Hinkley
The National Audit Office has begun an investigation into the controversial subsidy regime for the planned new Hinkley Point C nuclear plant in Somerset, a week after Brussels approved taxpayer support for the project. The financial watchdog, which scrutinises public spending on behalf of parliament, said it would be checking whether the guaranteed prices of £92 a megawatt hour – double the current cost of electricity – represented “value for money”. The NAO move, which follows pressure from a House of Commons committee, puts pressure on the government but has pleased green groups which believe nuclear is getting preferential treatment over windfarms.
Guardian 16th Oct 2014 read more »
The National Audit Office has been quietly investigating the subsidy deal for the proposed Hinkley Point nuclear plant for the past year, it emerged on Thursday. John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace UK, said: “Every aspect of the Hinkley deal cries out for a thorough inquiry by the government’s auditors. The stitch-up concocted in Brussels will see two generations of UK consumers locked into paying billions of pounds to a mainly state-owned corporation in France in order to bankroll an outdated and risky source of energy.”
Telegraph 16th Oct 2014 read more »
The UK’s Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) has called for a full inquiry into the government’s deal with EDF over the funding of its planned Hinkley Point C new nuclear development. In a letter to the National Audit Office, EAC chair Joan Walley said that the “process and outcome” of the deal, as well as whether it represents “value for money”, should be investigated by the UK regulator now that it has been approved by the European Commission (EC).
Utility week 16th Oct 2014 read more »
A NEW office building in Weston-super-Mare is to go ahead following the announcement that a new nuclear power station in Somerset has been approved. The decision to build £24.5 billion Hinkley Point C down the M5 near Bridgwater is expected to have knock-on benefits reaching up to Bristol and beyond. The first of those sees the new landmark Enterprise House office building at Weston Gateway Business Park, which is going ahead in a bid to cater for companies looking for office space as a result of the nuclear plant.
Bristol Post 15th Oct 2014 read more »
WHEN nuclear power station Hinkley Point C was given the green light by the European Commission last week, it certainly provoked a range of reactions. The prospect of a legal challenge, concern over soaring costs and fierce opposition from environmental groups mean the project is undoubtedly controversial. But it is important not to forget that we’re talking about Europe’s largest infrastructure project and the first nuclear power station to be built in Britain for a generation. And it’s going to be on our doorstep at Hinkley in Somerset. The knock-on economic impact on the region will be huge.
Bristol Post 15th Oct 2014 read more »
The first nuclear power station for a generation which will be built in Somerset could create hundreds of jobs for Frome people. The decision to build Hinckley Point C, costing about £16 billion, was made by the European Commission this month and will create 25,000 jobs over the ten years. A Frome construction training firm said this is great news for the town and believes hundreds of people can benefit from the decision over the next ten years.
Somerset Standard 16th Oct 2014 read more »
Wylfa
Together with changes to the benefits system, the housing situation on Anglesey and the pending influx of workers for Wylfa Newydd, increases in tenancy failure and homelessness will become a very real possibility. With the Wylfa Newydd development will come the massive need for housing and B&B accommodation, which will price local people out of the running.
Daily Post 15th Oct 2014 read more »
Sizewell
A meeting is being organised in an east Suffolk village as a “wake up call” to warn people living there about the perceived problems of using a nearby road to service the construction of a nuclear power plant.
East Anglian Daily Times 15th Oct 2014 read more »
Hartlepool
THE boss of Hartlepool once again pledged his determination to extend the life of the nuclear plant. Station director Simon Parsons told a Hartlepool Neighbourhood Forum that he believes the station can continue to generate electricity until 2024, five years longer than the current planned shutdown in 2019. Mr Parsons said: “That’s our aspiration. I believe the granite and boilers and infrastructure can operate safely for 10 more years. “That will continue to provide local jobs for 10 more years.”
Hartlepool Mail 17th Oct 2014 read more »
EDF
EDF will replace its current chief executive Henri Proglio with the head of electronic systems provider Thales.
Utility Week 16th Oct 2014 read more »
Small Reactors
Dozens of small nuclear reactors could be built to help Britain meet its emissions targets, according to the government’s climate change advisory body. The Committee on Climate Change was responding to a proposal from Owen Paterson, the former environment secretary, who said small reactors built 20 miles from cities could be an alternative to putting up thousands more wind turbines. The committee rejected Mr Paterson’s call for the scrapping of Britain’s legally binding target to cut emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. However, it accepted that wind and solar farms were not the only ways of cutting emissions and said it was “open on options for achieving targets”. On small nuclear reactors, which would be mass-produced in factories, the committee said: “There are large uncertainties over price and public acceptability, but they might have a role in future.” Mr Paterson said that small nuclear plants had been running successfully in Britain for the past 30 years, including one in Derby at the Rolls-Royce site that supports Britain’s nuclear submarines.
Times 17th Oct 2014 read more »
Supply Chain
More than 300 small manufacturers are set to benefit from specialist support to access the UK’s £60 billion civil nuclear new build programme. The Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) has joined with the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre to roll-out Fit for Nuclear (F4N), which lets companies measure their capabilities against industry standards and helps them bridge gaps to meet requirements. Backed by partners including Areva and EDF Energy, the initiative offers “a business improvement journey that will identify strategy, implement new processes, secure necessary accreditations and provide supplier matching opportunities”.
Works Management 16th Oct 2014 read more »
Wesern Morning News 16th Oct 2014 read more »
New Nukes
GMB In Brussels On 16th October To Discuss New Nuclear Plants In West Cumbria And Other Parts Of The UK To keep the lights on we can’t afford any more delay in developing nuclear new build and we will do everything possible to secure a nuclear future for the UK says GMB. GMB, the union for nuclear industry workers, will today (16th October) meet influential decision makers in Brussels to discuss new nuclear power stations in West Cumbria and other parts of the UK.
GMB 16th Oct 2014 read more »
Radwaste
The UK Government agrees with a proposal from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) that for some small quantities of remaining overseas origin spent fuels held in the UK, where it is not economic or not possible to reprocess them before reprocessing operations cease, that they should be allowed to manage these materials by an alternative option. This alternative option should be by means of interim storage pending disposal, taking ownership where necessary.
DECC 16th Oct 2014 read more »
After consideration of consultation responses the Government has published its UK NORM Waste Management Strategy that aims to: ensure that secure, sustainable and resilient NORM waste management options are available. This is important to protect people and the environment from any hazards associated with the management of NORM waste, and also minimise costs and delays to decommissioning of North Sea oil infrastructure and facilitating new unconventional oil and gas developments; enable the supply chain to invest in capacity to meet increased future arisings, and ensure continuity of management options for radioactive waste from both the nuclear and non-nuclear industries. The strategy sets out how this will be achieved through clarity of regulatory regimes and improved forecasting and availability of data on NORM waste arisings.
DECC 16th Oct 2014 read more »
The white paper “Implementing Geological Disposal”, published in July this year, tasked RWM with carrying out this desk based screening exercise. The exercise will review existing information on the geology of the UK in order to develop and apply appropriate guidance. The work will be reviewed by an Independent Review Panel. For an understanding of what the event covered, see: report from the event including presentation slides
NDA 16th Oct 2014 read more »
Over 80 delegates representing academia, the geoscience community, the supply chain and non-Governmental Organisations attended the NDA National Geological Screening Technical event.
Cumbria Trust 17th Oct 2014 read more »
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday released a long-delayed report on the suitability of Yucca Mountain as a disposal spot for nuclear waste, finding that the design met the commission’s requirements, laying the groundwork to restart the project if control of the Senate changes hands in the elections next month. Republicans have been pushing to use the site, about 100 miles from Las Vegas, to store spent reactor fuel and highly radioactive leftovers from Cold War bomb-making, but they have been blocked by President Obama and by the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada. A final ruling would have to come from the commission itself, and the State of Nevada and other opponents have promised lawsuits. But the report released Thursday, mostly done in 2010 but frozen until a recent court decision, concluded that the design had the required multiple barriers, to assure long-term isolation of radioactive materials.
New York Times 16th Oct 2014 read more »
A final shortlist has been confirmed of possible locations to store radioactive waste from redundant Royal Navy nuclear submarines. They are Capenhurst, Cheshire; Sellafield, West Cumbria; Aldermaston and Burghfield, Berkshire; and Chapelcross, Dumfriesshire. All five locations were on a Ministry of Defence provisional shortlist revealed earlier this year. Public meetings will be held from next month until February 2015 in each area. Defence Minister Phillip Dunne said analysis had not presented any grounds for discounting any of the sites on the provisional list.
BBC 16th Oct 2014 read more »
Engineering & Technology 16th Oct 2014 read more »
Scottish Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said: “I have previously written to the MoD to make the case that this waste should not be stored in Scotland and reiterated the Scottish Government’s position when I spoke to the Minister (Mr Dunne). Scotland must not be turned into a dumping ground for MoD nuclear waste. The Scottish Government will be continuing to make the case that waste arising from the MoD submarine dismantling projects in Rosyth and Devonport should be stored elsewhere and the MoD consultation document identifies other potential storage locations, including MoD sites.”
Aberdeen Evening Express 16th Oct 2014 read more »
A SITE in Dumfriesshire has been confirmed as a possible storage location for radioactive waste from decommissioned nuclear submarines, sparking an angry reaction from the SNP.
Herald 17th Oct 2014 read more »
Two North West nuclear facilities have been confirmed as potential sites to store waste from decommissioned nuclear-powered submarines. Sellafield in west Cumbria and Capenhurst in Cheshire are among the five locations shortlisted by the Ministry of Defence today.
ITV 16th Oct 2014 read more »
Wirral Globe 16th Oct 2014 read more »
Politics
The energy secretary has slammed calls by the former environment secretary Owen Paterson to repeal the Climate Change Act as “highly irresponsible”. He said they were “reckless in the extreme” and said his former cabinet colleague “doesn’t seem to understand very much about energy policy”.
Utility Week 16th Oct 2014 read more »
Peter Atherton: We have long argued that current EU / UK energy policy is deeply flawed and that utility companies and public market investors should be wary of committing further capital to support and deliver it. Advice which has been increasingly accepted in recent times. After all, an energy policy that has the Hinkley Point C contract and off-shore wind as its two flagship achievements must eventually collapse under the weight of its own idiocy.
Liberum 16th Oct 2014 read more »
There is one important point raised by Paterson’s speech that bears repeating again and again, particularly as he this morning reiterates his call for the suspension of the Climate Change Act on Radio 4 and trends on Twitter (with his name misspelt). Namely, that Paterson speaks only for a small cabal of climate sceptics on the right of British politics and a handful of increasingly marginalized fossil fuel executives who want to wish away climate risks and regulations. Part of Paterson’s strategy is to present himself as the voice of the common sense, silent majority; the 12 million rural voters he reportedly told the Prime Minister would be outraged by his sacking; the businesses who are apparently suffering so much from climate legislation that they may, one day, leave the UK; even the developing economies whose own governments are so misguided they wish to deploy clean energy instead of coal. The reality is very different. As countless polls have shown around 60 per cent of the public support wind energy and over 80 per cent favour solar power – significantly, rural communities also tend to show majority support for renewables. Some people hate renewable energy, many more are broadly supportive of it. Meanwhile, the plummeting cost of clean technologies and the emergence of energy storage systems (which are far more advanced than Paterson’s neighbourhood nuclear reactors) mean the economic and technical arguments against clean energy look ever more outdated.
Business Green 16th Oct 2014 read more »
Radhealth
Controversy has been raging for decades over the link between nuclear power stations and childhood leukemia. But as with tobacco and lung cancer, it’s all about hiding the truth, writes Ian Fairlie. Combining data from four countries shows, with high statistical significance, that radioactive releases from nuclear plants are the cause of the excess leukemia cases. I can think of no other area of toxicology (eg asbestos, lead, smoking) with so many studies, and with such clear associations as those between nuclear power plants and child leukemias. In March 2014, my article on increased rates of childhood leukemias near nuclear power plants (NPPs) was published in the Journal of Environmental Radioactivity (JENR).
Radiation Free Lakeland 16th Oct 2014 read more »
Energy Costs
Households are paying an average of £410 more a year for energy compared with a decade ago despite using a fifth less, according to a consumer watchdog. Which? said that spending on energy had risen by 52 per cent above inflation, more than double the increase in the cost of other essential items such as food and water. The average household spent £1,200 on gas and electricity in 2012 compared with £790 in 2003-04, according to the consumer group’s analysis of Office for National Statistics figures adjusted for 2012 prices. Over the same period, energy consumption per household fell by 17 per cent.
Times 17th Oct 2014 read more »
Chernobyl
As the first generation of Ukrainians born after the Chernobyl tragedy comes of age, a small subculture of them is now doing the unthinkable: defying government prohibitions and illegally entering the highly radioactive Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, or “Dead Zone”– for fun. This group is monitored and pursued by the police and is not fond of journalists. Members revel in the forbidden, recover meaning from Soviet detritus, and take digital appropriation to new extremes. “It’s a post-apocalyptic romance,” as one young man put it.
Independent 17th Oct 2014 read more »
Europe
Amidst the leaked documents and wild rumours flying about Brussels, here’s what to look out at next week’s European Council – and why the details of the Council Conclusions matter in the real world efforts towards a zero carbon Europe.
E3G 16th Oct 2014 read more »
As the biggest energy importer anywhere in the world, a strong push on energy efficiency in the EU makes sense. Since 2008 the EU has slowly but steadily been working to improve its energy efficiency. It now holds the record as the most efficient bloc in the world. This means although the EU economy has expanded by around a third since 1990, energy usage has been stabilised across the bloc at the same levels used back then. This is remarkable – especially so given the burgeoning numbers of new gadgets and devices we increasingly rely upon for everyday life. Yet despite the well documented GDP and energy security gains and system cost reductions that would come from a strong push on energy efficiency, there is a risk that the 2030 energy efficiency target agreed by the European Council on 23/24 October will be set at 30% and be indicative only. A target set this low will mean that Europe will go no slower – but also no faster – than it is currently on energy efficiency.
E3G 15th Oct 2014 read more »
The UK energy minister, Ed Davey, says that compromise is possible over plans for a goal of improving energy efficiency 30% by 2030 in a climate and energy package that EU leaders hope to agree next week. David Cameron’s government has led calls for a legally enforceable carbon cut of at least 40% in the package but balked at a sub-goal for energy use – even a non-binding one – for fear that a ban on high-powered vacuum cleaners could be used as campaigning ammunition by Ukip. A third goal to ensure a renewable energy market share of at least 27% across Europe by 2030 has been endorsed by Davey as “a very clever compromise by the EU” because it is non-binding at a state level, meaning the UK can use other technologies such as nuclear and carbon captur e and storage to meet the carbon target. But Davey told the Guardian that he might have some flexibility on the efficiency target issue. “I don’t ever talk about red lines whether in coalition negotiations with other partners or in Europe,” he said. “It is important that we listen to others and find a way forward.” “We are strong supporters of energy efficiency,” he added. “The question is: what is the most appropriate way of doing it?” The British position though remains for an non-bindingen ergy saving target of just 25%, which the EU believes would represent a halving of current rates of progress over the next 16 years, at the same time that events in Ukraine have shot energy security up the political agenda.
Guardian 16th Oct 2014 read more »
Japan
The amount of radioactive water near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has risen to record levels after a typhoon passed through Japan last week, state media outlet NHK reported on Wednesday. Specifically, levels of the radioactive isotope cesium are now at 251,000 becquerels per liter, three times higher than previously-recorded levels. Cesium, which is highly soluble and can spread easily, is known to be capable of causing cancer. Meanwhile, other measurements also show remarkably high levels of tritium – another radioactive isotope of hydrogen. Samples from October 9 indicate that there are 150,000 becquerels of tritium per liter in the groundwater near Fukushima, according to Japan’s JIJI agency. Compared to levels recorded last week, that’s an increase of more than 10 times.
Russia Today 16th Oct 2014 read more »
Iran
Efforts to reach a deal over Iran’s nuclear programme are in a “critical phase” ahead of a late November deadline for an agreement to end the decade-old dispute, an EU spokesman said on Thursday after high-level negotiations in Vienna.
Reuters 16th Oct 2014 read more »
Fusion
Lockheed Martin announced Wednesday that it thinks it will have an ultra-compact fusion reactor operating in ten years — though it’s an open question whether this will be in time to matter in the fight against climate change. At this point, keeping the world under 2°C of global warming will require global greenhouse gas emissions to peak in 2020 and fall rapidly after that. Developed countries may very well need to peak by 2015 and then start dropping by 10 percent a year. So by Lockheed Martin’s own timeline, their first operational CFR won’t come online until after the peak deadline. To play any meaningful role in decarbonization — either here in America or abroad — they’d have to go from one operational CFR to mass production on a gargantuan scale, effectively overnight. More traditional forms of nuclear power face versions of the same problem.
Climate Progress 15th Oct 2014 read more »
Following Lockheed Martin’s ambitious statement of compact fusion reactors within 10 years, we explore what fusion reaction is, and the benefits.
On Demand News 16th Oct 2014 read more »
Lockheed’s announcement has generated a lot of publicity, but experts point to the lack of details or results, suggesting fusion power is still a long way off. Karl Mathiesen investigates. Lockheed use their parting shot to advertise their size and profitability to potential investors in CFR. In the slick promotional video, McGuire describes fusion as “a high risk, high payoff endeavour”. Lockheed have come up with an idea and they want someone to give them some money so they can develop it. Investment in fusion is exciting and potentially world-changing. But real breakthroughs occur when experiments actually take place.
Guardian 16th Oct 2014 read more »
ONE of the clichés of nuclear-power research is that a commercial fusion reactor is only 30 years away, and always will be. Hence a flurry of interest—and not just a little incredulity—when, on October 15th, news emerged that Lockheed Martin, a big American engineering company, has a new design for a fusion reactor that it reckons could be in use in a decade. A team at Lockheed’s renowned Skunk Works, where its wilder (and often secret) ideas are developed, reckons fusion is ripe for a rethink. Lockheed says the plan is to have a working prototype running in five years and the first operational reactors in ten. For that to happen, Dr McGuire needs the help of other fusion experts, which is why the firm is going public now. Nevertheless, though ten years is not 30, it is still quite a long time. Those who think commercial fusion power really does have a future are advised not to hold their breath.
Economist 16th Oct 2014 read more »
Business Green 16th Oct 2014 read more »
Mirror 16th Oct 2014 read more »
Renewables – storage
Five years ago, solar PV was among the most expensive renewable technologies and had no place in the government’s renewable energy plans. Today, its costs are falling faster than any other energy technology in history and it has its own dedicated government strategy. Over half a million homes have turned their roofs into power stations. Ground-mounted solar farms were the UK’s fastest growing source of new power capacity last year. In all likelihood, PV will become the first low carbon power technology to become subsidy-free, possibly by the end of the decade. Where solar PV was five years ago, energy storage is today. This is in large part thanks to a factory in Sunderland and a department in Westminster. The factory is making lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles (EVs). The department, DfT, is driving EVs forward because it sees in them a solution to urban air quality issues and, further down the road when the UK has more low carbon power, a means of helping to prevent dangerous climate change. lithium ion batteries are a great electricity storage solution for homes and businesses, as well as electric vehicles. You can store the power generated by your panels when supply outstrips demand (e.g. on a sunny day when you’re out the house) and then tap it when you need it.
Business Green 16th Oct 2014 read more »
Grid Connections
More than 1,000 miles of subsea power lines connecting Great Britain to France, Norway, Denmark, Belgium and Ireland could be constructed by 2020, under plans set out by energy regulator Ofgem. The giant electricity cables could cut British household energy bills and help keep the lights on by allowing the country to import cheaper power from the continent, the regulator said. Great Britain currently generates and uses the vast majority of its power within its own shores, but also imports and exports a small proportion of its electricity through “interconnector” cables. Currently there are four such cables, linking Great Britain to France, the Netherlands, Ireland and Northern Ireland, capable of supplying about 4 gigawatts of power. Ofgem said that seven new interconnector projects had now been deemed viable for potential construction by 2020. They would entail more than £6bn in investment and could provide up to 7.5 gigawatts of electricity – enough to power 15m homes in Britain, the regulator said. The projects include plans for the world’s longest interconnector, a 460 mile cable linking the UK to Norway. The link is expected to raise power prices in Norway but allow UK consumers to access cheaper hydroelectric power. National Grid – one of the companies planning to construct the cables – estimates that if the UK doubles its interconnection capacity it could save consumers £1bn a year through cheaper electricity. Ofgem had already approved two projects, a 1GW link through the Channel Tunnel to France, and a 1GW link from Richborough to Zeebrugge in Belgium. On Thursday it gave an initial green light to five further projects: two to France, one to Ireland, one to Denmark and the one to Norway.
Telegraph 16th Oct 2014 read more »
Fuel Poverty
FAMILIES in the North of Scotland are having hundreds of pounds a year added to their electric bills because of a hidden surcharge, it was revealed today. Households in the Highlands, islands, Moray, Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire are paying 2p more per unit of power than consumers in other parts of Scotland because of differences in transmission costs across the country. Power giant Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) said it wanted to scrap the regional price differences – but was unable to do so because they were set by regulator Ofgem. It was revealed in June that almost 60 per cent of people aged over 60 in rural parts of Scotland were living in fuel poverty, compared with 45 per cent of over-60s in urban areas. The attack on the pricing regime was led by the Western Isles Poverty Action Group. Group chairman councillor Angus McCormack said: “This is a national disgrace. “A 2p reduction in unit costs would have a significant impact on fuel poverty. A consumer using 15,000 units per year would save £300. The poverty action group is calling on the Scottish Government to resolve this iniquity as a matter of urgency.”
Scotsman 17th Oct 2014 read more »
Times 17th Oct 2014 read more »
Fossil Fuels
Political inertia, financial short-termism and vested fossil fuel interests have formed a “toxic triangle” that threatens to push up global temperatures, putting 400 million people at risk of hunger and drought by 2060, Oxfam said on Friday, a week before a European Union summit to finalise a new climate and energy policy framework.
Guardian 17th Oct 2014 read more »
