Japan regulator bypasses experts in declaring faults under nuclear plant not active

Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) has approved an electric power company’s claim that faults running just below a nuclear plant are “not active,” without seeking further opinion from a group of experts that indicated the possibility of the faults being active in 2016. After its decision to uphold the Hokuriku Electric Power Co.’s claim that …

UK urged to be world leader in nuclear-derived synthetic fuels

The RAF and Zero Petroleum set a Guinness World Record in 2021 for the world’s first successful flight using only synthetic fuel (Image: MoD/gov.uk) Large-scale production of nuclear-derived net-zero synthetic fuels could help hard-to-decarbonise sectors such as aviation and shipping, according to a report by energy consultants Equilibrion and the Nuclear Industry Association (NIA). The …

France mulls nuclear revamp as Ukraine war prompts an energy mix rethink

French lawmakers start examining a new bill on Monday aimed at speeding up the construction of new nuclear reactors, which President Emmanuel Macron says are crucial to bolstering France’s energy independence. Critics of the bill, however, say it ignores pressing concerns over the safety of the country’s ageing reactors as well as the industry’s dependence on uranium imported from Russia. …

CNNC announces largest ever annual investment plan on nuclear power, new energy

China National Nuclear Power Co (CNNC) recently unveiled its 2023 investment blueprint, worth of 80.02 billion yuan ($11.58 billion), which is a near 60 percent of year-on-year increase, also marking the highest annual investment since it was listed on the stock market. According to the announcement, the annual investment plan was devised based on the …

Germany ‘not opposed’ to nuclear-made hydrogen, says will import from France

Germany will “acknowledge and not oppose” plans to recognise the contribution nuclear energy is making to the EU’s decarbonisation objective, a special advisor to the German Chancellor said on Thursday (9 March). Jörg Kukies, financial market and European policy advisor to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, told a Parisian crowd at a Jacques Delors Institute panel …