Despite Germany’s nuclear phaseout, the secure supply of electricity in Germany will remain guaranteed at the current high level for the foreseeable future.
Renew Economy 16th May 2021 Germany’s target of achieving greenhouse gas neutrality by 2045 has a very important sub-goal: The expansion of renewable energy capacity to provide green power for transport, heating and making hydrogen. But running such an integrated energy system on fluctuating renewables alone will require not just more wind turbines and solar panels, but a power network that ensures the delicate balance of supply and demand at all times, while conventional capacities are shut down. So far, the power supply in Germany remains one of the most reliable in the world. The government and grid operators are confident it will stay this way despite the challenges of electrifying the nation and experts highlight the importance of European power grid integration. But others predict that the country will soon be in need of back-up capacity. Germany’s conventional power generation capacity is beginning to dwindle. In December 2022, the country will have over 23 gigawatts (GW) less nuclear power capacity than ten years ago. In a reply to parliamentarians, it wrote in March 2021: “All analyses of supply security known to the federal government and carried out in accordance with the latest scientific findings come to the conclusion that the secure supply of electricity in Germany will remain guaranteed at the current high level for the foreseeable future. The analyses also take into account the phase-out of nuclear energy and the end of coal-fired power generation. https://reneweconomy.com.au/shutting-down-nuclear-and-coal-can-germany-keep-the-lights-on/ |
OVER 440 safety incidents have been recorded at Scotland’s nuclear bases over the last three years,
The National 16th May 2021, Faslane and Coulport** OVER 440 safety incidents have been recorded at Scotland’s nuclear bases over the last three years, with events becoming increasingly more frequent.
More than 80% of the incidents occurred at HM Naval Base Clyde at Faslane,
where most of the UK’s nuclear submarine fleet is located. A number of
safety incidents were also recorded at the Royal Naval Armaments Depot at
Coulport, home to the nuclear warheads. SNP MP Deirdre Brock, who obtained
the figures, told The Scotsman: “This is an appalling safety record and
it just should not be tolerated. Scotland has an arsenal of weapons of mass
destruction sitting just a few miles from our biggest city.
Both Germany and Britain are decarbonising while nuclear production is greatly reducing
Nuclear Phase-Out – UK & Germany**
Even-handed analysis of data from Germany and the UK indicates that it is
still easily possible to dramatically reduce carbon emissions whilst
greatly reducing the amount of energy coming from nuclear power.
One thing not usually appreciated in the arguments about the impact of nuclear power
plant retirements in Germany is that in reality much the same process has
occurred, for different reasons, in the UK.
In both Germany and the UK the
falling proportion of electricity coming from nuclear power has gone along
with dramatic reductions in carbon emissions from electricity in both
countries.
Peering through the fog of the current debate one would almost
think that ‘pro-nuclear’ UK was busy cutting its carbon emissions by
increasing nuclear output whilst ‘anti-nuclear’ Germany was busy
increasing them, or at least not reducing them, by its phase-out policy.
Yet nothing of the sort has been happening. Both the cases of Germany and
the UK knock the pro-nuclear arguments on the head that say that increases
in renewable energy cannot reduce carbon emissions without maintaining
nuclear production. Clearly they can!
100% Renewables 16th May 2021
EDF’s Sizewell B nuclear station: steel components wearing out. EDf to close Hinkley Point B in Somerset and Hunterston B in Scotland early.
Times 17th May 2021, Steel components in the heart of Britain’s most modern nuclear power
station are wearing out more quickly than expected, forcing EDF to carry
out lengthy unscheduled repairs.
The French energy giant is having to keep
Sizewell B in Suffolk offline for three months longer than planned to deal
with the safety issues. …
EDF said it had found wear to some of Sizewell’s stainless steel “thermal sleeves”, which form part of
the mechanisms that insert control rods into the reactor core to shut it
down. Experience at a reactor in France has shown that extreme wear could
eventually result in parts of the thermal sleeves coming loose and
obstructing the control rods. EDF is assessing the cause and extent of the
wear at Sizewell and how many components need to be replaced before it
seeks permission to restart the plant. It insisted the damage was
“nowhere near” the stage where it would prevent control rods
functioning, and that in any event the reactor could still be shut down
safely.
EDF has said it will close Hinkley Point B in Somerset and
Hunterston B in Scotland permanently by next year, earlier than planned,
because of cracks in their graphite cores. It is also considering closing
Dungeness B in Kent as soon as this year. The plant was not scheduled to
close until 2028 but has been offline since 2018 because of corrosion.
Rolls Royce desperate for investors for its £2bn Small Nuclear Reactors
It’s not a good look, as Rolls Royce is in a financial crisis
Consortium led by Rolls-Royce on hunt for orders for its £2bn nuclear reactors after redesign that means each will power 100,000 more homes https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-9581899/Rolls-Royce-starts-hunt-buyers-nuclear-reactor-boost.html By ALEX LAWSON, FINANCIAL MAIL ON SUNDAY 16 May 2021
A consortium led by Rolls-Royce is on the hunt for orders for its £2billion nuclear reactors after a redesign that means each will power 100,000 more homes.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal that the UK Small Modular Reactor (SMR) project has revamped the proposed mini reactors to increase their output. The factory-built reactors will now generate 470 megawatts, enough to provide electricity to a million homes.
The project, launched in 2015, aims to bring ten mini nuclear reactors into use by 2035, with the first due to enter service around 2030.
Tom Samson, chief executive of the UK SMR Consortium, said negotiations had begun with potential investors to fund the creation of the mini reactors – signalling that the project may move more rapidly than previously thought.
He said it was looking for customers, which could include energy, industrial or technology companies, to operate the sites. He added: ‘We’re ready to take this technology to market. We’re going to be pursuing orders. We’re hoping to get orders soon.’
The UK’s nuclear power industry has had a chequered recent past with the future of some huge plants thrown into doubt. Rolls-Royce hopes to create a nimbler solution to complement big power stations.
Rolls-Royce is the major share holder in the venture, which has been developed through a consortium that includes Atkins, Jacobs and Laing O’Rourke. The Government has so far invested £18million to support its design and £215million has been earmarked for the SMR programme as part of a ‘Green Industrial Revolution’.
Samson said a further £300million of private capital is now being sought to develop the reactors, which it hopes will be located both in the UK and overseas.
The initial ‘two to three’ units are likely to require Government support, but Samson hopes to move to ‘traditional debt and equity’ to fund following orders. Last week, the Government updated its nuclear policy to open its Generic Design Assessment to new nuclear technologies. UK SMR hopes to be the first to submit a proposal to Government and regulators.
Samson said 220 engineering decisions had been made in the latest designs. He said the switch from an ‘armadillo’-shaped building to one with a ‘faceted’ top allowing the roof to wrap around the inner workings made it more efficient.
The Prime Minister’s former chief adviser Dominic Cummings was a champion of the UK SMR programme, but Samson said No10 remained behind the project and it chimed with current policy.
He added: ‘We unashamedly wrap ourselves in the Union Jack. This is a really proud UK innovation that we’ve developed here at low cost. And that’s what consumers need.
We’re contributing to the Government’s levelling-up agenda. We’re also contributing to its post-Brexit global Britain agenda.’
Samson is running the rule over sites for factories to build the mini reactors, and said they were most likely to be in the North of England and the East Midlands, where Rolls-Royce is based. He is also studying potential locations for the reactors, which could include former nuclear sites in West Cumbria and Anglesey, where Japanese giant Hitachi pulled the plug on plans for a £20billion plant last year.
Samson described renewable energies such as solar and wind power as ‘weather dependent’, adding: ‘We’re not intermittent. These plants will run for 60 years. They will operate 24/7.’
Rolls-Royce rocked by a £4 billion loss
Rolls-Royce rocked by a £4 billion loss: But upbeat boss says firm is in a position to ‘thrive, not just survive’ after lockdown, This is Money, By FRANCESCA WASHTELL FOR THE DAILY MAIL, 12 March 2021 Rolls-Royce plunged to a £4billion loss last year after the collapse in air travel hammered its engines business.
The UK’s premier engineering firm warned the recovery this year would be even slower than expected after a second wave of the pandemic led to more flight cancellations.
But boss Warren East was in fighting mood and said the company was in a position to ‘thrive, not just survive’ and had built up enough cash to deal with any further setbacks.,,,,,,,
The £4billion loss – which compares with a £583million profit in 2019 – was worse than analysts had expected.
In an effort to get through the crisis, Rolls kicked off a huge restructuring last May that included cutting 9,000 jobs from its 52,000-strong workforce and selling parts of the business worth £2billion.
Rolls has also raised £7.3billion – which included arranging loans and selling new shares – and has access to £9billion.
But at its lowest point last year, the Derby-headquartered company admitted it could struggle to survive if the downturn continued.
Rolls has been burning through cash, £4billion in total last year, and expects to go through another £2billion in 2021……..
Away from civil aerospace, Rolls is also trying to establish itself as a leader in building small nuclear reactors and developing green flight technology…… https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-9352005/Rolls-Royce-hit-4bn-loss-Boss-says-firm-thrive-post-lockdown.html
Chernobyl nuclear tomb will eventually collapse. Sellafield, too, will need £132 billion, at least, to decommission.
LADBible 15th May 2021, A scientist has warned that Chernobyl nuclear power plant must be dismantled in the next 100 years or else it will collapse.
Professor Neil Hyatt is the Royal Academy of Engineering and Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s research chair in radioactive waste management. Speaking to LADbible about recent developments that nuclear reactions had been detected from deep within the mummified plant – 35 years after its core exploded in what is widely viewed as history’s worst nuclear disaster – he says it’s time to act.
“If we don’t take it down, it’s going to fall down,” says Professor Hyatt, who teaches at Sheffield University. “The original shelter was built as a temporary facility to stabilise a situation and the New Safe Confinement is essentially the same thing – to buy us time. [But] it only buys us around 100 years or so.
“If you think about nuclear decommissioning, which I do all the time, look at the projects that are going on around the world. “There’s the Sellafield site in the UK – that’s one hundred years to decommission the Sellafield site at a cost of £132 billion, at least. “That probably tells you it’s going to take at least 50 years, if we started today, probably at a cost of about £900 million, to decommission Chernobyl.
“These are orders of magnitude, and the reason is because we still don’t know everything we need to know to decommission it, about the material inside.” He adds: “If we don’t take it down, it’s gonna collapse eventually. If you’ve bought yourself 100 years, you really need to start cracking on with the dismantling – probably in the next 20 years.
Glascow City Council calls on UK Government to scrap plans to replace nuclear arsenal
Glasgow Evening Times 15th May 2021, GLASGOW City Council is calling on the UK Government to pursue nuclear
disarmament. Councillors have backed a motion which supports the Treaty to
Prohibit Nuclear Weapons – and urges the government to scrap plans to
replace its Trident nuclear arsenal.
It was presented by Councillor Feargal
Dalton, the convener of the Nuclear Free Local Authorities Scotland Forum
(NFLA). A letter will be sent to the UK Government to inform it of the
resolution. Cllr Dalton, who has a military background, said: “There is
no moral justification for nuclear weapons; I never heard one in all my
years in the submarine service.
https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/19304352.council-calls-trident-replacement-plans-scrapped/
UK’s radioactive pollution at Dalgety Bay to be cleaned up after 31 years
Radioactive pollution at Dalgety Bay to be cleaned up after 31 years,The Ferrret, Rob Edwards, May 14, 2021, The clean-up of radioactive pollution by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) at Dalgety Bay in Fife is to start — 31 years after it was first discovered.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has announced that work to decontaminate a stretch of foreshore on the north of the Firth of Forth near a popular sailing club will begin on 17 May. It is expected to be finished in 2022.
Sepa promised that the clean-up would provide a “permanent and positive resolution” to the decades-old pollution. It was “an important milestone for Dalgety Bay”, the agency said.
Campaigners have welcomed the news, but said that it was “utterly disgraceful” that it had taken so long to deal with the contamination. Locals and visitors had been put at risk for “many unnecessary years”, they argued
The £10m clean-up has long been the subject of fierce arguments and delays. Local politicians have repeatedly accused the MoD of refusing to take responsibility, and dragging its heels.
The contamination comes from second world war planes, and was accidentally detected during monitoring in 1990. Luminous, radioactive radium was used to make plane dials glow in the dark so they could be read at night.
After the war the planes were incinerated and dumped as landfill, on which part of the town of Dalgety Bay was built in the 1960s. Since 1990 more than 3,000 radioactive particles have been found on the beach and in local gardens.
Hundreds of particles, many of them potentially hazardous, keep being washed ashore from a headland being eroded by the sea. To protect public health, access to contaminated areas was restricted in 2011, and fishing was banne…………
According to Friends of the Earth Scotland, the area had been “blighted” by radioactive pollution that was “dangerous” to people and wildlife. “It is great news that a clean up is about to get underway but it is utterly disgraceful that it has taken more than thirty years to begin properly dealing with the problems,” said the environmental group’s director, Dr Richard Dixon.
“MoD denial and foot dragging has left locals and visitors at risk for many unnecessary years. A big part of the problem has been the MoD’s fear that if they admit they have to pay to clean up Dalgety Bay they’ll be on the hook for massive bills for similar work that needs to done throughout the UK.”……….
According to Friends of the Earth Scotland, the area had been “blighted” by radioactive pollution that was “dangerous” to people and wildlife. “It is great news that a clean up is about to get underway but it is utterly disgraceful that it has taken more than thirty years to begin properly dealing with the problems,” said the environmental group’s director, Dr Richard Dixon……..
The 50-strong group of Nuclear Free Local Authorities has been working with Fife Council to help get the Dalgety Bay foreshore decontaminated…………https://theferret.scot/radioactive-pollution-dalgety-bay-cleaned-up/
Nuclear fusion is an energy mirage, and these are the reasons why .
Welsh councils warned over experimental nuclear fusion reactor plans https://nation.cymru/news/news-in-brief-welsh-councils-warned-over-experimental-nuclear-fusion-reactor-plans/14 May 2021 Two Welsh local authorities that are considering bids to host a nuclear fusion reactor have been warned of concerns about the proposals being put forward by the UK Atomic Energy Authority.
In recent weeks, councillors from the Vale of Glamorgan and Pembrokeshire County Council have shown public interest in potentially putting a site forward to host an experimental fusion reactor.
The UKAEA has been provided with £200 million of initial funding from the UK Government to create a plant that will harness electricity from fusion and has written to councils suggesting ‘billions’ of pounds will be invested in the project with an aim to help deliver nuclear fusion within the next 30 years.
Fusion technology is still in its infancy and no fusion reactor has ever created more power than it consumes. But scientists say it could be cleaner and safer than fission, the nuclear technology currently used to generate electricity.
Nuclear Free Local Authorities, a body that seeks to increase local accountability over national nuclear policy and identify the impact of national nuclear policy on local communities, has written to both councils highlighting the experimental nature of the project and warning of the environmental and economic consequences of the project.
The conclusions of the NFLA briefing provided to the councils include:
Nuclear fusion, like nuclear fission, still produces significant quantities of radioactive waste.
Radioactive tritium emissions would be released as part of the fusion process into the environment.
A large water source for cooling would be required.It costs huge sums of money that the public exchequer cannot afford after this pandemic.
Any local jobs are a long way off. The target is to have a demonstration plant developed around 2040, so any local construction jobs would not take place for at least 15 years.
As with fission, in operation, the number of jobs working on such a reactor would be small and highly specialist. Those jobs that come will likely be from staff at the existing site in Oxfordshire moving to the new plant.
The site requires a large footprint, with over 100 hectares being requested by the UKAEA. This takes away a large amount of land that could be used for other useful activity, such as developing new renewable energy technology, energy storage or smart energy endeavours.
- Given the technology will also not make any energy (if at all) till the late 2040s, it will provide the local council or the country with no low carbon benefit in the next two decades, when tackling the climate emergency is required now.
“I can understand why the Vale of Glamorgan and Pembrokeshire Council is considering putting an interest in hosting a nuclear fusion reactor, as any call at present which dangles the prospect of money and jobs will interest any council in these difficult economic times,” NFLA Welsh Forum Chair, Councillor Ernie Galsworthy said.
“However, nuclear fusion is an energy mirage. For seven decades it has been worked upon, and it still remains a distant prospect that fusion will ever be developed successfully. The climate emergency though needs to be sorted out now, not in some distant future.
Councils should be given support to develop their critical work in mitigating it, not having their time wasted on a project that could well be a white elephant. I call on councillors to not express an interest in these proposals and call instead for more central government support to them in developing decentralised energy.”
Human intervention may be required at Chernobyl as radiation levels spike
Unilad 13th May 2021, Scientists monitoring increased radiation levels at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant are considering whether human intervention may be required to prevent a further catastrophe.
It was reported last week that sensors in one of the basement rooms containing solidified fuel (FCMs) from the remains of the destroyed nuclear reactor had been picking up increased levels of neutrons over the past four years, signalling the nuclear fission process has restarted. Nuclear scientists monitoring the activity say they aren’t
sure why the reactions are increasing, and they can’t rule out the possibility of an accident should levels continue to rise. Now, authorities are working to figure out a solution.
UK’s Magnox nuclear reprocessing plant to close, leaving world’s largest stockpile of separated civil plutonium
Plutonium Policy, No2NuclearPower, No 132 May 2021, Update Introduction ..The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) now expects the Magnox Reprocessing Plant at Sellafield to close this year (2021) – one year later than previously planned. The newer Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP) was shut in November 2018. Reprocessing, which has always been unnecessary, is the chemical separation of plutonium and unused uranium from spent nuclear waste fuel.
When reprocessing ends there will be around 140 tonnes of separated civil plutonium stored at Sellafield – the world’s largest stockpile of separated civil plutonium. (1) In 2008 the NDA launched a consultation on options (2) for dealing with this embarrassing stockpile – it is highly toxic, poses a permanent risk of proliferation, and will cost taxpayers around £73 million a year to store for the next century. (3) Today, after almost a decade and a half of dithering, the UK Government has failed to make any decisions, but still appears to favour the re-use option, which would probably involve transporting weapons useable plutonium or MoX fuel to reactor sites, such as Hinkley Point C and Sizewell B (and C if it is ever built) with an armed escort.
The NDA itself said in 2008 that deciding soon could save money by removing the need to build further plutonium stores. And the Government’s refusal to admit that using the plutonium as fuel for new reactors is not only extremely technically challenging but also probably unaffordable, means funds are being spent developing both re-use and immobilisation options thus maximising the cost of plutonium disposition at the same time maximising the cost of plutonium storage.
The story so far When reprocessing ends in 2021 there will be around 140 tonnes of separated civil plutonium stored at Sellafield. About 23 tonnes of this is foreign-owned, largely but not exclusively by Japanese utilities, and is managed under long-term contracts. (4) The UK’s stockpile of plutonium has been consolidated at Sellafield by transporting material at the former fast reactor site at Dounreay in Caithness down to Cumbria. The NDA says it has been working with the UK government to determine the right approach for putting this nuclear material beyond reach. (5) The options it is considering are all predicated on the development of a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF). Radioactive Waste Management Ltd (RWM) – a subsidiary of the NDA – is assuming that a GDF will be available to receive its first waste in the late 2040s. Then it will take around 90 years to emplace all existing waste before it can begin emplacing other materials such as immobilised plutonium or spent plutonium fuel. And there are no guarantees this timetable will be achieved. In Sweden, for example, which is perhaps one of the countries most advanced in its development of an underground repository, nuclear utilities have warned reactors may have to close early because of delays in the approval of the repository. (6)
The Options Options considered for dealing with plutonium include using it as a fuel called Mixed Oxide Fuel (MoX) in nuclear reactors (followed by storage as spent fuel pending disposal in a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF)).
Storage Problems Meanwhile plutonium will have to continue to be stored at Sellafield. The NDA’s 2008 report said “If a decision were taken today on a solution for the inventory, there could still be a requirement to provide storage for around 40 years.” (17) Continued long-term storage of civil plutonium is not as easy as it sounds nor is it cheap, and there are many technical challenges. ……………..
The NDA considers some of the older plutonium packages and facilities used in early production to be amongst the highest hazards on the Sellafield site. Therefore, it is aiming to gradually transfer all plutonium to a new store, the Sellafield Product and Residue Store (SPRS) which opened in 2010……..
A proportion of the plutonium canisters at Sellafield are decaying faster than the NDA anticipated. A leak from any package would lead to an ‘intolerable’ risk as defined by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR). The NDA has therefore decided to place the canisters more at risk in extra layers of packaging until SRP is operational. ………..
In 2014, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee reported that the Government did not have a strategy in place for the plutonium stored at Sellafield. 7 years later, it has still not decided between the two options available to it: readying the plutonium stockpile for long-term storage in a geological disposal facility (that has yet to be constructed); or reusing it as fuel in new nuclear power stations. (25)
Conclusion The Government’s preferred option for the disposition of plutonium still appears to be to use the majority of the stockpile to fabricate Mixed Oxide Fuel for use in Light Water Reactors. This could mean transporting weapons-useable plutonium on our roads or rail network to Sizewell and Hinkley Point. These transports would need to be accompanied by armed police.
This is despite the fact that a plutonium immobilisation plant would be required in any case to immobilise that portion of the plutonium stockpile which is not suitable for use in MoX fuel.
Meanwhile, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority needs to continue its programme of modernising Sellafield’s plutonium storage facilities, which will involve the construction extensions to the Sellafield Product and Residue Store (SPRS) and retreating and repacking some of the existing canisters which are considered unsuitable for storage in a modern store. This will also involve construction the Sellafield (Product and Residue store) Retreatment Plant (SRP).
Had the Government decided soon after the publication of the NDA’s options report to immobilise the UK plutonium stockpile, as advised by environmentalists and proliferation specialists, it is likely that savings could have been made by removing the requirement for one or both of the plutonium store extensions. Indeed, if a decision is taken soon, it may still be possible to avoid the cost of building the second store extension. of two
In short, Government policy appears to be maximising the cost of plutonium disposition by requiring both a MoX fuel fabrication plant AND a plutonium immobilisation plant, and at the same time maximising the cost of plutonium storage. Under this policy MoX fuel containing weapons useable plutonium would have to be transported under armed guard around the country. https://www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/nuClearNewsNo132.pdf
Sellafield’s plutonium waste has continued to circulate in the Irish Sea
Plutonium Remobilisation in the Irish Sea, No2Nuclear Power No 132 May 2021, Low-level aqueous radioactive waste has been discharged from the Sellafield site into the Irish Sea for more than 50 years. Originally it was thought that soluble radionuclides discharged from Sellafield (such as caesium and tritium) would be diluted and dispersed whereas long lived, transuranic nuclides such as Plutonium, and Americium would leach out of the liquid phase and become preferentially adsorbed to the surface of sedimentary particles in the water column, sink to the seabed and remain permanently bound and immobilised in seabed deposits and therefore isolated from human populations and the environment.
Unfortunately, it has since emerged that a proportion of such sediment associated radioactivity has, and is being actively transported around the Irish Sea while the remainder is temporarily “sequestered” in the seabed but subject to any future disturbance mechanisms such as storm, wave and seismic activity. In addition, a proportion of dissolved nuclides did not necessarily remain dissolved in liquid form in the water column, but could become incorporated into organic particles and deposited into sedimentary environments where they could be temporarily sequestered, but subsequently recycled back into the environment by dredging, trawling storm and seismic activity.
Plans by West Cumbria Mining (WCM) for an under-seabed coal mine off the coast of Cumbria near Whitehaven and the possibility of a Geological Disposal Facility, also under the seabed off the coast of Cumbria have raised concerns that transuranic radionuclides currently sequestered in Irish Sea sediments could be further remobilised as a result of these activities,
A large proportion of the Sellafield-derived radionuclides disposed to sea have become associated with the sediment at two sites close to the waste disposal pipeline: the Irish Sea Mudpatch and the Esk Estuary. The Mudpatch is a belt of fine-grained sediments located about10 km from the waste pipeline.
In 1999 Kershaw et al showed evidence that sediment-bound radionuclides over the previous decade were being redistributed. There was a decrease in the coastal zone around Sellafield and increases in Liverpool Bay and the western Irish Sea. Levels of dissolved 239/240Pu in the water column decreased only slowly since the peak discharge rates in the 1970s and much more slowly than the drop in Sellafield discharges. This suggests that material is moving from contaminated sediments and becoming dissolved in seawater where it is available for transport. Indeed, in the western Irish Sea, evidence has been found that 239/240Pu is being transported from the eastern Irish Sea. There is also evidence of the direct transport of contaminated sediment. (1)
Daisy Ray et al. highlight the fact that “once mobilised, the radionuclides can be transported elsewhere in the Irish Sea … Although waste discharges are continuing to decrease from the Sellafield site, the Mudpatch may continue to supply “historic” Sellafield-derived radionuclides to other locations. Indeed, recent data from Welsh and Scottish coastal areas suggest that the Mudpatch still acts as a source of radionuclides to UK coastal areas.” (2)
The model developed by Aldridge et al. at the Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) in 2003 strongly suggest that the principal source of 239/240Pu in the Irish Sea was sediments in the eastern Irish Sea contaminated from past discharges, rather than new inputs from Sellafield. (3) Radionuclide re-distribution can occur by two principal mechanisms. Directly, by the transport of contaminated sediment, or indirectly via exchange and transport in dissolved form (dissolution). The latter process operates when tidal, wind or trawling activity re-suspends bed material allowing transfer of radionuclides to the water column. (4)
Ray el al. also suggest that bioturbation – the reworking of soils and sediments by animals or plants – at the Cumbrian Mudpatch will continue to act as a source of “historic” Sellafieldderived radioactivity to the UK Coastal Environment. If this redistribution of historical discharges of radionuclides is happening by natural processes, it can be assumed that the problem could become much more serious as a result of human mining activities under the seabed,
A recent report by Marine Consultant, Tim Deere-Jones concludes that:
It is evident that any subsidence within the WCM designated seabed mining zone will generate some form and degree of seabed morphological distortion. It is equally evident that any such seabed distortion will remobilise previously sequestered seabed sediments, and their associated pollutants, which will subsequently be transported and re-distributed through the regional marine and coastal environments. It is inevitable that such re-mobilisation and re-distribution will expose marine wildlife and human coastal populations and stakeholders to some degree of exposure doses to those pollutants via a number of mechanisms and pathways.” (5) https://www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/nuClearNewsNo132.pdf
Will the French government break troubled nuclear company EDF up into 3 companies?
Le Monde 10th May 2021, Why maintain such secrecy around the discussions on EDF? Local PS elected
in Brest, Tristan Foveau spoke out in a forum in “Le Monde” against the
lack of information on the negotiations between the government and the
European Commission on the future of the French nuclear company EDF.
Has lightning fallen on the EDF “Hercules” project? Questioned by Ouest France on April
23, Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, affirms that this one is
“forgotten” and that the government will not dismantle EDF into three
independent companies: EDF bleu controlled by the State and bringing
together nuclear-related activities; EDF azur, responsible for the
management of hydroelectric dams in the form of a quasi-control; and EDF
vert for the distribution of electricity and renewable energies, the
capital of which would be open to the private sector.
In fact, the Minister applies a golden rule of bad marketing: when a brand suffers from a bad
image, rather than changing the content, we change brands! And in fact,
“Hercules” has been unanimous against it for several months: unions,
parliamentarians, local elected officials, citizens … Exit “Hercules”,
but … not the reform!
Dungeness nuclear power station could be shut down earlier than planned
Kent Online 10th May 2021, A power station in Kent could start its defuelling phase seven years early
unless a number of “significant and ongoing technical challenges” are
overcome. Dungeness B power station on Romney Marsh has been off-line since
September 2018 while a multi-million pound maintenance programme was
carried out.
This work was due to be completed last year but that timeline
changed to August 2021 following a series of delays. But now EDF say the
ongoing challenges and risks “make the future both difficult and
uncertain”.
As a result, the energy company is now exploring a range of
options – including starting the procedure to shut the station down later
this year, seven years ahead of its planned defuelling phase. A statement
from EDF reads: “Dungeness B power station last generated electricity in
September 2018 and is currently forecast to return to service in August
2021.
“The station has a number of unique, significant and ongoing
technical challenges that continue to make the future both difficult and
uncertain. “Many of these issues can be explained by the fact that
Dungeness was designed in the 1960s as a prototype and suffered from very
challenging construction and commissioning delays. “We expect to have the
technical information required to make a decision in the next few months,
as it is important we bring clarity to the more than 800 people that work
at the station, and who support it from other locations, as well as to
government and all those with a stake in the station’s future.”
1 This Month
of the week– Nuclear Reactor Information Task Force
14 May – online event From Bombs to Data Centres: the Face of Nuclear Colonialism
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