Nuclear Monitor #799

In this issue of the Monitor:

• We summarise progress with clean-up and decommissioning operations at Fukushima, and problems faced by workers at the plant.
• We consider South Africa's plans for new power reactors, in particular the controversy that has erupted since the release of the secret nuclear cooperation agreement with Russia.
• We summarise two recent reports. One, by the International Energy Agency and the OECD's Nuclear Energy Agency, argues for a rapid expansion of nuclear power, prompting an Oilprice.com columnist to note that a rapid expansion is "highly unlikely" because the industry is "failing miserably" to build new power plants on time and within budget, and because the industry is facing a "tidal wave" of reactor closures. Meanwhile, BP has released the 2015 edition of its annual Energy Outlook, projecting a modest nuclear growth rate of 1.8% per year.
• M. V. Ramana and Suvrat Raju write about the problems and double standards associated with the ongoing attempts of the US and Indian governments to circumvent India's nuclear liability law.
• We reprint an article summarising the mounting problems facing the Hinkley Point C nuclear project in the UK, and the UK government's bullying tactics to attempt to prevent Austria from challenging the EU decision to allow massive subsidies for the project.