The NEI Morning Clip File

Here are some of the news clips we're reading at NEI this morning. India's largest electricity company, National Thermal Power Corporation, is making preparations for new nuclear power plant construction:

India's largest electricity producer National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd will soon appoint two advisers to help it firm up its strategy to enter the nuclear energy business.

With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inking a deal on the import of nuclear fuel to India, the possibility of entering the nuclear energy business had become very real, and the company had decided to see how soon it could start work, NTPC executives said.

The agreement with the US for fuel supply . . . will enable India to step up its civil nuclear programme. Production may go up from 10 giga watt to 275 giga watt by 2052.

Chairman and managing director of NTPC C P Jain said, "We are looking at it as a long-term option." But he refused to elaborate on the company's plans.

"...Nuclear power is the way to go in the long-run. Going by current consumption trends, our coal reserves will only last us another 50 years," said an executive, adding that nuclear power was the preferred option for countries like France and Japan with low hydrocarbon reserves.

In other news, Bulgaria has recently spoken out against claims made by Greenpeace that the country's energy policy was inefficient.

The Energy Ministry said that Bulgaria's Energy Strategy aims at the active presence of the nuclear energy in the country's energy balance but under the strict implementation of all security measures.

"The effects of its development will come only after there is safe exploitation and guaranteed security of the environment," the press release said.

The ministry also wrote that the claims of Jan Haverkamp, activist of the international environmental organization are groundless. Haverkamp, said that the investments that are allotted for the energy effectiveness are an alternative of the nuclear or the conventional powers in the country.

Earlier in the day it an expert from the international environmental organization announced that Greenpeace declares war on Bulgarian energetics. The environmentalists will demand a halt on future investment in nuclear projects, as well as a halt on the construction of the Belene power plant.

Come back this afternoon for more news from the NEI Clip File.

Technorati tags: Nuclear Energy, Environment, Energy, Politics, Technology, Economics