Latest news with #nuclearplants
Times of Oman
03-07-2025
- Climate
- Times of Oman
Heatwave forces shut France, Swiss nuclear plants
Paris: Due to a scorching heatwave which has spread across Europe in recent days, a number of nuclear power plants in Switzerland and France have been forced to either reduce activity or shut down completely as extreme temperatures have prevented sites from relying on water from local rivers, Euro News reported. To cool down, nuclear power plants pump water from local rivers or the sea, which they then release back into water bodies at a higher temperature. However, this process can threaten local biodiversity if water is released which is too hot. To cool down, nuclear power plants pump water from local rivers or the sea, which they then release back into water bodies at a higher temperature. However, Europe's ongoing heatwave means that the water pumped by nuclear sites is already very hot, impacting the ability of nuclear plants to use it to cool down. On top of this, nuclear sites run the risk of posing a dangerous threat to local biodiversity, by releasing water which is too hot into rivers and seas, as per Euro News. In light of the heat, Axpo - which operates the Beznau nuclear power plant in Switzerland - said it had shut down one of its reactors on Tuesday, adding that a second reactor was operating at limited capacity. "Due to the high river water temperatures, Axpo has been increasingly reducing the output of the two reactor units at the Beznau nuclear power plant for days and reduced it to 50 per cent on Sunday," said the operator. Although Switzerland has decided to phase out nuclear power by 2033, existing plants are able to continue to operate as long as they are safe, Euro News reported. Although the production of nuclear power has had to be curtailed in light of extreme heat, the impact on France's energy grid remains limited, despite the fact that more electricity is being used to cool buildings and run air conditioning systems, as per Euro News.
Associated Press
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Supreme Court clears the way for temporary nuclear waste storage in Texas and New Mexico
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday restarted plans to temporarily store nuclear waste at sites in rural Texas and New Mexico, even as the nation is at an impasse over a permanent solution. The justices, by a 6-3 vote, reversed a federal appeals court ruling that invalidated the license granted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to a private company for the facility in southwest Texas. The outcome should also reinvigorate plans for a similar facility in New Mexico roughly 40 miles (65 kilometers) away. The federal appeals court in New Orleans had ruled in favor of the opponents of the facilities. The licenses would allow the companies to operate the facilities for 40 years, with the possibility of a 40-year renewal. The court's decision is not a final ruling in favor of the licenses, but it removes a major roadblock. Roughly 100,000 tons (90,000 metric tons) of spent fuel, some of it dating from the 1980s, is piling up at current and former nuclear plant sites nationwide and growing by more than 2,000 tons (1,800 metric tons) a year. The waste was meant to be kept there temporarily before being deposited deep underground. The NRC has said that the temporary storage sites are needed because existing nuclear plants are running out of room. The presence of the spent fuel also complicates plans to decommission some plants, the Justice Department said in court papers. Plans for a permanent underground storage facility at Yucca Mountain, northwest of Las Vegas, are stalled because of staunch opposition from most Nevada residents and officials. The NRC's appeal was filed by the Biden administration and maintained by the Trump administration. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, are leading bipartisan opposition to the facilities in their states. The NRC granted the Texas license to Interim Storage Partners, based in Andrews, Texas, for a facility that could take up to 5,500 tons (5,000 metric tons) of spent nuclear fuel rods from power plants and 231 million tons (210 million metric tons) of other radioactive waste. The facility would be built next to an existing dump site in Andrews County for low-level waste such as protective clothing and other material that has been exposed to radioactivity. The Andrews County site is about 350 miles (560 kilometers) west of Dallas, near the Texas-New Mexico state line. The New Mexico facility would be in Lea County, in the southeastern part of the state near Carlsbad. The NRC gave a license for the site to Holtec International, based in Jupiter, Florida. ___ Follow the AP's coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at
RNZ News
12-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Vietnam, Russia agree to quickly sign nuclear power plant deal
Russia's President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Tô Lâm in Moscow on 10 May 2025. File photo. Photo: Gavriil Grigorov / AFP Vietnam and Russia have agreed to quickly negotiate and sign agreements on building nuclear power plants in Vietnam, the two countries said in a joint statement. "The development of the plants with advanced technology will strictly be compliant with nuclear and radiation safety regulations and for the benefit of socio-economic development," they said in the statement, which was dated Sunday (local time) and followed a visit to Moscow by Vietnamese leader To Lam. The Southeast Asian nation has restarted plans to develop nuclear power plants that were suspended nearly a decade ago, as part of its efforts to ramp up its power generation capacity to support its fast-growing economy. The government has previously said it expected the first nuclear power plants with a combined capacity of up to 6.4 gigawatts to be online between 2030 and 2035. The government said earlier this year it would hold talks with foreign partners about nuclear power projects, including Russia, Japan, South Korea, France and the United States. Vietnam and Russia have also agreed to boost cooperation in oil and gas industries, including the provision of Russian crude oil and liquefied natural gas to Vietnam, according to the joint statement. It said Russia and Vietnam will also facilitate the expansion of their energy companies in each other's territories. - Reuters
Bloomberg
07-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Spain's Sanchez Tells ‘Ultra-Rich' Executives to Pay for Nuclear
Spain's high-earning electricity executives should pay the cost to keep nuclear plants running if they don't want to shut them down, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said, as he seeks to deflect criticism over a record power outage. One condition to review a plan to close nuclear power plants is that it's financially viable 'and not at a cost to taxpayers' pockets but at a cost to the pockets of the ultra-rich executives who run the energy companies that own nuclear plants,' Sanchez said Wednesday in Parliament, speaking about the outage for the first time since last week.
