Nuclear Finance
The Low Carbon Plan announcements last week revealed how some of the £405M earmarked for green industries in the Budget will be spent: £120M for developing the UK offshore wind industry; £95M for the Wave Hub demonstration and testing facility off the Cornish coast; £22M for the renewable energy proving fund; £15M for a Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre; £10M for renewables testing facilities in Northumberland; £10M for more electric vehicle battery charging infrastructure; £8M for a marine renewables development centre in Orkney; £6M to explore geothermal potential in the south west. Leaving £119 still to be allocated.
New Civil Engineer 22nd July 2009 more >>
Nuclear Skills
Areva, EnBW, Urenco, NOK, Vattenfall and E.ON have decided to set up a ‘European Nuclear Energy Leadership Academy’ to provide theoretical and practical-based nuclear management education. The aim of the academy is to train post-graduates and high potential employees with different backgrounds to become leaders in European nuclear corporations and institutions, Urenco said in a statement on 21 July.
Nuclear Engineering International 22nd July 2009 more >>
Hinkley
ANTI-NUCLEAR campaigners claim a proposed financial deal between local councils and the firm behind plans for a new power station at Hinkley Point would be a ‘conflict of interest’. Somerset County Council, Sedgemoor District Council and West Somerset Council last week announced they are considering asking EDF Energy to fund the planning process for two new reactors at Hinkley under a Planning Performance Agreement. The councils say the move is necessary because the planning application will be so complex and will require experts in so many fields, and because repeated requests for Government funding have failed.
This is the West Country 22nd July 2009 more >>
Wylfa
THE owners of a closure threatened aluminium smelter will today continue discussing an UK Government rescue deal worth almost £50m. Hundreds of jobs will be lost if no deal is agreed to secure the future of the Anglesey Aluminium plant. The factory buys cheap electricity from Wylfa nuclear power station: this deal ends in September when the plant is due to close.
Daily Post 22nd July 2009 more >>
AS we ponder the future of Wylfa nuclear power station the CBI has recently laid out a blueprint for a secure energy future. The dangers of climate change require government to take urgent action to shift the direction of UK energy policy to achieve energy security and a low-carbon future.
Western Mail 22nd July 2009 more >>
People
Barbara Judge has chaired the UK Atomic Energy Authority – for the past five years. The state-owned body vested with dismantling our ageing nuclear plants and, since 2006, providing expertise on building new ones. Sitting in the bland offices of a Mayfair private equity firm (she’s not a director, surprisingly, just a friend of the owner) the nuclear chief is hotly vocal even slightly offended at the state of the UK nuclear industry. When she came over here in 1993, she points out, ‘more than 20 per cent of our energy was delivered by nuclear power. But if we keep decommissioning, then by 2020 just 2 per cent of our power will be delivered by nuclear. And no one’s told me that we will need 18 per cent less power by then.’
Spectator 22nd July 2009 more >>
Companies
IBERDROLA hailed the success of its acquisition of ScottishPower as growth in UK earnings helped compensate for the effects of the sharp slowdown in the economy of its home market in Spain in the first half. The company has been increasing its renewable energy generation capacity in the UK. It has signed an agreement with GDF Suez and Scottish & Southern Energy to compete for a new nuclear build programme in the UK.
Herald 23rd July 2009 more >>
Iran
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has sketched out how the United States might cope with a nuclear Iran – by arming its allies in the Gulf and extending a “defence umbrella” over the region. Her comments drew an immediate rebuke from a senior Israeli official, who said the US should focus on preventing Iran from going nuclear rather than talking as if this may be a fait accompli.
Herald 23rd July 2009 more >>
Guardian 23rd July 2009 more >>
Times 23rd July 2009 more >>
Iran and North Korea will face severe consequences if they do not abandon their nuclear ambitions, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has warned.
BBC 22nd July 2009 more >>
US
The US town of Hanford, in Washington state, is opening up its nuclear secrets to tourists.
BBC 22nd July 2009 more >>
Renewables
About 25 wind turbine workers have occupied their plant on the Isle of Wight – the Vestas Wind Systems factory in Newport – in protest at its imminent closure.
Guardian 22nd July 2009 more >>
The Government was facing a growing credibility gap over green jobs last night as environmental campaigners and trade unionists united to fight the closure of Britain’s sole major wind turbine plant.
Independent 23rd July 2009 more >>
Times 23rd July 2009 more >>
Coal
The biggest single producer of carbon emissions in the European Union has been named – and it is about to get even bigger. The appropriately titled Elektrownia Belchatow – a massive coal-fired power station – belched out 30,862,792 tonnes of CO2 last year and by 2010 the whole generating facility will have grown by 20%. Sandbag said the expansion of Belchatow and the planned construction of 50 coal-fired plants across the European mainland demonstrated that policies such as the EU’s European Trading Scheme (ETS) were not working.
Guadian 23rd July 2009 more >>
Energy Saving
Britons could save 30% of the carbon emissions associated with heating water at home by following simple advice such as lagging pipes and using low-flow taps, according to energy experts. They estimate that installing just a few water-saving measures could save a typical household 225 per year on combined water and energy bills. In a joint report launched today, the Energy Saving Trust (EST) and the Environment Agency examined the carbon impact of domestic water use in the UK. They concluded that heating water would continue to be a major source of carbon emissions from homes in the future unless urgent action was taken to reduce demand and the associated energy losses from inefficient boilers.
Guardian 23rd July 2009 more >>
