Dungeness
One of two reactors at Dungeness B power station has returned to service after being shut down following a blaze in November. The second reactor, which has been out of action since July 2009, remains closed due to maintenance works, according to operator EDF Energy.
Kent News 18th Feb 2010 more >>
Hinkley
Somerset County Council has rejected calls for a judicial review into the National Grid’s proposals for pylons.
Burnham-on-sea.com 17th Feb 2010 more >>
Oldbury
Council leaders have raised serious concerns about the suitability of a site next to Oldbury nuclear power station for a new generation of atomic reactors. They said there were major issues involved in allocating the Oldbury- Shepperdine area, near Thornbury, for a power plant and they did not think action could be taken to limit their effect on the locality. Their comments also come as doubts were raised that one of the two reactor designs being considered for the site may not be strong enough to withstand a direct hit from a commercial airliner, leaving it vulnerable to terrorist attacks. Both South Gloucestershire Council and Thornbury Town Council have said they are worried about aspects of the allocation of the land next to the Severn estuary by the Government.
Bristol Evening Post 18th Feb 2010 more >>
Submission from Rockhampton Parish Council
Shepperdine Against Nuclear Energy 18th Feb 2010 more >>
Wylfa
During the day Mr Hain visited Bangor University to talk to students about the potential for green energy on Anglesey. Mr Hain pointed to his plans to transform the former Anglesey Aluminium site into a wind turbine factory, turning the island into a “wind energy hub”. “That will also create jobs in North Wales as billions will be pumped into the area, especially if Wylfa B comes on top of that.”
Daily Post 18th Feb 2010 more >>
Sellafield
Former directors of controversial nuclear power station Sellafield pocketed ‘golden goodbyes’ worth £8 million upon leaving the company, it emerged yesterday. The former managing director of Sellafield Barry Snelson picked up £1.86 million, potentially rising to £2 million, as ‘compensation for loss of office’, according to the financial reports of the defunct British Nuclear Fuels. David Bonser, who headed the Thorp facility which suffered a leak in 2005, trousered £1 million, while chief executive Mike Parker was handed £526,000 and director John Edwards got £420,000.
Daily Mail 19th Feb 2010 more >>
Proliferation
The United States will seek commitments from its allies on securing vulnerable nuclear material within four years at a summit to be held in Washington in April, Vice President Joe Biden said on Thursday. “It’s a very high priority,” Biden said in a speech about America’s nuclear posture. President Barack Obama will host the April 12-13 summit bringing together representatives from as many as 43 countries to help secure the world’s loose nuclear material.
Reuters 18th Feb 2010 more >>
Energy Supplies
All roads lead to a yawning energy gap. Coal is the dirty outcast – until clean coal technology is proven on a large scale – and that is at least a decade away. So – what is cheap to build and run, clean(er) and able to fill the gap by 2015? Gas. Lots of it. Power companies are falling over themselves to build new gas stations – often on the sites of old coal plants on their last legs (Cockenzie and Tilbury to name but two). There are two questions – should we build nuclear, and can we do so in time? The answers are linked, and complicated. Nuclear ticks many boxes: it is low carbon, provides reliable baseload power, and boasts stable sources of supply. Carbon targets and energy independence means that a future built mainly around conventional fossil fuels is untenable. In many commentators’ minds, cleaner fossil fuels would provide the ’sandwich filling’ between worthy but unpredictable renewables, and controversial yet reliable atomic power. Of course, nuclear’s detractors would argue that the emissions and social cost of atomic energy is measured in hundreds of thousands of years, and the lack of a permanent solution for waste storage is undeniably the biggest argument against a new generation of reactors. The other aspect is cost – nuclear has never been built on time, on budget – and never without public subsidy. In this last respect, atomic and renewable energy have more in common than one might expect.
The Engineer 17th Feb 2010 more >>
US
Areva SA, the world’s biggest reactor builder, said the successful execution of the U.S. nuclear-loan guarantee program and the ability of companies to deliver on time and on cost will lead to an “enormous” market.
Business Week 18th Feb 2010 more >>
NRG Energy Inc. expects to learn in about two months whether it will get a federal loan guarantee needed to build nuclear reactors in Texas, and will scrap the project if it doesn’t.
Business Week 18th Feb 2010 more >>
World Nuclear News 18th Feb 2010 more >>
Atlanta-based Southern Company has confirmed that its Georgia Power subsidiary has been offered a conditional commitment for loan guarantees from the US Department of Energy (DOE) to construct two new nuclear power units – the first in the US for more than 30 years.
The Engineer 19th Feb 2010 more >>
A survey of US electric power industry leaders by Black & Veatch (B&V) shows that nuclear energy is widely considered best suited to meet the country’s environmental standards while meeting increased electricity demand.
World Nuclear News 18th Feb 2010 more >>
US Radwaste
The US Department of Energy’s assistant secretary for nuclear said Wednesday the agency is undertaking a wide-ranging research and development initiative to figure out how to deal with spent nuclear fuel. But a long-term solution is not urgently needed, given that current dry-cask storage technology can safely hold spent fuel securely for many decades, Warren Miller told the winter meeting of the National Association of
Regulatory Utility Commissioners.
Platts 17th Feb 2010 more >>
Iran
The White House has again warned Iran that it faces consequences if it fails to meet international responsibilities about its nuclear programme. The continuing pressure follows a report from the IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog, that said Iran may currently be working on nuclear weapons.
BBC 19th Feb 2010 more >>
FT 19th Feb 2010 more >>
The United Nations nuclear watchdog said it was worried Iran could be working on “a nuclear payload for a missile”, in its most hard-hitting report on Tehran’s atomic programme. It also highlighted the possibility that Iran might shift almost its entire stock of low enriched uranium closer to weapons grade.
FT 19th Feb 2010 more >>
Guardian 19th Feb 2010 more >>
Telegraph 19th Feb 2010 more >>
Syria
Uranium particles found at a Syrian desert complex bombed to ruin by Israel in 2007 point to possible covert nuclear activity at the site, the U.N. atomic watchdog said on Thursday.
Yahoo 18th Feb 2010 more >>
Renewables
The latest £8m funding for offshore wind technology was made available today as the Prime Minister hailed the UK as a ‘global leader’ in the offshore wind market. The announcement came as Clipper Windpower confirmed that it is to start construction of a factory in Newcastle to build the biggest wind turbine blades in the world. The Prime Minister visited the site where Clipper today confirmed it will employ up to 500 people by 2020 to manufacture blades for the massive 10 megawatt ‘Britannia’ offshore wind turbine.
DECC 18th Feb 2010 more >>
Guardian 19th Feb 2010 more >>
Independent 19th Feb 2010 more >>
Coal
Britain’s biggest power station has suspended its plan to replace coal with greener fuel, leaving the Government little chance of meeting its target for renewable energy. Drax, in North Yorkshire, which produces enough electricity for six million homes, is withdrawing a pledge to cut CO2 emissions by 3.5 million tonnes a year, or 17.5 per cent. The power station, which is the country’s largest single source of CO2, has invested £80 million in a processing unit for wood, straw and other plant-based fuels, known as biomass. The unit is designed to produce more renewable electricity than 600 wind turbines, but will operate at only a fraction of its capacity because Drax says it is cheaper to continue to burn coal.
Times 19th Feb 2010 more >>
