New Nukes
EDF Energy has confirmed it will continue with plans for four new nuclear reactors, including procurement of contractors to build the facilities. Chief executive Vincent de Rivaz made the statement after the governments chief nuclear inspector found there was no reason to curtail the operation of UK nuclear facilities based on the direct causes of the Fukushima disaster. Major contracts have yet to be awarded at the site, including the main civils works worth more than £1.6bn. In the spring, Kier and BAM Nuttall were revealed as preferred bidders for a £100m earthworks contract. EDF Energys plans at Hinkley Point C could still be complicated by three Somerset councils which have refused to accept a proposed £100m investment in the region, including a £20m community fund. Somerset County, Sedgemoor District and West Somerset councils have yet to award planning permission for preliminary works on the site.
Construction News 26th May 2011 more >>
Green Investment Bank
Adrian Montague: The scope of the new banks activities has been pretty widely debated, so its important to be clear that the sectors it will prioritise are offshore wind, non-domestic energy efficiency and some waste projects. Im quite well known in the Department from my days as Chairman of British Energy, and therefore we also need to be clear that nuclear projects are not on the list.
BIS 24th May 2011 more >>
Vince Cable: The initial analysis suggests that nuclear power would not be an appropriate sector for the banks investment, but in the very long run we are not ruling out particular possibilities, including nuclear. It is not part of the banks immediate planning, however.
Hansard Column 794 24th May 2011 more >>
Radwaste
In February 2011 CoRWM wrote to Managing Radioactive Waste Safely: Cumbria, an NDA-funded so-called ‘Partnership’, to assert that there was no basis for Prof David Smythe’s view regarding the unsuitability of West Cumbria. CoRWM wrote: “there is presently no credible scientific case to support the contention that all of West Cumbria is geologically unsuitable”. David Smythe has now refuted the bald assertion above with a detailed 35-page review of the geology and hydrogeology of Cumbria. He sent the review both to MRWS and to CoRWM on 12 April 2011.
David Smythe 12th April 2011 more >>
Plans for low-level radioactive waste disposal to be allowed at a landfill site in Northamptonshire have been given the go-ahead by the government. The decision for Kings Cliffe near Peterborough follows a two-year stand-off between the hazardous waste company Augean and campaigners. Some 98% of people who voted in local referendums opposed the plans. This was seen as a test case for waste companies and for the government’s proclaimed localism commitment.
BBC 25th May 2011 more >>
Metro 25th May 2011 more >>
Rutland Times 25th May 2011 more >>
Augean, the hazardous waste specialist, jumped 19.8 per cent to 33¼p after government gave permission for low-level nuclear waste disposal at the companys landfill site near Peterborough. Stockbroker Killik said the news was transformational for the company.
FT 25th May 2011 more >>
There is another row in Cumbria after the Environment Agency gave the go-ahead last month for a permit to dispose radioactive waste at the Lillyhall landfill site, from the Sellafield nuclear complex. Augean, the waste management outfit, is expected to bring waste in to the East Northamptonshire site at King’s Cliffe by road from Harwell in Oxfordshire, which was established in 1946 as Britain’s first atomic energy research establishment. But local fears that the facility could also be used for waste created at other nuclear plants such as Bradwell in Essex. Louise Bagshaw, MP for nearby Corby told the BBC the decision undermined the government’s professed commitment to localism. “We had a local referendum at the ballot box, not a petition, actual votes cast and 96% of people were against this dump. I will be asking the secretary of state why his department has taken this appalling decision.”
Guardian 25th May 2011 more >>
Weightman Report
British nuclear plants could be vulnerable to terrorist attacks, power failures, severe natural disasters and hydrogen explosions, according to evidence from industry experts submitted to the governments review of nuclear safety after the Fukushima accident in Japan. Submissions to the review, being conducted by the head of the newly-formed Office for Nuclear Regulation, Dr Mike Weightman, were published online last week but have since been withdrawn. They highlight a series of previously unpublicised concerns from nuclear insiders. In one submission, Robert Quayle, who says that he was for 15 years a member of the emergency response team at the Sellafield nuclear complex in Cumbria, warns of the dangers of terrorists causing a power blackout. They could do this, he says, by disabling back-up power systems and downing pylons without breaching the site security fence. That would mean that emergency diesel generators would have to be brought in from Manchester or Newcastle to keep vital safety systems going, which could take hours. According to Quayle, who is now a consultant to the engineering company, Babcock, this scenario was apparently discussed by engineering teams at Sellafield some years ago. He concludes: It was considered that there is the potential for severe damage that could readily and easily be caused, without gaining access to the secure areas, and the impact would not only be to the site but also the surrounding areas.
Rob Edwards.com 25 May 2011 more >>
Stress Tests
Europe may take action to shut plants temporarily or decommission them entirely if it finds any of Britain’s existing 10 stations to be lacking in safety features. Gunther Oettinger, Europe’s energy commissioner, said yesterday that all plants, regardless of their age, must be tested for resilience to natural threats. However, the stations will not be tested for their ability to withstand terrorism, as some green groups had demanded, since protection from attacks will be left to national security forces.
Telegraph 26th May 2011 more >>
Austrian Environment Minister Nikolaus Berlakovich welcomed Wednesday a deal to conduct EU-wide safety checks on nuclear plants, saying it marked the start of a new era in nuclear safety in Europe. The deal was a “complete success” and met all of Austria’s demands, Berlakovich told a news conference. Austria has long been opposed to nuclear energy and does not have a single atomic power plant in operation. It had been pressing for tests to be conducted on atomic power stations in Europe to assess their resistance in the wake of the nuclear disaster in Japan. Earlier this month, Berlakovich insisted the tests also take into account man-made events such as a plane crash, a cyber attack and terrorism.
EU Business 25th May 2011 more >>
Europe’s nuclear power faultlines in the wake of the Fukushima disaster were exposed on Wednesday as Switzerland moved to phase out its nuclear power plants and the extent of British and French lobbying to water down nuclear safety checks was revealed. The UK, with the backing of France and the Czech Republic, managed to have terror attacks excluded from a series of new nuclear safety tests ordered after the Japanese tsunami led to radiation leaks from Fukushima nuclear reactors in March.
Guardian 25th May 2011 more >>
‘Stress testing’ of the European Union’s 143 nuclear power reactors will not specifically include terrorism after that idea was rejected by national safety regulators. Instead, the tests will focus on the aspects of nuclear plant safety highlighted by the Fukushima accident: earthquakes and flooding as natural events, as well as loss of safety functions and severe accident management following any initiating event.
World Nuclear News 25th May 2011 more >>
European nuclear watchdogs have agreed details of new safety checks on the region’s 143 reactors and said a group would be set up to deal with the risks of a nuclear crisis arising from a terrorist attack.
Guardian 25th May 2011 more >>
STV 25th May 2011 more >>
It is reported that the Sellafield plant in England will not be included in a round of stress tests on nuclear facilities across Europe. Authorities in Britain have apparently decided to exclude Sellafield from the review, because it only reprocesses nuclear fuel, and does not generate power anymore. However, a spokesperson for the Irish Department of the Environment has told the Irish Times that Minister Phil Hogan was led to believe just two months ago that Sellafield would be included in the tests.
Evening Echo 26th May 2011 more >>
Torness
Old footage of the May 1979 Demonstration.
Vimeo May 2011 more >>
Hinkley
Somerset has the perfect opportunity to become a world leader in low-carbon technology, top civil servant Hergen Haye told delegates at a major business conference. Mr Haye, head of nuclear new build at the Department for Energy and Climate Change, said cutting carbon emissions and saving energy provides the county with “a huge challenge and fantastic business opportunity.” The proposed building of Hinkley Point C nuclear power station has already led developer EDF to plough funds into an energy skills centre at Bridgwater College. He added it can be the catalyst for developing a cluster of businesses specialising in technology which Britain, and the world, must have to tackle the problems of climate change.
This is Somerset 25th May 2011 more >>
Planning
The first abbreviation is NPS National Policy Statement. There are going to be 10 or 11 of these: the first seven were published in draft in November 2009; six of these were republished in October 2010 and one more was published in November 2010. The remaining three or four will be published over the next year or so. These will set out national policy on a particular area of national infrastructure in a single accessible document, and will state to a greater or lesser degree what infrastructure is needed over the next 15-20 years, and set out the impacts of the infrastructure that should be addressed by project promoters when making applications, and the Infrastructure Planning Commission when considering them.
Bircham Dyson Bell 25th May 2011 more >>
Companies
The Shaw Group has won a contract from SMR, a subsidiary of Holtec International, to provide phase I engineering support services for a new 140MW small modular nuclear power reactor, the Holtec Inherently Safe Modular Underground Reactor (HI-SMUR). Shaw will develop the conceptual design of the balance of plant and support systems to advance the HI-SMUR toward eventual commercial application. The company will also prepare an overall design basis, support licensing activities and evaluate plant layouts and optimization of plant output.
Energy Business Review 25th May 2011 more >>
Old Reactors
Climate change poses a serious threat to the future safety of nuclear power plants, a UK-based researcher has warned in a respected science journal. Natalie Kopytko says there are “serious doubts” that nuclear can cope with our changing global weather. Often touted as the solution to global warming by pundits, including recent convert George Monbiot, nuclear power could instead be one of its first victims, writes Kopytko of the University of York’s environment department in the New Scientist. Nuclear power plants are vulnerable because they depend on access to huge volumes of water which they need to cool their reactors – and to power in order to pump that water. It was after both these vital links were severed in an earthquake and tsunami that the Fukushima 1 plant in Japan went so disastrously awry.
First Post 25th May 2011 more >>
Japan
Sales of Geiger counters have soared amongst a nervous Japanese public and despite efforts by the government and Tokyo Electric Power Co. to play down fears over the crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear reactor.
Telegraph 26th May 2011 more >>
The Fukushima crisis is exactly the kind of disaster that Japans anti-nuclear lobby has been warning of for decades. The Citizens Nuclear Information Center (CNIC), a Tokyo-based network of scientists, activists and concerned citizens, spearheads the movement for a non-nuclear Japan. It has repeatedly warned that Japans nuclear power plants will, over their operating lives, experience stronger earthquakes and larger tsunamis than they were designed to withstand.
New Internationalist 1st May 2011 more >>
Tokyo Electric Power Co. is fast running out of places to stash highly radioactive water from the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant and may soon be unable to prevent leaks into the ocean.
Asahi 25th May 2011 more >>
Japans atomic energy specialists are discussing a plan to make the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant a storage site for radioactive waste from the crippled station run by Tokyo Electric Power Co. The Atomic Energy Society of Japan is considering the proposal, and building a repository would cost several trillion yen, Muneo Morokuzu, a professor of energy and environmental public policy at the University of Tokyo, said in an interview yesterday. The society comprises more than 7,000 nuclear researchers and engineers and makes recommendations to the government on atomic energy policy.
Bloomberg 26th May 2011 more >>
Despite the managed media campaign by Tokyo Electric Company, the Japanese government and nuclear industry flacks worldwide, the 11 March 9.0 on the Richter scale earthquake, followed by a tsunami that off-lined TEPCO’s six reactor Daiichi Fukushima nuclear power complex represents a global mortal blow to the nuclear power industry, which had been optimistic of a renaissance following worldwide concerns about global warming. While TEPCO’s PR spin doctors along with Japanese government flacks will continue to parsimoniously dribble out information about the real situation at the stricken reactors while blandly assuring the Japanese population and the world that all is well even as nuclear lobbyists bleat “it can’t happen here,” all but the most obtuse are beginning to realize that catastrophes at nuclear power facilities, whether man-made (Chernobyl) or natural (Fukushima) have radioactive pollution consequences of potentially global significance.
IB Times 26th May 2011 more >>
Two of the damaged reactors at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan may be riddled with holes, according to the facility’s owner. The holes may be as big as 7 to 10 centimeters ( 2.8- 3.9 inches), Tokyo Electric Power Co. said in a 225-page document submitted to Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.
CNN 25th May 2011 more >>
Switzerland
The Swiss government decided on Wednesday to phase out nuclear power by 2034 after the Japan disaster shook public confidence in the industry, but said it will not shut any existing power plants prematurely. The Swiss government suspended the approvals process for three new nuclear power stations in March pending a review into safety after the disaster at Japan’s Fukushima plant.
Reuters 25th May 2011 more >>
FT 25th May 2011 more >>
World Nuclear News 25th May 2011 more >>
BBC 25th May 2011 more >>
Syria
A remote desert site in Syria that was bombed by Israeli planes in September 2007 was “very likely” a nuclear reactor, the UN atomic watchdog said Tuesday.
Middle East Online 25th May 2011 more >>
Nuclear Testing
The clock, which is located in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, was reset to from 251 to 54, the number of days that have passed since the last US nuclear tests took place.It is the 14th time the clock has been reset since it was created by a peace group and opened at the museum on August 6 2001, the 56th anniversary of the city’s atomic bombing. The most recent US nuclear tests took place last November and in March this year at the Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, using equipment capable of generating the world’s strongest X-Rays to simulate a nuclear fusion.
Telegraph 25th May 2011 more >>
A group of anti-nuclear protesters staged a sit-in in the Japanese city of Hiroshima against new nuclear experiments conducted by the United States.
Telegraph 25th May 2011 more >>
NUCLEAR test veterans have been offered fresh hope after the Supreme Court set aside a full day to hear an appeal against a legal setback to their battle for compensation.
Burton Mail 25th May 2011 more >>
Renewables
Solar power may be cheaper than electricity generated by fossil fuels and nuclear reactors within three to five years because of innovations, said Mark M. Little, the global research director for General Electric Co. (GE). If we can get solar at 15 cents a kilowatt-hour or lower, which Im hopeful that we will do, youre going to have a lot of people that are going to want to have solar at home,
Bloomberg 26th May 2011 more >>
Energy Strategy
Letter Ruth Chambers: The competition to find new pylon designs that has been launched by the National Grid and the energy secretary, Chris Huhne, is very welcome, but we must not let it detract from the real issues facing the nation’s landscapes. Surely the growing concern about the landscape impact of connecting new generations of nuclear and renewable energy power stations should lead to a more fundamental look at the strategy for generating the energy that we need and using it more wisely? With several national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty in the firing line for new pylon connections, updated designs are unlikely to address public concern about landscape impact but a rethinking of the location of electricity generation and a more joined-up approach to generation and transmission would be a good start.
Guardian 26th May 2011 more >>
