Tag: nuclear energy

Germany’s accelerated nuclear exit and increased reliance on renewables is likely to cause a power gap equivalent to the output of up to 15 plants by 2020, participants at a high-level energy meeting said on Wednesday (2 May).

Some of the EU’s millions of euros of energy aid to the developing world could be spent on gas projects, EU Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs has told EurActiv. But biofuels, nuclear and coal energy will not be funded. 

Bulgaria has abandoned plans to build its second nuclear power plant based on Russian technology, an official announced today (28 March). Dnevnik, the EurActiv partner in Bulgaria, reports.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borrisov has fired a key minister and announced today (16 March) that the country would buy a Russian nuclear reactor. In previous statements, Borissov has strongly opposed further Russian nuclear energy projects.

Eighty percent of the world's nuclear power plants are more than 20 years old, raising safety concerns, a draft UN report says a year after Japan’s Fukushima disaster.

A new international accord on the management and safety of nuclear power plants should be a priority for governments, an influential global energy organisation has said.

Nuclear power plants can be attractive for their owners but not necessarily for consumers as they hardly ever determine the price of electricity on the energy exchange, says Alois Tost, an independent energy consultant. In an interview with EurActiv.cz, the German expert also adivsed against solar photovoltaics to compensate for Germany's nuclear phase-out.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius slammed the European Commission yesterday (24 November) for its proposal to help close the Ignalina power station as part of an aid package to decommission nuclear plants in three new EU member countries. 

EU energy ministers meeting in Poland today (20 September) will debate a paper by the European Commission, which makes the case for strengthening electricity interconnections in the face of Germany's nuclear phase-out.

Shale gas and unconventional gas have a huge future but their lack of social acceptance, and the technological adjustments and regulatory framework required to develop them remain a challenge in Europe, Pawel Konzal of the World Economic Forum (WEF), told EurActiv Czech Republic in an exclusive interview.

Russia is trying new tactics by taking Bulgaria to court in a bid to speed up construction of the Belene nuclear power plant, the first in the EU that is fully reliant on Russian technology. Dnevnik, EurActiv's partner in Bulgaria, reports.

An explosion sparked a fire at a French nuclear power station on Saturday (2 July), just two days after the authorities found 32 safety concerns at the plant.

The UN’s nuclear chief has called for random safety tests of all the world's reactors within 18 months, to help prevent any repeat of Japan's atomic crisis three months ago.

Germany will shut all its nuclear reactors by 2022, parties in Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government agreed today (30 May), in a reaction to Japan's Fukushima disaster that marks a drastic policy reversal.

In the absence of an agreement to include terrorism threats in nuclear stress tests, Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger said he was satisfied with a two-track approach, leaving a decision on this issue for later.

The 143 nuclear power plants operating in Europe, plus the six under construction and the 15 planned, should be able to withstand any possible threat, including a malicious plane crash like the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US, the European Commission announced.

Japan's nuclear crisis will speed the elimination of nuclear power from some European countries and render many planned projects too risky, ultimately increasing Europe's dependence on gas.

Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats lost power yesterday (27 March) in the rich state of Baden-Württemberg, where anti-nuclear sentiment had been mobilised by radiation leaks from an earthquake-stricken nuclear plant in Japan. The vote is not expected to cost her the job, but would certainly limit her ability to pass legislation.

Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger called at a hastily-convened meeting of ministers yesterday (15 March) for the introduction of safety "stress tests" at nuclear power plants in Europe. He commended the  safety standards currently in place in EU countries, but at the same time told German media that Europe must consider a "foreseeable future" without nuclear energy.

Cash shortages and uncertainty over energy prices are delaying or cutting back nuclear power projects across Central and South-Eastern Europe, threatening energy supply and a push to abandon polluting coal.

Plans by Belarus to build a nuclear power plant 50 kilometres away from Vilnius are a worry for Lithuania, the country's foreign minister, Audronius Ažubalis, told EurActiv in an exclusive interview.

The Hungarian EU Presidency, to be held in the first half of 2011, wants to conclude EU legislation on regulating the disposal of nuclear waste and spent fuel. EurActiv Hungary reports.

For several months, Germany has been discussing the future of its energy policy. Last month, Chancellor Angela Merkel went on an 'energy tour' across the country to meet different stakeholders and visit various power plants. These included renewable energy as well as nuclear sites. EurActiv Germany reports.

Moscow is pressing Sofia to give its green light to a new nuclear power station to be built by Russian firm Atomstroyexport, with Russia's EU ambassador hinting that Bulgaria's participation in the South Stream pipeline project depends on its decision. Dnevnik, EurActiv's partner in Bulgaria, reports.