news & information about the UK nuclear industry
The Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) has submitted today its views on the Environment Agency’s Draft Decision Document on Sellafield’s Environmental Permit for Radioactive Discharges. While the NFLA is encouraged by reductions in the discharge limits there remains concern for the future. There are also additional concerns over the impact discharges have had to the sea and land environment.
NFLA 29th Nov 2019 read more »
CLIMATE change is now a top concern for voters. The race for the UK to achieve net zero emissions is intensifying, with the Conservative Government legislating to achieve this by 2050, but rival political parties pledging a more ambitious timetable. Boris Johnson has promised a ‘clean energy revolution’. Well, we are going to need all the forms of carbon-free energy sources we can find. And the UK should be fully behind nuclear power. Replacing fossil fuels with entirely renewable energy sources on the timescale that is needed is a monumental challenge, and not one that doesn’t come with setbacks – notably, the issue of intermittency. Nuclear power generation produces no carbon emissions, and unlike renewables, it isn’t plagued with the problem of intermittent power generation. But it is plagued with something else: public hostility. Those who are hostile towards nuclear power typically hold two major concerns: safety and waste. When you compare the death rate from energy production per TWh (terawatt hour) of different energy sources worldwide, it becomes clear that nuclear power is actually one of the safest forms of energy generation in existence today.
Yorkshire 29th Nov 2019 read more »
Energy giant Npower has announced plans to restructure its UK business, leading to the loss of up to 4,500 jobs and the closure of a number of call centres. The news was described as a “body blow” by unions, especially coming just weeks before Christmas. Workers were given details at briefings on Friday, with the company saying it was facing an “unsustainable business situation” which has persisted for a number of years. The job losses will take place over the next two years, mainly at call centres. Npower has eight call centres – Rainton, near Sunderland, which employs around 2,000 staff; Hull; Leeds; Birmingham; Solihull; Oldbury; Worcester; and Swindon. Johannes Teyssen, chief executive of Npower’s owner, E.ON, said: “The UK market is currently particularly challenging. We’ve emphasised repeatedly that we’ll take all necessary action to return our business there to consistent profitability. “For this purpose, we’ve put together proposals and already begun discussing them with British unions.”
Energy Voice 29th Nov 2019 read more »
Employees at Npower had been bracing for bad news, but the scale of yesterday’s announcement came as a shock. “We knew something was coming, but we didn’t know they would cut everything,” one worker said. About 4,500 Npower staff, comprising almost all those in its household supply business and most of its corporate functions, were warned yesterday that their jobs were likely to go within two years as the long-troubled energy supplier is swallowed by Eon. For those at Npower’s biggest sites, such as the Houghton-le-Spring call centre near Sunderland, which employs about 2,000 people, and offices in Hull and Leeds, it’s a deeply worrying time. “Nobody’s taken it very well. Everyone is going. The job market is going to be saturated.” Data from Cornwall Insight, the consultancy, shows that there will be clear water between these three and the rest of the market: British Gas will have 23 per cent, Eon 18 per cent and Ovo more than 15 per cent. The remaining two of the historical Big Six — EDF and Scottish Power — each have less than 10 per cent. Robert Buckley, of Cornwall Insight, said: “The government has been used to thinking about the energy market through the six large suppliers and using them to help implement their policies. Today underlines that model is no longer appropriate.”
Times 30th Nov 2019 read more »
That’s what’s been missing from this election: a walk-on part for Theresa May. Not now. She’s got 4,500 people sacked at Npower, one of the Big Six energy suppliers done over by her price caps. Indeed, for Britain’s households, the brand looks set to disappear from view. Or that, at least, is one way to look at the latest from the outfit’s German owner Eon. It was only in September that it took control of Npower as part of a €43 billion asset swap with its rival RWE. It’s swiftly come to a predictable conclusion: that, due to Mrs May’s price caps and its own failings, Npower has no future as a standalone business.
Times 30th Nov 2019 read more »
Energy titan Npower is axing at least 4,500 jobs after warning a price cap has left its consumer business in a “critical and unsustainable” state. The loss-making company will slash almost 80pc of its UK workforce in a battle to stay afloat, dealing a huge blow to staff before Christmas. Npower has suffered a torrid year amid an influx of cut-throat competitors offering cheaper deals, while profits across the industry are down after the Government imposed an energy price cap at the start of 2019.
Telegraph 29th Nov 2019 read more »
‘Cruel blow’ for Npower employees is grist to Corbyn’s nationalisation mill.
Telegraph 29th Nov 2019 read more »
The head of Scotland’s largest energy firm has said the debate around nationalising the UK’s energy supplier is “distracting” from the target of reaching net zero emissions by 2050. ScottishPower chief executive Keith Anderson said Labour promises to take back control of the Britain’s energy network meant “losing focus” on the issue of tackling the climate emergency.
Herald 30th Nov 2019 read more »
David Attenborough brands Boris Johnson ‘shameful’ for skipping climate change TV debate.
Independent 29th Nov 2019 read more »
Times 30th Nov 2019 read more »
A public meeting attended by over 70 people, hosted by TASC on Tuesday evening at Leiston Community Centre, saw Japanese anti-nuclear activist Kazuhiko Kobayashi explain how the Fukushima disaster of 2011 remains a real threat to local Japanese citizens as well as to the global community. Kazuhiko has travelled throughout Europe over the last few years to warn people about the dangers of nuclear power but, more specifically, about the impact the disaster nine years ago had and continues to have on the young. Japanese children from the contaminated area are showing a greater incidence of thyroid cancer today than before the accident, he said; before the earthquake and tsunami devastated the Fukushima nuclear complex, causing loss-of-coolant melt downs in three of the four reactors, thyroid cancer was unknown in children.
Together Against Sizewell C 29th Nov 2019 read more »
France and Germany are not agreeing on whether nuclear should be included in the EU’s upcoming green energy finance taxonomy. As EURACTIV France explains: Tabled in 2018, the EU taxonomy aims to determine which economic activities can benefit from a sustainable finance label at European level. The objective is to give clear indications to investors so they can redirect their financing towards environmentally-friendly sectors. Six pre-defined environmental objectives must be met in order to obtain the label. If any technology seriously undermines one of those goals, it is automatically disqualified. It is because of this double level of control that nuclear energy failed to win the green label in the European Parliament, until the Council representing EU member states voted to reinstate it in September. Nuclear has no scientific evidence for waste treatment, and that’s why it was not initially included. But France believes that nuclear is necessary to combat global warming, as it meets the low carbon-emissions objective. About 75% of France’s power comes from nuclear energy. “Nuclear energy is not safe and sustainable nor cost-effective,” said German state secretary for energy, Andreas Feicht, during a September meeting of EU energy ministers. “So we reject the idea of EU money to extend the life of nuclear power stations,” he said.
Electrek 29th Nov 2019 read more »
The European Parliament yesterday adopted a resolution on COP25 – the 25th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – to begin in Madrid next week. The resolution states that all technologies – including nuclear – are needed to combat climate change, for which it has called an emergency.
World Nuclear News 29th Nov 2019 read more »
French alternative power suppliers have requested 147 terawatt hours (TWh) of utility EDF’s nuclear power generation for 2020 through the ARENH auction window, the energy market regulator CRE said on Friday. Under the so-called ARENH mechanism, EDF’s rivals have the right to buy up to 100 TWh, or about a quarter of its annual nuclear output, at a fixed price of 42 euros ($46.29) per megawatt hour (MW). The scheme is aimed at giving them fair access to cheap nuclear energy. The CRE said that because demand was higher that the 100 TWh ceiling, all the 73 suppliers will each receive around 68 percent of what they requested.
Reuters 29th Nov 2019 read more »
This week in future tech, China’s plans to be the first to achieve stable nuclear fusion are given a boost with the launch of a new reactor. The race is on among the world’s nations to create an ‘artificial sun’, and now China is staking its claim as the one to beat with a next-generation nuclear fusion reactor. According to Xinhua News, the HL-2M tokamak reactor is set to be operational as soon as next year, as installation work “has gone smoothly” since the delivery of its coil system in June.
Silicone Republic 29th Nov 2019 read more »
Germany is closing all its nuclear power plants. Now it must find a place to bury the deadly waste for 1 million years. When it comes to the big questions plaguing the world’s scientists, they don’t get much larger than this. Where do you safely bury more than 28,000 cubic meters — roughly six Big Ben clock towers — of deadly radioactive waste for the next million years? This is the “wicked problem” facing Germany as it closes all of its nuclear power plants in the coming years, according to Professor Miranda Schreurs, part of the team searching for a storage site. Experts are now hunting for somewhere to bury almost 2,000 containers of high-level radioactive waste. The site must be beyond rock-solid, with no groundwater or earthquakes that could cause a leakage. The technological challenges — of transporting the lethal waste, finding a material to encase it, and even communicating its existence to future humans — are huge. But the most pressing challenge today might simply be finding a community willing to have a nuclear dumping ground in their backyard.
CNN 30th Nov 2019 read more »
This website relies on donations to bring you the latest news and information about the UK nuclear industry.
You can make a credit card donation via PayPal.
To receive our daily news digest, monthly nuClear News, occasional Safe Energy e-journal or news of site updates, join our mailing lists.
Thank you for your interest in our nuclear news service, and apologies for interrupting your visit.
If you are not already a subscriber, you can sign up free to receive the daily news by email.
We do not charge for the email service or for access to the daily news online, but we do rely on donations from individuals to help cover the costs and are asking regular readers to consider making an annual donation.
The recommended amount for those who can afford it is £30, but any contribution is appreciated.
You can make a donation online.