Nuclear Costs
Not so long ago, it used to be the opponents of nuclear generation who argued that the economics did not add up. Nowadays, at least one of the industrys more influential proponents seems to agree. Mr Immelt is right that worsening economics are curbing the so-called nuclear renaissance. Since Japans Fukushima disaster last year, understandably tighter safety regulations have increased the costs of reactor construction. Meanwhile, those of rival technologies are lower than expected. Gas-fired generation has become cheaper as shale gas has come on stream. Meanwhile, new technology has cut solar panel prices. The nuclear industry finds it very difficult to respond by cutting its own costs. Innovation is still possible; for instance the development of small mass-produced reactors in place of todays costly bespoke monsters. Despite relatively high costs, some countries will continue to build reactors, not least because of concerns over energy security or because they aspire to develop nuclear weapons. This may rule out a nuclear renaissance, as Mr Immelts words suggest: costs remain simply too high. For any renaissance to happen, the industry must reduce them without sacrificing the need for safety so starkly illustrated by the Fukushima disaster.
FT 3rd Aug 2012 more >>
Jeff Immelt, the chief executive of General Electric, revived the debate about the cost of nuclear power this week when he said building reactors was so expensive compared with other forms of energy it had become really hard to justify. While gas prices remain high in Europe and Asia, the cost of renewable energy technology shows signs of falling, prompting questions about whether nuclear can compete. Although nuclear power is relatively reliable and produces little carbon dioxide, big cost overruns at the first two new reactors being built in Europe and safety concerns following last years Fukushima crisis have led to a cooling of private sector interest in funding nuclear. EDF said this week it was seeking partners to share the financial burden of its project to build four reactors in the UK.
FT 3rd Aug 2012 more >>
Radwaste
Allerdale council has hit back over claims it said a nuclear dump being built in west Cumbria was a done deal. Save Our Lake District Dont Dump Cumbria! (SOLD DDC!) accused the authority last week of giving a clear impression in council documents that the underground repository will come to the area. But the council has strongly denied this, saying it is absurd. An Allerdale spokeswoman said: As has been repeatedly stated, no decisions regarding the siting of a nuclear repository have been made by this council.
Carlisle News and Star 3rd Aug 2012 more >>
Sellafield
A small drone is being developed for use at some of the oldest radioactive silos at the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing site because scientists are not sure what is inside them, the Guardian can reveal. The hope is that an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) could use laser profiling to map the inside of the chambers and make work easier for experts who are trying to make them safe as part of a decommissioning and cleaning process. The company responsible for Sellafield asked the University of Warwick to develop a UAV for the task and is funding the programme.
Guardian 3rd Aug 2012 more >>
Hinkley
Energy giant EDF is spending £3 million on an automated traffic management system to control deliveries to the site of its proposed new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset. Communities are concerned about the impact of construction traffic when Europes biggest building project, which will last ten years, gets under way.
Western Daily Press 3rd Aug 2012 more >>
Burnham-on-sea.com 3rd Aug 2012 more >>
Dungeness
The UK’s EDF Energy returned its 550 megawatt Dungeness B21 nuclear power station to the electricity grid on Friday morning following the completion of planned refueling, the company said in a statement.
Reuters 3rd Aug 2012 more >>
Japan
Growing Japanese opposition to nuclear energy after the Fukushima disaster will be a wild card in a general election many expect within months, but politicians on both sides of the aisle agree on one thing: the Democratic Party is likely to fall from power just three years after its historic landslide win.
Reuters 3rd Aug 2012 more >>
Fukushima crisis update 31st July to 2nd Aug.
Greenpeace International 3rd Aug 2012 more >>
Poland
American-Japanese group GE Hitachi , France’s Areva and Westinghouse, a U.S unit of Japan’s Toshiba , have all signalled interest in supplying technology for the project that has already faced a number of delays. At the end of June the project’s manager PGE, Poland’s top utility, delayed launching the technology supplier tender as it works out how it will finance the costly project. It is not clear when the tender, previously scheduled for the second quarter of 2012, will move forward.
Reuters 31st July 2012 more >>
US
A U.S. magistrate judge on Friday ordered the release pending trial of an 82-year-old nun and another anti-nuclear activist charged with breaching security fences at one of the most sensitive U.S. nuclear facilities, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where weapons-grade uranium is kept.
Trust 4th Aug 2012 more >>
All operations remained suspended yesterday at the sole facility in the US for storing enriched uranium after the area was breached by three anti-nucl ear protesters, including an 82-year-old nun, exposing gaps in security provided by G4S, the same private company accused of bungling security arrangements for the Olympics.
Independent 4th Aug 2012 more >>
Telegraph 3rd Aug 2012 more >>
Scotland
Anti-nuclear protestors are to picket the headquarters of the SNP over the party’s plans to ditch its long-standing opposition to Nato membership. The protest was announced after it was confirmed that defence spokesman Angus Robertson will ask the party conference in October to continue Nato membership if Scotland becomes independent.
STV 3rd Aug 2012 more >>
RECYCLED rubbish could be used to heat hundreds of homes in Scotland’s largest city, following the signing of a new green energy deal. Plans for a new recycling plant on the site of a former incinerator in Polmadie, Glasgow, have been agreed between Glasgow City Council and UK renewable energy and waste company Viridor. The new incinerator plant would recycle around 200,000 tonnes of waste a year, to produce heat and power for social housing.
Scotsman 3rd Aug 2012 more >>
Scotsman 3rd Aug 2012 more >>
Microgeneration
Sainsbury’s has today revealed that it has installed over 69,500 solar panels on its stores, laying claim to the title of Europe’s top solar generator. The company said that it now boasts 16MW of solar capacity spread across 169 of its 572 UK supermarkets, meaning that collectively the firm manages the largest solar array in Europe.
Business Green 3rd Aug 2012 more >>
This week’s Micro Power News: Publicity campaign for Green Deal planned after all; Good Energy looking at 110MW of solar and wind; Turbines could pay Aberdeen City Councils electricity bill, solar still a good deal despit FiT cut; community wind farm in Western Isles; Homeowners in a Doncaster suburb are in line to receive a free energy efficiency make-over worth up to £9,500; Cambourne Parish Council to install photovoltaic (PV) panels on seven community buildings.
Microgen Scotland 3rd Aug 2012 more >>
