Nuclear Skills
Britain’s bid to tackle a shortage of expertise in the field of nuclear energy will gather pace today when Manchester university announces a £5m endowment intended to generate millions in new funding. The grant, from the government-owned British Nuclear Fuels, will pay for new academic staff, who will be expected to multiply the income by attracting further funding from research-hungry business and government.
FT 15th Sept 2008 more >>
British Energy
EDF has made steady progress in negotiations with British Energy and is preparing to make another bid.
Independent 15th Sept 2008 (not on web)
Sunday Express 14th Sept 2008 (not on web)
Times 15th Sept 2008 more >>
Politics
MP Phil Willis and the party’s housing spokesman Lembit Opik were among the speakers at a Dods event on nuclear at the Lib Dem conference in Bournemouth. Opik, who began his own investigation into the issue when he was Lib Dem business spokesman, said the party needed “to take a more pragmatic approach and treat it in a logical rather than emotional way”. “Nuclear power is not wrong in principle,” he said.
ePolitix 14th Sept 2008 more >>
Heysham
Britain’s 625 megawatts Heysham 2-7 nuclear reactor has been offline since Sept. 12, a website operated by the National Grid showed early on Monday.
Reuters 15th Sept 2008 more >>
Rolls Royce
Letter from Zina Zelter: POWER Through Wind Not Weapons has been holding demonstrations at the Rolls-Royce Raynesway factory. Its members are opposed to work carried out at Raynesway and to plans for expansion that include making nuclear reactors and fuel to power Britain’s nuclear-weapons system.
Derbyshire Evening Telegraph 15th Sept 2008 more >>
Companies
A SWEDISH power giant has singled out Britain as its next big target market, stoking speculation that it could be readying a bid for one of the UK’s remaining independent energy groups. Industry sources said a bid for Scottish and Southern Electricity would fit with Vattenfall’s strategy of diversifying internationally and increasing its exposure to alternative power.
Times 14th Sept 2008 more >>
Submarines
Britain’s BAE Systems and Ministry of Defence have started a review of their Astute programme to build new nuclear submarines after a number of technical problems, a BAE spokeswoman said on Sunday.
Money AM 14th Sept 2008 more >>
Reuters 14th Sept 2008 more >>
Coal
Nobody pretends that coal is anything other than a pollutant; so the key to reviving it is a clean technology known as carbon capture and storage (CCS). This involves storing CO2 emissions from power generation in depleted North Sea oil and gas fields or converting them into another substance such as mineral carbonates. It is hoped this system can then be retrofitted to existing power stations, such as Kingsnorth. But this does not convince Greenpeace, which would presumably like us all to rely on windmills. Where is Britain in the race to harness this technology? There has been much talk but no action, though a competition has been launched to run a pilot scheme. The winning proposal is due to be announced next summer. The Government says this places the UK in “the vanguard”; yet the Swedes and Germans are ahead of the game, developing a technique that would both enable domestic coal to be burned cleanly, and be a great export to countries where coal is still the primary energy source and which need to curb their emissions if CO2 targets are to mean anything.
Telegraph 15th Sept 2008 more >>
A plan to liquefy carbon dioxide emissions and transport the waste gas for permanent burial in rocks beneath the North Sea has been drawn up by ScottishPower. The energy company is pitching its plans to the Government, hoping that it will win a competition to build a pilot power plant that will capture CO2 and store it safely. The utility, which is owned by Iberdrola, of Spain, hopes that the ambitious project will lay the ground for a vast new business opportunity if future European legislation to tackle climate change forces polluters to trap and store their carbon emissions.
Times 15th Sept 2008 more >>
