Hinkley
Hinkley Point C Review of the Year: The so-called UK nuclear renaissance “increasingly looks less a rebirth than an unsatisfactory assortment of stalling, disjointed projects” according to energy Journalist Tim Probert. At the end of 2014, six years after EDF Energy first announced its intention to develop Hinkley Point C, the Bristol Post says we can finally be reasonably confident the project will go ahead. But the paper still expresses some doubts, because EDF Energy has yet to make the final investment decision and one of its partners, Areva, has some financial challenges: “But in all likelihood the project will be confirmed early in the new year”. Not everyone would be quite so bullish. To many it feels like the project is sleep walking towards disaster. It’s just that no-one is quite sure whether the disaster will be a virtually ‘unconstructable’ power plant struggling to come into operation years late and vastly over-budget or the collapse of the whole project before it even starts.
Stop Hinkley 18th Dec 2014 read more »
Dounreay
In a factory near Bristol, Britain’s newest facility for handling the UK’s legacy of plutonium and uranium is being assembled for testing before it is transported for installation in Scotland.It consists of a series of boxes that will be used to unpack, characterise and repack unirradiated nuclear fuels inherited by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority at Dounreay in 2005 when it took over the site. The £10 million fabrication contract is bringing together suppliers from across the UK with the engineering skills capable of meeting the exacting standards of the nuclear industry. The unirradiated fuel characterisation facility (UFCF) is being assembled and tested at Yate, Bristol, before it is dismantled and taken to Dounreay early in 2015. Dounreay is partway through its decommissioning programme, one of the largest in Europe, and the return of its re-useable fuel inventory to national stocks is a key part of the site closure plan. The NDA inherited approximately 100 tonnes of nuclear fuel at Dounreay – a legacy of 20th century research and development into more efficient ways to generate electricity from fast breeder reactors. The UK-owned fuel began to leave the site in 2012 following the Government decision to consolidate the UK’s fuel inventory at Sellafield in Cumbria.
NDA 19th Dec 2014 read more »
NDA
The NDA has now published the report from the National Event for stakeholders, held near Birmingham at the end of October.
NDA 19th Dec 2014 read more »
Public Opinion
More than half of Britons have backed the use of nuclear power to provide energy across the UK, according to a poll by an energy watchdog. The poll, commissioned by New Nuclear Watch Europe (NNWE), revealed that 58 per cent support nuclear power, with only 22 per cent of the people surveyed opposing it.Tim Yeo, Chairman of NNWE, said: “Nuclear power is part of the solution to the challenge faced by Britain today of providing secure, affordable, safe and greener energy and, as NNWE’s new poll shows, we are very fortunate that people in Britain are more positive about nuclear power, indeed more than in many other countries.
Engineering & Technology 19th Dec 2014 read more »
Radiation Monitoring
Scotland could become unable to respond quickly to nuclear emergencies if staff cuts go ahead at a radiation monitoring station, a source claims. The Glasgow-based Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards (CRCE) is the only facility capable of detecting and responding to radiation threats in Scotland. It was the first laboratory in the UK to detect trace amounts of radioactive fallout following the meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in 2011. The monitoring station is funded by Public Health England, an agency within the UK’s Department of Health. The former Head of Department at CRCE, Ron Wheelton, warned that proposed staff reductions would hamper Scotland’s ability to respond to a nuclear emergency.
Russia Today 18th Dec 2014 read more »
New Reactor Types
60 years after the United States adapted Navy submarine-propulsion technology to build the first civilian nuclear plants, hundreds of scientists and engineers are looking at new kinds of reactors, intended to be safer, cheaper and deployable worldwide. From reactor designs that use sodium instead of water, to those that substantially reduce the waste that lasts thousands of years, the new reactors would represent a significant break from the past. “There’s a whole class of reactors that are not evolutionary concepts relative to what you have out there now — they’re really different,” said Mark T. Peters, associate laboratory director at Argonne National Laboratory, another Energy Department site, this one a few miles southwest of Chicago, that is also deeply involved in new designs. Current reactors use uranium and water under high pressure; new ones could run on thorium, plutonium or more exotic materials, and in place of water might have molten metal.
New York Times 15th Dec 2014 read more »
Capacity Market
Tomorrow, the government will begin spending up to £4bn per year on power stations some of which we do not need. In doing so, it risks compromising all three of the objectives that energy policy is supposed to deliver: security of supply, affordability and low-carbon energy. The capacity market auction will pay companies to keep existing nuclear, coal and gas-fired power stations running and to build new gas-fired units. Just over 50GW of capacity will be funded, at a maximum price of £75 per kW. The power stations will receive this money simply for existing; when they generate, they will also be paid for the electricity they sell. The capacity market was conceived as a way of “keeping the lights on” at a time of increasing renewable generation, and when old coal, gas and nuclear stations were set to close. However, it is designed around the out-dated and over-simplistic notion of 100 per cent renewables back-up: that every 1GW of wind power capacity, for example, needs 1GW of coal- or gas-fired capacity on standby. It is demonstrably untrue; but the myth persists, and the government has bought it, despite advice from legions of experts and counter-examples from more enlightened countries.
IGov 19th Dec 2014 read more »
The provisional results of the capacity market auction have been announced. Overall, around 50 GW of capacity received a capacity payment, about 76% of the MWs entered – which must raise questions whether there was a need for it in the first place. Of that 50 GW about 34 GW (i.e. 68.4%) is existing plant and only around 5% of that 50 GW is new build. Of the 50 GW, 19% is existing coal, whilst Proven and Unproven DSR is only around 175 MW (i.e. 0.36%). In addition, of the 50 GW 89% is for a one year contract in 2018/9.
IGov 19th Dec 2014 read more »
Consumers will need to stump an extra £1bn a year in 2018 to encourage power stations to stay open and keep the lights on, the government confirmed on Friday. A “capacity market” auction undertaken this week by National Grid has ended with a price of £19.40 per kilowatt (kW) being agreed as a subsidy. EDF, the owner of the UK’s existing nuclear fleet, is one of the major provisional winners but other “big six” firms such as E.ON, npower and SSE have also succeeded. The government wanted 48.6GW of power to be guaranteed to be available during 2018. It expected to encourage new gas-fired power stations to be built under new 15-year contracts. In fact 68% of the capacity is to be provided by existing power stations and only 5% by new build.
Guardian 19th Dec 2014 read more »
DECC’s Capacity Market will add £11 to the average consumer bill, according to DECC, of which only £0.53 is funding new infrastructure, and £7.56 will go to the Big-6 for their existing power stations. Old coal plants are being given £293m which is encouraging them to remain open – despite no risk that their closure would impact security of supply.
Sandbag 19th Dec 2014 read more »
The government has agreed to commit £960m of bill-payers money a year to special payments designed to ensure power plants stay on the system – even if they are not generating any power. The money, which was less than had been anticipated, includes a total of £292m for the UK’s existing coal plants from 2018 to ensure they remain online and £780m for the UK’s big six energy companies – according to an analysis by Sandbag. Measures to reduce demand at peak time – and so reduce the need for new capacity – secured less than 1% of the available funds. It means much of the money – from bill-payers – will be spent subsidising plants which are already profitable with a very low share going to new infrastructure.
Greenpeace 19th Dec 2014 read more »
Old coal and gas power plants will be paid more than £900m to stay online over the next decade in a move designed to provide sufficient backup to intermittent renewables, such as wind and solar power, through a new capacity market, the government confirmed today.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) announced the provisional results of its initial capacity market auction, which was carried out this week. During the past three days, 50 companies successfully bid to provide nearly 50GW of back-up generation starting in 2018/19 at a combined cost to billpayers of £960m.
Business Green 19th Dec 2014 read more »
The first of a rolling series of auctions designed to prevent the lights going out in Britain in coming years has ended, at the initial cost to the taxpayer of £1bn. Ed Davey, energy secretary, said competition between participants in the reverse auction has driven down costs below expected levels. “We are guaranteeing security at the lowest cost for consumers,” he added. On Friday Tom Greatrex, Labour’s shadow energy minister, welcomed the broad framework of the policy. However, he repeated his argument that existing nuclear power stations — which cannot vary output in response to short-term peaks and troughs in demand — were being unnecessarily subsidised by the scheme.
FT 19th Dec 2014 read more »
Consumers will pay an £11.40 annual energy bill levy to help keep the lights on from 2018, ministers have announced, amid fears the policy could inadvertently increase the risk of blackouts before then.The Department of Energy and Climate Change said on Friday that it had provisionally agreed to pay £990m in subsidies to power plants to guarantee they could provide enough electricity to meet demand from 2018.The sum is less than had been feared, but experts warned that the controversial scheme could backfire. Some of the power plants that were deemed surplus to requirements for 2018 may actually be needed to keep the lights on in the intervening years – and could now be at risk of closure after failing to win the subsidies.
Telegraph 19th Dec 2014 read more »
Nearly £1 billion of subsidies that will add £11.40 a year to household bills have been given to energy companies to help to keep the lights on. Power stations that won new money under the “capacity market” scheme in a three-day auction this week were announced by the government yesterday.The stations will be paid to be available to generate electricity from 2018. Based on the closing price of the auction, the subsidies will cost consumers less than the £14 a year that the Department of Energy & Climate Change had forecast.However, experts warned that the scheme could increase the risk of blackouts before 2018 because power stations that had bid unsuccessfully for payments could be forced to close. EDF Energy’s nuclear fleet also netted 16 per cent, even though these power stations would be operating anyway, resulting in a £160 million windfall for the company. Cornwall Energy, a consultancy, said: “If the policy objective was status quo at a higher consumer cost, it’s a triumph.”
Times 19th Dec 2014 read more »
Government agrees to pay companies £19.40 per kilowatt to keep fossil fuel power plants available: Only five per cent of projects included in capacity market are new builds; Coal and biomass plants account for 20 per cent of the capacity made available under the market; Scheme expected to add £11 to consumer bills, of which only 54 pence goes towards building new, less carbon intensive, capacity
Carbon Brief 19th Dec 2014 read more »
Politics
The Labour party are losing votes to the Greens and they don’t seem to know what to do about it. Until now, Ed Miliband’s hopes of winning the next election relied on holding onto a coalition of core Labour supporters, former Lib Dems and previously disaffected Labour sympathisers.However recent polls have shown this coalition is splintering, with left-wing voters increasingly switching their allegiance to the Greens instead.
Politics.co.uk 19th Dec 2014 read more »
Emergency Planning
Nuclear emergency response post exercise reports produced by the Ministry of Defence.
MoD 19th Dec 2014 read more »
Terror
Nuclear sites vulnerable to cyberattacks. North Korean hackers attacked South Korean nuclear power plants.
CNN 19th Dec 2014 read more »
Fears about the vulnerability of critical infrastructure to hacking attacks were underscored on Thursday when Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power, the national nuclear power plant operator, reported that internal data had been stolen by hackers. Two years ago, North Korea was accused by South Korean authorities of jamming GPS systems around Seoul’s international airports. “We should be worried that North Korean hackers could paralyse operations at major infrastructure facilities related to electricity, gas supply or transportation,” said Kwon Seok-chul, head of the internet security group Cuvepia. “Their hacking capacity should not be looked down on.”
FT 19th Dec 2014 read more »
The US government is not fully prepared to handle a nuclear terrorist attack or a large-scale natural disaster, lacking effective co-ordination, congressional investigators have found. A report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) did not always keep track of disaster efforts by agencies, hampering the nation’s preparedness even after Superstorm Sandy in 2012.
Irish Examiner 20th Dec 2014 read more »
Japan
As restarts slowly pick up, what can we expect from Japan’s nuclear industry in 2015 and beyond, and what does it mean for the UK? – a report by the British Embassy in Tokyo.
Foreign Office 19th Dec 2014 read more »
US – Radwaste
Yucca Mountain backers may have been a little, shall we say premature, in their glee two months ago when the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), under court order, released Volume 3 of the Safety Evaluation Report (SER) for the project. That section of the SER concluded that the Department of Energy’s design for the Yucca Mountain project indicates “compliance with the performance objectives and requirements that apply after the repository is permanently closed.” Those Yucca cheerleaders were unrestrained in their exuberance. As we reported at the time, House Energy Committee chair Fred Upton (R-MI) called the report “game-changing,” and said the American public can now have confidence that the repository would be in fact “safe for a million years.” Other cheerleaders issued similar rah rah statements. Of course, as we also pointed out at the time, even the NRC urged caution: “Publication of Volume 3 does not signal whether the NRC might authorize construction of the repository,” the NRC stated in a press release accompanying release of the volume. Rep. Upton et al would have done well to heed the NRC’s warning, because yesterday, the other shoe dropped when the NRC released Volume 4 of the SER. Oops. That volume points out a little problem for the project: The Department of Energy does not have the water rights necessary for the project, nor does it control the land necessary for the project.
Green World 19th Dec 2014 read more »
A final report by independent researchers shows the radiation leak from the federal government’s underground nuclear waste repository in southern New Mexico was small and localized.The report released Thursday by the Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring and Research Center also says no negative health effects are expected among workers or the public.
Washington Times 18th Dec 2014 read more »
Germany
Energy demand in Germany is set to fall by nearly five per cent over the course of this year, new figures this week predict, providing further evidence the government’s Energiewende transition to a low carbon energy system is starting to build momentum. According to predictions by the industry-backed group AG Energiebilanzen (Energy Balances), German energy use fell to 445.5 million tonnes of coal equivalent this year, a drop of 4.8 per cent compared to 2013.
Business Green 19th Dec 2014 read more »
India
India is offering to set up an insurance pool to indemnify global nuclear suppliers against liability in the case of a nuclear accident, in a bid to unblock billions of dollars in trade held up by concerns over exposure to risk. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is hoping the plan will be enough to convince major U.S. companies such as General Electric to enter the Indian market ahead of President Barack Obama’s visit at the end of next month.
Reuters 19th Dec 2014 read more »
Iran
Iran has continued to meet commitments under an interim nuclear agreement with six world powers, a confidential U.N. agency report showed, though Tehran temporarily halted conversion work that makes higher-grade uranium less suitable for bombs.
Reuters 19th Dec 2014 read more »
Nuclear Weapons
Quakers in Britain are calling on politicians to find the moral courage and political leadership to work for a nuclear ban treaty. They are encouraging the UK government to meet all those who are actively working towards a world free of nuclear weapons, following strong calls from Scotland and Wales. The appeal comes in an open letter to Foreign Secretary, the Rt Hon Phillip Hammond, MP.
Ekklesia 19th Dec 2014 read more »
Decentralised Energy
Executives from E.ON, Germany’s biggest utility, announced plans today to leave the centralized power business in order to focus exclusively on distributed energy and “empowering customers.” In a strategy approved by the utility’s advisory board yesterday, E.ON is preparing to split into two separate companies sometime next year. The new (as-yet-unnamed) company will take on the company’s coal, gas and nuclear assets, as well as its trading business and hydropower plants. Once the spinoff is complete in 2016, E.ON will focus exclusively on renewable energy, energy efficiency, digitizing the distribution network and enabling customer-sited energy sources like storage paired with solar. The reformed utility will be active in Europe, North America and Turkey. Renewables aren’t just revolutionizing power generation. Together with other technological innovations, they’re changing the role of customers, who can already use solar panels to produce a portion of their energy. As energy storage devices become more prevalent, customers will be able to make themselves largely independent of the conventional power and gas supply network.The proportion of customers that want to play a more active role in designing their energy supply is growing steadily. Above all, they want clean, sustainable energy that they can use efficiently and in a way that conserves resources.
Green Tech Media 1st Dec 2014 read more »
Microgeneration
This week’s Micro Power News: £3m for PV on social housing in Manchester; East Lancs Health Board goes solar; 740 industrial estates in Scotland suitable for a wind turbine.
Microgen Scotland 19th Dec 2014 read more »
Renewables – solar
The biggest solar farm in the UK, capable of powering 14,000 homes a year, has been connected to the national grid in Oxfordshire. The 46MW Landmead solar farm, in East Hanney near Abingdon, is built on low-grade farmland used for grazing sheep, which will remain along with new wildflowers to be planted as part of efforts to improve the site’s biodiversity.In October, Liz Truss, the environment secretary, attacked solar power projects built on farmland, saying they were hitting food production and announced that farmers would lose agricultural subsidies if they allowed solar panels on farmland.Truss’s intervention comes after a decision earlier in the year by the Department of Energy and Climate Change to bring forward the end of the current subsidy regime for large solar farms, with ministers saying they wanted to see more solar on building’s rooftops and less mounted on the ground. Toddington Harper, chief executive of Belectric, the company that co-owns Landmead with First Solar, said the changes did not mean the end of such large-scale projects.
Guardian 19th Dec 2014 read more »
Renewables – tidal
Construction of the largest planned tidal energy project in the world is expected to begin off the Scottish coast next month, developers have announced. Atlantis, majority owner of the MeyGen project, said it had finalised all of the conditions required to initiate its first drawdown from financiers The Crown Estate and Scottish Enterprise. The project has the potential to power nearly 175,000 homes through a network of 269 turbines on the seabed at Ness of Quoys in Caithness, north-east Scotland.
Guardian 19th Dec 2014 read more »
Renewables – wave
Funding for wave power, seen as a potentially huge and clean source of energy for the UK, has become uncertain as investors pull out or are unwilling to invest, according to a new report. Both the public and private sector are reluctant to invest, says the report by the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (ORE), a government-funded innovation centre. “This market is strategically important to the UK but is on the brink of foundering. It is crucial that action is taken to bolster the prospects of the industry,” it says. The warning follows the recent collapse of Pelamis Wave Power and financial difficulties at Aquamarine Power, and claims that the Scottish government has abandoned wave power.
Guardian 19th Dec 2014 read more »
Renewables – offshore wind
The owner of British Gas has marked its latest retreat from offshore wind after selling its interest in a project in the Irish Sea to a Danish group for £50 million. Centrica’s sale of its 50 per cent stake to Dong Energy in the Barrow project, above, whose 30 turbines supply power to 90,000 homes when the wind blows, leaves the group with interests in only two small operational UK offshore wind farms. Offshore wind farms are highly capital intensive, costing up to twice as much to build as onshore projects. Centrica’s strategy had been to raise capital to fund new projects by selling operational wind farms it has helped to develop. However, its pipeline of new offshore projects is empty as the economics of wind farms, one of the most expensive ways to generate renewable electricity, becomes increasingly unattractive.
Times 20th Dec 2014 read more »
Renewables – Scotland
THE amount of clean power made in Scotland has matched that produced from fossil fuels for the first time, in a record year for renewables, ¬according to the latest figures. Energy from renewable sources accounted for 32 per cent of all electricity generated north of the Border last year – equal to the output from oil, coal and gas. Nuclear power stations provided 34.9 per cent. The final 2013 figures from the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), released yesterday, also show Scotland continued to be a net exporter of power, with a record 28 per cent being sent elsewhere, mainly to England. The key drivers of the overall rise were a 39 per cent increase in hydro generation and 13 per cent more output from wind.
Scotsman 19th Dec 2014 read more »
Click Green 18th Dec 2014 read more »
