New Nukes
The government has officially confirmed plans for a new carbon levy on consumer bills which it hopes will make building new nuclear plants viable, as the Guardian revealed in October last year. Nuclear companies like EDF Energy have warned they will not make the billions of pounds of investment necessary in the UK without government financial guarantees. Speaking to the Guardian, the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, admitted that the energy market needed “radical reform”, but denied the plans amounted to subsidies for the nuclear industry. He insisted that all forms of low-carbon generation – nuclear plants, wind farms and clean coal plants – would benefit from the proposed changes.
Guardian 26th Mar 2010 more >>
Draft legislation, based on the proposals contained in the 2009 consultation document entitled ‘Consultation on the Restructuring of the Health and Safety Executive’s Nuclear Directorate’ has been published. The original consultation document, together with the Government response to the consultation and the full Impact Assessment is available.
DECC 25th Mar 2010 more >>
Consultation on a Fixed Unit Price methodology and updated cost estimates – the framework for setting a Fixed Unit Price for the disposal of intermediate level waste and spent fuel.
DECC 25th Mar 2010 more >>
Consultation on the financing of decommissioning and waste handling regulations – a consultation on the draft regulations that are derived from the Energy Act 2008, and a draft Order to make certain matters associated with a Funded Decommissioning Programme designated technical matters.
DECC 25th Mar 2010 more >>
Manufacturers have been urged to explore how their talents could be applied to the burgeoning nuclear industry by a firm who recently won a £250,000 contract to supply control panels for nuclear power stations. Assembly Solutions Ltd (ASL) is celebrating the award of the contract to supply the control panels to radiation detection company Canberra – part of the Areva group – which will use them for leak detecting equipment within power stations. ASL had diversified its perspective from being a specialist electrical cabling and wiring harnessing business to meet the growing demand from the nuclear industry.
The Manufacturer 25th Mar 2010 more >>
Low Level Waste
An appeal over the refusal of permission to store radioactive waste in Northamptonshire could have implications for the government’s nuclear strategy. Northamptonshire County Council considered an application last week from Augean Group to transport low-level radioactive waste from decommissioned nuclear sites to landfill. Members unanimously opposed the plans despite planning officers advising approval.
Planning 26th Mar 2010 more >>
BOSSES at a landfill site in Skelmersdale have hit back at claims it will soon store nuclear waste and that it poses a health risk to residents. Whitemoss Landfill Site Ltd, which runs the site on Whitemoss Road South, has been asked to look into expansion options as part of Lancashire County Council’s Mineral and Waste Development Framework. The first round of public consultation for the Framework, which outlines the council’s requirements and locations for mineral extraction and waste disposal until 2021, has just been completed. And the company is now highlighting its concerns about what it calls the “misinformation” that has been spread about its possible future plans. Last month, West Lancashire MP Rosie Cooper urged residents to sign a petition on her website opposing the plans, saying Whitemoss was proposing to double in size and start storing nuclear waste at its facilities. Although she now accepts that only hazardous – not radioactive – waste will be stored at the site, she is standing by concerns about the long term health effects of the site, despite those concerns being at odds with Government research.
Skelmersdale Advertiser 25th 2010 more >>
Nuclear Costs
Nuclear energy is a highly competitive energy option for the production of baseload electricity, the OECD’s Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) have concluded in their latest joint study into generating costs.
World Nuclear News 25th Mar 2010 more >>
Springfields
Energy giant Westinghouse will take over the long-term management of a Lancashire nuclear fuel factory, the government has confirmed. Ministers gave the green light to a deal on Wednesday which will see the Springfields Fuels site, in Salwick near Preston, signed over to the firm from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). The firm, a US subsidiary of Japan’s Toshiba, already operates the plant on behalf of the NDA but without the change the agency would have to stick to a plan to decommission the whole site and return it to green field by 2031. This new deal will see Westinghouse leasing the site on a long-term basis, giving it the security to invest into its future.
Lancashire Evening Post 25th Mar 2010 more >>
Sizewell
An investigation is today under way after energy bosses were forced to shut down Sizewell B, it has been revealed. The nuclear reactor, on the Suffolk coast south of Southwold, was taken offline last Wednesday after abnormal readings in the containment building sparked further inquiries.
Eastern Daily Press 25th Mar 2010 more >>
US
The lack of a permanent home for the nation’s radioactive waste is dampening prospects for a resurgence of the U.S. nuclear industry, federal commissioners said at their first public hearing on the subject. The Energy Department set up the panel of former Congressmen, academics, and business leaders after deciding to scrap the long delayed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump in Nevada. Commissioners said nuclear waste does not pose an immediate threat to the nation, but a plan on its disposal must be hatched to address the concerns average Americans have about expanding nuclear power.
Reuters 25th Mar 2010 more >>
Disarmament
Before the details of the deal have even been released, all 41 Republicans senators have put on record their determination to block ratification (which, being a treaty, requires 67 votes and thus seven Republican ones) unless the US “modernises” its ICBM force and delinks offensive weapons with missile defence. As the agreement with Russia has only been reached by recognising the relationship that exists between offensive weapons and missile defence, this condition alone is tantamount to tearing any new treaty up.
Guardian 26th Mar 2010 more >>
Iran
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday accused Western countries of stirring up a “fuss” about Tehran’s nuclear programme. “They are saying we are worried that Iran may be building a bomb,” Ahmadinejad said in a speech at the inauguration of a new dam in southwest Iran that was broadcast on state television. “But we are saying you have built it and even used it. So who should be worried? We or you? They are just making a fuss. They have ended up humiliating themselves.”
Middle East Online 25th Mar 2010 more >>
Energy Efficiency
A programme to “retrofit” homes with measures to make them more energy and water efficient and resilient to flooding is needed to help households cope with climate change, MPs said today. The environmental audit committee also warned that new housing developments should only get planning approval if they are designed to suit future changes in the climate, as part of efforts to make sure the UK adapts to rising temperatures. And there needs to be greater focus on “green infrastructure” including water storage, more trees and more open spaces which can tackle flash flooding and hot city summers, the committee said. A report by the committee of MPs warned efforts to adapt to a changing climate needed to be as much of a priority as cutting the greenhouse gas emissions which cause global warming.
Guardian 26th Mar 2010 more >>
The UK has committed to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the UK by 80pc by 2050 and yesterday the Treasury and the Department for Energy & Climate Change unveiled a report entitled Energy Market Assessment, outlining how the market will need to change to help “de-carbonise” the economy and enhance energy security. Published within the assessment is a “road map analysis” of how the country can achieve the target of an 80pc reduction in emissions. This analysis suggests that “ambitious energy demand reduction” is required. “Based on the analysis to date, total UK energy demand in 2050 will need to fall significantly (potentially by as much as 25pc lower relative to 2007 levels),” according to the report.
Telegraph 26th Mar 2010 more >>
Renewables
While executive chairman Jeremy Leggett should have been devoting 24 hours a day preparing for the busiest period of his commercial life, he has been forced to spend some of his time fighting off an unexpected assault by environmentalists in the Guardian blogosphere. The irony is that Legget t is an ex-Greenpeace employee and, as a former Imperial College geologist, a powerful and knowledgeable ally to the environment campaigners on a range of issues, including “peak oil” the point when global demand outstrips supply. The debate over whether the feed-in tariff costs too much for the expected carbon reductions rumbles on but even this “social entrepreneur”, who has always enjoyed a good tussle with more traditional foes, admits he has had enough of swapping increasingly fraught online words with George Monbiot, Chris Goodall and other notable greens.
Guardian 26th Mar 2010 more >>
The US conglomerate General Electric (GE) announced plans for an offshore wind turbine manufacturing plant in Britain, creating up to 2,000 jobs. The company said it had not yet decided where to build the facility, but its plans would result in about £100m being invested in Britain, creating clean energy jobs at both the new site and in the supply chain. The UK is well placed to harvest clean energy from powerful sea winds, but the closure of a Vestas plant on the Isle of Wight last August was highly embarrassing for ministers, leaving Britain without a significant turbine manufacturer.
Guardian 26th Mar 2010 more >>
Telegraph 26th Mar 2010 more >>
