EDF
Chinese involvement in UK nuclear new build has come a step closer following an announcement by EDF of a long-term cooperation deal. The French-owned utility company, whose Hinkley Point C proposals are the most advanced for UK new nuclear, formalised ties with the Chinese on Thursday. EDF has entered a tripartite agreement with China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding (CGN) and French nuclear engineering firm Areva to foster “deeper industrial and commercial cooperation”. In the near term, the three are to work together on the building of two reactors in Taishan and improving safety, maintenance and performance of CGN’s existing reactors. They will also “consider cooperation in future international projects”. CGN has long been rumoured to be first in line to invest in Hinkley Point C if it goes ahead. Henry Proglio, chief executive of EDF, said the agreement “will benefit the whole nuclear sector in France”.
Utility Week 26th April 2013 read more »
Nuclear Subsidies
The former energy minister says the government and EDF have too much to lose to not agree on nuclear subsidies and warns that political rows over energy increase bills. What would be a fair settlement in the battle between ministers and French-state-controlled EDF over the subsidy needed to get new nuclear reactors built at Hinkley Point in Somerset, I ask? “The government wants a number that begins with an 8 – EDF want something that begins with a 9,” he says, referring to the £80-£99 per megawatt hour price range believed to be under discussion. Hendry thinks a deal will be done: “Both sides have too much to lose.” One possibility in sealing a deal, he says, is that the government could take on EDF’s future political risk. That would mean minister signing a legal contract that binds the government – meaning taxpayes – to compensate EDF for any future policy changes that leave the company out of pocket. “We do it all the time in the North Sea,” he says. But if the deal collapses, is there a feasible future for UK energy without nuclear? “You can have energy security without new nuclear reactors, but it will be more expensive and more carbon intensive. There would undoubtedly be more gas in the system,” he says.
Guardian 25th April 2013 read more »
A parliamentary committee has accused the government of failing to keep its promise not to subsidise new nuclear. But has the government been planning to renege on its promise all along? The Environmental Audit Committee is calling on the government to be more open about the money it gives to the nuclear industry. A new report from the committee released today suggests the UK nuclear industry receives a £2.3 billion subsidy each year.
Carbon Brief 24th April 2013 read more »
Hinkley
There is “no prospect” construction of a planned new nuclear power plant in Somerset will begin this year, union leaders have warned. French energy giant EDF announced this week it was reducing the number of workers at its Hinkley Point C project. It follows continuing delays to agree a price with the UK government for the electricity produced at the site.
BBC 25th April 2013 read more »
Union leaders have warned there was “no prospect” of construction work starting this year at a planned new nuclear power station in Somerset, amid continuing delays in agreeing a price for electricity produced from the site.
ITV News 25th April 2013 read more »
Decommissioning
Pay for engineers capable of working on UK nuclear decommissioning projects is spiralling as employers compete to attract the few available – confirming the comments of Alan Richardson at the top of this page. Decommissioning contracts for 12 UK nuclear sites are to be awarded in September 2014, and Project Resource, a specialist recruiter, says basic salaries for professionals in the sector rose by 10 per cent in 2012.
FT 25th Apri 2013 read more »
NDA
A UK government report has revealed the estimated cost of decommissioning nuclear power has increased by around £16 billion in 4 years with the Treasury admitting to a mistake over its failure to calculate the costs. The Public Accounts Committee report shows the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s estimated cost of civil nuclear decommissioning increased by around £16 billion to £53 billion between 2007 and 2011. The report claims “The Treasury acknowledged that not considering these costs when the power stations were built had been a mistake.”
SNP 22nd April 2013 read more »
Plutonium
FOREIGN plutonium is to be kept at Sellafield, the government has announced. Nuclear unions see the move boosting the chances of Sellafield getting a new £5billion Mox plant. They will lobby for the earliest possible decision now that three tonnes of plutonium will no longer be returned overseas, along with confirmation that re-using plutonium as mixed oxide fuel (Mox) is its preferred option. A decision whether to build a new plant on the Sellafield site could hinge on a Nuclear Decommissioning Authority business plan, on how Mox 2 would stack up, along with other re-cycling options such as a Prism reactor. The NDA plan should reach the Government by early summer.
Whitehaven News 25th April 2013 read more »
New Nukes
The Bishop of Hereford wants to see more investment in the development of energy through nuclear power. Addressing the House of Lords, the Right Reverend Anthony Priddis said he hoped the target of an 85% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050 would be achieved. He proposed the development of thorium and molten salt reactors as an alternative to uranium and coal energy sources.
Christian Today 25th April 2013 read more »
Hartlepool
A REACTOR at Hartlepool Power Station that was shut down after a fire is due to be brought back online in the next few days. The nuclear power station’s second reactor was shut down after a small fire was detected in the turbine hall of unit 2 on Saturday night. Bosses have spent the last few days assessing whether the incident, believed to have been started after an oil leak, had caused any damage to the operation of the site.
Hartlepool Mail 25th April 2013 read more »
Cumbria
Letter: the British taxpayer provided the £5.7million for the Workington Docks container crane (in the hope of eventually being able to use it for the construction of the new nuclear power station) and now the £2.9million funding for Pillar House as well as many other major WEST CUMBRIAN projects. In fact the British taxpayer even provides the annual £20million Sellafield bonuses and all the BEC quango funding.
Whitehaven News 25th April 2013 read more »
Floating Nuclear Power
Russia and China are currently discussing the possibility of a joint production and maintenance of the fleet of floating nuclear power stations. Rusatom Overseas head Djomart Aliyev said that the idea was proposed by China. “We did not reject it, but so far I cannot provide any estimates, but from a business perspective the idea is good,” Aliyev added.
Energy Business Review 25th April 2013 read more »
Chernobyl
Wish you were here? Daredevil Britons snap up holidays to nuclear disaster zone Chernobyl and even North Korea.
Daily Mail 25th April 2013 read more »
People are being asked to mark a poignant anniversary this week by lighting a candle in their window. Glossop-based Chernobyl Children’s Project is encouraging residents to pay tribute to the victims of the nuclear plant explosion.
Manchester Evening News 25th April 2013 read more »
China
On April 25, 2013 in the presence of Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President François Hollande in Beijing, Luc Oursel, President and CEO of AREVA, signed a series of key agreements with the companies CNNC and CGNPC for the development of the Franco-Chinese strategic civil nuclear partnership. Sun Qin, Chairman of CNNC (China National Nuclear Corporation), and Luc Oursel, signed a letter of intent to build a used fuel treatment and recycling facility in China. The future facility would process used nuclear fuel from Chinese power plants in order to recover the reusable materials and recycle them as fuel. The facility would have a capacity to treat 800 metric tons of used fuel per year. This facility would integrate the most advanced recycling technologies and present the best guarantees in terms of safety, security, and for the environment. This letter of intention marks China’s recognition of AREVA’s technological advancements in the back end of the fuel cycle. On the global nuclear market, China confirms the economic and environmental viability of the strategy to process and recycle used nuclear fuel.
Areva 25th April 2013 read more »
Power Engineering 25th April 2013 read more »
Japan
The Nuclear Regulation Authority has effectively put a hold on Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd.’s plan to start running its nuclear reprocessing plant in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture. Until new safety standards are in place, the NRA has decided not to carry out a pre-operation test of the plant, which has been under trial operation. The NRA is expected to announce the new safety standards in December. The decision has dashed Japan Nuclear Fuel’s hopes of bringing the plant online by the end of the year.
Asahi Shimbun 25th April 2013 read more »
A Japanese court has rejected a demand that authorities in Koriyama city on the edge of the Daiichi nuclear fallout zone evacuate children from the area. Sendai High Court ruled on Wednesday that the government had no responsibility for evacuating schools, although it acknowledged that radiation exceeded levels deemed safe prior to the disaster. In effect this means people will now have to leave on their own if they are worried. The unusual lawsuit was filed on behalf of the city’s children by parents and anti-nuclear activists in June 2011, three months after an earthquake caused a partial meltdown at Fukushima nuclear plant.
Morning Star 25th April 2013 read more »
Fukushima Crisis Update 23rd to 25th April 2013.
Greenpeace 26th April 2013 read more »
Turkey
Did Japan just win the protracted, $20bn plus contest to build Turkey’s second nuclear power plant? As part of a regional tour, Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister (pictured), is due to visit Turkey on May 2 and 3, a stop which, because of the context, stands out. Japan’s Nikkei daily reported this month that a consortium headed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and France’s Areva had won the deal to build and operate the 4.5 gigawatt plant at Sinop on the Black Sea. It added that the decision would be announced at a summit in early May between Abe and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister.
FT 25th April 2013 read more »
Iran
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has reviewed his last annual military parade as head of state of Iran. That role will go to someone else on 8 June. These occasions have, for him, always been about threatening the enemy United States and Israel. This last time, a week ago, he likened Israel’s talk about striking Iranian nuclear sites to “the harmless barking of a dog”.
Euronews 25th April 2013 read more »
US
Investigators are running down leads in an early Sunday shootout between a security officer at Watt Bar Nuclear Plant and an individual on who fired multiple shots from a boat on Chickamauga Lake near Spring City, Tenn., property. A spokesman for the FBI, which is handling the case because of the sensitivity of the nuclear plant, was scant on details and declined today to say how promising those leads are.
Knox News 25th April 2013 read more »
Federal officials will hold a conference with South Carolina Electric & Gas next week to address questions surrounding rebar in the foundations of new reactors at the V.C. Summer nuclear plant. Following an inspection in February, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission asserted that the spacing and anchor systems for rebar installed in portions of the reactors’ basemats and walls did not meet the agency’s requirements. The resulting inspection report read, “The basis for the NRC’s preliminary significance determination for this issue is that, without adequate spacing and anchorage of the headed reinforcement, the structural components that rely upon this system may be subject to brittle failure at a demand less than that required by the design-basis loads.”
Nuclear Street 24th April 2013 read more »
Submarines
A FIRE broke out on the outside hull of a nuclear submarine at Devonport dockyard yesterday afternoon. Five fire crews were called to the dockyard when the fire, involving HMS Torbay, broke out at around 3pm. It happened when a welding blanket caught fire while work was being carried on the boat, a Royal Navy spokeperson confirmed.
Plymouth Herald 26th April 2013 read more »
ITV 25th April 2013 read more »
Nuclear Weapons
Long-standing anti-nuclear campaigner Bruce Kent visited Peterborough as part of a national tour against the Government’s £100 billion plans to replace the Trident missile system. The political activist joined local campaigners in Long Causeway as part of his Scrap Trident tour, held on behalf of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
Peterborough Telegraph 25th April 2013 read more »
Fusion
Engineers planning the world’s largest nuclear fusion reactor have completed designs for the system’s most technically challenging component, known as the ‘blanket’.
The Engineer 25th April 2013 read more »
Renewables
A five-acre site containing more than 2,500 solar panels is based at one of the most northerly locations for solar power in Europe at the Midlothian campus of Edinburgh College in Dalkeith. Construction of the meadow, designed and installed by SSE Energy Solutions, cost £1.2m to build and is predicted to save the college tens of thousands of pounds on energy bills as electricity demands from the campus will be met by solar power.
Herald 25th April 2013 read more »
Scotsman 25th April 2013 read more »
Scottish ministers have announced a £15m fund to help develop prototype foundations for deep-water wind turbines. The Scottish Innovative Foundation Technologies Fund will cover turbines sited in water depths of greater than 30m. The cash was announced by Energy Minister Fergus Ewing. Environmental body WWF Scotland described it as a “fantastic vote of confidence” in offshore power. Mr Ewing said the funding would help maintain Scotland’s position as one of the world’s most attractive destinations for renewable energy investment, development and deployment.
BBC 25th April 2013 read more »
Climate
The automotive industry has been focused on reducing its environmental impact for years but red meat producers are only just waking up to the challenge.
Guardian 25th April 2013 read more »
Fossil Fuels
Soaring risks around new fossil fuel frontiers – shale gas, deepwater exploration and the Arctic – have the potential to blow the global economic recovery off course, according to a report. Energy companies need to adopt more sophisticated risk management strategies to take account of relatively low-likelihood but potentially “catastrophic” disasters, says the paper from the global insurance broker Marsh. The warning comes amid a heated debate around environmental and other dangers associated with shale and other unconventional reserves. The industry says they are needed to meet a near-40% increase in energy demand forecast by 2030. The Marsh report, Managing Risk on the New Frontiers of Energy Exploration, concludes that reputational damage from a blowout in the Arctic would probably be irreparable and would inevitably be followed by a drilling moratorium.
Guardian 25th April 2013 read more »
Shale gas fracking companies should be made to offer incentives, such as cash payments or rebates on energy bills, to people living near their sites, according to an influential committee of MPs. But the demand for sweeteners to help overcome opposition to fracking came as one of the world’s leading insurance groups warned that those drilling in shale areas, deep waters or the Arctic risked “company-killing” reputational and environmental damage.
Guardian 26th April 2013 read more »
Tim Yeo suggests financial incentives for those living close to drilling rigs would help burgeoning UK industry.
Guardian 26th April 2013 read more »
The Energy and Climate Change Select Committee said it was “by no means certain” that exploiting UK shale reserves would lower energy prices. “It would be wrong for the Government to base policy decisions at this stage on the assumption that gas prices will fall (it is possible that they will rise) in the future,” the report said.
Times 26th April 2013 read more »
BBC 26th April 2013 read more »
Ministers should stop dithering and get fracking for shale gas, MPs have ordered, in an effort to limit energy bill rises.
Telegraph 26th April 2013 read more »
