British Energy
Nuclear power firm British Energy may drop plans for an £11 billion sale in favour of a series of joint ventures, it has been reported. The company – which produces around a sixth of the UK’s electricity – has dismissed a series of takeover approaches for failing to match price expectations.
PA 15th June 2008 more >>
The £11bn auction of British Energy could be abandoned in favour of a series of joint ventures with Europe’s leading power companies, according to plans being considered by the UK nuclear operator. The joint-venture strategy could take centre stage in British Energy’s plans after the company this week rejected an approach of about 700p a share from France’s EDF, believed to be the last bidder left in the auction. Plans to create a series of joint ventures are reportedly supported by at least 25pc of shareholders, many of whom had been lobbying the British company to reject EDF’s offer.
Telegraph 16th June 2008 more >>
New Nukes
Hugh Raven: “GOING nuclear out of grim necessity” (advocated by The Scotsman last week), is not a solution to tackling climate change or energy security. Two years ago, the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC), reporting directly to the prime minister, published eight volumes of scientific analysis and its own position paper. It said replacing all existing nuclear capacity with new nuclear plants might save seven million tonnes of carbon by the late 2020s, around 4 per cent of total UK emissions – a measurable, though not decisive, contribution.
Scotsman 16th June 2008 more >>
Proliferation
The discovery of designs for a compact nuclear bomb has raised fears that Iran and North Korea might have obtained blueprints enabling them to mount long-range strikes with nuclear-armed missiles. Designs for a nuclear device small enough to fit on a ballistic missile were found on computers linked to the international smuggling ring that supplied nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea, a top US expert says.
Telegraph 16th June 2008 more >>
Guardian 16th June 2008 more >>
BBC 15th June 2008 more >>
Stephen Hadley, US national security adviser, told reporters on Sunday: “We are very concerned about the A.Q. Khan network, both in terms of what they were doing by purveying enrichment technology and also the possibility that there would be weapons-related technology associated with it.”
FT 16th June 2008 more >>
Iran
Iran offered conciliatory words over its nuclear programme yesterday, indicating its willingness to find a diplomatic solution to the confrontation with the international community.
Telegraph 16th June 2008 more >>
Senior diplomats from the world’s big powers said they had received an unexpectedly positive response from Iran at the weekend when the international community presented Tehran with a fresh package of proposals aimed at settling the dispute over its nuclear ambitions.
FT 16th June 2008 more >>
Iran is showing no signs of backing down after warnings by the Western powers of more sanctions if it rejects a package of incentives to give up sensitive nuclear activities.
Independent 16th June 2008 more >>
Guardian 16th June 2008 more >>
Hopes of a negotiated solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis have suffered a major setback after Iran appeared to rebuff an offer of incentives from world powers in return for suspending its uranium enrichment programme.
Times 16th June 2008 more >>
Italy
The three-year development plan the Italian government is to examine on Wednesday will include rules on the introduction of nuclear power in the country, economic development minister Claudio Scajola said.
AFX 15th June 2008 more >>
Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, is to place nuclear power at the heart of a new energy plan this week as his country faces soaring fuel costs. Italy, the only G8 country with no nuclear power stations, decommissioned its four plants after a public referendum in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster.
Telegraph 16th June 2008 more >>
Europe
Blackouts that plunged 500,000 homes into darkness last month were compounded by European environmental restrictions over the use of coal and oil-fired power stations, The Times has learnt. The unexpected shutdown of two power stations on Tuesday, May 29, led to the worst disruption to the UK’s power network in more than 20 years, prompting new concerns over the stability of Britain’s ageing power grid. However, industry sources say that a key factor was the European Union’s Large Combustion Plant Directive (LCPD), which sets strict limits on the number of hours that some of Britain’s largest and most heavily polluting coal and oil-fired power stations can operate before they have to close in 2015. The time is measured in “stack hours” the length of time that chimney stacks, rather than individual generation units, are in use.
Times 16th June 2008 more >>
Solar
Soaring oil prices have led to such a boom for solar power that the industry could operate without subsidies in just a few years, according to industry leaders. At the solar industry trade fair in Munich over the weekend, there was growing confidence that the holy grail known as “grid parity” – whereby electricity from the sun can be produced as cheaply as it can be bought from the grid – is now just a few years away. Solar photovoltaics (PV), which convert sunlight into electrical power, have long been dismissed as too expensive to make a meaningful contribution to the battle against climate change. But costs are falling as PV production booms, and with electricity prices rising rapidly in line with soaring oil and gas prices, demand for solar panels is increasing sharply.
Guardian 16th June 2008 more >>
Oil
The Government should be to announce that funds from higher fuel taxes will be channelled into alternative, clean power generation and energy conservation schemes. The fact that so many of our political leaders are pinning their hopes on the oil producers riding to the rescue merely confirms how tenuously they grasp the new reality.
Independent 16th June 2008 more >>
