Foreign News

Germany generated significantly less electricity from coal-fired power stations in the first half of 2019, with output down by more than a fifth compared to a year earlier. Generation from brown coal (lignite) was down by 14 terawatt hours (TWh, 21%) and hard coal was down by 8TWh (24%). With gas generation only increasing moderately (3TWh), the German power sector’s emissions fell by 20m tonnes of CO2 (MtCO2, 19%).

Carbon Brief 18th July 2019 read more »

Germany, a poster child for responsible energy, is renouncing nuclear and coal. The problem is, say many power producers and grid operators, it may struggle to keep the lights on. The country, the biggest electricity market in the EU, is abandoning nuclear power by 2022 due to safety concerns compounded by the Fukushima disaster and phasing out coal plants over the next 19 years to combat climate change.

Irish Examiner 19th July 2019 read more »

Reuters 18th July 2019 read more »

The appointment of “novice” Elisabeth Borne as France’s new energy minister is a “political accident” that does nothing to tackle the country’s climate emergency, said independent expert and nuclear critic Yves Marignac. The move – following the resignation of incumbent Francois de Rugy earlier this week amid an expenses scandal – was consistent with the government’s policy of “small steps”, he told Montel on Wednesday. “It’s a policy of misunderstanding, which does not… make the environment a priority.” “She is rather a novice in the nuclear field,” said Marignac, noting Borne – who would also continue in her role as transport minister – would oversee “two major issues that are the reform of the Arenh mechanism and the restructuring of EDF”.

Montel News 18th July 2019 read more »

At the Ministry of Transport, Élisabeth Borne has “reformed” the SNCF. The government today considers this to be one of its great successes. At the Ministry of Ecological Transition, she will have the mission to do the same with EDF and dismantle the public service as a puzzle.

Mediapart 17th July 2019 read more »

The Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) has asked EDF to send it an action plan by the end of August to reinforce the safety of the operation and maintenance of its Flamanville 1 and 2 reactors. , after noticing shortcomings in recent decennial visits, she said Thursday. Following difficulties encountered at the plant since mid-2018, ASN identified “deficiencies in the control of technical actions associated with certain operating activities,” she said in a statement. The leak test of the primary circuit, which allows the fuel contained in the reactor vessel to be cooled, posed a particular problem during the 10-year Flamanville 2 inspection (1.3 GW), the ASN said. The nuclear policeman, who summoned the director of the plant on July 4, also highlighted “a large number of significant events related to maintenance defects and lack of supervision of service providers. “

Montel News 18th July 2019 read more »

Reuters 18th July 2019 read more »

In January 2018, IRSN presented to the Standing Group of Experts on Nuclear Reactors, the conclusions of its expertise concerning the safety options for the 3rd generation EPR New Model reactor (EPR NM). IRSN considered that the design choices made by EDF are likely to guarantee a level of safety for the EPR NM at least equivalent to that of the Flamanville EPR (Manche). Since then, EDF has proposed changes to certain design choices that will be taken into account for the design of the reactor, now called EPR 2.

IRSN 18th July 2019 read more »

Nuclear industry has been pushing for less oversight, and it’s working. Fewer mock commando raids to test nuclear power plants’ defenses against terrorist attacks. Fewer, smaller government inspections for plant safety issues. Less notice to the public and to state governors when problems arise. They’re part of the money-saving rollbacks sought by the country’s nuclear industry under President Trump and already approved or pending approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, largely with little input from the general public.

LA Times 17th July 2019 read more »

A new report by staff members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees the safety of the nation’s 59 aging nuclear power plants, recommends that the commissioners significantly weaken or reduce safety inspections of the plants.

New York Times 17th July 2019 read more »

After months of experts raising alarm over the nuclear power industry pressuring U.S. regulators to roll back safety policies, staffers at the federal agency that monitors reactors sparked concerns Tuesday with official recommendations that include scaling back required inspections to save money. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has spent months reviewing its enforcement policies—and, as part of that process, sought input from industry groups, as Common Dreams detailed in March. In response, the industry representatives requested shifting to more “self-assessments,” limiting public disclosures for “lower-level” problems at plants, and easing the “burden of radiation-protection and emergency-preparedness inspections.”

Common Dreams 17th July 2019 read more »

The Trump administration has quietly dismantled or cut back multiple programs that were created after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to help detect and prevent terrorism involving weapons of mass destruction, a Times investigation has found. The retreat has taken place over the last two years at the Department of Homeland Security, which has primary domestic responsibility for helping authorities identify and block potential chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats.

LA Times 18th July 2019 read more »

As Ohio is close to rescuing FirstEnergy’s two nuclear reactors in the state from early retirement by providing financial subsidies, opponents of the nuclear and coal industries and proponents of green energy say that the move may very well be the “death blow” to renewables in the state.

Oil Price 18th July 2019 read more »

China has started building its first small modular reactor (SMR) project on the island province of Hainan, the state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) said on Thursday, as part of the country’s efforts to diversify its nuclear sector. The project was originally scheduled to go into construction in 2017. The company did not say when the project was likely to be completed. The country’s first demonstration SMR at the Changjiang nuclear facility in Hainan will be used to “verify the design, manufacture, construction and operation of the technology and accumulate valuable experience in small nuclear power plants,” CNNC said in a notice. China hopes the reactor – “Linglong One” – will eventually stand alongside its bigger third-generation “Hualong One” model as it bids to export its advanced nuclear technologies and build projects overseas.

WTVB 18th July 2019 read more »

The Scottish Government is facing calls for a “full review” into how Scotland has lost out on lucrative construction contracts for a massive wind farm project off the coast of Fife. Labour MSPs in the area are demanding answers from ministers over the “complete lack of preparedness” to win work from the Neart na Gaoithe (NnG) wind farm just ten miles off the Fife coast. An angry public backlash broke out when it emerged the main contractor of French state-owned company EDF will award Indonesia the manufacturing work for the scheme. Claire Baker and Alex Rowley have asked why no assurances were sought from the developer behind the project during a two-year period when the Scottish Government was involved in court cases with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Unions have complained the nearby Methil yard owned by Scottish Enterprise and also the BiFab Burntisland yard, which is part of Forth Ports, missed out on the work despite lying empty. They also want “full information” on public investment over the past decade in both yards.

Scotsman 19th July 2019 read more »

Herald 19th July 2019 read more »

The Queen’s property manager has bowed to criticism over its plans for the biggest offshore wind auction in a decade by agreeing to fairer terms for renewable energy companies. The Crown Estate, which holds the rights to seabeds around the British Isles, told windfarm developers on Thursday that it has “refined” its controversial plans for the upcoming tender to make it more affordable to develop renewable energy. The crown stands to earn record sums from the offshore wind industry by auctioning off the seabed to major energy companies, but the plans were delayed by concerns that they amount to a “cash grab” for the royal coffers. The crown’s change of tack comes after the Guardian revealed that the auction could raise hundreds of millions for the Queen while raising household energy bills. The Queen’s estate broke with previous tender rounds by calling for companies to compete for a licence by submitting a sealed envelope bid, which it planned to use as the basis for a new, decade-long rent agreement too. The energy companies warned that this would raise their costs, which would ultimately be passed on to households through higher wind power subsidies.

Guardian 19th July 2019 read more »

U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Yukiya Amano plans to step down early, in March of next year, because of an unspecified illness that has visibly weakened him over the past year, diplomats who follow his agency’s work said on Wednesday.

Reuters 17th July 2019 read more »

Renewables have once again generated more power than fossil fuels in the first and second quarter of this year, energy analysts EnAppSys reported yesterday. The firms latest report reveals that renewables generated 245.8TWh of electricity across Europe between April and June 2019, compared to 202.7TWh of fossil fuel electricity.

Business Green 18th July 2019 read more »