Nuclear Supply Chain
A significant package of measures to help UK manufacturers seize the opportunities provided by emerging technologies was launched today by Business Secretary Lord Mandelson. It includes money for the nuclear supply chain including: total of £45 million funding to Rolls-Royce, which will see four new advanced manufacturing facilities built in the UK – three in aerospace and one civil nuclear – creating and sustaining around 800 jobs.
BIS Press Release 28th July 2009 more >>
Business Secretary Lord Mandelson got the chance to learn about Sheffield’s potential for supplying safety-critical, precision-engineered components to a resurgent nuclear power industry, when he visited an energy conference organised by trade union Unite.
Sheffield Star 28th July 2009 more >>
Oldbury
Environmental group Greenpeace may pursue legal action against nuclear power company E.ON. The threats come in the wake of Greenpeace receiving information that E.ON has begun preparations to commence drilling at their site at Oldbury, Gloucestershire on August 3rd.
Electric.co.uk 27th July 2009 more >>
The government’s plans to accelerate the rollout of a new fleet of nuclear power stations are facing further difficulties after Greenpeace signaled that it could undertake a second legal action over concerns with the planning approval process. The green group confirmed that it has written to energy and climate change secretary Ed Miliband expressing concern that preparatory work being planned by E.ON at the Oldbury site in Gloucestershire could prejudice the ongoing planning processes in favour of the energy giant.
Business Green 27th July 2009 more >>
POWER station bosses in Oldbury are making plans to make sure the lights do not go out should the swine flu crisis worsen. Joe Lamonby, Oldbury Power Station’s site director, said at a meeting that swine flu was the industry’s biggest concern at the moment but that contingency plans were being put in place should large numbers of the workforce be affected by the illness.
Gloucestershire Gazette 27th July 2009 more >>
Nuclear Safety
TESTS have confirmed that a test tube which was taken into Suffolk Fire Service’s headquarters by a woman contained a radioactive substance. The woman walked into Ipswich’s Colchester Road fire station at 5pm on Friday with a sealed test tube which she said contained the dangerous chemical.
Suffolk Evening Star 27th July 2009 more >>
Sellafield
On 27 July, the NDA gave one week’s notice for the deadline for expressions of interest in land at Sellafield. It wants interested parties to return their compliant Expressions of Interest, signed Confidentiality Agreement and Data Room Rules prior to 17:00 BST on Monday 3rd August 2009.
NDA 27th July 2009 more >>
Bradwell
On Sunday, August 9, a flotilla will sail close to the Bradwell shore in protest at the proposal for a new nuclear power station. The ‘Vigil’ will begin at 2 p.m. and last for about 2 hours.
BANNG 27th July 2009 more >>
New Nukes
Some 60 countries are considering the use of nuclear power, in addition to the 30 that already do so. One of these is Chile, which commissioned Finnish experts for advice. The figures come from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which last week held a four-day workshop to develop tools to help those countries make the decision. It said that 20 of the states it is helping could have a program in place to use nuclear by 2030. It is also helping a number of regional programs.
World Nuclear News 27th July 2009 more >>
Iran
The Obama administration yesterday stepped up its drive for a diplomatic solution to the dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme, as Robert Gates, defence secretary, called on a sceptical Israeli government to give time for talks to succeed.
FT 28th July 2009 more >>
Guardian 28th July 2009 more >>
Israel has said it is still considering using military force to stop Iran getting the bomb. Defence minister Ehud Barak told his U.S. counterpart Robert Gates he would take ‘no option’ off the table in confronting Iran’s nuclear ambitions. ‘This is our position. We mean it,’ he said, standing alongside Mr Gates.
Daily Mail 28th July 2009 more >>
Times 28th July 2009 more >>
The United States is hoping that by this autumn Iran will respond to its diplomatic efforts to curb its suspected nuclear appetites, Robert Gates, the US defence secretary said on Monday.
Telegraph 27th July 2009 more >>
Iran reiterated on Monday it has no plans to build nuclear weapons, after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Tehran that any pursuit of atomic arms was futile. “We are a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and it is our right to have peaceful nuclear activities. Nuclear weapons have no place in our defence structure,” foreign ministry spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi told reporters.
Middle East Online 27th July 2009 more >>
India
India launched its first nuclear-powered submarine on 26 July, making it the sixth country in the world to use nuclear energy in marine propulsion.
World Nuclear News 27th July 2009 more >>
Pakistan warned today of a new nuclear arms race after India launched its first homegrown nuclear submarine, joining only five other countries that have developed such vessels.
Times 27th July 2009 more >>
BBC 28th July 2009 more >>
Fusion
The ITER nuclear fusion project is an unprecedented scientific collaboration involving the European Union, United States, Russia, China, Japan, Korea and India.
Reuters (Video) 27th July 2009 more >>
Submarines
The Royal Navy are checking if one of their submarines is damaged off the Western Isles. Fishermen lifting creels off Harris spotted the submarine rising out of the water off Scalpay, this afternoon (fri). She crawled along the surface and appeared head off towards a remote sea loch. What appeared to be a Nimrod reconnaissance aircraft made a number of sweeps over the vessel said observers.
Hebrides News 24th July 2009 more >>
Climate
The world faces record-breaking temperatures as the sun’s activity increases, leading the planet to heat up significantly faster than scientists had predicted for the next five years, according to a study. The hottest year on record was 1998, and the relatively cool years since have led to some global warming sceptics claiming that temperatures have levelled off or started to decline. But new research firmly rejects that argument.
Guardian 28th July 2009 more >>
Renewables
With surging demand for power and blackouts common across the continent, Africa is looking to solar, wind and geothermal technologies to meet its energy needs.
Guardian 28th July 2009 more >>
The government yesterday awarded Vestas Technology £6m but the cash will not stop the Danish turbine manufacturer from controversially shutting its Isle of Wight factory on Friday. As 25 Vestas workers continued to occupy the factory yesterday, energy secretary Ed Miliband was heckled by protesters over the closure of the renewable energy business while he was in Oxford on ministerial business.
Guardian 28th July 2009 more >>
Oil
A long-term decline in the demand for oil could undermine the huge investments in Canadian tar sands, which have been heavily opposed by environmentalists, according to a report published today. The report, by Greenpeace, will make uncomfortable reading for the companies that are investing tens of billions of pounds to exploit the hard-to-extract oil in the belief that demand and the price would climb inexorably as countries such as China and India industrialise. Citing projections from the oil producers’ cartel Opec and the International Energy Agency, as well as various oil experts, the report casts doubt on the conventional assumption that consumption and prices will begin gathering pace once the world pulls itself out of recession. It argues that alongside the cyclical fall in the oil price there are more fundamental structural changes taking place. These are driven by advances in energy efficiency and alternative energy, cleaner vehicles, government policies on climate change and concerns over energy security.
Guardian 28th July 2009 more >>
Carbon Capture
Schwarze Pumpe is a 160 metre-tall power plant near Berlin, which breathes out a steady fog of steam and carbon dioxide, making a modest but visible contribution to global warming. Yet in the shadow of that hulking facility, engineers from Vattenfall, the Swedish energy company, are testing a new technology that promises power without pollution. Known as carbon capture and storage (CCS), it involves a complex tangle of pipes, valves and filters that burn coal and lignite in such a way that the carbon-dioxide exhaust can be separated in a highly purified form. That gas can then be piped away for use in soft-drinks factories and fire extinguishers, or buried underground. The small-scale, 30-megawatt test plant has so far captured about 1,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide since it began operation last September. Vattenfall is hoping to build a much larger 400MW facility. The EU is hoping to have a dozen or so demonstration plants running by 2015 so that a variety of CCS technologies can be tested and the best made commercially available by 2020. The Zero Emissions Platform (ZEP), is a CCS advocacy group that includes companies, scientists and non-government organisations. Some NGOs such as Greenpeace, remain wary of CCS and its corporate patrons; others are now reluctant supporters. “It’s clear that the energy system as a whole has to undergo a revolution to become low-carbon or zero-carbon by 2050. We don’t think that can be done in time with only efficiency measures or renewables,” said Mark Johnston, an analyst at WWF, explaining its decision to join the ZEP.
FT 28th July 2009 more >>
