http://www.nuclearpowerdaily.com/index.html Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:28 AEST Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:28 AEST en-us A South Korean businessman has been jailed for three years for supplying potentially defective parts to the country's oldest atomic power plant, a court spokesman said Wednesday. The man, identified only as Hwang, was sentenced last Friday for selling recycled turbine valve parts to the Gori nuclear plant near Busan, the Busan District Court spokesman said. Hwang, 54, cleaned and painted]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:28 AEST Italy's government has raised the alert level at sensitive sites nationwide after an anarchist group shot and wounded the head of a nuclear energy company, the interior minister said Sunday. "The risk of an escalation of anarchist terrorism is real," Anna Maria Cancellieri told Italian dailies, adding that soldiers could be deployed to guard some sites. Relevant agencies had been ordered]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:28 AEST Japan on Monday took a step towards becoming a nuclear nation again, when councillors in a town that hosts a power station recommended reactor restarts amid fears of a looming summer electricity crunch. All 50 of Japan's nuclear power plants have been switched off following routine maintenance checks carried out in the wake of last year's tsunami, which swamped reactors at Fukushima and sent]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:28 AEST TEPCO, the operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant on Japan's northeast coast, posted a bigger-than-expected annual loss of $9.67 billion on Monday and warned of tough times ahead. Tokyo Electric Power said its 781-billion-yen net loss came in a year in which it was hit with massive costs to deal with reactor meltdowns, as well as increased imports of fossil fuels to make up]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:28 AEST New Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta said Sunday that he backed building two more nuclear reactors to ensure the nation's energy independence, though four of six investors have pulled out. "My view is that we should try to continue this project, while respecting all safety standards of course, especially after the Fukushima catastrophe," Ponta told the private Romanian television Pro TV.]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:28 AEST Japan's hard-hit manufacturers are facing a long summer with businesses making everything from ice cream to crayons fretting production may be hampered as the now nuclear-free nation faces energy cuts. A hot summer would usually be good news for Ezaki Glico, a major snacks and ice cream maker, with soaring temperatures increasing appetites for cooling foods. But looming power shortages could]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:28 AEST Italian police are searching for two men linked to the far-left Red Brigades militant group who are suspected of carrying out an attack on the head of a nuclear energy company, media reports said Thursday. The suspects, who tried to recreate a former Red Brigades cell in 2000, are thought to be behind Monday's attack in Genoa, when a gunman shot the head of Ansaldo Nucleare in the ankle, bef]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:28 AEST Niger employees of Areva must benefit from the same compensation as their French colleagues, a Niger non-governmental organisation said Friday after a court near Paris said the French state-owned nuclear firm was liable. The court at Melun ordered 200,000 euros ($260,000) in damages to be paid by France's state health fund to the widow of an employee of the Areva subsidiary Cominak, a Niger ]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:28 AEST Germany's second-biggest power supplier RWE said Thursday its net profits had fallen by more than a quarter in the first three months of the year, hit by Berlin's decision to scrap nuclear power. Net profits fell by 28 percent in the first quarter of the year to 1.3 billion euros ($1.7 billion) on broadly flat earnings of 15.6 billion euros, the firm said in a statement. However, the fir]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:28 AEST JAEC (Jordan Atomic Energy Commission) has completed its evaluation to select a technology in order to build the first nuclear reactor in Jordan. JAEC has conducted, since the last two years, a methodical scrutiny of three technologies regarding nuclear power plant technology. The evaluation has been performed with the objective of selecting the most appropriate technology fitting best Jor]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:28 AEST Japan's government will take a controlling stake in the operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant under a plan ministers approved Wednesday, effectively nationalising one of the world's largest utilities. Tokyo will inject one trillion yen ($12 billion) as part of a 10-year restructuring aimed at preventing the vast regional power monopoly from going bankrupt. Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO),]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:28 AEST Lithuania's government approved draft legislation Wednesday that would allow a new nuclear power plant for the ex-Soviet Baltic republic heavily dependent on Russian energy supplies. "This is an historic day," Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius told reporters in Vilnius, stressing the move was a key step toward "energy independence". Plans call for the plant to be up and running by 2]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:28 AEST Brazil said Wednesday it has shelved plans to build new nuclear power stations in the coming years in the wake of last year's Fukushima disaster in Japan. The previous government led by former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had planned to construct between four and eight new nuclear plants through 2030. But the energy ministry's executive secretary, Marcio Zimmermann, was quoted as ]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:28 AEST Now that Japan has no nuclear power for the first time in more than 40 years, Chinese solar producers are eyeing the world's third-largest economy for new business opportunities. Even before the Tomari nuclear plant in Hokkaido went offline Sunday for mandatory routine maintenance - the last of Japan's 54 reactors - at least five Chinese solar panel manufacturers, including Hebei-bas]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:28 AEST Bulgaria has reached a debt rescheduling deal for 250 million euros ($326 million) owed to creditors headed by French bank BNP Paribas for an abandoned nuclear plant project, Economy and Energy Minister Delyan Dobrev said on Monday. "Between 50 and 70 million euros will be paid now... the repayment deadline for the rest of the sum will be rescheduled by one year," Dobrev told journalists. ]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:28 AEST