3 June 2010

Nuclear Subsidy

The nuclear industry is being offered what campaigners claim is a taxpayer subsidy on the disposal costs of waste from new reactors following a secret lobbying campaign. The revelation will put further scrutiny on the new government’s promise that there will be no subsidy for nuclear power. Liberal Democrat Chris Huhne, the new energy and climate change secretary of state, admitted to the Guardian this week that the government already faces a 4bn funding black hole over existing radioactive waste. The previous government had planned to charge the industry a high, fixed, disposal levy tied to the amount of nuclear waste it produced. It had also originally told the industry that responsibility for the waste should be tra nsferred to the state only once the waste had been disposed of, at least 110 years from the start of a reactor’s operations. Both proposals were deeply unpopular with the industry. In March, the Labour government published revised proposals that made significant concessions on both issues. Consultation on the plans will conclude this month. A spokesman for the energy department said the consultation was continuing but declined to comment on whether the new government would take a different approach to the previous administration. Documents released under a freedom of information request reveal the extent of behind-the-scenes lobbying last year in Whitehall by EDF Energy, the French firm that wants to build the first new reactors in the UK for decades. The lobbying focused on the two key proposals which were revised in March.

Guardian 3rd June 2010 more >>

There is a hole in your business plan, dear eon, dear eon

There is a hole in your business plan, dear eon, a hole

Then fix it dear government, dear government,dear government

Then fix it dear government, dear government,fix it.

Shepperdine Against Nuclear Energy 2nd June 2010 more >>

New Nukes

An MP has demanded clarification from the new Coalition on why no public subsidy should be given to developing new nuclear build when other energy sources are given money from the public purse. Copeland MP Jamie Reed said investors needed answers from government after the collation document published by the Tories and Lib Dems said nuclear would expand as long as there was no public subsidy.

Carlisle News & Star 1st June 2010 more >>

Copeland MP Jamie Reed argued that it would be a mistake to abandon public subsidy and leave the private sector to bear all the costs.

Whitehaven News 2nd June 2010 more >>

The SNP have seized on a warning by the new Energy and Climate Change Secretary that Britain faces a £4bn black hole in nuclear decommissioning costs over the next four years. The black hole is equivalent to wiping out one-sixth of the overall cuts in public spending identified by the Treasury last week. SNP Westminster Energy spokesperson, Mike Weir MP, said the situation validated the Scottish Government’s energy strategy of capitalising on Scotland’s vast clean, green energy potential.

SNP Press Release 2nd June 2010 more >>

Britain faces a 4 billion pound shortfall in covering the costs of nuclear decommissioning and dealing with waste over the next few years.

STV 2nd June 2010 more >>

Reuters 2nd June 2010 more >>

Areva

The acrimonious nuclear power joint venture between France’s Areva and Germany’s Siemens is to be probed by competition officials at the European Commission after the German company complained about a previously undisclosed “non-compete” clause to the regulator. If Brussels upholds the complaint, this could have broader implications for the nuclear power plant market, potentially accelerating the creation of a rival joint venture between Rosatom, the Russian state nuclear company, and Siemens. Siemens, which is Europe’s largest engineering group, has been trying to extricate itself from the Areva NP joint venture - which was formed in 2001 - for more than a year, after the French government refused to consider the German group’s demand to swap its stake in the partnership for one in state-owned Areva.

FT 3rd June 2010 more >>

When Heinrich von Pierer, the former head of Siemens, first met Anne Lauvergeon, of France’s Areva, 10 years ago to discuss the creation of a nuclear joint venture, he was seeking a safe harbour for a business he believed had no future in the German conglomerate. “He always believed that nuclear had potential but that it would take a generation to take off. He said he wanted to bring his child to a friendly home,” said one executive who was present at the creation of Areva NP in 2001. “Siemens sold everything. It was structured as a deferred sale.” Today, under new management, Siemens’ views have changed. It now wants a bigger part of the atomic action as governments around the world prepare to build a record number of reactors - many of them the Franco-German third generation EPR designed by Areva NP.

FT 3rd June 2010 more >>

Areva SA, France’s state-controlled nuclear-reactor builder, will probably delay a stake sale as foreign investors wait for the government to outline its nuclear strategy, two people with knowledge of the discussions said. A sale of new shares, which aims to raise about 3 billion euros ($3.7 billion) and was originally slated for the first half, may get pushed to September or October, said one of the people, who requested anonymity because the talks aren’t public. Areva is discussing the transaction with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and sovereign wealth funds of Kuwait and Qatar.

Business Week 2nd June 2010 more >>

The European Commission opened an investigation on Wednesday into whether a deal between France’s Areva and Germany’s Siemens on ending a nuclear power joint venture breaches competition rules.

Reuters 2nd June 2010 more >>

Wylfa

Yesterday’s Daily Post carried an article explaining in a little more detail Horizon’s plans regarding building Wylfa B. Next to that article was a write-up of Albert Owen’s complaints that the new coalition government has “shattered” the confidence of nuclear investors.

The Druid 2nd June 2010 more >>

Cumbria

Officers from the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, the force that protects the Sellafield nuclear plant, near the village of Seascale on the Cumbrian coast, were also drafted in to help Cumbria police.

Times 3rd June 2010 more >>

Decommissioning

Scientists are developing robots that have eyesight that works in the same way as human vision. The robots will be able to determine what is the most important object in its field of vision and act accordingly, just like humans do. Scientists hope that the technology will let ‘intelligent’ robots operate inside dangerous places like nuclear reactors where it would too dangerous for humans to enter.

Daily Mail 2nd June 2010 more >>

Uranium

As the new nuclear renaissance grows, so too does uranium extraction. In Niger, which boasts some of the world’s richest deposits, NGOs say that the poor are being exploited for the West’s ‘clean energy’ In the heart of the Sahara lie some of the world’s largest uranium deposits. Until recently, the region had held little interest to the world’s trading partners, save France. Desert tribes, predominantly Tuareg nomads, had been mostly free to roam its vast, barren expanse; living off what little bounty it had to offer. Then a few years ago, rising fuel prices and climate change revived interest in the atom.

Ecologist 1st June 2010 more >>

Brazil

Brazil’s national energy plan to 2030 has proposed five different options for the development of electrical power. They predict total nuclear power in 2030 ranging from 7.3GW to 11.3GW, up from 2.0GW currently. Even the most conservative case calls for the completion of Angra 3, and the construction of four 1000MW new nuclear power plants, two in the northeast, and two in the southeast.

Nuclear Engineering International 1st June 2010 more >>

Nuclear Engineering International 1st June 2010 more >>

Syria

Syria has told the UN atomic watchdog about past nuclear experiments, but is still refusing to cooperate over allegations that it was building a secret nuclear reactor with North Korea’s help, a new report revealed Monday.

Middle East Online 1st June 2010 more >>

India

India’s foreign minister said on Wednesday his government was committed to implementing a historic 2008 civil nuclear cooperation accord, which could open the door to billions of dollars in business for U.S. nuclear plant manufacturers.

Reuters 2nd June 2010 more >>