Foreign News

The Czech Republic approved the construction of the Dukovany II nuclear power plant, and has set a target date for completion of 2036. According to the Czech parliamentary committee for the construction of new nuclear resources, this is an important step to maintain the self-sufficiency of the country. The committee claims that by 2040, renewable energy will not be able to cover all the country’s electricity consumption and that nuclear power offers a clean alternative to coal.

Emerging Europe 15th Nov 2019 read more »

Saskatchewan has identified the reduction of carbon emissions from electricity generation and development of small modular reactor (SMR) technology amongst its goals for growth. The province could have its first operational SMR by the middle of the 2030s, according to a newly released provincial roadmap.

World Nuclear News 15th Nov 2019 read more »

China General Nuclear Power Group is reportedly preparing to invest almost $2.5 billion into a huge solar project – plus 2 GW of wind turbines – in the autonomous province of Inner Mongolia. Local authorities say the massive project will be complete in 2021. Having been founded in 1994 in Guangdong province to operate China’s first nuclear power station – the Daya Bay plant – CGN has long since diversified into solar and wind power. The company claims to operate a 4.4 GW solar portfolio and 12.7 GW of wind facilities across all provinces of its homeland after funding more than 300 clean energy projects. The nuclear company also claims to have a 13.4 GW overseas renewable energy project pipeline.

PV Magazine 15th Nov 2019 read more »

The expansion of Sweden’s existing SFR repository for low and intermediate-level waste at Forsmark has been approved by the Land and Environment Court in Stockholm. With approval already granted by the nuclear regulator, the government will now make a final decision on the application. The SFR repository, in the municipality of Östhammar, is situated 60 metres below the bottom of the Baltic Sea. It comprises four 160-metre-long rock vaults and a chamber in the bedrock, with a 50-metre-high concrete silo for the most radioactive waste. Two parallel one-kilometre-long access tunnels link the facility to the surface. Most of the short-lived waste deposited in the SFR – which began operations in 1988 – comes from Swedish nuclear power plants, but radioactive waste from hospitals, veterinary medicine, research and industry is also deposited within it. The facility currently houses about 63,000 cubic metres of waste and is 60% full.

World Nuclear News 14th Nov 2019 read more »

French utility EDF cut its 2019 nuclear power generation target in France for the second time this year due to unplanned and prolonged nuclear reactor outages, but said this would have no impact on its financial guidance. EDF reduced its target for French nuclear power generation to between 384 terawatt hours (TWh) and 388 TWh from 390 TWh, mainly due to extended outages at its Cruas nuclear power plant. It had previously cut the target to 390 TWh from about 395 TWh in October due to outages at its Flamanville 2 and Paluel 4 reactors, and the unplanned shutdown of the Flamanville 1 reactor.

Financial Post 14th Nov 2019 read more »

Reuters 14th Nov 2019 read more »

Initiated by Francois Hollande in 2012, the drama of the closure of the nuclear power plant Fessenheim (Haut-Rhin) seemed to have found its epilogue September 27, with the announcement of an agreement between the French State and EDF to compensate the electrician for the industrial and social costs caused by the shutdown of the two Alsatian reactors in 2020. But the opponents of the atom, who had made the closure of the oldest of the French power stations (1978) a symbol, are not not satisfied: they are indignant precisely the conditions of compensation of the operator EDF which could reach at least “4 billion euros” according to the Nuclear exit network. According to our information, Sortir du nucleaire and other associations such as Alsace Nature and Stop Fessenheim will bring legal action this Thursday morning, before the European Commission in Brussels, to ask “The opening of an investigation for state aid”.

EN24 14th Nov 2019 read more »

Liberation 14th Nov 2019 read more »

EDF has extended the shutdowns of the four reactors of its Cruas nuclear power station (3.6 GW), in the Rhone Valley, with a restart phased between December 2 and 19, indicate the latest transparency data released Thursday.

Montel News 14th Nov 2019 read more »

Le Monde 14th Nov 2019 read more »

EDF warned Wednesday that the restart of the Cruas power station (Ardèche) could be delayed, indicate the latest transparency data. “The start-up of the reactors could be delayed due to the length of the ongoing control process,” said the electrician. EDF stopped the Cruas 2, 3 and 4 tranches on Monday night after a magnitude 5.4 earthquake hit southeastern France in the late morning.

Montel News 13th Nov 2019 read more »

French utility EDF (EDF.PA) said on Wednesday that the restart of three reactors at the Cruas nuclear power plant, scheduled for Nov. 15, could be delayed further.

Reuters 13th Nov 2019 read more »

IRSN, the technical arm of the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), questions the extension of life beyond 40 years of a majority of 900 MW reactors, due to the dilapidated tanks, key equipment non-replaceable units, according to a document revealed Wednesday by the Canard Enchaîné. The opinion of the IRSN, published on October 2nd and obtained by Montel, concludes that results of studies are likely to call into question “the absence of risk of sudden rupture of the vats concerned”.

Montel News 13th Nov 2019 read more »

The refurbishment of Darlington 2, which began in October 2016, is now 90% complete, OPG President and CEO Ken Hartwick said. “As we mark this important milestone on the 10-year Darlington Refurbishment project, we remain focused on delivering Canada’s largest clean energy project on time, and on budget,” he added.

World Nuclear News 13th Nov 2019 read more »

French utility EDF on Tuesday extended outages at three nuclear reactors at its Cruas plant until Nov. 15 following a 5.1 magnitude earthquake in southeast France that forced it to temporarily suspend electricity generation at the site.

France24 12th Nov 2019 read more »

Checks carried out by French utility EDF at its Cruas nuclear power plant have revealed no anomalies so far, a company executive said on Tuesday, after it extended outages at three of the facility’s reactors until Nov. 15.

Reuters 12th Nov 2019 read more »

Nuclear electricity generation from French reactors operated by utility EDF fell 7.6% year-on-year in October to 29.2 terawatt hours (TWh) on the back of increased reactor outages, the company said on Tuesday. EDF said total output since the start of the year stood at 317.3 TWh, down 1.3% compared with the same period a year ago. The state-controlled utility cut its 2019 nuclear output target in France by 1.2 percentage points to 390 TWh on Oct. 25, citing prolonged maintenance outages, but left its financial target unchanged.

Reuters 12th Nov 2019 read more »

The Irish Government has been fined 5 million euro by a European court for failing to comply with a 2008 ruling that an environmental assessment must be carried out on a wind farm.

Belfast Telegraph 12th Nov 2019 read more »