Electricity Market
By the time any new nuclear power station could be built in the UK (2020 or later), the market for its electricity will be disappearing—because of explosive growth in photovoltaics (PV) and because consumers will be able to buy electricity from anywhere in Europe. This is one of the conclusions of a report by the Energy Fair group. The falling cost of PV will lead to a booming market for solar panels, generating large amounts of power during the day when the demand for electricity is greatest. And there will be stiff competition from wind power and other renewables that work at night. The likely completion of the European internal market for electricity and strengthening of the European transmission grid will enable consumers, including large commercial and industrial consumers, to buy their electricity from anywhere in Europe.
Energy Fair 13th Nov 2012 more >>
Click Green 13th Nov 2012 more >>
Yahoo 13th Nov 2012 more >>
PV Magazine 14th Nov 2012 more >>
GDA
The Office for Nuclear Regulation and the Environment Agency have published their latest Generic Design Assessment (GDA) quarterly progress report. It contains detail about the closure of six further GDA issues on the EDF and AREVA UK EPR reactor design.It also provides more detail on the wider design assessment process. Since this report was written, ONR and the Environment Agency have closed nine more issues. There are now a total of 18 GDA issues closed, leaving 13 remaining.
HSE 14th Nov 2012 more >>
Quarterly Progress Report 1st July to 30th September.
HSE 14th Nov 2012 more >>
EDF Energy and Areva said the update from regulators means that the UK EPR remains on schedule to be approved in time for its final investment decision later this year. The latest update from the regulators for the period to 30 September states that “closure of all issues should be achievable before the end of the year”. Since the report was concluded, another nine issues have been resolved. However the energy giants still have several hurdles to overcome before it can start building the reactor. These include gaining a site license from the ONR, planning approval from the planning inspectorate and then the secretary of state, not expected until around March 2013, as well as making its final investment decision, based on ongoing talks over contracts for difference with DECC.
Construction News 15th Nov 2012 more >>
Fox Business 14th Nov 2012 more >>
Hinkley
Stop Hinkley supporters, dressed up in yellow hazard signs and distributed leaflets to passers-by ahead of Friday night’s carnival. Work has already begun on building the nuclear reactor, although the planning application has yet to be approved by the Government. Group member Peter Waldschmidt said building the plant was a ‘horrendous risk’ to Weston and large parts of Somerset in light of nuclear accidents across the world in recent decades.
Weston Mercury 14th Nov 2012 more >>
Wylfa
RESIDENTS gathered to voice their concerns about proposals to build overhead cables across the Menai Strait. Around 100 people attended the meeting at the Plas Menai Centre near Caernarfon yesterday (Tuesday, November 13) to discuss the National Grid’s proposals to connect the proposed Wylfa B plant to a substation in Pentir.
North Wales Chronicle 14th Nov 2012 more >>
EDF
Electricite de France SA, the world’s biggest operator of nuclear reactors, sank to the lowest level in more than five months in Paris after saying earnings aren’t expected to grow next year as it previously anticipated. The company fell as much as 2.8 percent to 14.80 euros, the lowest intraday price since June. EDF said yesterday after the market close it was cutting an annual target for French atomic-energy output for 2012 and profit may be little changed in 2013.
Bloomberg 14th Nov 2012 more >>
Companies
Atkins has teamed up with Merrick & Company and Nuclear Safety Associates (NSA) to form a strategic alliance to serve North America’s nuclear market.
Construction Index 14th Nov 2012 more >>
Japan
Radioactive tea leaves 8 times above gov’t safety limit found over 1,000 km from Fukushima.
Energy News 14th Nov 2012 more >>
Iran
Iran is believed to have increased the number of centrifuges in an underground nuclear plant by nearly a third in three months, diplomats say, underlining the tough task facing major powers pressing Tehran to curb its atomic activity. But despite a major expansion of its capacity to refine uranium at the Fordow facility, buried deep inside a mountain, Iran does not appear to have switched on its newly installed enrichment centrifuges yet, although this could happen soon, they said.
Reuters 14th Nov 2012 more >>
India
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is set to complete an in-depth operational safety review of two units of Rajasthan Atomic Power Stations in India today. The operational safety performance review of units 3 and 4, each having a capacity of 220MW, is being carried out by a 12-member team from the IAEA.
Energy Business Review 14th Nov 2012 more >>
Germany
With Berlin fostering renewable energy to fill the supply gap, a surge in solar and wind-produced electricity has pushed wholesale electricity prices down. The operating margins of conventional fossil-fuel plants have fallen as a result, with gas-fired plants suffering in particular as their feedstock is pricier than coal.
FT 14th Nov 2012 more >>
Test Vets
Between Heaven & Hell by Alan Rimmer: “True story claiming a British government cover-up of a radiological disaster on Christmas Island in 1958 which contaminated thousands of men and caused a genetic scourge on their offspring…”
Amazon 14th Nov 2012 more >>
Renewables
The UK’s wind energy industry has called on Prime Minister David Cameron to urgently “get a grip” on energy policy as two Conservative MPs again sought to undermine investment in renewable energy projects. In addition to revelations this morning that Conservative MP Chris Heaton-Harris helped journalist James Delingpole campaign against his own party in the Corby by-election in an attempt to drive anti-wind farm policies up the political agenda, Energy Minister John Hayes yesterday told Channel 4 News he did not want to see any more proposed wind farms enter the planning system.
Business Green 14th Nov 2012 more >>
Renewable UK 14th Nov 2012 more >>
The coalition’s green policy is in disarray after an undercover film revealed George Osborne’s father-in-law claiming that the chancellor is behind a Tory campaign to oppose commitments against climate change. Lord Howell of Guildford, a former minister in Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet who stood down as a foreign office minister in September, said the chancellor was “putting pressure” on David Cameron over “absurd” climate change targets. The comments by Howell were disclosed in Greenpeace undercover filming as coalition tensions on climate change were exposed further when the Tory energy minister at the heart of the row over windfarms and green policy pulled out of a scheduled joint appearance before a select committee of MPs with his Liberal Democrat boss. A third Greenpeace film revealed that former Tory minister Peter Lilley claimed Hayes had been brought into Davey’s department to “duff [him] up”. Lilley, who was famously described by John Major as one of three “bastards” in his cabinet, said that the chancellor played a decisive role in ensuring sceptics were promoted in the reshuffle because he regrets the government’s climate change commitments.
Guardian 14th Nov 2012 more >>
Independent 15th Nov 2012 more >>
Energy policy is apparently in confusion after a Greenpeace “sting” on senior Conservative politicians. In secret filming, former cabinet minister Peter Lilley seemed to say he thought the Chancellor George Osborne had deliberately manoeuvred climate sceptic ministers into key positions.
BBC 14th Nov 2012 more >>
Peter Lilly Video.
Independent 14th Nov 2012 more >>
Chris Heaton-Harris, who is managing the Conservative campaign for the Corby poll, was forced to apologise after a Greenpeace activist recorded him revealing that he suggested his friend James Delingpole should stand on an anti-wind farm ticket.
Telegraph 15th Nov 2012 more >>
BBC 14th Nov 2012 more >>
Guardian 14th Nov 2012 more >>
David Cameron’s failure to discipline minister John Hayes or MP Chris Heaton-Harris for opposing government policy on wind turbines means the Conservative green dream is over. That is not just be a betrayal of a promise, it is a betrayal of the national interest that lies in finding the lowest risk, lowest cost route to a clean energy system fit for the 21st century.
Guardian 14th Nov 2012 more >>
RenewableUK, the wind and marine energy association, welcomes the news today that three new leasing agreements have been signed for tidal power across the UK. The three projects are spread across the UK with Minesto’s trial device at Stangford Lough in Northern Ireland, Scotrenewables Tidal Power array at Lashy Sound in the Orkney Islands joining the Solent Energy Centre on the Isle of Wight.
Renewable UK 14th Nov 2012 more >>
