Sweden gets a new Nuclear Emergency Plan
Nuclear Engineering International 22d May 2020, Sweden’s Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) announced this week, that inaccordance with an SSM proposal, the government had decided on new emergency zones for operations with ionising radiation.
For Swedish nuclear power plants, this means an internal and an external emergency zone as well
as a planning zone with an approximate extent of 5, 25 and 100 kilometres
respectively. “The change is important in order to improve the
possibility of implementing effective protective measures in connection
with a nuclear accident,” SSM said.
In 2017, SSM, in collaboration with the Swedish Agency for Social Protection and Emergency Preparedness, the County Administrative Boards in Uppsala, Kalmar, Hallands, Södermanland,
Västmanland and Skåne and the municipality of Lund and the Rescue
Services South, reported an assignment to the government where the agency
proposed to make emergency preparedness zones.
The Government has now
decided on a new regulation (2003: 789) on accident prevention, which means
that the emergency zones for nuclear facilities are being redone, in
accordance with that proposal. In the zones, iodine tablets should be
pre-distributed, the population should be able to be alerted quickly and
there must be a planning for evacuation and indoor stay. Evacuation of the
internal emergency zone must be prioritised over evacuation of the external
emergency zone.
A planning zone will also be introduced where there will be
a planning for evacuation based on radiation from the ground cover
radiation, a planning for indoor living and a planning for limited extra
distribution of iodine tablets. “This means, when the emergency zones are
fully implemented, that Sweden meets international requirements for
emergency preparedness for these operations, while lessons learned from the
nuclear accident in Fukushima have been taken care of, said SSM specialist
Jan Johansson.
https://www.neimagazine.com/news/newsnew-emergency-zones-for-swedish-nuclear-power-plants-7936755
Lithuania, Belarus sign nuclear incident notification agreement
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Lithuania, Belarus sign nuclear incident notification agreement
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-26 01:02:32|Editor: huaxia VILNIUS, May 25 — The nuclear safety authorities of Lithuania and Belarus signed an agreement on early notification of a nuclear accident and on the exchange of important nuclear safety information, Lithuania’s State Nuclear Power Safety Inspectorate (VATESI) announced here on Monday.
In order to protect the public by minimizing the potential radiation-related risks and consequences, the two authorities agreed to exchange key information immediately after a nuclear incident or when the monitoring systems indicate a radiation dose-rate level that could be hazardous to the public health, said a VATESI press release. ….. Lithuania’s authorities have regularly raised questions about the environmental and nuclear safety of the Ostrovets nuclear power plant in Belarus…..http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-05/26/c_139087159.htm |
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Britain will have to decide whether it wants nuclear power stations funded — and powered — by China.
 Times 24th May 2020, The great China dilemma: Caught between two superpowers, Britain faces difficult decisions on everything from nuclear power to medicine. On the picturesque Suffolk coast, a battle is intensifying that will help define Britain’s relationship with China.In one corner is a group of celebrities and locals, including the Love Actually actor Bill Nighy, and Andy Wood, chief executive of Adnams brewery in Southwold. In the other are two nuclear power giants, Electricité de France (EDF) and China General Nuclear (CGN).
China and France want to build Sizewell C, a nuclear power station capable of supplying 7% of the UK’s electricity. The Stop Sizewell C campaigners share one concern with some politicians, notably the hard right of the Conservative Party: why is Britain relying on China to
supply its electricity? “China is adept at cyber-attacks,” said Alison Downes of Stop Sizewell C. “I would doubt whether there could be a 100% cast-iron guarantee that operating systems were immune to that. Even if you set aside security concerns, you’ve got real vulnerabilities with a government that is prepared to use economic sanctions.” Sizewell is just a part of the communist state’s Belt and Road initiative to dominate the world with cash, technology and influence. It plans to use the UK as a showcase for its nuclear technology, with state-owned CGN providing 20% of the funds for Sizewell.
China is also helping bankroll the delayed and over-budget Hinkley Point C power station in Somerset. However, the bigger prize lies on the Essex coast at Bradwell. There, 40 miles east of London, CGN wants to install its homegrown HPR1000 nuclear reactors. CGN will be the two-thirds owner of the Bradwell plant, EDF the junior partner.
EDF and CGN claim that the power stations will be impervious to cyber attack. In
Britain, a new China-sceptic organisation, the China Research Group, has been formed by Tory MPs led by Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the foreign affairs select committee. It is a far cry from the “golden era” in Sino-British relations promised by David Cameron in 2015, when Chinese
president Xi Jinping visited the UK and the pair drank pints in a pub. At CGN, concern is growing about the rising tide of Sinophobia and its investment in the UK. As the Chinese embassy in London pumps out defensive statements about China’s role in tackling Covid-19, Britain will have to decide whether it wants nuclear power stations funded — and powered — by China. CGN’s UK chief executive, Zheng Dongshan, is understood to have
pressed energy minister Nadhim Zahawi for clarity around the UK’s intentions on new nuclear. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/business/the-great-china-dilemma-6rdmhw3wl |
Doubts on the funding of Britain’s £18bn Sizewell nuclear plan
Times 24th May 2020, EDF submits £18bn nuclear plan. Energy giant EDF is poised to submit plans for an £18bn nuclear power station on the Suffolk coast, stoking tensions
over China’s role in Britain’s critical infrastructure. EDF is expected
to submit a development consent order (DCO) to the planning inspectorate on
Wednesday — a crucial stage in building Sizewell C, which will supply 7%
of the country’s electricity. China General Nuclear (CGN) is funding 20%
of the Sizewell development, with the French state power company
shouldering the rest of the cost, although sources said CGN may opt not to
fund its construction.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/edf-submits-18bn-nuclear-plan-lsc3q8378
Lithuania wants to stop Belarus new nuclear plant, so close to the border
The facility at Ostrovets – also called Astravyets – lies just 45 kilometres from the Lithuanian capital Vilnius and is set to go online in July.
It’s Belarus’ first nuclear plant and comes 34 years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine caused havoc in the south of the country.
While France has dozens of nuclear reactors, many countries, including Germany, have pledged to phase theirs out. The amount of electricity generated by nuclear in the EU dropped from around 45% in 2006 to 28% in 2018.
For Belarus, it’s a source of pride. The 2.4-GW power plant — built with Russian money and supervision — will lessen that nation’s dependence on Moscow for energy.
Ostrovets Unit 1 reactor is expected to go online in July, while the near-identical Ostrovets 2 is set for a sign-off in the fall.
But, since the outset of the project in 2011, Lithuania has been vehemently against it. Vilnius claims it is a geopolitical scheme spearheaded by Russia to keep Lithuania quiet and keep Belarus on a tighter lead.
“The plant is being built in breach of safety standards, including the UN’s Espoo and Aarhus conventions,” Arvydas Sekmokas, Lithuania’s former energy minister, told Euronews.
“Minsk has disregarded International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recommendations made after the Fukushima disaster that plants should not be built within 100 kilometres of major population centres.
“I still believe that we still can halt the project. Otherwise, not only Lithuania but all of Europe can pay a heavy price for it.
“The world knows very well the praise-worthy stories of Austria and Sweden, which shut down their nuclear plants after they were already built.”
Lithuania has held drills to prepare for a nuclear emergency. Vilnius, with a population of more than half a million people, would have to be evacuated in the worst-case scenario of an accident at Ostrovets………
Bosses at Hinkley Point C have slashed 80 roles after employees worked throughout the coronavirus lockdown
named, said the news came as a ‘bitter pill’ after he risked his own health
to still work at the construction site during the last few months. The
worker was made “redundant with immediate effect” on Friday afternoon (May
15). He said: “We have struggled every day during this pandemic and the way
EDF has managed the outbreak. This has made the risk we have being taking
coming to site every day one bitter sweet pill to swallow.”
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/local-news/hinkley-point-c-cuts-80-4147171
Sellafield’s safety dilemma- risk of coronavirus versus risk of nuclear accident
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Sellafield work must resume despite coronavirus lockdown in case of ‘nuclear incident’, says boss LancsLive By Steve Robson, Ian Molyneaux, 12 MAY 2020The boss of Sellafield has said decommissioning work needs to resume despite the coronavirus lockdown in case there is a ‘nuclear incident’.
The site near Seascale has been running at less than a fifth of normal operations for several weeks due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with around 1,500 key staff in work. Normally, Sellafield would have up to 8,000 people on site every day. At the beginning of May, a further 120 people came back to work, mainly attending off-site offices in Warrington to access specialist equipment and software. The company says it is making its way through a “cautious, limited, phased restart of work over the coming weeks”. Now Chief executive Martin Chown admitted he is faced with a difficult decision, but said it is vital Sellafield restarts some work. It is understood this refers to the decommissioning of old facilities that have the potential to cause a nuclear hazard if left to mothball…….. It is understood that a broad set of principles for restarting work at Sellafield have been agreed including a maximum of 3,500 people working on any one site at any given time, a maximum of 25per cent of staff working at off-site facilities, and work on construction sites only approved on the basis staff do not interact with the rest of the site. …. https://www.lancs.live/news/local-news/sellafield-work-must-resume-despite-18234403 |
Move to prevent dumping of Hinkley radioactive mud on the South Wales coast
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The background shows that the Welsh Government believes concerns about the mud are irrational and are driven by “liars and scaremongers” (as the Environment Secretary said in 2018). In fact, in order to comply with the law, they need to address uncertainties and knowledge gaps and that is why we are recommending selection of members with a wide range of relevant knowledge. Please write to your elected representatives and circulate this widely, bearing in mind that Wales is not the only part of the UK affected. What little information the Welsh Government has issued suggests that announcement of the Expert Group’s membership may be imminent, so please act now. They will not want to look as if they’re backing down later. https://wanaarticles418353382.wordpress.com/category/hinkley-mud/ |
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Dismantling of Norway’s nuclear research reactors – up to 25 years, about $billion
Norwegian reactor dismantling to cost almost USD2 billion, WNN , 18 May 2020 The decommissioning of Norway’s shut down research reactors at Halden and Kjeller will cost around NOK20 billion (USD1.96 billion) and take 20-25 years, according to a report commissioned by the Ministry of Trade and Industry. The report by Atkins and Oslo Economics mainly confirms assessments from the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) and risk management and quality assurance consultants DNV GL that were made in 2019. It estimates that demolition of facilities and restoration of the areas will cost around NOK7 billion. There will also be costs of around NOK13 billion for the treatment of used fuel and the storage of radioactive waste. However, it notes there is “considerable uncertainty” around these costs…….
“There have been limited reactor operations in Norway, but we have complicated facilities and waste that will cost a lot,” said Minister of Industry Iselin Nybø. “The report shows how costly and lengthy that dismantling can be. The proposed measures will help to make the cleanup as efficient as possible.
“We will clean up to protect ourselves from harmful consequences for people and the environment from the radiation from this past industry,” Nybø added. “The investigation is part of the puzzle that is now being put in place to ensure a safe and effective cleanup. It will be considered thoroughly and planned to be addressed by the government in the autumn of 2020.”
Norway’s two research reactors – the nuclear fuel and materials testing reactor at Halden and the JEEP-II neutron scattering facility at Kjeller – were declared permanently shut down in June 2018 and April 2019, respectively. Their ownership and responsibility for them will move to Norwegian Nuclear Decommissioning (NND) from IFE……https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Dismantling-of-Norwegian-reactors-to-cost-almost-U
Ministry of Defence’s poor management of contracts for nuclear infrastructure projects
MPs slam MoD’s ‘utter failure’ to improve contract management as nuclear project costs soar
‘The department knows it can’t go on like this,’ says PAC chair The Ministry of Defence’s poor management of contracts has left taxpayers picking up the bill after nuclear infrastructure projects have swelled beyond their planned time and budget, a public spending watchdog has found.
The Public Accounts Committee found three nuclear infrastructure projects had together gone £1.45bn over budget and were each between 1.7 and 6.3 years because of problems with their contracts’ design and management.
The committee’s inquiry examined three projects: the building of a nuclear warhead assembly and disassembly facility, known as MENSA, at AWE Burghfield; the Rolls Royce-owned and operated Core Production Capability facilities at Raynesway, where the department is upgrading facilities for nuclear reactor core production; and the BAE Systems-owned Barrow shipyard facility to allow modular build of Dreadnought-class submarines.
The MoD was unable to explain why it had made repeated mistakes designing and managing the contracts – which represent the three biggest nuclear infrastructure projects it is managing – despite being warned about the same issues in the past, PAC said in a report last week.
The MPs said that both PAC and the National Audit Office had been warning of similar contracting mistakes for more than 30 years. The MoD had also “failed to learn lessons from comparable projects in the civil nuclear sector and in the United States”, they added.
The PAC report followed a NAO finding in January that “inherent uncertainties of early designs [in the three contracts] do not incentivise site operators, or their sub-contractors, to negotiate and share risks, increasing risks for the department”.
“It is therefore disappointing to see that in their early days the department made the same mistakes, also experienced by others, as were made more than 30 years ago,” the NAO report said.
The ministry said it “immensely regretted” the waste of money but admitted costs could keep rising because the contracts had left the government to assume financial risk……. https://www.civilserviceworld.com/articles/news/mps-slam-mods-utter-failure-improve-contract-management-nuclear-project-costs-soar
A mistaken idea, to put U.S. nuclear weapons in Poland
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US nukes in Poland are a truly bad idea, Brookings Institute, Steven PiferMonday,May 18, 2020 On May 15, the U.S. Ambassador in Warsaw, Georgette Mosbacher, suggested relocating U.S. nuclear weapons based in Germany to Poland. One hopes this was just a mistake by a political appointee unfamiliar with NATO nuclear weapons issues, not a reflection of official U.S. government thinking. Moving nuclear weapons to Poland would prove very problematic.
The U.S. Air Force maintains 20 B61 nuclear gravity bombs at Buchel Air Base in Germany (as well as B61 bombs on the territory of four other NATO members). Kept under U.S. custody, the bombs could, with proper authorization in a conflict, be made available for delivery by German Tornado fighter-bombers. This is part of NATO’s “nuclear sharing” arrangements.
The Tornados are aging, and the German Ministry of Defense is considering purchasing F-18 aircraft to continue the German Air Force’s nuclear delivery capability. That has reopened debate within Germany about the presence of U.S. nuclear arms there, with Social Democratic Party (SPD) parliamentary leader Rolf Mützenich calling for their removal……….
First, moving U.S. nuclear weapons to Poland would be expensive……
Second, deploying the B61 bombs in Poland would make them more vulnerable to Russian preemptive attack in a crisis or conflict……
Third, placing nuclear weapons in Poland would be hugely provocative to Russia. …..
Fourth, a U.S. proposal to relocate its nuclear weapons to Poland would prove very divisive within NATO. The members of the alliance stated in 1997 that “they have no intention, no plan, and no reason to deploy nuclear weapons on the territory of new [NATO] members.” They incorporated that into the “Founding Act” that established relations between NATO and Russia…… https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2020/05/18/us-nukes-in-poland-are-a-truly-bad-idea/
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Shinfield residents urged to look out for update from nuclear weapons facility,
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Shinfield residents urged to look out for update from nuclear weapons facility, Wokingham Today by Jess Warren Monday, May 18, 2020 RESIDENTS of Shinfield are being told to look out for an important communication coming from West Berkshire Council about the emergency planning zone around AWE Burghfield.People who live in Spencers Wood, Three Mile Cross and Grazeley will soon be updated about the enlarged emergency planning zone.
Although there has been no change in activities at AWE Burghfield, new legislation has required a review, and now the emergency plan for the facility must now cover a larger area.
This extended area — known as the Detailed Emergency Planning Zone (DEPZ) — now covers some homes and businesses in Spencers Wood, Three Mile Cross and Grazeley not previously included. “But there now has to be an emergency plan in place for a bigger area meaning some of our residents are in this DEPZ for the first time. …….Full details on the DEPZ can be found on West Berkshire’s website at: info.westberks.gov.uk/awe and more information can be found in their news release. |
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Sizewell and Bradwell nuclear projects unnecessary, but also security danger if Chinese company in control
 Daily Mail 16th May 2020, White House official urges Britain not to hand China control of its electricity as Beijing-run nuclear energy company jostles for dominance. A senior US official has delivered a stark warning to Britain not to continue to let a Chinese state-run nuclear energy company control a large part of our electricity supply. Dr Christopher Ford, the US State Department’s assistant secretary for non-proliferation and international security, warned that China General Nuclear (CGN) is closely linked to the Communist regime’s military.Any involvement in UK power generation would jeopardise our political independence for many decades, he said. One of the company’s top engineers has previously been convicted and jailed in the US for running a spy network at the behest of Beijing.
Speaking exclusively to The Mail on Sunday, Dr Ford said: ‘We are trying to discourage our friends and partners from engaging with a Chinese nuclear company that is known for such acts.’ It is highly unusual for a serving US official to intervene so forcefully about an ally’s policy decisions but it shows how seriously the Trump administration views the Chinese threat.
Dr Ford’s fears are echoed by many senior figures in Britain, including Sir Richard Dearlove, the former head of MI6. He told The Mail on Sunday that if CGN was allowed a key role in building two vast nuclear power plants – at Sizewell in Suffolk and Bradwell in Essex – there would be a grave threat to national security. An analysis by this newspaper shows that the Chinese could have total or partial control over more than a quarter of Britain’s electricity needs. Dr Ford said this could result in ‘manipulation or coercion’, explaining: ‘China has not been shy about using economic levers as a political tool. Economic entanglements are being used for political purposes with greater frequency.’
He added that if Britain became dependent on CGN, China ‘could threaten to turn the switches on and off – and that can be a very powerful tool of influence.’ In Suffolk, the firm is in partnership with the French state-run company EDF, which is about to submit its final ‘consent order’ for permission to build a similar power station to Hinkley – even though an unfinished
prototype in northern France is eight years behind schedule and three times over budget. CGN’s share of the final project has yet to be determinedbut it has already agreed to take an 80 per cent stake in Bradwell, where it wants to build two of its own Hualong 1 reactors. Industry experts saythat although Hinkley, Sizewell and Bradwell could supply at least a fifth of the total power generated in Britain, it is not proved that they are really needed.
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Coronavirus affecting France’s nuclear reactors’ safety and output
Montel News 14th May 2020, The overhaul of the schedule for shutdowns of EDF nuclear reactors during the Covid-19 pandemic will “considerably” reduce the safety margins of French power plants and will probably lead to further delays, experts told Montel. The nuclear agency is now under “potentially devastating pressure,” said Mycle Schneider, an independent energy consultant based in Paris and a critic of the nuclear industry.problem that overlaps with another. This is what is so worrisome, the accumulation of difficult events and circumstances, “he said.
that it postponed maintenance to secure the electricity supply for the winter. Already last week, the company had extended shutdowns of more than 40 reactors.https://www.montelnews.com/fr/story/la-pression-sur-edf-fait-craindre-pour-la-sret-nuclaire/1114
Britain’s Ministry of Defence continues its costly mistakes in nuclear weapons and submarines
Dundee Courier 16th May 2020, A Fife MP has lifted the lid on “astonishing and deeply worrying”
mistakes made by the Ministry of Defence, which have led to the costs of replacing Britain’s nuclear weapons and nuclear submarines soaring by a staggering £1.35 billion.
Glenrothes and Central Fife SNP MP Peter Grant, who sits on parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, has described the situation as “unacceptable” following the release of a new report that
suggests errors made by the MoD are being repeated more than 30 years after
they were first highlighted by Britain’s public spending watchdog.
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