Tiga berita menarik

Keputusan untuk membangun PLTN perlu diambil sekitar 10
tahun sebelum ia diperlukan kehadirannya di dalam sistem
jaringan listrik. Jadi untuk sistem listrik Jawa-Madura-Bali PLTN
paling cepat dapat beroperasi pada tahun 2018, apabila
keputusan diambil saat ini (Januari 2009).

Tiga berita berikut mengenai:

1. Bulgaria dan Slovakia yang tengah mempertimbangkan
untuk mengoperasikan kembali PLTN buatan Uni Sovyet
yang sebelumnya dihentikan sebagai prasyarat untuk
bergabung ke dalam Uni Eropa.

2. Pada tahun 2008 sebanyak 10 proyek pembangunan PLTN
dimulai konstruksinya (tiga dihentikan).

3. Di Sendai, Jepang, perusahaan listrik Kyushu telah
DIMINTA oleh penduduk sekeliling kedua PLTN Sendai
untuk membangun PLTN ketiga di lokasi yang sama.

1. Gas dispute elicits calls to restart old reactors

Russia's ongoing dispute with Ukraine about gas supplies and prices has revived
calls from Bulgaria and Slovakia for restarting early-model Soviet-design reactors
which were shut down as a condition of joining the EU. Bulgaria proposes
immediately to prepare Kozluduy-3 for restart, and Slovakia is in a position to
restart Bohunice V1 unit 2 anytime, since it was only withdrawn from service ten
days ago. Article 36 of Bulgaria's EU accession agreement says that in a national
crisis the country has the right to resume power generation at Kozloduy 3 and 4,
and Bulgaria's President has said that the current situation verges on being a
national crisis. The Slovak prime minister said that "If Slovakia should be held
hostage to the Russian-Ukrainian dispute, ... I can imagine ... re-launching the
operation of Jaslovske Bohunice nuclear power plant V1."

2. 2008 as a year of nuclear construction starts

During 2008 no new reactors were connected to grids, and three old ones were
taken out of service: Hamaoka 1 & 2 in Japan, and Bohunice 3 in Slovakia - the
latter as a condition of EU entry. But more positively there were ten construction
starts: China: Hongyanhe 1, Fuqing 1, Ningde 1 & 2, Yangjiang 1, Fangjiashan 1;
South Korea: Shin Wolsong 2 & Shin Kori 1; and Russia: Leningrad II-1,
Novovoronezh II-1, boosting the construction total to 43 (37.6 GWe), up from 33
(26.6 GWe) a year earlier. There were about a dozen power uprates in five
countries. Two small Indian reactors had been due to start up in 2008 but were
delayed by fuel shortages. In addition, work to complete the long-stalled
Mochovce 3 and 4 units in Slovakia was officially launched.

3. New Japanese reactor planned

Kyushu Electric Power has announced its plan to build a third nuclear reactor at
its Sendai plant in SW Japan, to be on line in 2019. This will be a 1590 MWe
Mitsubishi APWR, and construction is expected to begin in 2013. Cost is put at
Y540 billion ($5.8 billion). The company was petitioned several years ago by the
local community to build a further reactor here