Dear Reader, We at Asian Nuclear Energy are delighted to note that the recent visit to India of the high-powered US Nuclear Trade Mission has been successful. The Mission members and its facilitators - the US-India Business Council and the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) - deserve credit. Steve Hucik, Senior Vice President, GE-Hitachi and leader of the mission said the Indo-US civilian nuclear...

The Indo-US civilian nuclear energy deal has got off to a flying start. This was indicated by Steve Hucik, senior Vice President, GE-Hitachi, who led an American nuclear trade mission on a five-day visit to India in the second week of January. Hucik told Asian Nuclear Energy at the end of the mission's five-day visit of the country in Mumbai: "This trade mission...

US-based nuclear equipment maker Westinghouse Electric Company has announced that it expects that its participation in the recently concluded nuclear trade mission to India will be the beginning of a long and mutually rewarding relationship with a wide range of Indian power companies, suppliers and academic institutions. Addressing a press...

The 5-day India visit by a U.S. Commercial Nuclear Mission sponsored by the US-India Business Council in cooperation with the Nuclear Energy Institute, concluded on January 16 in Mumbai, India. In his concluding speech, U.S. Consul General Paul A. Folmsbee described the historic Indo-US civilian nuclear energy agreement as one of the great legacies...

The Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W) was a member of the U.S. trade mission which had recently concluded its five-day visit to India after exploring commercial nuclear partnership opportunities available in this country. The mission included more than 50 senior executives representing over 30 leading commercial nuclear companies. The event was the...

Kazakhstan and Russia rank second and third in uranium reserves after Australia, with over 1 million metric tons and 800,000 tonnes respectively. In the new "great game" for the Caspian's hydrocarbon riches, one of the new petro-states, Kazakhstan, is seeking to diversify its energy exports by increasing its uranium exports. Western investors have focused...

Franco-German consortium Areva-Siemens is to take TVO to arbitration in a dispute over delays and cost overruns at the Olkiluoto 3 reactor, the Finnish nuclear plant operator has said recently. In October 2008, TVO was told by the consortium that the 1,600-MW reactor, the first to be constructed in Western Europe for more than a decade, would be further...

Of the 17 nuclear power generating units in the country, BHEL's contribution is 3,280 mw, 80% of India's installed nuclear capacity of 4,120 mw. India's State-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) has recently announced that it bagged a contract for 500 mw nuclear power plant at Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu, being set up by Bhartiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam (BNVL)...

State-run Nuclear Power Corp. of India Ltd (NPCIL) will enter into a nuclear cooperation pact with Kazakhstan's state-owned Kazatomprom soon. Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev is expected to sign the agreement during his visit to India starting 23 January, 2009. "Kazakhstan has signed strategic agreements with Russia, China and...

Westinghouse Electric has announced the signing of a comprehensive, 10-year agreement with First Energy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC) for provide services and support to the latter's nuclear fleet. FENOC's plants include the Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station in Shippingport, Pa.; the Davis-Besse Power Station in Oak Harbor, Ohio; and the Perry Nuclear...

China Fire & Security Group (CFSG) has said it has won three additional contracts with China Nuclear Power Engineering Co. Ltd. (CNPEC), valued at about $5.3 million to provide fire detection services for three independent nuclear power projects. The Beijing, China-based company expects to recognize revenue from these contracts over a period of three years...

The United States has raised anew the possibility that North Korea has an active programme to enrich uranium, an issue the administration had played down in recent years as it sought to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear programs. With just a few days left in the Bush administration, National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley made the allegation...

The United Arab Emirates has said it had agreed to a draft pact with the United States for civilian nuclear cooperation, the first such deal between Washington and a Middle East nation."The United Arab Emirates and the United States have completed their negotiations concerning signing a proposed draft of the civilian nuclear cooperation deal, a foreign ministry...

French electricity giant EDF has said it now holds nearly 89 percent of British Energy, Britain's nuclear operator, and it will extend its offer to secure the remaining shares soon. EDF said that by the scheduled close of its 15.6 billion euro ($20 billion) offer on December 5, it held 88.67 percent of British Energy's shares, including its original stake of 26.48 percent...