New Nukes
Energy minister Charles Hendry told a conference yesterday evening that a number of companies had come forward with nuclear power proposals but: “We don’t want to see it built by a couple of plumbers from Brighton who downloaded the blueprints from the internet – we would like to see it done by people who had done it before.” Who could he mean? He pointed out that most of the technologies that will succeed outgoing coal, oil and nuclear plant will not come on for five to ten years. “In the short term, where we will need new generation capacity quickly, we will need gas.” He said gas suppliers would be obliged to guarantee secure supplies of the fuel.
Utility Week 10th Sept 2010 more >>
Hinkley
ANTI-nuclear campaigners will be holding a protest at Hinkley Point on Sunday against developer EDF Energy’s plans for Hinkley Point C. Stop Hinkley will be hosting a day of talks and workshops tomorrow (Saturday) in Bridgwater and has organised a midday demonstration outside the gates of Hinkley Point on Sunday. Tomorrow’s speakers at Trinity Hall, Bridgwater, include Ben Ayliff of Greenpeace, Neil Crumpton formerly of Friends of the Earth and now of the Bellona Institute and Professor Chris Busby of Green Audit.
West Somerset Free Press 10th Sept 2010 more >>
Dungeness
UK short-term power prices increased for the second day in a row Friday in line with marginally higher UK gas prices, said traders. The 550 MW Dungeness B-22 nuclear reactor in Kent was still offline Friday following an unplanned outage on Tuesday night.
Platts 10th Sept 2010 more >>
Wylfa
WYLFA has passed another major hurdle in securing permission to extend the power generating life of the plant beyond this December – which would give a major jobs boost for Anglesey. Maintenance work on Reactor Two has been successfully completed with no issues uncovered that could have stalled hopes to keep generating electricity until at least 2012. With another section of the exhaustive safety case also completed over the summer the plant says it has done “all it can” to extend its future.
Daily Post 10th Sept 2010 more >>
Letter Linda Rogers: Why are Ynys Mon council tax payers, at a time of deep cuts, paying for studies of housing need for construction workers and tendering for the work, when there are so many vital questions related to new nuclear build that remain unanswered?
Bangor & Anglesey Mail on 8 September 2010 (not on web)
Oldbury
Cooling towers are not the only local issue.
Shepperdine Against Nuclear Energy 8th Sept 2010 more >>
Japan
The president of Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. on Friday notified authorities in Aomori Prefecture it plans to postpone by two years the completion of a spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in the village of Rokkasho.
Japan Times 11th Sept 2010 more >>
Test Vets
A veteran of the nuclear bomb tests in the South Pacific today told how he fears he may not live long enough to see the Government apologise for sending them there. Kieran Boomer, 74, is one of hundreds of veterans of the tests on Christmas Island in the 1950s fighting for an apology and compensation.
Lancashire Evenining Post 10th Sept 2010 more >>
LETTERS have been sent to more than 300 MPs as nuclear test veterans try to get backing in their fight for compensation.
Burton Mail 10th Sept 2010 more >>
The Armed Forces minister was last night condemned as a hypocrite who has betrayed nuclear test veterans by dropping his support after getting into power. Nick Harvey had been a vocal campaigner on behalf of ex-servicemen who were guinea pigs for experiments in the South Pacific and Australia in the 1950s and 1960s.
Daily Mail 11th Sept 2010 more >>
Iran
An Iranian dissident group said Thursday it had evidence of a new secret underground atomic site in Iran, but U.S. officials said they have known about the facility for years and have no reason to believe it is nuclear.
STV 10th Sept 2010 more >>
Renewables
Is Chris Huhne feeling the heat yet? He should be – because it is being turned up underneath him. The Government has gone far too cool about heating, the most important use of energy in Britain, and is now beginning to get high-level warnings about it. Yesterday, Lord Turner – the former director-general of the CBI, who chairs the independent Committee on Climate Change – wrote to the Energy Secretary to say that official dithering over introducing incentives for generating heat from renewable sources (he uses the more polite word “uncertainty”) is putting the Government’s clean energy programme at risk. As a result, he warns, “projects are currently not progressing and time is being lost in implementing a very ambitious deployment schedule”. The last government promised to introduce a Renewable Heat Incentive by next April, to encourage householders to install technologies like solar water heaters and air and ground-source heat pumps. But ministers have refused to say whether they will go ahead with it, and have abolished grants meant to help in the meantime.
Telegraph 11th Sept 2010 more >>
