New Nukes
Energy minister Charles Hendry will today set out the government’s support for new nuclear power, in the face of opposition from the Conservatives’ coalition partners the Liberal Democrats. Hendry will tell the Nuclear Industry Forum that there is a role for new nuclear plants, provided they do not require public subsidies. The Conservative junior minister said conversations he has had with companies suggest they are willing to invest without being subsidised from the public purse. But the government will have a role in taking steps to remove unnecessary barriers to building new nuclear power stations. Government support is likely to include a strong floor price for carbon, which could be introduced in next week’s emergency Budget, pushing up the price of allowances for polluting and incentivising investment in low-carbon power such as nuclear.
New Civil Engineer 16th June 2010 more >>
EDf Energy has softened its claim that new-build nuclear would be supplying power to the UK grid by christmas 2017. EDF Energy chief executive Vincent de Rivaz had promised that consumers in the UK would be lighting their christmas lights using electricity from a new nuclear station in 2017, but speaking at a UK-French nuclear reception on Tuesday he gave early 2018 as the date that “the first of our four reactors will be up and running”. He signalled a delay in the company’s investment decision on the first nuclear project , saying EDF would take a final investment decision next year. Last year, Humprey Cadoux-Hudson, EDF Energy head of nuclear new-build, told Utility Week in an interview that he expected the final investment decision would be taken this summer.
Utility Week 15th June 2010 more >>
Supply Chain
MORE than 100 delegates from around the country visited Yorkshire for an event which highlighted opportunities that the UK’s new civil nuclear build programme could present to the manufacturing sector. The Advanced Manufacturing Forum (AMF), hosted in association with the Sheffield Region: Advanced Manufacturing and Materials project, was held at the AMP Technology Centre in Rotherham.
Business Desk 15th June 2010 more >>
Hutton
Former Energy Secretary John Hutton has landed a lucrative job in the nuclear industry weeks after standing down as an MP.
Mr Hutton, 55, is to join the board of U.S. firm Hyperion Power Generation Inc, which is hoping to make billions from the sale of mini nuclear reactors. The move comes less than two years after Mr Hutton was moved from his post as Energy Secretary, where he angered many Labour activists by adopting an outspoken stance in favour of nuclear power.
Daily Mail 16th June 2010 more >>
Low Level Waste
As expected, Augean have appealed against the decision by Northamptonshire County Council to reject its application to dump Low Level Waste in the King’s Cliffe landfill. The Secretary of State, Chris Huhne, has called in the appeal as an issue of ‘national significance’. This means that the Planning Inspector will report directly to him, and he (Chris Huhne) will decide. The appeal will be heard at a public inquiry, starting on 26th October, 10.00am, venue to be confirmed. If you wish to speak you must be there on the first morning.
Kings Cliffe Waste Watchers 15th June 2010 more >>
Companies
CH2M Hill, the global full-service consulting, design, construction, and operations firm, has appointed Richard Waite as Managing Director, Commercial Nuclear, Europe & Middle East. Waite, who will take up his new position in September, joins CH2M Hill from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority where he was Executive Director, Delivery. In his new role, Mr. Waite will lead CH2M Hill’s work in the commercial nuclear sector in the UK and drive forward pursuits in programme management of new nuclear build developments in Europe and the Middle East.
Nuclear Engineering International 14th June 2010 more >>
P yry has acquired 97.8% of Hungary’s largest privately owned power sector consulting engineering company as the consultancy moves to enhance its nuclear sector capabilities.
World Nuclear News 15th June 2010 more >>
An advanced form of nuclear reactor that could one day provide up to 100 years of carbon-free energy while effectively processing its own waste inched a step closer to reality yesterday, when a secretive US start-up working on the technology announced that it has raised an additional $35m (£23.7m) in funding.
Business Green 15th June 2010 more >>
Australia
Radiation Free Lakeland is supporting Australian unions who have banned members from working in the nuclear industry. Largely unreported in the British press, the Victorian branch of the ETU has given its full support to the Queensland and the Northern Territories branches’ decision to ban members from working in uranium mines, nuclear power plants or any part of the nuclear fuel cycle. Marianne Birkby, for RFL said that she had written to the Australian unions congratulating them on their stand against the “dangerous technology of nuclear power.”
Get Noticed Online 14th June 2010 more >>
Sweden
In the most “Woody Allen esque” protest I’ve seen in a while, 50 activists dressed as renewable energy sources (sun, wind, water) used a fire truck to get into one of the dodgiest nuclear plants in Sweden.
Nuclear Reaction 14th June 2010 more >>
France
Wine growers living in the shadow of a French nuclear reactor have been allowed to scrub the reactor’s name from their appellation after years of complaining that no-one wanted to drink their “radioactive” produce.
Telegraph 16th June 2010 more >>
French nuclear output availability fell at the start of the week, with almost 30pc of the fleet remaining off line today. At least three units were taken off line at the weekend for planned maintenance, repairs or inspections, while one was reconnected to the grid at the start of the week. Cruas’ 890MW unit 1 was out of service for refuelling, while at Gravelines, the 910MW unit 2 was reconnected in time for the centre’s equally sized unit 5 to be taken off line for annual maintenance. Saint Laurence’s 900MW unit 1 was disconnected from the grid for inspections. Overall availability remained slightly above the day-ahead forecast for today, at 45.4GW. French grid operator RTE expects nuclear capacity to decline this week, bottoming out at 44.9GW at the weekend before rising by almost 2GW at the start of the following week.
Argus Media 15th June 2010 more >>
Germany
The German Ministry of Finance has envisaged an additional 2.3 billion ($2.8 billion) per year ‘windfall tax’ on nuclear operators as part of the 2011 Federal Budget and its financial plan up to 2014.
World Nuclear News 15th June 2010 more >>
Jordan
Jordan’s King Abdullah II has accused Israel of making “underhand” efforts to prevent the Middle Eastern country from developing a peaceful nuclear energy programme. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, King Abdullah said Israel had sought to persuade countries such as France and South Korea not to sell Jordan the nuclear technology it needs to develop its own civilian nuclear power industry.
Independent 16th June 2010 more >>
Iran
The EU will increase the pressure on Iran on Thursday by unveiling more sanctions, including banning investment in the country’s key energy sector. The measures will also include blacklisting and freezing the assets of members of the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. A draft declaration on Iran, obtained by the Guardian and to be agreed by European government chiefs at a Brussels summit, states that “new restrictive measures have become inevitable” because of Tehran’s suspect nuclear programme and its refusal to negotiate over it.
Guardian 16th June 2010 more >>
Iran is designing a new nuclear reactor to make radio isotopes that will be “more powerful” than those from its existing Tehran research facility, atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi said on Wednesday.
Middle East Online 16th June 2010 more >>
Russia
Russia has launched a nuclear-powered attack submarine that took 17 years to build because of funding shortages following the Soviet collapse.
Reuters 15th June 2010 more >>
Japan
A draft plan for Japanese power supplies to 2030 sees nuclear power expand with at least 14 new reactors on top of today’s fleet of 55. Prepared by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Basic Energy Plan to 2030 sets out milestones for the energy mix. In 2020 the total proportion of non carbon emitting generation should be 50%, rising to 70% in 2030 compared to today’s 34%.
World Nuclear News 15th June 2010 more >>
Disarmament
Rebecca Johnson: The NPT Review provided a bridge between the partial non-proliferation approach of the NPT and the comprehensive abolition objectives of a nuclear weapons convention. It will no longer be possible for governments to dismiss calls for a comprehensive nuclear abolition treaty.
Open Democracy 15th June 2010 more >>
Zero Carbon Britain
The vision of Zero Carbon Britain in 2030 is set out in a report published today by the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT), and backed by organisations including four universities and the Met Office, and experts including Sir John Haughton, former co-chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In just two decades it claims the nation can eliminate greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 637m tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2007. Ninety percent of this would be achieved by eliminating the most wasteful uses of energy, increasing renewable electricity and heating, and transforming land use and farming. The remaining 10% or 67m tonnes would be “offset” by capturing the equivalent emissions from the atmosphere by growing willow, ash, pine, oak and other trees on land freed up by almost abolishing animal grazing. Despite setting more ambitious timetables than demanded of Britain, the pace and scale of transition is “entirely possible”, said Viki Johnson of the New Economics Foundation and one of the report’s authors. “The solutions exist, what has been missing to date is the political will to implement them.”
Guardian 16th June 2010 more >>
