Russian, South African nuclear companies strengthen cooperation

By: Keith Campbell

Rusatom Overseas, the international arm of Russia’s State-owned nuclear energy group Rosatom, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) in Moscow on Monday. The MoU lays the foundation for the development of joint business projects in, for example, the production and marketing of radioisotopes, the manufacture of nuclear fuel and the fabrication of power equipment. It also opens the way for future cooperation in other, mutually agreed, areas.
“The South African nuclear industry has a great potential for growth, not only in the business of isotope production where South Africa is already playing a major role but also in areas such as fuel fabrication and nuclear manufacturing,” highlighted Necsa acting CEO Don Robertson.

“Local provision of both nuclear and conventional power plant equipment for the envisaged [South African] NPPs [nuclear power plants] will be a good undertaking for Necsa,” he added. “Partnerships such as the one reinforced by this memorandum will ensure that Necsa is in a good position to participate in the execution of many South African initiatives falling within the scope of this agreement.”

“Signing the MoU with Necsa allows us to make practical the implementation of initiatives on those prospective cooperation areas, which have been intensely studied by the specialists of our countries during last year,” pointed out Rusatom Overseas director-general Alexey Kalinin. “We see great potential in such cooperation and are looking forward to witnessing the first significant results.”

Cooperation within the framework of the MoU is intended by both sides to assist the execution of South Africa’s Integrated Resource Plan 2010, which includes the construction of NPPs with a total capacity of 9.6 GW by 2030. Additionally, Necsa and Rusatom Overseas also plan to develop cooperation, including Rusatom’s parent group, in NPP construction projects in third countries.

The MoU was signed by Kalinin and by Necsa NTP executive director Ms Mapula Letsoalo in front of South African Energy Minister Dipuo Peters and Rosatom director-general Sergey Kirienko. The signing was one of the events at the Atomexpo 2012 exposition.

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Russia's Rosatom eyes Hungary nuclear tender

Rosatom would build, finance new nuclear blocks-paper


* Hungary's Paks plant to add new capacity by 2030
* Paks CEO expects at least five bidders-agency (Adds Areva comment)
BUDAPEST, June 5 (Reuters) - Russian state-owned nuclear company Rosatom is keen to expand Hungary's Paks nuclear power plant, including construction and financing of new generation blocks, a top Rosatom official was quoted as saying in the business daily Napi Gazdasag on Tuesday.
Rosatom would be willing to fully finance the new construction, which is expected to cost about 3 trillion forints ($12.4 billion), the paper quoted Rosatom Deputy Director General Kirill Komarov as saying at Atomexpo, a nuclear power trade fair in Moscow.
Hungary, which needs major new electric plants to augment an ageing fleet of power stations, is expected to issue a construction tender this year for up to 3,000 megawatts (MW) in new nuclear power capacity at the Paks site.
The current plant at Paks, 100 km (60 miles) south of the capital Budapest, uses four Russian-made VVER reactors for a total capacity of 2,000 MW and produces about 40 percent of the country's electricity.
Paks Chief Executive Officer Istvan Hamvas told Hungarian state news agency MTI in Moscow that he expected at least five participants in the upcoming tender, including Rosatom, as well as France's Areva, Westinghouse Electric and Japanese and South Korean competitors.
Hamvas said he expected Westinghouse to tout its AP 1000 reactor, Rosatom its VVER 1000 model while Areva would offer its 1,600 MW EPR reactor or its smaller Atmea reactor, developed in tandem with Japan's Mitsubishi.
An Areva spokesman said the company was interested in participating in the tender.
"As one of the main industrial nuclear players worldwide, Areva always considers any opportunity... and is thus interested in the new build project at the Paks site," spokesman Maxime Michaut wrote in an emailed reply to Reuters questions.
"Once the tender is launched and documents handed out, Areva will examine them in detail with a view to participate in the process."
Westinghouse did not immediately reply to requests seeking comment.
The Paks reactors, built in the 1980s, are expected to stay operational until the 2030s after undergoing lifespan extension work.
The new nuclear blocks should come on line between 2020 and 2030, increasing the country's reliance on nuclear power to 60 percent of the electricity mix.
The government last week created a committee to prepare strategic decisions for the construction headed by Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Rosatom, through its subsidiary TVEL, is the fuel supplier for Hungary's existing four Russian-made nuclear power blocks and has also participated in their maintenance.

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Nuclear Power’s Place in the Green Energy Market

By Lee S. Gliddon III

Nuclear power is becoming recognized as a “green energy” source more and more each day.  As environmentalists and the public at large become more educated in regards to nuclear power, the positive perception of nuclear power grows.

Considering the cost, emissions, carbon footprint, renewable aspects, and the improvements already present in new nuclear technology; nuclear power as a whole is an environmental advantage for countries that champion and move forward with it as a source.  These same countries are realizing an economic boom, while those abandoning nuclear power are falling into difficult economic times.  When economies falter, the environment often suffers greatly. This offers yet another reason for countries to embrace nuclear power.

Cost of Power

Nuclear power has been determined to be an inexpensive energy source with respect to raw materials required and cost to produce.  

All energy production requires raw materials to create usable electricity.  Nuclear power, by a factor of millions provides the greatest multiplier from raw material to usable energy.   That fact makes nuclear power incredibly green.

The actual cost of Nuclear Power to produce is significantly less than Solar, Coal, and Natural Gas with only Wind Power as a rival.  However, Wind Power does not offer the reliability and quantity of energy which Nuclear Power provides, especially in terms of base load.  What happens when the wind stops blowing at night, the very time we are all charging our electric cars and cell phones?  Without Nuclear Power, you’ll need to fire up the coal plants.

Electric Vision' by Robert Preston Sept 7, 2005 using figures from US Department of Energy, September, 2005.

Environmental Performance Index – Energy Source Matters

When countries pay more for their energy, it necessarily means there is less revenue for environmental projects and green regulation enforcement.  One of the first casualties of poor economies has been environmental issues.  A visit to any second or third world country where energy is expensive will reveal a poor environmental result.  However, countries with abundant natural Hydro energy fare well.  Countries that are not as fortunate can employ the great equalizer, Nuclear Power. 

According to Yale University’s Environmental Performance Index for 2012, the top countries:

1.      Switzerland (Hydro 56% and Nuclear 39%)

2.      Latvia (Hydro 62%)

3.      Norway (Hydro)

4.      Luxembourg (Hydro 66%)

5.      Costa Rica (Hydro 82%)

6.      France (Nuclear 72%)

7.      Austria (Hydro 68%)

The bottom countries:

           126. Kuwait (99% Oil and Gas)

           127. Yemen (99% Oil and Gas)

           128. South Africa (Coal 88%)

           129. Kazakhstan (Oil and Gas 88%)

           130. Uzbekistan (Oil and Gas 97%)

           131.  Turkmenistan (Oil and Gas 99%)

           132.  Iraq (Oil 96%)

Switzerland and France have “leapfrogged” the competition with the adoption of nuclear power.  No other country in the world has gained such an excellent EPI raking as France without substantial Hydro Power.  France’s energy model is a lesson for the rest of the world on how to improve the environment absent natural Hydro resources.

Source: Data from IEA

On the contrary, the use of coal, gas, and oil as an energy source is the worst direction a country can take when considering the environment.   Many of the Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries realize the worst environmental results as they consume coal, gas, and oil for energy production.  When compared to conventional energy sources Nuclear energy is clearly the green alternative.

Source:  “Life Cycle Assessment of Electricity Generation Systems and Applications for Climate Change Policy Analysis, “Paul J. Meier, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The carbon footprint of solar, hydro, nuclear, geothermal, and wind are excellent in comparison to conventional energy sources.

Negative Ecological Impact of Green Energy Sources

An often ignored or unknown element of green energy is the ecological footprint of green energy sources.   The actual space required, noise, intrusion on nature, and impacts on humans are considerations often over-looked.

Per 100 hundred acres of nuclear power, millions of homes receive power.  However, solar and wind require tens of thousands of acres to do the same.  The footprint difference is significant.  The smaller the footprint of an energy source the less impact on the immediate environment and local eco-systems will occur.

Solar’s Negative Impact 

Solar power is a positive addition to the power grids throughout the world.  It has it’s pitfalls due to weather and time of day light conditions.  There are also rarely discussed environmental issues with solar power.  Solar panel creation generates a great deal of toxic byproducts.  Often, the panels are manufactured in countries such as China where numerous reports of dumping have made it into the press.  

In many areas, valuable water sources carry the burden to clean dust, pollution, and bird droppings from the panels so they may operate. In desert areas it has been noted that the dust accumulated from one month reduces the panel’s energy output by 35% and the approximately 40,000 liters of water per day are required to clean the panels.   In some cases the energy required to bring the water to arid solar panel farms cost more than the actual power created.  New technology is proposed, but exceedingly expensive.

With the operation of solar farms, coolant liquids need changing every 2-3 years.  Special handling is required because the byproducts are/can be:  anti-freeze, glycol, nitrates, sulphates, aromatic alcohols, chromates, and other harmful materials.   Like with Nuclear Power, there are some dangerous byproducts which must be managed.

Not only do solar facilities often take up significant space, displacing wildlife, but the factories that produce the solar power components have a poor environmental record.  Costly and valuable clean water is required in arid regions.  The byproducts are also hazardous.  Solar is not the environmental utopian power supply that many proponents claim it to be.

Wind’s Negative Impact 

Like nuclear and solar, wind has a minimal carbon footprint compared to fossil fuel sources.  Other issues with wind should be noted.  Noise, visual, and avian concerns have been voiced.  The physical footprint of a wind farm is a vast expanse of land.   Overall, wind is a very environmentally positive energy source.  The issue with wind power is its inability to provide consistent base load energy at an inexpensive rate.  Wind is costly and unreliable, but a good addition to augment the power supply.

Nuclear Impact and Improvements

Chernobyl and Fukushima happened.  Extreme, preventable human error created havoc on the environment in both cases.  With new technologies and practices, such events with nuclear power will be highly preventable if not almost eliminated.  With new technologies, the ecological impact of modern nuclear will be minimized greatly.

Chernobyl and Fukushima both occurred due to the inability to get cooling water to the nuclear fuel.  Fukushima was compounded with the failure of politicians to allow the plant to vent off pressure and Hydrogen.  The Hydrogen combusted and blew apart the containment structures.  Beyond the new plant design technology, a simply solution is already available for existing plants.  Water towers based on gravity can provide enough water to the reactors in an emergency, offering reactors enough time to shut down.  And new plant technology will not even require this simple and inexpensive solution.

Of course, one key environmental issue with Nuclear Power is what to do with the waste.  Currently, nuclear waste has been a problem for nations around the world.  In the U.S.A. a bold solution has been in progress with the building of the Hanford, Washington Waste Treatment Plant.  This plant processes nuclear waste and turns it into a much safer glass. But there are even better solutions.

So far, almost 90,000 of 290,000 tons of used fuel from commercial nuclear reactors has been reprocessed. That is a 31% reprocessing rate.  As new reactor technology comes online and the capability to reprocess improves, further gains can be achieved, making Nuclear Power greener still.  New reactor technology uses less fuel, which is a lower grade, and produces far less waste.  The real environmental tragedy is the foot dragging by some countries to decommission older plants and replace them with the newer technology.
The current Generation III reactors being produced have a substantial grace period.  After a shutdown, the plant requires no active intervention for approximately 72 hours.  The plants have a higher “burn-up” rate, using fuel more fully and efficiently.  This significantly reduces the amount waste and extends fuel life.  The results are a far safer, more efficient, more powerful, and less waste-producing plant.  Generation IV reactors are estimated to be available in 2030.  These include molten salt (Thorium) reactors that have virtually no meltdown potential. 

Thorium may come to reality even sooner with India and other countries embracing the technology.  Thorium reactors present no proliferation risk, solve safety issues, are scalable in size, transportable, and inexpensive as they can be put in standard industrial buildings making them the likely next step in clean, green, reliable, safe, and powerful energy production.

Avoided Emissions by Green Energy Sources

All energy sources releases some sort of greenhouse gases in their life cycle. Construction, manufacturing, obtaining necessary raw materials, transportation, are just some of the activities green energy sources must partake to become a reality.  The green energy sources avoid massive amounts of emissions.

Reviewing the positive impact of green energy in the United States illustrates the positive impact for the environment.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - 2007

Nuclear power has offered the greatest positive impact in reducing CO2 emissions by more than twice that of all other green power sources combined.

  

Summary

Nuclear power’s position as the current top green energy solution is undeniable.  It offers an inexpensive, yet reliable base-load of energy.  When compared to not just green energy sources, but also conventional fossil energy sources, nuclear is less expensive and incredibly reliable.  Outside of the few countries blessed with the natural resources of hydro, no other green energy source is reliable enough to maintain the necessary base load of energy required, regardless of weather or time of day.  

The single most impactful factor that countries throughout the world have been able to employ to significantly improve their environmental performance index has been to embrace nuclear power.  Countries unwilling or unable to realize nuclear power and continue on predominantly fossil fuel sources have the worst environmental performance indexes.

New nuclear technology already in use has provides even greater quantities of power, using less fuel, with more renewable properties, and is far safer than the older plants.  Inexpensive, green, and safer generations of nuclear reactors will provide our planet’s residents an even better environment in the years to come.

China Nuclear Plans Could Help Stimulus Efforts

By BRIAN SPEGELE

BEIJING—China's latest step toward relaunching its nuclear-power ambitions could play into its efforts to stimulate the country's economy, according to analysts, even as officials face a public that has demonstrated worries about nuclear safety.
China's cabinet said late last week that leaders had approved the country's 2020 nuclear-safety strategy and had completed inspection of existing nuclear reactors. The comments, while expected, offer a sign that China's leaders could soon begin the approvals process for new reactors, which was suspended in March 2011 amid public concern over nuclear safety following Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.
Energy experts and the nuclear-power industry are watching for when approvals might resume or whether the government could adapt different nuclear technologies as a result of the Fukushima disaster. Economists and investors also are watching because many of them see a potential Chinese nuclear build out as a part of a package of targeted stimulus efforts undertaken by Beijing amid slowing economic growth.
"The size of China's nuclear program is too big to ignore as a tool to create jobs in a potential fiscal stimulus" if problems in the euro-zone worsen, said Guo Shou, a Barclays energy analyst, in an email.
China has 15 nuclear-power reactors in operation, with a total generating capacity of around 11.9 gigawatts, according to the World Nuclear Association. Before Fukushima, China's nuclear capacity was expected to reach 80 gigawatts by 2020. As a result of the post-Fukushima slowdown, many analysts say China's expected capacity likely will be lowered to 60 to 70 gigawatts by 2020.
China's state-owned nuclear-equipment providers could see billions of dollars in revenue when the country resumes taking on new projects, just as China's biggest nuclear companies are increasingly seeking business with governments across the developing world interested in building reactors. Analysts say Chinese companies have the advantage in producing some nuclear-reactor technology at large scale as they seek to become globally competitive and support jobs at home.
China has signaled that it is unlikely to unveil a stimulus package similar to the one it used after the 2008 financial crisis to spur growth. The stimulus efforts helped keep China's economic growth humming but led to worries about overcapacity and bad debt on the books of the country's banks. This time, analysts expect industry-specific government support policies, with nuclear and other energy infrastructure projects poised to be among those benefiting most. The government already has hastened the approval of major projects and unveiled targeted tax cuts and incentives for purchasing household appliances.
Energy demand is expected to continue rising sharply as growing numbers of middle-class Chinese demand everything from air conditioners to electric-powered vehicles. Some estimates say China's electricity consumption could rise to 8,500 terawatt hours by 2020 from about 4,700 terawatt hours in 2011. In recent months, comments by officials and Chinese industry executives signaled China appeared to have little intention of dramatically moving away from its nuclear plans. Nuclear power is particularly appealing for Chinese authorities as Beijing looks to reduce a reliance on imported oil and polluting coal.
Nonetheless, the Chinese public has shown awareness of concerns about nuclear safety after Fukushima. The accident itself spurred panicked buying of salt, which many believed could protect them from radiation, immediately afterward. It also spurred widespread fears about food imports from Japan. In perhaps the most dramatic case, villagers and local government officials in Anhui province late last year petitioned higher authorities to challenge plans to build a nuclear facility nearby.
Analysts expect a resumption of new reactors during the first half of 2012. Industry executives expect the Fukushima disaster to bring an accelerated shift away from China's older-model CPR-1000 reactor, based on French technology, to the newer AP1000 reactor developed by Westinghouse Electric Co., a unit of Toshiba Corp.

Japan Panel Keeps Nuclear Power Among Options For Future Energy Mix

TOKYO (Dow Jones)--A Japanese government panel studying the country's long-term energy alternatives following the Fukushima nuclear accident has come up with four options in its final recommendations--from a total phase-out of nuclear power to maintaining a reliance on the controversial energy source for the foreseeable future.
The panel, which wound up its deliberations late Monday, is expected to submit its report to an umbrella panel soon. The panel has discussed the country's energy options since last year's accident raised doubts across the nation about Japan's long-term plan to increase dependence on nuclear power.
The four options are:

-- A complete phase-out of nuclear power while raising renewable energy sources to 35% of energy supply by 2030

-- Significantly reducing nuclear power to 15% of the total supply by 2030, while increasing renewable energy to 30%, then deciding what the future energy mix should be

-- Agreeing on a lower level of nuclear power generation capacity of about 20%-25% of total energy supply

-- Letting the free market determine what the appropriate energy mix should be

The government has said a national discussion should take place before deciding on the best course.
The panel dropped a fifth option--maintaining nuclear power at its previous level of around 35% of all output estimated for 2030--since that was seen by many panel members as not viable, given widespread opposition.
The 25-member panel cautioned that there are potentially serious consequences for the economy with some of the options. It said that under the most drastic scenerio--phasing out all nuclear power by 2030--real gross domestic product would be cut by as much as 5% compared with a full restoration of nuclear power.
All of the options mean the country would need to restart some currently idled nuclear plants while capacity is built up in areas such as renewable and conventional power.
Some panel members said there needs to be a clear focus on the costs of each option, especially that of increasing the use of more expensive renewable energy.
"We haven't discussed how much each of us must invest in promoting renewable energy, but it will be an issue," said panel member Yoshitsugu Kanemoto, an economics professor at Tokyo Kezai Unversity.
Since the No. 3 unit at the Tomari nuclear power plant on Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido was closed May 5 for a regular inspection, no nuclear reactors have been online in the country.

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German Plan to Abandon Its Nuclear Energy Lags

By MELISSA EDDY - Published: May 30, 201 

BERLIN — More than a year after pledging to drop nuclear power, Chancellor Angela Merkel has acknowledged that her ambition for a Germany that runs on renewable energy is falling behind schedule and faces a range of obstacles, not least the revamping of the energy grid at a cost of billions of euros.

In recent weeks, Ms. Merkel has redoubled her efforts to push Germany’s troubled energy transformation, replacing her environment minister and declaring that she would make a new priority of the project, which foresees replacing nuclear power with renewable energy sources within a decade.

Since passing the legislation last year, in the aftermath of the tsunami and nuclear meltdown in Japan, Ms. Merkel’s own energies have been absorbed by the euro crisis and a series of regional elections. Last weekend she conceded that “we are behind on several projects.”

“Time is pressing, because we are completely transforming our energy supply,” Ms. Merkel said Saturday in her weekly podcast. “That means we need a completely different network than previously.”

Indeed, just producing the power is not enough, it requires the infrastructure to distribute it — much of it from new parks of wind turbines off the northern coast — to southern states, which are home to many of Germany’s leading industrial companies.

Ms. Merkel, her new environment minister, Peter Altmaier, and her economy minister, Philipp Rösler held talks Tuesday with the main network operators, who have estimated the cost of the planned expansion of the energy grid at €20 billion, or nearly $25 billion, over the course of the next decade.

On Wednesday, the main operators proposed a roadmap of how to get there. But with budget crises across Europe, money is not the only problem. To build the series of new power lines required, approval is needed from the authorities in each of the various states, and the operators say the paperwork is slowing them down.

Even before construction has begun in many places, farmers are demanding increased compensation for the land they will lose when power lines are strung across their fields. “We do not want to prevent the expansion of infrastructure,” said Michael Lohse, a spokesman for the German Farmers Federation. “But land is not limited.”

Germany drew some 20 percent of its total power from wind, water, solar and thermal energy sources in 2011. By 2030, the government hopes, Germany will more than double that to 50 percent. But on very windy days, the authorities in the north have had to switch some wind turbines off because the current network cannot cope with the high amount of power they produce.

Over the course of the next six weeks, the network operators will be reaching out to citizens over the Internet and through gatherings in communities, in an effort to ease the level of resistance to the new power masts.

Generally, however, Germans have shown a tolerance for the proliferating number of power lines and white wind turbines that now dot the countryside, allowing for wind energy to become the nation’s leading green power source. Wind turbines generated 37.5 billion kilowatt hours, or enough power for more than 11 million consumers, last year.

Their numbers are poised to grow as the new wind turbine projects off the northern coast expand, alongside the creation of the new north-south corridor of power lines needed to carry the electricity they generate to industrial areas.

The operators — 50Hertz, Amprion, TenneT and TransnetBW — said that Germany will need to upgrade about 4,400 kilometers, or 2,700 miles, of power lines and build an additional 3,800 kilometers of power lines by 2022 for Ms. Merkel’s plan to work.

In 2011, Germany was still a net exporter of electricity. If that is to remain the case, and if the chancellor’s plan is to be realized, industry experts say, it will take sustained effort. “The energy transformation is a generational project, it will not happen in one year or two, but over the very long term,” Ronny Meyer of the Wind Energy Agency said. “For that reason it must be a priority for the chancellor and the governors.” 

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Millstone Power Station, Connecticut Nuclear Plant, To Look At Flood, Earthquake Protections

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Millstone Power Station, Connecticut's sole nuclear plant, is focusing on how best to guard against flooding and earthquakes to comply with tougher federal standards following the nuclear plant meltdown in Japan last year, the new chief of the power station said in an interview.
Millstone is assessing its ability to withstand flooding and "seismic events," Stephen E. Scace, who took over as site vice president at Millstone in January, told The Associated Press on Thursday. He expects upgrades and installation of new equipment in the next three to four years.
"We don't expect a lot of change or a lot of impact," he said. "We expect very little change to the design."
Millstone provides half of all power used in Connecticut and 12 percent in New England, plant spokesman Ken Holt said. It's one of four nuclear plants in the region that together account for 30 percent of all power in the region, according to ISO-New England, the region's grid operator. The others are Pilgrim in in Massachusetts, Seabrook in New Hampshire and Vermont Yankee.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission ordered major safety changes in March for U.S. nuclear power plants just days before the first anniversary of the nuclear crisis in Japan. The orders require U.S. nuclear plants to install or improve venting systems to limit core damage in a serious accident and to install sophisticated equipment to monitor water levels in pools of spent nuclear fuel.
The tsunami sent three of the Japanese plant's reactors into meltdown in the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986.
Millstone, which operates near Long Island Sound, could seal gates to protect against flooding or raise the gates that swing into place, Scace said.

"It's relatively straightforward to do that," he said.
Scace said he's not worried about safety breaches in the event of flooding or earthquakes.
"It's not a concern but a consideration," he said.
Dominion, which operates Millstone, also owns the North Anna Power Station in Virginia, which shut down after an earthquake last August. It reopened in November. Inspections by Dominion and federal regulators show the plant's twin reactors and other safety components did not suffer any functional damage during the temblor.
Nuclear stations will have to inspect plants to ensure they withstand severe flooding and earthquakes, said Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. They are to complete the work in five years, he said.
"When plants were designed they had to look at the worst seismic events going back 200 years, to withstand that, plus a design margin on top of that," he said.
Scace said he's still optimistic that the industry will continue to build nuclear power plants, despite the disaster in Japan. But he expects construction to slow.
"It will be farther out than we might have anticipated five or 10 years ago," he said.
Scace has returned to Millstone, where he worked as an engineer beginning in 1970 and moved up to reactor engineer in 1973. He was site director-vice president in 1986 and remained at the Waterford power plant until 2006. He succeeded A.J. "Skip" Jordan, who became site vice president at Kewaunee Power Station in Carlton, Wis., where Scace previously worked.
Scace oversaw evaluation teams at the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, which establishes performance objectives, criteria and guidelines for the industry and evaluates nuclear plants.
That experience buoys John Sheehan, chairman of the Nuclear Energy Advisory Council, a panel established by the state to advise the governor, legislature and municipalities about safety issues at Millstone.
"He knows the best operating procedures at all ... nuclear operations," he said. "I don't see any expected change."

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NRC to finalize nuclear safety guidelines in August

(Reuters) - U.S. regulators plan to finalize a set of new safety rules for operating the nation's nuclear reactors in August, after considering public comment through July.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has drafted several guidelines to ensure proper implementation of three orders the agency issued to nuclear power plants in March, in response to lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident in March last year.

"Public comments on the draft interim staff guidance (ISG) will help the NRC ensure the guidance is as complete as possible," the agency said in a statement dated May 31.

The draft represents approaches made by operators of the nation's nuclear reactors to meet the requirements of the three orders before December 31, 2016, the compliance deadline.

"The ISGs are not mandatory, but U.S. nuclear power plants would have to seek NRC approval if they wanted to follow a different compliance approach," the NRC said.

Nuclear regulators around the world have tightened scrutiny of reactor operations after an earthquake and tsunami damaged the Fukushima reactor.

The biggest nuclear power operators in the United States include Exelon Corp, Entergy Corp, Dominion Resources Inc, Duke Energy, Progress Energy, NextEra Energy, Southern and the Tennessee Valley Authority.

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China to restart nuclear power program

Beijing has indicated that it will lift its year-long moratorium on new nuclear projects in a move that will breathe life into an industry plagued by uncertainty since the disaster at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi reactor last year.

China's cabinet announced it had approved the 2020 nuclear strategy, finalised new safety standards and finished inspecting the country's existing nuclear plants. After the Japanese nuclear crisis China suspended approvals of new reactors while it conducted safety inspections and drafted new regulations.

As the world's largest energy user China is key to setting the direction of future global nuclear expansion. Beijing's latest announcement marks a major step towards the full resumption of its nuclear building programme, which accounts for 40 per cent of global reactors under construction today.

"This is the main hurdle," said Guo Shou, energy analyst at Barclays. "Approvals for new nuclear reactors are around the corner, they are going to come very, very soon."

Restarting nuclear approvals will help boost growth and create jobs in China's nuclear sector at a time when Beijing is weighing options on how to prevent a further slowdown in the economy, although the plans are not formally part of any stimulus programme.

China draws most of its energy from burning coal but Beijing is building up wind, solar, hydropower and nuclear power as it seeks to shift toward non-fossil fuel sources. The country is targeting 60GW of nuclear capacity in 2020, according to comments by Chinese officials, which would put China's reactor fleet on par with that of France.

In the aftermath of the Japanese nuclear crisis in March 2011, several European countries abandoned or postponed plans for nuclear expansion. However many emerging economies, including China, remained committed to nuclear power and are setting the pace of global nuclear growth.

China's new safety regulations are expected to provide a boost worldwide for the latest nuclear technologies, especially for "third-generation" reactors being built in China by Westinghouse of the US and Areva of France.

Chinese nuclear companies are also trying to expand their presence overseas and have bid for reactor contracts around the world.

"The combination of technical experience, operational experience and support that can come out of China will make China a leader in the global nuclear industry," said George Borovas, head of the nuclear practice at global law firm Pillsbury. "We are starting to see it already. Chinese companies are in the international marketplace much more aggressively than they were one or two years ago."

China's cabinet said that some Chinese reactors will need to be upgraded under the new standards, citing the need for flood-safety and seismic-related improvements.

The announcement, which was posted online and dated May 31, clears the way for China's energy administration to roll out a set of more detailed policies, although the cabinet stopped short of saying exactly when new approvals would restart.

The 2020 plan and the new safety standards have not yet been released but the State Council said they would be published for public comment, without indicating when.

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Korea: IAEA to inspect Gori-1 nuclear power plant

The International Atomic Energy Agency is to inspect Korea’s oldest nuclear power plant Gori-1 in response to the growing public concerns over its safety following a shutdown of the plant earlier this year, officials said.

The eight-member IAEA expert team will begin a week-long inspection on Monday in Busan at the request of the operator Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co., the company announced Sunday.

The Gori-1 nuclear plant, which began operation in 1978 in the northern part of Busan, had completed its life span in 2007. But it was granted a 10-year extension in 2008, following an inspection by the IAEA.

The country’s oldest nuclear plant caused controversy in February when one of its two reactors temporarily lost power during a safety check.

The power cut did not lead to any damage, but it caused a public uproar as the engineers were found to have tried to cover up the mishap.

The IAEA inspection team will check the durability of the pressure vessel surrounding the reactor, and will release an inspection report before finishing up on June 11, the KHNP said in a statement.

Meanwhile, environmental groups in Busan claim that the IAEA’s inspection is a “mere formality,” of the state-run operator’s effort to gain permission to continue operating the reactor.

Korea currently operates 21 nuclear reactors with seven others under construction, and of the 21 operational reactors, nine have been running for more than two decades.

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