Chernobyl
The fires first reported in the Chernobyl region on April 26th (the anniversary of the 1986 accident) threaten a major release of radioactivity, warns Greenpeace. If the fires spread to the heavily contaminated forests and land areas around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the release of radioactive material into the atmosphere is certain. The amount of radioactivity potentially released could be the equivalent of a major nuclear accident. Since the 1986 accident a massive amount of dangerous radioactive substances has been deposited on the forests including cesium-137, strontium-90 and plutonium-239. These forests, plants and soil are a major source of radioactivity, some of which was released from the fires of 2010. Based on specialist satellite data, analysts at Greenpeace estimate that the fire has spread over an area covering 13,300 hectares, of which 4,100 are actually on fire. The fires have not yet reached the highest contaminated zones around the Chernobyl plant but are currently within 15-20 km of the site.
Greenpeace 30th April 2015 read more »
Heysham
ONR has served an Improvement Notice on EDF Energy Nuclear Generation Ltd (NGL) following an incident at Heysham 1 power station on 16 March 2015. The incident led to the release of around 30 tonnes of clean CO2 from a failed pipe in the Carbon Dioxide storage and distribution plant on site. There was no release of radioactive material, no persons were injured and the two reactors remained operational during the event.
ONR 16th April 2015 read more »
Energy Supplies
Time is running out for fossil fuels as installation of renewable electricity generation exceeds installation of fossil fuels. Now that’s not yet a lead in electricity production itself, as fossil fuel power plant usually have a higher capacity factor compared to renewables, but at the current rate of change it won’t be long until the amount of new electricity production from renewables exceeds new electricity production from fossil fuel power plant. Of course, nuclear is nowhere to be seen. Indeed, as the World Nuclear Status reports indicate, nuclear power’s share of global electricity production is actually falling. The are still the usual projections of significant nuclear expansion, but as usual such plans usually fail to materialise. In the UK the nuclear industry in the guise of EDF negotiated a proposed 35 year deal for premium prices and £10 billion pounds worth of loan guarantee to try and present a price of £92.50 per MWh as ‘cheap’. It seems unlikely to happen, even on those terms, but the pressure for open-ended financing of nuclear power and more incentives for fossil fuels continues. So the renewables lobby and their supporters among NGOs and the green movement have to carry on pushing strongly for a decentralised renewables future.
Dave Toke’s Blog 30th April 2015 read more »
Public Opinion
The environment has been neglected since Cameron’s ‘vote blue, go green’ slogan – but energy problems will be back in the spotlight in the next five years. As the row over the green levies added to energy bills was building towards its climax a couple of years ago – with David Cameron reportedly ordering aides to “get rid of all the green crap” to lower prices – social scientist Nick Pidgeon was touring the UK. From Merthyr Tydfil to Glasgow and from London to Cumbria, Pidgeon’s workshops with members of the public wrestled with solving the triple challenge of keeping the lights on, energy bills affordable and global warming under control. To Pidgeon’s surprise, people attending the workshops overwhelmingly backed a transformation based on renewable energy, energy efficiency and cutting fossil fuel use.The 2013 “green crap” row, which resulted in £50 being knocked off bills, commanded the political spotlight for a while, having been electrified by Ed Miliband’s popular pledge to freeze energy bills. But it was a “phoney war”, according to Matthew Spencer, director of the influential Green Alliance thinktank, as the levies set to be added to future bills to drive the green transformation remain firmly on an upward curve and are expected to more than double to £187 a year by 2020 (though the overall bill may fall if energy efficiency measures bite).
Guardian 1st May 2015 read more »
Each year in March, the UK government’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) carries out a nationwide poll, asking people for their opinions on climate change and how the UK gets its energy. The 2015 results are in. The poll started in March 2012, so there are only four years of data to compare. But there are some noteworthy things about the way the British public perceives renewable energy, fracking and carbon capture and storage. Here are seven Carbon Brief charts, highlighting some interesting patterns in DECC’s data. In March 2015, 78% of respondents said they support or strongly support the use of renewable energy to provide the UK’s electricity (red and blue slices below), compared to 5% who oppose it (green and purple slices). Support has remained high and largely unchanged in the last four years, fluctuating between 78 and 82% since the 2012 poll. Solar is the British public’s renewable energy source of choice, with 85% of respondents in 2015 saying they support or very strongly support the technology. The number of people who think nuclear energy will help combat climate change has remained fairly steady in the last four years, fluctuating between 34 and 36%. The proportion of people who don’t think nuclear is a viable option to tackle climate change (red bars) has remained exactly the same since 2012 (23%). The biggest proportion of respondents in all years (41-43%) don’t know or hold no strong opinion.
Carbon Brief 30th April 2015 read more »
Europe
The EU is almost certain to bring forward important reforms to revive moribund carbon prices, after Poland failed to corral sufficient opposition in eastern Europe to block the market overhaul. Carbon traders said they expected that plans designed to revive the world’s biggest cap-and-trade market would now come into force at the end of 2018, after the Czech Republic this week broke ranks and pulled out of Poland’s blocking minority that sought to delay the reforms until 2021. Jan Frommeyer, director at Icis Tschach, a carbon market analysis company, said Prague’s volte-face was of “paramount” importance for determining the fate of carbon market reform, which he described as “95 per cent done now”. The EU’s emissions trading system covers more than 11,000 factories and companies but has proved a blunt instrument in the fight against climate change as the market is glutted with 2bn surplus allowances.
FT 30th April 2015 read more »
US – renewables
What state boasts beaches, mountains, and a booming solar industry? California may come to mind first, but now so could North Carolina, thanks to its rapid emergence as a solar energy leader. According to a recent report from Pew Charitable Trusts, North Carolina ranks fourth nationally and first in the Southeast in installed solar capacity. The state shines in particular in the category of large, utility-scale projects, where it ranks second in the nation, behind only California.
RMI 27th April 2015 read more »
Belgium
The European watchdog organisation Nuclear Transparency Watch(NTW) warned today the Belgian federal minister of Energy Marie-Christine Marghem, that her legislative proposal to extend the lifetime of the 40 years old Doel 1 and Doel 2 nuclear power reactors threatens to break international rules for transparency. If the right of the public to participate in an environmental impact assessment will not be respected, NTW will seek advice on initiating a formal complaint to the Compliance Committee of the Aarhus Convention.
Nuclear Transparency Watch 30th April 2015 read more »
Iran
Britain has informed a United Nations sanctions panel of an active Iranian nuclear procurement network linked to two blacklisted firms, according to a confidential report by the panel seen by Reuters. The existence of such a network could add to Western concerns over whether Tehran can be trusted to adhere to a nuclear deal due by June 30 in which it would agree to restrict sensitive nuclear work in exchange for sanctions relief.
Telegraph 30th April 2015 read more »
Reuters 30th April 2015 read more »
Guardian 30th April 2015 read more »
IRANIAN Foreign Minister Javad Zarif went into negotiations with global leaders in New York last night, confident that the elements of a draft of a comprehensive nuclear agreement could be brought together. All sides are expected to take part in meetings in Europe starting on Monday to finalise all the ingredients of an accord.
Morning Star 1st May 2015 read more »
Hans Blix, former chief of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, said he was cautious about the chances of a final deal being clinched between Iran and major world powers aimed at reining in Tehran’s nuclear programme.
Reuters 30th April 2015 read more »
Finland
Finnish utility Fennovoima said Thursday it has awarded the main contract for constructing a nuclear plant in Finland to the Russian company Titan-2. Fennovoima said it has completed the approval process for the company, which was signed up for the deal in January by Fennovoima’s partner in the project, Rusatom Overseas – a subsidiary of Russian state-owned nuclear company Rosatom.
AP 30th April 2015 read more »
Turkey
Turkey has officially launched the construction of its first nuclear power plant. The Russian-designed Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in Mersin on the Mediterranean coast is the first of three nuclear plants the country plans to build. Turkey hopes the $22 billion (£14.3bn) project will boost its economy and reduce its dependence on fossil fuel imports. Construction on the first 1,200MW reactor has begun.
Energy Live News 30th April 2015 read more »
Algeria
Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra reiterated yesterday the right of the member states of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to develop peaceful nuclear energy, Quds Press reported. In the Ninth NPT Review Conference held in New York, Lamamra said: “Algeria reiterates the inalienable right of state members of the NPT to develop and use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, in conformity with Article 4 of the NPT.” He added: “For Algeria, the non-proliferation is the responsibility of all state members of the NPT, whether they are nuclear or non-nuclear countries.” He considered this a “fundamental element in reaching the ultimate goal, namely the complete removal of nuclear weapons.”
Middle East Monitor 30th April 2015 read more »
Trident
Letters: The former chiefs of staff et al make an almost persuasive case that it would be “irresponsible folly” to abandon the UK’s nuclear deterrent . However, there are two considerable omissions in their argument. The late Sir Michael Quinlan, sometime permanent under secretary at the ministry of defence, was the last to complete a deeply intellectual strategic study into the need or otherwise for Trident, in the 1980s. Quinlan’s judgment included the moral conditions for such a system. In spite of his personal feelings, Quinlan concluded that the deterrent should be part of UK defences. We live in changed times and a new Quinlan is needed to settle our minds about the principle of deterrence (the director of the Royal United Services Institute, Professor Michael Clarke, would be a proper candidate for this task). More immediately, an important question is avoided by the ex-chiefs of staff. Forget the debate about renewal of the existing nuclear weapon system. Instead ask: if the UK did not have a nuclear weapon, would it buy one?
Times 30th April 2015 read more »
David Lowry: Perhaps the pro-Trident renewal advocates could explain why, if nuclear weapons (at whatever level) are essential for national defence, the governments of Germany, Italy, Spain Japan, Indonesia, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, Nigeria, and 180 or so others, do not agree, and remain determinedly non-nuclear?
Times 30th April 2015 read more »
Nuclear Weapons
America and Russia should end the Cold War practice of keeping their nuclear weapons on a hair-trigger alert, according to an elite panel of former US generals and international former foreign ministers.
Telegraph 30th April 2015 read more »
Thousands of cities worldwide united in the pursuit of a nuclear-free world renewed their commitment to work toward the abolition of nuclear weapons during a gathering Wednesday at the United Nations, where a nuclear disarmament conference is underway. At the outset of the gathering of Mayors for Peace, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui, who serves as president of the organization, expressed hope that the assembly will act “as a driving force for the worldwide momentum toward nuclear weapons abolition.”
Japan Times 1st May 2015 read more »
NPT
THE conference of the 191 signatories of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) got under way at the UN headquarters in New York this week. The last such meeting, in 2010, produced agreement over a 64-point action plan. This time it is likely to be a much more divisive affair. Lack of progress on nuclear disarmament could lead to an ill-tempered non-proliferation treaty review.
Economist 2nd May 2015 read more »
Fuel Poverty
An estimated 15,000 people died unnecessarily between December and March because they were living in homes they couldn’t afford to heat, new figures show. The news has led campaigners to hit out at what they claim is an inadequate Conservative pledge to help freezing people by insulating homes. Fuel poverty campaigners reckon the number of excess winter deaths surged last winter to 49,260, of which around 14,780 were due to people living in cold homes. The Energy Bill Revolution estimates that the average number of excess winter deaths over the previous five years was 27,830, so last winter saw an increase of 77 per cent above the five year average.
Independent 30th April 2015 read more »
Energy Storage
A household battery pack that could slash electricity bills is expected to be launched today by Tesla Motors, the American car manufacturer. The battery pack can store energy from solar panels and other renewable sources and extract electricity from the grid overnight to be used in peak daytime hours. Tesla uses advanced lithium-ion batteries to power its electric cars, which cost upwards of £54,500. Its top-of-the-range Model S can be driven 300 miles on a single charge and can accelerate from 0 to 60mph in 3.1 seconds. Tesla, which is run by the billionaire technology entrepreneur Elon Musk, has been testing its batteries in secret in homes around California. In a cryptic tweet posted earlier this week, Mr Musk said: “For the future to be good, we need electric transport, solar power and (of course). . .” Attached to the tweet was a picture of a white Tesla-branded box. He offered no further details.
Times 1st May 2015 read more »
Climate
California would aggressively reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 under a plan that steps up its previous target. The US state has cut emissions to date partly by forcing companies to pay for their carbon ¬pollution. Governor Jerry Brown’s executive order is loftier than a federal goal that also aims to curb global warming, but it gives the state more time to achieve it. Mr Brown’s plan lacks specifics, but he previously has cited increasing renewable electricity sources, reducing petroleum use in vehicles, doubling the energy efficiency of buildings and make heating fuels cleaner as ways to reduce emissions. He set a target of reducing emissions to 40 per cent below 1990 levels over the next 15 years and called it the most aggressive benchmark enacted by a government in North America.
Scotsman 1st May 2015 read more »
