Sellafield MoX Plant
Today’s announcement by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to allow the Sellafield MOX Plant (SMP) to complete its current MOX fuel manufacturing campaign has been compared by CORE to giving the kiss of life to a corpse.
CORE 27th Oct 2009 more >>
The NDA has concluded that, at this stage, the best course of action is the continued operation of SMP in pursuance of completing the current campaign of fuel manufacture. The NDA has today written to Sellafield Ltd to advise them of our position and asking them to continue to deliver the current manufacturing campaign whilst seeking to improve operational performance. In parallel, International Nuclear Services, the commercial subsidiary of the NDA, is continuing to explore new commercial arrangements that would make the continuing operation of the plant economically acceptable to the NDA in the longer term.
NDA 27th Oct 2009 more >>
New Nukes
Nuclear power will need to account for 30 per cent of the UK’s electricity output by 2030 if carbon dioxide reduction targets are to be met, according to EDF Energy’s CEO Vincent de Rivaz. In an interview with the Financial Times, de Rivaz said that the UK government should set such a target else there was likely to be additional investment in gas fired generation. That would boost gas’s share of the energy mix and prevent emissions falling enough to meet the government’s targets.
Power Engineering 26th Oct 2009 more >>
The Guardian newspaper of Monday 19 October broke the story that the UK government is preparing to guarantee a minimum price for carbon dioxide emissions to encourage the development of nuclear power stations. Putting a high cost on greenhouse gas emissions from power stations will force up the wholesale price of electricity, ensuring a better financial return for nuclear power stations (and for renewables such as wind). The decision to create a floor price for carbon demonstrates that the full costs of nuclear technology are probably well above today’s wholesale electricity prices. We may well need nuclear power but we are going to pay heavily for it. The government’s optimistic noises from 2006 to the middle of this year about the commercial viability of nuclear power have turned out to be wrong.
Scitizen 26th Oct 2009 more >>
As yet, there are no EPR or AP1000 plants operating; the first of the former are being built in Finland and France, and have suffered from well-publicised delays and cost over-runs. The first AP1000s are being built in China and, although they are at an earlier stage than the EPR projects, they are so far running on time and on budget.
The Engineer 28th Oct 2009 more >>
The government is subsidising renewable energy “at the expense” of more cost-effective low-carbon sources such as nuclear power, according to the CBI.
New Energy Focus 27th Oct 2009 more >>
Wales
In the Welsh Labour Leadership battle Huw Lewis pledged to support renewable energy in Wales, and restated his conditional backing for a Severn Barrage and the Wylfa B nuclear power station.
Wales Online 27th Oct 2009 more >>
Bradwell
A CAMPAIGN group is preparing for the start of a battle against nuclear power in Bradwell. The Government is preparing to launch its Nuclear Policy Statement in November which is expected to confirm Bradwell as a potential site for nuclear power. Once the long-awaited statement is published, a lengthy consultation process will be launched giving people of the area a chance to air their views. And protestors Bradwell Against New Nuclear Group (BANNG) has called on the local community to rise up against the Government proposals.
Maldon Standard 26th Oct 2009 more >>
Sizewell
LOCAL firms could share in a huge multi-billion pound cash bonanza from the building of Sizewell C, nuclear industry experts say. The Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) says the eastern region is set to enjoy a “massive” economic boost from building and running the twin reactors which EDF Energy hopes to start building at the site by 2012.
East Anglian Daily Times 27th Oct 2009 more >>
Lowestoft Journal 27th Oct 2009 more >>
Low Level Waste
The latest waste treatment at the Studsvik metals recycling facility in Workington, Cumbria, has recycled a record 98% of a load of low level radioactive waste. Consisting of 12 half height ISO shipping containers, the waste consignment would normally have been sent to the Low Level Waste Repository for nuclear waste near Sellafield, but only a tiny proportion has been sent to this facility.
Waste Management News 27th Oct 2009 more >>
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is looking for ways to refine its strategy about nuclear waste after a report showed that one of the main repositories for waste could be full in as little as twenty years. The main nuclear waste repository in Britain is in the small Cumbrian town of Drigg handles a large amount of low level nuclear waste. The facility is part of an industry that was developed during the Cold War but now must change its strategies in the face of new environmental worries like pollution and climate change. And the news that the facility may soon be at capacity only underscores the needs for a new strategy.
Recycle 27th Oct 2009 more >>
Iraq
Iraq has started lobbying for approval to again become a nuclear player, almost 19 years after British and American war planes destroyed Saddam Hussein’s last two reactors, the Guardian has learned. The Iraqi government has approached the French nuclear industry about rebuilding at least one of the reactors that was bombed at the start of the first Gulf war. The government has also contacted the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and United Nations to seek ways around resolutions that ban Iraq’s re-entry into the nuclear field.
Guardian 28th Oct 2009 more >>
Telegraph 28th Oct 2009 more >>
Times 28th Oct 2009 more >>
Iran
The European Union’s foreign policy chief has warned Iran that there can be no fundamental changes to the draft agreement on its nuclear programme that it is being invited to sign.
FT 28th Oct 2009 more >>
Bulgaria
Bulgaria welcomed a proposal by the European commission Tuesday to give it an additional 300 million euros (446 million dollars) to help dismantle obsolete reactors at its Kozloduy nuclear plant.
EU Business 27th Oct 2009 more >>
World Nuclear News 27th October 2009 more >>
Submarines
CAMPAIGNERS against proposals to scrap nuclear submarines in Plymouth have warned their could ‘bring the city to a standstill.’ About 300 people from all over the country are expected to descend on Plymouth on Saturday to take part in a mass national demonstration against the proposed Submarine Dismantling Project. The Ministry of Defence will be staging public consultation events until next spring about the possibility of setting up the SDP at Devonport Naval Base.
Plymouth Herald 27th Oct 2009 more >>
Climate
Europe is to breathe life into the faltering search for a new global deal on climate change by pledging billions of pounds in financial support for poor countries. European heads of state will formally recommend this week that rich countries should hand over around 100bn (£90bn) a year to nations such as India and Vietnam by 2020 to help them cope with the impact of global warming. The pledge is expected to come at the end of a two-day summit of European leaders on Thursday and Friday, and before negotiations on a new climate treaty in Copenhagen in December.
Guardian 28th Oct 2009 more >>
