Decommissioning
Studsvik has signed a GBP8m contract with LLW Repository (LLWR) to provide technical services at the Magnox nuclear power station at Gloucestershire, England. Under the contract, Studsvik has agreed to transport and treat five redundant heat exchangers from the decommissioned Magnox power station. The heat exchangers each weigh over 300 tonnes and were used as an integral part of the electricity production process of the nuclear power station before it ceased operation in 1989. There are 15 heat exchangers remaining from the original plant. LLWR is acting on behalf of Magnox for the procurement and contract management of the project, which is scheduled to take place in next year. Studsvik will transport each heat exchanger by road and sea to its processing facility at the Studsvik site, close to Nykoping in Sweden. Magnox Berkeley site director Steve McNally said the removal of these boilers will be another important step in preparing the site for entry into care and maintenance.
Energy Business Review 14th Nov 2011 more >>
Nuclear operator Magnox has confirmed the full list of contractors who have won a place on its £304m framework for de-planting, demolition and bulk asbestos removal across 10 reactor sites in the UK.
Construction Enquirer 14th Nov 2011 more >>
Construction News 14th Nov 2011 more >>
New Nukes
EDF, together with Britains Centrica, plans to build the first new reactor in Somerset, which had been due to become operational in 2018. That date, however, appears to have slipped in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in Japan and EDF has yet to confirm a new date. Concerns have also been raised about the viability of a second consortium, Horizon, and made up of Germanys Eon and RWE, given the companies strained finances. The Horizon consortium is a crucial component of Britains ambition to build a new generation of nuclear power stations. Of the new reactors planned in the UK, the consortium plans to install between four and six.
FT 14th Nov 2011 more >>
The Nuclear New Build Forum takes place this Thursday to provide a strategic update on the latest developments and lessons learnt in new nuclear. According to the organizers the one day event will provide a market update for generators, regulators, reactor vendors, engineers and nuclear specialists. UK consortia comprising EDF Energy, Horizon Nuclear Power, and NuGeneration will provide insight into their plans and continued commitment to new nuclear; whilst regulators will discuss developments in safety standards, the lessons learnt from Fukushima and the progress of the HSEs Generic Design Assessment (GDA). Vendors will outline supply chain and project management challenges involved in new build. Finally, with the input of industry commentators, the conference will examine the outlook for nuclear financing, and the economics of nuclear following changes such as Electricity Market Reform.
Engineer 14th Nov 2011 more >>
A new study commissioned by energy regulator Ofgem suggests that changes to transmission charging could remove the economic case for building new nuclear in England in favour of renewable energy projects in the north of Scotland. Nuclear projects would not be cost effective and would not get built under a scenario in which high transmission charges in Scotland and subsidies in the south of England were both removed, according to a draft report. Ofgem asked energy consultant Redpoint to deliver the study under its Project TransmiT review of charges, which aims to determine whether the charging regime is compatible with a move to low carbon energy.
New Civil Engineer 14th Nov 2011 more >>
Heysham
EDF Energy, Britan’s biggest nuclear power producer, restarted its 450-megawatt Heysham 1-2 nuclear plant on Monday, output data from National Grid showed.
London South East 14th Nov 2011 more >>
Torness
EDF Energy stopped its 640 megawatt Torness 2 power plant on Monday.
Reuters 14th Nov 2011 more >>
Wylfa
One of Europe’s oldest nuclear reactors could operate for nearly two years beyond its current closure date.
Reuters 14th Nov 2011 more >>
NUCLEAR cash could fund new schools on Anglesey after the Welsh Government slashed capital funding for the projects. In a bid to meet the shortfall Anglesey council is turning to the private sector with discussions already underway with the nuclear industry as plans move ahead for a Wylfa B, and legacy cash is also available as the current Wylfa site enters its last years.
Daily Post 14th Nov 2011 more >>
Energy Costs
Families suffered their fourth consecutive monthly squeeze in living standards in October, as soaring gas and electricity prices pushed up household costs.
Telegraph 15th Nov 2011 more >>
EDF
State-owned EDF, the largest power company in Europe, has been convicted in a French court on charges of spying on the environmental watchdog Greenpeace. The company was fined EUR1.5 million and two of its executives given gaol sentences.
Nuclear Engineering International 14th Nov 2011 more >>
Judging by Henri Proglios sudden burst of public lobbying in defence of nuclear power over the past week, the chief executive of EDF is a worried man. As an ally of Nicolas Sarkozy, Frances president, and one of the most powerful figures in French business, Mr Proglio is used to getting his own way. But the prospect of a socialist victory in next springs presidential elections has left him rattled. François Hollande, the socialist candidate with a hefty poll lead over Mr Sarkozy, is promising to cut Frances reliance on nuclear energy for its electricity from about 75 per cent to just half by 2025. And for a company that still makes two-thirds of operating profit domestically, mostly from its 58 atomic reactors, this has profound implications.
FT 14th Nov 2011 more >>
Sweden
The fire in reactor 2 at nuclear power plant Ringhals, south of Gothenburg, will cost the power plant roughly 1.8 billion kronor ($267 million) in lost profits, reports TV channel SVT. The fire broke out when performing a pressure test of the reactor’s containment on May 10. Someone forgot to remove a wet vacuum cleaner from the premises, which then caught on fire. “Those items aren’t supposed to be left in the containment, when testing,” said energy company Vattenfall’s nuclear power head Peter Gango to SVT. “It was a human error, and those shouldn’t occur in our power plants.”
The Local 13th Nov 2011 more >>
Japan
Journalists have been allowed inside the crippled Fukushima plant for the first time since the March 11th earthquake and tsunami caused the meltdown of three of its six reactors/ David McNeill writes from Tokyo: Japans government has banned reporters and civilians from the Fukushima complex, where more than 3,000 workers battle day and night to bring it under control, and the irradiated 20km (12.4-mile) zone that surrounds it. The weekend tour was an attempt to prove to the world that the plan to achieve cold shutdown of its nuclear fuel is on schedule for the end of this year.
Irish Times 15th Nov 2011 more >>
Photos from the week-end visit to Fukushima.
Cryptome 14th Nov 2011 more >>
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) has begun installation of radioactive waste storage facility equipment at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station in Japan. The move will deliver a facility to temporally store radioactive waste (sludge) generated in the processing of radiation-tainted water.
Energy Business Review 15th Nov 2011 more >>
Iran
A report released last week by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Irans alleged research into nuclear weapons assembles old intelligence into the sharpest picture yet of the weapon that Iran hopes to develop.
Nature 14th Nov 2011 more >>
Reacting to the IAEA report, Mark Fitzpatrick, analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, says he is shortening by (only) a couple of months his assessment that Iran needs more than two years to produce a nuclear weapon. But he says: It would make no sense for Iran to risk massive retaliation to produce just one nuclear weapon. To produce the handful that would be needed for real nuclear deterrence would require several years work in a clandestine facility. Politics is driving the new burst of anxiety, particularly in Israel which considers a nuclear-armed Iran as an existential threat. Israel is ringing the alarm bells because the worlds attention has been diverted by the series of Arab revolutions and the economic crisis in Europe, providing Iran with more breathing space as it pursues its nuclear ambitions and ignoring international warnings that it should halt its nuclear activities.
FT 14th Nov 2011 more >>
European Union foreign ministers threatened to increase pressure on Iran Monday over its controversial nuclear programme but stood divided on wielding the threat of military action.
EU Business 14th Nov 2011 more >>
Germany
German utility Eon has filed a complaint with the constitutional court against the government’s move to change the nuclear power phase-out law, according to German media reports. Dusseldorf-based Eon had reiterated its intention to sue the government over the immediate shutdown of two of its reactors and an accelerated phase-out of its remaining nuclear fleet in last week’s third-quarter financial results presentation. The utility will sue over compensation, estimating the cost of the nuclear exit to be 1bn-10bn, according to the reports.
Argus Media 14th Nov 2011 more >>
Depleted Uranium
The armed forces minister has been forced to apologise over misleading statements he made regarding the legality and dangers of depleted uranium weapons. Nick Harvey admitted that he had inadvertently misled MPs about a Ministry of Defence review that he said had concluded the weapons were permissible on humanitarian and environmental grounds under the Geneva conventions. It subsequently emerged that the review had never happened, and Harvey has apologised for the error, which he said had been made “in good faith”. He has ordered that a review into the weapons’ legality be carried out by civil servants. The department is facing calls for the weapons to be suspended until it is completed. The revelations come as a cross-party campaign is launched to pile pressure on the MoD to phase out the use of depleted uranium (DU). The tank shells that depend on it have to be renewed in 2013.
Guardian 14th Nov 2011 more >>
The two letters from the armed forces minister, NIck Harvey admitting to the gaffe are available to download at the end of the story on this website.
Rob Edwards.com 14th Nov 2011 more >>
Submarines
An all-electric tube bender from Unison has been ordered by BAE Systems Submarine Solutions for use in the construction of the UKs Astute-class nuclear-powered submarines.
Engineer 14th Nov 2011 more >>
Nuclear Defence Shield
Russia has asked for Britain’s help in resolving the impasse in talks over the proposed European nuclear defence shield with a warning that retaliatory “military steps” will be taken if the US and Nato go ahead with the programme without the Kremlin’s consent. Moscow’s disquiet over what it considers intransigence by Washington was conveyed by Dmitri Rogozin, the ambassador to Nato, during a visit to London last Friday.
Independent 15th Nov 2011 more >>
Test Veterans
HUNDREDS of ex-servicemen who say they were made ill as a result of being exposed to radiation during British nuclear weapons tests in the 1950s have asked the UKs highest court to allow them to launch damages claims against the Ministry of Defence.
Scotsman 15th Nov 2011 more >>
Central Tonight 14th Nov 2011 more >>
West Country Tonight 14th Nov 2011 more >>
Express 14th Nov 2011 more >>
Coal
George Osborne is putting 6,000 coal mining jobs at risk, despite new technology potentially transforming the fuel into a clean source of energy, a new paper by a right-wing thinktank says. The report, called The Atomic Clock, due to be published by the Centre for Policy Studies next month, examines the impact of Osborne’s plans to increase the cost of burning fossil fuels with the introduction of a carbon floor price. It says the proposals will make the remnants of the British coal industry uneconomic and force the energy industry to import foreign coal even if efforts to develop carbon capture and storage systems prove successful.
Guardian 14th Nov 2011 more >>
Climate
The lesson the world is learning the hard way from the financial crisis is that there is only one boat and we are all in it. To stay afloat, we need rules tough enough to stop systemic risks becoming systemic collapses. This lesson is as true for the environment as it is for the economy. A key battle in the campaign to build an effective system of global rules will shortly take place in Durban, where the UN climate negotiations reopen at the end of this month. The International Energy Agency has set the scene, with the timely warning in its new World Energy Outlook that we are way off track to avoid dangerous climate change, and that the window for effective action is closing fast. It is fashionable to argue that a new climate treaty, based on the Kyoto architecture of legally binding carbon caps, is dead. We should, on this view, give Kyoto a decent burial and switch to plan B. This turns out to be a looser arrangement in which governments make voluntary pledges to each other. Its advocates often call themselves “realists”. But there really is no plan B for the climate.
Guardian 14h Nov 2011 more >>
