Opposition to UK’s plans for nuclear fusion
ANTI-NUCLEAR campaigners have hit out at the UK Government’s plan to
create a prototype nuclear fusion power plant that is being developed with
hopes to sustain moves away from fossil fuels.
The Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) has said that this latest effort to extol the
virtues of nuclear fusion as a “low carbon” source of energy is to keep the
industry “alive” due to the UK being a “nuclear weapon state”.
The National 15th Oct 2021
UK to push for nuclear power: households to pay up long before the reactors are built
UK to put nuclear power at heart of net zero emissions strategy. British
ministers will put nuclear energy at the heart of Britain’s strategy to
reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 in government documents due as
early as next week, along with new details on its funding model.
Kwasi Kwarteng, business secretary, is due to unveil the “Net Zero Strategy”,
as well as a “Heating and construction strategy” and an assessment of
the Treasury of the cost to reach the 2050 target. The main strategy will
be heavily focused on the long overdue and slow British nuclear program.
The country’s existing reactors are expected to be phased out by 2035,
with construction of a single large plant, Hinkley Point C, already
underway.
The creation of a “regulated asset base” (RAB) model will be
the key to the delivery of a future fleet of large nuclear power plants.
Under this program, households will be billed for the cost of the plant via an energy
tax long before it starts producing electricity, which could take a decade
or more from the time. where the final investment decision is made.
FT 16th Oct 2021
https://www.ft.com/content/e6426194-21e6-49c4-9520-97c337b350fd
French President Macron now goes for small nuclear reactors – with vision of an exporting bonanza
France unveils nuclear power overhaul – with an eye on China, French President Emmanuel Macron announced a shift to small modular nuclear reactors on Tuesday as he unveiled his €30 billion, five-year strategy to bolster France’s high-tech sectors, building on the country’s history as a pioneer of nuclear energy. France 24, 17 Oct 21,
Macron announced that the “number one priority” for his industrial strategy was for France to develop “innovative small-scale nuclear reactors” by 2030.
This marks a sea change in France’s approach to nuclear energy……………“The small modular reactors each generate less than 300 megawatts (MW) of energy; far less than most reactors currently in service, which tend to produce between 950 and 1300 MW, with some of them including the Flamanville plant [on the English Channel] capable of as much as 1600 MW,” said Giorgio Locatelli, an expert on the engineering of nuclear power stations at Milan Polytechnic.
……… In the grand sweep of the history of French nuclear power, the shift towards smaller reactors looks like a step back, Locatelli suggested, because France “started with small reactors in the 1960s before switching to larger ones to develop economies of scale”.However, this trend has now reached its limited, he continued. “Reactors like the one at Flamanville are not only very expensive, but also it’s a long and complex process to build them.” It takes billions to create such plants, and often it is difficult for governments to find investors willing to wait up to a decade before their returns start coming in.
Competition with China
Most countries lack the means to pull of these massive reactors, noted Nicolas Mazzucchi, an energy specialist at France’s Foundation for Strategic Research: “The financing models they require – not to mention the capacity to really mobilise a country’s savoir-faire in this domain – are increasingly rare, except in nations like Russia and China where energy companies have total state backing.”
Consequently, switching to small modular reactors is a strategic pivot to allow France to deal with competition from countries like China, which has increasingly big ambitions when it comes to nuclear power.
France’s change of approach could also allow it to win lucrative new markets. “By 2025, nearly a quarter of the world’s existing nuclear capacity will be exhausted because the reactors will have become too old,” Mazzucchi continued……………..
‘Lack of experience’………. The people in charge of reactors using cutting-edge technology “will have to justify their safety”, Herviou said. So far, the theoretical advantages of small modular reactors have not been confirmed in practice. Some 70 such reactors are currently in development throughout the world – and the vast majority of these projects are still in the early stages. “The main concern with this technology is the lack of a track record,” said Locatelli. What is more, he continued, nuclear power’s “chicken-and-egg problem is still there: Is it better to start building reactors first to win over buyers or is it best to find the investors first?” …………. https://www.france24.com/en/france/20211013-france-unveils-nuclear-power-overhaul-with-eye-on-china
There are Much More Powerful Greenhouse Gases than CO2 and EDF’s Nuclear Reactors are Spewing Them Out (Apart from Toxic Radioactive Emissions!!)
EdF finally admit that operational nuclear power station discharges of Sulfur hexafluoride gas make massive contributions to Global warming/Climate change Flamanville nuclear power plant has exceeded the threshold for discharging SF6. In nine months, the quantity of SF6, the most powerful greenhouse gas, released by the Flamanville nuclear power plant in La Manche, has already […]
There are Much More Powerful Greenhouse Gases than CO2 and EDF’s Nuclear Reactors are Spewing Them Out (Apart from Toxic Radioactive Emissions!!) — RADIATION FREE LAKELAND
There are Much More Powerful Greenhouse Gases than CO2 and EDF’s Nuclear Reactors are Spewing Them Out (Apart from Toxic Radioactive Emissions!!) https://mariannewildart.wordpress.com/2021/10/15/there-are-much-more-powerful-greenhouse-gases-than-co2-and-edfs-nuclear-reactors-are-spewing-them-out-apart-from-toxic-radioactive-emissions/
ON OCTOBER 15, 2021 BY MARIANNEWILDARTEdF finally admit that operational nuclear power station discharges of Sulfur hexafluoride gas make massive contributions to Global warming/Climate change
Flamanville nuclear power plant has exceeded the threshold for discharging SF6. In nine months, the quantity of SF6, the most powerful greenhouse gas, released by the Flamanville nuclear power plant in La Manche, has already exceeded the annual declaration threshold. This threshold was reached on September 27, 2021, as confirmed by EDF on Thursday, October 14, 2021.
The Flamanville nuclear power plant (Manche) declared a “significant environmental event” after having emitted a cumulative quantity of SF6, the most powerful greenhouse gas, above the declaration threshold, we learned from EdF on Thursday October 14th.
“On September 27, 2021, the cumulative annual quantity of SF6 gas emissions reached 100.37 kg, exceeding the declaration threshold of 100 kg,” said EDF in a press release posted on the plant’s website. SF6, targeted as early as 1997 by the Kyoto Protocol on the climate, has a warming potential 23,000 times that of CO2 and remains in the atmosphere for up to 3,000 years. It is the most potent of greenhouse gases, even though it represents a small part of it.
The campaign group Sortir du Nuclear criticized EdFs pollution, saying : “Letting 100 kg of this gas escape is like emitting more than 2 million kg of C02 into the atmosphere. In just nine months, the Flamanville site has already exceeded (the 100 kg threshold). And the year is not over. Each year, each of the 18 nuclear power plants in France has this right to pollution and thus actively contributes to global warming, not to mention refrigerant leaks.”
Sortir de Nuclear further states that until 2018, EDF did not report any of these emissions. Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6) gas “is used to ensure the electrical isolation of high voltage equipment. On the Flamanville site, SF6 gas is used as insulation for the energy evacuation stations and the supply stations for auxiliary transformers “, stated EDF.
Ouest France 14th Oct 2021
https://www.ouest-france.fr/normandie/flamanville-50340/la-centrale-nucleaire-de-flamanville-a-depasse-le-seuil-de-rejet-d-un-puissant-gaz-a-effet-de-serre-4ef83064-2cdc-11ec-9285-f388b2ea32b0
Exposed: French nuclear companies dumping radioactive waste in Siberia. Activists call on EU not to count nuclear energy as sustainable .
“For the French nuclear industry to resume this kind of irresponsible overseas dumping is proof that there is no sustainable solution to the ever-growing problem of radioactive waste. Giving dangerous nuclear energy a green label in the EU taxonomy will make the waste problem worse, and actively divert investments away from real solutions like energy savings, energy storage and renewables.”
A key principle of the taxonomy is that any activity must “do no significant harm” to the environment in order to be included as “sustainable”. The European Commission will open a public consultation in the coming weeks on the issue of whether nuclear energy should be included in the taxonomy.
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Exposed: French nuclear companies dumping radioactive waste in Siberia https://www.greenpeace.org/eu-unit/issues/climate-energy/45879/french-nuclear-companies-exposed-dumping-radioactive-waste-siberia/?fbclid=IwAR0FmZuQKuuQgWaAPthDXShxwc1s7_3Q4zwARV0xR2yfZL2EnvGj0nU5xX4Greenpeace European Unit 12/10/2021 Activists call on EU not to count nuclear energy as sustainable
Paris / Brussels, 12 October 2021 – Greenpeace activists today laid fifteen metal drums featuring a radioactive symbol in front of the headquarters of Orano, a French nuclear fuel company, in protest against the dumping of French nuclear waste at an unsafe site in Seversk, Siberia. The protest comes as a new investigation by Greenpeace France has revealed that exports of nuclear waste to Russia have restarted after an eleven-year hiatus. [1]
New satellite images from Seversk show thousands of barrels lying outdoors exposed to the elements. The practice of exporting radioactive waste from the EU to a third country is subject to strict conditions, including the safety and proper management of the destination facility. [2]
The revelations that exports of French nuclear waste to Russia have restarted come shortly after ministers from ten EU countries, including France, wrote an op-ed in several European newspapers calling for the inclusion of nuclear energy in the EU’s guidelines for green investments, the “EU taxonomy”. [3]
Roger Spautz, nuclear campaigner at Greenpeace France and Luxembourg , said: “For the French nuclear industry to resume this kind of irresponsible overseas dumping is proof that there is no sustainable solution to the ever-growing problem of radioactive waste. Giving dangerous nuclear energy a green label in the EU taxonomy will make the waste problem worse, and actively divert investments away from real solutions like energy savings, energy storage and renewables.”
A key principle of the taxonomy is that any activity must “do no significant harm” to the environment in order to be included as “sustainable”. The European Commission will open a public consultation in the coming weeks on the issue of whether nuclear energy should be included in the taxonomy.
President Emmanuel Macron is also expected to announce funding today for so-called “small modular nuclear reactors” as part of his “France 2030” investment package.
Investigation
The investigation by Greenpeace France reveals that, in January and February 2021, the nuclear fuel company Orano shipped hundreds of tonnes of spent uranium to Rosatom, Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy firm.
Activists in the port of Le Havre, Normandy, witnessed the loading of radioactive material onto a ship bound for St. Petersburg. From there, the waste continued by train to a dumping facility in the city of Seversk, Siberia, formerly known as Tomsk-7. Greenpeace has seen no evidence that the management of the Seversk site has improved since 2010, when Orano (then named Areva) admitted that environmental concerns were a factor in its decision to cease exporting uranium there. [4]
Orano confirmed the new shipments in an email to Greenpeace France. EDF, France’s largest nuclear energy provider, also signed a similar deal with Rosatom in 2018, but does not appear to have carried out any such shipments yet. Both companies are largely owned by the French state.
Prince William: Saving Earth should come before space tourism
William told Newscast’s Adam Fleming he had “absolutely no interest” in going as high as space, adding there was a “fundamental question” over the carbon cost of space flights.
Prince William: Saving Earth should come before space tourism https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-5890307816
By George Bowden, 15 Oct 21,
BBC News Prince William has suggested entrepreneurs should focus on saving Earth rather than engaging in space tourism.
The Duke of Cambridge said great brains and minds should be “trying to repair this planet, not trying to find the next place to go and live”.
He also warned about a rise in “climate anxiety” among younger generations.
William spoke to the BBC’s Newscast ahead of the first Earthshot Prize to reward those trying to save the planet.
The prize’s name is a reference to the “moonshot” ambition of 1960s America, which saw then-President John F Kennedy pledge to get a man on the moon within a decade.
Speaking about the current space race and the drive to promote space tourism, William said: “We need some of the world’s greatest brains and minds fixed on trying to repair this planet, not trying to find the next place to go and live.”I think that ultimately is what sold it for me – that really is quite crucial to be focusing on this [planet] rather than giving up and heading out into space to try and think of solutions for the future.”
On Wednesday, Hollywood actor William Shatner became the oldest person to go to space as he blasted off aboard the Blue Origin sub-orbital capsule developed by billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Sir Richard Branson and Elon Musk are also building up space businesses.
He warned there was “a rise in climate anxiety” among young people who whose “futures are basically threatened the whole time”.
“It’s very unnerving and it’s very, you know, anxiety making,” he said.
The father-of-three challenged adults to channel their inner child to “remember how much it meant to be outdoors and what we’re robbing those future generations of”.
William also said his father, Prince Charles, had a “rough ride” when warning about climate change, adding: “It’s been a hard road for him.”
He said Charles, inspired by his father, the late Duke of Edinburgh, “talked about climate change a lot more, very early on, before anyone else thought it was a topic”.
The duke added that “it would be an absolute disaster if [Prince] George is sat here talking” about saving the planet in 30 year’s time.
Five winners of the Earthshot Prize, each receiving £1m, will be announced in a ceremony later this month.
William told Newscast’s Adam Fleming he had “absolutely no interest” in going as high as space, adding there was a “fundamental question” over the carbon cost of space flights.
Belgium’s Energy Minister calls for the government to speed up plan to shut down nuclear reactors
Another government crisis looms in Belgium — this time over nuclear
power. The government is set to decide next month whether to go ahead with
a plan to shut down all nuclear reactors by 2025 or prolong the lifespan of
the two newest reactors.
But the seven-party coalition is deeply divided on
the issue, with some warning the government could implode if the fight
escalates. It’s also a make-or-break moment for the Greens, who are in
charge of the energy file and in government for the first time since 2003.
Tinne Van der Straeten, the Green energy minister, is calling on the
government to move ahead with its plan to shut down Belgium’s remaining
reactors — a position that’s in line with the party’s anti-nuclear agenda
and that she has defended as consistent with the country’s long-term
climate goals. But her suggestion to build new gas-fired plants to replace
part of the nuclear capacity before relying fully on renewables isn’t going
down well with other parties, especially as natural gas prices soar across
Europe.
Politico 11th Oct 2021
https://www.politico.eu/article/belgium-nuclear-power-government-climate-greens/
Rebranded – ROLLS-ROYCE SMR , a new conglomerate of 9 groups (to spread the risks of uneconomic small nuclear reactors?)
The nine-strong consortium also includes the National Nuclear Laboratory and Laing O’Rourke, the construction firm, alongside Assystem, SNC Lavalin/Atkins, Wood, BAM Nuttall, the Welding Institute and Nuclear AMRC.
UK poised to confirm funding for mini nuclear reactors for carbon-free energy Guardian,
Rolls-Royce-led consortium already has £210m in private backing for plans to build 16 reactors across the country, The government is poised to approve funding for a fleet of Rolls-Royce mini nuclear reactors that the prime minister hopes will help the UK reach his target of zero-carbon electricity by 2035.
A consortium led by the British engineering firm had already secured £210m in backing from private investors for the small modular reactor (SMR) project, a sum that the government is expected to match or better. Confirmation is expected before the spending review on 27 October, according to well-placed sources.
The consortium, known as UK SMR, will rebrand as Rolls-Royce SMR to coincide with Westminster’s blessing.
Tom Greatrex, the chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association (NIA), said: “Match-funding for Rolls-Royce would be a huge signal to private investors that the government wants SMRs alongside new large-scale stations to hit net zero. It would also show investors that the government believes in nuclear as a green technology.”
Backing from the government will pave the way for the consortium’s multibillion-pound plan to build 16 SMRs around the country, the first of which could be plugged into the grid by 2031…………..
Confirmed support for SMRs could signal a concerted effort within government to reverse the scheduled decline in the UK’s nuclear power capacity. About 20% of the nation’s electricity comes from 13 nuclear reactors capable of producing 7.8GW of power. But more than half of that capacity comes from reactors due to retire by 2025, and plans to replace them have stalled.
Toshiba pulled out of a plant at Moorside in Cumbria in 2020, and Hitachi withdrew planning consent for a project at Wylfa Newydd, on Anglesey, this year. While Hinkley Point C is due to start generating electricity from 2026, only one new project, Sizewell C, is now in the works, with no final investment decision yet made.
Britain’s ability to build new nuclear reactors has been further complicated by the government’s unwillingness to allow any further involvement from the state-backed China General Nuclear. CGN has a 20% stake in Sizewell C but ministers have been looking into ways to remove it from the project before it moves to the construction phase. The Chinese company was due to take a lead role in the Bradwell reactor in Suffolk, which is now highly unlikely to go ahead.
Industry players are keen to see the government legislate to approve the regulated asset base (RAB) model, which allows private investors a more reliable stream of revenues from nuclear power plants – which typically require tens of billions of pounds to build – by piling costs on to household energy bills……..
The nine-strong consortium also includes the National Nuclear Laboratory and Laing O’Rourke, the construction firm, alongside Assystem, SNC Lavalin/Atkins, Wood, BAM Nuttall, the Welding Institute and Nuclear AMRC. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/oct/15/uk-poised-to-confirm-funding-for-mini-nuclear-reactors-for-green-energy
Orano building 5km wall around its La Hague nuclear reprocessing station
Orano has started construction of a 5 km wall around its nuclear waste
reprocessing plant in La Hague (Manche), a site with the most radioactive
material in Europe, we learned Thursday from the business.
“Orano la Hague has initiated the construction of a new internal fence at the establishment
over nearly 5 km long which will encompass all the nuclear buildings,” the
site management told AFP. “The building will be masonry in the lower part
and fenced in the upper part”, specifies the company.
Le Figaro 14th Oct 2021
Corrosion problems cause shutdown of Orano’s nuclear reprocessing station in La Hague
Orano had to shut down one of its two nuclear waste reprocessing plants,
located in La Hague (Channel), for at least two months, following in
particular a corrosion problem, we learned Friday from the site.
“The UP3 plant was shut down at the end of September and we hope to restart at the
beginning of December,” said the management of the site, confirming
information from the daily La Manche Press. This shutdown is linked in
particular to a problem with evaporators, highly irradiating tanks, under
close surveillance since 2016 due to faster corrosion than expected.
The Times Hub 9th Oct 2021
Greenpeace France denounces shipments of uranium from Orano to Russia
Greenpeace denounces shipments of uranium from Orano to Russia. An Orano spokesperson confirms that the group signed a contract with Rosatom at the end of 2020 for the sale of just over 1,000 tonnes of reprocessed uranium for the manufacture of “nuclear fuel for Russian power plants.
Ouest France 12th Oct 2021
At each stage of its production, nuclear electricity generates tons of waste and material that is difficult to reuse and as a result accumulates throughout France. These ever-increasing quantities of useless radioactive substances are a problem for the French nuclear industry and tarnish its message regarding the alleged environmental virtues of nuclear power.
To rid themselves of some of this cumbersome waste, French companies EDF and Orano have chosen to resume the sale of spent uranium to Russia – a business interrupted over 10 years ago. While nvestigating in the port of Le Havre, Greenpeace France discovered that several dozen tons of uranium
obtained by reprocessing spent fuel were loaded on board the ship Kapitan Lomonosov bound for St. Petersburg on 20 January and 12 February 2021.
Greenpeace France 13th Oct 2021
France building a pro-nuclear European alliance in lead-up to Cop26
France is building a pro-nuclear European alliance to overcome German resistance to new rules that would open the way for more [so-called] carbon-free atomic power. Nine other European countries have signed up to a nuclear power initiative at a time of spiralling energy prices, partly caused by EU
climate change policies that increase the cost of electricity generation using fossil fuels.
The countries are pushing for nuclear power, which produces no carbon emissions [if you just don’t count the full nuclear fuel chain] , and they want it to be classified as a greentechnology in EU industrial “taxonomy” ratings, which would clearprivate investment in atomic power to be linked to climate policy
subsidies.
Times 12th Oct 2021
President Macron backs nuclear energy, but France’s Greens want speedier end to nuclear power
The president 9 Macron) used the speech to state his support for nuclear energy, which accounts for about 70% of French electricity and has become a point of fierce debate in the run-up to next year’s election.
Green politicians want France to move fast to end its dependence on nuclear, highlighting the large amounts of radioactive waste it produces as well as safety issues.
Politicians on the right and far-right want more reactors. Macron said France would invest €1bn by 2030 in “disruptive innovation” to produce atomic power, which he said would focus on designing small nuclear reactors with improved waste management. He added that France should be able to produce 2m electric and hybrid cars by 2030 and build a low-CO2 aeroplane during the same timeframe.
Guardian 12th Oct 2021
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/12/macron-30bn-plan-to-reindustrialise-france
France is betting on small nuclear reactors, but obstacles remain.
| Nuclear, France still believes in it. Analysis The executive will encourage the creation of small reactors. The decision to launch the construction of 6 EPRs could come more quickly than expected, but the obstacles still remain numerous. La Criox 12th Oct 2021 https://www.la-croix.com/Economie/Nucleaire-France-croit-encore-2021-10-12-1201180081 *France – SMRs &EPRs** Nuclear: France is betting on SMR mini-reactors. As part of the France 2030 plan, the President of the Republic should announce this Tuesday a new envelope for the development of Small modular reactors (SMR). Mini-reactors with a power of 170 MW, ten times less than a conventional reactor. Les Echos 12th Oct 2021 https://www.lesechos.fr/industrie-services/energie-environnement/nucleaire-la-france-parie-sur-les-mini-reacteurs-1354051 |
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant adds space for nuclear waste disposal near Carlsbad
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant adds space for nuclear waste disposal near Carlsbad Adrian Hedden, Carlsbad Current-Argus, 12 Oct 21, An eighth panel to store nuclear waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant’s underground repository near Carlsbad was completed with waste expected to go in next year . At WIPP, low-level transuranic (TRU) nuclear waste made up of clothing materials and equipment irradiated during nuclear activities, is stored in an underground salt deposit about 2,000 feet underground.The facility stores the waste in panels, with each panel containing seven rooms where workers emplace drums of it and allow the salt to gradually collapse in for permanent disposal.WIPP has emplaced waste in seven panels so far but lost some capacity due to contamination from an accidental radiological release in 2014 that also disrupted mining and emplacement activities during a three-year shutdown of the WIPP’s core operations. But seven years since mining Panel 8 began, WIPP officials reported the work was complete in Tuesday announcement.Panel 7 was expected to be full by April 2022, per the announcement, and Panel 8 will be ready to accept waste immediately……………… The utility shaft project was paused last year when the New Mexico Environment Department denied extending a temporary authorization for construction ahead of a modification to WIPP’s permit to allow its use, citing concerns with COVID-19 infections at the site.The permit modification is under review by NMED.Also under review by NMED was a proposal by WIPP to construct two additional panels needed to restore the facility’s capacity from losses associated with the 2014 incident………. https://www.currentargus.com/story/news/local/2021/10/13/wipp-adds-space-nuclear-waste-disposal-near-carlsbad/6092842001/ |
1 This Month
19 May – Webinar No To Nuclear: Why Nuclear Power Destroys Lives, Derails Climate Progress and Provokes War
1 June Webinar – The High Cost of Nuclear Power – Register
of the week– Nuclear Reactor Information Task Force
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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