Nuclear Safety
French plans to lead a nuclear power renaissance in Britain have been dealt a major blow after regulators warned of serious reservations about the safety of the reactor technology earmarked for use. The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) has written to EDF and Areva, the French companies that want to build four reactors in the UK, to express their concerns about the technology. The letter sets out concerns about the control and instrumentation (C&I) of Areva’s European Pressurised Reactor (EPR). The NII’s warning will compound the view that EDF, the utility giant that is 85 per cent owned by the French state, is unlikely to meet its target of building its first UK reactor within eight years. Areva is already scrambling to produce revised plans but the design assessment phase could be delayed well past its expected completion in 2011.
Times 1st July 2009 more >>
New Nukes
Letter from Cllr Audrey Doig: The point of the Renewables Obligation (RO) (Letters, 26 June) is that because renewables are new technologies the scope for cost reductions is large. According to the government’s Performance and Innovation Unit (PIU) there is good evidence that onshore wind is likely to become among the cheapest of all generating technologies within 20 years. Even solar photovoltaics look as though they will be competitive with fossil fuels in the next couple of years. The RO is an opportunity to nurture these new technologies and bring costs down to competitive levels quickly whilst we create a new manufacturing base. On the other hand, the scope for cost reductions with nuclear power is limited, since it is already a mature technology. The nuclear industry has already received huge subsidies, for example when the government sold off British Energy’s eight nuclear plants for the price of half a reactor. If members of the public want to decide whether electricity from new reactors is likely to be expensive they just need to look at recent experience. The fact that western Europe’s first reactor since Chernobyl, in Finland, is three years late and 50 per cent over budget is widely known. Perhaps less well known is the fact that the industry’s second attempt, at Flamanville, in France, is also behind schedule and over budget. In the United States, Florida and Georgia have changed state laws to raise electricity rates so that consumers will foot some of the bill for new nuclear plants in advance, before construction even begins.
Scotsman 1st July 2009 more >>
Letter from Colin McInnes: Through extensive use of nuclear power, France has a carbon emission per unit of electrical energy production of around 20% of the UK, while electricity costs are among the lowest in Europe. This is an example of how electrical energy production can be decarbonised by 80%, not in 2050 but in 2009.
Herald 1st July 2009 more >>
Supply Chain
Companies will be invited to tender this year for the first of 150 contracts, worth “many billions of pounds”, to build new nuclear power plants for EDF Energy in the UK. EDF Energy presented details of the tender process and work packages at a seminar in London yesterday attended by 500 representatives from companies hoping to join the supply chain. Setting out a timetable for the contracts, the company said two tenders will be published this year, for earthworks and a marine off-loading facility. In the first half of 2010 companies would be invited to tender for major packages including the main civil works contract, turbine generator, and cooling water pipework.
Utility Week 1st July 2009 more >>
Nuclear Regulation
A single, easily identifiable, body for regulating the civil nuclear energy sector was proposed by the Government today. The new body would combine responsibility for overseeing safety, security and transport of civil nuclear sites and material.
DECC Press Release 30th June 2009 more >>
A joint DECC and Department for Work and Pensions consultation has been launched to seek views on the Government’s proposals to restructure the Health and Safety Executive’s Nuclear Directorate. The proposals are designed to improve the organisational framework for the sustained delivery of robust, effective and efficient nuclear regulation in the UK.
DECC 30th June 2009 more >>
The government has today announced plans to streamline the UK’s different nuclear oversight bodies through the creation of a “single, easily identifiable body” for regulating the civil nuclear energy sector. Under the proposals, which are now open for consultation, the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) Nuclear Directorate will be extended to take responsibility for the Department for Transport’s (DfT) Transport Security and Contingencies Directorate and Radioactove Materials Transport Team, which govern the safe transport of nuclear materials. It will also formally take over the operation of the Office for Civil Nuclear Security and the UK Safeguards Office, both of which were moved under the control of the HSE in 2007.
Business Green 30th June 2009 more >>
Argus Media 30th June 2009 more >>
Green Energy Spin
EDF has nicked our Green Union Jack. Electricite de France is not Green and not British, it is nuclear and French. If we don’t get our flag back and stop this greenwash, Britain will never go green. Switching to a genuine green energy company is the biggest impact you can make on climate change. There are 5 (now 6) ways you can help below.
Bradwell
THE electricity generated by Bradwell Power Station may have stopped, but the nuclear site’s legacy will last far longer. The power station is being decommissioned at a cost of £1.8billion, with the site not expected to be fully cleared until 2104.
North Essex Gazette 29th June 2009 more >>
Wylfa
RWE AG, the German utility which along with E.ON AG won land near Wylfa on Anglesey for new nuclear build, may not make a final decision to invest until after 2011.
Anglesey Today 30th June 2009 more >>
Hinkley
HINKLEY Point B power station near Bridgwater lost up to £1million a day as contractors staged a mass walkout last week, a striking contractor has claimed. Several hundred contract workers packed up their tools the Friday before last and stayed away from the plant all last week in support of the 650 construction workers laid off by oil giant Total at the Lindsey Oil Refinery in Lincolnshire.
This is the West Country 30th June 2009 more >>
Scotland
A HOLYROOD committee has backed SNP ministers’ plans to turn Scotland into a nuclear-free state. But MSPs said the lifespan of existing nuclear power stations should be extended to buy time to develop alternative, low-carbon sources of energy in the renewable sector. Lewis Macdonald, Labour’s energy spokesman, who voted in favour of nuclear energy, accepted that Scotland’s opportunity lay in harnessing wind, wave and tidal power potential.
Scotsman 1st July 2009 more >>
Herald 1st July 2009 more >>
BBC 1st July 2009 more >>
Cumbria
The Bishop of Carlisle has received a letter from Radiation Free Lakeland denouncing his support for the nuclear industry. The Right Reverend James Newcome believes regeneration schemes such as Britain’s Energy Coast can breathe new life into Cumbria. The open letter said it is “hardly an act of Christian charity”.
Pendle Today 30th June 2009 more >>
Terror
THIS is the terrifying scene as police and paramedics carry out one of the largest ever rehearsals for a “dirty bomb” attack on the UK. More than 1,000 cops, paramedics and firefighters were involved in treating “radioactive casualties”. Emergency services worked on the scenario that terrorists had set off a radiological device at a college near Dover Castle.
The Sun 30th June 2009 more >>
Proliferation
Fears of nuclear proliferation are not confined to the Middle East. North Korea’s aggressive push to restart its nuclear programme and boost its ballistic missile capability is thought to mask a succession battle under way in the Stalinist state. The ailing supreme leader, Kim Jong Il, is believed to have chosen his younger son Kim Jong Un, 26, as his replacement. The entire region is on alert for trouble.
Times 30th June 2009 more >>
France
France’s highly radioactive waste will more than double by 2030 mainly as spent fuel derived from nuclear reactors mounts up, the French national radioactive waste management agency (Andra) said on Tuesday. Andra draws up every three years an inventory of sites polluted with radioactivity and details quantities per waste category as well as volume forecasts.
Reuters 30th June 2009 more >>
Forecasts for warmer temperatures this week in parts of Europe raise the possibility of summer heat waves that can heavily strain the ability of the energy sector to keep supplies flowing.
Reuters 30th June 2009 more >>
French state-controlled nuclear giant Areva said Tuesday it was opening its capital to new investors and would sell a subsidiary to raise money for massive investments in new nuclear technology.
Yahoo 30th June 2009 more >>
Bloomberg 30th June 2009 more >>
Canada
ONTARIO’S provincial government has suspended a milestone nuclear reactor because of doubts over the financial viability of Canada’s federal nuclear agency.
Chemical Engineer 30th June 2009 more >>
Renewables
Scotland could be generating enough hydro power to meet the equivalent needs of every household in the country in less than 10 years. The claim was made yesterday as Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) unveiled plans for two new large-scale pumped storage hydro electric schemes in the Great Glen, which could increase Scotland’s hydro capacity by more than 70%. They would be the first pumped storage schemes to be developed in Britain since work began on the Dinorwig scheme in Wales in 1974, which became the largest in the UK. Ben Cruachan at Loch Awe was the last new one to be built in Scotland, opening in 1965, but 10 years later the conventional scheme at Foyers on Loch Ness re-opened as a
pump storage station.
Herald 30th June 2009 more >>
Research from analysts Poyry says that the UK can massively expand wind power by 2030 without suffering power cuts or a melt-down of the National Grid. The cost of electricity would then be determined not by consumer demand, but by how hard the wind is blowing. When it is windy power will be so cheap that other forms of generation will be unable to compete, the report says. If accepted by government, these key findings could strongly influence the UK’s future energy supplies. The study was done for National Grid, Centrica and others. The researchers reviewed 2.5 million hourly weather reports on wind speeds all around the UK. Nuclear power stations will have to be built with variable output so they – like gas and coal plants – can occasionally cut their power when the wind is blowing most strongly. It does look as though nuclear, coal and gas are competing for the same share of the market.
BBC 1st July 2009 more >>
The solar power industry has grown rapidly in the past few years, but while Japanese manufacturers such as Sharp, Sanyo and Kyocera have increased their revenues, their collective share of the world market has fallen from more than 50 per cent in 2004 to about 25 per cent by 2007. But now the skies are brightening. Japan has just restarted subsidies to households that install solar panels; a lack of credit is squeezing upstart rivals in China and Taiwan; and Japans electronics companies have outlined aggressive plans to expand in what they see as one of their most promising future markets.
FT 1st July 2009 more >>
Energy Efficiency
More help to save energy will be available to householders due to an increase in the Government’s Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) scheme and the introduction of a new Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP). Together, CERT and CESP will see extra investment by energy companies under the two schemes, taking the total to an estimated £3.5billion in energy efficiency improvements by the end of 2012. This will help the country meet our carbon targets under the Climate Change Act, as well as help us meet our fuel poverty targets.
DECC 30th June 2009 more >>
