Nuclear Subsidy
An 80m government loan to support Britain’s civil nuclear supply chain is set to be axed, barring a last- minute reprieve, as the result of a Treasury review of pre-election spending by the last government expected to be announced today. Danny Alexander, chief secretary to the Treasury, is expected to tell MPs that most of the business-related loans and grants in the review of post-January spending decisions have been spared. Pat McFadden, shadow business secretary, sounded a warning note over the 80m government loan to Sheffield Forgemasters, which the FT understands is set to be axed, barring a last minute intervention by Downing Street. Dropping the loan part of a financing package designed to enable the company to build the specialist, ultra-large forgings required for modern civil nuclear reactors would be seen as totemic of a wider shift in industrial policy. “If the government pulls the plug on this loan, it will display a complete lack of vision and ambition for British policy in the worldwide nuclear supply chain,” Mr McFadden said.
FT 17th June 2010 more >>
Nuclear Costs
Letter from Darren Johnson: The consultation document reveals that EDF considers their full share of these costs to be around 20% of the total. As our report Nuclear Power? No Point! highlighted last year, nuclear is only responsible for 4% of the energy consumed in the UK. More energy can be saved by energy conservation measures in homes and businesses. Focusing on the nuclear industry takes resources away from building new renewable capacity, which, given sufficient political will, could provide more than enough electricity for the UK.
David Toke: EDF’s claim that they “have not asked for subsidy for new nuclear” is not all that it seems. EDF will be receiving huge sums of windfall profits under government proposals for a floor price on carbon emission allowances. British Energy will greatly expand its profits for no increase in nuclear power production, all subsidised by electricity consumers.
Eddie Dougall: Paul Spence’s defence of new nuclear power stations based on the assertion that they won’t be a financial burden to the public ignores the taxpayer’s liability in the event of a “new Chernobyl”. No insurance company will offer cover for such an event or the consequences of a terrorist attack or any other less serious but still unquantifiable risk. In its determination to sanction new nuclear power plants, the government is underwriting these risks; without such an undertaking no commercial company would even contemplate building a new nuclear power station. No hidden subsidies?
Guardian 17th June 2010 more >>
New Nukes
Energy minister Charles Hendry will today underline the government’s commitment to building a new fleet of nuclear power plants in the UK, outlining how it plans to remove “unnecessary” barriers to the construction of new reactors. Hendry will tell the Nucelar Industry Forum that the government will support new nuclear plants that can demonstrate that they can be built, operated and decommissioned without recourse to public subsidy.
Business Green 16th June 2010 more >>
Guadian 16th June 2010 more >>
The problem is that while the rhetoric indicates a balanced energy policy, what little action we have seen since the new government took office suggests the nuclear industry is beginning to establish itself as top dog. It was the nuclear industry that requested and got meetings with DECC ministers within days of their taking office, just as it has been the nuclear industry that today received a clear signal from energy minister Charles Hendry that the government will remove the “unnecessary” barriers it faces. In fact, Hendry’s speech boiled down to a remarkably unequivocal message: “don’t worry, we’ll look after you”.In contrast, the renewables sector is still awaiting clarity on numerous issues. Huhne may have stressed his commitment to the industry and there is universal agreement that as a Lib Dem his support for the sector runs deep. But where is the clarification on how the government plans to extend the feed in tariff to all renewable projects? Where is the detail on how it will make good on its commitment to accelerate the development of marine and anaerobic digestion technologies? Where is the evidence that the promised Green Investment Bank will prove effective? Where is the information on what is going to happen to the renewable heat sector? Where is the promise to address the UK’s flawed, anti-wind farm planning regime? Where is the timeline for answering all these questions?
Business Green 16th June 2010 more >>
Greenhouse gas emissions could be slashed by tripling the capacity of nuclear power over the next 40 years, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA). The Nuclear Energy Technology Roadmap, which has been drawn up together with the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), sets an “ambitious but achievable” target of generating nearly a quarter of the world’s electricity using nuclear power by 2050.
Energy Efficiency News 16th June 2010 more >>
Radioactive Waste
INDEPENDENT experts are taking a close look at West Cumbria in the search to find the right place to bury highly active radioactive waste. Most of it is produced and stored at Sellafield. The British Geological Society (BGS) has been commissioned by the Government to carry out a survey but at this stage it will assess only information currently available. It is also stressed that the main aim is to ‘screen out’ areas which prove unsuitable for a waste repository deep underground. Nirex spent millions during the 1990s on investigations which included drilling boreholes around Sellafield to see whether the ground might be suitable. Longlands Farm, near Gosforth, was then the “preferred” location of both Nirex and BNFL, the former Sellafield operators, but later the conditions were said to be ‘flawed’ by a government inspector after holding a public inquiry into Nirex’s application to build a rock laboratory at Longlands. This was to determine whether the geology was suitable and safe.
Whitehaven News 16th June 2010 more >>
PLANS for a low-level radioactive waste dump at Keekle Head have met no objections from Allerdale Council. The council’s development panel discussed the plans, put forward by Endecom UK last week. The council is being consulted about the plans, which will be decided by Cumbria County Council. Some members felt the development would create jobs and wanted to defer its comments to see what the new government’s strategy on nuclear would be, and whether it would bring any socio-economic benefits to the area. Concerns were also raised that West Cumbria could become a dumping ground for other people’s rubbish if the plan went ahead.
Whitehaven News 16th June 2010 more >>
Sellafield
CRUNCH time looms at Sellafield over both job losses and how suppliers will be affected by cuts. Jobs among agency staff are already being shed as management and unions thrash out ways of trying to reduce 800 planned permanent payroll redundancies. Today The Whitehaven News can reveal that businesses supplying Sellafield will be expected to give more value for money.
Whitehaven News 16th June 2010 more >>
Waste Transport
CAMPAIGNERS are set to rail against mammoth freight trains hauling nuclear waste past their homes at all hours of the night. A stall will be set up at Harringay railway station, off Green Lanes, Harringay, from 11am-1pm, on Saturday to protest against the “dangerous” transportations along the newly-upgraded Barking to Gospel Oak train line.
Muswell Hill Journal 16th June 2010 more >>
Companies
CH2M Hill, a global consulting, design, construction and operations firm, has appointed Richard Waite as managing director, commercial nuclear, Europe & Middle East.
Whitehaven News 16th June 2010 more >>
Renewables
Egypt is to open its first solar farm by the end of the year, in a move that will further underline North Africa’s emergence as one of the world’s most exciting solar energy markets.
Business Green 15th June 2010 more >>
The Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI) has highlighted Scotland’s well-renowned natural assets as a key driver for its sustainable future. The SCDI has published its ‘Blueprint for Scotland’, which recommends a major construction programme for offshore wind farms, along with the capture and storage of carbon emissions from fossil fuel burning power stations. It suggests that, as the natural environment already supports a large part of the Scottish economy, this affords the potential to be a world leader in sustainable cities, regions and communities.
Public Service 16th June 2010 more >>
Iran
Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, hinted today that he may be ready to resume nuclear talks – but only after the west had been punished for imposing new sanctions.
Guardian 17th June 2010 more >>
