Former KazAtomProm head facing prison time
‘Moukhtar Dzhakishev, the former president of Kazakh national nuclear company KazAtomProm, has been found guilty by a court in Astana of misappropriation and bribery, according to an Interfax report. "A prosecutor asked for 14 years in prison from the court. The court agreed and imposed this very punishment on him, that is, 14 years in a high security penitentiary, and has also deprived him of the right to occupy government positions for seven years," said Nurlan Beisekeyev, Dzhakishev's attorney. The court also ruled that Dzhakishev should be stripped of the Order of Kurmet, a state award. Beisekeyev said that Dzhakishev would appeal the sentence. The court also sentenced Talgat Kystaubayev, Dzhakishev's bodyguard, to five years in prison and stripped him of his military rank of major. Dzhakishev was arrested in May 2009 and charged with embezzling state shares in uranium mines in collusion with Moukhtar Ablyazov, the former chairman of BTA, one of Kazakhstan's top banks. Kazakh law enforcers have since added new accusations, including money-laundering and bribe-taking. Seven other KazAtomProm officials have also been charged with corruption. Dzhakishev has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.’

Poland to build first nuclear power plant
‘WARSAW, Poland, March 16 (UPI) -- The Polish government announced Tuesday that the country's first nuclear power plant would be built in the northern town of Zarnowiec. Deputy Economy Minister and atomic energy adviser Hanna Trojanowska told a Warsaw news conference the town was chosen from a pool of 28 locations in the northern part of Poland near the Baltic Sea, Poland.pl reported. All have a close proximity to large amounts of water, which is essential for cooling the reactors, she said. "Zarowiec lies close to a lake and there is also a possibility to build a channel which would supply the plant with sea water," Trojanowska said. Construction of a nuclear plant began in the town in the late 1980s, but the project was abandoned in 1990 because of a lack of funding and local protests, the report said. The government said the nuclear facility should be producing electricity by 2021.’

'Congress MPs must visit Hiroshima'
‘NEW DELHI: In a comprehensive critique of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, 2010, the four Left parties on Tuesday questioned the manner in which the legislation was being pushed through by the government. CPM general secretary Prakash Karat along with his CPI counterpart AB Bardhan, Forward Bloc's Debabrata Biswas and RSP's Abani Roy alleged that the government was "motivated" in bringing this legislation as the US, with which it is presently negotiating a fuel re-processing agreement, has said it is closely following the fate of the Bill. In a written appeal to MPs to oppose the Bill, the Left parties questioned the government rationale to put a cap on liability at Rs 2,142.85 crore, out of which around Rs 1,642 crore would be borne by the government and the rest by the reactor operator. "We are opposed to this cap. The damage caused by a nuclear accident is enormous and the small cap of Rs 2,142.85 crore shows the scant regard the Centre holds for the people," Karat said. He asked UPA and Congress MPs to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki to understand the extent of damage a nuclear explosion can cause.’

Bulgaria Belene NPP Loan Spent on Other Projects - Consultant
‘A loan of EUR 250 M from BNP Paribas destined for Bulgaria's Belene Nuclear Plant has been spent on other projects. This was announced by Bogomil Manchev, Manager of "Risk Engineering", which one of the consultants of the Belene NPP project, as cited by the BTA news agency. According to Mancher, Bulgaria's National Electric Company NEK did not borrow the money specifically for the Belene plant, and much of it was spend on the hydro power plant project "Tsankov Kamak" in Southern Bulgaria. Manchev's statement comes a few hours after Economy and Energy Minister Traikov declared that EUR 600 M has been "lost" for the construction of the Belene Nuclear Power Plant. Later on Tuesday, during his visit to the town of Belene, Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said he was planning to ask the Prosecutor's Office to investigate all loans and transactions connected with the Belene plant.’

INDONESIA: HOUSE OKAYS NUKE PLANTS
‘JAKARTA, March 16 (NNN-ANTARA) - The House of Representatives (DPR) has given the green light to the government`s intention to go ahead with its plan to build nuclear power plants (PLTNs). Looking ahead, Indonesia could no longer rely on unrenewable energy sources such as gas and coal to generate electricity, chairman of the House Commission overseeing energy, technology and the environment Teuku Riefky Harsya said in a press statement on Monday. "About safety, I believe that nuclear power plants will not leak if managed properly," he said commenting on the results of the House Commission`s visit to the National Atomic Energy Agency (Batan) in Serpong, south of here, at the weekend. Now that Batan had recommended the construction of nuclear power plants in the country, the House was ready to give political and budget support, he said. Deputy for nuclear energy technology development to Batam chief Adi Wardojo said Indonesia could now make preparations for the construction of nuclear power plants.’

Pakistan seeks civilian nuclear technology from US
‘ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday called on the US administration to assist Pakistan with civilian nuclear technology, and sought the early transfer of drone technology. "Civilian nuclear technology will help Pakistan meet its growing energy demand... the [transfer of] drone technology will... [lead to] wider public acceptability [of strikes]," said Zardari at a meeting with Director of US National Intelligence Dennis C Blair, who had called on him at the Presidency. The president said the two technologies could also facilitate the bridging of a trust deficit between the two countries. Zardari expressed reservations over the new screening regime for Pakistani nationals, and called for a review. Briefing the media after the meeting, presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said, "The president said the provision of civilian nuclear technology would go a long way in addressing misperceptions about the US in Pakistan." He quoted the president as saying that US drone attacks "on our soils not only infringe Pakistan's sovereignty, but also undermine national consensus against the war on terror".’

U.S. in dilemma over N. Korean nuke amid lackluster 6-way talks: scholar
‘WASHINGTON, March 16 (Yonhap) -- The United States is in a dilemma over North Korea's nuclear ambitions, with no viable alternatives to the stalled six-party talks, a scholar said Tuesday. "Frankly, there is an increasing pessimism about the prospect of diplomacy as a viable vehicle for denuclearization," Scott Snyder, director of the Center for U.S.-Korea Policy at the Asia Foundation, said on the Web site of the Council on Foreign Relations. "But there's also, especially if we look at it through the lens of the regional context, not much support for alternatives. That's the core dilemma. Alternatives to diplomacy are hard to muster, and yet hope for diplomacy to be successful is quite limited." North Korea detonated its second nuclear device last year and has been boycotting the six-party talks for nearly a year over U.N. sanctions for its nuclear and missile tests. Pyongyang demands the sanctions be lifted as a precondition for its return to the six-party talks. Washington insists the North come back to the nuclear dialogue first. "The North Koreans have declared that they want to separate the issue of denuclearization from the possibility of diplomatic normalization, and in fact what they are doing is pushing the idea of discussing a peace treaty between the United States and North Korea," Snyder said. "They're trying to change the subject. So it makes it very difficult to have a dialogue."’