Waste Transport
A NUCLEAR energy company’s plan to change the rules so it can ship radioactive waste across Scotland’s central belt has been condemned as a “nightmare vision”. The French nuclear firm EDF Energy is applying for new authorisations to allow radioactive waste to be transported by road between its two nuclear power stations at Hunterston in North Ayrshire and Torness in East Lothian. Critics say this will mean waste containers will be increasingly moved between the west and east coasts, increasing the risk of accidents. Two applications for Hunterston and Torness, made by EDF Energy to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa), go out for public consultation this month. According to Sepa, they both include “the ability to receive radioactive waste from other EDF Energy power stations for the purposes of interim storage, loading of containers and onward transfer.” Pete Roche, an energy consultant and former government radiation adviser based in Edinburgh, warned: “Transporting nuclear waste is always going to be a risk, so the more you transport it, the greater the danger. “The Scottish Government should force EDF Energy to operate according to its sensible policy of requiring waste to be treated as near to where it is produced as possible instead of allowing this crazy plan putting the central belt of Scotland at risk.” He described the plan as a “nightmare vision with waste trucks criss-crossing the country”. Rita Holmes, a resident who chairs the official Hunterston Site Stakeholder Group, also feared the risks of road accidents and radiation leaks would rise. “EDF Energy wants to be able to ship dangerous radioactive waste to and fro across Scotland to save money on the way containers are used … This worries me, and it should worry others too,” she said.
Sunday Herald 6th July 2014 read more »
Wylfa
Plans to link new energy generation schemes with the national grid across Anglesey have been delayed. The National Grid’s timetable for new power lines to the Wylfa Newydd nuclear power plant slipped back to the mid 2020s to match the new Horizon developers programme. Meanwhile, other power cable works on the mainland in Gwynedd have been scheduled for 2018.
Daily Post 4th July 2014 read more »
Plutonium
Britain on Thursday said it had reached a deal to take ownership of almost a tonne of foreign-owned plutonium now stored on British soil, as the government eyes turning spent nuclear waste into fuel for its next generation of nuclear plants.The government is seeking control of foreign-owned plutonium amongst a 123-tonne stockpile kept in northern England – the largest such civilian stockpile in the world – as it looks at ways to recycle the nuclear byproduct into fuel that could power reactors over the coming decades.
Reuters 3rd July 2014 read more »
Capacity Market
Plans for a new generation of gas-fired power plants have been thrown into doubt after ministers warned that such projects may not be awarded crucial subsidies in an auction later this year. More than a dozen gas plants are awaiting construction but are uneconomic to build in the current market. Developers have pinned their hopes on being awarded “retainer”-style payments under a new government subsidy scheme called the Capacity Market. Ministers last week announced that they planned to recruit 53GW of power plants to the scheme through a reverse auction this autumn, to guarantee they would be available to keep the lights on in 2018-19.
Telegraph 5th July 2014 read more »
Chernobyl
Thousands of ill children from Chernobyl who have been visiting Britain for life-prolonging care will no longer be able to – after the Government started charging them to enter the country. Since 1986, when the region suffered the world’s worst nuclear disaster, charities have funded annual month-long trips for more than 4,000 children to the UK. While here they receive vitamins and see dentists and opticians. The trips can add two years to the lives of Ukrainian and Belrussian youngsters with cancer. But charities have had to halve the number they help after the Government introduced the £86 payment in a bid to claw back about £170,000 a year.
Daily Mail 1st June 2014 read more »
Europe
The Czech government has expressed the common view of ten European countries in favour of nuclear power in a letter to the European Commission. Citing market failures that prevent new nuclear build from supporting European goals for energy security, sustainability and emissions reductions, the letter demands a level playing field for all low-emission sources in the EU. Below is the full text of the letter sent on 25 June by Jan Mládek, the Czech Republic’s minister of industry and trade, to energy commissioner Gunter Oettinger.
World Nuclear News 4th July 2014 read more »
US – radwaste
Los Alamos National Laboratory says it made mistakes in packaging the waste that has been linked to a radiation leak at the government’s underground nuclear waste dump in southeastern New Mexico. In a letter released by state regulators Friday, lab officials say their internal probe of the handling of the toxic waste from decades of nuclear bomb building has uncovered several violations of its Hazardous Waste Facility permit. But lab officials say it’s unclear if the violations are to blame for the February leak at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad that contaminated 22 workers and shuttered the repository indefinitely.
KOAT7 4th July 2014 read more »
Iran
Iran’s foreign minister took to social media Thursday to warn that the outcome of nuclear talks with world powers was unclear, as a decisive final round began in Vienna ahead of a July 20 deadline.
Middle East Online 4th July 2014 read more »
Japan
An incoming commissioner of the Nuclear Regulation Authority received payments from the nuclear industry until last month, raising fresh doubts about his impartiality at the nuclear watchdog, The Asahi Shimbun has found.
Asahi Shimbin 5th July 2014 read more »
The cost of taking nuclear safety measures at the nation’s 10 major power companies has reached ¥2.2 trillion, the latest tally said Saturday, up 1.5-fold from a year ago. Most of the costs involve complying with the new safety standards introduced in July last year as a result of the Fukushima disaster triggered at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s old Fukushima No. 1 plant by the March 2011 mega-quake and tsunami. With some companies planning additional safety measures, the costs are expected to grow further, industry sources said.
Japan Times 5th July 2014 read more »
Trident
A pink scarf nearly 400ft (120m) long has been unfurled through a Powys town to highlight an anti-nuclear protest. Knitted by around 80 opponents of nuclear weapons, the scarf was carried from Knighton’s clock tower to its cenotaph. It is part of efforts marking the anniversary of the Nagasaki bombing in Japan in 1945. The campaigners are also calling on the UK government not to renew the Trident nuclear weapons system. The scarf is expected to form part of a seven-mile (11 km) scarf knitted by people from all over the world to be used in a demonstration in August on the day of the anniversary.
BBC 5th July 2014 read more »
Microgeneration
Micro Power News we 4th July: Warwickshire co-op put solar panels on hospitals; London missing out on solar; Mid Suffolk councils put panels on over 2 thousand houses; Earthmill looks for crowdfunding; and more.
Microgen Scotland 4th July 2014 read more »
Fossil Fuels
Shale gas is likely to play an increasingly important role in powering Britain’s growth but don’t expect the country’s largest oil and gas company, Royal Dutch Shell, to help create a fracking-led energy revolution. Andrew Brown, director of upstream international business and the man responsible for the main revenue-generating side of Britain’s most valuable company, is sceptical about the potential for shale oil and gas development in Britain.
Telegraph 5th July 2014 read more »