Hinkley
The head of energy giant ScottishPower has waded into the row over Hinkley Point, insisting that the controversial subsidy deal for EDF’s proposed nuclear plant should be renegotiated because it is too expensive. Keith Anderson, the firm’s chief corporate officer, said the deal, provisionally agreed by the Government in 2013 following lengthy negotiations, no longer made sense in the light of lower gas and offshore wind costs. “It looks like a contract that was written five years ago on a business case that was probably pulled together 10 years ago. It looks out of line with what’s going on in the market now,” he said. In an interview with Telegraph, Mr Anderson praised Theresa May’s “brave” decision to review the £18bn project and urged her to look at it in its entirety, not just her apparent concerns over Chinese state nuclear firms’ involvement.
Telegraph 3rd Sept 2016 read more »
Letter John Busby: BRITAIN does not fear a “yawning energy gap” as its generation requirement is down about 15% since the 2005 peak. The deployment of LED street lighting, solar PV road signs, more efficient appliances and distributed energy will continue to reduce central demand and with it the market for subsidised nuclear. Distributors will buy cheaper alternatives to nuclear unless forced to buy it first by government deals with EDF/CNG, Hitachi and Toshiba.
Sunday Times 4th Sept 2016 read more »
EDF leaders are now in such a state of panic over their Hinkley C proposals that desperate messages were being sent out to tell the British Government that they need to take a £6 billion equity share in the proposal. Signals are coming from Downing Street that the Government wants to decouple Hinkley C from the ‘deal’ with China allowing them to build their own nuclear power plant at Bradwell. The Chinese have responded that they would no longer be interested in funding their (approx one third) share of Hinkley C. EDF’s desperate plea that the British Government take over the Chinese share in Hinkley C is unlikely to be welcomed by Treasury officials who would (or at least should) see that as tantamout to locking in the British state to shovelling money down a black hole, with a lot more inevitably following the first £6 billion equity.
Dave Toke’s Blog 3rd Sept 2016 read more »
Theresa May has ordered the security services to review whether it is safe to let China gain a foothold in Britain’s nuclear industry. The Prime Minister has confirmed she will ask the Government’s National Security Council to consider the risks posed by China before deciding whether to let the communist giant take a £6 billion stake in a planned new nuclear plant at Hinkley Point, in Somerset. A linked deal that would allow China to build a new nuclear power station at Bradwell, in Essex, was also halted. As Mrs May prepared for a showdown with President Xi Jinping over the issue today, she also hinted she does not fully trust the autocratic regime in Beijing. The Prime Minister halted the controversial Hinkley Point deal shortly after taking office in July, saying she needed to review ‘all the evidence’. Asked yesterday if this included convening the National Security Council to consider the threat, she said: ‘I’m going to do exactly as you said in your question.’ The public acknowledgement that Mrs May sees the deal as a potential security threat risks overshadowing her first face-to-face talks with President Xi at the G20 summit in Hangzhou today, when she will try to persuade him to carry on investing in post-Brexit Britain.
Daily Mail 4th Sept 2016 read more »
Theresa May has made the bombshell admission that her officials are specifically reviewing security around the Hinkley nuclear project in which the Chinese government is involved. The Prime Minister made clear while speaking at the G20 Summit in Hangzhou that the National Security Council would explore whether Hinkley could have an adverse impact on security.
Independent 4th Sept 2016 read more »
The Prime Minister has said it is a “golden era” for UK-China relations, despite a row with Beijing over the delayed Hinkley Point nuclear power station.
LBC 3rd Sept 2016 read more »
British Prime Minister Theresa May on Sunday defended her decision to delay a partly Chinese-funded nuclear power deal, despite it causing diplomatic tension with China as she landed in the country to attend a G20 summit. In July, May upset Chinese officials by delaying a $24billion project that would see French firm EDF (EDF.PA) build Britain’s first new nuclear power plant in decades with the help of $8 billion from China. The decision caught investors by surprise and has cast doubt over whether May, who took power in July following Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, will continue to court China as a major source of infrastructure investment. “This is the way I operate,” May told reporters on board her official plane on the way to Hangzhou for the summit, which will include a one-to-one with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The summit is May’s first visit to China. “I don’t just come in and say ‘I’m going to take a decision’- I actually look at the evidence, weigh up that evidence, take the advice and consider that and come to my decision.”
Reuters 4th Sept 2016 read more »
A senior Minister last night voiced concern at the ‘Rasputin-like’ influence over Theresa May held by her long-standing right-hand man, confidant, spin doctor and fixer, Nick Timothy. Downing Street chief of staff Timothy has been credited with Mrs May’s two main policy initiatives since she became Prime Minister – blocking the nuclear power plant deal with China and bringing back grammar schools. But some Ministers have expressed surprise at the way they say the formidable Timothy is demanding a big say in all key Government decisions.
Daily Mail 4th Sept 2016 read more »
Scottish Power
Across the country, ScottishPower, part of Spain’s Iberdrola, now owns 29 onshore wind farms with a total capacity of 1,500 megawatts (MW), out of about 9,000MW in the UK as a whole. It is the UK’s biggest onshore wind generator – though this is just one element in a diverse business that also encompasses offshore wind, a retail energy arm supplying more than 3m households, regulated power networks, hydroelectric storage, gas plants, and, until recently, coal plant. ScottishPower is still busy building some 500MW of onshore wind turbines that will receive subsidy, under a generous grace period. But Anderson is adamant that won’t be the end of it. “We are still developing sites,” he says. “We have got options on land, we have got met masts going up, we are doing wind studies, grid studies and development studies, because we absolutely believe we can demonstrate, for the good sites out there, you can bring to the market at a sensible cost compared to other forms of investment in generation in the UK.” Anderson freely admits that new onshore wind would require “some form of contract or floor price to cover that investment” – but then, so too does “every other form of investment in this industry”. Whatever tentative discussions may be taking place on onshore wind, there’s no doubt the far more pressing energy policy question for the Government is whether to give the go-ahead to EDF’s Hinkley Point nuclear project. Doing so, Anderson says, would not make economic sense. He welcomes Theresa May’s “brave” decision to review the project and urges her to reconsider the subsidy deal on which it hinges. “It looks like a contract that was written five years ago on a business case that was probably pulled together 10 years ago. It looks out of line with what’s going on in the market now,” he says. “In today’s environment, it doesn’t look right.” Under the proposed deal, EDF would be guaranteed a price of £92.50 for each megawatt-hour of electricity it generated for 35 years. It might have looked like a reasonable deal back in 2011 or 2012 when it was being drawn up, Anderson says, but now “looks expensive”. “An awful lot has changed in that time.” He points to the falling cost of gas and, with it, electricity. With the impact of the US shale revolution, he says most analysts see gas prices and power prices staying lower for longer. Gas plants offer “faster, easier cheaper” ways of keeping the lights on.
Telegraph 3rd Sept 2016 read more »
Companies
A pack of powerful investors vying to buy National Grid’s £10bn network of gas pipes is attempting to lure the chairman of Britain’s biggest construction company to spearhead its bid. The consortium of Canadian, British and Middle Eastern investors is understood to have approached the energy industry veteran Philip Aiken as rivals jockey for position ahead of a deadline later this month. Aiken, an Australian engineer, chairs Balfour Beatty and the software company Aveva. He was on the National Grid board until last year. National Grid’s auction, revealed by The Sunday Times in November, promises to be the biggest UK infrastructure deal of the year. It will also be one of the first big tests of foreign demand for British utility assets since the vote to leave the EU. Bidders have been forming in two huge groups for the blockbuster sale, with first- round offers due at the end of the month.
Sunday Times 4th Sept 2016 read more »
Wylfa
Come along to Penrhyn Hall, Gwynedd Road, Bangor on Tuesday, September 6, 9.30 and all day … Come to Neuadd Penryn, Ffordd Gwynedd, Bangor, Tuesday, 6 September, 9.30 and during the day to stop Horizon deleting the language clause!”
Radiation Free Lakeland 3rd Sept 2016 read more »
Moorside
South Lakleand parish councils are understandably upset about giant pylons potentially being erected across the local countryside. Less understandable is the lack of vehement opposition from those same councils for “the biggest nuclear development in Europe” on Lakelands doorstep. The Lake District National Park Authority have set the tone with support for Moorside. “We support the principle of a new build nuclear power station adjacent to Sellafield. The proposal would continue the long tradition of the nuclear industry in Cumbria.” We would suggest there are many Lakeland Traditions that are no longer acceptable, including slave trading, cock fighting and otter hunting. New nuclear reactors next to Sellafield is a “long tradition” that is no longer acceptable.
Radiation Free Lakeland 3rd Sept 2016 read more »
The new energy minister has urged the company behind a multi-billion pound nuclear development in Cumbria to engage more with the public. Baroness Neville-Rolfe visited the site of the planned Moorside nuclear power station during a visit to the county, as Greg Hoare reports:
ITV 3rd Sept 2016 read more »
Sellafield
A special investigation into Sellafield is said to have uncovered potentially deadly dangers posed by an “ageing and rundown” plant. Such is the poor state of the 50-year-old site, film-makers claim, insiders fear the chances of a serious incident are increasing. But nuclear bosses say the BBC Panorama programme is “sensationalist TV” and many of the allegations are based on the evidence from disgruntled former employees. They say they have nothing to hide after allowing the TV crews access and co-operating with the documentary makers throughout. Using evidence from a whistleblower and leaked documents the programme, Sellafield’s Nuclear Safety Failings claims to have built up a damning dossier of safety concerns. The “special investigation into the shocking state of Britain’s most hazardous nuclear plant” has taken months to complete.
Express 4th Sept 2016 read more »
Radhealth
Modern life is killing children with the number of youngsters diagnosed with cancer rising 40 per cent in the past 16 years because of air pollution, pesticides, poor diets and radiation, scientists have warned.
Telegraph 3rd Sept 2016 read more »
Nuclear Transports
TRAFFIC around Ackergill will be disrupted to accommodate regular nuclear loads from Dounreay to be flown from Wick to America. The temporary road closure order came into effect on Thursday and will run until March 31, 2018.
John O Groat Journal 2nd Sept 2016 read more »
Fukushima
Rainfall from recent typhoons caused partial melting of the “ice wall” at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, allowing highly radioactive water to leak from around the damaged reactor buildings, the plant’s operator said Sept. 1. Tokyo Electric Power Co. said melting occurred at two sections of the ice wall, which is designed to divert groundwater away from the reactor buildings. TEPCO officials believe that during the latest typhoon, contaminated water from around the reactor buildings flowed through openings of the ice wall created by the deluge and reached downstream toward the sea.
Asahi Shimbun 2nd Sept 2016 read more »
I decided to translate this particular article because this article for a change talks about the Fukushima disaster victims and in details how their everyday lives have been affected. In most of the Fukushima related articles from websites and mainstream media, the writers usually focus on the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and its technical failures, about its continuous leaking into the Pacific ocean etc. but somehow they almost always forget to talk about the plight of the victims, the victims who are at the forefront of this tragedy.
Dunrenard 16th Aug 2016 read more »
The Mainichi Shimbun answers some common questions readers may have about the decontamination of areas that were heavily exposed to radiation in the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant. Question: What is the situation right now with the decontamination of areas that were exposed to radioactive materials in the Fukushima nuclear incident, where residents were ordered to evacuate? Answer: In April 2012, areas that were under evacuation orders were separated into three categories based on annual radiation exposure dosages. Decontamination work has not been carried out in areas of the Fukushima Prefecture towns of Okuma, Futaba, Namie, Tomioka, and the prefectural villages of Iitate and Katsurao and the city of Minamisoma — classified as “difficult-to-return zones” with annual radiation exposure dosages topping 50 millisieverts — save for a few areas that were decontaminated on a trial basis. Meanwhile, in “restricted residence zones,” where the annual radiation exposure dosage is between 20 and 50 millisieverts, and in “preparing for lifting of evacuation order zones,” which have annual radiation exposure dosages of 20 millisieverts or lower, the government is aiming to have decontamination completed by March 2017.
Mainichi 3rd Sept 2016 read more »
