British Energy
Any attempt by Centrica to strike an all-share merger with British Energy will face opposition from the government, it emerged yesterday. Centrica said it could pursue the idea of a merger with British Energy if a £12bn proposed takeover by EDF of France does not go ahead.
FT 5th Aug 2008 more >>
Scotsman 5th Aug 2008 more >>
British Gas-owner Centrica yesterday confirmed it was waiting in the wings with plans for a merger with British Energy, should takeover talks with France’s EDF collapse.
Express 5th Aug 2008 more >>
Building 5th Aug 2008 more >>
Wylfa
ANGLESEY MP Albert Owen says he believes Wylfa is still one of the leading sites for a new wave of nuclear power stations in the UK as the government considers the industry’s future. Among the front runners in the race to build a new nuclear power station at Wylfa on Anglesey and elsewhere in the UK is Electricit de France (EDF) which yesterday failed to agree a takeover of British Energy. But Mr Owen said EDF was not the only company interested in Wylfa. At least one other consortium wanted to provide a package, including decommissioning the existing station, building a new plant and electricity generation.
Daily Post 2nd Aug 2008 more >>
EDF’s plans to build a £3bn reactor at Wylfa could be fast tracked after the rejection of its BE bid with construction starting as early as 2013.
Contract Journal 5th Aug 2008 more >>
NDA
The NDA has launched a consultation on a public stakeholder engagement on deep geological disposal.
NDA August 2008 more >>
and on Sustainability appraisal and Environmental Assessment for Geological Disposal.
NDA August 2008 more >>
US
The planned U.S. nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada will cost billions more than previously estimated due to a hike in the amount of waste it will have to dispose of and inflation, the Energy Department said on Tuesday. The Yucca Mountain program, which began in 1983 and is expected to close in 2133, is expected to cost $96.2 billion in 2007 dollars over its 150-year life cycle, up 67 percent from a 2001 estimate of $57.5 billion.
Reuters 5th Aug 2008 more >>
Bloomberg 5th Aug 2008 more >>
Duke Energy has removed test bundles of mixed-oxide or MOX fuel from its Catawba Nuclear Station on Lake Wylie as it investigates unusual physical changes in the assemblies. Anti-MOX groups say the halt means the testing should start all over again, delaying by years a billion-dollar federal program to use surplus weapons plutonium at Catawba.
Rock Hill Herald 5th Aug 2008 more >>
Iran
Iran has ignored the demand that it freeze all nuclear activity in its answer to the international offer of a package of incentives to try to defuse the looming crisis over its nuclear ambitions. Tehran yesterday reinforced the impression among western diplomats that it is still playing for time by waiting yet another day before delivering a written response to Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, who is leading efforts to avert a confrontation in the Middle East.
Guardian 6th Aug 2008 more >>
Express 5th Aug 2008 more >>
Mirror 5th Aug 2008 more >>
Iran delivered a message to the EU on Tuesday as it faced a fresh ultimatum from six global powers to accept an incentives package to freeze sensitive nuclear work or face more UN sanctions.
Middle East Online 5th Aug 2008 more >>
Nuclear War
John Pilger: The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a criminal act on an epic scale. It was premeditated mass murder that unleashed a weapon of intrinsic criminality. For this reason its apologists have sought refuge in the mythology of the ultimate “good war”, whose “ethical bath”, as Richard Drayton called it, has allowed the west not only to expiate its bloody imperial past but to promote 60 years of rapacious war, always beneath the shadow of The Bomb.
Guardian 6th Aug 2008 more >>
Coal
The energy company at the centre of a row over the proposed new Kingsnorth coal-fired power station is pushing ahead to finalise new building contracts, despite its insistence in public that it has put plans on hold until ministers complete a consultation on “clean coal” schemes, documents seen by the Guardian show.
Guardian 6th Aug 2008 more >>
Drax has seen its profits plunge by almost half as it pays the price for running the UK’s biggest single carbon polluting power station in an era of rising CO2 prices.
Guardian 6th Aug 2008 more >>
Fuel Poverty
Letter from various groups including FoE: Rising energy and fuel prices are affecting everyone (Report, August 4). We believe the moment is right for a one-off windfall tax to guarantee social and environmental justice.
Guardian 6th Aug 2008 more >>
