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* Sarkozy proposes nuclear projects in Turkey and Asia * Turkish president expressed interest, Elysee says * Sarkozy hopes for GDF Suez role in Nabucco pipeline By Yann Le Guernigou PARIS, Oct 9 (Reuters) - France offered Turkey cooperation on civil nuclear energy and closer trade ties on Friday, seeking to improve relations that have been damaged by President Nicolas Sarkozy's opposition to Turkey joining the European Union. Sarkozy proposed to his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul during a working lunch at his Elysee palace that the two countries could work together on nuclear projects not only in Turkey but also in central Asia, Sarkozy's office said. "President Gul said he was interested. He noted that he had met several times with Anne Lauvergeon, chief executive of (nuclear technology group) Areva (CEPFi.PA), and that there were very interesting prospects," said an Elysee source.

* Sarkozy proposes nuclear projects in Turkey and Asia * Turkish president expressed interest, Elysee says * Sarkozy hopes for GDF Suez role in Nabucco pipeline By Yann Le Guernigou PARIS, Oct 9 (Reuters) - France offered Turkey cooperation on civil nuclear energy and closer trade ties on Friday, seeking to improve relations that have been damaged by President Nicolas Sarkozy's opposition to Turkey joining the European Union. Sarkozy proposed to his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul during a working lunch at his Elysee palace that the two countries could work together on nuclear projects not only in Turkey but also in central Asia, Sarkozy's office said. "President Gul said he was interested. He noted that he had met several times with Anne Lauvergeon, chief executive of (nuclear technology group) Areva (CEPFi.PA), and that there were very interesting prospects," said an Elysee source.

Leaders and residents discuss concerns over Turkey Point and utility lines even though Florida Power & Light officials declined to attend a meeting. If you go | Nuclear Regulatory Commission meetings What: April 23 Nuclear Regulatory Commission meeting: FPL permits Where: Keys Gate Golf Club, 2300 Palm Dr., Homestead For information: Miami-Dade County Commissioner Katy Sorenson's office, 305-375-5218 What: April 28 Nuclear Regulatory Commission meeting: Turkey Point evaluation Where: Homestead City Hall, 790 N. Homestead Blvd. For information: Commissioner Katy Sorenson's office, 305-375-5218 BY TANIA VALDEMORO tvaldemoro@MiamiHerald.com Residents and elected officials, armed with questions about safety at the Turkey Point nuclear power station east of Homestead, left with no answers Thursday after Florida Power & Light executives did not appear at a community forum in Cutler Bay. Organized by Miami-Dade County Commissioner Katy Sorenson, the event at the South Dade Government Center, 10710 SW 211th St., was intended to provide citizens with information about safety practices at Turkey Point.

Turkey seeks to finalize the tender process, which is expected to attract many foreign investors, for its first nuclear power plant without any delays in a bid to close the gap between energy demand and supply. Turkey resorts to nuclear energy to meet its increasing demand Turkey needs to make a total $70 billion investment in energy production and distribution network by 2020 to meet its increasing demand, a government body said this week. It also said net energy import in 2008 is expected to hit $46-47 billion. Energy Minister Hilmi Guler admitted the urgent need of increasing energy production and ruled out any delay or postponement in Turkey's first nuclear power plant tender, saying, "We have no time to lose."

"The state power companies of South Korea and Turkey signed a preliminary deal here Wednesday aimed at building a nuclear power plant in northern Turkey. Under the deal, the companies will carry out preliminary work and "if a common ground with mutually acceptable conditions emerges, the main agreement between the two governments will be signed", Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. The protocol was inked by officials from EUAS of Turkey and Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO), which in December won a contract to build four nuclear power plants in the United Arab Emirates as part of an international consortium."

"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission today announced the opportunity for public participation in a hearing on a Combined License (COL) application for two new reactors at the Turkey Point site near Homestead, Fla. Florida Power & Light submitted the COL application June 30, 2009, seeking approval to build and operate two AP1000 reactors at the site, approximately 40 miles south of Miami. The Turkey Point application, minus proprietary or security-related details, is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/col/turkey-point.html. The NRC staff has determined that the application contains sufficient information for the agency to formally "docket," or file, the application and begin its technical review. Docketing the application does not preclude additional requests for information as the review proceeds; nor does it indicate whether the Commission will issue the license. The docket numbers established for this application are 52-040 and 52-041. The NRC has issued in the Federal Register a notice of opportunity to intervene in the proceeding on the application, and the deadline for requesting a hearing is Aug. 17. Petitions may be filed by anyone whose interest may be affected by the proposed license, who wishes to participate as a party in the proceeding, and who meets criteria set out in the NRC's regulations. Background information regarding the hearing process was provided by NRC staff to members of the public during an April 2009 meeting in Homestead."

Turkey needs a huge amount of energy investment to sustain its fast growing economy. Where this money come from is a big question. But the rising oil prices and dependency on foreign natural gas and oil has inflated the import numbers. In 2006, Turkey has paid 26 billion USDs for imported energy sources. In 2007, this number is expected to increase at least %5, around 1 billion USD. So with basic math, one can easily deduct that in 5 years time, this money adds up to 5 billion dollars, which is more than enough to finance the cost of a 4500 MWs of nuclear plant construction. But the finance side of the problem is not that easy…

The top nuclear operator at Turkey Point resigned after a huge outage because he felt his bosses were demanding an unsafe restart. At 1:09 one afternoon last year, 90 metal rods slid into the cores of the two nuclear reactors at Turkey Point, part of an automatic shutdown that had been triggered by a utility worker's blunder moments earlier at a substation miles away. A million customers lost power. Florida Power & Light executives ordered that the reactors be back online within 12 hours, according to court documents. The plant's top nuclear operator, David Hoffman, said that would be dangerous. When FPL executives disagreed with him, he walked out at 8 p.m., refusing to participate in actions he felt were unsafe.

Turkey's plans to buy missile systems from the US should not be interpreted as a willingness to host missile defence shield components on its territory, Turkish daily Today's Zaman said on September 21. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has denied media reports that Turkey is buying missile interceptors against a threat posed by Iran, the daily said. Iran was the main target of the missile defence shield initiative of former US president George W Bush, to be deployed in Poland and the Czech Republic, scrapped by Barack Obama on September 17. Having rebuffed the Bush administration on the plans to put missiles on its soil, Turkey re-inforced its stance that it would host Nato equipment, but not join US initiatives outside the alliance's framework. With reports in the US saying that the department of defence notified congre

"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has called a special meeting next week to discuss three apparent violations involving a spent fuel pool at Turkey Point - a critical issue as the long-held plans for storing waste in Nevada have completely collapsed. Technically, the meeting in Atlanta on Wednesday involves the degradation of "a neutron-absorbing material called Boraflex in the Unit 3 spent fuel pool." Used nuclear fuel has been building up at Turkey Point for the 35 years of its operation. The degradation involves systems intended to cram more spent fuel into the pools, according to Lawrence King, a former NRC inspector. More than two million pounds of waste now sit at the South Miami-Dade site in pools of water - although Florida Power & Light Co. spokesman Michael Waldron says it's more accurate to think of the spent rods as occupying a 16-foot cube if bunched together."

The possible cancellation of a nuclear power plant tender in Turkey has disappointed Russians. 'It is very disappointing because we expected progress after the official visits,' economist Natalia Ulchenko tells the Daily News News that Turkey is going to cancel the tender won by a Russian-led consortium to build a nuclear power plant has disappointed Russians. Energy Minister Taner Yıldız signaled the cancellation of the nuclear power plant tender Monday. "We will not send the report related to the nuclear plant project to the Cabinet," Yıldız told reporters. "It is very disappointing for us because we expected progress in regard to energy cooperation between the two countries after the official visits," said Natalia Ulchenko, a professor of economics and the head of the Turkish research department at the Oriental Studies Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The possible cancellation of a nuclear power plant tender in Turkey has disappointed Russians. 'It is very disappointing because we expected progress after the official visits,' economist Natalia Ulchenko tells the Daily News News that Turkey is going to cancel the tender won by a Russian-led consortium to build a nuclear power plant has disappointed Russians. Energy Minister Taner Yıldız signaled the cancellation of the nuclear power plant tender Monday. "We will not send the report related to the nuclear plant project to the Cabinet," Yıldız told reporters. "It is very disappointing for us because we expected progress in regard to energy cooperation between the two countries after the official visits," said Natalia Ulchenko, a professor of economics and the head of the Turkish research department at the Oriental Studies Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Florida Power and Light is looking to uprate three of its nuclear plants: St. Lucie, Turkey Point and Point Beach. FP&L Director of Nuclear Fuel Services Claude Villard told the Platts Nuclear Fuel Strategies conference in Arlington, Virginia September 15 that the uprating of its nuclear plants would result in a 10% increase in demand for uranium. He said Turkey Point and St. Lucie are each looking at boosting their generating capacity by 200 MW, with an uprated St. Lucie-1 scheduled to go online in fall 2011 and unit 2 in spring 2012. Turkey Point's uprated unit 3 is slated to begin generating at its increased capacity in spring 2012 and unit 4 in fall 2012. Point Beach is looking to increase capacity by 180 MW.

A group of activists is raising concerns over two new reactors at Turkey Point while Florida Power & Light assures residents that the nuclear plant is safe. Over the past year, a chorus of concern about Florida Power & Light's push to expand its Turkey Point facility has steadily grown louder.

A group of activists is raising concerns over two new reactors at Turkey Point while Florida Power & Light assures residents that the nuclear plant is safe. Over the past year, a chorus of concern about Florida Power & Light's push to expand its Turkey Point facility has steadily grown louder.

The Florida Public Service Commission on Friday agreed to let the state's two largest utilities collect more than $270 million from ratepayers next year as a down payment to develop new nuclear plants expected to come online in the next decade. The commission will allow FPL Group's (FPL.N) Florida Power & Light Co to recover nearly $62.7 million in costs related to construction of two proposed nuclear reactors, Turkey Point Units 6 and 7, and work to increase output at its existing nuclear units, Turkey Point Units 3 and 4 and St. Lucie Units 1 and 2, the commission said in a release. FPL is the state's largest utility with 4.5 million customers.

The Florida Public Service Commission on Friday agreed to let the state's two largest utilities collect more than $270 million from ratepayers next year as a down payment to develop new nuclear plants expected to come online in the next decade. The commission will allow FPL Group's (FPL.N) Florida Power & Light Co to recover nearly $62.7 million in costs related to construction of two proposed nuclear reactors, Turkey Point Units 6 and 7, and work to increase output at its existing nuclear units, Turkey Point Units 3 and 4 and St. Lucie Units 1 and 2, the commission said in a release. FPL is the state's largest utility with 4.5 million customers.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has made available the public version of a combined license (COL) application for two new reactors at the Turkey Point site near Miami. The applicant, Florida Power & Light (FP&L), submitted the application and associated information June 30. The application, minus proprietary and security-related details, is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/col/turkey-point.html. FP&L's COL application seeks approval to build and operate two AP1000 reactors at the site, approximately 25 miles south of Miami. The AP1000 is a Westinghouse 1,100 MWe pressurized-water reactor design the NRC certified in 2006. Westinghouse submitted an application in May 2007 to amend the certified design. The design certification amendment application (minus proprietary and security-related details) is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/design-cert/amended-ap1000.html.

The agency regulating Florida Power & Light's nuclear reactors gave the facility good marks during its annual review, but declined at a meeting Tuesday to talk about the utility's security practices. Officials from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission hosted a public meeting at Homestead City Hall to discuss their assessment of the Turkey Point nuclear power station east of Homestead. ''FPL operated Turkey Point Units 3 and 4 in a manner that preserved public health and safety,'' Marvin Sykes, branch chief of the division of nuclear projects, told the 40 or so elected officials, activists and residents in attendance.

"Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday that his country does not want Iran or any other nation to have nuclear weapons. Erdogan is among dozens of world leaders in Washington for President Barack Obama's nuclear security summit. He spoke Monday at George Mason University's new Center for Global Islamic Studies, just outside the U.S. capital. Turkey currently holds one of the rotating seats on the U.N. Security Council, and the United States is hoping Turkey will cooperate with efforts to impose sanctions against Iran as punishment for its alleged work toward creating nuclear weapons."

"Agreement may halt UN sanctions against Tehran, although move will do little to slow Iran's nuclear progress A deal brokered by Turkey and Brazil, in which Iran will ship out over a tonne of enriched uranium in return for fuel rods for a nuclear research reactor, could stop new UN sanctions on Tehran, diplomats said yesterday. News of the deal left western capitals scrambling for a coherent and concerted response. It is similar to an agreement they have pushed for during the past six months, yet most observers said it would do little to slow Iran's nuclear progress."

Turkey on Friday scrapped a 2008 tender won by a Russian-led consortium to build the country's first nuclear power plant -- a process that had been under threat of being invalidated by a court decision. In a brief statement, the state-run electricity wholesaler TETAS said its board of directors decided "unanimously" to cancel the tender, citing an article in the bid specification that gave it the authority to scrap the process without any liability. A consortium led by Atomstroyexport, Russia's state nuclear giant, had been the only bidder in the tender to build four nuclear reactors with a total capacity of 4,800-megawatts at Akkuyu, in the Mediterranean province of Mersin. TETAS's decision comes ten days after a top administrative court suspended parts of the regulation governing the tender before moving on to review a demand by a civil society of engineers to cancel the process.

Turkey on Friday scrapped a 2008 tender won by a Russian-led consortium to build the country's first nuclear power plant -- a process that had been under threat of being invalidated by a court decision. In a brief statement, the state-run electricity wholesaler TETAS said its board of directors decided "unanimously" to cancel the tender, citing an article in the bid specification that gave it the authority to scrap the process without any liability. A consortium led by Atomstroyexport, Russia's state nuclear giant, had been the only bidder in the tender to build four nuclear reactors with a total capacity of 4,800-megawatts at Akkuyu, in the Mediterranean province of Mersin. TETAS's decision comes ten days after a top administrative court suspended parts of the regulation governing the tender before moving on to review a demand by a civil society of engineers to cancel the process.

"We've talked often before about Turkey's many embarrassing attempts to build a nuclear reactor. Every time the plan falls down, it gets up again - it's had more comebacks than Freddie Krueger. Unable to admit defeat - and in the face of legal challenges, rigged bidding processes, and ludicrous, record-breaking costs - the country's government have resurrected the plan once again and have drawn up an agreement with Russia to build a nuclear reactor in the south of Turkey. The parliament will vote on the agreement this Friday."

The big positive: Nuclear produces huge amounts of power with zero greenhouse gas emissions without using a drop of foreign oil. The two new reactors planned for Turkey Point in South Miami-Dade are the equivalent of roughly 90 square miles of solar panels. The big negative: More than two million pounds of high-density radioactive waste sit right now at Turkey Point. It's growing by 40 tons each year, and there's no place to send it.