Opinion Polls
There is little public appetite across the world for building new nuclear reactors, a poll for the BBC indicates. In countries with nuclear programmes, people are significantly more opposed than they were in 2005, with only the UK and US bucking the trend. Most believe that boosting efficiency and renewables can meet their needs. Just 22% agreed that “nuclear power is relatively safe and an important source of electricity, and we should build more nuclear power plants”.
BBC 25th Nov 2011 more >>
Sellafield
THERE will be no new business for Thorp after it finishes its present contracts. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority confirmed this week that there was no viable market for oxide fuel reprocessing in Sellafields flagship plant beyond 2018. Its a blow for the 10,000 workforce and their union representatives who have been fighting hard to put up a case for more Thorp business. But yesterday Sellafield management allayed fears that it would mean substantial job losses. An NDA spokesman said: We have been investigating whether the current strategy for managing our oxide fuels, compared to other credible alternatives, remains the most cost-effective means. The review has concluded that completion of the reprocessing contracts in Thorp remains the most viable and cost effective option. Any remaining fuels will be placed into storage pending disposal in a geological disposal facility.
Whitehaven News 24th Nov 2011 more >>
WORK should start soon on testing the ground on which a new power station is expected to be built at Sellafield. Energy giant NuGen has been given the green light to carry out detailed investigations which will include a series of boreholes. NuGen wants to confirm that the site is suitable for up to three electricity-producing nuclear reactors. Copeland Council has given formal planning permission for the preliminary work now that consultations with local people, including farm tenants on which the power station will be built, have been completed. The Spanish-led consortium has an option to buy 470 acres of agricultural land outside the existing Sellafield licensed nuclear site.
Whitehaven News 24th Nov 2011 more >>
Uranium Supplies
Due to a decrease in ore grade uranium production will get much more energy intensive; CO2 emissions at low ore grades can increase to over 200g CO2/kWh (renewables: 3 – 60 g kWh). Assuming the low growth scenario of the World Nuclear Association (WNA) and the IAEA data on uranium resources, would make the currently operated uranium mines last until 2055.
Austrian Ecology Institute 24th Nov 2011 more >>
Hinkley
The IPC has today decided to accept the Hinkley Point nuclear power station application, made by EDF Energy, five days earlier than it had to. It has also published the application documentation in full. Make space on your computer – I calculate that it runs to 4,700 megabytes of data.The objection period will only start once EDF Energy issues formal public notices that the application has been accepted.
Bircham Dyson & Bell 24th Nov 2011 more >>
Reuters 24th Nov 2011 more >>
Independent 25th Nov 2011 more >>
Earlier this month, councils in the area said that the promoters of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station could have done more to involve local people in debate over the project. In a joint report submitted to the IPC, Somerset County Council and Sedgemoor and West Somerset District Councils agreed that EDF Energy generally carried out the consultation activities promised before lodging its development consent order last month. However, they said the energy company could have done more to engage with hard-to-reach groups in Bridgwater. They also voiced concern about the quality of some information presented for consultation and a lack of detailed evidence on some topics.
Planning 24th Nov 2011 more >>
Plans for a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset have been released to the public. EDF Energy handed its application to the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC), which deals with large-scale projects, on 31 October. The 30,000-page document has now been accepted by the IPC allowing its release to the public for scrutiny. Further public consultation will take place and the final decision will be made by the energy secretary.
BBC 24th Nov 2011 more >>
This is Somerset 24th Nov 2011 more >>
Wylfa
AN Anglesey farmer who is refusing to sell his land to the developers of the Wylfa B nuclear power station has received a letter from energy regulators Ofgem, which allows for a compulsory survey of his land.
North Wales Chronicle 23rd Nov 2011 more >>
THE company behind the proposed construction of a nuclear power plant on Anglesey has said they do not think a third crossing to the Island is necessary.
North Wales Chronicle 23rd Nov 2011 more >>
Cumbria
Plans showing six possible routes of pylons and cabling from a new nuclear facility in Cumbria have been revealed. A new nuclear power station is planned to be built beside Sellafield by 2023. The project will include a route of pylons or a series of underground cables running from Sellafield to Heysham, or through the Lake District National Park.
BBC 24th Nov 2011 more >>
Dounreay
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) confirmed yesterday that the Babcock Dounreay Partnership (BDP) a joint venture between Babcock, CH2M HILL and URS, with Babcock holding a 50 per cent share will take ownership of Dounreay Site Restoration Limited. The annual NDA budget for the contract is around £150 million.
Construction News 24th Nov 2011 more >>
Nuclear Waste Transport
A French train transporting 150 tonnes of radioactive waste was at a standstill near the German border for a planned halt on Thursday, waiting to resume its journey to a storage site in Germany, the French interior ministry said. The train had left Areva’s nuclear fuel reprocessing facility in Normandy on Wednesday after a scuffle between police in riot gear and several hundred protesters who tried to occupy the train tracks near the town of Valognes. “It could take two hours or two days until the train resumes its journey,” a French interior ministry spokesman said. “Whatever the time it takes, the important thing is that public order is guaranteed both on the French and German sides.”
Reuters 24th Nov 2011 more >>
French authorities ordered a train carrying reprocessed nuclear waste to Germany to stop near the border for 24 hours on Thursday to try to avoid more mass protests.
AFP 24th Nov 2011 more >>
Police in northern Germany have used water cannons against demonstrators waiting for the arrival of a shipment of nuclear waste from France. Scuffles broke out between police and protesters after fireworks and paint were thrown at officers. Protesters had tried to block a crossroads at Metzingen, near the shipment’s destination. French authorities have stopped the train in Remilly, short of the border.
BBC 24th Nov 2011 more >>
IB Times 24th Nov 2011 more >>
RWE
RWE, the German power company, has singled out oil and gas concessions in Egypt for sale as part of a 9bn divestment programme that is meant to bolster a balance sheet bruised by Germanys accelerated nuclear exit.
FT 24th Nov 2011 more >>
Energy Prices
The head of Ofgem was the focus last night of an extraordinarily withering attack from a FTSE 100 energy chief, who accused the regulator of cheap attacks on the industry in a campaign that he blamed for rising power prices. Rupert Soames, who runs the Aggreko mobile electricity generating group, went to war with Alistair Buchanan in a speech to a dinner audience of oil and gas industry professionals in Aberdeen. Mr Soamess £4.5 billion company is not regulated by Ofgem but he took up the private complaints of Britains big six domestic energy suppliers, which believe that Mr Buchanan has been unbalanced in his oversight of the industry. Mr Soames, a grandson of Sir Winston Churchill, said that he could not understand why ministers were surprised that investors appeared unwilling to put up the £200 billion needed to transform the domestic energy market.
Times 25th Nov 2011 more >>
Japan
During court proceedings concerning a radioactive golf course, Tokyo Electric Power Co. stunned lawyers by saying the utility was not responsible for decontamination because it no longer “owned” the radioactive substances.
Asahi 24th Nov 2011 more >>
Netherlands
Greenpeace has hung signs in 64 Dutch towns and cities warning of the dangers of underground nuclear waste storage. Economic Affairs Minister Maxime Verhagen is planning an underground repository for the radioactive waste from a new nuclear power plant, the environmental group claims. Greenpeace is calling on the minister to reveal the possible location of such a dump. If Mr Verhagen so much wants a second nuclear power plant, he should have the courage to say where the waste will be buried, the group says.
Radio Netherlands 24th Nov 2011 more >>
Lithuania
Lithuania on Thursday slammed a funding plan from Brussels to help it decommission a Soviet-era nuclear reactor which was shut down under the terms of its European Union entry four years earlier. “The current proposal is not acceptable for us, as it does not comply with the commitments enshrined in the accession treaty of Lithuania,” Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius said in a statement. Earlier Thursday the European Commission — the EU’s executive body — offered Lithuania 210 million euros in decommissioning funds from 2014 until 2017.
EU Business 24th Nov 2011 more >>
Iran
An influential Iran parliamentarian has claimed that the country has arrested 12 CIA agents. Parviz Sorouri, who sits on the powerful committee of foreign policy and national security, said agents had been operating with Israel’s Mossad as well as other regional agencies, and targeted the country’s military and its nuclear programme.
Daily Mail 24th Nov 2011 more >>
Telegraph 24th Nov 2011 more >>
Guardian 24th Nov 2011 more >>
Switzerland
Shutting down Switzerland’s five nuclear power stations will cost about 20.7 billion Swiss francs (16.8 billion euros, $22.5 billion) and take about 20 years, Swiss authorities said on Thursday. A study published by the Federal Office of Energy said that the cost had risen by 10.0 percent compared with a 2006 estimate. The most expensive part of the process will be the long-term management of radioactive waste, it said. The Swiss parliament approved a phased exit from nuclear energy at the end of September, six months after the Fukushima plant catastrophe in Japan. Strong public opposition to nuclear led to a recommendation that SWitzerland’s five reactors not be replaced when they come to the end of their operation in 2034.
EU Business 24th Nov 2011 more >>
Spain
Spain’s nuclear lobby is attempting to whet the appetite of the country’s new conservative government for new nuclear power. The Strategic Nuclear Research and Development Committee (CEIDEN) has published a report that outlines a new nuclear programme as a means of economic regeneration. While the outgoing socialist government was explicitly opposed to new nuclear power, the newly elected People’s Party has not ruled it out.
Utility Week 24th Nov 2011 more >>
Missile Shield
Russia has threatened to deploy missiles to target the US missile shield in Europe if Washington fails to assuage Moscow’s concerns about its plans. The harsh warning reflects deep cracks in US-Russian ties despite Barack Obama’s efforts to “reset” relations with the Kremlin.
Guardian 24th Nov 2011 more >>
Test Veterans
A group of nuclear test veterans and their relatives were at Holyrood to continue their campaign for recognition and compensation from the UK Government.
STV 24th Nov 2011 more >>
Climate
Some leaders of the rich and big-emitting countries have lost interest and political momentum and want to consign the talks, like those on world trade, to a never-ending, never-achieving, low-grade, low-profile discussion to take place in backrooms without anyone listening or caring much. They may profess concern, but there is little evidence they want to act. But something else has changed since 2009, too. The 175 or more developing countries are now talking more as one, and the great illusion trick of the rich world is wearing thin. What has changed, they ask? The science of climate change is firmer than it ever was. A 2C-4C temperature rise still means that Africa fries and the polar bears die out, that Bangladesh and Egypt drown, the droughts in Latin America and Ethiopia continue to worsen, and the poorest communities and small-island states, who have the least resources to adapt, will be hurt the hardest.
Guardian 24th Nov 2011 more >>
Speaking days ahead of next week’s Durban climate change conference, Huhne said the UK was showing “leadership” in insisting on new treaty, rather than the “bottom-up” approach favoured by some, under which individual countries and industries would set their own greenhouse gas targets.
Guardian 24th Nov 2011 more >>
Renewables
New analysis by strategic energy consultants Element Energy, commissioned by Friends of the Earth and the Cut Don’t Kill campaign has revealed that the Government’s planned cut to the Solar PV Feed-in Tariff will destroy up to 29,000 jobs and cause the Treasury to lose up to £230 million a year in tax income. The research highlights the remarkable fact that this cut will cause the Government to lose sizeable amounts of money through reduced income taxes and National Insurance. Campaigners have described the cut as “utterly counterproductive”.
FoE Press Release 23rd November 2011 more >>
Even with the new feed-in-tariff rates of 21p coming into force, a good return on your solar PV system can still be made. We are seeing that new customers to Ecosource Solutions are still set to achieve an ROI on their solar panels of around 710% which is fantastic! However, the primary goal for any renewable energy project (solar photovoltaic, wind, hydro, etc) should be to generate as much electricity as possible, and, secondary to this, should be a real drive to utilise as much of the freely generated electricity as possible. Traditionally, over the course of a year approximately 25%35% of the generated electricity is consumed within the property with the majority of the generated electricity being exported automatically when generation is higher than usage.
Low Carbon Economy 24th Nov 2011 more >>
The government is considering a ‘capacity trigger’ system to reduce the amount of subsidy solar photovoltaic systems are given, and spread the subsidy over more installations. It’s one idea that will be proposed in consultation documents which DECC is expected to publish before the end of the year, and it is known to have the support of both the secretary of state, Chris Huhne, and energy minister Greg Barker.
Link2 24th Nov 2011 more >>
Green Deal
£200m of new and additional Government funding has today been announced to provide a special time-limited introductory offer to boost the early take up of the Government’s Green Deal energy efficiency scheme.
DECC 24th Nov 2011 more >>
Guardian 24th Nov 2011 more >>
Gov’t expected to confirm start of the Renewable Heat Incentive as well as £200m additional funding for Green Deal.
Business Green 24th Nov 2011 more >>
The microgeneration industry has expressed its “disappointment” at the government’s consultation on its proposed Green Deal scheme, arguing it fails to provide sufficient detail how the energy efficiency scheme could be used to accelerate the roll out of small scale renewable energy technologies.
Business Green 24th Nov 2011 more >>
Rising gas prices are set to push up costs for consumers, but energy saving policies will help to save £94 on household bills by 2020, Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne claimed yesterday.
Independent 24th Nov 2011 more >>
