New Nukes
Writing in the Town and Country Planning Association’s Journal, Professor Andrew Blowers, in the second of two articles, argues that the case for nuclear power is flawed, and sets out economic and ethical reasons for rejecting nuclear power as part of our future energy mix. The full article can be found here.
No2nuclearpower 26th Feb 2013 read more »
Energy Bill
In November 2012 the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change published a revised draft of the Energy Bill, updating proposals made in May 2012. You can find out more in our partner guides to the draft as a whole link to general guide here please and our guide to those changes related to Electricity Market Reform (EMR). This guide deals with nuclear regulation in the draft Energy Bill.
Outlaw February 2013 read more »
Protest
Monbiot: The energy giant is part of a global strategy by corporations to stifle democracy. Clearly it hasn’t heard of the Streisand effect. Without public protest, democracy is dead. Every successful challenge to excessive power begins outside the political chamber. When protest stops, politics sclerotises: it becomes a conversation between different factions of the elite. But protest is of no democratic value unless it is effective. It must disturb and challenge those at whom it is aimed. It must arouse and motivate those who watch. The climate change campaigners trying to prevent a new dash for gas wrote to their MPs, emailed the power companies, marched and lobbied. They were ignored. So last year 17 of them climbed the chimney of the West Burton power station and occupied it for a week. Theirs was a demonstration in two senses of the word: they presented an issue to the p ublic that should be at the front of our minds. Prompted to act by altruism and empathy, one day they will be remembered as we remember suffragettes and anti-slavery campaigners.
Guardian 25th Feb 2013 read more »
Local Authorities
As the energy regulator Ofgem warns that the UK is going to be increasingly dependent on expensive imports of gas to keep its lights on, what is local government’s role in managing and meeting our energy needs? Local government’s involvement in the energy industry, is huge. From facilitating the building of power stations and authorising the storage of nuclear waste to promoting energy efficiency in factories and homes, councils participate in almost every step along the supply chain. Ever since the 1950s, when the local planning committee took just 45 minutes to approve the building of Dounreay, the first nuclear power station primarily used for civilian power, councils have been closely involved in the development of the nuclear industry. The prospect of business rates from a new nuclear power station being built at Hinckley Point is about the only good financial news in prospect for imploding West Somerset district council. The political difficulties of nuclear power have again been exposed in recent weeks in the dispute between Copeland district council and Cumbria county council over whether to build a £12bn waste repository near Sellafield.
Guardian 22nd Feb 2013 read more »
Radhealth
The quadruple-explosion, triple-meltdown accident at Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Japan after 11 March 2011 is the world’s second-worst nuclear disaster, after the Chernobyl catastrophe in 1986. The second anniversary of the Fukushima accident in March 2013 is an opportune moment to assess its likely long-term consequences in terms of future cancer deaths arising from Fukushima’s fallout. However, a number of official bodies appear to have decided on a policy not to estimate most collective doses from the Fukushima nuclear accident. For example, the first draft of the French Government’s Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN 2011) on Fukushima’s effects contained various collective dose estimates, but these were all deleted from its final version. Second, the recent official WHO report (2012) on Fukushima doses surprisingly contains no collective dose estimates, despite its research team containing several scientists who have previously published collective dose estimates. UNSCEAR has changed its policy and now does not recommend estimating collective doses (including those from nuclear accidents) where the average dose to a population is the same as, or below, about 3 mSv per year. This new policy has adverse implications for the assessment of radiological accidents, because the majority of the doses to populations will occur at doses lower than 3 mSv. UNSCEAR now says in effect you don’t have to count them. This is a potentially retrograde step. UNSCEAR’s statement does not stand up to scrutiny, as it is either incorrect or misleading on just about every point.
Ian Fairlie 25th Feb 2013 read more »
Oldbury
A 170-tonne generator transformer has been removed from Oldbury nuclear power station as part of its decommissioning programme. It was taken from the site near Bristol to Sharpness Docks in Gloucester, where it will be broken up and recycled. The transformer played a vital role in converting the electrical output to make it suitable for distribution to properties across the UK.
BBC 25th Feb 2013 read more »
Sizewell
A recent article in the 19th February’s EADT references a comment from a member of the public suggesting that the County Council may not have listened sufficiently to local people when pledging support in principle for the anticipated Sizewell C nuclear reactor near Leiston. I have written to the EADT to provide some background on the decision to support this project (letter was published on Friday 22nd February), the main points are as follows.
Central Suffolk Conservatives 23rd Feb 2013 read more »
Finland
Finnish firm Fennovoima has excluded nuclear reactor vendor Areva from providing a reactor for its Hanhikivi 1 nuclear power plant.
New Civil Engineer 25th Feb 2013 read more »
Finnish nuclear consortium Fennovoima said it was considering scaling back its planned nuclear reactor project in northern Finland after the exit of its top investor German utility E.ON.It said it would choose Japan’s Toshiba if it went ahead with original plans for a large, 1,600-megawatt reactor, dropping Areva who was previously another candidate.Areva, Toshiba and Russia’s Rosatom could be suppliers for a medium-sized reactor, Fennovoima said.It said it aimed to choose the reactor supplier this year. E.ON said in October it was exiting all operations in Finland to raise funds and cut debt, sparking doubts over plans for the Pyhajoki reactor which was estimated to cost 4-6 billion euros ($5.3-7.9 billion).
Reuters 25th Feb 2013 read more »
French nuclear group Areva’s exclusion from a Finnish nuclear tender is another blow to the reputation of its EPR reactor and raises questions about France’s ambitious nuclear export plans.Finnish nuclear consortium Fennovoima said on Monday it had selected Toshiba as sole candidate to build a large nuclear reactor, dropping Areva.Hours later, the Czech competition regulator ruled that utility CEZ had not broken public procurement law by excluding Areva from a contract last year.That decision leaves Toshiba’s U.S. unit Westinghouse vying with a consortium led by Russia’s Atomstroyexport, and Areva with another key European contract slipping through its fingers.
Reuters 25th Feb 2013 read more »
China
Wind power generated more electricity than nuclear power in China last year and will likely continue to do so in the future, according to a new report by the influential Earth Policy Institute (EPI). The report, released last Tuesday, added nuclear power generation in China has risen by 10% annually since 2007 but wind power during the same period experienced “explosive growth” of 80% per year. “China’s overall wind energy resource is staggering,” the report said. “Harvard researchers estimate that China’s wind generation potential is 12 times larger than its 2010 electricity consumption.”
EWEA 25th Feb 2013 read more »
China’s State Council still would not opt to re-activate three new nuclear power plants, whose construction had been suspended due to safety issues, even during the 12th Five-Year Plan period.
Energy Business Review 26th Feb 2013 read more »
Iran
World powers are expected to offer Iran limited sanctions relief today if it agrees to halt its most sensitive nuclear work, in a new attempt to resolve a dispute that threatens to trigger another war in the Middle East.
Independent 26th Feb 2013 read more »
Iran will primarily launch the 40MW nuclear reactor in Arak, which will use “virtual” (non-nuclear) fuel, in the next Iranian calendar year, beginning on 21 March. Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) director Fereydoun Abbasi made this announcement in relation to the latest UN nuclear agency’s report on the country’s nuclear programme, reported Tehran Times. The UN report said that Iran is progressing with its development of the Arak research reactor, situated in the central Iranian province of Markazi.
Energy Business Review 25th Feb 2013 read more »
A new round of talks between world powers and Iran over its controversial nuclear programme has opened in the Kazakh city of Almaty.
BBC 26th Feb 2013 read more »
Iran said that it plans to build 16 new nuclear reactors across the country, ahead of talks with six major powers on its nuclear programme, scheduled to commence on Tuesday in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Energy Business Review25th Feb 2013 read more »
Renewables
Public trust in the energy industry has inched up in the past year thanks to increased investment in consumer engagement, but the industry remains one of the least trusted sectors in the British economy. That is the stark conclusion of a major new survey undertaken by communications firm Edelman, which suggests low levels of public confidence in energy companies could continue to hamper ambitious long term plans to overhaul the UK’s energy infrastructure. A series of surveys have revealed a clear majority of people are more favourable towards renewables than other forms of energy, and the Edelman survey reveals a similar story with trust in renewables standing at 60 per cent. This support for renewables still lags behind a global average of 68 per cent, but it remains well ahead of UK consumers trust in gas, oil, and utilities, which hovers between 39 and 47 per cent.
Business Green 25th Feb 2013 read more »
