Nuclear Subsidy
The promise of nil subsidy lasted as long as it took for the ink to dry on £13bn contract. According to both The Times and The Telegraph energy companies have told the Government their pledge not to use public aid to fund the £40 billion rollout of new nuclear power stations is no longer realistic. There is a consensus in the industry that without help new reactors will not be built. One option being discussed is a levy tacked on to household fuel bills, another is to set a “floor price” for carbon.
Paul Flynn MP 16th Sept 2009 more >>
Nuclear Economics
There’s a new paper out from Spanish researchers at Universidad Pontificia Comillas exploring nuclear economics. It concludes on a pessimistic note: “Looking at the past history of nuclear would then result in concluding that nuclear will probably not be competitive on a purely economic basis. Therefore, cost will not be a plus for nuclear, but will still be one of its problems.” Governments might yet have to find a way to make the numbers work. The trick, as the paper notes, will be in figuring out how to divvy up finite government money for seemingly infinite energy interests.
Wall Street Journal 16th Sept 2009 more >>
Hinkley
The National Grid has announced plans for a new 37-mile 400,000 volt overhead pylon line connecting Hinkley Point in Somerset to a substation in Avonmouth. The company has been asked to connect a 3,600MW nuclear power station to be built close to the existing generating plant at Hinkley Point.
BBC 16th Sept 2009 more >>
This is Somerset 16th Sept 2009 more >>
Oldbury
New nuclear has finally kicked-off with the start of ground investigation for the next generation of power stations. Geotechnical contractor Hydrock began preliminary work at Oldbury, Gloucestershire, on behalf of energy giant E.on. Oldbury is one of 11 sites proposed by the government to host new nuclear power stations. Drilling for 22 boreholes between 40m and 80m in depth began on 3 August. Hydrock director Dr Adam Fisher said: “We have been working in the new nuclear build programme for the past 18 months and it forms a major part of our growth strategy. This is a complex and critical piece of work.”
New Civil Engineer 16th Sept 2009 more >>
Companies
Engineering firm Rolls-Royce is to collaborate with French power firm EDF to build four new nuclear power plants.The European Pressurised Reactors are to be built at Hinkley Point and Sizewell. The first should be operational by the end of 2017, while all four should be on stream by 2025. “The agreement covers engineering and technical support during both the pre- and post-construction phases,” Rolls-Royce said, announcing the project with EDF Energy, the UK division of the French utility group.
AFP 16th Sept 2009 more >>
Reuters 16th Sept 2009 more >>
Business East Midlands 17th Sept 2009 more >>
Proactive Investors 16th Sept 2009 more >>
Money Week 16th Sept 2009 more >>
Times 17th Sept 2009 more >>
Telegraph 17th Sept 2009 more >>
US reactor designer Westinghouse is understood to have shortlisted two consortia for the job of building its nuclear power stations in the UK. The consortia said to be in final talks are Shaw Group (in conjunction with Laing O’Rourke) and Fluor alongside Costain/Sir Robert McAlpine/Hochtief joint venture. The big electricity utilities have yet to decide whether to use the Westinghouse AP1000 or rival Areva EPR model. But RWE is said to be in advanced talks with the US firm.
Contract Journal 16th Sept 2009 more >>
Trident
Bob Ainsworth, the Defence Secretary, exposed a potential Cabinet clash over the fate of the Trident replacement programme, which could cost £20billion. Speaking at King’s College, London, Mr Ainsworth insisted: “There is no intention on this Government’s part of moving away from our position on Trident.” The Government declared in a White Paper published in December 2006 that it intended to replace the existing Trident ballistic-missile deterrent by 2024. Mr Ainsworth said that the only decision still to be taken was whether the Government would order three or four submarines to carry the deterrent.
Times 16th Sept 2009 more >>
Daily Mirror 16th Sept 2009 more >>
Tories, Lib Dems and now Labour are all signalling that the upgrade for the UK’s Trident nuclear missile system could be dumped on the altar of cost cutting. How is this for interesting comments from Government chief whip Nick Brown? “The Government hasn’t decided to build a new generation of missile carrying submarines. “The study is underway now and I would rather see the study before making a decision. But clearly all options have to be considered.”
Newcastle Journal 16th Sept 2009 more >>
REPLACING the Trident weapons system would cost Oldham taxpayers a staggering £183 million, according to anti-nuclear campaigners. Saddleworth Peace Movement heard from Rae Street, chairman of Greater Manchester Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), that the overall cost to Greater Manchester would be £2.458 billion.
Oldham Chronicle 16th Sept 2009 more >>
Missile Defence
Barack Obama has abandoned the US’s controversial plan to build a missile-defence system in Europe in one of the sharpest breaks yet with the policies of the Bush administration, according to reports from Washington today
Guardian 17th Sept 2009 more >>
Telegraph 17th Sept 2009 more >>
Germany
The German edition of the respected Financial Times newspaper claims Research Minister Annette Schavan has been sitting on plans for new atomic plants, despite an official policy of phasing them out. Indeed, Berlin has just approved the building of thousands of new wind turbines in the Baltic, to appease critics who say they are ugly and ruin the countryside. The nuclear issue is unlikely to harm Chancellor Angela Merkel as she heads into an election as the expected victor. But it gives her rival Frank-Walter Steinmeier an opportunity to attack her, especially as she is eyeing a post-election coalition with the Free Democrats, who have long been keen supporters of atomic energy.
Euro News 16th Sept 2009 more >>
German chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU party, which is widely expected to win the largest share of votes in the country’s 27 September parliamentary elections, has adapted its pro-nuclear policy in reaction to renewed anti-nuclear protests. The CDU remains intent on revising the country’s nuclear phase-out law in the coming legislative period should it stay in power, a CDU politician tells Argus. This is in contrast to expectations by some analysts in recent weeks that the CDU may want to postpone such a move to the following legislative period. Delaying a revision of the phase-out for four years will be too late for too many nuclear plants, the CDU source says. Merkel has kept a low profile on the nuclear issue in the election campaign. The mood among voters has shifted against nuclear again after a much publicised incident at the 1,346MW Krummel plant in July, and renewed protests this summer over the Gorleben interim nuclear waste storage site in Lower Saxony.
Argus Media 16th Sept 2009 more >>
Italy
Italian ministers and officials were today holding urgent consultations following the discovery of an unmarked wreck that prosecutors believe was used by the mafia to sink radioactive waste. As a ship carrying equipment for detecting marine pollution headed for the site of the sunken vessel, an investigator said up to 41 others may have been used to dump toxic and nuclear material on the seabed.
Guardian 17th Sept 2009 more >>
Climate
Don’t expect China to keep global warming below 2C, a senior government adviser warned in Beijing today at the launch of an influential report on the nation’s prospects for low-carbon growth. Even in a best-case scenario with massive investment in solar and carbon capture technology, Dai Yande, deputy chief of the Energy Research Institute, said China’s emissions were unlikely to fall low enough to remain below the temperature goal recommended by the G8 and European Union.
Guardian 17th Sept 2009 more >>
