Hinkley
Hinkley C is now delayed by more than five years, and will probably be delayed further. Even assuming everything on the remaining permissions and the build goes very speedily, it is probably asking a lot for power to come out of the plant before 2025. – the date by which all the new fleet was supposed to be in place. And then, if 35% of power is to be supplied from nuclear by 2028, magically, all the other sites will have to be completed by then (which means all will have to be approved, financially closed, and commenced with building by about 2017). So I guess we will need to hold tight and wait for the flurry of announcements about definite build programmes on Wylfa, Sizewell, Oldbury etc. over the next eighteen months. Not a snowballs chance in hell that all this will happen. Instead of a complete nuclear programme by 2025, the likelihood is that there will be one plant, or maybe not even that operational at that point. Time, you might think, for a plan B. what about filling in now almost certain low carbon generation gap, at the very least, with much more easily deployable, speedily buildable, better financeable, lower subsdisable real renewables? Oh, we’ve just taken most of those programmes out and shot them. Bit of a mess then, really.
Alan Whitehead MP 5th Aug 2015 read more »
The UK government has already agreed a deal with EDF to build the long-awaited Hinkley Point C new nuclear plant, and will give the go-ahead once parliament has returned from its summer recess, according to press reports. The Independent cited Whitehall sources as saying the deal is agreed and will be signed within weeks, and also referenced sources within EDF as saying that contracts will be in place by the autumn. The £25 billion project, which will receive significant backing from Chinese state-owned companies, will be formally signed by David Cameron in October during a state visit from China’s president Xi Jinping, the report added.
Utility Week 5th Aug 2015 read more »
EDF ENERGY has announced a raft of new preferred bidders from the UK for the construction of its new nuclear plant at Hinkley Point. “It is now estimated that more than 60% of the construction cost for Hinkley Point C will be placed with UK firms, against an initial estimate of 57%,” the company said in a statement. The majority of the previous contracts issued by EDF for this plant have been with companies owned by non-UK groups.
Chemical Engineer 4th Aug 2015 read more »
COMPANIES set to be involved in the building of the first UK nuclear power plant in 20 years in Somerset have been named. EDF has chosen a number of national companies and several Somerset ones as preferred bidders for contracts worth £1.3bn to build Hinkley Point C. The announcement comes just days after the company announced that a final investment decision is expect over the next few months, which would then see the contracts signed. Services set to be provided by local companies include catering at the construction site, bussing of the workforce and accommodation management, as well as site utilities and infrastructure.
This is the West Country 4th Aug 2015 read more »
Prime Minister David Cameron and Chinese premier Xi JinPing are expected to ink the final £25bn deal for the Hinkley Point C power station within the next few weeks, according to reports. The Guardian reported today that UK government ministers have finally reached an agreement with officials from the French energy giant EDF to develop the Hinkley Point C power plant, which is expected to be backed by significant levels of Chinese investment. The deal will need to be approved by the UK Parliament once summer recess ends in September before an announcement is made in the autumn. More than two-thirds of the project’s upfront investment costs are expected to be provided by Chinese investors, and China is reportedly keen to secure a larger stake in future nuclear plants.
Business Green 5th Aug 2015 read more »
Sellafield
More than 1,200 construction workers have gone on strike at the Sellafield nuclear site in Cumbria.
Construction News 5th Aug 2015 read more »
Morning Star 6th Aug 2015 read more »
Energy Live News 5th Aug 2015 read more »
Wylfa
David Lowry: Japan has an ambivalent relationship with Britain over nuclear. The history is not encouraging. Alan Raymant, chief operating officer of Hitachi’s UK-based subsidiary, Horizon Nuclear Power, who want to build the second reactor at the Wylfa site on Anglesey Island in north Wales, said: “Major advancements in reactor design and safety systems, aligned with the UK’s robust and independent regulatory system and a commitment to responsible operations mean the proposed reactors will offer strength against all viable risks.” However, Robat Idris, a local vet, and campaigner with Anglesey anti-nuclear group PAWB, said the project will damage tourism, claiming “One of the jewels in the crown that Carwyn Jones (Wales’ First Minister) alluded to recently was the Wales Coast Path. The path circumvents the current Wylfa, but this is something which is much bigger and somewhat tarnishes that jewel.”
CNIC 6th Aug 2015 read more »
Radwaste
France wants to build a permanent nuclear waste storage facility not far from the German border. The plan has irked many in the region, but the government in Berlin sees no need for action. Nobody wants to live with a nuclear waste dump at their doorstep. The French government seems to have its sights set on Bure, a town in eastern France, around 120 kilometers (74 miles) from the German border. There, scientists have spent years investigating whether highly and moderately radioactive waste can be disposed of 500 meters underground. ANDRA, the French national agency for radioactive waste, believes that Bure offers what a repository requires: Nuclear waste can be stored there for 100 years; then, the site can be closed off and ultimately, the nuclear waste can decay there for 100,000 years until the radiation no longer poses a threat to humans. Opponents of the site feel less bothered by the repository itself then by the decision-making process that led to choosing it. In mid-July, the government added a last minute clause to a legislative package promoting business development but did not hold a debate or vote in parliament. And since no other potential nuclear waste sites have been explored in France, critics believe that the Bure location was practically predetermined. The Green party group in the French national assembly calls the procedure an “unbearable coup,” while the nation’s nuclear regulatory body and the French Institute for Radiological Protection and Reactor Safety (IRSN) have expressed “numerous reservations” about the plans.
Deutsche Welle 4th Aug 2015 read more »
Further to our recent post regarding the DECC call for evidence [to draw together evidence and information on processes for working with communities in the siting of a geological disposal facility (GDF).] you can click on the image or the following link and download the full document and also a blank “response” form.
Cumbria Trust 5th Aug 2015 read more »
Energy Reliability
No Resource is 100% Reliable: Embracing change and capturing opportunities of the ‘new’ energy system requires a new mind set. The intention of thios series includes: to highlight that the global momentum of operating and managing our energy systems has shifted to efficient integration of resources as a result of new ICT technologies and that this means that past ‘fundamentals’ of energy systems, for example baseload characteristics, are losing relevance whilst new characteristics, such as flexibility, are becoming more important. To show that questions about RE’s reliability on a ‘no wind no sun day’ – a contentious concept – often reflect concerns about energy system operation when technologies which enable active management and incorporation of forecasting predictions were not available. New technologies have changed the basics of energy system operation – as evidenced in practice – so that integration of renewables, along with other resources, now poses different issues, but issues which are as reliably managed. To explain that the fundamental building blocks of any efficient energy system are the same as the basic building blocks of a 100% RE system, and these are reducing total energy use as far as possible; by ensuring we use the energy we use as efficiently as possible; by flattening the demand curve, so we have as ‘small’ a system as possible; and by providing and valuing flexibility via a diversity of RE supply; demand side response, storage, interconnectors and (minimal) flexible fossil fuels.
IGov 5th Aug 2015 read more »
Nuclear Futures
This is from January 2014… It is based on a report from Pete Roche of No2Nuclear News and is as true as ever. The Moorside site alone would require new nuclear facilities including storage ponds and reprocessing…the tsunami of radioactive waste from all this would be enormous. Much of it would end up in landfill (reclassified as “exempt” or High Volume Very Low Level Waste) while the government plan to dump higher activity wastes deep underground. This plan will irreversibly poison land and water supplies with the most toxic substances man has created. The only sane option is to stop now and contain.
Radiation Free Lakeland 5th Aug 2015 read more »
Decommissioning
Two specialist decommissioning firms – one from the offshore and the other from the nuclear sector – are to work together to share each other’s expertise. Upstream consultancy Universal Pegasus International (UPI), is to offer its oil and gas clients expertise developed in nuclear decommissioning by collaborating with its sister company Stoller Newport News Nuclear (SN3). In return it aims to provide knowledge gained in oil and gas to the nuclear industry.
Energy Voice 6th Aug 2015 read more »
NFLA
Rilba Jones: Ray Davies was a regular representative for Caerphilly on the committee of Nuclear Free Local Authorities, which usually meets in Manchester, attending until well into his 80s. Though the vagaries of the railway system generally led to his making late entries to meetings, his commitment to opposing the dangers and folly of the nuclear industry will be greatly missed. It is hard to believe that his red beret will never be appearing round the door again.
Guardian 5th Aug 2015 read more »
Public Opinion
The vast majority of people back renewable energy while support for fracking and nuclear power has fallen, new Government figures show. Support for nuclear power has also fallen to the lowest levels seen in the survey, which began in 2012, with just a third (33%) of people backing the use of reactors to generate electricity in the UK, while around a quarter (24%) oppose the energy source. But support for renewables remains very high, with three quarters of those quizzed backing their use, though the proportion of people expressing strong support for renewables was at its lowest since the survey began, at just under a quarter (24%).
Western Morning News 5th Aug 2015 read more »
Nuclear Weapons
On 6 August 1945, the US attacked the Japanese city of Hiroshima with an atomic bomb in a bid to end the second world war. Seventy years after the devastating power of nuclear weapons was first demonstrated, nine states retain them in their arsenals.
Guardian 5th Aug 2015 read more »
Japan on Thursday marked the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima with the most senior official from Washington ever scheduled to attend memorial ceremonies. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and foreign delegates will be among those observing a moment of silence at 8:15 am local time (2315 GMT), when the detonation turned the city into an inferno.
Japan Times 6th Aug 2015 read more »
On the 70th anniversary of the Bomb, we should not regret the unleashing of atomic power.
Telegraph 6th Aug 2015 read more »
A tolling bell marks the 70th anniversary on Thursday of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. After a speech from the mayor, Kazumi Matsui, at Hiroshima’s shrine, the prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, vows to present a new nuclear disarmament draft resolution at the United Nations. Thursday’s ceremony was attended by 40,000 people, including representatives from more than 100 countries.
Reuters 6th Aug 2015 read more »
Guardian 6th Aug 2015 read more »
BBC 6th Aug 2015 read more »
All that postwar anxiety about being vaporised by a nuclear bomb was a complete waste of emotion.
Spectator 8th Aug 2015 read more »
Ever wondered what would happen if the Americans had dropped Little Boy over Britain instead? Someone has created a Nuke Map of the world, which allows the user to see exactly that.
Metro 5th Aug 2015 read more »
Japan
A 30 year-old man died this weekend as he worked on decommissioning Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant, which was devastated in the 2011 Tohoku tsunami, in which 20,000 died or were reported missing.
Vice News 4th Aug 2015 read more »
Japan’s hibakusha, a name that literally translates as “explosion-affected people”, are the survivors of the August 1945 atomic bomb attacks carried out by the United States on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Though the youngest hibakusha are just turning 70, the remaining survivors still contribute a strong voice to the fight against nuclear weapons and nuclear power.
Asian Correspondent 6th Aug 2015 read more »
Brazil
Seventy years on and more than 10,000 miles away, a group of atomic bombing survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki are campaigning for a nuclear-free world in their adopted home of Brazil. Despite their advanced age – some are in their 90s – they have stepped up their activities this year both to mark the anniversary of the US attacks, and to oppose the Brazilian government’s plans to more than double nuclear power generation.
Guardian 5th Aug 2015 read more »
US – WIPP
The federal government’s nuclear waste repository in southern New Mexico says a calculation error prompted short-lived concerns of a radiation release. Officials at the troubled Waste Isolation Pilot Plant activated their emergency center Sunday night in response to elevated radiological readings. The agency said that there was no indication of a radiation release underground or anything leaving the site. Plant workers were directed to shelter in place and people in the area were notified. Officials later said that multiple checks had shown no signs of contamination. “Radiological control technicians have determined a calculation error caused a false positive,” the agency said in a press release. “Based on this information, the event has been terminated. There is no release.” The plant has been closed since a February 2014 radiation release that stemmed from a chemical reaction among waste improperly packed inside a drum.
Fox News 5th Aug 2015 read more »
Finland
Finnish companies signed up to help fund a nuclear plant in the far north as a government deadline loomed to line up financing. State-controlled utility Fortum Oyj, stainless steel maker Outokumpu Oyj and real estate developer SRV Oyj on Wednesday announced plans to either buys stakes in the Fennovoima Oy project or increase their current holdings. Finnish investors had been deserting the project, approved more than five years ago, in droves as electricity prices declined and the country’s economy contracted. The last minute commitments from some local powerhouses may allow the government to fulfill its publicly stated goal of having 60 percent ownership for the new reactor from within the European Union and European Free Trade Association.
Energy Voice 5th Aug 2015 read more »
Prime Minister Sipilä confirms that the Fennovoima nuclear plant will be built in Pyhäjoki, after Economic Affairs Minister Rehn declares that the domestic ownership criterion has been met.
YLE 5th Aug 2015 read more »
Renewables – TTIP
In July the transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP) came a step closer to reality. Formal talks have been ongoing for two years, but trying to create the world’s biggest free trade zone is no mean feat. Essentially, if passed, the EU and US will be able to trade without each other’s pesky tariffs or regulations getting in the way. David Cameron is a big advocate, arguing it could add £10bn to the UK economy. Many others, meanwhile, criticise the undemocratic nature of the closed-door talks and sinister influence of powerful lobbyists. But what would TTIP mean for renewable energy?
Guardian 5th Aug 2015 read more »
Renewables Solar
DECC’s proposed changes to renewable obligation support for larger solar projects has wiped off approximately 4GW of potential new solar capacity, according to Solar Intelligence’s head Finlay Colville.
Solar Portal 5th Aug 2015 read more »
A new joint venture will see solar farms offering returns on local investments to communities in Kent and Warwickshire. The three solar farms – with a total of 38MW of capacity – have been acquired by Foresight Solar Fund with Big60Million, a community-benefit energy company. Big60Million’s solar bonds offer local communities the opportunity to benefit financially from solar power generation through a low-risk investment, which offers investments of as little as £60 with a 6% return per annum.
Edie 5th Aug 2015 read more »
In its latest “Silicon solar cell and module roadmap” report, Lux Research says that emerging technologies like PERC and bifacial cells will aid in pushing down module costs in 2020. New technologies are already flooding the PV sector with companies continually reporting the adoption of PERC or n-type, bifacial cell technologies to name a few. In line with this, Lux Research in its latest report confirms this trend and further adds that these technologies have the potential to push down module prices to $0.48/Wp in 2020. Efficiency of modules is also expected to increase to as high as 24% over the next five years.
Renew Economy 6th Aug 2015 read more »
Renewables – Offshore Wind
After several months of negative headlines and policy uncertainty, the UK’s renewables sector was given something to celebrate today as the government granted planning consent for the proposed development of the world’s largest offshore wind farm. The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) announced approval has been given to the Dogger Bank Teesside A and B Offshore wind project, which is expected to deliver up to 400 offshore wind turbines boasting 2.4GW of clean power capacity. However, as with other offshore wind farms currently in the development pipeline, a degree of uncertainty remains over whether the new facility can secure the level of financial support required to trigger a positive final investment decision. The government recently confirmed it has postponed the next round of auctions for clean energy price support contracts, which were expected to deliver price guarantees to a number offshore wind projects. Ministers said the move was necessary as part of the government’s efforts to address concerns the costs associated with renewable energy subsidies could lead to a breach of the UK’s clean energy subsidy budget, known as the Levy Control Framework.
Business Green 5th Aug 2015 read more »
