Hinkley
The Scottish National Party has said the financial crisis surrounding the future of the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant demonstrates yet again the folly of the UK government’s decision to spend huge amounts of public money to subsidise new nuclear power stations. The future of the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant in Somerset is facing a financial crisis as Areva, a shareholder in the project and the designer of the proposed reactors, has seen its shares plunge by almost a quarter.
SNP 23rd Nov 2014 read more »
Utility Week 24th Nov 2014 read more »
Paul Brown: Plans to build two giant nuclear reactors in south-west England are being reviewed as French energy companies now seek financial backing from China and Saudi Arabia − while the British government considers whether it has offered vast subsidies for a white elephant. A long-delayed final decision on whether the French electricity utily company EDF will build two 1.6 gigawatt European Pressurised water Reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset − in what would be the biggest construction project in Europe − was due in the new year, but is likely to drift again. Construction estimates have already escalated to £25 billion, which is £9 billion more than a year ago, and four times the cost of putting on the London Olympics last year. Steve Thomas, professor of energy policy at the University of Greenwich, London, said: “The project is at very serious risk of collapse at the moment. Only four of those reactors have ever been ordered. Two of them are in Europe, and both of those are about three times over budget. One is about five or six years late and the other is nine years late. Two more are in China and are doing a bit better, but are also running late.”
Climate News Network 24th Nov 2014 read more »
Sizewell
Frustrated communities waiting to see the full impact Sizewell C could have on their lives will have to wait until next year for the details to be revealed. Campaigners fear they will not have enough time to press for major changes if the timetable for seeking permission for the twin-reactor nuclear power station on the Suffolk coast speeds up. Officials at EDF Energy had indicated the second stage of the consultation might be held this autumn, but now say it will be early in 2015 – though as yet no dates are available. The consultation is likely to give the firm proposals on major issues such as whether it is intended to build a bypass for Marlesford, Farnham, Stratford St Andrew and Little Glemham, or a relief road for Middleton and Theberton, and details of where the accommodation campus and park and ride sites will be. Although there will still be a third round of consultation, the final phase is expected to be a detailed technical exercise aimed at councils and other major organisations.
East Anglian Daily Times 24th Nov 2014 read more »
Sellafield
Sellafield Ltd’s announcement¹ of two ‘unusual finds’on West Cumbrian beaches in May and June of this year (the discovery attributed to the new Groundhog Synergy 2 monitoring system introduced in May) should be ringing public health alarms in the corridors of those tasked to protect beach users from the radioactive materials routinely washed up on local beaches from Sellafield’s historic discharges to the Irish Sea. Whilst the discovery of a radioactive stone in May – bearing the highest level of Caesium 137 yet discovered in over a decade of local beach monitoring – is of grave concern, the subsequent discovery in June of a radioactive particle discovered on the more publicly accessible beach at Seascale requires immediate action to be taken by the Authorities to protect the general public.
CORE 24th Nov 2014 read more »
Much has been written about a skills gap in my industry. Nuclear has an ageing workforce and we desperately need to get more young people to see it as a place where they can grow a career if Britain is to remain at the forefront of the industry worldwide. Central to that is our ability to convince young women that it can provide them with the secure, diverse and fulfilling career they deserve. At Sellafield Ltd our recent intake of apprentices was 25% female. That’s an impressive start considering that the average is less than 4% in the engineering sector but there’s still a huge portion of the talent pool that we aren’t getting to.
Huffington Post 24th Nov 2014 read more »
Torness
A nuclear reactor at Torness nuclear power station in East Lothian has been brought back online following an unplanned outage. The plant’s reactor two automatically shut down on Friday due to a fault with protection equipment. Operator EDF Energy said the reactor was operational again on Monday morning. Reactor one at the plant was temporarily shut down in July due to an issue with the electrical system.
BBC 24th Nov 2014 read more »
Waste Transport
Anti-nuclear campaigners have been holding a demonstration at Carlisle railway station to highlight what they say are the dangers of atomic energy. ‘Radiation Free Lakeland’ group is protesting against the transportation and use of nuclear material in the North West. Nobody from the industry wanted to comment. The protestors claim there are risks to the environment and public health.
ITV 24th Nov 2014 read more »
Radwaste
Costain has secured government funding for a £1 million project that aims to reduce the amount of nuclear waste needing to be stored. The Manchester-based Costain team, working with partners MDecon, Tetronics International and the University of Manchester, will team will develop new ways to treat irradiated graphite from decommissioned nuclear reactors. The project will begin in April 2015 and will last three years. The Costain-led project will be tackling a major issue facing the industry, said Dr Bryony Livesey, Costain head of research and technology. “Irradiated graphite is one of the key challenges in the decommissioning and radioactive waste management of legacy nuclear facilities, both in the UK and internationally. Graphite is a very bulky form of radioactive waste that is difficult to remove from the reactor core at the end of life. If it is removed from the core it represents a large, and hence expensive, waste stream for storage and subsequent burial. This disadvantage has led to the current strategy of leaving graphite ‘in-situ’ in shut-down reactors until waste facilities become available. “Our project aims to develop a new and innovative method of graphite management which would convert the graphite to carbon dioxide gas, which could then be incorporated in a carbon capture and storage scheme. The small residue containing the majority of the radioactivity would be treated conventionally. This approach will reduce the volume of material to be stored by about 95%, dramatically reducing overall costs.”
Professional Engineer 24th Nov 2014 read more »
Old Nukes
Four of EDF Energy’s nuclear reactors were plugged back into the UK’s power system over the weekend. It should ease up pressure on the national grid which was facing much tighter margins this winter after the surprise outages of two EDF nuclear plants earlier in September. The reconnections bring to an end three months of inspections at Hartlepool and Heysham 1 after a crack was found in the boiler of a unit at Heysham. EDF said “no defects” were found in the other 31 boilers it checked during the inspected. Two shorter closures were also ended: Dungeness B was resynchronised to the grid on Saturday after a minor fault in a boiler feed pump, while early this morning a unit at Torness came back online after a short outage for repairs. Another reactor at Hartlepool is expected to return to service on Wednesday while Heysham’s unit 1 could be back in action by the end of the year.
Energy Live News 24th Nov 2014 read more »
The UK nuclear regulator has given EDF Energy permission to restart two units at its Hartlepool nuclear power plant and one at its Heysham I plant. The units have been offline since August for investigations into potential cracks in boiler spines.
World Nuclear News 24th Nov 2014 read more »
Supply Chain
A nuclear research centre in Rotherham has signed a second agreement in a week to work with a commercial company on projects that will support the industry. The Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre has signed a memorandum of understanding with engineering consultancy Atkins on research and on training for the UK’s civil nuclear supply chain. The Nuclear AMRC will involve Atkins in key areas of its manufacturing R&D, including small modular and micro reactors, fuel cycle, waste treatment and management activities. The deal comes after the organisation – part of the University of Sheffield – last week signed an agreement to work with US developer NuScale on a nuclear reactor that can be transported on a lorry.
Sheffield Star 24th Nov 2014 read more »
Capacity Market
One of the three power stations being paid by National Grid to come online in an emergency this winter has failed a test run, heightening concerns over the reliability of Britain’s creaking, accident-prone electricity system. The 32-year-old Peterhead plant in Scotland, owned and operated by SSE, was contracted to provide back-up generation from November to avoid blackouts during any surge in demand. However, during the first of several planned, paid monthly test runs last Thursday, output from the plant fell sharply. The test, which had been due to run into the early evening, ended soon after 2pm, industry sources said on Monday.
FT 24th Nov 2014 read more »
Telegraph 24th Nov 2014 read more »
Iran
IRAN and six world powers have failed for a second time this year to resolve their 12-year dispute over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and gave themselves seven more months to overcome the deadlock that has prevented them from clinching an historic deal.
Herald 25th Nov 2014 read more »
Scotsman 25th Nov 2014 read more »
BBC 24th Nov 2014 read more »
Reuters 24th Nov 2014 read more »
After a last-ditch effort over the weekend to negotiate an agreement over Iran’s nuclear programme, diplomats finally conceded defeat today, with hours to spare before the deadline. But instead of choosing to abandon talks altogether, reverting to a dangerous spiral of Western sanctions and Iranian nuclear build-up, the two sides have chosen a wiser course.
Telegraph 24th Nov 2014 read more »
The longer the international standoff over Iran’s suspect nuclear programme continues, the more dangerous and volatile the situation becomes. All seven countries involved in Monday’s last-gasp negotiations in Vienna understood this, which is why they strove so hard and so long to forge a comprehensive agreement. By extending the talks again they have avoided a total collapse, but they have also raised the stakes, ensuring that failure, if that is what eventually transpires, will be all the more cataclysmic.
Guardian 24th Nov 2014 read more »
Germany
Germany has made a dramatic appeal to Sweden to help it out of an energy dilemma that threatens Europe’s biggest economy as it shifts away from nuclear power and fossil fuels to renewable energy. Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s vice-chancellor, warned Sweden’s new prime minister Stefan Lofven last month that there would be “serious consequences” for electricity supplies and jobs if Sweden’s state-owned utility Vattenfall ditched plans to expand two coal mines in the northeast of Germany. The intervention is a clear sign of the challenges Germany faces as it grapples with an ambitious switch to renewable energy – the so-called Energiewende. Under the policy, Germany aims to derive 80 per cent of its electricity from clean sources by 2050. As part of that, it is closing down all of its nuclear power stations by 2022.
FT 24th Nov 2014 read more »
China
China could need about 1,000 nuclear reactors, 500,000 wind turbines or 50,000 solar farms as it gears up to fight climate change, Bloomberg reported last week.
Uranium Investing News 23rd Nov 2014 read more »
Poland
Engineering consultancy WYG has been named as a key partner on a major new nuclear plant in Poland. The Leeds-based firm has signed a contract with Amec Foster Wheeler, which has been appointed by Polish state-controlled Polska Grupa Energetyczna to develop Poland’s first nuclear power plant over the next 10 years.
Yorkshire Post 24th Nov 2014 read more »
Trident
The Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) questions today UK nuclear weapons policy and the primary role of the UK Parliament in discussing a full replacement of the Trident nuclear weapons programme, given recent media reports of ongoing deals to develop the programme without public or Parliamentary discussion.
NFLA 24th Nov 2014 read more »
Renewables – wave
A milestone for standardised offshore wave power has been reached with Scotland’s WavePOD prototype producing its first power in laboratory tests. The prototype, which comprises a drive train, cylinder frame and power take-off, has been developed by Bosch Rexroth and Edinburgh-based Aquamarine Power as part of a collaboration including some of Europe’s leading wave energy developers, utilities and academic institutions. The goal is to develop an industry-wide power take off that will generate electricity reliably and cost-effectively at sea.
Scottish Energy News 25th Nov 2014 read more »
Scotland vows to boost wave energy industry, in wake of Pelamis going into administration.
Business Green 24th Nov 2014 read more »
Renewables – onshore wind
Britain’s wealthiest wind farm entrepreneur is giving up trying to win planning permission for more turbines in England after claiming that the Conservatives have made it too difficult. Dale Vince owns 60 turbines spread over 17 wind farms but said that he would not apply to build any more in England because he did not want to waste millions of pounds on projects that would be rejected. Mr Vince, who owns Ecotricity and is said to be worth about £100 million, accused Eric Pickles, the communities secretary, of interfering unfairly in the planning system to prevent Conservative voters from switching to Ukip. In an interview with The Times, he said: “The success rate in planning has halved in the past couple of years, entirely due to the efforts of the Tories, and it has made it less sensible to spend any real effort to try and get planning permission for projects in England. We are fighting a moving target. The rules are being changed every few months in terms of planning, environmental assessments and financial support.” Mr Vince said that he would focus on trying to build wind farms in Scotland, where there was less political interference in planning applications.
Times 25th Nov 2014 read more »
Energy Efficiency
A fifth of all British office buildings risk becoming unlettable within five years as a result of new energy efficiency measures that pose a threat to the value of property investors’ portfolios. From April 2018, landlords will not be permitted to let out the least energy-efficient buildings, as measured using energy performance certificates. EPCs measure the energy-saving capacity of properties, looking at criteria such as thermal insulation, lighting and electrics. The rankings run from A to G and around 20 per cent of offices fall into the F and G categories to which the new rules will apply, according to figures from the Department for Energy and Climate Change. Buildings are the third-largest contributor to Britain’s carbon dioxide emissions after power generation and transport, accounting for 18 per cent of all UK emissions, according to the Carbo n Trust. Graeme Murray, head of sustainable engineering at property consultants CBRE, said the changes were already having an effect on property values. “You are already seeing EPC ratings being factored into transactions,” he said. “Informed investors and informed purchasers know.”
FT 24th Nov 2014 read more »
There are more than 400,000 listed buildings in England and Wales. The prevailing assumption is that it’s nigh on impossible to make them energy efficient – either because planning restrictions limit the options, or the bespoke measures required for listed buildings are too expensive. Why should we care? Buildings account for more than 40 per cent of our carbon emissions. According to the Royal Institute of British Architects, we need to retrofit our homes, offices, hospitals and shops at a rate of one property every minute if we are to meet 2020 targets. But Ashden and the National Trust are convinced that it is possible to make older buildings energy efficient – and that the rewards are many. So a year ago, we set up the UK’s first ever knowledge- sharing, carbon-cutting network of charities and land-owning organisations, to do just that. It’s called the Fit for the Future Network.
Business Green 24th Nov 2014 read more »
Climate
Governments must urgently step up support for emerging low carbon technologies, such as renewable energy, in order to stop the costs of tackling climate change from “spiralling out of control”. That is the conclusion of a new report by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) published today, which calls for concerted efforts to introduce higher levels of carbon taxation in order to drive clean tech investment. The report also states that any policy that promotes gas as a so-called bridging fuel should include measures to phase it out, ensuring it only acts as a temporary means of supporting the transition to a zero emissions economy. “Investing in intermediate sources of fossil fuel, such as shale gas, or in forms of carbon capture, might conceivably delay or disrupt [the transition to fully clean technology], reducing the ultimate market size for renewable technologies, shifting expectations and making renewable technologies more difficult to develop in the future,” the report argues.
Business Green 24th Nov 2014 read more »
