EPRs
AREVA, the French state-owned majority nuclear giant, has called a halt to the grindingly slow construction of the EPR reactor in Finland. The project, which is already 5 years late and €7,508,209,000 over budget, has been plagued with problems not least of all the as yet unresolved control and instrumentation problems. AREVA can’t give completion date, and after delaying their completion date early last year to 2016, Finnish newspapers are now citing 2018 as the earliest the reactors could be completed.
Stop Hinkley 2nd March 2014 read more »
Reactors & Flooding
Letter Ian Ralls: Your article “Risks of nuclear leak sparks call for flood works” (23 February) highlights the risks of climate change-induced flooding to the nuclear waste dump at Drigg in Cumbria. The risks however go much further. Nearly all the UK’s nuclear power stations have been built on the coast to access sea water for cooling, leaving at least 11 vulnerable to rising sea levels.
Independent 2nd March 2014 read more »
Energy Costs
Targeting the cost of energy for industrial users must be one of the Chancellor’s goals in the forthcoming Budget if he wants to safeguard a sustainable recovery, according to the CBI. In its submission to George Osborne ahead of his March 19 statement setting out economic policies, the business lobby group warned that green taxes on power are putting British companies at a “disadvantage”. The CBI said that the country’s long-term energy investment needs must be “balanced” against the prices paid by both domestic and business users. Although it accepts that “robust” green taxes are required to encourage investment in cleaner power, the CBI says British businesses are likely to pay more for their energy needs than foreign competitors for the foreseeable future.
Telegraph 3rd March 2014 read more »
The Chancellor has been accused of making tens of millions of pounds in double taxation on energy bills – by charging VAT on top of “green” taxes. In a report on Monday, fuel poverty charity National Energy Action calculates the Treasury reaped £27m in VAT on carbon levies in 2013 alone and that this will rise to £113m by 2020 unless the carbon tax is frozen. Several green measures are now funded through consumer bills and the NEA says it is unfair that consumers should face the sales tax on such levies. It calls for reform of the carbon tax and for all VAT revenue on consumer-funded levies to be cut or reused to help the fuel-poor. “Household energy prices are already soaring and the Treasury should not contribute to this or directly benefit from the proceeds. Instead, this money should be spent on helping to end the misery and suffering caused by fuel poverty in Britain’s cold homes,” said Peter Smith, the NEA report’s author.
Telegraph 3rd March 2014 read more »
Sellafield
Campaigners have held another protest outside Sellafield nuclear site about plans to cull dear which are trapped between two security fences. Sellafield says it has received independent advice from leading experts stating the most humane option is to kill the animals. But protesters say wildlife charities have offered to try and get the deer out alive. “Sellafield should back down, do the popular thing, the correct thing, the humane thing.”
ITV 2nd March 2014 read more »
Europe
Denmark will push for tougher EU-wide climate and energy goals when ministers gather in Brussels this week, the country’s new climate and energy minister Rasmus Helveg Petersen has told RTCC. Petersen said there is “substantial support” from EU member states to agree an overall greenhouse gas reduction target of “at least” 40%, as outlined in a White Paper launched in January. He ruled out any talk of a 50% GHG reduction target for now, saying it was unrealistic, but adding it could be subject for future negotiations. Petersen does expect a tougher battle over an EU-wide renewable energy target, which faces opposition from UK and Poland, among others.“We are not impressed by the ambition in the Commission proposal for a renewables target which goes for 27%. We are going to push for a 30% binding EU target on renewables,” he said.“As for energy efficiency that’s by far the smartest way to reach our objectives, so we want that, but we are not going to get it now.
RTCC 3rd March 2014 read more »
Japan
Local residents and environmental groups have reacted angrily to the announcement that prosecutors have decided to drop the charges for responsibility for the crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant. As Japan nears the third anniversary of the March 11 earthquake that crippled the plant, no-one has been held accountable for the second-worst nuclear accident in history, despite the independent investigative committee set up by the government concluding in July 2012 that the accident was “man-made disaster” caused by shortcomings in Japanese corporate culture.
Telegraph 3rd March 2014 read more »
Iran
US officials have reportedly told Israel to stop killing off Iranian nuclear scientists. Israel Moussad spy agancy has supposedly taken out at least five top Iranian nuclear experts in an attempt to slow the country’s nuclear program and continues to do so despite recent agreements reached to end the country’s nuclear ambitions.
Daily Mail 3rd March 2014 read more »
Ukraine
The situation in Ukraine threatens security of nuclear sites, Speaker of Federation Council upper house of Russian parliament Valentina Matviyenko told reporters on Saturday. The speaker of the upper house recalled that “a large number of highly hazardous facilities, nuclear power plants and other facilities” are situated in Ukraine. “If such chaos continues, this will affect all,” she warned. “This should also be understood and security of highly hazardous facilities should be ensured to avert a larger tragedy,” Matviyenko noted.
Voice of Russia 2nd March 2014 read more »
China
On February 27th, China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) approved the construction of two new nuclear reactors in the eastern coastal province of Shandong. The plan calls for the construction of two Westinghouse AP1000 reactors, at an estimated cost of $5.1 billion. The purchaser will be the state-owned utility China Power Investment. China hopes to be the first country to install Westinghouse’s third generation design, although there are two reactors under construction in the U.S. using the AP1000 design. China has a sense of urgency that is not felt elsewhere, and for good reason. Its cities are choked in smog, and aside from needing more electricity capacity to power its growing economy, it also needs to find cleaner sources of power and shut down some coal plants. Thus, China has ambitious plans for nuclear power. While China only has 14.6 gigawatts of nuclear capacity as of 2013, it plans to scale up nuclear reactors to a combined installed capacity of 58 GW by 2020. It then hopes to nearly triple that figure to 150 GW by 2030. It has 31 reactors under construction and about 8.6 GW are expected to come online in 2014.
Oil Price 2nd March 2014 read more »
Nuclear Weapons
For all the well-justified praise US President Barack Obama has received for his efforts to roll back the Iranian nuclear threat, the rest of his nuclear security agenda has stalled. Obama famously proposed an ambitious nuclear risk-reduction program in a speech in Prague at the beginning of his first term, and followed it up with a number of early achievements. He reiterated the importance of his agenda in a June 2013 speech in Berlin, but key priorities remain incomplete while others have scarcely gotten off the ground. To be sure, blame for the hold up is hardly the president’s alone. It stems in large part from forces beyond his control, like Russian resistance to further arms control measures and domestic political obstruction by Republicans. And Iran has no doubt consumed much of the nonproliferation oxygen. But a lack of White House attention and an overabundance of caution have also played a role, and if no additional progress is made, Obama’s triumphs will not compare favorably to the bold proposals he outlined in 2009. There are steps the administration can take during the remainder of Obama’s time in office to breathe new life into his agenda, increase US security, and set the stage for future progress.
Bulletin of Atomic Scientists 27th Feb 2014 read more »
Renewables – Wind
Developers are abandoning plans for new wind farms in Britain because they are “no longer financially viable”. The decision to scrap the wind farms is the first evidence that the spread of turbines across the country is being halted. It follows a radical overhaul by the Government of the consumer subsidy, worth more than £1 billion a year to wind farm owners. Under the subsidy, wind farms are guaranteed to receive double the wholesale price for the electricity they produce. Under the new scheme, to be introduced later this year, companies will have to sell their electricity to the national grid under a competitive bidding system.
Telegraph 2nd March 2014 read more »
The UK government’s green bank is stepping in to back onshore wind power schemes for the first time as it emerges that several key projects have been battered by the Co-operative Bank fiasco. The Green Investment Bank’s wind power investments have been limited to the relatively new offshore wind industry since the bank’s launch at the end of 2012, because state aid rules prevent it lending to older sectors, such as onshore wind, that should be able to obtain money elsewhere. But the troubled Co-op Bank was one of the biggest lenders for the community renewable energy projects that ministers have been championing with the aim of driving down household power bills and loosening the grip of the “big six” energy companies.
FT 2nd March 2014 read more »
Looking back over winter, the two stormiest months – December 2013 and February 2014 – saw the UK’s wind turbines perform particularly well, producing 15% and 16% of the month’s national electricity demand respectively. This is compared to a winter (October to February) average of 13% and an annual average of 7.5%. Our four wind turbines in Delabole, Cornwall, didn’t shut down once because of bad weather during this period.
Good Energy 28th Feb 2014 read more »
Renewables – Solar
One country is blessed with sol, sol, sol most of the year. The other is renowned for its appalling weather. However, despite the home-grown meteorological advantage, Spanish solar companies prefer Britain’s business climate. Up to 12 Spanish companies involved in the photovoltaic solar panel sector have chosen to expand in the UK in the past three years as their home market has declined. Spain’s centre-right Government ended generous incentives for the renewable energy industry when it came to power in 2011. Under the previous Socialist Government, the solar sector had received state incentives, sparking a “gold rush” of renewable energy companies that tried to cash in on the state aid.
Times 3rd March 2014 read more »
Energy Efficiency
THOUSANDS of homes could benefit from a £60 million fund aimed at cutting fuel poverty, according to the housing minister Margaret Burgess. The cash, part of the Home Energy Efficiency Programme for Scotland, will be used to improve the energy efficiency of houses through measures such as solid wall, cavity or loft insulation. Councils will each get a share of £42m from the fund for this work, with the remaining £18m made available to local authorities to develop large scale schemes. The funding, which is being made available for 2014-15, is part of almost £250m the Scottish Government is investing to tackle fuel poverty and boost energy efficiency over three years.
Scotsman 3rd March 2014 read more »
Fossil Fuels
A Canadian-owned energy company plans to conduct tests on shale rocks beneath the East Riding of Yorkshire this summer as the search for shale gas and oil widens across Britain. Rathlin Energy is seeking environmental permits to carry out a series of tests on two wells at Crawberry Hill and West Newton, near Hull. The plans include so-called “mini fall-off tests” in the Bowland shale rocks that, according to the permit applications, will “help determine whether the formation is capable of being hydraulically fractured” – the technical name for fracking.
Telegraph 3rd March 2014 read more »
A Conservative supporter of fracking has been accused of putting the concerns of a few constituents before the national interest by opposing a shale exploration well in the South Downs National Park. Andrew Tyrie, the chairman of the Treasury Select Committee and MP for Chichester, has written to the park’s authority objecting to Celtique Energie’s application, despite having supported shale exploration in the past.
Times 3rd March 2014 read more »
Viscount Cowdray, one of Britain’s biggest landowners worth an estimated £400 million, is an unlikely Greenpeace activist. Until recently, his support for the group’s activities had been limited to sharing its concern about the plight of whales. However, last year Celtique Energie applied to drill an exploratory shale well on the edge of his 16,500-acre estate in the South Downs. Last month, Lord Cowdray, 69, and four other landowners launched a “legal blockade” funded by Greenpeace to prevent Celtique from drilling under their land.
Times 3rd March 2014 read more »
Methane gas emissions from the US oil industry will rise significantly over the next five years unless companies take steps to curb them, but controls will be relatively cheap to put in place, a leading environmental group has said. The Environmental Defense Fund, which aims to work with businesses to cut pollution, is on Monday publishing an analysis showing that methane emissions from the onshore US oil and gas industry are set to rise about 4.5 per cent between 2011 and 2018, because of the oil production boom.
FT 3rd March 2014 read more »
Climate
Britain is a global leader on climate-change targets and has committed to make more reductions in emissions than other European countries over the next decade, a study has found. The findings come as the Government considers whether to reduce its aims after claims by manufacturers that they risk forcing jobs overseas by making energy too expensive. The study praises Britain for its forward thinking but says there is a risk that other countries will not follow suit.
Times 3rd March 2014 read more »