Companies and organizations mentioned in this week´s brief include: Dubai´s Supreme  Council of Energy, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, McKenzie & Co, Hitachi Ltd, General Electric, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Areva, Cameco, China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co., Ltd. (CGNPC), Cernavoda plant, Kuwait National Nuclear Energy Committee (KNNEC),National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

Weekly Intelligence Brief 21 June - 28 June

Dubai considers nuclear as part of new diversified energy mix

The Dubai government has established a Supreme Council of Energy charged with developing an Energy Strategy 2030 – aimed at exploring alternative energy resources to power the emirates energy needs and meet future demand.

Coal and nuclear technology are among the options being explored as the government aims to diversify the energy sector, according to a Gulf News report last week.

The private sector is invited to partnerships in the alternative energy sector, but private ownership will not exceed 40 percent, explained Saeed Mohammad Al Tayer, vice-chairman of the Supreme Council of Energy, and managing director and chief executive of the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, the Gulf News quoted.

Global advisory group McKenzie & Co has been recruited to aid in the development of the 2030 strategy, and the council is reportedly considering short, medium, and long-range time frame plans for the use of alternative energy strategies to supply the emirate’s power needs.

“It is a study at this stage which will be completed in August. The power demand in Dubai is increasing,” said Al Tayer in the report.

Japan set to start talks with India over civil nuclear energy deal

Japan´s foreign minister, Katsuya Okada, said on Friday that Japan would like to start talks with India about a civil nuclear energy partnership.

According to the Reuters report Japan like other nations with more established nuclear energy markets and supply lines are keen to access the Indian market given the growing consumer demands on its immature electricity networks.

a move that would give Japanese firms access to the rapidly growing market amid rising global competition.

According to the report the “energy-starved India's civilian nuclear market” is worth about $150 billion, after a 2008 US nuclear accord opened up global access to it.

India is planning to double the share of nuclear power on its grid to more than 8 percent over two decades.

Japan is no stranger to the benefits of working with foreign companies on joint projects, such as product development within the nuclear reactor segment where tie ups have already included Hitachi Ltd's cooperation with General Electric and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries with France's Areva, said the report.

India´s lack of a legal framework for nuclear power is stalling progress according to the report, putting Japan’s plans on hold.

Cameco ties up with China´s CGNPC to secure future uranium fuel

Cameco, a global mining company, is pursuing long-term co-operation opportunities with China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co., Ltd. (CGNPC) to supply uranium fuel for its growing fleet of nuclear power plants.

CGNPC, China's largest clean-energy enterprise, with the largest number of nuclear power plants under construction in the world, needs uranium to fuel its four existing reactors and others currently under construction.

CGNPC indicates that it has about 20,000 megawatts (MW) of nuclear capacity under construction and expects to have over 50,000 MW on line by 2020.

However, Cameco and CGNPC signed a non-binding framework agreement committing the companies to negotiate long-term uranium purchase agreements and potential joint development of uranium resources.

Discussions between the two companies will remain ongoing.

"The announcement moves Cameco one step closer to supplying uranium to one of the fastest growing nuclear companies in the world," said Jerry Grandey, Cameco's CEO.

"Our plan to double uranium production by 2018 aligns well with China's vigorous reactor construction program."

Reports from China indicate the country plans to increase its nuclear capacity from the current 9 gigawatts (GW) to at least 70 GW by 2020.

A further increase to 120-160 GW or more is planned by 2030.

"We intend to secure a long-term relationship with China Guangdong Nuclear Power," Grandey added.

CGNPC officials recently met with Cameco's senior executives and toured Cameco's minesites in northern Saskatchewan.

27 sites in Eastern Europe vying for $11bn project

Nuclear energy is back in vogue in Eastern Europe, 24 years after the meltdown at the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine, according to a Bloomberg report.

Klempicz in Poland is second on a list of 27 sites competing for the $11 billion project. A decision will be made at the end of the year in the country where burning coal supplies 95 percent of energy.

Eight of the European Union’s 10 former communist members are counting on safer technologies from companies like GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy and Westinghouse Electric Co. LLC to cut pollution and dependence on Russian gas.

But the potential nuclear projects are not without their critics as in any other nuclear energy market.

According to the report, critics are saying that locals, who are desperate for the investment as it will bring much needed jobs, are ignoring the “risks of environmental damage, leaking and disposal, as well as enormous construction costs at a time governments are cutting back on social benefits and administrative spending.”

Poland is not alone in reconsidering nuclear energy as part of the energy mix with its Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania all wanting to build a new nuclear plant to replace the Soviet-designed Ignalina station, which was shut last year under a 2004 EU accession pact because of similarities to Chernobyl.

To the south, the Czech Republic and Slovakia plan to expand their existing facilities. Bulgaria, which also closed reactors as a condition for joining the bloc in 2007, is looking to re-establish the industry and Romania aims for two new reactors at the Cernavoda plant near the Black Sea, said the report.

Kuwait and US sign MoC

Kuwait and the US have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) on nuclear safeguards and other non-proliferation topics.

The MoC was signed by Secretary General of the Kuwait National Nuclear Energy Committee (KNNEC) Ahmad Bishara and the Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Thomas D'Agostino during a ceremony held at the Department of Energy, according to a Kuwaiti news agency (KUNA) report.

The MOC proposes cooperation in nuclear legislation and regulations, human resource planning and modelling, nuclear safeguards and security, radiation protection, environmental, safety and health issues, low and intermediate-level radioactive waste management, reactor operations, safety and best practices.

The report said that during the ceremony, D'Agostino said "it is clear that both of our countries recognise the importance of preventing nuclear proliferation, and keeping dangerous nuclear materials out of the hands of terrorists and proliferators."

UAE spent fuel to be processed abroad

The United Arab Emirates have no plans to domestically reprocess the spent fuel from the nuclear reactors to be set up in the country, Hamad Ali Al Kaabi, the permanent representative of the UAE to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said.

According to a Khaleej Times report, he said that in regards to the UAE’s Peaceful Nuclear Power Project they will keep their options open to handle the spent fuel or nuclear waste from those reactors.

The UAE will also explore the possibility of shipping the spent fuel to countries which have reprocessing programmes.

“We are studying all these options, and this is something that we will have to do only after 40 to 50 years when our reactors are to be decommissioned after their lifetime, said Hamad Ali Al Kaabi.’’

He said that the UAE has decided not to do both enrichment and reprocessing.

He told the Khaleej Times he said the contract awarded by the UAE to a South Korean firm to set up nuclear reactors in the country stipulates that the operator should set up special fund for decommissioning of the reactors after their life time.

On the UAE-US nuclear accord, he said this agreement known as 123 Agreement is already in force, and only some administrative processes are remaining to be complete.

He also said that nuclear power is expected to contribute 25 per cent of total electricity generated in Abu Dhabi by 2020, and this will be much higher than the seven per cent energy to be contributed by the renewable energy sector.

“By 2020 the country’s power demand is expected to go up to 40,000mw, almost three times the level of total energy produced in the country in 2007, when the feasibility study for nuclear power was conducted.’’