Germany To Close N-Plants In Near Future, & DOE News

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Thursday November 5 12:18 AM EDT 

BONN (Reuters) - Environment Minister Juergen Trittin was quoted 
Wednesday as saying that several of Germany's nuclear power 
stations could be closed in the near future.  

Trittin told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily in an interview that 
Germany had more energy than it currently needed and that 
closing down a few plants would not affect consumers' supplies.  

``At present there is no need to replace current energy supplies. 
We have an overcapacity -- as we have always had,'' Trittin said.  

He said that whether or not there would be an energy shortage in 
future would depend on whether conventional power stations were 
also closed down.  

When asked whether nuclear plants would be closed in the short-
term, Trittin replied: ``I expect this to happen.''

Trittin did not say when exactly, but in the past he has said some 
of the oldest plants should be closed down during the current four-
year legislative period.  

Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's new government has called for 
energy consensus talks with utilities over the next 12 months to 
set a timetable for phasing out 19 power stations, which provide 
about a third of the country's electricity.  

If industry does not agree on a plan, the government will force its 
hand with legislation.

The chief executive of one of the country's main utilities, 
PreussenElektra, Hans-Dieter Harig, said he thought it was 
possible for the industry to reach an agreement with the 
government within that time.  

``I expect that within a year we will reach consensus on energy,'' 
Harig was quoted as saying by the Hannover Allgemeine Zeitung 
daily.  

Harig said he had no doubt talks would be successful because 
Schroeder has agreed to take the matter in hand and that the 
chancellor was known for his sense of reality.  

Harig said the nuclear industry still believed the government was 
making a mistake by seeking to abolish nuclear energy.

But he said the industry respected the wishes of the voters who 
had elected Schroeder's center-left government in a general 
election on September 27. He said the key issue at stake was how 
much closure would cost.  

``The later the withdrawal is completed, the less it will cost,'' said 
Harig, whose company runs four nuclear power plants.

Harig welcomed comments by Economics Minister Werner Mueller 
who said that the government and industry should discuss building 
new conventional energy plants.  

Mueller is set to lead the consensus talks. The first round is 
scheduled for this month.  

----------------------

DOE Failed Maine Yankee, Judge Says - (WISCASSET) -- A 
federal judge says the U-S Department of Energy has violated its 
unconditional obligation to remove spent nuclear fuel from Maine 
Yankee. But just how much the department owes the company 
remains undecided. Maine Yankee is suing the department, 
claiming breach of contract. The company says its customers will 
pay at least 128-Million dollars for the removal, and perhaps even 
more.  

------------------------
Sandy Perle
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net
Personal Website: http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205

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