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As if it wasn't enough that three countries - including France - had raised concerns about safety in the new EPR nuclear reactor design, concerns are building over delays to another big European reactor. France remains a leader in world nuclear power, with almost 80 per cent of its electricity supply sourced from its reactors. The reactor under development by Electricite de France in Flamanville, northern France, and the Finnish Olkiluoto reactor are meant to be showcases for the new EPR reactor, largely designed by French company Areva. Delays over Olkiluoto have been well-publicised this year, and it's also been the subject of a public spat between Areva (which is building the plant) and Finnish utility TVO, which will operate it. Now the French project in Flamanville is coming under fire for delays, too. It is due to be commissioned in 2012, but sources close to the project told the FT the project is already six months behind, and that EDF is wrestling with Bouyges, the engineering company contracted to build the reactor, over budgets and round-the-clock shifts to advance the project.

As if it wasn't enough that three countries - including France - had raised concerns about safety in the new EPR nuclear reactor design, concerns are building over delays to another big European reactor. France remains a leader in world nuclear power, with almost 80 per cent of its electricity supply sourced from its reactors. The reactor under development by Electricite de France in Flamanville, northern France, and the Finnish Olkiluoto reactor are meant to be showcases for the new EPR reactor, largely designed by French company Areva. Delays over Olkiluoto have been well-publicised this year, and it's also been the subject of a public spat between Areva (which is building the plant) and Finnish utility TVO, which will operate it. Now the French project in Flamanville is coming under fire for delays, too. It is due to be commissioned in 2012, but sources close to the project told the FT the project is already six months behind, and that EDF is wrestling with Bouyges, the engineering company contracted to build the reactor, over budgets and round-the-clock shifts to advance the project.

As France presses ahead with building more next-generation nuclear reactors, new evidence emerged Friday to suggest that industry and governments may be unprepared to handle the increasingly toxic waste that will result. Highlighting the importance of the technology in France, both as its main source of electricity and as a major export industry, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France announced late Thursday that Électricité de France, Europe's biggest power producer, was awarded the contract to develop a second atomic reactor using next-generation technology.

France's parliament has passed a law to compensate victims of nuclear tests in Algeria and the South Pacific, a response to decades of complaints by people sickened by radiation. The law cleared France's Senate on Tuesday, its final legislative hurdle following approval in the National Assembly in June. France "can at last close a chapter of its history", Defence Minister Herve Morin said in a statement. He called the law "just, rigorous and balanced." The text, hammered out with help from victims' associations, recognises the right for victims of France's more than 200 nuclear tests to receive compensation. Some 150,000 people, including civilian and military personnel, were on site for the 210 tests France carried out, both in the atmosphere and underground, in the Sahara Desert and the South Pacific from 1960-1996.

France's parliament has passed a law to compensate victims of nuclear tests in Algeria and the South Pacific, a response to decades of complaints by people sickened by radiation. The law cleared France's Senate on Tuesday, its final legislative hurdle following approval in the National Assembly in June. France "can at last close a chapter of its history", Defence Minister Herve Morin said in a statement. He called the law "just, rigorous and balanced." The text, hammered out with help from victims' associations, recognises the right for victims of France's more than 200 nuclear tests to receive compensation. Some 150,000 people, including civilian and military personnel, were on site for the 210 tests France carried out, both in the atmosphere and underground, in the Sahara Desert and the South Pacific from 1960-1996.

Sarkozy reiterates France's commitment to nuclear * E.ON reiterates interested in expanding in France * Says taking stake in Penly EPR is an "interesting option" * Enel still interested in Penly EPR PARIS, Dec 14 - France pledged 1 billion euros ($1.5 billion) to support next generation reactor design and said it would seek foreign capital to back its move to the forefront of nuclear energy expansion. The investment is part of a 35 billion-euro spending plan French President Nicolas Sarkozy Sarkozy unveiled on Monday aimed at improving France's competitiveness. The new nuclear projects, dubbed fourth generation reactors, would recycle uranium and plutonium, creating less waste, he told a press conference.

Sarkozy reiterates France's commitment to nuclear * E.ON reiterates interested in expanding in France * Says taking stake in Penly EPR is an "interesting option" * Enel still interested in Penly EPR PARIS, Dec 14 - France pledged 1 billion euros ($1.5 billion) to support next generation reactor design and said it would seek foreign capital to back its move to the forefront of nuclear energy expansion. The investment is part of a 35 billion-euro spending plan French President Nicolas Sarkozy Sarkozy unveiled on Monday aimed at improving France's competitiveness. The new nuclear projects, dubbed fourth generation reactors, would recycle uranium and plutonium, creating less waste, he told a press conference.

FRANCE, the world's most nuclearised country, has backed a nuclear power industry in Australia. The French government's environment ambassador Laurent Stefanini says nuclear power is a good fit for a country that has the world's largest uranium reserves. Mr Stefanini said that going nuclear is a reliable and useful way to avoid greenhouse gas emissions, and there have been no major accidents in France. Nearly 80 per cent of France's electricity comes from nuclear reactors and its emissions are about one-third of Australia's on a per capita basis.

FRANCE, the world's most nuclearised country, has backed a nuclear power industry in Australia. The French government's environment ambassador Laurent Stefanini says nuclear power is a good fit for a country that has the world's largest uranium reserves. Mr Stefanini said that going nuclear is a reliable and useful way to avoid greenhouse gas emissions, and there have been no major accidents in France. Nearly 80 per cent of France's electricity comes from nuclear reactors and its emissions are about one-third of Australia's on a per capita basis.

France has indicated its willingness to consider taking back uranium for reprocessing if India is not in a position to reprocess the entire amount. "India has a reprocessing facility which will be put under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards. So for us the best is that the fuel is reprocessed here. (But) India does not have enough capabilities. We will consider the option of taking the fuel back to France for reprocessing," the French Ambassador to India, Mr Jerome Bonnafont, said on Friday. He was speaking at a luncheon meeting organised by the PHD Chambers of Commerce and Industry here. This comes in the wake of the recent signing of an agreement between India and France which is to see Areva deliver 300 tonnes of uranium to India. "This contract is to be implemented in the next few weeks and months. There is nothing holding back implementation of the contract. It is simply that you need to gather the uranium, package it, organise the transport and (get through the) legal methods involved," Mr Bonnafont said.

A few comments regarding Mickey Garcia's letter published Nov. 18: One more person pushing France as an example of how nuclear power can save the world. No mention of France having to temporarily shut down 25 percent of its nuclear power plants due to impending overheating (possible meltdown) during the very hot European summer of 2003. No mention of France having similar problems during the summer of 2005. No mention of the likelihood of an increasing number of such shutdowns brought about by higher ambient temperatures as a result of global warming. No mention of three radioactive leaks in France this last summer that contaminated local rivers, one in a famous wine region.

The Joint Higher Jordanian-French Steering Committee convened on Thursday to draw up a nuclear strategy and look into mechanisms to foster cooperation between the two sides. At the meeting, co-chaired by Jordan Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Khaled Toukan and Director General for Energy and Climate in France Pierre-Franck Chevet, Toukan said the committee was formed after signing an agreement on nuclear cooperation and a protocol between Jordan and France last year during His Majesty King Abdullah's visit to France. Toukan added that five working teams were formed under the committee, including a group tasked with the issue of funding the proposed project, especially uranium mining and the building of a nuclear power generation plant in the Kingdom.

France recognises link between tests and illnesses * Burden of proof reversed * Government sets aside 10 million euros initially PARIS, March 24 (Reuters) - France will compensate victims of past nuclear tests in the south Pacific and the Sahara, and for the first time has formally recognised a link between the explosions and illnesses suffered by soldiers and civilians. Defence Minister Herve Morin told reporters on Tuesday France had conducted the tests as safely as possible, and had needed them to build up a credible nuclear deterrent and emerge as a global nuclear power.

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.

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.

"It is perhaps no accident that the nuclear power industry chose a French word - "renaissance" - to promote its alleged comeback. Attached to this misapplied moniker are a series of fallacious suggestions that nuclear energy is "clean," "safe" and even "renewable." And, in keeping with its French flavor, a key argument in the industry's propaganda arsenal is that the U.S. should follow the "successful" example of the French nuclear program. France serves as a convenient sound bite for politicians and others advocating a nuclear revival (hypocritically evoked by many of the same people who insisted on "Freedom Fries" at the start of the Iraq War). A failure to challenge this facile falsehood has cemented the myth of a French nuclear Utopia in the minds of the public. It masks a very different reality. France gets 80 percent of its electricity from nuclear power. However, this alone does not constitute a success. Rather, it results in the production of an enormous amount of radioactive waste that, as is the case for all other nuclear countries, has nowhere to go. "

France has committed 80 million U.S. dollars to rehabilitate French Polynesian atoll of Hao, a key military base during the 20 years of nuclear weapons testing in the South Pacific. An agreement on France's assistance was signed between the French High Commissioner in Papeete, Adolphe Colrat, the French Polynesian vice-president, Jules Ienfa, and the Mayor of Hao, the Pacnews reported on Monday. Colrat said the clean-up will take seven years and marked a financial commitment by France 10 times bigger than what has been dispersed on Hao so far.

While nuclear power is pretty cold (more or less) in the U.S., it's heating up around the world. Eléctricité de France, the French power giant, just bought British Energy for about $23 billion, which gives the French company a major role in controlling British domestic energy production. France, of course, is well known for having three-quarters of its energy produced from nuclear power plants. (Compare that with about 20 percent in the U.S.)

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said France will build a second new-generation nuclear reactor. France has been constructing its first European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) on the Normandy coast.

Debates about climate change at the G-8 meetings in Japan and this week's mishap at a French nuclear facility have Germans revisiting the benefits and dangers of nuclear energy. Deep national divisions on the issue are reflected on the editorial pages. The Tricastin nuclear plant in southern France, where a liquid containing traces of unenriched uranium leaked Monday. Zoom AP The Tricastin nuclear plant in southern France, where a liquid containing traces of unenriched uranium leaked Monday. Germans are conflicted about nuclear energy, and amazingly so. In fact, according to a survey released Wednesday by the Forsa polling agency, exactly 46 percent of Germans are for -- and 46 percent of Germans are against -- extending the operating life of the country's nuclear reactors past the date 15 years from now when a nuclear phaseout is supposed to be completed.

Proponents of nuclear power in Utah probably have not noticed an article in the UK Times (July 13, 2009) regarding the problems France is having with its nuclear-power plants, problems that bear on the feasibility of nuclear power in Utah. France is in the grips of another hot summer, with air temperatures in the 80s. Water temperatures have exceeded the limits under which plants cooled by river water can safely operate. As a result of the heat, France has had to reduce power generation by one-third and is now importing power from England. Much the same thing happened during the heat wave of 2003. Reading this, I couldn't help thinking about the nuclear plant proposed for Green River, where summer temperatures are regularly in high 90s. The water temperature of the Green River at Jensen on July 13, 2009, was 23.5 degrees Celsius, almost as high as the maximum allowed for water returned to rivers from France's nuclear plants. During the drought of 1999-2005, Green River water temperatures reached 25.4 degrees.

With nuclear power on many Albertans' minds these days, those seeking insight before picking sides may find it instructive to look to Europe, where France and Germany have adopted opposing philosophies on the issue. Germany has legislation in place that calls for the shutdown of all of the country's nuclear reactors by 2022. France, which is slightly smaller than Alberta, is building its 59th reactor. How did the two countries arrive at such divergent views? Matthias Eickhoff remembers April 26, 1986, as the day he became one of Germany's many anti-nuclear activists.

France is being forced to import electricity from Britain to cope with a summer heatwave that has helped to put a third of its nuclear power stations out of action. With temperatures across much of France surging above 30C this week, EDF's reactors are generating the lowest level of electricity in six years, forcing the state-owned utility to turn to Britain for additional capacity. Fourteen of France's 19 nuclear power stations are located inland and use river water rather than seawater for cooling. When water temperatures rise, EDF is forced to shut down the reactors to prevent their casings from exceeding 50C.

In response to the Nov. 17 editorial in The Minnesota Daily, I strongly disagree with the opinion that further development of nuclear power is in the best interest of the public and future generations. In making their case, the Editorial Board provided several inaccuracies regarding nuclear power. First, nuclear energy is not working effectively in Europe. It is true that France has been very effective in generating approximately 80 percent of its electricity from nuclear reactors, but France has also been effective at producing large quantities of radioactive waste. France's waste reprocessing program makes this problem even worse,

In response to the Nov. 17 editorial in The Minnesota Daily, I strongly disagree with the opinion that further development of nuclear power is in the best interest of the public and future generations. In making their case, the Editorial Board provided several inaccuracies regarding nuclear power. First, nuclear energy is not working effectively in Europe. It is true that France has been very effective in generating approximately 80 percent of its electricity from nuclear reactors, but France has also been effective at producing large quantities of radioactive waste. France's waste reprocessing program makes this problem even worse,