EDF
Ecotricity is threatening to take legal action against French energy giant EDF over its use of artwork showing a green Union flag to promote its Green Britain Day on Friday. EDF had until 4pm this afternoon to respond to Ecotricity’s complaint or risk legal action. EDF is accused of misleading customers by appropriating marketing images commissioned and owned by Ecotricity.
Business Green 6th July 2009 more >>
Hinkley & Heysham
British Energy has won a 10-year periodic safety review for the Heysham-1 and Hartlepool nuclear power stations, both of which were recently restarted after major safety improvements in the upper structure of their pod boilers. The stations, both of which are double 660MWe AGRs, are a similar design, and had an original design life of 2014, according to BE. It has not yet made a decision about whether to operate them beyond 2014, a spokesman said.
Nuclear Engineering International 7th July 2009 more >>
Dungeness
An incident in late June at the Dungeness B power station near London has been provisionally rated at level two on the seven-tier International Nuclear Event Scale (INES), the EDF-owned operating company said on Tuesday. While connecting new fuel to a fuel plug unit on June 29, a piece of rubber was found to have become trapped, threatening the integrity of the connection.
Reuters 7th July 2009 more >>
Sellafield
Engineering and construction group Costain said it has won a £297m contract to provide engineering at one of the largest nuclear projects in the UK. The group has been hired by Sellafield for engineering, procurement and construction of the Evaporator D project, Costain said in a company statement.
Share Cast 8th July 2009 more >>
Uranium
Compared with coal or gas, nuclear fuel is inexpensive and constant in price, uranium reserves remain large – and quite possibly sustainable – and spent fuel is easily contained.
Nuclear Engineering International 7th July 2009 more >>
Renewables
Wind power is taking over as the main source of new power in Oklahoma as the state’s dominant utility realises it may have to wait a decade or more before nuclear or cleaner forms of fossil fuel generation arrive. The company will add no fossil energy generation until 2020 and wind will fill the gap. We report on the details in Windpower Monthly’s July issue.
Windpower Monthly 8th July 2009 more >>
Sweden
A Swedish nuclear plant may be put under special supervision because of serious safety breaches, including the failure of an automatic safety device. The problems involve the Ringhals plant in western Sweden.
UPI 8th July 2009 more >>
Iran
It was clever of President Obama to tell Russia’s leaders that US missile defence in Europe was intended to counter a threat from Iran. That puts the burden on Dimitri Medvedev, the President, and Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister, to pitch in and try to persuade Iran to drop its nuclear ambitions.
Times 8th July 2009 more >>
France
German power company E.ON AG would be interested in controling France’s third new-generation nuclear reactor if the country decides to build one, Le Figaro reported, citing the company’s chairman, Wulf Bernotat. Earlier this year, French President Nicolas Sarkozy raised the possibility of a third Evolutionary Power Reactor, or EPR. The construction would not be before 2020.
Bloomberg 8th July 2009 more >>
EoN
EoN says selling its 50% stake in the German Kruemmel nuclear plant is not an option. The shutdown is linked to issues with transformers not the reactor. It says there is room for co-operation with EDF on Flamanville and Penly and talks are ongoing.
Interactive Investor 7th July 2009 more >>
Disarmament
The government today finally caved in to calls for a review of Britain’s armed forces – announcing “a full review of Britain’s Armed Forces early in the next parliament” that would feed into a strategic defence review after the general election.
Greenpeace 7th July 2009 more >>
The Ministry of Defence will produce a Green Paper for discussion early next year but any decisions will not be taken until after the general election, which must be held by June.
Times 8th July 2009 more >>
The government bowed to the inevitable today by agreeing to a strategic defence review but said it would exclude Britain’s most controversial weapons system, the Trident nuclear deterrent. “There is no sacred cow besides Trident,” defence officials said.
Guardian 8th July 2009 more >>
There is positive momentum as well as worry behind Obama’s aspiration, reflected in signs of change among elite opinion that have been building for several years. In January 2008, a group of American elder statesmen of the cold-war period – Henry Kissinger, George Schultz, William Perry, and Sam Nunn – issued their second appeal within two years for the abolition of nuclear weapons. “With nuclear weapons more widely available”, they argued, “deterrence is decreasingly effective and hazardous”
Open Democracy 7th July 2009 more >>
No apologies for posting consecutively on Barack Obama: the Looney Tunes President’s sell-out of US and Western interests is proceeding at such a speed that it is difficult to keep pace. Well said, Nile Gardiner, for asking if Barack Obama is the most na ve president in American history. The answer is undoubtedly yes – unless he has a secret agenda to cut America down to size.
Telegraph 7th July 2009 more >>
It should be understood that the idea of a non-nuclear planet is unrealistic. As long as the knowledge exists to manufacture nuclear weapons, no leader of a major power can responsibly engage in comprehensive disarmament. That is why Britain must remain a member of the nuclear club, retaining its own independent deterrent.
Express 7th July 2009 more >>
Rebecca Johnson: American and Russian negotiating teams have focused on securing a modest initial agreement to get nuclear disarmament back on track. Of course it will be useful to reduce the number of deployed strategic warheads to 1,500-1,675 and limit the strategic delivery vehicles to 500-1,100, but such levels could still destroy the earth several times over.
Guardian 7th July 2009 more >>
