UK govt launches pro nuclear campaign, pushes for women in the nuclear industry
UK government unveils £200m nuclear sector deal, The Engineer, Business secretary Greg Clark launches deal including commitment to new technology development and increased role for women in the nuclear industry ……. Details of the deal include up to £44m funding to develop advanced modular reactors, a commitment to reduce the cost of nuclear new build by 30 per cent by 2030, and to cut the cost of decommissioning old sites by 20 per cen% in the same period. There will be a new review into ways of accelerating the cleanup of old sites. Clark also signalled an increased commitment to fusion energy research, with the establishment of a national fusion technology centre at Culham in Oxfordshire, the site of the Joint European Torus (JET) fusion experiment and the home of Tokomak Technologies, which is developing fusion reactors based on the spherical tokomak principle. This fusion centre will be supported by £86m funding from the government.
“The UK is the home of civil nuclear technology and with this investment in innovation and our commitment to increasing diversity in an already highly-skilled workforce, I want to ensure we remain the world leader,” Clark said.
The NSD was announced at Trawsfynydd in Snowdonia, the site of a decommissioned nuclear reactor (the only one in the UK not on the coast) and a mooted site for the first small modular reactor project. “This site reflects both the past of our nuclear industry and an exciting future as the potential site for the new generation of small reactors, placing Wales at the centre of a UK arc of the nuclear industry,” said Alan Cairns, secretary of state for Wales.
The advanced modular reactor project will see eight designs go forward to detailed commercial and technical visibility studies. This phase 1, £4m has been allocated, and three or four of the designs will then go forward to a second phase for further development, with a possible £40m of further funding subject to a value for money approval from the Treasury. Up to £5m will be made available to regulators to support this, and up to £7m will fund capability and capacity to assess and licence small and novel reactor designs…..https://www.theengineer.co.uk/nuclear-industry-sector-deal/
Norway makes a choice for the environment – shuts down Halden nuclear research reactor
Bellona 27th June 2018 , In a major victory for radiation safety in Europe, the Norwegian government announced Wednesday that it would be permanently shutting down the financially and technically troubled Halden research reactor, which experienced a leak in 2016. The 25 megawatt installation, which is the world’s oldest heavy-water reactor, is located in a mountain cave in the southern Norwegian town of Halden, and has been under a temporary closure since March due to a valve failure. It is the second of Norway’s two reactors, the first of which is the Kjeller reactor, near Oslo, which began operations in 1951.
Bellona has for three decades questioned the Halden reactor’s sometimes hazardous operations, and demanded that the government stop subsiding its continued use.
http://bellona.org/news/nuclear-issues/2018-06-in-victory-for-the-environment-norway-will-shut-down-halden-reactor
UK’s Tidal Lagoon energy project – would be costly to build, but very cheap for 120 years thereafter
Times 28th June 2018 , Professor Chris Binnie: Greg Clark says that the Swansea tidal
lagoon was rejected as it is three times as expensive as Hinkley C, but his
calculations are suspect. The tidal lagoon would be expensive to build, but
once built it could go on for 120 years with minimal refurbishment cost.
And letter Prof Roger Kemp: The government’s rejection of the Swansea tidal
lagoon is extremely disappointing. Greg Clark says that wind energy is
cheaper, bu t it’s a false comparison: we can predict the tides years in
advance but it is difficult to look more than a week ahead with wind.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/comment/adhd-and-the-rise-in-the-use-of-medication-d2bjsnc6f
Theresa May’s UK govt rejects renewables, promotes nuclear – and cancels promising tidal energy project
Bloomberg 27th June 2018 The U.K. government earmarked 200 million pounds ($262 million) to smooth
the way for the next nuclear power plants just two days after rejected the
case for an experimental project that would generate power from the tides.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said its
Nuclear Sector Deal will fund technology and skills needed to maintain the
industry that the government is backing to be part of its future energy
mix. About 56 million pounds will go to help eight vendors of modular
reactors carry out technical studies.
The decision puts further distance
between Prime Minister Theresa May’s administration and the possibility
of government support for cutting-edge renewable technologies. May’s
government has scaled back subsidies for wind and solar, halted onshore
wind farms and declined to back Tidal Lagoon Power Ltd.’s proposal for a
1.3 billion pound project to demonstrate its technology.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-27/u-k-earmarks-262-million-to-bolster-its-nuclear-power-industry
USA’s General Electric and France’s EDF getting together to market to India huge and costly nuclear station
France’s EDF, GE to co-build reactors for huge Indian nuclear plant, Reuters Staff, NEW DELHI (Reuters) 28 June 18- GE and French utility EDF have agreed to team to build six reactors for a nuclear power project in western India, which is due to be the world’s biggest when finished……… The six European Pressurised Water reactors will be for a 9,900 mw nuclear power project at Jaitapur, south of Mumbai in the state of Maharashtra, GE and EDF said in a joint statement released on Tuesday…….
EDF will be responsible for engineering integration of the entire project, while GE Power will design the critical part of the plant and supply its main components, the companies said.
GE will also provide operational support services and a training programme to meet the needs of the state-run Nuclear Power Corp. of India Ltd, the plant’s owner and operator.
Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Alexander Smith https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-nuclear-ge/frances-edf-ge-to-co-build-reactors-for-huge-indian-nuclear-plant-idUSKBN1JM1J8
Chemical spill at the Sellafield nuclear plant
Whitehaven News 26th June 2018 , Firefighters were called to deal with a chemical spill at the Sellafield
nuclear plant. Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service was called to the spillage,
which involved about 25 litres of nitric acid, at 3.13pm yesterday. The
service sent three crews, who joined two Sellafield fire service engines
already at the scene. Two CFRS and two Sellafield firefighters wearing
gas-tight suits and breathing apparatus applied sodium bicarbonate to
neutralise the acid. They were at the scene for about two hours. A
Sellafield spokesman said the spill did not involve any radioactive
chemicals, the material stayed within a bund designed to contain spillages
and the incident posed no risk or harm to anybody.
http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk/news/firefighters-called-to-Sellafield-4731973a-e10d-480c-8b3f-222c18dfc449-ds
Europe’s first dedicated recycling plant for old solar panels has opened in France.
Climate Action 26th June 2018 Europe’s first dedicated recycling plant for old solar panels has opened
in France. Veolia, an environmental services company, has opened the plant
in the town of Rousset, near Marseille, after securing a contract with
recycling organisation PV Cycle France.
The new deal means that Veolia will
recycle 1,300 tonnes of solar panels in 2018, which will increase to 4,000
tonnes by 2022, according to news agency Reuters. “This is the first
dedicated solar panel recycling plant in Europe, possibly in the world,”
said Gilles Carsuzaa, head of electronics recycling at Veolia.
According to
Veolia, solar capacity has grown by up to 40 percent a year in France,
equivalent to 84,000 tonnes of material in 2017 alone. The plant will now
ensure a single panel’s complex array of silver, silicon, glass, copper,
and plastics, and copper are dissembled and in working order to make new
solar panels. Solar panels have an estimated lifespan of 25 to 30 years,
meaning that many of the first generation built in the 1990s are now being
decommissioned. Veolia’s initial contract will recycle almost all of the
out-of-date solar panels in France this year.
http://www.climateactionprogramme.org/news/solar-panel-recycling-plant-opens-in-france
Germany’s successful development towards nuclear fusion
achieved a world record for plasma production, according to its creators.
Researchers were able to keep the device, technically known as Wendelstein
7-X, running for longer and at higher energy, than ever before. Its
performance is the best recorded for a stellarator type reactor and brings
the goal of producing limitless energy a step closer to reality,
researchers say. The new success was thanks to modifications made to the
walls of the reactor, which increase the temperature and efficiency of the
reaction.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5886603/Germanys-star-jar-fusion-reactor-comes-step-closer-producing-LIMITLESS-energy.html
Finland’s nuclear waste dump will still be in the trial stage for years
Nucnet 25th June 2018, A full-scale in-situ system test for spent nuclear fuel disposal is
expected to begin this week at Posiva’s planned final deep geologic
disposal facility at Olkiluoto, Finland. Posiva’s owner Teollisuuden
Voima Oyj (TVO) said the test will be the first of its kind and means that
Posiva is making progress towards the operational test phase of its final
disposal system and technology.
According to TVO, the test will last for
several years. It aims to prove that the prototype processes for geological
storage at Posiva’s repository are “all working concepts”. The test
has been in preparation since December 2017, TVO said. The processes
include placing fuel assemblies packed in copper-steel canisters inside
holes drilled in the bedrock tunnels. This is followed by backfilling the
tunnels with bentonite clay and sealing them with a cast plug. Two test
canisters will be equipped with thermal resistors simulating the residual
temperature of spent nuclear fuel, TVO said. A TVO official said the
temperature and pressure in the canisters, test holes and the surrounding
bedrock, and the behaviour of the backfill of the tunnels, will be
monitored by some 500 sensors over several years.
https://www.nucnet.org/all-the-news/2018/06/25/finland-s-posiva-to-begin-world-s-first-in-situ-system-test-at-final-repository-site
New report: economic benefit in stopping renewal of the Trident missiles system,and creating many more jobs
Morning Star 27th June 2018, A PIONEERING new report argues that thousands more engineering jobs could
be created by stopping the renewal of the Trident missiles system. The
report, Defence Diversification: International Learning for Trident Jobs,
was published today by the Nuclear Education Trust.
It examines various government and Civil Service initiatives in Britain, western Europe and the
United States. It argues that an internationally led programme to diversify
the work of Trident’s workers would cost far less than it would to renew
the cold-war-era nuclear weapons system — estimated to be between £180
billion and £205bn over the next several decades
https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/article/scrapping-trident-nuclear-weapons-%E2%80%98could-create-thousands-engineering-jobs%E2%80%99
Community Energy could bring a revolutionary change to Europe’s clean energy package
Unearthed 26th June 2018 ,This week national governments will meet in Brussels to vote on a deal –
part of the EU’s clean energy package – that would recognise the right
of people and communities to produce their own energy. It could represent
possibly the biggest systematic change to Europe’s electricity market in
a generation. Unearthed has got hold of the final text of the renewable
energy directive, which could boost the take-up of renewable energy from
households and small producers in the EU. The UK appears unsure as to
whether it will integrate the policies into national law after Brexit.
https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2018/06/26/eu-makes-it-a-right-for-people-to-sell-renewable-energy-here-are-5-things-you-need-to-know/
UK govt cancels promising Swansea Tidal Lagoon scheme, as it promotes dodgy Wylfa nuclear power plan
Guardian 27th June 2018 Letter Gideon Amos: When I and my fellow planning inspectors spent the best
part of a year examining and reporting on both the principle and the detail
of the project in Swansea, it was clear that this pathfinder project had
important environmental, cultural and regeneration benefits.
Vitally, itwould provide baseload generation capacity to complement our welcome but
increasing reliance on wind energy. In addition, while being “first of a
kind” presents big investment and consenting headaches for a promoter, the
potentially infinite lifespan of the generating station means these early
upfront costs need to be discounted over a much longer timeframe than other
projects.
Failing to weigh these benefits and costs in the Treasury
economist’s balance sheet is a major mistake and one that misses a massive
opportunity to put the planet back at the centre of our nation’s future.
NFLA 27th June 2018 The Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) is hugely disappointed in the
decision announced on Monday by UK Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark
to cancel potential financial support for the Swansea Tidal Lagoon scheme.
This is a retrograde step for a nascent and exciting technology, and
compares negatively with the billions being offered to prop up new nuclear
reactor schemes like Wylfa B.
http://www.nuclearpolicy.info/news/cancellation-support-swansea-tidal-lagoon-scheme-error-uk-energy-industrial-strategy-policy/
Russia, Rwanda establish nuclear energy ties
WNN, 27 June 2018
Russia’s Rosatom and the Ministry of Infrastructure of Rwanda have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. The document was signed on 22 June by Rosatom Deputy Director General Nikolay Spassky and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Rwanda to the Russian Federation Jeanne d’Arc Mujawamariya……
Ireland’s concerns on nuclear safety after Brexit and UK’s withdrawal from the Euratom Treaty
Irish Times 25th June 2018 , Cllr Mark Dearey, Cllr John Trainor, Co-Chairmen, Nuclear-Free Local
Authorities All-Ireland Forum: … on nuclear safety after
the UK leaves the Euratom arrangements, it is clear that Minister for the
Environment Denis Naughten must do more than simply accept cosy platitudes
from his UK counterpart. While the Border issue is a pivotal part of the
negotiations of Brexit, the parallel decision to leave the Euratom Treaty
arrangements is still of real importance.
The treaty oversees all external safety and security checks at UK nuclear sites, particularly Sellafield, as
well as monitoring the UK’s duties in not proliferating nuclear materials
that could be converted into a nuclear weapons programme.
In our view, the UK government needs to grow up on the issue of the jurisdiction of the
European Court of Justice on matters of nuclear safety. The UK government
has compromised all over the place on Brexit, and by refusing to do so on
this subject, it is putting all of our safety at risk on a point of
political expediency.
As The Irish Times has correctly noted, the transfer
of these duties to the domestic nuclear regulator is not without risk, and
there is real concern that there may not be enough inspectors recruited in
sufficient time and that key and complicated IT systems to verify such work
are put in place by March 2019.
Last month the Oireachtas Joint Planning
Committee heard of detailed concerns over the UK’s approach to assessing
the transboundary impacts of plans to develop new nuclear plants like
Hinkley Point and Wylfa.
Any accident from an existing or new nuclear plant
could have devastating health, economic and social impacts on Ireland, so
it is important not just to receive assurances, but to properly audit them
and to be satisfied that a new nuclear safety regime remains fit for
purpose.
Ireland is extensively doing that with other impacts of Brexit on
the country, and in our view, this should be a core part of that detailed
discussion. We also want to know how both governments will prioritise
nuclear safety and energy policy in a post-Brexit world, where we see a
real lack of forward thinking in addressing the energy needs of both the UK
and Ireland.
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/brexit-and-nuclear-safety-treaty-1.3541656
EDF aims to be the key corporation in nuclear station decommissioning
EDF and VEOLIA Conclude a Partnership Agreement on Nuclear Plant Decommissioning and Radioactive Waste Processing, Business Wire June 26, 2018
1 This Month
23-25 October – on Zoom – World BEYOND War’s annual global conferenc
Shut down the radiation-damaged Heysham nuclear reactors now
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Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
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