[ RadSafe ] Belarus to start building its first nuclear power plant in 2008

[Sandy Perle]

		Index:

		Belarus to start building its first nuclear power plant in
2008
		Water Level Drops at Indian Point Nuclear Plant in Upstate
New York 
		Georgia, Russia Cooperate on Nuclear Smuggling
		SLOVAK GOVERNMENT EARMARKS THREE SITES FOR NUCLEAR REACTORS
		--------------------------------

Belarus to start building its first nuclear power plant in 2008	
		
MINSK, February 5 (RIA Novosti) - Belarus plans to start building its first
nuclear power plant in 2008. 
Belarus's National Academy of Sciences said Monday the NPP's first unit will
be commissioned in 2013-2014, and the second unit by 2015. Their total power
will be 1,000 megawatts. 
Another two units will be built by 2025. 
Earlier, a deputy chairman of the academy presidium, Vladimir Timoshpolsky,
said Russia and France are the likeliest partners of Belarus in the project.

"Today there's practically no choice - only Germany, Japan and the U.S.
provide services on the nuclear power market besides these states," he said.

In 2007, Belarus is to complete theoretical research and choose a strategic
partner for project implementation, and will start talks with the supplier
of technology and equipment. 
Russia has traditionally been Belarus' closest ally, whose leadership has
become increasingly isolated in the West over clampdowns on civil and
political freedoms. 
Belarus' authoritarian ruler Lukashenko and many other top officials have
been banned from entering the United States and the European Union, and the
EU has frozen Belarusian government assets. 
The ex-Soviet neighbors declared their intention to build a Union State,
with a common economic, customs and political space, in 1997. But
negotiations have been complicated by a host of issues, including an
energy-pricing row at the beginning of 2007, disagreements on a common
currency, and tax issues. 
During the energy standoff, Moscow briefly shut off supplies via Belarusian
pipelines to several EU countries, damaging its image as a reliable energy
supplier. 
Russian President Vladimir Putin defended Russia's stance on a gradual
transition to market relations with Belarus, saying that it was put in
motion now rather than a year ago only because the Russian leadership did
not want to "damage the Belarusian president's popularity" before elections
in the country in 2006. 
However, Belarus's Alexander Lukashenko, who won a landslide election last
March, has lately assumed a tough stance on Moscow, claiming that bilateral
relations have been steadily deteriorating over the past decade.
--------------


Water Level Drops at Indian Point Nuclear Plant in Upstate New York 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Indian Point nuclear power station experienced an
unexpected drop in cooling water Monday morning, but the problem was not
enough to take the reactor offline, officials said. 
Entergy Nuclear Northeast, the company that operates the Indian Point site
in Buchanan, N.Y., declared an "unusual event," the lowest of four emergency
action declarations for the nuclear power plant, at 7:07 a.m., the company
said. 
The declaration came after the service water for Indian Point 3 Nuclear
Power Plant -- drawn from the Hudson River to cool plant equipment --
dropped more than four feet below sea level. 

The problem was blamed on debris stuck to screens that filter the river
water. 
"The tide was extremely low, so that may have played a role but it wouldn't
cause this by itself," said Entergy spokesman Jim Steets. 

Plant employees were removing the debris Monday morning, according to a
statement from the company which said the water level is returning to normal
sea level. 

The No. 3 plant was unaffected and is operating at full power, the company
said. The facility's other nuclear power plant, Indian Point 2, was also at
full power. 
----------------

Georgia, Russia Cooperate on Nuclear Smuggling

MOSCOW (AP) Feb 5  - Georgia's foreign minister said Friday that Moscow and
Tbilisi had agreed to cooperate in investigating a nuclear smuggling case
that has sparked further friction between the two neighbors.
Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili said he had discussed by telephone with
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov how prosecutors from both countries could
work together.
Georgia announced a week earlier that it had arrested and jailed a Russian
citizen last year for trying to sell a small amount of weapons-grade uranium
to an agent posing as a rich foreign buyer.
The episode appeared to cast doubt on Russia's ability to avert black-market
trade in nuclear materials and renewed concern about security at its nuclear
facilities.
But Lavrov branded the announcement a "provocation" at a time of strained
relations between Moscow and its small, West-leaning former Soviet neighbor,
which has angered the Kremlin by seeking NATO membership.
Russian authorities have stressed that the origin of the 100 grams of
uranium is unknown.
The Foreign Ministry issued a brief statement earlier in the week on the
telephone talks between the foreign ministers that made no mention of any
pledge for joint cooperation.
Georgia complained that attempts to trace the source of the nuclear material
and investigate the man's claim that he had access to larger quantities had
failed because Russia had not helped. But Russian officials countered that
Georgian authorities had given Russia too small a sample to determine its
origin and had refused to provide other information.
Bezhuashvili was speaking after signing an agreement between Georgia and the
United States on combating the smuggling of nuclear material at a ceremony
with U.S. Ambassador John Tefft. Under the accord, the United States will
provide equipment and training for Georgian experts. "Georgia intends to
closely cooperate with all neighboring countries in this area, including
Russia," the top Georgian diplomat said.
---------

SLOVAK GOVERNMENT EARMARKS THREE SITES FOR NUCLEAR REACTORS

		BRATISLAVA, Feb 5, 2007 (AFP) - Slovakia could build new
nuclear reactors at three sites in the country to face up to a looming
energy shortage in the Central European country, economy minister Lubomir
Jahnatek announced on Monday.
		    "There are three sites where nuclear activities could be
increased. The completion of two reactors at Mochovce with the possible
construction of another, the utilisation of the existing infrastructure at
Jaslovske Bohunice and the construction of a new plant at Kecerovce," the
minister said during a news conference.
		    The left dominated government of Prime Minister Robert
Fico expects the country's biggest electricity company, Slovenske Elektarne,
which is two-thirds owned by Italian power giant Enel, to declare by the end
of April whether it will complete two mothballed reactors at Mochovce.
		    But it is also casting around for other possibilities to
build new nuclear reactors. These include the Jaslovske Bohunice site in the
west of the country where one Soviet-designed reactor was shutdown at the
end of last year at the insistance of the EU and other one is due to close
by the end of 2008. Each Bohunice reactor accounts for around 9.0 percent of
Slovakia's electricity needs.
		    Slovakia is currently enjoying an economic boom with
Gross Domestic Product rising 9.8 percent in the third quarter of 2006.
		    Part of the boom has been fueled by the launch of car
production by French-based carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen, South Korean
competitor, Kia, and the many subcontractors flocking to supply them. Slovak
authorities fear the country will turn into an electricity importer for
years to come unless they act soon to assure new production capacity.


	
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		Sandy Perle 
		Senior Vice President, Technical Operations 
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