Hinkley
A series of public information events are being held by EDF Energy to brief members of the public who may wish to comment to the Infrastructure Planning Commission on EDF’s application to build a new nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point. Those wishing to comment on the application must do so to the IPC, not EDF Energy. They will have until January 23 to register with the IPC as an ‘interested party’.
Taunton People 3rd Dec 2011 more >>
Plans for a new generation of nuclear power stations have suffered another setback after being delayed by at least a year. The first of the new plants will not be built until 2019 because of extra safety checks following Japan’s atomic disaster, according to one report. Ministers originally hoped to get the first nuclear power station built by 2017, before revising this to 2018. Now there has been a further slippage, after an updated timetable showed the first station, at Hinkley Point in Somerset, is not expected until nearer the end of the decade. EDF Energy, the company building the first plant, has refused to give a “firm and final completion date” for nuclear power. A spokesman said the 2019 date was only “indicative”.
Western Morning News 3rd Dec 2011 more >>
Wylfa
The Wylfa nuclear power plant appears on a new edition of the board game Monopoly featuring the UKs Isle of Anglesey, Magnox Ltd reported. The original UK version of the property-buying and -selling game was based on London streets and landmarks. The Wylfa plant replaces the spot on the board game usually occupied by the ‘Electric Company’ and can be bought for just £150.
World Nuclear News 2nd Dec 2011 more >>
Radwaste
SIX protesters were arrested at a demonstration against plans to dump low-level radioactive waste at a landfill site on Friday (2 December). Around 20 campaigners turned out to protest at the entrance to Augeans East Northants Resource Management Facility, in Stamford Road, near Kings Cliffe at 5.30am. Four of them had secured themselves to two barrels filled with concrete and Northamptonshire police were forced to call in specialist officers from Cambridgeshire to cut them free before arresting them on suspicion of aggravated trespass.
Peterborough Evening Telegraph 3rd Dec 2011 more >>
Politics
An extraordinary alliance of countryside campaigners, wildlife groups and green activists has launched a savage onslaught on the government, accusing it of showing “stunning disregard” for the environment.
Observer 4th Dec 2011 more >>
Japan
The desperation and helplessness workers at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant felt in the immediate aftermath of the March 11 disasters are described in a report detailing Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s in-house investigation.
Japan Times 4th Dec 2011 more >>
Iran
Make no mistake, the war has begun. Virulent computer viruses disabled Iran’s nuclear centrifuges last year. Two of the nation’s leading nuclear physicists have been assassinated, and a third was wounded by assassins on motorbikes. The UK’s decision to freeze $1.6bn of Iranian assets which is what provoked the violence at the British embassy was the fourth round of sanctions. Hawks talk openly of deploying unmanned drones against nuclear power stations and provoking an uprising against the government in Tehran.
Independent 4th Dec 2011 more >>
Australia
Australia’s governing Labor party has voted to overturn its long-standing ban on exporting uranium to India. Australia, which holds an estimated 40% of the world’s uranium, already exports it to China, Japan, Taiwan and the US. The country has excluded sales to India because it is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
BBC 4th Dec 2011 more >>
Nuclear Weapons
The latest NIS update includes news about release of the Trident Alternatives Review following a Freedom of Information request, the ending of the naval submarine reactor programme at HMS Vulcan, and moves to introduce new planning controls for development around nuclear sites. News from the Atomic Weapons Establishment includes details of the latest planning application for AWE Aldermaston and of the costs of new developments at AWE.
NIS 3rd Dec 2011 more >>
Energy Efficiency
Opower, a US energy efficiency company believed to be worth up to $1bn, has started its expansion into Europe with a new London-based boss. The group, which helps consumers compare their energy usage to their neighbours as an incentive to keep costs down, has hired Nandini Basuthakur of the New York-listed Corporate Executive Board Company to lead its European charge. Opower is currently looking for office space in London it recently signed its first European deal with First Utility in the UK. Both Barack Obama and David Cameron are fans of Opower.
Independent 4th Dec 2011 more >>
Renewables
The government is proposing to build up to 32,000 new wind turbines with many thousands more transmission pylons as it struggles to meet green targets. A report by Chris Huhnes Department of Energy and Climate Change says the huge expansion is essential if Britain is to meet its obligations to cut greenhouse gas emissions. At present, there are about 3,000 onshore wind turbines with a few hundred offshore. They have helped cut carbon emissions but generate only 1-2% of the nations power. The energy secretary wants to convert all Britains vehicles and homes to run on electricity by 2050. This means Britain must sharply increase electricity production, perhaps even doubling it, with almost all of it coming from low-carbon sources including wind and nuclear power.
Sunday Times 4th Dec 2011 more >>
PETROL and diesel cars and vans will disappear from Britains roads by 2050, replaced by electric vehicles that get their energy from wind turbines and nuclear power stations, according to proposals put forward by Chris Huhne, the energy secretary.
Sunday Times 4th Dec 2011 more >>
Editorial: Our quest for green energy could result in future generations being left with thousands of useless wind turbines dotted around the countryside.In the case of nuclear, Mr Huhne has been right to reject a knee-jerk response to the Fukushima disaster in Japan. The programme of replacing and eventually expanding Britains nuclear power capability must go on.
Sunday Times 4th Dec 2011 more >>
Climate
The world’s ministers and their mandarins gather in their thousands this weekend to hammer out a plan for the small matter of saving the planet. Yet few of us appear to have noticed. Despite apocalyptic warnings about temperatures reaching record levels and carbon emissions rising faster than ever, the delegates at the vast UN climate conference in South Africa this weekend could not be further from reaching a deal or further from the thoughts of a global population gripped by economic fears. More than 10,000 ministers, officials, campaigners and scientists from 194 countries are meeting in Durban in an attempt to counter the devastating effects of global warming. With little hope of a major agreement, many are happy to be out of the spotlight.
Independent 4th Dec 2011 more >>
Joss Garman: The big question in Durban is whether an extraordinarily obstructive Obama administration is days away from killing this long climate process and burying its corpse next to the Doha round of trade talks. The stakes really are that high. Chris Huhne, the UK’s Energy and Climate Change Secretary, and his colleagues are facing a host of complex issues. But for me, three stand out. Do we keep the Kyoto protocol alive? Can we set up a fund to pay for poorer countries to cope with climate change and build clean energy? And when do we sign the next deal, the one that really nails the carbon beast? But in the end a good deal can’t be struck here unless President Obama orders his delegation radically to change course.
Independent 4th Dec 2011 more >>
Caroline Flint: Cameron’s pledges on global warming were only hot air.
Independent 4th Dec 2011 more >>
Hundreds of millions of pounds of British taxpayers money has been spent trying to get foreign countries to tackle climate change in the past five years, according to official figures. The UK has spent more than £600 million on securing an international agreement on climate change and promoting green technologies in developing countries since April 2006, according to Government spending reports. The figures do not include spending by the Foreign Office, which has an entire department dedicated to climate change, nor the amount given in aid to foreign countries for climate change projects by the Department for International Development.
Telegraph 3rd Dec 2011 more >>
