Nuclear News: India's government withdraws nuclear power legislation
| Share |
|
Today's big stories from the nuclear industry:
India's government withdraws nuclear power legislation
'The Indian government's bid to cap liability for nuclear plants, seen by U.S. reactor-builders and operators as a prerequisite for entering the Indian market, was dealt a blow Monday when the ruling coalition withdrew legislation in the face of mounting opposition. The measure would limit to about $65 million the compensation that foreign nuclear operators would be liable for in the event of a nuclear accident. It would also cap the government's liability at about $385 million and mandate that all claims be presented within 10 years. The government has argued that the protection is necessary to implement a landmark 2008 Indo-U.S. deal that opened the way for cooperation on India's civilian nuclear power program. But the opposition has charged that the bill was being pushed through under U.S. pressure, that it failed to protect Indian citizens in the event of a disaster and that it placed most of the burden of any cleanup on taxpayers. The sudden withdrawal in the Lok Sabha, or lower house of parliament, sparked howls from the opposition, which had sought a showdown. Science and Technology Minister Prithviraj Chavan told reporters that he needed to reevaluate support for the measure. "There is no urgency to introduce the bill," he added. Without the liability law, U.S. firms will not get insurance coverage for their projects in India. Local media reported in November that several global players eager to grab a share of India's nuclear energy market, which could exceed $150 billion in coming years, were unable to do so without the legislation.'
Indian farmers battle against nuclear plant
A robust people's movement against a major nuclear power project has built up in a cluster of small villages on India's picturesque Konkan coast. The BBC's Zubair Ahmed reports: Some 350km (220 miles) from India's commercial capital, Mumbai, lies the village of Madban overlooking the vast expanse of the Arabian Sea. It is in this village that a 10,000 megawatt nuclear power plant is proposed - and farmers and fishermen, backed by campaigners, are hardening their stance against it. People from Madban believe the project will cause havoc to the environment and to their livelihoods. Pravin Gavhankar, a local farmer who is leading the campaign against the plant, expresses his resolve in no uncertain terms: "We have been living here for centuries; we will die but not abandon our ancestral homes and farms." The nuclear power plant's director CB Jain is seemingly unperturbed by the villagers' opposition. Campaigners from around India have now joined the resistance movement set up by farmers and fishermen. They have all decided to stage a protest march in Ratnagiri on 17 March to highlight what they say are safety issues overlooked by the plans, as well as compensation schemes in case of accidents. Adwait Pednekar, a security expert in the energy sector, is opposing the nuclear plant because of the dangers he says that it poses. "First is the impact on the environment and the long term impact because of radioactivity on human beings and biodiversity, including sea life," he says. The entire area taken by the government is quite productive in terms of horticulture and all that will be lost." Environmental groups like Greenpeace support the campaign, arguing that the area is environmentally and ecologically sensitive.'
Taking a Risk With Nuclear Technology
'BRUSSELS - As concerns intensify about countries like Iran and North Korea and their nuclear capabilities, this may be a risky time to sell more of the technology to the developing world. Yet furthering nuclear exports is what several governments are seeking for their industries amid talk of a renaissance for the technology. Take the promotion by the French government of a nuclear conference in Paris last week. France said it wanted to help representatives of delegations that reportedly included those of Syria and Libya overcome "the challenges of finding financing, obtaining access to the technology and the latest research and training people to satisfactorily conduct their projects." The "peaceful use of nuclear power should not be confined to a handful of states that already hold the technology," the government added in the message, posted at the Web site for the conference of which President Nicolas Sarkozy of France was host. That will be a tall order. France first must reconcile a number of competing objectives, including encouragement of the spread of nuclear expertise while preventing proliferation of military applications of the technology; building plants that are both affordable and safe enough to convince skeptics that there can be no recurrence of accidents that blighted the industry in the 1970s and 1980s; and convincing citizens that burying radioactive waste deep underground is an environmentally sound trade-off for generating nuclear power free of greenhouse gases.'
Areva, TVO trade blame for Finnish reactor delay
OLKILUOTO, Finland, March 15 (Reuters) - The Areva Siemens joint venture will complete the delayed OL3 nuclear reactor in Finland in the second half of 2012, three years behind schedule, Finnish utility TVO said on Monday. But Areva said continued disagreement with TVO to approve key development steps of the project meant the French group had no visibility on the time it would deliver the plant. The plant, which was originally scheduled to be in operation in 2009, has been plagued by delays and has led Areva to book writedowns of 2.3 billion euros on the project, the first 1,650 megawatt third-generation reactor to be built in Europe. "June 2012 does not seem possible anymore (for the reactor's delivery)," TVO's project manager Jouni Silvennoinen told journalists on the sidelines of a visit at the OL3 site. Silvennoinen added that the speed of construction had been "relatively good" since the start of summer 2009. But in an ongoing ping-pong match, Areva's project head said that the completion of the project depended on TVO. Areva has blamed OL3 delays on TVO's "inertia" to validate technical documentation before passing it on to the Finnish nuclear safety authority. OL3 was a 3-billion euro turn-key project, but Areva has already estimated its loss on the project at 2.3 billion euros.'
Nuclear applicants fear chaos over licence handling in Parliament
The three energy companies - Fennovoima, Fortum, and Teollisuuden Voima TVO - who are applying for a licence to build new nuclear facilities in Finland have begun to fear that the handling of the matter could get out of control in Parliament when political manoeuvering starts. This could happen if the number of licences to be proposed by the government is more than one. If the government decides to propose that only one licence should be granted, no problems are likely to occur. In that case, Parliament can only either pass or reject the bill as the Nuclear Energy Act states. However, if the number of proposed licences is two or three, the situation becomes considerably more complicated. Some of the applicants fear that even the order in which the applications will be handled could have an impact on the outcome, when those who would grant only one licence, those who want to grant licences to all three applicants, and those who are against any additional nuclear capacity all start to form groups behind their respective stands. In a survey conducted by Helsingin Sanomat last week, Members of Parliament were asked for their views on nuclear energy. One quarter or 47 MPs said that they would be willing to grant three licences, while almost as many MPs were opposed to authorising any more nuclear construction. Only a total of 125 of Finland's 200 Members of Parliament were reached for the survey, but the result confirmed the earlier reports according to which there is a majority for one licence in the present Parliament, but not for
two and by no means for three licences.'
Japanese utilities possessed 27.8 tons of plutonium at end of 2009
March 15 KYODO The amount of plutonium possessed by Japanese utility companies totaled 27.8 tons -- 3.7 tons in Japan and 24.1 tons abroad -- as of the end of 2009, up 0.4 ton from a year before, the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan said Monday.
