New Nukes
The new Energy Minister Michael Fallon has told Channel 4 News that the push to build new nuclear reactors is on course.
Channel 4 News 10th May 2013 read more »
Energy Policy
The prime minister’s adviser on climate change is quitting, Utility Week can exclusively reveal. Ben Moxham, senior policy adviser on energy and the environment at Number 10, has become the latest in a line of key energy experts to leave government. Moxham is understood to have become frustrated that climate change has slid down the government’s agenda. Moxham’s exit is a blow to David Cameron and to his claims made shortly after the election in May 2010 – that the coalition would be “the greenest government ever”.
Utility Week 10th May 2013 read more »
The Government is facing an exodus of senior energy and climate change advisers amid growing concerns that decisive action to tackle global warming is falling victim to Treasury intransigence. It emerged that Ben Moxham, David Cameron’s respected adviser on energy and the environment, had quit No 10 after reportedly becoming frustrated at the slow pace of progress. His departure follows that of Ravi Gurumurthy, a key architect of the Energy Bill which is currently going through Parliament.
Independent 11th May 2013 read more »
Catherne Mitchell: It appears Britain has now entered into Alice in Wonderland. Britain has been trying to develop a nuclear power programme. Two new options have been put forward which combine plutonium management, further support for the Sellafield complex, and new investors for nuclear power – all of which might sound good to certain parts of Government, the catch being the cost. An All-But-Business-as-Usual (ABBAU) energy policy is a malign force for any country. By enabling the conventional energy system characteristics to continue, an ABBAU is putting off the time for when changes will have to occur; making it more expensive for individuals and society at that point; as well as strangling the innovation and economic growth that comes from an energy policy in step with the socio-economic-technical and political momentum of global energy development. However, the rapid technological changes which are occurring within the global energy system are becoming so great that the British Government insistence on being an ABBAU energy outlier is becoming increasingly difficult to explain away by any rationale, particularly economics. Britain’s civil and military adherence to nuclear power and weapons has tied us since the 1950’s to a type of energy policy where large, inflexible power plants are at the centre of our electricity system, and all other energy decisions revolve around them.
IGov 10th May 2013 read more »
Politics
Mrs Thatcher used the nuclear industry to undermine the miners in the dispute in the early 1980s. She planned it over four years earlier, something we know from the minutes of the Cabinet ministerial Committee on Economic Strategy (E(79) held on 23 October 1979, barely a few months into Mrs Thatcher’s first term in power, initially leaked, and now posted on the Thatcher Foundation web site. By running the Magnox reactors to their rattling limits, and exacerbated a radioactive waste management problem by creating wastes for which no proper storage had been prepared. The payback for today’s taxpayers is a bill of £70 billion – and rising – for the clean-up, a substantial proportion of which was due to Thatcher’s action in 1984.
David Lowry’s Blog 10th May 2013 read more »
Plutonium
One of the arguments Japanese and South Korean officials continue to offer in their promotion of using plutonium-based civilian reactor fuels is that the plutonium in question is reactor-grade and, therefore, unsuitable for making nuclear bombs. The nuclear industry has long used this argument as well to deflect suggestions that more nonproliferation controls should be placed on civilian nuclear power exports. Attached is a historical examination, “What Was the Pu-240 Content of the Plutonium Used in the U.S. 1962 Nuclear Test of Reactor-Grade Plutonium?” that suggests just the opposite (excerpt below). Written by NPEC’s Senior Researcher, Greg Jones, this analysis examines the Department of Energy’s claim that the test was specifically conducted to “obtain nuclear design information concerning the feasibility of using reactor-grade plutonium as the nuclear explosive material.”
NPEC 6th May 2013 read more »
Wylfa
ONR is holding a formal three-month consultation period in order to provide an opportunity for interested parties to comment on Wylfa’s application to start decommissioning. Consultees are invited to comment upon any aspect of the decommissioning project, particularly the environmental impact statement.
Nuclear Matters 8th May 2013 read more »
Proliferation
AQ Khan, the mastermind of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programme, has denied any involvement in similar programmes in North Korea and Iran, insisting that the two states have acquired any knowledge in the field from Western sources. Speaking to Al Jazeera, Mr Khan, who has been described as a “serious proliferation risk” by the United States after being accused of passing on his knowledge to countries – like North Korea.
Independent 10th May 2013 read more »
Japan
Fukushima update 7th to 9th May.
Greenpeace 10th May 2013 read more »
Germany
To many a casual observer, Germany’s reaction to the Fukushima disaster seemed knee-jerk to say the least. Nuclear power produces nearly 20% of Germany’s energy, but in July 2011 (only three months after Fukushima) the German government vowed to shut down its nuclear capability within 10 years. Not just that, but to replace it with renewable energy, cut greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions by 40% by 2020 and 80% by 2050, ensure renewables contribute 80% of Germany’s energy by 2050, and ensure energy consumption drops 20% by 2020 and 50% by 2050. It even has its own word: ‘Energiewende’, or ‘Energy Transformation’. And Angela Merkel, not known for hyperbole, has described it as a ‘Herculean task’. This also serves to highlight its potential heroism – doing with urgency what most of the rest of the world is only saying is urgent. This could well see other countries playing catch up once again to the economic powerhouse of Europe. But with only seven years left to decommission 17 nuclear power plants, cut GHG emissions by 40% and energy consumption by 20%, it has a lot to do. And fast.
Guardian 10th May 2013 read more »
The dismantling of Germany’s nuclear power plants will be one of the greatest tasks of the century as the country moves to phase out atomic energy. It will take at least until 2080 to complete the job. But what happens if energy utility companies who own the facilities go bust before the work is done?
Der Spiegel 10th May 2013 read more »
Malaysia
The Malaysian people must call for all political parties to declare that they will unequivocally abandon all plans to build a nuclear power plant, asserts Ronald McCoy. It is crucial to reduce dependency on fossil fuels for the generation of electricity. But nuclear energy is not a feasible alternative to fossil fuels. Renewable energy is.
Aliran 1st May 2013 read more »
China
Steam generators have been installed at new nuclear power reactors in Ningde and Fangjiashan in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces respectively.
World Nuclear News 10th May 2013 read more »
Russia
Mikhail Ulyanov, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s department for security and disarmament, is reported by state news agency Tass as saying that Russia will expend one trillion rubles (31 billion USD) through to 2015 in further developing the nuclear power industry. Russia, he said, has started designing reactors suitable for power and desalination plants, a market that is opening up in many developing countries.
Modern Power Systems 10th May 2013 read more »
Trident
People in Scotland are split over the future of nuclear weapons on the Clyde with almost as many supporters as opponents, a poll suggests. A third of respondents said Britain should give up nuclear weapons completely when Trident reaches the end of its useful life (34%), according to a poll commissioned by Conservative peer Lord Ashcroft. Just under a third say it should be replaced with a cheaper, less powerful missile (31%) and a fifth say it should be replaced by an equally powerful missile. Around half oppose the UK having nuclear weapons in principle (48%), around a third support it (37%) and around one in six 15% are unsure.
STV 10th May 2013 read more »
That the Scottish public is opposed to British retention of nuclear weapons, not least due to their location on the Clyde, has long been regarded as one of the safest assumptions of the independence debate. A recent poll by Scottish CND found that 60 per cent of Scots oppose “the UK Government buying a new nuclear weapons system to replace Trident”, with only 14 per cent in favour. Unilateral disarmament, it seems, remains one of Alex Salmond’s strongest cards. But a new survey by Lord Ashcroft, the Tory donor turned prolific pollster, suggests a more complex picture. It found that more than half of Scots believe Trident should be replaced, either with an equally powerful system (20 per cent) or a cheaper but less powerful system (31 per cent).
New Statesman 10th May 2013 read more »
Utilities
It has been a miserable winter for energy customers, and after a round of price rises in the autumn many of us are bracing ourselves for the next set of bills to hit the doormat. Even before they arrive it seems safe to say that most people now consider gas and electricity firms on a par with banks and smallpox. We recently asked you for questions to put to British Gas. Its head of residential energy, Ian Peters, responded to them. Here is our pick of the best.
Smart Meters
The UK’s ambitious roll out of smart meters to every household and business in the country has been delayed by one year, after ministers decided more time was needed to deliver the data and communications network that will underpin the technology.
Business Green 10th May 2013 read more »
Ovum has for some time been critical of the selection process for smart meters. Giving retailers such as British Gas and EDF responsibility for the smart meter rollout created some unique issues. In all other deployments worldwide, metering is the responsibility of network operators, not retailers. So each network operator is responsible for discrete geographic areas and able to select the right communications technology for its area. In practice, this is usually a hybrid of different communications. The DECC’s decision to delay the tendering process by at least a year to perform more tests is welcome, but it does beg the question: why did it take the DECC so long to recognize its previous folly?
Ovum 10th May 2013 read more »
Ministerial Statement.
DECC 10th May 2013 read more »
Plans for the nationwide installation of “smart” energy meters, which automatically send suppliers data on gas and electricity usage, have been delayed by more than a year.
Telegraph 10th May 2013 read more »
Britain’s Big Six energy companies have asked for more time to design and test the communications system that will electronically send precise meter readings of a household’s electricity and gas usage to their energy supplier.
Times 11th May 2013 read more »
Climate
For the first time in human history, the concentration of climate-warming carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has passed the milestone level of 400 parts per million (ppm). Professor Bob Watson, former IPCC chair and UK government chief scientific adviser, said: “Passing 400ppm of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is indeed a landmark and the rate of increase is faster than ever and shows no sign of abating due to a lack of political committment to address the urgent issue of climate change – the world is now most likely committed to an increase in surface temperature of 3C-5C compared to pre-industrial times.”
Guardian 10th May 2013 read more »
Energy Desk 7th May 2013 read more »
One of the government’s fiercest climate change sceptics has been appointed to advise the prime minister on key foreign policy issues, in a move that has angered green campaigners. Peter Lilley, a former minister under Margaret Thatcher and John Major, was one of only four MPs to vote against the Climate Change Act, and has been a frequent contributor to climate-sceptic forums, as well as being vice-chairman of oil company Tethys Petroleum. He will work on the new No 10 Downing Street foreign policy board, headed by Jo Johnson.
Guardian 10th May 2013 read more »
Shale Gas
The shale gas explorer backed by Lord Browne of Madingley, the former BP chief executive, is likely to be allowed to resume fracking near Blackpool next year. In an interview with The Times, Lord Smith, chairman of the Environment Agency, said that he was “minded to” approve eight permits covering fracking proposed by Cuadrilla Resources at three new sites in Lancashire at the end of the month. Support from the regulator, which will make its final decision after a public consultation, is a big boost for the company.
Times 11th May 2013 read more »
The UK’s two largest Fracking companies have admitted they plan to burn some of the gas they extract as part of the process of drilling for oil and gas, releasing carbon dioxide in the process. It’s a practice soon to be banned in the US, but the UK’s Environment agency currently has no rules to stop it and documents obtained by Energydesk under a Freedom of Information request suggest the industry would prefer to avoid similar rules being applied here.
Energy Desk 10th May 2013 read more »
Bob Ward – policy and communications director of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at London School of Economics and Political Science – This week’s issue of the Spectator provides a worrying insight into the possible future direction of Conservative party policy on energy and the climate. The front cover promotes an article by Peter Lilley, the MP for Hitchin and Harpenden, which hypes up the benefits of shale gas, based on poor analysis, woolly thinking and an apparently visceral hatred for environmentalists.
Guardian 10th May 2013 read more »
Could this be the weekend when the long phony war over fracking – potentially the biggest domestic environmental battle of the next decade – finally flares into life? Surprise drilling plans, and escalating protests, suggest that it might. Last night, in Lancashire – where fracking has stalled since causing minor earthquakes near Blackpool two years ago – campaigners from throughout Britain gathered for a bring-your-own-tent “Frack Camp”, two days of music, presentations, poetry and discussions on campaign strategy, fuelled by “freshly prepared vegan and vegetarian foods”. In West Sussex, meanwhile, better-heeled residents of the Conservative heartland village of Balcombe are getting together more conventionally today to plan “peaceful protests”, after a shock announcement that “unobtrusive” round-the-clock exploratory drilling for shale oil and gas will start next month.
Telegraph 10th May 2013 read more »
