New Nukes
A new generation of nuclear reactors will not be built without support from the State says EDF.
Contract Journal 26th May 2009 more >>
Bad Idea 26th May 2009 more >>
Building 26th May 2009 more >>
The nomination of three sites for potential new nuclear power stations in Cumbria is a huge boost for the area, according to the county’s top regeneration chief.
Business Gazette 26th May 2009 more >>
US
Russia signed a landmark deal to supply nuclear fuel directly to U.S. companies on Tuesday, setting itself up to control 20 percent of the U.S. uranium market and extending its global reach in the nuclear sector.
Interactive Investor 26th May 2009 more >>
North Korea
North Korea has restarted its plutonium reactor, the factory producing fuel for nuclear warheads including the one which it tested on Monday.
Times 27th May 2009 more >>
North Korea is reported to have restarted its nuclear plant and fired another short-range missile in defiance of warnings from the United States that it would “pay the price” for its actions.
Telegraph 27th May 2009 more >>
NORTH Korea will “pay a price” for its nuclear missiles tests, the American ambassador to the UN warned last night.
Express 27th May 2009 more >>
The North Korean nuclear problem is China’s to solve. No other country has anything like its influence. South Korea might feel itself more directly affected by the threat of a nuclear weapon from the North, but China’s interests throughout the region depend on a resolution.
Times 27th May 2009 more >>
Even if the Stalinist fantasist of Pyongyang did not dare to arm and fire his half-dozen missiles, he could still threaten international peace. Monday’s nuclear test was proof positive that North Korea leads the proliferating pack of authentic rogues. It has, it appears, outstripped Iran technologically and now possesses a commodity for which some, and there are always some, will pay. It has also set an example. President Obama’s hopes for nuclear disarmament are revealed as fragile indeed. With one test, the North Koreans have shown that the battle to contain hellish devices is being lost.
Herald 27th May 2009 more >>
North Korea’s nuclear test makes it no likelier that the regime will actually launch a nuclear attack, but it adds a frightening dimension to another threat: the defiant North as a facilitator of the atomic ambitions of others, potentially even terrorists.
Herald 27th May 2009 more >>
Far from being a debate about one country’s regional ambitions, the key issue concerning Mr Kim’s nuclear programme is the risk of increased proliferation. It was not so long ago that his regime was helping Syria to build a clandestine reactor. Although the site was destroyed by an Israeli air strike in 2007, North Korea has maintained close links with Damascus, and is co-operating on the development of missile systems.
Telegraph 27th May 2009 more >>
Why have the actions of a country five times the size of Wales with a population a third the size of the UK created such international panic? Dr John Swenson-Wright, senior lecturer in East Asia Studies at Cambridge University, explains.
Mirror 26th May 2009 more >>
Iran
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday rejected a Western proposal for it to “freeze” its nuclear work in return for no new sanctions and ruled out any talks with major powers on the issue.
Reuters 26th May 2009 more >>
UAE
EDF SA will join the Areva SA, Total SA, GDF Suez SA partnership that’s seeking to win a contract to build civil nuclear-energy plants and offer operation services in the United Arab Emirates.
Bloomberg 26th May 2009 more >>
South Africa
South Africa, plagued by chronic power shortages, has set 2018 as an indicative date for when it wants its next nuclear plant to be operational, utility Eskom said on Tuesday. State-owned Eskom, which operates Africa’s sole nuclear power plant with a total capacity of 1,800 MW, cancelled plans to build a new facility at the end of last year, citing financial constraints.
Guardian 26th May 2009 more >>
G8
Energy ministers of leading industrialized countries met in Rome, Italy, at the weekend. In a statement, they announced that they would increasingly emphasize nuclear energy and the creation of a common low-carbon technology platform as solutions to climate change and supply insecurity.
World Nuclear News 26th May 2009 more >>
Renewables
Solar power plants in deserts using mirrors to concentrate the sun’s rays have the potential to generate up to a quarter of the world’s electricity by 2050, a report by pro-solar groups said on Monday. The study, by environmental group Greenpeace, the European Solar Thermal Electricity Association (ESTELA) and the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) SolarPACES group, said huge investments would also create jobs and fight climate change. “Solar power plants are the next big thing in renewable energy,” said Sven Teske of Greenpeace International and co-author of the report. The technology is suited to hot, cloudless regions such as the Sahara or Middle East.
Reuters 25th May 2009 more >>
China is to throw its economic might behind a national solar plan that could result in it becoming one of the world’s biggest harvesters of the sun’s energy. The government body responsible for overseeing energy policy has finalised a proposal for billions of pounds of incentives for solar farms and rooftop panels, which will come from the government’s £400bn economic stimulus fund. China is the world’s leading manufacturer of photovoltaic (PV) panels, which turn sunlight into electricity. But 95% of these are exported. While solar thermal power, in which sunlight heats water, is in widespread use, the central government and the five major utilities have deemed PV power too expensive, particularly compared with coal, which generates electricity for between an eighth and a tenth of the cost. But the global economic crisis and increasing concerns about climate change and energy security have prompted a change in attitudes. By 2020, the government is committed to raising the share of renewable energy (excluding hydroelectric power) in the energy mix to 6%, from the current 1.5%.
Guardian 27th May 2009 more >>
Environmentalists are already describing the solar stimulus plan as a milestone for renewables
Guardian 27th May 2009 more >>
Europe should scrap its support for wind energy as soon as possible to focus on far more efficient emerging forms of clean power generation including solar thermal energy, one of the world’s most distinguished scientists said yesterday. Professor Jack Steinberger, a Nobel prize-winning director of the CERN particle physics laboratory in Geneva, said that wind represented an illusory technology a cul-de-sac that would prove uneconomic and a waste of resources in the battle against climate change.
Times 27th May 2009 more >>
