New Nukes
Britain has already started work to build two new nuclear power stations even before receiving the building process approval, says a new alliance of anti-nuclear power campaigners. The alliance accused the nuclear industry of jumping the gun by launching preparatory works at two sites including Hinkley Point in Somerset, Sizewell in Suffolk, the daily Morning Star reported. The group said it has opposed proposals to construct nuclear power stations at Hinkley Point, Sizewell, Bradwell in Essex, Wylfa in Anglesey, Oldbury in Gloucestershire, Sellafield in Cumbria and Hartlepool in County Durham. Communities Opposed to New Nuclear Energy Development (Conned) aims to bring together groups around seven sites earmarked for possible development.
Press TV 2nd Jan 2011 more >>
Letter Kate Macintosh: Professor Kemp (Letters, 1 January) thinks we need nuclear power and should just get on with it. I wonder whether he has consulted the Finns, who in 2000 commissioned a nuclear power station at Olkiluoto from the same consortium set to start in the UK. In May 2009 the plant was at least three and a half years behind schedule and more than 50% over budget. The commissioning deadline has been postponed several times and as of June 2010 operation is set to start in 2013.
Guardian 4th Jan 2010 more >>
Letter from David Toke: Roger Kemp argues that we need to give extra funds for more nuclear power to keep the lights on. Yet the government, in its national policy statement, plans to have no more than 50% of electricity supplied by non-fossil sources. Most of the rest, presumably, would come from gas. In fact, under the proposals we will be lucky to get more than 20% from renewables, with more from nuclear. There are plenty of technical options for balancing even a 50% renewable share of electricity supply, given recent advances in wind power predictive techniques. By contrast, as witnessed by the blackouts in May 2008 triggered by problems at Sizewell B nuclear power station, it is unexpected breakdowns at large centralised plants that threaten to plunge large numbers of people into the dark.
Guardian 4th Jan 2010 more >>
EDF
Electricite de France SA said it will improve its debt ratio with the transfer of half the French power grid Reseau de Transport d’Electricite into a fund that will cover costs for dismantling nuclear reactors. The move, approved by EDF’s board Dec. 14, will lead to the deconsolidation of RTE’s net financial debt, “improving” EDF’s ratio of net debt to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, Europe’s biggest power producer said today in a statement. This will have “no impact” on RTE’s contribution to EDF’s net income, the company said.
Bloomberg 3rd Jan 2011 more >>
Time may be running out for French energy giant EDF to gain a stronger foothold in the US nuclear sector, after it rejected a government loan deal for a new reactor and lost its local partner. Since parting ways with US firm Constellation in October, EDF has vowed to find a new partner for its American subsidiary Unistar, and to press ahead with construction of a new reactor at Calvert Cliffs, Maryland. But according to several sources familiar with the situation, EDF has missed a golden opportunity by refusing the 7.5 billion dollar loan guarantee from the Department of Energy (DoE) to help build the reactor.
Expatica 30th Dec 2010 more >>
Iran
Iran confirmed today that it had invited some ambassadors accredited to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna to visit nuclear facilities in the Islamic Republic. Those invited included representatives from some of the six major powers involved in diplomatic efforts to resolve the dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told a news conference.
Independent 4th Jan 2011 more >>
BBC 4th Jan 2011 more >>
Telegraph 4th Jan 2011 more >>
Guardian 4th Jan 2011 more >>
An Iranian nuclear scientist who claimed he slipped away from his CIA captors has not been seen publicly since his return to Tehran last year, according to an opposition website.
Telegraph 4th Jan 2011 more >>
China
Chinese scientists have claimed to have mastered the technology for reprocessing fuel from nuclear power plants, potentially boosting the supplies of carbon-free electricity to keep the country’s economy booming.
Telegraph 4th Jan 2011 more >>
Belfast Telegraph 4th Jan 2011 more >>
Guardian 4th Jan 2011 more >>
BBC 3rd Jan 2011 more >>
Renewables
Chris Huhne, the energy and climate change secretary, has accused Labour of leaving a “pretty damn poor” legacy on renewables, as oil prices hit their highest for more than two years. Labour were in power for 13 years but had “only began to change right at the end”, Huhne told the Guardian in an interview. But he promised that over the next decade Britain would increase the amount of energy it gets from renewable sources more quickly than any other state in the European Union.
Guardian 4th Jan 2011 more >>
