more uranium interest

Chernobyl Legacy Fades as Eastern Europe Bets on Nuclear Power

June 25 (Bloomberg) -- In the Polish village of Klempicz, less than an hour from the German border, Lech Wojcieszynski is hoping to bring the first atomic reactor to his country, overcoming the Chernobyl disasters legacy.
I remember Chernobyl very well, but how long ago was that? said Wojcieszynski, a local entrepreneur who arranged meetings with residents and government officials responsible for nuclear policy. Technology has moved on to a completely different level.

Petr Zavodsky, CEZs director of nuclear construction

Nuclear power is back in vogue in Eastern Europe 24 years after the meltdown at the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine, the worst nuclear accident in history, which blanketed the region with radioactive dust and halted development of atomic power. Klempicz 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 Unions 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. Opponents say locals, who want the investment also because it will bring jobs, ignore 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 needs to take a step back and ask itself whether it really needs nuclear power, said Katarzyna Guzek, a spokeswoman on climate and energy with Greenpeace in Poland. She says emissions could be reduced more cheaply by improving energy efficiency and investing in renewable technologies.
Soviet Design
Poland is not alone in its renewed nuclear power drive. The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania want 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.
With tens of billions of dollars at stake, the eastern European projects may help drive growth in a region where per- capita gross domestic product, based on purchasing power parity, is less than half of the 16-member euro zone, analysts say.
Dependence on Russia
Governments are also trying to avoid getting caught up in another shutoff of Russian gas, like the one that left Bulgaria and Slovakia with no supplies during Russias dispute with Ukraine in January 2009 and forced others in the region to ration fuel.
Belarus, which lies east of Poland alongside Ukraine, on June 22 accused OAO Gazprom, Russias gas export monopoly, of starting a gas war, raising the risk of another shutoff to Europe. Russias OAO Gazprom said yesterday it resumed supplies after the two sides settled financial differences.
For companies like Westinghouse and Frances Areva SA, the plans offer a foothold in Eastern Europe. Among local companies, PGE SA and CEZ AS, the largest power producers in Poland and the Czech Republic, stand to benefit the most from the renewed interest in nuclear power.
CEZ is negotiating with Areva, Westinghouse and ZAO Atomstroyexport of Russia to double its two-reactor plant at Temelin at a cost of $8 billion, and will decide within two years whether to add a fifth reactor at its Dukovany plant.
Raising the Share
CEZ also owns 9.2 percent of Romanias Cernavoda, now under construction, and 49 percent of a joint venture with Slovakias JESS, which plans to add two reactors in Jaslovske Bohunice. It wants to raise the share of nuclear power to 25 percent from 15 percent by 2050.
Few markets are really open to global competition, and Eastern Europe is one of them, said Alex Barnett at Jefferies International Ltd. in Paris.
Opposition to CEZs plans comes not from residents fearing atomic power, but from locals who complain the expansion will further spoil the picturesque Bohemian countryside with miles of high-voltage wires crisscrossing fields.
We understand that this is how the world is, but why do we have to be the ones to pay the price for the common good? said Jiri Brt, the deputy mayor of Skalice, about 35 kilometers from Temelin. Theres always someone who is unlucky, and in this case its us.
Lobbying the Locals
Wojcieszynskis group is working with the provincial government to organize a visit to France for local residents. And in the Krokowa township on the Baltic Sea, whose Zarnowiec district is the frontrunner for the plant, the mayor is creating partnerships with German cities that host nuclear facilities.
Pledges by governments to cut carbon dioxide emissions, combined with rising demand for electricity, doesnt leave them many options. And while wind power, hydroelectricity and gas are among greener choices, nuclear power must remain the bedrock of energy production, said Petr Zavodsky, CEZs director of nuclear construction, in an interview in Prague.
Nuclear plants are the most profitable sources of energy in the long term, Zavodsky said. Also, we want to be more independent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Nathaniel Espino in Warsaw [email protected] Ladka Bauerova in Prague at [email protected]