Hinkley
The Stop Hinkley Campaign today declared the campaign against the proposals to build a new nuclear station at Hinkley Point C as far from over. All national newspapers have expressed disquiet about these proposals, and today one described the deal with China as “sheer folly”. Stop Hinkley spokesperson Roy Pumfrey said “there is still every possibility that this reckless plan will be defeated. This will be the eighth time that EDF Energy has announced that a final investment decision is just around the corner. Jean-Bernard Levy, chairman of EDF, claims that hundreds of workers could be starting work on the construction of two new reactors at the site by the end of the year. But given the number of issues still to be resolved one has to wonder which year he is talking about. The EPR Reactor is the Windows 8 of the Energy World. Why would anyone buy that when Windows 10 is already available,”said Pumfrey. Renewable energy is going from strength to strength. Solar photovoltaics could provide the same amount of electricity as Hinkley Point C for half the subsidy cost and onshore wind and solar are both likely to be competitive without subsidy in the next decade. Apart from the archaeological discoveries on site the only successful thing about the Hinkley Point C project is EDF’s news management. After yesterday’s announcements we now know it won’t be ready before 2025 at the earliest; that the Chinese are not willing to invest as much as EDF wanted; so there is a£10bn black hole in the finances and there is still no signed contract with the UK Government. So not really any progress at all – a false dawn.”
Stop Hinkley 22nd Oct 2015 read more »
The Hinkley Point nuclear reactor could be producing power in 2025 after the UK Government secured a £8bn investment from its Chinese counterpart yesterday. Predictably, the announcement prompted outcry around the renewables and sustainability industry, as various trade groups were baffled by the subsidy support being handed out to nuclear at a time when green subsidies are being cut to the bone. Here are five things you need to know about the Hinkley plant in a sustainability context. It cost more than renewable energy; The estimated £24bn total cost of the project could deliver six times the power-generation capacity through investment in wind turbines, according to reseach from Bloomberg New Energy Finance; More research is needed to limit the environmental impact of nuclear waste; there is no guarantee that the quoted targets of 2025 for power generation and a cost of £24bn will ever be met; A survey of more than 2,000 adults by Populus, commissioned by Greenpeace, found that just 10% strongly supported it and 18% slightly supported it. However 17% slightly opposed and 17% strongly opposed, with the biggest section of respondents (37%) saying they didnt have an opinion or didn’t know. By contrast, in the Governments own survey of public opinion, 74% of respondents supported offshore wind and 68% supported onshore wind.
Edie 22nd Oct 2015 read more »
A leading City broker has called on investors to sell their shares in EDF, saying it has “long-term concerns” about the financial stresses on the French energy group from the £18bn Hinkley Point C nuclear project in Somerset. The sell note from Investec Securities comes a day after EDF signed a deal with China General Nuclear Corporation and said it would start work within weeks on the UK’s first new nuclear plant for 20 years. The government has finally admitted what had been denied for years – that the contract for difference aid mechanism for the power station is effectively a state subsidy. But the state visit to Britain of the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, was used as a platform to effectively launch the Hinkley scheme that EDF now says will be funded by debt and not underwritten by UK government guarantees. Investec believes this will be difficult for EDF at a time when a new French energy law means the company must close some of its power stations while being encouraged to bail out its troubled engineering partner, Areva, through a merger. EDF is also under financial stress because a new nuclear plant at Flamanville in Normandy, north-west France, has run far over budget and been hit by delays.
Guardian 22nd Oct 2015 read more »
The Hinkley Point nuclear deal means that China and France are one step closer to controlling a stake in Britain’s nuclear power industry. China’s General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) will join France’s EDF to provide energy for the UK from 2025 but while the technology is regarded as cleaner, there are still concerns over safety. At the Flamanville reactor in France, where the Chinese and French companies are building the first of these new generation reactors, the nuclear watchdog is warning there are problems with the vessel that holds the reactor. Deputy Director General of the French nuclear regulator ASN, Julien Collet, told ITV News that there were concerns over the main pressure vessel, the main component of the nuclear reactor. The flawed pressure vessel is now being tested by its manufacturers Areva and ASN but it is not clear what will happen next. Collet said it is not certain whether parts of the reactor can be replaced easily. An alternative is to limit the reactor’s operation. But the chief executive of EDF Energy, Vincent de Rivaz said EDF and CGN are confident that the technology is going to work and will be safe. He said that the problem in Flamanville is “totally under control” and that there are “no worries at all” about what is happening in France.
ITV 21st Oct 2015 read more »
Emma Britton; BBC Somerset: EDF Energy says it expects the first reactor at Hinkley Point C to be ready in 2025 after a deal was announced that will see China pay £6bn for a one-third stake.
BBC 22nd Oct 2015 read more »
China’s nuclear investment into the UK raises more questions than it answers, writes Oliver Tickell. The £6bn committed is nowhere near enough to see Hinkley C to completion, and EDF has few options for raising the rest elsewhere. The only answer is more Chinese money, and it won’t come cheap – not for Britain, nor indeed for France’s vulnerable nuclear corporations. tThe nuclear deal is not all it seems. In fact it’s a veritable dogs’ dinner of surprises, quirks and oddities which throw up many more questions than answers. And it still leaves the key question wide open. Will Hinkley C ever actually be built? For all the claims that EDF’s ‘final investment decision’ is a mere formality that will be made in weeks, it is no such thing. In fact, there is more reason than ever to doubt it. The official announcement, speeches and press releases may give the firm impression that it’s all a done deal. But look harder and it’s all stitched together with paperclips and sellotape and could fall apart at any moment. Under the deal agreed with the Commission, the Flamanville EPR project must be up and running before the guarantees come into effect. And until that time, the shareholders must provide billions in ‘contingent equity’ to cover the bondholders’ risk, protecting UK taxpayers.
Ecologist 22nd Oct 2015 read more »
Britain could have six times the power-generation capacity for the same money by investing in wind turbines instead of the 24.5 billion-pound ($37.9 billion) Hinkley Point nuclear reactor. That’s the conclusion of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a London-based researcher that estimates the cost of power from renewables in the U.K. are rivaling fossil fuels even without subsidy. Wind easily beats the more expensive nuclear plant that Electricite de France SA is building with the support of investment from China.
Bloomberg 21st Oct 2015 read more »
Anti-nuclear campaigners have raised concerns about the impact a new plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset could have on those living in south Wales, as agreements over its funding are reached. EDF Energy confirmed the final cost would be £18bn and China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) will pay £6bn for one third of it. BBC Wales’ environment correspondent Iolo ap Dafydd reports.
BBC 21st Oct 2015 read more »
Our PM has just come up with a delightful gift for his Chinese guest, all wrapped up in debt guarantees and subsidies: Britain’s nuclear power industry. Mr Xi’s not only getting a third of the priciest power plant on the planet, Somerset’s Hinkley Point C, either. No, he’s also been handed a fifth of Suffolk’s Sizewell B and two thirds of Bradwell B in Essex, the international test-bed for China’s “third-generation Hualong 1,000MW reactor”, so exciting it’s not yet operational anywhere. So how did Mr Xi react to all that? He signed up smartish, of course, bringing a warm glow to his entourage, if not Britain’s security experts. What a cause for celebration. Except that it’s not — because the whole caper is an ideological nonsense. The government’s been so adamant there would be no state money for new British nuclear that it’s been forced to turn to a state-backed Chinese company and its partner, France’s state-backed EDF Energy — a situation exacerbated by having sold Westinghouse for a song, leaving the UK at the mercy of untried foreign technology. Now the only way Britain can build new nukes is to bribe foreign governments. Deutsche Bank reckons the oil price would have to average a real $150 “through to the middle of the next century” to justify that. So why is Mr Cameron subsidising exorbitant nuclear, while slashing subsidies for renewables? And why’s he trying to predict energy prices out to 2060, anyway? On current trends, they’ll be less than they are now, thanks to the likes of shale and solar.
Times 22nd Oct 2015 read more »
Just weeks after slashing subsidies to solar and wind energy, the UK conservative government has signed a deal with Chinese and French state-owned firms to subsidise the construction of the £24 billion ($A50bn) Hinkley Point C nuclear reactor. It will be the most expensive power plant ever constructed in the world, and the 3.2GW facility has already been dubbed – even by Britain’s conservative press – as possibly the biggest white elephant.
Renew Economy 23rd Oct 2015 read more »
The Government has been relentlessly strangling the UK’s green energy sector, arguing that this is all part of their campaign to reduce energy bills for consumers. Now, not only are we risking inflating our energy bills in the future, but we are also at risk of handing control of our future energy security to China. For the Government to suggest that renewable energy subsidies were axed due to the impact they had on homeowner’s energy bills, and then to agree a strike price more than twice the current wholesale price for electricity generated by Hinkley Point, seems utterly backwards. Similarly, our stance on renewable energy is totally at odds with the progressive approach the rest of the world is adopting. Rather than supporting technologies, such as onshore wind and solar, that are readily deployable, popular with the public and increasingly cost-competitive, the Government has chosen to back a generation method that is ten years away at best. On top of that, it comes at a price that will almost certainly increase energy bills for homes and businesses alike. If the Government focused instead on improving our energy infrastructure and allowing cheap, clean renewable energy solutions to be more easily deployed, we would be able to bolster our capacity margin much more quickly without relying on polluting fossil fuels. Furthermore, we would be better able to retain our position as a world leader for the development of renewable energy, a position that is increasingly being questioned in the build up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris.
Energy Voice 23rd Oct 2015 read more »
Q&A on China’s investment in Hinkley.
Independent 23rd Oct 2015 read more »
Hinkley will place eye watering price penalties on households, according to former Tory Energy Minister Lord Howell.
Western Daily Press 22nd Oct 2015 read more »
New Nukes
The government confirms that it is not continuing the ‘no public subsidy policy’ [for nuclear power] of the previous administration. That little footnote, tucked away at the end of the announcement of Wednesday’s French-Chinese deal to build a new nuclear power station at Hinkley point, detonates an atomic bomb under the UK government’s already bewildering energy policy and leaves ministers hunkered down in a nuclear bunker. Just the day before, energy minister Andrea Leadsom said: “It is vital that industries over time stand on their own two feet. I don’t think anyone here would advocate an industry that only survives because of a subsidy paid by the billpayer.” She was justifying 87% cuts to subsidies for solar power, just as they are on the verge of becoming cheaper than gas. The contradiction does not need spelling out. Nuclear power has had 60 years to stand on its own two feet. The admission it still needs subsidy (after five years of ministers denying precisely that) shows that traditional nuclear power can barely crawl. Whether this admission strengthens the EU challenge against the UK that it is providing illegal state aid remains to be seen.
Guardian 22nd Oct 2015 read more »
Flamanville
Flamanville 3, is likely to become the focus of international attention because it is the model for an imminent expansion across the channel, in Britain. It is being built by Electricité de France (EDF), the world’s biggest power company, which on October 21st agreed with China General Nuclear Power Corp (CGN), a state-owned entity, to build two reactors of the same design in south-west England called Hinkley Point C. EDF will own two-thirds of the project and CGN a third. The plant in Somerset is supposed to open by 2025, after construction that is forecast to cost £24.5 billion ($37.8 billion). The history of Flamanville 3, where work began in 2007, indicates how difficult that might be. It was planned as a five-year scheme, but this month EDF, which is mostly state-owned, formally asked officials to extend the deadline to 2020. Its original budget of €3.3 billion has more than tripled, to €10.5 billion ($11.9 billion). Getting its new European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) into service is proving harder than expected. One problem is the troubled condition of Areva, another mostly state-owned French firm, which supplies reactor components. It reported losses of nearly €5 billion in March, because of soaring costs and long delays at the only other EPR being built in Europe, Olkiluoto 3, in Finland. Work began in 2005 but it will not open before 2018 at the earliest.
Economist 24th Oct 2015 read more »
Chinese Deal
Call for Commons debate on Chinese involvement in UK nuclear industry.
Energy Voice 22nd Oct 2015 read more »
China’s top two nuclear power companies planned to combine their technologies in the country’s flagship third-generation reactor Hualong 1 to avoid competing for business abroad, state media reported. Beijing is embarking on an ambitious plan to export its locally developed technology as well as its equipment manufacturing capacity potentially worth hundreds of billions of dollars. As part of the agreement, EDF will help CGN gain a licence to build its own nuclear reactor, Hualong, in another site in Britain, whose nuclear regulatory regime is seen as one of the most stringent in the world. CNNC started in May building the first Hualong 1 reactor in Fujian on the southeast coast. China has already lined up two preliminary deals to supply the reactor to Pakistan and Argentina, CNNC executives have said. The export of one Hualong 1 reactor would bring in about 30 billion yuan ($4.8 billion) in revenue, he said, but the figure could rise to 100 billion yuan including fuel supplies and technical support.
Reuters 22nd Oct 2015 read more »
Sellafield
The latest in the catalogue of chronic failures to be notched up by Sellafield’s Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP) was confirmed by Sellafield this week when it admitted to local stakeholders that the projected completion date for overseas fuel reprocessing of November 2016 could no longer be met. Instead, the outstanding overseas contracts would be completed by November 2018 – the date set for the final closure of THORP itself. Answering questions put by CORE to Sellafield at a meeting of the West Cumbria Sites Stakeholder Group (Spent Fuel Management) on 20th October, it emerged that despite earlier scheduling no foreign fuel would be reprocessed by the plant this financial year and that technical problems within THORP had resulted in preference having to be given to reprocessing UK AGR power station fuel – leaving the estimated 150 tonnes of overseas fuel to be dealt with closer to the plant’s closure. The overseas fuel is understood to be almost wholly sourced from German utilities, some of whom could now see their contracts completed up to 14 years late.
CORE 22nd Oct 2015 read more »
Chapelcross
Converting a former Scottish nuclear plant into a green energy park could create more than 500 jobs, it has been claimed. Scotia Global Energy (SGE) wants to build the energy business park on the site of the former Chapelcross power station in Dumfries and Galloway. The power plant, near Annan, which was also used to develop the UK’s nuclear weapons programme, was decommissioned in 2004. The proposal contains plans for low-rent premises for start-up and experimental energy companies.
Times 23rd Oct 2015 read more »
National 23rd Oct 2015 read more »
Radwaste
Around fifty people attended the Radioactive Waste Management (RWM) meeting in Carlisle about geological screening on Tuesday evening. The meeting had a much higher turnout than similar meetings held elsewhere in the country, perhaps unsurprisingly since Cumbria County Council led by Eddie Martin, halted the previous process less than 3 years ago. At the time, the government promised that if Cumbria voted to halt the voluntary process, Cumbria would be out of the running for a GDF. That wasn’t true. The process is back and it has been redesigned to get around the democratic decision that stopped it. This time RWM have ensured that Cumbria County Council will no longer have a veto if one of the boroughs volunteers. The current survey is being undertaken by the BGS. However RWM have decided that rather than let the BGS complete the work, RWM will produce the interpretation of the maps themselves, allowing them to decide what is suitable. Cumbria Trust is concerned that RWM will allow its desire to return to Cumbria to override objective science. The current process is open to being manipulated by RWM, just as the 2010 Cumbrian screening process was to bring the Solway Plain back into play, having been ruled out in the draft version. We hope that the Independent Review Panel, who have been appointed to oversee the process, will ensure that the output of the screening process is governed by science, and not by politics this time.
Cumbria Trust 23rd Oct 2015 read more »
Radhealth
Just in time to debunk the US NRC proposal for increasing radiation exposure to the general population from 0.25 mSv (EPA) to 100 mSv. (Comment Deadline Nov. 19th) is a new study of nuclear workers exposed to cumulative doses with a median average (half-above, half-below) of 4.1 mSv, and an overall arithmetic average (mean) of 20.9 mSv: “Results suggest a linear increase in the rate of cancer with increasing radiation exposure. The average cumulative colon dose estimated among exposed workers was 20.9 mGy (median 4.1 mGy). The estimated rate of mortality from all cancers excluding leukaemia increased with cumulative dose by 48% per Gy (90% confidence interval 20% to 79%), lagged by 10 years“.
Mining Awareness 21st Oct 2015 read more »
Waste Transport
The Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) welcomes the publication of a final accident evaluation report of the Swedish-flagged vessel ‘Atlantic Cartier’, which had been transporting radioactive materials as part of its load in a major fire accident in Hamburg port. The vessel had arrived from Liverpool port, and regularly docks at UK ports to collect dangerous and other materials. The NFLA has taken a real interest in this incident, as it is symptomatic of wider concerns it has with the transportation of radioactive materials by sea in vessels which it believes are not up to the task, are often aging and may contain some critical safety flaws.
Nuclear Free Local Authorities 22nd Oct 2015 read more »
Energy Policy
The Renewable Energy Association has warned that the deal between UK and Chinese governments to support a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point comes at a time of ‘deep turmoil’ for the wind and solar sectors. The REA, the largest association for renewable energy technologies in the UK, has tracked eleven major proposed and confirmed changes to the policies and subsidies that have supported substantial cost reductions and the growth of the renewables industry over the past decade. It has tracked an additional six to the wider energy industry and the association says it is struggling to see the larger joined-up vision of a national energy strategy. Based on the CfD strike prices the cost to the public for solar is already almost 15% less than for nuclear (on a per unit of electricity basis), but with shorter contracts and with costs continuing to decline. “We are very interested to understand the government’s vision for decentralised energy production in the UK, which allows communities, homeowners, and businesses to directly take a stake in their energy future”.
Scottish Energy News 23rd Oct 2015 read more »
The government has been urged not to “derail” the development of technology such as offshore wind and new nuclear which are needed to transform the UK’s energy system. A report from the Royal Academy of Engineering warns time is running out to make crucial planning decisions and get the huge investment needed to deliver a secure, affordable and low-carbon energy system in the decades to come. And talk of a policy reset on energy, as ministers curb solar and onshore wind subsidies and energy efficiency measures, is “unhelpful” as it creates the illusion of new policies and technologies to be pulled out of a hat when there is a need to get on with what is available, experts said.
Guardian 23rd Oct 2015 read more »
Utilities
Enel has reached a general agreement to sell part of its stake in Slovakia’s main electricity producer to Czech-based EPH, a senior source at Italy’s biggest utility said on Thursday. State-controlled Enel said in August it was in exclusive talks with EPH over the sale of part of its 66 percent stake in Slovenske Elektrarne. The source said the exclusive talks were meant to be wrapped up on October 16. Though a broad agreement had been struck, the parties decided to take another month to work out details.
Reuters 22nd Oct 2015 read more »
Renewables
Low-carbon energy options like wind, solar and CCS will be the cheapest way to meet the UK’s need for more generation in the 2020s, according to the Committee on Climate Change (CCC). The independent parliamentary committee’s latest report analysed a range of options for future UK power generation, seeking to balance issues of affordability, security of supply and decarbonisation.
Edie 22nd Oct 2015 read more »
Low-carbon electricity from wind and solar farms will be cheaper than gas and effectively subsidy-free by 2020, says the Committee on Climate Change (CCC). In a new report, the government’s official climate change advisor says that low-carbon supplies will be the most cost-effective way to fill the looming generation gap in the 2020s, as the UK’s ageing coal and nuclear plants retire. A more flexible grid will be a crucial complement to this shift.
Carbon Brief 22nd Oct 2015 read more »
Low-carbon forms of energy generation are a cost-effective means for the UK to meet its legally binding climate targets, according to a new report that adds to the growing pressure on the government to clarify its clean energy policy in the wake of swingeing subsidy cuts. The report, released today by the influential Committee on Climate Change (CCC), outlines scenarios to decarbonise the power sector by 2030 as part of research issued ahead of the CCC’s formal advice to the government on the fifth carbon budget.
Business Green 22nd Oct 2015 read more »
The National Farmers Union Scotland, Glasgow-based wind turbine manufacturer Gaia-Wind and Scottish Renewables have condemned proposed UK Government cuts to support for small-scale green energy projects. The warning comes ahead of the end of a consultation today (23 Oct) on changes to the Feed-in Tariff which could see funding for solar cut by 87% and wind down 58% – or the end of support altogether.
Scottish Energy News 23rd Oct 2015 read more »
Renewables – solar
Solar panels are a success in Warrington, saving desperate people money and creating jobs – you’d think the “greenest government ever” would support them. Visiting Lynton and Lisa Hamblett’s home is like stepping into the future. They live in social housing on a neat estate where the roofs are covered in solar panels. The couple, of Warrington, Cheshire, have learned to think differently about how they use energy. “When the sun is out we get the washing machine on,” Lisa says. “On a sunny day you barely use any energy.” In the summer their energy bills are around £20 a month, allowing them to save for the dull days of winter when the heating costs increase. By harnessing the power of the sun, Warrington Borough Council has pulled 488 families out of fuel poverty. It has installed solar panels on 2,000 homes, as well as on sheltered housing for elderly people.
Mirror 23rd Oct 2015 read more »
A plan to ‘save the solar industry’ by adding £1 on to consumer bills has received support from a cross-party coalition of 30 MPs. The plan, proposed by the Solar Trade Association, would significantly reduce the cuts suggested by the Government in its consultation on the Feed-in Tariff. The review, which will close on Friday 23 October, seeks to reduce subsidies for small-scale solar to around £7m over the next three years. The STA is instead asking for £95m over the next three years, equivalent to an extra £1 a year on average household energy bills from 2019. Specifically, the STA’s proposal calls for higher tariffs than those proposed by Government, with higher and more flexible caps on the total amount of solar that can be deployed and an improved mechanism to continually bring support levels down. In return, the industry said it can deliver enough clean electricity to power the equivalent of 875,000 homes. The STA also claims the plan would allow the solar industry to become subsidy-free and preserve up to 20,000 jobs.
Edie 22nd Oct 2015 read more »
Scottish Energy News 23rd Oct 2015 read more »
Kofi Annan, Bob Geldof, Richard Branson and international business leaders have joined politicians from 14 African countries to launch a global campaign to bring solar power to the 620 million people on the continent who must still use kerosene, candles and wood to light their homes and cook. A dramatic fall in the cost of solar power, combined with growing access to mobile phones, has given Africa the chance to leapfrog richer countries’ polluting energy sources and to kickstart business, said Annan, chairman of the Africa progress panel and former UN secretary general.
Guardian 22nd Oct 2015 read more »
Renewables – wind
Peers have been accused of “holding the government to ransom” after blocking plans to scrap subsidies for onshore wind farms and threatening to vote down cuts to tax credits. David Cameron suggested he is prepared to flood the House of Lords with Conservatives as he warned peers to consider “very carefully” any plans to overturn the will of the Commons. Despite his warning peers on Wednesday voted in favour of a Labour amendment which scrapped government plans to end on-shore wind subsidies a year early.
Telegraph 21st Oct 2015 read more »
Energy Efficiency
Fergus Ewing, MSP and Minister for Business, Energy and Tourism, has visited an East Kilbride based engineering firm that has this week made the Scottish Business Pledge and is paving the way for global energy efficiency technologies. Heliex Power designs and supplies patented power-generation systems that generate electricity using waste heat and steam used in industrial processes. Its systems are suitable for a variety of industries, including food and drink, chemicals and agriculture.
Scottish Energy News 23rd Oct 2015 read more »
The number of insulation and energy-saving measures installed in households across the UK fell to a two and a half year low in August, according to new figures that have prompted fresh calls from businesses for the government to urgently set out its new energy efficiency policies. According to figures from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) released today, 29,860 measures were installed through the Green Deal and ECO schemes in August, a fall of 15 per cent from July and a continuation of the slowdown in the market seen in recent months.
Business Green 22nd Oct 2015 read more »
Grid Connections
The UK’s plans for a new series of interconnectors to link the power grid to the continent that would make it easier to share renewable energy across northern Europe have today taken a “major step forward”, after National Grid and its Danish counterpart Energinet.dk kicked off the tendering process for a new 1,400MW link. National Grid Interconnector Ltd and Energinet.dk announced they have today started process to appoint a marine contractor to carry out sea bed surveys between England and Denmark for the joint Viking Link interconnector project. Currently, during periods of peak UK wind farm operators are paid to power down turbines to stop the grid becoming overloaded, but advocates of interconnectors argue increased access to transmission links would reduce the risk of this happening and open up new markets to generators.
Business Green 22nd Oct 2015 read more »
Fossil Fuels
Women are far less likely than men to support fracking because they rely more on feel and gut reaction than facts, according to the woman representing the UK shale gas industry. Averil Macdonald, who was appointed chair of UK Onshore Oil and Gas this week, said that giving women more information about the controversial practice would not change their minds.
Guardian 23rd Oct 2015 read more »
Telegraph 23rd Oct 2015 read more »