Nuclear Subsidies
Environmental campaigners have accused the government of preparing to allow a multimillion-pound “handout” to firms building nuclear reactors. Greenpeace said the plans went against assurances given by ministers that the nuclear industry would not receive any handouts to help build new nuclear power stations. A study commissioned by Greenpeace claimed that firms would not be liable for dealing with the waste from new reactors, leaving the taxpayer with bills running into billions of pounds.
Morning Star 21st June 2010 more >>
Fixed Unit Price Simulation for Disposal of Spent Fuel from Nuclear Power Stations in the UK (FUPSIM) by Ian Jackson.
Greenpeace UK June 2010 more >>
Hidden Subsidies and New Nuclear.
Greenpeace Briefing, June 2010 more >>
Supply Chain
To encourage supplier involvement, Horizon has embarked on a series of training programmes, drop-in events and conferences to ensure companies from industries as diverse as shipbuilding, petro-chemical and water equipment understand what is required to work in the nuclear sector. “We are developing a strategy which tries to identify prospective entrants and help them to qualify themselves to enter the nuclear industry,” he adds.
Supply Management 21st June 2010 more >>
SAFETY seal firm Roxtec has tripled its sales in the nuclear sector in the last twelve months. Roxtec’s products will be used to protect cabling and pipes against fire, gas and water at nuclear power generation plants, research facilities and military establishments in the UK.
Industry Today 21st June 2010 more >>
Reactor Safety
As utilities seek to build new nuclear power plants around the world, questions remain about whether the newer reactors are sufficiently foolproof to be adopted on a large scale.
While the NRC continues its evaluation of the five reactors, Lyman argues that none is as safe as it could be. The new designs are engineered only to withstand a predictable sequence of events, something engineers theorize may happen. In nuclear parlance that is called a “design basis accident.” The new reactors, like their older counterparts, are not designed to survive an unexpected sequence of events. That is the critical flaw, says Lyman: “Three Mile Island was a beyond-design-basis accident.”
Guardian 21st JUne 2010 more >>
Companies
Iberdrola is working on the carbon-capture and storage demonstration project at Longannet coal-fired power station in Fife and on the building of nuclear power stations south of the Border. The Spanish group is currently upgrading nuclear power stations in Russia and is developing nuclear projects in ten other countries.
Scotsman 22nd June 2010 more >>
Wylfa
FIRST Minister Carwyn Jones launched a major strategy aimed at transforming Anglesey into an ‘Energy Island’ Clearly the decision over Wylfa B isn’t devolved but creating the skills that will be needed in the future to help run Wylfa B is something that we have influence on.
Daily Post 21st June 2010 more >>
Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan MP has reiterated her support for Wylfa B, the proposed new nuclear power station for Anglesey, saying that it will be in the vanguard of new generation nuclear plants in the UK.
Anglesey Today 21st June 2010 more >>
Hinkley
The battle to protect the countryside from towering pylons and miles of overhead cables is set to intensify this week as National Grid announces plans which are expected to see large swathes of the West blighted by high-voltage infrastructure. Grid bosses are to detail plans for three new high-voltage lines as a prelude to the biggest expansion of Britain’s electricity delivery network in half a century.
Bristol Evening Post 21st June 2010 more >>
Uranium
There is plenty of uranium in Australia. Problem is the Australians see it as the “new asbestos”. So much so that Aussie unions have banned their members on ethical and safety grounds from working in all aspects of the nuclear industry, from mining to power plants. The Electrical Trade Union is equivalent to our Unite (representing members in the electrical, communications, power, manufacturing, education, hospitality, aerospace and food industries). The unprecedented stand taken this summer by the ETU has been shied away from by the British press despite the ethical and practical implications for the future of the nuclear industry. There are plenty of ways to produce sustainable electricity and energy efficiency while leaving the uranium in the ground. The line drawn in the sand by the ETU is of great significance to all our futures.
Independent 22nd June 2010 more >>
Global Partnership
The Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Steering Group met in Accra, Ghana on June 16-17, 2010, and approved unanimously several transformative changes to reflect global developments that have occurred since the Partnership was established in 2007. The transformation includes a new name – the International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation — and the establishment of a new Statement of Mission. Participants in this new International Framework agreed that this transformation was necessary to provide a broader scope with wider international participation to more effectively explore the most important issues underlying the use and expansion of nuclear energy worldwide.
Commodities Now 21st June 2010 more >>
Pakistan
China has angered the US with plans to build two nuclear reactors in Pakistan, despite fears over the country’s political stability.
Telegraph 22nd June 2010 more >>
Iran
IRAN has banned two UN nuclear inspectors from entering the country, a state media report said. The report, posted on the website of the state broadcasting company, quotes Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran’s nuclear department, as saying the Vienna-based International Agency for Atomic Energy, the UN nuclear watchdog, has been informed of the decision to ban the two inspectors. He did not name them.
Yorkshire Post 21st June 2010 more >>
Scotsman 22nd June 2010 more >>
Guardian 22nd June 2010 more >>
Sweden
Sweden’s parliament, in defiance of a 1980 referendum when the electorate voted to phase out nuclear power, has repealed the legislation that followed the referendum and will now allow the building of new nuclear power plant to maintain its existing fleet.
Nuclear Engineering International 21st June 2010 more >>
Asia
Energy ministers from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum have agreed that the deployment of clean energy sources – including nuclear energy – should be promoted in the region.
World Nuclear News 21st June 2010 more >>
Renewables
Europe will import its first solar-generated electricity from North Africa within the next five years, European Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said in an interview on Sunday.
Reuters 20th June 2010 more >>
