New nukes
Buying British Energy and using its sites to build a new generation of nuclear power stations would be a costly way of achieving very little in the battle against climate change, according to Greenpeace. Shares in BE, which is 35% government-owned, have soared in the last week amid speculation of a bid for the company, which owns eight nuclear power stations. Reports yesterday suggested France’s state-controlled EDF was prepared to offer just under 700p a share, while its German rival RWE is believed to be considering an offer of about 700p. That would value BE at more than £11bn but analysts believe an auction could drive the price higher.
Guardian 12th April 2008 more >>
Swedish utility Vattenfall said Friday it is interested in developing nuclear power plants in the U.K. Vattenfall has previously said that it supported pre-licensing applications to the U.K. government for nuclear reactors designed by France’s Areva SA (CEI.FR) and General Electric (GE) of the U.S.
CNN 11th April 2008 more >>
British Energy
A battle for control of Britain’s nuclear industry is shaping up with French and German giants leading the way.
Daily Mail 11th April 2008 more >>
Shares in British Energy gained 5% yesterday as the company continued to attract the attentions of some of Europe’s biggest utility companies keen on a slice of the UK nuclear energy market.
Herald 11th April 2008 more >>
French company Electricite de France (EDF) yesterday became the latest utility giant to be associated with a bid for British Energy, but is thought to be considering an offer below the 700p price its rivals have put on the company.
Herald 12th April 2008 more >>
Centrica had been expected to make a joint bid for the firm with a European partner but instead has put in its own offer to rival a similar bid from German utility RWE. France’s leading electricity supplier Electricit?? de France (EDF) could also be about to join the bidding war as it is currently examining British Energy’s books.
Western Daily Press 11th April 2008 more >>
British Gas owner Centrica was this week in talks with EDF and German company RWE over the possibility of a joint bid to buy British Energy, which owns eight of the UK’s nine nuclear power plant sites. “If EDF wants to build nuclear power stations in the UK, the cheapest way would be to just buy the land for construction from British Energy,” said an energy consultant. “It is also debatable how much value there is in the two companies sharing the 35.2% stake owned by the government.”
New Civil Engineer 11th April 2008 more >>
SUEZ, the French utility giant, yesterday became one of the first European utilities to rule itself out of the ongoing battle for UK nuclear operator British Energy. The French energy and water company, currently midway through a merger with Gaz de France, said it may decide to buy a stake in East Kilbride-based British Energy after the merger is completed, but not before.
Scotsman 12th April 2008 more >>
Letter from Steuart Campbell: “Nuclear suitors line up” (9 April), is unfair on British Energy, alleging that it is incapable of building and operating new nuclear power stations. You also point to what you call BE’s “pretty poor” operational record. Perhaps you forget that the company did not build any of
its stations. Instead it inherited a rag-bag of different AGR designs and one PWR from the state, some of them commissioned 32 years ago.
Scotsman 12th April 2008 more >>
Dounreay
Scotland’s fast reactor research site, Dounreay in Caithness, is gradually being cleaned of radioactive contamination and demolished. The decommissioning project will take decades to complete at an estimated cost of £2.9bn. The BBC Scotland news website has been given an inside look at the challenges involved in the process.
BBC 11th April 2008 more >>
D8550 owes its existence to a seismic rift in UK and US collaboration on nuclear science. The wartime allies had been working together on atomic energy and weapons. However, the passing of the McMahon Act in 1946 prohibited the US from sharing the technology and data with other countries, ending the arrangement. Because experimental data gathered in the US on uranium and plutonium criticality was denied to UK scientists, a new laboratory was built at Dounreay to carry out the experiments. However, the days are numbered for what is now a virtually empty concrete shell. It has been cleared of almost everything it once contained, including some of the most grossly contaminated radioactive material on the nuclear site in Caithness.
BBC 11th April 2008 more >>
The DFR provided the UK testbed to develop fuel technology for the national fast reactor programme. The sphere was constructed as a secondary level of containment in the event that dangerous gases were released in an accident. Operations ceased in 1977 and a gleaming and intricate network of pipes are involved in cleaning the reactor, which is enclosed in a concrete vault. According to staff, a rumble can occasionally be felt from below as a result of the cleaning and decontamination processes.
BBC 11th April 2008 more >>
Myths and rumours abound about what was dumped down The Shaft at Dounreay. Sunk in the 1950s close to the shores of the Pentland Firth, it plunges 65.4m below the surface and has an average diameter of 4.6m.
Dounreay 11th April 2008 more >>
Companies
NUCLEAR safety firm RM Consultants has been taken over by French energy giant Areva for an undisclosed sum. RMC employs 45 people in Abingdon and 80 in total across four UK sites. A further 20 jobs are expected to be created this year.
Oxford Herald 10th April 2008 more >>
Areva and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (MHI) said they have signed a memorandum of understanding to study setting up a joint business for the supply of nuclear reactor fuels, to be focused on the Japanese market.
Money AM 11th April 2008 more >>
North Korea
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has suggested that the US is backing off on a demand that has stalled nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea. The North missed a December 31 deadline to produce a detailed inventory of its nuclear programmes and describe its past actions to spread nuclear activity. Negotiations have been stopped since then in a dispute about how specific, and how public, the lists had to be.
Channel 4 News 11th April 2008 more >>
Japan
Greenpeace is critical of today’s visit by French Prime Minister, François Fillon, to the Rokkasho nuclear reprocessing plant, nearing completion in Aomori Prefecture, Japan, which the organisation sees as the biggest and most dangerous obstacle to directing Japan towards a safe and clean energy future. The French company COGEMA, now part of AREVA, has provided the plant’s reprocessing technology. AREVA is aggressively promoting nuclear power expansion despite the risks, poor value for money and ineffectiveness in combating problems such as climate change.
Greenpeace International 11th April 2008 more >>
US
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday may fine Florida Power & Light Co $130,000 after security officers at the company’s Turkey Point nuclear power plant near Miami were found sleeping on the job.
Reuters 11th April 2008 more >>
Slovakia
Greenpeace has filed a complaint with the European Commission about illegal state-aid to a pre-Chernobyl nuclear plant – Mochovce.
EU Business 11th April 2008 more >>
Fuel Poverty
The government said yesterday it had brokered a deal with Britain’s big six energy suppliers under which the companies will increase spending on fuel poverty by £225m over the next three years. John Hutton, business and enterprise secretary, said the money could take 100,000 households out of fuel poverty but campaigners dismissed the initiative as “scratching the surface” of the issue.
Guardian 12th April 2008 more >>
Independent 12th April 2008 more >>
Times 12th April 2008 more >>
New nukes – older news
John Hutton, Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, said last week: “I want Britain to be leading the world in the development and application of this new generation of low-carbon power technology.” He then called for the creation of a £20bn industry with 100,000 new jobs, making the UK “the gateway to a new nuclear renaissance across Europe”. Hurrah, hurrah! A new dawn! Except that we have heard it all before, and are yet to catch a glimpse of the previous bonanza we have been promised.
Independent on Sunday 30th March 2008 more >>
