nuclear – praag.org

Medupi online as Koeberg switches off

Medupi’s Unit 6 has officially gone online.

It was launched by President Jacob Zuma in Limpopo on Sunday.

The unit will pump a much-needed 800 megawatts into the country’s electricity supply.

President Zuma says the economy will benefit from the switch-on.

But at the same time, Koeberg’s Unit 2 will be offline for three months of scheduled maintenance, starting on Tuesday.

It will see about 930 megawatts taken off the grid.

Despite this, Eskom says it doesn’t foresee power outages linked to the Koeberg work.

Moscow hopes US will abandon AMD plans for Europe

Moscow hopes the US will fulfill its promise not to develop a system of missile defense in Europe after a deal with Iran has been reached, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in Vienna on Tuesday.

“We all probably remember that in April 2009 in Prague [US] President [Barack] Obama said that if the Iran nuclear program issue is sorted out, then the task of creating the European segment of the missile defense system will disappear,” Lavrov said at press conference in Vienna.

He said that Tehran and the P5+1 powers (the United States, the UK, France, Germany, Russia and China) have agreed on “joint all-inclusive plan of actions, which consists of the main document and five very detailed technical appendices.”

A draft of UN Security Council resolution has also been agreed upon which all participants of the talks will present as co-authors in New York in the next few days, Lavrov said, adding that the resolution will be considered by the UN SC and voted on. “We believe, it will be unanimously approved,” he added.

Historic nuclear deal reached with Iran

Iran and six leading world powers signed a comprehensive plan for ending international sanctions against Iran in exchange for putting restrictions on its controversial nuclear program. RT takes a look at the groundbreaking document.

The deal signed in Vienna on Tuesday is meant to break a 12-year standoff over Iran’s nuclear activities, which some nations claimed involved military research. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) acknowledges Iran’s right for peaceful nuclear development on par with any other signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The agreement provides for a joint commission to be established to monitor the implementation of the action plan and handle dispute situations. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is tasked with verifying voluntary nuclear-related measures by Iran. Iran and the six nations – China, France, Germany, Russia, the UK and the US, are to hold ministerial-level meetings at least once every two years to monitor the progress.

For 15 years Iran will carry out enrichment only at the Natanz facility and will only enrich uranium up to 3.67 percent. The stockpile would not exceed 300kg of uranium hexafluoride or equivalent chemical forms. The stockpile limit does not include fuel assemblies used in Iran’s nuclear reactors. Excesses are to be sold or exchanged for raw uranium.

The Fordow facility is to be converted into an internationally-supported technological center. Some of the centrifuges currently placed there would be allowed to continue spinning, but they would only produce stable isotopes and not enrich uranium. Some of the equipment will be removed completely.

Iran will start phasing out its older IR-1 centrifuges in 10 years, will not develop new models, will not increase the number of more advanced centrifuges currently in its possession, and will observe certain restrictions on testing them.

Iran will modify the Arak nuclear reactor with the help of the international community. It will be used for peaceful research and isotope production. It will not produce plutonium. Spent fuel will be shipped out of Iran for entire lifetime of the reactor. Iran keeps a leadership role in the Arak partnership.

No heavy water will be produced or accumulated for 15 years and Tehran will seek to use reactor designs not requiring heavy water.

Iran is to leave spent fuel re-processing to other nations.

Iran will adopt several additional safeguards and allow the IAEA to verify those voluntary measures. The nuclear watchdog is to monitor uranium stockpiles and centrifuges in Iran, including with modern surveillance measures like online enrichment measurement and electronic seals.

Tehran pledges not to conduct research that could conduct development of a nuclear explosive device, as specified in a technical annex to the agreement.

Rosatom confident about SA nuclear deal

Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom believes it is a strong candidate for getting its bid to build eight nuclear reactors for South Africa approved.

“Rosatom is a world leader in nuclear power provision, with its technology operating successfully in many developed and emerging markets,” said Viktor Polikarpov, Rosatom regional vice-president, Sub-Saharan Africa.

“We believe that this unmatched expertise sets us apart and makes us confident in the competitive capacity of our offer.”

This follows Rosatom’s signing of two ‘memoranda of understanding’ (MOU) documents with South Africa’s Department of Energy at the 7th BRICS summit in Ufa, Russia earlier this week.

The documents are a memorandum on cooperation in training personnel for the South African nuclear power industry and a memorandum on cooperation in Enhancement of Public Awareness of Nuclear Energy in South Africa.

Source: eNCA

SA, Russia sign energy pact

South Africa and Russia signed two memoranda of understanding on nuclear power co-operation on Wednesday, part of efforts by Africa’s most advanced economy to lessen its reliance on coal and overcome power shortages that threaten economic growth.

The agreements, signed at the summit of emerging Brics nations in Ufa, Russia, are between Russia’s state-run nuclear energy company Rosatom and South Africa’s Department of Energy. They call for joint projects to educate and encourage “public acceptance of nuclear power” in South Africa, the South African Department of Energy said in a statement.

They will also include programmes for training specialists in South Africa’s nuclear industry.

South Africa is considering using reactors from Russia’s Rosatom and Westinghouse for its planned 9 600 MW nuclear fleet expansion, an energy advisor to the government said in June.

The country plans to build six new nuclear power plants by 2030 at an estimated cost of between R400 billion and R1 trillion.

Critics contend South Africa cannot afford the price tag against the backdrop of rising debt and sluggish economic growth, which is constrained by power shortages that trigger periodic rolling blackouts.

The government has said South Africa needs to not only expand its capacity, but also diversify its power mix from coal, which provides over 85 percent of the country’s energy needs.

Source: Reuters

Russia and Saudi Arabia sign nuclear deal

A number of cooperation documents were signed by Russia and Saudi Arabia on Thursday, after President Putin met with Saudi Prince Mohammed in what was one of the most anticipated meetings at the international economic forum in St. Petersburg.

The pair has signed six agreements in total, Al Arabiya News Channel reported. A cooperation agreement on a peaceful nuclear program was among the documents, the press service of Russia’s nuclear agency, Rosatom, said.

According to Rosatom, the document is the first in the history of Russia-Saudi relations to create a legal framework for cooperation between the nations in the field of nuclear energy. Future joint projects might include construction of nuclear power reactors, provision of services in nuclear fuel cycling, including those for nuclear power stations and research reactor facilities.

The Gulf kingdom has no industrial nuclear power plants, but has big plans for developing nuclear energy.

The two oil heavyweights have also agreed on the creation of a working group to develop joint energy projects, Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak said on Thursday. Saudi Arabia is interested in energy projects in Russia, the minister said, adding that Russia doesn’t aim to replace existing partners in oil and gas cooperation, but rather wants to establish new ones.

The countries are ready to cooperate in a number of other spheres, the minister told journalists, mentioning pharmaceuticals and infrastructure development as prospective sectors.

“Our colleagues from Saudi Arabia have brought a lot of projects to the table. These projects will be introduced to our companies, including the ones involving the construction and upgrade of railways and building underground railway systems,” Novak said, adding that the Gulf kingdom plans to build metro systems in four cities in the near future.

Russia’s state space agency, Roscosmos, and Saudi national center for science and technology KACST signed papers including agendas for future cooperation in space exploration.

On meeting Putin, the 30-year old deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is Saudi Arabia’s Defense Minister, announced that his father, King Salman, was inviting the Russian leader to visit the Gulf state.

“I have the honor to pass on an invitation to visit the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as we regard Russia as one of the important states in the contemporary world, and our relations have roots in the past,” Prince Mohammed said, adding that Russia had been the first country to officially recognize the Gulf kingdom. “We will aim to develop bilateral relations in all sectors,” he added.

Radioatcive leak at New Delhi airport

A radioactive material leak was detected at New Delhi’s international airport on a shipment of nuclear medicine from Turkey before being plugged by emergency teams, officials said.

The incident happened near the cargo area of Turkish Airlines where four cartons containing nuclear medicine material were found to be damaged, an official in the National Disaster Response Force told AFP.

“The situation is under control, our teams are at the spot. There is no need to panic,” the official added on condition of anonymity.

“Atomic energy experts are on their way to assess and analyse the situation. The consignment has been isolated.”

India’s Home Minister Rajnath Singh confirmed the incident at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, adding that the “leakage has been plugged”.

The NDTV network reported that two cargo workers who were exposed to the leakage had been taken to hospital for precautionary checks.

The material was meant to be delivered to a private hospital in the Indian capital.

In 2010, a scrapyard worker in Delhi died from radiation poisoning and seven others were injured, raising concerns over the handling of radioactive material in India.

Source: AFP

Scotland warns Britain over Trident

Alex Salmond has given warning that it would be a “fatal mistake” for the UK government to proceed with its plan to renew Britain’s nuclear deterrent, refusing to rule out calling a second independence referendum if it does so.

“This government would be making a fatal mistake if they believed that for the sake of this costly trumpery that this useless, expensive, unlawful and inherently dangerous military plaything is going to be tolerated by these benches, this party or this country any longer,” said Mr Salmond.

Asked by reporters after the debate whether he saw the renewal of Trident as a possible trigger for a second independence referendum, he said: “You would have to ask Nicola Sturgeon [the first minister] whether this counts as a change in material circumstances.”

Referring to the SNP’s landslide election victory in Scotland, which gave his party 56 out of 59 seats, he added: “The government will have to take notice that they cannot go forward with the position that they used to.”

Mr Salmond was speaking during a debate about a military investigation into allegations made by William McNeilly, who worked on the Faslane base.

Mr McNeilly, a submariner, made a series of claims about the Trident weapons programme in a long online report.

He said it was harder to get into most nightclubs than into the area housing the submarines carrying Trident nuclear missiles at the Faslane naval base. He said there were significant technical defects on the boats themselves, catalogued potential fire risks and leaks, and added that safety checks were rarely carried out on contractors working on the boats.

He called the system as a whole a “disaster waiting to happen”.

Source: FT

Russia, Argentina sign energy deals worth billions

Russia and Argentina signed agreements which amounted to an “all-encompassing strategic partnership” during Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner’s visit to Moscow.

Russia and Argentina signed a number of deals on developing hydroelectric, nuclear and fossil-based energy and announced intentions to use each other’s currencies in trade.

The memorandums are a massive breakthrough for economic relations between Russia and Argentina. Russian President Putin called the negotiations rich and fruitful.

“There were important long-term deals made in economic and political spheres. Russia and Argentina are entering a new stage of cooperation,” the head of Argentina’s Foreign Ministry Timerman Hector told Sputnik.

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said the two sides agreed to conduct thorough consultations on using national currencies in trade calculations instead of US dollars.

Argentina’s New Power Sources

A $2 billion memorandum was signed to build a new hydroelectric dam and will consider switching to national currencies for mutual deals. Russia’s VEB bank will provide $1.2 billion of the total investments needed, 35 percent of which will be used to pay Argentine subcontractors.

In addition, Russia will provide Argentina with access to Russian nuclear power technology. The deal will be prepared by the end of the year. The head of Russian nuclear power plant company Rosatom declined to give an estimate to the deals, saying that one bloc costs “billions of dollars.”

“Rosatom has joined the project to build the sixth bloc of the Atucha nuclear power plant,” Putin said.

Russian energy giant Gazprom signed a memorandum to explore and develop gas fields with Argentine state gas company YPF. The deal may amount to $1 billion in investments according to Argentina’s Minister of Industry.

Russian company Uralmash will also construct a plant which will manufacture oil extraction equipment, which will amount to an additional $1.9 billion in Russian investments.

Putin also said that Russia and Argentina will cooperate in the military-technical sphere and pledged to accelerate the construction of GLONASS satellite navigation systems in Argentina.

In the mutual statement, Kirchner and Putin agreed that the situation in Ukraine can only be solved by peaceful means. Putin added that Russia supports Argentina in the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands dispute.

“Russia supports Argentina’s striving for direct talks with Britain to achieve prompt resolution to the Malvinas Islands dispute,” Putin added.

The Eurasian Economic Union and the Latin American MERCOSUR bloc also plan to sign a cooperation memorandum.

Source: Sputnik News

Nuclear trainees head for China

Fifty South African trainees are heading for China for a a 4-month nuclear power plant operations training.

Department of Energy spokesperson Johannes Mokobane told Fin 24 the first group comprises employees from the SA energy industry including the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa (Necsa), Eskom nuclear energy supplier Koeberg, Eskom and the Department of Trade and Industry (dti).

“The programme represents the first phase of an extensive programme which hopes to draw students from South Africa’s tertiary institutions in the near future.

“In the next phase we plan to send 250 participants to China to be trained at various levels,” he said.

The training will take place at the Shanghai Jiao Tong and Tsinghua Universities following a skills development co-operation agreement signed in support of SA’s nuclear new build programme between Necsa and Chinese State Nuclear Power Technology Company.

According to the Department of Energy the training will be in the form of lectures as well as tours to some of China’s nuclear facilities.

Trainees will receive lectures in a variety of topics including nuclear safety regulatory system, nuclear island system equipment, codes and safety oversight, steam power conversion system, material science, conventional island system equipment, thermodynamics and basis of reactor thermal hydraulics, radiation protection, instrumentation and control theories, water chemistry, operation theories, and nuclear safety culture.

In September 2014 Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson reportedly signed a deal for SA to get up to eight nuclear reactors from Russia.

The power cooperation deal with Russia, through the state nuclear firm Rosatom, would pave the way for the building of nuclear power plants providing up to 9.6GW (8 NPP units) of nuclear power based on Russian technology by 2030.

Reuters reported at the time that China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding was also among the companies showing interest in securing the nuclear deal.

Mokobane declined to comment when asked whether the training agreement is an indication that China will have a role in supplying SA with nuclear power.

South Africa has already signed agreements on nuclear issues with Russia, China, South Korea and France. Agreements with the United States, Canada and Japan were also under consideration.

Oil tumbles as Iran, China discuss supply

Brent crude oil fell below $58 a barrel on Tuesday on signs of growing oversupply as Iranian officials visited Beijing to seek more oil sales following the framework nuclear deal that could lead to the lifting of sanctions.

China is Iran’s largest trade partner and has bought roughly half of its crude exports since 2012, when sanctions against the Islamic Republic were tightened.

Oil markets were also pressured by a Goldman Sachs report saying prices needed to remain low for months to slow U.S. oil output growth.

Brent LCOc1 was down 70 cents at $57.42 a barrel by 1335 GMT. U.S. crude CLc1 was down 75 cents at $51.39 a barrel.

Representatives of state-run National Iranian Oil Company will meet China’s biggest crude buyers including Unipec, the trading arm of top Asian refiner Sinopec Corp (0386.HK), and state trader Zhuhai Zhenrong Corp, officials told Reuters.

Global oil markets already face a supply glut with producers pumping over 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) more than demand in the first half of this year, analysts say.

“There is a massive oversupply. Stocks are rising and now we have the prospect of more Iranian oil coming onto the market,” said Carsten Fritsch, analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.

Goldman said in a research note it expected U.S. crude inventories to top out in April and subsequently be drawn down at 350,000 bpd during the May-September period, when demand for fuel to power cars and air-conditioners is at its greatest.

Still, the bank said it saw little upside for its $40-a-barrel forecast over the next three months, anticipating inventories would rise again by October, pressuring prices into 2016.

“Prices need to remain low in coming months to achieve a sufficient and sustainable slowdown in U.S. production growth,” the bank said, adding that the U.S. outlook for 2016 made its forecast for $65-a-barrel oil next year look too high.

Source: Reuters

Senator McCain suggests Israel ‘go rogue’ against Iran

As Iran talks appear to be coming to a close with a successful agreement that would both lead to the lifting of international sanctions and restrictions that would prevent the country from obtaining nuclear weapons, most in the international community are relieved.

Yet Republicans have teamed up with their counterparts in the Israeli political system to do everything they can to obstruct a deal – with tactics such as drafting new sanctions legislation and warning the Iranian leadership that the nuclear agreement will not outlast President Obama.

But this past week Senator John McCain (R-AZ) ratcheted up this sabotage to a new level. During a floor speech he gave on March 24th, the senator suggested that Israel “go rogue” and that if they don’t they may not survive the next 22 months of the Obama presidency:

The Israelis will need to chart their own path of resistance. On the Iranian nuclear deal, they may have to go rogue. Let’s hope their warnings have not been mere bluffs. Israel survived its first 19 years without meaningful U.S. patronage. For now, all it has to do is get through the next 22, admittedly long, months.

Recall that McCain is head of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a former Republican presidential candidate.

His call for a foreign state to openly obstruct U.S. policy and in the process initiate a catastrophic regional war is perhaps unprecedented for someone of his senior position.

Oil sinks on hopes of Iran deal

Oil prices edged lower on Tuesday on high hopes for a deal on Iran’s nuclear program and increased Iranian crude-oil exports.

Light, sweet crude for May delivery settled down 0.48% at $47.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent, the global benchmark, slid 0.14%, to $56.13 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

Both benchmarks fell for the third straight quarter on expectations of a final deal on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting international sanctions on Tehran. Market analysts say additional oil supplies from Iran would flood an already-oversupplied market and push prices even lower.

Crude prices have dropped more than 50% from their mid-June high due to growing production and lackluster demand.
Talks between Iran and six world powers to settle a dispute around Tehran’s nuclear program extended beyond a Tuesday deadline, as the parties moved towards a deal but failed to agree to crucial details such as the lifting of UN sanctions.

Efforts to reach a framework deal were scheduled to continue on Wednesday in the Swiss city of Lausanne.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said a general agreement had been reached on all key aspects of a future deal.

“If the flood gates to Iranian crude open, (prices) will probably test this year’s lows again,” Phillip Futures analyst Daniel Ang told Reuters.

Iran’s oil production is expected to rise by around 500,000 barrels per day within six months if sanctions are removed, and by a further 700,000bpd within another year.

Source: Sputnik News

Nuclear deal with Iran reached says Russian diplomat

The P5+1 group and Iran agreed on all key aspects and are due to start drafting preliminary deal on Tehran’s nuclear program, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday.

“We can quite certainly say that on all the key aspects of final settlement of this problem, the ministers have reached principal consent that will be, hopefully in the next hours, maybe a day, put on the paper. The experts were tasked with this,” Lavrov told reporters Wednesday.

Lavrov also said that the preliminary agreement on Iran’s nuclear program will include verification mechanisms guaranteeing peaceful nature of Tehran’s nuke and stipulate lifting sanctions.

However, clearing the “technical details” of a final deal may take until June, he added.

Tehran also hopes that a draft agreement will soon be finalized, with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif saying the sides will “hopefully start drafting tomorrow.”

The White House announced that US President Barack Obama received an update on the talks from his national security team via a video teleconference, but did not give any details.

The deal would put restrictions on Iranian nuclear activities, which would prevent it from rushing towards nuclear capability while allowing it to develop a civilian nuclear industry.

A diplomat close to negotiations meanwhile told Reuters it was “not true” that agreement was reached on all key issues, without specifying any stumbling blocks that remain.

A draft document could soon be approved by the sides, a diplomatic source close to negotiations told journalists earlier, not specifying whether it would be a joint statement or a draft resolution.