[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Greens attack EU Commission's nuclear proposals
Index:
Greens attack EU Commission's nuclear proposals
British nuclear submarine runs aground
EU mulls future of fund for N.Korea nuclear energy
US regulators to review Ohio nuclear plant repairs
====================================
Greens attack EU Commission's nuclear proposals
BRUSSELS, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Europe's top energy official unveiled
proposals on Wednesday to boost safety at nuclear plants and provide
funds for decommissioning old reactors, sparking a furious response
from foes of atomic power.
EU Energy Commissioner Loyola de Palacio proposed common safety
standards and cross-border monitoring, timetables for European Union
countries to decide on burial sites for the most radioactive waste,
and talks with Russia on nuclear fuel supplies to future EU members
in eastern Europe.
The Commission also said it wanted to boost the cash available to the
EU nuclear authority Euratom by two billion euros ($1.99 billion) to
pay for safety measures and help the decommissioning of old plants in
former Soviet bloc countries, both EU candidates and others.
"It is our responsibility to ensure a common approach to nuclear
safety and waste management," de Palacio said. "European citizens
would never forgive us for inaction by the EU in this field," she
added in a statement.
But Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and members of the European
Parliament from Green parties -- all hostile to nuclear power, which
they regard as unsafe and a threat to the environment -- strongly
opposed the initiative.
"De Palacio, the pro-nuclear energy commissioner behind the nuclear
package, wants to show that problems perceived by opponents of
nuclear power, like safety and radioactive waste, are gone," said
Claude Turmes, a Green parliament member from Luxembourg.
"But the details of the package show clearly that the only purpose is
to revitalise the nuclear industry in an enlarged EU," Turmes added.
DIVERGENT POLICIES
Some EU countries, such as Sweden and Italy, bar nuclear power, while
others, such as France, greatly depend on atomic energy. Finland
recently decided to build the first new nuclear plant in western
Europe in more than a decade.
De Palacio said she wanted an independent nuclear safety authority
monitoring each EU country but opposed creating EU inspectors or
conducting spot checks of nuclear plants.
The commissioner also urged EU states to decide by 2008 on a
timetable for building sites to bury highly radioactive waste, which
should be operational by 2018. For less radioactive waste, disposal
arrangements should be ready by 2013, she said.
Because of fierce resistance by environmental groups, many EU
countries lack long-term storage facilities for spent fuel and store
nuclear waste at power plants or temporary sites.
De Palacio said eastern European states, many of which still run
Soviet-era nuclear reactors, needed a secure supply of fissile
material, which the talks with Moscow would seek.
The Commission said its proposal to raise Euratom's borrowing ceiling
to six billion euros from four billion euros would cover nuclear
safety and decommissioning projects.
Greens called such funding "cheap and dirty" nuclear loans.
--------------------
British nuclear submarine runs aground
LONDON, Nov 6 (Reuters) - The British nuclear submarine HMS Trafalgar
ran aground off Scotland on Wednesday while taking part in a military
exercise, the Ministry of Defence said.
Two crewmen were slightly injured in the accident off the Isle of
Skye.
"There is no damage to the pressure hull and a core integrity
assessment of the nuclear reactor has been conducted. There is no
risk to the public or crew," a ministry spokeswoman said.
The damaged submarine surfaced and was making its way to the Faslane
Naval Base.
An investigation has been launched. "Until the findings are known, it
is unhelpful to speculate on the circumstances surrounding this
incident," the spokeswoman added.
-----------------
EU mulls future of fund for N.Korea nuclear energy
BRUSSELS, Belgium (Reuters) - The EU's top energy official said
Wednesday the bloc was still deciding what to do with its funding for
North Korean atomic power plants after revelations of a nuclear arms
program in the Communist state.
North Korea made a shock admission to the United States last month
that it was enriching uranium to support a nuclear weapons program,
breaching a 1994 deal with Washington under which North Korea agreed
to freeze nuclear arms production.
In return for signing the pact, the United States, European Union and
others in an international group agreed to help fund and build safer
reactors and provide fuel for North Korea.
"We must work in concert with our friends and allies in persuading
North Korea to honor its commitments in terms of non-proliferation,"
Energy Commissioner Loyola De Palacio told the European Parliament.
Some lawmakers said the Union should stop contributing to the $4.3
billion program, known as KEDO.
South Korea provides the bulk of the money at more than $3 billion.
Japan gives $1 billion and the United States has given $400 million
for heavy fuel oil.
The EU contribution was 95 million euros ($94 million) between 1997
and 2001 and it will provide a further 20 million euros a year until
the end of 2005.
Members of the EU assembly wanted North Korea to disarm and dismantle
its nuclear arms program.
-----------------
US regulators to review Ohio nuclear plant repairs
AKRON, Ohio, Nov 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
said on Tuesday it will review FirstEnergy Corp.'s
<FE.N> work to repair its crippled Davis-Besse nuclear power plant at
meetings in Ohio on Nov. 13.
The Davis-Besse plant, in Oak Harbor, Ohio, was shut in February to
replace a badly corroded lid that sits atop the reactor vessel --
a repair job industry analysts estimate will cost the company about
$400 million, including the price of replacement power it must
buy while the plant is down.
The lid was corroded by leaking boric acid, which helps control the
nuclear fission process inside the reactor.
Akron, Ohio-based FirstEnergy originally expected to restart the
plant in December, but additional work has delayed the start until
early next year and reduced the company's earnings outlook for 2002.
The NRC, which regulates the nation's fleet of 103 reactors, has the
final say on when Davis-Besse can restart.
An NRC panel reviewing the repairs has added two issues to a Davis-
Besse "restart checklist," according to an NRC letter sent last
week to FirstEnergy.
The additions, however, are not expected to change the restart
schedule, according to Jan Strasma, a spokesman for the NRC.
The additions involve changes FirstEnergy is making on a water sump
intake system and radiation protection. "These are not critical
path items," Strasma said.
In December, Davis-Besse operators are expected to boost operating
temperatures and pressure in the reactor vessel as part of
tests to pinpoint the source of boric acid found at the bottom of the
vessel.
The reactor will not be restarted for the tests, Strasma said.
FirstEnergy said previously it believes the source of the deposits on
the bottom are the result of rust stains running down from the top of
the reactor rather than new leaks in tubes at the bottom.
The NRC meetings with FirstEnergy on Nov. 13 will be in Oak Harbor.
The NRC panel will meet with utility officials and also hold a public
meeting.
-------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle
Director, Technical
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service
ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100 Extension 2306
Fax:(714) 668-3149
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net
E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com
Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com/
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/
************************************************************************
You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To unsubscribe,
send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu Put the text "unsubscribe
radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail, with no subject line.
You can view the Radsafe archives at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/radsafe/