Nuclear Subsidies
SHEFFIELD Forgemasters could resurrect its multimillion pound nuclear expansion plans early next year after conciliatory moves by Business Secretary Vince Cable. Forgemasters shelved plans to spend £140 million on opening a nuclear engineering shop and installing a 15,000 tonne press after the coalition government withdrew the offer of an £80m loan. Mr Cable told the Brightside Lane company that while he won’t reverse the decision to withdraw the loan, he would look carefully at future proposals, once the government has completed its spending review and the availability of public funds becomes clearer.
Sheffield Star 2nd Aug 2010 more >>
Nuclear Research
FRESH doubt has been cast on Yorkshire’s ambition to grab a central role in British nuclear manufacturing after it emerged that a planned £25m research centre could fall victim to a new round of Government cuts. Funding for the research centre – the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (NAMRC) on the border of Sheffield and Rotherham is under threat.
Yorkshire Post 3rd Aug 2010 more >>
Hinkley
The Environment Agency will meet with energy company EDF next week to talk through details of the proposed new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point, near Bridgwater, Somerset. Simon Hughes, the National project executive for nuclear new build at the Environment Agency, and Simon Birch, Head of Town and Country Planning, will meet with EDF site management at Hinkley Point power station in Bridgwater on Wednesday, 4 August. This meeting is the first real opportunity for senior Environment Agency managers to see the site and fully understand EDF’s preferred options for the proposed Hinkley C development.
Environmenmt Agency 2nd Aug 2010 more >>
Wylfa
Areva and the Westinghouse-led consortium Nuclear Power Delivery UK are about to start preparatory studies for Horizon Nuclear Power’s new nuclear power station in North Wales, Horizon said today. Horizon, a joint venture between Eon and RWE npower, has said it aims to generate nuclear power at Wylfa by 2020. Once the Generic Design Assessment has been concluded by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, Horizon will choose which reactor type with which to proceed.
Utility Week 2nd Aug 2010 more >>
Nuclear Power Delivery UK – the delivery organisation for the Westinghouse-designed AP1000(TM) nuclear reactor – today signed a contract with Horizon Nuclear Power for preliminary work to be carried out between now and the end of the year, as part of preparatory design studies for Horizon’s proposed new power station in North Wales.
PR Newswire 2nd Aug 2010 more >>
The Street 2nd Aug 2010 more >>
U.K. nuclear joint venture Horizon Nuclear Power Ltd. Monday said it has signed contracts for preliminary work on a proposed new nuclear power station in Wales with France’s Areva SA (CEI.FR) and Toshiba Corp. (6502.TO) unit Westinghouse Electric Co.’s Nuclear Power Delivery U.K.
Wall Street Journal 2nd Aug 2010 more >>
France’s Areva has signed an early work agreement with Horizon Nuclear Power, a joint-venture between E.ON and RWE, to start design studies on European Pressurised Reactors (EPR) the two German utilities are considering building in Britain.
London South East 2nd Aug 2010 more >>
Dungeness
EDF Energy’s UK Dungeness B21 nuclear reactor is expected to restart soon, a spokeswoman said on Monday. “The works are going well. It will come back shortly,” she said. “We have received approval to restart and are in the final phase of pre-start-up checks to bring the unit back to service,” she added.
The unit had initially been scheduled to return to the grid in July following the repair of a water leak on a pipe near the boiler reheater. The reactor has been out of service since Nov. 23, 2009.
Yahoo Finance 2nd Aug 2010 more >>
Low Level Waste
A state of the art facility for the storage of the nation’s low level nuclear waste opened at the NDA’s site near Drigg in Cumbria on 29 July 2010. Vault 9 has a capacity of 110,000 cubic metres and has been designed to meet the stringent requirements of the UK’s nuclear and environmental regulators. Since the early days of planning Vault 9, the emphasis has switched from single solution disposal of Low Level Waste, which consumes capacity at the LLW Repository, to smarter strategies that help make best use of the site. This is being achieved by waste minimisation and recycling, particularly of metals. LLWR Limited is NDA’s partner in championing the opening up of diverse waste management routes in line with the 2007 Government Low Level Waste policy.
NDA 30th July 2010 more >>
Hiroshima
Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba says he will urge Japan to withdraw from the U.S. nuclear umbrella in his peace declaration Friday at the annual ceremony marking the 1945 atomic bombing of the city.
Japan Times 3rd August 2010 more >>
Jordan
Jordan will sign nuclear cooperation agreements with three countries this year and hopes to reach one with the U.S. soon after, the head of the kingdom’s atomic commission said.
“Jordan is due to sign three agreements on nuclear cooperation with Japan, Romania and the Czech Republic by the end of 2010,” Khalid Touqan, chairman of the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission, said today in an interview in Amman.
Bloomberg 2nd Aug 2010 more >>
US
NRG Energy Inc has reduced its spending to develop two new nuclear units in Texas while awaiting a federal loan guarantee, Chief Executive Officer David Crane said Monday. Crane said uncertainty over timing of decisions from the Energy Department on its nuclear loan guarantee program forced the company in July to cut spending on the two-unit expansion at the South Texas Project by 70 percent, from $30 million per month to $7.5 million. Beginning this month, Crane said spending on nuclear development will be further cut to $1.5 million a month.
Reuters 2nd Aug 2010 more >>
Trident
The treasury and defence ministry are fighting over who pays for the 15-20 billion pound submarine-based system, just as other ministries are scrambling for up to 40 percent in savings for an October spending review. The Ministry of Defence (MoD), whose budget this year is 36.9 billion pounds, is already facing expected cuts of up to 20 percent by 2015, putting staffing levels and major procurement programmes at risk. The MoD had thought the treasury would pay for Trident, but last week finance minister George Osborne said the money must come from the MoD’s core budget.
Reuters 2nd Aug 2010 more >>
