Radwaste
Letter Eddie Martin: Perhaps the government’s apparent failure, as alleged by Copeland Council Leader Elaine Woodburn, to take into account the views expressed by her authority in the published version of the recent White Paper “Implementing Geological Disposal” (The Whitehaven News, August 28) was because CBC’s comments were simply not credible or the conclusions legitimate. While there are still uncertainties and some proposals in the White Paper with which the Cumbria Trust disagrees, and about which we would wish to seek further explanation, there is no doubt that a number of our recommendations have been accepted, not the least of which is the commitment to undertake a national geological survey before seeking volunteer communities. Whether such a detailed and adequate survey can, in fact, be undertaken in that time frame is questionable. In a similar vein, the definition of a “community” has yet to be decided by the government but it will not be solely a community such as Copeland (or any other district council) which will have the final say.
Whitehaven News 4th Sept 2014 read more »
Heysham & Hartlepool
The likelihood of National Grid having to pay factories and other heavy energy users to power down at times of peak demand increased today, as EDF announced that two nuclear power plants the company took offline in August could stay shut down until the end of the year.
Business Green 4th Sept 2014 read more »
Britain’s energy capacity shortage deepened on Thursday when EDF Energy warned that four nuclear reactors it had shut down for safety reasons might be out of action until the end of the year, two and a half months longer than expected.
FT 4th Sept 2014 read more »
EDF Energy could be forced to keep four of its eight nuclear reactors in the UK out of action until the middle of the winter amid growing concerns that Britain is facing blackouts. The French energy giant said Thursday that the reactors which were shut last month for inspections when “unexpected cracking” in a boiler unit of one of its units in Lancashire was discovered will only be returned to service gradually between the end of October and late December.
Telegraph 4th Sept 2014 read more »
U.K. power for next month climbed to a three-week high after Electricite de France SA delayed the start of four U.K. nuclear reactors it halted last month due to a defect in one of the units. Heysham-1’s unit 1 and Hartlepool-1 reactors in northern England are scheduled to start Nov. 30, more than a month after their initial return dates, the Paris-based company said on its website. Heysham-1’s unit 2 and Hartlepool-2 will start Oct. 31. The reactors, which are similarly designed, were halted Aug. 11 after a fault was found in Heysham-1. “EDF Energy has put in place a detailed and fully resourced boiler inspection program at both sites and further boiler inspections are now underway,” the company said in a statement today. It must “complete the inspections to verify there are no further defects which could develop into cracks and understand in detail the cause of the crack found on the boiler spine at Heysham 1.”
Bloomberg 4th Sept 2014 read more »
EDF Energy will delay the full return of its Heysham-1 and Hartlepool nuclear power plants until December, reducing the UK’s already tight supply margins for the coming winter. EDF Energy initially gave a mid-October restart date for the four nuclear units which were taken offline in early August due to safety concerns over the boiler design of the units. But on Thursday morning the company said it plans a “phased return” between the end of October and the end of December 2014, which will hit its total annual nuclear output by as much as 5 per cent.
Utility Week 4th Sept 2014 read more »
HARTLEPOOL’S nuclear power station could be out of action up until the end of the year. It comes after a crack was found in the boiler spine of Reactor 1 at its sister station, the Heysham 1 site in Lancashire. Hartlepool’s Reactors 1 and 2 have been shut down since August 11, after owners EDF Energy took the decision as a precautionary measure as both stations share the same design.
Hartlepool Mail 4th Sept 2014 read more »
Four nuclear reactors in the UK that were shut down may not be back online until the end of the year, EDF Energy has confirmed.
Energy Live News 4th Sept 2014 read more »
Northern Echo 4th Sep 2014 read more »
Morecambe Visitor 4th Sept 2014 read more »
Sky News 4th Sept 2014 read more »
Yorkshire Post 4th Sept 2014 read more »
Guardian 4th Sept 2014 read more »
FT 4th Sept 2014 read more »
City AM 5th Sept 2014 read more »
Daily Mail 5th Sept 2014 read more »
Times 5th Sept 2014 read more »
French energy giant EDF today warned that four nuclear power reactors shut down after a defect was discovered in one of them would not be fully operational until the end of the year, knocking shares in part-owner Centrica.
Evening Standard 4th Sept 2014 read more »
Radhealth
A nuclear insider has unleashed a bombshell about how radiation is actually released from nuclear power plant reactors — and what he has to say might shock you. During a recent interview with Nuclear Hotseat host Libbe HaLevy, radiation biologist Dr. Ian Fairlie spoke about massive radiation spikes that occur when plant reactors are refueled, a common occurrence that the industry has long withheld from the public. From time to time, nuclear power plants require fresh infusions of fuel in order to keep operating. During this process, nuclear reactors are depressurized and their valves opened up, resulting in a release of gas containing some radioactive elements. The radioactive concentration of this release is said to be minimal, and plant operators are required to report it to regulators annually. When these reports are made, however, plant operators typically average out the total radioactive release across a 365-day period, which makes it appear small. In truth, the bulk of the release occurs in a very short period of time, often in just one afternoon, which means workers and those living downwind are sustaining high amounts of radioactive exposure.
Natural News 3rd Sept 2014 read more »
Nuclear Materials
Materials critical to the safe and profitable operation of nuclear reactors are to be examined by the recipient of a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship. Dr Ben Britton, a nuclear metallurgy fellow at Imperial College London’s Department of Materials, will use the award to further the understanding of two alloys used to build reactor cladding, tubing and heat exchangers. Britton said his particular focus will be on Inconel, which is typically used in the primary circuit, and zirconium alloys used for fuel cladding.
The Engineer 4th Sept 2014 read more »
Nuclear Skills
Cumbria needs to act fast to prevent a potentially devastating engineering skills gap. That’s the message from Mike Smith, CEO of training provider Gen2, who says that thousands more young people need to be given engineering skills to meet the demands of a plethora of investments coming to the county. As well as a potential new nuclear plant at Moorside, GSK is expanding operations in Ulverston, and BAE Systems is to invest £300 million at its site at Barrow, to transform its submarine building capabilities. These investments plus the ongoing operations at Sellafield could culminate in ‘the perfect storm’, according to Mr Smith
Whitehaven News 4th Sept 2014 read more »
Submarines
A MAN accused of stealing sensitive documents relating to nuclear submarines has again appeared in court. Marcin Kostrzewa, aged 31, is alleged to have burgled the home of his next-door neighbour who works at Devonport Dockyard, attended Plymouth Crown Court. He was originally facing possible prosecution under the Official Secrets Act but now faces a charge of burglary which he has denied
Plymouth Herald 4th Sept 2014 read more »
Nuclear Weapons
First, the primary purpose of possessing nuclear weapons is deterrence. Just imagine how much more overt Valdimir Putin’s aggression in Ukraine would now be if he were unconstrained by the possibility of nuclear conflict with the west.
Herald 5th Sept 2014 read more »
France
Just three out of 55 anti-nuclear protesters have turned up for trial in eastern France over a daring protest at a power plant, French media report. Three of the Greenpeace activists appeared in court in the town of Colmar, near Fessenheim nuclear power station, which was targeted in March. The protesters, from some 20 countries but mostly German, are accused of trespass and wilful damage. Fessenheim, France’s oldest nuclear plant, is due to close in 2016. The protesters broke into the plant on the German border in a dawn raid on 18 March, seeking to prove it was vulnerable to attack, and about 20 of them managed to scale a dome.
BBC 4th Sept 2014 read more »
Ukraine
Ukraine plans to sign an agreement to construct new nuclear power reactors by the end of this year, Ukrainian prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told the country’s cabinet of ministers today. “The problem is that the [planned] units were designed according to Russian reactors, but we are finding a solution and intend to sign an agreement on the construction of new units by the end of this year,” Yatsenyuk said, according to Russian news agency Itar-Tass.
World Nuclear News 3rd Sept 2014 read more »
Iran
Iran’s central bank has received a total of $1 billion (608 million pounds) of previously frozen oil revenue from Japan under the terms of an extended nuclear agreement with six world powers, state news agency IRNA reported on Thursday.
Reuters 4th Sept 2014 read more »
IRAN and the US have met in Geneva for bilateral talks as international diplomacy intensifies to end a decade-old dispute over Tehran’s atomic activities by a new deadline in late November.
Herald 5th Sept 2014 read more »
Renewables – offshore wind
Work on a £310m wind turbine factory in Hull is set to start this year,after the city council’s planning committee yesterday approved the plans. The Green Port Hull development backed by Siemens and the Association of British Ports (ABP) envisages a pioneering new wind turbine production and installation facility on the banks of the Humber that would come into operation by 2018 to service the fast expanding North Sea offshore wind industry.
Business Green 4th Sept 2014 read more »
The UK is leading the way when it comes to offshore wind power, with a 52% share of the international market last year, according to new figures. GlobalData has today (4 September) released a new report which reveals that the UK’s cumulative offshore wind power installed capacity increased from 0.3GW in 2006 to 3.7GW in 2013 – a 42.9% increase. The research firm puts this increase down to aggressive renewable targets, policy backing and a shift towards a greener climate.
Edie 4th Sept 2014 read more »
Energy Storage
Four short years ago, the U.S. solar industry surpassed expectations by installing 340 MW of solar at a cost of $6.40 per watt in the first half of 2010. How times have changed. In the first quarter of this year alone, the U.S. installed 1,330 MW of solar for an average $2.36 per watt. In other words, we installed roughly four times as much solar in half the time for about one-third the cost. Talk about progress! Because technology costs (in this case, PV modules) plunged so rapidly, balance-of-system costs today make up the majority of system prices. That’s today’s land of opportunity for further cost declines in solar. And now, battery energy storage is undergoing a similar evolution. Over the past several months an increasing number of industry executives have drawn analogies between energy storage and the history of solar costs. Lithium ion-based energy storage systems, it’s said, are currently where solar was back in 2010. Typically these kinds of comments are in reference to the cost of lithium-ion batteries, which, with the help of the Tesla gigafactory, are expected to come down dramatically in cost over the next several years—just like PV modules circa 2010.
RMI 28th Aug 2014 read more »
Energy Efficiency
Euro and climate sceptics have attacked EU rules controlling the energy use of appliances, saying they will not reduce emissions. With your help, Karl Mathiesen investigates.
Guardian 4th Sept 2014 read more »
Fossil Fuels
Fracking in the North Sea could generate £300 billion in tax revenues, according to a report backed by Alex Salmond. The Scottish first minister used the claims to make a last-ditch effort to win the argument over the value of oil in an independent Scotland. If estimated offshore reserves were proven and tapped, they would “propel Scotland towards the top of the global league table in terms of oil and gas production”, the report claimed. The conclusion was attacked as pure guesswork by a leading energy academic and described as “a huge if” by the one independent oil company that is hoping to explore the resource’s potential. However, it was welcomed by nationalists, who are desperate to convince Scots that they could balance the books with the support of oil if they break away from the UK.
Times 5th Sept 2014 read more »
