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ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT: |
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Obama: USA will lead world on climate change |
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27 January 2009 |
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President Barack Obama has vowed that the USA will lead the world in
the battle against climate change, and has signed orders
aimed at reducing the country's dependence on imported
oil and placing a "new energy economy" at the heart of
US energy policy. |
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NEW NUCLEAR: |
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Nominations open for new UK plant sites |
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27 January 2009 |
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The UK government has given the nuclear industry two months in which
to nominate sites for the first wave of new nuclear
power plants. The call for nominations came as the
criteria were published against which potential sites
will be assessed. |
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Sellafield for new nuclear build? |
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23 January 2009 |
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Sites will be nominated next week as being among the best for new
nuclear power plants in the UK. Sellafield will be among
them named, linking it for the first time to new-build
possibilities. |
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Ceremony marks Novovoronezh II progress |
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22 January 2009 |
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Celebrations have been held to mark the completion of the base plate
for the first unit at Russia's Novovoronezh phase II
nuclear power plant, as constructors prepare to pour
concrete for the second unit. |
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WASTE & RECYCLING: |
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Proposed OPG repository documents published |
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27 January 2009 |
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Two documents related to Ontario Power Generation's (OPG's) proposed
Deep Geologic Repository (DRG) at its Bruce site in
Kincardine, Ontario, have been published. |
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NUCLEAR POLICIES: |
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US
Supreme Court overturns SWU trade ruling |
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27 January 2009 |
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The US Supreme Court has reopened the door for antidumping action
against imports of low enriched uranium (LEU) by
reversing a ruling classing enrichment as a 'service'
rather than 'goods'. |
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Kazakhstan and India sign nuclear cooperation accord |
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26 January 2009 |
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Kazakhstan will provide India with much-needed uranium to fuel its
nuclear power plants under an agreement on cooperation
in civil nuclear energy signed by the two countries. |
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Nuclear roadmap to steer away from gas |
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22 January 2009 |
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Calls for a "roadmap for nuclear investments" in Europe have come in
the wake of the gas crisis, while top politicians are
left aghast at the behaviour of some of the actors in
the Gas War. |
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REGULATION & SAFETY: |
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Power plant to boost cobalt isotope
supplies |
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21 January 2009 |
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China has started production of cobalt-60 using its Candu power
reactors. The new source of the isotope should cover 80%
of the country's needs. |
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CORPORATE: |
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Siemens confirms sale of Areva NP stake |
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27 January 2009 |
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Siemens is to sell its 34% stake in Areva NP in order to improve its
business options within the nuclear energy industry. The
Areva group is to pick up the shares to hold the entire
company. |
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Replacement vessel lids for Beznau reactors |
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26 January 2009 |
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Swiss utility Nordostschweizerische Kraftwerk (NOK) plans to replace
the lids of the reactor pressure vessels at the two-unit
Beznau nuclear power plant as part of a programme to
prolong the plant's operating life. |
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Angra 1 steam generator replacement starts |
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23 January 2009 |
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The Angra 1 nuclear power reactor in Brazil will tomorrow begin a
maintenance outage lasting some four months, during
which time the unit will be refuelled and have its steam
generators replaced. |
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Second nuclear deal for Larsen & Toubro |
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22 January 2009 |
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Indian nuclear component maker Larsen & Toubro has celebrated a
second link-up with a Western firm in as many weeks. The
company will team with Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd under
a new memorandum. |
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Canadian and South African contracts for
L-3 MAPPS |
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21 January 2009 |
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L-3 MAPPS - a Canadian subsidiary of New York-based L-3
Communications - has been awarded contracts to replace
the computer system at a nuclear power plant in Canada
and to upgrade the simulator at a South African plant. |
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EXPLORATION & NUCLEAR FUEL: |
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Malawi uranium project nears start-up |
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22 January 2009 |
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Australia's Paladin Energy is on schedule to begin commissioning of
its Kayelekera uranium project in Malawi in January,
with production ramp-up scheduled later within the first
quarter of 2009. The company has signed a second sales
contract for uranium from the mine. |
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INDUSTRY TALK: |
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BE set to restart Hartlepool unit 1 |
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26 January 2009 |
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British Energy announced that its Hartlepool unit 1
Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor (AGR) has been given
regulatory approval to return to service, having been
idle for some 16 months while a problem with its boiling
closure unit was rectified. |
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Bad weather at Blayais |
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26 January 2009 |
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A
site emergency was declared for a few hours during
strong winds at the Blayais nuclear power plant near
Bordeaux in France. Wind speeds were in excess of levels
required to put the plan into action and the plant's
owner-operator Electricite de France informed the
Nuclear Safety Authority of the situation. |
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Tomari 3 start-up set for October |
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23 January 2009 |
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A new
reactor will start up at Japan's Tomari power plant in
October this year. The unit will be an 3-loop
Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) built by Mitsubishi
Heavy Industries (MHI) for plant owner Hokkaido Electric
Power Company. |
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British nuclear workers scale new heights |
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23 January 2009 |
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[Lancashire Evening Post, 23 January] Workers from
the UK's National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL), based at
Springfields, Preston, have between them climbed a
combined height higher than Mount Everest in a single
day. The NNL workers were taking part in a sponsored
climb in aid of charity. Eleven teams contributed. |
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Belarus and Russia plan for cooperation |
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22 January 2009 |
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[RIA Novosti, Reuters; 21 January] Belarus and
Russia's Rosatom have agreed to complete an
inter-governmental agreement on cooperation which could
directly lead to a deal to construct the country's first
nuclear power plant. |
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Chu confirmed as US Energy Secretary |
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21 January 2009 |
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Hours
after Barack Obama was sworn in as President of the USA,
the Senate voted to confirm Steven Chu as the new US
Energy Secretary. Chu was selected by Obama on 15
December to be the next secretary of the Department of
Energy. |