Hinkley
In a meeting with British parliamentarians yesterday, EDF Energy dispelled the myths surrounding the economics of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant project. Executives from the company stressed that the strike price agreed with government for electricity generated by the plant had not escalated, that financing for the project was already in place, that the cost of alternative energy sources would not be lower for consumers, and that the delay to the Flamanville project was not relevant to Hinkley. CEO Vincent de Rivaz, Director of Strategy and Corporate Affairs Paul Spence and Managing Director of Nuclear New Build Humphrey Cadoux-Hudson gave evidence to the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee in its inquiry The Economics of UK Energy Policy. They took part as witnesses in the inquiry’s session ‘Taking the nuclear option: Is it the solution to the UK’s energy needs?’
World Nuclear News 2nd Nov 2016 read more »
Nukes vs Climate
Certain myths and misconceptions simply refuse to die. The myth that new nuclear power will help solve the climate crisis is a case in point. In the real world, the deployment of renewables is growing rapidly, while nuclear power production (with the exception of China) is shrinking. In 2015, wind and solar PV had another record breaking year, accounting for around 77% of new power installations worldwide. By comparison, nuclear output grew only by 1.3%, and that was solely as a result of growth in China. In the real world, renewable energy is getting cheaper by the day, while nuclear power plants are outrageously expensive to build and aging plants are losing money
Before the Flood 2nd Nov 2016 read more »
Cumbria
THE Government has underlined its commitment to the nuclear industry and reaffirmed plans for a nuclear waste repository, almost certainly in west Cumbria. Energy Minister Baroness Lucy Neville-Rolfe hailed a “nuclear renaissance” when she addressed the Office for Nuclear Regulation Industry Conference on Tuesday. She said: “It feels like we are seeing a renaissance in the nuclear industry. “We’re currently delivering the actions set out in the 2014 Implementing Geological Disposal White Paper ahead of launching a new siting process in 2017.” A previous attempt to establish an underground repository for high and intermediate-level waste in west Cumbria was halted in 2013 when Cumbria County Council vetoed the process. This time the Government will have the final say.
In Cumbria 3rd Nov 2016 read more »
Baroness Neville-Rolfe’s speech at the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) Industry Conference. Looking in to the future of this nuclear renaissance, another exciting area of development is in the field of Small Modular Reactors. SMRs might allow us to bring down the costs of meeting our energy and climate change targets. They could certainly offer a potential opportunity for the UK to leverage the extensive skills and expertise we have across the nuclear supply chain. And as you will all know, in March of this year, we launched the first phase of our SMR competition.
Wired.gov 2nd Nov 2016 read more »
Aldermaston
Staff working at a nuclear weapons factory in Berkshire have voted to strike over changes to their pensions. Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) is contracted by the government to provide and maintain nuclear warheads. The Prospect union said members “cared deeply” about national security and did not want to take action “that could impact on the UK’s continuous sea deterrent”. AWE said procedures were in place to ensure the safety of its operations.
BBC 2nd Nov 2016 read more »
Nuclear Transport
Repairs to bridge damaged by nuclear waste lorry ‘may be complete in a week’
Carlisle News and Star 2nd Nov 2016 read more »
Fast Reactors
Reactor No 4 of the Beloyarsk nuclear power plant in the in the Sverdlovsk region of Russia has started commercial operation, state nuclear corporation Rosatom announced Monday. The reactor is a powerful sodium-cooled fast-breeder and its operation marks a step by Russia toward developing a closed nuclear fuel cycle, a subject of concern among some environmentalists and nonproliferation experts. Rosatom described the achievement as “one of the most important events of the year for Russian nuclear power.” Beloyarsk No 4 has been billed in the Russian media as being capable of using waste from traditional nuclear reactors, thus reducing the amount of radioactive waste that needs to be stored in a permanent sealed repository. Nils Bøhmer, Bellona’s executive director and nuclear physicist said he was concerned that the reactor’s reliance on mixed uranium oxide fuel fashioned from plutonium could–if such reactors found their way to worldwide use – pose serious nuclear proliferation problems. Bøhmer was also keeping an eye on the reactors sodium coolant system. “Sodium is very reactive when it comes into contact with water,” he said. “Other sodium-cooled reactors have had large challenges with its coolant. This could also happen with the BN-800 reactor.
Bellona 2nd Nov 2016 read more »
Ireland
The Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) All Ireland Forum publishes today a report giving its comprehensive analysis of the development of renewable energy policy in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Whilst some promising moves forward are welcomed, the report argues that there needs to be a greater level of political will and determination brought to unlock the huge low carbon benefits that are possible across the island. It also urges the governments, north and south, to give Councils a greater role in delivering a local decentralised energy revolution.
NFLA 2nd Nov 2016 read more »
NFLA Policy Briefing 151: Irish energy policy – are both Governments moving towards a renewables energy future by 2030 and onwards?
NFLA 2nd Nov 2016 read more »
Japan – Fukushima
Five years after a tsunami shut down the Fukushima nuclear reactor in Japan, these haunting images show how the towns inside the exclusion zone have been frozen in time. In March 2011 an earthquake measuring 8.9 triggered a tsunami off the coast of north-eastern Japan, leading to an explosion at the nuclear reactor in Fukushima. On April 22 everybody within a 12 mile radius of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station was forced to flee and the area completely cordoned off.
Daily Mail 2nd Nov 2016 read more »
Mirror 2nd Nov 2016 read more »
Tanzania
Russia’s nuclear energy agency has signed agreements with Tanzania and Uganda, only a few months after inking similar deals with Kenya, Zambia, Ghana and Nigeria, signalling Russia’s intention to become Africa’s key partner in nuclear development. The agency, Rosatom, said it was planning to start developing nuclear energy in Tanzania following discovery of uranium and because of the mining activities in southern Tanzania.
All Africa 31st Oct 2016 read more »
South Africa
Nuclear power generation is not the most cost-effective option for South Africa’s energy future, Business Day reported on Thursday, citing a report by a team of advisors to the energy minister.South Africa has earmarked atomic expansion as a key part of raising its power generation but the price tag of up to 1 trillion rand ($74 billion) for 9.6 gigawatts of nuclear power has raised concerns over whether the plan is affordable.
Reuters 3rd Nov 2016 read more »
Renewables – Onshore Wind
One of Scotland’s biggest energy providers has warned onshore wind development will come to a standstill if the UK government does not offer an urgent commitment to its future. Scottish Power says no new framework has been created for wind farms for when subsidies come to an end in April. The company is involved in a “wind-rush” to build turbines before the Renewables Obligation is scrapped. Under the Renewables Obligation scheme – due to come to an end for all onshore wind projects in April 2017 – UK electricity suppliers get a subsidy for agreeing to source an increasing proportion of the electricity they supply from renewable sources. It is funded by levies added to household fuel bills. Scottish Power Renewables said it wanted agreements – known as Contracts for Difference – to be issued so firms have some security for future investments. The UK government said a commitment was made at the General Election to scrap onshore wind subsidies. But Keith Anderson, chief executive of Scottish Power Renewables, said the “support” he was urging did not mean “subsidy”. He told BBC Scotland: “What we are asking for for onshore wind is a level playing field.
BBC 2nd Nov 2016 read more »
The head of Scottish Power has today warned that the country’s 10-year wind-farm gold rush is over, and says onshore Scots wind farms need the UK Govt to ‘create a level playing field’ if it is to have a future.
Scottish Energy News 2nd Nov 2016 read more »
Scotsman 2nd Nov 2016 read more »
Times 3rd Nov 2016 read more »
Renewables – Heat Pump
Renewable energy technology that draws heat from the sea is proving effective in keeping one of Orkney’s newest buildings warm. The Warehouse Buildings – Orkney Islands Council’s multi-purpose facility in Stromness – are the first in the islands to be fitted with a sea-source heat pump. This uses warmth absorbed from Stromness harbour to provide heating for the buildings. Monitoring over a 12-month period shows this to be a cost-effective choice for the offices, which house the town’s library and customer services team, and provides a work base for staff from a variety of council services.
Scottish Energy News 3rd Nov 2016 read more »
Renewables
Letter Michael Liebreich: Jonathan Ford (“How subsidy culture keeps Britain’s green industry in the black”, Inside Business, October 31) is tilting at windmills in more ways than one. First, renewable energy technology is now competitive with conventional power sources in the UK – if it is allowed to navigate a planning system increasingly tilted against it. Around the world, renewable energy has crushed wholesale power prices, but only in the UK does that drive up its apparent level of subsidy, due to flaws in the design of the Levy Control Framework. Second, Mr Ford’s “green jobs” argument is pure straw man: shifting to high-cost, high-employment energy sources would of course result in the destruction of jobs elsewhere in the economy, which is why sensible advocates are not suggesting it. Third, the industrial strategy the UK needs is not the corporatist 1970s-style approach of directing subsidies at national flagships – much though the UK’s declining oil and gas sector might prefer the old system. The green industrial strategy the UK needs is one that supports the decarbonisation of our own economy, while positioning the UK to export relevant technologies and services – never more important, given the challenges and opportunities posed by Brexit. It is not really about subsidies at all, it is about joined-up government. What are the policies across research and development, infrastructure, taxation, trade and government procurement which, taken together, can best encourage private capital formation and intellectual property development in key sectors of the future global economy?
FT 2nd Nov 2016 read more »
Renewables – Scotland
In 2006, WWF Scotland, along with Friends of the Earth Scotland and RSPB Scotland, published a report that showed that it was entirely possible for renewables to provide over 100 per cent of Scotland’s electricity needs by 2020. At the time many said the findings of the independent research carried out for the Power of Scotland report was pie in the sky. But fast forward ten years and we’re already well on the way to meeting this goal, with 57 per cent of our electricity coming from renewables in 2015, and more projects due to come online. With government backing and strong public support, the growth in cleaner, low carbon power is proving that Scotland can lead the low carbon revolution. This transformation in how Scotland’s electricity is produced is reducing our climate-damaging emissions, helping us hit our annual climate target for the first time. But if we’re to keep up Scotland’s leadership in tackling climate change, we’ll need to turn our attention to the other ways we use energy, namely heat and transport. Last month, along with RSPB Scotland and Friends of the Earth Scotland, we released new research exploring what transformations we need to see to meet Scotland’s climate targets by 2030. Energy consultants Ricardo Energy & Environment used, for the first time, a full model of Scotland’s energy system that considers all areas including electricity, buildings and transport. More efficient technologies, such as electric heat pumps and district heat networks, which carry heat to homes from large power stations via pipes in the ground, will replace oil and gas boilers. Other countries are already leading the way – Copen hagen is almost entirely heated by district heat networks, which are increasingly using low-carbon sources of heat. And heat pumps are already installed in tens of thousands of homes in France and Germany every year.
Scotsman 3rd Nov 2016 read more »
Local Energy
The Association of Nuclear-Free Local Authorities (NFLA) has published a 30-page policy briefing and guide to best-practice in developing local energy projects and supply companies to disrupt the dominance of Britain’s Big Six. Containing examples from both north and south of the Border – including projects reported in Scottish Energy News – the NFLA guide will be sent to the UK energy minister and his counterparts in Scotland, Wales and Ireland. For example, Aiberdeen, Edinburgh and the Western Isles councils have all recently set up local arms-length energy supply companies to rival Big Six suppliers. An NFLA spokesman explained: “The motivation for local authorities getting involved in energy is wider than just the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As large consumers of energy themselves high energy prices are having a big and negative impact on council budgets.
Scottish Energy News 3rd Nov 2016 read more »
The Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) publishes today a comprehensive and detailed report providing the many different ways Councils from across England, Scotland and Wales are delivering projects, developments, policies and strategies at the heart of a decentralised local energy revolution. Such developments show the pivotal role local authorities can play in cutting carbon dioxide emissions and mitigating climate change.
NFLA 2nd Nov 2016 read more »
NFLA Policy Briefing No.152 – Local Authorities and Energy – Building a Fairer Low Carbon Energy System
NFLA 2nd Nov 2016 read more »
Energy Efficiency
A £2.1m partnership between E.ON’s energy efficiency business and Edinburgh City Council is set to reduce on-site energy costs by 24% at nine public buildings, as part of the city’s overarching aim to reduce carbon emissions by more than 40% by 2020. The agreement means that E.ON’s energy efficiency business Matrix will guarantee savings from the implementation of energy conservation measures such as LED lighting and Combined Heat and Power (CHP) systems at buildings including seven schools, the Usher Hall and UNESCO World Heritage Site the City Chambers. The upgrade programme is designed to save more than £330,000 in energy costs and reduce carbon emissions by more than 1,500 tonnes per year. he project is a key initiative of Edinburgh City Council’s Sustainable Energy Action Plan that aims to reduce carbon emissions across the city by more than 40% by 2020. The Council’s 2020 objectives include more efficient energy consumption across all sectors by at least 12%, and renewable energy technologies contributing to at least 40% of energy consumed in the city. Last year, Edinburgh Council confirmed plans to install community-owned solar panels on 25 public buildings across the city. Edinburgh is not the only Scottish city with ambitions of becoming a world-leading centre for sustainable policy and innovation. Glasgow City Council partners with a number of businesses on diverse sustainable projects, which provide job creation and green capital growth. Glasgow recently ranked inside the global top 25 cities for environmental sustainability. Meanwhile, Aberdeen has become the first city in Europe to offer hydrogen powered cars for public use on a pay-as-you-go basis, as part of the City Council’s next step in expanding hydrogen infrastructure in the city. Plans to drill a deep geothermal well beneath the city of Aberdeen could deliver heating to thousands of nearby homes and an exhibition centre.
Edie 2nd Nov 2016 read more »
Fuel Poverty
In 2002 Scotland announced a plan to eliminate fuel poverty, one of few countries in the world to do so. The government was supposed to have got there by the end of this month, but it hasn’t – not by a long way. The story behind what has happened helps to show why a new approach to this measure of living standards is needed, not only in Scotland but worldwide. Scotland defines fuel poverty as households that must spend 10% or more of their total income to have regular and adequate heating. When this year’s figures are finalised, they will confirm that well over 30% of households are still in this category. Levels also vary widely across regions and households – 70% of households in the Western Isles, for example.
Scottish Energy News 3rd Nov 2016 read more »
Action to bring an end to fuel poverty and to ensure no-one in Scotland has to live in a cold, damp home will be the keynote message from the Scottish Housing Minister Kevin Stewart MSP when he opens the national conference – ‘Fuel Poverty Matters’ – today. Energy experts have warned that the pound’s deteriorating value and pressures on wholesale costs following the vote for British Independence from the EU-bloc could lead to energy suppliers introducing a 5% rise in electricity bills this winter, costing 18 million families on standard tariffs an extra £465 million a year.
Scottish Energy News 3rd Nov 2016 read more »
Scottish Housing Minister Kevin Stewart is set to outline his plans to tackle fuel poverty. The Scottish government was recently criticised on the issue after research indicated fuel poverty levels have more than doubled since 2003. The government intended to eradicate the problem by 2016. Researchers found fuel poverty, currently defined as households spending 10% of income on heating, affected about 35% of Scottish homes. The level has remained steady since 2009. Housing Minister Kevin Stewart will open Energy Action Scotland’s Fuel Poverty Matters national conference in Clydebank on Thursday. He is expected to outline the Scottish government’s plans to improve the energy efficiency of homes and also how new powers devolved to Holyrood will enable schemes to help mitigate the cost of energy.
BBC 3rd Nov 2016 read more »
Fossil Fuels
A steelworkers’ union has accused Labour of ignoring the needs of “fragile communities” that are short of jobs by pledging to ban fracking. Community will become the second union with strong links to the party to denounce its anti-fracking policy. In September the GMB union described Labour’s proposed ban as “madness”, saying it would leave Britain dependent on foreign gas from “regimes fronted by henchmen, hangmen and headchoppers”. Community will announce today that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with UK Onshore Oil and Gas, the industry trade body. John Park, union assistant general secretary, said Labour rushed to adopt its policy without considering the evidence. “The reality is that for a number of fragile communities it could provide huge job opportunities and cheaper fuel costs, he said. “Let’s have a grown-up, sensible debate about the opportunities that may come from fracking.”
Times 3rd Nov 2016 read more »
Crude oil prices fell yesterday after a surprise build-up of stocks in the United States and a warning by Royal Dutch Shell that peak demand could be as little as five years away. Simon Henry, chief financial officer, said: “We’ve long been of the opinion that demand will peak before supply and it will be driven by efficiency and substitution, more than offsetting the new demand for transport.” Shell was “very well placed” to supply any substitutes for oil, he said, adding: “That underpins our strategic thinking. It’s part of the switch to gas, it’s part of what we do in biofuels, both now and in the future.”
Times 3rd Nov 2016 read more »
The amount of electricity generated from UK coal power stations is on track to fall by two-thirds this year, a decline which analysts said was so steep and fast it was unprecedented globally. Climate change thinktank Sandbag said the drop was due to a doubling in the price of a carbon tax and the lower price of gas. The group has written to the chancellor, Philip Hammond, urging him not to water down the carbon floor price in this month’s autumn statement, which the steel industry has been lobbying the government to do. Using data up to the end of October from the Office for National Statistics and the national grid, the thinktank estimate d coal generation would fall 66% by the year’s end. Coal generation fell 23% in both 2015 and 2014 on the year before, and 10% in 2013. Energy industry sources said the forecast for 2016 appeared to be broadly in line with expectations.
Guardian 2nd Nov 2016 read more »
Nuclear Weapons
THE North Coast 500, Scotland’s answer to America’s Route 66, is rated by top travel magazines and writers as one of the five best coastal drives in the world. One of its must-stop-off highlights is the Stacks of Duncansby – the jagged rocks just off the most north-easterly tip of the mainland. But motorists, bikers and cyclists are lucky to be seeing the jaw-dropping scene at all. For The Sunday Post can reveal that experts wanted to blast the stacks with a nuclear bomb back in the 1950s.
Sunday Post 31st Oct 2016 read more »
Obituary
In 1992, when the first submarine armed with Trident nuclear missiles arrived on the Clyde near Glasgow, John Ainslie was in a canoe. Along with a flotilla of other protesters, he was buzzing the huge dark boat as it cut through the cold water. He had just been appointed as the coordinator of the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (SCND), and he was arrested by the Ministry of Defence police.
Guardian 2nd Nov 2016 read more »
