New Nukes
Letter (Cllr) Euan McLeod: I read with some surprise the vitriolic comments made by William Oxenham, and the more reasonable comments made by Sandy Horn, of the Nuclear Free Local Authorities’ views on Scottish energy policy. The figure of 26GW of wind energy mentioned in our report is not a Nuclear Free Local Authorities “plan” but a description of what is already happening using data from organisations like Scottish Natural Heritage. It includes 9GW of onshore wind awaiting permission and 11GW of offshore wind which industry and government have already announced agreements on. As several researchers have pointed out, the levels of interconnection needed to facilitate renewable exports out of Scotland will be more than enough to ensure security. Strengthened grid connections with the rest of the UK and Europe will export de-carbonised electricity and secure peak supplies to Scotland when output is low. Another key point our report makes is that, as Jenny Hogan of Scottish Renewables has said (Letters, 2 October), all energy policy options will lead to higher bills for consumers. Clearly, dealing with fuel poverty needs to be a central plank of climate and energy policy. This is where combined heat and power (CHP) and district heating schemes can help. If plans for CHP schemes in North Edinburgh and elsewhere are progressed these too can, as in Denmark, provide the grid with a useful balancing service.
Scotsman 6th Oct 2010 more >>
EPR
French electricity generator EDF is working on two new nuclear reactor designs of its own which could rival those made by Areva, the world’s biggest atomic energy company, the Expansion magazine said. In a report to appear Wednesday, Expansion said EDF is “looking at its own series of reactors,” power rated at 1,000 and 1,500 Megawatts, which if finalised could be competition for Areva’s third generation European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) and its Atmea design. Developed with Germany, the EPR has a power rating of 1,650 Megawatts but the design has been dogged by problems. In July EDF announced there would be a two-year delay and cost increases for a plant being built by Areva at Flamanville, northern France.
AFP 28th Sept 2010 more >>
Radwaste
Radioactive Waste reburied in the London Olympic site may have been refused by Drigg. Olympic spin-doctors are keen to play down the fact that more than 7,000 tonnes of radioactively contaminated material has now been reburied on the Olympic site. The potential for bad publicity makes the reburial of this material a surprising choice. Paul Charman analyst with the Citizens Intelligence Network said today: “Taking this PR risk looks to have been unavoidable . The waste includes material that could not be disposed of to any landfill in the country andmay well have been refused even at the specialist radioactive waste repository at Drigg.
Get Noticed Online 5th Oct 2010 more >>
A Cumbrian MP has urged the Government to halt plans for a high-level underground nuclear waste dump in the county. Liberal Democrat Tim Farron has written to Energy Secretary Chris Huhne backing calls by anti-nuclear pressure group Radiation Free Lakeland to stop plans for a ‘geological disposal facility’ for high-level radioactive waste. The Westmorland and Lonsdale MP risks taking on pro-nuclear elements in the coalition Government with his stance. Copeland and Allerdale have expressed an interest in hosting a dump under a procedure started by the last Government. But the plans have been opposed by Radiation Free Lakeland. The group wrote to Mr Farron urging him to lobby the Government to halt the plan.
Cumberland News 5th Oct 2010 more >>
Sellafield
Addressing a crowded fringe meeting of the Nuclear Industry Association at the Tory conference in Birmingham this week, Charles Hendry bemoaned the state of the Sellafield nuclear site in Cumbria. Mr Hendry is minister of state at the Department of Energy and Climate Change. “I went to Sellafield when I was a shadow minister and I found it pretty scary,” confessed Mr Hendry. “Now that I’m in government I realise that I didn’t know the half of it!”
FT 6th Oct 2010 more >>
Oldbury
PROTESTERS fighting plans for new atomic reactors near Bristol stepped up their campaign outside the first of a new series of information sessions run by nuclear energy firm Horizon. Members of SANE – Shepperdine Against Nuclear Energy – are opposed to land next to Oldbury Power Station being used for the latest generation of reactors. They say a “monstrous” plant four times the capacity of the current Oldbury station is not suitable for an environmentally sensitive site next to the river Severn.
SANE chairman Reg Illingworth said: “Local councils and our MP agree with us but no-one seems to be listening. Our group is therefore stepping up the campaign. We simply cannot allow this to go ahead.
Bristol Evening Post 6th Oct 2010 more >>
Wylfa
An investigation is under way after an electrical fire at Wylfa nuclear power station on Anglesey. On site fire officers found smoke coming from an electrical switch in the turbine hall. A spokesman said the incident did not lead to loss of output and there was no danger to the site, staff, public or environment. The fire at the plant happened last Thursday, but the news has just been released.
BBC 5th Oct 2010 more >>
Hinkley
PROTESTORS who blockaded the access road to Hinkley Point B nuclear power station this morning have left peacefully.
Bridgwater Mercury 4th Oct 2010 more >>
Somerset County Gazette 4th Oct 2010 more >>
West Country Tonight 4th Oct 2010 more >>
BBC Points West 4th Oct 2010 more >>
view from 06.30’ to 07.00’
Sizewell
Cost of clearing Suffolk nuclear plant set to soar to nearly £1bn. The estimated cost of clearing the Sizewell A nuclear power station site on the east coast is now a massive £927m, according to new figures.Taxpayers will pick up most of the bill because the twin reactor plant, as well as 20 other reactors around the country, are state-owned – some by the Ministry of Defence for the production of weapons-grade plutonium. The cost of decommissioning all of the UK’s first-generation Magnox nuclear power stations, together with research facilities and the reprocessing plant at Sellafield in Cumbria, is presently expected to be £37.1billion.
Nuclear News 5th Oct 2010 more >>
Emergency Planning
STAFF from 27 agencies will join a one-day nuclear accident response exercise in Plymouth next week. Exercise Short Sermon is designed to test procedures for dealing with an accident involving the reactor of a nuclear-powered submarine at Devonport Naval Base. Personnel from the emergency services, the MoD and city council will be joined by many others in role-playing their response to the scenario. Personnel in the Naval Base will be required to take shelter or be evacuated to designated shelter stations.
Plymouth Herald 6th Oct 2010 more >>
Metal Shortages
It is not only an impending gap in demand and supply of oil that imposes upon the conservation of human civilization, the pressing and imminent depletion of world metals threatens all developments in solar energy and communications via LCD screens etc. and also nuclear power. The rate of of platinum recovery makes vehicles powered by hydrogen-fuel cells an unlikely possibility on any significant scale comparable with oil-powered transportation. Simple strategies for reusing “scrap” metals will not alleviate the shortage of metals, but ultimately recycling needs to be deliberately designed into an integrated paradigm of extraction, use and reuse, rather than treating it as an unplanned consequence.
Oil Price 5th Oct 2010 more >>
Uranium
The price of Kalahari’s shares has been skimming lower for a year despite having big names on its shareholder register led by the likes of RTZ, Nippon Uranium and Hong Kong-based APAC Resources. Kalahari clearly has, via 41 per cent-owned Extract Resources, a world class uranium deposit at Husab, close to Walvis Bay in Namibia, but the problem is that it takes time to bring a mine – even an open-cast mine – into production.
Investors Chronicle 5th Oct 2010 more >>
Trident
Kate Hudson: It is now likely that the decision to replace Trident will be delayed until after the next election. If we have a Labour government following that election, we want it to be one that won’t replace Trident. And we want Labour MPs, whether the party is in government or opposition, to vote against Trident whenever the issue comes up.
Morning Star 4th Oct 2010 more >>
THE Prime Minister has made a personal promise to Barrow that Trident submarines will continue to be part of the UK’s nuclear deterrent. In a personal letter to Barrow and Furness MP John Woodcock, David Cameron said the government was committed to a “minimum, credible and continuous submarine-based nuclear deterrent and to the programme to replace the Vanguard-class submarines”.
North West Evening Mail 5th Oct 2010 more >>
Disarmament
Taoiseach Brian Cowen told world leaders yesterday they will have to co-operate across borders and continents to tackle some of the globe’s most pressing problems. Dealing with climate change, killer diseases and the disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons will require global co-operation, Mr Cowen said in his address to the Asia-Europe summit meeting in Brussels. Mr Cowen said the Republic of Ireland devoted considerable time, energy and resources to the issue of disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Belfast Telegraph 6th Oct 2010 more >>
An anti-nuclear exhibition created by the Buddhist association Soka Gakkai International (SGI), “From a Culture of Violence to Culture of Peace: Transforming the Human Spirit,” has opened in Vienna. It began yesterday (4 October 2010) at the Rotunda of the Vienna International Centre, where it is being staged in cooperation with the NGO Committee on Peace. The exhibition’s opening reception was attended by UN officials, diplomats, and NGO activists. Vienna is the location of the headquarters of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) and where the CTBTO (Comprehensive Nuclear-Test ban Treaty Organisation) Preparation Commission is situated. The exhibition consists of 36 panels highlighting the ‘precarious logic’ of arms-based security and examining the need to abolish nuclear weapons from the perspective of human security.
Ekklesia 5th Oct 2010 more >>
Korea
Mercurial North Korea’s nuclear threat has reached an “alarming level” and it is now trying to miniaturise weapons to improve their mobility and impact, a South Korean government official said.
Yahoo 6th Oct 2010 more >>
Iran
Delays in bringing Iran’s nuclear plant online at Bushehr are due to a “small leak” and nothing to do with the infamous Stuxnet worm, according to the country’s energy minister.
The Regiser 5th Oct 2010 more >>
US
A federal audit set to be released Monday calls for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to improve nuclear power plant security against infiltration by potential terrorists. An outline of the findings was provided to The Associated Press by Senator Charles Schumer of New York. Schumer had called for the audit by the NRC’s inspector general in March after a suspected al Qaeda member, Sharif Mobley, was found to have worked in a New Jersey nuclear power plant for six years. The audit recommends additional training in identifying suspected terrorists, greater access to criminal databases by the NRC, stepped up “re-screening” of power plant employees and notifying plant operators of foreign travel.
Business Recorder 5th Oct 2010 more >>
Solar panels will be installed on the White House roof a quarter of a century after they were removed by Ronald Reagan, the Obama administration said today. A mix of solar thermal and photovoltaic panels will be fitted in spring 2011 to generate hot water and renewable electricity.
Guardian 6th Oct 2010 more >>
Fusion
Members of the European Parliament’s budget committee on Monday night voted to cut planned funding for the ITER experimental nuclear fusion project in 2011, the Green group in the European Parliament said Tuesday. The budget committee adopted an amendment to cut the ITER budget by Eur57 million to Eur304.76 million ($419.77 million) in 2011 in a revision to the EU’s research budget.
Platts 5th Oct 2010 more >>
Renewables
A pilot project run by Centrica in a plant at Didcot sewage works, Oxfordshire, is the first in Britain to produce renewable gas from sewage for households to use.
Telegraph 6th Oct 2010 more >>
