[ RadSafe ] Russia to supply nuclear fuel to Kudankulam plant

[Sandy Perle]

Index:

Russia to supply nuclear fuel to Kudankulam plant 
Berlin warned on phasing out nuclear energy
Michigan Attorney General Opposes Sale Of Palisades Nuclear Plant
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Russia to supply nuclear fuel to Kudankulam plant 

Kudankulam (Tamil Nadu), Jan 22 (RIA Novosti) Russia will supply 
nuclear fuel to the Kudankulam nuclear power plant it is helping to 
build in the second quarter of 2007, a top Russian official said 
Monday. 

Atomstroyexport, Russia's nuclear power equipment and service export 
monopoly, has been building the Kudankulam plant in Tamil Nadu since 
2002 in line with a 1988 agreement between India and the Soviet Union 
and an addendum signed in 1998. The plant is designed to have a 
capacity of 2,000 MW. 

'In the second quarter of this year, we will deliver nuclear fuel to 
the first power unit of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant,' said the 
head of the Federal Agency for Nuclear Power Sergei Kiriyenko, 
currently on a visit to India said. He added that the first delivery 
had already been coordinated with the International Atomic Energy 
Agency. 

Kiriyenko said Russia was prepared to provide the Kudankulam plant 
with nuclear fuel throughout its entire operational life, which is 
expected to begin later this year. 

'Russia believes that India has an unimpeachable reputation in the 
nuclear non-proliferation sphere, and therefore we are going to push 
for an end to relevant sanctions against India,' said Kiriyenko. 

India, one of the world's eight confirmed nuclear powers, has never 
been party to the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and has been 
under US, Japanese and European sanctions since 1998 when it tested 
nuclear weapons. 

Kiriyenko visited the construction site of the plant and said it was 
his second visit in the past 10 months, adding that a great deal of 
work had obviously been done since then. 

He also said the Russian and Indian partners had agreed to accelerate 
the plant's construction in a bid to finish it ahead of schedule. 

Russia has offered India a government loan on favourable terms for 
the Kudankulam project. 
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Berlin warned on phasing out nuclear energy 

Germany will miss its CO2 emission targets, face rising electricity 
prices and become "dramatically" more reliant on Russian gas if it 
keeps to its policy of phasing out nuclear energy, a new study warns. 
 
The 60-page paper by Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB - news) will add to the 
pressure on Angela Merkel, chancellor, to renegotiate the phase-out 
deal agreed by the previous government in 2000, \despite her pledge 
not to reopen the controversial debate.

Rising concern about global warming and energy security have sparked 
a lively dispute in Ms Merkel's Christian Democrat-led grand 
coalition government about the wisdom of renouncing nuclear energy. 
Michael Glos, the conservative economics minister, has campaigned 
vigorously against the phase-out, triggering equally vigorous 
opposition from Sigmar Gabriel, the Social Democratic environment 
minister.

Without nuclear energy, the bank says, the chancellor faces a painful 
choice between the three goals she has set herself - to reduce 
emissions, cut reliance on Russian fossil fuel and keep energy prices 
in check.

"Shutting down nuclear is inconceivable as a serious policy," Mark 
Lewis, energy analyst and author of the report, said. "It will mean 
missing your carbon emission targets and lead to gas-powered plants 
replacing today's nuclear plants."

A spokesman for the environment ministry said Germany's goal of 
cutting CO2 emissions by 40 per cent of their 1990 level by 2020 "can 
be achieved without nuclear energy. But of course, nobody ever said 
it would be easy."

The SPD has yet to show any willingness to renegotiate the nuclear 
exit deal. Rainer Wend, a Social Democratic MP and member of 
parliament's economics committee, said: "If we must import more 
Russian gas, then so be it. Russia is a reliable supplier."  

Backers of nuclear energy point out that the phase-out has left 
Berlin isolated as holder of the        European Union's rotating 
presidency, which complicates Ms Merkel's task of drafting a European 
energy policy at the next European Council summit in March.

With nuclear covering 25 per cent of Germany's electricity needs - 
and taking into account rising electricity demand and the need to 
replace old fossil-fuel plants - DB calculates 42,000MW of new plants 
will be needed by 2022.
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Michigan Attorney General Opposes Sale Of Palisades Nuclear Plant

(AP) Jan 22 - Michigan´s attorney general is opposing Consumers 
Energy´s proposed sale of the Palisades Nuclear Plant near South 
Haven.

Attorney General Mike Cox says ratepayers would pay at least $62 
million more for electricity than they otherwise would have paid if 
the sale doesn´t go through.

He also is questioning whether the sale would deplete funding needed 
to decommission the plant and pay for cleanup in 2031, and is urging 
state regulators to slow down the review process.

Entergy Corp., a New Orleans-based utility holding company, wants to 
buy the plant for $380 million. It´s currently owned by CMS Energy 
Corp. in Jackson.

Sandy Perle
Senior Vice President, Technical Operations
Global Dosimetry Solutions, Inc.
2652 McGaw Avenue
Irvine, CA 92614 

Tel: (949) 296-2306 / (888) 437-1714  Extension 2306
Fax:(949) 296-1144

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