Bradwell
RADIOACTIVE waste from other nuclear power stations has moved a step closer to being stored at Bradwell. Magnox, the company running Bradwell power station, asked Essex County Council whether it needed to draw up a full environmental impact assessment on plans to import nuclear waste from other power stations. Now the council has decided the application is not “significant” enough to require a formal assessment. The decision said: “The formal decision of this Authority is that the effects of the development would not be so significant as to require formal Environmental Impact Assessment.” Magnox’s submission to County Hall revealed “intermediate level waste” would be stored, encased in cement, inside stainless steel drums or concrete boxes.
Braintree & Witham Times 7th Feb 2016 read more »
Moorside
Nuclear power stations are more usually associated with cost overruns, the threat of reactor meltdowns and environmental concerns over radioactive waste than with fine architecture. But could they eventually come to be regarded as things of beauty? Architects and landscape designers from across the world are being asked to come up with creative concepts for Europe’s largest new nuclear power station, Moorside in West Cumbria. Their reward will be £25,000 each in prize money – as well as a shot at creating something beautiful out of what many might regard as an industrial scar on the landscape.
Independent 7th Feb 2016 read more »
Nuclear Security
Squadrons of eagles could be used to protect Britain’s nuclear power stations, Buckingham Palace and other sensitive sites from attack by terrorists’ drones. Dutch police have already trained eagles to pluck drones out of the sky and the Metropolitan Police has sent a chief inspector to learn about their capabilities, The Times newspaper reported. It comes amid concern that drones could be used by terrorists to attack high-profile buildings, major events such as the G7 summit or even the Prime Minister’s car while he was travelling.
Independent 8th Feb 2016 read more »
Nuclear Transports
How do you make a nuclear loaded ship safe? PNTL animation.
Daily Mail 8th Feb 2016 read more »
TEPCO
Tokyo Electric Power will earn enough to clean up the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant despite the start of competition in Japan’s electricity market, the company’s chief executive has vowed.
FT 7th Feb 2016 read more »
US
Entergy Corp. said elevated levels of radioactive material found in groundwater at the 2,000-megawatt Indian Point nuclear power facility north of New York City don’t pose a threat to public safety. Increased levels of tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, were found in three monitoring wells out of several dozen at the plant, New Orleans-based Entergy said in a statement after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Saturday ordered an investigation into the incident. While the levels don’t meet company standards, they are more than a thousand times below federally allowed limits and represent “no health or safety consequence to the public” Entergy said.
Bloomberg 7th Feb 2016 read more »
North Korea
North Korea is preparing to carry out another underground nuclear test in a calculated escalation of its defiance of the United Nations and the international community, according to South Korea. Seoul’s intelligence agency issued a warning on Monday that Pyongyang was moving towards what would be its fifth nuclear test, just one day after the regime went ahead with the test of a long-range ballistic missile, Yonhap News reported.
Telegraph 8th Feb 2016 read more »
There is a tendency to dismiss Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s youthful dictator, as a buffoon and a lightweight. His pudgy looks and weird haircut – which gave rise to the western media’s mocking nickname of “Fatboy Kim” – have led some to suggest he is not a serious person. But Kim’s decision on Sunday to fire a satellite-bearing rocket into space was, in reality, almost certainly the illegal test launch of a ballistic missile with potential to deliver a nuclear warhead to the western US mainland. It does not get much more serious than that.
Guardian 7th Feb 2016 read more »
Trident
Labour’s defence review is unlikely to support Jeremy Corbyn’s idea of sending nuclear missile submarines to sea without warheads, according to a senior MP. Shadow defence minister Toby Perkins said he suspected that the “final analysis” would not support the idea suggested by his party leader. Mr Perkins said he had seen nothing so far to change his mind about his support for renewal of the Trident system.
Daily Mail 7th Feb 2016 read more »
Evening Express 8th Feb 2016 read more »
Fusion
SCIENTISTS in China are a step closer to creating an ‘artificial sun’ using nuclear fusion, in a breakthrough that could break mankind’s reliance on fossil fuels and offer unlimited clean energy forever more.
Express 7th Feb 2016 read more »
Renewables – solar
For anyone who is in any doubt about the incredible journey that solar power has been on over the past decade the graph below – sourced via this story on Treehugger – offers a stunning reminder. As the graph shows, the cost of solar PV – the orange part – 40 years ago was up around $US100 per Watt, and a global total of only 2MW was installed. Of course the cost of the promising technology falls rapidly from there, but global solar installations – the blue bit – barely register until that magic moment somewhere between 2000 and 2005, when price per Watt reaches a tipping point and the blue bit soars to a total of just under 65,000MW in 2015.
Renew Economy 8th Feb 2016 read more »
Renewables – wind
Centrica – the FTSE-100 holding company which owns Scottish and British Gas – has landed a £70 million profit by selling three wind farms in England and Scotland. Edinburgh-based Green Investment Bank Offshore Wind Fund and funds managed by BlackRock have acquired GLID Wind Farms TopCo Ltdd from Centrica and EIG Global Energy Partners in a transaction worth £423 million. Centrica’s share of the proceeds is £115 million – generating a profit of £70 million on the investment.
Scottish Energy News 8th Feb 2016 read more »
Renewables – AD
A dairy farm which converts manure into methane gas has increased production so fast it is now making enough gas for 6,000 homes. So-called biogas has become controversial in recent years, with claims that land is being turned over to fuel production rather than food. But dairy farmer Richard Clothier insists there is huge untapped potential in natural waste. “For us, the muck is now as important as the milk,” Mr Clothier said. He is the third generation of his family to farm dairy cattle near Bruton, in Somerset. His firm, Wyke Farms, has grown to be one of the UK’s largest independent cheese makers.
BBC 4th Feb 2016 read more »
100% Renewables
Aviva stadium, home of the Ireland rugby team will be fully powered by renewable energy for the upcoming 2016 Six Nations tournament, becoming the first stadium in the competition to be so. The stadium has teamed up with SSE Airtricity – Ireland’s largest provider of wind power – who will supply green electricity and gas. The move is expected to save almost 2,500 tonnes of carbon emissions in 2016 alone, equivalent to the fuel emitted by a jet circumnavigating the world 500 times or the carbon stored by 22 acres of mature rainforest.
Edie 5th Feb 2016 read more »
Microgeneration
This week’s Micro Power News. Includes news of solar project going ahead despite fall in FiTs: Swindon Council solar project.
Microgen Scotland 5th Feb 2016 read more »
Energy Storage
Old Renault electric vehicle (EV) batteries will be converted into energy storage units under a new partnership between the French carmaker and UK firm Connected Energy. At the end of their in-vehicle life, Renault EV batteries still have considerable remaining capacity, meaning they can be adopted for other applications before they are ultimately recycled. Under this new partnership, Connected Energy will incorporate Renault batteries into its E-STOR, which can be used to store energy generated from on-site renewable generation resources such as solar panels and wind turbines, and then release it as needed. As well as allowing more efficient use of energy, the system can also enable installation of rapid EV charging in sites where electricity supply would traditionally only allow slower rates.
Edie 5th Feb 2016 read more »
