Norway: no domestic spent fuel disposal? Norway's Minister of Health Dagfinn Hoeybraaten is
considering whether to allow export of high level nuclear waste and spent fuel from the
experimental Halden reactor for final disposal. Most likely destination would be neighboring Nordic
countries. However, both Sweden and Finland passed laws forbidding importation and disposal of
other countries' waste and spent fuel prior to joining the European Union in 1994. The 40-year-old
Halden reactor looks set to operate for a further 10 years after regulator SSV recommended that the
government grants the reactor a new "concession" (license). Nucleonics Week, 12 August
1999
BNFL heads for partial privatization. The British government in July announced plans for
the partial privatization of British Nuclear Fuels PLC (BNFL) through a Public Private Partnership
(PPP) scheme. This follows a report on privatization options by KPMG, involving the whole of BNFL
as an inte- grated nuclear business. However, before PPP is introduced the government wants to see
improved safety, health and environmental standards, and has set a number of performance targets in
these areas as well as productivity. The government and the company are to "explore the scope for
developing an employee partnership scheme, with the aim of ensuring that the employees share in the
future success of the business" as it pro- gresses towards PPP.
BNFL was formed in 1971 out of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, and has operated as a commercial
business since the 1970s, paying a dividend to the government. Legislation from 1971 provides for
the sale of up to 49% of the company as shares, primarily to employees. BNFL has the declared aim
of becoming the world's leading nuclear company. It has expertise in nuclear clean-up and
decommissioning, but its activities span the whole fuel cycle and now include Westinghouse, which
accounts for one third of turnover. It has 20,000 employees and an order book of BP15 billion
(US$24.5 billion). UIC Weekly news, 13 August 1999
10 Europe-Japan MOX-transports annually. Ten deadly nuclear cargoes of weapons-usable
plutonium fuel are to travel from Europe to Japan each year via South Africa, according to a
Reuters' story published on August 13. In light of this information, Greenpeace urged all potential
en route nations con- cerned by the risks associated with these shipments to redouble their efforts
in opposing this and future transports being conducted by European and Japanese nuclear industry.
"Unless en route states redouble their opposition and ban these transports, the prospect of a
nuclear catastrophe occurring off their coast lines will increased dramatically," warned Mike
Townsley of Greenpeace International. Press release, Greenpeace 13 August 1999
First sell N-plant than charge consumers for it. US Utility Niagara Mohawk has filed a
petition asking the state Public Service Commission (PSC) to approve the sale of its nuclear plants
to AmerGen Energy Co. of Philadelphia. A key element is the request to continue charging ratepayers
for nuclear investments that AmerGen's purchase price won't cover. This would mean that long after
it sells its nuclear facilities the utility hopes to be able to continue charging customers for the
plants. And the bill won't be cheap. Including construction costs and a profit for Niagara Mohawk,
the bill could reach roughly US$3.2 billion over the next 15 years. Although AmerGen has agreed to
pay US$135 million for the plants, Niagara Mohawk's net proceeds will be less than that because the
utility has agreed to sweeten the decommissioning fund it will transfer to AmerGen with an
additional US$80 million to US$120 million. All told, Niagara Mohawk's net proceeds probably will
not exceed US$50 million. Amerigen Energy Co. is a joint venture of Peco Energy Co. and British
Energy PLC. AP, 2 August 1999
French Greens threaten coalition. The French Green Party (Les Verts) warned that it would
quit the government if the Socialist-led cabinet pushes ahead with plans to replace aging reactors
with new nuclear power plants.
Plans to gradually replace France's aging nuclear plants with the EPR (European Pressurised
Reactor) from 2005 are to be discussed the coming month. The Greens will launch a series of
protests in November and the network "Sortir du Nucleaire" started a campaign against the EPR.
Green Enviroment minister Voynet opposes nuclear power, but she's the only Green representative in
the cabinet. Frustration by Les Verts raised in July by Jospin's refusal to boost significantly the
Greens' role in the cabinet to reflect their strong performance in June European elections.
Reuters, 20 August 1999
No MOX in Novovoronezh-5! Representatives of the Russian nuclear inspectorate and the
Novovoronezh nuclear reactor says the plutonium plan of Minatom can not be implemented in
reality.
A 1996 report by Russian Minatom and US DOE suggested to fabricate MOX fuel and load unit 5 of the
Novovoronezh nuclear power plant among other reactors with this MOX fuel. "You can try to load MOX
fuel into Novovoronezh 5, but then I wouldn't suggest to start this unit up," said Alexandr
Krutskih, director of the technical department of the Russian Nuclear Inspectorate (GAN) at the
Novovoronezh plant when he visited an antinuclear action camp to talk with the activists. The
director of the Novovoronezh nuclear power plant said in the interview to "Molodoy Kommunar"
newspaper in Voronezh on August 17: "Plutonium (MOX) fuel can not be loaded into unit 5 of my
nuclear plant because the reactor was not made for this kind of fuel."
More than 50 anti-nuclear activists from Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Finland, Great Britain and other
countries have been at the action camp since August 17. Press release Ecodefense!, 24 August
1999
France: Authorization to build an underground laboratory in a clay formation at Bure,
France, has been granted to national nuclear waste management agency Andra. The FFr1.5 billion
(US$245 million) laboratory will be used for research disposal of high-level and long-lived
radioactive wastes, and is scheduled to start up in 2001. The government also issued a decree
allowing waste management agency Andra to seek a site for a second laboratory for a granite
formation. UI News Briefing, 11-17 August 1999
Fusion to save us from greenhouse after 2070? A new report is published on nuclear fusion:
"Long-Term Scenarios and the Role of Fusion Power". It is commissioned by the European Union and
has to be viewed against the background of turmoil in a fusion community now facing up to a
skeptical world. The plans for the flagship fusion project International Thermonuclear Experimental
Reactor (ITER) are on the brink of demise. The remaining partners have now decided to try to bring
in a scaled-down product B- "ITER-lite" -- 1GW instead of 2,8GW, 2015 instead of the original
2000-5.
The fusion community is a community with deep European roots and lots of institutional clout. The
fusion-friendly institutes collaborating in this report have reached a muted conclu- sion: up to
2070 fusion is forecast to be more expensive than fission and coal but for 2070-2100 it would
become economically viable given European CO2 reduction policy.
The report is available at the Energy Centre Netherland.
Tel: +31-224-564328; Fax: +31-224-561156
Hotspot, July 1999
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