New Nukes (GDA)
The UK Nuclear Installations Inspectorate said Wednesday it is possible that it will only be able to issue “interim” approvals for the Areva EPR and Westinghouse AP1000 reactor designs at the end of the NII’s generic design assessment program in June 2011. The reactors would not be permitted to be constructed in the UK with an interim approval, the NII said. Construction could only occur after any outstanding “GDA issues” were resolved, but there is as yet no schedule for resolving outstanding issues after the end of the GDA program, according to NII.
Platts 25th Aug 2010 more >>
It is increasingly unlikely that the UK’s first nuclear reactors will get full regulatory approval by mid-2011, according to the Health and Safety Executive. HSE warned yesterday that there was still a huge amount of work to be done before this point, suggesting that the timetable for building UK reactors could slip. The HSE said it was still possible for both designs to be accepted for use in the UK but flagged up “not insignificant technical issues”. It is still hoping to complete the assessment and issue partial approval in June 2011, giving each company a rigid timetable for fixing further problems.
Telegraph 26th Aug 2010 more >>
HSE promised there would be no repeat of the chaotic construction in Finland of what was supposed to be Europe’s first new reactor in decades. The Areva plant is more than three years behind schedule and more than €2bn (£1.6bn) over budget, with the Finnish regulator trying to approve each component of the design while it is being built. EDF has promised that the UK’s first reactor will be operational in 2018, although it had originally said it would be running by the end of 2017. The HSE said the companies behind the designs – French consortium Areva, EDF and US firm Westinghouse – had been repeatedly submitting information which was incomplete and late.
Guarduan 26th Aug 2010 more >>
The UK’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) expects to provisionally approve two nuclear reactor designs for UK use in June next year, the latest assessment update reveals.
Argus Media 25th Aug 2010 more >>
Oldbury
British nuclear power operator Magnox North wants to run one of its two 220-megawatt (MW) Oldbury units near Bristol until mid-2012. Magnox North is awaiting a decision from the Nuclear Directorate (ND), part of Britain’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE), to extend the operating time of its Oldbury 2 reactor until June 2011 to bring it in line with the second unit. After the verdict has been given, the operator will decide which reactor will form part of an extension request until mid-2012.
Reuters 23rd Aug 2010 more >>
Hinkley
Residents affected by plans to build a nuclear power station in west Somerset have been urged to ask for more money.
Sedgemoor District Council’s chief executive said the £1m community fund promised by EDF Energy was not enough compensation for residents affected by plans to build Hinkley Point C. Kerry Rickards said EDF Energy needed to realise the impact it would have.
BBC 25th Aug 2010 more >>
Businesses and industry leaders are being urged to get involved in the £10 billion investment project for Hinkley Point C, which is Somerset’s biggest construction project in decades. Companies of all sizes, from a huge array of industry sectors, are being encouraged go online to register their interest quickly and easily, giving them an opportunity to be part of the scheme. Around 150 Somerset companies have already registered their interest in being part of the project. One of these is Peter Brett Associates LLP, a large international engineering consultancy practice with a regional office in Taunton.
Bristol Evening Post 25th Aug 2010 more >>
Dounreay
Operators at a nuclear site in Dounreay in Caithness could be facing prosecution after a dangerous radiation leak has affected a group of employees. As many as nine workers have been exposed to high levels of radioactivity while operating at the intermediate level waste centre. The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate said that it will prepare a report to be used by the procurator fiscal. The site also experienced a fire in May, which the inspectorate is also preparing a report for. It said that the incident was most likely caused by poor segregation of materials and a failure to keep house properly. Fire alarms brought out firefighters to the scene when the blaze erupted on 28 May.
Recycle 25th Aug 2010 more >>
THE operators of the Dounreay nuclear complex could face prosecution after a group of workers were affected by radiation.The nine staff were moving a flask containing intermediate-level waste to storage when they were exposed to higher than expected doses of radiation, although these were still within statutory limits. The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII), which is part of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), investigated the “unplanned exposure” incident and has sent a report to the procurator-fiscal.
Scotsman 26th Aug 2010 more >>
John O Groat Journal 25th Aug 2010 more >>
The previous operators for the Dounreay site, the UK Atomic Energy Authority were no strangers to prosecution. In February 2007 they were fined 140,000 for releasing radioactive particles into the sea and illegally dumping radioactive waste. In July that year they were fined 15,000 after a worker had inhaled a small amount of plutonium particles. But in 2006 they incurred the biggest financial penalty in the history of the nuclear site over the spillage of highly active liquor, incurring a 2m fine.
Herald 26th Aug 2010 more >>
Chapelcross
Engineers at a UK-based nuclear power station are using electric-operated pedestrian tugs to assist in the movement of nuclear flasks, a critical stage in the decommissioning of the site. Not only have the tugs provided a cost effective solution to moving the flasks around in very confined spaces, but the risk of handling-related injuries and accidents to staff have also been reduced.
Process and Control Today 25th Aug 2010 more >>
Sellafield
MOVES to stop supplying towels to Sellafield workers in “hot” areas has sparked concerns that it could lead to radioactive contamination being spread off the nuclear site into their own homes.
Whitehaven News 25th Aug 2010 more >>
HUNDREDS of Sellafield staff are finding out this week whether or not they will be allowed to leave on redundancy terms. Site operators Sellafield Ltd looks to shed around 800 jobs in a cost-cutting purge.
Whitehaven News 25th Aug 2010 more >>
SALARY packages topping more than £8 million among Sellafield’s 19 directors have brought a powerful reaction from the nuclear site unions. Unite, GMB and Prospect are all scathing about the site’s performance under parent body Nuclear Management Partners. It follows publication of the first Sellafield Ltd accounts since American-led Nuclear Management Partners took over from BNFL as Sellafield’s parent body. The accounts confirm last week’s Whitehaven News disclosure that the site’s American managing director Bill Poulson picked up a salary package of around £1 million in the last financial year.
Whitehaven News 25th Aug 2010 more >>
SELLAFIELD’S new points for prizes safety scheme has led to suspicions that it is being used for workers to “grass on” each other. Accusations have been made that the scheme intended to promote safety is being abused as a “shop your workmate” charter to win a prize. Through so-called peer-to-peer observations, it enables nuclear site employees to report either fellow workers who they think aren’t working safely or practices which may endanger safety.
Whitehaven News 25th Aug 2010 more >>
BIG Box, a Sellafield project which was ‘mothballed’ in the 1990s, is ready to get off the ground several years later. The Box Encapsulation Plant Product store will take higher levels of radioactive waste from silos which are being cleaned out in the old part of the site’s separation area. Part of the Big Box structure was erected more than a decade ago but never proceeded. Now in a joint venture, Babcock and Balfour Beatty have won a multi-million pounds contract for the development’s first phase. It is seen as a key project in helping to alleviate radiation risks from Sellafield’s past operations. Much of the £1.5 billion funding which Sellafield is receiving from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority for operations in the next 12 months has to go towards this.
Whitehaven News 23rd Aug 2010 more >>
Cumbria
LEGAL eagles are being brought in by Copeland Council to give advice on nuclear new-build. The advice could cost over £150,000 but would not come out of the council’s own coffers. As three Copeland borough sites are earmarked for building nuclear power stations, prospective reactor developers would have to help foot the bill under planning performance agreements where applicants are seeking development consent. The rest of the cost would come from central government funding for local authorities which might have nuclear new-build in their areas.
Whitehaven News 25th Aug 2010 more >>
Nuclear Smuggling
Police in the impoverished former Soviet republic of Moldova have broken up a criminal gang attempting to sell 1.8kg of highly radioactive uranium that could have been used to build a dirty bomb. Detectives said they received a tip-off last month that the group were seeking a buyer for the uranium-238. The smugglers – three of whom had previous convictions for uranium dealing in Moldova, Romania and Russia – were demanding €9m (£7.4m).
Undercover officers posing as potential customers met the gang, who had been storing the uranium at a garage in the capital, Chisinau, said Colonel Chiril Motspan, a spokesman for the interior ministry.
Guardian 26th Aug 2010 more >>
India
India’s lower house of parliament on Wednesday approved a draft nuclear liability law that the national nuclear power company and Indian business groups fear will jeopardise the benefits of New Delhi’s nuclear deal with the US. The state-owned Nuclear Power Corp of India and leading industry bodies warned the draft law would throttle the country’s fledgling nuclear power industry, by deterring private companies from providing nuclear equipment or raw materials to India.
FT 26th Aug 2010 more >>
India’s lower house of parliament has approved a law that opens its nuclear power market to private investment. It enables foreign firms to build reactors to supply India’s enormous atomic energy market, worth an estimated $150bn (£97bn). MPs approved the bill only after the government agreed to triple the amount of compensation for accidents. The bill is part of a landmark deal with the US in 2008 which granted India access to foreign nuclear technology.
BBC 25th Aug 2010 more >>
Indonesia
Indonesia’s National Nuclear Energy Agency (BATAN) says that 58% of people polled support the construction of a nuclear power plant in the region on the grounds that it can improve the stability of the region’s energy supply.
Nuclear Engineering International 25th Aug 2010 more >>
Egypt
Egypt announced on Wednesday it would build its planned nuclear powerplant on the Mediterranean coast of el-Dabaa which it hopes will start production in 2019, the state news agency MENA reported.
Middle East Online 25th Aug 2010 more >>
Iran
Atomic chief Ali-Akbar Salehi told the official news agency IRNA that Tehran has made a proposal to Moscow for establishing a consortium under Russian license to make fuel in both Russia and Iran for the Bushehr plant.
Earth Times 26th Aug 2010 more >>
Test Veterans
DERBY North MP Chris Williamson has complained to the House of Commons Speaker about a ban which blocks politicians from asking questions in Parliament about British nuclear test veterans. Hundreds of former British servicemen who took part in the UK’s nuclear weapons tests during the 1950s say they have suffered poor health as a result of radiation to which they were exposed. About 1,000 are locked in a legal battle with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in a bid to win compensation, which the Government refuses to pay.
Derby Telegraph 25th Aug 2010 more >>
