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EDF, the French energy group, could be forced to sell some of its power stations in France to help to fund its £12.2 billion acquisition of Britain's nuclear industry, it admitted yesterday. EDF shocked investors by unveiling a fall of nearly 40 per cent in annual profits and warning that its debt pile had increased to nearly €25 billion (£22.5 billion) after a string of acquisitions, including those of British Energy, the UK nuclear generator, and America's Constellation Energy. Pierre Gadonneix, the chief executive, said that EDF, which is 85 per cent owned by the French State, was aiming to cut its debt by at least €5 billion by the end of 2010 and that much of this would be achieved through asset sales.

British Gas owner Centrica and France's state-owned EDF announced on Monday a long-awaited joint venture aimed at relaunching nuclear energy in Britain. EDF, the world's biggest nuclear energy producer, also said it would buy 51 percent of the Belgian electricity company SPE from Centrica for 1.3 billion euros (1.16 billion pounds), the companies said in a joint statement. The deal with Centrica will enable the leading British generator "to take part in the re-launch of nuclear energy in the United Kingdom," said Pierre Gadonneix, chairman and chief executive of EDF.

Constellation Energy Group Inc. lost a round in its battle with Maryland regulators over its proposed deal to sell half its nuclear operations to France's EdF when a judge ruled Thursday it could not appeal the decision to review the agreement while the review was under way. The Maryland Public Service Commission is looking into whether the $4.5 billion deal is in the public interest. The PSC doesn't regulate Constellation, but regulates its Baltimore Gas and Electric utility subsidiary. Constellation contends the deal is permitted under a settlement that raised the trigger for state review to 20 percent of Constellation's shares or its board. EdF would take a 9 percent stake, but the PSC decided the rule doesn't apply because EdF would acquire other rights and assets.

EDF (EDF.PA) said on Monday it had stopped its 900-megawatt nuclear reactor 3 at the Blayais facility in southwestern France on March 29 due to plant debris in the nearby Gironde river. "We stopped the reactor 3 as a precautionary measure because the water quality was not good enough to be used," an EDF spokeswoman said.

"Constellation Energy's new partner, EDF of France, briefed lawmakers on Wednesday on its plan to build a nuclear power plant in Maryland. The briefing was billed as a meet-and-greet for lawmakers to meet those who hold the future of Maryland's nuclear energy industry in their hands. Members of the group are from France and the UK. The state Public Service Commission approved the deal allowing EDF to partner with Constellation. EDF executives went to Annapolis to introduce themselves and brief legislators on their nuclear ambitions -- specifically, building a new nuclear power plant at the Calvert Cliffs site."

An incident at EDF's Tricastin plant in southeast France late on Thursday forced the company to stop refuelling operations at the reactor 2, which started on Oct. 31, it said on Friday. The incident occurred during refuelling of the reactor, when a fuel assembly got stuck in the pressure vessel, EDF said in a statement. A similar incident took place in Sept. 2008 in the same reactor during refuelling operations and it took around two months for EDF to resolve the problem. "The incident took place at 2215 GMT," a source at the plant told Reuters on Friday. "We are very worried about this especially as this already happened just a year ago," he added.

An incident at EDF's Tricastin plant in southeast France late on Thursday forced the company to stop refuelling operations at the reactor 2, which started on Oct. 31, it said on Friday. The incident occurred during refuelling of the reactor, when a fuel assembly got stuck in the pressure vessel, EDF said in a statement. A similar incident took place in Sept. 2008 in the same reactor during refuelling operations and it took around two months for EDF to resolve the problem. "The incident took place at 2215 GMT," a source at the plant told Reuters on Friday. "We are very worried about this especially as this already happened just a year ago," he added.

British families could be forced to pay up to £227 extra on their annual energy bills to help to fund a new generation of nuclear power stations under plans proposed by the French company expected to build most of them. EDF Energy, which wants to build four reactors in Britain at a cost of about £20 billion, was accused of holding the Government to ransom last night, after an executive told The Times that none would be built unless the Government agreed to underwrite part of the cost. Speaking before a government announcement on Britain's energy future on Monday, Humphrey Cadoux-Hudson, managing director of EDF Energy's new nuclear business in Britain, said the nuclear programme would proceed only if the Government ensured that consumers paid more for electricity from fossil fuels, such as coal and gas, which is cheaper but produces more greenhouse gas, making nuclear more competitive.

British families could be forced to pay up to £227 extra on their annual energy bills to help to fund a new generation of nuclear power stations under plans proposed by the French company expected to build most of them. EDF Energy, which wants to build four reactors in Britain at a cost of about £20 billion, was accused of holding the Government to ransom last night, after an executive told The Times that none would be built unless the Government agreed to underwrite part of the cost. Speaking before a government announcement on Britain's energy future on Monday, Humphrey Cadoux-Hudson, managing director of EDF Energy's new nuclear business in Britain, said the nuclear programme would proceed only if the Government ensured that consumers paid more for electricity from fossil fuels, such as coal and gas, which is cheaper but produces more greenhouse gas, making nuclear more competitive.

With echoes of that fantastic/horrifying nuclear thriller Edge Of Darkness (don't wait for the film, see the original TV series), energy giant EDF has been busted for spying on our colleagues at the Greenpeace in France. Five people have been indicted by the French courts, including two EDF security executives, a computer expert and the head of a private investigation firm. The charge: attempting to hack into Greenpeace computer systems in France.

A consortium of French energy companies made a final bid on Wednesday night to sell at least two nuclear reactors to Abu Dhabi, the Chief Executive of state-owned EDF (EDF.PA) said on Thursday. "We submitted the bid last night," Henri Proglio told reporters on the sidelines of a news conference at the Finance Ministry. He did not say when he expected to hear from the government of Abu Dhabi on the outcome of the bid.

A consortium of French energy companies made a final bid on Wednesday night to sell at least two nuclear reactors to Abu Dhabi, the Chief Executive of state-owned EDF (EDF.PA) said on Thursday. "We submitted the bid last night," Henri Proglio told reporters on the sidelines of a news conference at the Finance Ministry. He did not say when he expected to hear from the government of Abu Dhabi on the outcome of the bid.

"Energy and climate change secretary "will take pragmatic approach" to new power stations, says EDF's Vincent de Rivaz Vincent de Rivaz: 'The commitments from the coalition government envisage a proper role for nuclear.' Photograph: Eamonn McCabe EDF Energy will announce today that it has received sufficient reassurances from the energy and climate change secretary, Liberal Democrat Chris Huhne, to continue planning for a new generation of nuclear plants in Britain. There were fears that the Lib Dems' manifesto commitment to halt the construction of any more nuclear reactors, and recent sceptical signals from Huhne, could derail its £20bn building programme. But Vincent de Rivaz, the chief executive of EDF in Britain, will tell a conference he is convinced that both sides are committed to the same goal: new reactors without subsidies and at a viable cost."

Nuclear waste from France has been sent to Siberia for storage. According to news reports, over 100 tons of uranium were transported to Seversk. France's ecology minister has called for an investigation into the case. According to the French daily newspaper Liberation and Franco-German television broadcaster Arte, France's electricity company EDF has sent 108 tons of uranium to Siberia since the mid-1990s. About 13 percent of France's nuclear waste is stored in open-air parking lots near a nuclear plant in Seversk, said reports on Monday. EDF said it sends uranium left over from nuclear plant production in France to Russia to be treated so that it can be used again.

Nuclear waste from France has been sent to Siberia for storage. According to news reports, over 100 tons of uranium were transported to Seversk. France's ecology minister has called for an investigation into the case. According to the French daily newspaper Liberation and Franco-German television broadcaster Arte, France's electricity company EDF has sent 108 tons of uranium to Siberia since the mid-1990s. About 13 percent of France's nuclear waste is stored in open-air parking lots near a nuclear plant in Seversk, said reports on Monday. EDF said it sends uranium left over from nuclear plant production in France to Russia to be treated so that it can be used again.

US-based Constellation Energy Group accepted a 4.5-billion-dollar (3.15-billion-euro) offer from France's EDF for a 49.99 percent stake in its nuclear power business, the companies said Wednesday. Constellation backed out a deal with renowned US investment manager Warren Buffett, whose energy group MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company had offered 4.7 billion dollars for the whole company. A statement from the French firm said the deal would "enhance Constellation Energy's long-term stability and liquidity position" and extend "the EDF Group's nuclear expertise in the United States." Constellation, a top US electricity supplier, said it would pay some 1.2 billion dollars to break off the merger with Mid-American in a combination of cash, bonds and shares to be declared in the fourth quarter of 2008.

French electricity giant EDF said on Monday it now holds nearly 89 percent of nuclear operator British Energy and it will extend its offer to secure the remaining shares until January 5. EDF said that by the scheduled close of its 15.6 billion euro (13.4 billion pound) offer on December 5, it held 88.67 percent of British Energy's shares, including its original stake of 26.48 percent.

French Energy company EDF has won permission from the European Union competition authorities to buy British Energy, subject to certain conditions. EDF has to sell one plant it owns and one that British Energy (BE) owns, and sell a minimum amount of electricity to the British wholesale market. It also has to end a connection agreement with the National Grid.

French energy giant EDF's UK subsidiary EDF Energy would not comment Wednesday on press reports that no deal would be reached with UK's Centrica over ownership of nuclear generator British Energy until after the European Commission ratified the French company's takeover bid. State-controlled EDF's Eur15.6 billion ($22 billion) takeover of British Energy was agreed September 24 by the boards of EDF and British Energy and is subject to UK and EC regulatory approval.

Britain continues to favour a tie-up between British Energy and French energy group EDF, Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks said in an interview published Monday. Speaking to the Financial Times last week while on a visit to Lagos, Wicks said a deal with EDF was "the most sensible option" and added that the government thought "that's the natural link".

EDF, the French utility, could face a legal challenge over the technology it has decided to use in building Britain's latest generation of power stations. EDF announced last May that it planned to employ Areva, the French nuclear energy group, but its decision, which was made without giving rival reactor manufacturers an opportunity to bid for the contract, could be illegal under European law, according to Ros Kellaway, partner and head of EU competition law in Eversheds

The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission authorized Thursday EDF Development's $4.5-billion purchase of an almost-50% stake in Constellation Energy group's nuclear generation and operations business. At the same time, the commission approved an agreement that gives Constellation the option to sell its interests in non-nuclear plants and other assets to EDF, if the companies agree on any such deals. The agreement specifies that any such deals would total up to $2 billion.

Electricité de France (EdF) premises in Paris were raided yesterday as part of an antitrust investigation, the European Commission has announced. "The commission has reason to believe that EdF may have violated EC Treaty antitrust rules that prohibit the abuse of a dominant market position," said a statement which described the swoop as "a preliminary step in investigations." The EC comment included the statement: "Suspected illegal conduct may include actions to raise prices on the French wholesale electricity market."

The Maryland Public Service Commission has granted a request by state officials to extend hearings regarding the proposed $4.5 billion investment in Constellation Energy by EDF, a French energy company. Constellation and EDF had been moving toward a Sept. 17 deadline to complete the deal. But the Maryland Energy Administration and other state agencies had asked for more time to review terms of the proposal.