* World Council of Nuclear Workers

March 21, 2008

* France to Cut Nuclear Arsenal to Less Than 300 Warheads

* UK and France to team in commercial n-plant biz

March 11, 2008

* France's Sarkozy promises to fight against Iran's nuclearization

October 25, 2006

* France to Order Nuclear-Powered Attack Submarines (Update2)
Bloomberg

The French government expects to award a contract for six Barracuda-class, nuclear-powered attack submarines to shipbuilder DCN and Areva SA ...

* [2006-05-31] Greenpeace: Nuke Waste in France Water
Ingrid Rousseau, AP/Guardian

* [2006-05-31] Greenpeace: Nuke Waste in France Water
Ingrid Rousseau, Guardian

* [2006-05-30] Pentagon postpones huge bomb test in Nevada desert
Agence France Presse/Yahoo! News

* [2006-05-30] Nuclear waste seeping into groundwater from French storage site, Greenpeace says
Pravda

* [2006-05-29] Top nuclear official at time of Chernobyl summoned in probe into France's reaction to accident
Pravda

* [2006-05-25] Nuclear power: safe, inexpensive and environmentally-friendly, says Bush
Agence France Presse/Yahoo! News

* [2006-05-24] Nuclear power: safe, inexpensive and environmentally-friendly, says Bush
Agence France Presse/Yahoo! News

* [2006-05-20] French energy boss in nuclear warning
Oliver Morgan, The Observer

* [2006-05-18] Blair's call for new nuclear plants raises concerns about costs
Agence France Presse/Yahoo! News

* [2006-05-17] Blair's call for new nuclear plants raises concerns about costs
Agence France Presse/Yahoo! News

* [2006-05-17] Blair angers ecologists with push for new nuclear plants
Lachlan Carmichael, Agence France Presse/Yahoo! News

* [2006-05-16] US, France working on N-fuel supply roadmap
Pranab Dhal Samanta, India Monitor

* [2006-05-16] Blair angers ecologists with push for new British nuclear power plants
Agence France Presse/Yahoo! News

* [2006-05-16] Blair signals new generation of British nuclear power stations
Deborah Haynes, Agence France Presse/Yahoo! News

* [2006-05-16] Straw's 'surprise' at being axed as foreign secretary
Agence France Presse/Yahoo! News

* [2006-05-15] No sign yet of "Iraq War Syndrome," says study
Agence France Presse/Yahoo! News

* [2006-05-11] Supply of Uranium by France
Press Information Bureau

* [2006-05-09] New nuclear power plants not needed in Britain: WWF
Agence France Presse/Yahoo! News

* [2006-05-05] French utility company to launch 3rd generation nuclear reactor
Xinhua News

* [2006-05-05] France Can Phase Out Nuclear Power and Achieve Low Carbon Dioxide Emissions
IEER

* [2006-05-05] US shows increasing frustration with Russia
Agence France Presse/Yahoo! News

* [2006-05-02] Is France a nuclear wonderland?
Joshua Holland, AlterNet

* [2006-03-25] France Leads New Push for Nuclear Power
Angela Charlton, Guardian

* [2006-03-15] Libya signs nuclear research deal with France
Yahoo! UK

September 24, 2005

* The French government, which controls about 95 percent of Areva SA, France's holding company for the nuclear industry, has said it may sell shares in the company next year, making it easier for the world's biggest maker of nuclear reactors to raise capital and develop the business through acquisitions. Less than 5 percent of Areva trades as non-voting investment certificates. Areva certificates, which traded at a record high of 472 euros on Sept. 16, closed at 460 euros in Paris yesterday, valuing the company at 16.3 billion euros ($19.7 billion).
[Source: Francois de Beaupuy (reporter - Bloomberg), "France's Breton Urges Nuclear Energy Investment as Oil Rises", Bloomberg News, September 24, 2005]

April 20, 2005

* EdF selects European powerhouse players for EPR alliance
Nuclear Engineering International

An EPR is planned for Flamanville, France, with construction to commence in 2007. The price tag is estimated at EU3-billion. EdF is expected to maintain a controlling stake, and is discussing the shares -- perhaps 5-10% each -- available to Endesa of Spain, E.On of Germany, Enel of Italy and Electrabel of Belgium. EdF is reportedly seeking help from EPR investors in renovating EdF's 58 existing nuclear plants.

* 2005-03-26: Estimates of Chernobyl radioactivity over France too low: new report
Agence France Presse/Yahoo! News

* 2005-03-24: French company to construct nuclear reactor buildings in Olkiluoto
Helsingin Sanomat

* 2005-03-22: French nuclear tests may have caused cancers
New Scientist

* 2005-03-22: U.S. weapons grade plutonium shipment to depart France tonight
EMS

* 2005-03-16: International conference on nuclear security opens in London
Agence France Presse/Yahoo! News

* 2005-03-16: French nuclear material may be easy target
New Scientist

* 2005-03-16: Privatization of French nuclear group Areva in 2006 at earliest: minister
Yahoo! UK

* 2005-03-15: French plutonium at 'extreme risk' of terrorist attack
Rob Edwards, New Scientist

* 2005-03-15: US nuclear plants safer than ever from terror attack: US regulator
Agence France Presse/Yahoo! News

* 2005-03-15: High risk U.S. plutonium transport arrives in Normandy from south of France
EMS

* 2005-03-14: US nuclear plants safer than ever from terror attack: US regulator
Agence France Presse/Yahoo! News

* 2005-03-12: France plans to create world-wide environmental police
Bellona

* 2005-03-10: AECL wins French contract
CNW Telbec

* 2005-03-09: French uranium anti-dumping ruling overturned
Nuclear Engineering

* 2005-03-09: Controversial Swiss exhibition called off amid nuclear controversy
Agence France Presse/Yahoo! News

* 2005-03-07: Bush warns nuclear "rogue states"
Agence France Presse/Yahoo! News

* 2005-03-01: Nuclear survivors say they were fed lies in government cover-ups
Agence France Presse/Yahoo! News

* 2005-03-01: France and UK among first signatories of international nuclear research agreement
Cordis News

October 8, 2004

France - design approval for EPR-1600

The French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) has issued design approval for Areva's 1600 MWe European Pressurised Water Reactor (EPR) - equivalent to US design certification. The site of the first one to be built in France by EdF is expected to be announced soon [ASN 5/10/04, Platts 6/10/04].

[Source: World Nuclear Association Weekly Digest, "French safety approval for new reactor", October 8, 2004]

June 10, 2004

* Macedonia - nuclear power plant needed, now, says legislator, citing French and German nuclear company loans as attractive

May 24, 2004

* France and Russia's nuclear R&D cooperation - reprocessing, uranium defluorination, VVER-1500 reactor, fusion

* Fusion - Russia backs French location for ITER

* Fusion - prospects hurt by anti-nuclear public opinion in Europe

May 20, 2004

* Russia wants to provide fuel for Bulgaria's planned Belene plant, may team with Framatome ANP

April 4, 2004

France - wind power - public hostility prompts shift to offshore sites

In France, regional councils have started refusing permission for new turbine developments...

While wind-power enthusiasts claim that France has the potential to increase its production from wind farms a hundredfold, the French public is increasingly hostile. As a result the government is trying to meet its targets by placing turbines offshore, looking for sites along the coasts of Normandy and Britanny, and in the Mediterranean.

[Source: Renee Mickelburgh et al., "Huge protests by voters force the continent's governments to rethink so-called green energy", Sunday Telegraph (London), April 4, 2004, p. 28]

January 19, 2004

ENEL may make 10-20% investment in new 1.6 GW EDF n-plant

Electricite de France and ENEL SpA have worked out a deal with extensive joint activities in France, Spain and Italy. Pre-approval from EU and advance regulatory streamlining from Italy are sought before the deal is done.

[Source: AFX News, "EDF seeks EU approval before ENEL alliance - report", January 18, 2004]

January 2, 2004

France - The dirty business of wind

...[T]he 22-minute film..., "L'Argent du Vent" (The Money in Wind)... showed how pushy promoters in the Aude region, eager for a quick euro, had dwarfed tiny villages with their looming wind turbines, which led to deep resentment among locals and even murder threats against dissidents. It was not a pretty picture.

[Ref: Julian More, "Tilting at windmills in sunny Provence", International Herald Tribune, January 2, 2004]

France - EDF obligated to pay 3X more for wind power

... ElectricitŽ de France [is] obligat[ed] to pay three times more for wind-turbine energy than nuclear energy ...

[Ref: Alain Bruguier (president of the Federation Vent de Col�re [Angry Wind Federation]), cited by Julian More, "Tilting at windmills in sunny Provence", International Herald Tribune, January 2, 2004]

December 19, 2003

Finland's choice of EPR a boost

Finland's TVO decided to go with the advanced European PWR design in awarding contract for its fifth reactor to the consortium of AREVA and Siemens. FORATOM's Secretary General notes that "France is already seriously considering the EPR as a replacement for its existing large fleet of power reactors, so the new contract could be just the first of many more to come."

[Source: FORATOM European Atomic Forum press release, "Contract confirms new future for nuclear energy in Europe", December 19, 2003]

Areva's privatization prospects helped by winning Finland n-plant contract

The US$3.7-billion contract awarded by TVO for a 1,600-megawatt EPR is seen as a boost for France's plans to privatize its nuclear group, Areva. Areva CEO Mrs. Anne Lauvergeon says her group is in position to be "a significant player in the renaissance of the nuclear industry."

[Source: Paul Betts (Financial Times-Paris) and Christopher Brown-Humes (Financial Times-Stockholm), Areva wins nuclear contract, Financial Times (London, England), December 19, 2003, p. 34 (subscription required)]

November 27, 2003

EDF sees French EPR demo project in 2004-5

Electricite de France (EDF), in discussions with potential German partners in the construction of a demonstration European PWR (EPR), expects that French participation in the project will be decided in 2004 or 2005. industry newsletter Nucleonics Week.

[Ref: Mark Hibbs (Platts-Bonn), "EDF presses German utilities to join French EPR project", Nucleonics Week,Êv44 n48, November 27, 2003,Êp. 1]

November 24, 2003

France eyes New China as n-plant market

Francois Loos, French minister delegate for foreign trade, expects further Sino-French cooperation in the construction of nuclear power plants. Loos said the fast growth of China's economy and the signing of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) between mainland China and Hong Kong offer new impetus and good opportunities for strengthening of Sino-French trade and economic cooperation. He added that France hopes to seize every major chance for development amid globalization of the world economy. [Source: Sophia Zhu (xfn.com), "French govt official sees more nuclear plant ties, expanded car sales in China", AFX News, November 24, 2003]

October 10, 2003

* France - localities want to host EPR demo plant

* EPR Advantages - 10X safer, 10% more efficient, cheaper power, less waste

* France will, inexorably, renew its dependence on n-plants, sez industry minister; PM notes govt hasn't actually made any such decision yet, however

* France - govt running roughshod over public and technology in push for new n-plant, sez opposition

* France - n-power should be subject to referendum, sez environmentalist Hulot

October 9, 2003

* France - public energy debate coming soon; Fontaine wants EPR

France - lots of new solar and nuclear capacity expected

French industry minister Nicole Fontaine will advise prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin to adopt the EPR nuclear reactor. Fontaine claims that the EPR, which was developed by France and Germany, is ten times safer, less expensive to operate and generates less nuclear waste than current nuclear power stations. The new reactor could be attached to the existing distribution network in 2012. French electricity group EDF will develop the basic model and start standard production.

Fontaine also favors building wind power stations with a production capacity of 10,000 megawatts by 2010.

[Ref: Julie Chauveau and Renaud Czarnes, "Nucleaire: Nicole Fontaine tranche en faveur de l'EPR", Les Echos, October 9, 2003, p. 24 (translated and abstracted by Financial Times' Europe Intelligence Wire)]

September 17, 2003

France can't wait for Gen IV, sez new CEA chief

Some at Electricite de France (EDF) argue that, instead of building Generation III plants, the lifetimes of existing PWRs should be extended until cheaper fourth generation designs are commercialized. Alain Bugat disagrees, calling this an unrealistic approach. He is the new chairman of the French atomic energy commission (CEA). "You're making a 65-year bet" that the existing reactors will still be running safely in the 2040s, he said at a press briefing.

Jacques Bouchard, CEA's Nuclear Energy Director, projected that "at least half" of EDF's 58 reactors could be replaced by Generation III reactors, while the remainder could last until Generation IV. He agreed with Bugat's conclusion. "If you wait, you fall into the hole" between Generations III and IV, he said. He referred o replacement capacity as "our immediate problem".

Trade publication Nucleonics Week cites CEA officials as projecting that some of EDF's current reactors might operate for 50 years or more, the oldest ones might stop short of that goal for economic or technical reasons. The average age of EDF's plants is 18 years.

[Ref: Ann MacLachlan (Platts-Paris), "CEA chairman pleads for EPR order, calls wait for Gen IV 'unrealistic'", Nucleonics Week,Êv44 n39, September 25, 2003,Êp. 7]

September 11, 2003

EPR demo unit decision will come by early 2004

In a statement widely interpreted as official hesitation about authorizing a multibillion-euro investment in Framatome's European PWR (EPR), industry minister Nicole Fontaine said she didn't yet have enough information to decide whether a demonstration unit should be built. She said she has asked Electricite de France (EDF), Areva, safety authorities and the CEA for more information about EPR and its relation to proposed fourth-generation reactors, but promised to make a decision on the proposed demo unit by early 2004 at the latest.

[Ref: Ann MacLachlan (Platts-Paris), "CEA chairman pleads for EPR order, calls wait for Gen IV 'unrealistic'", Nucleonics Week,Êv44 n39, September 25, 2003,Êp. 7]

August 13, 2003

Le Monde spanked Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin's inaction: The siesta is traditionally a means of saving energy in warm climates. But can it take the place of governance? Raffarin and his ministers took a long time to respond publicly to the heat wave and the severe drought that have hit our country. This slowness to respond to the catastrophe gives an impression of unpreparedness, perhaps even of off-handedness. Le Figaro was more forgiving: Whatever the climactic or natural phenomenon that afflicts us "snow, storms, bad weather "a scapegoat must be found. And the government, especially when it takes a few days holiday, makes an ideal culprit.

[Source: June Thomas, "Paris Is Burning Up", Slate Magazine, August 13, 2003]

The French government yesterday approved a slight increase in permitted river temperatures, to benefit both nuclear and thermal generating plants who return cooling water to waterways. The 1¡C increase in river temperatures was allowed at six sites Ð Bugey, Tricastin, Golfech, St Alban, Cruas and Blayais. Again, it should be noted that the increase applied to the six nuclear plants named, together with four thermal plants.

The French nuclear energy society (SFEN) told NucNet that reports implying that some French nuclear plants had halted operations to avoid increasing river temperatures further were incorrect. SFEN pointed out that 12 units currently not in service were undergoing planned maintenance outages that Òhad nothing to do with the heatÓ Ð although the outages were helping to keep river temperatures down.

Separately, Cogema has dismissed reports that FranceÕs Eurodif gaseous diffusion uranium enrichment plant Ð the countryÕs largest single power consumer Ð might close temporarily next week. A Cogema spokesman told NucNet: ÒWe adapt according to demand regarding French electricity needs, and we have less demand for production at present because of the French situation, but there is no question at this time of closing the Eurodif plant.Ó

[Source: John Shepherd (NucNet Central Office), "EuropeÕs Heatwave: Nuclear Shows Staying Power As Wind Fails", NucNet, August 13, 2003]

* EdF cut its generation capacity by 4,000 megawatts in recent days, "the equivalent of four nuclear plants", Fran�ois Roussely, the head of the company, told France Inter radio yesterday. [Source: Business Report (South Africa), "If you can't stand the nuclear heat...", August 13, 2003]

May 20, 2003

French business community sighs with relief at Yucca Mountain contract

The $40-million contract awarded to COGEMA, a subsidiary of the French nuclear energy group Areva, will "have the effect of reassuring French industry, which is concerned about the consequences of French opposition to the invasion of Iraq." [Source: Europe Information Service, COGEMA Wins Contract Worth Euro 40 Million In Nevada, Europe Energy, May 20, 2003]

* France 1998

[Source: Nuclear Energy Agency (2000), as presented by THE ECONOMIC FUTURE OF NUCLEAR POWER: A Study Conducted at The University of Chicago, August 2004, p. 2-5]

1986

Mean individual dose to the French from Chernobyl accident (over 50-year period) is projected to be 46 microSieverts. The collective dose to the French over the same period is projected to be 2,500 person-Sieverts. The projections take into account inhalation from the passing cloud, ingestion through the food chain, and external irradiation from deposited radioactivity, and are based on the MESOS dispersion model developed by Helen ApSimon of Imperial College, as applied by W. Nixon, of the Safety and Reliability Directorate of the U.K. Atomic Energy Authority. [Ref: Nuclear News, "Chernobyl doses across the continent", January 1987, p. 62]