New Nukes
Ministers misled parliament over the need to build a new fleet of nuclear power stations, distorting evidence and presenting to MPs a false summary of the analysis they had commissioned, a group of MPs and experts alleged in a report published on Tuesday.
Guardian 31st Jan 2012 more >>
Corruption of Governance – Full Report.
ACE 31st Jan 2012 more >>
Plutonium
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energys Prism fast reactor would be a game–‐changer for the UK, said Eric Loewen, the GE Hitachi chief engineer in charge of the project. Deployed at Sellafield, Prism could burn through the UKs huge stockpile of plutonium in about five years, Loewen said in a January 24 interview. The policy drivers are to get rid of the plutonium as quickly as possible, Loewen said. In that case we would run the (Prism) reactor for 45 days to burn the plutonium in the fuel. After 45 days the fuel would meet IAEA standards for spent fuel, with a maximum radiation dose rate of 100 rem/hour at 1 meters distance from the fuel. After the initial 45–‐day burn, the fuel would be offloaded from the reactors and put in storage for two to three years. Then, after all the plutonium burning had finished, the fuel could be put back into the reactors to burn the rest of the fuel for a normal commercial operating cycle, Loewen said.
i-Nuclear.com 1st Feb 2012 more >>
Dalgety Bay
Officials from the MoD will visit Dalgety Bay in Fife later to explain what they plan to do about radioactive particles found on the beach there. The radiation is thought to be linked to the remains of World War II aircraft buried in the area. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has given the MoD until the end of February to devise a plan to make the beach safe. If no plan emerges Sepa will declare the land contaminated. Over the past few months more than 200 radioactive particles have been found and part of the shore was cordoned off in October for further investigation.
BBC 31st Jan 2012 more >>
DEFENCE chiefs have pledged to monitor a Scottish beach, which has been plagued by radiation, for the next three years and remove dangerous particles that wash up on the shore. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) hopes to reach an agreement with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) within weeks about the long-term future of Dalgety Bay. Sepa warned the MoD in November, after the most dangerous particle yet washed up on the Fife coastline, that it needed to come up with a credible, long term plan with three months. Gordon Brown said the MoD response did not go far enough. He said: While I welcome regular monitoring, the issues of concern go beyond monitoring and include the funding of a clean-up plan. First, the MoD must accept liability for the remedial action that is required to make this site safe and secure in the long term. Second, the MoD must work with Sepa to come up with a remediation plan setting out clear timescales for the work to be carried out. I am concerned that the language being used today by the minister suggests that the MoD involvement is purely on a voluntary basis. I want to make clear that the MoD has a responsibility for this situation and has a duty to take whatever steps are necessary to make the area safe.
Scotsman 1st Feb 2012 more >>
Sizewell
A crucial independent inquiry into the comparative costs of overground and underground high power cables, commissioned by the Department for Climate Change (DECC) in 2010, is due to be published this morning. It is hoped the report will mirror research that led to similar plans for pylons in Lincolnshire being scrapped last week. The National Grid has previously ruled out an underground route for the 400,000 volt power lines, alongside its existing cables from Bramford, near Ipswich, to Twinstead near Sudbury. It has said burying cable, which would carry power from Sizewell C and offshore wind farms, through some of the countys most beautiful countryside, would cost up to 17 times that of pylons.
East Anglian Daily Times 31st Jan 2012 more >>
Hinkley
The energy company behind a controversial new nuclear power station has promised to spend £30m mitigating the initial building work. EDF Energy’s plans for Hinkley Point C in Somerset were, earlier this month, the subject of a 13,000 signature petition stating: “We do not want Hinkley C”. In a drive aimed at winning over local people the French state-owned power giant is promising to invest in housing, leisure facilities, transport and local ecology schemes.
Edie 31st Jan 2012 more >>
Planning 31st Jan 2012 more >>
Output from Britain’s EDF-operated 480-megawatt (MW) nuclear reactor at Hinkley Point B-7 was at zero on Wednesday, data from transmission operator National Grid showed.
Reuters 1st Feb 2012 more >>
Heysham
A campaign group battling plans to build pylons across Lancashire claims putting them underground would be cheaper than previously thought. The Campaign to Protect Rural England was today awaiting the release of a report by the Institution of Engineering and Technology, which it expected to show the price of burying pylons was less than previously claimed. National Grid is considering different options for connecting nuclear power stations at Heysham and Sellafield, as well as off-shore wind farms, to the National Grid. Six official routes are being looked at with several options, which would see pylons erected through the county, including the outlying edges of the Forest of Bowland, the countys only designated area of outstanding natural beauty.
Lancashire Evening Post 31st Jan 2012 more >>
Economics
There is a popular view that economic growth can be saved by efficiency measures, recycling and technological substitution, such as nuclear and renewable energy replacing fossil fuels. Yet the model allowed even for these variables, and crashed under the pressure of growth just the same. The Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at Manchester University found that to prevent dangerous global warming, economic growth in rich countries would not be possible. With colleagues at the New Economics Foundation, I came to a similar conclusion. The work of Tim Jackson on “prosperity without growth” with the former government advisory body the Sustainable Development Commission. Yet Jackson’s work too, as the name suggests, foresees a future without growth.
Guardian 1st Feb 2012 more >>
Scotland
THE South Korean industrial giant Samsung Heavy Industries is to establish its first European offshore wind base in Scotland, developing the worlds largest ever offshore wind turbines. The companys decision to develop the pioneering technology at the Fife Energy Park at Methil is expected to eventually be worth £100 million in inward investment and lead to the creation of 500 jobs in the area. The massive potential investment was announced by First Minister Alex Salmond yesterday on the opening day of the Scottish Offshore Wind Conference in Aberdeen, the largest ever held by the booming sector.
Scotsman 1st Feb 2012 more >>
Herald 1st Feb 2012 more >>
BBC 1st Feb 2012 more >>
Business Green 1st Feb 2012 more >>
Edie 1st Feb 2012 more >>
Companies
Babcock International, the support services and defence group, said on Tuesday that it had enjoyed a strong three months and expected its results for the year ending March 31 to be in line with expectations. The UK-based group, which helps maintain Britains submarine and surface fleet as well as servicing nuclear power stations, reported that its order book remained stable, at close to £12bn, while its bid pipeline stood at about £10bn.
FT 31st Jan 2012 more >>
US
Nuclear reactors in the central and eastern U.S. face previously unrecognized threats from big earthquakes, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday. Experts said upgrading the plants to withstand more substantial earth movements would be costly and could force some to close.
Wall Street Journal 1st Feb 2012 more >>
Reuters 31st Jan 2012 more >>
A nuclear power plant in Illinois, US, operated by power firm Exelon Generation is being monitored after offsite power was lost and smoke was seen coming from an onsite transformer.
New Civil Engineer 31st Jan 2012 more >>
Daily Mail 31st Jan 2012 more >>
France
Frances failure to make a definite decision about its energy future has left it with little choice but to extend the life of its existing nuclear power plants, an independent government agency said Tuesday.
New York Times 31st Jan 2012 more >>
By the end of 2022, 22 out the 58 reactors in France, the world’s most nuclear-reliant country, will have been in operation for 40 years. EDF’s investments costs to upgrade the reactors could reach 3.7 billion euros per year, including work imposed by ASN earlier this month to prevent a nuclear disaster such as Japan’s Fukushima accident, the report added.
Reuters 31st Jan 2012 more >>
Dismantling France’s nuclear reactors and storing their radioactive waste will eventually cost around 79 billion euros ($103.5 billion), the national audit office said on Tuesday. It put the cost of dismantling France’s 58 electricity-generating reactors, run by the state firm EDF, at 18 billion euros. Storing their highly radioactive waste at a long-term site deep underground would cost an additional 28.4 billion euros. Annual maintenance costs will more than double, from 1.5 billion euros on average in 2008-10, to 3.7 billion euros by 2025, partly as a cost of incorporating post-Fukushima safety measures, it said.
EU Business 31st Jan 2012 more >>
Iran
Iran says it has ended three days of “positive and constructive” talks with UN nuclear inspectors. The semi-official Fars news agency said the two sides had agreed to continue talks, but the report did not specify when the next meeting would happen. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has so far not commented.
BBC 31st Jan 2012 more >>
Reuters 31st Jan 2012 more >>
WASHINGTON – Iran could develop a nuclear bomb in about a year and create the means for delivery in a further two to three years, the US defense chief said Sunday, reiterating President Barack Obama’s determination to halt the effort.
Middle East Online 31st Jan 2012 more >>
Iran is more willing to launch terrorist attacks inside the US in response to perceived threats to the regime in Tehran, Americas top intelligence official told Congress on Tuesday.
FT 31st Jan 2012 more >>
Japan
A team of international nuclear safety experts has reviewed Japan’s procedure to confirm the safety of its nuclear plants as dire economic conditions grip the country’s power industry. A mission to Japan lasting from 23 to 31 January saw a team of ten experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its member states spend time with Japan’s nuclear safety regulator, NISA, which is conducting a two-stage assessment process to ensure nuclear plants have adequate protection against extreme external events.
World Nuclear News 31st Jan 2012 more >>
UN experts endorsed tests designed to show Japanese nuclear plants could withstand a repeat of last year’s earthquake and tsunami on Tuesday, with the government keen for public acceptance to restart reactors and avoid a summer power crunch.
Engineering & Technology 31st Jan 2012 more >>
Reuters 31st Jan 2012 more >>
Debate on utility reform will formally kick off at an expert panel on Thursday, one key strand of a potentially sweeping remake of Japan’s energy policy intended to reduce the role of nuclear power, promote renewables, spur energy conservation and address the problem of greenhouse gas emissions. Reformers are betting that tattered public trust in Japan’s utilities will give impetus to changes they argue are needed to give users more choice, bring down electricity costs that disadvantage Japanese firms globally, and promote clean, renewable sources of energy such as solar power.
Reuters 1st Feb 2012 more >>
Nuclear Weapons
Angie Zelter, founder-member of the anti-nuclear weapon campaign group Trident Ploughshares, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Irish peace activist Mairead Maguire, who won the award in 1976. Nominating Ms Zelter, Maguire said: “Angie Zelter has dedicated her life to building peace and working for world nuclear disarmament. Her life is committed to working to prevent nuclear mass murder, and by her own personal example and through her organisational skills, she has inspired and empowered many people to mobilise to prevent their governments from nuclear genocide, and begin seriously the work of abolishing all nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction.”
Ekklesia 31st Jan 2012 more >>
Renewables
Community-owned green energy projects present the best chance of converting the UK to a low-carbon economy and should receive more government support, civil society groups representing 12 million people said on Wednesday. Giving local people a stake in energy generation often overcomes planning objections to structures such as wind and solar farms, and dozens of communities across the UK have seized the opportunity to create their own power. But the move has not been fast enough, according to the coalition of community groups, which adds that many places are missing out on the chance to produce their own low-carbon and low-cost energy, supported by government subsidies. The civil society groups include some of the leading non-governmental organisations in the UK, including the Co-operative, the National Trust, the Church of England and the National Federation of Women’s Institutes. Their call came as the Co-operative launched its “community energy challenge”, a competition under which six communities will be supported to set up their own energy generation, with some of the £1m the Co-operative plans to spend this year on community energy projects. Paul Monaghan, head of social goals at the Co-operative, said: “We want nothing less than a clean energy revolution, with communities controlling and benefiting from their own renewable energy. Talk of a new dash for [shale] gas, which could see up to 3,000 wells installed across the UK, highlights the choices we face more and dirtier sources of fossil fuels or clean energy owned and controlled by communities.”
Guardian 1st Feb 2012 more >>
