New Nukes
Almost without fail when the possibility of new nuclear power stations at Hinkley or Sizewell are mentioned it is stated that ‘they will create 25,000 jobs’. The local paper called it a ‘jobs bonanza’ – however, it equates to the equivalent of 12 permanent jobs per year for local people over a nine year period. Where did they get that figure from? After several attempts I was eventually told it was from an EDF document1. It only includes construction work and not the people who may be employed full time if the plant is built.
Peter Lux 23rd Nov 2013 read more »
Sizewell
Designers of the proposed Sizewell C nuclear power station say they have listened to the public in deciding some of the off-site developments for the project. Community leaders were told last night that some of the options identified for park-and-ride sites and an accommodation village had already been abandoned. While there will be winners and losers and some relief from communities which had feared large-scale development, EDF Energy says its plans are not set in stone and there is plenty of opportunity still for people to influence the company’s proposals.
East Anglian Daily Times 22nd Nov 2013 read more »
Energy Costs
Want to beat the energy price rises and get the best deal on electricity or gas? There’s an app for that, or at least there soon will be, says the managing director of Comparethemarket.com. Aleksandr Orlov? No. The anthropomorphic Russian meerkat is simply the firm’s most recognisable face. His and everyone else’s boss at the price-comparison website firm is Paul Galligan, whose team added energy comparison to financial services four years ago and has just started advertising the service – using Aleksandr’s compatriot, special agent Maiya.
Telegraph 23rd Nov 2013 read more »
My guess is you won’t see Cameron petting a polar bear any time soon or having a solar panel nailed to his head. Green is so yesterday, isn’t it? One assumes that he has been stung by the public annoyance at the recent increase in prices from the big energy companies, all of which blamed green taxes — which Cameron first vowed to impose just as he was sledding down that glacier in his thermals — for whacking up bills by up to 12%. Wrongly blamed, largely — but that’s not the point. The public fury hit home. The real point is that Cameron now seems to be aware that the public, beyond London, is deeply sceptical of green bling. They do not wish to pay through the nose for investment in inefficient renewables; wisely, they would rather have a dozen nuke plants generating our electricity, even if they don’t want them too near their homes, in case the kids grow extra heads.
Times 24th Nov 2013 read more »
Iran
The six-nation agreement on Iran’s nuclear program was immediately hailed as a success by all involved, but the two main protagonists still had to defend the deal to domestic audiences in the early hours of Sunday morning and managed to reveal early fissures. The US and Iran emerged with different ideas about the future of the latter’s uranium enrichment program from the six-month agreement that sets out the parameters of a comprehensive accord to come.
FT 24th Nov 2013 read more »
Iran and six world powers reach agreement on curbing Iranian nuclear programme in exchange for limited sanctions relief after talks stretch past midnight and in to fifth day of negotiations.
Telegraph 24th Nov 2013 read more »
Iran has struck an agreement with the US, Russia, China, Germany, France and the UK to limit aspects of its nuclear development programme. Here are the main elements.
Guardian 24th Nov 2013 read more »
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government denounced world powers’ nuclear agreement with Iran on Sunday as a “bad deal” to which Israel would not be bound. Yet Israeli officials stopped short of explicitly threatening military action that could further isolate the Jewish state and imperil its alliance with Washington, saying more time was needed to assess the accord.
Reuters 24th Nov 2013 read more »
Today’s nuclear deal with Iran was met with a mixed reaction by US politicians. Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio said the deal “shows other rogue states that wish to go nuclear that you can obfuscate, cheat and lie for a decade, and eventually the US will tire and drop key demands.”
ITV 24th Nov 2013 read more »
Revealed: The secret high-level talks between Iran and the US that led to historic agreement to suspend nuclear program.
Daily Mail 24th Nov 2013 read more »
Iran has finally agreed to halt its nuclear programe following intense negotiations with six world powers. The country has reached a deal with the US, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia, in exchange for limited sanctions relief. The agreement is seen as a big step towards the ultimate goal of restoring relations between Iran and the West.
Mirror 24th Nov 2013 read more »
President Barack Obama’s statement on the interim nuclear deal reached with Iran, as provided by the White House.
Telegraph 24th Nov 2013 read more »
Trident
Public spending on a key Trident nuclear weapons system is due to rocket more than sixfold over six years, according to new figures from UK defence ministers. The cost of taking part in a US programme to extend the lives of the D5 missiles that carry the nuclear warheads is officially forecast to rise from £5.5 million in 2010-11 to £37.5m in 2015-16. This has been condemned as “dodgy accounting” and a huge waste by critics, who said the money would just help boost the profits of US arms companies. But the Ministry of Defence (MoD) insisted it was “excellent value for taxpayers”. The UK Government, under then-prime minister Tony Blair, agreed in 2006 to take part in a US programme, run by arms giant Lockheed Martin, to extend the lives of the D5 missiles by 14 years to 2042. This was despite the fact that the main decision to build replacement submarines to carry them is not due to be taken until 2016.
Herald 24th Nov 2013 read more »
The Westminster Government has rejected a plea by MPs to draw up contingency plans for Trident nuclear weapons system should Scotland vote for independence. The House of Commons defence committee warned in September that the possibility of Scottish independence “represents a serious threat to the future operational viability of the UK’s nuclear deterrent”. The SNP Government has said it will rid Scotland of nuclear weapons as soon as possible after independence. The UK’s nuclear warheads are stored at Coulport on the Clyde and carried by submarines based at nearby Faslane. “The UK Government must now give urgent consideration to contingency options in the event of a Yes vote,” concluded the defence committee, which is composed of a dozen cross-party MPs, not including the SNP. The UK Government has now firmly rejected that recommendation. “We note the committee’s recommendations regarding contingency planning,” said the formal response from ministers made available last week. “However, the UK Government’s position remains that it is not planning for Scottish independence and cannot pre-negotiate the details of independence ahead of the referendum.”
Herald 24th Nov 2013 read more »
Nuclear Test Veterans
After six decades of official denial, more than 100 survivors and their ¬families will appeal for the PM to set up a benevolent fund.
Mirror 24th Nov 2013 read more »
Renewables
A floating windfarm, which ministers hope could hold the key to cutting the cost of renewable energy, has been given the go-ahead by the Crown Estate. The Buchan Deep project will see five turbines with a combined power of 30 megawatts installed by the Norwegian oil company Statoil off the coast of Aberdeenshire in 100 metres of water. Approval comes as rising fuel bills and a wavering political commitment to developing a low-carbon economy is leading some energy companies to consider cutting back on offshore wind.
Observer 24th Nov 2013 read more »
BRITAIN’S first floating wind farm will be located off the Scottish coast following an announcement today that an agreement has been signed with an international energy firm. The development, the largest floating wind scheme in Europe to date, will be sited off the Aberdeenshire coast after Norwegian company Statoil was granted a lease by the Crown Estate.
Scotland on Sunday 24th Nov 2013 read more »
Fossil Fuels
The global publicity for Greenpeace’s campaign against drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic has been secured not by the protesters’ provocation but by the overreaction of the Russian authorities. Just as French nuclear testing in the Pacific was more or less ended by the overreaction of the French government 28 years ago. Indeed, the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior was the more extraordinary event, not just because Fernando Pereira, the photographer, was killed in the attack, but because it was carried out by the intelligence service of a Western democracy – France – on the orders of President François Mitterrand.
Independent 24th Nov 2013 read more »
Britain must build more gas storage facilities or risk permanent damage to its manufacturing industry through shortages and price spikes, ministers have been warned. MPs on the Energy Select Committee will this week hear evidence from gas storage companies which argue subsidising new facilities would also lead to cheaper energy bills by protecting consumers from high import prices when UK supplies run low. Britain can only hold about 15 days’ worth of gas demand in storage. Building storage is not economically viable without subsidies, which ministers ruled out in September as a “waste of money”.
Telegraph 23rd Nov 2013 read more »
VISCOUNT COWDRAY, one of Britain’s biggest landowners, has thrown his weight behind a new battle to thwart fracking in some of the country’s most beautiful landscapes, including the South Downs national park. Cowdray, a former film producer who owns a 16,500- acre estate in the South Downs, is supporting a legal challenge in which landowners will refuse permission to any company wishing to extract oil or gas from under their land. He fears that thousands of wells could be dug across some of the most beautiful parts of England. In particular, he says, it would be “entirely unacceptable” to allow fracking in the South Downs national park. “It would be the industrialisation of a very beautiful part of the world,” he added. Bloomberg New Energy Finance, which provides data on the energy industry, has estimated that up to 20,000 wells may be required for the significant extraction of shale gas.
Sunday Times 24th Nov 2013 read more »
Climate
Marathon talks on a new global agreement on climate change looked likely to end on Saturday night in a partial deal that would require all countries to come forward with targets on curbing their greenhouse gas emissions within a little over a year.
Guardian 23rd Nov 2013 read more »
Britain has been committed to sending an extra £1.5 billion of taxpayers’ money abroad as aid to help poorer countries tackle climate change due to a new European Union policy. As part of a new budget, EU leaders have taken the decision to give the funds to developing countries which say they suffer damage due to global warming. The money comes on top of £2.9 billion the Government has already pledged from its own aid budget to spend on climate change projects. The announcement has angered Conservative MPs and global warming sceptics. Among the climate change projects already funded by the EU is a 13-mile-long train line in Quito, Ecuador, a country that has enjoyed growing wealth and reduced inequality due to its oil industry.
Telegraph 24th Nov 2013 read more »
