NDA
The chief executive of the government agency that bungled the £7 billion contract to decommission Britain’s 1960s nuclear power stations has announced his retirement a week after a damning High Court judgment over the botched tender. John Clarke, who has been chief executive of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority since 2012, said that he would serve out his one-year notice period and hand over to a successor. Under his tenure the NDA has been criticised by the National Audit Office, the public accounts committee and, last week, a High Court judge, who ruled that it had awarded the huge contract to decommission Britain’s 12 Magnox nuclear reactors to the wrong bidder.
Times 6th Aug 2016 read more »
THE chief executive of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), John Clarke, is to retire in the next year.
In Cumbria 5th Aug 2016 read more »
Hinkley
The future of the UK’s entire £80bn nuclear new build industry is being put at risk by the government review into Hinkley Point C, a leading nuclear expert has told Building. World-renowned nuclear expert Mycle Schneider – who advises the European Parliament and has advised the UK, France, Germany and Belgium governments on nuclear projects – warned each delay at Hinkley is further diminishing the attractiveness for investors in other power plants. Speaking to Building, Schneider said: “Don’t look at these projects in an isolated way. With every delay, the probability for them to see the light shrinks.” Other planned nuclear plants include the £14bn Wylfa Newydd in Wales, £10bn Moorside in Cumbria, and further down the line Bradwell in Essex and Sizewell C in Suffolk. But Schneider also warned that the Hinkley scheme had an “unrealistic” timetable. His concerns centre on whether the reactor can be built to the schedule outlined by EDF. Three other schemes, in France, Finland and China, using the same European Pressurised Reactor technology planned for Hinkley, are years behind schedule.
Building 4th Aug 2016 read more »
Chinese investors in Hinkley Point C “feel they’ve had two fingers stuck up to them” by the UK government, a source close to the project has told Building. A celebratory event was planned last Friday at the Hinkley site in Somerset after the project was given the go-ahead by EDF the night before, minutes before the government’s decision to review the scheme. Executives from China’s nuclear industry including China General Nuclear – which has a 33.5% stake in the project – were due to attend the event. The source said: “EDF took big names in China’s nuclear industry to the UK for this announcement. Now the Chinese feel they’ve had two fingers stuck up to them by our government. They feel like they’re in the firing line.” However, the source insisted the Chinese were still committed to Hinkley, which was echoed by world-renowned nuclear expert Mycle Schneider. Schneider, who has advised the German, French and UK governments on nuclear policy, said: “The Chinese have the cash and the others don’t, and only China has a vibrant nuclear sector. They still take this project very seriously.”
Building 4th Aug 2016 read more »
Dounreay
A ten-year process to remove 68 tonnes of highly-radioactive liquid metal coolant from the primary circuit of the UK’s Dounreay Fast Reactor (DFR) has now been completed, marking a major milestone in its decommissioning.
World Nuclear News 5th Aug 2016 read more »
Moorside
The proposed Moorside nuclear power station in Cumbria has retained the expertise of Amec Foster Wheeler with a continuation of its contract to provide environmental support by NuGeneration (NuGen). Amec Foster Wheeler is to undertake assessment and modelling work which will allow NuGen to submit an environmental impact assessment to support its development consent order application and environmental permit applications next year.
Building & Design Construction 5th Aug 2016 read more »
SMRs
China’s nuclear ambitions in Britain may have been temporarily thwarted by the postponement of a decision on building the Hinkley Point C facility, but it is in the running for a consolation prize of building a fleet of mini nuclear power stations. China National Nuclear Corporation is among 33 companies named eligible bidders.
Times 6th Aug 2016 read more »
Energy Policy
Richard Drax MP: WE are facing an unprecedented energy crisis. A total lack of investment in nuclear energy and plans to phase out our remaining coal-fired power stations by 2025 are serious contributors. The latter is needed to meet carbon reduction targets, which must surely be reviewed. Certainly, renewables like wind and solar power will partially compensate, but they won’t be enough to keep the lights on. There are a number of new technologies in the pipeline, not least harnessing tidal power.
Dorset Echo 5th Aug 2016 read more »
Radwaste
Global warming threatens to release nuclear waste from Cold War base in Greenland
Telegraph 5th Aug 2016 read more »
US
Wildfires on the Hanford Nuclear Site have occurred in 1957, 1973, and 1981, 1984, 1998, 2000, and 2007. How many more have been near the site? The 1998 wildfire burned approximately 4,047 ha (10,000 ac). The 24 Command fire of 2000 and the Wautoma Fire of 2007 burned more than one-half the total acreage of the Hanford Nuclear Site. There is, as well, an ever-present risk of fires occurring spontaneously within the radioactive waste itself.
Mining Awareness 5th Aug 2016 read more »
Nuclear Weapons
This week marks 71 years since atomic bombs were dropped on Japan and devastated the populations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Often we do not mark a 71st anniversary – unlike a 25th or 50th anniversary, a 71st is simply one more year among many. To many however, 2016 doesn’t feel like just any year. It’s been a year of conflicts, of political turmoil and instability in many countries, of violent and indiscriminate attacks on civilian populations.
Greenpeace 5th Aug 2016 read more »
WE, Mayors for Peace, are writing to voice our strong support for the work of the UN general assembly’s open-ended working group on taking forward multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations, which will resume its deliberations in Geneva on August 5. We wish to commend all participating delegations for their contributions to previous sessions of this group. These efforts have helped to keep nuclear disarmament high on the international agenda, exactly where it belongs.
Morning Star 6th Aug 2016 read more »
Nuclear disaster as seen by the Russians: Rare footage filmed by Soviet researchers shows the utter devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki shortly after US atomic bombs flattened the cities in 1945.
Daily Mail 5th Aug 2016 read more »
Renewables
A sudden, unexpected cut to a renewable energy subsidy by the Government in the days following the Brexit referendum result has been condemned by the industry and farmers. The decision was announced by the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) just days before it was abolished and came into force just three weeks later on 1 August. The Renewable Energy Association said investments in combined heat and power (CHP) projects totalling some £140m had been put at risk.
Independent 5th Aug 2016 read more »
An AIM-listed renewable energy group has blamed the Brexit vote after being forced to call in administrators little more than two years after making its stock market debut. Rame Energy, which specialises in wind and solar power projects in Chile, said that “difficult market conditions and the outcome of the UK referendum” had scuppered a crucial £2.8 million fundraising.
Times 6th Aug 2016 read more »
