2015 November 16 « nuclear-news

Mayor of London calls on UK govt for tax help for local community solar power

Boris Johnson: Treasury is endangering community renewables, Guardian, Adam Vaughan, 12 Nov 15
Mayor of London calls on the government to reconsider plans to remove tax relief for investors in community energy projects Boris Johnson has warned the Treasury it is endangering efforts by local communities around the UK to build their own renewable energy projects.

In a letter to the financial secretary to the Treasury, David Gauke, the mayor of London and Tory MP called on the government to reconsider its proposals to remove various forms of tax relief for investors in community energy.

More than 100 green energy groups have already said the change will “decimate” the sector, which has installed community-owned solar panels on village halls, small hydro schemes on rivers and wind turbines on farms.

Johnson is concerned that “the proposals may endanger the expansion of the sector given the investment required for the upfront capital costs” and “there is a danger of unintended consequences”, wrote the deputy mayor for environment and energy, Matthew Pencharz.

The mayor also thought that while such schemes might be small individually, in aggregate they are important to the security of London’s future energy supply, and a key part of efforts to cut the capital’s carbon emissions.

The short-term nature of the tax changes – which are due to come into effect at the end of November – could also put an end to schemes that are already in development or fundraising, he said.

One high-profile scheme for a community-owned solar array in a West Sussex village that was at the centre of anti-fracking protests, has already been shelvedas a result of the Treasury’s plans, announced in the finance bill last month. A recent report found more than £100m worth of community energy projects were at risk from the changes…….http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/nov/11/boris-johnson-treasury-is-endangering-community-renewables

November 16, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | decentralised, UK | Leave a comment

Diablo Canyon nuclear plant – the industry’s last stand in California

If Diablo closes, no nuclear plant will take its place. California law forbids building more until federal officials come up with a permanent way to deal with the waste.

Nuclear power’s last stand in California: Will Diablo Canyon die?, SF Chronicle, By David R. Baker

November 14, 2015“……..the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, owned by Pacific Gas and Electric Co., is the last of its kind in the state. And in less than 10 years, it could close, ending nuclear power’s long history in California….

The first of its two operating licenses from the federal government expires in 2024, the second a year later. Federal regulators are weighing whether to renew those licenses and keep Diablo humming through 2045. PG&E, however, appears to be having second thoughts.

Once eager to extend Diablo’s licenses, company executives now say they aren’t sure. Since the deadly 2010 explosion of a PG&E natural gas pipeline beneath San Bruno, their focus has been on reforming the company and repairing its image, not relicensing Diablo.

And any extension will involve a fight. The plant sits within a maze of earthquake faults, all of them discovered after construction began in 1968. Seismic safety fears have dogged the nuclear industry in California for more than 50 years, forcing PG&E to abandon plans for one of its first reactors…… Continue reading →

November 16, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA, water | Leave a comment

No end to the gloom in USA’s nuclear industry

Nuclear power: Can its winter of discontent ever end?, CNBC14 Nov 2015, Under different circumstances, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s recent decision to grant its first license to a nuclear power plant in nearly two decades would be interpreted as a boon for the atomic energy industry.

These, however, are hardly normal times for the nuclear sector, which many observers acknowledge is hamstrung by relentless domestic opposition — even as dozens of new atomic power reactors are being constructed worldwide. Despite nominal backing from the federal government, and an accelerating push to promote carbon free energy sources, the Tennessee Valley Authority’s $4.5 billion Watts Bar plant isn’t being interpreted as a fresh start for a beleaguered sector.

“We haven’t done anything in 20 years … now we’re off to the races? Not at all,” said Vincent DeVito, a partner at Bowditch & Dewey, LLP, and a former Department of Energy policymaker….

November 16, 2015 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Next Entries »