Boris Johnson’s Bold Nuclear Bet Has Echoes ofThatcher Failure.
Britain is poised to usher in another nuclear renaissance, except this time the government says it will actually happen. A lot has changed since previous promises — the push to zero out emissions, the high political stakes to ensure energy security and a different financing model mean now is the time to build nuclear power stations, energy minister Greg Hands said. “We want the U.K. nuclear industry in a fantastic renaissance, to be able to avail itself of a variety of developers and financiers,” Hands said in an interview Tuesday in his office in Westminster. “The Russian invasion of Ukraine has put a premium on energy security, and one of the huge advantages of nuclear is that it is, very largely, homegrown.” ED. note – Whaa-aat? Home grown? – they have to import all the nuclear fuel It’s not the first time the U.K. has tried to revive its nuclear industry: efforts have been underway since the 1980s under different governments. But just one plant is being built — Hinkley Point C. Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson committed to building as many as eight nuclear plants by 2050 in the government’s energy-security strategy released last month. He tweeted Monday after visiting the plant in Hartlepool that “instead of a new one every decade, we’re going to build one every year.” Achieving that will require a significant acceleration in the pace of development, and only Electricite de France SA has firm plans for a large-scale facility at Sizewell. “The U.K. government has a lot of work to do to deliver on this target,” BloombergNEF said in an April report. Hands said the government is talking with Westinghouse Electric Co., Toshiba Corp., state-owned Korea Electric Power Corp. and EDF, among others, about building new plants. The intention is to get them approved this decade to meet the 2050 target. The biggest hurdle is financing: nuclear plants cost about 20 billion pounds ($25 billion) and compete for investor capital with renewables, which provide returns much quicker. Boris Johnson’s Bold Nuclear Bet Has Echoes of Thatcher Failure. An overhaul of the financing mechanism for atomic plants was meant to attract more funds. The regulated asset base, or RAB, model is supposed to encourage private investors and dilute the construction risk shouldered by the developer and taxpayers. “Traditionally, the problem with nuclear has always been that you put a lot of money in, and you don’t get any return for at least 10 years,” Hands said. “In the RAB model, you allow the investor to get a return from really the point at which construction starts rather than the point at which electricity is connected.” Hands and the department of business, energy and industrial strategy is working with investment minister Gerry Grimstone and the department for international trade to attract investors. The financing model has been “well-received,” Hands said. The government hasn’t ruled out taking a stake in the Sizewell project, Hands said. While building up a large pipeline of nuclear projects may help the U.K.’s long-term security of supply, it does nothing to alleviate the upward pressure on energy prices currently affecting ordinary Britons. Bloomberg 4th May 2022 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-04/u-k-says-nuclear-renaissance-will-be-different-this-time-around |
UK Nuclear Waste Services to airgun blast the Irish Sea – the public not consulted
Nuclear Waste Services and the “Community Partnerships” of South and Mid-Copeland plan to airgun blast the Irish Sea this summer to test the sub-sea geology. This plan is to take place over the heads of the public who have had no say on the matter despite seismic testing being a dangerous and controversial technology with damaging impacts on marine life. We have sent a letter to Living Seas North West to ask them not to collaborate with this terrible plan. There is also a petition to sign – the more shares and signatures the more we will raise awareness and opposition to this plan to airgun blast the Irish Sea every 10 seconds, 24 hours a day for four weeks in July/August. Radiation Free Lakeland 5th May 2022https://mariannewildart.wordpress.com/2022/05/05/halt-seismic-testing-of-irish-sea-for-deep-nuclear-dump-this-summer/ |
Nuclear War Threat Drives Greater Divide Between U.S., China
NewsWeek, BY JON JACKSON ON 5/6/22 THE ALREADY TENUOUS RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND CHINA RISKS FURTHER DETERIORATION FOLLOWING RECENT COMMENTS FROM EACH COUNTRY REGARDING THE THREAT OF NUCLEAR WAR THE OTHER PRESENTS.
Admiral Charles Richard spoke Wednesday during a hearing assembled by the Senate Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee about the escalated nuclear threat posed by China since its ally Russia began its invasion of Ukraine.
“We are facing a crisis deterrence dynamic right now that we have only seen a few times in our nation’s history,” Richard, who is head of the U.S. Strategic Command, said. “The war in Ukraine and China’s nuclear trajectory—their strategic breakout—demonstrates that we have a deterrence and assurance gap based on the threat of limited nuclear employment.”
During a Friday press conference, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian was asked about Richard’s remarks.
China follows a self-defensive nuclear strategy and keeps its nuclear forces at the minimum level required to safeguard national security. We stay committed to no first use of nuclear weapons at any time and under any circumstances, and undertake unequivocally and unconditionally not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon states or nuclear-weapon-free zones,” Zhao said. “This policy remains clear and consistent. China opposes any form of ‘China nuclear threat’ theory.”He further charged that U.S. officials were trying to shift “the blame to others.””Some individuals in the U.S. have been hyping up various versions of the so-called ‘China nuclear threat,'” Zhao said. “As is known to all, the U.S. is the biggest source of nuclear threat in the world”…………………………………….. . https://www.newsweek.com/nuclear-war-threat-drives-greater-divide-between-us-china-1704340 |
Ohio Democratic Party sues Governor over cover-up of records of the nuclear bailout scandal.
Ohio Democratic Party suesDeWine over FirstEnergy, nuclear bailout law records,
The Statehouse News Bureau | By Karen Kasler May 6, 2022 The Ohio Democratic Party has filed a lawsuit against Gov. Mike DeWine’s administration, saying they’re breaking the state’s public records law in turning over documents with information blacked out.
The lawsuit demands those documents related to the House Bill 6 corruption scandal be turned over without the redactions.
Democrats are searching for connections between DeWine and two FirstEnergy executives who admitted bribing former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and former Ohio Public Utilities Commission chair Sam Randazzo. The company agreed to a $230 million fine last summer.
Ohio Democratic Party Chair Liz Walters said public records requests for DeWine’s meetings calendar were ignored last year. The party filed requests again in January and threatened a lawsuit if the records weren’t turned over.
“Facing public pressure, DeWine released redacted documents that didn’t follow the law and refused to release the rest,” Walters said. “We’re not going to let DeWine stonewall his way out of responsibility for this scandal.”
While the $150 million nuclear bailout subsidies in the law have been repealed, Walters said taxpayer dollars are still going to two coal plants operated by the Ohio Valley Electric Corporation (OVEC), and are still appearing on ratepayers’ electric bills. She said $287,000 is being paid each day in subsidies to one of those plants, the Clifty Creek facility located in Indiana.
As speaker, Householder championed the sweeping nuclear power plant bailout known as House Bill 6. He’s accused of controlling a 501(c)4 funded by FirstEnergy in exchange for passing that legislation to serve the utility’s interests. Householder has maintained his innocence, and is awaiting trial on corruption charges next January. He was expelled from the House last year.
In its deferred plea agreement, FirstEnergy said it paid a $4 million bribe to Randazzo before DeWine appointed him as chair of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. Randazzo resigned in November 2020 after an FBI raid of his Columbus home. Randazzo has not been charged with any crime.
Democratic candidates have made it clear that they intend to use the House Bill 6 corruption scandal in this year’s campaigns, including gubernatorial nominee Nan Whaley, who’s running against DeWine…………………. to see more, visit The Statehouse News Bureau. https://news.wosu.org/politics-government/2022-05-06/ohio-democratic-party-sues-dewine-over-firstenergy-nuclear-bailout-law-records
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