EMR
Copy of the Joint letter from Renewable UK, Nuclear Industry Association and Carbon Capture and Storage Association.
Guardian 5th Nov 2012 more >>
The renewables, nuclear and carbon capture and storage (CCS) industries have joined forces to call on the UK government to instigate a binding 2030 decarbonisation target for the power sector.
Energy Efficiency News 5th Nov 2012 more >>
Business Green 5th Nov 2012 more >>
Guardian 5th Nov 2012 more >>
Energy Bill
Vincent de Rivaz, boss of EDF Energy – which has just raised its prices by 10.8% – giving evidence to the Energy and Climate Change Committee, made the case for new nuclear power stations as a “vital” part of the future energy mix. He told MPs that electricity prices in general were set to rise and that the business case for new nuclear still needed to be made in the second reading of the Energy Bill – expected to be before Christmas. Lobby group Supporters of Nuclear Energy (SONE) – surprisingly – wrote to the Chancellor in September to argue that the “strike price”, or subsidy, which will ultimately be paid by the consumer and businesses for new nuclear power, is unnecessary.
Professional Engineering 5th Nov 2012 more >>
Nuclear Investment
David Cameron will push for massive new Middle Eastern investment in Britain’s energy production on Tuesday – including cash for windfarms, nuclear energy and North Sea oil. The Prime Minister will meet the heads of three of the biggest sovereign wealth funds in the United Arab Emirates as he bids to persuade them to make further major investment in the energy industry.
Huffington Post 6th Nov 2012 more >>
Politics
David Cameron is poised to defend the green economy after a group of more than 20 Conservative MPs expressed their concern on the issue in a letter to Downing Street. Peter Aldous, the Conservative MP for Waveney, who organised the letter to Cameron, said investment from overseas was vital to rejuvenating UK infrastructure. He said: “It is vital the government works to encourage and incentivise investment from emerging markets in order for offshore energy to flourish and for our country to be a world leader in renewable energy.” The letter comes as Cameron pushes for new Middle Eastern investment in Britain’s energy production including cash for windfarms. The prime minister will meet the heads of three of the biggest sovereign wealth funds in the United Arab Emirates as he bids to persuade them to make further major investment in renewables and nuclear. However the MPs are worried about the outpouring of anti-green sentiment and what they see as attacks on renewable energy from various sections of the coalition – chiefly George Osborne. Although the green economy is worth more than £120bn, and the sector has supplied a third of recent economic growth, Cameron has been notably silent. The strength of Cameron’s defence – and whether it includes pledges on green energy – will be key to persuading companies holding back tens of billions in investment to put their money in the UK rather than overseas.
Guardian 5th Nov 2012 more >>
Nuclear Research
South Yorkshire’s Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre could benefit from a ground breaking agreement between Japanese nuclear reactor designer Hitachi and Rolls-Royce. Under the deal, the two companies will explore how Rolls-Royce can support Hitachi by providing high value added manufacturing, engineering and technical services. A spokesman for Rolls-Royce said the deal with Hitachi meant there would be a need to develop more advanced manufacturing techniques and that is likely to result in more work for the Nuclear AMRC, which was created by Sheffield University in collaboration with Rolls-Royce.
Sheffield Star 5th Nov 2012 more >>
Japan
Japan’s new nuclear regulator could this week recommend that the country’s sole pair of online reactors be shut again — a mere three months after they were restarted. The decision hangs on the deliberations of a group of four scientists charged with figuring out whether a fault that runs underneath the Oi nuclear power plant, where both the reactors in question are located, is active or not.
Wall St Journal 5th Nov 2012 more >>
Japan’s hot spring operators were once vocal opponents of geothermal power, which, along with other forms of renewable energy, is now being considered as an alternative to nuclear power. Renewed attention to long-neglected geothermal power as a potential solution to Japan’s energy conundrum.
Christian Science Monitor 5th Nov 2012 more >>
Japanese citizens are balking at the lack of information and supervision of waste stored in public places, such as playgrounds.
Christian Science Monitor 5th Nov 2012 more >>
Iran
Discriminatory implementation of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) has left many countries feeling that being a party to the anti-atom bomb pact hinders cooperation in the field atomic energy, Iran’s U.N. ambassador said on Monday.
Reuters 5th Nov 2012 more >>
A slowdown in Iran’s accumulation of its most sensitive nuclear material may have helped put off the threat of a new Middle East war for now, but Tehran’s expanding uranium-enrichment capacity suggests any relief could be short-lived.
Reuters 5th Nov 2012 more >>
U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron warned that an Iranian development of nuclear weapons might“trigger a nuclear arms race” across the Middle East. Iran obtaining nuclear arms would not only be a “desperately bad development for our world,” it could make the region “a more unstable and more dangerous place.”
Bloomberg 5th Nov 2012 more >>
Scotsman 6th Nov 2012 more >>
Express 6th Nov 2012 more >>
Evening Standard 5th Nov 2012 more >>
Telegraph 5th Nov 2012 more >>
Iranian nuclear ambitions will be top of the agenda for David Cameron in Saudi Arabia.
Independent 5th Nov 2012 more >>
Israeli and Iranian officials are taking part in a nuclear non-proliferation meeting in Brussels on Monday, in the hope of paving the way for a full international conference in the next few months on banning nuclear arms and other weapons of mass destruction from the Middle East.
Guardian 5th Nov 2012 more >>
The threat of a nuclear war between Iran and Israel is the subject of Channel 4’s Dispatches, as the filmmakers look at the impact a conflict of this sort could have. Nuclear War Games looks at Israel’s threats on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the Israelis war exercises and examines thetensions between the two countries, as well as the likelihood of a military attack. The programme follows news that the Israel’s prime minister was planning to order an attack on Iran two years ago.
IB Times 5th Nov 2012 more >>
Channel 4 News 5th Nov 2012 more >>
Iran steps up its nuclear programme again. But look carefully at the evidence before panicking
Telegraph 5th Nov 2012 more >>
Germany
Because the nuclear phase-out and Energiewende are based on serious long-term planning and broad political consensus, the German energy experiment has met with promising early success. The shift to renewable energy sources that accompanies the phase-out has brought financial benefits to farmers, investors, and small- and medium-sized businesses. Marshaling a wide range of observed data and predictive economic models, Felix Matthes, research coordinator at the Institute for Applied Ecology in Berlin, reaches another unexpected conclusion: The nuclear phase-out is likely to have only a small and temporary effect on electricity prices and the overall German economy.
Bulletin of Atomic Sciences Nov/Dec 2012 more >>
Renewables
On the Danish island of Samsø many of the wind turbines are owned by the residents. Is that the way around nimbyism?
Guardian 5th Nov 2012 more >>
Dash for Gas
The last of 17 climate change campaigners perched on a power station tower for a week have abseiled down to be arrested, ending the longest occupation of a plant in the UK. The group called it a day after using their 300ft-high platform for a range of stunts to encourage debate on carbon emissions and what they called the government’s “dash for gas”. These included solar panels, a portable toilet and a kite flown to rig up a rope walkway between two cooling towers, and mock last week’s coalition row over windfarms.
Guardian 5th Nov 2012 more >>
