French firm EDF claims 89 pct of British Energy Paris (AFP) Dec 8, 2008 French electricity giant EDF said Monday it now holds nearly 89 percent of British Energy, Britain's nuclear operator, and it will extend its offer to secure the remaining shares until January 5. EDF said that by the scheduled close of its 15.6 billion euro (20 billion dollar) offer on December 5, it held 88.67 percent of British Energy's shares, including its original stake of 26.48 percent. "Acceptances for the offer are quite satisfactory," an EDF spokeswoman said. In September, British Energy, which operates eight of the 10 nuclear power plants in Britain, accepted a slightly higher EDF offer after earlier rejecting its advances. At the time, Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown hailed the deal as "a significant step towards the construction of a new generation of nuclear stations to power the country." The British energy sector has long been privatised and London wanted to divest its 35.2 percent stake in British Energy. The French state in contrast owns around 85 percent of EDF, the world's biggest producer of nuclear energy. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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Analysis: China to develop Kazakh uranium Washington (UPI) Dec 5, 2008 In the new "great game" for the Caspian's hydrocarbon riches, one of the new petro-states, Kazakhstan, is seeking to diversify its energy exports by increasing its uranium exports. Western investors have focused on the country's massive oil and natural gas reserves -- hardly surprising in light of the fact that Kazakhstan has the world's second-largest proven uranium reserves after Australia, estimated at 15 percent of the world's uranium deposits. According to Kazakh geologists, the country's reserves stand at an impressive estimated 1.5 million tons. Kazakhstan's resources are dwarfed by Australia, which has the world's largest known recoverable resources of uranium, estimated by the World Nuclear Association at 23 percent, but Kazakhstan's reserves are half again as large as Russian reserves, estimated at 10 percent. |
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