Cumbria
A new sister website to no2nuclearpower, operated jointly with West Cumbria and North Lakes Friends of the Earth, called Cumbrian Energy Revolution covering developments at Sellafield, but also focussing on community energy and alternative energy scenarios for Cumbria.
Cumbrian Energy Revolution 12th Aug 2014 read more »
Radwaste – Scotland
NFLA Scotland raises concerns over proposed changes to radioactive waste authorisations, which will lead to more incineration of waste and more road transports of waste.
NFLA 11th Aug 2014 read more »
Hartlepool/Heysham
Why has it taken EDF 9 months to close down Hartlepool and Heysham nuclear reactor after the problem was originally found? NFLA notes over 25% of UK nuclear capacity is now offline.
NFLA 12th Aug 2014 read more »
EDF Energy previously advised that one of the two reactors at Heysham 1 nuclear power station had been shut down on 11 June for refuelling and to allow investigations to take place on one of its eight boiler units. This followed tests which took place during a period of planned maintenance and inspection in 2013. EDF Energy is now issuing an operational update concerning Heysham 1 and its sister station of Hartlepool. During the Heysham 1 Reactor 1 planned statutory outage in 2013, an unexpected result was found during routine ultrasonic inspection of a boiler spine (see Explanatory Note below). No similar results were seen on the other seven boiler spines subjected to equivalent inspections on Heysham 1 Reactor 1, or during subsequent equivalent inspections of the boiler spines on Heysham 1 Reactor 2 and at Hartlepool (the design of the boilers being unique to Hartlepool and Heysham 1). Heysham 1 Reactor 1 was returned to service early in 2014 on reduced load with the affected boiler quadrant isolated pending further investigations to confirm the source of the unexpected inspection result. Subsequent more detailed inspections of the affected boiler spine during an outage on Heysham 1 Reactor 1 that commenced in June 2014 have confirmed a defect in the location indicated by the initial findings. Heysham 1 Reactor 1 remains shut down while work continues to characterise the nature of the defect. Although routine inspections of other boiler spines have not previously indicated any similar defects EDF Energy has taken the conservative decision to shut down Heysham 1 Reactor 2 and Hartlepool Reactors 1 and 2 that are of similar design over the next few days to carry out further inspections in order to satisfy itself and the Regulator that the reactors can be safely returned to service. Until the results of the further inspections are known it is not possible to advise exact return to service dates for these four reactors, however, an initial estimate is that these investigations will take around eight weeks. EDF Energy’s other nuclear power stations are not affected by this issue as they are of a different design.
EDF Energy 11th Aug 2014 read more »
HARTLEPOOL’S nuclear power station has been shut down for eight weeks after a defect was found in a boiler at its sister station. Bosses at EDF Energy have begun investigations after the defect was discovered in the boiler spine of Reactor 1 at the Heysham 1 site, in Lancashire.
Hartlepool Mail 12th Aug 2014 read more »
Professional Engineer 12th Aug 2014 read more »
Aldermaston
Nuclear bomb factory AWE has been urged to be less secretive and open up some of its meetings to the public. The organisation hosts a regular Local Liaison Committee (LLC) consisting of representatives of local councils.
Get Reading 12th Aug 2014 read more »
Uranium
French nuclear power giant Areva has abandoned a Kimberley uranium project that gained exploration approval despite bitter opposition from some traditional owners. Subsidiary Areva Resources Australia said it had formally withdrawn from the North Canning exploration project near Derby because it was not viable. “Following technical results from drilling programs conducted over the past three years under granted exploration licences, Areva has concluded that the project is not technically feasible,” the company said.
West Australian 11th Aug 2014 read more »
Energy Costs
Green policies imposed by Brussels are endangering 1.5m UK jobs by saddling manufacturers with high energy costs, an influential group of business leaders has warned. A report published on Wednesday by Business for Britain (BfB), a Eurosceptic lobby group, says that EU policies are to blame for up to 9 per cent of costs on energy bills for industrial companies and warns this could rise to 16 per cent by 2030. Manufacturers are now considering moving their operations to countries where energy is cheaper, risking “devastating” job losses in the UK, it warns.
Telegraph 13th Aug 2014 read more »
Energy Policy
The London mayor is known to give credence to crank theories, such as solar activity being the cause and speculation over whether we are entering a mini ice age. This dangerous and ill-informed mindset also explains the mayor’s rationale for promoting the development of new sources of carbon emissions such as aviation expansion and fracking.
Guardian 12th Aug 2014 read more »
Japan – Fukushima
The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has decided to scrap a French-made decontamination system that’s been out of operation for nearly 3 years. Tokyo Electric Power Company installed the system made by the French nuclear energy firm Areva 3 months after the nuclear accident at the plant. TEPCO used it to deal with accumulated radioactive water. The system uses chemical agents to remove radioactive material, including cesium, from water. TEPCO said 76,000 tons of tainted water was treated during the first 3 months of use. But the system was soon marred by pump malfunctions and other problems.
NHK World 12th Aug 2014 read more »
Germany – Grid Reliability
To hear its critics tell it, Germany’s ambitious push to switch over to renewable energy has delivered an electrical grid that’s capricious, unreliable, and prone to blackouts. But according to data highlighted by ECO Report last week, the reality on the ground couldn’t be further from that caricature. Specifically, the availability of electricity in Germany was lost only for an average of 15.91 minutes per customer in 2012, according to figures from the Council of European Energy Regulators. That’s far better than the United States, which saw its electricity become unavailable for a whopping 244 minutes per customer in 2008. Germany also did significantly better than the United Kingdom (lost 81.42 minutes per customer in 2008), the Netherlands (lost 33.7 minutes per customer) and France (lost 95.1 minutes per customer). Of all the countries tracked, Japan and Singapore are the only two with grid reliability to match Germany’s. And the country has actually maintained this record for several years: 2008 was the last year in Germany when the amount of minutes lost per customer breached 16.
Climate Progress 12th Aug 2014 read more »
Opinion Polls
The latest ‘tracker’ polls issued by DECC show that support for onshore wind among the public is 67 per cent, with just 11 per cent opposed. Solar power is the most popular renewable fuel (82 per cent support) with offshore wind a bit ahead of onshore wind in popularity. By contrast support and opposition for shale gas is tied at 24 per cent and nuclear power is supported by 36 per cent compared to 24 per cent opposed. Once again this demonstrates just how out of step the Conservatives are with public opinion. The Conservatives, fond of fulminating against onshore wind and solar, want to cut off all funding for onshore wind after 2020. Eric Pickles delights in cancelling planning consents for wind and solar farms even when the planners have agreed to them.
Dave Toke’s Blog 12th Aug 2014 read more »
Support for fracking in the UK has fallen, with less than a quarter of the public now in favour of extracting shale gas to meet the country’s energy needs, according to official government polling. The latest Department of Energy and Climate Change public opinion tracker, published on Tuesday, shows that public support and opposition is now evenly matched at 24 per cent, while almost half of respondents said they were neutral on the issue.
Telegraph 12th Aug 2014 read more »
Only one in four people supports fracking to extract shale gas, according to a government-funded survey that contradicts an opinion poll published a day earlier by the shale industry. The proportion of people in favour of fracking fell from 29 per cent in March to 24 per cent in June, the Department of Energy and Climate Change said.
Times 13th Aug 2014 read more »
Nuclear Weapons
Dozens of campaigners travelled across the country to unfurl a seven mile long pink scarf knitted in protest at nuclear weapons. A group of 30 people from the Wimbledon Disarmament Coalition (WDC) joined thousands of other anti-nuclear campaigners in Aldermaston on the 69th anniversary of the bombing by the United States of the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima at the end of World War II.
This is Local London 12th Aug 2014 read more »
Renewables
Wind and solar companies are normally allies in the hunt for subsidies but the rewards are now so great that they are fighting each other for control of a former wartime airfield. Seagreen, which is planning a £3 billion wind farm off the east coast of Scotland, is opposing an application for the country’s first large solar farm. The developers of the two projects both want to use Tealing Airfield, a Second World War RAF base near Dundee. Seagreen, a joint venture between the energy company SSE and the construction giant Fluor, wants to use the site for a substation linking its 3,500 megawatt offshore wind farm to the national grid. Tealing Park Solar Ltd has applied to build a 31 megawatt solar farm on the site that would cover the equivalent of 70 football pitches.
Times 13th Aug 2014 read more »
Renewables – solar
Leading investment bank Citigroup has painted an incredibly bright future for solar energy across the globe, arguing that its rapid expansion will be driven by “pure economics” and the growing need for diversity. “We believe global solar growth will be driven by economics, fuel diversity and emerging financing vehicles as well as some country specific legislative overlay,” Citi analysts argue in a new report. “Moreover, this growth looks set to continue for the long term, as solar takes an ever greater share of energy generation, helped by improving economics against fossil fuels.” The report, Energy 2020: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised as Disruptors Multiply, cites a bunch of key reasons why the outlook for solar energy is so positive.
Renew Economy 13th Aug 2014 read more »
Britain’s solar electricity market has passed a major milestone this week, according to new figures which suggest solar panels can now power six per cent of all UK households. Analysts at NPD Solarbuzz released new data showing the UK now boasts 5GW of solar power capacity, following an uptick in construction during the last month. Unsurprisingly, the figures reveal that nearly half of all capacity is located in the sunniest part of the country, with 46 per cent in the South West and East regions. The East of England holds 15 per cent of capacity, while London and Northern Ireland both have just one per cent.
Business Green 12th Aug 2014 read more »
Solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity installed in the United Kingdom has now reached 5 gigawatts (GW), making the UK the sixth country to hit this landmark figure, according to an international survey released today. Of the other five leading solar-PV countries, Germany remains the undisputed leader, with more than 37GW. China, Japan, Italy and the United States each have more than 10GW installed, claims the report produced by NPD Solarbuzz. It says that 90% of the 5GW of solar PV capacity in the UK has been installed during the past three years, with 46% of the total capacity located in the South West and South East regions. At 5GW, solar PV capacity in the UK can now power nearly 6% of all households. The cumulative PV capacity is expected to continue to grow strongly until the end of March next year, before pending policy changes take effect to slow down the large ground-mounted PV segment, it is claimed.
Energy Now 12th Aug 2014 read more »
Renewables – wind
The UK’s wind energy industry set a new hourly output record for August late on Sunday, as strong winds led to a surge in renewable energy generation. According to figures from trade association RenewableUK, wind reached its maximum output at 10pm on Sunday night, delivering an average of 5.0GW of power over the hour and meeting 17 per cent of national demand.
Business Green 12th Aug 2014 read more »
Wind farms were paid a record sum of almost £3 million in a single day this week not to produce electricity. Strong winds amid the remnants of Hurricane Bertha left the electricity network unable to cope with the amount of energy being produced by turbines on Monday. As a result National Grid paid owners £2.8 million to shut down their wind farms, at up to double the rate they would have received in subsidies had they actually generated electricity. A further £1.1 million was given to other power stations to generate electricity to make up the shortfall created by shutting the wind farms down. The money – detailed in figures provided by National Grid – will ultimately be added on to household bills and paid for by consumers.
Telegraph 12th Aug 2014 read more »
Fossil Fuels
The public remain divided and undecided on fracking, with a small but growing minority strongly opposed to shale gas extraction, new government statistics show. The poll comes just a day after an industry survey suggested a majority of the public supported fracking. That finding was widely covered in the media, including the BBC, Telegraph and Daily Mail but is contradicted by this polling.
Carbon Brief 12th Aug 2013 read more »
The number of people opposed to the development of shale gas wells in the UK has continued to rise, according to new government figures. According to the latest public attitudes survey tracker by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) published today, just under a quarter of people – 24 per cent – are now against fracking, up from 22 per cent in March this year and 21 per cent in December last year.
Business Green 12th Aug 2014 read more »
The government has delayed and censored a report into the effect of shale gas exploration on local on property prices. With your help, Karl Mathiesen investigates.
Guardian 11th Aug 2014 read more »
