New Nukes
“Nuclear power? Yes please …” says the Independent, reporting on the decision of four “leading greens” to back nuclear power. “They have now changed their minds over atomic energy,” the story said. It’s a “volte face”, a “U-turn”. One of them, Stephen Tindale, is a former director of Greenpeace who was, according to the report, “vehemently anti-nuclear” but has changed his mind: not a sudden change, more a realisation “over the past four years”. Does this coincide with the period in which he worked as head of communications for the renewables arm of RWE, a German firm which has stakes in 20 nuclear power plants? It doesn’t say. Perhaps it should.
Guardian 24th Feb 2009 more >>
A Green Party parliamentary candidate is facing disciplinary action after calling for the reintroduction of nuclear power, which is strictly against party policy. Chris Goodall, prospective parliamentary candidate for Oxford West and Abingdon, upset many party members with his assertion in yesterday’s Independent that atomic energy has a role to play in the fight against climate change. Mr Goodall was one of four prominent environmentalists disclosed as having had a change of heart about the nuclear issue, having moved from an anti-nuclear stance to believing that atomic power is a necessary part of the energy mix in the struggle to cut carbon emissions and halt global warming.
Independent 24th Feb 2009 more >>
Prof Jan Bebbington, Vice Chair of the Sustainable Development Commission Scotland says a good safety record is not enough to make the case for new nuclear reactors in Scotland.
Scotsman 24th Feb 2009 more >>
Q&A Does nuclear now provide the answer to Britain’s energy needs? Left to itself, the proportion of UK electricity provided by the nuclear sector will be down to single digits by 2018, and in 15 years only one reactor will remain in operation. But nuclear is not the only dwindling supply. Some eight gigawatts – equivalent to about six power stations – of coal-fired generating capacity will be out of action by 2015 as Europe’s clean-air directive bites and older facilities prove uneconomic to upgrade. Taken together, the UK needs to replace a third of its electricity generating capacity in the next 15 years. Even plans for seven gigawatts of new gas-fired capacity, expected by 2015, and another five gigawatts recently given the go-ahead by the Government, will not be enough as estimates put energy demand ballooning by anything up to 20 per cent in the coming decade.
Independent 24th Feb 2009 more >>
Stephen Tindale tells the Sun why he has changed his mind.
The Sun 24th Feb 2009 more >>
With Britain facing a major energy crisis in the next few years – as coal-fired power stations and old nuclear power stations close down – and with the UK Government committed to cutting greenhouse gases by 80 per cent by 2050, many in the environmental movement are changing their minds. The 4 Greens argue that while nuclear power still has problems, climate change is a greater threat and that nuclear is a better option for keeping the lights on than building new coal-fired power stations.
Telegraph 23rd Feb 2009 more >>
Now, I imagine a few CoffeeHousers might be thinking: “Who cares what these jumped-up climate-change crusaders believe?” But the fact remains that the green lobby is, rightly or wrongly, a powerful voice in British politics. Given our country’s desperate need for cheaper, more plentiful, energy, anything which smooths the passage for an expansion in nuclear power should be welcomed.
Spectator 23rd Feb 2009 more >>
Nuclear reactor designer, Westinghouse, is in advance discussions with RWE to build three nuclear reactors on Anglesey. Construction work could start in 2013.
Contract Journal 23rd Feb 2009 more >>
With a new generation of nuclear power station on the horizon, the agency responsible for protecting the health of the British public has updated its guidance on the disposal of radioactive waste. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has developed the advice primarily to inform risk assessments during the planning process as and when new plants are built.
Edie 23rd Feb 2009 more >>
Various letters: (1) As Colin McInnes highlighted in the ongoing energy debate, current nuclear generation is relatively inefficient in that large amounts of potential are left untapped resulting in highly radioactive waste. However, at present there is no shortage of uranium, and we might expect to rely on it for another 50 to 100 years. At least we know how to build and operate the traditional “once-through” nuclear reactor, so it remains a viable option. (2) The recent extensive correspondence about future energy supply is remarkable for the fact that there has been limited reference to reducing energy use. Yet the equivalent of several new power stations is available by means which are safe, certain, comparatively easy to implement and much cheaper. Of course, new power sources will still be needed and must be debated, but serious attention to energy reduction would reduce total costs, provide greater certainty and security, and could be implemented in a comparatively short timescale.
Herald 24th Feb 2009 more >>
NDA
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) is revamping its legal panel before the multibillion-pound decommissioning of the first fleet of civil nuclear plants and experimental and research sites in Dorset and Oxfordshire. The government body, which currently operates three rosters of advisers, wants to merge two sub-panels and reduce the total number of firms on its list.
The Lawyer 23rd Feb 2009 more >>
Legal Week 23rd Feb 2009 more >>
Hartlepool
British Energy’s Hartlepool 2 nuclear unit was back producing power after being taken out of service on Feb. 20, when a small problem emerged following its Feb. 19 restart, a website showed early on Monday.
Interactive Investor 23rd Feb 2009 more >>
Finland
The Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) on Sunday quoted a Taloustutkimus poll as indicating that about 48 per cent of the public objected to constructing further nuclear power stations, with some 37 per cent of those polled in favour of new nuclear generating capacity.
Virtual Finland 23rd Feb 2009 more >>
Italy
France’s EDF and Enel of Italy – Europe’s largest utilities – are set to relaunch Italy’s nuclear industry after a 22-year hiatus. The move will follow an accord due to be signed in Rome today by President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
FT 24th Feb 2009 more >>
Interactive Investor 23rd Feb 2009 more >>
Iran
Barack Obama’s foreign policy team knew that sooner or later they would face a crisis over Iran. Unfortunately for the new US president, the crisis is already upon them. On Friday, the Financial Times reported that “Iran has built up a stockpile of enough enriched uranium for one nuclear bomb”. That same day, Benjamin Netanyahu was invited to form Israel’s next government.
FT 24th Feb 2009 more >>
Romania
A Romanian officer has been killed in a blast at a military laboratory dealing with nuclear, biological and chemical research, Romanian officials say.
BBC 23rd Feb 2009 more >>
Energy Efficiency
There is disquiet about what is happening in these cash-straitened times to bills passed with considerable fanfare through ours, the mother of parliaments. Asked why sections of the Warm Homes Act seem to have been left unloved and unimplemented, ministers said: we haven’t got the funding. But implementation expenses were made available by statute within the act itself, said the likes of Help the Aged and Friends of the Earth. Oh that, said Joan Ruddock, the climate change minister – “Provisions like that section are commonly included in bills, and therefore in acts of parliament, without any intention that they should have a substantive legal effect,” she explained when challenged by Dai Davies MP. So the money is there, but in fact it isn’t. Ministers have to implement the law, but in fact they don’t. They listen when they want and hear what they like.
Guardian 24th Feb 2009 more >>
Green New Deal
With governments around the world continuing to pump colossal sums of money into their plunging economies, a grand global experiment is under way: can the unprecedented spending provide not only a quick fix for the economic catastrophe but also the measures vital for dealing with global warming?
Guardian 24th Feb 2009 more >>
Submarines
DEFENCE Secretary John Hutton said lessons would have to be learnt ‘pretty quickly’ following the mid-Atlantic collision between British and French nuclear submarines.
Plymouth Herald 23rd Feb 2009 more >>
