Horizon
Rosatom, the Russian government-owned nuclear operator, has signaled an interest in building a nuclear power station at Oldbury-on-Severn in Gloucestershire. Rosatom’s website carries an AFP news agency report which says that the Russian operator is ready to replace Eon and RWE NPower. The report quotes the company as saying: “Rosatom is ready to provide every assurance that the nuclear power plants it builds in Britain will meet all the safety and standard requirements of the IAEA (the international nuclear watchdog).” It said that Rosatom saw the UK as an important market because of its nuclear power development drive.
Insider Media 12th April 2012 more >>
North Wales Chronicle 12th April 2012 more >>
Russias state-owned nuclear energy enterprise Rosatom has said it would propose building its Generation III+ pressurised water reactor, the 1200-MWe NPP 2006 in the UK. Rosatom is so far the only company to confirm an interest in the Horizon Nuclear Power after Horizons German owners announced plans to withdraw from the UK nuclear market March 29 and put Horizon up for sale. Westinghouse, which was hoping Horizon Nuclear Power would choose its AP1000 reactor for construction, said March 29 it planned to engage with Horizon over the next few weeks to determine the best direction for continuing the development of these projects and to explore alternative investors in the company. But Mike Tynan, chief executive of Westinghouse UK, said April 11 he couldnt comment further. A spokeswoman for the Office for Nuclear Regulation said April 11 that the UK regulator has not had any queries to date about reviewing a Russian reactor design. The ONRs GDA reviews of the Areva EPR and Westinghouse AP1000 took four years to complete through to the interim design acceptance confirmation phase. But a spokeswoman said, It is not possible to say exactly how long GDA would take on a new design; time and cost are very much dependent on a large number of factors, which are difficult to predict. It remains unclear who would be the nuclear operator for a Russian reactor if Rosatom were to buy Horizon Nuclear Power or take a stake in it.
i-Nuclear 12th April 2012 more >>
Hinkley
French energy giants EDF are destroying historic buildings at Hinkley Point as it prepares to build a new nuclear power station, campaigners have claimed. EDF hopes to have finished the new Hinkley Point C twin reactor by 2018, even though it has not yet been granted planning permission. The energy company has employed contractors, Keir Bam, to start preparing the site for construction, a move approved by West Somerset Council. But Crispin Aubrey, spokesman for the Stop Hinkley campaign group, says this work has led to the destruction of historic farm buildings and a barn. He said: The chances of EDF successfully financing the Hinkley C reactors are looking weaker by the day. Yet they are still going ahead with destroying buildings.
Western Daily Press 12th April 2012 more >>
Sizewell
COMMUNITY benefits costing up to £100million should be financed by energy giant EDF if the Sizewell C nuclear power station project gets the go-ahead, according to members of a local authority task force. The task force – a joint committee set up by Suffolk County Council and Suffolk Coastal District Council – will insist that a by-pass for four A12 villages and other road improvements, as well as work on the rail system are conditions of any planning permission.
East Anglia Daily Times 12th April 2012 more >>
Dungeness
A piece of handling equipment devised by Penny Hydraulics has been used at the Dungeness A nuclear power station in Kent for the past five years to retrieve fuel element lugs from a splitter vault so that they can be sorted for processing.
Process Engineering 12th April 2012 more >>
Sellafield
AN alleged cover up over the cost of Britains biggest nuclear project – Evaporator D at Sellafield – has been denied by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. The NDA has totally refuted an accusation made this week in a national newspaper – The Independent – that it had tried to conceal information on a project seen as a lifeline for the sites longer term operations. The massive vessel is needed to deal with high-level radioactive waste produced by spent fuel reprocessing. At the start of the year, The Whitehaven News revealed that Evap D was believed to be around £100 million over its near £400 million budget, speculation which the NDA has never denied. But the NDA has hit back fiercely over The Independents allegation on Wednesday of a cost cover up previous to the current financial problems (and delays) highlighted in The Whitehaven News in January.
Whitehaven News 12th April 2012 more >>
Letter: Sellafield has commenced the installation of new security fences to safeguard West Cumbria from the ever growing terrorist threat. It will soon resemble Alcatraz. We also now have the guarding of the gates managed by Mitie as opposed to the Civil Nuclear Constabulary. It has to be said that this is far more professional and they actually take the time to check the pass photograph with the face as opposed to the CNCs preference to inspect from 20yards. All are welcome improvements. However, as a Sellafield worker, it is bemusing to identify that the number of vehicles entering through the gates has barely been reduced. For each car that passes through the gates it is a security risk to the whole of West Cumbria.
Whitehaven News 12t April 2012 more >>
Radwaste
THREE parish councils close to Sellafield have said an initial no to West Cumbria being explored to find a suitable place to site highly radioactive waste. Gosforth, Beckermet and Ponsonby have all given the thumbs down to the process being extended to an actual search for a safe and suitable location deep underground in Copeland or Allerdale.
Whitehaven News 12th April 2012 more >>
Nuclear Proliferation
Those weighing up the potential of a nuclear Iran in the hackneyed language of mutually assured destruction (MAD), however, or viewing developments only in terms of Western hypocrisy, would do well to remember just how close we came to nuclear annihilation during the so-called balance of terror that governed the previous century. To those who believe that nuclear war today is unlikely, I feel compelled to point out that this is not, in any sense, enough. Any one of the following incidents should have rid us of the glib notion, based on feeble evidence, that the potential for worldwide nuclear war is confined to the realms of science fiction.
Harry’s Place 13th April 2012 more >>
Germany
The German government will consider setting up a publicly administered fund to manage the disposal of nuclear waste from its power plants, environment minister Norbert Röttgen said following the publication of a Greenpeace report on Wednesday.
ENDS Europe 12th April 2012 more >>
In the year 2022 the last nuclear power plant will close. 17 reactors at 12 sites must be decommissioned. An important question is: Who pays for this? A recent study by Greenpeace and the Green Budget Social Market Economy (GBG) shows: The four nuclear companies in Germany can avoid their financial responsibility?
Greenpeace Germany 11th April 2012 more >>
Japan
A panel under the Environment Ministry has stated in a draft report it is possible for Japan to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2030 from 1990 levels without relying on nuclear power, ministry officials said Thursday. The potential reduction would be contingent on greater efforts to take energy conservation measures and adopt renewables, the officials said. The panel also said the figure could go up to 33 percent if nuclear power accounts for 20 percent of domestic power supply in 2030.
Mainichi 12th April 2012 more >>
Iran
Major powers will hold their first talks with Iran this week in more than a year, hoping Tehran will give enough ground over its nuclear programme to continue negotiations and avert the threat of a Middle East war.
Telegraph 12th April 2012 more >>
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad struck a defiant tone yesterday ahead of key atomic talks with major powers, saying the Islamic state would not surrender its nuclear rights “even under the most difficult pressure”.
Herald 13th April 2012 more >>
Telegraph 12th April 2012 more >>
Can Iran and the worlds major powers agree a deal that averts all-out war over Tehrans nuclear programme? Iran meets with senior diplomats from six nations in Istanbul on Friday and the question is again at the top of the international security agenda.
FT 12th April 2012 more >>
The Iranian nuclear programme is a strange, stop-start affair. Back in 2003, Iran halted some of the essential research for building a nuclear warhead. British and American officials say that Iran wants the ability to make a nuclear bomb, but has probably not decided whether to go ahead and actually exercise the option. Instead of thinking of the nuclear programme as a straight line ending at the production of a weapon, its best to picture an erratic zigzag, with the final destination still unclear.
Telegraph 12th April 2012 more >>
Debate over the legality of an American or Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities centres on the provisions of the United Nations charter and earlier international law.
Guardian 12th April 2012 more >>
Obama and Netanyahu have been at odds on how to prevent the eventuality of an Iran with nuclear weapon capabilities. A little context is necessary to understanding these differences.
Middle East Online 12th April 2012 more >>
Romania
Romania on Thursday began the selection process for underwriters of a planned IPO of generating company Nuclearelectrica. Bids are due by May 21.
Euro Week 12th April 2012 more >>
China
Although China in 2011 became the world’s leading wind power generator, it plans to cut back on renewables development. It now wants to accelerate the use of new-energy sources such as nuclear power and put an end to ‘blind expansion’ in industries such as solar energy and wind power in 2012, Chinese premier Wen Jiabao said in a government report published in early March and reported in Asia Pulse.
Modern Power Systems 11th April 2012 more >>
North Korea
A much-heralded test of North Korea’s rocket technology has ended in failure and embarrassment for the regime in Pyongyang less than two minutes after lift-off. The Unha-3 rocket, which Washington claimed was cover for a ballistic missile test and drew condemnation from around the world, exploded into about 20 pieces fell into the Yellow Sea.
Guardian 13th April 2012 more >>
Independent 13th April 2012 more >>
Telegraph 13th April 2012 more >>
Times 13th April 2012 more >>
Renewables
Plans for a 900-mile cable linking the UK to Iceland could be part of a remarkable European effort to fight climate change and rising energy. It’s called the Supergrid. The principle is simple: connect up the electricity supply networks of half a dozen countries or more, and you can shunt the current around, from where it is in surplus to where it is badly needed. In particular, you can do it with electricity provided from renewable sources, such as wind, solar and tidal power. A proposed connection with Norway may be able to tap into the hydroelectric power in which Norway specialises, and connections to the Continent may be able to link up with solar power projects in France or even Africa. Most of all, though, the Supergrid is seen as a solution to the major drawback of Britain’s major renewable energy resource, windpower which is intermittency. This is an idea whose time has come, and now the flood gates are opening, with no fewer than nine more interconnectors from Britain to neighbouring countries under consideration. The first is a 500MW link with the Republic of Ireland, connected via Wales, which could allow renewable electricity from Irish windfarms to power British homes and is due to open later this year. The next two to come on stream are likely to be those to Belgium and Norway, both joint enterprises between the National Grid in the UK and the local network operators
Independent 13th April 2012 more >>
