EMR
Private investment in new nuclear power stations is at risk because energy companies are concerned about a lack of clarity on Government policy, such as the price consumers will pay. This uncertainty around nuclear power stations, another priority project, highlights the problems facing the infrastructure plan. The Government is not doing enough to facilitate investment in infrastructure and provide confidence that investors will get a return on sites that are currently desolate.
Telegraph 13th July 2012 more >>
Barry Gardiner MP (Lab): Sometime in 2018 or shortly thereafter, the UK will experience a crisis. Electricity supply will not be enough to meet demand. When this happens, people will look back to 2012 and the disastrous policy decisions taken by the UK. The first is the publication of the draft bill on electricity market reform. The second is the imminent decision to cut potentially as much as 25% from onshore windfarm subsidies. The government wants to tell people that their electricity will become cheaper. It will not. The government wants people to believe that new nuclear can be built without government subsidy. It cannot. The government wants to persuade people that it is neutral as between technologies. It is not.
Guardian 12th July 2012 more >>
Hinkley
MPs on the science and technology select committee have endorsed community benefits to give those living near nuclear power stations a greater sense of control. The committee, after seeing evidence by Sedgemoor District Council, also said it encouraged residents, energy companies and councils to work together. EDF Energy has offered a £20 million community fund and £5 million housing fund with its plans for Hinkley C. Bob Brown, Sedegmoors corporate director, said: Sedgemoor has championed community benefit contributions as an important mechanism to ensure the communities around Hinkley Point receive fair and reasonable benefits in recognition of the burden of hosting nationally beneficial energy infrastructure. Current support within the planning process is insufficient.
Western Daily Press 12th July 2012 more >>
Plutonium
The Candu Energy proposal to the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority for plutonium disposition envisions the use of four 700-MWe, generation III, Enhanced Candu 6 (EC6) reactors running on up to 100% mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel cores, a company spokeswoman said. In less than 30 years, the four EC6 reactors could burn through the UKs 112 tonnes of plutonium and then be available for another 30 years to run on more conventional fuels, reprocessed uranium stocks or more advanced fuels. Candu Energy spokeswoman Katherine Ward said July 12 that the exact configuration of reactors and fuel mix would be considered in more detail as part of the study the NDA has contracted Candu Energy to perform.
i-Nuclear 13th July 2012 more >>
Written Ministerial Statement Today on Management of Overseas Owned Plutonium in UK.
Parliament 13th July 2012 more >>
Sellafield
SELLAFIELD has paid out £11 million in the last year to the 17 directors who run the site thats almost £2 million more than in the previous 12 months. Top earner was managing director Todd Wright whose remuneration topped £1 million. For the third year in a row Sellafield Ltd chalked up a rise in profits £42 million profit in 2011/12, up £1 million on the previous year. And the company lists a number of operational highlights with milestones reached in decommissioning and notable safety records.
Whitehaven News 12th July 2012 more >>
CHANCES of the worlds first Prism fast reactor being built close to Sellafield and bringing thousands of new jobs to Copeland may be moving closer. As first revealed in The Whitehaven News seven months ago,GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy are pushing firmly ahead with plans to bring a Prism plutonium-burning electricity-producing reactor to the area. This week the American-based global energy giants submitted a feasibility study aimed at convincing the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority that building the first fast reactor of its type in the UK to re-use plutonium is credible. And GE Hitachi insist that the reactor would be centrally located in Sellafield virtually eliminating transport of waste on British roads.
Whitehaven News 12th July 2012 more >>
Radwaste
Letter Stuart Haszeldine: I write in reply to a letter from Coun Tim Knowles in which he discusses the results of public polling by MRWS [the Managing Radioactive Waste Safely partnership] to promote continuing with investigations for radioactive waste storage. There are three expressions of public opinion available. The democratic votes by numerous parish councils across West Cumbria 75 per cent of those voting have decided that there is a lack of trust and clarity with MRWS, and wish to pull out. This gives an overall majority to stop investigations, unless absolutely all of those abstaining decide suddenly vote for continuation, which would be truly remarkable if that happened now. These votes are ignored by MRWS why? The MRWS consultation, which closed in March. However the results of the consultation are quite clearly suspicious. Questions 1 to 7 all show a rejection by a 60/40 majority, whereas Question 8 Do you want to continue? has many more votes submitted and reverses the previous replies to say Yes. We have examined the replies in detail, and are shocked to discover that the extra votes for Question 8 arrived as block responses without replying to any other questions, some packaged in unmarked brown envelopes. I asked advice from university colleagues who are UK experts in public opinion research. They say that the block votes have to be discounted. The three telephone polls, each undertaken with samples of 1,000 respondents The results of the polling are again claimed by councillors as providing support for continuation. However, in spite of asking, we have insufficient basic information on how the survey was designed, and no detailed records of the results. That secrecy is worrying, because we know from the consultation how misleading the MRWS advertising can be. It is very striking indeed that fully 80 per cent of those replying stated that they have never heard of it, have no knowledge or very little knowledge of radioactive waste disposal. That means that only two out of 10 respondents (including nuclear workers) judge themselves to have any knowledge or expertise in the subject being questioned.
Whitehaven News 12th July 2012 more >>
Letter Colin Wales: Your recent front page article containing Coun Tim Knowless comment accusing Dr Ruth Baloghs group of being mischievous by asking MRWS to confirm whether or not the NDA would look for a nuclear dump site within the other potential Cumbrian sites of either the Eskdale Granite Group or the Mercia Mudstone Group. How is this mischievous, particularly as the partnerships own geology consultant, Dr Dearlove, in responding to the consultation submissions made by Profs Smythe and Haszeldine, was also to highlight the two areas as having potential? Dr Dearlove makes no mention of the Borrowdale Volcanic Group (Longlands Farm) as having potential for obvious geological reasons and the £440million tax payer funded failed Nirex investigation.
Whitehaven News 12th July 2012 more >>
Letter Ruth Balogh: It is the MRWS who are mischievous, not local environmentalists (MRWS rebuts nuclear valleys claim). The MRWS held a meeting on March 29 attended by the Nirex inspector Chris MacDonald and his technical assessor Colin Knipe (doc no 267, MRWS website). At this meeting Longlands Farm was discussed in detail, and reference made to the Mercia Mudstones Group (MMG), along with the Eskdale/Ennerdale granites, all as potential sites for the GDF. The argument for proceeding to Stage 4 either has to be on the basis that the overall geology and geography is suitable which according to international criteria it isnt or that there are some specific sites that might be promising. The evidence from MRWS documents is that specific sites are being discussed right now.
Whitehaven News 12th July 2012 more >>
Letter Elaine Woodburn: I respect Professor Haszeldines right to have a view and campaign on the issue of nuclear waste disposal. However, it would be unfortunate if anyone thought that because he is a professor and mentions the university where he works that he is writing as an expert in polling and public consultation. His letter has a number of inaccuracies. He also exaggerates and uses emotive language in lieu of evidence, in a way I suspect he would strongly criticise others for doing. The Partnership will consider a draft of its final report at our meeting on 19th July. Once the Partnership has finished its report it will be for the councils to weigh up the evidence on all sides of the debate and decide whether to participate in the search to see if there is anywhere in Allerdale or Copeland that is suitable for a nuclear waste repository.
Whitehaven News 12th July 2012 more >>
Thorium
A new Briefing, authored by Oliver Tickell, explodes the idea that nuclear reactors using thorium as fuel might provide a viable alternative to reactors using uranium. This has become something of a rallying cry for those who recognise that conventional nuclear technologies are in terminal decline including a baffling number of environmentalists who have come to believe that thorium could provide some kind silver bullet solution to the nuclear industrys woes. They are deluded. This Briefing (Thorium: Not green, not viable, and not likely) is now available at the address below.
Nuclear Pledge 12th July 2012 more >>
Companies
Centrica, the owner of British Gas, is to buy two New York-based power providers from Iberdrola USA for $110m (£71m).
Telegraph 12th July 2012 more >>
Independent 13th July 2012 more >>
France
The amount of nuclear waste in France is set to double over the 18 years, according to the countrys nuclear waste agency. Most of the waste will have low toxicity and a short life but some will remain radioactive for more than two million years. There are 1.3 million cubic metres of nuclear waste in France at the moment, according to the Andra agency which is charged with stocking and disposing of them. The figure is likely to reach 2.7 million by 2030, a report produced Wednesday said. The current total is two kilogrammes per inhabitant.
RFI 12th July 2012 more >>
Lithuania
A top European watchdog on Thursday warned Lithuania that Brussels may freeze funds aimed at helping it decommission a Soviet-era nuclear reactor unless the Baltic state improved its management. Michael Theurer, head of the European Parliament’s committee on budgetary control, said the European Commission had set Vilnius a July 17 deadline for a shake-up. If not, he warned, the European Union’s executive could “put into place the question of freezing of European funds if the management structure is not improved”.
EU Business 12th July 2012 more >>
Argentina
Argentina is considering the 1100 MW AREVA/MHI ATMEA1 pressurized water reactor (PWR) for the countrys fourth nuclear power plant. The national utility Nucleoeléctrica Argentina (NA-SA) has pre-qualified the ATMEA1 technology for the next request for proposals that will be issued for the construction of its fourth NPP, the reactor vendor announced.
Nuclear Engineering International 12th July 2012 more >>
Russia
Rosenergoatom has completed a RUB2.6 billion ($80 million) programme of measures to reduce consequences of hypothetical beyond design basis accidents at its nuclear power plants. Work has included installing mobile diesel generators and pumps. In total, 66 mobile diesel generators, 35 mobile pumping stations and 80 monoblock pumps were supplied to all Russias NPPs, the Russian operator said in a 11 July statement.
Nuclear Engineering International 12th July 2012 more >>
Iran
The United States says it has further tightened sanctions on Iran imposed in connection with its nuclear programme. The US Treasury said it had blacklisted several companies and individuals that it believes are contributing to efforts to acquire nuclear weapons.
BBC 12th July 2012 more >>
MI6 agents have foiled Irans attempts to obtain nuclear weapons but the Middle Eastern state will succeed in arming itself within the next two years, the head of the Secret Intelligence Service has warned.
Telegraph 12th July 2012 more >>
ITV 13th July 2012 more >>
As The Telegraphs Christopher Hope has just reported, Britains Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) is warning that Iran is likely to achieve its goal of developing nuclear weapons by 2014. The head of MI6, Sir John Sawers, has told senior civil servants that Iran is two years away from becoming a nuclear weapons state. You can be sure that if Tehran acquires nuclear weapons capability its brutal regime will be willing to use it, against Israel or other neighbours in the Middle East. A policy of Cold War-style containment simply will not work in dealing with Islamist fundamentalists who cannot be reasoned with or negotiated with. The end result of a containment strategy would be an arms-race in the Middle East, and almost certainly a nuclear strike by Iran.
Telegraph 13th July 2012 more >>
North Korea
North Korea has claimed that it needs atomic weaponry to defend itself from a constant threat of US nuclear attack and that Pyongyang would never give up its right to a “peaceful space programme”.
Telegraph 12th July 2012 more >>
Renewables
At some point this week, possibly within the next 48 hours, were expecting to hear whether or not George Osborne will have succeeded in pulling the rug out from under our cheapest low carbon energy source. If youve not already taken action to save our onshore wind industry from an untimely death then we need your help urgently.
Action for Renewables 12th July 2012 more >>
an interconnector. Both Norway and Iceland can supply the UK with long term, low carbon cheap electricity. And both have the potential Norway in particular- to store electricity produced by UK renewables ready to be recalled at more convenient times via the interconnection cable. So these plans could be transformational in providing precisely the architecture needed to keep emissions low and provide good demand side response for a future high wind energy mix. And theres more. They are relatively quick and cheap to build. Even an Iceland connector, with a cable length of 1000km could be laid over a a few years at a cost of about £3 billion less than half the cost of a new nuclear power station and providing, probably about the same capacity on a sustainable basis. So a policy thought right now for EMR: if we are to introduce capacity payments for new plants, would it not be sensible to allocate at least a portion of them to ensuring that interconnectors do get built to scale and to time? altogether a better investment for the long-term future than facilitating a rush of gas that the presently proposed arrangements seem set to provide.
Alan Whitehead MP 12th July 2012 more >>
Three solar power companies have written to the government demanding £2.2m in damages which they say were caused by cuts in 2011 to the incentive scheme for solar, which resulted in a legal challenge that the government lost.
Guardian 13th July 2012 more >>
Green Growth
Just in case anyone missed the significance of the CBI’s new paean to the green economy, The Colour of Growth, The Telegraph’s letters page this week provided a handy reminder. Senior figures from the Centre for Policy Studies, the Institute of Economic Affairs, and the TaxPayer’s Alliance joined with professional self-publicist and editor of Conservativehome Tim Montgomerie to issue a seven point plan for growth that could have just as easily been retitled “a plan for high carbon growth”. The right-wing wish list appeared purpose built to derail the green economy, including proposals for a “coherent and realistic energy policy” based on gas, coal and nuclear, a plea to “stop building wind-farms and repeal (or suspend) the Climate Change Act (despite the fact the Act includes a clause requiring governments to take account of economic conditions when pursuing emission reductions), and calls to abandon HS2 and expand Heathrow. Only a few days previously, CBI Director-General John Cridland, had launched the group’s latest report and made it absolutely plain that his members want to see green growth and accept the need for effective environmental regulation as a means of delivering it.
Business Green 12th July 2012 more >>
Soaring green energy charges will make British industry uncompetitive compared with other leading countries by the end of the decade. A study by the Governments Department for Business found that electricity prices for manufacturers and other major energy users are set to rise as a result of tighter environmental regulations and taxes. The study shows that the increase in costs will far outstrip those faced by industrial companies in other leading European Union countries that are pursuing a less ambitious green agenda.
The Times 13th July 2012 more >>
Energy efficiency
A report launched in Washington by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy on Thursday ranked the UK first among the world’s 12 largest economies for reducing pollution in industry, transport, and buildings.
Guardian 12th July 2012 more >>
