Terror
AN ANTI-NUCLEAR campaigner has warned that the UK Government is brushing aside concerns about the risk of terrorist attacks on nuclear power stations that may be built after a review of energy policy. In a paper submitted to the official consultation, Hugh Richards calculates that the quantity of radioactivity stored at future nuclear power stations would be up to 22 times greater than that released during the Chernobyl disaster. The storage of even larger amounts of nuclear material above ground in a more vulnerable form vitiates both radioactive waste ‘disposal’ and any efforts that are being made to protect the new reactors from attack.
Western Mail 11th Oct 2007 more >>
New nukes
E.ON AG, Germany’s biggest utility, will only build nuclear power stations in the U.K. with assurances of a long-term pricing mechanism for carbon-dioxide emissions and certainty a waste disposal unit will be provided.
Bloomberg 10th Oct 2007 more >>
German utility RWE is in talks with Britain’s largest operator of nuclear power plants, British Energy about new nuclear power stations in the country as it seeks to expand its power generation capacity.
Reuters 11th Oct 2007 more >>
Guardian 12th Oct (not on web)
The importance of coal in keeping the lights on was underlined yesterday when RWE npower announced plans for a carbon capture pilot project at one of its power stations and rival energy group Eon signed a five-year supply deal with UK Coal. Andy Duff, RWE npower’s chief executive, said: “Over the next decade older coal and nuclear power stations will close. However, coal continues to be an important source of energy for the UK and whilst this is the case, we believe CO2 capture and storage offers significant potential. This pilot is a critical step in our plans to move towards cleaner coal power stations.”
Guardian 11th Oct 2007 more >>
EDF chief executive officer Pierre Gadonneix backed greater use of nuclear power as a way of combating climate change, saying that politicians must be more active in making it acceptable to public opinion, which remains the main obstacle.
Interactive Inverstor 11th Oct 2007 more >>
Fidelity cites Electricité de France, saying the group stands to do well as an important participant in nuclear energy given increasing interest in the alternative source. A holding in German utility Eon also contributed, following reports of expansion plans.
FT 12th Oct 2007 more >>
Hungary
concerns about rising electricity prices – and possible shortages – across south-eastern Europe, caused by strong economic growth, a lack of investment and the partial closure of Bulgaria’s Koz-loduy nuclear plant, the area’s largest power exporter. Hungarian electricity users complain that their situation is worse than elsewhere because privatisation has left the power supply in the hands of just three dominant companies – MVM, the state-owned generator and grid owner, and two German groups, E.ON and RWE.
FT 11th Oct 2007 more >>
Areva
Anne Lauvergeon, chief executive of Areva, the French nuclear group, has been named Europe’s top businesswoman in the Financial Times’s annual ranking.
FT 11th Oct 2007 more >>
US
There is still a lot of worry about the economics of nuclear power. Nuclear plants are hugely expensive to build; they have long lead times and a history of cost overruns. Bottlenecks loom for key components if more than a few plants are built. The price of uranium has soared in recent years. So has the cost of construction materials and skilled labor, which is in short supply. Politicians, environmentalists and business still can’t decide how to dispose of radioactive waste.
Washington Post 8th Oct 2007 more >>
Nearly three decades after they banded together for a series of “No Nukes” concerts that yielded an album and movie, musicians Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and Graham Nash have revived their protest of nuclear power. No new concerts are planned, but the three reunited in a new YouTube video released on Thursday and are spearheading a signature drive to petition U.S. senators to kill a plan to give about $50 billion in loan guarantees to the nuclear power industry.
Reuters 12th Oct 2007 more >>
Almost three decades have passed since the last application was filed to build a new nuclear reactor in the US. Now, up to 30 are expected in the next three years. A range of factors is fuelling the renewed enthusiasm: (1) The introduction of a new fast-track combined construction and operation permit, making new reactors easier and cheaper to build (2) A tax credit, introduced in the 2005 Energy Policy Act, of 1.8 cents per kilowatt hour for the first 6,000 megawatts generated by nuclear plants (3) Risk insurance adding up to $2bn for the first six plants to be built, protecting companies against the cost of delays in construction (4) Multi-billion-dollar loan guarantees (5) A likelihood that the cost of emitting CO2 will rise as the battle against climate change intensifies.
BBC 11th Oct 2007 more >>
Iran
Iran said it answered questions on its centrifuge technology during three days of talks that ended Thursday with a delegation from the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency. The discussions were the latest attempt by the International Atomic Energy Agency to address outstanding questions on a program that many Western countries believe is a cover for weapons development, but Iran insists is focused on power generation.
Guardian website 12th Oct 2007 more >>
Korea
A US-led team of experts has arrived in North Korea to oversee the dismantling of the country’s nuclear programme. They are due to map out a plan for disabling the reactor at Yongbyon, which US officials believed capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium.
BBC 11th Oct 2007 more >>
Skills
A £2.2 million UK nuclear education centre created in 2004 to capitalise on decommissioning spin-offs is to close its doors due to lack of interest. The Decommissioning and Environmental Remediation Centre (DERC), located near the Dounreay nuclear plant in northern Scotland, was set up as a major education, training and research centre to pioneer nuclear decommissioning education in the UK.
Nuclear Engineering International 11th Oct 2007 more >>
Windscale
Today is the 50th anniversary of the Windscale fire on October 10th 1957. Green Party Principal Speaker Dr. Derek Wall has warned that nuclear power was still a dangerous option.
Green Party Press Release 10th Oct 2007 more >>
Nuclear Transport
The international transport of radioactive material is becoming more difficult with fewer shipping companies and ports willing to accept the risks.
World Nuclear News 11th Oct 2007 more >>
Belarus
Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko says his country needs to build a nuclear power station.
BBC 11th Oct 2007 more >>
Interactive Investor 11th Oct 2007 more >>
Independent 12th Oct (not on web)
Slovakia
Czech power utility CEZ is likely to take part in a tender for the construction of a 1,200 MW nuclear reactor project in Slovakia’s Jaslovske Bohunice power plant, the company said.
Forbes 11th Oct 2007 more >>
Russia
Around this time, 50 years ago, scientists were desperately trying to cope with a blunder that had triggered a nuclear catastrophe. No, it was not the Windscale accident of October 1957 in which a fire broke out in a reactor in Cumbria. This was a far more serious accident that unfolded at the same time and led to many deaths – and yet one which few outside the nuclear industry know about.
First Post 11th Oct 2007 more >>
Cumbria
All electricity supplied to Cumbria County Council buildings is now officially supplied from renewable sources.
Whitehaven News 11th Oct 2007 more >>
Sellafield
The Thorp reprocessing plant was closed in 2005 after a leak, rather than a fire (Cost of nuclear clean-up rises to £73bn, page 29, yesterday).
Guardian 12th Oct 2007 more >>
France
The French get 80 per cent of their electricity from nuclear energy, yet they seem to have no problems with nuclear waste disposal. We only get 20 per cent from nuclear power but our waste disposal seems to be an insuperable problem. Why?
Times 12th Oct 2007 more >>
