Hinkley
PEOPLE looking for a home in the Bridgwater area are facing a massive struggle – with rents rocketing and Hinkley C about to crank up demand. That’s according to Sedgemoor District Council, whose housing team has published a report this week which says rents on some types of home in the district have more than doubled in just two years.
This is the West Country 26th Nov 2013 read more »
If payments made to private individuals who own renewable generating equipment such as photovoltaic solar panels or wind turbines are compared to payments made to large corporations for nuclear energy, which will be the larger? The answers may surprise some people. John Urquhart writes…The unfortunate nuclear deal with the French and Chinese on Hinkley Point for the next 35 years is 9.25 pence per kW hour. Presumably, this will uplift with inflation. However, part of the deal is for the UK to provide an interest-free loan of 10 billion pounds, which is equivalent to paying them an extra £1 billion a year. The total amount of electricity that could theoretically be produced by Hinkley Point in one year is 3.2 million kW x 8,760 hours, or just over 28 billion kW hours. However, in practice, the average output from Hinkley Point will be not more than 70% of the theoretical rating of 3,200 megawatts. This is equivalent to 20 billion kW hours a year. In other words, an extra 5p per kW hour just for the loan. So the total cost to the British tax payer is 14p per kW hour. Compare this 14p per kW hour with the latest payments for wind and solar for large installations: solar is 6.85p FIT (feed-in tariff) plus 4.64p export fee= 11.49p; for wind it is 4.15p plus 4.64p = 8.79p.
Green Building 26th Nov 2013 read more »
Scotland & new nuclear
An independent Scotland would veto nuclear support such as that agreed with EDF Energy for Hinkley Point C, according to a white paper published on Tuesday. The report said a Scottish Government would not allow Scottish generation to be “compromised” by “expensive, long-term contracts for new nuclear generation”. However, it expects to continue a system of shared support for renewables, claiming Scottish generation “will continue to be the most cost-effective means for the rest of the UK to meet its renewable ambitions”. It would have an “energy partnership” with Westminster and continue to take part in a Great Britain-wide market with a single system operator, but with its own energy regulator.
Utility Week 26th Nov 2013 read more »
Nuclear Subsidies
UK wants nuclear state aid verdict before summer. The UK has asked the European Commission for a decision on its nuclear power state-aid proposals before next summer, a key UK official said late Thursday. “Obviously we want a decision as soon as possible.
Platts 25th Nov 2013 read more »
Plutonium
The Fukushima nuclear crisis is creating business opportunities for Britain’s nuclear industry, helping Germany shutter its nuclear reactors and leaving questions over the future of Japan’s nuclear fuel recycling ambitions. Britain is awash in plutonium, some 120 tons, due in part to the nuclear crisis spawned by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. The country now sees the opportunity to make money in storing unused plutonium. Due to the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the Japanese power companies with nuclear reactors that used mixed oxide (MOX) fuels consisting of a mixture of reprocessed plutonium and uranium suspended their operations. That, in turn, forced the closure of the British factory that manufactured the fuel in August 2011. Given that Japanese electric power companies were its largest customers, that created a backlog of stored plutonium. At present, more than 260 tons of plutonium is stored globally. Of that, 120 tons were located in Britain as of the end of 2012. Of that amount, 96 tons came from British nuclear facilities, with the remaining 24 tons coming from other countries, including 17 tons from Japan. No nuclear plants in Britain currently use MOX fuels.
Asahi Shimbin 26th Nov 2013 read more »
GDA
The GDA was carried out by the Health and Safety Executive between 2007 and 2012. It was was undertaken in order to prevent the construction problems that have plagued the two reactors currently being built in Europe from being repeated in the UK. The government insists that we urgently need new nuclear power in order to replace the coal, gas and ageing nuclear plants that are scheduled to be closed within the next few years. In order to make the claim that nuclear power will plug the energy gap credible, the time frame that was imposed on the GDA process was strict. EDF proposed to begin construction of the first of the power stations in January 2013. In order for this to be feasible, it was planned that an Interim Design Acceptance Confirmation (I-DAC) would be granted in 2011, and a Final Design Acceptance Compliance (F-DAC) would be granted by December 2012. From the outset of the GDA process, reports indicate that the HSE was understaffed and that the information requested from EDF on the details of the design was not provided on time and was often of poor quality, which made it very difficult for the HSE to reach its targets. In order to stick to the schedule and issue the final design confirmation in December 2012, the HSE regulators introduced a process of ‘Assessment Findings’. Assessment Findings were unresolved concerns with the design which, though they were deemed to be important to safety, were not considered critical to the decision to start construction. Between December 2011 and November 2012, 240 Assessment Findings were raised. These were in addition to the 484 Assessment findings raised during the three year period up to the issue of the Interim-Design Acceptance Compliance (I-DAC) in December 2011. It has been strongly argued that a great number of the unresolved design issues that have been shunted off into Assessment Findings(AF’s) are in fact major elements of the design. A report examining the GDA process compiled by John Large a respected nuclear engineer concluded that: The existence of such uncertainties together with the quite obvious incompleteness of the plant design and development, particularly in the generic safety critical areas of Fault Studies and Control & Instrumentation must have, surely, rendered the GDA process itself incomplete and inconclusive.
Peter Lux 26 Nov 2013 read more »
Emergency Planning
As a consequence of the events in Fukushima, the plans for protecting communities around Sizewell power station in the event of an emergency are being revised. Responsibility for the drafting of the emergency plan falls to the Suffolk Resilience Forum (SRF), a multi-agency group that provides strategic and operational guidance on the planning for the response to a major incident. The plan is written in accordance with the Radiation Emergency Preparedness and Public Information Regulations 2001 and its purpose is to ensure that any Off-site Nuclear Emergency is brought under control effectively and efficiently, allowing the the site and local community to return to a stable safe condition. The plan has been heavily criticised as being inadequate. there is considerable scepticism as to whether the procedures for informing and safeguarding the local population are sufficient. A striking aspect of the emergency plans for nuclear sites in the UK is the tiny extent of the detailed emergency planning zone (DEPZ). At Sizewell it extends out to 2.4km from the power station, encompassing a population of only 5500.
Peter Lux 26th Nov 2013 read more »
Nuclear Security
On 24 and 25 March 2014 the Netherlands will host the international Nuclear Security Summit in the World Forum in The Hague. Prime Minister Mark Rutte highlighted the summit’s importance at a press conference: ‘The amount of nuclear material in the world is enormous. If it falls into the hands of terrorists, the consequences could be disastrous. The international community must do everything in its power to prevent this. As chair of the Nuclear Security Summit, I am determined to make it a success. In this way, the Netherlands will contribute to a safer world.’
Incentive Travel 26th Nov 2013 read more »
Energy Costs
A group of local authorities, social landlords and academics has written to the PM urging him not to scrap the charges. David Cameron should keep the levy on energy bills that pays for insulation for the poorest and most vulnerable households, a group of more than 140 local authorities, social landlords and academics has told the prime minister in a letter. The government is mulling scrapping the “energy companies obligation” (Eco) – the only measure that requires utilities to help households reduce their energy bills, through insulation and new boilers. Cameron was castigated last week by fuel poverty campaigners for allegedly telling aides to “cut the green crap” from energy bills, though Downing Street later issued a partial denial. The letter’s signatories said the measure could boost the UK’s economy by £8bn, through helping people to save on energy bills and job creation. They called for minimum annual targets for solid wall insulation, and maximum targets on easier-to-treat cavity walls. Andrew Eagles, managing director of fuel poverty consultancy Sustainable Homes, which organised the letter, said: “Social housing providers have committed substantial time and funds to developing local programmes to reduce fuel poverty. We call on the prime minister to secure support for local jobs and for fuel poverty reduction. Annual solid wall insulation targets are essential.”
Guardian 27th Nov 2013 read more »
The energy regulator Ofgem has launched a scathing attack on the record and profits of the big gas and electricity suppliers. Andrew Wright, the acting chief executive of Ofgem, said there was a “deep distrust of anything the energy companies do or say”. Mr Wright was speaking to MPs on the Energy and Climate Change Committee. “It is not surprising that consumers jump to the conclusion that prices are being driven by profiteering,” he said.
BBC 26th Nov 2013 read more »
Ofgem boss Andrew Wright says he understands public anger at rising energy prices but has denied his organisation is guilty of “feeble regulation”. Wright acknowledged “deep distrust” of the big six energy companies – British Gas, npower, SSE, Scottish Power, E.ON and EDF – as some customers face price rises of more than 10% as winter kicks in. Addressing MPs on the Commons energy and climate change committee, Wright said rising prices, years of aggressive doorstep selling, confusing tariffs and complexity when consumers wanted to switch providers had all created negative perceptions of the industry.
Guardian 26th Nov 2013 read more »
Energy companies have no entitlement to a certain level of profit and must earn their right to make money, Ofgem chief says, after suppliers’ profit margins soar.
Telegraph 26th Nov 2013 read more »
Japan – Fukushima
Fukushima Crisis 22nd to 25th Nov 2013.
Greenpeace 26th Nov 2013 read more »
In April 2011, while Fukushima’s fires still smouldered, journalists scrambled to find sources who could shed any light on the nuclear crisis. In a car park 25 miles south of the plant, a nervous maintenance worker on a rare break told The Independent that conditions onsite were chaotic and dangerous. Workers were exhausted; nobody at the top seemed to know what they were doing. Nearly three years later, Japan’s parliament is set to pass a new state secrecy bill that critics warn might make revealing such conversations impossible, even illegal. They say the law dramatically expands state power, giving every government agency and ministry the discretion to label restricted information “state secrets”. Breaching those secrets will be punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Independent 26th Nov 2013 read more »
Russia – new reactors
The Russian government, via its official online portal for legal information, has just recently unveiled plans to build 21 new nuclear power reactors across nine power stations by the year 2030. The plans include the construction of five new nuclear power stations housing two reactors each; three new power plants at locations where other nuclear facilities already exist, and the addition of another reactor at an existing nuclear power plant.
Oil Price 26th Nov 2013 read more »
China – new reactor
Hongyanhe 2 has been connected to the Chinese electricity grid, the 18th large reactor supplying power to the country. The unit is a CPR-1000 pressurized water reactor, on which construction was started in 2008. The first unit at the site has been operating on a commercial basis since June and now unit 2 is set to follow in a matter of months. Two more units are under construction and expected to start up next year. Beyond these the site could also feature two further units although the technology for these has not been announced.
World Nuclear News 26th Nov 2013 read more »
Iran – nuclear weapons?
‘Iran will still make a nuclear bomb’: Israel’s ambassador to the UK Daniel Taub argues the Geneva deal endangers us all.
Independent 27th Nov 2013 read more »
Iran’s nuclear deal with global powers is “more dangerous than 9/11,” according to a commentator in the Saudi-owned Asharq Alawsat newspaper, who likened the impact of last weekend’s historic pact to the terrorist attacks on the US in 2001. The startling comparison underscores the depth of fear among Sunni Gulf states about Shia Iran’s potential rise as a regional superpower and is a reflection of wider Saudi public opinion.
FT 26th Nov 2013 read more »
Americans taken hostage during the Iranian revolution blast the nuclear deal saying it is a mistake to trust the leaders in Tehran
Daily Mail 26th Nov 2013 read more »
The Iran nuclear accord agreed in Geneva this weekend will rely heavily on the International Atomic Energy Agency to make it stick, requiring more inspectors to carry out many more visits. Experts from the EU, who brokered the Geneva deal, will hold talks this week with IAEA officials about how to put the agreement into practice. The agreement gives Iran some sanctions relief in return for strict curbs on the country’s nuclear programme. The IAEA, which did not take direct part in the negotiations, is now likely to be caught between Iran and the west if there are disputes over how the six-month interim deal is being implemented.
Guardian 26th Nov 2013 read more »
Across political spectrum, Iran media largely supports nuclear deal. ‘Only two people in the universe dissatisfied with the Geneva accord: Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Hossein Shariatmadari’.
Guardian 26th Nov 2013 read more »
Nuclear Veterans
Nuclear test veterans from Lincolnshire will be among around 100 who will march on Parliament today to deliver a petition demanding recognition for what they have been through. It’s been signed by more than 5,000 people.
ITV 27th Nov 2013 read more »
ITV 27th Nov 2013 read more »
Trident – Scotland
An independent Scotland would seek to expel Trident nuclear weapons from the Clyde within five years. The Scottish Government’s independence White Paper describes the UK’s nuclear deterrent as an “indiscriminate and inhumane destructive power”. Scottish ministers insist that they want to get rid of Trident as soon as is “safe” and even float the idea that an independent Scotland could have a constitutional ban on nuclear weapons.
Herald 27th Nov 2013 read more »
An independent Scotland would allow submarines and warships armed with nuclear weapons from the US, Britain and other Nato countries to dock in its ports as part of what was dubbed as a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy to guarantee membership of the North Atlantic alliance. In a sign of the Scottish National party’s determination to reassure wavering voters – in the face of a commanding lead for the pro-UK camp – the Scottish government outlined a series of concessions by offering to share its military bases with the UK and even softening its stance on the timetable for removing Britain’s Trident nuclear deterrent.
Guardian 26th Nov 2013 read more »
An independent Scotland would have a constitutional ban on nuclear weapons under the SNP.
Stirling Observer 26th Nov 2013 read more »
Tasmania – Renewables
The Tasmanian Government has charged ahead of mainland Australia by launching a new climate action plan that will commit the state to 100 per cent renewables by 2020 and a 35 per cent reduction in emissions. Mainland Australia is now almost exclusively controlled by federal and state local governments who are opposed to climate change policies and are seeking to slow the investment of renewables. The only two exceptions are the Labor government in the ACT, which has a 90 per cent renewables target by 2020, and the Labor government in South Australia, which is heading to more than 50 per cent renewables by the same time. Both are now being out-bid by the Labor-Green Coalition in Tasmania which aims to lift its hydro-rich state from an average 87 per cent renewables penetration to 100 per cent – mostly by removing the need to import coal-fired power from Victoria.
Renew Economy 27th Nov 2013 read more »
Climate Progress 26th Nov 2013 read more »
Community Renewables
Brighton Energy Coop has now achieved the amazing feat of raising £280,000 for our new solar PV projects. It’s been amazing experience to be on the receiving end of nearly £10,000 every day for the last five weeks – we couldn’t have done it without our members continued support.
Brighton Energy Co-op 26th Nov 2013 read more »
Fuel Poverty
Excess winter deaths” in England and Wales rose by 29% compared with the previous year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. There were 31,000 additional deaths last winter , the ONS report states. The figures follow a bitterly cold start to the year. Friends of the Earth fuel poverty campaigner Sophie Neuburg said: ” Making energy efficiency a top Government priority would knock hundreds of pounds off fuel bills, create jobs and save thousands of lives every year.”
London Evening Standard 26th Nov 2013 read more »
Independent 26th Nov 2013 read more »
Campaigners say Government should be “ashamed” as official figures reveal thousands of over 75 year-olds perished in Britain during the coldest winter for nearly 50 years. Prime Minister David Cameron was tonight urged to spend hundreds of millions of pounds insulating homes across the UK as official figures revealed 31,000 people died because of the freezing weather last winter. Official figures revealed so-called “excess winter deaths” rose 29 per cent in 2012-2013 to their highest level for four years. Campaigners said Ministers talking about cutting green levies should be “ashamed” at the figure, which is worse than Sweden and Finland. More than 80 per cent of the 31,000 were pensioners aged over 75, who suffered from influenza as temperatures in March fell to levels not seen since 1962.
Telegraph 26th Nov 2013 read more »
Energy Efficiency
Emerging technologies such as energy-efficient LED lighting are creating a dramatic opportunity for consumer-side cost savings, as well as the potential for a much broader suite of municipal services via LED-integrated smart sensors, and with it the possibility for upending a staid and overlooked component of the traditional utility service offering. Clearly, these are not your grandfather’s street lights.
Renew Economy 27th Nov 2013 read more »
Energy efficiency schemes are failing despite their £8.4bn price-tag while take-up of Green Deal insulation programme is running at less than 1pc of target, according to studies. Policies designed to cut energy bills by forcing suppliers to insulate customers’ homes are failing, despite being on course to cost consumers £8.4bn, Which? claims on Wednesday. A parallel scheme that relies on home-owners taking out loans voluntarily to fund insulation measures is attracting just 1pc of targeted take-up, think tank IPPR finds in a separate report. The damning findings come as ministers prepare to unveil reforms in coming days to the most controversial scheme, the Energy Company Obligation (Eco), in a move that will trigger cuts to household energy prices. The Which? report says the schemes have failed to help the majority of home-owners, with 14m out of 27m homes still lacking adequate insulation and calls for a “radical overhaul” of policies.
Telegraph 27th Nov 2013 read more »
Fossil Fuels
Anti-fracking protesters have attempted to stop a gas drilling rig arriving at Barton Moss in Greater Manchester. Police cleared the road to allow energy company IGas onto the site, between Barton Aerodrome and the M62. A man, aged 41, from the Glossop area was arrested on suspicion of obstructing police and the road, said a police spokesman. IGas confirmed plans to build a vertical test well at Barton Moss but said they have “no plans” for fracking.
BBC 26th Nov 2013 read more »
CCS
The only way a carbon tax, or the price of a carbon trading permit, is going to get net carbon emissions to zero is for it to rise high enough that it makes more sense to bury carbon dioxide rather than pay the tax or buy the permit. Estimates of what this means are in the region of £50-£200 per tonne of CO2. The green levy on gas amounts to well under £20 per tonne and permits under the European carbon trading scheme are wobbling around £5 per tonne or less. Can anyone imagine our politicians holding their nerve as they ratchet up green levies to price carbon out of the economy? We already know that a successful climate policy means that carbon burial will have to become, in effect, compulsory at some point in the next few decades. And the chances of this being delivered through a carbon price are nil. The only institution in the world with the resources to get carbon burial technology deployed fast enough to prevent more than two degrees of warming is the extractive fossil fuel industry. They won’t do it voluntarily; it won’t happen through any conceivable carbon price; so it will have to be done by regulation. People complain that making carbon burial compulsory is “putting all your eggs in the CCS [carbon capture and storage] basket”. But if eggs are what you have, an egg basket is what you need. We are going to continue to use fossil fuels. We are going to burn more fossil carbon than we can afford to dump in the atmosphere. Do not fantasise otherwise. Every credible scenario for avoiding more than two degrees of warming involves deployment of carbon burial at an eye-watering rate from the 2030s onwards. So we will eventually need large-scale carbon burial and the only way we are going to get it in time is by making it a licensing condition for extracting fossil fuels, as they have done, without any political fuss, in Western Australia.
Guardian 26th Nov 2013 read more »
