Life Extensions
The proportion of electricity generated from nuclear power is set to drop to 7pc by 2020 if older plants are closed as scheduled. Replacement plants cannot be built in time to make up the shortfall, which raises the next question in the energy debate: should Britain’s ageing reactors be kept running for longer than originally planned until enough new plants are built? Four of Britain’s oldest nuclear plants, called Magnox reactors, are still running but will be closed by 2010. Relatively small and inefficient, with some of them up to 40 years old, few expect these reactors to be saved from decommissioning. However, Britain’s eight other nuclear plants, which are owned by British Energy, could have their lives extended. Seven are earmarked for closure by 2023.
Telegraph 12th June 2006
New nukes
Cloud of doubt hangs over nuclear power: In the energy white paper of 2003, the government concluded that building new nuclear power stations was uneconomical, and declined to make a decision either way on the nuclear question. Since then two factors have emerged to change its mind. These are the rising price of gas, which has pushed up household energy bills, and the fact that the government is set to miss its self-imposed target for cutting carbon emissions.
FT 12th June 2006
Tony Blair is to rule out financial incentives to rig the market in favour of new nuclear power plants and will make a commercial case for them when he unveils government energy strategy. The prime minister, who is due to announce the findings of a review in July, plans to tackle head-on cabinet sceptics and Labour party critics who said the cost of replacing Britain’s ageing nuclear capacity will be unaffordable and require huge subsidies. Whitehall officials said Mr Blair, who has stressed the strategic and environmental case for nuclear power, is to draw on internal economic analysis that suggests it will be a more cost-effective way of generating electricity than both gas and coal. The government study, which has been peer-reviewed and discussed with the Treasury, says soaring gas prices and the rising cost of tradeable carbon permits will make the construction, operation and decommissioning of nuclear plants commercially attractive.
FT 12th June 2006
Interactive Investor 12th June 2006
There are, first, two longstanding risks attached to nuclear power – danger and cost – that need to be addressed if it is ever to regain its proper place in the energy mix of the UK and other countries. Governments can, in effect, go some way to de-risking nuclear power without bending either the facts or the market. The prime concern about the danger of nuclear power these days is not operational safety, which has improved over the years, but what to do with radioactive waste. This is a responsi bility for government alone, and one that the UK government can no longer shirk; it should accept the expected recommendation from its experts for deep burial of such waste. The UK public will also want reassurance on the eventual decommissioning of any new reactors. The government can provide this by ensuring nuclear operators put enough money aside to cover decommissioning costs. These should come down as easier dismantling techniques are built into new reactors. Streamlining the planning process is another matter. Every application to build something as potentially hazardous as an atomic reactor deserves thorough scrutiny and public consultation. But the UK government should ensure that every reactor siting inquiry is not strung out into a rerun of the whole nuclear policy debate. Britain has over recent years put much effort into, and derived much benefit from, creating a liberalised energy market. The task for its government now is to find an intelligent way of using that market to enable nuclear power without subsidising it.
FT 12th June 2006
Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown endorsed nuclear power in an article in the Times this weekend, making it more likely that the Government will commission new plants.
AFX 11th June 2006
Nuclear Weapons
Hans Blix, the UN’s chief weapons’ inspector, will today tell a delegation of Scottish church leaders and politicians that Britain is “at a crossroads” which could influence the global spread and development of new nuclear arms.
Herald 12th June 2006
Scotland
Jack McConnell is scheduled to visit the Torness nuclear power station today. The first minister’s official spokesman yesterday said the trip to the East Lothian plant was a private, routine visit. But Chris Ballance, who speaks for the Green MSPs on nuclear issues, said: “We hope Jack McConnell uses his visit to emphasise the advice he has received from the Scottish Sustainable Development Commissioners, that nuclear is not the answer to delivering energy security, nor is it capable of tackling climate change.
Herald 12th June 2006
Iran
Fresh evidence has emerged that Iran is working on a secret military project to develop nuclear weapons that has not been declared to United Nations inspectors responsible for monitoring Iran’s nuclear programme. Nuclear experts working for the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna are pressing the Iranians to make a full disclosure about a network of research laboratories at a secret military base outside the capital Teheran.
Telegraph 12th June 2006
IRAN yesterday gave its most negative assessment of proposals offered by six world powers aiming to persuade it to give up sensitive atomic work, but said the issue of uranium enrichment needed clarification.
Scotsman 12th June 2006
FT 12th June 2006
Energy Security
Russia has indicated that there will be no repeat of the episode last winter when it cut off the gas flow to Ukraine and sparked a price crisis in Europe. It is now promising to be a stable energy supplier.
Telegraph 12th June 2006
Nuclear Waste
The issue that is still controversial is the disposal of waste. Here, Finland is leading the way. It has already built a huge underground disposal site for low-radiation waste and is now tunnelling down into the granite to construct a massive deep repository for the spent fuel rods. Both are being shown to a stream of visitors seeking reassurance that their countries could also bury the waste deeply and safely if they go nuclear again.
Times 12th June 2006
