NuGen
Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) is expected to make an announcement today on its future commitment to new nuclear energy. The Perth-based utility is believed to be in talks to pull out of a consortium planning to build a nuclear plant in the UK so it can focus on renewable-energy projects. SSE could sell its 25% stake in the NuGen group to partners Iberdrola the Spanish company behind Scottish Power and GDF Suez if it decides to leave.
Press & Journal 23rd Sept 2011 more >>
Herald 23rd Sept 2011 more >>
POWER group Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) has dealt a blow to Government hopes for British involvement in the construction of a new fleet of nuclear reactors by signalling it may withdraw from the project.
Express 23rd Sept 2011 more >>
British utility Scottish and Southern Energy is reviewing its involvement in the NuGen nuclear new build consortium and partners Iberdrola and GDF Suez are expected to split up SSE’s shares equally among themselves, a source close to the consortium said on Thursday.
Reuters 22nd Sept 2011 more >>
Industry speculation indicates that this review could lead to SSE concentrating on developing new renewable energy plants instead of nuclear. SSE has not yet made any official announcement on its plans.
New Civil Engineer 22nd Sept 2011 more >>
Business Green 22nd Sept 2011 more >>
THE SNP has claimed that a move by Scotland’s biggest energy company to pull out of a consortium to build a controversial new nuclear power station is a “vindication” of one of the Scottish Government’s flagship policies to promote renewable energy. Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) – one of the country’s biggest firms – is in talks to scrap its plans for involvement in a project to build nuclear reactors at the Sellafield power station in Cumbria. The move comes after industrial and engineering conglomerate Siemens announced it would withdraw entirely from the nuclear industry, as the German government plans to shut all its nuclear power plants by 2022, following the crisis at Fukushima in Japan earlier this year. Scotland’s energy minister, Fergus Ewing, said he “warmly welcomed” the move by Scottish and Southern to move away from nuclear fuels, and a review of how the energy giant generates its power supplies.
Scotsman 23rd Sept 2011 more >>
THE surprise in Scottish and Southern Energy’s (SSE) move, expected to be confirmed soon, that it is pulling out of a consortium bidding to build a nuclear power station at Sellafield, Cumbria, was that it was ever in that group at all. Ian Marchant, SSE’s chief executive, has long been a sceptic of the nuclear industry, not because of its safety record, but as a doubter that its economics make much commercial sense. Nevertheless, if there was a UK government intention that up to ten new nuclear plants should be built to replace the ageing existing fleet, he took the view that it was a game that SSE should be in to maintain a diverse portfolio of electricity sources – currently hydro, onshore and offshore wind, gas and coal. Even earlier this year, he was of the view that the disaster which struck the Fukushima plant in Japan after the M arch earthquake and tidal wave would cause no more than a year’s delay in the UK and European building programme. That he was saying this then indicates that his apparent change of mind and intention to concentrate on renewables has little to do with the Scottish Government’s hostility to nuclear and devotion to renewable generation. Mr Marchant’s move is almost certainly motivated by a hard-headed assessment of what strategy makes the best commercial sense for SSE.
Scotsman 23rd Sept 2011 more >>
New Nukes
Westinghouse chief executive and president Aris Candris told Construction News last week that Horizon is still working to a 2020 timeline for the new Wylfa plant at Anglesey in north Wales to be in operation. EDF Energy is expected to announce a revised projected timetable for Hinkley Point C within the next fortnight following chief nuclear inspector Dr Mike Weightmans final report into the implications for UK nuclear on the Fukushima reactor disaster in Japan. NuGeneration chief operating officer Olivier Carret told a nuclear conference in July that the consortium has employed Arup as its lead planning consultants and will announce details on a supply chain register at the end of the year.
Construction News 22nd Sept 2011 more >>
Nuclear Subsidy
A tax on existing nuclear plant operators should be imposed and the money raised spent on reducing fuel poverty, the Lib Dems have said. A carbon floor price is set to be introduced in April 2013 which will see coal and gas plants paying a minimum or floor price for carbon it emits under Europes emissions trading scheme of £16 a tonne in 2013, rising to £30 by 2020.
Cumberland News 22nd Sept 2011 more >>
Wylfa
AN Anglesey farmer is refusing to sell his land to the energy company behind plans to build the new Wylfa B nuclear power station.
North Wales Chronicle 22nd Sept 2011 more >>
Letter Gerry Wolff: There are many reports that show we could generate all we need from renewables. The Welsh Assembly in 2010 said Wales could generate twice as much electricity as it needs. Solar is expanding and prices falling. Offshore Wind near Anglesey has a potential capacity of 4GW.
Daily Post 19th Sept 2011 more >>
Trawsfynydd
The ACTUS joint venture has been awarded a $109m (£70m) contract by Magnox to undertake decommissioning work at the Trawsfynydd nuclear power station.
The Engineer 22nd Sept 2011 more >>
A joint venture of Costain, Amec, Jacobs and Babcock has been awarded a £67 million contract to provide decomissioning work at the Trawsfynydd site in North Wales.
Construction News 22nd Sept 2011 more >>
Construction Enquirer 22nd Sept 2011 more >>
Capenhurst
Global engineer Atkins has landed a contract to design an extension to a uranium enrichment plant near Chester for nuclear supplier URENCO. Atkins will carry out design and engineering studies for the extension of the facility, which is already the biggest of its kind in the UK. The consultant will also underpin the safety case for the project, as well as provide detailed design and installation. This will include design of process services, a cooling water system, electrical and control systems and building a plant design 3D model.
Building 22nd Sept 2011 more >>
Bradwell
THE Turbine Hall at Bradwell’s decommissioned nuclear power station is gone after months of work to bring it down. The 50-foot tall structure was considered the most iconic of the nuclear power station’s buildings and now that the demolition is practically complete, the skyline is looking a lot different.
Maldon Chronicle 22nd Sept 2011 more >>
Companies
One of the country’s largest energy companies, E.ON, is to axe 500 jobs barely a week after increasing gas prices by 18% and electricity bills by 11%. The German-owned group blamed the cuts on the sale of its distribution business and a need to keep overheads low to benefit customers. But industry experts said E.ON had also switched a lot of work back to its head office in Düsseldorf.
Guadian 22nd Sept 2011 more >>
Times 23rd Sept 2011 more >>
WEST Cumbrian nuclear boss Dick Raaz is leaving his job heading up the low level radioactive waste repository at Drigg.
Whitehaven News 22nd Sept 2011 more >>
Sellafield
SELLAFIELDs Magnox reprocessing shutdown followed the discovery of excess levels of radioactivity. The plant closure has lasted for nearly two weeks. Technical issues were first reported but The Whitehaven News was told yesterday that higher levels of radioactivity in the plant had forced the closure. Investigations are still under way to find out what went wrong. A Sellafield Ltd spokesman said: There has been no environmental impact and no abnormal emissions. The levels of activity are now back to normal but during the investigations we have take the opportunity to do some bits of routine maintenance. Its hoped to re-start the Magnox plant tomorrow.
Whitehaven News 22nd Sept 2011 more >>
NUCLEAR waste shipped from Cumbria has reached its destination safely. Solid, highly-active waste (HAW) was taken from Sellafield to Barrow by train before being shipped to Japan on August 3.The waste had been produced at Sellafield during the reprocessing of used nuclear fuel for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authoritys Japanese customers. The 76 canisters of HAW were taken back overseas, via the Panama Canal, and arrived safely in Japan on Thursday last week.
Whitehaven News 22nd Sept 2011 more >>
SELLAFIELD management are trying to solve a riddle over why some hazardous waste was sent to the wrong place. The waste was wrongly sent for disposal on the Lillyhall landfill site. It had been moved from Sellafield Ltds own Lillyhall stores. Then it was discovered that as the waste – Clinoptilolite – was classed as hazardous its disposal at a normal landfill site was a potential breach of the hazardous waste regulations.
Whitehaven News 22nd Sept 2011 more >>
THE Nuclear Decommissioning Authority which owns Sellafield and 18 more of the countrys civil nuclear sites is losing Tony Fountain, its top boss.
Whitehaven News 22nd Sept 2011 more >>
Iran
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday said Tehran would stop producing 20 percent enriched uranium if it is guaranteed fuel for a medical research reactor, seeking to revive a fuel swap deal that fell apart in 2009.
Reuters 22nd Sept 2011 more >>
The EU offered Thursday to resume face-to-face talks with Iran over its nuclear activities, “without pre-conditions,” a spokeswoman for foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said.
EU Business 22nd Sept 2011 more >>
Germany
The German government’s plans to impose a tax on nuclear fuel have fallen at the first fence. The Hamburg Tax Court has rejected it as doubtful in terms of the country’s constitution. One utility is to be refunded and nuclear fuel tax collections are to be suspended.
Modern Power Systems 22nd Sept 2011 more >>
Japan
Typhoon Roke has moved north across Japan, leaving at least 16 people dead or missing. Concerns had been raised that the powerful typhoon could threaten safety at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which was sent into meltdown by an earthquake and tsunami on 11 March, but officials said the plant was unaffected.
Guardian 22nd Sept 2011 more >>
Fukushima Update 16th – 19th September.
Greenpeace International 21st Sept 2011 more >>
IAEA
A nuclear safety action plan post-Fukushima has been backed by the U.N. nuclear agency’s 151 member states. Despite some criticism that it does not go far enough, the annual General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna approved by consensus the plan prepared by the office of IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano.
Engineering & Technology 22nd Sept 2011 more >>
Trident
Ahead of speaking at a fringe meeting on Trident replacement at the Liberal Democrat party conference, CND General Secretary Kate Hudson said “As an anti-nuclear campaigner, I welcome the Trident Alternatives Review, led by Defence Minister Nick Harvey, and his refusal just to roll over in the face of Liam Fox’s antiquated adherence to the so-called ‘deterrent’ in all its cold war glory. What is not so great, and which no doubt irks most Lib Dem members as much as me, is that Nick Harvey’s Alternatives Review is not considering the Alternative of nuclear disarmament – only nuclear alternatives.
CND 18th Sept 2011 more >>
Renewables
The fledgling boom in solar power across the UK is in danger of being snuffed out, the renewable energy industry has warned, as ministers have determined to stick by spending plans that would severely limit future investment in the power source. Almost all of next year’s budget for feed-in tariffs a subsidy paid to generators of solar power and other forms of small-scale renewable energy is already “spoken for”, because it will have to be allocated to existing solar installations, according to Dave Sowden, chief of the Micropower Council, the trade body for the sector. Once the renewable energy equipment has been installed, the owner is entitled to feed-in tariffs for as long as it generates electricity, unless the government changes the rules in future. As most of the allocated budget, running to £161m next year, will go to owners who installed equipment this year, that will mean much less money available for new small-scale renewable electricity installations next year and in subsequent years up to 2015, when the current government spending period is due to end. The prospective funding drought has become a serious worry for renewable energy companies, Sowden said.
Guardian 22nd Sept 2011 more >>
Letter Scottish Renewables: It would seem the Liberal Democrat MSP, Tavish Scott, has not been listening to his own party. In his article, “Watchdogs have failed us over energy prices” (Perspective, 22 September), he asserted that “renewable energy means higher prices for consumers” when in fact his own colleague, Energy Secretary Chris Huhne, has stated that supporting the renewables industry will, in the long run, protect us from future hikes in gas prices in the coming years. He also seems to overlook the 2 billion costs of cleaning up the legacy of our fleet of ageing nuclear power stations and the fact that government figures show the same costs for electricity generated from onshore wind turbines and nuclear plants. Mr Scott should be well aware of the benefits renewable energy brings to communities across Scotland, especially to those areas that are rich in wind and wave resource, such as his constituency of the Shetland Isles. Building a low-carbon economy will bring new jobs and investment, and secure a safe source of electricity while helping tackle climate change by reducing carbon emissions.
Scotsman 23rd Sept 2011 more >>
Carbon Capture
The financial crisis and fading government support for climate action have seriously eroded global plans to capture and store carbon, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned on Thursday. Sequestration the depositing of greenhouse gases underground rather than into the atmosphere was supposed to account for a fifth of the world’s emissions reductions under the agency’s roadmap for keeping global temperature rise within 2C (4F) by the end of the century.
Guadrian 22nd Sept 2011 more >>
