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"Britain's lights will stay on even without new nuclear power plants replacing the ageing reactors which are set to close in the next few years, energy secretary Chris Huhne said on Thursday. UK Reiterating that the government will not block new nuclear builds, Huhne said that nuclear's contribution to power generation could fall below the current 20 percent level with no risk of an energy gap if there was sufficient investment in other sources. "If we set the right framework for low carbon generation, then the market will deliver enough with the right mix. If that includes nuclear, that's envisaged in the coalition agreement, then that will be up to investors," Huhne added at the sidelines of the UK Energy Summit conference."

"Kuwait signed here Wednesday a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) with the US Government on nuclear safeguards and other nonproliferation topics. The MOC was signed by Secretary General of the Kuwait National Nuclear Energy Committee (KNNEC) Dr. Ahmad Bishara and the Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Thomas D'Agostino during a ceremony held at the Department of Energy. The MOC proposes cooperation in nuclear legislation and regulations; human resource planning and modeling; nuclear safeguards and security; radiation protection; environmental, safety and health issues; low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste management; reactor operations, safety and best practices. During the ceremony, D'Agostino said "it is clear that both of our countries recognize the importance of preventing nuclear proliferation, and keeping dangerous nuclear materials out of the hands of terrorists and proliferators."

"You can take the girl out of Suffolk but you can't take Suffolk out of the girl. Stories inspired by her home county have been floating around former Look East broadcaster Boni Sones's head for years. Now she's sharing them. She spoke to Steven Russell BONI Sones was eight when the bulldozers and cranes came. They changed forever the face of the coast and heathland where she played, scraping away more than 200 acres of scrub and grass to build a nuclear power station. Not that it put paid to youthful pursuits, for the construction site became an unofficial adventure zone for children from the tiny fishing hamlet of Sizewell and the scattered houses around. "As kids, we used to break into the site by burrowing under the fence and climbing the crane and so on. It was just an extension of our playground," she confesses of the early 1960s. Not surprisingly, the magnox reactors had a major impact on the lives of the communities in and around Leiston. "The power station definitely gave a sense of menace," says Boni. "If you think, as eight-year-olds, we were having to practise emergency evacuation procedures . . . It went from being an idyllic childhood to something that had menace in it. I used to think 'Where would we be safe, then, if it blew up?'""

President, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research Before the Indian Parliament votes on limiting the liability of nuclear operators due to accidents, it should carefully consider the much higher limits that the United States has set for itself about $11 billion per incident industry maximum (under the Price-Anderson Act). The liability of the operator of the plant would be just Rs. 500 crores, about $110 million, which is just one percent of the U.S. limit, and about $450 million per accident. The proposed law allows an adjustment of this upwards or downwards to a possible lower limit of just Rs. 300 crores, or about $65 million. But more than that, Parliament should consider that the actual damages could be far greater than the U.S. liability limit. A 1997 study by the U.S. governments own Brookhaven National Laboratory, on Long Island, New York, found that the severe spent fuel pool accidents could result in damages from somewhat under $1 billion of up to $566 billion, depending on a how full and hot the pool is at the time of the accident and the intensity of the postulated fire. The high-end figure would amount to over $700 billion in 2009 dollars. Vast amounts of land --- up to about 7,000 square kilometers in the worst case would have to be condemned. Large numbers of people would have to be evacuated. Further, the maximum estimated monetary damages do not take into account some critical elements. For instance, the Brookhaven amount does not include excess cancer deaths, estimated to range from 1,500 to more than 100,000. Worst case nuclear reactor accident cancers and condemned area were estimated to be generally comparable to the upper end of the spent fuel accident estimates.

"Two of the world's leading nuclear states - the United States and China - are set to clash at a closed-door meeting in Christchurch this week. About 200 technical and diplomatic officials from 46 nations that make up the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) are at the Convention Centre for a week-long meeting, which started yesterday. China is expected to be questioned about controversial plans to export two nuclear power-generating reactors to Pakistan. If a row develops, Beijing may claim Washington has double standards because the United States sold nuclear technology to non-member India in 2008 after pushing through an exemption with the help of other major powers. Asked yesterday about a possible deal between China and Pakistan, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman said it was premature to comment. "

"A FRESH trawl of waters off Dounreay will get under way next month to recover more rogue radioactive fragments. A robot mounted on a bespoke subsea assembly is being mobilised to detect and then retrieve some of the hottest of the reactor fuel particles. The operation is part of Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd's attempt to tackle the legacy of radioactive pollution caused by sloppy historic waste practices at the site. A major part of its strategy is to target the seabed near the site's original sea effluent plant. This area - the size of 10 football pitches - is thought to contain the 1500 to 2000 particles deemed to pose a significant health hazard. Last year, a robot recovered 64 particles, including 13 in the significant category."

"Korea settled for a top 16 spot in the South Africa World Cup, the first such feat on foreign soil, but in terms of nuclear deals, Korea appears to be breezing past top dogs such as France. After winning a mega deal in the Middle East last year, Korea is now in talks with the Turkish government to build a pair of nuclear power reactors with the aim of gaining substantial results this year. The latest blip on Korea's atomic energy export radar is Mexico, where a senior bureaucrat asked for assistance in nurturing specialists in nuclear power plants. Mexico's Energy Minister Girogina Kessel Martinez made the request at a recent meeting with his counterpart Choi Kyung-hwan, minister of knowledge economy. ``Originally, it was not on the official agenda. But Mexican officials made the request all of a sudden. Martinez plans to visit Korea for more detailed discussions,'' a ministry official said."

"Toshiba Corp., Hitachi Ltd. and Tokyo Electric Power Co. are among six Japanese companies that will form a joint venture to sell nuclear reactors and technology to Vietnam and other countries. The group, which includes Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Chubu Electric Power Co. and Kansai Electric Power Co., will seek financial assistance from the trade ministry, they said in a joint statement yesterday. The companies have set up an office ahead of forming the venture this autumn. Japan is holding talks for nuclear cooperation treaties with India, Jordan, and Russia and has had preliminary discussions with Vietnam. The trade ministry will work to speed negotiations for the treaties, which are necessary for Japanese companies to export nuclear technology, the ministry said in a statement yesterday. "

"THE pebble bed modular reactor (PBMR) technology is unlikely to solve SA's energy shortage in a cost- effective way, according to an Institute of Security Studies paper on the project. The paper pours cold water on the benefits of the PBMR technology at a time when the future of the PBMR company lies in tatters, following the government's decision to drastically cut its funding. Trade unions last month said the majority of the company's employees had opted to take voluntary retrenchment packages."

"The construction contractor for Plant Vogtle, Shaw Group, temporarily stopped work after an internal audit showed new employees weren't given a questionnaire about their past or current abuse of drugs and alcohol. A Shaw spokesperson said employees were asked the questions verbally. "

"China's Daya Bay nuclear power plant had a "very small leakage" from a fuel rod last month that has been contained, CLP Holdings Ltd., Hong Kong's biggest electricity supplier, said in a statement. A "small increase" in radioactive substances were detected in cooling water at the plant's Unit 2 on May 23, according to the statement sent today. "The reactor cooling water is sealed in completely and isolated from the external environment, thus causing no impact to the public," it said."

"Japanese utility Chugoku Electric Power Co said on Thursday it would keep its sole Shimane nuclear plant shut indefinitely. The closure is due to an extended government inspection following the discovery of extensive inadequate checks of the plant's equipment,it said. The company shut 460-megawatt Shimane No.1 reactor for a voluntary inspection in March, with no schedule for a restart, after discovering that hundreds of pieces of equipment at the plant had not been properly inspected."

"Police in Sweden arrested dozens of Greenpeace activists on Monday after they broke into the Forsmark nuclear power plant ahead of a planned vote this week on whether to replace the country's existing reactors. World The activists entered Forsmark some 115 kilometers north of Stockholm early on Monday and several gained access to a building rooftop, police said. The protestors did not enter any of the operating areas."

"our article on the costs associated with nuclear reactors addresses a fundamental question about how we de-carbonise our energy supply, and who pays (Nuclear waste offer 'has hidden subsidy', 3 June). But the suggestion that EDF Energy was engaged in "behind-the scenes lobbying" to gain a "hidden subsidy" is wrong. We were responding to an open pre-consultation by government. This invited views from all parties, including ourselves and NGOs, on the price for radioactive waste disposal. We work hard to be part of the debate and recently set out our commitment to transparency. We have always been open that we expect to pay the full costs of decommissioning and our full share of the waste management and disposal costs from our new-build programme."

"Connecticut has two sites for nuclear power reactors that can be used for the salvation of Connecticut's current inventory of high-wage unemployed manufacturing and construction workers, and for long-term, high-paying plant operations jobs after two 10 year periods of construction. Connecticut can have the low-cost power to bring manufacturing back to the state! Now that is job opportunity, direct and resultant. Can Dominion tell us what subsidy or guarantees it would t need to construct such plants? Will it? Can and will the appropriate White House czar certify the availability of such stimulus funds for a sure-thing job-creation initiative that fills Connecticut's future electricity demand free of carbon emissions? Will Connecticut act now? Will our state's manufacturing workers and worker unions demand it?"

"PROBLEMS at the Sizewell B nuclear power plant could see the reactor remain closed until September - potentially costing tens of millions of pounds in lost electricity sales. Sizewell's owner EDF Energy has confirmed that the facility is not expected to be up and running until the third quarter of 2010. It means the power station, which has been shut since the end of March and employs more than 500 people, could be closed until September while engineers carry out repairs. Commentators suggest the power station could lose around £350,000 a day in electricity sales. Working on the basis that it will remain shut until September - about 180 days - it could see losses in the region of £63m. "

"Vindication does not happen often, but yesterday the head of Australia's Lucas Heights nuclear facility said a whistleblower was "absolutely correct" to raise serious safety concerns at the site. The comments from ANSTO chief Dr Adrian Paterson contrast with the treatment that 55-year-old reactor operator David Reid has received at the hands of management over the past 12 months. Mr Reid has been employed by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) at the south Sydney facility for the past 28 years. "

"The latest generation of proposed multibillion-dollar Canadian nuclear plants could be up to 158 times more hazardous than their predecessors, opening the door to massive cost overruns and possibly forcing taxpayers to pick up the tab, warns a report released today. The report, The Hazards of Generation III Reactor Fuel Wastes, says the risk is primarily due to uncertainty about what will happen to radioactive uranium fuel after it is used. "Canada's present generation of nuclear plants was built with no prior plan as to how to manage the radioactive wastes it would produce," said the report, prepared by independent consulting firm Radioactive Waste Management Associates. "Canada is arguably on the cusp of repeating this mistake.""

"The worst man-made disaster in history took place at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine almost 25 years ago. It has inspired one of Russia's top screenwriter-directors to make a film based on the story. Yahoo StumbleUpon Google Live Technorati del.icio.us Digg Reddit Mixx Propeller "On Saturday", Aleksandr Mindadze's tragic exploration of the nuclear disaster, will go back to the events of 1986, when the notorious Number Four reactor suffered an unstoppable chain reaction."

"Stimulus funds wills ease environmental concerns BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY Congressman Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) met with representatives of the Department Energy Tuesday at Brookhaven National Laboratory to announce that the lab will receive an additional $28 million in Recovery Act funding to complete the dismantling of the Brookhaven Graphite Research Reactor by this fall. The remaining steps include the removal of a 300-foot stack at the site and a concrete shield that once surrounded the reactor's core, already removed. Also to be dismantled are concrete air ducts, equipment from an associated ventilation building and exhaust filters, and other contaminated pipes and structures."