Wylfa
The UK’s Wylfa nuclear power plant has taken delivery of the last Magnox fuel elements ever to be manufactured. Meanwhile, Magnox Ltd aims to assist its staff in finding new opportunities in the nuclear industry. Although the manufacture of Magnox fuel was completed in 2008, Springfields noted that it continues to provide a fuel storage, delivery and technical support service to Magnox Ltd.
World Nuclear News 19th Dec 2011 more >>
A short Welsh language film about the brave fight of the family at Caerdegog Farm against attempts to take their land for building Wylfa B. An Anglesey family based at Caerdegog for over 300 years set against the cynical actions of the Nuclear industry and the cowardly silence of councillors and politicians.
Stop Wylfa 19th Dec 2011 more >>
Hinkley
A highly-anticipated independent report on the costs of installing high voltage cables under ground, under sea and over ground will be published on January 31 next year. Campaigners fighting to stop giant pylons being used to take power from the proposed Hinkley C nuclear power station to a substation south of Avonmouth are hoping it will show that alternatives make sense.
Bristol Evening Post 19th Dec 2011 more >>
Hunterston
The picture that dominated media coverage of the fierce storms earlier this month was a wind turbine bursting into flames. But at the same time one of Scotlands nuclear reactors had to be closed down. A 460-megawatt reactor at Hunterston in North Ayrshire was shut for two days because of a problem with local power lines caused by high winds. Critics point out that the burning wind turbine was designed to generate just one megawatt.
Robedwards 19th Dec 2011 more >>
Nuclear Accident
Prof David Smythe: Deficiencies in the existing International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) have become clear in the light of comparisons between the 1986 Chernobyl and 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accidents. First, the scale is essentially a discrete qualitative ranking, not defined beyond event level 7. Second, it was designed as a public relations tool, not an objective scientific scale. Third, its most serious shortcoming is that it conflates magnitude with intensity.
Physics Today 12th Dec 2011 more >>
David Smythe 19th Dec 2011 more >>
Radwaste
Campaigners fighting the dumping of radioactive waste at a plant in Northamptonshire have withdrawn an injunction which aimed to prevent the waste from being received at the site. The group in King’s Cliffe, near Peterborough, had wanted to stop Augean from receiving low-level radioactive waste until an appeal is heard. But they have now withdrawn the case. However the main legal campaign to stop the waste company operating in the area will still go to court in January. Richard Buxton, solicitor for the group, said: “We think it will be very troublesome for Augean to remove waste that has been dumped there, if it is found to be illegal in January so we would expect that it won’t happen.”
BBC 19th Dec 2011 more >>
France
Power systems company Rolls-Royce has secured a EUR250m contract with Areva to supply safety instrumentation and control (I&C) technologies and systems for the French nuclear reactor modernization program. The systems will be deployed in the twenty-strong French fleet of 1300MW nuclear reactors operated by Electricite de France (EDF).
Energy Business Review 20th Dec 2011 more >>
Eureka 19th Dec 2011 more >>
Japan
The prime minister’s declaration that the crisis has been resolved will not be accepted by many people, especially those in Fukushima Prefecture. Mr. Noda’s announcement is political grandstanding designed to give an impression that the plant’s four crippled reactors three of which suffered meltdowns have been completely brought under control. Apparently he wanted to make the announcement before year’s end. It must be emphasized that Tepco and the government’s definition of “cold shutdown” is very different from the nuclear power industry’s traditional definition. The prime minister announced that “cold shutdown” had been achieved because the temperature at the bottom of the pressure vessels and inside the containment vessels have fallen below 100C. The term “cold shutdown” is traditionally used to describe a reactor in normal working order that has reached a state of sub-criticality. If the nuclear fission process is stopped in such a reactor, the temperature inside the reactor falls below 100 C and the nuclear fuel is cooled by the reactor’s own internal cooling system in a stable manner, then a reactor can be said to be in the state of cold shutdown. In this state, no amount of radioactive substances is released from a reactor. In addition, a reactor in a true state of cold shutdown can be easily restarted. The conditions of the stricken reactors at Fukushima No. 1 are completely different from a reactor that is in a true state of cold shutdown. An external cooling system that has been cobbled together uses about 4 km of rubber hosing and was not built to earthquake safety standards so it cannot be considered to be a stable system. Furthermore, while the containment vessels of reactors in true states of cold shutdown can be opened and their fuel rods removed, the melted nuclear fuel in the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 reactors cannot be removed and must be continually kept cool by the external makeshift cooling system. Finally, the reactors could easily suffer additional damage if another strong earthquake strikes, and the pools containing spent nuclear fuel remain in a vulnerable state.
Japan Times 20th Dec 2011 more >>
At least 462 trillion becquerels of radioactive strontium have leaked to the Pacific Ocean since the March disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, making it one of the world’s most severe such cases of marine pollution, according to calculations by The Asahi Shimbun. The Fisheries Agency is doing its own sampling survey to assess the accumulation of radioactive materials in marine life. The newspaper based its calculations on data released by the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., and other sources.
Asahi 19th Dec 2011 more >>
Nuclear power generation in Japan is about 50 percent more expensive than estimated after factoring in the cost of paying for an accident like the Fukushima disaster, a government panel said. Nuclear energy costs at least 8.9 yen (11 cents) per kilowatt hour, compared with a government estimate of 5.9 yen in 2004, the panel said in a draft report today. Coal is estimated to cost 9.5 yen per kilowatt hour, while liquefied natural gas and oil cost 10.7 yen and 36 yen respectively.
Bloomberg 19th Dec 2011 more >>
Despite the recent Fukushima disaster, civil engineering jobs could still be created in Japan’s nuclear sector, after a study revealed that the power source remains cost effective compared to fossil fuels and geothermal generation, even when factoring in increased regulation.
Career Structure 19th Dec 2011 more >>
World Nuclear News 19th Dec 2011 more >>
A new report, described as one of the most definitive accounts to date on the disaster at Japans Fukushima nuclear plant was released last week by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, even as nuclear regulators around the world continue long-term studies of potential post-Fukushima safety improvements. The Special Report on the Nuclear Accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, published by the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO), was released as a public document by the NRC on December 14 and recommended for use by NRC staff in evaluating the promulgation of new rules.
i-Nuclear.com 19th Dec 2011 more >>
South Korea
Recently South Koreas NPPs have had more than a few hiccups, as the Korea Herald recently put it. On the morning of 14 December the Kori NPP suffered a hiccup when a temporary surge of electricity caused the facilitys safety mechanisms to shut the complex down. The incident was preceded 12 hours earlier by an industrial accident at the 1 million kilowatt Uljin NNP complex, about 200 miles southeast of the capital Seoul, which also went offline following a momentary failure of a steam turbine condenser. Two months ago, another mishap at another reactor in the Uljin NNP facility resulted in the reactors shutting down because of a malfunction of a coolant pump.
Oil Price 20th Dec 2011 more >>
North Korea
Finally, we remember the “dear leader”, Kim Jong-il. And as the North Koreans prepare for a funeral, one wonders what they will do at Sellafield to mark his passing. For the bond was a direct one. When Kim was scurrying around for a plutonium production prototype the better to advance his troublesome nuclear weapons programme he looked and looked and couldn’t find anything. But then he got lucky and found within the open scientific literature published by the UK Atomic Energy Authority, detailed blueprints of Britain’s military reactors at Calder Hall on the site of what is now Sellafield. So he cloned it, the result being a five-megawatt electric, gas-cooled, graphite-moderated nuclear reactor at Yongbyon, 90km north of the capital Pyongyang. Like all good students, he knew where to turn for help and had no obvious qualms about copying.
Guardian Diary 19th Dec 2011 more >>
The west must realise that threats and throttling sanctions just don’t work and take this chance to leave all the blame for the past with the dead man and his personality cult, and offer aid, trade and peace with the North Koreans, nukes or not. It’s not a question of “rewarding Pyongyang’s bad behaviour”, nor appeasing the regime, nor need the efficacy of any existing structure monitoring any dealings with dangerous arms or nuclear components be compromised by peace. Anyway, it has been a nuclear power for some years and the sky hasn’t fallen on anyone not least as Beijing won’t allow it. It should be remembered that the north reprised its nuclear bomb programme following claims that it had already done so from George W Bush neocons, who had already reneged on a long-standing deal for North Korea to mothball its nuclear reactors in exchange for light-water technology and fuel oil from the US. They listed the north on the “axis of evil”, and didn’t even bother to produce a dodgy dossier about Pyongyang’s bomb-making, while invading the Middle East on lies. You’d be crazy not to make a bomb in the face of such aggression.
Guardian 19th Dec 2011 more >>
North Korea’s small but potent nuclear arsenal is a source of serious concern if a power struggle breaks out between party leaders and plotting generals following Kim Jong-il’s death, analysts have suggested.
Guardian 19th Dec 2011 more >>
Death of Kim Jong Il leaves the nuclear state in the hands of his playboy son.
Daily Mail 20th Dec 2011 more >>
World leaders warned the country could pose an increased nuclear threat as a new leader likely to be Kims third son looks to assert his authority. But British foreign secretary William Hague wanted the death to mark a turning point and urged North Korea to return to talks over its nuclear programme.
Metro 19th Dec 2011 more >>
Q&A on North Korea’s Nuclear Programme. Most experts say the world should be very worried.
FT 19th Dec 2011 more >>
The death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il could put a brake on talks ultimately aimed at getting the secretive communist state to give up its nuclear weapons programme. Kim Jong Un, the supreme leader’s untested third son and successor, is unlikely to risk any step that could be construed as weakness as he seeks to consolidate control.
Independent 19th Dec 2011 more >>
Kim Jong-il’s death will destabilise an already unstable and nuclear-armed North Korea.
Telegraph 19th Dec 2011 more >>
Estimates of the size of North Korea’s nuclear weapons stockpile range from low single digits to just more than a dozen but there is no certainty the country has built a working bomb.
Telegraph 19th Dec 2011 more >>
North Korea’s neighbours placed their military forces on high alert on Monday as Kim Jong-il’s death threw the region into uncertainty and sparked fears of a show of force from the nuclear-capable communist state.
Telegraph 20th Dec 2011 more >>
Iran
Israel and the US know Iran will not cause its own annihilation. It is the regional hegemony nukes can offer that is the threat.
Guardian 19th Dec 2011 more >>
Nuclear Weapons
SECURITY should not be cut at the Ministry of Defences nuclear facilities, Labour has warned. Shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy said that, while the MoD planned to cut the number of military police by 50 per cent, it was essential there was no reduction in officers guarding the sites at Faslane and Coulport.
Mr Murphy asked defence minister Andrew Robathan in the Commons yesterday: Will you guarantee that there will be no cut in MoD police numbers at the most sensitive of bases, particularly at Faslane and Coulport? But Mr Robathan gave no such guarantee, and said the MoD was looking at ways to organise things better.
Scotsman 20th Dec 2011 more >>
Labour Party Press Release 19th Dec 2011 more >>
Tricycle Theatre goes nuclear. 9th Feb to 1st Apr 2012. The first part of THE BOMB – a partial history, with plays by John Donnelly, Elena Gremina, Amit Gupta, Zinnie Harris and Ron Hutchinson. The second part of THE BOMB – a partial history with plays by Lee Blessing, Ryan Craig, David Greig, Zinnie Harris, Diana Son and Colin Teevan.
Tricycle 19th Dec 2011 more >>
Green Deal
Next year will see the launch of probably the most ambitious government plan for tackling household carbon emissions ever attempted: the Green Deal. If it works, it will be a significant step towards bringing UK emissions down to a sustainable level about a quarter of the country’s carbon budget goes on powering homes, and the Green Deal aims to make 14 million of them more energy-efficient by 2020. But it’s a big ‘if’: the entire scheme rests on public buy-in. If people can’t be persuaded that the Green Deal is a good idea, or respond to their newly lowered household bills by cranking up the thermostat, the scheme will lie in tatters. The government, desperate to avoid looking like they are interfering in people’s lives, has gambled on ‘nudging’ people into taking up the deal, despite widespread concerns that it will take a greater effort to get people to clear out their loft and let the home insulation teams in.
Guardian 19th Dec 2011 more >>
Renewables
Government plans to cut financial incentives for solar electricity will come under challenge at the High Court. Environmental pressure group Friends of the Earth (FoE) and two solar companies – Solarcentury and HomeSun – are launching an application for judicial review. They are challenging Government plans to cut feed-in tariff subsidies – payments made to households and communities that generate green electricity through solar panels – on any installations completed after December 12 this year.
Press Association 20th Dec 2011 more >>
After several failed attempts, the Queen will finally go green today when the final turbine will be installed on a new hydroelectric scheme to power Windsor Castle.
Telegraph 20th Dec 2011 more >>
COUNCILLORS in the Highlands are drawing up plans to ensure communities benefit directly from the development of green energy in their area. A new concordat is to be established setting out the terms of future agreements between renewable energy developers and Highland Council. It is proposed that communities should receive no less than £5,000 per installed megawatt of power per year as compensation for disruption from developments.
Scotsman 20th Dec 2011 more >>
