Nuclear Subsidies
Spending watchdogs have cast doubt on the Government’s plans for a new generation of nuclear power stations without public subsidies. Ministers have pledged that taxpayers will not have to pay for the building and clean up costs of up to 11 new nuclear plants. However a report by the National Audit Office questioned whether energy firms will be willing to pay the full costs, raising the prospect of public subsidies. The report into the sale of British Energy to the French firm EDF for £4.4bn said the Government got a good price. But it points out that there was no condition on the sale that would ensure the new owners will build the next generation of nuclear plants. Also, if EDF cannot pay for all the clean up costs, the Government is still liable. Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, said the sale of British Energy was designed to put the responsibility for a new generation of nuclear plants in private hands. But he said there was no guarantee that Government will not have to step in at some point to help pay for the massive building and clean up costs. Simon Hughes, the Lib Dem energy spokesman, said energy companies have been warning for some time that taxpayers will have to contribute. “The Government’s promises to build new nuclear power stations without public subsidy are virtually worthless when it’s already writing blank cheques to private energy firms,” he said.
Telegraph 22nd Jan 2010 more >>
ADVFN 21st Jan 2010 more >>
ITN 21st Jan 2010 more >>
BRITISH taxpayers may have to foot the bill for a new generation of nuclear power stations that will be run for profit by a foreign firm. Billions of pounds of public cash could be needed to build the plants and put old ones out of action, an official report warned yesterday. French-owned EDF bought the Government’s stake in British Energy last year. But ministers did not seek binding guarantees that EDF would fund new nuclear stations itself, the National Audit Office spending watchdog said.
Daily Express 2nd Jan 2010 more >>
Waste Transport
Under a cloak of heavy security, 14 tonnes of vitrified highly radioactive waste was delivered to Barrow’s Ramsden Dock today by rail from Sellafield and loaded onto the nuclear cargo ship Pacific Sandpiper. The shipment is due to leave Barrow on the high tide early tomorrow morning, Thursday 21st January.
CORE Press Release 20th Jan 2010 more >>
THE first shipment of highly radioactive nuclear waste to leave Barrow Docks was due to set sail for Japan in the early hours of this morning. The reprocessed fuel from Sellafield is expected to be the first of around 17 shipments which will secure jobs at the dock in the decade to come.
NW Evening Mail 21st Jan 2010 more >>
Planning
Friends of the Earth has threatened to launch a legal challenge against the government over its “fundamentally flawed” plans to approve hundreds of new nuclear reactors, power plants, wind farms, electricity pylons and pipelines. The group has written to energy secretary Ed Miliband warning him that government planning statements issued in November breach environmental regulations and had not followed proper consultation. Friends of the Earth said it was also supported by conservation groups, the WWF and RSPB. The energy industry and ministers have been braced for a legal challenge for months, particularly over plans to build as many as 10 new nuclear reactors. Friends of the Earth said it believed the statements, which new planning commission the IPC will use to block or approve applications, would result in Britain “locking-in” to a high-carbon energy infrastructure. It said the IPC should have to directly take into account the carbon emissions resulting from individual applications.
Guardian 22nd Jan 2010 more >>
Supply Chain
Sheffield Forgemasters will join fellow industry leaders and expert advisors at a national conference on nuclear power provision. As a supplier of specialist safety-critical components to the global nuclear power market, Forgemasters’ chief executive Graham Honeyman is among speakers at the second UK Nuclear New Build Conference, which will tackle legal, regulatory and contractual issues for the UK supply chain.
Machinery 21st Jan 2010 more >>
Oldbury
NUCLEAR bosses in Oldbury have said the site’s focus is now turning to decommissioning. Despite extending the nuclear power station’s operations until next year those in charge have confirmed that there are no intentions to generate power beyond the current deadline.
Gloucestershire Gazette 21st Jan 2010 more >>
A GOVERNMENT exhibition is to be held in Thornbury next month outlining plans for the future of nuclear power. The three-day exhibition and public discussion are part of the consultation on the draft National Policy Statement for Energy Infrastructure and the draft Nuclear National Policy Statement. Representatives from the Department for Energy and Climate Change will be on hand discussing the government’s proposal to build a new nuclear power station at Oldbury.
Gloucestershire Gazette 21st Jan 2010 more >>
Thornbury People 21st Jan 2010 more >>
Cumbria
VILLAGERS have stepped up their campaign against plans to build a nuclear power station ahead of today’s public consultation.
NW Evening Mail 21st Jan 2010 more >>
EMERGENCY planners have expressed concern Haverigg could lose one of its biggest employers if a nuclear power station is given the go-ahead. The planners, including police, Sellafield specialists and community leaders met this week to consider what impact new nuclear power stations might have on the “potentially suitable” sites at Kirksanton, near Millom, Braystones, near Egremont, and Sellafield. The chairman of the West Cumbria Stakeholders emergency planning sub committee, David Moore, from Seascale, said: “What emerged is that there are serious emergency planning issues for Braystones and Kirksanton, but no real problems at Sellafield and the scenario we looked at was the building of three reactors – so in these terms Sellafield is looking the preferred site for any new build.”
NW Evening News 21st Jan 2010 more >>
Spain
A small Spanish town council on Thursday voted to house a long-delayed national nuclear waste dump, the only local authority to do so with the Jan. 31 deadline for bids looming, state radio said. The ruling Popular Party in Yebra, 80 km (50 miles) east of Madrid, defeated the Socialist Party group by five votes to two after a heated debate.
World Bulletin 21st Jan 2010 more >>
South Korea
The South Korean nuclear industry, active in its home market for more than three decades, has at last moved on to the world stage. After years of frustration in its ambition to increase nuclear exports, South Korea last month beat US, French and Japanese companies in a hotly contested $20bn deal in the United Arab Emirates. Seoul predicts the deal will open the floodgates and make it the supplier of choice across the developing world. It is forecasting it will sell 80 reactors by 2030, earning some $400bn.
FT 22nd Jan 2010 more >>
The Egyptian government has asked South Korea to help train Egyptian nuclear energy technicians, according to the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). The state-led aid agency said that training could begin within a year.
World Nuclear News 21st Jan 2010 more >>
Iran
Iran’s first nuclear power plant will be operating by mid-2010, Iranian and Russian officials say. The Bushehr plant was begun in 1974 and abandoned five years later. Russia took over building work in the 1990s, but it has been beset with delays.
BBC 21st Jan 2010 more >>
As Iran balks at a confidence-building proposal, the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – the United States, Russia, China, France, and Britain – are increasingly weighing sanctions.
Telegraph 21st Jan 2010 more >>
