EDF/Hinkley
The cash-strapped French energy giant EDF may sell off profitable stakes in its in its eight existing UK nuclear reactors to raise money for the Hinkley Point C project. But with no example of the EPR design planned for Hinkley even near completion, it may all prove a risk too far. EDF could unveil details of a sell-off plan on 16th February, when it is scheduled to release annual financial figures and is expected to give a final investment decision on building Britain’s first new reactors for 20 years. It has meanwhile emerged that another EDF project is running late at Taishan in China, where the company is building two 1.75GW reactors to the European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) design, the same as is planned for Hinkley C. The Taishan project is seen as the pilot for Hinkley C, which would also use twin EPR reactors. A further two EPRs are planned for the site. This precarious situation raises a deep and serious question for EDF and CGN to consider? Is it wise to commit to the EPRs at Hinkley C until at least one other EPR is working somewhere in the world? This applies especially to cash-tight EDF. CGN is understandably risk-averse over EPRs and is reportedly demanding an indemnity from EDF against losses at Hinkley C – so that while EDF would only own 66.5% of the project, it would be liable for 100% of any cost overruns. Meanwhile two legal challenges against the UK government’s enormous state aid package for Hinkley C are looming at the European Court: one brought by Austria, now joined by Luxembourg; and one by Germany’s Greenpeace Energy cooperative together with other green energy suppliers in Germany and Austria. There is also considerable unease in EDF about Hinkley C, which some fear could, in a worst-case scenario, sink the company altogether. The leak to Les Echos is widely supposed to have come from company insiders determined to scupper the project.
Ecologist 8th Jan 2016 read more »
EDF
Last month when EDF, the mainly state-owned electricity group, lost its place in the blue-chip CAC 40 stock market index to Klépierre, an owner and operator of shopping centres. Out went a gouty old emperor of 20th-century French industry, and in came a young prince of the 21st-century service sector, eager to satisfy popular demand for evermore delicious forms of consumerism. Few investors are shedding tears at EDF’s exit from the CAC 40. Its share price has slumped by almost 40 per cent in the past 12 months. Its small free float meant that, during its 10 years on the CAC 40, it was a featherweight next to the likes of Total, the oil and gas giant, and Sanofi, the pharmaceuticals group. Yet the symbolism of EDF’s unceremonious exit from the CAC 40 is heavy and inescapable. Klépierre looks to the future with confidence because it is in a sector aligned with the spirit of the age. EDF was once that kind of company, too — but times have moved on, and now it is the colossus of nuclear energy that needs to catch up.
FT 6th Jan 2016 read more »
GDA
There has been some program “slippage” in a number of topic areas for the generic design acceptance (GDA) of the Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactor design, the UK’s Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) said in its latest quarterly report on GDAs issued yesterday. Westinghouse is working to “re-baseline the overall program”, ONR said, “with the objective of enabling regulators to make decisions” about issuing a Design Acceptance Confirmation (DAC) and Statement of Design Acceptance Confirmation (SoDA) in January 2017, as per the current schedule. The report provides information on the work that ONR has been carrying out on the GDA of Hitachi-GE’s UK Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (UK ABWR), and the closure phase of the GDA project for the Westinghouse AP1000 reactor design, during the period July to October 2015. The period of the report was extended to include the end of ONR’s Step 3 for the UK ABWR project. During the reporting period, ONR completed its assessment of Hitachi-GE’s submissions for GDA Step 3 of the UK ABWR project. As part of its governance, ONR undertook a “gateway review” to consider the regulators’ and Hitachi-GE’s readiness to move to Step 4. The review concluded that sufficient progress had been made by Hitachi-GE, and that the regulators had the resources available to progress to Step 4, which commenced on 2 November. The Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales are continuing on Step 3 (detailed assessment) of their GDA process for the UK ABWR. This has a longer duration than ONR’s Step 3 and concludes when the environmental regulators begin consulting on their preliminary findings at the end of that step.
World Nuclear News 8th Jan 2016 read more »
Radhealth
Chris Busby: As the evidence of the extreme harm to health inflicted by nuclear radiation mounts, the denialists are resorting to ever greater extremes. On the one hand, advancing the absurd claim that ionising radition is not merely harmless, but health-enhancing. On the other, closing down the experiment that would have provided the strongest evidence yet. There is so much evidence that nuclear power kills, causes cancer, mutates populations, reduces fertility and kills babies that only a mad person would continue with the belief that it is a good thing and should be pursued no matter what the cost in money and death.
Ecologist 8th Jan 2016 read more »
New Reactor Types
Nuclear technology company Terrestrial Energy has announced today it has raised CAD$10m (£4.8m) to bring its next-generation nuclear reactor to industrial markets in the next decade. The reactor is based on the Canadian firm’s Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR) technology, which uses a molten fluoride or chloride salt for fuel. The liquid fuel can be used for producing heat and also act as a coolant – a factor the firm claims significantly improves the safety profile of nuclear energy.
Business Green 8th Jan 2016 read more »
World Nuclear News 8th Jan 2016 read more »
Energy Policy
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, the Energy Secretary says that Britain would lose its influence on European energy markets if it leaves the bloc in the upcoming referendum, with potentially dire consequences. Ms Rudd also uses the interview to call in the strongest possible terms for Britain’s largest energy companies to cut household bills as oil prices continue to fall.
Telegraph 8th Jan 2016 read more »
Chernobyl
Impressive footage shot with a drone has revealed the giant arch made of steel that will cover a damaged reactor on the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. This comes almost 30 years after it became the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster. The reactor, Reactor Four, exploded on April 26, 1986, releasing more radiation than the atomic bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima during the Second World War. The project, during which the arch will be installed above the reactor, is due to be completed in late 2017. The 360-foot high, 850-foot wide structure, called the New Safe Confinement, will prevent the reactor from releasing more radiation. It will also protect it against extreme weather and other environmental impacts. By securing the site, where 2,800 people are currently working according to constructor Bouygues, the arch will also make it possible to dismantle the reactor later on.
Daily Mail 8th Jan 2016 read more »
Trident
The former Labour frontbencher Dan Jarvis has indicated he may not stand for the party at the next general election if Jeremy Corbyn succeeds in changing policy to oppose the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons programme. John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, suggested after Thornberry’s appointment that the process of determining the party’s policy on Trident before a Commons vote on the renewal of the programme would be accelerated in a new consultative process. Some Labour supporters of Trident are confident the leadership will fail to push through a policy change because the large trade unions, Unite and the GMB, which have thousands of members in the defence industry, will not abandon their support for Trident.
Guardian 9th Jan 2016 read more »
Nuclear War
More than 13,000 people would be killed in Hartlepool if a hydrogen bomb hit the town, a computer programme has predicted. As North Korean officials claim that an underground hydrogen bomb test has been carried out in the country, we take a look at the impact a similar device would have in the unlikely event of it being detonated in Hartlepool. Computer programme Nukemap has estimated that 13,770 people would be killed in and around the town – while more than 20,000 would be injured.
Hartlepool Mail 8th Jan 2016 read more »
Renewables
As we usher in 2016, six stories from around the world present a flavor of how they are leading the charge toward a climate-friendly future. Morocco is rising to be a “solar superpower”; In Bangladesh, the number of solar-powered homes is surging, making it the world’s fastest expansion of solar energy; China is turning 800 primary and middle schools in Beijing into “sunshine schools”; Mexico’s efforts to promote more efficient household lighting have gone nationwide; Tanzania holds immense potential in solar and wind power; Turkey has achieved a substantial growth of renewable energy in recent years.
World Bank 5th Jan 2016 read more »
Renewables – solar
By the end of last year, the Scottish Borders was the region with the third highest number of solar installations. Statistics released by WWF Scotland and the Solar Trade Association show that the region 2,595 solar installations.
Hawick News 8th Jan 2016 read more »
Microgeneration
This week’s Micro Power News.
Microgen Scotland 8th Jan 2016 read more »
Energy Storage
The vision of using energy storage technologies to maximise output from intermittent renewable energy sources and reduce the cost of decarbonisation took another step towards becoming reality this week, as AES UK & Ireland announced the UK’s largest battery array is now online. The energy storage technology firm confirmed its Kilroot Advancion Energy Storage Array in Northern Ireland was now commercially available for Harmonised Ancillary Services provision, offering 10MW of energy storage capacity to the grid.
Business Green 8th Jan 2016 read more »
Fossil Fuels
North Sea oil pioneer Algy Cluff insisted yesterday plans for unconventional gas extraction in the Firth of Forth were not dead. He was speaking after his company said it was switching its “primary focus” away from the firth to pursue underground coal gasification (UCG) projects in England, and conventional oil and gas developments in the North Sea. Green groups which recently led a protest against his Scottish UCG plans said it was a “massive victory” for campaigners but the issue would not be buried until his firm handed back its UCG licences. Mr Cluff, chairman and chief executive of Cluff Natural Resources, made the decision after the Scottish Government placed a moratorium on UCG in October. CNR had licences for three UCG developments in the firth, the most promising of which was the so-called Kincardine project.
Energy Voice 8th Jan 2016 read more »
