Stress Tests
The EC report assessing the ability of all Europe’s 145 reactors to resist extreme events, shows that 19 UK reactors at nine sites have 108 problems. The sites are Dungeness in Kent, Hartlepool in County Durham, Heysham in Lancashire, Hinkley Point in Somerset, Hunterston in North Ayrshire, Oldbury in South Gloucestershire, Sizewell in Suffolk, Torness in East Lothian and Wylfa in Gwynedd. According to the EC, the flaws fall mostly into six categories. Emergency operating procedures and “severe accident” management guidelines fail to cover all the plant’s possible conditions, though improvements are said to be planned. In some cases “passive measures to prevent hydrogen explosions in case of severe accident not in place,” warns the report. It also says that back-up emergency control rooms are not available, nor are back-up diesel generators “physically separated” from normal generators, or mobile diesel generators. The pressurised water reactor at Sizewell, a different design from other UK plants, is criticised because “filtered venting systems not in place”. All these issues were identified as potential problems after the reactors at Fukushima in Japan were deluged by a tsunami in March last year.
RobEdwards 5th Oct 2012 more >>
Hinkley
Protesters from all over the UK are gearing up for a mass trespass at the Somerset site earmarked for the first of a new generation of nuclear stations. Hundreds are planning to converge at a weekend protest camp before scaling the fence round land being cleared for the controversial Hinkley C power plant.
Western Daily Press 4th Oct 2012 more >>
New Nukes
Lord Howell reminds me that one of his first acts as Secretary of State for Energy in the first Thatcher government was to announce a programme of ten new PWR nuclear stations to be built over a ten year period. Perhaps surprisingly, Thatcher was an early convert to the idea of global warming, and therefore an enthusiast for nuclear power. The cost of each nuke was to be around £1.5bn and the price expected to be charged for the electricity they produced was calculated at just £8/MWh. Today, EDF is demanding to be underwritten at £100/MWh plus. In the end Howell’s grand ambition resulted in just one new power station Sizewell B. Amazinglyly, it came in roughly on budget. The rest fell victim to Chernobyl, a prolonged period of low oil and gas prices, and spiralling projected construction costs. We seem to be going the same way again, with a worldwide glut of cheap gas, Fukushima and a now likely cost of £7bn per new reactor once more undermining the economic and environmental case for nuclear power.
Telegraph 4th Oct 2012 more >>
The European power and utilities sector is facing an unprecedented need for capital investment as European generation assets come to the end of their economic life. The UK government is intent on building a new generation of nuclear plants, but with European and now probably Chinese investors withdrawing it is likely to be reliant on private money and new technologies from countries including Canada, Japan and the US. Together with the pressure of new infrastructure to meet low carbon and environmental objectives the European Commission and others estimate that 1 trillion of new investment is needed over the next decade. This, along with the financial crisis engulfing much of Europe is leading to new trends in the power and utility sector. The UK power sector is reflecting many of these trends, with cash-strapped companies strengthening their balance sheets by divesting their non-core assets and encouraging new investment from state-backed power and utility firms from cash-surplus countries.
Energy Desk 4th Oct 2012 more >>
Horizon
Hitachi Ltd confirmed October 4 that it has made a bid to buy the UK nuclear company Horizon Nuclear Power. Hitachi has submitted a bid to lead an international consortium made up of leading companies from Japan, North America and UK companies, with whom it is already in discussions, a spokesman told i-NUCLEAR October 4. The spokesman said no further details would be released at this time, but reports have said the North American involvement includes Canadian engineering and construction firm SNC Lavalin. Although Hitachi would provide no confirmation, sources told i-NUCLEAR that Hitachi is pursuing plans to build the Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) in the UK, which would be the first boiling water reactor (BWR) type ever built in the country. Horizons grid connections at Wylfa could accommodate two ABWR reactors, whose standard design is 1,350 MWe. The ABWR was designed in the US by General Electric, later General Electric Nuclear Energy, and was certified by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 1997. There are four ABWRs operating in Japan and four under construction in Japan and Taiwan. Plans are also advanced to build the ABWR as the Visaginas NPP at Ignalina in Lithuania, where Hitachi is taking a 20% share in the project development company. The Visaginas ABWR is expected to start construction in 2015 at a cost of 5 billion (in 2010 real terms). Commercial operations are expected to start in the year 2020-2022.
i-Nuclear 4th Oct 2012 more >>
A consortium pulled out of the running to build a new generation of nuclear power plants yesterday, leaving the coalition’s flagship nuclear energy policy in “tatters.” The widely expected bid by French firm Areva and China’s Guangdong Nuclear Power Group did not materialise by last Friday’s deadline, according to the Financial Times.
Morning Star 4th Oct 2012 more >>
Little hope on Horizon as another consortium pulls plug on nuclear. See Infographic.
Times 4th Oct 2012 more >>
Wylfa
A FRANCO-Chinese consortium has suspended their interest in building Wylfa B but two other bidders remain in the running. French firm Areva and the China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group did not submit a bid for Horizon Nuclear Power, which owns sites to build new nuclear reactors on Anglesey and in Oldbury, Gloucester. It is also understood that other Chinese state backers have not come in behind the Westinghouse Electric Company bid. It is reported talks to invest ended in failure and Toshiba backed Westinghouse tabled the bid without financial support from Beijing. The second party that submitted a bid is Japanese company Hitachi.
Daily Post 4th Oct 2012 more >>
The last remaining reactor at Welsh nuclear electricity plant Wylfa could shut down nearly two years before its scheduled closure in September 2014, if its owners fail to resolve a refuelling issue. The 245MW reactor one was shut down on Sunday because of a refuelling problem, owners Magnox said in a statement on Tuesday. The plan was to move fuel from the now-defunct reactor two to reactor one to enable it to continue generating electricity. An investigation into the cause of the problem is being carried out, but the company said it was unable to give a date when the reactor would return to service. The plant will shut down when it either runs out of fuel or before September 2014, whichever happens first.
Power Engineering 4th Oct 2012 more >>
NuGen
PREPARATORY work on the £5billion Moorside nuclear power station project near Sellafield is set to start in a fortnight after one of the energy companies involved denied it was pulling out of the development. Spanish energy giants Iberdrola and GDF Suez (France) form the NuGen consortium which plans to build the new electricity-producing reactors. A report in The Sunday Times that the Spanish company was pulling out has been strongly refuted. An Iberdrola spokesman told The Whitehaven News from Madrid: We have not pulled out. An investment decision will not be made for three years and relevant studies are on-going to enable us to make that decision.
Whitehaven News 4th Oct 2012 more >>
CUMBRIA needs a new nuclear power plant urgently to stop the county being over-run with an avalanche of wind turbines. County council leader Eddie Martin demanded action from the government at a special meeting in London. He believes a replacement for Sellafield would spare the county from being saturated with turbines.
Whitehaven News 4th Oct 2012 more >>
GDA
ONR and the Environment Agency have closed five more generic design assessment (GDA) issues on the UK EPR reactor design, bringing the total number closed to nine and leaving 22 issues outstanding. In December 2011, the regulators identified a total of 31 issues on the design, submitted for assessment by EDF and Areva, that need to be addressed before they will consider issuing final design acceptances.
HSE 3rd Oct 2012 more >>
Hartlepool
A TEAM of new recruits have become the latest additions to the staff at Hartlepools nuclear power station.After a gruelling recruitment drive, power station chiefs have unveiled the new apprentices who have started their new careers with EDF Energy.
Hartlepool Mail 4th Oct 2012 more >>
Sellafield
DESPITE the current economic challenges the opportunities for the West Cumbrian economy are potentially huge, predicts the new public face of Nuclear Management Partners. Graham McKendry, a Northern Irishman, comes into his role as NMP general manager for Cumbria with strong Cumbrian connections established already both in work, marriage and sport. Fresh from a four-year executive stint at Sellafield, he pledges to do all in his power to make sure Sellafields NMP landlords continue to work well with the local community and help turn those opportunities into reality. At Sellafield, having headed up Sellafield Mox plant which was forced into closure following last years Japanese Fukushima reactor disaster, he stressed that a highly-skilled Sellafield team had been making great strides before the untimely shutdown which affected around 600 personnel. All have since been re-deployed on the site.So what are the chances of Mox2? Well, in August, we had a visit from senior government guy, we really wanted to show him the capability of Sellafield, I think it stood us in good stead that we were able to say look despite being given this very difficult plant our people were actually able to make really good of making good fuel. Despite the tragic events in Japan its been recognised at high levels in government.
Whitehaven News 4th Oct 2012 more >>
ENERGY minister Baroness Verma makes a fact-finding visit to Sellafield on Friday. She will meet management and also members of the Sellafield Workers Campaign. Union representatives plan to raise issues on a nuclear waste repository and general concerns including the case for a new Mox plant.
Whitehaven News 4th Oct 2012 more >>
A SURPRISE switch of some Sellafield staff to work in Copeland Councils Whitehaven HQ could soon be on the way. The idea is to transfer some nuclear staff away from the Sellafield site to take over spare desks at the borough council. However the reasons why, at this stage, remain unclear.
Whitehaven News 4th Oct 2012 more >>
Radwaste
COUNCILLORS have confirmed there will be a three-month delay in deciding whether to look for a potential site in West Cumbria for a nuclear waste repository, less than a week since The Whitehaven News revealed it was likely. Cumbria, Copeland and Allerdale councils were due to make the decision next week but on Tuesday the three leaders announced a three-month pause to thrash out crucial issues with the government. Trust is said to be at the root of concerns. The councils want the promise of a right of withdrawal made legally binding as well as more certainty over a community benefits package. The Whitehaven News understands that the delay is wanted mostly by Cumbria County Council as the two borough councils were ready to make the decision next Thursday as planned. The U-turn follows a meeting the three council leaders had in London last week with Baroness Verma, the new junior energy minister.
Whitehaven News 4th Oct 2012 more >>
Letter: We desperately need a solution for the stockpile of high-level nuclear waste at Sellafield. Why have so many governments and the nuclear industry failed to address this problem? If Copeland had not volunteered so readily to bury this dangerous, radioactive material in what was known to be unsuitable geology in Cumbria would we have wasted three years and taxpayers money on a fruitless search and consultation in this area? Would this government have been forced, through lack of any volunteer community, to use its own resources, such as Stanford a military range in Norfolk with suitable geology and virtually no residents ?
Whitehaven News 4th Oct 2012 more >>
FALLBACK solutions should be considered should Cumbria be deemed unsuitable to house an underground nuclear waste storage facility, say the three councils which have the decisive vote in the search for a site. On Tuesday Copeland and Allerdale Borough Councils and Cumbria County Council announced they would be delaying the decision on whether or not to proceed with the search for a nuclear repository site in the county. The councils said concerns over a government U-turn on the right to withdraw from the process had been central to their the reason to delay the decision from October 11 until January 2013.
NW Evening Mail 4th Oct 2012 more >>
Radiation Free Lakeland have just heard on the grapevine that last nights meeting in Silloth was packed with people angry that their land, and livelihoods are under threat from the proposed nukiller dump. We are told that there were about 100 chairs out (expecting 50-100) and an estimated 220-250 of all ages turned up. More than half were standing or sitting on the floor, even queuing out of the door, and they were an ultra-receptive audience to the presentation by Steven Quas who gave an overview of the MRWS process and the geological findings of Professors David Smythe and Stuart Hazseldine. Residents also gave presentations on impacts on the community, voluntarism and lack of democracy and what to do next to stop the juggernaught. By chance, Tony Markley, Cumbrian Councillor and Cabinet member was in the bar for a Rotary meeting and he bravely, or perhaps stupidly, agreed to come in at the end and answer questions. The audience were absolutely livid and really tore into him. He denied the rumour that he is selling up and moving out and said that he could hear the message that he was getting and was listening. He also said that he was unable to say how he would vote as that would invalidate his vote. It is becoming clear that local politicians will have to vote NO to this insane plan unless they want to become pariahs.
Radiation Free Lakeland 4th Oct 2012 more >>
Europe
The European Commission Communication on Stress Test is avalaible here.
Energy Web Watch 4th Oct 2012 more >>
Stress test of 145 reactors reveals hundreds of defects, but Güenther Oettinger says ‘generally the situation is satisfactory’. The European Union’s energy chief has called the bloc’s nuclear power stations “satisfactory” despite a report on Thursday that showed hundreds of defects, with dozens of reactors failing to meet international safety standards. The report the “stress test” of Europe’s 145 nuclear reactors was commissioned after the Fukushima incident in Japan last year. It found that bringing Europe’s nuclear power stations up to international standards could cost 25bn. Rebecca Harms, co-president of the Green grouping in the parliament, said that the stress test had “been orchestrated to cause as little stress to the nuclear industry as possible”. She said: “There are no real proposals for follow-up. However, the fact that the stress tests failed to address risks in crucial areas ageing technology, terrorist attacks or human error is a more damning indictment of the whole exercise.”
Guardian 4th Oct 2012 more >>
“Practically all” of the 134 nuclear reactors in the European Union need safety improvements at a cost of up to £20 billion, a bill that is likely to be passed on to the consumer in higher electricity prices.
Telegraph 4th Oct 2012 more >>
Europes energy commissioner voiced support for tougher insurance requirements for nuclear operators as he announced that stress tests had revealed nearly all of the EUs 132 reactors could benefit from safety upgrades. Günther Oettinger, the EUs energy commissioner, said nuclear operators should have to buy liability insurance to cover damages from accidents just like automobile drivers even though this might push up energy costs.
FT 4th Oct 2012 more >>
Immediate safety upgrades requiring billions of euros in investment are needed in nuclear power plants “nearly everywhere” in Europe, according to the results of EU nuclear “stress tests” released Thursday.
EU Business 4th Oct 2012 more >>
The standards of safety of nuclear power plants in Europe are generally high but further improvements in the safety features of almost all European nuclear power plants are recommended. Nevertheless national safety authorities came to the conclusion that no closure of Nuclear Power Plants was warranted. This is the main message of the European Commission communication on results of the nuclear stress tests, published on 4 October. These tests have established that not all safety standards promoted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and not all international best practices are applied in all Member States. The Commission will follow closely the implementation of the recommendations and will at the same time propose legislative measures to further enhance nuclear safety in Europe.
EU Business 4th Oct 2012 more >>
Two of the three German nuclear reactors that the EU recommends should have earthquake warning systems installed already have such mechanisms in place. Seismic instrumentation is being upgraded at the third reactor German utility Eon’s 1,410MW Brokdorf plant. The European Commission identified six German reactors and three still in operation Eon’s Brokdorf reactor and 1,360MW Grohnde plant, and German RWE’s 1,329MW Emsland reactor that lack earthquake warning systems, in a report on the safety of EU nuclear power plants published today.
Argus Media 4th Oct 2012 more >>
The European Commission yesterday released its findings following a series of stress tests performed on reactors throughout the EU – including Sizewell B. The investigation was prompted by the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power station in Japan last year. The European Council called for comprehensive and transparent risk and safety assessments of all EU nuclear power plants. The main aim was to assess the safety and robustness of nuclear power plants in case of extreme natural events – especially flood and earthquakes.
East Anglian Daily Times 5th Oct 2012 more >>
EUROPES NUCLEAR reactors need an investment of up to 25 billion to strengthen their resistance to earthquakes, floods, aircraft crashes, power failures and human error, experts have warned. Releasing results of a stress test examination of 145 reactors in the EU and neighbouring countries, energy commissioner Günther Oettinger said the general situation was satisfactory but called for rapid action to improve safety.
Irish Times 5th Oct 2012 more >>
Uranium
Uranium looks down and out, priced at a two-year low and a long way from its peak. But positive price drivers primarily demand from emerging markets turning to nuclear power and shrinking supply point to a big price rally in the longer term, according to industry executives.
FT 4th Oct 2012 more >>
Russia
An experimental lead-cooled nuclear reactor will be built at the Siberian Chemical Combine (SCC). If successful, the small BREST-300 unit could be the first of a new wave of Russian fast reactors. The Tomsk region that hosts the SCC signed an agreement with state nuclear company Rosatom during an official visit at the end of September. It specified that a demonstration BREST-300 unit would be built at the site, along with the manufacturing facility for the dense nitride uranium-plutonium fuel that it would need. The cost was put at RUR25 billion ($805 million) for the 300 MWe reactor and RUR17 billion ($54 million) for the fuel plant.
World Nuclear News 4th Oct 2012 more >>
US
The top U.S. nuclear regulator said Thursday that the agency’s review of Edison International’s plan to restart one of two damaged reactors at the San Onofre nuclear station in California will take months.
Reuters 4th Oct 2012 more >>
Japan
Japans Electric Power Development Co., Ltd. (J-Power) has announced that it plans to resume the construction of its Ohma Nuclear Power Plant in Aomori prefecture, Japan. The decision has been taken with the understanding of the local communities, the company said. Work on the Ohma nuclear power plant (around 40% complete), along with one other (Shimane 3, which was nearing completion) was suspended following the Great East Japan Earthquake of 11 March 2011. It was only when the government announced its new energy strategy (Innovative Strategy for Energy and the Environment) in mid-September that the future options for these units became clear.
Modern Power Systems 5th Oct 2012 more >>
France
Forecasts for rising power use will curb Electricite de Frances ability to satisfy domestic demand even without the closure of more nuclear reactors, Chief Executive Officer Henri Proglio said. That would see the countrys reliance on nuclear power dropping to 50 percent of power production by about 2025 from more than 75 percent now, he said. That would meet President Francois Hollandes campaign pledge to reduce Frances dependence on nuclear generation. Progios comments come ahead of a national debate on energy which the government has said will lay the groundwork for legislation that could determine EDFs spending plans on its reactors for decades.
Bloomberg 4th Oct 2012 more >>
Renewables
A “green” energy installer who won £120,000 backing from Theo Paphitis on the Dragons’ Den TV programme last year has seen his firm put into administration and his 15 staff made redundant. Chris Hopkins, also a member of the government’s Green Construction Board, partly blames cuts in the feed-in tariff (FiT) subsidy regime for wrecking his business, Ploughcroft Business Services.
Guardian 4th Oct 2012 more >>
Britain’s nascent “green” business sector has hit trouble with a warning about the future of a pioneering fuel cell developer and of a solar panel factory in Wales. Shares in Ceres Power, which employs 160 staff in Horsham and Crawley in West Sussex, dived 76% after it told the London stock exchange that it may have to wind down or sell off the business. Ceres has been hit by a series of delays on the launch of its combined heat and power (CHP) energy efficient boiler as a result of technical issues with a product designed for homes in Britain and further afield. Meanwhile in Wrexham there are mounting worries that Japanese electronics group Sharp could make further cutbacks at, or even close, a solar panel manufacturing site.
Guardian 4th Oct 2012 more >>
