New Nukes
Since new reactors can take a decade to complete, the revival of interest in nuclear power in the past five years has yet to yield significant results. But executives from scores of companies are circling the globe to lobby governments and compete for contracts, determined to ensure that, when the nuclear surge takes off, they will be at the forefront. Two reactors are under construction in Europe – the Flamanville 3 plant in France and the Olkiluoto 3 plant in Finland – and Bulgaria is planning to add a new reactor at Belene.
FT 9th June 2008 more >>
Areva, the French nuclear reactor manufacturer, aims to dominate the next wave of UK nuclear power generation after receiving government assurances that its goal of supplying the technology for all the nation’s new reactors would not breach competition rules. Anne Lauvergeon, chief executive of the company which has already won pledges of support from energy companies EDF and Eon, told the Financial Times the UK was now “the most exciting place in Europe” for nuclear. Areva had been “very impressed by the decisions taken by the British government over a short period of time, over the last two years, to restart nuclear investment in Great Britain”, she said
FT 9th June 2008 more >>
Sellafield
Areva is bidding for the contract to operate Sellafield and it is talking to the NDA about what to do with the UK’s plutonium stockpile. It wants permission to build a new MOX plant at Sellafield.
FT 9th June 2008 more >>
Is “Atomic Anne” the new face of Britain’s nuclear industry? Anne Lauvergeon – her sobriquet reflects her role as chief executive of Areva, the state-owned French nuclear group – not only aims to supply the bulk of the next wave of reactors. She also wants to take charge of the UK’s nuclear waste problem: her group is bidding for the contract to run the Sellafield complex in Cumbria. Areva – which is the world’s biggest nuclear group and spans the full spectrum of nuclear services from uranium mining and enrichment to reactor design and spent fuel reprocessing – owes its identity principally to Ms Lauvergeon. She took the helm at Cogema, the uranium mining company, in 1999 and set about combining it with Framatome, the reactor-maker, to form Areva.
FT 9th June 2008 more >>
Italy
Enel SpA is planning to build four or five 1,800 MW nuclear plants in Italy, said CEO Fulvio Conti in an interview with daily La Repubblica.
AFX 9th June 2008 more >>
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