Hinkley
The chances of a state-owned Chinese company becoming involved in Britain’s nuclear programme have moved a step forward with EDF of France signing a new co-operation deal with China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co. Amid repeated speculation that the Beijing-based CGNP might become an investor in EDF’s potential new reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset, the new deal made specific mention of “co-operation in future international projects”. EDF declined to comment on whether the CGNP could replace Centrica, which withdrew from the Hinkley project in February, saying it needed to complete negotiations with the British government on financial support first.
Guardian 26th April 2013 read more »
A state visit has seen Areva, EDF and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corporation (CGNPC) sign a three-way agreement for further cooperation. The statement of cooperation cements relationships between two of the world’s biggest generators of nuclear power and the provider of the technology on which their power plants are based. With 73 units in France, EDF remains the world’s largest nuclear utility, whereas CGNPC has seven reactors in operation now, 17 under construction and more planned for the future. Most of these are pressurized water reactors with Areva origins.
World Nuclear News 26th April 2013 read more »
There are still vast opportunities for businesses in North Somerset, and the wider south west, to be part of the Hinkley Point C supply chain, according to the Somerset Chamber of Commerce. EDF Energy recently announced that it will be re-focusing activities in the short term to control its costs. And the Somerset Chamber, which manages the Hinkley Supply Chain Portal, insists there is still work to be done in preparing the supply chain to ensure the county is in a strong position to benefit from the investment when the project moves forward.
North Somerset Business 26th April 2013 read more »
Sizewell
We have made a comprehensive 3-page submission on behalf of our Campaign to the so-called ‘Suffolk Resilience Forum’ [SRF) run by the Suffolk County and Suffolk Coastal District Councils. In our submission we have pointed out the total inadequacy of the SRF’s proposal to extend the present 2.4Km. evacuation radius around the two Sizewell nuclear plants to a mere 4Km -the Detailed Emergency Planning Zone (DEPZ), with a Precautionary Emergency Planning Zone (PEPZ) out to 15km. We have shown – in the light of the Fukushima disaster – how appallingly inadequate the SRF proposals are, and we are pressing for a DEPZ of at least 30km, although this could well be overwhelmed in the event of a nuclear meltdown. Our submission ends with the following: ‘The best thing you (the SRF) can do straightaway is to lessen the risk, by urging the shutting down of Sizewell B and saying no to any new nuclear build.’
Shut Down Sizewell 25th April 2013 read more »
Shut Down Sizewell submission 31st March 2013 read more »
The nuclear reactor at Sizewell power station in Suffolk has ben shut down. The plant produces enough electricity to supply two million homes. It’s being taken off-line for 6 weeks while engineers carry out work to remove spent fuel rods and replace them with new ones.
ITV News 26th April 2013 read more »
Dounreay
The first footage in 50 years has been taken of what lies inside the UK’s first fast breeder nuclear reactor. Digital cameras were inserted into the reactor housed within Dounreay’s dome. The cameras, designed and manufactured in nearby Wick, recorded images of the internal structures and the breeder fuel matrix. Dounreay in Caithness was the centre of the UK fast breeder reactor research programme from 1954 until 1994. The site is now being demolished.
BBC 26th April 2013 read more »
Chernobyl
April 26th marks the 27th anniversary of the devastating accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. The radiation released into the atmosphere by the exploding nuclear reactor found its way across Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and large parts of Europe. The contamination still lingers in many places – the disaster has a legacy that continues even now. So today, we remember those who died in the Chernobyl accident and those who must still live with the terrible after effects of the radioactive contamination that still blights their lives.
Greenpeace 26th April 2013 read more »
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today marked the 27th anniversary of the worst nuclear power plant accident in history by stressing that the impact of the Chernobyl disaster must never be forgotten and calling for continued international assistance for the people and regions affected.
UN 26th April 2013 read more »
More than a quarter of a century after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, many children and teenagers who developed thyroid cancer due to radiation are in complete or near remission, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).
Medical News Today 26th April 2013 read more »
Germany
Solar power is a big part of Germany’s green revolution or “Energiewende”, which has seen the country’s renewable energy industry go from strength to strength. Back in 2000, the country generated barely 6 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources, mostly hydropower. By 2012, that figure had soared to 22 per cent, on the back of investment in biofuels, wind turbines and, in particular, solar power. Already, the German government has pledged to generate 35 per cent of the country’s electricity needs from renewable sources by 2020, rising to 80 per cent by 2050. But to meet those targets, the Energiewende is undergoing a revolution of its own. New research networks that link researchers across Germany – and young companies with fresh ideas – will be key in ensuring that the chemists, physicists and engineers who have driven the country’s energy revolution, along with new recruits, can see it through.
New Scientist 24th April 2013 read more »
South Korea
South Korea and the Obama administration delayed the deadline for a deal that Seoul had hoped would allow it to begin making its own fuel for its civil nuclear energy program, but that the United States feared would undermine its attempts to curb nuclear proliferation.
New York Times 24th April 2013 read more »
Iran
Iran may inadvertently cross unclear US and Israeli ‘red lines’ with its nuclear programme and trigger military action, warns a new briefing paper by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).
RUSI 26th April 2013 read more »
Nuclear Weapons
Letter: Ray Davies in recounting CND’s trip to Fasslane (Letters, April 19) only succeeds in smothering his campaign rather than sustaining it. Something so self evident and overwhelmingly supported as the desire to wipe out any danger of nuclear war, requires no exaggeration or emphasis and his impassioned plea to abolish Trident comes across, I fear, as painful and ridiculous.
Wales Online 26th April 2013 read more »
A former Roman Catholic priest who has spent more than 50 years campaigning against nuclear weapons came to Sheffield for a demonstration. Bruce Kent, aged 83, who started taking part in protests in 1959, spoke at the Sheffield CND rally, in Barker’s Pool. The demonstration took place against Government plans to spend £100 billion renewing the UK’s Trident nuclear defence. Bruce, who was in Sheffield and Doncaster yesterday as part of a national tour, said: “More nuclear weapons will make the world a more dangerous place. The funding could be spent on hospital ships which could go around the world to provide help.”
Sheffield Star 26th April 2013 read more »
Fusion
One giant leap for mankind: £13bn Iter project makes breakthrough in quest for nuclear fusion, a solution to climate change and an age of clean, unlimited energy.
Independent 27th April 2013 read more »
Renewables
At 10:48 am on 17 April in Beijing, Greenpeace made a bit of history: we joined the first batch of around 50 rooftop solar PV projects that connected to the grid in China. And to our surprise, we learned that our modest five-kilowatt solar system is actually the biggest rooftop solar power project currently in Beijing. Our “system” is 65 square meters of solar panels at the new GP China warehouse in Shunyi, on the outskirts of Beijing. At full capacity on a day with clear weather, these panels will generate around 25 kWh of electricity. To give you a sense of scale, an average urban Chinese family consumes less than 10 kWh per day.
Greenpeace 26th April 2013 read more »
The town of Wadebridge in Cornwall has been short-listed as one of Britain’s top eco-towns. One in ten householders there has signed up to the Wadebridge Renewable Energy Network. The Energy Minister visited to see how local people are also being encouraged to generate their own power.
ITV News 26th April 2013 read more »
Energy Efficiency
The Prime Minister has set the challenge to his Cabinet: “I want Britain to be the most energy-efficient nation in Europe”. Sadly it seems that one member is consistently working in precisely the opposite direction. Eric Pickles has been the Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government ever since the Coalition took office almost three years ago. During that time, he has presided over, indeed sometimes personally made, a whole series of policy decisions undermining David Cameron’s declared objective. The litany of failure is as consistent as it is long. Let me seek to enumerate just some of these failures where in each case Mr. Pickles seems wilfully to have sought to obstruct progress. This despite his having been the chairman of the Conservative Party who promoted the catchphrase “Vote Blue, Go Green.”
ACE 20th March 2013 read more »
Hundreds of home and business owners in the Capital have booked assessments as part of the government’s flagship Green Deal campaign, it has been revealed.
Edinburgh Evening News 22nd April 2013 read more »
Shale Gas
IGas, partly owned by a Chinese state company, is planning to drill two wells between Manchester and Liverpool in a bid to find cheap new supplies of shale gas in Britain. Locations in Surrey and Sussex are also considered promising by IGas as the wider industry gears up for growth after Thursday’s report from the energy and climate committee urged ministers to “get on” and support fracking.
Guardian 26th April 2013 read more »
