Hinkley
European Commission: State aid — UK — State aid SA.34947 (2013/C) (ex 2013/N) — Investment Contract (early Contract for Difference) for the Hinkley Point C New Nuclear Power Station — Invitation to submit comments pursuant to Article 108(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
Official Journal 7th March 2014 read more »
Dounreay & Submarines
Low levels of radioactivity have been discovered in the cooling waters of a nuclear submarine test reactor at Dounreay, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has said. Mr Hammond told MPs that no leak had occurred and said there were no safety implications for staff working on the site, or risks to the environment. But, as a result, HMS Vanguard is to be refuelled with a new nuclear core at a cost of £120m. The problem was discovered in 2012. Labour criticised the government for not announcing the information earlier, calling it a matter of “national importance”.The refuelling of HMS Vanguard – the UK’s oldest nuclear submarine – will take place during its next scheduled “deep maintenance period”, due to last three and a half years from 2015.
BBC 6th March 2014 read more »
MoD Statement 6th March 2014 read more »
The Ministry of Defence is to invest around £150 million at Devonport Dockyard to refuel Britain’s ageing nuclear submarine fleet after a leak was found in a test reactor in Scotland. Defence Secretary Philip Hammond yesterday told the House of Commons that HMS Vanguard, the oldest nuclear submarine, will be refuelled in Devonport during its planned deep maintenance refit in 2015. The Secretary of State said the impact on jobs in Plymouth would be “modest”, but pointed out it would provide an additional three-and-a-half-year contract after work on HMS Vengeance is completed in the same year.
Western Daily Press 7th March 2014 read more »
One of the UK’s nuclear submarines will undergo an unscheduled re-fuelling after a potential problem was uncovered by a land-based test reactor. Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said the decision to re-fuel HMS Vanguard, the longest serving submarine in Britain’s nuclear fleet, was being taken as a precautionary measure and that the submarine’s own reactor had not suffered any problems.
Engineering & Technology 6th March 2014 read more »
Relations between ministers in Edinburgh and London reached a new low last night after it emerged that the Ministry of Defence had not informed the Scottish government for two years about a radiation leak that has produced a £270 million bill for taxpayers. Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, told the Commons that Britain’s oldest nuclear submarine, HMS Vanguard, was to have her reactor refuelled at a cost of £120 million after a test reactor at Dounreay, in Caithness, was found in 2012 to have a small internal leak of radiation. A further £150 million would have to be spent on equipment to ensure that other nuclear submarines could also be refuelled if needed. The announcement drew an angry response from the Scottish government, which said that it had been unaware of the leak and its financial consequences until shortly before the Defence Secretary had informed MPs. Although the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) had been told about the incident at HMS Vulcan, it had been ordered not to disclose the information on “security grounds,” Keith Brown, the Scottish Minister for Transport and Veteran Affairs, said. SEPA denied the claim last night but Mr Brown said: “It is totally unacceptable that for two years the UK Government failed to notify Scottish ministers on such an important issue.
Times 7th March 2014 read more »
Defence secretary Philip Hammond was challenged over why it had taken him more than two years to reveal a radiation leak had been detected in a nuclear submarine test reactor. Labour’s shadow defence secretary Vernon Coaker questioned the delay in telling Parliament that HMS Vanguard was to have its reactor refuelled with a new nuclear core at a cost of £120 million, after low levels of radioactivity were discovered ni the cooling waters of a test reactor operating in Scotland. A further £150 million will be spent on equipment to ensure other nuclear submarines can be refuelled if needed.
Telegraph 6th March 2014 read more »
STV 6th March 2014 read more »
Scotsman 7th March 2014 read more »
Herald 7th March 2014 read more »
Milngavie Herald 7th March 2014 read more »
Reuters 6th March 2014 read more »
Labour has accused the Government of burying bad news by releasing a series of damaging reports on the day the Home Secretary revealed Scotland Yard spied on the family of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence. A series of major reports into failing hospitals, immigration and a leaking nuclear reactor were released this morning, as Theresa May announced a public inquiry into “profoundly shocking” evidence the Metropolitan Police put the Lawrence family under surveillance.
Telegraph 6th March 2014 read more »
The Scottish Government has accused the MoD of “disrespect” after it emerged a radiation problem at Dounreay’s nuclear submarine test centre was kept private for 2 years. UK Defence Secretary Phillip Hammond today informed the House of Commons that the cooling waters around the prototype reactor based in Dounreay were found to have low levels of radioactivity in January 2012. Both the Independent Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) were notified at the time but the Scottish Government was only informed today [Thursday]. The decision to not report the event to the Scottish Government prompted Scottish Veterans Minister Keith Brown to write to Phillip Hammond requesting a meeting to ensure “such disrespect” did not recur.
Newsnet Scotland 6th March 2014 read more »
Radwaste
COUNTY councils rather than borough councils should have the final say on whether an area hosts an underground repository for high-level nuclear waste. That’s the view of the majority of those who have responded to the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) consultation into what format the next repository search process should take. Of the 719 responses DECC received – from councils, individuals and other interested parties around the country including a high number from Cumbria – more than 50 per cent disagreed with new proposals that would see a district authority, such as Copeland or Allerdale, take the decision-making power away from the county. Copeland and Allerdale Councils say they “broadly support” this revised approach, albeit with countywide consultation, while Cumbria County Council and Cumbria Association of Local Councils (CALC) are among those who give the view that the county should have the overriding decision.
Whitehaven News 6th March 2014 read more »
Cumbria
Letter Jill Perry et al: We remember a time when the Britain’s ENERGY Coast was keen to refute the name Britain’s NUCLEAR Coast which is what many people mischievously (we thought) called it. There was a time when they were keen to point out all the other things they did. Now, given their recent decision to withdraw funding from West Cumbria Tourism, as reported in last week’s Whitehaven News, they are proudly trumpeting their nuclear coast credentials and concentrating their efforts on large nuclear projects. This surely means a deep nuclear waste dump, amongst other things. We, in the Green Party, recognise that economies are only healthy if they are diverse. BEC ditching their commitment to diversifying the West Cumbrian economy into tourism is a double blow, as many tourist businesses were quite clear that a nuclear waste dump would harm their prospects. We can’t believe that all the directors and board members are behind the decision to put all the Cumbrian eggs into the nuclear basket. West Cumbria deserves better than this and the Green Party urges a rethink for the sake of a healthy economic future.
Whitehaven News 6th March 2014 read more »
SMRs
The boss of Urenco, the enriched uranium supplier that has been put up for sale with a price tag of £9bn, has made the case for mini-nuclear power plants to solve the energy problems of industry and developing countries. Helmut Engelbrecht said there was a growing case for “small-scale, modular” plants – the type being developed by B&W mPower and America’s NuScale Power – to plug demand for energy without the costs of conventional nuclear.
Telegraph 6th March 2014 read more »
Sellafield
NUCLEAR experts at Sellafield have successfully removed a large volume of redundant contaminated equipment from the oldest storage pond in the world. Known as the Pile Fuel Storage Pond, the largest open-air nuclear store on the planet has to be emptied carefully as part of a plan to clean up and decommission the nuclear facilities. Although 650 tonnes of contaminated metal remains in the pond, 100 tonnes have so far been removed from the facility.
Westmorland Gazette 6th March 2014 read more »
Wylfa
Horizon Nuclear Power has started ground investigation works on its Wylfa Newydd nuclear project in North Wales. Specialist ground investigations contractor, Structural Soils, which previously carried out work for Horizon in 2009, 2010 and 2011, has been chosen again to work on the scheme. The programme will run until the end of the year and will employ up to 100 people. Major on-site work is scheduled for 2018, with the first nuclear construction set for 2019. The project requires the drilling of around 400 boreholes and trial pits across the site. The material is then removed and analysed to give Horizon an understanding of the ground conditions, which will then inform more detailed planning of the preferred site layout.
Construction News 6th March 2014 read more »
Sizewell
A new public-private sector body has been been launched to help ensure that Suffolk secures maximum economic advantage from growth in the energy sector, particularly the Sizewell C power station project. The Suffolk Energy Coast Delivery Board brings together representatives from central governent, local councils and businesses, including the company behind Sizewell C, energy group EDF. It will focus how the proposed nuclear development can contribute to lasting jobs and growth in the area, although the board will also work with players in other areas of the energy sector.
East Anglian Daily Times 6th March 2014 read more »
Nuclear Industry
KEY nuclear industry figures will meet in Warrington in June as part of the International Festival for Business (IFB).The event, called Nuclear UK, will seek to promote ideas and innovation that will drive the industry’s future development.IFB will cover a range of different sectors during 50 days in June and July.Confirmed speakers include: John Clarke, chief executive of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA); Stuart Crooks, MD Nuclear Generation at EDF Energy; Robert Zadora, director, NuGen.
Business Desk 7th March 2014 read more »
Fusion
Astrophysicist, Dr Simon Foster explains how a 13 year old schoolboy managed to achieve nuclear fusion in his science lab.
Telegraph 6th March 2014 read more »
Mirror 6th March 2014 read more »
Telegraph 6th March 2014 read more »
Utilities
Energy supplier E.On is to cut 450 jobs as it stops face-to-face selling of electricity and gas tariffs to customers in shopping centres and at other events and venues. The German-owned company is currently under investigation by regulator Ofgem over possible mis-selling in its face-to-face and telephone sales activities. However, a spokesman for the company said that its plan to end face-to-face selling “wasn’t a requirement of the investigation”.
Telegraph 6th March 2014 read more »
Daily Star 6th March 2014 read more »
Complaints are mounting against Scottish Power, the utility company that serves 3.5m homes in Britain, about a collapse in service standards that is leaving many customers hundreds of pounds out of pocket. Those who have contacted Guardian Money accuse Scottish Power of: failing to return credit balances of as much as £630 when direct debits have resulted in overpayment; holding on to balances worth £500 or more when customers have switched to rival suppliers; keeping customers waiting in call queues lasting an hour.
Guardian 6th March 2014 read more »
Labour has made a personal attack on the woman representing Britain’s energy companies. Caroline Flint, the Shadow Energy and Environment Secretary, criticised Dame Angela Knight, the head of Energy UK, which represents the industry. “No offence to Angela, but I couldn’t believe they gave the person who was in charge of the British Bankers’ Association the job of head of Energy UK,” she told The House magazine.
Times 7th March 2014 read more »
US – Hanford
Workers have found more waste leaking between the walls of a nuclear storage tank on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. The waste was found in a new place between the walls of one of the 28 double shell tanks at the site. The US Dept. of Energy, which owns Hanford, says the waste is covering an area of 7 feet by 21 inches. The double shell tanks were built to be the most robust tanks at Hanford. They were constructed with the intent to be able to safely store the dangerous wastes until the technology to permanently dispose of the liquids is developed. A leak in a double shell tank is seen as one of the biggest setbacks to the cleanup program at Hanford in the last decade.
NWCN 6th March 2014 read more »
US – MoX
A new multi-billion dollar plant being constructed by the Energy Department in South Carolina to transform Cold War-era plutonium into electricity will not be operated as planned, the department announced on March 4, making clear that the costliest nonproliferation project run by Washington will shortly be shuttered. After a year of study meant to examine the viability of the two-decade old program, the department’s leadership made clear in budget documents for fiscal year 2015 that the plant is no longer affordable within budget limits set by Congress.
Public Integrity 4th March 2014 read more »
Japan
Japan has agreed to remove the Tokai weapons-grade plutonium to the U.S. as part of its voluntary offer to the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit in the Netherlands later this month. This will be announced then, was more or less spelled out by Japanese media in January, but it wasn’t refered to by Amano in his answer to reporters’ questions in Vienna this week. In addition to the Tokai weapons-grade plutonium inventory, Japan’s nuclear R&D facilities also host considerable inventories of weapons-grade uranium–perhaps 1,400 kilograms, with about 500 kg hosted by a single critical assembly installation. Given Japan’s evolving policy on its weapons-grade plutonium inventories, we might anticipate that in the future at least a portion of Japan’s uranium inventory may likewise be removed to the U.S.
Arms Control Wonk 6th March 2014 read more »
Three years after Fukushima radioactive waste piles up. At the end of last year, 12 prefectures were storing a total of 140,843 tons of the waste. The basic rule is to have each prefectural government find a final disposal site for radioactive waste produced within its jurisdiction through garbage incineration or sewage treatment. The central government plans to build final disposal sites in five prefectures–including Chiba–that have a dearth of storage sites, but no significant progress has been made. The other seven prefectures have still not decided how to handle radioactive waste within their boundaries.
Asahi Shinbum 7th March 2014 read more »
Bulgaria
Westinghouse Electric and the Technical University of Sofia (TU-Sofia) have signed a bilateral cooperation agreement in preparation of the construction of a new reactor at Kozloduy nuclear power plant (NPP) in Bulgaria. The agreement covers cooperation with several of the university’s faculties in disciplines that are of particular relevance to the construction of an AP1000 pressurized water reactor (PWR) and advanced nuclear automation.
Energy Business Review 7th March 2014 read more »
Sweden
On Thursday morning 6 March, all workers at OKG will be able to resume their normal activities after the criminal trespass on the monitored area that took place on Wednesday morning. This procedure is in accordance with the assessment of the situation, performed by the police. – I am sorry for the disturbance this kind of manifestation leads to for everyone who works at OKG, says Managing Director Johan Svenningsson. However, I also wish to praise everyone, they handled the situation in an exemplary way, actively as well as by considering all the decisions made in connection with the incident.
Energy Business Review 6th March 2014 read more »
Finland
Fennovoima’s 1,200MW, €6 billion (US$8.2bn) Hanhikivi 1 nuclear power plant in Pyhäjoki, Finland is set to be financed with Russian state pension fund debt.
Infrastructure Journal 6th March 2014 read more »
Iran
South Korea will transfer $550 million (328 million pounds) to Iran in its first back oil payment under an interim nuclear deal that eases sanctions on Tehran, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.The payment on Friday will come after Japan cleared some of its dues as the U.N. atomic watchdog said the Islamic republic is reducing its most proliferation-prone nuclear stockpile as required under a landmark deal signed with six world powers.
Reuters 6th March 2014 read more »
Renewables – marine
Committee Room 20 is about as far as you can go along the corridors of the House of Commons without actually ending up on the roof, so I was slightly surprised to see just how many people, including a large number of Parliamentarians, made the trek to discuss wave and tidal power at the PRASEG meeting on Tuesday. Remarkably, the front runner for full scale deployment doesn’t rely on anything new and untested; as Mark Shorrock, CEO of Tidal Lagoon Power Swansea Bay, put it at the meeting, it’s just a matter of ‘a breakwater, a powerhouse some turbines and a coffer dam.’ Those ingredients, all tried and tested, make up a scheme that is now largely funded, presented for planning and regulatory appraisal and is supported by the vast majority of local people. The project is set for installing and generating 320 MWs of capacity by 2018 and all without serious collateral environmental impacts, or blocking searoutes. An honourable mention at the meeting should also go to the Solway Firth tidal stream project which is aiming to land considerable capacity and roll out full scale turbine power from tidal flow by 2015. So after several lagoons, and perhaps by 2023, we would maybe have 1.5 gigawatts of baseload -type capacity operating at an average CfD of about £90 over 35 years. But hold on! Haven’t we heard these sort of figures before? Well, yes, indeed we have. On a good day, with binoculars, the people building the breakwater at Swansea can gaze across the Bristol Channel and check out the progress of the concrete mixing at the Hinkley C nuclear power station site (which is funded now on a similar basis). But…two small observations: firstly, I would wager that Swansea Bay will be quietly garnering the tide and feeding it into the grid whilst Hinkley C will still be looking for the key to turn the plant on. Secondly, looking through those binoculars much later down the line, whilst people will be hard at work dismantling Hinkley C, protecting the waste ponds on site for 160 years and transporting large amounts of other detritus to a very large (and hopefully very safe) but very expensive hole in Cumbria, Swansea Bay will be …well, like the Cobb, just still there, minding its own business and if we still want it to, producing power for all of us.
Alan Whitehead MP 6th March 2014 read more »
Community Energy
Invest in Plymouth’s Energy Future, starting with our school. Salisbury Road Primary is one of many Plymouth schools who have been working with Plymouth Energy Community and PEC Renewables Ltd to get solar panels installed on their school roof. The solar panels are offered for free whilst providing an opportunity for members of our community to invest and become ‘co-owners’ of these panels.
Plymouth Energy Community 7th March 2014 read more »
Plymouth Energy Community 7th March 2014 read more »
CHP
The Scottish Greens have reiterated their call for more national and local investment in district heating schemes – a mature technology used far more widely to heat communities in other European countries. Speaking in a debate at Holyrood, Lothian MSP Alison Johnstone highlighted the success of the Combined Heat and Power schemes at the University of Edinburgh, and the potential of large development sites such as at Fountainbridge for new, future-proof schemes. Alison Johnstone, Green MSP for Lothian said: “In decades to come, we’ll think it was incredible that a housing development of 70 flats had seventy boilers. Efficient district heating technologies are ready to be rolled out in Scotland, but we need to see more ambition from councils to make this happen.
Scottish Greem 6th March 2014 read more »
Biomass
Plans for a £300m biomass power plant that could have powered every home in Northumberland have been axed because of uncertain and inconsistent government policy, its developer said on Thursday. Renewable company RES took aim at energy ministers for “critically undermining the investment case” for the proposed North Blyth biomass power station, which could have been running in late 2016 – just as Britain’s spare power capacity drops to dangerously low levels.
Telegraph 6th March 2014 read more »
Renewable Heat – Scotland
Letter WWF etc: We welcome the Scottish Government’s publication of its draft heat generation policy statement (HGPS) for consultation on 4 March. It is an important step in the right direction and provides a welcome focus on an often forgotten part of our energy mix. Heating Scotland’s buildings and hot water currently accounts for more than half our total energy demand and nearly half our CO2 emissions. However, today only around 3 per cent of our heating comes from renewables. With rising energy prices and 27 per cent of households in Scotland estimated to be in fuel poverty, the need for cost-effective and cleaner means of heating our homes is an even greater priority. The draft HGPS is an opportunity to kick-start a surge in renewable heat in order to reduce dependence on volatile international oil and gas markets, insulate homes from fuel poverty and stimulate a new industry. However, if the final document is to trigger the transformation we need to see, then the framework provided will need to be fleshed out with a robust package of regulation and support that builds investor and consumer confidence in already proven technologies. It is clear from the Scottish Government’s own analysis that strong policy signals and political leadership are required to support households and businesses to make the transition to low carbon heating.
Scotsman 7th March 2014 read more »
Energy Efficiency
The government could be 77 years behind on plans to cut carbon emissions by insulating hard to reach homes, according to its own figures. Cuts to its flagship scheme the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) mean its commitment to building one of the “least wasteful, more energy efficient, most climate friendly societies in the developed world” may be hard to achieve. Government advisor the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) suggests that if the country is going to hit its carbon emission reductions targets, 2.3 million solid walls need to insulated by 2022. But under new government plans, energy companies are only required to install 25,000 solid wall insulation measures a year. The changes have also threatened the solid wall insulation industry, making it less likely that it can play a significant part in bringing down the country’s emissions in the near future.
Carbon Brief 6th March 2014 read more »
Green Investment Bank
The UK’s green economy is a “great long-term investment opportunity and it will get better”, Lord Smith of Kelvin, the chairman of the Green Investment Bank, told the National Association of Pension Funds investment conference in Edinburgh, writes Simon Bain. The SSE chairman said the GIB had backed 25 projects across its target sectors of offshore wind, energy efficiency and waste, and all 25 were on track commercially. The GIB had worked with 60 co-investors, directly committing £750 million which would mobilise over £3bn, had invested in 30% of the UK’s offshore wind capacity, and had financed the UK’s first large-scale conversion from coal to biomass.
Herald 7th March 2014 read more »
Fossil Fuels
MPs have urged The Bank of England to investigate its exposure to a so-called “carbon bubble”, whereby billions of pounds of fossil fuel assets will become massively overvalued if the world is successful in tackling climate change. A new Green Finance report by the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee today warns that between 60 and 80 per cent of oil and gas reserves of listed fossil fuel firms can be classed as “unburnable”.
Business Green 6th March 2014 read more »
BBC 6th March 2014 read more »
Politicians, investors, NGOs and the UN’s climate chief have warned that the world’s stock markets have over-invested in fossil fuels, up to 80% of which may never be burnt. What does the carbon bubble mean for the global economy and action on climate change? With your help, Karl Mathiesen investigate.
Guardian 6th March 2014 read more »
The last vestiges of the British coal industry, which still employs 11,000 people and generates 40 per cent of Britain’s electricity, will be wiped out unless the Chancellor does a U-turn on his divisive carbon price floor. That is the stark warning in a report published today by Nera, the economic consultancy, which also warns that George Osborne’s accelerating carbon tax is risking blackouts and unaffordable power prices and will stifle investment in technology to produce “clean” coal through carbon capture. In a well-trailed leak in the run-up to the Budget this month, the Treasury has signalled that it is likely to freeze the tax on emissions at the £18 a tonne of carbon dioxide that it is due to levy from 2015-16.
Times 7th March 2014 read more »
