New Nukes
Fukushima boosts green case for nuclear. Many greens claim that the choice between nuclear and fossil fuels is false. But in this, environmental hysteria about nuclear power is matched by green delusions about renewable energy. Since at least the 1970s, greens have argued that wind and solar, when combined with energy efficiency, could meet our energy needs without resort to nuclear power or fossil fuels. Faith in what is called the soft energy path has taken on an almost religious quality among green activists. Yet, despite decades of subsidies, solar and wind still make up a tiny percentage of energy virtually everywhere in the world.
FT 10th February 2011 more >>
AS THE world searches for low-carbon energy solutions, nuclear power continues to rise to the top of the agenda in spite of fears sparked by the Fukushima disaster. The Committee on Climate Change (CCC), an independent body set up to advise the UK government on environmental issues, has recommended that the technology should play a greater role in the countrys plans for the next 30 years.
Chemical Engineer 9th May 2011 more >>
Letter Pete Roche: We should not be so quick to conclude that we must construct new nuclear reactors. There is a growing body of evidence that we can keep the lights on with renewable power if we cut the amount of energy we waste. The Government says electricity demand will double or triple by 2050, yet the Germans, with the same carbon reduction targets, are planning to reduce consumption by 25 per cent. The problem with the Governments nuclear plans is that they rely on our energy bills virtually doubling. Ofgem says that annual energy bills could hit £2,000 by 2017, up from £1,100 today, as the costs of low-carbon technologies are passed on. Its true that alternatives to nuclear would also have to be funded, but expecting people to pay for these increased costs when their homes havent been made energy efficient will cause hardship for millions of consumers. We need a national energy efficiency programme on the scale of the conversion to North Sea gas.
Telegraph 10th May 2011 more >>
While consumers can be better served by the utility companies, the UK’s broader energy policy remains in doubt. This was highlighted by details of a new report released by the Committee on Climate Change, which called for a bigger commitment to nuclear power in order to best meet our needs to deliver affordable, secure and clean energy. The committee, chaired by Lord Turner, is a statutory body which advises the Government and has taken a big leap in terms of policy. It envisages two more nuclear power plants. What took Lord Turner so long to come to this conclusion? But can we afford such investment without some subsidy? If there is government involvement, capital markets will run a mile. They need encouraging with a clear policy on regulated returns and pricing for nuclear but the time for this is running dangerously short.
Telegraph 10th May 2011 more >>
Hinkley
Despite successes elsewhere in the West the looming prospect of a new nuclear power station at Hinkley did not result in electoral success for the Green Party in West Somerset. It fielded a record 12 candidates in the district, more than twice as many as the Liberal Democrats and Labour combined, but despite pre-election confidence failed to win any seats on the council in the Conservative stronghold. It had been thought that the Fukushima disaster might have had an effect in the communities nearest to the proposed Hinkley C power station. The Green’s Gus Hoyt did though manage to take Bristol City Council’s Ashley ward with 43 per cent of the vote.
This is Somerset 9th May 2011 more >>
Opinion Polls
The vast majority of people in Britain do not want new nuclear power stations. In a Populus poll for the Financial Times (FT) conducted between April 21st and April 25th, in answer to the question “Would you be cross if a new generation of nuclear power stations in the UK was to go ahead?” 89% said yes and only 11% said no
Low Carbon Kid 9th May 2011 more >>
Sellafield
Sellafields euphoria at last years NDA announcement of a Japanese rescue package for the Sellafield MOX Plant (SMP) may be dashed by the ongoing nuclear fallout from Japan. This includes not only last weeks demand by the countrys Prime Minister Naoto Kan that Chubu Electrics Hamaoka be closed down (the only utility to place a firm contract with a revamped SMP when it re-opens ) but also Chubu Electrics decision in December last year to postpone Hamaokas MOX fuel programme until the stations seismic activity safety case had been fully overhauled. Last years rescue package, described by the NDA as a lifeline for the moribund SMP, is now at the mercy of the knock-on effects of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami disaster, the ongoing catastrophe at Fukushima, and the increasing official and public hostility in Japan to the use of mixed oxide fuel (MOX) on safety and security grounds. Under the rescue package, the production of MOX fuel for Hamaokas Unit 4 was to be a trial run for the resuscitated SMP if and when it re-opens in around two years time. The success or failure of the trial, would dictate whether or not other Japanese utilities could be enticed to place orders.
CORE Press Release 9th May 2011 more >>
Radwaste
Japan and the United States are eyeing a plan to jointly construct an underground nuclear waste storage complex in Mongolia. Under the deal being considered, the three countries would build a facility to stock and dispose of nuclear waste several hundred metres (hundred feet) deep. In return, Mongolia would receive technological support of the nuclear power industries from the two countries.
Yahoo 9th May 2011 more >>
Radhealth
An extended in-depth study has found no significant evidence of an increased risk of childhood leukaemia for children living close to the UK’s nuclear power plants. The report, published by the independent Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE), presents a new analysis of data on the incidence of leukaemia in children under five years of age living in the vicinity of 13 nuclear power plants in the UK, over the period 1969-2004. In addition, it considers additional factors not addressed in previous COMARE reports which the organisation says may account for differences in leukaemia risks in studies from other countries.
World Nuclear News 9th May 2011 more >>
Net Doctor 9th May 2011 more >>
The Engineer 9th May 2011 more >>
Nuclear Costs
The low cost of nuclear electricity today can be traced back to outage management efficiency, reduction of unplanned outages, improvement in fuel integrity, life extensions and power uprates. These improvements in productivity and efficiency occurred in a climate of privatisation and deregulation.
Nuclear Engineering International 9th May 2011 more >>
Companies
Nigel Mason, chief executive of Co-operative Energy said the group wants to be part of the “big seven” and believes it can provide a better service than currently on offer. The Co-op, which runs a variety of retail services including supermarkets, said it would avoid sharp practices like hard door-step selling and complicated bills by offering a simple, single tariff to customers that is easy to understand. There will be no fixed-price contracts locking in customers and no exit penalties for switching supplier.
Telegraph 10th May 2011 more >>
Britons should be braced for higher energy bills this winter after Centrica warned that wholesale gas and electricity prices have risen by a quarter compared with last year.
Guardian 10th May 2011 more >>
France
Safety reviews at Electricite de France SAs 58 atomic reactors in France will cover their vulnerability to earthquakes and floods and exclude terrorist attacks, the nations atomic regulator said. We dont think there could be a serious study, of risks caused by terrorism nor could it be done transparently, the head of the Autorite de Surete Nucleaire, Andre-Claude Lacoste, said at a briefing in Paris today. This will be discussed at the end of the week in Brussels. Its not a dogmatic position.
Bloomberg 9th May 2011 more >>
Europe
Europe on Wednesday will draw up stress-test parameters for a safety sweep of its nuclear power reactors, promised after Japan’s Fukushima No.1 disaster, but already the focus of bitter disputes. For experts stand accused of turning a blind eye to the risk of terror attacks or aircraft accidents — and of being in thrall to the powerful industry lobby governing their career prospects.
EU Business 9th May 2011 more >>
Just what emergencies realistically should British Energy plan to cope with at its Hinkley Point B nuclear plant? What do we want it to be able to resist? Without being paranoid, it is a pertinent point to debate amid the global wariness of Al-Queda-driven revenge attacks for last week’s killing of Osama bin Laden by the Americans. Indeed, within hours of the news breaking, police arrested five Londoners, believed to be of Bangladeshi origin, who had the temerity to be taking photographs near the Sellafield plant in Cumbria. All have since been released without charge. Panic over. But what types of disaster would anyone living along the West Country’s northern coastline, or indeed within an hour or two’s drive of the Somerset plant, want to be confident that it could survive without leaching deadly radiation into the air and the sea?
Plymouth Herald 9th May 2011 more >>
The European Union should establish a common framework for the safe management of radioactive waste and spent fuel, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has urged at its May plenary session. The public must be positively engaged in proposals to determine the long term future of these materials and urgent action must be taken to resolve issues which have been under discussion for fifty years.
Wired Gov 8th May 2011 more >>
Japan
A JAPANESE firm has agreed to shut three nuclear reactors at a coastal power plant while it builds a seawall and improves other tsunami defences. Chubu Electric Power acted at a special board meeting after prime minister Naoto Kan requested the temporary shutdown at the Hamaoka plant, amid concerns that an earthquake of magnitude 8.0 or higher could strike the central Japanese region some time in the next 30 years.
Scotsman 10th May 2011 more >>
IB Times 9th May 2011 more >>
New Scientist 9th May 2011 more >>
Guardian 9th May 2011 more >>
The surprise closure of another Japanese nuclear plant, this time at the power supplier to the heart of the auto industry, threatens to dampen consumer sentiment and will provide car makers with yet another reason to produce fewer cars in Japan.
IB Times 9th May 2011 more >>
Japan’s Chubu Electric said on Monday that the closure of its Hamaoka nuclear plant could push its earnings into the red due to extra costs of procuring gas and other alternative fuels to make up for the loss of its sole nuclear power source.
Reuters 9th May 2011 more >>
Radioactive byproducts indicate that nuclear chain reactions must have been burning at the damaged nuclear reactors long after the disaster unfolded.
Technology Review 9th May 2011 more >>
The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant found that the radiation level of the building housing the troubled No. 1 reactor stood at up to 700 millisieverts per hour, the government’s nuclear agency said Monday, citing the need for radiation shielding to proceed with work to bring an end to the nuclear crisis.
Mainichi 10th May 2011 more >>
China
While a crash safety review of all designs, both under construction and pending, is underway, there has been no slowdown in the Peoples Republics plans whatsoever. The Soviet era designs that led to the Chernobyl disaster were discontinued many years ago. The advanced small nuclear and thorium designs on drawing boards in the US are far beyond Chinese capabilities. China has far and away the worlds most ambitious nuclear program, with 100 plants on order over the next decade. The goal is to raise total generation from 10.8 gigawatts to 80 gigawatts by 2020. That will raise nuclears share of the countrys total power mix from 2% to 5%.
Oil Price 10th May 2011 more >>
Iran
Iran will reply “soon” to the European Union on resuming nuclear talks stalled since January, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Monday.
EU Business 9th May 2011 more >>
UAE
The United Arab Emirates is looking to short-circuit the years it takes to build a nuclear safety infrastructure. Of course, it is developing the required laws and regulations to make sure that corrupt buyers do not siphon off a little extra uranium for their own profit, for example. But it has bought a foreign reactor to be built and operated by foreign staff, and has set up contracts with foreign firms and foreign nationals to populate and prop up its nuclear developer, ENEC, and regulator, FANRat least to start with.
Nuclear Engineering International 9th May 2011 more >>
Space
Two of the robotic missions NASA selected for further study last week would be powered by experimental nuclear generators, a new technology under development to boost the efficiency of electricity production in deep space.
Space Flight Now 9th May 2011 more >>
Nuclear Weapons
Republican lawmakers threatened Monday to try to freeze funds for implementing the new START nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia if the Obama administration breaks a promise to modernize the U.S. nuclear weapons that remain.
Reuters 9th May 2011 more >>
Climate
The business secretary, Vince Cable, has clashed with his Lib Dem cabinet colleague Chris Huhne by telling him he will not support carbon reduction targets recommended by the government’s independent climate change advisory body. David Cameron will decide next week whether to accept the proposals by the Committee on Climate Change for a fourth carbon budget, covering the years 2023 to 2027, championed by Huhne, the energy secretary.
Guardian 10th May 2011 more >>
Renewables
Renewable energy could account for almost 80% of the world’s energy supply within four decades – but only if governments pursue the policies needed to promote green power, according to a landmark report published on Monday.
Guardian 10th May 2011 more >>
Energy Efficiency
Up to 14 million families will be able to apply for up to £10,000 each to pay for energy-efficiency improvements on their properties, ministers will announce today. The money which will be paid back in energy savings over 20 years is almost double the previous figure of £6,500 outlined when the scheme was launched. Under the proposal, which forms part of the Government’s Energy Bill, homeowners and landlords will be able to apply for the money to pay for new boilers, insulation and central-heating systems.
Independent 10th May 2011 more >>
