Dounreay
Highland councillors are to be given details on how nuclear fuel from Dounreay in Caithness will be moved by rail to Sellafield in Cumbria. Dr Adrian Simper, head of strategy at the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), is expected to give a presentation in Inverness on Thursday. The NDA has sought approval for its plan to transport breeder material to Sellafield for reprocessing. The first of about 50 movements could start this summer. Dr Simpler will give his presentation to Highland Council’s transport, environmental and community services committee. Approval for the NDA’s plan to shift the 44 tonnes of fuel over a period of four to five years has been sought from the Office for Nuclear Regulation and Office for Civil Nuclear ! Regulation.
BBC 13th Jan 2012 more >>
Companies
Shares in Invensys fall 21 percent to a two-year low as the British engineer says its profit will be hit by higher costs in its rail division and in work on Chinese nuclear reactors.
Reuters 13th Jan 2012 more >>
Guardian 13th Jan 2012 more >>
In China the group has had to do more engineering work than it had expected on the control and safety systems for four new nuclear power reactors on a contract worth £250m, mainly because they are among the first to use digital rather than analogue systems. This will hit operating profits by £40m.
Independent 14th Jan 2012 more >>
Energy Prices
Npower became the fourth major energy supplier to announce a modest cut to its energy prices this week, saying it would cut gas prices by 5pc from February.
Telegraph 13th Jan 2012 more >>
Times 14th Jan 2012 more >>
Japan
Another nuclear reactor was set to shut down Friday, leaving just five in operation nationwide with a generating capacity of 5,058 megawatts, or 10.3 percent of the atomic total.
Japan Times 14th Jan 2012 more >>
Iran
‘Death to America and Israel’: Iran clerics call for unity as funeral is held for nuclear scientist assassinated by magnetic car bomb.
Daily Mail 13th Jan 2012 more >>
Scotsman 14th Jan 2012 more >>
Telegraph 13th Jan 2012 more >>
Guardian 13th Jan 2012 more >>
BBC 13th Jan 2012 more >>
A nuclear agency team from the United Nations will visit Iran later this month. The move came after Tehran indicated it is ready to discuss allegations it is involved in secretly developing nuclear weapons. There have been suggestions from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that such a trip could happen, but this is the first time Iran appears to be willing to take part in such talks. The officials will visit Tehran on 28 January.
Scotsman 13th Jan 2012 more >>
Germany
After two legal rejections Germany’s nuclear fuel tax has been supported by a regional court in the latest episode of a complex legal battle that looks set to continue for years.
World Nuclear News 12th Jan 2012 more >>
Trident
Contingency plans to transfer Britains nuclear deterrent to England if Scotland declares independence are being examined by the Ministry of Defence. Officials warn that London would demand billions in compensation from Edinburgh to fund the move. Officials warn that the costs of moving the four submarines from Scotland to England would be immense, mainly because the London government would need to build a new storage facility for the nuclear warheads carried by the Trident D5 missile.
FT 13th Jan 2012 more >>
Renewables
The crippling uncertainty over the future of the UK’s solar incentive scheme is set to continue, after three court of appeal judges failed to reach a conclusion on whether or not the government’s proposed changes to the feed-in tariff scheme were unlawful.
Business Green 13th Jan 2012 more >>
The government went to the court of appeal on Friday in an urgent attempt to overturn a high court ruling that has hit its plans to cut subsidies for solar panels on homes.
Guardian 13th Jan 2012 more >>
Energy Efficiency
George Monbiot: There should be a cast-iron rule for all public policy: it must not discriminate against the poor. No tax or charge should be approved which transfers money from the poor to the rich. The rule should not even need stating when it comes to green measures. Part of the point of protecting the environment is to defend the interests of all people, including those who have not yet been born. An environmental policy which harms the interests of a society’s poorest people offends one of the fundamental tenets of what I believe environmentalism to be. Unfortunately it needs to be stated loudly at the moment, because this simple principle is being trampled by the government, the energy industry and even Friends of the Earth. On his blog last week, Chris Goodall exposed a series of remarkable and shocking features of the government’s new energy policies. The government’s own projections show that its green deal and Energy Company Obligation (ECO) schemes starting later this year, which are supposed to improve the energy efficiency of our homes and help people to cut their energy payments, will lead to higher bills for the poor, but almost no change to the bills of the rich. They will also greatly reduce the amount spent on insulation and energy efficiency while doing almost nothing to address fuel poverty.
Guardian 13th Jan 2012 more >>
London is moving the needle on low-carbon clean technology and carbon-emissions reductions. The secret ingredient: heat. Combined heat and power (CHP) and district-heating systems delivered a whopping 36,392 tons of avoided carbon emissions in 2010, which accounted for 50% of all carbon emissions reductions, according to an analysis released last week by the Greater London Authority (GLA).
Forbes 13th Jan 2012 more >>
Microgeneration
Latest Micro Power News: solar uncertainty constinues but some councils find a way through. Green Deal threatens to be a flop.
Microgenscotland.org.uk 13th Jan 2012 more >>
