Bradwell
A DEFECTIVE pipe caused an acid leak at Bradwell nuclear power station sparking an investigation at the plant. In late September a “small quantity” of acid escaped from a pipe with all of the fluid contained at the site, on the banks of the River Blackwater. A Magnox spokesman said: “During ongoing decommissioning work of a new water treatment plant, a defect was located within a pipe that allowed a small quantity of acid to escape into a further containment hold. “This pipe is not used to discharge liquid from the site. All of the material has been contained on the site, there has been no release of radioactivity and no impact on the environment.
Essex Chronicle 30th Oct 2014 read more »
Chernobyl
Photographs of Chernobyl Ghost Town.
Telegraph 30th Oct 2014 read more »
Hinkley
Opponents of nuclear power hold up the planned Hinkley C as an examplar of waste and idiocy that could cost the UK over £30 billion in subsidies. Chris Goodall agrees – and fears that an impending fiasco with the ‘unconstructable’ and commercially disastrous EPR design may kill off the UK’s nuclear aspirations for a generation.
Ecologist 30th Oct 2014 read more »
NDA
For an arm of the Government specifically tasked in 2005 with the clean-up and decommissioning of the UK’s dirty and deteriorating nuclear licensed sites, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s announcement today (E-bulletin, 30th September) that it is to pour £13 Million of taxpayers’ money ‘to help develop innovative technologies for the current and next generation of nuclear power stations’ is roundly condemned by CORE. CORE’s spokesman Martin Forwood described the announcement as a gross waste of public money on a technology already fighting to survive and meet development targets despite massive Government hand-outs – and on future technologies such as Small & Medium Reactors (SMRs, including the PRISM reactor proposed for Sellafield) that will struggle to get off the drawing board.
CORE 30th Oct 2014 read more »
Sellafield
These photos of highly radioactive waste in crumbling ponds proves Sellafield is a Fukushima-like nuclear disaster waiting to happen on our doorstep. These alarming images show nuclear waste abandoned 40 years ago lying in rotting containers in decaying tanks which are open to the elements. While Sellafield portrays itself as a modern facility using latest technology the photos paint a picture of wanton neglect and reckless management of the most toxic substance ever created.
Irish Mirror 31st Oct 2014 read more »
MORE than 100 apprentices from Sellafield Ltd were joined by Dr Dame Sue Ion to mark the end of their apprenticeship and the beginning of a promising career in the nuclear industry. As one of the UK’s foremost nuclear engineers, Dame Sue was on hand to share her expertise and words of encouragement during the apprentice certificate presentation held at the Whitehaven Golf Club.
NW Evening Mail 30th Oct 2014 read more »
ONR
Quarterly News – July to September: AP1000 re-enters GDA process. In September, ONR agreed to extend an Improvement Notice issued to Sellafield Ltd in November 2013. The Improvement Notice was served as a result of shortfalls, identified by Sellafield Ltd, in the level of protection provided to employees and others against the risk of inadvertent exposure to ionising radiation during Flask Maintenance Gamma Gate operations at the site’s Fuel Handling Plant. AWE failure to meet requirements; Contamination event at Devonport; Special feature on Periodic Safety Reviews.
ONR 30th Oct 2014 read more »
Energy Statistics
Sometimes our understanding of what’s going on in the world is at odds with the facts – on issues ranging from teen pregnancies and immigration to levels of voter turnout and the ethnic makeup of the UK. The energy sector is no different, it seems. The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) delivered one of its now increasingly common data dumps this morning. We’ve delved through the pile of stats to bring you seven graphs about energy in the UK that raise some questions about received wisdom in the area. Energy costs aren’t high, historically speaking; Domestic gas is pretty cheap; The UK’s homes aren’t as cold and draughty as they were; Investment in the energy sector rose under the last government; The UK has been building combined heat and power plants for decades.
Carbon Brief 30th Oct 2014 read more »
Energy Supplies
Concerns around UK security of energy supply have been in the headlines recently. On BBC breakfast earlier this week, energy minister Matt Hancock suggested that shale gas exploration could resolve these security problems but also suggested that UK reliance on Russian gas is at a very low level, 1%. In this blog I aim to shed some light on where the UK’s gas actually comes from. It’s far from a clear picture where the UK gets its gas from and although we do use some Russian gas, the majority of the UK’s gas imports come from Norway. While Russia clearly poses a security of supply risk to countries physically reliant such as Ukraine, for the UK the biggest risk caused by Russia is the potential for geo-political events to impact global gas prices.
IGov 30th Oct 2014 read more »
EU to act as guarantor for Ukraine gas supplies.
Telegraph 31st Oct 2014 read more »
Supply Chain
SMALL manufacturers in Worcestershire are set to benefit from specialist support to access the UK’s rapidly developing £60bn civil nuclear new build programme and significant opportunities in decommissioning. The Manufacturing Advisory Service has joined forces with the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre to roll-out Fit for Nuclear, which lets companies measure their capabilities against industry standards and helps them bridge gaps to meet requirements.
Evesham Journal 30th Oct 2014 read more »
France
French authorities have launched an investigation into unidentified drones that have been spotted over nuclear plants operated by state-owned utility EDF, its interior minister said on Thursday. Seven nuclear plants across the country were flown over by drones between 5 October and 20 October. An EDF spokeswoman said they had no impact on the plants’ safety or functioning. “There’s a judicial investigation under way, measures are being taken to know what these drones are and neutralise them,” interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve told France Info radio on Thursday, without specifying the measures. The unmanned aircraft were spotted late in the evening, at night or very early in the morning, EDF said. It is prohibited to fly less than 1,000 metres above nuclear plants and within a 5km radius.
Guardian 30th Oct 2014 read more »
BBC 30th Oct 2014 read more »
France24 30th Oct 2014 read more »
Telegraph 30th Oct 2014 read more »
Guardian 30th Oct 2014 read more »
Guardian 30th Oct 2014 read more »
Daily Mail 30th Oct 2014 read more »
Authorities have been alerted after unidentified drones were spotted flying over seven Électricité de France (EDF) nuclear power plants in France during October 2014. Despite staging protests at the same power plants in the past – and using a drone to record them – environmental group Greenpeace has denied any involvement with the suspicious activity and shares the energy company’s concerns at the evidence of a “large-scale operation.”
IB Times 30th Oct 2014 read more »
Germany
Germany is considering removing some of its coal plant capacity as part of a raft of new policies to help Europe’s biggest economy meet its greenhouse gas emissions goals, a state secretary at the economy ministry said on Wednesday (29 October). On 3 December, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet is to decide on a programme that is likely to include steps to boost energy efficiency and possibly reduce coal generation, said Rainer Baake, a member of the Greens serving under Social Democrat Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel.
Euractiv 30th Oct 2014 read more »
Swedish state energy company Vattenfall plans to sell off its German lignite operations because it says they are incompatible with the company’s climate change goals. But Greenpeace said the sale of the coal mines and power plants, which includes the fourth largest CO2 emitting power station in Europe, would be an abdication of responsibility and would simply allow Vattenfall to meet its emissions targets without actually reducing pollution.
Guardian 30th Oct 2014 read more »
Iran
Iran has foiled an attempt to sabotage tanks used for transporting heavy water, which is needed to run some nuclear reactors, and blames a “foreign country” for the incident, a senior official was quoted by local media as saying. The Islamic Republic is at odds with the West over suspicions it is covertly using its declared civilian atomic energy programme to develop a nuclear arms capability. It denies this and has repeatedly accused certain Western states of trying to cripple the programme through acts of sabotage.
Reuters 30th Oct 2014 read more »
North Korea
A senior US general claimed last week that North Korea has the expertise to build a nuclear warhead that can be mounted on a ballistic missile – although he added that there was no evidence that it had actually done so.
Guardian 31st Oct 2014 read more »
Nuclear War
Recently-released documents have revealed that a Government official suggested putting psychopaths in charge of the country in the aftermath of a nuclear attack.
Daily Mail 31st Oct 2014 read more »
Renewables – offshore wind
Full power output has been achieved more than two months ahead of schedule from West of Duddon Sands Offshore Windfarm. It is a major renewable energy project developed by ScottishPower Renewables and DONG Energy in the Irish Sea. It is the fourth off the coast of the peninsula. The 389MW windfarm was officially opened by Energy Secretary Ed Davey, joined by ScottishPower and Iberdrola Chairman Ignacio Galan and DONG Energy Executive Vice President Wind Power, Samuel Leupold.
NW Evening Mail 30th Oct 2014 read more »
Keith Anderson says company’s East Anglia project is being scaled back and claims Government budget limits mean wind farms that do get built will be unnecessarily expensive. Several proposed offshore wind farms may be scrapped in coming months because the Government is not awarding enough subsidies, the head of energy giant ScottishPower has said. Keith Anderson, chief corporate officer, said it was cutting the size of its planned 240-turbine East Anglia offshore wind farm because the budget for subsidies to be awarded this year was “not big enough”. The project could be scrapped altogether if it did not secure a subsidy contract this year. Those offshore wind farms that do get built in coming years will be unnecessarily expensive because ministers are effectively forcing companies to build smaller projects, preventing them from developing economies of scale, he claimed. As a result the Government would miss its own target for cutting offshore wind’s costs by 2020, Mr Anderson, the former head of the Offshore Wind Industry Council, forecast.
Telegraph 30th Oct 2014 read more »
Renewables – onshore wind
Letter Kris Hopkins MP: Polly Toynbee’s suggestion that the government is “overriding local planning” on onshore wind farms is misleading. Her attack on ministerial decisions failed to mention that these were on recovered planning appeals: cases where the elected local council had refused or not approved the original application. The “assault on localism” she infers has been coming from the wind-farm developers seeking to overturn that local refusal by the council.
Guardian 30th Oct 2014 read more »
Renewables – biomass
The Green Investment Bank’s (GIB) £5m push to slash emissions and energy costs across the Scottish whisky industry has taken another step forward, with the government-backed bank this week announcing fresh financing for a biomass boiler project at the Royal Brackla Distillery in Nairn.
Business Green 28th Oct 2014 read more »
Renewables – solar
Letter: In the current talk of power shortages and lack of generating capacity, domestic solar photovoltaic, which could be readily implemented and is now cost-effective, has been overlooked. Prices are now close to the projected viable level of £1 per watt. A 4Kw solar PV domestic system can be bought for under £5,000 installed and can produce 4,000kWh a year with a 20-year guaranteed life. This gives a capital cost of £1,138 per kW, with an amortised annual cost of 5.7p per kWh, with no maintenance or distribution costs. Domestic Solar PV is therefore a competitive green renewable energy, which could be installed economically and run at zero cost. If 10% of existing houses (2.8m) converted at 4kW, it would give 11.1TWh, with 11GW capacity, 12% of current UK capacity, equivalent to 3% of UK production, at an installed cost of some £12bn. The annual value at the current domestic price of £0.15 a unit is £600pa. FIT tariff subsidies give a five-year pay-off., but realistic export prices or greater in-house utilisation would still make domestic solar PV viable and attract individual investment. I write as a pensioner user with installed PV, which even at the old prices gives an 8% return guaranteed for 25 years, better than annuities or savings – and I am looking at how to fit in more capacity.
Guardian 30th Oct 2014 read more »
Microgeneration
This week’s Micro Power News.
Microgen Scotland 30th Oct 2014 read more »
Energy Efficiency
A new report published today, Building the Future, has piled pressure on Ministers to act to fix Britain’s badly insulated homes. The report from Cambridge Econometrics and Verco shows that a much more ambitious energy efficiency investment programme would pay for itself and significantly boost the UK economy. The programme would add £13.9 billion annually to the UK economy by 2030, with GDP boosted by £3.20 for every £1 invested by the Government. A national scheme to make homes super-energy efficient would result in £8.6 billion in energy savings per year by 2030, an average energy saving of £372 per household. After taking into account loan repayments this would result in £4.95 billion in financial savings per year for Britain’s households.
Energy Bill Revolution 30th Oct 2014 read more »
A more ambitious national energy efficiency programme could provide a near £14bn boost to the UK economy by 2030, according to new research published this week. The report produced by the Energy Bill Revolution campaign group and think tank E3G outlines how a “radical new approach to home energy efficiency” would more than pay for itself within a decade by returning £3.20 for every £1 invested by government.
Business Green 30th Oct 2014 read more »
In 2050 we will still being living in 80% of the homes we are living in today. We need to make them better, warmer and affordable. A 27% energy efficiency target isn’t just unambitious, it’s unhelpful. I’ve heard all our UK political parties say recently that they are committed to creating an energy efficiency market – but it’s business that has expertise in making markets work. If political leaders really want to help lower bills and emissions, they need to create the environment for businesses to succeed in creating demand for energy efficiency. That’s done through smart policy and consistent rhetoric, reinforced by ambitious efficiency targets that make the direction of travel crystal clear.
Guardian 30th Oct 2014 read more »
Grid Connections
The European Commission has announced €647 million to be invested in key energy infrastructure to enhance security of supply across Europe. This includes €75 million for UK projects with cross-border benefits, including electricity interconnection (enabling electricity to be transferred between countries), smart grid and gas storage projects. UK projects awarded in this round include the longest proposed subsea cable in the world, the NSN interconnector linking us to Norwegian hydropower, and two interconnectors to France. ElecLink will benefit from using the existing infrastructure of the Channel Tunnel and a further cable, FABLink, holds potential to connect to future tidal generation being developed off the Alderney coast. Together these projects would almost double the power the UK is able to receive over our interconnectors.
DECC 30th Oct 2014 read more »
