New Nukes
The latest figures from the Department of Energy and Climate Change show the government now expects only 3.3 gigawatts of new nuclear plant to be built by 2025 and 9.9GW by 2030. This compares with 4.8GW by 2025 and 12GW by 2030 as recorded in its 2011 energy and emissions projections. The department is more optimistic about wind and solar, however, expecting 42GW of renewable power to be in place by 2030 compared with the 33GW projected in the 2011 statistical survey. “Yet in the energy bill, ministers are still proposing to replace cost-effective support for renewables with complicated feed-in tariffs designed to cover up billions of pounds of public subsidy for new nuclear. The government needs to come clean, admit publicly that nuclear is not feasible, and rule out blank cheques for a technology that has no future.”
Guardian 6th Dec 2012 more »
The government has today launched a Nuclear Supply Chain Action plan, announcing that 500 new jobs are to be created at Sellafield and promising that the revival of the UK’s nuclear industry will result in thousands of new jobs. But the launch of the plan was overshadowed by news that proposals for a new fleet of French nuclear reactors were dealt a major blow yesterday, after Italian utility Enel announced that the latest round of cost overruns meant it was exiting its partnership with energy giant EDF to deliver the flagship Flamanville 3 European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) in Normandy.
Business Green 6th Dec 2012 more »
CoRWM
Today the Government also announced the recent appointment of six members to the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management. The Committee plays a key role in providing independent scrutiny and advice to UK Government and Devolved Administration Ministers on long-term radioactive waste management, including storage and disposal. The names are Greg Butler; Paul Davis; Helen Peters; Stephen Newson; Lynda Warren; Janet Wilson.
DECC 6th Dec 2012 more »
Radwaste
A PUBLIC meeting next week will hear claims that the picturesque Ennerdale valley is earmarked as a potential location to bury highly radioactive nuclear waste. Some villagers fear that drilling and blasting might take place on Ennerdale Fell to see if the rock is suitable for an underground repository. Yesterday the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority flatly denied there were any current plans for Ennerdale or anywhere else in West Cumbria. No potential site has yet been identified. Senior councillors on Cumbria County Council and Copeland and Allerdale Borough Councils will decide on January 30 whether or not to look for a possible location. But in the meantime community representatives at Ennerdale, Lamplugh and Kinniside fear that their area might face geological investigations. The public meeting will be held in Ennerdale School on Monday (7pm).
Whitehaven News 6th Dec 2012 more »
The nuclear industry’s biggest staff union wants Cumbrian councils to start searching for a site to bury highly radioactive nuclear waste. Prospect also claims that arguments against building a repository – up to four times bigger than Sellafield – are flawed. Cumbria county, Copeland and Allerdale borough councils will decide on January 30 whether or not to go ahead and look for a suitable site deep underground in west Cumbria.
Carlisle News and Star 6th Dec 2012 more »
Berkeley
A £15m deal has been agreed to recycle 10 remaining boilers from the former Berkeley nuclear power station. Early next year, Studsvik will have the boilers collected from Gloucestershire and taken to Sweden for recycling. The same company has already spent £8m on removing and recycling five boilers from the site, each of which weighs some 300 tonnes.
BBC 6th Dec 2012 more »
Sizewell
POWER giant EDF Energy needs to “wake up” and commit to building a bypass for the A12 as part of its plans for a third nuclear plant on the Suffolk coast, senior councillors claimed last night.
East Anglia Daily Times 6th Dec 2012 more »
Sellafield
FIVE hundred new jobs – mainly for locals – are on the way at Sellafield. The news comes as a boost in Copeland as the area struggles to cope with the effects of public spending cuts. The jobs are largely shopfloor posts to support urgent decommissioning work on higher hazard areas of the site.
Whitehaven News 6th Dec 2012 more »
Irish Independent 6th Dec 2012 more »
BBC 6th Dec 2012 more »
Mirror 6th Dec 2012 more »
Times 7th Dec 2012 more »
Scotland
GMB say Scottish Gov’t refusal to develop new nuclear power stations is wrong as EDF extends the life of Hunterston Site. There is a serious danger is that EDF and any other interested parties will lose interest in new build at Hunterson and Scotland will miss out on jobs and carbon free electricity says GMB.
GMB Press Release 6th Dec 2012 more »
Supply Chain
The government is to set up a range of working groups of leading firms in the nuclear industry to improve the supply chain’s ability to build power stations and manage nuclear waste. The announcement of the working groups, which will sit beneath a new Nuclear Industry Council, came as part of the government’s Nuclear Supply Chain Action Plan, published today. The plan said the government expected UK businesses to reap between £25bn and £35bn in direct expenditure from the UK nuclear new build programme alone between now and 2030. Plus, it estimated UK firms could capture an £8bn share of the overseas new build market between 2012 and 2025.
Building 6th Dec 2012 more »
DECC 6th Dec 2012 more »
The UK has announced the formation of a Nuclear Industry Council, comprised of representatives of companies from each segment of the nuclear supply chain.
Power Engineering 6th Dec 2012 more »
Utility Week 6th Dec 2012 more »
Virtual Lancaster 6th Dec 2012 more »
The government has published its Nuclear Supply Chain Action plan today after the Energy Minister, John Hayes, spoke of the nuclear industry’s major role in securing the UK’s energy supplies as well as generating new economic growth. The move has prompted further concerns among clean energy campaigners over the government’s commitment to encouraging the development of renewable energy generation in the UK. Government’s recent publication of its Gas Generation Strategy and the Nuclear Supply Chain Action have left many renewable investors worried about government’s commitment to the industry. Leonie Greene, Head of External Affairs, questioned the timings, saying that “it begs the question if government is running two parallel energy strategies, and the extent to which they are in competition”. The coalition government had faced criticism from the Committee on Climate Change over the inclusion of nuclear as a technology supported under low-carbon payments through the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme. Some renewable developers have expressed concerns that the development of nuclear will take up a proportionally large amount of the £7.6 billion set aside under the levy control framework to develop low carbon projects – including solar.
Solar Portal 6th Dec 2012 more »
The UK Government’s action plan for the nuclear supply chain will present a wealth of opportunities for businesses in Wales, Secretary of State for Wales, David Jones said today. The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has today launched the Nuclear Supply Chain Action Plan, which contains actions designed to ensure that the UK supply chain is competitive and ready to deliver on the opportunities presented by the recent £60billion planned investment in the UK.
Daily Post 6th Dec 2012 more »
Insurance
The first in a series of new nuclear and radioactive contamination exclusion clauses has been published by the Lloyd’s Market Association (LMA). The LMA’s Nuclear Exclusions Working Party, comprising representatives of both Lloyd’s and the London companies market, has developed six new clauses for treaty reinsurance business and these are available to the market via Lloyd’s Wordings Repository.
CIR 6th Dec 2012 more »
Insurance Times 6th Dec 2012 more »
IAEA
A recently announced hacking of the U.N. nuclear agency’s computer servers was not the first time an attempt had been made to break into the organization’s computer system, the head of the agency said on Thursday.
Reuters 6th Dec 2012 more »
France
France has been forced to deny claims it will no longer possess a year-round seaborne nuclear deterrent under draft plans to reduce its nuclear submarine fleet as part of a defence “revolution”.
Telegraph 6th Dec 2012 more »
Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on Thursday that the French government remains committed to finishing a new-generation nuclear reactor despite further cost overruns. French energy group EDF on Monday raised the total cost of its long-delayed new-generation nuclear reactor at Flamanville in western France by 2 billion euros ($2.6 billion) to 8.5 billion. The cost of the facility, slated to begin operations in 2016, is now 5 billion euros more than initially estimated.
AFP 6th Dec 2012 more »
Turkey
China seeks to form a partnership in Turkey to construct the nation’s planned second nuclear power plant, said Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz at an energy conference. In addition, China was offering financing without requiring a Treasury guarantee, which is a “significant advantage” says Yildiz, reported the Economic Times. Regarding the planned nuclear plant, Turkey is already in talks with Canada, Japan and South Korea, as well as China.
Energy Business Review 6th Dec 2012 more »
Gas
Green gas is something of a no-brainer, ticking boxes for energy policy, environment and the economy. It should lead the future of unconventional gas in the UK. Putting it at the centre of the government’s strategy would deal with the hurdles to deployment, and allow gas to be part of energy decarbonisation rather than a challenge to it.
Business Green 6th Dec 2012 more »
Renewables
The company behind ambitious plans to connect a fleet of dedicated wind farms in Ireland to the UK grid looks set to move forward with the project, after the publication of the Energy Bill confirmed that in principle clean energy projects located overseas could access British subsidies. Element Power, which is working on the Greenwire project to connect 3GW of onshore wind farms in mid-Ireland directly to the UK grid, said the Bill could allow the £6.5bn project to access the contract for difference (CfD) financial support mechanism that the government plans to introduce from 2016.
Business Green 6th Dec 2012 more »
