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"Areva Chief Executive Anne Lauvergeon on Monday blamed the French nuclear power company's humiliating loss of a multibillion-dollar reactor contract on a South Korean rival's willingness to "do anything" to win. In her first public comments since the United Arab Emirates last month picked a South Korean consortium over Areva for the prized deal, Lauvergeon was quoted in Le Monde as saying the strong euro hurt Areva by inflating the costs for its reactors. She also blamed poor coordination among the French energy companies who bid alongside it, including Electricite de France SA, Total SA and GDF Suez SA. "South Korea was ready to do anything to win, in terms of price and in state financing," Lauvergeon was quoted as saying."

The United Arab Emirates, which plans to award the Persian Gulf's first nuclear power contracts this year, may start a regional arms race as its neighbors seek similar technology, according to a Chatham House report. "Risks from nuclear proliferation cannot be eliminated entirely" from the U.A.E.'s program, Ian Jackson wrote in "Nuclear Energy and Proliferation Risks: Myths and Realities in the Persian Gulf," published today. "It is possible that the genuine desire of Gulf states to engage in civil peaceful nuclear power could possibly tip the region into a nuclear arms race, especially if state intentions are misunderstood." The U.A.E., the fourth-biggest OPEC producer, is turning to nuclear power because it doesn't produce enough natural gas to meet demand. The government has an atomic-energy agreement with the U.S., a necessary step to awarding construction contracts, and will prohibit the enrichment of uranium on U.A.E. soil. A French group including Areva SA and Electricite de France SA is competing for U.A.E. power-plant contracts against groups led by General Electric Co. and Korea Electric Power Corp.

The United Arab Emirates, which plans to award the Persian Gulf's first nuclear power contracts this year, may start a regional arms race as its neighbors seek similar technology, according to a Chatham House report. "Risks from nuclear proliferation cannot be eliminated entirely" from the U.A.E.'s program, Ian Jackson wrote in "Nuclear Energy and Proliferation Risks: Myths and Realities in the Persian Gulf," published today. "It is possible that the genuine desire of Gulf states to engage in civil peaceful nuclear power could possibly tip the region into a nuclear arms race, especially if state intentions are misunderstood." The U.A.E., the fourth-biggest OPEC producer, is turning to nuclear power because it doesn't produce enough natural gas to meet demand. The government has an atomic-energy agreement with the U.S., a necessary step to awarding construction contracts, and will prohibit the enrichment of uranium on U.A.E. soil. A French group including Areva SA and Electricite de France SA is competing for U.A.E. power-plant contracts against groups led by General Electric Co. and Korea Electric Power Corp.

In his letter (Expensive questions, December 1), Mike Deats questions the nuclear Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) but suggests SA should go ahead with nuclear power as soon as possible to mitigate climate change even without the PBMR technology. However, the International Atomic Energy Agency , which exists to spread the peaceful use of the atom, revealed in a report a few years ago that power generation through nuclear fission could not grow fast enough over the next decades to slow climate change - even under the most favourable circumstances. The cost of developing nuclear energy is rising exponentially. In the US uranium now costs 60 for 450g, compared with 10 for 450g nine years ago. There is still no safe repository for nuclear waste anywhere in the world, and Yucca Mountain where the US hopes to store its nuclear waste had an estimated cost of 58bn in 2001, which has now escalated to an estimated 96bn. Last year there were 250 incidents of nuclear material being lost or stolen. In the worst-case scenario of a Chernobyl-type accident, the costs could be as high as 700bn, roughly the size of the current US fiscal bail-out.

In his letter (Expensive questions, December 1), Mike Deats questions the nuclear Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) but suggests SA should go ahead with nuclear power as soon as possible to mitigate climate change even without the PBMR technology. However, the International Atomic Energy Agency , which exists to spread the peaceful use of the atom, revealed in a report a few years ago that power generation through nuclear fission could not grow fast enough over the next decades to slow climate change - even under the most favourable circumstances. The cost of developing nuclear energy is rising exponentially. In the US uranium now costs 60 for 450g, compared with 10 for 450g nine years ago. There is still no safe repository for nuclear waste anywhere in the world, and Yucca Mountain where the US hopes to store its nuclear waste had an estimated cost of 58bn in 2001, which has now escalated to an estimated 96bn. Last year there were 250 incidents of nuclear material being lost or stolen. In the worst-case scenario of a Chernobyl-type accident, the costs could be as high as 700bn, roughly the size of the current US fiscal bail-out.

In his letter (Expensive questions, December 1), Mike Deats questions the nuclear Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) but suggests SA should go ahead with nuclear power as soon as possible to mitigate climate change even without the PBMR technology. However, the International Atomic Energy Agency , which exists to spread the peaceful use of the atom, revealed in a report a few years ago that power generation through nuclear fission could not grow fast enough over the next decades to slow climate change - even under the most favourable circumstances. The cost of developing nuclear energy is rising exponentially. In the US uranium now costs 60 for 450g, compared with 10 for 450g nine years ago. There is still no safe repository for nuclear waste anywhere in the world, and Yucca Mountain where the US hopes to store its nuclear waste had an estimated cost of 58bn in 2001, which has now escalated to an estimated 96bn. Last year there were 250 incidents of nuclear material being lost or stolen. In the worst-case scenario of a Chernobyl-type accident, the costs could be as high as 700bn, roughly the size of the current US fiscal bail-out.

Areva SA, the biggest builder of nuclear reactors, received three offers of less than 4 billion euros ($5.9 billion) for its transmission and distribution unit, according to three people familiar with the sale. General Electric Co. teamed up with CVC Capital Partners Ltd. to make an offer, while Toshiba Corp. submitted a separate bid, said the people, who declined to be identified because the talks are private. France's Alstom SA and Schneider Electric also submitted a joint offer, the people said. The bids fell short of the 4.25 billion euros analysts had estimated the unit to be worth. Areva is selling the business to raise money to develop uranium mines and buy Siemens AG's share of a nuclear-reactor joint venture. The company bought the division from Alstom for 920 million euros in 2004. The French state, Areva's biggest shareholder, may favor a domestic buyer, analysts surveyed ahead of the bidding deadline last week said.

"Henri Proglio and Gerard Mestrallet, the Frenchmen who run the world's biggest utilities, fought for a decade to win water contracts around the world. Now, the rivalry goes nuclear. Proglio took the helm at state-controlled Electricite de France SA in November, charged with spearheading the nuclear power producer's push into Asia and North America as France bids to build reactors overseas. At GDF Suez SA, an energy and water group built on France's former natural-gas monopoly, Mestrallet wants to promote a reactor design that may compete with his larger rival. At stake is France's ambition to turn its expertise as the world's largest producer of nuclear power after the U.S. into export revenue as governments around the world build atomic plants to cut reliance on fossil fuels. "

Confidential information related to South Africa's apartheid-era nuclear weapons programme is due to be released following a landmark ruling by the High Court in Pretoria. The information consists of medical and occupational safety records related to a former employee of Ucor, a private company that conducted top-secret research at the Valindaba nuclear facility outside Pretoria in the '70s and '80s. The company records are currently held by the state-owned SA Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa).

South Africa would implement interventions with regard to the export of uranium to ensure that the country retained an adequate supply for its own electricity-generation needs, the Department of Minerals and Energy's (DME's) director of nuclear non-proliferation Elsie Monale asserted on Wednesday. Speaking at the Institute for International Research's Nuclear & Uranium Summit in Johannesburg, Monale stated that South Africa and Southern Africa had an abundance of uranium and that the country should benefit from its minerals.

A new isotope enrichment process with eventual application to uranium has been announced by a South African company. It represents a revival of an historic project, never thought to be commercially viable. Hendrik Strydom of Klydon Pty Ltd outlined the genesis and uranium aspirations of his company's technology. The founding members of Klydon previously held senior positions within the SA Atomic Energy Corporation (now the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa, Necsa).

A mining company says a uranium deposit in the Lake Frome region in the east of South Australia may be Australia's next mine. Chairman of Curnamona Energy Limited, Bob Johnson, says the Oban deposit was found about 18 months ago and has "quite a bit" of easily-extractable uranium.

NUCLEAR waste from around the world should be brought to South Australia for disposal, a global energy expert believes. There is a great opportunity for SA to make lots of money as the use of nuclear energy increases, said Paul Stevens, senior research fellow at Chatham House, the London-based Royal Institute for International Affairs. Climate change was driving the quest to find alternative ways to power motor vehicles which created less carbon emissions. "If we do start going down the route of electric vehicles, then nuclear is a great source of baseload electricity,'' Professor Stevens said.

South Africa is completing feasibility studies into nuclear fuel production processes and now plans to develop experimental sites, an official at state- owned Nuclear Energy Corp. of SA, or Necsa, said. "We are finishing a range of feasibility studies into aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle," Van Zyl de Villiers, general manager of research and development at Pretoria-based Necsa, said in an interview in Johannesburg today. "The next step for us will be to establish experimental infrastructure." South Africa plans to add to its only existing nuclear plant, Koeberg, to overcome electricity shortages and reduce the country's dependence on coal. While power utility Eskom Holdings Ltd. this year canceled a plan to build the country's second nuclear plant, citing costs, the government said it remained committed to nuclear power.

Belgium will introduce levies on banks, life insurers and nuclear-power producers next year as Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy seeks to start taming a swelling debt burden without hampering the economic recovery. The government will seek 670 million euros ($991 million) from banks and life insurers in 2011 to protect their depositors and policy holders from default, Finance Minister Didier Reynders said. Power producers GDF Suez SA and SPE NV will have to pay as much as 245 million euros annually for keeping the country's three oldest atomic reactors in operation for an additional 10 years, according to Energy Minister Paul Magnette.

Belgium will introduce levies on banks, life insurers and nuclear-power producers next year as Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy seeks to start taming a swelling debt burden without hampering the economic recovery. The government will seek 670 million euros ($991 million) from banks and life insurers in 2011 to protect their depositors and policy holders from default, Finance Minister Didier Reynders said. Power producers GDF Suez SA and SPE NV will have to pay as much as 245 million euros annually for keeping the country's three oldest atomic reactors in operation for an additional 10 years, according to Energy Minister Paul Magnette.

Court hears uranium protesters locked in container Civil action starts over uranium protest in 2000 A civil trial has started in the SA Supreme Court over police treatment of protesters at an outback uranium mine. Ten protesters who were locked in a shipping container at Beverley in South Australia in 2000 are claiming damages from the government for injury and suffering caused by their allegedly false imprisonment. The government has already settled out of court with three other plaintiffs who had been part of the class action. A lawyer for the remaining plaintiffs, Brian Walters, told the court the protesters were given no warning before police beat them with batons, used capsicum spray and locked them in a shipping container with no water or toilet facilities for up to eight hours. They are now suing the state government over their treatment by police.

Court hears uranium protesters locked in container Civil action starts over uranium protest in 2000 A civil trial has started in the SA Supreme Court over police treatment of protesters at an outback uranium mine. Ten protesters who were locked in a shipping container at Beverley in South Australia in 2000 are claiming damages from the government for injury and suffering caused by their allegedly false imprisonment. The government has already settled out of court with three other plaintiffs who had been part of the class action. A lawyer for the remaining plaintiffs, Brian Walters, told the court the protesters were given no warning before police beat them with batons, used capsicum spray and locked them in a shipping container with no water or toilet facilities for up to eight hours. They are now suing the state government over their treatment by police.

When 65 scientists met at Princeton University in 1955 to decide where to permanently store radioactive waste from nuclear power plants, their conclusion was simple: Bury it deep underground, far from earthquakes. Since then, reactors worldwide have produced 270,000 tons of spent fuel, storing most of it in canisters above ground. U.S. regulators, reviewing 18 applications to build new atomic plants, said last month they may approve such temporary storage for as long as 40 years, double the current allowable time. Governments across the globe are endorsing similar plans to temporarily warehouse their carcinogenic waste, helping clear the way for a revival in nuclear-plant construction that has given about $115 billion in contracts to General Electric Co., Toshiba Corp.'s Westinghouse unit and Paris-based Areva SA.

When 65 scientists met at Princeton University in 1955 to decide where to permanently store radioactive waste from nuclear power plants, their conclusion was simple: Bury it deep underground, far from earthquakes. Since then, reactors worldwide have produced 270,000 tons of spent fuel, storing most of it in canisters above ground. U.S. regulators, reviewing 18 applications to build new atomic plants, said last month they may approve such temporary storage for as long as 40 years, double the current allowable time. Governments across the globe are endorsing similar plans to temporarily warehouse their carcinogenic waste, helping clear the way for a revival in nuclear-plant construction that has given about $115 billion in contracts to General Electric Co., Toshiba Corp.'s Westinghouse unit and Paris-based Areva SA.

"Areva SA, the French nuclear-reactor builder, took a new provision for cost overruns at a plant it's building in Finland, leaving the door open for more charges as the project is still 2 1/2 years away from completion. The company said yesterday it will book a charge of about 400 million euros ($491 million) in the first half as Finnish customer Teollisuuden Voima Oyj said this month the OL3 plant will start nuclear operations at the end of 2012 rather than by a previous June 2012 deadline. Areva "has now installed the reactor pressure vessel and continues work on piping, but history suggests further delays are very likely," Alex Barnett, an analyst at Jefferies International Ltd., who recommends buying Areva investment certificates, said in a research note today. The new charge takes total provisions for cost overruns to about 2.7 billion euros for the first-of-its-kind project, which Areva pledged in 2005 to build for 3 billion euros and complete in 2009."

"Nuclear power can play a key role in the U.K.'s future energy mix, Minister Charles Hendry told executives from Electricite de France SA, Centrica Plc and other utilities. While the new coalition government won't subsidize the industry, it will remove regulatory barriers and encourage nuclear power by establishing a minimum price for carbon, the energy minister said at the Nuclear Industry Forum in London. Britain, needing 200 billion pounds ($300 billion) to renew aging power plants in the next two decades, will have to tap international investors for the first time, according to the Department of Energy and Climate Change. "

"The Canadian government may be hampered in trying to sell Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. because of a decision by the New Brunswick government to work with a competitor, the Globe and Mail reported. New Brunswick dropped a proposal by Atomic Energy to build a new nuclear reactor because the Canadian crown corporation had failed to make progress on a plan to build the reactor and sell the power to New England, the newspaper said. Instead, the province signed a letter of intent yesterday with Areva SA of France to build a so-called "energy park." "

"European Union regulators said Wednesday that they are investigating nuclear power non-compete deals between France's Areva SA and Germany's Siemens AG after Areva took over their joint venture. This adds another twist to a row between the two companies after Siemens pulled out of the Areva NP unit, the world's largest builder of atomic power plants, and struck a deal with Russia's Rosatom to develop nuclear reactors. Areva complained last year that Siemens' new deal broke the terms of a 2001 non-competition clause."

"- Japan Steel Works Ltd., maker of nuclear reactor parts for customers including Areva SA and Toshiba Corp., plans to sell components for 26 reactors in the next three years as demand expands from China and the U.S. Component sales will almost double to 11 units annually for the year ending March 2013, from an expected 6 for this fiscal year with an expansion, President Ikuo Sato said in an interview in Tokyo. Japan Steel Works is spending 80 billion yen ($879 million) on its Muroran factory, Sato said May 21. Japan Steel Works is seeking to benefit from demand for nuclear energy as a carbon-free source amid a global push to combat climate changes. Interest in nuclear power is growing at the fastest rate since the Three Mile Island accident in the U.S. in 1979 and the Chernobyl explosion in Ukraine in 1986, International Atomic Energy Agency statistics showed. "

Electricite de France SA and Constellation Energy Group say they want Exelon to join their UniStar Nuclear Energy development venture. After being ranked in the lower tier for federal loan guarantees, Exelon said it is seeking a reactor design more proven than the GE Hitachi Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor it initially planned to use in Texas. UniStar plans to use Areva SA's Evolutionary Power Reactors in Maryland and New York." The Energy Policy Act of 2005 establishes loan guarantees for handful of reactors built in the United States. Now, some companies are making their case for unlimited loan guarantees and more subsidies to keep things moving forward.