Today's big stories from the nuclear industry:
Guardian: Iran refusing to co-operate with nuclear inspectors, says UN
‘The UN's nuclear watchdog will report that Iran is continuing to obstruct its investigation into allegations of past work on nuclear weapons, but the country's uranium enrichment programme was expanding more slowly than expected.’
Reuters: GDF Suez drops Bulgarian nuclear reactor plan
‘French utility GDF Suez (GSZ.PA) has decided to pull out of Bulgaria's planned atomic power plant of Belene to focus on its other nuclear projects, a company spokesman said on Wednesday. GDF Suez's Belgian subsidiary Electrabel had been in talks to take part in German utility RWE's (RWEG.DE) 49-percent stake in Bulgaria's 4 billion euro plant.’
Platts: Lithuania says it is not asking EC to delay Ignalina-2 closure
‘Lithuania is not asking the European Commission for a delay in closing Ignalina-2, "but we are asking for solutions to the problems of closing," Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius said at a press conference in Stockholm February 18.’
Reuters: Five U.S. nuclear plants make DOE loan short-list
‘HOUSTON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - The field of U.S. companies competing for $18.5 billion in government-backed loans to build new nuclear plants has narrowed to five from about 14 last year, company sources said.’
Gulf Daily News: Nuclear power 'best option for the Gulf'
‘NUCLEAR power is the best option for the Gulf states to meet their growing energy demands, but the key is to produce it collectively, experts said yesterday.’
China View: China eyes independent nuclear power development
‘China can rely on and will promote the use of its own technologies in developing nuclear power projects, a senior energy official said Wednesday. The proportion of domestic technologies and equipment used in the country's nuclear power projects should be required to reach a certain level, said Zhang Guobao, head of the National Energy Administration (NEA), at an NEA work conference here Wednesday.’