Nuclear Research
British hopes of seeing a raft of shiny new nuclear power stations coming online by 2025 have suffered another blow after peers denounced the governments plans as simply lacking credibility. The coalition has become complacent, with an absence of leadership and strategic thinking over the programme, the House of Lords science and technology select committee has found. In a forthright report, it said low spending on research and development into the technology risks putting Britains future nuclear aspirations in jeopardy.
This is Money 22nd Nov 2011 more >>
Chemical Engineer 22nd Nov 2011 more >>
World Nuclear News 22nd Nov 2011 more >>
Nuclear Engineering International 22nd Nov 2011 more >>
New Civil Engineer 22nd Nov 2011 more >>
The Register 22nd Nov 2011 more >>
The noble Lords of the Upper House has delivered a stinging criticism of successive governments failure to invest in research and development of vital nuclear energy and has concluded that there is no credible plan to effectively use nuclear energy to meet the 2050 climate targets. This is the verdict of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee. In essence, the committee says that the government is abdicating responsibility to ensure nuclear energy is a viable option for the future. According to government policy nuclear energy would deliver 16 Gigawatts of power by 2025 and increase that up to 40% by 2050. But the committee says there is no roadmap or plan to get there.
eGov monitor 22nd Nov 2011 more >>
The government’s reliance on nuclear power to meet up to half of UK power demand by 2050 could come unstuck because of a lack of expertise in the industry, a select committee has warned.
Planning 22nd Nov 2011 more >>
Sizewell
CONSERVATION projects on the Suffolk coast are set to benefit from a new fund set up to mitigate the impact of new development at the Sizewell nuclear power site.
East Anglia Daily Times 22nd Nov 2011 more >>
Dounreay
Councils would be advised in advance about the movement of nuclear fuel from Dounreay by rail, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has said. The NDA has sought approval from two independent regulatory bodies for its plan to transport breeder material to Sellafield for reprocessing. Local authorities would receive some information to pass on to communities. However, the NDA said the exact timings of the trains and security measures would remain confidential. Dounreay’s other materials containing plutonium are the subject of an NDA assessment of how best to manage it. One of the options is to transport it to Sellafield. The NDA is expected to publish a paper on the assessment early next year.
BBC 22nd Nov 2011 more >>
Nuclear fuel from a decommissioned site is to be transported by train through Cumbria from Scotland, under plans from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). The NDA wants to use special freight trains to carry tonnes of nuclear fuel from Dounreay in Caithness to Sellafield in Cumbria. The material will be reprocessed and stored at Sellafield, which is better placed to deal with the material. It will take between four and five years to move the material, which comes from the site’s two breeder nuclear reactors. Forty-four tonnes will be moved in around 40 journeys between Scotland and Cumbria.
Carlisle News and Star 22nd Nov 2011 more >>
Press & Journal 22nd Nov 2011 more >>
A new owner of the company leading the demolition and clean-up of the Dounreay nuclear plant in Caithness is expected to be announced later. Caithness Solutions and Babcock Dounreay Partnership have been bidding to take over Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) from the UKAEA. Caithness Solutions comprises of Cheshire-registered engineering firm Amec and Salt Lake City-based nuclear services company EnergySolutions. Babcock Dounreay Partnership involves London headquartered Babcock, US-based CH2M Hill and URS, which has its headquarters in San Francisco.
BBC 23rd Nov 2011 more >>
Torness
EDF Energy stopped its 640-megawatt (MW) Torness 1 nuclear reactor on Tuesday due to a grid connection issue.
Reuters 22nd Nov 2011 more >>
Staff and contractors at Torness Nuclear Power Station at Dunbar have taken safety to a new level, achieving more than 1,000 days without an injury at work.
East Lothian News 22nd Nov 2011 more >>
Dalgety Bay
THE Ministry of Defence has been given three months to devise a credible, long-term plan to tackle radioactive pollution on Dalgety Bay, after the most dangerous particle yet was found on the beach. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has warned it will make the Fife beauty spot the first designated Radioactive Contaminated Land area in Scotland if a solution is not found by the end of February. At that stage, legal action would begin to force the MoD to take action. The move follows a meeting of the Dalgety Bay Forum yesterday, involving representatives of Sepa, the Scottish Government and the MoD, where it was revealed that three more radioactive clusters were found at the weekend. One of those measured 76 megabecquerels (MBq), the highest reading ever found on the stretch of Fife coastline. The previous highest was 13MBq. The other two found at the weekend measured 3.6MBq and 4.5MBq.
Scotsman 23rd Nov 2011 more >>
Herald 23rd Nov 2011 more >>
Radhealth
Monbiot: Chris Busbys theories on the Fukushima nuclear disaster and a ‘leukaemia cluster’ in north Wales are baseless scaremongering even the anti-nuclear lobby must oppose him
Guardian 22nd Nov 2011 more >>
Areva
Areva wants to sell its 63 percent stake in Canadian gold mining company La Mancha and close U.S. nuclear fuel plants in Virginia and Tennessee as part of a plan to shore up its finances, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday, without saying where it got the information. The plan, to be presented next month, includes 1,000 to 1,200 job cuts in France through attrition and voluntary departures, and plant closures in Germany and Belgium, AFP said. The company aims to save 500 million euros ($677 million) in 2013, and 750 million euros annually from 2015, the news agency said. Areva yesterday denied AFPs report about job cuts in France.
Bloomberg 22nd Nov 2011 more >>
France
Anti-nuclear activists are protesting as a train carrying highly radioactive waste prepares to cross France en route to a German storage facility. Demonstrators fear the transport is a major accident waiting to happen.
Euro News 22nd Nov 2011 more >>
Japan
Fukushima nuclear crisis update 18th to 21st November.
Greenpeace International 22nd Nov 2011 more >>
As our team in Japan continues to monitor the radioactive contamination of land and sea that resulted from the destruction of the Fukushima Daiichi reactors, were still finding very disturbing evidence. The results of another round of analysis of seafood caught in Japanese waters are in and show us once again that the Japanese government and retailers are still not doing enough to protect people from the contamination.
Greenpeace International 22nd Nov 2011 more >>
8 percent of Japan’s land area, or more than 30,000 square kilometers, has been contaminated with radioactive cesium from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant after it was damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami on March 11, according to the science ministry.
Pan Orient News 22nd Nov 2011 more >>
ABC 22nd Nov 2011 more >>
Iran
Iran has dismissed new Western sanctions imposed against it because of growing concerns about its nuclear programme. A senior Iranian official said the sanctions would unite the Iranian people, would have no impact and would be “in vain”.
BBC 22nd Nov 2011 more >>
Israel
Syria has claimed Israel represents a “grave and serious threat” at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The accusation, about Israel’s nuclear capabilities, was made by Syrian delegate Bassam al-Sabbagh. But according to another delegate present, comments made by other Arab nations were less hostile towards Israel than on previous occasions.
Jewish Chronicle 22nd Nov 2011 more >>
UAE
Atkins has been appointed to act as lenders technical adviser for the United Arab Emirates civil nuclear energy programme. Atkins will be responsible for providing an independent technical assessment of the programme which will deliver four new reactors under the leadership of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC). Atkins advice will inform the investment decision of the private lenders a combination of Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) and commercial banks.
Nuclear Engineering International 22nd Nov 2011 more >>
India
The Indian government wants the country’s economic growth to continue, but needs power to fuel it. Coastal areas in states like Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra may be transformed by the building of nuclear plants. But some local people are not happy.
BBC 22nd Nov 2011 more >>
Shale Gas
The UK will fail to meet its climate change targets if industry and politicians back controversial new plans to go ahead with widespread drilling for shale gas, according to a report published on Wednesday. About 2tr cubic feet of natural gas trapped in dense shale rocks is estimated to lie beneath Lancashire according to Cuadrilla Resources, the main shale gas company operating in the UK. Further exploration in Wales, Scotland and other parts of England could add substantially to this total. But burning it for fuel results in large-scale carbon dioxide emissions, and scientists from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Research, in a report commissioned by the Cooperative Group, warned that exploiting even a minor proportion of this gas would generate so much carbon dioxide that the government’s greenhouse gas emissions targets would be rendered unreachable. Paul Monaghan, head of social goals at the Cooperative, said: “It is shocking how little scrutiny and thoughtful consideration has been demonstrated by the UK government and its environmental agencies when it comes to shale gas. Not least because, evidence is now emerging which indicates that gas derived from shale may have a significantly greater carbon footprint than previously thought, seriously questioning whether it can play any role in the transition to a low-carbon economy. The calls from ‘big gas’ for the abandonment of renewables targets must be rebuffed, and here is the science to do just that.”
Guardian 23rd Nov 2011 more >>
Independent 23rd Nov 2011 more >>
Renewables
Solar subsidy cuts damage UK’s attractiveness to clean energy investors. Ernst & Young quarterly survey sees UK fall to sixth among 40 countries analysed, as emerging economies start to rise
Business Green 22nd Nov 2011 more >>
Global investment in renewable energy infrastructure will double over the next 10 years, soaring to $395bn a year by 2020, according to a major new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).
Business Green 16th Nov 2011 more >>
The coalition will seek to head off one of the biggest rebellions on policy yet on Wednesday when MPs debate drastic cuts to the subsidies that have sparked a 39,000-job boom in solar power. More than 20 Liberal Democrat MPs are likely to vote against the plans, in a revolt that observers say is likely to outdo the vote on tuition fees, when 21 of the party’s number broke ranks. The rebellion extends to ministerial level, with Norman Baker, the transport minister, writing to the climate secretary and fellow Lib Dem Chris Huhne to protest about the cuts, under which incentives to install solar panels would be halved, with potentially disastrous results for the fledgling industry. Baker said: “I have reservations about the speed and level of the proposed changes for community size projects [usually for panels to be installed on social housing] and I am therefore asking the secretary of state to examine urgently the case for some flexibility to mitigate any adverse effects of the changes.”
Guardian 22nd Nov 2011 more >>
Fuel Poverty
Fuel Poverty Action Group campaigns outside EDF Energy headquarters to highlight awareness of the 25,700 excess winter deaths in the UK in 2010-11
Guardian 22nd Nov 2011 more >>
Take Action to End Fuel Poverty.
Greenpeace 22nd Nov 2011 more >>
