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Britain says will press ahead with Urenco stake sale

Agence France-PresseApril 22, 2013 07:01
Britain on Monday said it would proceed with the sale of some or all of its one-third stake in British-based uranium enrichment specialist Urenco. The British government said in a statement that it had made the decision after securing agreement from Urenco's Dutch and German partners. Britain, Germany and the Netherlands each hold one-third stakes in the nuclear fuel supplies group.

UN atomic agency urges Fukushima safety improvements

Agence France-PresseApril 22, 2013 06:30
The International Atomic Energy Agency on Monday called on the operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant to improve "essential systems" as it struggles to deal with leaks and power cuts. The stricken site has suffered an increasingly long line of mishaps, including a series of radioactive water leaks, that have rattled public confidence in the aftermath of the worst atomic crisis in a generation.

Government launches sale of uranium enrichment firm Urenco

April 22, 2013 05:45
LONDON (Reuters) - The government said on Monday it would sell some or all of its 33 percent stake in Urenco, the world's second-largest vendor of nuclear fuel. Three countries hold equal stakes in the security-sensitive uranium enrichment concern - Britain, the Netherlands and Germany, whose share is held by utilities E.ON and RWE. Urenco is estimated to be worth up to 10 billion euros (8.5 billion pounds) and several buyers have been reported to be ready to bid for a stake.

NKorea 'bark worse than bite'

Agence France-PresseApril 18, 2013 12:00
North Korea is incapable of carrying out most of its threats of recent weeks, a prominent US expert who has visited the country's nuclear facilities several times said Thursday. "The bark is much greater than the bite," Siegfried Hecker from Stanford University, who revealed in 2010 the existence of a uranium enrichment facility in North Korea, said in Vienna. "All of these things that they have threatened to do, most of them they cannot do," said Hecker, currently a visiting scientist at the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation.

Iran may need highly enriched uranium in future - official

April 16, 2013 15:32
DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran may in the future need highly enriched uranium to power submarines and other vessels, a top nuclear official was quoted as saying on Tuesday. The comments by Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, are likely to stoke Western concerns about the nature of Iran's nuclear programme, as uranium enriched beyond 20 percent fissile purity is a relatively short technical step from weapons-grade.

Iran's Ahmadinejad visits uranium-producing Niger

April 15, 2013 12:45
By Abdoulaye Massalatchi NIAMEY (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived on Monday in Niger, the world's No. 4 uranium producer, where the French nuclear group Areva has seen its grip on the industry loosened by a government looking to diversify its partners.

Bulgarian nuclear reactor shut down due to outage

April 15, 2013 11:32
Sofia, Apr 15 (EFE).- One of the reactors at Bulgaria's Kozloduy nuclear power plant was shut down due to an outage, but there is no danger of a radioactive leak, plant managers said Monday. "The case is not related in any way to the country's nuclear safety and no changes have been detected in the radiation levels in the area around the plant," plant management said in a statement. A hydrogen leak was detected in one of the components of the plant's refrigeration system a few minutes before midnight.

Iran's Ahmadinejad due to visit uranium-producing Niger

April 15, 2013 09:46
NIAMEY (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is due to arrive on Monday in Niger, the world's No. 4 uranium producer, where French nuclear group Areva has seen its monopoly tested by a government looking to diversify its partners. Niger is the second of three stops on a trip aimed at deepening Iran's ties with Africa, a continent Ahmadinejad has courted for business deals and diplomatic support as the Islamic Republic becomes increasingly isolated by international sanctions targeting its disputed nuclear programme.

Bulgarian nuclear plant shuts down reactor

April 15, 2013 07:16
Bulgaria's Kozloduy nuclear power plant said Monday it had shut down one of its two reactors following a problem in the cooling system, but insisted this had no impact on radioactivity levels. The shutdown occurred late Sunday. "The reason for the stoppage was a hydrogen leak in the cooling system of the turbo-generator, which is located in the conventional, non-radioactive section of the unit," the plant said in a statement. It added that work was underway to fix the problem and get the unit up and running again.

IAEA urges nuke regulators enhance safety regulations

April 12, 2013 12:05
The International Conference on Effective Nuclear Regulatory Systems closed here Thursday, urging nuclear regulators worldwide to stress more of the safety regulations than post-accident emergency measures. The conference, organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is the first major event specifically devoted to nuclear regulatory systems since the nuclear accident at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March 2011. More than 250 senior nuclear safety and security regulators from 40 member states and five international organizations.
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