THE WORLD'S NUCLEAR NEWS AGENCY

World Nuclear Review - week ending 12th December 2003

Second Bruce A Unit Cleared For Start-up In Canada

Canada's Bruce Power has been given the go-ahead to move unit three of its Bruce A plant out of its current shut-down state.

The company said on 5th December that, with approval from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, a series of on-power tests would start on the unit's safety and operating systems before reconnecting the unit to the Ontario electricity grid later this month.

Unit 3, which was commissioned in 1978, was removed from service on 9th April 1998 by the previous operators of the Bruce Power site.

Source: Bruce Power

Full report: NucNet News No. 326, 7th December

Utilities Announce 'Freeze' On Plans For Japan's Suzu N-Plant

Three Japanese utilities have decided to 'freeze' a long-standing joint plan to build a nuclear power plant at Suzu City in Ishikawa prefecture.

The presidents of the three utilities involved - the Chubu, Hokuriku and Kansai electric power companies - formally announced the freeze on 5th December after visits to the mayor of Suzu City and the governor of Ishikawa prefecture to explain the reasons for their decision.

The presidents described their decision as "painful", but said that demand for power (in Japan) remained low "due to changing economic and social structures", and that a "severe business environment is expected as liberalisation of the power market progresses".

The Japanese government approved the proposed development of Suzu just over 10 years ago. The site was expected to have two 1350-megawatt reactor units - one with an advanced boiling water reactor (ABWR) and the other with an advanced pressurised water reactor (APWR). Construction had originally been scheduled to start in 2000 and operation was expected by 2006.

Source: Japan Atomic Industrial Forum

Full report: NucNet News No. 327, 8th December

New 'Strategic Direction' Announced For BNFL

A 'new strategic direction' for British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) was announced on 11th December, including the establishment of a parent company and a new subsidiary - the Nuclear Science and Technology Company (NSTS).

The announcement by the UK government follows a review of BNFL's future strategy, which began after the government decided against a partial privatisation of the state-owned company earlier this year.

That review concluded that a new parent company should be established in April 2005 to hold those parts of BNFL that will not become the responsibility of the UK's new Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). The principal focus of the parent company will be the clean-up at UK sites, while a "new group of subsidiary companies" will have "initial responsibility" for managing clean-up operations under arrangements to be agreed by the NDA.

The NSTS will provide research and technology services on a commercial basis.

The conclusions are due to start taking effect "in shadow form" from April 2004 and will come into effect formally when the NDA is established in April 2005.

Source: UK Department of Trade and Industry / BNFL

Full report: NucNet Business News No. 68, 11th December

Dutch Energy Chief Discusses Need For Nuclear

The head of one of the largest energy distributors in the Netherlands has called for nuclear power to return to the political agenda in his country.

Ronald Blom, the chief executive of ENECO, said that greater discussion about the use of nuclear energy was needed, adding: "This is not a popular discussion, but you cannot just close your eyes to it - which is what we have done in the Netherlands for the past 15 years."

In an interview published in the 9th December edition of the Dutch regional daily newspaper 'Rotterdams Dagblad', Mr Blom said that before 2010, a "fundamental discussion" would be needed concerning the long-term use of nuclear energy in the Netherlands.

He said: "The demand for energy is growing and the depletion of fossil fuels will be reached within a certain time. On top of that, these sources contribute to CO2 emissions. While sustainable energy such as wind and solar are of great importance, I must conclude that these sources remain too small to meet demand. Therefore, we as a nation must have a serious debate about the use of nuclear power plants."

The federation of Dutch energy companies, EnergieNed, said electricity consumption in the Netherlands increases annually at a rate of around 2.5%.

Source: 'Rotterdams Dagblad' / Various

Full report: NucNet News No. 329, 9th December

World Marks 50th Anniversary of 'Atoms for Peace'

The international nuclear community has marked the 50th anniversary of the historic 'Atoms for Peace' proposal by then US president Dwight D Eisenhower to the UN general assembly on 8th December 1953.

President Eisenhower, whose proposal led to the creation of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in his UN address: "The US knows that peaceful power from atomic energy is not a dream of the future. Who can doubt that, if the entire body of the world's scientists and engineers had adequate amounts of fissionable material with which to test and develop their ideas, this capability would rapidly be transformed into universal, efficient and economic usage?"

IAEA director-general Mohamed ElBaradei said that while "much has changed" since Eisenhower warned the world of the dangers of a nuclear arms race - and urged co-operation in exploiting the vast potential of nuclear energy - the spirit of his proposal remained true today.

Further information about international activities to mark the anniversary, including the full text of President Eisenhower's address, is available on the IAEA's web site (www.iaea.org).

Source: IAEA

Full report: NucNet News No. 328, 9th December

Decommissioning Go-Ahead For UK's Bradwell N-Plant

The UK's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) gave the go-ahead on 10th December to start decommissioning of the country's Bradwell nuclear power plant.

The formal consent to start decommissioning of Bradwell's two 123-megawatt Magnox units was given to Magnox Electric - which is part of the British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) group. The plant officially ceased electricity generation at the end of March 2002 after 40 years of service.

Bradwell was the first civil nuclear power plant in the UK to operate up to its planned closure date - during which time both units produced a total of 70 terawatt-hours of electricity.

BNFL said previously that Bradwell's closure was part of the company's "lifetime strategy" for its fleet of Magnox plants, which included plans for the closure of six Magnox plants by 2010. The company also pointed out that there were no technical reasons preventing an application for a further 10-year operating licence for Bradwell, although the necessary multi-million pound investment could not be justified on economic grounds.

Source: HSE

Full report: NucNet News No. 330, 10th December

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