Radwaste
Hundreds of people marched in protest at Ennerdale over a proposed underground nuclear waste storage facility in west Cumbria.
Carlisle News & Star 28th Jan 2013
It will be one of the biggest decisions in west Cumbria’s history – on Wednesday councillors will decide whether the west of the county should look for suitable areas to build an underground nuclear waste store. Tomorrow we will look at why people are opposed to going through to the next stage, but in the first of two reports Samantha Parker looks at the argument for a YES vote. You can watch her report below.
ITV News 28th Jan 2013
Jamie Reed MP: The question at the centre of this debate is what to do with the countrys nuclear waste. More than 70% of it is stored in west Cumbria and the community has been looking at whether the answer is to bury it in an underground nuclear waste store. For four years a group of organisations across the county has been looking at the pro and cons of building the facility in the west of the county. If built the £12billion scheme could be as deep as the height of Scafell Pike and wider than the city of Carlisle.
ITV 28th Jan 2013
ANTI-NUCLEAR dump opponents sent a message to the world at the weekend using the snowy Cumbrian landscape as a platform. Residents’ campaign group, No Ennerdale Nuclear Dump, said up to 500 people attended its demo close to the shores of Ennerdale Water, with media from as far afield as Australia. The word ‘HELP’ was carved out in the snow, a giant ‘Men At Work’ sign was also utilised with an accompanying radioactive emblem and protesters bore No To Stage Four placards.
Westmorland Gazette 28th Jan 2013
CORE’s letter to leader of Cumbria County Council.
CORE 28th Jan 2013
Sign the petition before the councils vote on Wednesday. On 30 Jan, members of Allerdale, Copeland and Cumbria councils will decide whether or not to continue with investigations into building nuclear waste sites in the Lake District. The decision to explore the development of an underground store under the fells – enough to house the City of York – will be a disaster for tourism, say campaigners. Ennerdale valley is one of the places that has been volunteered as a site for an underground dump.
Ethical Consumer 27th Jan 2013
Hartlepool
EDF Energy stopped its 620-megawatt Hartlepool 2 nuclear reactor in Britain on Saturday morning for a planned outage, a spokesman said on Monday.
Reuters 28th Jan 2013
Utilities
Small businesses are stepping up pressure on the Government to take a tougher line with energy suppliers to limit their power to roll over contract terms without any negotiation. They have already been promised more safeguards and protection against mis-selling and rogue brokers but the Federation of Small Businesses wants Ed Davey, the Energy Secretary, to go further and effectively end the automatic roll over practice. The FSB is backing Green Party MP Caroline Lucas in her efforts to limit the roll over period from a year to 30 days. She was unsuccessful in attempting to introduce a Private Members’ Bill in the Commons on Friday to protect the smallest firms with fewer than 10 employees but is continuing her campaign.
Telegraph 28th Jan 2013
Scotland
The Scottish environment minister is preparing to explain how the government intends to meet climate change targets. The publication of the government’s Report on Proposals and Policies (RPP) has brought a joint call from opposition parties for greater clarity. They claimed that the Scottish government has failed to meet targets, and needs to look again at policies across all departments. The minister, Paul Wheelhouse, will speak to MSPs later. He is expected to argue that Scotland has already achieved the best emissions record in Europe, ahead of Germany and Denmark – and the rest of the UK. Scottish Labour’s climate change spokeswoman, Claire Baker, said: “It is disappointing that we find ourselves in a situation where Scotland is failing in its ambition to meet its climate change targets. “It is therefore imperative that the second Report on Proposals and Policies delivers the step-change needed to get our country back on course.”
BBC 29th Jan 2013
The Scottish Conservatives have called for an end to the “march of the wind farms” as part of a review of future energy needs. The party wants a pause on onshore wind farm applications and has backed use of fossil fuels, shale gas and nuclear. It wants to shift the balance away from onshore wind to other renewable sources and build nuclear plants to replace Hunterston B and Torness. The Scottish government opposes any new build nuclear power stations.
BBC 29th Jan 2013
US
Oak Ridge National Laboratory has released a recent study which has determined that if and when the US ever decides to actually pursue the technology to recycle nuclear waste, it will take 20 years to develop. Based on this knowledge they have suggested that the current stockpile of spent nuclear fuel should be buried without any thought as to its retrieval in the future.
Oil Price 28th Jan 2013
Japan
Tokyo Electric Power Co. plans to dump contaminated water from its crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean after removing radioactive substances to reduce contamination to legally permissible levels. Tepco said Thursday the measure is necessary because the utility fears it will eventually run out of capacity to store radioactive water that continues to accumulate at the plant due to water being injected to help cool the three reactors that experienced core meltdowns in March 2011.
Japan Times 25th Jan 2013
The unfolding radiation decontamination scandal in Japan’s Fukushima prefecture – the scene of the 2011 nuclear disaster – shows the nuclear industry at its cynical worst. As a nukes watcher for Greenpeace, I’ve seen a lot in my time – scandals, cover ups and even comedy. But just when I think I’ve seen all the depths to which the nukes industry often sinks, it manages to descend deeper still. Just when I think nothing more could surprise me, along comes Japan’s radiation decontamination scandal to take my breath. If you haven’t been following the news on our excellent Fukushima Nuclear Crisis Updates, here’s the deal. A few weeks ago Japan’s national newspaper Asahi Shimbun revealed that the companies contracted for a juicy fee to decontaminate areas surrounding the damaged Fukushima reactors had not been doing their jobs properly. Which is putting it mildly.
Greenpeace 28th Jan 2013
Germany
Reuters reported that Germany’s electricity supply is adequate this winter, despite the nuclear switch off which started in 2011 following the Fukushima nuclear accident. Meanwhile, Greenpeace Germany has reported that more than half of the coal-power projects planned in 2006 have since been abandoned thanks to Germany’s energy policies which have seen a shift to renewable energy.
Renewable Energy World 28th Jan 2013
Iran
Iran has denied reports of a major explosion at its Fordow nuclear facility, one of its most sensitive uranium enrichment sites. The country has described the claims as Western propaganda which they say is intended to influence upcoming international nuclear negotiations. The reports originate with Israeli intelligence sources in Tel Aviv, who since Friday have spoken of an explosion damaging the Fordow bunker which is situated deep under a mountain near the religious city of Qom.
Daily Mail 28th Jan 2013
IB Times 28th Jan 2013
BBC 28th Jan 2013
Either way, for those of us who would prefer the global crisis over Iran’s nuclear programme to be resolved without recourse to military action, the prospect of the Fordow complex being rendered inoperable just sounds too good to be true.
Telegraph 28th Jan 2013
Israeli and Iranian officials have both failed to explain the mystery of a reported explosion said to have rocked the notoriously impregnable Fordow nuclear site in Iran.
Telegraph 28th Jan 2013
India
A new six-unit nuclear power plant at Mithi Virdi in Gujarat will be “environmentally benign and sustainable” while benefitting the region both economically and socially, said a draft assessment on behalf of the proposing company.
World Nuclear News 28th Jan 2013
Bulgaria
Voters in Bulgaria’s referendum have chosen a path of nuclear development for the country’s future, although the matter remains with a government that is yet to commit to Belene or an alternative plan for Kozloduy.
World Nuclear News 28th Jan 2013
Those (few)Bulgarians who made it to the polls in Sunday’s referendum on nuclear power have voted in favour of further development. The vote was a political exercise which is unlikely to lead to the building of new atomic plants any time soon. But it was an unusual show of support for the much-criticised industry. How many other European Union countries would have voted in favour? Initial reports suggested that 60 per cent voted in favour of a new nuclear power plant (NPP), but that turnout was just over 20 per cent, meaning that the vote will be non-binding.
FT 28th Jan 2013
Trident
Letters Paul Flynn MP: I pointed out that in 1968, a UK foreign affairs minister urged other states at the UN to sign up to the newly negotiated NPT (which had been co-drafted by the UK). He promised UK support and added: “It will, therefore, be essential to follow the treaty up quickly with further disarmament measures.” And what did the UK actually do quickly? Mr Dunne told MPS last week proudly: “Our continuous at-sea deterrence patrols under Operation Relentless have been operating without pause since 1969. It is the UK’s most enduring military operation.” That sounds suspiciously like the opposite of nuclear disarmament to me.
Guardian 28th Jan 2013
Letter Kate Hudson: While the Lib Dem’s Trident alternatives review is a useful vehicle for considering options other than the financially catastrophic £100bn-plus price-tag of like-for-like Trident replacement, it must also include a non-nuclear option. The public don’t want nuclear weapons and the military think they’re useless: and are now paying the price in cuts to service personnel.
Guardian 28th Jan 2013
Letter David Penny: The Ministry of Defence claims that prolonged closure of the Aldermaston plant which makes enriched uranium components for Trident nuclear warheads could force the government to buy material from the US. This would be illegal. The government’s civil and military nuclear strategy is in disarray. There are safety concerns at Sellafield and no secure means of dealing with the nuclear-waste mountain. Cash-strapped EDF has failed to deliver a new generation of safe European PWR nuclear power stations. It’s time to call it a day – close down the nuclear power industry and scrap Trident.
Guardian 28th Jan 2013
Energy Efficiency
The government has finally launched its ‘green deal’ which finances energy-efficiency improvements. But will it see off its critics? Leo Hickman, with your help, investigates.
Guardian 28th Jan 2013
The government-appointed body running the Green Deal can handle fewer than 200 applications a week, The Times has learnt. The lack of resources behind the Green Deal Finance Company is threatening the energy efficiency programme’s official target to insulate 14 million homes by 2020. The body was set up in March last year to administer and provide loans for the Green Deal, which was launched yesterday and which ministers have lauded as the “biggest home improvement programme since the Second World War”. Yet, according to industry sources, it lacks the staff, IT systems and organisation to be able to handle the level of demand from homeowners required for it to be a success. It is thought that it has the resources to process between 100 and 200 applications a week.
Times 29th Jan 2013
Renewables
Geothermal developers from AltaRock Energy, a Washington state-based company, have been working on creating geothermal reservoirs with their own technology. They have recently made three such reservoirs from a single well, which means there is a greater chance a commercial geothermal plant can be built because with more reservoirs there is greater flow and energy output for each well. With human-made reservoirs expanding the energy output, the overall cost of constructing a geothermal plant could be reduced by 50 per cent.
Renew Economy 29th Jan 2013
As the political debate in the UK about the prospects of building the Severn barrage between Cardiff and Weston-super-Mare continues, in waters around the Orkney Islands of Scotland, blue-sky thinking about tidal and wave power continues to become reality. The European Marine Energy Centre (Emec) celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, with demand for its wave and tidal test sites off the Orkney’s mainland and neighbouring island of Eday at its highest level.
FT 28th Jan 2013
Everyone knows the comforting glow of a roaring log fire. This traditional form of heating is coming back on an industrial scale as a new form of renewable power. Biomass – biological matter derived from sources including wood, plants and some types of agricultural waste – is already widely used in Europe to generate heat and electricity. Today, backed by attractive subsidies from governments that see it as a way of helping them meet tough carbon reduction targets, this nascent sector is tipped to go mainstream. An added attraction is that, unlike other forms of renewable energy such as solar and wind, which provide power intermittently, biomass provides stable baseload power. With many coal plants due to be phased out to meet environmental legislation in Europe, utilities are looking to co-fire coal with biomass or convert their plants to burn only the latter. A recent report by Bain & Company, the consultancy, forecasts that global demand for biomass will grow at a compound annual rate of 9 per cent to 2020. This expansion is not without controversy. Environmental campaigners argue that burning biomass in power stations may actually hinder attempts to tackle climate change. Fears are also rife about sustainable sourcing, especially as the market grows.
FT 28th Jan 2013
If the world wants to ensure better food security for its growing population, then it needs to stop converting food crops into transportation fuel. That is the blunt message from campaigners who believe the development of biofuels from food crops such as maize or sugar is responsible for increases in the price of food as well as for deforestation.
FT 28th Jan 2013
Fossil Fuels
The coal industry has pointed to Europe’s increasing coal use and imports as evidence of coal’s inevitable future. Reporters have had a field day with this: The clean energy bastion is now home to rising coal use. The problem is reality doesn’t match the rhetoric. The truth is coal’s future in the EU is bleak. Here’s what’s happening.
Huffington Post 28th Jan 2013
The penny had to drop eventually – fossil fuels like coal might be more valuable if they were used to make medicines, chemicals and fertilisers rather than wasted by being burned. While we know that fossil fuels are used to make all sorts of everyday objects such as plastics, carbon fibre, soap, aspirins, solvents and dyes, it has never occurred to most of us how we will make these things when the coal, gas and oil run out.
Guardian 28th Jan 2013
