nuclear-news

British govt axes nuclear industry loan – a blow to the industry

The announcement is a blow both to the company and the nuclear sector

UK Axes GBP80 Mln Sheffield Nuclear Industry Loan – WSJ.comBy Selina Williams Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES LONDON (Dow Jones) 17 June 2010, –The U.K. government Thursday axed an GBP80 million loan to Sheffield Forgemasters International Ltd. for equipment to make the large forgings for nuclear power stations as part of broader spending cuts.

The GBP80 million loan, promised by the previous Labour government, was the final piece of a GBP140 million funding package to enable SFIL to buy and install the country’s first 15,000-metric-ton forging press to make the ultra-large components now in big demand in the global nuclear power industry.The announcement is a blow both to the company and the nuclear sector as it would have made SFIL one of only a handful of companies globally with the specialized technology and nuclear licensing and accreditation to manufacture all the forgings required for nuclear power stations.It also comes as big European utilities, including Electricite de France SA (EDF.FR), E.ON AG (EOAN.XE) and Iberdrola SA (IBE.MC), are gearing up to build a new fleet of nuclear reactors in the U.K. as part of a global expansion of nuclear power capacity that has already stretched nuclear supply chains to the limit…………..

The U.K. government–a coalition of Conservative and Liberal Democrats–is canceling 12 projects worth GBP2 billion promised by the previous Labour government and suspending a further 12 schemes with a total cost of GBP8.5 billion as it seeks to pare back the country’s deficit.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said some of the GBP34 billion in spending decisions made by the previous Labour government since Jan. 1 had proven to be poor value for money……….

Energy Secretary and Conservative Charles Hendry said Wednesday that the government plans to remove regulatory barriers to nuclear power to facilitate the construction of a new fleet of reactors without public subsidy.

2nd UPDATE: UK Axes GBP80 Mln Sheffield Nuclear Industry Loan – WSJ.com

June 18, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, UK | antinuclear, EDF, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, reactors