Plutonium
Two Barrow-registered nuclear ships are gearing up to sail to France in the next few days where they will load a consignment of plutonium MOX fuel at Cherbourg for shipment to Japan. The armed nuclear ships Pacific Heron and Pacific Egret belong to Pacific Nuclear Transport Ltd (PNTL) and are currently loading stores and making other sea-going preparations at Barrow’s Ramsden Dock in advance of the 6-week voyage from France to Japan. The consignment of plutonium fuel – in the form of 20 MOX fuel assemblies containing over half a tonne of plutonium – is expected to be loaded onto the ships at Cherbourg this coming week with departure from France to Japan expected no later than 19th April. Fabricated some 3 years ago by French company AREVA, the plutonium fuel should have been delivered to Takahama power station – owned by Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO) – in 2011, but the shipment was postponed after the infamous tsunami and the melt-down of the Fukushima reactors. CORE’s spokesman Martin Forwood said to day ‘Given that the upcoming shipment is being made at the request of AREVA because it has become tired of storing the fuel in France – and that KEPCO is reported as being undecided as to whether the MOX fuel will ever be used – these Barrow ships are doing little more than playing ‘Pass the Plutonium Parcel’ with a batch of unwanted and dangerous fuel.’
CORE Press Release 12th April 2013 read more »
The Obama administration’s FY 2014 budget put forward this week cuts funding for a key plutonium reprocessing facility in South Carolina, leading senators and industry to disparage the proposal, the Associated Press reports. The president’s budget request included $503 million, or $183 million less than was provided under last year’s continuing resolution, when Congress failed to pass a budget. The MOX (mixed oxide fuel) facility transforms weapons-grade plutonium into usable commercial nuclear reactor fuel and is a central component of the United States’ international non-proliferation efforts. The U.S. and Russia have each committed to convert 34 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium—enough for about 17,000 warheads, the AP reports—into fuel for peaceful commercial reactors. The administration’s budget request questioned the viability of the MOX plant as a disarmament tool, saying, “This current plutonium disposition approach may be unaffordable…due to cost growth and fiscal pressure.”
Power Engineering 11th April 2013 read more »
Stress Tests
The nuclear stress tests announced after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 were supposed to be a transparent exercise to reduce the risk of nuclear energy in Europe. As a result of the EU stress tests, the countries with nuclear power stations worked out national action plans to address weaknesses that emerged during the two years of analysis. In May 2012, Greenpeace commissioned a study independently analysing the outcomes of the stress tests. A year later, one of the lead-authors of this study took a closer look to what extent the national action plans are indeed sufficiently addressing the identified concerns.
Briefing.
Greenpeace 12th April 2013 read more »
Full Report.
Greenpeace 12th April 2013 read more »
EMR
Labour’s Baroness Worthington argues that if renewable generators are to compete in the energy market in the long term, we need to call time on vertically-integrated suppliers. The curious thing about the Government’s Energy Bill is that for all the talk of it reforming the energy market, in reality it is not about that at all. There are reforms in there of course, but they didn’t originate in answer to the question “How can we make the market more fair or efficient?” but rather: “How can we get massive capital intensive projects such as nuclear and offshore wind funded, in a fundamentally uncertain market?”. The answer DECC arrived at is to try to introduce a degree of certainty via Contracts for Difference (CFDs). Much of the debate so far has been about the degree to which certainty is truly achieved by this mechanism: Who will underwrite the contracts? Will there be clauses that allow for changes to the contract once signed? Will the level of financial security (strike prices) be sufficient to spur investment? The latest of these questions to emerge is that if CFDs for certain big projects are made available, and there is to be no continuing obligation on suppliers to buy renewable electricity, how can new entrants and smaller independent companies be sure of getting access to the market?
Business Green 12th April 2013 read more »
Energy Costs
The big six energy suppliers have been accused of “cold-blooded profiteering” after official figures showed they had more than doubled their retail profit margins over the last 18 months and were now earning an average of £95 profit per household on dual-fuel bills. The industry regulator Ofgem, which produced the estimates, said profits per household would reach £100 over the next 12 months.
Guardian 12th April 2013 read more »
Telegraph 12th April 2013 read more »
Wylfa
The company behind a new nuclear power station at Wylfa on Anglesey have met with politicians on the island. The Horizon project would create thousands of jobs if a new power station is built.
ITV 12th April 2013 read more »
Dungeness
Approval for a regional airport at what is now a local airfield came after opposition from residents and environmental campaigners who forced a public inquiry after Shepway district council granted consent in 2010. They complained that noise and emissions would harm the wildlife of Romney Marsh and the Dungeness peninsula. There were also concerns that the jets may pose a risk to the nuclear power station Dungeness B which is three miles from the airport.
Evening Standard 12th April 2013 read more »
Springfields
A Fylde nuclear fuel manufacturer has a new managing director. Mick Gornall, who began his career as an apprentice at Springfields, Salwick, in 1980, has taken up the role after a restructure in the Westinghouse operated factory. Fylde resident Mick, who was previously operations director at Springfields, is a product of the site’s widely acclaimed apprentice training scheme.
Blackpool Gazette 12th April 2013 read more »
Nuclear R&D
A project to develop robotic snakes fitted with lasers for use in nuclear power plants, as well as one to produce cast reactor coolant pumps, are among those that will benefit from recently announced funding from the UK government.
World Nuclear News 12th April 2013 read more »
Japan
Fukushima crisis update 9th to 11th April. TEPCO is continuing to struggle in its efforts to manage highly radioactive water at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, as the situation goes from bad to worse.
Greenpeace 12th April 2013 read more »
North Korea
US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to China is expected to deal with international problems like the Korean Peninsula crisis, according to US ambassador to China Gary Locke. Mr Kerry arrived in Beijing this morning and is scheduled to meet with Chinese leaders and hold talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi before he leaves China on Sunday.
ITV 13th April 2013 read more »
RUSSIA, Churchill once said, “is a riddle wrapped up in a mystery inside an enigma”. However compared with Kim Jong-un, Stalin might as well have been living in the Big Brother house.
Express 13th April 2013 read more »
North Korea has a nuclear warhead that it could mount on a missile, US intelligence officials revealed yesterday. The warning came as preparations continued in the reclusive Communist country for the possible test launch this weekend of two missiles which it has moved closer to its border with South Korea. However, the weapons would have a ‘low reliability’, the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) said.
Daily Mail 13th April 2013 read more »
AMERICAN secretary of state John Kerry dismissed as “unacceptable by any standard” weeks of warnings of impending nuclear war by North Korea, saying Washington would never accept the reclusive state becoming a nuclear power.
Scotsman 13th April 2013 read more »
North Korea has threatened to target Japan first and attack its capital, after the pariah state’s leader threatened to start war and launch nuclear missiles. Tokyo has orders to destroy any missile heading toward Japan, Korean Central News Agency reported. The country has deployed PAC-3 missile interceptor units around its capital in response to North Korea’s threats to target Japan.
Daily Mail 12th April 2013 read more »
Express 12th April 2013 read more »
US
Contracts have been signed for the operation of two regional US response centres to manage emergency backup equipment, while newly released performance metrics for 2012 show US plants achieving good safety performances.
World Nuclear News 12th April 2013 read more »
Renewables
From today you can invest in a local renewable energy cooperative which will use the profit that it hopes to make for the benefit of the community in Balerno. The people behind it are keen to get you along to St Joseph’s Hall in Balerno this evening to hear more about how you can invest in the scheme. They need about £313,000 to be able to fund their idea which has been given planning approval by The City of Edinburgh Council. A spokesman for Harlaw Hydro said:-”At 7.30pm tonight, in St Joseph’s Hall, Harlaw Hydro will present its plans for the hydro-electric scheme at Harlaw Reservoir and will launch the share offer. There will be opportunities for questions, comments and suggestions but most importantly there will be an opportunity to invest in this exciting community project. The prospectus and forms will be available on line and on Harlaw Hydro’s new web site which will be HarlawHydro.org.uk where there will also be copies of relevant documents.”
Edinburgh Reporter 9th April 2013 read more »
The Danish capital is moving rapidly toward a zero-carbon future, as it erects windfarms, transforms its citywide heating systems, promotes energy efficiency, and lures more people out of their cars and onto public transportation and bikes. Among the first sights to greet visitors to Denmark on the descent to Copenhagen’s airport is a sweeping arc of wind turbines rising from the harbor. From the airport, passengers can board an automatic Metro line that hustles them to the city center in just 15 minutes, crossing the path of the City Circle Line, a subway project that will place 85 percent of Copenhageners within 650 yards of a Metro station when the line opens in 2018.
Guardian 12th April 2013 read more »
Fossil Fuels
Oil and gas production from the North Sea will rise this year for the first time after more than a decade of decline thanks to record investment levels, according to Oil and Gas UK. The industry body said new fields containing 470 million barrels of oil and gas will come on stream in 2013, five times more than the average in the past three years. Companies are expected to boost capital investment in new projects from £11.4 billion last year to a record high of £13 billion. Output is forecast to hit two million barrels of oil and gas per day by 2017 compared with about 1.5 million barrels this year.
Times 13th April 2013 read more »
