Hinkley
Plans for an £18 billion nuclear power station in Somerset were dealt a double blow yesterday after the French minister responsible admitted it was a risky project and fresh problems emerged at a prototype in Normandy. Emmanuel Macron, France’s economy minister, has been a staunch supporter of the plan by EDF, the state-owned energy giant, to build two reactors at Hinkley Point. However, he is wavering in the face of growing doubts and a rift within the French cabinet. Mr Macron’s spokeswoman said that he still backed the plan, but admitted that it involved “risks as well as opportunities”. Leaders of French unions, who oppose the project, said he had told them that he had not yet decided on whether to order EDF to press ahead with construction of two reactors supplying 7 per cent of Britain’s electricity in the UK. EDF is 86 per cent owned by the French state. The comment marked a clear change in tone from Mr Macron whose voice is considered decisive in the debate. The spokeswoman said Mr Macon had told unions that EDF, which has debts of £30 billion, needed to make a swift decision on whether to proceed, but had agreed on the need for a “debate” within the company over the project. Compounding the concerns about the Hinkley project, EDF and Areva, the French reactor maker, have admitted that more tests will be required at Flamanville. A year ago, French safety authorities detected weak spots in the 550-tonne steel reactor vessel being used there. Mr Macron’s remarks came after Seggolene Royal, the energy minister, publicly called for a decision on Hinkley Point to be delayed because it would leave EDF with no money for solar and wind-power projects in France. EDF’s board is widely expected to adopt the same position as the French government when it meets next month to make a final decision on Hinkley Point. Chinese regulators have said construction of two similar French reactors in Taishan will also be delayed while tests in France are conducted.
Times 15th April 2016 read more »
The future of the £18 billion plan to build Hinkley C nuclear power station in Somerset hangs in the balance today ahead of a showdown meeting between a top French minister and the boss of EDF. Economy minister Emmanuel Macron and EDF chief executive Jean-Bernard Levy will meet in Paris this afternoon, a day after the minister was told by union leaders to postpone the project indefinitely. Mr Macron met the unions who represent workers in the energy industry yesterday (Thu) after his boss, President Francois Hollande, was sent a bombshell letter calling on the French Government not to commit more money to support EDF’s Hinkley C plans. The unions emerged from yesterday’s meeting confirming Mr Macron has not yet decided whether the French Government should go ahead with the Hinkley project. “The minister has told us that he has not yet made his decision,” CGT union official Marie-Claire Cailletaud, who added that the minister ‘assured us’ the decision would ‘not be taken lightly.
Western Daily Press 15th April 2016 read more »
After another month of new dates, new financing models and new problems, the media are now mainly hostile if not openly deriding the Hinkley deal, and speculation is rife about what might really be happening. The Times leading editorial (3.03.16) dubbed Hinkley a “Nuclear Disaster” and called for its abandonment. What a way to run an energy policy. So, what is going on? Certainly there are conjuring tricks, charades, blame games and, hard to dispute, uncertainty and blight for communities and businesses affected – not the least, here in Suffolk.
Together Against Sizewell C 10th April 2016 read more »
Flamanville
French nuclear group EDF has confirmed it will carry out further tests on the reactor vessel at the heart of the new Flamanville-3 nuclear plant in Normandy, the same reactor model as the one planned for Hinkley Point in Somerset. In a statement the firm conceded that problems in the steel casing for one reactor vessel extended beyond the point they have so far tested. Or, in their own words: “Initial analyses conducted on two parts similar to those at Flamanville 3 have shown that the carbon segregation phenomena extend beyond mid-thickness on one of them.
Energy Desk 14th April 2016 read more »
French electric utility EDF and nuclear equipment manufacturer Areva have recommended to the French nuclear safety authority ASN (Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire) to extend the testing programme for the 1,600-megawatt Flamanville-3 EPR reactor pressure vessel (RPV) until the end of 2016, the two companies said in separate statements. In April 2015, ASN, Areva and EDF revealed that tests had shown higher than expected carbon segregation in RPV material samples, indicating a possible manufacturing flaw and potentially affecting the vessel’s ability to withstand the propagation of cracks. The tests followed earlier chemical and mechanical examinations on forged steel parts representative for the RPV, which showed the carbon segregation phenomenon was higher than expected in a certain area. According to Areva and EDF, analyses showed that the carbon anomaly extended beyond mid-thickness in one of the two steel parts under examination – representative for the RPV head and bottom – which required material sampling and related tests to be extended to three-fourths of the thickness of the part concerned. The suggested testing programme extension will therefore include examinations of a third forged steel part with the goal to “strengthen the robustness of the demonstration” of the EPR, EDF and Areva said. The companies said the proposed additional tests will examine 1200 material samples, a two-fold increase in comparison with previous analyses.
Nucnet 14th April 2016 read more »
Areva and EDF’s program for testing the mechanical properties of Flamanville 3’s reactor pressure vessel has been extended. Previously the tests were to be carried out on samples from two forged parts but will now be conducted on three. The French nuclear regulator – the Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire (ASN) – released information in April 2015 about the discovery of anomalies in the composition of the steel in certain parts of the reactor vessel of the EPR under construction at Flamanville. Chemical and mechanical tests were conducted by Areva in late 2014 on a vessel head similar to that of the Flamanville EPR. These test results “revealed the presence of a zone in which there was a high carbon concentration, leading to lower than expected mechanical toughness values”. Both affected components – the vessel head and the vessel bottom – were manufactured at Areva’s Chalon/Saint-Marcel plant in France.
World Nuclear News 14th April 2016 read more »
Moorside
The aging Cumbrian population is a huge concern to the nuclear industry, according to an expert speaking at yesterday’s Carlisle Ambassadors meeting. The main focus of the meeting was plugging the Cumbrian skills gap, and Kevin Foley, programme manager of the Centre of Nuclear Excellence, revealed his worries over the county’s workforce. Speaking to over 100 local businesses, Mr Foley said that although the Cumbrian population was growing by two per cent, the working age of the county wasn’t. Many people are moving to the county in retirement, or buying second homes. Even more pressure will be put on the situation when the Moorside new nuclear build is constructed.
In Cumbria 15th April 2016 read more »
Wylfa
Opposing nuclear power is difficult for Plaid Cymru, its leader has said, because of the jobs which depend on it. Leanne Wood told BBC Wales TV’s Ask the Leader election special the party was “very clear” in its opposition to nuclear weapons. She said she was also not convinced that nuclear power “stacks up financially”. But Ms Wood said that in terms of jobs on Anglesey, the nation had “put all our eggs in the nuclear basket” with the island’s prosperity dependent on employment at the Wylfa nuclear power station.
BBC 14th April 2016 read more »
Sellafield
As Nuclear Management Partners approaches the end of its time as parent body for Sellafield Ltd, its General Manager – Iain Irving – looks back at the challenges and successes of the last eight years and thanks West Cumbria for its support.
In Cumbria 24th March 2016 read more »
Nuclear Security
Safety and security are the “overriding and enduring priorities” of the nuclear power industry and plant operators “need to anticipate new safety concerns”, such as terrorism and cyber security, EDF Energy CEO Vincent de Rivaz said at a conference in London today. In his opening address to the Nuclear Safety Symposium, which the utility hosted together with the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO), de Rivaz said the “digital revolution has changed the way that people talk to each other, which impacts openness and transparency”.
World Nuclear News 14th April 2016 read more »
Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam researched a German nuclear site and had documents about it in his apartment, adding to fears that Islamic State (Isis) plans to obtain radioactive material for a ‘dirty bomb’. Print-outs of online articles on nuclear research centre Juelich – located just off the Belgian border – and a photo of its chairman Wolfgang Marquardt were reportedly retrieved by police at a flat in the infamous Molenbeek district of Brussels, where the 26-year-old Abdeslam lived and was arrested in March.
IB Times 14th April 2016 read more »
German media reports said documents about a nuclear research centre near the Belgian border had been found at Salah Abdeslam’s flat in Molenbeek.
BBC 14th April 2016 read more »
Germany’s domestic intelligence agency denied on Thursday its head had told German lawmakers a prime suspect in the Paris attacks had documents about the Juelich German nuclear research centre.
Reuters 14th April 2016 read more »
Guardian 14th April 2016 read more »
Chernobyl
‘It’s the people who left who are all in the ground’: Chernobyl’s last resident claims he was right to spend the past 30 years living in the shadow of the world’s worst nuclear disaster
Daily Mail 14th April 2016 read more »
Thirty years after the world’s worst nuclear disaster efforts to manage the damaged Chernobyl reactor are still in preliminary stages, leaving local people, visitors and wildlife at risk. These are the findings of a new status report prepared for Greenpeace Germany by physicist Oda Becker. “Trying to deal with the Chernobyl disaster is like the labour of Sisyphus. It has to be done, but will not be finished for hundreds of years, if ever,” said Tobias Münchmeyer, Greenpeace Germany’s nuclear expert. “The technology that’s needed does not yet exist and the funding has not been secured. The international community bears a huge responsibility,” he added.
Greenpeace 14th April 2016 read more »
Olkiluoto
Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) has today submitted its operating licence application for unit 3 of the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant. The first-of-a-kind EPR plant is scheduled to start up in late 2018.
World Nuclear News 14th April 2016 read more »
China
A US nuclear engineer engaged in a two-decade-long conspiracy with a Chinese state-owned company to obtain American nuclear reactor secrets, according to an indictment unsealed today. Szuhsiung Ho, also known as Allen Ho, a naturalised American citizen of Chinese origin, and China General Nuclear Power Company were indicted on charges of producing special nuclear material outside the United States without the required Energy Department approval. Mr Ho, who ran a company called Energy Technology International from his home in Wilmington, Delaware, worked as a paid senior adviser to CGNPC, China’s largest nuclear power company, the indictment says. Beginning in 1997, he arranged for several US-based experts to travel to China for briefings and to answer requests for help from Chinese nuclear specialists. Mr Ho is also accused of acting as an agent of a for eign government. “China has the budget to spend,” he emailed a potential recruit on October 4, 2009. “They asked me if I could form a comprehensive team to provide technology transfer in design and manufacturing related training, and technical support. They said budget is no issue.”
FT 14th April 2016 read more »
Bloomberg 14th April 2016 read more »
Energy Voice 15th April 2016 read more »
Luxembourg
Luxembourg offered on Monday to chip in financing to close an ageing French nuclear power plant near its border, saying the tiny nation could be obliterated if the station malfunctioned. During a press conference with his French counterpart Manuel Valls, Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said a problem at the Cattenom plant could “wipe the duchy off the map”.
RFI 12th April 2016 read more »
France
French utility EDF has extended the outage period of its Paluel 2 nuclear reactor to March 2017 after a steam generator weighing more than 450 tonnes crashed onto the reactor floor during handling last month.The 1,300 megawatt Paluel 2 reactor in Normandy, northern France, was shut down in May 2015 for its 10-yearly inspection and was expected to be back on line in May this year.French grid operator RTE showed on its website on Thursday that the reactor is now expected to be back online in March 2017. Right after the accident late last month, EDF moved back the expected restart to end December this year.
Reuters 14th April 2016 read more »
Japan
At least nine people were killed and nearly 1,000 injured after a strong quake hit southwestern Japan, toppling houses and leaving thousands without power, but no problems were reported at nuclear plants in the area.
Christian Today 15th April 2016 read more »
Reuters 15th April 2016 read more »
Renewables
THE world’s largest industrial air source heat pump will be one of the most eye-catching of exhibits at the UK’s largest renewable and sustainable energy exhibition and conference, which is being held at Glasgow’s Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre on 4 and 5 May. Developed by Glasgow-based Star Renewable Energy in collaboration with Glasgow Housing Association – one of the largest social landlords – Scottish Gas and WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff, the US-based global engineering and design consultancy, the pump extracts heat from the outside air and will be used to retrofit high-rise buildings. “It measures over 8m long and will produce enough heat for 350 flats,” explained All-Energy Event Director, Jonathan Heastie of organisers Reed Exhibitions. Heat and biomass – fuel developed from organic materi als – will be two key areas of focus for the All-Energy 2016 event, which is free of charge to all with relevant business or professional interests.
Herald 15th April 2016 read more »
Local Energy
GLASGOW could become the centre of an energy revolution with the potential to radically alter how cities of the future power homes and businesses. The ambitious proposals involve establishing a community-owned company which would convert derelict land or buildings into renewables hubs to wean the city off its reliance on the national grid. With tough climate change legislation and fossil fuel levies due to take effect in the coming years, campaigners believe now is the time to begin serious discussions on how electricity can be produced and sold at a local level rather than relying upon the existing system of remote power stations based across the country. Glasgow is uniquely positioned to benefit from a new wave of urban solar farms and windmills due to the “unusual” amount of vacant land and buildings, many of them already under public ownership, within it s boundaries. Jim Metcalfe, a trustee and director of the UK Energy Saving Trust, said changing the way we produce and use energy was a worldwide challenge – but one that could be met at a local level. “Our cities can and must do more,” he said. “We must take on more responsibility for that concerted energy action. Policy makers and the public sector alone cannot deliver the pace of change that is needed.” Metcalfe delivered a talk on the subject at a meeting of the Glasgow Skeptics society this week, in which he outlined why Scotland’s biggest city could take the lead on energy sustainability.
Scotsman 14th April 2016 read more »
Green Gas
Green Energy will be the first company in the UK energy market to supply only renewable green gas to its residential and business customers.
Utility Week 14th April 2016 read more »
Renewables – wind
Bird numbers plummeted after a wind farm was built on breeding grounds in Sutherland over the objection of conservationists, researchers say. Construction of Gordonbush wind farm for the energy company SSE was followed by a drop of nearly 80 per cent in the number of golden plovers, a report found. Ministers approved the development in 2008 but ordered monitoring of the impact on bird numbers. The RSPB, which objected to the plans for Gordonbush, says the study confirms that wind farms should not be sited on breeding grounds used by wading birds such as plovers.
Times 15th April 2016 read more »
Scotsman 15th April 2016 read more »
Energy Efficiency
The Green Deal – the government’s flagship energy-saving programme – cost taxpayers £17,000 for each home that was improved, a watchdog has found. The National Audit Office (NAO) concluded that “the Green Deal has not therefore been value for money”. Under the scheme, householders were encouraged to take out loans to pay for measures such as insulation or double-glazing. But only 14,000 households took up the offer, well below expectations.
BBC 14th April 2016 read more »
Telegraph 14th April 2016 read more »
Grid Connections
The government has said it supports a 9GW increase in the UK’s interconnector capacity, as it published its full response to the Smart Power report released by the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) at the beginning of March. The report said “more connections to cheap, green power supplies, such as Norway and Iceland, could bring great benefits to the UK” and called on the government to “redouble its efforts to open new connections”. There are currently four interconnectors between the UK and the rest of Europe, providing around 4GW of capacity. Having previously backed a 5GW increase in interconnector capacity, the government has now said 9GW would be “beneficial to consumers” given the evidence put forward by both the NIC and Ofgem. It added that it may even back further additional capacity “as more potential projects are assessed later this year”.
Utility Week 14th April 2016 read more »
