Westinghouse
Toshiba Corp. is negotiating with three parties to sell up to 16% of its Westinghouse Electric Co. nuclear-power unit, Toshiba President Norio Sasaki said. The three parties “have made very good offers,” but Toshiba is “not in a hurry,” Mr. Sasaki said. The Japanese conglomerate’s forecast for its nuclear-reactor business is positive, despite softer demand after last year’s Fukushima disaster in Japan, he said. Toshiba paid about $4.2 billion for 77% of U.S.-based Westinghouse six years ago. At that price, the 16% would be valued around $875 million. Toshiba has since sold 10% of Westinghouse to Kazakhstan state-owned NAC Kazatomprom.
Wall Street Journal 27th Dec 2012 more »
Bloomberg 27th Dec 2012 more »
Speculation over a sale had mounted since October, when Toshiba announced that Shaw Group of the US, from which it bought a controlling stake in Westinghouse Electric six years ago, would exercise an option to sell it another 20 per cent, bringing Toshiba’s total holding to 87 per cent.
FT 27th Dec 2012 more »
Japan
Japan’s idled nuclear reactors will gradually be restarted under the newly-elected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as the units receive the all-clear from the country’s Nuclear Regulation Authority, the Nikkei reported. Abe, in his instructions to cabinet members, outlined his policy of allowing nuclear reactors to resume operations while giving priority to the regulator’s safety assessment, the Japanese daily reported.
Reuters 28th Dec 2012 more »
The new government in Japan has announced it will review the planned nuclear power phase-out proposed by the previous administration.
Bloomberg 28th Dec 2012 more »
BBC 27th Dec 2012 more »
According to mid/long term roadmap of Tepco released on 12/27/2012, 10 million Bq of cesium-134/137 is still released from reactor1, 2 and 3 every single hour. This is measured at the top part of each reactor building. The amount is computed from the dust density of Cs-134/137, other nuclides are excluded.
Before it’s news 27th Dec 2012 more »
Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), owner of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, has been sued by eight US sailors over radiation exposure. They claim that Tepco lied about the threat posed by the leaks after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami damaged the plant. The sailors were involved in relief operations after the natural disasters. They have each sought $10m (£6m) in compensatory damages and $30m in punitive damages from Tepco.
BBC 28th Dec 2012 more »
Lingering fears of radiation have turned children from Fukushima into the most obese in Japan, according to a government study, as parents and schools continue to restrict the amount of time they spend outdoors.
Guardian 27th Dec 2012 more »
USA
Federal regulators have expressed significant concern about the safety of the San Onofre nuclear power plant, asking for more analysis on its damaged steam generators and requesting the plant to be able to run safely at full capacity. The power plant has been inactive since January, when a radiation leak led to the discovery of significant damage on many of its generator tubes. Many worried that the dangerous conditions at the plant could lead to California’s own Fukushima-like meltdown. Southern California Edison, which runs the plant, has since asked for permission to restart one of its twin reactors, Unit 2, at 70 percent power, which the company claims will end the vibration and friction that eroded the generator tubes.
RT 27th Dec 2012 more »
Submarines
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed a contract earlier this month with BAE Systems that will safeguard 3,000 skilled jobs at Barrow in Cumbria. A £1.2 billion order has been given to BAE to design and build the Royal Navy’s new submarine HMS Audacious. The MoD also announced that a further £1.5 billion has been committed to the existing three submarines in the class. HMS Audacious is the fourth of seven Astute Class nuclear-powered submarines to be built for the Royal Navy to replace the Trafalgar Class. The first two are currently undergoing sea trials, while the third is reaching the final stages of construction at Barrow.
Machinery Market 27th Dec 2012 more »
Renewables
For the first time ever, solar photovoltaics has been included as a key technology in the government’s Renewables Roadmap. The updated Renewables Roadmap sets out which renewable technologies the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) views as integral to achieving the UK’s 2020 renewable targets. Following a five-fold increase in solar capacity, DECC has recognised that solar in the UK has the potential to form a significant part of the future energy generation mix. As part of the updated roadmap, DECC has modelled that the industry could install between 7-20GW of solar by 2020. However, the document warns that, “movement towards the top limit of deployment (20GW) is heavily dependent on decreasing the costs and being able to balance the UK grid network.”
Solar Portal 27th Dec 2012 more »
RenewableUK has today welcomed the publication of the UK Renewable Energy Roadmap Update by the Department of Energy and Climate Change. The Update states that the UK is on track to meet its first interim target on the way towards generating 15% of all energy (electricity, heat and transport) from renewable sources by 2020. This means that 30% of the UK’s electricity will come from renewables by the end of the decade, with wind playing a leading role.
Renewable UK 27th Dec 2012 more »
Momodou Keita, town chief of Sanogola, a small village 300km north of Bamako, Mali’s capital, stands proudly beside the community’s solar-powered lamp-post – a shiny, blue, enamel-coated construction of welded bicycle parts and water pipes. “Ten villages now want these lamps,” he announces with pride from inside his traditional Malian mud-walled compound. “Now we have electricity and it helps us so much,” he says.
Guardian 28th Dec 2012 more »
Community Power enables individuals to take steps towards the betterment of the environment, their communities, and also their personal finances. It also enables these individuals to gather for a common purpose and achieve something extraordinary, as a community. This is where true economic, environmental and social sustainability lies. Through igniting individual behaviour change and community solidarity, Community Power starts an empowering process that enables communities to provide local solutions to their local needs for the long term.
Clean Technica 28th Dec 2012 more »
Energy Efficiency
More than 800 jobs have already been lost in the insulation industry as a direct result of the government’s flagship energy efficiency policy, a business group has claimed. The figures from the Insulation Industry Forum (IIF) come exactly a month before the “green deal” kicks off in earnest, when companies including British Gas will begin fitting energy-saving measures such as solid wall insulation, more efficient boilers and double glazing in homes. The scheme to improve 14m homes involves companies offering loans whose repayments must be offset by the savings in an attempt to cut energy bills and carbon emissions. But the IIF said a gap after the old insulation regime, which ends this month, has seen 816 redundancies before the green deal and a scheme for the fuel-poor, the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), get under way. It said a further 1,182 people had been put on notice of redundancy.
Guardian 28th Dec 2012 more »
Scotsman 28th Dec 2012 more »
Just three Scottish Government buildings have micro-generation technology such as solar and water heating – representing 4.8 per cent of 63 properties solely or mainly occupied by it. The SNP government has also been criticised after it emerged that some of its buildings had the lowest possible ratings in the Energy Performance Certificates that are needed whenever a new property is built.
Scotsman 28th Dec 2012 more »
