Europe divided over expansion of nuclear facilities
LONDON—A train carrying treated radioactive waste from France to Germany has become a symbol of Europe’s divided approach to nuclear power.
Thousands of German protestors repeatedly blocked its route and clashed with police before the train delivered 170 tonnes of radioactive cargo to a storage site southeast of Hamburg 10 days ago.
The waste, produced by Germany’s nuclear power reactors, had been sent to France to be diluted and encased in glass before being shipped back for temporary storage in a disused salt mine.
The reprocessing shipments — there have been nine since 1996 — link two countries with sharply opposing views about the future of nuclear power.
More: thestar.com
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Government backs Europe-beating supercomputer
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Existing
Europe warms to nuclear power
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Tehran fails to dispel IAEA ‘concern’
Iran has failed to dispel suspicions that it is secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons grade material, and its atomic programme remains “a matter of concern”, according to a long-awaited report.
The report, compiled by Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, was circulated to ambassadors on Monday and will be forwarded to the UN Security Council next month.
Western diplomats said it strengthened their case for united international condemnation of Iran, although the Security Council is unlikely to debate sanctions on Tehran in the near future.
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