NEI Nuclear Notes

He is the first foreign leader to visit Japan since the earthquake there and he visits with an idea: French President Nicolas Sarkozy is calling for new international nuclear safety standards, warning radiation leaks at Japan's Fukushima Power Plant could affect the entire world. Sarkozy is calling for nuclear officials from the G20 group of industrialized countries to discuss the issue during a May meeting. Nothing disputable here, as long as it’s recognized that a one-size-fits–all set of safety standards could overburden one country with rules that fit another country better. Landlocked countries don’t risk tsunamis, after all. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan was as polite as the situation warranted: By studying that [the causes of the Fukushima accident], he said Japan will have to consider what measures can be taken to prevent a recurrence, and this should be agreed upon internationally. Fair enough. Kan has a lot on his hands, including a large displaced...

Around the world: France has made a deal with Kuwait: An agreement "to develop the peaceful use of nuclear energy" was signed in Paris by Kuwait's Prime Minister, Sheikh Nasser Mohammed al-Ahmad al-Sabah, and French government officials. "This agreement will permit the development of cooperation between France and Kuwait in several areas of nuclear energy" including electricity generation, a French government statement said. Of course, water desalination is a big issue in desert countries and requires impressive electricity resources. Beyond that, Kuwait already suffers brown-outs and black-outs once the air conditioners start running full force. Kuwait has a population of 3.4 million people – the article doesn’t say, but it seems they could become an electricity exporter to Saudi Arabia and its old enemy, Iraq. --- So if that’s what the French are up to, how about the Russians? Moscow aims to spend billions of dollars to help Argenti...

We tip our hats to the savvy marketing peeps at Greenpeace for generating lots of internet buzz this morning about their spoofed edition of the International Herald Tribune . From the AFP , Greenpeace supporters handed out mock copies of the International Herald Tribune in several countries Thursday to press world leaders to agree on ambitious efforts to tackle climate change. The eight-page mock-up included everything from an environmentally friendly Garfield comic strip to a horoscope (Sagittarius: 'There is a limit to what you can do with the resources available to you'). This below-the-fold (beyond the pale?) article caught our eye, " Sarkozy: Nuclear is dead. " While it might be fun to reciprocate in kind, and create a spoofed news article with a headline that read, "Greenpeace Embraces Nuclear Energy," we remember that the founder of Greenpeace, Patrick Moore , and the former head of Greenpeace UK, Stephen Tindale , already have.

From Deutsche Welle , more on German Chancellor Angela Merkel's call to restore Germany's nuclear energy program: Although Merkel has long championed a three-way mix in electrical power generation—fossil, renewables and nuclear—she has in the past been cautious in openly advocating a reverse in official government policy to phase out nuclear power by 2021. That all changed at a top-level weekend meeting of her Christian Democrats (CDU) and its Bavarian sister-party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), in the Bavarian town of Erding. The anti-nuclear decision, passed into law by the government of her Social Democrat predecessor Gerhard Schroeder, was "absolutely wrong," Merkel said as the meeting ended Monday. At a joint press conference, French President Nicolas Sarkozy expressed his country's interest in partnering with Germany: "The desire of the French is to work with our German friends to produce nuclear energy". President Bush begins his final, ei...

Details from Energy Daily . For more, see We Support Lee .

The blog of the German Marshall Fund is reporting that representatives of newly elected French President Nicolas Sarkozy have approached AREVA CEO Anne Lauvergeon about a cabinet post . For a post from last week concerning Sarkozy's position on nuclear energy, click here .