EPR
The French nuclear safety watchdog has asked EDF to fix a series of gaps and weaknesses in its 6bn ($8.6bn) flagship project to build a next-generation atomic plant in northern France, putting more pressure on a programme already beset by spiralling costs and delays. In a letter to the company, sent at the end of June but which came to light on Wednesday, the countrys atomic watchdog highlighted 13 areas of concern about what is one of the worlds biggest and most important nuclear power developments. The 1,650-megawatt plant at Flamanville in Normandy is the first new reactor to be built in France in 15 years.
FT 24th August 2011 more >>
Letter ASN to EDF 24th June 2011 more >>
New Nukes
David Toke: The Committee on Climate Change (CCC), which the Government was heavily influenced by, says nuclear is cheaper than renewables. Are they right or just biased? The CCC’s Renewable Energy Review (RER), published on 11 May, provides a highly-skilled analysis that is also clearly skewed in favour of nuclear power. Nuclear power is held to be the cheapest low carbon fuel. This is a challengeable conclusion. The Committee appears to have interpreted data in a pro-nuclear direction. The RER comes in the aftermath of the Government’s Electricity Market Reform (EMR) consultation, which is widely seen by renewable advocates as shifting subsidies away from renewables and towards nuclear power. A recent analysis by the Select Committee on Energy and Climate Change gives credence to this view.
Renewable Energy Focus 25th Aug 2011 more >>
Nuclear Waste Directive
The main aspects of the directive are actually limiting in nature and impose strict obligations on member states they are required to draw up national programmes for the construction of modern disposal facilities, including a timetable, costs assessment and description of activities to be used in waste management. These have to be presented to the Commission by 2015 and subsequently updated regularly. As such, administrative and financial monitoring pressure is placed on member states, while the Commission is tasked with assessing these action plans. More importantly, however, the question of nuclear waste export to countries outside the EU has been addressed initially, the Commission wanted to ban this, but the revised version of the directive indicates that it will be allowed, but only under very strict conditions.
New Europe 24th Aug 2011 more >>
Hinkley
Find out about the work the Environment Agency is doing at the Hinkley Point nuclear power stations and the proposed development at Hinkley Point C.
Environment Agency (Accessed) 24th Aug 2011 more >>
Proliferation
What next A Sunni Bomb? Pakistan, a Sunni-majority country, secretly helped Shia-dominated Iran with its nuclear weapon program until the 1990s, but even then, some Pakistani elites spoke against such support. Shia Iran and Sunni-led Saudi Arabia have become bitter rivals for pre-eminence in the Middle East as Iran has pursued the nuclear option. If Iran gets a nuclear bomb, Saudi Arabia will likely try to follow, turning to Pakistan, its longtime Sunni ally, for technological help.
Bulletin of Atomic Scientists 8th Aug 2011 more >>
US
Virginia’s largest earthquake in more than a century shook the East Coast on Tuesday and is likely to revive a long-standing debate about the safety of the country’s nuclear power plants. Paul Gunter, director of reactor oversight at the group Beyond Nuclear, said “Once again, Mother Nature is warning us that nuclear power is the most brittle of electrical power systems”. The earthquake comes at a sensitive time for the NRC and the nuclear industry, which is dealing with the fallout from the March disaster at Japans Fukushima Daiichi power plant.
The Hill 24th Aug 2011 more >>
Dominion Virginia Power restarted reactor coolant pumps today at the 1,800MW North Anna nuclear plant, but power production is still at a standstill after a nearby earthquake yesterday. Unusual event status has been cancelled by operators at most if not all of the 12 other nuclear plants where the earthquake was felt at 1.51pm ET yesterday. Operators told Argus that their visual inspections and instrument readings of non-nuclear and nuclear systems found no post-quake problems. Constellation Energy ended the unusual event at its Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant in Maryland around midnight. In all, more than 20GW at 21 separate reactors was subject to additional scrutiny because of the magnitude 5.8 earthquake. Those reactors comprise more than 20pc of the US nuclear fleet.
Argus Media 24th Aug 2011 more >>
The U.S. nuclear safety regulator said on Wednesday it is considering inspecting a nuclear power plant in Virginia to see how Tuesday’s East Coast earthquake compares to what the plant was designed to withstand. The earthquake was centered several miles from Dominion’s North Anna nuclear plant, which temporarily lost power from the grid after the earthquake but ran its safety systems using backup diesel generators, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a release.
Reuters 24th Aug 2011 more >>
To say that Tuesday’s east coast earthquake surprised everyone would be an understatement. In a post 9/11 world, those of us in Washington always have the vague fear of something bad happening lurking in our subconscious. That fear is usually of an event caused by humans, not of a natural disaster, but we never really can know what Mother Nature has in store for us. This is why our best bet is planning for the worst. And when we look at the US nuclear energy infrastructure, it becomes clear that we aren’t planning for the worst not even close. Though a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission told reporters that “as far as we know, everything is safe”, the event revived fears about the safety of US nuclear plants. Most of the region’s reactors were reportedly designed to withstand a 5.9 to 6.1 magnitude quake which means Tuesday’s quake was, for many, too close for comfort.
Guardian 24th Aug 2011 more >>
Tuesday’s earthquake on the US east coast shut down two nuclear reactors. Seismic activity in the US is unlikely to cause a meltdown, but it poses serious engineering challenges
Guardian 24th Aug 2011 more >>
Ireland
Instead of seeking partners to exploit hoped-for offshore fossil fuel resources, Ireland should consider building some medium-sized nuclear plants, writes JOHN GIBBONS LAST MARCH, shortly after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Fintan OToole memorably described a nuclear power station as a concrete testament to hubris. The term, he reminded us, came from the ancient Greek, and is a warning that there are boundaries we should not cross.
Irish Times 25th Aug 2011 more >>
Libya
A RESEARCH centre near Tripoli contains stocks of nuclear material that could be used to make a dirty bomb, a former senior UN inspector said, warning of the possibility of looting during turmoil in Libya.
Irish Examiner 25th Aug 2011 more >>
Scotsman 25th Aug 2011 more >>
North Korea
Pyongyang is ready to suspend its nuclear missile tests if international talks on its atomic programme resume, a spokesman for Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said after his rare meeting yesterday with North Korea’s reclusive leader, Kim Jong il.
Independent 25th Aug 2011 more >>
Scotsman 25th Aug 2011 more >>
Guardian 24th Aug 2011 more >>
Telegraph 24th Aug 2011 more >>
Reuters 24th Aug 2011 more >>
North Korea has supplied Iran with a computer programme as part of intensified cooperation that could help the Islamic Republic build nuclear weapons, a German newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing Western intelligence sources.
Reuters 24th Aug 2011 more >>
Engineering & Technology 24th Aug 2011 more >>
Electricity Grid
Germany’s decision to phase out nuclear power and the operation of the BritNed interconnector have had a significant impact on the European electricity system, says TenneT. The Dutch-German Transmission System Operator said in a statement that it has stepped up exports of electricity to Germany since March, when the government implemented a moratorium on the operation of its oldest nuclear power plants. The BritNed cable link has helped to increase interconnector capacity, says TenneT.
Utility Week 24th Aug 2011 more >>
Nuclear Weapons
Ukraine has celebrated 20 years since its independence from the USSR by opening up a museum of some of the deadliest weapons ever created. The Pervomaisk Strategic Missile Forces Museum is built on the site of a perfectly preserved Soviet missile silo, and features de-commissioned missiles such as the Sandal, most famous as the short range rocket at the centre of the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.
ITN 25th Aug 2011 more >>
Fusion
For decades, scientists have been predicting that, one day, the same process that powers the sun will give us virtually unlimited cheap, clean electricity. Are they wrong? As long as fusion research remains underfunded (a term he doesn’t utter, but the implication is there) then it will never save humanity from climate change, oil wars and the poverty and underdevelopment caused by ever-higher energy costs. As if to prove his point, he admits that on occasion he has even turned to eBay to buy spare parts for the smaller UK-owned tokamak
Guardian 23rd Aug 2011 more >>
