New Nukes
Government poised to make new announcements on nuclear power on Monday. This report weighs up the issue of jobs vs disruption. Hinkley C will be the biggest civil enginnering project in the West Country’s history. Bridgwater College investing £8m in a nuclear skills academy.
BBC Points West 14th Oct 2010 (starting at 9.30) more >>
One of the UK’s largest purchasers of energy, has called on Chris Huhne to ‘listen to his party’ and get behind nuclear energy. The call comes on the back of a recent Liberal Democrat Voice poll* which revealed 68% of Lib Dem members back nuclear as part of the UK’s energy mix. M&C Energy Group’s energy analyst, David Hunter, commented: “Chris Huhne’s historic opposition to nuclear is well-documented, however it seems that grass roots Lib Dem members are falling in line with wider public support for nuclear.
Plant & Works Engineering 14th Oct 2010 more >>
Dungesess
Dungeness could be ruled out as a site for a new nuclear power station by the coalition Government, according to an accidental online leak. A report by Nuclear Engineering magazine said a Department of Energy and Climate Change website still in development inadvertently published the details. The website said that Dungeness, along with the Kirksanton and Braystones sites in Cumbria, had “been found to be not suitable for the deployment of a new nuclear power station by 2025”. Nuclear Engineering magazine reported the leak after being alerted by protest website no2nuclearpower.org.uk.
Kent News 14th Oct 2010 more >>
Romney Marsh Times 14th Oct 2010 more >>
Kent Green Party Letters 14th Oct 2010 more >>
Cumbria
Celebrations across Cumbria, meanwhile, as folk absorb the news that Kirksanton and Braystones appear to have dropped off the list of sites being considered by the government for new nuclear reactors. But who to thank for this revelation? Should it be the minister or a local MP? No, there are two protagonists here. One is the hapless official in the Department of Energy and Climate Change, who seems to have posted on the internet by accident a status report on the potential locations, listing both places as unsuitable. The other is anti-nuclear campaigner Pete Roche who, through diligence and good luck, spotted the page on the department’s website doing his daily trawl at 5am. The page was taken down soon afterwards, but having copied it on to his website, Pete is a bit of a hero. As for the official – well, there is always hope in prayer
Guardian 15th Oct 2010 more >>
Yesterday a leak on the DECC website revealed that Kirksanton and Braystones – two greenfield sites in West Cumbria earmarked for new nuclear build are – “not suitable”. Following the greenfield site nominations all people’s energy and outrage has gone into opposing the Kirksanton and Braystones proposals, taking attention away from the extraordinarily flawed reasoning of proposing new nuclear build at Sellafield – in the vicinity of the worlds most ferociously radioactive stockpiles of nuclear waste. The Lake District National Park Authority and Cumbria County Council are in crazy agreement that Sellafield is now the ‘preferred option’ for proposed new nuclear build. This follows the shock and awe tactics of industry and our pro nuclear government of including Kirksanton and Braystones in the ‘site selection’ process.
Indymedia 14th Oct 2010 more >>
KIRKSANTON will not be included in the next round of consultations to find a site for a new nuclear power station. A document from the Department for Energy and Climate Change revealed Sellafield to be the only Cumbrian site to be considered in the next round of consultations. The information was not supposed to be published until next week, when the next round of consultations gets underway. DECC removed the document when it realised its error. The news was greeted warmly by anti-power station campaigners, Kirksanton Action Group. Spokesman Michael Wills said it was ‘exciting news’.
He said: “A lot of the environmental work at the site was flawed and the economic benefits would not have been so great.
“The site would have seen massive destruction to the Lake District, it will be a huge relief.” Anti-nuclear protestors accused authorities of a double bluff to make Sellafield seem ‘more appealing’.
North West Evening Mail 14th Oct 2010 more >>
Tim Knowles, Cumbria County Council’s cabinet member responsible for environment and planning, said yesterday: “If these leaks are true, then it would bring some welcome relief to the communities of Kirksanton and Braystones. “People living there have faced an uncertain future, not knowing whether they would soon have a nuclear power station built next to them. “For some, that has meant they’ve been unable to sell their house or make long-term plans. Hopefully we will be able to go forward with the clarity that Sellafield is the most suitable site for a new nuclear power station in Cumbria. “The nuclear industry plays a vital part in west Cumbria’s economy and Sellafield needs to be a linchpin in the Government’s future strategy for energy delivery.”
Cumberland News 14th Oct 2010 more >>
Wylfa
Wylfa, one of the UK’s oldest nuclear power plants, has been given regulatory approval to continue operating for up to a further two years. The two-unit Magnox plant had originally been scheduled to shut in March 2010, but was earlier granted a nine-month extension.
World Nuclear News 14th Oct 2010 more >>
The Druid 13th Oct 2010 more >>
Energy Business Review 14th Oct 2010 more >>
County Council Leader, Councillor Clive McGregor, has welcomed news that Wylfa will continue generating electricity beyond December 2010.
Welsh Icons 13th Oct 2010 more >>
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has announced that the Wylfa nuclear power station is to continue generating electricity beyond December 2010 for up to two additional years.
The Engineer 14th Oct 2010 more >>
Hinkley
FOUR out of five local people support plans for Hinkley C, according to a new poll. EDF Energy, which is behind plans for two new reactors at Hinkley Point, said the independent research carried out by ICM1, also found that 85% of people living within 25 miles of Hinkley Point believed the plant would be important for the local jobs market, while 63% considered it important for the future of local businesses.
This is the West Country 15th Oct 2010 more >>
NDA
The greed of the big energy companies and the governments desperate acts to appease them led to one of the biggest Quango of all to be given as much money as possible. Not a halfpenny taken from their excessive greedy budget that leads them to have parties in 5 Star hotels in the best hotel in Manchester.
Shepperdine Against Nuclear Energy 14th Oct 2010 more >>
Opinion Polls
A new Financial Times/Harris poll in the U.S. and the five largest European countries finds strong public support for increasing some renewable energy sources, particularly wind farms, provided that they are not asked to pay much more for it. However there is strong resistance to using more renewable energy if it leads to a substantial increase in costs. The public is much more evenly split on whether to build more nuclear power plants, except in Germany and Spain where substantial majorities oppose any expansion of nuclear power.
Harris Poll 13th Oct 2010 more >>
Companies
Babcock & Wilcox Canada (B&W Canada), an affiliate of Babcock & Wilcox Nuclear Energy, has won a contract from Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to design and manufacture two steam generators for the Bellefonte Unit 1 plant as a part of the Bellefonte completion project. The steam generators are slated to be delivered to the Bellefonte site in 2015, pending a decision by the TVA board to complete construction of Unit 1.
Energy Business Review 15th Oct 2010 more >>
A major new facility has been commissioned in Germany for the production of large reactor components. The 12,000 tonne press installed at V lklingen by Saarschmiede GmbH Freiformschmiede can handle ingots of up to 370 tonnes – enough to make all but the largest reactor pressure vessels. The time for construction was only two years.Due to its geometrical dimensions,” the company said, the press is “able to deal with all parts of the AP1000.” It estimated that some four to six sets of heavy forgings for AP1000s could be made annually at the facility, given certain other expansions. Westinghouse has sourced forgings from South Korea’s Doosan Heavy Industries for the four AP1000s under construction in China as well as the four forthcoming units at Vogtle and Summer in the USA. The reactor vendor was ready to invest with the UK’s Sheffield Forgemasters in a 15,000 tonne press, but this project failed in June when the offer of an £80 million strategic government loan was withdrawn.
World Nuclear News 14th Oct 2010 more >>
Radiation & Health
Bob Alvarez: According to a recent New York Times article, thyroid cancer in the U.S. has been on the rise for nearly 40 years. The long-standing explanation that this is due to better diagnostics is no longer accepted. This also means that the impacts of radioactive iodine fallout from nuclear weapons testing and Chernobyl cannot be so readily ruled out.
Huffington Post 14th Oct 2010 more >>
Fusion
UK researchers have developed a high-intensity laser system that could bring nuclear fusion power generation a step closer.
The Engineer 14th Oct 2010 more >>
India
David Lowry: In 2008 the US broke a 34-year ban on nuclear trade with India. It signed a special deal allowing the export of US civilian nuclear technology and fuel in exchange for inspections of India’s civilian (but not military) nuclear facilities. This rewards a state that has steadfastly refused to sign the NPT.
CND CampaignAutumn 2010 (page 3) more >>
US
With its abandonment of Calvert Cliffs III, Constellation has also reaffirmed its well-deserved reputation for political ham-handedness. Holding out the prospect of 4,000 badly needed construction jobs, the company had put the arm on Maryland’s governor and congressional delegation to lobby the White House and Energy Department for a big chunk of the nuclear power loan guarantee fund. As late as last Friday, administration officials were rushing to work out a revised financing scheme that could have cut the the loan guarantee’s price in half. Now, with Constellation’s withdrawal, they all have political egg on their faces. It’s an embarrassment they will surely remember the next time Constellation comes calling.
Washington Post 14th Oct 2010 more >>
Maryland’s Calvert Cliffs nuke project is on the brink of cancellation. It’s potentially one of the most critical atomic failures in decades. But financial markets love the nuke’s demise. The stock of its American partner—Constellation Energy—has soared with the apparent death of a project widely feared as a huge money-loser.
The Free Press 12th Oct 2010 more >>
Electricit de France SA said it’s willing to buy partner Constellation Energy Group’s stake in their joint venture building new U.S. nuclear power plants.
Delaware Online 15th Oct 2010 more >>
After the news at the weekend that Constellation Energy Group Inc had cancelled plans to build at third nuclear reactor at Calvert Cliffs in the US, the company’s share price rose by 15 cents to $32.50. Meanwhile on the other side of the Atlantic, EdF – the largest shareholder in the in the Constellation Group – saw its share price fall by 3.4 per cent on the news (the share price is down 27 per cent this year).
Greenpeace Nuclear Reaction 14th Oct 2010 more >>
Peter Bradford: For the second time in a generation, the nuclear industry is undergoing a breathtaking transit from overblown hope to crushing disappointment. Once again this cycle is taking place in the context of claims that we must have many more new reactors than we are likely to get to avert an overwhelming existential threat – oil imports in the 1970s, and climate change today. Many in Washington are determined to ignore or override the latest market verdict against new nuclear reactors. Republicans in particular still insist on the need to build 100 new reactors by 2030. Democrats, while setting no such socialistic quotas, flirt with financing mechanisms that would open taxpayer wallets to virtually unlimited exposure to the risks of new nuclear power – risks that private investors want no part of.
Electricity Policy 11th Oct 2010 more >>
Venezuela
Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez hailed its alliance with Russia and said his country had a right to develop nuclear energy as he started a visit to Moscow on Thursday. Chavez is planning to buy tanks in Russia, after committing to $5 billion in earlier arms deals, and discuss construction of a nuclear plant which will use Russian technology.
Reuters 14th Oct 2010 more >>
Nuclear Testing
The first U.S. subcritical atomic test under President Barack Obama, who has called for a world without nuclear arms, drew harsh fire from Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba. “I am outraged by your trampling on the expectations and hopes of the A-bomb survivors and the vast majority of Earth’s inhabitants, and, on behalf of the A-bombed city of Hiroshima, I vehemently protest,” Akiba said in his letter to Obama.
Japan Times 14th Oct 2010 more >>
Nagasaki mayor Tomihisa Taue said in a statement on his website: “The experiment is a reversal from an international trend for a world without nuclear weapons. I feel extreme regret.” Taue also planned to send a letter of protest to the US embassy as early as Thursday, Nagasaki city officials said.
Yahoo 14th Oct 2010 more >>
Nuclear Weapons
36 science professors have today written to the Prime Minister calling on him to protect core scientific research by cutting investment in developing new nuclear weapons. The scientists, who include ex-Royal Society head, Sir Michael Atiyah and Nobel Prize winner, Sir Harold Kroto, highlight how £2bn a year, over 25% of the government’s total scientific research and development budget, is currently spent by the Ministry of Defence
Scientists for Global Responsibility 13th Oct 2010 more >>
Germany today demanded greater Nato commitment to nuclear disarmament, seeking to link support for a new system of missile defence in Europe to the removal of some 200 ageing tactical nuclear bombs around the continent.
Guardian 15th Oct 2010 more >>
Renewables
Two renewable energy quangos have been axed, with a leaked letter describing the function delivered by one of them as no longer a “priority”
Guardian 14th Oct 2010 more >>
Fuel Poverty
The number of households struggling to afford to stay warm has more than doubled in the past six years, according to official figures. Rising energy bills have pushed an extra 2.5 million homes into fuel poverty since 2004, the report by the Department of Energy and Climate Change said.
Times 15th October 2010 more >>
