Turkey announces deal on Iran nuclear dispute
‘ANKARA - Iran has agreed to send its uranium to Turkey for enrichment to resolve the international row over its nuclear programme, the Anatolia news agency reported Monday, citing diplomatic sources. The deal was struck after 18 hours of talks in Tehran between the foreign ministers of Brazil, Iran and Turkey, said the report. The text that was agreed during the meeting will be put to Turkish Prime Minster Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the agency reported. He flew into Tehran on an unscheduled visit late Sunday. Erdogan was invited by Iran to join Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for talks on the issue on Monday. The three leaders would go over the final, detailed version of the agreement at that meeting, the agency added. Brazil's Lula held talks on the issue with the Iranian leadership on Sunday.’
Protests stall public hearing on Jaitapur nuclear project
‘MADBAN (Ratnagiri district): Angry protests stalled a public hearing of the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project (JNPP) at Madban village in Maharashtra on Sunday. Only after officials acknowledged their mistake of not providing copies of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) to the affected villages, it was allowed to go on under protest. Copies of the EIA summary in English were given only to the Madban gram panchayat on April 29 and a full copy in Marathi was given four days before the public hearing. The other three villages from where land was acquired for the project - Karel, Niveli and Mithgavhane - did not receive the EIA report. Pravin Gavhankar of Madban village told the panel, chaired by the Collector, that when a majority of the people did not get the EIA report, the public hearing was a sham and must be scrapped. The project has met with strong protests from people whose lands were acquired under protest. About 2300 people lost land to the project for which 938.026 ha. was acquired. Most of them have not accepted the compensation cheques. People waved black flags and shouted slogans while marching to the venue of the hearing at the project site. Shiv Sena MLA Rajan Salvi said according to law, EIA reports should have been submitted a month in advance.’
Areva South Africa pitches to build Dar nuclear power plant
‘Tanzania will soon have the first nuclear power plant in East Africa following a move by South Areva South Africa, a member of the French multinational Areva group, to bid for its construction. Currently, the country, which depends on hydropower plants to produce electricity, suffers from frequent power shortages. Mohamed Madhi, chairman of Areva South Africa, told The EastAfrican in Dar es Salaam that the firm is seeking opportunities in East Africa to invest in nuclear power production. Mr Madhi said Areva will produce clean energy in Tanzania through the construction of a nuclear power plant pending the conclusion of negotiations with the government. ‘Areva is one of the companies that will be bidding for contracts to build nuclear energy capability in Tanzania,’ he said.
Turkey says open to offers for another nuclear power plant
‘In March, Turkey and South Korea signed a cooperation protocol to establish a nuclear energy power plant in Sinop. The Turkish energy minister said on Sunday that Turkey was working on construction of a nuclear power plant in the northern province of Sinop. Turkey's Energy & Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz said Turkey reached a fruitful stage in its initiatives to construct a nuclear power plant in Sinop. "Working groups will try to develop the agreement regarding Sinop soon," Yildiz told AA correspondent. Yildiz said Turkey could sign an agreement with South Korea if conditions prevailed.’
Berlin eyes back door for passing nuclear power extension
‘Losses in state elections left Germany's coalition without a majority in the upper house of parliament and cast doubt on plans to extend operation of nuclear plants. Now, they hope to bypass the upper house entirely. Since national elections last fall, the coalition government in Berlin has been indicating its intention to extend the deadline to shut down all of Germany's nuclear power plants. According to a law passed in 2002 by then-chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's government, all of Germany's nuclear plants should be switched off by 2022, but the current government wants to push back this cut-off date, possibly by decades. After recent regional elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, the coalition's plans seemed to hit a snag. Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats and her partners in the national government, the Free Democrats, lost their majority in the Bundesrat, the German government's upper house of parliament that represents Germany's 16 states. It was thought that any extension of the lifespan of Germany's nuclear plants would require the approval of the Bundesrat, but now, Ronald Pofalla, Merkel's chief of staff, has announced Berlin's intention to bypass the Bundesrat entirely. "At the time, Chancellor Schroeder also passed the law limiting the lifespan of the plants without the Bundesrat," Pofalla said in an interview with the WAZ media group.’
Areva to announce new contracts
‘It is unclear how the Areva's T&D division's proposed sale to Alstom and Schneider will affect the Gulf and Middle East. (AFP) Areva's transmission and distribution (T&D) division expects to announce many new contracts in the region starting next week, it told Emirates Business in an exclusive. However, the details of the division's sale to Alstom and Schneider for EUR 4.09 billion (Dh18.56bn) and how it will affect the Gulf and Middle East remains unclear, according to a company spokesperson. On January 20, the Alstom and Schneider Electric Group, through a consortium, were selected to enter into exclusive negotiations with Areva Group, an industrial conglomerate mainly known for nuclear power. The transaction meant that the transmission segment, representing two thirds of Areva T&D, will join Alstom Group and the distribution segment, representing one third, will join Schneider Electric Group. The French government currently owns about 93 per cent of Areva through direct and indirect holdings. "The European Commission has already approved the proposed acquisition, but the closing of the transaction remains subject to the approvals of antitrust authorities and work councils in some remaining countries. Therefore, we don't know exactly when the closing date will occur and what will be the future organisation within Alstom and Schneider," said the spokesperson.’
Senegal advised against "extravagant" nuclear energy
‘afrol News, 17 May - Specialists in renewable energies claim to document that Senegal's plans to develop nuclear power plants are an "extravagancy" for the poor country, where conditions would be perfect for a quicker and cheaper production of solar energy. In an analysis made for afrol News by the Senegal office of the Spanish company Prosolia, different cost-efficiency alternatives are calculated to meet Senegal's desperate and immediate need to expand and diversify its energy production. The analysis follows Senegalese government initiatives to study the feasibility of nuclear power plants in the country. According to Prosolia, conditions in sun-rich Senegal are close to perfect for a cost-effective large-scale development of solar energy. With prices for photovoltaic technologies steadily improving and becoming cheaper, solar energy by now is among the most competitive alternatives in Senegal, the analysis concludes.’