Torness
Torness nuclear power station operator EDF Energy is seeking permission to store radioactive waste on the site from other power stations. Public consultation on the plans opens this month, prior to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) making a decision on whether to allow EDF Energy to “receive radioactive waste from other EDF power stations for the purpose of interim storage, loading of containers and onward transfer”. An EDF spokesman said: “This change is purely a practical one to facilitate more flexible disposals by allowing waste to be collected temporarily at one site before being sent for disposal The Office for Nuclear Regulation, which oversees nuclear regulation in the UK, has indicated that it has no objections to the proposals to deal with the disposal of waste from Torness and Hunterston nuclear power station in North Ayrshire. An ONR spokesperson said: Any shipments of waste between Torness and Hunterston are required to be carried out in full compliance with regulations covering the transport of radioactive material.” The Scottish Government say there would be no long-term storage of waste transferred between sites a spokesman adding: “Any inter-site transfers that might take place would have to be handled carefully.”
Berwickshire News 9th July 2014 read more »
A NUCLEAR power plant is back running at full capacity after a reactor was taken offline for a week amid investigations into an electrical fault. Torness Power Station, near Dunbar, re-synchronised Unit 1 at noon today. It had been shut down on July 1 due to an issue with the electrical system within the conventional plant.
Edinburgh Evening News 8th July 2014 read more »
Hinkley
Fears that radioactive waste from Sellafield is being driven through Burnham-on-sea to Hinkley have been rejected.
Burnham-on-sea.com 8th July 2014 read more »
Letter Jo Brown: Under the new national nuclear waste and decommissioning contract, highly radioactive Sellafield waste is being driven to Hinkley by road for processing prior to overseas shipment. Under the new contract, waste from any UK site can be transported to any other UK nuclear site without local consultation and without taking account of high public health risk in areas such as Somerset coastal communities, which are very close to, and downwind of, the Hinkley site. Were local authorities consulted? Did they agree to these changes? How long will this continue? Is this the real reason for the huge Somerset road-building programme before the Hinkley C new nuclear build has even been approved?
Western Daily Press 8th July 2014 read more »
Radwaste
Letter from Eddie Martin to CoRWM chair: Several weeks ago (10th May 2014) I wrote a comprehensive letter to you and your colleagues expressing in detail both the observations and concerns of the Cumbria Trust members regarding the siting of a GDF here in Cumbria. I was assured by your secretariat that my letter had, indeed, been distributed to you and your CoRWM colleagues. It is most disappointing, therefore, that not only have I not received a response to the many carefully-considered points raised but that I have not even received an acknowledgement of my letter. The Cumbria Trust offered to meet with you (and your colleagues) to discuss further the many concerns we have; that invitation remains open. Since then your colleague, Professor Rebecca Lunn, has given a lecture to the Geological Society, details of which are advertised on the CoRWM web site. Unfortunately, Professor Lunn’s MRWS data on the response from the local population were inaccurate. Contrary to her assertions: “Don’t forget Moray (sic) Poll showed public in favour!”, the MORI poll did no such thing.
Cumbria Trust 9th July 2014 read more »
Nuclear Safety
The EU’s Council of Ministers on 8 July adopted a new Nuclear Safety Directive. It provides more power and independence for national regulatory authorities, a high-level EU-wide safety objective, and a European system of peer reviews. It will also introduce periodic national safety assessments and on-site emergency preparedness and response arrangements. In addition, it increases transparency and improve education and training. The 2014 directive amends the one in force since 2009. It provides a stronger framework for EU nuclear safety, as called for by the EU Heads of State or Government following the 2011 nuclear accident in Fukushima.
EU Business 9th July 2014 read more »
World Nuclear News 8th July 2014 read more »
Energy Live News 8th July 2014 read more »
EU Reporter 8th July 2014 read more »
Small Reactors
The deployment of small nuclear reactors is being held up by the licensing process, and not by issues with the technology, MPs were told on Tuesday. The Energy and Climate Change select committee (ECCC) heard that the length of time it takes for reactors to be approved, and the consideration of non-technology processes, is delaying the deployment of the small modular reactors (SMRs). Bill Fox, chief executive of the American company Generation mPower, told the committee it would be “advantageous” to set different licencing criteria for SMRs than for the larger reactors.
Utility Week 8th July 2014 read more »
Cumbria
CUMBRIA is to benefit from a £26.8m government cash injection – with much of the cash allocated to Barrow and Ulverston. The Department for Business Innovation & Skills announced today what funding will be made available to the country’s 39 Local Enterprise Partnerships. And Cumbria is celebrating a clean sweep, with all eight projects included in its bid receiving funding. The money has been allocated, among other projects, to: A new manufacturing technology centre to be built at Furness College; An enterprise zone created at the Barrow Waterfront; A major investment in roads in Ulverston to support a projected increase in traffic due to the GSK expansion; Nuclear Technology Innovation Gateway: The creation of a new £26.5m facility in West Cumbria to showcase UK excellence in fuels, computing, reprocessing and remote engineering.
NW Evening Mail 7th July 2014 read more »
NuExec Consulting has been announced as preferred bidders for the permanent recruit services to the low level waste repository just south of the Sellafield site in West Cumbria. The site, which has been operating since 1959, stores waste from Sellafield, Ministry of Defence sites, nuclear power stations, hospitals, universities, medical companies and the oil industry.
NW Evening Mail 8th July 2014 read more »
Energy Security
Ensuring Europe’s energy security of supply: the role of nuclear.
Foratom 24th June 2014 read more »
EMR
National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) is set to receive £5 million in provisional allowances for its role as the Electricity Market Reform (EMR) Delivery Body.
Utility Week 8th July 2014 read more »
Proliferation
President Barack Obama on Tuesday will nominate a nuclear non-proliferation expert for the position of No. 2 official at the Department of Energy, a White House official said. The nominee, Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, would replace Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman, a nuclear expert who held the job for five years before announcing in June his intention to leave the agency. Sherwood-Randall, currently the White House coordinator for defense policy, has worked on getting chemical weapons out of Syria, nuclear security, and has previous experience at the Defense Department.
Reuters 8th July 2014 read more »
Japan & Germany
Amory Lovins: Japan thinks of itself as famously poor in energy, but this national identity rests on a semantic confusion. Japan is indeed poor in fossil fuels—but among all major industrial countries, it’s the richest in renewable energy like sun, wind, and geothermal. For example, Japan has nine times Germany’s renewable energy resources. Yet Japan makes about nine times less of its electricity from renewables (excluding hydropower) than Germany does. Japan’s sky-high energy prices make energy efficiency very profitable, most of all in buildings. Semiconductor company Rohm’s office opposite Kyōto Station, for example, cut its energy use 46% and repaid its cost in two years. With a few exceptions, like the Tōkyō Metropolitan Government’s efficiency efforts, few Japanese buildings have received the kind of kaizen (continuous improvement) that has long distinguished Japanese industry.
Renew Economy 9th July 2014 read more »
Germany
Thanks to favorable weather and record production from solar and wind power, renewable energy accounted for approximately 31 percent of Germany’s electricity generation in the first half of 2014. Non-hydro renewables made up 27 percent of the country’s power, up from 24 percent last year, according to new data released by the Fraunhofer Institute. And for the first time ever, renewable energy sources accounted for a larger portion of electricity production than brown coal.
Climate Progress 8th July 2014 read more »
Have you ever noticed how things can appear relatively straightforward from afar, but the nearer you get to a situation the more complex it seems? I have just spent two weeks in Berlin interviewing analysts from think tanks, academic institutions and government advisors in an attempt to better understand governance and sustainable innovations in Germany – this blog is largely informed by these interviews. What has been revealed is that the Energiewende is both more complex but also simpler than had seemed from afar. The German sustainable energy transition is simpler in that it is essentially all about renewables. Germany is arguably in ‘Phase II’ of renewable expansion and there has been plenty of learning useful for all other countries seeking to develop renewable technologies. Sure there are also energy efficiency programmes – especially based around buildings refurbishment – but at the core of the transition has been support for and steady growth in the supply of renewable energy.
IGov 9th July 2014 read more »
Japan
Residents in the Japanese province of Fukushima have decided to tell the world that they are alive and well and living perfectly normal lives despite the recent nuclear disaster by recording a music video with Pharrell Williams’ hit song Happy as the soundtrack. Hitomi Kumasaka, a 53-year-old consulting firm manager in Fukushima, came up with the idea of creating a Fukushima version of the song after learning on the internet of a widespread misunderstanding that people can no longer live in the region due to the nuclear accident caused by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. About 200 people, including Fukushima Mayor Kaoru Kobayashi, small children, Buddhist monks, and people from all walks of life in the area appear in the video and dance in their own styles
Daily Mail 8th July 2014 read more »
Iran
Russian regulator Rostechnadzor has agreed to continue and expand its provision of consulting services to its Iranian counterpart for the operation of the Bushehr nuclear power plant.
World Nuclear News 8th July 2014 read more »
Iran’s supreme leader revealed Tuesday that his country ultimately wants 190,000 nuclear centrifuges — a huge figure that lays bare the massive gap between Tehran and world powers negotiating a deal. The comments, published on Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s website, represent a dramatic intervention in the talks currently taking place in Vienna between Iran and the P5+1 group of Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, plus Germany, for a nuclear accord.
Middle East Online 8th July 2014 read more »
Nuclear Weapons
The Medact archive – just catalogued by the Wellcome Library – tells the story of a group of doctors, nurses and other specialist medical practitioners, who joined together to protest against nuclear weapons.
Guardian 8th July 2014 read more »
The nuclear missiles hidden in plain view across the prairies of northwest North Dakota reveal one reason why trouble keeps finding the nuclear Air Force. The ‘Big Sticks,’ as some call the 60-foot (18-meter)-tall Minuteman 3 missiles, are just plain old. The Air Force asserts with pride that the missile system, more than 40 years old and designed during the Cold War to counter the now-defunct Soviet Union, is safe and secure. None has ever been used in combat or launched accidentally. But it also admits to fraying at the edges: time-worn command posts, corroded launch silos, failing support equipment and an emergency-response helicopter fleet so antiquated that a replacement was deemed ‘critical’ years ago.
Daily Mail 8th July 2014 read more »
Submarines
The navy’s nuclear submarine HMS Torbay has sailed into Portland. The Devon-based submarine, one of the Royal Navy’s five nuclear-powered attack submarines, is making a six-day official visit to the port. Dozens of sea cadets, school children, members of Dorset Police and potential recruits are expected to tour the vessel and meet its crew.
BBC 8th July 2014 read more »
Renewables – solar
Government attempts to curb the spread of solar farms by ending a lucrative subsidy scheme will not succeed because a replacement payment system is actually more attractive, an energy boss has claimed. Ministers announced in May that they would cut off subsidies for large solar farms under the so-called Renewable Obligation (RO) from March 2015, two years earlier than planned, after admitting the generous payments had led to far more farms being built than expected. Robert Goss, managing director of Conergy, said: “It isn’t at all clear that changing the incentives will actually reduce the number of solar farms being built.”
Telegraph 7th July 2014 read more »
Renewables – wave & tidal
The trade association representing the wind and marine energy industries, RenewableUK, has welcomed today’s announcement by The Crown Estate of further opportunities to develop the UK’s wave and tidal resources. The Crown Estate, which manages the UK’s seabed, has announced 6 new wave and tidal stream demonstration zones, as well as 5 new wave and tidal stream project sites – each with a potential capacity of 10-30 megawatts (MW). The 6 zones and 5 project sites are spread out around the UK, with 3 off the coast of England (North Cornwall, North Devon and Dorset), 4 off the coast of Scotland (Mull of Galloway, Isle of Harris, Islay and Stronsay Firth), 3 off the Welsh coast (South Pembrokeshire, West Anglesey and Holyhead Deep) and one in Northern Ireland (Strangford Lough).
Renewable UK 8th July 2014 read more »
Click Green 8th July 2014 read more »
Smart Meters
Will the UK government’s planned rollout of smart meters leave homes vulnerable to marketing companies desperate for us to overshare information about our most personal habits? Will an information grid linked to energy delivery systems be open to hackers, leaving whole districts vulnerable to disruption? Will smart meters really create a “spy in every home”, as the Daily Mail has reported? We take a look at the risks. Smart meters give people detailed information about how much energy they use and when. The theory is that this can help reduce bills, and level out peak-time stresses on the grid. As such, the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is promoting smart meters as a tool for helping the country to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, and plans to ensure one is installed in every home starting this week. Although there are concerns about the security of the smart grid, more concerning is that it won’t achieve what it’s intended to. The government’s decision to allow energy companies to control meters is “folly” because they will use them to “shave peak demand at most, not reduce demand overall”. This makes sense – at the moment energy companies’ profit interests certainly conflict with the government’s desire to cut consumer energy bills.
Carbon Brief 8th July 2014 read more »
CCS
Just days after the Trades Union Congress (TUC) highlighted the potential financial and employment benefits of Carbon Capture Storage (CCS) in Yorkshire, the European Commission has granted crucial funding for a flagship project in the region. The White Rose project, based at the Drax power station in Selby, has been promised up to €300m as part of the EU’s NER300 funding programme. When built, the plant would safely store two million tonnes of CO2 per annum under the North Sea seabed.
Edie 8th July 2014 read more »
Business Green 8th July 2014 read more »
Guardian 8th July 2014 read more »
As Yorkshire basks in the afterglow of the Tour de France, another global race is gathering pace where the region could surge to the front: carbon capture and storage (CCS). Some critics might scoff given that for too long CCS has been the stuff of technical papers, grand forecasts, and wish lists. While renewables have taken off around the world, progress with CCS has been glacial. Tim Yeo MP, the Chair of the UK’s Energy & Climate Change Select Committee, recently talked of a ‘lost decade’ for CCS development. But things are starting to turn around.
Business Green 8th July 2014 read more »
Climate
The resilience of transport networks, homes, hospitals and water supplies in England need to be enhanced to counter the more frequent and severe flooding and heatwaves that can be expected in future. This is the key finding of a new report (pdf) by the government’s official adviser on preparing for climate change.
Climate Change Committee 8th July 2014 read more »
Climate change makes more extreme weather events inevitable – and we are not yet adequately prepared, says the author of a new Government report, Lord Krebs.
Telegraph 9th July 2014 read more »
The United Nations was presented with a roadmap to avoid a climate catastrophe on Tuesday, prescribing specific actions for the world’s biggest economies to keep warming below 2C. In a report prepared for the secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, experts from 30 international institutions set out a range of strategies for the economies responsible for more than two-thirds of global emissions. The initiative is the first of its kind to try to make concrete plans around the various targets that have been discussed at the UN climate change negotiations over the last two decades, said Jeffrey Sachs, director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute, and a leader of the Pathways to Deep Decarbonisation Project.
Guardian 8th July 2014 read more »
