EMR
It was good news for offshore wind as EDF, in an article in the Daily Telegraph, ‘suggested that costs for Hinkley Point could be higher’ than £100 per MWh. This was in an article in which the CEO of EDF said that they would be asking for less than £140 per MWh for the power plant at Hinkley C. The reason that this is good news for offshore wind is that whatever the Government did decide to offer as a strike price for nuclear power plants would also have to be offered to offshore wind, if the policy was to stand up politically. The Government has set an aspiration of bringing offshore wind down to a cost of £100 per MWh, so if Hinkley C were to get the over £100 MWh that EDF wants, then offshore wind would have to get at least the same – and remember that EDF is likely to wants a longer contract length than offshore wind developers are likely to get. So £100 per MWh for a 15 year contract for offshore wind is really worth a fair bit less than £100 per MWh for a nuclear contract of 25-30 years. And of course onshore wind is likely to get around £80 per MWh for 15 years, or less if the anti-windfarm Tories get their way. Can the Government really offer nuclear power more than £100 per MWh? I doubt it…..it would certainly be highly interesting (for offshore wind in particular) if they did! Of course if I was EDF I might also, for public relations reasons, deny that the company could ask for more than £140 per MWh, because the Government cannot really offer them that much anyway.
David Toke’s Blog 13th Aug 2012 more >>
EDF
EDF Energy has brought in agency support to strengthen its case for building a controversial third nuclear reactor at Sizewell. It has app¬ointed Pagefield to handle strategic comms around the proposed Sizewell C nuclear power reactor in Suffolk. The appointment comes after a six-way pitch. Pagefield is expected to play a key role in the development of EDFs narrative around the value of a new nuclear power reactor, liaising with the public, media and stakeholders such as the Environment Agency and local authorities
PR Week 15th Aug 2012 more >>
Hinkley
FOUR hearings will be held in Bridgwater next week (August 21 to 24) to discuss issues surrounding the proposed new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point. The Issue Specific Hearings will be held at Bridgwater and Albion RFC, just off Bath Road, at 10am.
This is the West Country 15th Aug 2012 more >>
Government advisory body the Environment Agency issued draft environmental permits for the discharge and disposal of radioactive substances, the discharge of cooling water into the Bristol Channel and the operation of standby power systems. The permits, which must be approved before promoter EDF Energy can operate the Hinkley plant, are now subject to a three-month local consultation. Meanwhile, nuclear power regulator the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has indicated that all the outstanding safety, security and environmental issues over the reactor design proposed by EDF may be resolved by the end of this year. Successful completion of the ONRs generic design acceptance process would pave the way for the grant of a nuclear licence for Hinkley Point C. The Planning Inspectorates six-month examination of EDFs development consent application for the Hinkley Point C station is due to finish next month. The examination team will then have three months to submit their recommendation to energy and climate change secretary Ed Davey.
Planning Resource 15th Aug 2012 more >>
Radwaste
A Letter to Allerdale Councillors and Concerned Members of the Public from Professor David Smythe: The MRWS(Managing Radioactive Waste Safely) so-called consultation process has now homed in on two proposed areas for the repository, based on geological criteria. These are: The Mercia Mudstone Group (MMG) of northern Allerdale and The Eskdale/Ennerdale granite in Copeland. I have demonstrated to MRWS that both these rock groups are unsuitable, but my arguments have not been considered properly (this may lead to Judicial Review, but that is not of concern for the present); however, I am concerned here with just the Allerdale rocks. You will note in passing that IF northern Allerdale were to be chosen, the advantage of treating the waste on-site at Sellafield has gone, because all the waste would have to be shifted 40-50 km northwards by road or rail, before it goes underground.
Radiation Free Lakeland 15th Aug 2012 more >>
Chernobyl
Two photographers from Happisburgh are embarking on a trip to capture the devastation of a 1986 nuclear accident. Lucy Shires, 30, and partner David Baker, 33, have a passion for documenting abandoned architecture and after two months of planning will be visiting the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant from Thursday next week (August 23).
Eastern Daily Press 15th Aug 2012 more >>
Japan
Its been nearly 18 months since the disastrous nuclear meltdown at Fukushima. There have been many reports on the huge amounts of radioactivity escaping into the air and water, unusually high levels in air, water, and soil along with atypically high levels of toxic chemicals in food that actually passed government inspection and wasnt banned like some other food. Conspicuously absent are reports on effects of radiation exposure on the health of the Japanese people. Have any health officials publicly announced post-March 2011 numbers on fetal deaths, infant deaths, premature births, birth defects, cancer, or other health conditions? The answer so far is an emphatic no. The prolonged silence doesnt mean data doesnt exist. Japanese health officials have been busy with their usual duties of collecting and posting statistics on the Internet for public inspection. Its just that they arent calling the publics attention to these numbers. Thus, it is the public who must find the information and figure out what it means. After locating web sites, translating from Japanese, adding data for each of 12 months, and making some calculations, mortality trends in Japan after Fukushima are emerging.
Counterpunch 15th Aug 2012 more >>
Pakistan
Islamic militants killed a Pakistan Army soldier in a daring raid on one of the countrys most heavily protected nuclear air bases. Six militants were killed in a fierce firefight with security forces inside the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex at Kamra, 40 miles from the capital Islamabad. The gun fight early this morning lasted several hours and has raised new questions over the security of the countrys nuclear weapons arsenal.
Telegraph 16th Aug 2012 more >>
Iran
Raids across Germany have seen four men arrested in an operation aimed at thwarting illegal exports of nuclear technology to Iran. Some 90 customs officers backed up by armed police raided homes and offices in Hamburg, Oldenburg and Weimar. In custody by Wednesday afternoon were three Germans and a man with dual Iranian-German citizenship.
Daily Mail 15th Aug 2012 more >>
IB Times 15th Aug 2012 more >>
Guardian 15th Aug 2012 more >>
The families of nuclear scientists from Iran who were assassinated in 2010 have filed a lawsuit against Israel, the U.S. and Britain, saying the countries are responsible for the deaths of their loved ones.
Daily Mail 15th Aug 2012 more >>
Guardian 15th Aug 2012 more >>
Belfast Telegraph 16th Aug 2012 more >>
UAE
The United Arab Emirates has awarded $3bn worth of contracts to provide, convert and enrich uranium, as the Gulf state pushes ahead with its US-backed plans to develop the Arab worlds first civilian nuclear program. Abu Dhabi, the oil-rich capital, picked six companies to undertake the fuel supply work including US group ConverDyn, Canadas Uranium One, the UKs Urenco and Rio Tinto Russias Tenex and the French energy company Areva, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation said on Wednesday.
FT 15th Aug 2012 more >>
World Nuclear News 15th Aug 2012 more >>
Middle East Online 15th Aug 2012 more >>
Nuclear Engineering International 15th Aug 2012 more >>
