Nuclear Subsidy
The French-state owned utility would be the major beneficiary of Government plans to artificially raise the price of carbon allowances traded in the UK. The move is intended to make it more expensive to run fossil-fuel power stations than low-carbon nuclear plants. This will substantially raise the price of electricity, according to two separate studies from KPMG and the Policy Exchange. A carbon price of €35 (£29) per tonne leading to an increase of £7 per megawatt hour would take the entire cost for the taxpayer to £2.5bn. EDF Energy will also be a major winner to the tune of approximately £350m because it already owns a fleet of existing nuclear power stations producing 13pc of Britain’s electricity. The company will reap the benefit of the higher electricity price, but will not have to buy carbon allowances because nuclear plants do not emit greenhouse gases.
Telegraph 8th Aug 2010 more >>
Sizewell
SUFFOLK’S nuclear power station remains off line but is on track to re-open later this year, its owners said last night. Meanwhile, the Shutdown Sizewell Campaign has called on the energy company and various watchdogs to be more open with the public after Freedom of Information Act requests discovered a number of “near misses” at the plant. Working on behalf of the group, John Large, of consulting engineers Large and Associates, found the Environment Agency was investigating three incidents. These were associated with incorrect filter paper in a gas-sampling cubicle, a valve misalignment in the hypochlorination plant and an oil leak in the chiller pump. He also found that the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) told bosses to review maintenance strategies for all five safety relief valves in the plant following concerns over their testing and maintenance strategy.
East Anglian Daily Times 7th Aug 2010 more >>
Oldbury
Letter: Marine Current Turbines raised as an alternative to Oldbury. Every day around our shores, millions, no billions, of tonnes of water are shifted to and fro at 13 hour cycles. “Intercepting those massive flows of tidal water with submerged turbines seems to me to be a wonderfully efficient means of generating electricity as well as being as green as green can be. No fuel, no waste, no waste disposal, no massive infrastructures, no despoliation of our landscapes.
Bristol Evening Post 7th Aug 2010 more >>
Aldermaston
The Nuclear Information Service (NIS) has written to the Health and Safety Executive calling for an independent inquiry into a fire which broke out last night at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) Aldermaston.
Stop Oldbury 4th Aug 2010 more >>
Companies
Investors in International Power are in line for a cash payout of up to £1.3 billion under a takeover by GDF Suez, the energy giant controlled by the French state. Directors at the FTSE 100 power giant will meet tomorrow to recommend the deal that will see another British company fall to a foreign buyer. Sources said the talks could still break down but the goal was to unveil the transaction on Tuesday, when both companies announce half-year earnings. Advisers were working throughout the weekend to thrash out the final details.
Sunday Times 8th Aug 2010 more >>
Ireland
The news yesterday that an ice island four times the size of Manhattan broke off from one of Greenland’s two main glaciers — the biggest such event in the Arctic in nearly 50 years — was a timely reminder that the problem of climate change has not gone away. Under those circumstances, it would seem logical that our Government would have an energy policy aimed at dealing with the post-oil age. In so far as there is a policy, it seems to depend wholly on wind power and wave power, and actively excludes any consideration of nuclear energy. This is despite the fact that these energy sources cannot on their own create enough supply to replace oil. And it is despite the fact that elsewhere, nuclear energy has been embraced enthusiastically.
Sunday (Irish) Independent 8th Aug 2010 more >>
In Ireland (and in many other places) there is an aversion to nuclear. It is an irrational aversion. It is a phobia — radiation phobia based on some vague terror arising from Hiroshima and Nagasaki and, more recently, Chernobyl. In Ireland we can add Sellafield/Windscale to the list. Des O’Malley when he was minister in charge of energy policy back in the Seventies, wanted to create a nuclear energy plant in Carnsore Point, Co Wexford. He might as well have announced that he wanted to infect the entire population with syphilis. All the great and the good lined up against him and the idea was scrapped.
Sunday (Irish) Independent 8th Aug 2010 more >>
Russia
Russian troops dug a five-mile canal yesterday to protect a nuclear arms site from wildfires caused by a record heatwave. The forest and peat fires have killed at least 52 people, made more than 4,000 homeless, diverted many flights and pushed air pollution in Moscow to six times its normal level, forcing some residents of the capital to wear surgical masks. The canal was dug at Sarov, a closed town 220 miles east of Moscow, whose nuclear site, ringed by forest, produced the first Soviet atomic bomb in 1949 and remains Russia’s main nuclear design and production facility.
Observer 8th Aug 2010 more >>
The Russian Emergencies Minister is warning of possible radiation risks, as wildfires approach closer to the area affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The main fear is that the fires, which are moving further south of Moscow toward the Bryansk region, could disturb and spread the contamination buried in the ground after the Chernobyl nuclear accident.
Common Dreams 6th August 2010 more >>
Vietnam
Congressional aides say the Obama administration has told lawmakers that a nuclear cooperation deal with Vietnam is unlikely to include a promise from Hanoi not to enrich uranium. The United States calls the no-enrichment pledge the “gold standard” for civilian nuclear cooperation accords. It is modeled on a U.S. deal last year with the United Arab Emirates.
AP 7th Aug 2010 more >>
Iran
Fidel Castro has used a rare speech to warn that the tension between the US and Iran could degenerate into a nuclear holocaust.
Metro 7th Aug 2010 more >>
Hiroshima
Agonising about the rights and wrongs of the world’s first atomic attack used to be a handy way of filling the August news pages. This year, though – despite the promising peg of formal representation from the Allied governments at the commemoration – coverage has been sparse.
Telegraph 7th Aug 2010 more >>
Energy Efficiency
Every new home is to be powered by a green energy plant to offset its environmental impact under government plans for zero-carbon living from 2016. If a development is too small, remote or shielded from wind or sun for an effective renewables scheme, developers will pay a levy to the local council to create bigger plants nearby that would cancel out the carbon footprint of the homes, while providing green power. According to government figures, more than a quarter of all CO2 emissions come from residential properties.
Independent on Sunday 8th Aug 2010 more >>
Renewables
A little-known Perthshire company backed by Scottish and Southern Energy has won a contract worth in the region of £100 million to develop small hydroelectric schemes on land owned by the Forestry Commission. Green Highland Renewables (GHR), based in Aberfeldy, has been selected to exclusively develop the schemes in the Highland region, the largest and most lucrative of three nationwide zones that are being tendered by the Forestry Commission (FC) to raise money to increase the rate of tree planting across the country. Together with Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE), which bought a third of the company in 2008, GHR will develop well in excess of 100 hydroelectric dams across the Highlands, many of them in the most remote glens in the region, in what is expected to be a 10 year programme.
Sunday Herald 8th Aug 2010 more >>
