Low Level Waste
Proposals for a radioactive waste disposal facility on the site of a former opencast mine in Cumbria have been submitted to planners. Endecom UK wants to build a plant to manage low level nuclear waste at Keekle Head, near Whitehaven. It would mostly store material from buildings demolished as part of the decommissioning process at Sellafield.
BBC 21st Dec 2009 more >>
Bristol
Bristol City Council could oppose the building of new nuclear reactors at nearby Oldbury and Hinkley Point. A motion has been submitted for debate by Liberal Democrat councillor Dr Mark Wright (Cabot ward) that notes the many problems that nuclear power presents and that none of the public consultations on the new reactors have come to Bristol even though Oldbury is just 8 miles from the city boundary. The motion would commit the Council to opposing the building of new reactors, and calls for all future rounds of consultation to come to Bristol so that residents can have their say too.
Charlie Bolton’s Southville Blog 21st Dec 2009 more >>
Lib Dems 21st Dec 2009 more >>
Hinkley
CAMPAIGNERS in Cannington are calling on EDF Energy to scrap its infrastructure plans for the new power plant at Hinkley Point before their village is “destroyed”. The Save Cannington Action Group, headed by nuclear expert and villager Alan Beasley, claims the firm’s proposals are “immature”, and will make the lives of local people a “misery”. EDF plans to build two new bypasses either side of Cannington, as well as a 200-bed campus, a park and ride scheme, freight handling facilities, and a college recreation area in the village.
This is the West Country 21st Dec 2009 more >>
Trawsfynydd
Trawsfynydd, Snowdonia’s Basil Spence-designed energy plant, is a triumph of modernist architecture – we should be celebrating it, not bringing in the bulldozers.
Guardian 22nd Dec 2009 more >>
Decommissioning
Westinghouse Electric Company has become the sixth partner in Cumbria Nuclear Solutions Limited. The partnership of companies has submitted a bid for the second Sellafield Decommissioning Framework Agreement estimated to be worth around GBP30m per year over four years. The other companies are James Fisher Nuclear Ltd, REACT Engineering Ltd, Shepley Engineers Ltd, Stobbarts Ltd and WYG Ltd.
Nuclear Engineering International 21st Dec 2009 more >>
Carbon Prices
Electricity bills could go up as a result of the weekend’s feeble agreement on climate change at Copenhagen, energy suppliers have warned. The price of carbon – paid by heavy polluters such as power plant operators – plummeted yesterday by almost 10% on Europe’s emissions trading market. This was in response to the EU scrapping a planned commitment to cut emissions by 30% by 2020 because other countries failed to show similar ambition. E.ON and Centrica warned that they would not invest the tens of billions of pounds to build expensive new nuclear reactors and clean coal plants at today’s carbon price, which is supposed to penalise dirty coal and gas plants. Some companies including Centrica repeated calls for the UK government to intervene and put a floor – or higher minimum price – on carbon to guarantee them a profit on building the expensive low carbon emitting power plants. The Guardian reported in October that senior government officials had promised the nuclear industry to fix a higher carbon price in the event of a failure at Copenhagen. A spokeswoman for Ed Miliband, the energy and climate change secretary, last night would not comment on his plans.
Guardian 22nd Dec 2009 more >>
Tradable carbon prices fell by 8 per cent on Monday following another 8 per cent drop last week. The European Union’s December 2010 carbon contract now stands at about 12.41 per tonne. Last summer, carbon prices reached a peak of 31.70. That means the cost to any polluter to emit CO2 has halved in less than 18 months. The price drop is not just because world leaders failed to agree binding emissions targets last week. One culprit is the mechanics of the carbon trading system itself. Low carbon prices do little to encourage substitution to other forms of energy generation, such as nuclear (more or less economic at current carbon prices), onshore wind ( 131) or solar ( 572).
FT 22nd Dec 2009 more >>
Climate
Letter: A groundswell of actions by individual communities led by local authorities, supported in turn by national government, is surely the most effective way of creating the climate for change that would tip our leaders into action. One of the few positive notes from Copenhagen was the conference of the elected mayors from the major cities. Over the last decade, in spite of the national politics, American cities such as Boulder, Portland and Santa Monica have been quietly, but effectively, decarbonising their economies. Here, the examples of the Transition towns along with councils such as Kirklees, Stoke, Birmingham and Camden have started to show how fine words can be turned into effective actions.
Guardian 22nd Dec 2009 more >>
Iran
Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator has called for a global nuclear weapons ban and accused rich countries of seeking to “monopolise” atomic energy. Visiting Tokyo to meet senior Japanese officials, Saeed Jalili said: “The crime that was committed in Hiroshima must never be repeated. “A global determination must be made to disarm all nations with these weapons.”
Morning Star 22nd Dec 2009 more >>
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said a document apparently showing that Tehran plans to test a trigger for a nuclear bomb is a US forgery.
BBC 22nd Dec 2009 more >>
Times 22nd Dec 2009 more >>
China
A joint declaration from the French and Chinese governments will allow Areva SA to start talks with its Chinese partners to supply nuclear waste treatment facilities, La Tribune reported, citing Areva Chief Executive Officer Anne Lauvergeon. The market for such facilities in China could be worth 15 billion euros, the newspaper said.
Bloomberg 22nd Dec 2009 more >>
China will start building another “two or three” third-generation Westinghouse nuclear reactors by the end of next year once they have been approved by the government, the China Daily newspaper said on Tuesday.
Reuters 22nd Dec 2009 more >>
South Korea
Seoul shares rose on Tuesday, with Korea Power Engineering and Doosan Heavy Industries rallying on expectations that they would benefit from the government’s plan to boost atomic energy technology. The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said on Monday that it would grow the nuclear power sector as a key strategy industry and bring forward a plan to develop nuclear reactors with South Korea’s technology, outlining its 2010 policy focus.
Interactive Investor 22nd Dec 2009 more >>
India
Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Chairman Srikumar Banerjee has said that the country was firm on securing the right to reprocessing nuclear fuel under the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, the Times of India reported. The deal is in the final stages of getting operationalized.
Energy Business Review 20th Dec 2009 more >>
