|
spotlights |
 |
 |
ENS
YG Reporter |
 |
TOPSAFE
2008 |
 |
Pime
2009 |
 |
RRFM
2009 |
 |
IYNC 2008 |
 |
PHYSOR'08 |
 |
|
ANS/ENS
Int. Winter Meeting |
 |
CONTE
2009 |
 |
 |
Nucleus 4/2000 edition
Germans agree to limit N-plant working lives to 32 years
Germany's anti-nuclear Red-Green coalition government and the country's four main nuclear electricity supply companies have agreed to the equivalent of 32 years as the average operating life of the nation's 19 nuclear power units.
This means that the last power reactor might not close until well into the 2020s – instead of the "immediate phase-out" demanded by the Green Party when it took office in 1998.
The agreement ends 20 months of political stand-off between the government and nuclear electricity companies.
Says nuclear industry forum chairman Otto Majewski: "We have attained our stated goal: to be able to carry on operating the German nuiclear power plants under economically acceptable conditions."
... really 'agreeing to disagree' asserts German Nuclear Society
"All that has really been achieved is an agreement to disagree," comments Wolf-Dieter Krebs, chairman of the German Nuclear Society, which represents more than 2300 nuclear professionals.
In a statement he explains: "The power companies have kept their word and respected the primacy of politics, despite the fact that the government's policy of phasing out nuclear is a huge mistake.
"On the other hand, it is doubtful whether the government will actually be in a position to respect its own commitments, as laid out in the agreement. How will it be possible to 'guarantee the uninterrupted operation of nuclear power plants and of waste management", as specified in the agreement, when it is exactly this that the hard-liners among the opponents of nuclear energy do not accept?
"The suspension of investigations of the Gorleben salt formation shortly before the expected of its suitability as a site for a final radioactive waste repository is nothing more than an ill-conceived attempt to pacify precisely these people. The government is going down this path despite it meaning that waste disposal will now be left to future generations to solve."
The enforced early closures are bad news environmentally – removing Germany's nuclear power stations which avoid carbon dioxide emissions totalling 170 million tonnes a year. "It will become virtually impossible for Germany to meet its commitments under the Kyoto Protocol on climate change", says the Foratom association of the European nuclear industry.
German nuclear deal 'bad for world' declares leading business paper
The London-based Financial Times strongly criticises Germany's nuclear deal as "giving too much ground to a well-organised single-issue lobby" and warns that the people could "live to regret" any concrete moves to phase out nuclear power.
In an editorial lead article (June 16), the paper says: "On the face of it, the German nuclear industry has done well in postponing for many years the threatened closure of its power plants ... At least there is time for a future administration to lift this arbitrary limit,
"Nevertheless, the deal is bad for the industry and bad for the rest of the world. If such a powerful industrial nation as Germany says no to nuclear power – however extended the timetable – the decision hurts the industry's prospects everywhere.
"The anti-nuclear lobby will now focus its attention on other governments. Power consumers are in danger of being robbed of a vital alternative to fossil fuels.
"Properly built and well-run nuclear power plants are a cheap and safe source of energy. In the West, only a handful of people have died in nuclear accidents, in contrast to the many who are killed each year mining fossil fuels...
"Abandoning nuclear power because of Chernobyl makes no more sense than abandoning coal mining because of the scores of Russian and Ukrainian miners who die each year..."
Nuclear is world's fastest growing electricity producer, says BPAmoco
Global nuclear generation of electricity increased by nearly 4% last year – more than any other energy source, including natural gas. The details are analysed in the newest BP Amoco Statistic Review of World Energy ( http://www.bp.com/worldenergy ).
Nuclear cheapest for Finn new plant find university energy economists
The least-cost option for building Finland's next power station would be nuclear, concludes a comparative study done at Lappeenranta University of Technology. For details, e-mail Risto.Tarjanne@lut.fi .
Russia: only more nuclear can offset falling gas supplies
As energy consumption rises and gas production falls, Russia is bridging the widening energy gap by increasing nuclear generation.
That's the message from the country's giant non-nuclear power company RAO EES.
But, with Russian energy consumption up 3% last year and expected to go on rising 4 to 5% annually, the academy of sciences is predicting an energy shortfall by 2004 - 2005.
The situation is worsened by state gas supplies being slated to fall 20 billion cubic metres this year, 36 billion next year and 67 billion in 2002.
These falls compare with year 2000 production of 530 billion cubic metres.
"Unprecedented," declares RAO EES chairman Anatoli Chubais.. "Under no conditions shall we be able to compensate for the reduction of gas supplies by 67 billion cubic metres in 2002."
He adds: "Only the extraordinary nuclear generation growth has made it possible to balance electricity demand and supply in the last year."
Adding more coal-fired generation would be too costly. More cost-effective would be to rely on nuclear power stations to fill the gap, says the atomic energy ministry (Minatom).
At present Russia has 29 power reactors producing XX% of its electricity.
Another four nuclear power units are under construction, including Rostov-1, which is preparing to begin commissioning this year.
India and Pakistan finish new power reactors
India has begun commercial operation of its 12th power reactor (Rajasthan-3) and has four more under construction.
Pakistan has linked its second nuclear power station (Chashma) to the grid.
European Bank to run new funding to close East's old reactors
The European Commission is injecting new cash to support closure and decommissioning of old Soviet-design nuclear power stations in Lithuania (Ignalina), Slovakia (Bohunice), Bulgaria (Kozloduy-1 to -4).
The Commission initiative follows reactor shutdown pledges by those three countries in their applications to join the European Union.
The new funding – totalling 500 million euros over the next ten years – is to be administered by the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD).
"These funds are critical to help shut down decrepit nuclear reactors," explains EBRD vice-president Joachim Jahnke.
An EBRD statement says the new finance will also complement existing aid through its nuclear safety account and through the Chernobyl shelter fund, which together add up top more than 1 billion euros.
The new cash will also help to restructure and modernize the East European countries' energy sector.
The new cash includes 200 million euros being provided this autumn for Lithuania to begin preparing to decommission the first of the two reactors at Ignalina nuclear power station by year 2005. This funding is mainly from the European Union.
Bilateral and multilateral assistance, says Joachim Jahnke, shows the Eastern countries that they are "not alone in tackling the legacies" of first-generation Soviet reactors.
Chernobyl closure: December 15
Chernobyl's last operating power reactor (No. 3) is to close on December 15. Decommissioning is being aided by the West and the protective shelter around wrecked reactor No. 4 is being strengthened.