Nuclear Siting
Labour’s next generation of nuclear power plants could be built on land at high risk of flooding, it emerged yesterday. Ministers have refused to rule out building the controversial reactors in areas vulnerable to rising sea levels, flash floods and burst river banks. Environmentally sensitive parts of the UK – areas of outstanding natural beauty or those that are home to rare wildlife – could also be used, according to draft guidance from the Department for Business.
Daily Mail 23rd July 2008 more >>
BBC 22nd July 2008 more >>
Construction News 22nd July 2008 more >>
Independent 22nd July 2008 more >>
The government begun the decision-making process to choose sites for a new generation of nuclear power stations in the UK. Today saw the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform issuing a consultation on how to set criteria for choosing suitable sites for nuclear plants.
New Energy Focus 22nd July 2008 more >>
Draft criteria and process for siting potential new nuclear power stations published. The detailed criteria and process for assessing where new nuclear power stations could safely and securely be built across England and Wales have been set out by the Government today. The consultation on the Strategic Siting Assessment outlines the process the Government will use for identifying suitable sites for new nuclear power stations. The Government is proposing to invite third parties to nominate sites which it will then assess against a range of criteria.
BERR Press Release 22nd July 2008 more >>
Justification
Nuclear Industry Association Justification Application.
DEFRA July 2008 more >>
New Nukes
Jeremy Leggett: When nuclear fans accuse clean-tech advocates of dreaming about the prospects for renewables, it seems ever more likely that a simple response will suffice: “Go nuclear? Good luck.”
Guardian 22nd July 2008 more >>
Sellafield
When it was revealed last year that Ian McCartney was being paid more than £110,000 a year to advise the American nuclear power giant Fluor – just months after he quit as Trade minister – the pint-sized Scot was accused of filling his boots. The former Labour Party chairman’s involvement came under the spotlight when it emerged that Fluor was part of a consortium bidding for a £5bn contract to take over the running of the Sellafield plant. Quite how much longer his services will be relied upon, however, remains to be seen. It has been confirmed that Fluor has lost out in the bidding to its British rival Amec. To make matters worse, Amec had recruited McCartney’s former colleague, the ex-Sports minister Richard Caborn, whose advisory services came in rather cheaper at £75,000.
Independent 23rd July 2008 more >>
NDA
Publishing its 2007-08 accounts, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) confirmed that the cost has increased from the £63bn calculated in the 2006-07 accounts.
EDIE 22nd July 2008 more >>
Companies
Amec has bought specialist nuclear services company AllDeco for £11.1 million in cash. This acquisition will further strengthen Amec’s position in the nuclear sector, having been recently named as a member of the consortium appointed preferred bidder in the Sellafield competition. AllDeco has principal locations in Slovakia and the Czech Republic and employs 112 nuclear engineers, designers, chemists and operators.
Construction News 22nd July 2008 more >>
AFX 22nd July 2008 more >>
China
China’s earthquake-hit Sichuan province hopes to build its first nuclear power plant within as little as five years, but has chosen a site it says is geologically sound, state media said on Wednesday.
Reuters 23rd July 2008 more >>
India
Prime minister Manmohan Singh won a vote of confidence in India’s parliament yesterday with a comfortable margin. The opposition had demanded the premier’s resignation after three MPs alleged they had been bribed to abstain, but the government won the vote 275 to 256, ensuring the immediate survival of the ruling coalition and of a civilian nuclear deal with the US.
Hedgeweek 23rd July 2008 more >>
Guardian 23rd July 2008 more >>
Scotsman 23rd July 2008 more >>
Independent 23rd July 2008 more >>
Times 23rd July 2008 more >>
Proliferation
William Hague will today commit an incoming Tory government to work with the new US president to tackle “a new age of nuclear insecurity” and lead the fight against nuclear proliferation. He fears the world may be living through a short-lived golden period where people are free from the threat of nuclear weapons, an era which started with the fall of the iron curtain and which could end in the next decade, as more states acquire nuclear weapons.
FT 23rd July 2008 more >>
Renewables
Vast farms of solar panels in the Sahara could provide clean electricity for the whole of Europe, according to EU scientists working on a plan to pool the region’s renewable energy. Harnessing the power of the desert sun is at the centre of an ambitious scheme to build a 45bn (£35.7bn) European supergrid that would allow countries across the continent to share electricity from abundant green sources such as wind energy in the UK and Denmark, and geothermal energy from Iceland and Italy. The idea is gaining political support in Europe, with Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, recently backing the north African solar plan.
Guardian 23rd July 2008 more >>
Energy Efficiency
Britain could cut its domestic fuel bills by £4.6bn a year if it adopted a series of energy saving measures, according to a report out today. An energy saving trial involving 64 households across eight cities organised by British Gas and monitored by the thinktank, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), also found that families cut their carbon emissions by a fifth. British Gas managing director, Phil Bentley said: “Reducing energy consumption is the single most important thing households can do to reduce bills and cut emissions.”
Guardian 23rd July 2008 more >>
