Hinkley
The Treasury is proposing to charge between £225 million and £250 million to underwrite up to £10 billion worth of project finance, according to a report in the Times. The guarantee is intended to reduce the risk to investors and EDF Energy’s financing costs.
Utility Week 9th June 2014 read more »
ESPOO
A decision by parties to an obscure Convention has huge implications for Europe’s ageing nuclear reactors, writes Jan Haverkamp. Licence extensions must follow EIAs which compare the potential impacts to those of alternatives – including wind, solar and other renewables.
Ecologist 9th June 2014 read more »
ONR
The Office of Nuclear Regulation became an independent public organisation in April. Chairman of the regulator Nick Baldwin tells John McKenna what this change means for the engineering community. Early last month there was something of a first for the nuclear industry in this country: two individual employees at Sellafield were issued formal cautions for carrying out work that unauthorised under the nuclear decommissioning site’s approved safety systems. The cautions were handed out by the newly independent Office Of Nuclear Regulation (ONR), and related to the unauthorised removal of a contaminated malfunctioning resistance thermometer from a High Active Storage Tank pocket during an attempt to repair it. This was a direct violation of “established, well-known and obvious risk control measures and arrangements for working with ionising radiation implemented by the employer” said the ONR at the time of the cautions.
Process Engineering 9th June 2014 read more »
Energy Costs
Wholesale energy prices have fallen to their lowest for almost four years, prompting demands that suppliers cut households’ record bills. After one of the mildest winters on record, Britain’s gas storage tanks are almost full at a time when demand has slumped. The price of gas, which represents half a typical household’s annual bill of £1,237, has more than halved since the beginning of the year, falling 13 per cent in the past week alone. Energy companies have so far refused to cut bills despite the slide in wholesale gas prices, which has pushed up their profit margins to near record highs.
Times 10th June 2014 read more »
Energy Supplies
Britain may be forced to use “last resort” measures to avert blackouts in coming winters, Ed Davey, the energy secretary, will say on Tuesday. Factories will be paid to switch off at times of peak demand in order to keep households’ lights on, if Britain’s dwindling power plants are unable to provide enough electricity, under the backstop measures from National Grid. The Grid is expected to announce that it will begin recruiting businesses that will be paid tens of thousands of pounds each simply to agree to take part in its scheme. They will receive further payments if they are called upon to stop drawing power from the grid. It is also expected to press ahead with plans to pay mothballed gas power plants to ready themselves to be fired up when needed.
Telegraph 9th June 2014 read more »
EDF
(Machine translated from French) The CEO of EDF, Henri Proglio, is under investigation for “influence peddling.” It is believed to have “sponsored” his wife, Rachida Khalil comedian with money from his group. Last summer, several banks had reported to TRACFIN, service specialized in the fight against money laundering, strange movements on the accounts of Ms. Proglio. After almost a year of investigation, the intelligence unit seized the Bercy Paris prosecutor, which would, according to our information, a preliminary investigation there a few weeks. The Central Office for the Fight against corruption is now seeking to clarify financial flows leading to Lebanon, with detours through Luxembourg and Switzerland.
Le Point 8th June 2014 read more »
Le Monde 8th June 2014 read more »
Europe
The EU wants to insulate itself against the risk of energy supply disruption. The crisis in Ukraine has heightened the sense of vulnerability, particularly for those countries in the eastern EU that rely heavily on Russian gas. In a 237-page background paper the European Commission has explored recent and expected future trends to see how greater energy security could be achieved. Here are five graphs that give you a flavour of what it says.
Carbon Brief 9th June 2014 read more »
Japan
Japan’s top energy planner declined to shed light Monday on when a nationwide nuclear freeze might be lifted, saying an independent regulatory body would give the final word. Toshikazu Okuya, who is tasked with drafting Japan’s mid- to long-term energy policy for the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, emphasized the government’s eagerness to restart the nation’s nuclear reactors, which were idled for safety checks after the devastating earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 led to triple meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
IB Times 9th June 2014 read more »
Kurion has been selected by Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) to provide a first-of-a-kind, at-tank mobile system to remove strontium from tank water at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Under the contract, Kurion will provide Kurion Mobile Processing System (KMPS), which will be moved around the site and placed beside tank groups. The system will allow TEPCO to reduce strontium (Sr) from the hundreds of tanks on-site that contain approximately 400,000 metric tons of water, a volume that is expanding at 400 tons per day.
Energy Business Review 9th June 2014 read more »
US
The Obama administration’s proposed regulations for power plants would give a big boost to nuclear power as the industry faces an uncertain future with increasing retirements and declining prospects for dozens of aging reactors. Nuclear power officials were quick to note that the Environmental Protection Agency, which announced the proposed rules last week, could not realistically achieve its goal of a 30 percent cut in carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 without nuclear power, which now provides about a fifth of baseload power needs in the U.S. carbon-free.
Washington Times 8th June 2014 read more »
Belarus
Russia’s state-owned nuclear company Rosatom is to build a public information centre for the energy source in Belarus. The two nations signed a memorandum at the ATOMEXPO 2014 conference in Moscow yesterday, which attracted hundreds of nuclear experts from across the globe. Russia is helping Belarus to construct its first nuclear power plant, which is scheduled to come into operation from 2018.
Energy Live News 10th June 2014 read more »
Iran
As American and Iranian officials meet in Geneva to try to find a way through the impasse holding up a comprehensive multilateral deal on Iran’s nuclear programme, a group of Princeton University academics have sent them a proposed road-map on how to get around the blockage. The Princeton report, published on the Arms Control Today website, focuses on the core issue that has proved most problematic in the four months of talks so far – Iran’s future capacity for enriching uranium. This has hitherto been such a gap to bridge because Iran and the West come at it from entirely different perspectives.
Guardian 9th June 2014 read more »
Pakistan
Pakistan stepped up security around nuclear facilities, military bases and government offices on Monday, as more details emerged of how 10 militants brought chaos to the country’s busiest airport. The Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibility for an ambitious commando assault that killed 18 security guards and civilian staff before declaring its fighters would launch a string of attacks in revenge for government hostilities. The six-hour gun battle at Karachi airport will deal a blow to faltering peace talks and intensify pressure on a government that has so far refused to launch an all-out offensive against militant havens.
Telegraph 9th June 2014 read more »
Australia
A central Australian Indigenous elder has threatened to throw herself in front of a road train if a proposed radioactive waste management facility is approved to be built on her ancestral lands. The federal court held a special sitting at the Muckaty community on Monday, 120km north of Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory, to hear the evidence of Milwayi traditional owner Bunny Nabarula, about 84.
Guardian 9th June 2014 read more »
South Korea
A South Korean nuclear reactor shut down because of a control rod problem, taking to five the number of reactors offline among the country’s total of 23, state-run nuclear operator Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) Co Ltd said on Monday. Asia’s fourth-largest economy has wrestled with the pressure of power blackouts during peak demand seasons after a series of nuclear reactor closures in the wake of a safety scandal.
Reuters 9th June 2014 read more »
Trident
TWO people were arrested yesterday following a five-hour blockade of a nuclear site against further expansion of the plant. Protesters used two cars and a caravan to block the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), which started at 7am yesterday. Action AWE member Hannah Brock said: “Today we effectively shone a spotlight on the expensive, deadly and unnecessary work that the AWE profits from.” Around 30 people chained themselves to their cars and to each other, bringing traffic to a standstill. It effectively delayed construction work until the afternoon, when police forcefully removed vehicles from one of the site entrance roads.
Morning Star 10th June 2014 read more »
The Burghfield wing of the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) in Berkshire has seen its biggest protest in years, with the three road entrances to the site blocked for nearly five hours this morning (9 June). Opponents of the Trident nuclear weapons system locked themselves to cars and to each other to prevent traffic entering the site to carry out construction work. Although there have been protests at the site in the past, this is the first time that an unannounced protest has blocked access via all three roads. Protests at the site have escalated in recent months, as Britain gets closer to a general election that could determine the future of Trident.
Ekklesia 9th June 2014 read more »
The future is bright, the future is nuclear. Should we be worried on grounds of safety? Not at all, says the industry. One hopes they are right. But doubts will persist, not least when one considers the record of AWE, the company that manages the Aldermaston and Burghfield nuclear weapons plants on behalf of the Ministry of Defence. It has been in the news lately. Just today opponents of Trident used their cars to block access to the Burghfield site. There were headlines too when the company won gold safety awards from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents in 2011, 2012 and 2013. But now that there is clarity surrounding a major fire in August 2010 at Aldermaston – which resulted in a worker being injured and AWE being fined £200,000 for breaching safety rules – it is having to send all the awards back. All a bit embarrassing. “Both organisations recognise that it is very important for companies receiving awards to be industry-leading,” said AWE. “As such, and to ensure that the integrity of the RoSPA award scheme is maintained, we have agreed with RoSPA that it would be appropriate to return all the gold awards given since the date of the incident.” RoSPA might reasonably check the reclaimed baubles for contamination. Can’t be too careful.
Guardian 9th June 2014 read more »
Renewables – solar
The UK’s solar farm industry has been dealt another blow following an intervention by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles and the reported scrapping of two major solar projects in Suffolk. The Sunday Telegraph yesterday (8 June) reported that Pickles has rejected planning permission for a 127-acre solar farm Hacheston, while a slightly smaller development in Tattingstone was dismissed by a planning inspector last week.
Edie 9th June 2014 read more »
Renewables
When combining all of the world’s countries, 18 percent of the world’s electricity consumption comes from renewable sources. A global agency estimates that amount could be doubled in a little more than 15 years while saving a combined $740 billion per year in the process. The latest study, REmap 2030, from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) estimates that amping up renewables to constitute 36 percent of the international energy mix would more than offset the costs associated with fossil fuel pollution. It would also reduce the global demand for oil and gas by about 15 percent, and for coal by 26 percent.
Ecowatch 6th June 2014 read more »
The world could save billions of dollars and avoid dangerous global warming if policymakers double the amount of energy people get from renewable sources, a new report claims. Sounds great. But the calculation uses a slightly circular logic which relies on the assumption that the alternative – polluting – becomes more costly.
Carbon Brief 9th June 2014 read more »
Fossil Fuels
The latest data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) and other sources proves that the oil and gas majors are in deep trouble. Over the last decade, rising oil prices have been driven primarily by rising production costs. After the release of the IEA’s World Energy Outlook last November, Deutsche Bank’s former head of energy research Mark Lewis noted that massive levels of investment have corresponded to an ever declining rate of oil supply increase.
Guardian 10th June 2014 read more »
Letter David Smythe: More pertinent than the possible “directorships and other commercial interests” of the 50 academics who signed the pro-fracking letter is the insidious influence of oil industry funding. Of the 21 university departments to which the academics belong, at least 15 are in receipt of research funds from the oil industry. Unfortunately, the days of academic independence are over.
Guardian 9th June 2014 read more »
Letter Kevin Anderson & John Broderick: The letter from a group of geoscientists and petroleum engineers, asserting that there are “undeniable economic, environmental and national security benefits” of substantial gas production from the Bowland shale, overlooks important and unresolved issues raised by other academics at the UK Energy Research Centre and the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, among others. Professor David MacKay and Dr Tim Stone, the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s own scientific advisers, note in their recent review of shale gas: “If a country brings any additional fossil fuel reserve into production, then in the absence of strong climate policies, we believe it is likely that this production would increase cumulative emissions in the long run. This increase would work against global efforts on climate change.” It is also clear that were it possible to produce 10% of the British Geological Survey central estimate of the Bowland basin’s gas resource, the combustion emissions would exceed the entirety of the UK government’s carbon budgets up to 2050.
Guardian 9th June 2014 read more »
