New Nukes
British families could be forced to pay up to £227 extra on their annual energy bills to help to fund a new generation of nuclear power stations under plans proposed by the French company expected to build most of them. EDF Energy, which wants to build four reactors in Britain at a cost of about £20 billion, was accused of holding the Government to ransom last night, after an executive told The Times that none would be built unless the Government agreed to underwrite part of the cost. Speaking before a government announcement on Britain’s energy future on Monday, Humphrey Cadoux-Hudson, managing director of EDF Energy’s new nuclear business in Britain, said the nuclear programme would proceed only if the Government ensured that consumers paid more for electricity from fossil fuels, such as coal and gas, which is cheaper but produces more greenhouse gas, making nuclear more competitive. To fix the market in favour of nuclear energy he proposed a minimum price on the permits that energy companies need to buy to emit carbon dioxide.
Times 7th Nov 2009 more >>
RWE npower and Eon UK have announced further details of their nuclear joint venture, which is to be called Horizon Nuclear Power. The company will begin operation from 16 November working from new headquarters near Gloucester. The 50:50 joint venture was created in January and aims to develop around 6,000MW of new nuclear capacity in the UK. The first reactor is expected to come online around 2020.
Utility Week 6th Nov 2009 more >>
Nuclear Engineering International 6th Nov 2009 more >>
German utilities RWE and E.ON claim they could create over 11,000 jobs building new nuclear power stations in the UK.
Daily Mail 6th Nov 2009 more >>
Sizewell
HIGHLY radioactive spent fuel from the Sizewell B nuclear power station could be housed in containers in a massive new building on the site under plans outlined by British Energy. The company is consulting on proposals to build a new dry storage building to manage the power station’s spent fuel from 2015 ahead of submitting a final planning application to the Department of Energy and Climate Change in January next year.
Lowestoft Journal 7th Nov 2009 more >>
Hinkley
A lively debate took place at South West Planning Aid’s meeting on 5th November in Burnham. Next event Town Hall in Bridgwater on Tuesday 10th.
Burnham-on-sea.com 5th Nov 2009 more >>
Dungeness
Aggreko has provided power-generation equipment to the Dungeness A nuclear power station decommissioning project. The Dungeness A facility in Kent, which is operated by Magnox South Sites, ceased generating electricity at the end of 2006; this was after more than 40 years of operation, during which it typically produced 3.2bn kWh per year. Decommissioning of the site is currently underway, including preparations for the final defueling of the reactors.
Processing Talk 6th Nov 2009 more >>
Oldbury
BOSSES at Oldbury Power Station are waiting to hear how long they can keep generating electricity at the plant. Those in charge at the 40-year-old nuclear power station want to keep both reactors powering the nation until June 2011. At the moment only reactor one has permission to do so. Under current safety guidelines for the plant reactor two has to switch off in March next year.
Gloucestershire Gazette 6th Nov 2009 more >>
Disarmament
Pressure is growing within Nato for the removal of the remaining US nuclear weapons on European soil, and for a new doctrine for the alliance that would depend less on nuclear deterrence. The initiative is being driven by the new German government coalition, which has called for the removal of American nuclear weapons on its territory as part of a Nato strategic rethink.
Guardian 7th Nov 2009 more >>
Poland
France and Poland have signed a joint declaration on energy, environment and climate that calls for France to assist Poland in the construction of nuclear power plants.
World Nuclear News 6th Nov 2009 more >>
US
The cost escalation of a new nuclear project is the subject of an investigation by Texas utility CPS Energy, which warned that new reactors “must be affordable”.
World Nuclear News 5th Nov 2009 more >>
France
Shares in EDF fall 2.7 percent, reaching a seven-week low and featuring among the top losers on the FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares, after the French electricity major says 15 nuclear reactors are currently off-line in France.
Reuters 6th Nov 2009 more >>
India
The Central Government of India has approved site for a nuclear power project at Mithivirdi in Bhavnagar in the state of Gujarat, Business Standard reported. The project would involve an investment of INR600 billion. Bharatsinh Solanki, India’s minister of state for power, said the 6,000 MW project will come up in six phases of 1,000 MW each. Apart from greenfield nuclear power plant, the state is ready to add more atomic power generation capacity.
Energy Business Review 6th Nov 2009 more >>
Coal
The greenwash comes in when ministers dress up a research programme into a possible technology for tomorrow as if it were a functioning system for preventing carbon dioxide getting into the air today. Even if all goes to plan, only a small fraction of the emissions from planned new coal-fired power stations will be captured until at least 2025, and possible much longer.
Guardian 5th Nov 2009 more >>
