Sizewell
Fears have been voiced that the next stage of consultation on the proposed nuclear power plant may not now take place until the autumn. The setback is due to concerns expressed by unions in France over EDF Energy’s bid to build an £18billion reactor at Hinkley Point – with the unions now to be formally consulted over the project and its financing. EDF has consistently said Sizewell C cannot move forward until a final investment decision is made on the Somerset power plant. It was hoped this would happen in May but now it looks likely that a 60-day consultation with unions will be necessary.
Ipswich Star 30th April 2016 read more »
East Anglian Daily Times 30th April 2016 read more »
New Nuclear
Nuclear power is not commercially viable but has become a state-sponsored technology. There is nothing wrong with state supported technology. But we could save a lot of time and money by not pretending that it is something else.
Oil Price 30th April 2016 read more »
Radwaste
Drigg the quaint coastal village is also home to the UKs ‘Low Level Waste Repository’ (the word ‘Nuclear’ has been dropped from the official title) Although locals know this as the Nuclear Dump. Drigg is located near the Sellafield nuclear site on the shifting sands of the Cumbrian coast. Up until the late 1980s radioactive wastes including plutonium wastes were tumble tipped into trenches. Now the site has gone all hi tech and compacts radioactive waste into rusting shipping containers, any void in the container is filled with concrete. The site sits above West Cumbria Aquifer from which is drawn the borehole water supply for much of West Cumbria while Sellafield gets most of its water from Wastwater. The plan is to keep on dumping the high end of “low level” radioactive waste here despite the threat of inundation not just from the Irish Sea but also from the rivers and becks running through and alongside the site.
Radiation Free Lakeland 30th April 2016 read more »
Urenco
Just as well City institutions have no shares in Urenco, the nuclear enrichment company that makes the fuel for nuclear power stations and the raw material for atomic bombs. It’s owned by the British and Dutch governments and two German power companies. The annual report reveals that it has shown a largesse towards its former chief executive that would be frowned on in even the most lax City boardroom. Helmut Engelbrecht, 63, stepped down in December. He received €5.9m (£4.6m) in his final year, including a one-off pension payment worth €2.8m. That was on top of the €6.3m pot he has already amassed in the company pension scheme. The unusual payment was the result of a 2005 employment contract, which gave Engelbrecht the right “to receive a certain income as retirement benefit which would be payable under certain conditions”. Those conditions were obviously met, as the payment was made, but Urenco won’t say what they were. This is surprising: all the other performance conditions for pay — for the executive share scheme and bonuses — are disclosed as normal in the report. I suspect the sole condition was that he stayed in the job — in other words, it was the kind of golden handcuffs deal the Weir shareholders kicked out. Urenco says an independent actuary valued the deal at that €2.8m figure. That suggests Engelbrecht is being paid an annual sum until his death. My friendly actuary reckons €2.8m would buy you an annuity of €103,000 a year. That’s not the end of Engelbrecht’s payments. He will get €500,000 over the next three years for advising the company. It seems that when it comes to rewarding its former chief executive, Urenco’s directors have taken the company’s motto — “Enriching the future” — to heart.
Sunday Times 1st May 2016 read more »
Japan
Former Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan received an award in Germany on Saturday for his work promoting the phase-out of nuclear energy generation in Japan following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident. During an award ceremony at the Frankfurt city hall, former German Environment Minister Juergen Trittin praised Kan as a “fighter” for nuclear phase-out and renewable energy.
Japan Today 1st May 2016 read more »
