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☆ Switzerland's solar dam: Sun and snow the perfect mix for green energy drive
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Industry Insight | Reuters Professional | Europe Turns Up Heat Under Chemicals Industry To Clean Up Its Climate Act | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The dam's almost 5000 solar panels produce 3,3 million kilowatt hours of energy per year, enough to supply around 700 houses. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann 1 2 3 4 5"The reflection from the snow also helps," Schranz said, "and solar panels like the cold and have a higher yield in cooler temperatures". Switzerland's government is also making it easier for solar energy to become more prevalent. The country's drive towards more green means of energy production is tied to its decision to phase out nuclear power. “Alpine solar plants can also make an important contribution here,” she said.

☆ French power supply reduced due to strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

PARIS, Feb 7 (Reuters) - French power supply has been reduced by 3.7 gigawatts as production at two nuclear reactors and several thermal plants was lowered due to a strike over planned pension reforms, data from power utility EDF (EDF.PA) showed on Tuesday. The hydraulic power sector of EDF also posted a strike notice for Thursday midday hours. Reporting by Forrest Crellin; Editing by Kim CoghillOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Australia's radioactive capsule: searching scientists were quietly confident
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Lewis Jackson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] A view shows the area where a radioactive capsule was found, near Newman, Australia, February 1, 2023. Western Australian Department Of Fire And Emergency Services/Handout via REUTERSSYDNEY, Feb 3 (Reuters) - The task was daunting: find a tiny radioactive capsule that had fallen off a truck somewhere in Western Australia's vast outback sometime in January. Western Australia is buzzing with low-level rays thanks to its A$230 billion ($160 billion) mining industry. The Australian Radiation Incident Register reported six incidents of material being found, lost or stolen in 2019. That year, a radioactive gauge was stolen in Queensland state, according to police reports.

☆ France leads push for EU to boost nuclear-produced hydrogen
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Kate Abnett | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Ministers from France, Poland, the Czech Republic and six other EU countries wrote to the European Commission this week urging it to open up EU renewable energy targets to include hydrogen produced from nuclear energy. EU countries and lawmakers have been preparing for negotiations next week on the law, which will guide the pace of Europe's renewable energy expansion this decade. Hydrogen can also be produced from electricity, so the EU wants to set sectoral targets for hydrogen made from renewable electricity. The nine countries' letter, seen by Reuters, said the EU should include nuclear energy - which is low-carbon, but not renewable. At least nine EU countries oppose the idea, among them Germany, Denmark, Austria and Luxembourg, officials said.

☆ France seeks strategy as nuclear waste site risks saturation point
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Benjamin Mallet | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/5] Used nuclear fuel is seen in a storage pool at the Orano nuclear waste reprocessing plant in La Hague, near Cherbourg, France, January 17, 2023. "We can't have a responsible nuclear policy without taking into account the handling of used fuel and waste. La Hague is the country's sole site able to process and partially recycle used nuclear fuel. Meanwhile, France's national agency for managing nuclear waste last month requested approval for a project to store permanently high-level radioactive waste. The facility at La Hague, with its 1980s-era buildings and Star Wars-style control rooms, has its limitations.

☆ Column: Europe needs France to get its nuclear act together in 2023: Maguire
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Gavin Maguire | Thomson Reuters | Gavin Maguire Is The Global Energy Transition Columnist. He Was Previously Asia Commodities | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

LITTLETON, Colo., Feb 1 (Reuters) - A steep drop in France's nuclear power output in 2022 exacerbated Europe's power crisis by forcing French utilities to flip from net power exporters to importers just as Russia's invasion of Ukraine snarled energy markets across the continent. POWERING UPSo far in 2023, France's nuclear power output remains 17.5% below the average from 2020 and 2021, Refinitiv data shows, due in part to strikes against planned pension reforms for unionised workers. Even if average output remains below that previous target, any sustained increase in nuclear production from 2022 totals stands to have an impact on local power prices, as well as France's overall power import needs. For example, in December, some previously curtailed reactors resumed operations and that boosted national nuclear output by 40% from the average of the previous eight months, Refinitiv data shows. France seasonal nuclear power outputReporting By Gavin Maguire; Editing by Christian SchmollingerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russia was making big plans for Ukraine's nuclear power plants before its invasion fell apart
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Those plans depended in part on seizing Ukraine's nuclear power plants and using them for leverage. Dmytro Smolyenko/Future Publishing via Getty ImagesAccording to the RUSI report, Russia's war plans viewed Ukraine's nuclear power plants as a means to achieve Moscow's larger aims. The Kremlin's plan envisioned three uses for the Ukrainian nuclear power facilities once the invasion was underway. Moscow also incorporated Ukraine's nuclear power facilities into its information operations. Fighting in a nuclear plantThe Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on August 29.

☆ Hungary will veto EU sanctions on Russian on nuclear energy - PM Orban
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BUDAPEST, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Hungary will veto any European Union sanctions against Russia affecting nuclear energy, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told state radio on Friday. Ukraine has called on the 27-nation EU to include Russian state nuclear energy company Rosatom in sanctions but Hungary, which has a Russian-built nuclear plant it plans to expand with Rosatom, has blocked that. read moreOrban reiterated in an interview that sanctions on nuclear energy "must obviously be vetoed". "We will not allow the plan to include nuclear energy into the sanctions be implemented," the Hungarian premier said. Under a deal signed in 2014 with Russia, Hungary aims to expand the Paks plant with two Russian-made VVER reactors with a capacity of 1.2 gigawatts each.

☆ Oliver Stone's new film puts nuclear energy in the spotlight. These stocks are ready to hop on the trend
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

In his latest documentary "Nuclear Now," Stone argues for the use of nuclear energy as an environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels. "We had the solution [nuclear power] … and the environmental movement, to be honest, just derailed it. For investors, the film adds to growing interest in nuclear power as a fossil fuel alternative beyond renewables. These funds invest in a variety of stocks tied to nuclear power throughout the value chain. Other global nuclear energy ETFs such as Sprott Uranium Miners (URNM) and the VanEck Uranium+Nuclear Energy (NLR) have gained more than 13% and 4% in 2023, respectively.

☆ U.S. to test nuclear-powered spacecraft by 2027
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The United States plans to test a spacecraft engine powered by nuclear fission by 2027 as part of a long-term NASA effort to demonstrate more efficient methods of propelling astronauts to Mars in the future, the space agency’s chief said on Tuesday. NASA will partner with the U.S. military's research and development agency, DARPA, to develop a nuclear thermal propulsion engine and launch it to space "as soon as 2027," NASA administrator Bill Nelson said during a conference in National Harbor, Maryland. NASA officials view nuclear thermal propulsion as crucial for sending humans beyond the moon and deeper into space. DARPA in 2021 awarded funds to General Atomics, Lockheed Martin and Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin to study designs of nuclear reactors and spacecraft. By around March, the agency will pick a company to build the nuclear spacecraft for the 2027 demonstration, the program's manager Tabitha Dodson said in an interview.

☆ Jim Cramer says to consider an analyst's call timeframe when investing
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

CNBC's Jim Cramer on Tuesday reminded investors to pay close attention to the scope of an analyst's calls. A day later, Bernstein downgraded the company's stock to market perform from outperform, citing concerns over a worsening PC market. Cramer said that in this case, neither analyst is necessarily wrong, because their arguments rely on different timeframes. Cramer added that while those periods of trading can be confusing, they can also be advantageous to investors, as long as they don't act rashly. However, it can also be wrong," he said, adding, "Either way, if you have conviction, the reaction can often be a great opportunity to buy, buy, buy, or sell."

☆ U.S. approves design for NuScale small modular nuclear reactor
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Timothy Gardner | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Companies Nuscale Power Corp FollowWASHINGTON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - The U.S. nuclear power regulator has certified the design for the NuScale Power Corp's (SMR.N) small modular reactor, the first such approval in the country for the next generation technology. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's approval, published in the Federal Register late on Thursday, clears a hurdle for NuScale. The company plans to build a demonstration small modular reactor (SMR) power plant at the Idaho National Laboratory. The U.S. Department of Energy has provided more than $600 million since 2014 to support the design, licensing and siting of NuScale's power plant and other small modular reactors. "SMRs are no longer an abstract concept," said Kathryn Huff, assistant secretary for nuclear energy at the Energy Department.

☆ Utility company executives acquitted of negligence in Fukushima nuclear disaster
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power plant after a massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami on March 14, 2011 in Futaba, Japan. DigitalGlobe | Getty ImagesA Japanese court on Wednesday found three former utility company executives not guilty of negligence over the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster and the subsequent deaths of more than 40 elderly residents during their forced evacuation. watch nowThe acquittal disappointed and angered dozens of Fukushima residents and their supporters who attended the ruling or rallied outside the court. It's so irresponsible," said Yuichi Kaido, a lawyer representing the Fukushima residents. The Supreme Court in June, however, said the disaster was unforeseeable and dismissed compensation demands by thousands of residents.

☆ Strike reduces French power supply, halts refinery shipments
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

EDF's (EDF.PA) outage table showed a 4.5 GW nuclear supply reduction at eight reactors, 460 megawatts (MW) of reduced hydropower and 2.8 GW of lower thermal production. This is how strikes work in France : strikers are not allowed to put security of supply at risk," analyst Emeric de Vigan said. Meanwhile, deliveries of refined oil products were blocked from leaving refineries operated by TotalEnergies , the company said. There would be no disruption to fuel supplies at service stations if the unions maintained their strike timetable, TotalEnergies has said. The CGT refineries federation has called for a single day of strike this week and further walkouts next week and the week after.

☆ Energy startups touting everything from solar-powered cars to next-gen nuclear reactors are red hot right now. Here are 32 to watch in 2023, according to VCs.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russia's invasion of Ukraine thrust energy companies into the spotlight in 2022. We asked European investors to name energy startups poised to take off in 2023. European energy companies raised a record $3 billion in 2022, a marked increase on the $1.96 billion secured in 2021, according to PitchBook. Insider asked investors which European startups were ones to watch in 2023. Here are the 32 companies investors named, in alphabetical order.

☆ Filmmaker Oliver Stone slams environmental movement over 'destructive' actions on nuclear
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Anmar Frangoul | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The environmental movement's stance on nuclear power was "wrong" and derailed the sector's development, according to the filmmaker Oliver Stone. "Passion comes from the fact that … it's my children, hopefully grandchildren soon," Stone, who was speaking to CNBC on Tuesday afternoon, replied. It's going to be a miserable existence if we have worse and worse hurricanes, fires, droughts. "We had the solution [nuclear power] … and the environmental movement, to be honest, just derailed it. I think the environmental movement did a lot of good, a lot of good ... [I'm] not knocking it, but in this one major matter, it was wrong.

☆ Tokyo court upholds not guilty verdict for ex-Tepco execs over Fukushima disaster
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Wrongful judgment" after the The Tokyo High Court upheld a not guilty verdict for former Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) executives of negligence over the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power station disaster, in front of the court in Tokyo, Japan, January 18, 2023. REUTERS/Issei KatoTOKYO, Jan 18 (Reuters) - The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday upheld a not guilty criminal verdict by a lower court that cleared former Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) (9501.T) executives of negligence over the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power station disaster. The ruling on Wednesday to uphold the not guilty verdict sits at odds with a separate civil case brought to the Tokyo court by Tepco shareholders, which found four former executives responsible for the 2011 nuclear disaster. Judges ordered the former executives to pay 13 trillion yen ($99.14 billion) in damages in the civil lawsuit. The court judged that the executives could have prevented the disaster if they had exercised due care.

☆ French nuclear waste agency applies for new storage site
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, Jan 17 (Reuters) - France's national agency for managing nuclear waste has applied to the ministry of ecological transition for the creation of a project for the long-term storage of high-level radioactive waste, the agency said on Tuesday. Construction could begin as soon as 2027 if the French nuclear safety authority approves the application. Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands are also examining the construction of long-term high-level radioactive waste storage sites. Andra, the nuclear waste treatment agency, said this latest application for the storage site did not include the six new EPR nuclear reactors currently under consideration for construction by French power giant EDF (EDF.PA), citing the lack of a final decision to embark on the new build. Pierre-Marie Abadie, director general for Andra, said that the agency has in the past published a report saying waste from six new nuclear reactors could be encompassed in the future storage project "without difficulty."

☆ Rolls-Royce seeks to progress mini nuclear plants by site visits
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Companies Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC FollowLONDON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - British engineering company Rolls-Royce (RR.L) has begun to assess potential sites for mini nuclear reactors it aims to connect to the country's power grid by the end of the decade. Britain also needs to replace ageing nuclear plants as all but one of its nuclear sites, which generate around 13% of the country's electricity, are scheduled to close by 2030. The power plants will be about the size of two soccer fields and power one million homes. Rolls-Royce has short-listed three sites for the factory to make the SMRs, two in the northeast of England and one in north Wales. Reporting by Sarah Young Editing by David Goodman and Tomasz JanowskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Poland, Lithuania want nuclear curbs in new EU sanctions on Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Gabriela Baczynska | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustrations/File PhotoBRUSSELS, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Poland and Lithuania want the European Union to impose restrictions on Russia's nuclear sector as part of new sanctions against Moscow and Minsk for the war in Ukraine, senior diplomats from the two EU countries said on Friday. They said the 10th EU package of sanctions since Russia invaded Ukraine should be ready in time for the first anniversary of the invasion on Feb. 24. They wanted new sanctions against Russia's ally Belarus, where they said loopholes allowed it to bypass European sanctions against Moscow in trading goods including furniture. They proposed that Rosatom and/or its leadership be blacklisted as a first step that should then lead to winding down cooperation in the EU with Russia's nuclear industry. The senior diplomats said they would also try again to end Belgium's diamond trade with Russia through new EU sanctions and expand bans on trade in goods that can be used for military purposes.

☆ Column: Europe's mild weather reprieve this winter may come to bite by summer
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Gavin Maguire | Thomson Reuters | Gavin Maguire Is The Global Energy Transition Columnist. He Was Previously Asia Commodities | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

In Switzerland - one of Europe's top winter sports destinations - many ski resorts have been forced to close due to a lack of snow. KINDLINGBeyond lost tourism revenues, the unusually low snow totals and warm temperatures pose a potential threat to several European sectors later this year. For power producers, the low snow totals come on the back of a drier-than-normal 2022, and leave hydro power production potential sharply below normal in several key countries. Last July, a prolonged heat wave pushed river temperatures above the level that can help cool reactors, and forced power producers in France to curb nuclear output. If snow totals remain well below usual, river temperatures may stay warmer than normal in 2023 and pose a fresh risk to nuclear operators.

The proposed new legislation, which still needs to be passed by parliament, would allow new reactors to be constructed at additional locations across Sweden and was seen being in place in March next year. "We have an obvious need for more electricity production in Sweden," Kristersson told a news conference. "What we are doing today is changing legislation to allow for the construction of more nuclear reactors at more places." Any expansion of nuclear power in Sweden could take many years given the complexity of such projects while energy demand is expected to rise sharply in coming years. Sweden currently has six operational reactors, half of what it once had, and temporary closures for maintenance of some of them have contributed to push up electricity prices in the Nordic country in recent months.

☆ Belgium to extend life of two nuclear reactors by 10 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Companies Engie SA FollowBRUSSELS, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Belgium has reached an agreement with French utility Engie to extend the life of two nuclear reactors by 10 years, the prime minister said on Monday, overturning a plan to exit nuclear power in 2025 as the war in Ukraine has changed energy strategy. "The extension of these two nuclear reactors is crucial to guarantee our energy security," Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told a news conference after meeting cabinet members. Belgium had planned to exit nuclear power entirely in 2025, but Russia's invasion of Ukraine has forced the government to rethink plans to rely more on natural gas. Belgium's six operating nuclear reactors have a combined capacity of about 5 gigawatt and generate about half of the country's electricity, World Nuclear Association data show. The cost of the future dismantling of the Belgian reactors will remain Engie's responsibility, De Croo added.

☆ Cramer's lightning round: I'm very concerned about Veru
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Loading chart...Veru Inc : "I'm very concerned about it." I think we're going to have to take a major league pass." Suburban Propane Partners LP : "[The] propane market is historically, let's say, too volatile and erratic for me." Loading chart...Axon Enterprise Inc : "It's a terrific law enforcement package that I think is really good for everybody. Loading chart...Nuscale Power Corp : "If you want small, nuclear modular reactors, I'm going to have to say, the Constellation Energy group.

FRANKFURT, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Germany exported more electricity to its neighbours than it imported in 2022, even with an energy crisis at home, thanks to more more weather-driven renewable power and greater demand from France. The trade figures show that Germany's neighbours remain dependent on surplus power from Europe's biggest economy if their own generation supplies fall short. In detail, German power imports in 2022 totalled 51 TWh, 2.6% down from 2021, while exports rose 7.3% year-on-year to 78.5 TWh, giving a net export surplus. France, Switzerland and Austria increased energy imports from Germany year-on-year, as did the Czech Republic, Belgium and Norway. Volumes originating in Switzerland, Austria, Poland, among others, fell last year.

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