EDF net income takes a dive due to U.S. reactor project

Electricite de France, the French national utility that holds a 50% share in Unistar in the U.S. along with Constellation Energy, saw its net income plummet 47% this past week. The EDF-Constellation partnership is slated to build an EPR reactor at the Calvert Cliffs nuclear site in Maryland - conditional upon federal loan guarantees. But according to a Bloomberg story, EDF "took a provision of 1.1 billion euros (1.44 billion euros) related to its holding in Constellation Energy Group Inc. due to the “less favorable” outlook for power prices for existing power generators and a planned new nuclear reactor at Calvert Cliffs."  EDF is already under scrutiny in France because its EPR construction site at Flamanville is over-budget and has fallen more than two years behind schedule.

Safety fears raised about Areva EPR in Europe and U.S.

The New York Times has reported allegations of safety significant design flaws with nuclear fuel rod cladding, as well as the danger of control rod ejection accidents, at the French Areva "European Pressurized Reactor" targeted at Flammanville on the Normandy Coast. Meanwhile, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has continued to question the safety of interconnections between safety and non-safety "Instrumentation and Control" systems at the Areva "Evolutionary Power Reactor" targeted to be built at Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant in Maryland, Nine Mile Point on the Lake Ontario shoreline in New York State, and elsewhere. See the NRC press release here.

Areva credit rating lowered as reactor costs rise at its Finland site

Standard & Poor's has lowered the credit of Areva, the French government-owned global nuclear corporation, after new delays and cost over-runs plagued the company's reactor project in Finland. An additional $493 million bill was announced last month along with another six-month delay in the ever-moving projected completion date for Areva's EPR reactor under construction at Olkiluoto, Finland. The reactor is optimistically expected to be operational by the end of 2012.

Nuclear power in France pamphlet updated and expanded

Our newly expanded and updated pamphlet - Nuclear Power in France, setting the record straight - contains a comprehensive set of examples showing that nuclear power in France is far from a success. Please download and distribute the pamphlet or order hard copies via email at info@beyonduclear.org.

EDF lobbied UK government for subsidies on waste

New documents released in Britain have revealed that the French nuclear utility - EDF- that wants to build new reactors in the U.K., lobbied behind the scenes to reduce a planned disposal levy for the amount of nuclear waste produced by the new reactors. This latest effort by EDF to cushion its path to nuclear build in the UK follows efforts last year to eliminate wind farms in order to bolster the role of nuclear in the country. The British government has publicly stated that new reactors must be built without subsidy. However, a Greenpeace spokesperson said the documents show that EDF has been secretly attempting to deal-make for subsidies behind closed doors.