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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.

City officials are gearing up to oppose a uranium mine about 200 miles west in Pittsylvania County, arguing it could threaten the city's water supply. A company has been formed to explore extracting what is considered the largest uranium deposit on the East Coast, valued between $7 billion and $10 billion. The mine would produce what is known as "yellow cake" to fuel nuclear power plants.

US defense group Northrop Grumman and French nuclear giant Areva said Thursday they have teamed up to manufacture nuclear reactor components in the United States to supply rising demand. The joint venture, Areva Newport News, with Areva as the majority owner, was forged to build a manufacturing and engineering facility that will make heavy components for Areva's third-generation US Evolutionary Power Reactor (EPR), the two companies said in a statement. They said the new facility, to be built in Newport News, Virginia, would "supply the growing American nuclear energy sector."

"There will be no obstacles on uranium supply" India can enter into swap arrangements with Tehran ASTANA: Kazakhstan is prepared to supply India uranium for its existing and future civil nuclear power plants and in return expects greater intensity in economic ties, including assistance in joining the World Trade Organisation (WTO). An agreement to promote nuclear cooperation between the two countries could be agreed upon during a summit meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Should you happen to find yourself debating with a passionate supporter of nuclear power about how to supply our country's future energy needs, the odds are that pretty early in the debate they'll play their trump card - namely that only nuclear can supply the 'base load' necessary to ensure that the lights stay on throughout the long, dark British winter. Hang the dangers of radioactivity, forget the ruinous expense, they'll say - we can't do without nuclear power.

Twenty-five years ago this summer, prospects for a nuclear-powered Northwest imploded. In what was then the nation's largest municipal bond default, the Washington Public Power Supply System told creditors it could not make payment on a $2.25 billion debt it incurred to build two large nuclear plants. Today, as we contemplate regional energy options, the Supply System's abandoned projects still cast a shadow.

The threat of a nuclear attack on the UK in the 1950s caused concern over the supply of tea, top-secret documents which have now been released reveal. Government officials planning food supplies said the tea situation would be "very serious" after a nuclear war.

The Indo-US civil nuclear cooperation allows the South Asian country access to US civil nuclear fuel and technology. The cooperation initiated by President Bush during his visit to New Delhi in July 2005 that formed its concrete shape on October 10, 2008. In the last these three years both New Delhi and Washington had to face some opposition at home as well as obligations by IAEA, Nuclear Supplies Group (NSG) and the congressional approval to overcome these obligations. Some laws were amended that posed a question for global non proliferation efforts. There are certain facts on which it became obvious that the Indo-US agreement undermined the non proliferation regime. The 1974-Indian Pokhran test was a result of diversion from civil facilities to military. India was the first country to convert illegally a civilian nuclear facility which was provided by the US for peaceful purposes. The 1974 test was a challenge to the US non-proliferation policy. The US supplies for nuclear power plant were ceased immediately after that. Even Canada suspended work on Rajasthan Atomic Power Plant and left it half way. Officially the cooperation was stopped and President Jimmy Carter signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act 1978 restricting nuclear trade with that states that did not agree to safeguards.

The U.S. Department of Energy announced Thursday that the Carlsbad Field Office will transfer the DOE-owned Waste Isolation Pilot Plant water line to the city of Carlsbad. The move will provide the city with an additional water supply while saving the Department of Energy thousands of dollars. DOE first installed the water line in 1984 to support the ongoing operations of the department's disposal facility. It now transports water from the city-owned Double Eagle Water System wells to the plant. Under the finalized bill of sale, the city will take over complete responsibility for maintaining and repairing the pipeline in exchange for the water line. The city of Carlsbad also agrees to maintain WIPP's existing priority water use and will supply WIPP with up to 6.6 million gallons of water a year.

A global shift toward nuclear power is prompting countries to rush to lock in long-term access to tight supplies of uranium, and China and India look to be the next players to get in on the action. A tie-up between Rosatom, the Russian state-owned producer, Rosatom and Canada-based miner Uranium One announced this week is just the latest in a series of moves on the part of Asian and European countries to lock in uranium supply to fuel construction of dozens of new reactors over the next decade.

Russian specialist nuclear (fuel exporter Techsnab-export - better known by its brand name of Tenex - has, in just over a week, won contracts to directly supply low-enriched uranium to four US nuclear power utilities. The latest contract, signed last week, is with the Exelon Corporation, which is one of the largest electricity producers in the US, with a production capacity of 25 000 MW (of which, 17 000 MW comes from nuclear plants) plus control of another (6 500 MW through long-term contracts. During the last week of May, the Russian company signed a contract with FuelCo, which represents the interests of three US utilities, PG&E, Union Electric and Luminant. All three will use low-enriched uranium supplied by Tenex to fuel their nuclear (reactors. Although the value of the Exelon deal has not been revealed, the FuelCo deal is worth more than $1-billion. All these deals (involve long-term contracts and all will run from 2014 to 2020.

* $1 bln in deals signed with PG&E, Ameren Corp, Luminant * Will give Russia 20 percent of U.S. uranium market 2014-2020 * Russia sees nuclear fuel storage in U.S. as next step (Recasts with quotes, details, background) By Simon Shuster MOSCOW, May 26 (Reuters) - Russia signed a landmark deal to supply nuclear fuel directly to U.S. companies on Tuesday, setting itself up to control 20 percent of the U.S. uranium market and extending its global reach in the nuclear sector. At a ceremony in the Russian capital, U.S. electricity firms PG&E, Ameren Corp and Luminant signed deals to get more than $1 billion in uranium supplies from Russia's state nuclear fuel exporter Tenex between 2014 and 2020.

Russia signed a landmark deal to supply nuclear fuel directly to U.S. companies on Tuesday, setting itself up to control 20 percent of the U.S. uranium market and extending its global reach in the nuclear sector. At a ceremony in the Russian capital, U.S. electricity firms PG&E, Ameren Corp and Luminant signed deals to get more than $1 billion in uranium supplies from Russia's state nuclear fuel exporter Tenex between 2014 and 2020.

* Exelon Corp to buy Russian uranium directly in 2014-2020 * 4th such deal since "wall" to U.S. market broken last week * Rosatom subsidiary plans $3 bln bond to fund expansion By Simon Shuster MOSCOW, June 3 (Reuters) - Russia's state nuclear firm Rosatom sealed a uranium supply deal with U.S. utility Exelon Corp (EXC.N) on Wednesday and voiced plans to issue a 100 billion rouble bond as it intensifies its global expansion. Last week, the company said it had "broken down the wall" into the U.S. uranium market by striking three landmark deals to supply nuclear fuel worth more than $1 billion to U.S. power firms PG&E (PCG.N), Ameren Corp (AEE.N) and Luminant.

The nation's top power industry regulator on Tuesday suggested that U.S. utilities don't need to build big nuclear or coal-fired power plants to fill the nation's future power supply needs. Instead, Jon Wellinghoff, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said future electricity demand growth can be met with a low-emission supply from wind, solar and other renewable sources, combined with more efficient use of all sources of electricity.

"An energy transformer exploded into bits and pieces at the Kola Nuclear Power Plant located on the Kola Peninsula, in Northwest Russia. The incident led to a 50% reduction of power output from two reactor units leaving onsite spent nuclear fuel storage without energy supply. The authorities at the plant neglected to report about the incident. Igor Kudrik, 04/02-2010 "On January 15, 2010 at 16:48 while the plant was operating at 1433 MW capacity, due to a failure in the energy transformer, two 330 kilowatt electric mains, which supply consumers in the Murmansk region, were switched off. The 3rd and 4th reactor units reduced their capacity to 50% of nominal output in accordance with the guidelines," reported the press service of the Kola Nuclear Power Plant on February 3rd, 18 days after the incident took place. But the dry language of the press release disguised the severity of the event"

"At a meeting Wednesday, Virginia Beach's public utilities director presented the scope of a city-backed study to analyze the Coles Hill uranium-mining project's effects on Virginia beach's water supply in the event of a disastrous storm. The study will assess the impacts of a major storm and flooding and estimate levels of contaminated sediment reaching Kerr Reservoir flowing into Lake Gaston, which supplies drinking water to Virginia Beach, and examine potential increase in background radiation in the reservoir, said Thomas Leahy, the city's director of public utilities. "Our biggest concern would be some kind of catastrophic event," Leahy said during a presentation Wednesday at a meeting of the Roanoke River Basin Bi-State Commission. The meeting was held at the Franklin Center in Rocky Mount and included officials from Virginia and North Carolina. "

"Vienna - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Russia set up the world's first nuclear fuel reserve Monday to ensure uninterrupted supplies for the world's power reactors. The idea for a fuel bank was initiated by the IAEA in order to give countries an alternative to developing their own uranium enrichment technology, like Iran has done. "With our effort, we made the world a little better," said Sergei Kirienko, the head of Russia's nuclear corporation ROSATOM in Vienna, after signing the agreement with IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano. The reserve is intended as an insurance mechanism for countries whose foreign supply of nuclear fuel is interrupted. In such a case, the IAEA would provide the nuclear material, which is to be made and stored at Angarsk in Siberia. The recipient country would pay current market prices for the low-enriched uranium. Russia would have 30 per cent of the target of one reactor load ready by the end of the year, Kirienko said. Developing countries have expressed scepticism about the fuel bank, as they fear that such mechanisms might indirectly prevent them from acquiring peaceful nuclear technology."

"Sofia. EUR 860 million would cost the decommissioning of two units of the Kozloduy NPP until 2013, Jeffrey Van Orden, MEP and speaker in the European Parliament on Bulgaria's progress on its path to EU membership said during round table on "Belene NPP project and European energy security: Bulgarian dilemmas", a reporter of FOCUS News Agency announced. According to Order closure of the two units, has previously been unnecessary and this has led to increasing use of polluting lignite coals, the reduction of energy exports of Bulgaria and increasing prices of electricity. In his words should seek the best decision regarding the correct way of disposing of nuclear waste. Order stated that the Nabucco project will enable the supply of Caspian gas to Bulgaria and is important for diversification of supply. In his words Bulgaria can be an energy hub in the Balkans. "

"The Selangor government will not allow or support the construction of a nuclear power plant in the state. Khalid Ibrahim Commenting on the federal government's plan to build a nuclear plant, Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said there are other alternative methods to increase energy supply. "We are looking towards increasing energy supply iby harnessing solar power," Abdul Khalid said after the state economic council meeting today."