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French govt presses EDF over spent nuclear fuel in Russia
Paris (AFP) Oct 13, 2009 France's government pressed for answers from state electricity giant EDF on Tuesday after a report said the company had been sending spent nuclear fuel from French plants to Siberia. "I wanted EDF to show transparence on this subject because (it) has indicated that it did not have all the information and that it is up to them to carry out an internal inquiry," French junior environment minister Chantal Jouanno told parliament members. An Arte television documentary and Liberation newspaper said that hundreds of tonnes of depleted uranium from French power plants have been stored in an open-air complex in Siberia. The reports said nearly 13 percent of used nuclear fuel from the French plants is sent to the Tomsk-7 complex, and that 108 tonnes of depleted uranium had arrived there each year since the mid-1990s. EDF said the materials sent to Russia were recyclable and not nuclear waste. "No EDF nuclear waste is transported to Russia," a spokeswoman for the company said. "Radioactive waste from fuel processing remains in France." She said it is "only recyclable uranium from fuel processing at EDF nuclear power stations that is transported to Russia to be enriched." A spokesman for Areva, the French nuclear power group contracted to handle the spent fuel, said it was sent to Russia because the technology to re-enrich it did not exist in France. But the head of the company contradicted that on French television Tuesday, saying Areva had the technology and would prefer to do the work in France. The company "is waiting for a contract from EDF" to recycle the material in France, said Areva chief Anne Lauvergeon. The French state owns around 85 percent of EDF, the world's biggest producer of nuclear energy. burs-mjs/bm Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Nuclear Power News - Nuclear Science, Nuclear Technology Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com
Belgium extends lifetime of its reactorsBrussels (UPI) Oct 13, 2009 Belgium has decided to keep its nuclear power plants running for another decade, in a further sign that a nuclear revival is taking place in Europe. Energy and Climate Minister Paul Magnette said Monday that the government had decided to delay the nuclear phase-out that was scheduled to start in 2015. "The government has decided to delay by 10 years the first stage of phasing ... read more |
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