Hinkley
The application to build a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset is the largest and one of the first to be considered under the new planning system for nationally important infrastructure. If the go-ahead is given early next year, Hinkley Point C will offer once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for Somerset people, as well as delivering new low carbon energy for the nation as existing power stations close. The application to build and operate the twin-reactor power station followed three years of detailed development work and community consultation. The application, by EDF Energy, is being examined by the Planning Inspectorate before it makes a recommendation to the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change by Christmas.
Western Morning News 1st Aug 2012 more >>
Wylfa
A NUMBER of properties around Wylfa nuclear power station are set to be demolished. Nuclear company Horizon has submitted a planning application to screen opinion for the demolition of nine properties. Separate applications to determine whether prior approval is needed to demolish another 13 has also been submitted. It had been thought the applications were a prelude to a consortium buying Horizon to develop Wylfa B, but the company said its for estate management and public safety.
Bangor and Anglesey Mail 1st Aug 2012 more >>
New Nukes
Why I love working at a nuclear plant.
Marie Claire 1st Aug 2012 more >>
Proliferation
SILEX (separation of isotopes by laser excitation) is a new enrichment technology that happens to be well suited for making nuclear weapons. The benefits of commercializing SILEX are not yet established, but the proliferation risks are significant. Dozens of countries are poised to copy SILEX if a US project demonstrates that the technology can be built on a commercial scale. The technical barriers, to the extent they exist, are not likely to endure the test of time. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has refused to consider the proliferation risk in its decision to issue a license for the first commercial SILEX facility, despite a statutory obligation to do so. Only a few weeks remain for Congress to intervene.
Bulletin of Atomic Scientists 30th July 2012 more >>
Politics
Green activism has achieved a lot in five decades, but it has been unable to prevent the global industrial machine from continuing to destroy wild nature and replace it with human culture. There is no prospect of this changing in the near future, and we are reaching the point now when many prominent greens, having denied this reality for so long, are beginning to admit this in public. So: what next? One increasingly fashionable answer is offered by a coalescing group which we might call “neo-environmentalists”. The resemblance between this group and the neoliberals of the early 70s is intriguing. Like the neoliberals, the neo-environmentalists are attempting to break through the lines of an old orthodoxy which is visibly exhausted and confused. Like the neoliberals, they speak the language of money and power. Like the neoliberals, they cluster around a few key thinktanks: then, the Institute of Economic Affairs, the Cato Institute and the Adam Smith Institute; now, the Breakthrough Institute, the Long Now Foundation and the Copenhagen Consensus. Like the neoliberals, they think they have radical solutions. Neo-environmentalism is a progressive, business-friendly, postmodern take on the environmental dilemma. It dismisses traditional green thinking, with its emphasis on limits and transforming societal values, as naive. New technologies, global capitalism and western-style development are not the problem but the solution. The future lies in enthusiastically embracing biotechnology, synthetic biology, nuclear power, nanotechnology, geo-engineering and anything else new and complex that annoys Greenpeace.
Guardian 1st Aug 2012 more >>
Finland
The final date of operation for Finland’s seminal Olkiluoto 3 (OL3) plant is hanging in the balance, but that should not detract from what is a flagship project that has the potential to shape differently Finnish society and its clean energy possibilities.
Nuclear Insider 1st Aug 2012 more >>
Germany
Germany produced record volumes of renewable energy in the first half of this year, according to new industry figures that will come as a boost to the fast-growing European renewables market. Germany’s National Association of Energy and Water (BDEW) published initial estimates late last week revealing that, from January to June, renewable energy technologies accounted for more than a quarter of the country’s electricity supply for the first time ever.
Business Green 1st Aug 2012 more >>
Iran
Leon Panetta, the US secretary of defence, tried to allay rising concern among Israeli leaders over Irans nuclear programme, insisting on Wednesday that the US will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon, period.
FT 1st Aug 2012 more >>
Time is running out for the international community to halt Iran’s nuclear programme by peaceful means, the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, told US defence secretary Leon Panetta in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
Guardian 1st Aug 2012 more >>
Leon Panetta has warned Iran it must accept limits on its nuclear programme or face US military action as he arrived in Israel for key talks.
Telegraph 1st Aug 2012 more >>
Japan
Fukushima residents have told Japanese government officials at a public hearing on energy policy to get out of nuclear power and do it fast. The Fukushima hearing, the ninth out of 11 planned nationwide, sought to gather views on nuclear power’s role in the nation’s energy mix as the government struggles to cover a power shortfall that could threaten economic growth.
Engineering Technology Magazine 1st Aug 2012 more >>
Alert.net 1st Aug 2012 more >>
Japan Today 2nd Aug 2012 more >>
Nuclear Weapons
NFLA members show solidarity with Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the 67th anniversaries of the atomic bombing solemn commemorations will be taking place across the UK and Ireland next week to remember the 67th anniversary of the atomic bombing attacks on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima (6th August) and Nagasaki (9 th August).
NFLA press Release 1st Aug 2012 more >>
The U.S. government stores weapons-grade uranium at a complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., considered to be one of the most secure sites in the world. But last weekend, three aging peace activiststwo men and an 82-year-old nuncut through fences and eluded guards to throw human blood on the building where enriched uranium is stored. The protesters also hoisted banners, recited prayers and read from the Bible.
Wall Street Journal 1st August 2012 more >>
Renewables
Solar firms have stressed that households and businesses will still be able to generate good rates of return from solar PV installations, despite the latest wave of cuts to feed-in tariff incentives coming into effect from today.
Business Green 1st Aug 2012 more >>
The UK’s solar industry maintained it has a sunny outlook on Wednesday despite dull summer weather and fresh cuts to the feed-in tariff subsidy for solar panels. From today, anyone installing solar panels will receive 16p per kilowatt hour of electricity generated, compared with 21p previously, and will receive the subsidy for 20 years instead of the 25-year duration that was formerly available.
Guardian 1st Aug 2012 more >>
Good Energy has established one of the fastest-growing energy companies in the UK, boasting around 75,000 customers and posing a serious challenge to the Big Six with its commitment to providing 100 per cent renewable energy and its focus on supporting households and businesses that generate their own low carbon power.
Business Green 1st Aug 2012 more >>
From government we need policy consistency and a clear strategy for growth areas, such as offshore wind energy. We need stable policies to support manufacturing that chime with a long-term vision of how we want the UK economy to look not just in five years but 25 years too.
Guardian 1st Aug 2012 more >>
The first community-owned wind turbine in the Western Isles will be installed by the end of tomorrow and connected to the grid by next month. Energy generated will be sold into the National Grid through the Feed-in Tariff scheme, and will provide around £80,000 a year for the local community, which consists of 70 households on the west side of Lewis. The huge components arrived by lorry to the village of Siabost on the western side of the island, where it will be installed on common grazing croft land. The neighbouring communities of South Siabost, Dalmore and Dalbeg will all benefit. Almost 10 years ago, a private developer approached them, seeking to build a wind farm on their grazing ground. Negotiations with the developer failed, but with support and funding from Community Energy Scotland, the community took on the £2 million project themselves.
Herald 2nd Aug 2012 more >>
