NuGen
Britain’s nuclear project NuGen will finally be up and running in 2024, it has been announced. Toshiba also revealed on Tuesday it will pay £102m for a 60pc stake in NuGen, which will see a new nuclear power plant built in West Cumbria, providing 7pc of the UK’s electricity needs. The Japanese company will build three nuclear reactors for the project, codenamed Moorside, with a combined capacity of 3.4 gigawatts (GW). This is less than the maximum 3.6GW the Government had predicted could be produced.
Telegraph 14th Jan 2014 read more »
Aspirations for a new generation of British nuclear power stations were given a boost yesterday when Toshiba promised to build a reactor in Sellafield in half the time planned to complete the Hinkley Point nuclear plant. Toshiba, which owns the Westinghouse reactor business, claimed that it would take only four years to build the first of three reactors planned for Sellafield, in Cumbria, saying that it would be finished in 2024. This would be a year after the first of EDF Energy’s two reactors at its £16 billion Hinkley Point project in Somerset is due to come online, despite construction being due to start next year. The project will create 20,000 construction jobs and a further 1,000 permanent jobs when complete, Toshiba said, with the three reactors providing about 7 per cent of Britain’s electricity. Simon Marshall, the programme director for Westinghouse in the UK, said that the consortium would demand a lower price when it began its own subsidy negotiations with the Government. “We believe it would be an attractive electricity price. It would be difficult to go in with a higher price [than EDF Energy].” Mr Marshall said that the AP1000 reactor type earmarked for the site was cheaper because it had a modular design that had been used before. In contrast, EDF Energy’s design was one of the first of a new generation, pushing up costs. Toshiba and GDF Suez will need to bring in outside investors to fund the construction, expected to cost at least £10 billion.
Times 15th Jan 2014 read more »
Toshiba-owned Westinghouse Electric Company has agreed to buy a 60% share of nuclear development company Nugen for £102m. Toshiba will purchase all of Iberdrola’s indirect 50% holding in the project and a further 10% holding in the project from GDF Suez, giving Toshiba a 60% controlling stake in NuGen. Westinghouse plans to build three reactors at the Moorside site in partnership with GDF Suez. The first of three reactors at Moorside is now expected to be online in 2024. The agreement provides that three Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactors with a combined capacity of 3.4GW will be built. When fully operational, the Moorside site is expected to deliver 7% of the UK’s electricity need.
Construction Index 15th Jan 2014 read more »
IB Times 15th Jan 2014 read more »
Construction Enquirer 14th Jan 2014 read more »
Reuters 14th Jan 2014 read more »
CAMPAIGNERS battling to get a new nuclear power plant in Cumbria say their cause has been significantly boosted by the government’s decision to approve new reactors in Somerset. The Hinkley Point C plant has now been formally approved, Energy Secretary Ed Davey has confirmed. When completed in 2023, it will be the country’s first new nuclear power plant in a generation. After more than two years of negotiation, ministers agreed the £16bn deal with the French company EDF and its Chinese business partners. Martin Forwood, of Cumbrians Opposed to a Radioactive Environment, poured scorn on the Hinkley Point project. “Nuclear power is going to do nothing to bridge the energy gap,” he said. “No nuclear power plants should be built until they have solved the problem of what to do with the existing nuclear waste.”
NW Evening Mail 14th Jan 2014 read more »
Plans to build new nuclear reactors in west Cumbria have taken a big step forward after Toshiba Corporation agreed in principle to buy a huge stake in the project. The Japanese firm is to take a 60 per cent share in the NuGeneration Limited (NuGen) Moorside project near Sellafield, says Westinghouse Electric Company. It intends to progress the new-build project in partnership with GDF SUEZ. The agreement means three Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactors, with a combined capacity of 3.4GW, will be built on the site. The first is expected to be online in 2024.
Carlisle News & Star 14th Jan 2014 read more »
Energy Supplies
Prime Minister denies that energy crisis could see power cuts become regular occurence by winter 2015-16, saying security of supply is top priority. Britain is in “no danger” of suffering blackouts due to energy shortages, David Cameron has insisted, dismissing fears that the energy crisis could see power cuts become “the norm” by winter 2015. Appearing before the Liaison Committee, the Prime Minister said that keeping the lights on was “the most important energy policy objective” – implying it takes precedence over both going green and keeping prices affordable, generally accepted as the other two main energy policy aims. But Mr Cameron insisted it was also “realistic” for the Coalition to claim it had delivered on its pledge to be the “greenest government ever”, citing £33bn of investment in renewable energy since 2010. The Prime Minister was challenged by Tim Yeo, head of the energy select committee, who cited warnings from regulator Ofgem that Britain’s spare power-generation capacity could fall to very low levels within two winters, increasing the risk of blackouts.
Telegraph 14th Jan 2014 read more »
Rad Health
Dr Ian Fairlie: Last year I wrote a post expressing regret that ill-informed journalists and others often wrote nonsense articles about radiation risks. Sadly, it’s happened again. Stewart Brand, founder of the Whole Earth Catalogue, has recently stated that the Linear No Threshold theory of radiation’s effects should be retired because it “.. is based on no knowledge whatever.” This is quite incorrect: in fact a great deal of powerful evidence backs the LNT. Some of this evidence is discussed here. Brand also states ” Below 100 millisieverts per year, however, no increased cancer incidence has been detected…” Well again he’s plain wrong. There are at least half a dozen studies showing effects below 100 mSv and discussed here. Mr Brand is an American so he should be aware of the US government’s premier body on radiation risks – the US National Academy of Sciences’s BEIR committee. Its 2005 report, BEIR VII, strongly supported LNT with a great deal of scientific evidence. (BEIR stands for Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation). It gave a very clear account of why LNT should be used down to very low doses: even Mr Brand would be able to understand it. Perhaps Mr Brand should do so and inform himself about radiogenic risks before he writes again.
Ian Fairlie 14th Jan 2014 read more »
Fukushima and Health: German IPPNW criticise UNSCEAR report on Fukushima health effects.
IPPNW 1st Nov 2013 read more »
Dungeness
A legal challenge to the government’s decision to allow the expansion of Lydd Airport in Kent is to be heard at the High Court later this month. The £25m project includes a runway extension of almost 300m (328yds) and a new terminal building. Campaigners are opposed to the expansion as the site is close to the Dungeness nuclear plant, an RSPB nature reserve and a military range. The RSPB and Lydd Airport Action Group (LAAG) have lodged separate appeals. LAAG’s bid to quash the decision will be heard at the High Court on 23 and 24 January.
BBC 14th Jan 2014 read more »
Proliferation
EFFORTS BY Iran and North Korea to acquire nuclear weapons have been at the forefront of diplomacy and international concern over the past few years, and justifiably so. Neither country has been convincingly stopped, although Iran is negotiating. Elsewhere, though, there has been progress toward preventing nuclear materials from falling into the wrong hands. The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), a nongovernmental organization, has just published the second edition of its global index on the security of nuclear materials, prepared with help from the Economist Intelligence Unit. The report shows that, since the first study was released in 2012, seven nations — Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Mexico, Sweden, Ukraine and Vietnam — have removed all or most of the nuclear weapons-usable material from their territory. This brings the number of countries with more than a kilogram of such material down to 25, compared with more than 50 states two decades ago. The index also shows that 13 states with more than a kilogram have reduced their stocks in the past four years, including Russia and the United States.
Washington Post 14th Jan 2014 read more »
Japan – Emergency Planning
At least 12 hours would be needed for everyone living within a radius of 30 kilometers from nuclear power plants in Japan to evacuate in the event of a nuclear accident, according to research results conducted by a private group. In cases where the use of evacuation routes is limited to national highways due to complex disasters such as earthquakes, people within a radius of 30 kilometers from the Tokai No. 2 Power Station in Ibaraki Prefecture would need five days and a half to complete their evacuation. Those people living near the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station in Shizuoka Prefecture would likely need about six days to move out of the 30-kilometer zone, the research findings show.
Mainichi 14th Jan 2014 read more »
Japan – Fukushima
Japan’s nuclear future was placed in fresh doubt today when two of the country’s most popular former leaders joined forces in a dramatic blow to the government of the current prime minister, Shinzo Abe. Morihiro Hosokawa, who was prime minister 20 years ago, announced his intention of standing for election as governor of Tokyo, and promised to use the influential position to campaign for an end to nuclear power, close to three years after the accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.
Times 15th Jan 2014 read more »
Fukushima crisis update 10th to 13th Jan. Japan’s nuclear watchdog, the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) has asked TEPCO, the operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to address rising radiation levels at the plant’s boundaries.
Greenpeace 14th Jan 2014 read more »
A fish contaminated with extremely high levels of radiation was found in waters near the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, a government-affiliated research institute said. The Fisheries Research Agency said Jan. 10 the black sea bream had 12,400 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium, 124 times the safety standards for foodstuffs.
Asahi Shimbun 11th Jan 2014 read more »
After the Fukushima disaster led Japan to shut down its nuclear power sector fuel oil became one of the country’s largest sources of electricity generation, yet now it seems that this demand is set to fall to levels not seen since before 2011 as Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) leads the country’s energy utilities to switch to the cheaper fuels of coal and natural gas. Some industry analysts have speculated whether this drop in demand from Japan, Asia’s largest importer of fuel oil, could flood an already oversupplied Asia-Pacific market, forcing prices to fall and hitting producers margins.
Oil Price 14th Jan 2014 read more »
Germany
The forced closure of RWE’s Biblis nuclear power plant after the Fukushima accident was unlawful, the German Supreme Administrative Court has ruled. The utility is now likely to sue for considerable damages.
World Nuclear News 14th Jan 2014 read more »
One of Germany’s highest courts has ruled that a decision to close a nuclear power plant after the Fukushima disaster was unlawful, opening the way for a substantial compensation claim by operator RWE.
FT 14th Jan 2014 read more »
Belgium
French power utilities Electricite de France SA and GDF Suez SA will invest 600 million euros ($822 million) to extend the life of a nuclear reactor they jointly own in Belgium to 2025, Les Echos newspaper reports, citing unidentified sources. The two companies and the Belgian government are due to sign an agreement for the ten-year extension of the life of the nuclear reactor located in the town of Tihange in eastern Belgium, the newspaper said. The Belgian government and the two utilities have agreed on sharing the profits made on the reactor. Above a certain amount, the Belgian government will take 70% of the profits, while the utilities will take 30%, the newspaper said. The government expects to pocket EUR1.25 billion over the ten years.
4 Traders 14th Jan 2014 read more »
Iran
President Hassan Rouhani has praised a landmark nuclear deal struck in Geneva as a victory for Iran, telling a crowd it in effect meant the “surrender” of western powers to his country’s demands. His comments were part of the moderate Rouhani’s efforts to bring around hardliners who claim the deal tramples on Iran’s enrichment rights. Last week, the six-nation group – the five permanent members of the UN security council plus Germany – and Iran agreed to start implementing the terms of the November deal later this month.
Guardian 14th Jan 2014 read more »
The UN nuclear watchdog has said a planned meeting with Iran next week to discuss how to allay concerns over its nuclear programme had been postponed to 8 February, without giving a reason. The talks between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are separate from – though still closely linked with – broader diplomacy between Tehran and six world powers over Iran’s disputed nuclear activity.
Guardian 14th Jan 2014 read more »
South Korea
Seoul has drastically reduced its long-term target for nuclear power generation, adding to the pressure on the South Korean nuclear industry amid a major corruption scandal. Nuclear energy has long been a core means of electricity generation in the country, and its contribution was planned to increase from 26 per cent of total supply last year to 41 per cent in 2030, under official plans. However, that goal was lowered to 29 per cent under the government’s new energy plan, which sets out targets to be implemented by 2035.
FT 14th Jan 2014 read more »
Test Veterans
CRUSADING South Tyneside Council has taken up the cause of nuclear test veterans who were exposed to radiation in the Pacific back in the 1950s. A motion is to go before a meeting of the borough council on Thursday calling on the Government to acknowledge its debt to the servicemen.
Shields Gazette 14th Jan 2014 read more »
Renewables – storage
Overcoming the challenge posed by the intermittent nature of renewable energy continues to be a major roadblock to high levels of renewable penetration and a stick with which doubters of clean energy can attempt to hit the sector. Battery and storage technologies are an obvious solution to this, but high prices have seen uptake and projects remain limited. An increasing number of researchers and analysts, however, are making bullish predictions for cost reductions for storage solutions and in particular battery technologies that – like solar PV – can be implemented on a distributed basis and can mobilise the equity of homeowners.
Renew Economy 15th Jan 2014 read more »
Renewables – solar
The statistics for newly installed solar capacity last year continue to come in from various countries. We provide an overview today. Should we add Switzerland to the list of European countries with strong PV markets? While the Swiss have resisted PV up to now, Swiss solar group Swissolar reports that the country nearly doubled its installed capacity last year and now gets around one percent of its electricity from photovoltaics. The estimated 300 MW that was newly installed in 2013 brings the country up to around 730 MW. The UK reached 1,910 megawatts of PV at the end of November 2013 under its feed-in tariff scheme, which only applies for “microgeneration systems.” Larger projects have fallen under the Renewables Obligation policy up to now, and these larger systems brought the total up to 2,542 megawatts according to the estimate from December 19.
Renewables International 14th Jan 2014 read more »
Large-scale solar PV installations in the UK grew by an incredible 600% during 2013, driving the UK to a record 1.45GW of new solar PV capacity added. Ground-mounted installations accounted for over 90% of new large-scale solar PV added in the UK in 2013.
The UK was ranked in sixth place globally for large-scale solar PV, and is one of just six countries that had, or approached, a GW-level large-scale solar market during 2013.
Solar Portal 14th Jan 2014 read more »
The solar power industry appears to have installed its 500,000th set of panels in the UK in recent days, in a move that marks a major milestone for the burgeoning sector. According to figures by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, 499,687 solar schemes had been installed by January 5 under the feed-in tariff scheme that supports solar arrays with a capacity smaller than 50kW. With the solar market installing around 1,900 schemes on average per week over the past year and work now picking up after the Christmas holidays it is highly likely more than 313 would have been installed last week, taking the industry past the half a million mark.
Business Green 14th Jan 2014 read more »
THE SUNNIEST city in Britain is looking to make Bristol the Solar powered capital of the UK by 2020, says city business leader James Lancaster. The West Country’s biggest city recently hosted a three-day conference for solar energy suppliers, installers, and where manufacturers held advice stands on how local businesses can install 1GW solar photovoltaic technologies. The event was organised by the Bristol Solar City initiative and launched by the City Mayor, George Fergusion – as part of the wider Big Green Week festival. A specially constructed ‘Solar Pavilion’ on College Green was set up with a solar powered stage for talks and music, as well as the Solar Hub Exhibition and workspace where local businesses, city organisations, community groups, and homeowners could learn more about solar energy, efficiency savings, and long-term sustainability. James Lancaster, chairman of Bristol Solar City, said: “While an ambitious task Bristol is well placed to meet the challenge. Bristol has shown itself to be a leader in sustainability and renewable technologies; we’ve been in the top five of the UK’s Greenest cities for the last six years and are shortlisted to be European Green capital 2015. Bristol is also the sunniest of the UK’s major cities, we have a reputation for making things happen in our communities.”
PV Compare 14th Jan 2014 read more »
Renewables – tidal
Tidal Lagoon Power poised to submit planning application that could bring a world-leading tidal power project to South Wales after all. South Wales’ long-standing hopes of becoming a global hub for the emerging tidal energy industry look to have finally been laid to rest last year, when MP’s again voiced opposition towards ambitious plans for a Severn Barrage that could have provided up to five per cent of the UK’s power. But now supporters of tidal energy are hoping that plans for a smaller tidal lagoon in Swansea Bay could yet cement the region’s position as a pioneer in marine energy.
Business Green 14th Jan 2014 read more »
Renewables – Wind
More than 140 wind farms given go-ahead in 2013 despite pledge by David Cameron to end rising numbers of turbines. The number of onshore wind farms granted planning permission has risen by two thirds in the past three years, official figures have revealed. David Cameron last year pledged to halt the growing numbers of wind farms amid a growing backlash in rural areas. However, figures released by the Department of Energy and Climate Change reveal that last year a total of 141 onshore wind farms were granted planning permission, compared to 83 in 2010. The figures also show a significant rise in the number of solar farms given approval by councils, up from nine in 2010 to 141 last year.
Telegraph 14th Jan 2014 read more »
Fuel Poverty
Spiralling energy costs and surging public anger have culminated in the UK government’s recent announcement to cut energy bills by an average of £50 a year through reductions on the levies placed upon energy companies. The Energy Company Obligation (Eco) required suppliers to deliver efficiency measures to domestic users. While suppliers claimed these levies caused high energy bills, Eco was, in fact, intended to support households – including pensioners – most at risk of fuel poverty. By calling the suppliers’ bluff, Prime Minister David Cameron has on the one hand appealed to voters with a negligible annual cut in energy bills while, on the other hand, damaging already faltering efforts to tackle fuel poverty – a problem affecting nearly half of all Scottish single pensioner households and more than a third of pensioner couple households. A look across the North Sea reveals the flaw in the UK government’s approach. During winters typically colder than ours, Swedish households usually pay higher prices for each energy unit than the UK – yet their “excess winter death” rate is 23 per cent lower than ours. The difference is that British homes lose around three times more heat than Swedish homes. At a time when we should be intensifying efforts to super-insulate our homes, the coalition has effectively called time on UK-wide energy efficiency activities over the next three to four years. Legislation enacting these changes still needs to be debated and the delay until that comes into force will likely sap the little existing momentum around these programmes, potentially seeing them wind down in anticipation of the changes. While, in theory, companies will continue to face targets around Eco, in reality, few incentives remain to install measures in the run-up to 2015. Furthermore, w ith suppliers able to offset shortfalls in installation targets against post-2017 outcomes, the impact of the coalition’s reduction on household energy efficiency measures is likely to prove far bigger in practice.
Scotsman 15th Jan 2014 read more »
Fossil Fuels
The UK government may have successfully killed European Union plans for “muscular” legislation governing shale gas extraction. But with ministers leading the charge against new environmental regulation, can we be sure fracking for shale gas will be safe?
Carbon Brief 14th Jan 2014 read more »
The UK has defeated European Union attempts to set legally binding environmental regulations for the continent’s fledgling shale gas industry, the Guardian has learned. David Cameron has led intense lobbying against the proposals, arguing that existing rules are strict enough to keep fracking safe and that new rules would delay investment and increase costs.
Guardian 14th Jan 2014 read more »
Researchers believe they have found an unlikely way to decrease the radioactivity of some hydraulic fracturing wastewater: Mix it with the hazardous drainage from mining operations. The discovery by Duke University researchers would allow oil and gas drillers to combine flowback waters from the fracking process with acid drainage from mining, or any other salty water. The solids that form, which include radioactive materials, are removed and dumped at a hazardous waste landfill, and then the now cleaner water is used to drill a new well, said Avner Vengosh, the Duke professor who oversaw the project, which included scientists from Dartmouth College and the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa.
ABC News 13th Jan 2014 read more »
David Cameron has struck out at opponents of fracking, suggesting their opposition is based on a “religious” and “irrational” hostility to fossil fuels. The prime minister, who this week set out incentives for communities that approve shale gas drilling, told MPs he hoped to see the large-scale extraction of “clean, low-cost gas” in the future. He told the Commons liaison committee that he would welcome rewards for local people either through direct payments or community trusts. Companies will have to pay £100,000 per site – even if they find no gas – as well as 1 per cent of any eventual turnover. Furthermore, councils will be able to keep all business rates from fracking sites, the government announced on Monday.
FT 14th Jan 2014 read more »
Guardian 14th Jan 2014 read more »
Telegraph 14th Jan 2014 read more »
Climate
The world’s richest countries have made some progress since the 1990s in limiting environmental damage. But they have not done enough to prevent catastrophic climate change, according to the OECD, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Climate News Network 14th Jan 2014 read more »
Christiana Figueres says $1 trillion a year is required for the transformation needed to stay within 2C of warming. The United Nations climate chief has urged global financial institutions to triple their investments in clean energy to reach the $1 trillion a year mark that would help avert a climate catastrophe. In an interview with the Guardian, the UN’s Christiana Figueres urged institutions to begin building the foundations of a clean energy economy by scaling up their investments. Global investment in clean technologies is running at about $300bn a year – but that is nowhere where it needs to be, Figueres said.
Guardian 14th Jan 2014 read more »
