New Nukes
The boss of energy giant EDF has demanded taxpayer subsidies for nuclear power to lock in prices almost three times the current level. The French-owned company is preparing to build a raft of reactors across the UK. But before it commits to the £14billion project, the group wants guarantees from the government over the price it can charge for each unit of electricity produced. EDF chief executive Vincent de Rivaz yesterday said the price demanded by EDF would be no higher than £140 per MegaWatt hour (MW hour). The amount is almost three times higher than the current electricity market price of £50 per MW hour.
This is Money 13th Aug 2012 more >>
Business Green 13th Aug 2012 more >>
Politics
The rift between senior Liberal Democrats and chancellor George Osborne is set to widen this autumn, after it emerged chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander will table a motion at the party’s autumn conference that explicitly criticises Conservative opposition to green policies. The debate, titled Generating Growth and Jobs in a Time of Austerity, states that the conference “remains concerned by” a number of policies backed by Lib Dem’s coalition partners, including “the refusal of the Conservatives to acknowledge that investing in carbon-reducing technologies has the potential to make an important contribution to long-term growth”.
Business Green 13th Aug 2012 more >>
Conservative MP Tim Yeo is facing a backlash from his colleagues on the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee over his paid roles within the renewable energy sector. MPs on the Government committee were said to be plotting to remove Mr Yeo as chairman over his £140,000-a-year earnings from green power companies. The former environment minister has promoted low-carbon energy sources, even claiming it may be necessary “to bribe” communities to accept wind farms. Mr Yeo, who is also president of the Renewable Energy Association, received more than £139,450 from power firms, according to the MPs’ register of interests. He is expected to face a challenge to his position from other members of the committee.
Telegraph 14th Aug 2012 more >>
Hinkley
Views are being sought over the disposal of radioactive waste for a planned nuclear plant at Hinkley Point. The Environment Agency (EA) has begun its final 13-week consultation for the three draft environmental permits. The permits would also enable the station to discharge radioactive liquid effluent into the Bristol Channel. Draft decisions, which are also being consulted on, have shown the EA has said it has no reasons to turn down these permits at this stage.
BBC 13th Aug 2012 more >>
e-Gov Monitor 13th Aug 2012 more >>
Environment Agency 13th Aug 2012 more >>
EDF Energys new nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point moved one step closer to construction today after the Environment Agency gave provisional approval to key elements of EDFs plans.
Building 13th Aug 2012 more >>
Under a treaty which encourages nuclear investment in the European Union, the European Commission has expressed its satisfaction with proposals by EDF Energy to build and operate a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset.
Build 13th Aug 2012 more >>
EDF Energy is today due to begin the first in a series of local road improvements linked to its site preparation work for the planned Hinkley Point C nuclear power station.
Bridgwater Mercury 13th Aug 2012 more >>
Wylfa
Wylfa Power Station will be able to produce electricity for another two years after it was permitted to transfer fuel between its reactors, almost four years beyond its original closure date. The Anglesey site has been permitted to continue using one reactor, transferring partially used fuel from Reactor 2 to Reactor 1. Reactor 2 was shut down in April because of limited fuel stocks. Approval for this move comes from the Office for Nuclear Regulation and is supported by the Department for Energy and Climate Change. Wylfa had originally planned to shut down in December 2010, but an opportunity was identified to continue producing electricity for a further period.
Energy Business Review 14th Aug 2012 more >>
Scotland
THE SNP Government’s plan to permit the lives of two ageing nuclear power stations to be prolonged until 2033 has been condemned as dangerous and unnecessary by a powerful group of local authorities, including three run by the Nationalists. The issue is threatening to create a new nuclear split within the SNP, following disagreements over the party leadership’s move to end its decades-long opposition to membership of the Nato nuclear weapons alliance. An expert report due to be published today by the 10-strong group of nuclear-free councils in Scotland says ministers are wrong to let the nuclear reactors at Hunterson in North Ayrshire and Torness in East Lothian keep running for two more decades. The nuclear-free group includes two SNP-led councils, Dundee and Perth and Kinross, plus Edinburgh, which is ruled by an SNP/Labour coalition. The report says: “There is no need for the Scottish Government to support risky life extensions.” It concludes that improved energy efficiency, combined heat and power schemes and renewables could ensure that Scotland met its energy needs. Report author Pete Roche, a policy adviser to Scotland’s nuclear-free local authorities, added: “Milking Scottish reactors dry is another way of maximising the chances of an accident as these reactors get older and more decrepit. Clearly SNP activists who have been promoting a nuclear phase-out are not going to be happy about the possibility of Scotland remaining nuclear until 2033 and beyond.” Scottish ministers have repeatedly said they will not oppose plans by French nuclear company EDF to apply to UK regulators to keep Hunterston going until 2021. EDF is also likely to try and postpone the closure of Torness from 2023 to 2033.
Herald 14th Aug 2012 more >>
Rob Edwards.com 14th Aug 2012 more >>
Rising energy prices will plunge the average Scottish household into fuel poverty from this year, according an official report. Figures for 2010 showed that there were 658,000 households classed as in fuel poverty, which means that they spend more than 10 per cent of income on energy. That is down from the previous years total of 766,000. But the Fuel Poverty Evidence Review estimated that this would increase by 7 per cent in 2011 to more than 800,000. And by 2012, average households will have been pushed into fuel poverty.
Times 14th Aug 2012 more >>
Terror
MARY CELESTE: A deserted and apparently abandoned 28ft yacht found drifting just six miles from the heavily guarded Sizewell nuclear plant on the Suffolk coast sparked a terror alert on 11 August. According to a story in last weekends Mail on Sunday, security has been extra tight at the Sizewell A and B sites during the Olympics. In turn, this seems to have elevated the risk to an international terror alert…’
Boating Business 14th Aug 2012 more >>
EON
Utility group E.ON has seen net profit more than triple in the first half of the year as it benefited from a gas price deal with Russias Gazprom and the absence of charges related to Germanys exit from nuclear power.
Scotsman 14th Aug 2012 more >>
Energy supplier E.ON has risked consumer wrath with a 24pc rise in profits to £245m for the first half of the year. The German utility giant said the rise in its UK earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was primarily because of improved retail margins. Richard Hall, of Consumer Focus, said: Such a big increase, hard on the heels of British Gas profit rises, will leave customers questioning whether the price theyre paying is fair.
Telegraph 13th Aug 2012 more >>
Times 13th Aug 2012 more >>
RWE
RWE, the German utility battling the effects of a nuclear phase-out in its domestic market and an economic downturn in Europe, said up to 2,400 jobs would be affected by its plans to cut 1bn in annual costs by 2014. Germanys second-biggest energy group by market capitalisation, plans to reduce costs in services and administration and form an umbrella company for its German, UK and Dutch power stations.
FT 14th Aug 2012 more >>
Japan
Exposure to radioactive material released into the environment has caused mutations in butterflies found in Japan, a study suggests. Scientists found an increase in leg, antennae and wing shape mutations among butterflies collected following the 2011 Fukushima accident.
BBC 13th Aug 2012 more >>
Africa
A new commission to coordinate and promote the development of nuclear energy in Africa is set to become fully operational after key founding documents were finalized and adopted. South Africa has agreed to host the commission in Pretoria.
World Nuclear News 13th Aug 2012 more >>
US
The gauntlet has been thrown: until the US figures out what to do with its nuclear waste, new nuclear plants can’t be licensed and existing licences can’t be renewed. The dramatic decision, taken by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on 8 August, is a sign of mounting pressure over the issue of nuclear waste storage, and is likely to rekindle doubts over the future of the nuclear industry. But whether it will result in a solution anytime soon is still unclear. In taking the decision, the NRC was responding to a complaint from 24 organisations, demanding that it set more specific guidelines for its plans regarding nuclear waste. The current modus operandi is for US nuclear plants to store spent fuel in pools onsite in the hope that a permanent geological repository, such as Nevada’s Yucca Mountain or even better, somewhere else becomes available within the coming decades.
New Scientist 10th Aug 2012 more >>
