New Nukes
Britain’s energy future starts in Paris with David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy signing formal agreements for the UK and France to work together on nuclear power. Attention will soon shift to a 500-hectare (1,250-acre) plot in Somerset where the French state energy giant EDF hopes to start work on Hinkley C. If all goes to plan, the first nuclear power station to be built in Britain since 1995 will generate 2,000MW of electricity a year by 2018-2019. The reality is that few, if any, of the world’s 435 working nuclear power stations were built to cost, or on schedule the prototypes of the two stations EDF wants to build in Britain have taken far longer and proved much more expensive to build than anyone ever expected. The question hanging over Britain’s new stations will be whether cheaper, safer, alternatives become available. If so, Britain will be embarrassed, chained to a massively expensive technology that will suck in resources for ever. If they do not, the decision to build them may prove to be one of the most far-sighted taken by any government.
Guardian 17th Feb 2012 more >>
THE Prime Minister and the French President put their difference on Europe aside today to sign a deal worth more than £500million on nuclear strategy.
Express 17th Feb 2012 more >>
eGov Monitor 17th Feb 2012 more >>
The potential synergies between the two countries are very significant given the supply chain expertise across the two countries in forgings, critical and peripheral equipment and engineering expertise. The agreement between Britain and France to work together on civil nuclear energy secures their stronger commitment towards building safer, secure next generation plants. It also paves the ways for EDF and other utilities to secure funding, and supply chain agreements for the eight sites across the UK, earmarked for new nuclear capacity.
Engineer Live 17th Feb 2012 more >>
Hundreds of hi-tech jobs are heading to South Yorkshire following the signing of a landmark agreement by Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The agreement to co-operate on developing civil nuclear energy paves the way for the construction of a new generation of power plants. It was accompanied by the news of a deal between Rolls-Royce and French nuclear reactor developer AREVA which promises to be even more important for advanced manufacturing in Rotherham. AREVA has asked Rolls to make complex components and provide engineering and technical services for two reactors to be built at Hinkley Point, Somerset.
Sheffield Star 17th Feb 2012 more >>
Rotherham Advertiser 17th Feb 2012 more >>
Yorkshire Post 17th Feb 2012 more >>
The joint declaration on energy made at a Paris summit today contained a range of goals, the greatest of them being to encourage “the emergence of a Franco-British industry that is highly competitive across the whole supply chain at the international level.” Most prominent in this will be the work of France’s majority state-owned firms EDF and Areva and their cooperation with privately held UK firms for the construction of new reactors in Britain.
World Nuclear News 17th Feb 2012 more >>
The Prime Minister met his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris at a joint summit for the first time since their bitter clashes over Europe. Mr Cameron announced that the deal agreed between Rolls Royce and Areva would see “1,500 new jobs in the UK, £100 million invested across the South West and a brand new factory in Rotherham in South Yorkshire.”
Telegraph 17th Feb 2012 more >>
BBC 17th Feb 2012 more >>
Business Green 17th Feb 2012 more >>
Yorkshire Post 18th Feb 2012 more >>
Daily Mail 18th Feb 2012 more >>
Independent 18th Feb 2012 more >>
There were fears that the companys ambitious nuclear programme in Britain could send energy bills soaring even higher. It comes as the UK arm already faces controversy after announcing its UK profits rose by 8.5 per cent last year to almost £1.6billion while mil- lions struggle to pay their domestic fuel bills. Doug Parr, chief scientist at Greenpeace UK, said yesterday: The track record of EDF in building new nuclear power stations on time and to budget is appalling. It will cost the British tax payer who foots the bill for the massive overspend.
Express 18th Feb 2012 more >>
Although it is welcome news that the UK is pressing ahead with the development of new nuclear reactors to secure affordable low-carbon electricity generation, this is not necessarily the best deal for securing UK jobs and skills. Although some relatively small contracts are to be awarded to Rolls-Royce and BAM Kier, it looks increasingly likely that the vast majority of the contracts involved in the manufacture and construction of the new nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point and Sizewell will go to France rather than the UK. An outcome the Institution predicted in it Nuclear New Build report two years ago.
The Manufacturer 17th Feb 2012 more >>
Commenting on today’s news that Britain and France will co-operate to build new power plants in the UK, Friends of the Earth’s Energy Campaigner Paul Steedman said: “Cameron’s deal today will leave British taxpayers footing a massive bill for new nuclear plants we don’t need and can’t afford – while EDF continues to rake in huge profits.
FoE Press Release 17th Feb 2012 more >>
A new report by Unlock Democracy and The Association for the Conservation of Energy, published last month, reveals that the government misled parliament over the need to build a new fleet of nuclear power stations, distorting evidence and presenting MPs with a false summary of the analysis it had commissioned.
Corporate Watch 17th Feb 2012 more >>
Caroline Lucas: Why we must phase lout nuclear power. the proposed electricity market reform is set to rig the energy market in favour of nuclear with the introduction of a carbon price floor likely to result in huge windfall handouts of around £50m a year to existing nuclear generators. Despite persistent denials by ministers, this is clearly a subsidy by another name, making a mockery of the coalition pledge not to gift public money to this already established industry. The Energy Fair group is arguing that the cap on liabilities for nuclear accidents is technically a subsidy and therefore illegal under EU law and is now taking the case to the European commission.
Guardian 17th Feb 2012 more >>
Caroline Flint: Caroline Flint MP, Labour’s Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary, commenting on the UK-France agreement to strengthen co-operation in the development of civil nuclear energy, said: “Nuclear power has a vital role to play as part of a more sustainable, balanced and low-carbon future energy mix, to make us less reliant on volatile fossil fuel prices, increase our energy security, and keep prices down for families. The UK must learn the lessons from the development of new nuclear power stations in France so we can deliver new nuclear projects in this country on time and on budget.
Labour Party 17th Feb 2012 more >>
Mark Lynas: Although the UK-French nuclear power deal signed by David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy today does not add up to much in terms of its details a few hundred millions here and there, not much in the multi-billion-pound world of civil nuclear generation it does send an important political signal: Britain and France will not follow Germany down the path of eschewing nuclear power. Instead, the governments and industries of both countries will work closely together to up the pace of nuclear new-build in the UK.
Guardian 17th Feb 2012 more >>
There were supporting statements from blue-chip corporate names such as Rolls-Royce on this side of the English Channel and EDF and Areva on their side of la Manche. All was fusion. But behind the political smiles lies an increasingly tense reality which throws into question everything the Coalition is trying to achieve in its National Policy Statement on energy, approved by Parliament in July. The are several risks, none of which Friday’s Franco-British summit addressed. The first is Sarkozy losing the French presidential elections being held in April and May. That risk is extremely high and French ambitions for spending on UK nuclear may look rather different under Francois Hollande, the socialist challenger in poll position to oust Sarkozy. Investments in up to four new UK nuclear sites are planned by EDF which in turn is 83pc owned by the French government. The spending starts with Hinkley Point C, home to two new nukes, which will require 10bn (£8bn). There is still no detail of how much nuclear investors, such as EDF, will get for the power from their new plants. There is a promise of a guaranteed price calculated through a complex instrument called a contract for difference (you, dear reader, will end up underwriting the guarantee through your bills to avoid accusations of state subsidy). But no one knows what this price will be. When and how can this be communicated to EDF so it can commit funds to start building in time for planned switch on in 2018, a date that now looks fanciful. EDF’s (junior) partner in the UK is Centrica, not owned by the Government but by concerned shareholders who may well start to question the company’s investment in nuclear plans which, if they materialise at all, risk being late and less ambitious than before.
Telegraph 17th Feb 2012 more >>
Supply Chain
Rolls Royce will be one of several companies working on the first of two reactors built to French energy company AREVA’s EPR design at Hinkley Point in Somerset. Ultimately two more reactors will be built in the UK to the same design. The work will secure 300 skilled UK jobs at Rolls Royce, some of which will be based at a new manufacturing facility in Rotherham where parts for the reactors will be built. Planning permission for the facility has already been granted and it is hoped that it will be up and running late next year.
Telegraph 17th Feb 2012 more >>
Atkins and Assystem are to expand their nuclear engineering alliance to support EDF in the deployment of the UK European pressurised water reactor programme. The alliance will support EDF in those parts of its programme where it seeks a Franco-British team.
Money AM 17th Feb 2012 more >>
Yahoo 17th Feb 2012 more >>
YORKSHIRE manufacturers are better placed than their European rivals to cash in on the growth of nuclear energy, according to a senior figure at EDF Energy. Alan Cumming predicted that the Nuclear AMRC at the Advanced Manufacturing Park, near Rotherham, will become Britains most important hub for the nuclear sector. The Nuclear AMRC brings together the manufacturing and engineering expertise of the University of Sheffields Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, and the University of Manchesters Dalton Nuclear Institute.
Yorkshire Post 18th Feb 2012 more >>
Nuclear Safety
The UK’s nuclear safety watchdog has admitted an employee lost a USB stick containing information on tests carried out at a facility in Hartlepool. The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) also revealed that the USB stick was unencrypted but claimed that there was no sensitive data on the device. “At the start of the EC ‘stress test’ programme, the licensees of all UK nuclear power stations committed to publishing their stress test reports, so most of the findings in this report are now in the public domain,” it said.
V3.co.uk 17th Feb 2012 more >>
Information Age 17th Feb 2012 more >>
Computer Weekly 17th Feb 2012 more >>
BBC 17th Feb 2012 more >>
Guardian 17th Feb 2012 more >>
Scotsman 18th Feb 2012 more >>
Hinkley
Environmental activists have occupied the site of what is planned to be Britain’s first new nuclear power station since 1995, and on Friday accused EDF of “ignoring democracy” and starting work on the £10bn project without permission to build the station. Eight people have occupied the semi-derelict Langborough farmhouse on land due to be cleared within weeks to make way for the twin-reactor Hinkley Point C power station. The £100m preparatory earth works, which were formalised today in Paris with David Cameron and Nicholas Sarkozy signing an agreement, will remove a volume of soil and rock four times the volume of Wembley stadium from the 500ha site, destroy a site of special scientific interest and several historic buildings.
Guardian 17th Feb 2012 more >>
Anti-nuclear campaigners occupying land proposed for a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point have produced an online movie from their new base. Activists took over land on the Langborough Farm site on Sunday morning, and have documented their week’s experiences in a seven-minute YouTube video.
This is Somerset 17th Feb 2012 more >>
The clearest indication yet that the proposed Hinkley C reactor will go-ahead will be signalled today when Britain and France sign a landmark agreement to co-operate on civil nuclear energy.
Western Daily Press17th Feb 2012 more >>
It was a very frustrating Valentines Day for one Somerset council and EDF Energy this week. They were meant to be agreeing a deal to fund the work of local authorities on scrutinising the plans for a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point. EDF had already handed over £13million to three local councils to help them carry out the work so that the cost would not have to be passed onto the council tax bills of those who live in the area affected by the French power giants scheme. Sedgemoor District Council advised EDF that another £2.3 million would be required from April 1. Perhaps not unreasonably, the energy company asked to see the councils calculations before handing over the money. It would be normal in a situation like this, when two parties such as these disagree, that a deal would be thrashed out behind closed doors and some sort of common ground would be found. In the meantime, a bland press release would be issued and the parties would smile, if only through clenched teeth, and assure the world that all was well. Not this time.
Western Daily Press 17th Feb 2012 more >>
Dungeness
A suspect package has sparked a security alert at Dungeness Power Station this afternoon. Police were called to the Romney Marsh site when the alarm was raised at about 1pm. An emergency control centre was quickly set up by the nuclear power station staff. Rumour had spread to nearby New Romney, where some staff and their families live, that the package might have been a bomb. But when officers arrived, the package was discovered to be a webcam.
Kent Messenger 17th Feb 2012 more >>
Sellafield
West Cumbria will today move a step closer to securing a £9 billion new nuclear power station when Britain and France sign an historic nuclear pact. Prime Minister David Cameron is travelling to Paris to sign a landmark agreement with French President Nicolas Sarkozy that will see the countries work together on a shared civil nuclear programme. The deal will pave the way for the building of 10 new nuclear power stations in Britain, including one in west Cumbria which is projected to create 5,000 construction jobs and 800 permanent posts. Nu Gen, a consortium owned by energy giants Iberdrola and GDF Suez, is currently preparing plans for the scheme, provisionally called Moorside, on land north of Sellafield.
Cumberland News 17th Feb 2012 more >>
EDF
EDF said 2011 profit tripled on higher French and U.K. nuclear output, and forecast spending on aging reactors would increase over the next three years.
Bloomberg 16th Feb 2012 more >>
EDF says it plans to bid to build reactors in South Africa in a possible Franco-Chinese partnership.
Reuters 16th Feb 2012 more >>
Japan
Fukushima Nuclear Crisis Update 13th to 16th Feb.
Greenpeace International 17th Feb 2012 more >>
Iran
Iran is clearly trying to develop a nuclear weapons capability, and if it succeeds it will set off a dangerous round of nuclear proliferation across the Middle East, Foreign Secretary William Hague said in an interview published on Saturday.
Reuters 18th Feb 2012 more >>
Telegraph 17th Feb 2012 more >>
Many believe the west is overplaying the influence and nuclear potential that a divided, and increasingly reckless, Tehran wields
Guardian 17th Feb 2012 more >>
Submarines
The reactor compartments from redundant nuclear-powered submarines should be stored “intact” at Devonport, a campaign group has said. The dockyards at Devonport and Rosyth, Scotland, have already been identified by the Ministry of Defence as the only “candidate” sites for dismantling submarines. In all, 27 boats are to be dismantled, including the ten currently stored afloat at Devonport and seven at Rosyth. The MoD has been wrestling with the controversial issue for more than a decade. Its current public consultation ends today. In its submission, the group Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA), which represents 50 councils throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, said the reactor compartments should be removed and stored whole, rather than being cut up.
Western Morning News 17th Feb 2012 more >>
Renewables
Britains fledgeling marine energy industry has finally come of age after Siemens acquired a Bristol-based developer. Marine Current Turbines said that its takeover, for an undisclosed sum, would help it to further develop devices that generate electricity from tides. RenewableUK, an industry body, said that the deal could spur takeovers of British marine energy companies that are seeking a cash injection. The Edinburgh-based Pelamis Wave Power is said to be courting Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems. The generation of tidal and wave power is still at an experimental stage and only a handful of large projects exist globally. Experts say that Britain has the best marine energy resource in the world.
Times 18th Feb 2012 more >>
