Nuclear news 7/02/2008

US Aid for Russia Linked to Iran
AP

A U.S. program to keep Russian scientists from providing nuclear expertise to terrorists has funded research facilities that have helped Iran build its new nuclear power reactor, a congressional committee says, citing Russian sources.
The Bush administration expressed confidence that no projects under the program support nuclear work in Iran.
Rep. John Dingell, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, raised questions about the program and its possible link to Iran on a letter Wednesday to Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman. Dingell, D-Mich., cited information the committee had received from Russian sources.
"It is troubling that DOE (the Department of Energy) would subsidize or otherwise support Russian institutes providing technology and services to the Iranian nuclear program," according to the letter signed by Dingell and Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the investigations subcommittee.

UniStar, AREVA-Bechtel Group Begin Nuclear Power Plants Plans
CNNMoney.com

Unistar Nuclear Energy, a joint venture between Constellation Energy Group Inc. (CEG) and the EDF Group, began negotiations with a consortium led by Areva (CEI.FR) and Bechtel Group Inc. to develop plans that will form the basis of Unistar's proposed fleet of at least four nuclear power plants in the U.S.
Constellation, the Baltimore-based holding company for Baltimore Gas & Electric, said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission accepted for detailed review Unistar's partial combined license application for a proposed third reactor in Maryland.
Unistar said it plans to submit the remaining portions of the combined license application in March.

Iran: Nuclear power crucial
Gulf-Daily-News.com

Nuclear power as well as alternative energy and fossil fuels are all options for Iran's growing energy needs.
Demand for electricity is likely to more than double in the next 10 years as more of the country is electrified and industry continues to grow, according to Iran Power Plants Projects Management's business development vice-president M A Dolatabadi.
While his company is not directly involved in the nuclear industry he believes that nuclear power must remain an option for Iran's growing energy demands.
Speaking to the GDN at the POWER-GEN Middle East conference and exhibition, he said that the country had to look at a wide range of options available to meet the needs of its expanding economy and the electrification of its entire rail network.

South Africa: Eskom Ponders Nuclear Plant Bids
allAfrica.com

ESKOM will decide by the middle of this year on a new nuclear power plant that will start generating electricity from 2016 and could cost about R120bn.
France's Areva and the US's Westinghouse Electric, the two companies that build nuclear power plants globally, submitted their bids to Eskom late last week. They are bidding not only to build the first new power plant, but also to provide up to 20000MW of nuclear power by 2025.
Eskom has said it wants to double its capacity, to 80000MW, over the next two decades, with nuclear power making up about half of the new capacity.

Taiwan's Three Nuclear Plants Generate "Record High" Power
RedOrbit

Taiwan's three operating nuclear power plants generated a total of 38.96 billion kilowatt-hours (kwh) of electricity in 2007, with the capacity factor reaching 90.28 per cent, according to tallies released Wednesday by the Atomic Energy Council (AEC).
Both figures are the highest ever recorded by the power plants, AEC officials said.
In 2007, there were a total of 14 reportable events at the six reactor units belonging to the three power plants, including two trips, the officials said, adding that all these events were within "level 0, " meaning "no safety significance" on the international nuclear event scale introduced by the International Energy Agency.