Hinkley
The Hinkley Point C nuclear power station is, or was, subject to two challenges. The first is from An Taisce, the Irish counterpart to the National Trust, who have challenged on the ground that the Irish government should have been consulted on transboundary effects as part of environmental impact assessment (EIA). This is due to be heard on 5 December in the High Court in London. The United Nations is taking an interest in this as well, because the EIA requirements derive from the international Espoo Convention (Finland’s second city, in case you were wondering). The Espoo Convention Implementation Committee has written to the Irish, Austrian and German governments to ask if they were consulted about the project (I think the answer is no) and whether they think the project is likely to have significant environmental effects in any of those countries (I would hope the answer was also no). They have until 25 November to respond. The second challenge was by Greenpeace, whose ground can be summarised as the government should not have granted consent while there was no viable option for the long-term storage of nuclear waste in play, because they said that they wouldn’t. I have learned that Greenpeace withdrew their challenge last week, though. Presumably the government’s defence was a good one, and Greenpeace have other matters to worry about at the moment.
BDB Law 29th Oct 2013 read more »
An Taisce, the heritage group, is taking legal action against the British government, claiming that it has failed to consult the Irish people on its next generation of nuclear power stations.
Irish Independent 20th Oct 2013 read more »
Richard Dixon: Nuclear is the ultimate unsustainable form of energy, leaving wastes which are dangerous for a thousand generations to come. During the first Hinkley inquiry I saw a poster stating ‘If the Romans had had nuclear reactors, we’d still be guarding the waste.’ I thought this was a great way to bring home the absurdity of nuclear. It was only later that I realised that of course the poster should really have said Cro-Magnon Man instead of the Romans, since we’ll need to be guarding that waste not for 2,000 years but for 25,000 years.
FoE Scotland 28th Oct 2013 read more »
Certainly as far as the government’s nuclear agenda is concerned the BBC is keen to keep to the script at every opportunity. The bland announcement that Hinkley has been given the go ahead by government was not accompanied by any super dooper scary computer graphics showing where the uranium is going to come from, where it will be enriched (Preston, Lancashire or Capenhurst, Cheshire), or how the reactors will burn the uranium so hard that the waste will be much more dangerous, no graphics showing where the waste will be stored or where it will be buried. No questions asked. No galvanising of public opinion to question this as anything other than a done deal. Altogether an easy ride for nuclear from the BBC to damp down any resistance and at all costs to keep the horses from being scared and bolting away from the nuclear stable. RESIST! Here is a letter from Dr Paul Dorfman to the BBC objecting to the pronuclear bias in last Thursday’s Radio 4 Nuclear Waste: Inside Science programme.
Radiation Free Lakeland 29th Oct 2013 read more »
British technological failures have been compounded by a political phenomenon I have come to think of as “great leap forward syndrome”. The idea is that the best way to compensate for stumbles and missteps is to move, at one bound, ahead of the field. It is hard to think of any case where this strategy has been successful, and easy to recall the disasters that have followed – from Concorde in the 1960s to the recent failed computerisation of National Health Service records.There has been no inquiry into why the energy policies of the past proved an economic, political and scientific failure. It is easier to repeat history than to learn from it.
FT 29th Oct 2013 read more »
Britain’s deal with French utility EDF to build a $26 billion nuclear plant, the first in Europe since Japan’s Fukushima disaster, will help convince other countries to consider atomic power, France’s trade minister said.
Reuters 29th Oct 2013 read more »
Energy Supplies
‘Britain is sleep-walking into new energy crisis,” screamed the Daily Telegraph newspaper last week. The article was sparked by the crisis at the Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland. But this kind of panic over the future of Britain’s energy isn’t unusual. We are regularly told that if we don’t build new nuclear power plants the lights will go out. It isn’t true. The Energy Fair group has carried out research into nuclear power. Dr Gerry Wolff, coordinator of the group, told Socialist Worker that the idea of an energy crisis was “scaremongering”. “There’s a manufactured panic about energy,” he said. Gerry said the panic is fake because if politicians really thought the energy supply was drying up they could build gas-fired power stations. That wouldn’t be ideal in terms of carbon emissions. But as Gerry put it, “If there was a real urgency, they would say never mind the emissions, we’ll throw up some gas-fired power stations.
Socialist Worker 29th Oct 2013 read more »
Supply Chain
Business leaders are calling on companies across the Sheffield City Region to ensure they take maximum advantage of the UK’s new drive for nuclear power. Leading Sheffield lawyer Martin McKervey and chairman of advanced manufacturer Newburgh Engineering Vince Middleton are both urging companies to get “nuclear ready.” Meanwhile, Master Cutler Tony Pedder and Sheffield Chamber of Commerce executive director Richard Wright remain concerned that Britain still lacks a coherent energy policy that would maintain supplies and stabilise prices.
Sheffield Star 30th Oct 2013 read more »
When Prime Minister David Cameron announced that work is to start on the first of a new generation of nuclear power stations he gave the green light to an investment programme that is worth up to £60 billion. But the investment in nuclear energy doesn’t end there. Alongside the new nuclear build, funds will need to be pumped into maintaining Britain’s existing fleet of 16 nuclear reactors, some of which are expected to continue operating until 2050. And, there is also the job of decommissioning plants as they come to the end of their useful life, which could be worth £3 billion a year. The potential for businesses across the Sheffield City Region – ranging from hi-tech advanced manufacturers to construction and decommissioning companies – is significant.
Sheffield Star 30th Oct 2013 read more »
Energy Costs
Donna Hume (FoE): David Cameron’s attempt to blame green policies for rising fuel bill hikes is simply a shoddy attempt to deflect attention from the real issues. Labour has pointed the finger at energy company profiteering – and rightly so. It’s outrageous that their profits have increased by 74 per cent in just two years, while cash-strapped households struggle with their bills. But there’s another reason our fuel bills are soaring – and one the PM seems happy to ignore – and that’s the rocketing price of gas.
Left Foot Forward 26th Oct 2013 read more »
The managing director of Ovo Energy – one of the smaller brands on the market – has told MPs that he is confused by other firms’ explanation for higher prices. The energy companies have been called in front of the Energy and Climate Change Committee (ECCC), to justify recent price rises. But Stephen Fitzpatrick told the committee that wholesale gas has actually got cheaper: “The most expensive price we’ve paid for wholesale gas in the last four years was in May 2011 and since then it’s been [less].” Mr Fitzpatrick continued, “I’ve been somewhat confused by looking at the explanations for the prices rises… because we don’t see nearly the same impact ,especially on wholesale commodity costs.”
BBC 29th Oct 2013 read more »
The boss of one of Britain’s largest energy companies has told MPs that there should be an inquiry into the whole energy market. Tony Cocker, the chief executive of E.On, said he had written to Prime Minister David Cameron to suggest a full investigation. “We need to have a very thorough Competition Commission inquiry,” he said. He was speaking in front of MPs on the Energy and Climate Change Committee. Another energy company, EDF, suggested the same thing earlier this month.
BBC 29th Oct 2013 read more »
With all the political parties looking to ease the burden on households, David Cameron vowed last week to roll back government green levies – putting him on a collision course with his Liberal Democrat coalition partners. The announcement was seen as a response to Ed Miliband’s promise to freeze energy prices for 20 months if Labour came to power in 2015 and a call by Sir John Major, the former prime minister, for a windfall tax on the power companies. Mr Cocker said Mr Miliband’s idea had already put up customers’ long-term bills. “The announcement of a price freeze has increased the cost of capital, which at a stroke has increased the long-term cost of electricity and gas supply in this country,” he said. Angry MPs used Tuesday’s hearing to accuse the big six of profiteering and acting as a cartel. One member of the committee, the Labour MP Ian Lavery, said the energy industry should be renationalised. Representatives of the utilities hit back, saying they had been forced to put up prices by a rise in the cost of purchasing gas and power on global markets, as well as an increase in network charges and the growing burden of government green schemes – particularly the Energy Companies Obligation (Eco) which requires suppliers to help people insulate their homes. The big six have been pressing for an extension to the deadline for compliance with Eco. Ministers have been discussing such a move for weeks, and are also likely to back the companies’ proposal that such levies should be paid for through general taxation, rather than bills.
FT 29th Oct 2013 read more »
Some of Britain’s biggest energy companies have been accused of raising households bills for no reason and systematically overcharging customers by £3.7bn a year as they were grilled by MPs over their soaring prices and profits. They were taken to task by Stephen Fitzpatrick, the chief executive of small supplier Ovo Energy, who launched a stinging attack on his larger rivals for being “the best filibusters in the business” when it comes to revealing how they make their money. After British Gas, npower, SSE and Scottish Power announced inflation-busting increases in household bills, Fitzpatrick said he “cannot explain any of these price rises” as his company is buying gas for 7% less than it was two years ago.
Guardian 29th Oct 2013 read more »
Along the line, the men in suits from Npower, Eon and SSE held their line. Price rises? Blame a cruel world and the government. Why shouldn’t all the green charges now lumped on to energy bills be charged to taxation instead? It was “morally indefensible,” said William Morris of SSE that he should be charged the same for electricity as someone just above the poverty line. Tony Cocker of Eon, who won the Most Sombre Demeanour award, compared the system to the poll tax.The message to the House of Commons’ Energy and Climate Change Committee was simple: we are not grasping profiteers; we are humble and caring, and have troubles of our own. The message might have been effective too, but for one thing: there was an interloper. The big six were split into two groups, in each case alongside the boss of a smaller firm. For the first group, it was Stephen Fitzpatrick, managing director of Ovo.
FT 29th Oct 2013 read more »
The big energy companies operating in Britain have been accused by a rival of overcharging their most loyal customers and exaggerating their costs. The head of one of a new breed of independent suppliers criticised executives from the so-called “Big Six” before a committee of MPs yesterday.
Times 30th Oct 2013 read more »
Energy bills will fall within weeks if ministers make good on the Prime Minister’s promise to “roll back” green taxes, Britain’s biggest suppliers have pledged. Giving evidence to MPs, executives from the “Big Six” firms on Tuesday all vowed to pass on cost reductions to consumers if ministers cut the levies. William Morris, SSE’s managing director, said the price cut could happen “in a matter of weeks” from taxes being taken off bills and suggested regulator Ofgem should oversee the process. Most of the Big Six companies argue the levies, which include the costs of wind farm subsidies and home insulation schemes, should be paid for through general taxation rather than household bills. “If th e Government responds to requests to put this in general taxation then pound for pound, penny for penny, that should come straight off the customer’s bill,” Mr Morris said. Tony Cocker, chief executive of E.On, said that some of the so-called green schemes to help vulnerable customers were the “right thing to do” but that the funding method of “smearing it across everybody’s bill” was tantamount to a “poll tax”.
Telegraph 29th Oct 2013 read more »
Telegraph 29th Oct 2013 read more »
For daring to deviate from the neoliberal script on the subject of energy company profiteering, Labour leader Ed Miliband was portrayed as a sinister hardcore Marxist whose dastardly plan was to fulfil his late father’s dream and transform Britain into the old Soviet Union. According to this dominant narrative, if you want to take any meaningful action against the “big six” energy giants, and interfere with market forces, you must be some kind of unreconstructed Bolshevik – or at the very least a misguided leftie who wants to take the country back to the nightmare 1970s, the decade when the gap between rich and poor in Britain reached its lowest level in history. However, in another European country, a political leader has been getting far tougher with profiteering energy companies than Miliband has suggested. In this country, the government has imposed a cut of over 20% in energy bills – a 10% reduction came into force in January, a further 11.1% cut will be implemented in November. It is also drafting a bill that would ban utility companies from paying dividends to shareholders. The aim of the government is to return natural monopolies to the public sector, to operate on a non-profit basis. “We must once and for all bring an end to the era where energy providers can ride roughshod over people,” the country’s leader declared. So where is this bastion of socialism in Europe, and who is the wild-eyed leftist who is leading it? Step forward Viktor Orbán, the prime minister of Hungary. The man who has declared war on profiteering energy companies is none other than the fiercely anti-communist leader of the centre-right Fidesz party.
Guardian 29th Oct 2013 read more »
Letter: David Cameron’s proposals to roll back green taxes, which account for around 4% of an average energy bill, rather than tackling the underlying causes of rising prices and increasing fuel poverty, are symptomatic of the government’s chaotic energy policy. At the moment gas prices in the UK are lower than in most European countries, but UK households use more energy and so pay more due to lack of sufficient home insulation. Yet the government is investing next to nothing in insulation and failing to support serious investment in renewables. The National Grid Future Energy Scenario in 2012 predicted that with proper investment in renewables, the UK could become free of energy imports by 2020. Instead of pouring billions of pounds into additional subsidies for dangerous and polluting new nuclear power stations, which will only come online too late (if ever) to address our energy gap, the government should switch to a proper programme of investment in insulation and proven, clean and safe renewables. This would provide Britain with energy security, tackle fuel poverty and create lasting jobs.
Guardian 29th Oct 2013 read more »
Letter Leonie Greene: George Monbiot advocates using as much renewable energy as possible, but then downplays its potential in favour of nuclear power. When it comes to solar, as the Royal Society says, “no other sustainable energy source comes close”. Contrary to Monbiot’s claims, solar across all the UK’s roofs would exceed current fossil power supply. Solar’s full potential can be increasingly realised as storage systems commercialise. Cost reductions in solar have been so exceptional that by 2018 we anticipate large-scale solar will need lower public support than nuclear is due to receive in 2023 – and for 15 years, not nuclear’s 35 years. Furthermore, solar puts power directly in the hands of millions of people, not a single utility or overseas state. Nearly half a million homes have now gone solar in the UK. Whatever the controversies over nuclear power, credit to the government for backing this winning technology.
Guardian 29th Oct 2013 read more »
Dungeness
Dungeness B nuclear power station and more than 60,000 homes and businesses were still without power on Tuesday morning, in the aftermath of storm St Jude.
Utility Week 29th Oct 2013 read more »
ONR
The Minister of State for Disabled People, Mike Penning, today (29 October 2013) announced that Nick Baldwin has been successful in a competition to be appointed as the Chair of the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR). Nick has been Chair of the interim ONR since April 2011. Subject to the successful passage through parliament of legislation, the interim ONR will become a statutory body in 2014 and Nick will be ONR’s first statutory Chair.
Dept of Work & Pensions 29th Oct 2013 read more »
Emergency Planning
Portsmouth’s nuclear emergency siren will be tested this week. The siren is tested three times a year, and is due to be sounded again on Thursday.
Portsmouth News 29th Oct 2013 read more »
Japan
As Tokyo shook early Saturday morning and loud shrieks from mobile-phone earthquake-warning alarms filled bedrooms around the city, one word immediately sprung to mind: Fukushima. Those who don’t reside 135 miles away from the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl won’t understand this reaction. But the first thing most of Tokyo’s 13 million residents do once things stop wobbling is check if all’s well at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant still leaking radiation into the atmosphere and the Pacific Ocean. Worse, a fresh spate of accidents there make some wonder if the Marx Brothers are in charge. I’m no engineer, gents, but next time you might want to avoid disconnecting the wrong pipe, dumping another 10 tons of toxic water into the soil and contaminating yourself to boot.
Bloomberg 28th Oct 2013 read more »
Fukushima Crisis Update 23rd to 28th Oct. Another record was broken this week after TEPCO, the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, announced that radiation levels in a drainage ditch on October 23 were the highest since monitoring of drainage ditches began in August.
Greenpeace 29th Oct 2013 read more »
Japan’s government has moved a step closer to taking direct control of the clean-up effort at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility, a move that could entail a partial break-up of its owner, Tokyo Electric Power, after lawmakers from the ruling party agreed the outline of an intervention plan. A committee of the ruling Liberal Democratic party that is responsible for reviewing the terms of a government bailout of Tepco, implemented following the earthquake- and tsunami-induced meltdowns at Fukushima Daiichi in 2011, finalised the proposal to nationalise much of the clean-up effort on Tuesday, according to people familiar with the deliberations.
FT 30th Oct 2013 read more »
Canada
Officials at Canada’s nuclear regulatory agency have sought to reassure the public about the safety of Ontario Power Generation’s plan to bury nuclear waste near the Great Lakes, which has sparked growing opposition on both sides of the border.
Globe and Mail 28th Oct 2013 read more »
US
U.S. lawmakers have debated for decades where to put all the spent fuel generated by the nation’s nuclear power plants. The dithering means that an unintended site has emerged: Illinois. About 13 percent of the country’s 70,000 tons of radioactive waste is stashed in pools of water or in special casks at the atomic plants in Illinois that produced it, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), a Washington-based industry group. That is the most held in any state.
Japan Times 27th Oct 2013 read more »
Jordan
Russia has been selected as the preferred bidder to supply Jordan with its first nuclear power plant. The initial reactor of the two-unit plant is expected to start operating in 2020.
World Nuclear News 29th Oct 2013 read more »
Iran
The UN atomic watchdog and Iran hailed Tuesday “productive” and “constructive” talks, in the latest possible sign of Tehran’s willingness to ease international concerns about its nuclear work.
Middle East Online 29th Oct 2013 read more »
Korea
The South Korean energy ministry has proposed to reduce the share of nuclear to 22-29% of the country’s energy mix, down from 41% as set out in a government plan for 2030. The proposal, if realised, is poised to increase Korea’s dependence on natural gas as a fuel for power generation.
Gas to Power Journal 29th Oct 2013 read more »
Trident
SCOTTISH independence would damage the US-UK special relationship if the SNP Government carried out its intention to get rid of nuclear weapons, former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell has claimed. The veteran backbencher, regarded as an expert on foreign affairs, also argued that the American government would not readily accept an independent Scotland into Nato if it kept to the Nationalist policy of ridding Scotland of the UK’s nuclear arsenal as “quickly as possible”, thought to mean within two years.
Herald 30th Oct 2013 read more »
Test Veterans
For more than 50 years, Biritsh nuclear test veterans have fought for recognition. Now a debate has been held at Westminster which gives their struggle new impetus. Ella Rhodes reports. A CAMPAIGN for veterans of British nuclear tests in the 1950s and 1960s to be recognised for their efforts by the Government has taken a leap forward after the matter was debated in Parliament. Its patron, MP John Baron, said they should get official recognition from the Prime Minister. And he called for a £25 million national benevolent fund to help veterans and their families with health problems which, they say, were caused by the testing.
Derby Telegraph 30th Oct 2013 read more »
The British government on Tuesday rejected a proposal to set up a benevolent fund for thousands of veterans of the country’s nuclear weapons testing programme who say their health was damaged by exposure to radiation in the 1950s and 1960s.
Reuters 29th Oct 2013 read more »
Renewables
Nearly two-thirds of Conservative MPs do not think that renewable energy schemes like onshore wind farms benefit the UK economy, research has found.
Telegraph 30th Oct 2013 read more »
Fuel Poverty
I don’t imagine the chief executives of any of the big six called before MPs on Tuesday has ever had to unplug their fridge because they simply can’t afford to run it, or wrap their toddler in a fleece all-in-one and a jumper and a dressing gown of an evening. Aren’t we ashamed that people who need emergency food handouts are eating cold beans and stewed steak from the tin, or handing it back, because they can’t even heat it up?
Guardian 29th Oct 2013 read more »
