGUE, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Three companies have placed preliminary bids to build upto five nuclear reactors for Czech power firm CEZ, CEZ said on Tuesday, in what is expected to be the country's biggest-ever procurement deal. CEZ Chief Executive Martin Roman confirmed that Russia's Atomstroyexport, the Westinghouse Electric unit of Toshiba Corp and France's Areva were the only bidders. "We can confirm that no one else has bid apart from firms that declared they would bid," Roman said. CEZ is expected to receive final bids toward the end of 2010 with a decision in late 2011 for the deal, which analysts say may be worth around 500 billion crowns ($27.93 billion). In August, CEZ launched a tender for the construction of two nuclear reactor units at its Temelin power plant with an option to order upto three more nuclear units. Analysts expect CEZ to build one of those blocks at its nuclear plant in Dukovany in the eastern part of the country and the other two in neighboring Slovakia's Jaslovske Bohunice power plant.’
Entergy CEO says chance for new nuclear plant dim
‘FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Entergy Corp (ETR.N) Chief Executive J. Wayne Leonard said on Tuesday that the company is unlikely to pursue construction of new nuclear plant in its Southeastern U.S. utility territory. "It's not off the table, but the economics are really not supportive and not likely to be supportive in the near future," Leonard said from the sidelines of the Edison Electric Institute financial conference. In August, Entergy's Louisiana utilities notified state regulators that they intended to submit a request for a certificate of need for a new nuclear unit at Entergy's River Bend nuclear station in St. Francisville, Louisiana. Entergy had also studied putting a new nuclear plant in Mississippi at its Grand Gulf nuclear station where it has an early site permit. Both Louisiana and Mississippi lawmakers have passed legislation offering incentives for the recovery of costs to build new reactors. New Orleans-based Entergy, the second largest operator of nuclear plants in the country, continues to work to obtain regulatory approval to spin-off its unregulated nuclear plants in the U.S. Northeast into a separate company.’
Gordon's Foreign Nuclear Waste Bill advances
‘WASHINGTON - Today, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment unanimously approved Congressman Bart Gordon's bipartisan legislation to ban the importation of foreign-generated radioactive waste for disposal in the United States. "We're the only nation in the world that buries the nuclear waste of other countries in our soil," Gordon said in a press release. "I am pleased that my colleagues on the Subcommittee recognized the importance of stopping this practice and I am hopeful that the full Energy and Commerce Committee will move my bill forward in the days to come." Currently, a permit is pending with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to import 20,000 tons of Italian low-level radioactive waste for disposal in the United States, which would be the largest importation ever of foreign-generated radioactive waste. If approved, the 20,000 tons of nuclear waste would be transported to Tennessee for processing and later disposed in Utah.’
Report: How Israel Bombed the Syrian Nuclear Facility
‘There was a bit of a political flurry, but the situation was contained, despite allegations that Israel bombed a Syrian nuclear facility in September 2007. Damascus did not launch a counter attack. Statements to the media were indeed vague, but eventually, foreign media reports confirmed that the IAF strike over Syria was indeed against the Al Kibar nuclear facility as believed. A comprehensive report has been released by Der Spiegel, claiming to reveal what occurred on September 6, 2007, in the desert, 130 kilometers (81 miles) from the Iraqi border. The following article is based on the information provided in the Der Spiegel report. Syria's state-run SANA news agency did report at 2:55pm that Israeli fighter planes violated Syrian airspace at about 1:00am that day. The official Syrian report explained that the nation's defense forces confronted the planes, compelling them to turn around, adding they dropped some ammunition in deserted areas, without resulting in and loss of life or damage. One of the questions which remain unanswered is why the state-run news agency concealed the event for half a day. At 6:46pm, Israel Radio quoted an "official source", stating the alleged incident never occurred. At 8:46pm, a US State Department spokesman explained they have "second hand reports" which contradict one another. This report addresses many questions, which were probed during recent months, with Der Spiegel speaking with many experts, who agreed to reveal what they know under conditions of anonymity. Some of the questions that have not been answered are; Was the facility a nuclear plant?’
France wades into bog of North Korean diplomacy
‘PARIS - Nicolas Sarkozy is once again wading into international diplomacy. After trying a hand at Mideast peace, raising France's profile on Iran and reaching out to Cuba, he's homing in on another problem long seen as Washington's to solve: North Korea. By sending a special mission to Pyongyang next week, the French president wants to bring new ideas to a stale standoff. Among them, Sarkozy envoy Jack Lang said in an interview, is possible European aid to North Korea in exchange for nuclear guarantees. "No questions are forbidden," Lang told The Associated Press of his upcoming meetings with senior North Korean officials. He called himself a "soldier of peace." The mission is all the more urgent after North Korea claimed Tuesday it has finished reprocessing thousands of spent nuclear fuel rods to extract plutonium to bolster its atomic stockpile, raising the stakes in an apparent effort to get the U.S. into direct negotiations. Lang, a former culture minister, seems an unusual choice for the job. However, his leftist background - he was long a prominent Socialist though he has worked on projects for conservative Sarkozy - makes him a somewhat more credible figure for a mission to the Communist state. Critics question whether that's enough of a qualification. Analysts though said Lang's lack of experience in the nonproliferation realm isn't a major handicap, since his task is to feel out diplomats and he can leave technical talk to French government experts.’
