France to boost nuclear funding

27 June 2011 Last updated at 12:05 GMT Anti-nuclear groups have urged France to close Fessenheim - its oldest atomic plant France will invest 1bn euros (?0.8bn) in nuclear power despite warnings after the Fukushima disaster in Japan, President Nicolas Sarkozy says.

The new investment will include a boost for research into nuclear safety.

The French nuclear giant Areva is developing the fourth generation of reactors. France gets 80% of its electricity from nuclear power.

Earlier this year neighbouring Germany, Switzerland and Italy voted against nuclear power, following Fukushima.

The BBC's Christian Fraser in Paris says that as president of the G8 and G20 industrial groups, Mr Sarkozy has been pushing for an international standard on nuclear safety.

"We are going to devote a billion euros to the nuclear programme of the future, particularly fourth-generation technology," Mr Sarkozy told a news conference.

"We are also going to release substantial resources from the big loan to strengthen research in the sphere of nuclear safety."

He stressed his government was still investing "massively" in renewable energy. He announced 1.35bn euros of investment for that sector.

But our correspondent says it is obvious how important nuclear power is to the French economy and its energy security.

The Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant's cooling systems were knocked out by the 11 March earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The disaster caused a meltdown at three of the reactors and the plant is still leaking radiation.

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New UK nuclear plant sites named

23 June 2011 Last updated at 13:46 GMT The Sellafield nuclear plant handles nuclear material and is part of a generation of older sites Ministers have announced plans for the next generation of UK nuclear plants.

The government confirmed a list of eight sites it deems suitable for new power stations by 2025, all of which are adjacent to existing nuclear sites.

The sites are: Bradwell, Essex; Hartlepool; Heysham, Lancashire; Hinkley Point, Somerset; Oldbury, Gloucestershire; Sellafield, Cumbria; Sizewell, Suffolk; and Wylfa, Anglesey.

The announcement comes three months after the Fukushima disaster in Japan.

The future of nuclear as a power source for countries around the world was called into question after the disaster which occurred in March when a Japanese earthquake and tsunami rocked the reactors at Fukushima, leaving radioactivity leaking from the plant.

The proposals for new UK nuclear power plants are part of a series of national policy statements on energy which have been published following a public consultation.

'Affordable energy'

The plans will be debated and voted on in Parliament, but ministers are hopeful that, with a pro-nuclear majority in the Commons, they will win the argument.

Energy Minister Charles Hendry said: "Around a quarter of the UK's generating capacity is due to close by the end of this decade. We need to replace this with secure, low carbon, affordable energy.

Continue reading the main story

We believe the nuclear programme is not safe - and Fukushima is the latest example of that - but it's also not needed”

End Quote Andreas Speck Kick Nuclear - Stop New Nuclear alliance "This will require over ?100bn worth of investment in electricity generation alone. This means twice as much investment in energy infrastructure in this decade as was achieved in the last decade."

Mr Hendry said industry "needs as much certainty as possible to make such big investments," adding that the plans "set out our energy need to help guide the planning process, so that if acceptable proposals come forward in appropriate places, they will not face unnecessary hold-ups".

Hinkley blockade

Andreas Speck from Stop New Nuclear - an alliance of eight groups opposed to the plants - said campaigners had expected the government to go ahead with its plans despite Fukushima.

"It was always clear," he said.

But Mr Speck said Stop New Nuclear would continue to oppose the plants "more than ever" and would blockade the Hinkley Point site on 3 October.

EDF Energy has already submitted planning applications to the West Somerset District Council for preparatory work on the planned new reactor at the site.

If EDF could be made to abandon its plans at Hinkley, the alliance hoped work at the other proposed sites would also be stopped, Mr Speck said.

"We believe the nuclear programme is not safe - and Fukushima is the latest example of that - but it's also not needed," he said.

Mr Speck said power could be generated without the use of nuclear energy, which he said was expensive and provided too few carbon reductions.

Friends of the Earth said the UK's energy needs could be met through "clean renewable power".

"After five decades of nuclear power the industry still needs huge public subsidy, while solar is set to operate without taxpayer support within a decade - even in cloudy Britain," spokesman Simon Bullock said.

"The Government is obsessed with putting a new nuclear millstone around Britain's neck."

Divisive issue

The issue of nuclear power divided Conservatives and Liberal Democrats when they entered government together.

The coalition deal allowed a Lib Dem spokesman to speak out against any new nuclear plants, while Lib Dem MPs could abstain on the issue.

However, Lib Dem Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has since given his backing to new reactors.

He stressed that they would not be subsidised by the taxpayer, although MPs have warned that reform of the electricity market could favour nuclear power and amount to a hidden subsidy.

The new reactors are designed to maintain electricity supplies and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

It will come as an older generation of power stations is shut down.

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Nuclear watchdog wants new checks

20 June 2011 Last updated at 16:39 GMT The IAEA has highlighted some of the weaknesses that contributed to the crisis The head of the UN nuclear watchdog has called for strengthened international safety checks to help prevent a repeat of Japan's nuclear crisis at Fukushima.

Yukiya Amano said UN experts should be able to carry out random reviews of nuclear power stations.

He has also called for countries to carry out risk assessments on their reactors within 18 months.

The watchdog, the IAEA, is holding a meeting in Vienna aimed at improving nuclear safety.

Officials from 150 nations are meeting at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) offices in Vienna.

Mr Amano said nations had to respond to the great public anxiety caused by the Fukushima accident.

"Public confidence in the safety of nuclear power has been badly shaken. However, nuclear power will remain important for many countries, so it is imperative that the most stringent safety measures and implemented everywhere," he said.

He also wants UN experts to be permitted to perform random safety reviews of their reactors.

The suggestion that UN experts perform random checks is controversial, says the BBC's Bethany Bell in Vienna.

At the moment, there are no compulsory international nuclear safety regulations as many countries believe nuclear safety is the responsibility of individual states.

'Unprecedented emergency'

The Fukushima disaster has prompted widespread public concern about nuclear safety.

The nuclear plant's cooling systems were knocked out by the 11 March earthquake and tsunami. The disaster caused meltdown at three of the reactors.

Continue reading the main story Reactor 1: Partial meltdown from cooling problems. Building holed by gas explosion. Radioactive water detected in reactor and basementReactor 2: Partial meltdown from cooling problems. Building holed by gas blast; containment damage suspected. Highly radioactive water detected in reactor and adjoining tunnelReactor 3: Partial meltdown from cooling problems. Building holed by gas blast; containment damage possible. Spent fuel pond partly refilled with water after running low. Radioactive water detected in reactor and basementReactor 4: Reactor shut down prior to quake. Fires and explosion in spent fuel pond; water level partly restoredReactors 5 & 6: Reactors shut down. Temperature of spent fuel pools now lowered after rising highMore than three months after the accident, the facility is still leaking radioactive material.

Germany has decided to shut down all its reactors by 2022 and Italy has voted against plans to revive nuclear power.

The IAEA report on the Fukushima accident is to be published on Monday at the conference.

Leaks from the report indicate it has found that Japan did not follow all the proper guidelines for how to respond to the crisis.

It failed to follow some safety measures, and did not learn from past threats to nuclear plants in areas prone to tsunami risk, according to leaks.

But it will also praise the dangerous and hard work carried out by Japan's nuclear workers.

"The operators were faced with a catastrophic, unprecedented emergency scenario with no power, reactor control or instrumentation," the 160-page report will say.

Some 110,000 tonnes of water have built up during efforts to cool reactors since the twin natural disasters, hampering work to bring the plant under control.

The contaminated water, enough to fill 40 Olympic-sized swimming pools, is increasing by 500 tonnes a day as fresh water is continuously being injected to cool the reactors.

An operation on Friday to decontaminate the water was abandoned after just a few hours because of a rapid rise in radiation.

Japanese broadcaster NHK reported that storage facilities are filling up, so a delay in restarting the filtering system could cause the water to overflow into the sea in about a week.

Fukushima is the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986.

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