In his opinion piece 'The Burden of Nuclear Waste' this week, philosopher Behnam Taebi of the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands argues that moving the nuclear industry into the direction of breeder reactors and reprocessing could significantly reduce the waste burden. He believes that the risks of nuclear proliferation from such technology could be controlled.

It should be noted that Taebi's opinion is highly controversial even within the nuclear industry. Take the 2003 report by MIT, 'The Future of Nuclear Power', which studied policies to enable a significant growth of nuclear power plants. On breeder technology and reprocessing (also called Generation IV) MIT concluded that it would make nuclear energy even more dangerous and prone to nuclear accidents, that it would increase the risks of the illegal spread of nuclear weapons materials and that there is no clear advantage regarding waste production. On top of that, the costs would escalate, making it even more expensive than the price tag of at least 7bn USD for planned reactors in the US.  MIT advised the US – in order to re-launch nuclear power – to shelf Generation IV and stick to known reactor designs which would still require state subsidies.

Greenpeace disagrees. We should really stop spending taxpayers money on nuclear power altogether. Some renewable energy sources such as wind energy are already cheaper than new reactors, while they do not generate radioactive waste, they create more jobs and can not cause a radioactive cloud to cover the earth, as happened nearly 25years ago in Chernobyl, Ukraine. These renewable technologies are readily available, in contrast to Generation IV nuclear reactors which still need several technological breakthroughs. Renewables are secure, affordable, reliable, and ready to do the job.

So far, there is no solution for nuclear power’s deadly waste – it will be a burden for thousands of generations to come. That is where some nuclear proponents see a role for the Generation IV concept. It is more a political than a technological concept. By painting the prospects of an imaginary magic solution for nuclear waste and safety risks, the nuclear industry argues that we continue generating more radioactive waste –“no worries guys, we'll fix it”. The reality is less rosy, and this has been reflected in the US policy for the last four decades. In 1976, President Gerald Ford banned civil reprocessing because of proliferation concerns. By the time President Ronald Reagan lifted the strict ban on reprocessing, it was too uneconomical to materialise. Since then, nothing has really changed.

Meanwhile, further investments in reprocessing and breeder technology drag us deeper into a global proliferation crisis. France has historically been proud of its sophisticated breeder technology, allowing the production of 'super-grade' plutonium to develop smaller, precise and highly reliable nuclear bombs. No wonder that China was keen to conclude a deal with the French nuclear giant AREVA, including collaboration on the development of breeder technology. This 'vertical' proliferation, i.e. the further development of even more sophisticated weapons by the five declared nuclear weapons' states, cannot be isolated from the 'horizontal' proliferation: countries like India, Pakistan or possibly North-Korea and Iran obtaining nuclear weapons technology. Many experts regard the nuclear cooperation agreement between the US and India, which includes collaboration on reprocessing technologies, as the beginning of the end of the nuclear non-proliferation regime.

The Obama administration should have a good look at President Ford’s non-proliferation policy and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act the resulted from that in 1978 under President Carter. Although far from perfect, this legislation at least banned so-called civil reprocessing and has been an important counterweight against unscrupulous countries such a France, who keep handing over their sensitive weapons-usable technology to basically anyone with money.

(This post is by Jan van de Putte, nuclear campaigner for Greenpeace International)

Pravda: Chernobyl Effects Could Last for Centuries
‘Nearly 25 years after the worst nuclear accident in history, new scientific findings suggest that the effects of the explosion at Chernobyl have been underestimated. Experts last month published a series of studies indicating that, contrary to previous findings, populations of animals decreased in the exclusion zone surrounding the site of the former nuclear power plant, and that the effects of radioactive contamination after the outbreak had been "overwhelming." More and more pigs with high levels of cesium are found at the scene. This information was disclosed months after doctors detected increased rates of cancer in Ukraine and Belarus, mutations and diseases of the blood, which they believe are related to Chernobyl. Meanwhile, an American investigation published in April found an increase in birth defects, apparently due to sustained exposure to low level doses of radiation. For activists against nuclear power, these studies demonstrate that the inhabitants of the affected area will suffer devastating consequences for decades, perhaps centuries. "This is a problem that will not go away in few years. It will be there for centuries," said Rianne Teule, from the environmental organization, Greenpeace.’

Nuclear N-Former: India finalizes Indo-US deal
‘India’s Parliament approved a final, critical piece of a long-delayed landmark civil nuclear agreement on Monday, a pact regarded as a cornerstone of a Bush-era effort to transform the relationship between the United States and the world’s largest democracy. But even as supporters praised a historic victory, the end result is probably not what the United States had hoped for, nor does it seem likely to signal a new era in relations between the United States and India. Indeed, some analysts say the compromises needed to move Monday’s legislation through India’s contentious Parliament could undermine the practical impact of a political, diplomatic and economic accord that took years to negotiate. With President Obama scheduled to make his first visit to India in early November, the governments in both countries are trying to strengthen a relationship sometimes described as a natural and strategic alliance of democracies. But drawing closer has proved complicated as differences remain on issues like trade and climate change as well as how to effectively deal with Pakistan. The nuclear issue, putatively about India’s future, has sparked weeks of bitter political debate in New Delhi, tapped into Indian nationalism and public suspicion of foreign corporate interests while also dredging up a very different chapter in the countries’ relations: the 1984 Union Carbide industrial disaster at Bhopal, which killed thousands. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, accused of toadying to America, appeared before the lower house of Parliament to deny that his allegiance was anywhere but with India.’
 
Eurasia.net: New Nuke Plant in Armenia Draws Criticism from Environmentalists
‘Armenian leaders are ecstatic that Russia is getting involved in the construction of a new nuclear power plant at Metsamor. Environmentalists and technical experts are far less enthused, saying that a new Metsamor unit poses considerable risks. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev signed bilateral agreements on August 20 to enable Moscow’s participation in the construction of a new unit at the Metsamor atomic power station. Under the agreement, Russia could contribute about 20 percent of the financing for the unit’s construction, currently projected at between $5 billion and $7.2 billion. Work is slated to begin in 2012, although questions remain about how Armenia will come up with the bulk of the money to build the facility. Construction of the new unit, capable of producing 1,060 Megawatts of power annually, will help Armenia comply with the international community’s wishes to shut down the VVER reactors. Currently, Metsamor produces about 40 percent of the power consumed in Armenia. Environmentalists say that the area’s vulnerability to earthquakes, makes operating a nuclear plant at Metsamor a high-risk proposition, regardless of the new reactor’s design. "It's a crime to build a new nuclear power station in Metsamor," Hakob Sanasaryan, president of the Greens Union of Armenia, told EurasiaNet.org. "A nuclear power station cannot be constructed near water and agricultural systems, in seismic zones, in densely populated areas.’

French Nuclear Watchdog Says EDF Has Problems With Flamanville EPR Liner
‘Electricite de France SA, Europe’s biggest power producer, experienced renewed problems with welding quality at the EPR nuclear reactor being built in Normandy, according France’s nuclear safety agency. Faults in welds of the containment liner of the Flamanville EPR, the utility’s first in France, were found during an inspection in July, the Autorite de Surete Nucleaire said in an Aug. 27 report on its website. EDF officials weren’t immediately available for a comment. "Welding difficulties caused by the ergonomics of the welder’s post’ were the cause of similar problems at the building site in 2008 and 2009 and treatment by EDF ‘was not performed correctly,’ according to the report. The agency also said EDF was slow in detecting ‘inferior weld quality.’ EDF’s EPR, which was designed by Areva SA, is considered key to the utility’s ability to export nuclear technology to other countries. Earlier this month, EDF was asked for modifications of the control platform on the reactor, which is delayed and will cost more than expected.  EDF is developing a similar model in Taishan, China, and plans more in Italy, the U.K. and U.S. The state-controlled operator of France’s 58 nuclear reactors in July said the Normandy reactor will cost 5 billion euros to develop, about 50 percent more than initially estimated, and will be delayed by about two years to 2014.’

Gabon's Dark Side of Dams and Mines
‘An independent study released this month by Gabonese NGO, Brainforest, documents the devastation caused by uranium and manganese mines in southeast Gabon. The study, Impacts of mining on the local populations and the environment in Haut-Ogooué, also describes the government’s plan to build the Grand Poubara hydropower dam to help expand mining and mineral processing. Toxic pollution of the rivers and soil, disappearance of fish, and lack of public information are amongst Brainforest’s main concerns. The report hopes to bring attention to the government's role in enabling profits at the cost of local people. Since 1961, French company Areva has operated four uranium mines at Mounana. Radioactive residues from the mines have contaminated the area’s waterways and soils. During the mine’s first 15 years, radioactive waste was poured directly into the river. The radioactive contamination is the source of the main environmental and medical problems for nearby villagers. In nearby Moanda, manganese mining is conducted by a subsidiary of French company, Eramet.  After the manganese is mined, it is processed at the Industrial Complex of Moanda (CIM) and taken by train to the port of Owendo. Eramet would like to expand production through development of the 200 million Euros Metallurgical Complex of Moanda (CM). The complex would depend on electric power from the Poubara dams.’

Deccan Herald: Safety fears raised at French reactor
‘Anti-nuclear activists are seeking to halt construction of France’s latest-generation nuclear power plant at Flamanville, on the Normandy coast, arguing that changes introduced to solve problems with the reactor’s fuel pellet cladding have invalidated the plant’s original building permit. Didier Anger, head of the anti-nuclear action committee Crilan, and a former member of the European parliament, said the bid to block, or at least delay, construction of the EPR reactor had been made in a letter from the committee to the French nuclear safety authority, the ASN. Areva, the state-controlled French nuclear engineering company, is already battling construction delays and cost overruns at both Flamanville and Olkiluoto, in Finland, where it is building the first of its EPR plants. EPR originally stood for European Pressurised Reactor, a name that Areva subsequently changed to Evolutionary Power Reactor when it sought US certification. Areva has said that it would book a 400 million euros, or $516 million, first-half charge against cost overruns on the Olkiluoto project, bringing its total write-downs on the facility to 2.7 billion euros-- close to the 3 billion euros it estimated in 2005 as the cost of the entire job. The plant was originally due to go online up last year but is now expected to be operational in 2013.’

Christian Science Monitor: Iran wants role, after all, as nuclear fuel maker for Bushehr reactor
‘Iran has proposed to share fuel production with Russia for its Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant – a move bound to raise even more concerns about Tehran's nuclear ambitions. The power plant, which began receiving fuel Saturday and is set to commence producing power next month, is supposed to be operated under an agreement whereby Moscow supplies the uranium fuel for the plant and takes back all of the plant’s spent fuel for reprocessing in Russia. Bushehr’s completion was delayed for years, in part because of international qualms over how the plant’s fuel would be managed. International powers including the US dropped their opposition after Russia assured the international community that it would retain control of the fuel. Iran’s proposal to create a consortium with Russia to jointly manage Bushehr’s fuel cycle is one more development that will almost certainly put Iran’s nuclear program more sharply in the sights of the US Congress. Some lawmakers have already expressed disquiet over the Obama administration’s quiet tolerance of Russia’s fueling of the Bushehr reactor.’

The Telegraph: Cloud over Haripur plant
‘New Delhi, Aug. 26: Haripur, a probable site for a nuclear power plant, may have fallen off Russia’s radar because of protests against the project by farmers and fisher folk with Trinamul Congress support. “Our agreement with the Russians provided for two nuclear power plants being set up by them. While the site for one at Kudankulam (in Tamil Nadu) was fixed, the Russians have to indicate the other site,” Union minister for science and technology Prithviraj Chavan said today. The Centre, supposedly at the prodding of the Bengal government, had been trying to get the Russians into selecting Haripur as the second site for a 1,000MW plant. But a Planning Commission source said the Russian firm Rosatom was not keen to set up the plant in Haripur, partly because of the agitation by fishermen and farmers against the proposed plant. “The Russians will look at other coastal sites for the nuclear power plant,” the source in the plan panel said. In March this year, police in Bengal said arrested Maoist leader Telugu Deepak had confessed that his mission was to build a rebel base at Haripur in East Midnapore.’

The Jordan Times: Jordan Kingdom, Japan nearing nuclear deal
'AMMAN - Jordan and Japan are set to sign a nuclear cooperation agreement (NCA) “very soon”, a senior government official said. According to Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Jafar Hassan, the two sides are in close negotiations and expect to sign an NCA “within weeks”. “We hope to sign an agreement with Japan in less than two months,” Hassan told The Jordan Times late Wednesday, highlighting the broad international support enjoyed by the Kingdom’s peaceful nuclear energy programme. The deal paves the way for Japanese companies to sell nuclear technology to the Kingdom and encourages closer exchange of expertise in the field. Japan currently generates one-third of its electricity from nuclear power, with 55 reactors producing over 49,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity. Japanese firm Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is part of a joint consortium with AREVA ATMEA1 technology in the running to construct the Kingdom’s first nuclear power plant. The NCA is a prerequisite for their bid to move forward. Japan and France have maintained that the consortium’s pressurised water reactor technology fits the Kingdom’s needs as it is less water intensive than other Generation III reactor models.'

Voice of America: India's Lower House Passes Foreign Nuclear Power Plants Bill
‘India's lower house of parliament has passed a controversial bill which will pave the way for foreign companies to build nuclear power plants in India. The legislation is crucial for American companies wanting to engage in civil nuclear commerce in India. The lower house of parliament passed the Civil Nuclear Liability Bill Wednesday after the government made several changes to win the support of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party. The amended bill triples the cap on compensation in the event of a nuclear accident to $322 million. It also extends provisions for liability claims to suppliers of nuclear reactors. The bill had been stalled for months by opposition parties and critics who demanded stricter liability for companies selling nuclear reactors if a mishap occurred. India's civil nuclear market opened up in 2008, when a landmark atomic energy pact with the United States led to the lifting of sanctions imposed for conducting nuclear tests. Prime Minister Singh says the bill is the last step in ending the country's nuclear isolation.’

Huntington News: Come and Get It --- Free Plutonium Sludge to Fertilize Your Organic Garden
‘Huntington, WV (HNN) - Back in 1999 Joe Harding told the Washington Post, “Everything was so safe, so riskless [at the Paducah enriched uranium gaseous diffusion plant] … We know the truth, I can feel it in my body.” Harding is no longer alive; he’s one of the workers who died of cancer. At the height of the Cold War in 1952, 1,800 men and women labored in hot, stadium sized buildings turning trainloads of dusty uranium powder into material for bombs, Joby Warrick wrote on August 8, 1999. However, plant management claimed that workers were safe due to an “insignificant amount of plutonium” processed at the Kentucky site. The workers were not monitored. From 1953 to 1976, the Post said , 103,000 metric tons of used uranium were sent to Paducah arriving in freight cars as fine black powder. Left from the plutonium –making process, “fission byproducts like technetium-99 and heavy metals known as "transuranics": neptunium and plutonium (which according the then Institute for Energy and Environmental Research is 100,000 times more radioactive per gram than uranium.) Workers were told respiratory protection was optional, they almost jokingly “salted” their bread in the cafeteria with green uranium dust, and when they got out of bed in the morning their linens would glow green.’

The Guardian: UK's nuclear reactor programme falls behind schedule
‘The schedule for the UK's nuclear reactor building programme has slipped behind already, the safety regulator has admitted, reinforcing concerns that the first reactor will not be built on time. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said it would probably have to issue an "interim" decision on the safety of the two new proposed reactor designs next June, the deadline for its assessment programme. The regulator expects significant chunks of extra work will remain before it can finally approve or reject the designs, but did not say how long this would take. Kevin Allars, director of the assessment programme at the HSE, said that companies could continue planning and carry out preparatory construction on proposed nuclear sites while they waited for a final decision. But he insisted that construction of a reactor could not start without its consent. Allars promised there would be no repeat of the chaotic construction in Finland of what was supposed to be Europe's first new reactor in decades. The Areva plant is more than three years behind schedule and more than €2bn (£1.6bn) over budget, with the Finnish regulator trying to approve each component of the design while it is being built. EDF has promised that the UK's first reactor will be operational in 2018, although it had originally said it would be running by the end of 2017.’

The Irish Times: Smuggled uranium seized in Moldova
‘THREE PEOPLE have been arrested in Moldova for trying to sell 1.8kg of smuggled uranium, in the latest case to raise questions about nuclear security in the former Soviet Union. Moldovan police say two of those arrested are former interior ministry officials, and that they are now searching for four more members of the group, which sought to sell the uranium-238 abroad for €9,000,000. It is not clear if the gang had found buyers for the uranium, which was stored without special equipment in the garage of one of the suspects, some of whom have previous convictions in Moldova, Russia and Romania for possessing radioactive material. “Seven members of the criminal group came under suspicion of police in the middle of June when they started to look for ways of selling the radioactive material,” said Chiril Motpan, a spokesman for Moldova’s interior ministry. A US laboratory confirmed that the radioactive material discovered was uranium-238, which must be enriched before it can be used in a nuclear power plant or weapon.’

AFP: Hezbollah urges power-starved Lebanon to build nuclear plant
‘BEIRUT — Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday called on Lebanon to consider building a nuclear power plant in the energy-starved nation. "I call on the Lebanese government to seriously consider ... building a nuclear power plant for the peaceful purpose of generating electricity, which would be more cost-efficient than the plan the government has endorsed," Nasrallah said in a speech broadcast via video link. "Iran's Bushehr nuclear facility, which will provide a large part of Iran's electricity needs, cost much less than the (Lebanese) state's reform plan," Nasrallah said in a speech to mark an iftar, the evening meal that breaks the dawn-to-dusk Ramadan fast. "We may even develop a nuclear plant that meets all of Lebanon's power needs and even sell power to Syria, Cyprus, Turkey, Jordan and other countries."’

IDSA: Towards Indo-Japan nuclear agreement: Prospects and Challenges
‘Tetsuya Okada, the Japanese Foreign Minister, confirmed during a press interaction in New Delhi that Japan and India are seriously engaged in trying to forge a nuclear cooperation agreement. Okada stated that “the decision to launch the negotiation for the nuclear cooperation agreement was probably one of the toughest decisions that I had to make as Foreign Minister.”1 But he did not set any time line as to when the two sides would be able to conclude negotiations on the issue. Japan’s slow and steady approach in this regard suggests that the nuclear allergic nation has still to do major home work to clear obstacles in reaching an accord. It may find it difficult to generate a consensus at home and convince its anti-nuclear lobby which is against extending nuclear cooperation to non-NPT signatory counties including India. Japan took almost five years to move from commitment to negotiation stage. It had made a commitment to India to enhance civil nuclear energy cooperation “through constructive approaches under appropriate IAEA safeguards”2 in a Joint statement signed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2006. However, the recent push for a nuclear agreement with India has been driven by Japan’s entrepreneurial needs and the Kan administration’s economic growth strategy (which includes increasing export of infrastructure technology including nuclear technology). As part of this growth strategy the Japanese government intends to create an overseas infrastructure market worth US $230 billion. The Japanese government under the supervision of Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has set up the International Atomic Energy Development Company with an aim to form a centralized platform to increase Japan’s competitiveness in winning contracts for nuclear power projects overseas. The newly formed enterprise is eyeing the nuclear energy potentials of UAE, Jordan and India.’

Viet Nam News: French advice sought on nuclear power
PARIS — A delegation from the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade, led by Deputy Minister Do Huu Hao, ended a visit to France on Saturday after discussions on nuclear power generation and the nation's successes in using energy sources more effectively. At a working session with Christian De Gromard, head of the French Development Agency's energy projects, the two sides reviewed the agency's operations and projects on energy saving, while also discussing plans to improve energy use in Viet Nam. The French Development Agency pledged to support Viet Nam's efforts to save energy and use experiences the agency has drawn from its projects in Indonesia. Deputy Minister Hao introduced Viet Nam's newly-approved law on energy saving to French Development Agency officials and urged the agency to assist the country in drafting practical sub-law documents. During the trip, the Vietnamese delegation also held discussions with Othman Salhi, Vice President for Asia of the AREVA group – a leading provider of solutions for carbon-free power generation. Salhi discussed the AREVA group and its experiences in designing, building and operating nuclear power reactors as well as its capacity in providing nuclear fuel rods, treating and preserving nuclear waste and producing uranium. He said AREVA wanted to co-operate with Viet Nam in developing nuclear power.’

The Arabs and the Race to Nuclear Hell
‘ISTANBUL (IDN) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon sounds rather optimistic -- or has chosen to do so: “Recently, we have seen signs of progress on nuclear non-proliferation talks,” he said some two weeks ahead of announcing on August. 3 that ministerial-level discussions on eliminating the world’s nuclear weapons will take place in New York in September. But signals from both the Arab region and the U.S. induce a dramatically different conclusion. In fact, indications from the Middle East point to an ongoing nuclear race in the region -- the world's most conflictive and the only one not to have a nuclear free zone treaty. Indeed, Latin America and the Caribbean is nuclear free, as is Africa, while sub-regional treaties have also been sealed among Central Asian countries and South-eastern Asian states. The Middle East is therefore a striking exception in a world willing to head for eliminating atomic weapons, at least according to big nuclear powers' political statements. In fact, Jordan and Sudan have openly joined other 10 Arab countries willing to exercise their legitimate right to produce nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. These are: Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, and United Arab Emirates. Together these12 countries represent over 50 percent of the 22 members of the League of Arab States, and an even higher percentage (over two-thirds) considering that at least five of them -- Somalia, Yemen, Comoros Islands, Djibouti and Mauritania -- appear to be far away from caressing nuclear dreams for now.’

Russian atomic agency looks to diversify
‘Rosatom plans to use its proposed majority stake in Canada’s Uranium One as the starting point for global diversification, according to Sergei Kiriyenko, the Russian atomic agency’s chief executive. “The acquisition of Uranium One is not the end of the line for us in developing our uranium strategy”, Mr Kiriyenko told the Financial Times on Tuesday. “We want to establish a growth platform as a basis for being able to develop our further progress for integration, co-operation, and mergers and acquisitions in other markets” Mr Kiriyenko was in Canada to drum up support for a deal under which Rosatom’s mining arm, known as ARMZ, will pay $610m to raise its interest in Uranium One from 17 per cent to 51 per cent. The Vancouver-based company will also gain a roughly 50 per cent stake in two uranium mines in southern Kazakhstan. Uranium One’s shareholders are to vote on the deal on August 31. While Uranium One will be the starting point for Rosatom’s expansion in uranium extraction, the group is also seeking opportunities in other parts of its business, including closer co-operation with the US, its former nuclear protagonist.’

Protestors in Russia demonstrate against nuclear waste from Germany
‘Russian opposition party Yabloko has sent several dozen protestors into central Moscow in defiance of a planned nuclear waste dumping arriving from Germany. Arriving today, the protestors have begun to vocalise a growing discontentment with the approval of the transfer of the toxic waste. Banners and signs have been unrolled to demonstrate their sentiments. Slogans included “Nuclear Waste? No Thanks!”. The majority of the protests are taking place outside of the Germany embassy located near the centre of the city. In a scheduled transport arriving from Germany a total of 951 nuclear fuel rods are designated to arrive for processing in Russia. According to the state government, the fuel rods will be processed upon arrival from east Germany. According to the Yabloko party head Sergey Mitrokhin, the waste will be sent over sometime in 2011 and be stored at a closed off property in the Ural mountains. At present the waste is in a temporary holding facility in Germany.’

The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) has published a document called ‘Myths & Facts About Nuclear Energy’. The NEI – ‘the policy organization of the nuclear energy and technologies industry and participates in both the national and global policy-making process’ – describes the document as a collection of ‘Synopses of Common Myths About Nuclear Energy and Corresponding Facts That Refute Them’.

In this series of posts we're presenting some Corresponding Facts that Refute the NEI's Corresponding Facts.

The ‘Myth’: Nuclear energy is ‘dirty.’

NEI’s ‘Fact’: Nuclear energy is one of the cleanest energy sources in America. In 2009, the nation’s 104 nuclear plants produced 70 percent of the low-carbon electricity generated in the United States. This avoided the emission of 644 million tons of CO2, the equivalent of taking 125 million cars off the road. A University of Wisconsin study found that nuclear energy’s life-cycle emissions (including construction and all aspects of plant operation) are less than hydro, solar and biomass and on par with wind and geothermal, all of which are considered “clean” energy supplies.

Here we have some classic industry spin. When it comes to nuclear power, the industry wants you to think of electricity generation in isolation. It wants you to focus on ‘low-carbon’ electricity and not think about the environmental catastrophes caused by uranium mining and nuclear waste. Uranium mining isn’t even mentioned in the NEI document.

And yet the production of nuclear fuel is a hugely intensive process. Uranium must be mined, milled, converted, enriched, converted again and then manufactured into fuel. You’ll notice the NEI’s ‘fact’ doesn’t mention the carbon footprint of all steps in the nuclear chain prior to electricity generation. Fossil fuels have to be used and that means CO2 emissions.

Not only that, there is not a uranium mine in the world that has not blighted the environment and the lives of the people living close by. Look at Caetite in Brazil, Kakadu in Australia, Wollaston Lake in Canada [], Akokan and Arlit in Niger, and the Najavo people in the US, to name just a few. Does that legacy of contamination make you think nuclear power is clean? Uranium mining is the industry’s dirty little secret.

We’ll talk about nuclear waste in a later post.

(For more information read Greenpeace’s briefings ‘Nuclear Power: a dangerous waste of time’  and ‘Left in the dust: AREVA’s radioactive legacy in the desert towns of Niger’. See also Nuclear Myths and Facts #1: No new nuclear plants have been built in the past 30 years and Nuclear Myths and Facts #2: New nuclear plants are too expensive to build.)

Haaretz: Sudan plans to build nuclear reactor
‘Sudan is planning to build a nuclear reactor and its first nuclear power plant for peaceful electricity purposes by 2020, the state news agency SUNA said. Sudan's economy has suffered under United States sanctions since 1997 and from decades of warfare, but it has managed to hike oil production to 470,000 barrels per day, boosting growth. It has also built dams along the Blue and White Niles, which merge in Sudan, to generate power. But large swathes of the country remain without regular electricity. SUNA quoted Mohamed Ahmed Hassan el-Tayeb, director-general of the Sudanese Atomic Energy Agency, as saying the government had begun to plan in early 2010 to develop nuclear energy. "The Ministry of Electricity and Dams has already started preparing for the project to produce power from nuclear energy in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and is expected to build the first nuclear power plant in the year 2020 ," SUNA said a report on Saturday. Tayeb said an IAEA delegation would visit Sudan to discuss the project this week. Sudan has been an IAEA member since 1958 and can develop nuclear energy with IAEA assistance. Sudan has close economic and political ties with Iran, which is locked in a dispute with the United States and some of its allies over its nuclear program.’

Reuters: Merkel defends nuclear tax in scrap with industry
‘BERLIN, Aug 22 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday stood by her plan to levy a tax on nuclear power providers, pitting her coalition against industry in a turbulent return to government business after the summer lull. The nuclear tax is one of a number of contentious issues facing Merkel, who has failed to capitalise on the strong recovery in Europe's largest economy to drum up support for her reforms, including budget cuts and an overhaul of the military. Merkel said she was open to a suspension of Germany's compulsory military service, a topic of heated debate within her coalition which has become notorious for its bickering. Merkel hopes the nuclear tax will raise 2.3 billion euros a year as part of a 80 billion euro austerity drive that she is determined to press ahead with, keen to set an example of fiscal discipline for other euro zone countries to follow. "We have proposed a tax," Merkel told ZDF television in her first major interview since returning from her summer break. "So long as there is no other proposal on the table, the tax remains."’
 
Hindustan Times: Nuclear Liability Bill: More trouble likely
‘Among the 18 amendments the Indian government has moved in the Civil Nuclear Liability Bill is a clause providing for a future situation in which the government covers the liability for a private nuclear operator. As is international norm, this would be compensation in case of a nuclear accident, irrespective of who is to blame. The private operator would remain liable for fault-based civil damages. At present, as per the provisions of the Atomic Energy Act no private players can operate nuclear plants in the country. This act will have to be amended before private players can operate a reactor. However, a future scenario in which such a change has been made in the Atomic Energy Act, and there are private players in the field, is envisaged in the amendment sought to Clause 7 (1) of the existing nuclear liability bill. The proposed amendment says: “Provided that the central government may, by notification, assume full liability for a nuclear installation not operated by it if it is of the opinion that it is necessary in public interest.” This means that the government — looking into the future — agrees to handle compensation for victims of a nuclear accident even if the operator is someone other than the government. The amendment has been sought despite the standing committee which examined the original bill having recommended to the government to make the “position clear that there will be no private operator of nuclear installations.” There is already a growing disquiet among opposition parties over the amendment suggested to Clause 17 in the Bill, which dilutes the liability of the supplier of nuclear technology.’

Times of India: Russians eager to quit Haripur
‘NEW DELHI: In what may result in yet another setback for West Bengal owing to protests by Trinamool Congress and Maoists, Russia wants the central government to shift the location of the proposed nuclear power plant at Haripur in East Midnapore district. Government sources confirmed that Russia's state-owned nuclear power equipment and service giant Rosatom has asked the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) to seriously consider allotting it another site. The coastal region of Haripur had been allotted to Rosatom last year because of its low population density and after the state government showed interest in hosting a nuclear power plant. However, with Trinamool Congress and the Maoists vying with each other to tap unrest among the local fishermen community, many in the state believe the situation is another Nandigram in the making. The proposed plant at Haripur had acquired all necessary environmental clearances in January. It was said to have potential for six reactor units. It had been earmarked initially for two 1,000-MW power plants. Construction work was to commence this year. The DAE's site selection committee is closely looking at the developing situation, said an Indian official. The Russians are said to be concerned over the manner in which the resistance, which was initially just about the risk of a nuclear plant leading to an increase in water temperature, has become political.’

The Japan Times: Fukushima reactor receives MOX
‘FUKUSHIMA (Kyodo) Tokyo Electric Power Co. on Saturday loaded a nuclear reactor in Fukushima Prefecture with MOX, a controversial fuel made with reprocessed plutonium and uranium oxides, as it prepares to become the leading power utility's first facility to go pluthermal. The No. 3 reactor at Tepco's Fukushima No. 1 plant will be the nation's third pluthermal facility, but only the first to be refurbished since the plant was built 34 years ago. Tokyo Electric plans to activate the reactor on Sept. 18 and let it start generating electricity on Sept. 23.’

UPI: Egypt to build first nuke power plant
‘CAIRO, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is preparing to announce plans to construct the country's first nuclear power plant, an official said. An unnamed source told the Egyptian newspaper Al Masry-al-Youm Mubarak is likely to name Dabaa as the site for the country's first nuclear power plant Monday. The area located northeast of Cairo has one of the best Mediterranean beaches and a decision to build the nuclear energy plant there has been criticized by local businessmen, the newspaper said. Earlier this month, Electricity and Energy Minister Hassan Younes said plans were under way to start an international bidding process to build the plant.’

Asahi: Can Japan sell nuclear power to the Middle East?
‘The government led by the Democratic Party of Japan has targeted the overseas sale of nuclear power as one of its primary growth strategies. It will create a corporation combining the resources of both public and private sectors in pursuit of this goal. Japan is a major proponent of nuclear energy, on a par with the United States, France, Russia and South Korea. Competition among these countries to win tenders for nuclear power plant construction has developed into a fierce battle for supremacy involving their political leaders. One of the largest arenas for this competition is the Middle East. In this region, how should Japan approach the sale of nuclear power plants to a region in which political instability and proliferation are major causes of concern?’

Nuclear Street: AREVA / Northrop Grumman Large Nuclear Components Manufacturing Facility - Delayed According to the Daily Press, AREVA Newport News says it is delaying the start of its large nuclear components manufacturing facility until 2013. Officials with the joint venture between Northrop Grumman and AREVA say a slower-than-expected process of federal government approval of new nuclear power plants is delaying the operation. The companies broke ground in July 2009 on the facility. The plant near the Northrop Grumman shipyard was scheduled to be operational by 2012.

The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) has published a document called ‘Myths & Facts About Nuclear Energy’. The NEI – ‘the policy organization of the nuclear energy and technologies industry and participates in both the national and global policy-making process’ – describes the document as a collection of ‘Synopses of Common Myths About Nuclear Energy and Corresponding Facts That Refute Them’.

This post is the second in a series offering Corresponding Facts That Examine The Corresponding Facts That Refute Them.

The ‘Myth’: New nuclear plants are too expensive to build.

NEI’s ‘Fact’: While nuclear plants are capital-intensive projects, with construction costs estimated at $6 billion to $10 billion for a large reactor, their production costs are the lowest among major electricity sources, with the exception of hydroelectric power plants. The production cost of nuclear energy, which includes fuel operating and maintenance expenses, averaged 2.03 cents per kilowatt-hour throughout the industry in 2009—compared to 5 cents per kilowatt-hour for natural gas. Nuclear power plants are considered 60-year investments; most other carbon-free energy technologies have a far shorter design life. Recent independent studies by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, U.S. Energy Information Administration and National Research Council found that new nuclear plants are competitive in the current market and will be even more competitive if carbon controls are increased.

How much does a nuclear reactor cost? The truth is nobody really knows. So many uncertainties are involved, the honest and only answer to that question is ‘I’ll tell you when it’s finished’. If new nuclear plants aren’t too expensive to build, why has not one been ordered in the US since 1973?

In 2007, major U.S. Banking institutions including Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch & Morgan Stanley said ‘we believe… higher capital costs and longer construction schedules of nuclear plants as compared to other generation facilities, will make lenders unwilling at present to extend long-term credit to such projects in a form that would be commercially viable’. The World Bank says nuclear power is ‘not the least-cost option’ and has not financed a nuclear reactor project since 1959, the first and only time it has done so.

If new nuclear plants are competitive in the current market, why aren’t we seeing many more being built? If they aren’t too expensive why, according to the Financial Times, did CEO of EdF Energy Vincent de Rivaz say, ‘new nuclear power stations will not be built in Britain unless the government provides financial support for the industry’. In 2009, International financial conglomerate Citigroup released a report saying that the risks involved in building nuclear reactors were ‘Corporate Killers’. It went on to say that there is ‘very little prospect of construction costs falling and every likelihood of them rising further’.

One of the only two new nuclear reactors being built in Europe – Olkiluoto-3 in Finland – last year single-handedly wiped out the profits of the company, AREVA, building it. The UK government’s Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change said the costs of energy production have ‘fallen systematically’ since the 1970s - except for those of nuclear power.

The nuclear industry has had 60 years to get its financial model right. That’s long enough.

(For more information, read Greenpeace’s briefing ‘The Economics of Nuclear Power’. Nuclear Myths and Facts #1 can be found here.)

All Headline News: Iran Approves Bill To Continue Enrichment, Limit Cooperation With IAEA
‘Tehran, Iran (AHN) - In the name of safeguarding Iran’s peaceful nuclear achievements, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has given his nod to a bill, which presses the government to limit its cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog, while committing the uranium enrichment. Lawmakers approved the bill, which obliges the government to produce fuel plates required for the Tehran research reactor, produce fuel and continue the uranium enrichment, last month. It also states that the government must only cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency under the framework of Non-Proliferation Treaty's general regulations, banning any other kind of cooperation with the agency. Iran started enriching uranium to 20 percent level to produce fuel for its reactor but promised to stop the controversial and sensitive work if world powers agree to give them fuel. Western nations fear that Iran might enrich uranium to 90-percent level, which is essential to create an atom bomb.’

AFP: Gabonese NGO decries effects of mining
‘LIBREVILLE - Irradiation, river pollution and low fish stocks are among the effects noted of mining in Gabon by the non-governmental organisation Brainforest in an investigation published Monday. "Projects that engender billions in investment, for the most part foreign (...) with considerable economic fall-out, should not be undertaken at the expense of local populations and the environment," the report concludes. Brainforest studied the impact of mining mainly by the French companies Areva and Eramet in the eastern Haut-Ogooue region of the central African country. It chose three sites: Mounana, where uranium was mined for more than 40 years by COMUF (Uranium Mining Company of Franceville), a subsidiary of Areva; Moanda, where COMILOG (Mining Company of the Ogooue), a subsidiary of Eramet, has been mining manganese since 1962; and Poubara, where a large hydro-electric dam is being built to meet COMILOG's energy needs. "The lack of information concerning the radiological situation (in Mounana) is unacceptable," Brainforest said, noting the proximity of different parts of the town to zones where there is a high risk of radioactivity. Radiation levels are in principle measured by the National Centre for the Prevention and Protecting from Ionising Rays (CNPPRI), but the report said that the centre's independence "raises questions when we know that COMUF has for years been financing this organ 'independent' of the ministry of mines."’

The Japan Times: U.K.-India relationship in transformation
'LONDON - By any measure, British Prime Minister David Cameron's recent visit to India has turned out to be a transformative one. In one stroke, he has redefined the parameters of the Indo-British partnership for the 21st century. The Conservative Party has been clear about India being a priority for Britain since Cameron visited India in 2006. Cameron had written fondly of India before his visit: "India is the world's largest democracy, a rapidly growing economy, a huge potential trading partner, a diverse society with a strong culture of pluralism and a key regional player "a force for
stability in a troubled part of the world." Britain had supported U.S. efforts to shepherd a proposal in the Nuclear Suppliers Group to modify the group's guidelines to permit trade in nuclear fuel and technology with India, a nonsignatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. It's not surprising, therefore, that India and Britain signed a civilian nuclear energy cooperation pact during Cameron's visit.

The Tennessean: TVA to consider rate changes and funds for nuclear reactor
‘The TVA board will consider changing part of its electricity rate structure and upping its spending to explore the controversial possibility of turning its Bellefonte site into a working nuclear plant. The board will meet Friday at the TVA West Tower Auditorium, 400 West Summit Hill Drive, Knoxville to consider this and other agenda items. A change in the Tennessee Valley Authority rate structure related to the "fuel cost adjustment" formula is up for discussion. The formula today changes the electric rates every month, depending on the price of fuel for electricity production. Under this scenario, the public pays and also is compensated more quickly when the cost goes up or down. The costs, which are passed on to ratepayers, have repeatedly gone up over the last several months. TVA's Bellefonte property is on the Tennessee River about two hours southeast of Nashville. Several environmental and anti-nuclear groups have said that the public power producer should not commit money to what they say is a costly and risky nuclear plant until energy efficiency and conservation measures are fully explored and implemented.’

Dayton Daily News: $2B contract awarded for Piketon nuke plant cleanup
‘The Energy Department on Monday, Aug. 16, issued a $2 billion contract for the cleanup of radioactive and chemical contamination at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon. The contract names a partnership of Fluor Federal Services and Babcock and Wilcox Technical Services Group as prime contractor. The project includes decontamination and demolition of three huge buildings used from 1954-2001 to enrich uranium, first for atomic bombs and later for nuclear reactor fuel. It includes a five-year initial phase and a possible five-year extension. Work is to begin later this year, a department spokeswoman said. The project was expected to take 35 years, but an expedited schedule included in President Obama’s fiscal 2011 budget request seeks completion in 14 years. The request also includes nearly $500 million for the cleanup, which also received $118 million in stimulus funds, said U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, a Senate Appropriations Committee member who has pushed for the expedited cleanup.’

ABC News: NM Watchdog Group Sues to Halt Plutonium Factory
‘A watchdog group has filed suit in federal court to halt a multibillion-dollar plutonium building planned at Los Alamos National Laboratory until an environmental study can be done. The Los Alamos Study Group's lawsuit alleges the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration have violated the Environmental Protection Act by preparing to build the Chemical and Metallurgy Replacement Nuclear Facility without a new environmental impact statement. The Study Group says CMRR's Nuclear Facility is meant only to increase the production capacity for the cores of nuclear weapons, known as pits. But it says NNSA has no pit production mission. A spokeswoman for the NNSA, Jennifer Wagner, says the agency does not comment on pending litigation.’

New York Times: Portugal Gives Itself a Clean-Energy Makeover
LISBON — Five years ago, the leaders of this sun-scorched, wind-swept nation made a bet: To reduce Portugal’s dependence on imported fossil fuels, they embarked on an array of ambitious renewable energy projects — primarily harnessing the country’s wind and hydropower, but also its sunlight and ocean waves. Today, Lisbon’s trendy bars, Porto’s factories and the Algarve’s glamorous resorts are powered substantially by clean energy. Nearly 45 percent of the electricity in Portugal’s grid will come from renewable sources this year, up from 17 percent just five years ago.

Extract Says Uranium Deposit in Namibia Could Be the World's Sixth Largest
‘Extract Resources Ltd., the uranium explorer partly owned by Rio Tinto Group, said an increase in resources at its Rossing South project in Namibia makes the deposit the sixth biggest in the world. Extract upgraded the size of the resource to 257 million pounds, a tenfold increase from July 2009, it said in a statement today to the Australian stock exchange. The deposit was previously rated the world’s eighth largest, Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Leslie said in a webcast. “We fully expect to continue to move up the ranking” as Extract has a large area yet to explore at Rossing South, Leslie said. “We think there’s significant scope to expand the resource
beyond what we’ve announced today.” Extract, about 15 percent owned by Rio Tinto, is aiming to develop the world’s second-biggest uranium venture after Cameco Corp.’s McArthur River mine in Canada. The company intends to gain from a nuclear power revival as countries turn to the technology to meet energy demand and cut
emissions...’

The Denki Shimbun: Fukushima I unit 3 to be loaded with MOX fuel
‘TOKYO --On August 6, the governor of Fukushima Prefecture gave his approval for a pluthermal (plutonium thermal) program at unit 3 of the Fukushima I nuclear power station (NPS), owned by Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. (TEPCO) and located in the prefecture. In response, TEPCO is planning to load the unit with uranium-plutonium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel by August 21. Start of the unit's operation using MOX fuel is expected in late September. Japan's nuclear utilities conclude agreements with the municipalities in which their power stations are located as well as adjacent municipalities, and must obtain their advance approval for the addition of new or enlargement of existing facilities, or facility changes. As a prerequisite for approval of the pluthermal program, Fukushima Governor Yuhei Sato had requested the national authorities and TEPCO to make a technical check of three items including assurance of safety in the event of earthquakes.’

Japanese citizens file suit seeking MOX suspension
‘Officials at a public meeting at Calhoun Community College last week cited Japan as an example of a country using plutonium to enrich fuel in nuclear reactors. Not all Japanese are happy about the new fuel. A group of Japan citizens filed a lawsuit in that country Monday, demanding a halt to mixed plutonium-uranium oxide, or MOX, operations at Kyu-shu Electric Power Co.’s Genkai nuclear plant. The suit is the first in Japan to seek the suspension of MOX fuel. The plaintiffs, led by Hatsumi Ishimaru, argued that its use could lead to an accident, jeopardizing local residents’ rights and the environment. MOX “would harm generations of our descendants, so we just have to say ‘no’ to it,’’ Ishimaru told Japan’s Kyodo News. The Tennessee Valley Authority is considering using MOX fuel at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, both to save money and to help the government dispose of a plutonium surplus.’

Bloomberg: E.ON, RWE Poised to Cut Spending as Nuclear Tax Erodes Profits
‘E.ON AG and RWE AG, two of the worst performers in Germany’s benchmark DAX share index this year, are poised to cut dividends and investment because a proposed tax on nuclear reactors will erode the utilities’ profits. Germany wants 2.3 billion euros ($3 billion) a year from the nuclear industry from 2011 to trim the budget deficit, the government said in June. That led Dusseldorf-based E.ON to extend its drop this year to 20 percent while RWE, based in Essen, is down 18 percent. HeidelbergCement AG has posted the biggest decline in the 30-member DAX, which is up 6.6 percent. The country’s two largest electricity suppliers will invest about 17 billion euros in power plants and natural gas pipelines and other energy assets this year to use more cleaner-burning fuels. The spending may fall in coming years as the tax could cut yearly earnings at RWE by 1 billion euros and at E.ON by 1.5 billion euros, said Kepler Capital Markets analyst Ingo Becker. Germany’s four reactor operators will meet Deputy Finance Minister Werner Gatzer this week to discuss an agreement on the tax, Handelsblatt reported yesterday, citing unidentified people close to the companies. The deal would see the utilities agree to the tax and avoid similar levies in the future, the newspaper said in an e-mailed summary of an article. Spokesmen for E.ON and RWE said the companies have not yet commented on the potential effect on earnings of a 2.3 billion- euro nuclear tax as details haven’t been set...’

The China Post: In going nuclear, Southeast Asia should learn from EU
‘Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam are planning to build two nuclear power reactors each, with several more proposed. The Philippines is looking at refurbishing a power reactor that was completed in the 1980s but was never put into operation because of safety concerns and corruption allegations. Malaysia is said to have made a decision to commission a nuclear reactor, with 2023 set as a target date. Singapore is expected to start a feasibility study later this year. This is despite the many concerns over the hazards of nuclear power and disposing of dangerous radioactive waste. ASEAN countries are turning to nuclear power as an alternative source of energy to fossil fuels, as rapid economic development has led to surging demand for electricity. Another consideration is that nuclear power generation does not produce greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. Under the Treaty of Bangkok that came into force in 1997, ASEAN countries are committed to a nuclear weapon-free zone in the region and to non-proliferation. This pact obliges members not to “develop, manufacture or otherwise acquire, possess or have control over nuclear weapons”. So there should be little worry that countries with civilian nuclear facilities would seek to develop nuclear weapons. Rather, the key concerns in the region over nuclear power are mainly related to safety. As has been pointed out, this is a region prone to natural disasters such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. There are also the problems of bureaucratic corruption, home-grown terrorist activity and a safety culture that is not strong enough in some places...’

Energy Dept. faces suit over nuclear plant docs
‘A group that promotes renewable energy is suing the Energy Department (DOE) to compel disclosure of documents related to federal loan guarantees for an Atlanta-based utility giant to build two nuclear reactors in Georgia. The lawsuit highlights a political divide between the White House — which strongly supports nuclear power and wants to expand federal financing — and the many environmental groups that oppose new reactors. The Obama administration in February announced its intent to provide $8.3 billion worth of loan guarantees to Southern Co. to help launch what the nuclear industry hopes will be the first wave of new plants in decades. But in a lawsuit filed in federal court on Monday, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy said DOE has stonewalled a Freedom of Information Act request about the loan guarantees that the group filed in March. “This is too large a sum of taxpayer's money, being spent on too risky a project for there to be this much cover-up and secrecy. This is the first award of what could be tens of billions of dollars more in new federal subsidies for the nuclear industry — setting the precedent of hiding the financial ball from the public in round one is a bad start,” said Stephen Smith, the group’s executive director...’

Australia - Federal Coalition at odds with CLP over Kakadu
‘The Federal Coalition says it would match Labor's commitment to prevent uranium mining at Koongarra by taking up a traditional owner's offer to incorporate it into Kakadu National Park. But the Coalition's promise is out of step with the Northern Territory Opposition's position on the issue. Country Liberals deputy leader Kezia Purick says a mine on the site could be worth $1.4 billion and the traditional owner should continue negotiating with French mining company AREVA. "It's been made an election issue by [Environment Minister Peter] Garrett, the failed Garrett," Ms Purick said.’

Daily Telegraph: Russia declares state of emergency in nuclear town as wildfires blaze
‘Russian authorities have declared a state of emergency in Ozersk, home to major nuclear reprocessing plant, due to wildfires burning around the town. "A state of emergency has been introduced in forests and parks on the territory of the Ozersk city district due to a complicated fire hazard situation," said a statement posted on the district's website. Ozersk, in the Urals region of Russia, is the latest strategic site to be threatened by wildfires which have already badly damaged military depots and threatened other atomic facilities. Ozersk's Mayak plant can process 400 tonnes of waste a year. It was the scene of one of the former Soviet Union's major nuclear disasters in 1957 when a liquid waste accident affected some 260,000 people and forced the evacuation of several towns. The Snezhinsk centre, which makes nuclear weapons, is located in another town in the Urals some 925 miles east of Moscow.’

Daily Telegraph: New nuclear power stations should be up and running within eight years, Energy secretary Chris Huhne has said
‘A number of potential sites for the stations were identified – generally close to existing nuclear energy installations - and that power should be on stream by 2018. Mr Huhne, who in Opposition described nuclear power as “economically foolhardy, environmentally irresponsible”, said: “We are on course to make sure that the first new nuclear power station opens on time in 2018. “There are a number of sites that have been identified around the country. Those are generally on sites where we have previously had nuclear power stations and where the local people are very keen that there should be new nuclear build. “We have eight years now before I hope that the first one will come making a contribution to the grid.” This timescale could be tight given the length of time it takes to build new nuclear power stations. EDF and Centrica are planning to build the first by 2017, while a consortium of RWE and E.ON will follow with their first by 2020.’

iStockAnalyst: Areva: the first nuclear victim of the recession, but will it be alone?
‘French nuclear energy company Areva has struggled to expand its portfolio in recent years, as have a number of its competitors. Of all reactors being built by 2015, Areva will be responsible for none, while EDF will only be responsible for one. Asian companies may be gaining market share, but this does not dispel the possibility that this is just the beginning of a downturn in the industry. In some respects, it should come as no surprise that Asian companies have taken the helm. The West suffered more from the recession than Asia, making financing far harder to obtain, and nowhere is financing more important than in the nuclear industry. Reactors take 10 years to build, with no return on investment (ROI) before this point. Although nuclear power is an excellent baseload fuel, it remains a very risky investment. In a recent tender in Abu Dhabi between Areva/EDF and Korea Electric Power Company (KEPCO), it was KEPCO's cheaper reactor design that won. This highlights a further challenge for the industry. Not only do companies need to find willing investors, they have to quote prices that some believe are unrealistic for a safe reactor.’

The Australian: Abbott to allow uranium exports to India
‘TONY Abbott will open up uranium exports to India if he wins power in the August 21 federal election. The leader of the opposition told reporters that Australia’s relationship with India has been “badly mishandled" by the ruling Labor government. Labor opposes uranium exports to India, which isn’t a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. “India is one of the coming super powers. It is obviously going to have a very important place in our region as well as in the world,” Mr Abbott told reporters. “One of the best things that we could do to boost our relationship with the region is to sell them uranium.” Key beneficiaries of a coalition election win, and subsequent push for uranium exports to India, are likely to include Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton.’

Asia One News: Two islands in Malaysia identified for proposed nuclear plant
‘KUALA LUMPUR - The government has identified several sites, including one or two currently uninhabited islands, to locate Malaysia's nuclear power plant should the plan be given the go-ahead. The sites are undergoing pre-feasibility studies to determine their suitability, said Malaysia Nuclear Agency director-general Datuk Dr Daud Mohamad. He said the task to find a suitable location had been given to Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) while the agency was doing the study on the technical aspects, the ultimate aim of which is to turn the selected site into a nuclear power plant in 10 years' time. "They (the sites) are all within the peninsula. We are also looking at some uninhabited islands," he said after presenting a paper at the 2010 Energy Forum here yesterday. He said the government had set aside RM25 million (S$10.7 million) for the pre-feasibility studies, which also include a study tour by members of parliament to existing nuclear plants in Korea, Japan, China, France and the US. "We haven't decided on where to go (for the study tour) but it will be done soon."’

The Economic Times: Stop using sea water as coolant, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) told
‘MUMBAI: The Mumbai coastline, it seems, is on high alert. Even as various agencies are busy tackling the oil spill on a war footing, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has been directed to stop using sea water as a coolant. Meanwhile, the government, as a precautionary measure, has imposed major restrictions on traffic to JNPT and MbPT. Located along the coast across Navi Mumbai, the reactors in the country’s premier nuclear power and research centre, BARC, use sea water to cool down copper tubes that carry vapours. But with the oil slick on Monday touching the coastline between Sewree and Mankhurd — where BARC is located — a decision to stop using sea water was taken. “Sea water contaminated with oil is a grave threat to the system besides being an explosive concoction. Considering this we have asked BARC to stop using sea water till it’s cleared of oil,” a spokesperson for the Coast Guard said. The fact that huge oil reservoirs are located a few kilometres away from the spot also forced the Coast Guard to impose restrictions. The Coast Guard thought it prudent to stop the sea water usage as it is busy fighting the biggest such operation in the Indian sea waters. It has so far deployed five ships, one helicopter and one small aircraft for controlling the massive oil spill, an official said.’

Moneyweb: Toshiba to sell debt back to Uranium One
‘TOSHIBA, Tokyo Electric Power and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation scrapped a finance deal with Uranium One after Atomredmetzoloto ZAO (ARMZ) of Russia proposed to buy a majority share in the Canadian producer. The three Japanese companies will have an agreement to purchase as much as 2,5m pounds of raw uranium a year from 2014 to 2025, they said in a joint statement on their websites yesterday. Uranium One will buy back debentures for C$271,79m from the Japanese companies. Russia's proposed buyout would cut Japanese holdings in Uranium One to about 10% from about 16% now, said Masayuki Kishino, a Tokyo Electric spokesman. The new agreement guarantees the Japanese companies a steady supply of the ore, while the old agreement allowed them a maximum of 20% of annual output, he said. ARMZ, a unit of state-run Rosatom, said June 8 it plans to raise its stake in Uranium One to at least 51% from 23% in exchange for $610m in cash and stakes in two Kazakhstan mines. Rosatom wants more uranium to supply reactors it plans to build abroad after Russia announced June 19 it would staff embassies with nuclear officials to win more orders.’

Today's big stories from the nuclear industry:

Spiegel Online: A Quarter Century after Chernobyl, Radioactive Boar on the Rise in Germany
‘As Germany's wild boar population has skyrocketed in recent years, so too has the number of animals contaminated by radioactivity left over from the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown. Government payments compensating hunters for lost income due to radioactive boar have quadrupled since 2007. It's no secret that Germany has a wild boar problem. Stories of marauding pigs hit the headlines with startling regularity: Ten days ago, a wild boar attacked a wheelchair-bound man in a park in Berlin; in early July, a pack of almost two dozen of the animals repeatedly marched into the eastern German town of Eisenach, frightening residents and keeping police busy; and on Friday morning, a German highway was closed for hours after 10 wild boar broke through a fence and waltzed onto the road. Even worse, though, almost a quarter century after the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown in Ukraine, a good chunk of Germany's wild boar population remains slightly radioactive – and the phenomenon has been costing the German government an increasing amount of money in recent years. According to the Environment Ministry in Berlin, almost €425,000 ($555,000) was paid out to hunters in 2009 in compensation for wild boar meat that was too contaminated by radiation to be sold for consumption. That total is more than four times higher than compensation payments made in 2007.’

KEYT.com: Supes Agree Seismic Safety An Issue At Nuclear Power Plant
‘Public safety took center stage at Tuesday's Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors meeting. At issue -- studying the Shoreline earthquake fault and it's close proximity to PG&E's Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant in Avila Beach. In 2008 the earthquake fault line was discovered, since then energy officials with the power company have been conducting safety studies. One of the studies should be completed later this year. Followed by an intricate 3-D seismic study that could take up to three years to complete. Board members voted unanimously to send a letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, asking them not to re-new the power company's license until the seismic studies are completed.’

Danville News: Experts selected for NAS uranium study
‘A provisional committee of 13 scientists and experts was selected to conduct the scientific study to help Virginia’s leaders determine if uranium mining could be done safely in the state. National Research Council staff chose the panel of experts after a nomination process. Now, the public has 14 days left to comment on the selections. The committee will examine the scientific, technical, environmental, human health and safety and regulatory aspects of uranium mining, milling and processing in Virginia. The experts are expected to write the report by late fall next year. ‘For any of our reports, the committee tries to carry out its charge objectively and credibly,’ said spokeswoman Jennifer Walsh for the National Academy of Sciences/NRC. The Uranium Mining Subcommittee of the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission asked the National Academy of Sciences to study the impacts of uranium mining in Virginia, which had a moratorium on uranium mining since 1982. The NRC is an arm of the NAS.’

Nuclear N-Former: Nuclear builders begin race for Wylfa NPP contract
‘France’s Areva and the Westinghouse-led consortium Nuclear Power Delivery UK have started preparatory studies to be selected to build a nuclear power station in North Wales. Today both teams said that they had signed early works agreements with Horizon, the joint venture between Eon and RWE npower planning the new power station at Wylfa in Angelsey. Now the Westinghouse consortium team of Laing O’Rourke, Shaw Group and Toshiba will work up specific site designs using the AP1000 design, while the French Areva group works up proposals based on the European pressurized reactor design. Once the generic design assessment has been concluded by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, Horizon will plump for the reactor type to proceed with by the end of the year. Horizon said it aims to deliver a total of around 6 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity from two power stations by 2025, at a cost of around £15 billion.’

Nuclear N-Former: Pakistan seeking nuclear cooperation with France
‘Pakistan is keen on a ‘serious and substantive engagement’ with France in civil nuclear cooperation, President Asif Ali Zardari said on Tuesday. Zardari, currently on an official visit to France, made the remarks during a meeting with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy, an official statement said. Zardari also called for the early establishment of a framework for a strategic dialogue between the two sides. Pakistan has stepped up efforts to gain access to civil nuclear technology since its rival India concluded a landmark deal with the US a few years ago. It has urged the world community to adopt a ‘non-discriminatory’ approach in civil nuclear cooperation. Zardari is on his second visit to France in 14 months and had raised the issue of civil nuclear cooperation during his last visit too. During his talks with Sarkozy, Zardari sought the establishment of a ministerial-level Joint Economic Commission, aggressive support for preferential access to EU markets and parliamentary exchanges to deepen political understanding between the two countries.’

If you want to know why the so-called nuclear ‘renaissance’ is never going to happen, you need only look at the news that’s been coming out of France in the last few days.

In short, the supposedly leading world experts in nuclear power are making fools of themselves. French nuclear giants AREVA and EDF stride across the landscape like two great big, stupid Godzillas. Nuclear power has a bad name already yet these two are performing the miracle of making things even worse.

Last week, AREVA posted a massive operating loss of 485 million euros for the first half of 2010. The ‘state of the art’ third generation EPR reactor being built by the company at Olkiluoto in Finland is feasting on the company’s money. Olkiluoto-3 is 2.7 billion euros over budget and four years late. The only reason the company has made a profit this year is because it sold a chunk of its business.

EDF finds itself in a similar predicament. In the first half of 2010, the company saw its profits slashed by almost half. Not only that but the EPR reactor the company is building at Flamanville in France is one billion euros over budget and running two years late.

EDF's business in the US has stalled while the projects wait for government support in the form of loan guarantees. A $9 billion project to build an EPR Calvert Cliffs on the Chesapeake Bay is in deep trouble – the economics of it are a joke:

The fact that Constellation stock goes down every time it looks like the plant will be approved suggests that even the people who own the company don't want it to happen.

To make matters worse, for some time now the two companies have been squabbling like children. The coverage in Time Magazine is damning:

But in this global nuclear summer, France's prospects have cooled. Not only has the French industry suffered an embarrassing setback overseas, but its nuclear grandees can barely stand to look at one another, its new European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) — the only one on offer — is a Rolls-Royce in a Chevy economy, and the first two EPRs are taking longer to build and costing far more than anyone dreamed.

The relationship between the two companies was described by one executive as ‘like the village of the Gauls in the Astérix comics’ and ‘a complete mess — a mix of clannishness, personal ambition and hatred’. We also discover that France doesn’t even need a new nuclear reactor:

"We don't need Flamanville for France's energy consumption, and if we build another EPR at Penly, France will have 100 billion kilowatt-hours too many by 2020," says Dominique Finon, a director of nuclear research at France's prestigious think tank Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

In other words, EDF is building nuclear reactors to show off.

Things have got so bad between AREVA and EDF that the French government has had to step in, bang their heads together and tell everybody to calm down. One possible solution to their hostility? Some kind of merger of the two. Imagine the terrifying creature that would emerge from the laboratory after that experiment. The Hunchback of the Notre Dame will look like an angel in comparison.

Rethinking security in the new nuclear age
‘VHeadline.com oil industry commentarist Andrew McKillop writes: The most basic read out from what the nuclear industrial lobby calls The Nuclear Renaissance is that national security -- even the concept or present reality of nation states -- has less and less credibility, when we make a rational analysis of the facts. The real strategic role of civil nuclear power, which in "a few screwdriver turns" can enable atomic weapons, is clear. Increasing numbers of civil reactors, fuel fabrication and reprocessing plants, waste fuel centres and "plutonium repositories" create such large volumes and quantities of nuclear materials that no country with sizeable reactors has any real strategic military defense. Conventional war, like the conventional nation states that make or "wage" war, are made less and less credible by the new nuclear threat, due to certain or assured massive or total destruction and economic damage when or if large reactors and nuclear installation are hit. The civil nuclear power system is a giant Chernobyl-type dirty bomb in a steadily rising number of countries. Only a few types of reactor, especially underground or 'hardened' military reactors can resist a wide-body airplane crashing on them. Almost none will resist entirely conventional ballistic missiles, conventional artillery shells, conventional anti-tank and anti-building munitions, and infantry launched or drone launched missiles. They will also not resist worst-case seismic damage, as well as a number of other serious natural disaster conditions.’

Negotiations with Russia on Belarus’ nuclear power plant project stalled
Negotiations on Russia’s participation in Belarus’ nuclear power plant project have been stalled. Moscow has reportedly refused to sign an agreement on the project until a joint company is established to sell electricity produced by the plant. Moscow wants Russia’s Inter RAO UES to hold no less than 50 percent in the joint company and thereby receive at least 50 percent of the sales proceeds if the construction of the two-reactor plant is financed with a Russian loan. ‘The issue of the parties’ shares in the marketing enterprise can be a subject of discussion, but the timing suggested by the Russian side for its establishment is unacceptable,’ an unnamed source in the Belarusian government told Interfax. By way of compromise, Belarus proposed building one more reactor that would be fully owned by Russia, but this proposal was rejected, the source said. Belarusian First Deputy Prime Minister Uladzimir Syamashka told the National Assembly on June 30 that the Belarusian-Russian deal on the construction of the nuclear power plant would be signed the following month.’

Nuclear power with a xenophobic worldview, based on fascist myth
‘Communism’s abstract emphasis on internationalism has often concealed, in practice, intense chauvinism as Great Russian or Han hegemony shows. In Eastern Europe, especially, the treatment of minorities often fulfilled the principle: ‘Why should I be a minority in your country, when you can be a minority in mine.’ And, of course, leaders like Nicolae Ceausescu and Slobodan Milosevic actively used nationalist sentiment to reinforce their power base. Brian Myers puts the North Korean regime in an entirely new category. In fact, he points out that it has recently dropped any references to communism. To outsiders, the bizarre spectacle of the Kim dynasty, each successor less impressive and less charismatic than his predecessor, has always been a challenge. Myers suggests too many interpreters have been scrutinizing material intended for outside consumption and not availing themselves of internal publications. Unlike Lenin or Stalin or Mao, DPRK propaganda claims no great intellect or insights for Kim and his successors. Apart from building the almost entirely fictional role of Kim Il Sung in liberating the North ‘“ downplaying the role of the Red Army in clearing out the Japanese and the PLA in turning back the Americans ‘“ he reports that internal propaganda stresses the maternal aspects of the leaders. They care, and Kim senior was ‘more of a mother than all the mothers in the world.’’

Plutonium at nuke plant?
‘Weapons-grade plutonium may eventually power Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, but the public will have a say in the decision Tuesday. The U.S. Department of Energy will hold a public meeting Tuesday at Calhoun Community College’s aerospace building from 5:30 p.m. to 8 to discuss plans to use mixed uranium-plutonium oxide, a processed version of weapons-grade plutonium, at TVA’s Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in Limestone County. The plan is controversial. ‘When you’re talking about a plant like Browns Ferry, which has had its safety issues over the years, doing anything that would increase the risk of those reactors having a meltdown is not a good idea,’ said Edwin Lyman, a senior staff scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, D.C. Lyman will attend the hearing. ‘When you put plutonium in reactors, you increase the risk,’ Lyman said. ‘It increases the likelihood of certain accidents and, if those accidents occur, it could increase the consequences.’ He said Browns Ferry is especially unsuited for mixed uranium-plutonium oxide - called MOX - because most research has been done on pressurized water reactors, not boiling water reactors like those at Browns Ferry.’

Areva under pressure
‘New delays reported at Flamanville. EDF seeks an equity position. The NRC has questions about digital instruments & controls for the EPR. Areva’s engineers and executives may feel like they’re working inside a pressure cooker this month. Bloomberg and AFP wire services indicate the French government is calling for ‘urgent measures’ to stem the tide of red ink flowing from a cost overrun for the Flamanville 1,650 MW EPR reactor of one billion euros ($1.3 billion). The new cost estimate for the reactor is now reported to be [E]5 billion ($6.5 billion or $3,000/Kw). There is also a reported schedule delay from 2013 to 2015 for start-up of the new reactor. This week former Electricite de France (EDF) CEO Francois Roussely published a report on the future of the French nuclear industry which said new reactors will have a better chance of success if they are smaller than the EPR. He also called for the EPR’s design to be ‘optimized’ to make it easier to build the reactor. (Nuclear Engineering Int’l has a July 30 translation of the report) Roussley sounded an alarm about cost overruns at the Finnish and French reactor projects.’

India’s nuclear chimera
‘Going by the Kudankulan example, India’s nuclear power generation target is a pie in the sky. Promoters of nuclear plants need patience and deep pockets. That’s the lesson being reinforced for India - from a showpiece project in its backyard and another in Finland, where French company Areva’s flagship project, is running into time and cost overruns. Both have implications for India’s programme of taking nuclear generation capacity to 470,000 MWe by 2050 as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced in September last year. It is an absurdly optimistic target, say nuclear analysts, because the current capacity is 4,560 MWe. The first of the warning signals comes from the Kudankulam project in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli district where the Russians are setting up two reactors of 1,000 MWe each. Kudankulam, launched in 2002, is three years behind schedule, but is entering the final lap, according to the state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL), which is partnering the Russian Atomstroyexport in building the two reactors. NPCIL is the only entity authorised to construct and operate nuclear power plants in the country.’

Today's big stories from the nuclear industry:

truthout: Document Reveals Military Was Concerned About Gulf War Vets' Exposure to Depleted Uranium
‘For years, the government has denied that depleted uranium (DU), a radioactive toxic waste left over from nuclear fission and added to munitions used in the Persian Gulf and Iraq wars, poisoned Iraqi civilians and veterans. But a little-known 1993 Defense Department document written by then-Brigadier Gen. Eric Shinseki, now the secretary for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), shows that the Pentagon was concerned about DU contamination and the agency had ordered medical testing on all personnel that were exposed to the toxic substance. Shinseki's memo, under the subject line, "Review of Draft to Congress - Health and Environmental Consequences of Depleted Uranium in the U.S. Army -- Action Memorandum," makes some small revisions to the details of these three orders from the DoD: 1. Provide adequate training for personnel who may come in contact with DU contaminated equipment. 2. Complete medical testing of all personnel exposed to DU in the Persian Gulf War. 3. Develop a plan for DU contaminated equipment recovery during future operations. The VA, however, never conducted the medical tests, which may have deprived hundreds of thousands of veterans from receiving medical care to treat cancer and other diseases that result from exposure to DU.’

The News Tribune: Ex-vit plant official raises safety concerns, alleges retaliation at Hanford
‘Safety and design concerns are being suppressed at Hanford's $12.3 billion vitrification plant, charges the engineering manager who oversaw research and technology for the contracting team until he was dismissed earlier this month. Walter Tamosaitis, who was research and technology manager for the project, has asked the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board to investigate, saying he believes he was removed from the project for raising concerns about future safe operations at the plant. The retaliation has had an "immediate chilling effect on the project safety quality," leaving other employees questioning whether they should raise issues, he told the board chairman in a letter. Congress created the board within the executive branch of the federal government to provide independent oversight of the nation's nuclear weapons complex. Bechtel National holds the Department of Energy contract for the plant, which is planned to treat high level radioactive waste left from past production of plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons program. Tamosaitis worked for URS, Bechtel's principal subcontractor on the project.’

Financial Times: Areva and EDF told to ‘get along’
‘Areva and EDF, France’s nuclear groups, must end years of bickering and form a strategic partnership to win overseas contracts that could see EDF raise its stake in the nuclear reactor maker, the French government said. State-owned Areva was given the go-ahead for a 15 per cent capital increase to finance investments, in which EDF could raise its 2.4 per cent stake to 7 per cent, according to officials. Christine Lagarde, finance minister, said on Wednesday that Areva and EDF “must imperatively get along” following months of rancour between Henri Proglio, chairman of EDF, and Anne Lauvergeon, Areva’s chief executive. Mr Proglio has publicly questioned Areva’s independence and insisted that EDF, the state-owned utility which operates France’s 58 nuclear reactors, was best placed to lead France’s nuclear industry. For her part, Ms Lauvergeon has called for relations between the two companies to be “modernised” but has said that, as Areva’s main client, EDF should take a leading role. The strategic partnership will focus on bids for contracts in countries which do not have a nuclear industry. President Nicolas Sarkozy said it was in line with the government’s aim of reinforcing its nuclear strategy around national champions.’

Times of India: Open to changes in N-liability bill: Centre
‘NEW DELHI: With the fate of civil liability for nuclear damage bill getting enmeshed with stalemated ties with Left and fresh hostilities with BJP, the government is open to defining responsibilities for a nuclear accident more closely. The government is open to inserting clauses that will cover eventualities like accidents during transport of nuclear materials or in their handling at domestic and even foreign ports. It may also examine whether liability needs to be more carefully defined in case the operator of a nuclear power plant is a public sector joint venture where one may have a private equity. The standing committee on science and technology is expected to finalise its views on the bill by August 5 or so and it is bound to be accompanied by dissenting notes. The government is being careful over any commitments on increasing the compensation cap.’

VietNamNet: Japan shows interest in Vietnam’s nuclear power project
‘VietNamNet Bridge – In a talk with Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem last week, Japanese Foreign Minister Okada said Japan is willing to participate in Vietnam’s nuclear power project. Deputy PM Khiem welcomed and appreciated the offer of Japanese nuclear technology, saying that Vietnam would consider this issue. Japanese officials have previously expressed their wish to join Vietnam’s nuclear power projects. In early March 2010, Japanese PM Yukio Hatoyama wrote to his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Tan Dung. According to Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Mitsuo Sakaba, the letter showed Japan’s strong interest in the construction of nuclear power plants in Vietnam. In early June 2010, Japanese Minister of Industry, Trade and Economics Masayuki Naoshima told his Vietnamese counterpart Vu Huy Hoang on the sideline of Asia-Pacific Trade Ministerial Meeting in Japan that Japan wished to build nuclear power plants in Vietnam. Vietnam and Russia have reached agreement on the building of the first nuclear power plant in Ninh Thuan province. Vietnam has signed cooperation agreements on nuclear power with many countries like the US, Russia, France, South Korea, India and Argentina.’

Deccan Chronicle: UK to work with India on nuke deal
‘July 28: British minister for universities and science David Willetts on Wednesday said the United Kingdom and India will jointly work on a civilian nuclear deal and Brtain would help India set up 14 world class universities in the country. Speaking to reporters here on the sidelines of a panel discussion at IIT-Madras, Mr Willets said the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, UK and India’s Department of Atomic Energy will work on five new projects in civil nuclear energy, including in the areas of plant safety and nuclear waste management.’
 
Reuters: Iran, U.S. send positive signals on nuclear talks
‘ISTANBUL/WASHINGTON, July 28 (Reuters) - Iran and the United States sent positive signals on Wednesday about the possibility of fresh talks on the Iranian nuclear program, which Washington suspects aims to develop atomic weapons. Iran has given an assurance that it would stop enriching uranium to 20 percent purity if world powers agreed to a proposed nuclear fuel swap, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters in Istanbul. The offer, conveyed to Davutoglu on Sunday, could bode well for an expected resumption of talks in September between Iran and major powers on the Islamic Republic's atomic program, which Tehran says is for peaceful purposes and not for bombs. Asked about Davutoglu's comments, the U.S. State Department said Iran had often sent mixed signals but that the United States was "fully prepared" to resume talks among the six major powers and Tehran
about Iran's nuclear program.’