Agreement reached on Europe’s banks

Agreement reached on Europe’s banks

berlin

The leaders of Germany and France, the eurozone’s two biggest economies, said Sunday they have reached an agreement about how to strengthen Europe’s shaky banking sector amid the region’s debt crisis.

“We are determined to do the necessary to ensure the recapitalization of Europe’s banks,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said after talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Berlin.

A “comprehensive response” to the eurozone’s debt crisis will be finalized by month’s end, including a detailed plan on recapitalizing the banks, Sarkozy said at Berlin’s chancellery.

“The economy needs secure financing to ensure growth,” he said.

Both leaders declined to name a price tag for the new measures or elaborate further, saying the proposal must first be discussed with other European leaders.

4 generator failures hit US nuclear plants

atlanta

Four generators that power emergency systems at nuclear plants have failed when needed since April, an unusual cluster that has attracted the attention of federal inspectors and could prompt the industry to re-examine its maintenance plans.

None of these failures has threatened the public. But the diesel generators serve the crucial function of supplying electricity to cooling systems that prevent a nuclear plant’s hot, radioactive fuel from overheating, melting and potentially releasing radiation into the environment. That worst-case scenario happened this year when the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Japan lost all backup power for its cooling systems after an earthquake and tsunami.

Three diesel generators failed after tornadoes ripped across Alabama and knocked out electric lines serving the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Browns Ferry nuclear plant in April. Two failed because of mechanical problems and one was unavailable because of planned maintenance.

At a minimum, the failures have prompted NRC inspectors to increase their scrutiny at plants where the problems happened.

Associated Press