2 February 2012

New Nukes

Can the UK achieve its carbon targets without nuclear power? : The government is wrong to claim that the UK cannot do without nuclear power, says a new report. Leo Hickman, with your help, investigates.

Guardian 1st Feb 2012 more >>

The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) ‘misled’ MPs by claiming new nuclear was needed to meet the UK’s increasing energy needs, according to a new report. The report Corruption of Governance has been produced for the Association for the Conservation of Energy and campaign group Unlock Democracy.

Edie 1st Feb 2012 more >>

New Civil Engineer 1st Feb 2012 more >>

GDA

Agreements on the design of new nuclear reactors for the UK drew a step closer when the Office of Nuclear Regulation and the Environment Agency awarded interim design acceptance certificates (IDACs) in December. The two government organisations have been carrying out a generic design assessment (GDA) for two types of reactors in the UK: EDF and AREVAs UK EPR and Westinghouse’s AP1000. But they have also identified a number of issues that need to be sorted out.

Nuclear Energy Insider 1st Feb 2012 more >>

Radwaste

Thousands of west Cumbrians are to be asked about whether the area should be a possible host for the underground storage of high-level radioactive waste. The market research company Ipsos Mori is to conduct a telephone poll of 4,000 people over three weeks. One third of those questioned will be from Allerdale; one third from Copeland, and the remainder from other parts of Cumbria. The poll, which begins on March 8, has been announced as part of consultation organised by West Cumbria Managing Radioactive Waste Safely Partnership.

Carlisle News & Star 1st Feb 2012 more >>

Hinkley

Flooding concerns have been raised over plans to build Britains first new nuclear power station for 20 years on the Westcountry coast. The Environment Agency (EA) says unresolved issues remain over the proposed twin-reactor Hinkley Point C in Somerset.

Western Morning News 1st Feb 2012 more >>

Oldbury

Gloucester-based company Horizon has bought £90m of land key to the development of the proposed new nuclear power station near Oldbury-on-Severn in South Gloucestershire. The company, Horizon Nuclear Power Oldbury Limited, which is based at Barnwood, bought the 119 acres from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). It also bought land at Wylfa on Anglesey in North Wales, all of which further positions the company at the heart of the development of the next generation of nuclear power plants planned for the UK. Alan Raymant, chief operating officer at Horizon, which expects its 130-strong staff team to grow to 175 this year and 200-plus eventually, said: Completion of our land purchase at Oldbury is another important step for our project and means that we can look forward to developing a strong and successful project in South Gloucestershire.

This is Gloucestershire 1st Feb 2012 more >>

A LAND deal which is key to the building of a new nuclear power station near Bristol has been finalised. Horizon, the company behind the massive scheme, said it had completed the purchase of land which was necessary for the project to be developed next to the existing Oldbury atomic plant, right, near Thornbury. It was bought from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority under terms agreed in a 2009 land auction.

Bristol Evening Post 2nd Feb 2012 more >>

Bradwell

Mott MacDonald is acting as the designer to Vinci Construction Limited, on behalf of Magnox Limited, for the design and build of an approx £20 million weather protection envelope at Bradwell power station in Essex, UK. The two reactor buildings at the Bradwell site each consist of a reactor, two boiler houses and two circulator halls encompassing a 26,000m² surface area. The weather envelope will cover and protect both buildings on site.

Cision Wire 31st Jan 2012 more >>

Sizewell

The visitor centre at Sizewell nuclear power station is to re-open, a decade after it closed in the wake of the 11 September terrorist attacks. British Energy, which owns Sizewell B, said it will have a temporary centre near the plant on the Suffolk coast open by the autumn.

BBC 1st Feb 2012 more >>

Supply Chain

ENGINEERING firm Redhall is to team up with French company Baumert to bid for work on the UKs nuclear new build programme. Wakefield-based Redhalls chairman and chief executive David Jackson said: We will bid jointly with Baumert for shield and security doors in the UKs nuclear new build programme commencing with Hinkley Point. The potential revenue for these products for the partnership is approximately £50m for each nuclear reactor.

Yorkshire Post 2nd Feb 2012 more >>

Sheffield Forgemasters has put its unique nuclear capabilities on show to a global audience of key decision makers at a London conference. Chief executive Dr Graham Honeyman told delegates to the Civil Nuclear Energy Showcase event, organised by UK Trade and Investment, that the Brightside Lane firm had invested significant time and money into pushing the boundaries of forging technology.

Sheffield Star 1st Feb 2012 more >>

Radhealth

Europe is making a good start on learning about the health risks of low-dose radiation with a programme to share cold-war data and set research priorities. But the effort needs to be global.

Nature 1st Feb 2012 more >>

Nuclear Security

The US and South Korea have asked the Netherlands to host the Nuclear Security Summit in 2014. The summit, an initiative of President Obama, works at the highest political level to combat nuclear terrorism and the smuggling of nuclear material. It will be attended by government leaders from more than 45 countries.

eGov Monitor 1st Feb 2012 more >>

Scotland

Renewable energy projects have been shelved because of uncertainty about energy market reform and a controversial decision to cut subsidies for home solar panels, the Scottish Energy Minister has said.Fergus Ewing told Holyroods Energy Committee that the uncertainty had resulted in pre-approved renewables projects being put on hold. He also said that the UK Governments fight to reduce feed-in tariff subsidies (FITs), payments made to households and communities that generate green electricity through solar panels, had also resulted in major projects being delayed.

Times 2nd Feb 2012 more >>

Finland

Finnish nuclear developer Fennovoima has received the final sections of the bids for its Hanhikivi 1 (HA1) nuclear power plant. Commercial bids have now been received from French company Areva and Toshiba of Japan for the plant, which will be built in the Pyhäjoki municipality in the north of the country. Technical bids had been submitted earlier in January and their evaluation is under way. The scope of the bids covers the engineering, supply and construction of the nuclear and turbine islands. Fennovoimas alternatives are the EPR reactor from Areva and the ABWR reactor Toshiba

Construction Index 1st Feb 2012 more >>

Japan

More than 8 tonnes of water have leaked from Japan’s stricken nuclear power plant after a frozen pipe burst inside a reactor building, but none of the water is thought to have escaped the complex.

Reuters 1st Feb 2012 more >>

Two advisers to Japan’s nuclear safety agency have slammed stress tests being conducted on idle nuclear reactors, saying they do not guarantee the safety of the facilities and calling into question the impartiality of the U.N. nuclear agency that approved Japan’s handling of the tests on Jan. 31.

Asahi 2nd Feb 2012 more >>

The central government is smoothing the way for restarting nuclear power reactors, but gaining the go-ahead from local officials and residents is anything but guaranteed.

Asahi 1st Feb 2012 more >>

Fukushima update 27th – 30th January.

Greenpeace International 1st Feb 2012 more >>

US

Energy Secretary Steven Chu on Tuesday said that the United States will likely need more than one permanent repository for commercial nuclear fuel waste, even after a decades-long battle killed plans for a single repository site long-planned for Nevada. The comment came in the wake of a final report last week from the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future, which was set up by Chu to examine what to do with spent nuclear fuel now languishing at commercial nuclear power plants around the country.

Platts 31st Jan 2012 more >>

A reactor at a Southern Californian nuclear power station was shut down on Tuesday after a small leak was found. One of two reactors at the San Onofre nuclear power station was shut down after the leak was detected in a steam generator tube, but the incident posed no risk to the public or plant workers, the facility operator said.

Engineering & Technology 1st Feb 2012 more >>

Iran

A UNITED Nations nuclear team has said it plans to revisit Tehran in the very near future, indicating progress on its quest to get information from Iran about claims that it has been secretly working on an atomic arms programme.

Scotsman 2nd Feb 2012 more >>

The International Atomic Energy Agency announced on Wednesday that it had conducted a good trip to Iran for discussions on Tehrans nuclear programme, stating it would return to the country in three weeks for further talks.

FT 1st Feb 2012 more >>

United Nations inspectors did not visit any of Irans nuclear sites, reports say. Instead they concentrated on talks with officials. An Iranian official told the news agency IRNA the experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency conducted negotiations with Iranians and did not visit the sites where uranium is being enriched.

Wales Online 1st Feb 2012 more >>

Submarines

A Government minister has refused to detail back-up plans on an independent Scotland ditching nuclear submarines and moving the vessels to the Westcountry. In a series of written Parliamentary questions, MPs have pressed the Ministry of Defence on its contingency if the UK is to split. The Scottish National Party has vowed Trident nuclear missiles will be removed from Faslane naval base on the Clyde if voters back independence in a referendum. It could mean Plymouth’s Devonport Naval Base becomes home to the UK’s nuclear deterrent and submarine fleet.

Western Morning News 1st Feb 2012 more >>

Energy Efficiency

The government has set out proposals for an overhaul of building regulations that would make new “zero-carbon homes” commonplace by 2016 and require property owners to install measures to improve their building’s energy efficiency when they carry out renovations.