Nuclear Subsidy
Reuters has reported that a leaked version of guidelines on environmental and energy aid for 2014-2020, expected to be published at the end of September, showed that the Commission was “leaning towards allowing nuclear financing”. Energy law expert Chris White of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said that an announcement “may potentially bring developers and investors a little more confidence” that projects could benefit from state incentives, such as those envisaged by the UK Government’s proposed Electricity Market Reform (EMR) package.
Out Law 16th Aug 2013 read more »
Energy Supply
While coal and gas plants are currently getting the headlines, nuclear power plant closures will provide the UK’s largest capacity loss in the next decade. Old nuclear plants generally have operational lifespans of about 30 years. The UK has a whole fleet of nuclear plants built in the 1970s and 80s which are due to come offline. Oldbury’s 0.4 gigawatt reactor was decommissioned in 2012, the seventh to come offline since 2000. Eight more reactors are due to close by 2025, dotted around the country (the light orange dots), with a combined capacity of around 14 gigawatts. This isn’t just a problem for power generation – nuclear power plants are also expensive to close. Radioactive materials have to be dealt with, and sites have to be decontaminated, taking up to 60 years. The government agency tasked with overseeing nuclear power plant closures, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, has a £3.2 billion budget for 2013-2014 – about half of DECC’s total budget.
Carbon Brief 16th Aug 2013 read more »
Tilbury power station mothballed after investment burns out. RWE Npower-owned Tilbury, claimed to be biggest biomass plant in the world providing 10% of Britain’s renewable power.
Guardian 16th Aug 2013 read more »
People who live near fracking wells, wind turbines and solar farms should receive much more money for putting up with them in Britain’s national interest, a senior Tory MP has said. Tim Yeo, the chairman of the energy select committee, said communities should get “significant cash” in return for any problems as new energy installations change the UK’s landscape.
Guardian 16th Aug 2013 read more »
Energy Consumption
Average use in England and Wales falls to 19.7 mWh as people go without heating in face of stagnant incomes and price rises. Households in England and Wales cut their energy use by a quarter between 2005 and 2011 as prices soared, government figures show. The sharp fall was probably caused by a mix of efficiency measures and environmental awareness, as well as steep price rises, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. Households have faced steep price increases in recent years as wages have remained frozen, squeezing budgets. Average bills have risen by 28% in the last three years, industry regulator Ofgem said. The campaigning group Fuel Poverty Action said: “These figures suggest that home insulation works to cut bills and cut emissions but only if you can afford it. That’s why it’s such a disaster that the government has axed public funding for insulation in favour of a Green Deal which the poor can’t afford and the rich can’t be bothered with.”
Guardian 16th Aug 2013 read more »
Families are using nearly a quarter less energy than in 2005 as household efficiency measures and rising costs have taken effect. The average home usage in England and Wales fell by 24.7% over the period to 2011, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Guardian 16th Aug 2013 read more »
Last winter almost seven in 10 households went without heating at some point to keep their energy costs down, while more than a third of people said cutting back on energy usage was affecting their quality of life or health. Almost nine in 10 people now think about the cost before switching on their heating, research from uSwitch found.
Independent 17th Aug 2013 read more »
Times 17th Aug 2013 read more »
BBC 16th Aug 2013 read more »
FT 16th Aug 2013 read more »
Torness
Last Wednesday, August 7, saw Torness clocking up 200Terra Watt hours of low carbon electricity generated since Scotland’s youngest nuclear power station connected to the grid in 1988 – a momentous milestone.
Berwickshire News 16th Aug 2013 read more »
Radwaste
Senator Hoon-Yung Hopgood (D–Taylor) released a video today informing the public about the proposed construction of a Canadian underground radioactive nuclear waste repository about ½ mile off the shore of Lake Huron. In the video, Hopgood urges residents to sign the petition and write their federal legislators on the issue in order to protect the Great Lakes from potential radioactive contamination.
Beyond Nuclear 13th Aug 2013 read more »
Rosatom
Russia’s Rosatom remains eager to enter the market to replace the UK’s rapidly aging fleet of nuclear reactors. In the meantime, though, an executive has said the company will be watching closely as the government and EDF try to reach a power price agreement for reactors proposed at Hinkley Point. On Wednesday, the Moscow Times quoted Rosatom Deputy Chief Executive Kirill Komarov as saying his company would make a decision soon on whether to pursue UK design certification for Russian reactor technology. But, he said, the company is first waiting to see if a power price agreement for Hinkley Point comes through.
Nuclear Street 15th Aug 2013 read more »
Terror
More than 10 years after the 9/11 hijackers considered flying a fully loaded passenger jet into a Manhattan area nuclear reactor, U.S. commercial and research nuclear facilities remain inadequately protected against two credible terrorist threats – the theft of bomb-grade material to make a nuclear weapon, and sabotage attacks intended to cause a reactor meltdown – according to a new report prepared under a contract for the Pentagon by the Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Project (NPPP) at the University of Texas at Austin’s LBJ School of Public Affairs, and released today.
University of Texas 15th Aug 2013 read more »
Utilities
Four months after being fined a record £10.5m by the industry watchdog for mis-selling, SSE has positioned itself as the consumer’s friend. No more cold calls will be made by its telesales teams. They used to make 3m a year in a quest for business. Now, they will ring only if you’re an existing customer or have indicated you would like to be one.
Telegraph 16th Aug 2013 read more »
Times 17th Aug 2013 read more »
Politics
Nick Clegg is set to endorse shale gas extraction at his party’s conference next month in a move that will set the Liberal Democrat leader on a collision course with some of his MPs. Mr Clegg’s team argues in a paper ahead of the Glasgow event that there is “value” in promoting domestic production of gas rather than imports, despite unease over fracking among many Lib Dem members. The document takes a more cautious tone than David Cameron’s aggressive promotion of shale gas exploration, playing down the prospect of a US-style revolution in domestic energy supplies. But even muted Lib Dem support is likely to cause tension within the party.
FT 16th Aug 2013 read more »
Japan
Fukushima Crisis Update 13th to 15th Aug. TEPCO and the United States Department of Energy (DOE) are reportedly discussing the feasibility of entombing the Fukushima reactors in concrete for a period of 75 years, which would allow the company to focus on the massive cleanup which will be required near the plant. Efforts to repopulate the area have been slow as a result of stalled decontamination efforts.
Greenpeace 16th Aug 2013 read more »
Tokyo asks Nagasaki bomb maker for help in fighting Fukushima leaks. Officials fighting toxic leaks at Fukushima turn to US firm that produced plutonium dropped on Nagasaki for advice on ‘cocooning’ safety process.
South China Morning Post 17th Aug 2013 read more »
South Africa
THE director general of South Africa’s Department of Energy, Nelisiwe Magubane, has told a conference that nuclear energy “is becoming more of a necessity than an option.” Magubane was speaking at a Nuclear Industry Association of South Africa conference, according to various media reports. South Africa’s electricity supply, like that of many other countries, is facing the twin pressures of climate change commitments and the retirement of older coal-fired power stations.
Chemical Engineer 16th Aug 2013 read more »
Fossil Fuels
The Church of England has entered the fracking debate, arguing that “blanket opposition” to the controversial method of extracting gas risks ignoring the needs of those in fuel poverty and undermining efforts to find less polluting fuels. The church’s intervention came as the head of the UK’s leading fracking company, Cuadrilla, appealed for calm from protesters as hundreds more activists prepared to descend this weekend on the small village of Balcombe in West Sussex, which has become the centre of a row over the process. In a statement the church warned that there was “a danger of viewing fracking through a single-issue lens and ignoring the wider considerations”.
Guardian 16th Aug 2013 read more »
The RSPB has lodged objections to proposals to drill for shale gas and oil in Lancashire and West Sussex. It says regulations are inadequate to ensure water, landscapes and wildlife are protected.
BBC 17th Aug 2013 read more »
Recent studies from the US have again raised questions about the impact of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, on water supplies. These show that chemicals, including methane and arsenic, have been found more often in water wells near natural gas extraction sites. Despite this, the actual causes of the contamination are not clear.
BBC 16th Aug 2013 read more »
