News of the world

The South-African government has decided to construct a second nuclear power plant. The production of electricity in South-Africa relies heavily on coal (90%). The Swiss government has agreed to pursue the production of electricity from nuclear energy to face the energy shortage that is looming beyond 2020. The Indian atomic energy department has announced the commissioning of the third unit (a heavy water reactor of 202 MW) of the Kaiga plant. The Indonesian and Chilean governments consider favorably the possibility of building nuclear power plants as an efficient means to meet their increasing energy demand. The Spanish minister of industry has confirmed the construction in a very near future of a dry storage facility for high level radioactive wastes, this site would enter into service in 2010 or 2011. Areva, JNFL (Japan Nuclear Fuel) and 2 American companies have joint forces to propose a common bid for the construction of a reprocessing plant in Usa. Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia are discussing the project of constructing a common nuclear power plant on a Lithuanian site. This unit will replace the Ignalina power plant that is due to be decommissioned in 2009 on safety grounds. The French nuclear safety authority (ASN) has issued its 2006 annual report in which it appears that the safety levels in nuclear power plant appear to be satisfactorily while those in nuclear medicine have been poor with radiotherapy incidents reported in Lyon and Epinal. (A.C.)