15 June 2010

Coalition

Simon Highes: “The Tories have to understand what is a huge priority for us – for example, fairer taxation for those on lower incomes, which requires those with broader shoulders to take a greater sharer of the responsibility. The coalition would not be a happy place if they [the Tories] did not understand that.” He also listed university tuition fees, nuclear power, nuclear disarmament and supporting the people of Gaza as priority areas in which the Liberal Democrats would want to influence Government policy. All could create tension with the Tories.

Independent 14th June 2010 more >>

Nuclear Subsidies

Your article on the costs associated with nuclear reactors addresses a fundamental question about how we de-carbonise our energy supply, and who pays (Nuclear waste offer ‘has hidden subsidy’, 3 June). But the suggestion that EDF Energy was engaged in “behind-the scenes lobbying” to gain a “hidden subsidy” is wrong. We were responding to an open pre-consultation by government. This invited views from all parties, including ourselves and NGOs, on the price for radioactive waste disposal. We work hard to be part of the debate and recently set out our commitment to transparency. We have always been open that we expect to pay the full costs of decommissioning and our full share of the waste management and disposal costs from our new-build programme.

Guardian 15th June 2010 more >>

The facultative market could be set to benefit from changes to internationally agreed limits for nuclear liability cover, which will increase the current limits for operators’ liability for nuclear power plants from EUR210mn to EUR700mn, Inside FAC understands. The current situation regarding third-party liabilities for nuclear power plants is complicated, as exact regulations differ according to geography, with cover in many countries provided by a variety of pooled associations. In the UK, for example, the third-party liability limit is £140mn.

Inside FAC 14th June 2010 more >>

Wylfa and Oldbury

Plans are under way to extend the life of the UK’s oldest nuclear reactors, which would ease the government’s need to find an extra 4bn for clean-up funding. The Wylfa reactor on Anglesey, due to close at the end of the year, would remain open until at least 2012 if safety regulators agree. The extra electricity generated by the reactor, which began operations in 1971, would earn its parent, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), up to an extra 500m in revenue. EnergySolutions, the US company which operates the old Magnox reactor sites for the NDA, is also looking for a further life extension of the Oldbury reactor. It is the UK’s oldest operating nuclear plant, opened in 1968, and recently regulator s gave it approval to remain open until mid 2011. EnergySolutions is preparing to begin work on another extension soon.

Guardian 15th June 2010 more >>

Heysham

Morecambe & Lunesdale MP David Morris affirmed his support for the Heysham 3 proposal during his election campaign. Currently running an anti-Heysham Wind Farm campaign on his website (on aesthetic grounds) he has frequently extolled the beauties of Sunderland Point whilst perhaps failing to notice the potential impact of a third reactor on its coastline.

Virtual Lancaster 14th June 2010 more >>

US

AFTER MORE than 20 years, four administrations and billions of dollars spent, Yucca Mountain is the one place in America that a new Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future cannot look to put this country’s nuclear waste. Created by the Obama administration after it jettisoned the Nevada project, the commission, which will meet for the third time in July, is to make its recommendations two years from now -- rendering any action unlikely until after the 2012 elections. The commission’s mandate says that it will focus on “strategy” rather than “implementation” -- in other words, it will not even search for replacement sites. Instead, among other initiatives, it will study potential technologies to reprocess spent nuclear fuel.

Washington Post 14th June 2010 more >>

TerraPower, a nuclear energy start-up backed by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, has raised $35m (£23.7m) in a new round of funding to aid the development of a reactor fuelled by nuclear waste. Concerns about global warming and efforts to reduce carbon emissions have sparked renewed interest in nuclear energy as a clean fuel, but the difficulty of disposing of spent uranium and fear of accidents have made the technology controversial.

City AM 15th June 2010 more >>

Reuters 14th June 2010 more >>

China

Hong Kong’s largest power supplier, said it had recorded a small rise in radioactivity in reactor cooling water at a nuclear plant in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen last month. CLP’s statement followed a report by Washington-based Radio Free Asia that the Daya Bay nuclear plant had suffered a large radiation leak that was threatening public safety.

Reuters 15th June 2010 more >>

Turkey

South Korea said on Tuesday it had signed an MOU with Turkey to cooperate on nuclear power projects, an agreement seen helping Seoul win a plant order from Istanbul worth an estimated $10 billion later this year.

Interactive Investor 15th May 2010 more >>

Sweden

The police arrested dozens of Greenpeace activists on Monday after they broke into the Forsmark nuclear power plant north of Stockholm before a planned vote this week on whether to replace the country’s existing reactors, many of which were built in the 1970s. The protesters object to the proposed law, which would allow the reactors to be replaced or refurbished.

New York Times 14th June 2010 more >>

Morning Star 14th June 2010 more >>

Greenpeace Press Release 14th June 2010 more >>

Iran

Iran is at the centre of a global storm: targeted by new sanctions, suspected by Washington, defended by Brazil and Turkey. But the complex diplomacy around its nuclear programme could be ended by decisions made not in the United States but in Israel.

Oil Price 14th June 2010 more >>

EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton has written to Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili inviting him to talks as Europe plans new sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear programme.

Yahoo 14th June 2010 more >>