Climate
Warmer water and reduced river flows will cause more power disruptions for nuclear and coal-fired power plants in the United States and Europe in future, scientists say, and lead to a rethink on how best to cool power stations in a hotter world.
Reuters 4th June 2012 more >>
Nuclear Skills
Work on a college teaching the skills needed for future nuclear and energy projects has got under way in Cumbria. A sod-cutting ceremony was held for the £7m Britain’s Energy Coast Construction Skills Centre at Lillyhall, Workington. The centre of excellence, on the Lakes College site, will cater for up to 600 students when it fully opens in 2013. It aims to ensure that local people can take on the jobs created by anticipated development of various infrastructure projects in west Cumbria.
BBC 3rd June 2012 more >>
Berkeley
W ORK began on Berkeley’s nuclear power station in January 1957, and by the time it became fully operative in June 1962, its two Magnox reactors could generate enough electricity in a day to serve an urban area the size of Bristol. Through the bad winter of 1962/3, when conventional, coal-powered stations had difficulty getting their supplies through, Berkeley provided almost a third of the power needed throughout the South West. Berkeley closed in 1989 and is now being decommissioned, a long process which, it is estimated, will take about 80 or 90 years. In fact, it’s the first commercial nuclear power station in the country to be decommissioned.
Bristol Evening Post 4th June 2012 more >>
Dounreay
DOUNREAYS experience of cleaning up after radioactive leaks and its decommissioning knowledge are being shared with Japan where the countrys nuclear industry faces challenges on a much bigger scale. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority invited the site to take part in a series of workshops in Tokyo to share UK expertise in nuclear clean-up. The workshops were attended by senior figures from the Japanese companies and organisations dealing with the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi disaster.
John O Groat Journal 4th June 2012 more >>
Iran
Irans Supreme Leader has warned any Israeli attack would be answered with a lightning response and suggested Irans nuclear programme cannot be curtailed by Western sanctions. The remarks by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei echoed Irans previous hard-line positions, but take on added resonance amid talks with the US and five other world powers.
Yorkshire Post 4th June 2012 more >>
Iran’s supreme leader accused the West on Sunday of lying about his country’s nuclear plans in order to cover up their own problems, in a fiery speech that gave no indication he was ready to compromise in talks with world powers.
Reuters 4th June 2012 more >>
Israel
ISRAEL is equipping submarines bought from Germany with nuclear weapons in a secret programme called Samson, it has been confirmed by former senior government officials in Berlin. German news magazine Der Spiegel said yesterday it had information on a cruise missile launch system installed on the vessels. It said it had evidence that the Popeye cruise missiles were built by experts at the Israeli defence company Rafael and have a range of 950 miles with a 440lb warhead.
Scotsman 4th June 2012 more >>
Middle East Online 3rd June 2012 more >>
Renewables
The government has been trying to water down key environmental regulations in Brussels despite trumpeting its commitment to green issues at home, leaked documents show. The papers, seen by the Guardian, reveal British officials repeatedly trying to prevent the adoption of European Union rules on energy efficiency, curtailing the proposals and making them voluntary rather than mandatory in many cases. In addition, the UK has tried repeatedly to ensure that the EU does not adopt a new target for renewable energy generation. They are significant because they indicate that Ed Davey, the energy secretary since February, has given his blessing to lobbying begun under his predecessor Chris Huhne. These government efforts have the backing of the UK’s big six energy firms, according to other documents obtained under freedom of information rules. According to the leaked documents, the UK is trying to prevent the EU’s target of improving energy efficiency by 20% by 2020 from being made legally binding. The UK has attempted to excise a reference to a potential 30% target for renewables by 2030, replacing it with the far more vague wording of “a significantly increased share for renewable in the energy mix”. At another point in the document, which is dated 23 April 2012, the UK has tried to remove the word “urgent”.
Guardian 3rd June 2012 more >>
The government needs to offer businesses a firm commitment that it believes in green technologies if it wants companies to invest in environmentally friendly industries, a thinktank warns. Research found ministers were sending “mixed signals” about their aims to reduce carbon emissions initially promising ambitious targets before seemingly wavering about the effect they could have on the economy. Ministers’ caution was making industry leaders in the energy sector jittery about investing in new forms of green technology, the Institute of Public Policy (IPPR) report said.
Guardian 4th June 2012 more >>
BBC 4th June 2012 more >>
The last nine days of May saw a record production of solar power in Britain. The clear dry air meant sunlight was strong, more than doubling the daily average electricity output. Long hours of daylight are currently giving the thousands of households that invested in solar power under the original high level of subsidy considerable income. The scheme, designed to make the solar industry take off in Britain, was remarkably successful. The rapid increase in installations and improved technology considerably reduced unit costs. The government then misjudged the situation, cut the subsidy, and industry confidence collapsed.
Guardian 3rd June 2012 more >>
Seven people in 10 want more wind farms built across the countryside to meet Britain’s energy needs despite a high-profile political backlash which jeopardises their future. The Treasury is considering cuts of up to 25 per cent in subsidies for on-shore wind farms after intense lobbying from countryside campaigners and rural Conservative MPs.
Independent 4th June 2012 more >>
Disarmament
All five legally recognised nuclear states, including Britain, are either deploying new weapons systems or have announced plans to do so, and none of them has shown anything more than a “rhetorical willingness” to disarm, says the 2012 Yearbook of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri). India and Pakistan continue to develop systems capable of delivering nuclear weapons and are expanding their capacities to produce fissile material for military purposes, the report warns. Israel is widely believed to have produced plutonium for its nuclear weapons arsenal. The report adds. “Israel may [also] have produced non-strategic nuclear weapons, including artillery shells and atomic demolition munitions, but this has never been confirmed.”
Guardian 4th June 2012 more >>
