Nuclear Investment
Investment bank Citi Investment Research managing director Peter Atherton said the main problem was high up-front costs of building new nuclear, which is not sufficiently countered by the EMR. He said the EMR only covers power stations revenue risk by guaranteeing a minimum amount the utility will receive for producing power. The risks of construction costs overrunning are not covered and, as a result, utilities will be deterred to invest in nuclear. [UKs energy] targets are too ambitious because utilities do not have the money to fund the investment required in nuclear, he added. Horizons decision sends out a strong message – that theres not a cat in hells chance that utilities alone can fund this investment in nuclear.
New Civil Engineer 5th Apr 2012 more >>
Radwaste
Alston Moor Parish Council in Eden District, Cumbria is the latest to urge the west Cumbria authorities to withdraw from the search for a nuclear dump.
Radiation Free Lakeland 6th April 2012 more >>
For an updated list of Parish Councils that have taken a view on the nuclear dumping issue see
Save our Lake District 7th April 2012 more >>
Wylfa
PRIME Minister David Cameron last night pledged full support in the bid to find new backers for a Wylfa B nuclear power plant and thousands of jobs. The Conservative leader – in North Wales to bolster party support ahead of council elections in May – told the Daily Post of his personal commitment to the strategy to replace the UK ageing nuclear reactors.
Daily Post 6th Apr 2012 more >>
Dounreay
One of the most hazardous legacies of Britains early atomic research has been destroyed, bosses at the redundant Dounreay nuclear power station said today. The last of 57,000 litres of liquid metal have been removed from the experimental reactor in Caithness. The Dounreay reactor, which was constructed in the 1950s, was one of only two ever built in Britain to use liquid metal as a coolant presenting a major chemical and radiological hazard. In total 354 batches of the liquid sodium and potassium alloy have been removed and undergone chemical neutralisation since September 2007. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority said it was extremely pleased the liquid metal no longer posed a hazard.
Morning Star 6th Apr 2012 more >>
Rutherglen reformer 6th Apr 2012 more >>
Scotland
Letter: The statement by Alex Salmond underpinning all this renewable nonsense a statement issued without any detailed analysis of how the lights would be kept on binds us to have no generation from nuclear energy, presumably ever. It must rank and will be historically seen as in the company of Michelson who announced the end of physics in 1894, Spencer Jones, the astronomer royal who said space travel is bunk in 1957, and the hapless Decca agent saying We dont like their sound and guitar music is on the way out in rejecting The Beatles in 1962. Nuclear energy is the only substantial, scaleable power source that does not use carbon to generate.
Southern Reporter 6th Apr 2012 more >>
Climate
Prof Jim Hansen to use lecture at Edinburgh International Science Festival to call for worldwide tax on all carbon emissions. Hansen said his proposal for a global carbon tax was based on the latest analysis of CO2 levels in the atmosphere and their impact on global temperatures and weather patterns. He has co-authored a scientific paper with 17 other experts, including climate scientists, biologists and economists, which calls for an immediate 6% annual cut in CO2 emissions, and a substantial growth in global forest cover, to avoid catastrophic climate change by the end of the century. The paper, which has passed peer review and is in the final stages of publication by the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, argues that a global levy on fossil fuels is the strongest tool for forcing energy firms and consumers to switch quickly to zero carbon and green energy sources. In larger countries, that would include nuclear power.
Guardian 6th Apr 2012 more >>
Energy Supplies
Ignacio Galán, Chairman and CEO of Iberdrola: We need balanced and honest debate over future energy supplies. With energy sector investment projected as high as £200bn this decade, we must have a framework that guarantees sufficient returns and the right generation mix. The Government has launched its Electricity Market Reform (EMR), providing a regulatory framework for new generation projects, but there are still issues to be resolved affecting wind and nuclear. Regulatory uncertainty will make it harder to borrow from capital markets or persuade pension funds to invest. We continue to advance on plans for a new nuclear plant at Moorside together with GDF Suez.
Telegraph 6th April 2012 more >>
US
The top U.S. nuclear official said on Friday his agency has not set any timetable for restarting the troubled San Onofre nuclear station in Southern California and that it would only do so if safety was assured. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chair Gregory Jaczko made his comments after touring the facility where both reactors have been shut since January due to the discovery of premature wear on tubes in giant steam generators installed in 2010 and 2011.
Reuters 7th April 2012 more >>
Japan
Japan should aspire to phase out nuclear power completely, its energy minister said, as the government struggled to persuade a wary public that it was safe to restart reactors after the world’s worst nuclear crisis in 25 years. Yukio Edano’s comments could anger industries eager to see nuclear power bounce back.
Herald 7th Apr 2012 more >>
JAPAN is setting stricter safety guidelines for nuclear power plants to ease public concern about restarting reactors idled after the disasters a year ago. Facing a national power crunch, the government is anxious to restart two reactors in Fukui, western Japan, before the last operating reactor of the 54 in the country goes offline in May. But the government has faced strong public opposition due to the meltdowns at the Fukushima power plant, and local leaders are reluctant to give their approval.
Scotsman 7th April 2012 more >>
France
Europes biggest laggard on renewable energy has belatedly made its first and spectacular move into offshore wind. Almost a decade after Britains first large offshore wind farm began to operate, the French Government has announced ambitious plans to install hundreds of giant turbines in the Channel and the Atlantic. Four contracts will lead to the building of 2,000 megawatts in total of offshore wind capacity, able, when the wind blows, to generate enough electricity to supply the needs of central Paris. France, which generates most of its power from nuclear reactors, has a target of meeting 23 per cent of its energy demand from renewables by 2020.
Times 7th April 2012 more >>
Electricite de France SA and partners including turbine maker Alstom SA (ALO) won a French government tender to build three offshore wind farms, andIberdrola SA (IBE) got one, while GDF Suez SA (GSZ) was left empty-handed. EDF, Danish utility Dong Energy A/S, and Alstom were picked to build 1,428 megawatts of wind power at three sites off the coasts of Brittany and Normandy, the government said today. Spanish power company Iberdrola and U.K. group RES will erect a 500-megawatt farm with Areva SA (AREVA)s turbines off the Saint-Brieuc shore in Brittany, though its offer was higher than Paris-based EDFs on that site, France said.
Bloomberg 6th Apr 2012 more >>
Microgeneration
Micro Power News we 6th April now available: UK solar industry continues to install at top speed; Green Deal providers announced; EON trains external wall insulation installers; Dorset Councils set up energy partnership.
Microgen Scotland 6th Apr 2012 more >>
