The process of loading 163 fuel rods, also supplied by Russia, into the nuclear power plant located in the southern port city of Bushehr began on August 21 and was to be completed by September 5.

Thereafter the rods were to be transferred to the reactor.

But state news agency IRNA reported late on Monday that Salehi, in an interview with Al-Alam television, said it will take another two weeks to shift the rods into the plant.

"From now on, it will take 10 to 15 days for the 163 fuel rods to be moved into the main building of the Bushehr nuclear power plant and then we have to transfer the fuel rods into the reactor," Salehi said.

Last week, he had said the transfer of fuel rods into the reactor would start at the end of the Iranian month of "Shahrivar (September 22), and at the end of (the month of) Mehr (October 22), we will close the lid of the reactor."

On Monday, Salehi blamed Bushehr's "severe hot weather" for the delay in moving the rods into the plant and said that this work was being done during the night.

Iranian officials had earlier said the Bushehr plant's commissioning is expected in October or November when the electricity it generates is connected to the national grid.

Russian officials said the start of the process of loading fuel into the plant marked the physical launch of the facility, which had been under construction ever since the 1970s under the rule of the late shah.

Despite being OPEC's second-largest crude oil exporter and having the world's second-largest gas reserves, Iran insists it needs nuclear power for a rapidly growing population and for when its fossil fuels eventually run out.

Salehi also appeared to address safety concerns raised by Kuwait after the fuel loading began in the plant. Kuwait is the nearest country to the power plant as it is also located in the northern Gulf.

"These concerns and worries are untrue. If any incident happens, it can be contained in the main building" of the plant, Salehi said.

Salehi also said that the Islamic republic has received a "positive" initial response from Russia to its proposal of making nuclear fuel jointly in both countries.

"So far the Russian response has been positive to the Iranian proposal," Salehi said of the plan which he revealed on August 26.

"But any comprehensive and complete response depends on future negotiations and further study. We hope that the positive signals from the Russians will lead to the signing of an agreement."

Iran is under four sets of UN Security Council sanctions for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment -- the process which can be used to make nuclear fuel but also the fissile core of an atom bomb in highly purified forms.

Russia, despite being Iran's long-time nuclear ally, also voted for the latest round of UN sanctions against Tehran, a move which triggered an angry response against Moscow from top Iranian officials.

Salehi said Iran was testing second and third generations of centrifuges, the device which rotates at supersonic speed to enrich uranium.

"The testing phase could take one to three years ... The testing is on an experimental basis and not on an industrial production scale," Iran's atomic chief said.

Iran currently enriches uranium at its facility in the central city of Natanz in defiance of the UN and world powers. As of May 24, it had installed 8,528 centrifuges at Natanz, according to the latest UN atomic watchdog report.

]]> Fri, 03 SEP 2010 15:35:53 AEST Berlin (UPI) Aug 30, 2010 - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the country's reactors could run for another "10 to 15 years," in her first concrete comments on the length of a potential running time extension of the 17 German nuclear power plants.

This is the extension that makes technical sense, Merkel said Sunday in an interview with German public broadcaster ARD. Plant safety, however, still needs to be factored in, she said, indicating that the actual extension could be less than 15 years.

Merkel wants something in return for longer running times. Berlin has called for a fuel-rod tax that could be worth around $2.75 billion per year, a measure the country's utilities have opposed. Yet that won't be all. Utilities can expect to boost safety standards and "beyond the fuel rod tax, there must also be a contribution for renewable energy sources," Merkel said.

These contributions are currently negotiated with representatives from Germany's four utilities -- Eon, RWE, EnBW and Vattenfall. They are to be included in a new energy strategy Berlin will launch this month that will stipulate for how many more years Germany's 17 reactors are allowed to produce power.

Merkel's government for the past months has lengthily debated whether to extend the lifetime of Germany's 17 nuclear reactors, scheduled to go offline by the end of 2020.

Individual proposals have ranged from sticking to the 2020 deadline, as envisaged under a phase-out law drafted by a former government, to extending their lifetime by as much as 28 years.

The utilities have said they want at least 15 years of additional running time and have proposed to divert several billions of their additional profits in return for a cancellation of the fuel tax.

They have warned that a planned tax on fuel used in reactors could make them unprofitable, thus speeding up the country's exit from nuclear energy. The utilities want the opposite -- they are eager to extend the running times of their reactors beyond the current phase-out plan, well aware that they're significant cash cows, critics say.

Nuclear power remains highly unpopular in Germany, despite the energy form's revival across Europe and the opposition has accused Merkel of bowing before big business.

Because of energy security and climate change concerns, however, Merkel's pro-business government generally agrees to keep nuclear in the mix but it wants part of the utilities' additional income in return.

"When it comes to supply security, the electricity price and the achievement of the climate protection targets then nuclear energy is desirable as a bridge technology beyond 2020," until renewables can take over, Merkel said. "Why complicate this path if we have nuclear power plants that have world-leading safety standards?"

]]> Fri, 03 SEP 2010 15:35:53 AEST New Delhi (AFP) Aug 31, 2010 - A bill aimed at throwing open India's 150-billion-dollar civilian nuclear market cleared its final parliamentary hurdle Monday after a stormy debate.

The bill, critical to implementing a 2008 landmark atomic energy pact with the United States, which grants India access to foreign nuclear technology, was approved by parliament's upper house.

Premier Manmohan Singh has said the measure will end a decades-old "nuclear apartheid" that had prevented India from buying reactors and nuclear fuel abroad, after it conducted nuclear tests in the early 1970s.

The bill, which will be signed into law by India's president before a visit by President Barack Obama in November, also sets out liability in event of a nuclear accident.

It was intended to satisfy private suppliers such as US-based General Electric and Westinghouse Electric, a unit of Japan's Toshiba Corp., which had been reluctant to invest without a legal framework setting out their liability.

But critics of the legislation, which required significant concessions from the government to push it through parliament, say the liability measure may be a deterrent to the growth of the nascent civilian nuclear power sector.

They say the law could deter foreign and domestic companies from building nuclear reactors in India due to a clause allowing pursuit of suppliers of nuclear equipment, raw materials and services for 80 years after the construction of any plant in the event of an accident.

Normally liability rests with the operator rather than suppliers.

The legislation threatens to "completely undo the government's efforts to accelerate nuclear power generation in our country," said the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in a statement late last week.

Opponents of weaker versions of the bill wanted to avoid a possible repeat of problems following the 1984 industrial disaster in Bhopal, central India, which involved US firm Union Carbide.

The company settled its liabilities with the government over the accident, which killed tens of thousands, with a 470-million-dollar out-of-court settlement in 1989, which many say covered just a fraction of the costs.

It is unlikely any supplier will be willing to assume such a liability for 80 years after a contract is executed, said Sudhinder Thakur, executive director of the Nuclear Power Corp of India, India's lone nuclear power operator, calling the provisions "neither practical nor implementable."

At the same time, Thakur told AFP, "one thing we must understand is the rationale. No country has suffered an industrial accident on the scale of Bhopal.

"Bhopal makes it (the suppliers' provision) sort of mandatory that we need to have something that is India-specific," Thakur said.

"Industry will have to learn to live with it," he added.

]]> Fri, 03 SEP 2010 15:35:53 AEST Helsinki (AFP) Aug 28, 2010 - Finnish police arrested 30 demonstrators protesting near a nuclear power plant in Finland on Saturday for refusing to follow orders, a police official said.

"Police did not have an option but to detain the whole group for refusing to follow police orders," Lars Groenroos of the Satakunta police told AFP.

"Thirty people were taken to the Rauma police station" and 10 of them were given fines, he said.

The protesters started blocking roads around the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant, in southwestern Finland, early Saturday.

Finnish media reported that by mid-day, around 150 people were demonstrating in the area.

The confrontation with police arose when a group of protesters refused to get off the main road leading to the power plant.

The protesters, some of whom came from Sweden, Germany, France, Russia and Belarus in addition to Finland, were demanding an end to nuclear power in Finland.

]]> Fri, 03 SEP 2010 15:35:53 AEST Berlin (AFP) Aug 28, 2010 - An experts' report commissioned by the German government has advocated extending the life of the nation's nuclear power plants by up to two decades, reports said on Saturday.

According to the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the experts believe that an extension would allow "the best outcomes for climate protection and the economy."

Among the scenarios for prolonging the life of the plants, "the most beneficial results" would be gained by keeping the plants in use for between 12 and 20 years, the weekly Focus and the daily Stuttgarter Zeitung said.

The centre-right government of Angela Merkel had called for an assessment ahead of a broad energy policy overhaul due by the end of September. The report was received by Merkel on Friday.

The phasing out of 17 German nuclear power plants by 2020 had been planned by Merkel's predecessor Gerhard Schroeder.

Merkel's government, however, pushed back the programme and had not fixed a new timetable for the phase-out.

In a statement on Friday Merkel said renewable energies should supply half of all energy needs by 2050 and that nuclear and coal power would continue until supplies could be met entirely by clean energy.

A poll published on Friday found that 56 percent of Germans are against keeping nuclear power plants beyond 2021.

The Greens have called for an anti-nuclear demonstration to take place on Wednesday in Berlin.

The Chancellor has previously argued that Germany is not ready to do without nuclear power and that it might be necessary to allow the plants to run for longer.

The debate on the plants has become fraught, with a large section of public opinion opposed to them and resentment from the industry over a planned tax on nuclear energy production of 2.3 billion euros (2.9 million dollars) per year.

Merkel has also suggested that the industry should stump up to help develop renewabale energy.

]]> Fri, 03 SEP 2010 15:35:53 AEST Berlin (AFP) Aug 29, 2010 - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday that the lifespan of the nation's nuclear power plants should be extended by 10 to 15 years beyond the planned phase-out starting in 2021.

An extension of 10 to 15 years was "technically reasonable," the chancellor said in an interview with TV channel ARD.

Merkel's conclusions were based on a report by experts, widely quoted by German media on Saturday, which recommended an extension of 12 to 20 years to allow "the best outcomes for climate protection and the economy".

The phasing out of 17 German nuclear power plants starting in 2021 had been planned by Merkel's predecessor Gerhard Schroeder.

Merkel's government, however, pushed back the programme and had not fixed a new timetable for the phase-out.

In a statement on Friday, Merkel said renewable energies should supply half of all energy needs by 2050 and that nuclear and coal power would continue until supplies could be met entirely by clean energy.

A poll published on Friday found that 56 percent of Germans are against keeping nuclear power plants beyond 2021.

The Greens have called for an anti-nuclear demonstration to take place on Wednesday in Berlin.

]]> Fri, 03 SEP 2010 15:35:53 AEST Montreal (AFP) Aug 25, 2010 - A global nuclear energy renaissance has reignited interest in uranium mining in Canada, the world leader in the sector, but also apprehensions by some who fear radioactive pollution.

In Quebec City, environmental activists set up a mock mining camp on the lawn of the provincial legislature to voice their opposition, and legally obtained an exploration permit via the Internet to dig under Quebec's national assembly to make their point, while lawmakers mulled changes to the province's mining laws.

"Radioactive mining residue, we don't want it," Marc Fafard, spokesman for "Sept-Īles without uranium", a group based in the town of Sept-Iles on the north shore of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.

"And I can't think of a single municipality in our region, nor government, that could ensure sites are cleaned up once extraction is completed," he said.

Canada supplies some 30 percent of the global demand for uranium used in nuclear reactors to produce electricity. Over the next decade, at least 100 new reactors are due to be fired up.

Three uranium mines in a remote part of Saskatchewan province in western Canada are currently the only ones in production in this country. The city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan hosted an international uranium conference this month.

But demand for uranium outstrips what the province could ever hope to supply and several companies are now looking beyond its borders to Quebec, where exploration for yellow cake has begun at dozens of sites.

Many Quebec citizens are worried. In December 2009, some 20 doctors from the town of Sept-Iles and nearby areas, concerned for the health of local populations, threatened to quit en masse to pressure the government not to allow uranium mining in the province.

At the same time, anti-uranium protests made headlines in local papers.

Opponents of nuclear energy demanded a three-year moratorium on exploration and exploitation of the resource to give Quebecers time to become better informed about its benefits and risks and then decide if they want to welcome the industry to Quebec.

This "ridiculous" timeframe would deter investors, according to Yvan Loubier, spokesman for Uracan Resources, which is exploring northern Quebec for uranium deposits.

Faced with stiff opposition, mining companies have had to defend their environmental practices.

"It's clear that is doesn't entail any health danger, nor for security," said Loubier, pointing to 60 years of uranium mining in Saskatchewan.

But Marc Fafard is unconvinced. "The industry is lying to us. It's ridiculous and frustrating," he said.

"Quebec's north is a giant network of interconnected lakes, the risks are too high," he insisted, explaining that radioactive contaminants could find their way into rivers that flow past towns and villages into the Saint Lawrence seaway.

"Saskatchewan's experience doesn't compare with Quebec," he insisted.

His objections, however, failed to convince the provincial government which dismissed calls for a moratorium at the start of legislative discussions on August 17.

]]> Fri, 03 SEP 2010 15:35:53 AEST Berlin Aug 26, 2010 - Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday suggested that Germany's nuclear industry, already expected to pay a windfall tax on longer operating rights, should also stump up to help develop renewable energy. "We're looking at the tax (on nuclear fuel) as a contribution to our goal of shoring up the budget," Merkel told reporters during a visit to Lingen nuclear power plant in the northwest of the country. "In addition to that, we have to discuss how energy companies will contribute to the development of renewable energies," she added. Her remarks were expected to cause further resentment among energy companies which have already called for the scrapping of the planned tax on nuclear energy production of 2.3 billion euros (2.9 billion dollars) per year. The controversial tax is to be discussed in cabinet on September 1. Merkel and her centre-right government have been laying down plans to slow the phasing-out of nuclear power in Germany, reversing a deal struck by her social-democrat predecessor Gerhard Schroeder and the Greens. Leaving aside the matter of the tax, her government says the country needs more time to develop sources of renewable energy before it dumps nuclear power. Members of Merkel's Christian Democratic Union have also been urging energy companies to do more to fund renewable energy. ]]> Fri, 03 SEP 2010 15:35:53 AEST New Delhi (AFP) Aug 26, 2010 - New legislation aimed at throwing open India's lucrative 150-billion-dollar civilian atomic energy market could deter private suppliers because of tough provisions, business groups said Thursday.

The nuclear liability bill, key to implementing a 2008 flagship atomic energy pact with the United States that granted India access to foreign civilian technology, was passed by lawmakers late Wednesday after the government conceded to opposition demands to strengthen the measure.

But business groups say the bill, intended to give private firms such as US-based General Electric access to India, could throw new hurdles in the way of the energy-hungry country's nascent nuclear power sector.

They have zeroed in on a clause in the bill that would allow nuclear power plant operators to pursue suppliers of equipment, raw materials and services for 80 years after the construction of any plant in the event of an accident.

The legislation threatens to hamper India's "nuclear renaissance and completely undo the government's efforts to accelerate nuclear power generation in our country," said the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in a statement.

"This will surely affect our generation capacity," FICCI economic adviser Anjan Roy told AFP. "The bill has put very extended obligations on suppliers."

On Wednesday, Premier Manmohan Singh said the measure would end a decades-old "nuclear apartheid" that had prevented India from buying reactors and nuclear fuel abroad, after it conducted nuclear tests in the early 1970s.

The legislation now goes before the upper house, where it is expected to receive much easier passage. It will then be signed into law by India's president before a visit by President Barack Obama in November.

The legislation, wider in scope than a 1997 agreement signed by over 80 countries following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, has also been criticised by India's other leading business group, the Confederation of Indian Industry.

The group's director general, Chandrajit Banerjee, said the liability period was "a major deterrent" for suppliers and went against the global practice -- enshrined in the Chernobyl agreement -- of placing liability exclusively on operators.

He added long-term insurance cover for suppliers was not available globally and the provision "would stall the growth of the nuclear manufacturing industry in India".

No supplier would be willing to assume such a liability for 80 years after a contract is executed, said Sudhinder Thakur, executive director of the Nuclear Power Corp of India, India's lone nuclear power operator, calling the provisions "neither practical nor implementable."

Critics of weaker versions of the bill had drawn parallels with the 1984 industrial disaster in Bhopal, central India, which involved US firm Union Carbide.

It settled its liabilities with the government over the accident, which killed tens of thousands of people, with a 470-million-dollar out-of-court settlement in 1989, which many say covered just a fraction of the overall costs.

The law was intended to satisfy private suppliers General Electric and Westinghouse Electric, a unit of Japan's Toshiba Corp., which had been reluctant to invest in India without a legal framework setting out their liability.

French and Russian state-owned nuclear firms, whose liabilities are underwritten by their governments, have already signed numerous deals.

India is hoping nuclear power will supply 25 percent of its electricity by 2050.

]]> Fri, 03 SEP 2010 15:35:53 AEST New Delhi (UPI) Aug 26, 2010 - India passed a civilian nuclear liability bill Wednesday that paves the way for U.S. firms and other foreign companies to gain a foothold in India's nuclear energy market, which could exceed $150 billion in coming years.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the legislation marks the end of India's isolation in the global nuclear market.

"I categorically state that this bill completes in a way our journey to end the nuclear apartheid which the world had imposed on India," he said Wednesday.

India's civil nuclear market opened up in 2008, when a landmark agreement between India and the United States ended three decades of sanctions imposed on New Delhi for conducting nuclear tests.

But nuclear suppliers -- particularly American companies, that aren't state-subsidized like French and Russian competitors -- were reluctant to enter the Indian market without clarity on their liability in the event of a nuclear accident.

General Electric Co. and Westinghouse Electric Corp. are seen as potential big players in India's nuclear power sector.

However, the prime minister rejected claims that the bill was meant to facilitate the entry of American companies in India and that the government pushed to pass the bill before an expected visit by U.S. President Barack Obama in November.

"To say this has been done to promote American interests, to help American corporations I think is far from being the truth," Singh said.

The bill caps liability per accident at $320 million, compared to $106 million initially proposed.

The nuclear liability debate had intensified amid the June court decision that amounted to little more than a slap on the wrist to Indian executives working for Union Carbide at the time of the Bhopal chemical leak in 1984, the world's deadliest industrial accident in which an estimated 10,000 people died within the first three days.

After suing Union Carbide for $3.3 billion in 1985, the Indian government reached an out-of-court settlement of $470 million with the company in 1989.

Singh said the government was doing "everything" to ensure safety of nuclear plants, Press Trust of India reports.

Last September, India announced it aims to boost its nuclear energy capacity by 12,000 percent by 2050.

The country plans to have 12 new nuclear reactors running by 2020.

"We're very pleased it passed," said Chandajit Bannerjee, general secretary of the Confederation of Indian Industries of the legislation, the Los Angeles Times reports. "It's going to be one of the most important events in the development and growth (of India). This country needs power."

]]> Fri, 03 SEP 2010 15:35:53 AEST Subscribe to our daily selection of space, military, environment and energy newsletters responseText http://visitor.constantcontact.com/manage/optin/ea?v=0016gbbKsaiGSpQFojVO8ZoHw%3D%3D