UK Nuclear Output Slumps to 42-Year Low
- More reactors are due to be decommissioned in a few years
- EDF has warned of delays to its new Hinkley Point plant
Bloomberg, By Rachel Morison, January 3, 2024
Power output from the UK’s nuclear power plants slumped to the lowest in more than four decades last year, potentially increasing a reliance on fossil fuels that will make it more difficult to reach the nation’s net zero emissions target.
Output shrank to about 37 terawatt-hours after two stations closed, dropping below 40 terawatt-hours for the first time since the early 1980s, according to data from the government and the UK unit of Electricite de France SA. …the country’s current fleet of five nuclear plants scheduled to shrink to just three by the end of 2026,…
The UK, which has a target to reach net zero emission by the middle of this century, wants to build as much as 24 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity by that time. The government is due to publish a roadmap on how it intends to achieve that ambitious target.
But construction takes many years and is often beset by cost overruns and delays. To reach the goal, developers would need to add 16 gigawatts in the next decade at a cost of more than £150 billion ($190 billion), according to estimates from Aurora Energy Research.
“With revenues materializing around a decade after the Final Investment Decision, this generally makes nuclear a very different investment case to banks compared to other low-carbon generation technologies, one which fewer lenders are willing to consider,” said Ashutosh Padelkar, senior associate at Aurora. “It would be extremely challenging if not impossible to deliver 24 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2050 without the government taking most of the burden.”…………
Most of the current atomic fleet is reaching the end of it’s operating life. EDF has spent about £7.5 billion on life extensions and maintenance since 2009, when it acquired the current fleet.
EDF’s Hinkley Point C is the first project to be constructed in more than three decades. Startup of its two reactors is due in 2027 and 2028, though the utility has warned that may be pushed back by more than a year. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-03/uk-nuclear-output-slumps-to-42-year-low-in-threat-to-net-zero?embedded-checkout=true
EDF using Pontins Brean Sands has ‘big determinantal impact’ on local economy, tourism firm fears
It is unclear when the site will return to
being a holiday park. The continued use of Pontins Brean Sands to house
hundreds of Hinkley Point C workers is reportedly having a “big
determinantal impact” on the local economy, according to one tourism firm.
Up to 900 staff from Hinkley Point C have been living at Pontins Brean
Sands and are expected to be there across 2024 and perhaps beyond. The
holiday resort has seen a massive refurbishment of the chalets worth around
£2 million, which saw new kitchens, bathrooms, furniture, TVs, and new
Wi-Fi access installed. Yet Discover Brean has hit out at the continued use
of the site to Hinkley Point C workers and noted its impact on the local
economy and nearby traders.
Somerset Live 3rd Jan 2023
https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/edf-using-pontins-brean-sands-9009354
‘Renewable surge powers all UK homes in 2023’
Renewable electricity production in the UK reached a significant milestone
in 2023, generating more than 90 terawatt hours (TWh) of power from wind,
hydro and solar sources. This amount surpasses the energy needed to power
all of the UK’s 28 million homes.
Energy Live News 2nd Jan 2024
Backing the wrong horse: Government doubles Sizewell C funding on nuclear bad news day
Given the Hinkley debacle, the NFLAs regret that Mr Bowie did not put his shovel to good use by burying the Sizewell project, but instead, like many reckless gamblers, Ministers and senior civil servants at the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero have chosen to blow more taxpayers’ money on a losing prospect, doubling their bet on Sizewell C to £2.5 billion.
The UK/Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities were incredulous to learn that government ministers chose to back Sizewell C with a further £1.3 billion of public money on the same day (23 January) French nuclear operator EDF announced that Sizewell’s older twin sister, Hinkley Point C, would begin operating even later and at an even greater cost.
The public relations team handling Hinkley Point C announcements at EDF Energy must have a thankless task as theirs is seemingly a role that involves continually dispensing bad news. Yesterday’s https://www.edf.fr/en/the-edf-group/dedicated-sections/journalists/all-press-releases/hinkley-point-c-update-1 took the biscuit (though whether the PR team could console themselves with any given the state of the corporate finances is debatable; humble pie maybe?)
In the latest in a long litany of gloomy announcements portending further cost and delivery overruns, the company has now advised that the expected cost of delivering Hinkley Point C has increased by anything from £5-9 billion (your guess is as good as theirs) or ultimately between £31 and £35 billion. But this is based on 2015 estimates, so with inflation the bill might run to £46 billion at today’s prices. And the anticipated year in which Reactor 1 might start generating has slipped from the summer of 2027 to sometime never in 2029, with Reactor 2 coming online about one year later (or maybe not).
Interestingly our friends in Stop Sizewell report that Nuclear Minister Andrew Bowie told them recently on his whistlestop visit to Suffolk, bearing a ceremonial shovel, that Hinkley would come online in the late 2020s or early 2030s, and even the Telegraph and Guardian have reported that the plant will not be operational until the next decade.
Rather unconvincingly EDF claims that ‘The project continues to capitalise on the experience gained from construction of the 4 other EPRs around the world’ which is hardly encouraging as Taishan-1 in China experienced a serious accident which led to its shutdown for many months; Flamanville-3 in France, started in 2007 and expected to commence generation in 2012, is only now about to start loading fuel after an unhappy history of faults and compromised quality control; and Olkiluoto-3 in Finland, begun in 2005 with a start date of 2010, was only finished last year after a prolonged construction period which included a bitter contractual dispute about the apportionment of the massively spiralling costs, followed by a corporate bankruptcy.
Given the Hinkley debacle, the NFLAs regret that Mr Bowie did not put his shovel to good use by burying the Sizewell project, but instead, like many reckless gamblers, Ministers and senior civil servants at the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero have chosen to blow more taxpayers’ money on a losing prospect, doubling their bet on Sizewell C to £2.5 billion.
Clearly, DESNZ is unaware that lumbering nuclear white elephants are not the best runners to back in a race, and that renewables, provided with equal financial encouragement, will romp home by a mile every time. Given its latest foolhardy behaviour, the NFLAs now venture to suggest that DESNZ be once more swiftly renamed – this time to the Department of No Energy and Zero Sense.
Fears after warning of ‘rotting’ nuclear infrastructure on Clyde
By Xander Elliards
THE UK Government must “urgently” make a statement to parliament on whether Scots living near its nuclear bases remain safe after alarm bells were rung over “rotting” infrastructure, the SNP have said.
It comes after Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser, claimed
there was a top-level cover-up of the poor state of the UK’s nuclear
provision. Cummings said that in 2022 Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had
approached him for help with the next General Election campaign, and he had
asked for several conditions in return.
One of these, he said, was
addressing the “fundamentally critical” issue of “the scandal of
nuclear weapons infrastructure which is a dangerous disaster and a budget
nightmare of hard-to-believe and highly classified proportions, and which
has forced large secret cannibalisation of other national security
budgets”.
Writing on social media, Cummings added that it was a
“fact that our nuclear weapons infrastructure is dangerously rotting and
is tens of billions secretly in the hole, with huge knock-on effects beyond
its destructive effects on MoD [Ministry of Defence] which has got *even
worse*”. HM Naval Base, Clyde, at Faslane on the west coast of Scotland is
home to the UK’s nuclear submarines. The nearby Royal Naval Armaments
Depot at Coulport is responsible for storing, processing, maintaining and
issuing key elements of the UK’s Trident nuclear missile system.
The National 2nd Jan 2024
https://www.thenational.scot/news/24023426.fears-warning-rotting-nuclear-infrastructure-clyde/
Hackers use LinkedIn to target UK nuclear waste firm
ITPRO, By Emma Woollacott, 2 Jan 24
Radioactive Waste Management said attackers have leveraged LinkedIn in a spear phishing campaign
Radioactive Waste Management (RWM), which is planning a huge underground nuclear waste store in the north of England, has been targeted by cyber criminals via LinkedIn, according to The Guardian.
Accounts for RWM filed at Companies House show that the organization has been targeted by cyber criminals using various methods, including the use of popular social network platforms to dupe staff.
RWM, which is part of Nuclear Waste Services (NWS), revealed that attacks have escalated in recent months, raising concerns over the risk of hackers gaining access to highly sensitive materials.
NWS chief executive, Corhyn Parr, said the government-backed organization has experienced “instances of potential exploitation of ownership change through specific attack vectors, predominantly LinkedIn targeting”…………………………………………………………………………..
The incident highlights a growing problem. Last month, for example, the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and international partners warned that Russia-based hacking group Star Blizzard was using spear phishing techniques via email and social media to target defense and governmental organizations.
LinkedIn has been the method of choice in previous attacks on industry and infrastructure, according to Adam Pilton, cyber security consultant at CyberSmart.
Used by millions of professionals globally, the popular social network has become a key hunting ground for targets in recent years……………………………………………. more https://www.itpro.com/security/hackers-use-linkedin-to-target-uk-nuclear-waste-firm
Swedish nuclear outage extended by 3 weeks
The outage coincides with a winter cold snap that has sent Nordic temperatures to their lowest levels in decades
Terje Solsvik, Reuters News, January 3, 2024, https://www.zawya.com/en/world/uk-and-europe/swedish-nuclear-outage-extended-by-3-weeks-njnyjkcb
A partial outage at Sweden’s Forsmark 2 nuclear reactor was extended by three weeks until Jan. 24 while repairs are made to a generator, the operator said in a market message posted via Nordic power exchange Nord Pool on Wednesday.
Forsmark Block 2 will operate at just 490 megawatt (MW) of its total 1,121 MW capacity, the note said.
The outage coincides with a winter cold snap that has sent Nordic temperatures to their lowest levels in decades, boosting demand for electricity in heating. (Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Nora Buli)
Zelensky promises to ‘cut off’ Crimea in 2024
The Russian peninsula will become the conflict’s “center of gravity,” the Ukrainian leader told The Economist
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has predicted that his country’s armed forces will “isolate” Crimea in 2024. The region, which joined Russia in 2014 following a bloody nationalist coup in Kiev, hosts Moscow’s Black Sea fleet.
Kiev will seek to cut off access to the peninsula by destroying the Kerch bridge, which connects it to the Russian mainland, Zelensky claimed. For this purpose, he once again demanded German-made long-range Taurus cruise missiles, which Berlin has so far refused to supply even after France and the UK provided Kiev with Storm Shadow missiles.
Zelensky blamed information leaks for the failure of Kiev’s much-hyped summer counteroffensive against Russia, but nevertheless shared new insights into the military’s top priorities for 2024, saying in an interview with The Economist that isolating Crimea is “extremely important.”
The Ukrainian president reiterated his ambitious goal of eventually restoring the country’s 1991 borders, but stopped short of making any promises or setting timelines. The immediate goal, he said, will be “to defend the east” and protect Ukraine’s critical infrastructure.
“Russia has to know that for us this is a military object,” he said.
According to President Vladimir Putin, Russian forces now hold the strategic initiative in the Ukraine conflict, while Kiev has largely been driven by political goals, with their efforts aimed at showing “their true masters at least some results.”
Zelensky also complained that the “mobilization of Ukrainian society and of the world” was much lower now than at the beginning of the conflict, admitting that any military success will depend on assistance from the West.
“Giving us money or giving us weapons, you support yourself. You save your children, not ours,” he claimed.
Kiev announced a general mobilization in February 2022, barring most men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country, but the campaign has been marred by corruption and draft dodging. Following Ukraine’s disappointing summer counteroffensive, which according to Moscow cost Kiev nearly 160,000 troops, Zelensky recently announced a plan to raise 500,000 more soldiers to replace battlefield losses.
“Mobilization is not just a matter of soldiers going to the front. It is about all of us. It is the mobilization of all efforts,” he told The Economist. “Let’s be honest, we have switched to domestic politics… If we continue to focus on domestic politics, we need to call elections. Change the law, the constitution. But forget about counteroffensive actions and de-occupation.”
Ukraine war – NATO provides a new bonanza for Raytheon and MBDA Germany weapons companies
NATO to buy 1,000 Patriot missiles to enhance Allies’ air defences
NATO’s Support and Procurement Agency will support a coalition of Allies, including Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Spain to procure up to 1,000 Patriot missiles to strengthen their air defences amid Russia’s war against Ukraine. The contract will expand the European production of the missiles, enhancing supply and ensuring the replenishment of Allied stockpiles….
The $5.5 billion contract has been awarded to COMLOG, a joint venture between the US company Raytheon and German company MBDA, located in Schrobenhausen, Germany. The large volume of the order will support the set up of a production facility for Patriot missiles in Germany. ……….. https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_221626.htm
Cyber-hackers target UK nuclear waste company RWM.
Radioactive Waste Management says attempt was made to breach the business using LinkedIn
Guardian, Alex Lawson and Anna Isaac, 1 Jan 2024
Cyber-hackers have targeted the company behind a £50bn project to build a vast underground nuclear waste store in Britain, its developer has said.
Radioactive Waste Management, the company behind the Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) project, has said that hackers unsuccessfully attempted to breach the business using LinkedIn.
RWM is the government-owned entity behind a trio of nuclear bodies that merged last year to create Nuclear Waste Services (NWS). The new body brought together the GDF project, the long-established Low Level Waste Repository in west Cumbria and another body responsible for managing waste to develop a store expected to last 175 years.
In accounts for RWM filed at Companies House, NWS’s chief executive, Corhyn Parr, said of the merger that “we have seen instances of potential exploitation of ownership change through specific attack vectors, predominantly LinkedIn targeting”………………………..
Experts have warned that social media sites are used by hackers to break through security mechanisms in a number of ways. These include creating fake business accounts, deceptive messages to gather information or cause recipients to click on malicious links, as well as directly trying to steal users credentials for other secure logins……………………..
The government is in the process of finding a site for the GDF project, a subterranean network tunnels and vaults designed to house Britain’s highly radioactive nuclear waste. The project is forecast to cost between £20bn and £53bn, and expected to receive its first waste in the 2050s. It echoes similar deep repository projects in Finland and France.
Earlier this year, Allerdale in Cumbria was deemed geologically unsuitable for the facility, leaving two other sites in Cumbria and one on the Lincolnshire coast remaining on the shortlist. NWS is in the process of surveying each site and convincing communities to approve of a development, in the face of local opposition…………………………….
Digital security in the nuclear industry has been in focus since the Guardian revealed a string of problems with cybersecurity at the Sellafield site in Cumbria………….. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/dec/31/cyber-hackers-target-uk-nuclear-waste-company-rwm
State papers: Plans for nuclear power plant on shores of Lough Neagh shelved over drinking water concerns
The Northern Ireland government was warned against proposals to build a nuclear power station beside Lough Neagh, archive files show.
Newsletter, By David Young, PA, 28th Dec 2023
The feasibility of the proposal was assessed by the Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE), a UK government body that was responsible for research on, and development of, nuclear power.
The Stormont government had been assessing the potential for a nuclear power plant in Northern Ireland in the 1950s and the shores of Lough Neagh, the UK and Ireland’s largest freshwater lake, had been identified as a possible location.
However, the AERE advised against this site, raising concern about water contamination in the event of an accident, particularly given that the lough was to be increasingly used as one of the main sources of water for Belfast.
The opinion of the AERE was outlined in a letter from its director John Cockcroft to then prime minister of Northern Ireland Viscount Brookeborough (Basil Brooke) in August 1958.
The document, marked confidential, is in archive files newly released from the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland.
In began by noting that an assessment of the “siting problem” in Northern Ireland had been conducted by a body called the Reactor Location Panel two years earlier, in 1956…………………………………………………………………………………… more https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/politics/state-papers-plans-for-nuclear-power-plant-on-shores-of-lough-neagh-shelved-over-drinking-water-concerns-4458627
‘Get on with it’: Johnson pressures Sunak over delayed nuclear power plans
Documents seen by i reveal that major deadlines set by the Government have already been missed
Boris Johnson has warned Rishi Sunak
that the UK must generate more of its own electricity through nuclear if it
is to avoid spikes in energy prices. Boris Johnson has told Rishi Sunak to
“get on with it” after leaked documents revealed the UK’s transition
to nuclear power has been beset by delays. Plans to power a quarter of the
national grid with nuclear energy by 2050 have slowed, with a number of
internal targets missed, i can reveal.
The documents seen by i show that
several key deadlines have not been met for the UK’s plan to rapidly
increase nuclear output. The UK’s net-zero plans rely on one quarter of
the UK’s grid being powered by nuclear reactors, and Mr Johnson told i
that nuclear is vital to help control energy bills and prevent spikes such
as those caused by the Ukraine war.
The launch of Great British Nuclear,
the governmental organisation dedicated to co-ordinating the UK’s nuclear
energy plan, was only completed six months after the initial deadline of
the end of 2022. Grants to be given to promising projects were only
announced earlier this month, despite a deadline of 2022 in the documents,
which were prepared for the nuclear industry as a means of explaining the
Governments plan. A deadline to give at least one project a final
investment decision by spring 2023 was also missed.
The documents show
there is a target date for investment decisions on two further projects to
be approved by October 2024. Mr Johnson – who declared his strategy was
the “big ticket nuclear solution” to net zero when he launched it –
is concerned about the future of what he considers his legacy. ………………………………………………………………………………The delays also follow a series of -turns from Mr Sunak onnet-zero policies, which were first introduced by Mr Johnson. The former
prime minister had prioritised green policies during his premiership. Six
development sites had been shortlisted by the Government as part of a small
nuclear reactor competition in October.
However only one site from
Rolls-Royce is thought to be currently under assessment from the Office for
Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and Environment Agency, while the five other sites
are yet to progress to this stage. At the time the shortlist was announced,
Rolls-Royce hinted at frustrations at the speed of progress, with a company
statement saying “now let’s move at pace to secure the first order”
i understands that new Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho was told to focus
on projects such as nuclear upon appointment, amid industry frustrations.
With the potential of an election next year, and little movement on the
approval of six shortlisted sites, tension is building over the future of
the project. One industry source pointed to the recent announcement of an
agreement between Tees Valley Mayor Lord Houchen and the firm Community
Nuclear Power to develop the new mini nuclear reactors in the North-East.
The deal was negotiated separately from the UK’s central nuclear
strategy, amid disquiet over delays and direction. An industry source said:
“The [Tees Valley] deal is something of a warning shot to the Government.
It benefits Houchen as these sites and high-tech jobs will go to Tees
Valley if approved, and it benefits the nuclear firms to try and hurry the
Government up.”
Some investors are worried that they will not be given
the go ahead for SMR sites before the next election, causing further
delays, as Labour could change the Government’s overall approach. Stefano
Buono, chief executive of nuclear firm Newcleo, told i his business was
willing to invest “billions” in the UK if the Government provided some
clarity on the future of nuclear. He said: “We welcome the UK
Government’s strong commitment to small and advanced nuclear but remain
concerned by the timeline for delivery. “Newcleo is ready to invest
billions of pounds of private money in the UK, and create thousands of
high-value jobs in local communities with our innovative reactors. However,
like others in the industry, we call for urgent clarity on where we can
locate our operations.
iNews 28th Dec 2023
https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/johnson-pressures-sunak-nuclear-delay-energy-bills-rise-2818971
Sea level rise: ‘We can’t afford to wait’: a Cornish town faces climate threat head on
Earlier this year the north Cornwall town received a profound shock when
it was presented with a visualisation created by the Environment Agency of
the impact of rising sea levels on Bude. It left little doubt about the
seriousness of the threat and made it clear that global heating-induced sea
level rises will push the community into full-scale retreat. If nothing is
done, by 2050 rising sea levels will consume landmarks, such as the surf
life-saving club, and the Bude seawater swimming pool, as well as cafes,
businesses and car parks.
Guardian 14th Dec 2023
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/14/cornish-town-faces-climate-threat-head-on-bude
Nuclear attack on Northern Ireland viewed as ‘possibility’ after 9/11.
Nuclear attack on Northern Ireland viewed as ‘possibility’ after 9/11.
There were calls for decontamination units to operate at capacity while
protective clothing and supplies of antidotes, needles and syringes must be
‘built up’, senior civil servant urged.
Irish Times 28th Dec 2023
A nuclear-powered ship in Murmansk started to burn. Only few locals got to know about the serious incident
The fire brigade in Murmansk quickly extinguished the blaze that broke out on the 24th of December in a cabin onboard nuclear-powered container ship Sevmorput. State shipowner Rosatom never issued any information about the dramatic situation.
By Atle Staalesen, 28 Dec 23
Little information is available about the fire that broke out in Atomflot, the base for nuclear-powered vessels in Murmansk.
Only two short announcements were in the evening of the 24th of December posted on messenger service Telegram by the local Ministry of Emergency Situations (Emercom).
The first message posted at 21.17 pm informed about a fire on the territory of Atomflot and about the fire brigades that were on the way.
About 1,5 hour later, Emercom informed about its successful fire fighting……………
According to the emergency service, the fire covered an area of about 30 square meters in a cabin onboard the Sevmorput.
The Telegram messages were read by about ten thousand people. A few of them commented on the posts.
Where should we flee?” one of the readers asked.
Rosatom, the state nuclear power company that operates the Sevmorput, has apparently not issued any information about the fire. Neither has any of the company’s subsidiaries, such as the Atomflot or the Rosatomflot.
There is no information about the incident on the companies’ websites or their social media.
The fire could potentially have created a dramatic situation in the big Russian Arctic city. The Atomflot base is located only few kilometres from downtown Murmansk and a major fire on the nuclear-powered ship would have posed a serious threat to the about 270,000 population.
The Sevmorput is the world’s only nuclear-powered merchant container ship.
It is 260 meter long and was built in 1988. For many years, the ship lay idle in Murmansk and Russian authorities ultimately decided to scrap it. However, in 2013 it was instead decided to undertake a major renovation, and in autumn 2015, the ship was again test-sailing the Barents Sea. The following year, Sevmorput was back in regular service and has in the lastest years delivered cargo to military installations in the Russian Arctic, as well as to the petroleum development along the Siberian coast. The ship can carry 74 lighters or 1324 containers.
After the 2015 upgrade and safety evaluation, the reactor’s service life was prolonged with 150,000 hours aimed at keeping the vessel in operation until 2024.
It now looks increasingly likely that the ship will exit service and ultimately be scrapped. In a recent conference on the Arctic, Head of Atomflot Leonid Irlitsa said that his company plans to replace the ship with alternative non-nuclear vessels in 2024…………. https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/nuclear-safety/2023/12/nuclear-powered-ship-murmansk-started-burn-only-few-locals-got-know-about
1 This Month
PLEASE OPPOSE HR 8255 AND S.3639 – bills would accelerate satellite deployment, with no environmental review or safeguards – https://ncstd5li.quorum.us/campaign/169331/
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