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France: lifetime extension of 1300 MW reactor fleet

The 20 reactors of the 1300 MW fleet were originally designed for operation of 40 years. Now their lifetime shall be extended. A consultation is ongoing until 30 Sept 2024, but only for generic aspects of the fourth Periodic Safety Review. Even after performing the envisaged lifetime extension program, a considerable gap between the safety…

NPP Cernavoda-1: EIA for lifetime extension

The Cernavoda-1 reactor in Romania is in operation since 1996. CANDU reactors have a design life of 30 years. The lifetime shall be extended from 2029 for 30 years according to an information from operator Nuclearelectricas’s website. This would result in a total lifetime extension of even 33 years. A transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment is…

Webinar “Many ways for taxpayers to finance new NPP”

This Joint Project Webinar took place on September 13, 2024, 2-4 PM CEST. The current hype around nuclear power plant is loud, however, silent when it comes to the issue of finance. The major barrier to new nuclear power investment is the difficulty of finding finance: It is still far too risky with huge cost…

NPP Paks allowed to heat up the Danube

A draft legislation, published on 27 July 2024, would significantly change the conditions for operating the Paks nuclear power plant: while previously there were clear limits on the extent to which the plant could heat up the Danube, in future this could be overridden any time by a ministerial decision. According to the Energiaklub Policy…

Workshop on Westinghouse NPP projects

The Joint Project organized this workshop on 18 June 2024 in Prague. The nuclear revival as it is termed by the nuclear lobby is strongly felt in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). A close look however makes clear that this high number of planned nuclear power plants is to be built by three reactor manufacturers…

NPP Paks in Hungary

Paks II is one of the most controversial new nuclear power plant construction projects in the EU. Apart from the general problems of nuclear energy utilisation (lack of economic efficiency, risk of accidents, unresolved nuclear waste disposal, etc.), the availability of balanced information for the public is not sufficient, especially in Hungary, also due to…

„Small Modular Reactors“ – first EIA in Poland started

The first environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedures for the so-called Small Modular Reactors (SMR) in the EU started in Poland in the fall of 2023. As of November 2023, three EIA procedures were ongoing. This procedure covers the construction and operation of up to four SMRs with BWRX-300 technology and a total output of up…

French NPP for the Czech Republic?

One of the key topics of French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Prague will be efforts to support French state-owned EDF, which is bidding to build new nuclear reactors in the Czech Republic. But there is the failure to build new nuclear power plants on time and at the agreed price, not only abroad but…

EIA on lifetime extension of Olkiluoto 1&2 has started

Olkiluoto 1&2 in Finland started operation in 1978 and 1980. They have already undergone one lifetime extension from the originally planned 40 years up to 60 years, which will be reached in 2038. The ongoing procedure comprises a lifetime extension for additional 10 or even 20 years up to 2048 or 2058, respectively. The reactors…

Unlawful decision of the government of the republic of Bulgaria for the construction of a new NPP

Za Zemiata wrote a letter to the Bulgarian Prime Minister concerning the planned newbuild of Kozloduy 7 pointing to violations of the law The Bulgarian NGOs Za Zemiata and Greenpeace call on the government to stop the procedures for the construction of units 7 and 8 at the Kozloduy NPP, not only due to violations…