All SONE articles


All articles and newsletters, most recent first

Three Years On, First Evacuees Are Ready To Return To Fukushima Homes

Residents of the town of Tamura who were evacuated following the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear accident are to be allowed to move back into their homes, Japanese authorities have said. Three years after the 11 March 2011 disaster, the Japanese government has told residents that it will lift the evacuation ...


Urenco Remains Bullish, Despite Fall In Earnings

Nuclear fuel enrichment company Urenco, jointly owned by the German, British and Dutch governments, has reported a four percent drop in full-year core earnings because customer demand has slowed. The UK-based company, which its owners are looking to partly sell, saw 2013 earnings, before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, fall.


UK Announces Parliamentary Inquiry Into ‘Small Nuclear’

UK members of parliament on the Energy and Climate Change Committee have announced a new inquiry into “small nuclear power” and are calling for written submissions of evidence. The committee said small reactors – which it defined as below 300 megawatts – potentially have many useful applications, including ...


Russia’s Rostov-3 Reaches Construction Milestones

The welding of pipes for the emergency core cooling system (ECCS) has been completed and the pressuriser installed at Unit 3 of Russia’s Rostov nuclear power station, Rosenergoatom, the nuclear power station operations subsidiary of state nuclear company Rosatom, has said. After the completion of work on the ...


Fennovoima Seeks Revised Government Approval For Hanhikivi

Finnish utility Fennovoima has asked the government for a revised decision-in-principle for the construction of the new Hanhikivi nuclear power station at Pyhäjoki in northwest Finland, the company said in a statement. Fennovoima submitted a request on 4 March 2014 to the Ministry of Employment and Economy to ...


Contaminated Equipment Removed From Sellafield Storage Pond

Workers at Sellafield in the UK have removed 100 tonnes of contaminated, redundant equipment from the oldest fuel storage pond at the site. The 60-year-old pond, known as the pile fuel storage pond, is being emptied as part of a plan to clean up and decommission the oldest ...


TVEL To Honour Fuel Commitments, Despite Ukraine Transport Ban

Russian nuclear fuel company TVEL has said it will honour all its nuclear fuel supply commitments to foreign nuclear power stations, despite a ban on transporting fuel cycle products across Ukraine by rail. State nuclear corporation Rosatom said in a statement today that the rail ban was imposed ...


Nordic Countries Adopt New Nuclear And Radiological Emergency Guidelines

The radiation and nuclear safety authorities of Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden have agreed a joint set of generic guidelines for protective measures in the event of a nuclear or radiological emergency, the authorities have said in a statement. The new Nordic guidelines are based on existing ...


Industry Calls For Equal Treatment Of Nuclear In European Climate Change Policy

Measures provided for the support of renewable energy sources should apply to nuclear energy in order to create “a level-playing field” for all low-carbon technologies, European nuclear energy industry association Foratom has said in a position paper. Brussels-based Foratom said it supports the European Commission (EC) proposed target ...


Japan Ministers Approve Nuclear As ‘Key Baseload Power’

Ministers in Japan have approved a portion of a draft basic energy plan that calls for nuclear energy to be a key baseload power source as long as its safety can be assured. The Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (Jaif) said “adjustments” to the draft plan need to be ...


UK Proposes Interim Storage For Overseas Origin Nuclear Fuel

The “relatively small” quantities of remaining overseas origin nuclear fuel in the UK should be managed by means of interim storage pending disposal, with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) “taking ownership” of the fuel where necessary, a government consultation document says. The document, ‘Consultation on the management of ...


US Ready To Build World’s Largest Pulsed Electromagnet For Iter

Authorisation to proceed with manufacturing of the world’s largest pulsed electromagnet is expected in May 2014 following development of “a firm basis” for the design, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (Iter) organisation has said. The solenoid-type electromagnet will be used to initiate and maintain the plasma current within ...


Obama Approves 123 Agreement With Vietnam

US president Barack Obama has approved an agreement for peaceful nuclear cooperation with Vietnam. The so-called ‘123 Agreement’ now passes to Congress for a 90-day review, a state department statement said. Under the agreement, US companies will be allowed to export nuclear-related fuel, expertise, reactors and equipment.


Finland And Russia Sign Strategic Partnership And Fuel Delivery Agreements

Finland and Russia have signed an agreement to form a strategic partnership that lays down the legal basis for cooperation in nuclear energy, Russian state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom has said. Rosatom said the agreement covers nuclear technology and is important in connection with Rosatom’s agreement with Finnish utility ...


February Newsletter No185

Let’s be clear about sone and global warming There is nothing like a drought, a heat wave, a deep freeze and, of course, a flood to bring out the global warmers. And so, with California, Australia, North America and the southern half of the UK variously afflicted, the ...


Bulgaria Conference To Address New Build And Lifetime Extensions

A conference to be held in Bulgaria will address the Kozloduy-7 and Belene new-build projects, lifetime extensions for Kozloduy-5 and -6, and “practical approaches” to the decommissioning of nuclear installations, organisers the Bulgarian Atomic Forum (Bulatom) said. The conference, ‘Bulgarian Nuclear Energy – National, Regional and World Energy ...