Hinkley
PROTESTORS concerned about the clearing of plantlife near Hinkley Point by the site’s operator EDF Energy have scaled a tree near the power plant and are refusing to come down. It is understood the three men climbed the tree in the early hours of this morning and have refused requests from EDF security staff to leave. Theo Simon, from the South West Against Nuclear group, is in touch with the protestors who have scaled the tree.
Bridgwater Mercury 7th Feb 2012 more >>
This is the West Country 7th Feb 2012 more >>
Western Daily Press 8th Feb 2012 more >>
EDF Energys twin Areva EPR reactors planned for construction at Hinkley Point in Somerset, UK, have received Article 37 clearance from the European Commission. In an opinion published February 7 in the Official Journal of the European Union, the EC said that the generation, handling and disposal of nuclear waste from the two Hinkley C EPRs is not liable to result in a radioactive contamination of the water, soil or airspace of another Member State that would be significant from the point of view of health. The opinion said solid low-level radioactive waste is temporarily stored on site before transfer to disposal facilities authorised by the United Kingdom regulatory authorities. Spent fuel elements and intermediate-level solid waste are temporarily stored on site, awaiting the future availability of a geological repository. Reprocessing of spent fuel is not envisaged, the opinion said.
i-Nuclear 7th Feb 2012 more >>
Politics
Letter NFLA Chair: I urge Ed Davey, as the architect of the Lib Dems’ anti-nuclear pre-election policy, to challenge whether nuclear new build really stacks up, and where on earth the nuclear industry or the government will find the money to finance it when the industry is debt-laden and the radioactive waste bill soars. There is still time to think again
Guardian 7th Feb 2012 more >>
Letter FoE, GP &WWF: Davey and the PM now need to provide the policy clarity and certainty on energy saving, renewables and decarbonisation of the energy system that shows the UK is a long-term good bet for green business. The test of Davey’s success, and that of the government, will be if they deliver a timely boost to the economy, thousands of skilled jobs, and get a good deal for consumers.
Guardian 7th Feb 2012 more >>
Andy Atkins: A new energy secretary means a new chance for David Cameron to mend fences with the coalition and reaffirm his commitment to making ‘the greenest government ever’.
Guardian 7th Feb 2012 more >>
Radwaste
An EU nuclear expert group is calling for public feedback by February 13 on how best to manage deep geological disposal of nuclear waste, the European Commission said Monday. “Our vision is that by 2025, the first geological disposal facilities for spent fuel, high-level nuclear waste, and other long-lived radioactive waste will be operating safely in Europe,” the group said in its draft deployment plan published for feedback. The EC set up the group, known as the implementing geological disposal of radioactive waste technology platform, in 2009 to support EU-wide research, development and demonstration of safe, deep geological disposal of spent fuel and other long-lived radioactive waste. The group seeks to solve the remaining scientific, technological and social challenges, and thereby to support the nuclear waste management programs in EU countries.
Platts 7th Feb 2012 more >>
Sellafield
The UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority expects the costs of the new Evaporator D at Sellafield to come in well below £1 billion following a late 2009 re-design for the project, NDA spokesman Brian Hough said February 6. The multi-million pound evaporator used to concentrate highly radioactive liquid waste at the Sellafield nuclear and chemical waste complex will be in service for less than three years and quite possibly much less before the reprocessing plant it was meant to serve closes for good, according to official information. However, the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority says that improvements at the existing Evaporator C mean that the new evaporator, Evaporator D, is no longer critical to the continued operation of the Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (Thorp). Evaporator D, they say, will be used as well for post-closure cleanup operations. Thorp is currently scheduled to close in 2018 upon completion of its existing contracts for reprocessing, but Evaporator D isnt scheduled for active commissioning until December 2015, according to the latest information available to the UK Office for Nuclear Regulation. That date is now considered unlikely to be met meaning the multi-million pound Evaporator D could serve Thorp for substantially less than three years. The NDA has said both the costs of the £400 million Evaporator D and the delivery schedule are going to be exceeded. But NDA and its site licensee, Sellafield Ltd., have declined to say how much Evaporator D is over budget and behind schedule until the completion of a project review now under way.
i-Nuclear 7th Feb 2012 more >>
Energy Costs
KPMG is refusing to publish the full findings of a controversial study examining the cost of the government’s green energy policies, which was originally used as a basis for a series of media reports attacking the cost of renewable energy. The preliminary findings of the report, dubbed Thinking about the Affordable, were made public last November. They claimed Britain could meet its 2020 carbon reduction targets more cost effectively by building nuclear and gas-fired power stations instead of wind farms. The report was seized on by critics of the government’s green agenda and also formed the basis of a number of media reports, including a BBC Panorama special that attacked the cost of renewable energy subsidies.
Business Green 7th Feb 2012 more >>
Greenhouse Emissions
The UK’s greenhouse gas emissions rose in 2010, the first increase since 2003, driven in part by switching away from nuclear to coal and gas for generating electricity. The final estimates for 2010 showed that greenhouse gas output rose by more than 3%, largely due to an increase in gas use for heating homes in the face of cold weather at the beginning and the end of the year.
Professional Engineering 7th Feb 2012 more >>
Guardian 7th Feb 2012 more >>
Independent 7th Feb 2012 more >>
Nuclear R&D
A new robotic arm scanner for the automated inspection of nozzle welds in nuclear reactors has successfully completed demonstration trials after two years in development. The trials mark the culmination of a 1.4m EU-funded research and development project, NozzleInspect, which has brought together Phoenix Inspection Systems, Peak NDT and The Welding Institute (TWI) in the UK, alongside partners in five other European countries.
NDT News 7th Feb 2012 more >>
Japan
Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant say they are regaining control of a reactor after its temperature rose dramatically this week, casting doubt on government claims that the facility has been stabilised. The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power [Tepco] was forced to increase the amount of cooling water being injected into the No 2 reactor after its temperature soared to 73.3C earlier this week. By Tuesday night, the temperature had dropped to 68.5C at the bottom of the reactor’s containment vessel, where molten fuel is believed to have accumulated after three of Fukushima Daiichi’s six reactors suffered meltdown after last year’s tsunami disaster.
Guardian 8th Feb 2012 more >>
Telegraph 7th Feb 2012 more >>
French Nuclear Testing
France carried out 193 nuclear tests on these two atolls from 1966 to 1996: 41 atmospheric and 137 underground tests, with a further 15 “safety trials”. In 2006, the French ministry of defence acknowledged that 22 underground tests had given rise to the release of radioactive gases. Radioactive waste has been collected and buried in 27 pits on Mururoa. Despite the repeated demands of the Polynesian authorities, a bill passed by the French parliament in 2010 disregarded the environmental consequences of the nuclear tests. It did, however, acknowledge their impact on public health and provide for compensation.
Guardian 7th Feb 2012 more >>
US
It was the dawn of a chilling new age when whole cities could be wiped out with one terrifyingly advanced bomb. But Americas attempt to educate its citizens on the health risks arising from the nuclear threat were a little less sophisticated. Dating back to 1947, these charming posters feature a hapless cartoon character and his somewhat baffling travails with atomic radiation.
Daily Mail 7th Feb 2012 more >>
Iran
There is a rising sense of panic about Irans encirclement, the possibility of war and the prospect of economic pain to come. The last round of sanctions on Irans Central Bank has begun inflicting unprecedented damage on the private sector, traders say, making it so hard to transfer money abroad that rich businessmen are sometimes forced to board planes carrying suitcases full of US dollars.
Scotsman 8th Feb 2012 more >>
New Western sanctions will fail to force Iran to give up its nuclear “rights,” a foreign ministry official said on Tuesday, a day after the United States unveiled more measures against Iran’s central bank.
EU Business 7th Feb 2012 more >>
Trident
Plans to create a nuclear warhead depot near Falmouth could be resurrected in light of possible Scottish independence. At present, Trident nuclear arms are stored at Faslane and Coulport in Scotland, but, if the country votes for independence, it is believed the Ministry of Defence will have to find new homes for the weapons. A report prepared in 1963 looked at possible sites for the warheads, including Falmouth and Devonport. Despite being discounted at the time for being too expensive, officials will now have to start looking for a contingency plan in case a vote for independence, likely to take place in 2014, sees the UK split up.
Falmouth Packet 7th Feb 2012 more >>
Renewables
The new secretary of state for energy and climate change has been urged to end an ongoing legal battle over government plans to rush through solar feed-in tariff cuts, after Chris Huhne stepped down from his post to fight criminal charges.
Business Green 6th Feb 2012 more >>
Letter various councillors: We hope Mr Davey will rebuild the relationship with local government – based on mutual respect which was severely strained and undermined by the Department for Energy and Climate Change deciding to prematurely cut the Feed in Tariff for Solar installation. It caused industry turmoil and job losses, forcing councils to reduce or abandon long-planned investment in cheaper, cleaner energy for tens of thousands of domestic homes and public buildings. A major step in rebuilding the relationship between DECC and local government would be for Davey to instruct his department to abandon the farcical and humiliating appeal to the Supreme Court against Friends of the Earth’s successful Judicial Review, and enter dialogue with councils, business, and the environmental sector on strengthening the future of solar and renewable energy, rather than undermining.
Guardian 7th Feb 2012 more >>
Ministers have argued that they had to act quickly to slash subsidies to small-scale solar power because the cost of panels has dropped by nearly half in the past year much faster than the previous government envisaged when it set up the scheme. The government received fierce criticism from the solar industry and environmentalists after the cut and the decision was ruled unlawful in the courts. But ministers have argued that overly generous payments to investors who installed solar panels were in danger of draining the scheme of funds. They are expected to announce on Thursday a change to the way so-called feed-in tariffs are administered and an injection of funding for the scheme.
Guardian 8th Feb 2012 more >>
WIND turbines are being constructed to provide energy for two very different sectors. BAM Construction is weeks away from completion of a major development on the Advanced Manufacturing Park at Rotherham for the University of Sheffield. The scheme includes the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, which opened in October, and the Knowledge Transfer Centre.
Business Desk 7th Feb 2012 more >>
