Nuclear news 14/02/2008

India, Russia agree to cooperate in civil nuclear power, boost trade
AFP

Cold War allies India and Russia Tuesday finalised plans for Moscow to build new nuclear power stations here and pledged to boost strategic ties by doubling trade to 10 billion dollars by 2010.
The two countries also decided to step up cooperation in defence, engineering and energy during talks between visiting Russian Prime Minister Victor Zubkov and his Indian host Manmohan Singh in New Delhi.
"We have finalised negotiations... on building additional nuclear power plants in India," Singh said.
Under the terms of the deal, Russia will build four additional reactors at Kudankulam in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Brilliant future seen for nuclear power
Source:新华网, China

As one of the world's fastest growing economies and the second largest consumer of energy, China is looking more to nuclear power to better distribute its energy sources.
Shandong in East China is one example of how this shift is playing out: There are plans afoot to build three nuclear power plants in the province, two in Weihai and one in Yantai.
The plants are expected to house five reactors with a combined capacity of more than 4,000 mW. Once these plants are finished, Shandong will become an important nuclear power base for the country.
Statistics show that nuclear power has become the third most important power source in China.

Asia’s tigers eye nuclear future
Asia Times

The 2005-07 spike in petroleum prices topping out at US$100 a barrel has prodded economic planners across the globe to reconsider their energy options in an age of growing concern over global warming and carbon emissions.
The Southeast Asian economies, beneficiaries of an oil and gas export bonanza through the 1970s-1990s, now find themselves in an energy crunch as once-ample reserves run down and the search is on for new and cleaner energy supplies. Notably, regional leaders at the 13th ASEAN Summit in Singapore in November 2007 issued a statement promoting civilian nuclear power, alongside renewable and alternative energy sources.

EU backs 170 mln euro aid for Lithuania power plant
Reuters

The European Commission gave the green light on Thursday for a 170 million euro ($248 million) grant to build a gas-fired power plant in Lithuania by an agency run by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
The planned assistance does not constitute illegal state aid under European Union rules, the EU executive said.
It will be doled out by the Ignalina International Decommissioning Support Fund (IIDSF), which is charged with alleviating the effects of the ongoing closure of a large Soviet-era nuclear power plant.

Turkey decides on nuclear power plant site
Energy Publisher

The Turkish government has decided to build its first nuclear power plant at Akkuyu, on the Mediterranean coast. This puts aside a decision two years ago to locate it at Sinop, on the Black Sea coast.
Akkuyu is the site which has been under consideration since the 1970s and up to 2000 for a nuclear power plant, and has the advantage of already being licensed.
Sinop would have had the advantage of cooling water temperatures about 5 degrees below those at Akkuyu, allowing about 1% greater power output. The announcement of the site selection said that preparatory work is also under way to build a second nuclear plant there. In addition, Akkuyu is to be the site for a €1.7 billion ($2.5 billion) nuclear technology centre.