The thing is, there’s actually quite a bit of disagreement on the matter. The study ‘Energy Sprawl or Energy Efficiency: Climate Policy Impacts on Natural Habitat for the United States of America’ isn’t the only one to examine the issue.

In his paper ‘Four Nuclear Myths’, Amory B. Lovins, Chairman and Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute shows that…

…windpower is far less land-intensive than nuclear power; [solar] photovoltaics spread across land [is] comparable to nuclear if mounted on the ground in average U.S. sites, but much or most of that land… can be shared with lifestock or wildlife, and PVs use no land if mounted on structures, as ~90% now are.

The paper ‘Improving the ecological footprint of nuclear energy: a risk-based lifecycle assessment approach for critical infrastructure systems’ (from the International Journal of Critical Infrastructures, Vol. 1, No. 4.) estimates that nuclear’s land-use footprint is four times higher than coal…

Specifically, a lifecycle assessment of nuclear energy production is important because it captures the release of radionuclides and other toxic materials into the environment... It is concluded that, when critical infrastructure risks are taken into consideration, the actual nuclear footprint may be significantly higher than previous footprint calculations.

Would AREVA care to cite a study taking all this into account?

(And there’s one thing that hasn’t been mentioned: energy efficiency doesn’t use any land at all.)

ANALYSIS-German nuclear policy skirts a taboo
‘FRANKFURT, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Germany's nuclear power policy of keeping old reactors open longer to bridge the gap to greener energy may also leave the door open to eventually break a major electoral taboo -- new atomic power plants. Chancellor Angela Merkel's new centre-right government last week kept nuclear energy alive but stressed that would only be until renewable energies are fully viable. Popular opposition to nuclear is strong and visceral. A total of 17 reactors had faced closure in the coming decade but can now expect a new lease of life. Analysts think this leaves room for opinions to change. "There is an attempt in Germany to establish a policy comfort zone," said Lawrence Poole of IHS Global Insight. "Once they have that in place and safe and well maintained nuclear plants continue to supply power, it makes it that much easier to progress the overall debate," he said, adding, "Whether that means new plants is another question." Merkel's political opponents have been less circumspect in raising their own suspicions. "The oldest scrap metal reactors remain online despite all safety problems," said Green politician and former environment minister Juergen Trittin in a comment on the coalition deal.’

E.ON, RWE set up UK nuclear joint venture
‘FRANKFURT -- German energy companies E.ON AG and RWE AG said Thursday that they have set up a joint company to build nuclear power stations in Britain. The new company, called Horizon Nuclear Power and headquartered near Gloucester, will start operations on Nov. 16. Duesseldorf-based E.ON and Essen-based RWE first announced the plan in January. Horizon will focus on new power stations with a 60-year lifetime, a joint statement from the two companies said. It foresees potential investments of more than 15 billion pounds ($25 billion) in developing around 6,000 megawatts of nuclear capacity by 2025. Horizon is also in a tender process with Areva of France and Westinghouse of the U.S. for the selection of reactor technology for the projects.’

Japan's 1st pluthermal power generation begins 10 years behind schedule
‘Japan began operating a nuclear power reactor Thursday using plutonium-uranium mixed oxide (MOX) as fuel for the first time in the country, about 10 years behind the initial plan for the so-called pluthermal electricity generation. Nuclear fission began at the 1.18 million-kilowatt No. 3 reactor at Kyushu Electric Power Co's Genkai nuclear power plant in Saga Prefecture, southwestern Japan, after a control rod was removed from the reactor at 11 a.m., company officials said. The pressurized light-water reactor is expected to attain criticality late Thursday night, the officials said. Kyushu Electric plans to begin generating electricity at the reactor Monday and raise its power output gradually under controlled operation later, they said. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is scheduled to conduct checks on the reactor Dec 2 to examine its power output stability and core performance. If the reactor clears the checks, it will go into full-fledged operation. In the prefectural capital of Saga, a group of some 20 citizens held a protest rally against the launch of the MOX fuel power generation. Originally, Japan's electric power industry planned to begin pluthermal power generation in the late 1990s under the country's nuclear fuel cycle infrastructure.’

French PM backs Areva despite nuclear safety worry
‘PARIS, Nov 5 (Reuters) - French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said he had confidence in the management of Areva, the world's biggest nuclear reactor maker, which has been told by safety bodies to alter safety features on its new power plants. Safety agencies in France, Britain and Finland this week ordered state-controlled Areva and EDF (EDF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's largest nuclear electricity operator, to modify safety features on new European Pressurised Reactors (EPR). Fillon played down the concerns, which have hit the share price of Areva's non-voting stock. "The management has the confidence of the state. There is no Areva problem," Fillon said in an interview with the daily Le Monde that was released ahead of publication on Thursday. "We are in the process of building new generation reactors. It is absolutely normal that there is a debate," he said.’

Could Areva safety row affect UAE nuclear decision?
‘Concerns raised by safety agencies in the UK, France and Finland about Areva's latest nuclear reactor are coming at the worst possible time for a French consortium hoping to win a US$40 billion contract to build power plants in Abu Dhabi. Areva is already facing serious problems at the Olkiluoto nuclear plant in Finland, which was initially planned to be operational this year. Instead, the facility will now open at 2012, at the earliest, with extra costs adding another 50% to the initial price tag. Earlier this year, the consortium consisting of Areva, GDF Suez and Total was considered to be in pole position for the Abu Dhabi contract, which is expected to be awarded before the end of the year. The UAE is currently in the advanced stage of evaluating the bids, according to Hamad Al Kaabi, the country's representative to the IAEA, who spoke to Reuters in October. Other consortiums vying for the contract are the Japanese-US alliance between Hitachi and GE and a South Korea-led partnership consisting of Korea Electric Power, Samsung, Hyundai and Westinghouse.’

Japan's Kansai to use nuclear unit for over 40 yrs
‘TOKYO, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Japan's second-biggest utility Kansai Electric Power Co (9503.T) said on Thursday it aims to continue operations at its 340-megawatt Mihama No.1 reactor, which went online in 1970, beyond November 2010. If the move is approved, the unit would mark the second reactor in Japan to operate for more than four decades. Kansai has no plans to build any new reactors. (Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori)’

FACTBOX: Nuclear power plans in Europe
‘(Reuters) - Nuclear energy is seen by some countries as an effective way to keep up electricity supplies while cutting emissions of climate warming gases from burning fossil fuels. Lingering concerns over nuclear safety, waste and costs have limited the sector's growth in western Europe but several central and eastern European countries are keen to build them as a way of reducing their reliance on imported fuels. Below are the nuclear plants being built or planned across Europe…’

The Nature Conservancy: Nuclear Power has a Small Footprint

Now, when it comes to environmental issues, what’s the kind of footprint that springs to mind? It would be carbon footprint, wouldn’t it? A quick Google tells us that there are over four million references to ‘carbon footprint’ out there on the internet.

So reading that headline from AREVA’s blog, what kind of footprint did you first think of?

The thing is, the particular footprint AREVA are talking about here isn’t nuclear power’s carbon footprint but it’s ‘land-use footprint’. Apparently, ‘nuclear power has the smallest land-use footprint of all forms of energy generation’. We’ll confess to not being familiar with the term. A quick Google tells us that ‘land-use footprint’ has just over 20 thousand references out there on the internet. It’s not a search term used very frequently at all on Google.

So far, so misleading. It’s just one more example of the creative lengths you have to go to when you want to promote a dirty, dangerous and discredited energy source (debunking nuclear, thanks to it being so dirty, dangerous and discredited, is an altogether simpler proposition).

This isn’t to say that the issue of ‘energy sprawl’ and the amount of land we use to generate our power isn’t hugely important. We’re not downplaying it, it’s just that AREVA is coming to the issue suspiciously late and takes the line that ‘nuclear power has the smallest land-use footprint’ but stays silent on just what happens on the land that nuclear power sits on (in their blog post, they’re still calling nuclear power ‘safe, reliable, clean, CO2-free’ without any proof). It smacks of desperation.

Have the good people at AREVA read this passage of the ‘Land Use Intensity’ study from which they quote so approvingly…?

Our definition of impact varies among energy production techniques, so a less compact way of generating energy does not necessarily mean that an energy production technique is more damaging to biodiversity, but simply that it has a larger spatial area impacted to some degree. Moreover, many energy production techniques actually have multiple effects on biodiversity, which operate at different spatial and temporal scales… Further, the longevity of the impacts described here varies. For example, radioactive nuclear waste will last for millennia, some mine tailings will be toxic for centuries…

In other words, AREVA are promoting the part of the study that says ‘nuclear power has the smallest land-use footprint of all forms of energy generation’ but not the part that talks about nuclear power's devastating impact on the environment from uranium mining to land contamination around nuclear reactors to high-level nuclear waste storage. Fancy that.

French nuclear export drive tainted by safety fears
‘PARIS - Safety fears and threats of winter power cuts have taken some of the shine off France's world-beating nuclear industry, the country's main source of power and a key plank in its foreign trade strategy. France generates more than three-quarters of its electricity through nuclear power, more than any other country by proportion, and President Nicolas Sarkozy has made exporting French know-how a top priority. China and Finland are already building French-designed new generation reactors, and talks are underway to export the European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) model to Britain, India, Abu Dhabi and the United States. Alarm bells rang this week, however, when French, British and Finnish regulators called on the French nuclear engineering firm Areva to review the design of the planned plants' safety and control systems. Meanwhile, French businesses and householders in some regions could face winter power cuts or rationing after labour strikes delayed the refuelling of France's older plants and left almost one third of them off line.’

1st 'pluthermal' power generation to start at Genkai plant
‘Nov. 4--FUKUOKA -- Kyushu Electric Power Co. said Wednesday it will resume the operation of the No. 3 reactor at its Genkai nuclear power plant in Saga Prefecture on Thursday, which will lead to the start of Japan's first plutonium-thermal power generation. The reactor, loaded with plutonium-uranium mixed oxide, or MOX, will go critical as early as Thursday evening to start the power control operations of so-called "pluthermal" electric generation, it said. Full-fledged operation will begin on Dec. 2 after safety checkups by the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry.’

Nuclear power isn't the answer, expert says
‘Former federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission member Peter Bradford does not believe nuclear power will be a major answer to America's energy issues. That's because of its high cost, its potential for nuclear weapons proliferation through reprocessing, and the tendency to shift costs from power plant investors to consumers and taxpayers. Speaking Tuesday night at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Bradford went through a series of what he described as the "myths" of nuclear power. One is that we are in the midst of a nuclear renaissance, with many power plants being proposed or submitted for licensing in the past decade.’

Kouchner hardens stance against Iran's nuclear dallying
‘AFP - French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Wednesday that talks with Iran on its nuclear programme were on the point of breakdown and warned of a "dangerous situation" in the Middle East. Kouchner said that if Iran continued to refuse to respond to a UN-brokered offer to oversee its nuclear enrichment programme then the six world powers leading negotiations would be forced to abandon talks with Tehran. "The situation is dangerous, in a dangerous Middle East," he told reporters. "It's a bad idea to provoke the Israelis with the potential, putative, in any case unproven existence of nuclear bomb construction," he said, implying that he feared Israel might take unilateral action against Tehran.’

Indigenous Uranium Forum Denounces Mining, Militarization, and Hate Crimes in Indian Country
‘Indigenous Peoples from Bolivia, Alaska, and throughout Indian country gathered at the 7th Southwest Indigenous Uranium Forum and told the same story: Uranium mining is a hate crime in Indian country. "Leave it in the ground," said Native Americans whose parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, and uncles died from cancer, respiratory diseases, and brain tumors resulting from uranium mining. With uranium prices climbing, new uranium mining permits are soaring in Indian territory. Today, at least 10 uranium mining companies have targeted this area of Mount Taylor in the Greater Grants Mineral Belt: Rio Grande Resources Corp., Strathmore Minerals Corporation, Urex Energy Corporation, Laramide, Ltd., Neutron Energy, Inc., Max Resources Corporation, Western Energy Development Corporation, Uranium Resources, Inc., Uranium Company of New Mexico, Energy Metals Corporation, and Quincy Energy Corporation. Over 250 representatives of Pueblos, Navajos, and other indigenous peoples gathered at the Indigenous Uranium Forum Oct. 22-24 in Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico. The gathering had the dual purpose of sharing experiences in the fight against uranium mining on native land and to protect nearby Mount Taylor, considered a sacred mountain and the site of recent hate crimes against Native Americans after Mount Taylor was designated a Traditional Cultural Property by the state of New Mexico in 2009.’

India, EU to sign deal on civil nuclear energy this week
DELHI: The European Union and India are likely to sign an agreement on civilian nuclear energy, dealing with India's participation in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project, during the India-EU summit that takes place this week. "An agreement on civil nuclear energy, focusing on India's participation in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor project, is expected to be signed," Daniele Smadja, ambassador, head of the European Commission's delegation to India, told reporters. She further said the agreement will facilitate India's participation in the project. One of the costliest and largest scientific
project, ITER is an international fusion research project which has seven participants, including the European Union, Japan, China, the Republic of Korea, Russia, India and the US. India was inducted into the ITER project as the seventh member in 2006. In fact, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had recently referred to ITER project, saying it was a good example of a collaborative clean technology effort. New Delhi is keen to contribute to the ITER project and have a constructive involvement. But the project, which is coming up at Cadarache in France, has been running behind the schedule. The EU countries, which have to provide 45% of the cost, are still debating how they will pay for their share of the costs. The first leg of the construction is now expected to start in 2010.’

Nuclear rainy day
‘Now that Turkey has joined Iran, Libya and Egypt in demanding that Israel give up its nuclear weapons, or at least open its nuclear facilities to international inspection, it is time to start worrying. Turkish Prime Minister Racep Tayyip Erdogan has displayed open hostility toward Israel since Operation Cast Lead, and he appears to be leading his government toward abandoning the strategic alliance between the two countries. Now, his call to curb Israel's nuclear program has added momentum to a worrying trend, which is gaining momentum, even among Israel's friends in the West. The backdrop is the international effort to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear arms. Why stop Iran, many people across the globe are asking, when Israel possesses such weaponry, if foreign media reports are true? Once again, we are hearing the old idea of declaring the Middle East a nuclear-free zone, or in other words, making Israel get rid of any nukes it may have. Israel has no objection in principle, but in practice buries every initiative by insisting that first all the countries in the region must sign peace treaties with it. Only after satisfactory security arrangements are in place will talks begin on dumping all weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear ones. Some experts in Israel, although they may not say so openly, admit there is a certain logic to the proposals.’

The short and sensible answer? Neither.

Entergy Corp 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.

…and…

The estimated cost of two new nuclear reactors proposed by CPS Energy has gone up as much as $4 billion, prompting the [San Antonio] City Council to postpone Thursday's vote on the project's financing until January… CPS interim General Manager Steve Bartley said the utility's main contractor on the project, Toshiba Inc., informed officials that the cost of the reactors would be “substantially greater” than CPS' estimate of $13 billion, which includes financing.

This fear of the rocketing costs of new nuclear reactors isn’t merely confined to the US. Remember Turkey and Canada unveiling similarly ridiculous figures recently?

Other countries have different approaches to nuclear economics. France and Finland decided to rush headlong into building their own new reactors before for the full financial horror hit them. In the UK, government ministers refuse to even discuss the costs of new nuclear reactors in public. One doesn’t have to be a genius to wonder why – if the costs of nuclear power were even remotely acceptable, these pro-nuclear ministers would be shouting it from the rooftops.

The thing is, you don’t have to look very far under the surface of the industry’s hype to see all this. So why does it continue with the charade in the face of the evidence?

Read more: Forget Nuclear by Amory B. Lovins, Imran Sheikh, and Alex Markevich

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.’

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.’

This week, however, lumbering French nuclear ogre AREVA added a third question to the list: ‘What will the design look like?’…

In an unprecedented step, the UK nuclear safety regulator (HSE’s ND), the French nuclear regulator (ASN), and the Finnish nuclear regulator (STUK) released a joint statement on their respective evaluations of the design of AREVA’s shiny all-singing, all-dancing state-of-the-art third generation EPR Pressurised Water Reactor. You see, all three have discovered the same problem with the reactor’s design…

The issue is primarily around ensuring the adequacy of the safety systems (those used to maintain control of the plant if it goes outside normal conditions), and their independence from the control systems (those used to operate the plant under normal conditions).

Independence is important because, if a safety system provides protection against the failure of a control system, then they should not fail together. The EPR design, as originally proposed by the licensees and the manufacturer, AREVA, doesn’t comply with the independence principle, as there is a very high degree of complex interconnectivity between the control and safety systems.

In short: the EPR’s safety system isn’t independent from its control system. The safety system is there, in case the control system fails, to prevent catastrophic accidents. In EPR’s case, if the control system fails, the currently non-independent safety system could fail as well. And AREVA wants to sell the EPR all over the world.

Needless to say, AREVA responded with an awesome piece of denial, spin and downright fantasy…

The safety of the EPR™ reactor has not been called into question…

Really? So clearly ‘The issue is primarily around ensuring the adequacy of the safety systems’ and ‘The EPR design… doesn’t comply with the independence principle’ actually means ‘there’s nothing to worry about’. Silly us. Need we remind you that the OL3 EPR reactor in Olkiluoto, Finland has been under construction since 2004, the EPR at Flamanville, France has been under construction since 2006. And there are still questions about the ‘adequacy’ of the EPR’s safety systems.

AREVA then move straight to the fantasy…

The EPR™ reactor is currently the most powerful reactor in the world...

(No it isn’t – it hasn’t been built yet.)

AREVA guarantees the safety of its reactor…

(It could guarantee snow in Summer but that wouldn’t make it any more likely. AREVA can make as many guarantees as it likes but what will those guarantees be worth after a major accident? Can you clean up nuclear contamination with a guarantee? Figures vary as to the cost of the Chernobyl disaster but a quarter of a trillion dollars is a conservative estimate. Does AREVA have that kind of money? It will be governments and taxpayers who will be paying for any clean-up.)

So what does this mean? What it always does: more cost, more delays, more uncertainty, more spin, more fantasy, and more distraction from the fight against climate change. It means more of the same from AREVA and those who support them.

Niger Leader rewrites rules to keep power
‘The cause of democracy in Africa could have done without this latest affront. Barely six months after giving the French president an undertaking that he would leave power at the end of his second term, Niger's president, Mamadou Tandja, has rewritten the rules to give himself power for as long as he wishes. A general election was held on 20 October to renew 113 seats in parliament, which Tandja dissolved in May to overcome its opposition to his plans to change the constitution. He organised a referendum on 4 August to obtain popular approval for new rules, doing away with the two-term limit on presidential office. Tandja, who has been in power for 10 years, thus avoided the need for another presidential election - scheduled for the end of this year - and can in theory remain in power for as long as he likes. Meanwhile he has had large numbers of political opponents arrested. After pretending to support democracy for Nicolas Sarkozy's benefit in March, Tandja changed his tune at the official launch of the massive Imouraren uranium mining project, which has been contracted to Areva, the French nuclear conglomerate. He announced plans for a referendum on the new constitution at the ceremony, attended by the French secretary of state for cooperation, Alain Joyandet, and Areva's CEO, Anne Lauvergeon. Paris says its mining interests have no bearing on the president's behaviour "given that the contract has already been signed".’

Nuclear Cargo Security Workshop Held in Russia
‘Officials from Russia and the United States met last week to discuss strategies for improving security in the transport of nuclear materials. Participants met for three days in Kolontaevo, Russia to share best practices in training, equipping and operating security forces traveling with nuclear cargoes, according to a press release from the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration. The workshop followed a similar session in March at Fort Chafee, Ark. It involved officials from the NNSA Material Protection, Control and Accounting Program and Russian transportation security officials from Atomguard, Rosatom and the Internal Affairs Ministry. "The National Nuclear Security Administration's long-standing cooperation with Russia on critical nuclear security issues demonstrates a shared commitment to learning and collaboration," said NNSA Principal Assistant Deputy Administrator Kenneth Baker in a press release. "Working together to ensure the secure transport of nuclear materials is another way we can help meet the president's commitment to secure nuclear material." Moscow and Washington have been jointly working on security of nuclear shipments since 1996. The United States, through last month, had provided Russia with 283 reinforced nuclear material shipment containers, 115 escort vehicles, 97 cargo trucks, 77 freight railcars and 25 guard railcars.’

North Korea's broken economy the key to nuclear talks
‘SEOUL, Nov 2 (Reuters) - A promise by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to improve the state's broken economy is forcing him to ask for massive aid and may even bring him back to nuclear talks that Pyongyang once declared dead. The North, which last month sent an envoy to the United States on a charm offensive, on Monday gave its clearest signal yet that it was ready to return to the six-way, disarmament-for-aid talks. Plenty of obstacles remain to reviving the discussions, not least the fact that Washington wants Pyongyang to recommit to giving up its nuclear activities before negotiations. "It is still too early to tell if the North is desperate enough to make the strategic decision about a change in its nuclear arms programme," said a diplomatic source in Seoul. But Kim, it appears, has backed himself into a corner after having pledged to turn North Korea into a "strong and prosperous nation" by 2012 to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of his father and the state's founder, Kim Il-sung.’

EDF cuts capacity at Belleville plant after fire
‘PARIS, Nov 2 (Reuters) - EDF (EDF.PA) cut the production capacity of its reactor 2 at the Belleville plant in Central France to 60 percent after a fire broke out on Sunday in a non-nuclear part of the installation, the firm said on Monday. "Smoke erruped at 1215 (1015 GMT) from the non-nuclear part of the plant," EDF said on the plant's information line. "The fire was extinguished immediately," EDF said.’

Nuclear dump sites 'all in the Territory'
‘THE Federal Government has been sitting on a report on the decision to build a nuclear waste dump in the Territory for the past nine months. Australia needs to build a waste facility by 2015, when spent nuclear fuel rods are returned from France. The Government had previously promised to decide the location of the facility based on "science". The Commonwealth's Radioactive Waste Section manager Patrick Davoren told the Senate Estimates committee that the Parson Brinckerhoff report into the sites was received in February. But he said the report only looked at three Defence sites - all in the Northern Territory. They included two near Alice Springs and another one in the Katherine region. The report also considered Muckaty Station, near Tennant Creek, which was offered by the local traditional owners. "The Government is considering its position in the light of that report and in light of its platform and its election commitment," he said.’

As a Greenpeace report said back in 1995, the ‘interior of the atoll is effectively a vast, unregulated high-level radioactive waste dump’. Yes, this should serve as a permanent reminder of the dangers of nuclear weapons, but a source of pride?

So we got to thinking. Just what was it that happened on Mururoa that makes Sarkozy so very proud? Was it this…?

Perhaps it’s the fact that for 30 years successive French governments lied about there being ‘no radioactive fallout from French nuclear tests, or leakage of radioactivity into the lagoons at Moruroa’ that gives President Sarkozy warm, partriotic feelings.

One thing he shouldn’t be feeling proud of is his own government’s treatment of the victims of French nuclear testing in the Pacific. Many Polynesians will be excluded from the compensation programme due to strict restrictions imposed by the French senate. It’s a strange set of priorities, celebrating pride in a blasted island but not the sacrifices made by the people on the road to France’s nuclear ‘glory’.

So, we can expect things to improve now the colder winter weather is on the way? Er, not so much…

The subsidiary of EDF, which manages the network of power lines, said that France will have to import 4 000 megawatts (MW) of electricity "for several weeks from November 2009 to January 2010, according to a study released Friday. This is equivalent to the production of 4 nuclear reactors.

This strong dependence of France on other countries for its electricity needs is because of the downtime suffered by the French nuclear facilities this year. Fifteen of 58 nuclear reactors were shut down Friday for maintenance, uranium refuelling, because of various problems, according to a source familiar with the matter.

So that’s France’s nuclear: out of action when it’s hot, out of action when it’s cold. To add insult to injury, parts of France may see power cuts because the French grid isn’t designed to accept large imports of electricity. To think France is regarded as the world leader when it comes to nuclear energy technology. Somebody somewhere really didn’t think this all through.

Toxic waste trickles toward New Mexico's water sources
‘Radioactive debris has been found in canyons that drain into the Rio Grande, but officials at the Los Alamos National Laboratory say there's no health risk. Reporting from Los Alamos, N.M. - More than 60 years after scientists assembled the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, lethal waste is seeping from mountain burial sites and moving toward aquifers, springs and streams that provide water to 250,000 residents of northern New Mexico. Isolated on a high plateau, the Los Alamos National Laboratory seemed an ideal place to store a bomb factory's deadly debris. But the heavily fractured mountains haven't contained the waste, some of which has trickled down hundreds of feet to the edge of the Rio Grande, one of the most important water sources in the Southwest. So far, the level of contamination in the Rio Grande has not been high enough to raise health concerns. But the monitoring of runoff in canyons that drain into the river has found unsafe concentrations of organic compounds such as perchlorate, an ingredient in rocket propellent, and various radioactive byproducts of nuclear fission. Much surface contamination, however, becomes embedded in sediment or moves down into groundwater. That subterranean migration poses the greatest long-term danger to drinking-water wells and ultimately the Rio Grande.’

Russian envoy advises Iran to sign nuclear fuel deal
‘An IAEA-brokered draft proposal on nuclear fuel supply to Tehran is not a scheme to strip Iran of its low-enriched uranium, says a Russian diplomat. "This offer is not to trick Iran into giving away its low-enriched uranium," Russian Ambassador to Tehran Alexander Sadovnikov said in an interview with the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) on Sunday. "We believe that reaching an agreement on this offer and signing technical contracts to produce fuel for the Tehran reactor will be beneficial to Iran and will help in resolving Iran's nuclear issue," he added. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) presented a draft proposal to Iran, France, Russia and the United States after a meeting in Vienna on October 19. While the three powers have supported the deal, Iran has yet to announce its final decision. The nuclear deal envisages Iran shipping out its low-enriched uranium (LEU) to be converted into metal fuel rods and returned to the country for the Tehran medical research reactor. Under the deal, Iran would have to ship out at once 80 percent of its domestically-produced stockpile, amounting to 1,200 kg of uranium enriched to under 3.5 percent, by the end of the year.

Revealed: where the MoD wants to dump its radioactive waste
‘A secret shortlist of a dozen sites across the UK where the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is thinking of dumping dangerous radioactive waste from defunct nuclear submarines can be revealed today by the Sunday Herald. As many as five of the sites under consideration - for storing up to 500 cubic metres of toxic scrap from 27 submarines - are in Scotland. They are the two naval nuclear bases on the Clyde, at Coulport and Faslane, the Rosyth dockyard in Fife, the Dounreay nuclear plant in Caithness and possibly the Hunterston nuclear power station in North Ayrshire. Confidential documents leaked from the government's Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) disclose official fears that such stores are like to be regarded as "contentious" because of the "sensitivity of military waste being 'dumped' on other communities". MPs and MSPs representing the targeted areas have warned they will fight any plans for turning their regions into nuclear waste dumps, and the MoD has been accused of "secrecy and spin".’

Campaign against Sellafield
from Norway descended on Westminster to demand Sellafield be closed down amid fears an accident at the site would cause devastation across the globe. The group claimed the quality of the radioactive waste is poor and they fear there will be an accident at the site. Frank Storelv, from Oslo, said 90 per cent of wind blows from the south west and if there was an explosion or accident at Sellafield, one or two days later the radioactive waste would be carried to the west coast of Norway. Mr Storelv said: "It would be 50 times more radioactive waste from a Sellafield explosion than Chernobyl. The Norwegian government is writing to the environment minister to set out concerns over the situation. We want Sellafield closed down and a decision has to be made here in parliament." Mr Storelv, who is part of campaign group Neptune Network, said: "We really believe that even the British government are afraid of this situation and the possibility of an accident. Closing Sellafield is the only solution."’

After staunch opposition from the likes of Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Bankwatch, Urgewald and BeleNE!, it looks like the long and ignominious history of Bulgaria’s Belene nuclear power plant might be finally drawing to a close. Citing ‘funding issues’, German utility RWE has walked away from its 49 per cent in the disaster-prone project. Those funding ‘issues’? That there isn’t any funding - it’s a bit like saying there are ‘food issues’ when you’re hungry.

If OL3 in Olkiluoto, Finland is supposed to be the nuclear industry’s poster child then Belene is the nasty and ugly younger brother nobody wants to talk about. Belene was a naughty little boy from the outset…

The construction has been stop-start since the go ahead was given in way back in 1981. Belene was abandoned once before in 1990 due to – wouldn’t you know it? - ‘funding issues’. The project was restarted in 2002 and it’s been downhill all the way since then. Like all nuclear reactors the costs quickly spiralled out of control and now stand at seven billion euros.

The financing of Belene has been suspicious to say the least. ‘For the past 18 months, we’ve been pointing out to RWE that Belene is a high-risk
project in terms of safety, economics, environment and corruption,’ says Heffa
Schücking from the German environment NGO Urgewald. The Bulgarian government found itself faced with accusations that it had given millions of euros in illegal state aid to the Belene project in violation of the EC Treaty.

On top of that the initial environmental impact assessment did not ‘contain adequate information on the seismic conditions, nor does it address beyond design basis accidents’ and its authors were forced, following legal action, to admit it was flawed. The reactor site is just 14 kilometres from where an earthquake killed over 120 people in 1977. The Austrian Institute of Ecology described the AES 92 reactor being built at Belene as ‘The Mystery Reactor’, there being no ‘reliable technical facts’ or ‘operational experience’ for it.

Reliable facts are things that have been scarce when it comes to Belene. The jobs promised by Prime Minister Stanishev were destined for Russian, Chinese and Vietnamese workers because of a lack of nuclear skills in Bulgaria. ‘I am proud of Bulgarian power engineers, who are capable of developing such a complicated design,’ he boasted when the reactor is actually of Russian design. His statements that nuclear could replace Bulgaria’s reliance on oil are revealed as nonsense (unless he has a secret plan for nuclear cars) when you consider the country relies on oil mainly for transport and hardly at all for electricity generation.

So where does Belene go from here now that RWE has woken up to reality? The Bulgarian government has said it will press on with the reactor. But with no credible investors left it’s difficult to see how the poor creature can limp on.

Exelon says $50 bln loan program would spark nukes
‘WASHINGTON, Oct 29 (Reuters) - The chief executive of Exelon Corp (EXC.N), the largest U.S. nuclear power generator, said an additional $50 billion in government loan guarantees for nuclear power would be enough to spark the industry to build new plants. The current nuclear loan guarantee program of $18.5 billion could be expanded if utilities and lawmakers who back the industry win new incentives in U.S. climate legislation. "We think that ($50 billion) would be enough to give nuclear a real start for the next couple of decades," John Rowe, Exelon's president and chief executive, told reporters after testifying before a Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works panel. Republican senators like Lindsey Graham have said they would support climate legislation only if it includes far more incentives for nuclear, which is virtually free of greenhouse gas emissions. "It is truly staggering that an industry this big and this mature can claim to need so much government help to survive and thrive in a world in which technologies that don't emit global warming pollution will benefit," Ellen Vancko, a nuclear expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists said in a release.’

Report: EDF's new boss would dump Constellation
‘EDF Group, parent of Electricite de France and partner of Constellation Energy in an expanded joint venture and proposal to build a third nuclear reactor at Maryland's Calvert Cliffs, has a new boss. Henri Proglio is his name. People have been wondering whether he would take a different approach to EDF's expanded partnership with Constellation, which is under review at the Maryland Public Service Commission. Now Thibaut Madelin, energy correspondent for Les Echos, is stating as a fact, without offering any evidence, that Proglio wants to dump Constellation. In a piece about Proglio's appearance before the French economic affairs legislative commitee, Madelin says Proglio "would like... to exit a proposed joint venture with the American Constellation." Lower down in the piece Madelin says this: Henri Proglio, who would like to make the group's French operations transparent to determine the true cost of nuclear development, seems at any rate ready for strategic change. He wonders about the proposal to buy 50 percent of the nuclear assets of the American Constellation. An exit could be delivered on a plate in coming days with the pending decision of the Maryland public service commission. This would allow the operation under certain conditions. Henri Proglio is free to accept them or not.’

Meanwhile, the public and the private came together for French president Nicholas Sarkozy this week. Nicholas is famed for his tireless globe-trotting as the nuclear industry’s most ruthless salesman (rumours that he’s about to star as Ricky Roma in a remake of Glengarry Glen Ross have been denied). He just loves seeing tons of public money being wasted on useless white elephants. We did wonder where he got the idea for his nuclear boondoggles until we read about his personal presidential shower. It cost 245,000 euros of public money and he never used it. It’s a dirty business, the nuclear industry. When will Nicholas come clean?

And so to Iraq. ‘The Iraqi government has approached the French nuclear industry about rebuilding at least one of the reactors that was bombed at the start of the first Gulf war.’ This week, in continuing violence, 150 people were killed in two suicide bombings which raised questions about the competence of the country’s security services. The government has called for international support to help it combat terrorism. The country’s politicians are divided on laws needed to conduct national elections in January next year, and so threatening the country’s constitution. A new nuclear reactor? What could possibly go wrong?

(You can read more exciting Tale of Nuclear Insanity here, here, here, here and here.)