NDA
The man in charge of cleaning up Sellafield was paid more than £500,000 last year – for just nine months work. Dr Ian Roxburgh, who stood down as chief executive of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) in December 2008, received £540,593 in salary, bonuses and redundancy payments.
Business Gazette 21st July 2009 more >>
Oldbury
Hydrock Group Ltd has been awarded the preliminary ground investigation contract by E.ON AG for the proposed new nuclear power station at Oldbury in Gloucestershire. Work is due to start on 3 August 2009 and will involve the drilling of some 22 boreholes between 40-meters and 80-meters deep as well as down-hole geophysics and geotechnical testing.
Nuclear Engineering International 21st July 2009 more >>
New Nukes
Paul Golby: The framework set out by the Government in last week’s White Paper and previous policy announcements is designed to enable energy companies to build 12 new nuclear power stations, four new coal-fired power stations with carbon capture and storage and 26GW of offshore wind. We will be looking to fit “smart meters” and domestic heat-management systems; we will supply solar thermal panels where they are appropriate and are looking at the options for air or ground source heat pumps, which take heat from the air and the earth respectively to provide hot water. Soon such equipment will become commonplace, not just the preserve of the enlightened green consumer
Times 21st July 2009 more >>
Renewables
Radiation Free Lakeland has sent a message of support to the workers occupying the Vestas Wind Turbine plant.
Get Noticed Online 21st July 2009 more >>
The government’s green credentials were called into question today by workers staging a sit-in at a wind turbine factory that is due to close this month. Around 30 workers facing redundancy took over the management suite at the Vestas factory on the Isle of Wight. Police reinforcements were brought in but workers claimed they would not leave until the government stepped in to save the factory and more than 500 jobs. One of those barricaded in with sleeping bags and enough food to last days, gave his name as Michael. He argued that it was “crazy” for environment secretary Ed Miliband to be making “statement after statement” about green energy but standing by as the factory closed down. “It would be a tiny step financially to keep this factory open, but it would be a huge statement about the government’s commitment to the green economy,” he said.
Guardian 22nd July 2009 more >>
Times 22nd July 2009 more >>
Myanmar
The United States is concerned about the possible transfer of nuclear technology from North Korea to military-ruled Myanmar.
Reuters 22nd July 2009 more >>
Telegraph 22nd July 2009 more >>
Guardian 22nd July 2009 more >>
France
French state-owned utility EDF is expected to start publishing real-time output data per unit of production before the end of the year, several sources close to the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. EDF operates France’s 58 nuclear reactors, which meet around 80 percent of the country’s electricity demand.
Yahoo 21st July 2009 more >>