Belgium Moves To Shut Down Nuclear Plants From 2015

CIVIL NUCLEAR

US, Russia reach agreement on Russian uranium sales to US nuclear plants
Moscow (AFP) Feb 27, 2002 - US and Russian negotiators have reached agreement on conditions for a resumption in Russian uranium sales to US nuclear power plants, the Russian atomic energy ministry said Wednesday.

The agreement between Tekhsnabexport, the Russian company responsible for the sale of uranium, and the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) must now be approved by the Russian government, the ministry said.

USEC is a leading supplier of enriched uranium fuel for commercial nuclear power plants as well as the operator of the only uranium enrichment plant in the United States. It was established as a government corporation in the early 1990s but was privatized in 1998.

Russian uranium exports were suspended earlier this year in a disagreement over price, which USEC wanted to see reduced by 15 percent.

The ministry on Wednesday declined to comment on the price issue.

Under terms of a US-Russian accord in 1993, USEC agreed to acquire 500 tonnes of highly enriched uranium from Russian nuclear warheads over a period of 20 years.

"This agreement is a means to increase international security, through the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, as well as an important source of revenue for the Russian budget," the ministry said in a statement.

Brussels (AFP) March 1, 2002
Belgium's inner cabinet approved draft legislation Friday to gradually shut down the country's seven aging nuclear reactors between 2015 and 2025, making good a pledge the government made when it was elected in 1999.

The legislation -- which goes next to parliament for debate -- represents a victory for Greens who are key component of Liberal Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt's ruling coalition.

Drafted by Green Secretary of State for Energy Olivier Deleuze, the bill had failed in its first attempt Tuesday to go through the "kern" -- the inner cabinet that includes Verhofstadt and his vice premiers -- despite many hours of debate.

The measure faces concerted opposition from industry lobbyists in parliament.

"There is a willingness on the part of the entire government to move toward alternate energy sources, that do not produce waste that have to be watched for centuries," the premier said, Deleuze at his side.

But the decision left a loophole, in which nuclear power could be retained in the case of "force majeure," but, said Verhofstadt, that clause would be interpreted in a "very restrictive manner."

Belgium has two nuclear power stations, one in Dutch-speaking Flanders and the other in francophone Wallonia, with a total of seven reactors tha together supply nearly 60 percent of energy needs of Belgium's 10 million people and industry.

Environmentalists have welcomed Deleuze's blueprint to phase out the reactors between 2015 -- when the first one will be 40 years old -- and 2025. The secretary of state was formerly head of Greenpeace Belgium.

But the Federation of Belgian Enterprises (FEB) has said "there is no scientific or ecological, technical or economic reason" for a decision to be taken now on closing the reactors from 2015.

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CIVIL NUCLEAR

US Energy Secretary Recommends Nevada Site For All US Nuke Waste

Washington (AFP) Feb 14, 2002
US Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham on Thursday delivered his recommendation to President George W. Bush for all US spent nuclear waste to be deposited at a facility at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

US Certifies Theft Of Russian Nuclear Material Has Occurred

Washington (AFP) Feb 23, 2002
An undetermined amount of weapons-grade nuclear material has been stolen in post-Communist Russia, heightening concerns that some of it could have ended up in the wrong hands, the US intelligence community has concluded.

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