Nuclear regulator raps EDF over cyber compliance
The Office for Nuclear Regulation says EDF has come up short on needed measures to improve cyber security standards at several critical UK nuclear facilities
France-headquartered energy giant EDF has been singled out by the UK’s
Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and placed under significantly enhanced
regulatory attention for cyber security – the highest possible level of
scrutiny – after the critical national infrastructure (CNI) operator failed
to comply with previously made commitments to enhance its cyber security
posture.
Computer Weekly 19th Oct 2023
https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366556335/Nuclear-regulator-raps-EDF-over-cyber-compliance #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes
Rolls-Royce facing £350m class action lawsuit from investors
Rolls-Royce, the FTSE 100 engineering giant, is facing a potential legal
claim from investors worth at least £350m after a bribery and corruption
scandal wiped millions of pounds from the company’s value. City lawyers
are working with a group of investors seeking compensation from Rolls-Royce
after the bribery allegations rocked the aircraft engine maker in 2017.
Shareholders are to claim that the company made misrepresentations to the
market about the bribery scandal. Rolls-Royce previously agreed to a £497m
settlement with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in a bid to draw a line
under the wrongdoing. The SFO’s agreement with Rolls-Royce in 2017
covered “12 counts of conspiracy to corrupt, false accounting and failure
to prevent bribery” across its aerospace and energy divisions.
Telegraph 22nd Oct 2023
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/10/22/rolls-royce-face-350m-lawsuit-investors/
#nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes
Dunkelflaute (or… can we keep the lights on when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine?)
Prof. Andrew Blowers tackles this question in the BANNG column for Regional Life, October, 2023 https://www.banng.info/news/dunkelflaute/—
The Blackwater estuary is a place where sea, land and sky meet. It is a vast natural environment where wind and sun provide unlimited resources that are transforming our energy supply as we shift from fossil fuels to low carbon renewables, in the desperate race to avert impending climate catastrophe.
There is one problem with a carbon free energy future built on wind and sun. That problem is Dunkelflaute, a German word meaning ‘dark doldrums’, times when there is little wind and sunlight. Think of those short, dark and windless days in mid-winter when lights and heating are on all day and the demand for power rises and the energy supply system is fully stretched. As we become more dependent on intermittent sources of electricity supply can we keep the lights on?
The answer must be ‘yes’, since not to have light is unthinkable in our modern society. But, how? For some, the answer lies in nuclear power which provides ‘firm power’, continuous generation able to meet baseload whenever Dunkelflaute persists. The Government recently proclaimed that ‘Nuclear is the critical baseload of the future energy system’. But, even if it were true, it hardly justifies the plans for massive investment in outmoded, dangerous and costly nuclear power plants that cannot conceivably be delivered until well into the next decade – if then. Installing big, inflexible nuclear will just get in the way of the flexible supply and demand management system for the future
‘Firm power which cannot be switched off when you don’t need it will be as much of a problem as variable power which cannot be switched on when you do. What is called for is flexibility, in huge quantities and of all types’. (Michael Liebreich quoted in Carbon Brief)
That future lies in wind and solar backed up by green power and by long duration storage (including battery, hydrogen and pumped hydro-electric). Distributed local heat and power systems, interconnectors with other countries and reducing and managing demand through energy efficiency and smart metering will all contribute to an energy system that meets net zero by the middle of the century.
It is already happening. At its present moment of hubris nuclear is already doomed. On the Blackwater estuary, the hulk of Bradwell A provides a forlorn epitaph to a bygone era. #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes
Crackdown on nuclear firm after cyber security ‘shortfalls’
“Cyber attacks threaten the security of nuclear facilities by compromising command and control systems and damaging safety, security and emergency responses.”
“Rapidly spreading computer viruses and worms can infect instrument systems and corrupt files.
The Ferret Rob Edwards, October 18, 2023
A multinational nuclear power company has been hit by an official crackdown because of cyber security failures that critics warned were a “very real and present danger”.
Oversight of EDF Energy by the UK Government’s safety watchdog, the Office for Nuclear Regulation, has been “significantly enhanced” to combat “shortfalls” in defences against digital attacks. This means more inspections and increased scrutiny of EDF’s cyber security.
EDF is a French government company that runs one nuclear power station in Scotland, at Torness in East Lothian, and four in England. It is also building a new nuclear station at Hinkley Point in Somerset.
Campaigners described EDF’s failure to properly protect its nuclear operations from “potentially dangerous cyber attacks” as “incomprehensible”. Nuclear plants were “vulnerable” to computer viruses that could threaten safety, they said……….
No details of EDF’s cyber security failings have been released for fear of helping would-be hackers. Cyber attacks are on the increase, with many organisations – such as the Scottish Environment Protection Agency – severely impacted.
The Times reported in 2017 that insecure passwords used by EDF nuclear managers had been found in two lists of stolen credentials traded on Russian hacking sites. According to The Telegraph in 2019, UK government intelligence experts had been called in after a cyber attack on an unnamed nuclear power company, suspected to be EDF.
The Ferret revealed in March 2023 that the police force tasked with guarding UK nuclear plants reported 37 security breaches in 2021-22, the highest for eight years. In August we reported that the Ministry of Defence’s nuclear managers had recorded 113 “security concerns” since 2017-18………………………………………………..
Nuclear plants ‘vulnerable’ to cyber attack
Dr Paul Dorfman, a nuclear critic and visiting fellow at the science policy research unit in the University of Sussex, highlighted concerns expressed by the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about the growing threats posed by cyber attacks.
Nuclear power plants are “vulnerable,” Dorfman said. “Cyber attacks threaten the security of nuclear facilities by compromising command and control systems and damaging safety, security and emergency responses.”
He added: “Rapidly spreading computer viruses and worms can infect instrument systems and corrupt files. EDF’s persisting failure to prepare for the very real and present danger of cyber attack on nuclear facilities is, quite simply, incomprehensible.”
Pete Roche, a consultant and anti-nuclear campaigner based in Edinburgh, pointed out that the Torness nuclear station was due to keep operating until 2028 despite cracks spreading in its graphite core.
“We need an operating company which can give meticulous attention to detail,” he said. “These revelations about cyber security seem to indicate that EDF is not capable of doing that.” …………………………………………………………………more https://theferret.scot/cyber-security-nuclear-security-crackdown/ #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes
UK’s old nuclear submarines, dead for over 40 years, and a new plan for turning them into “tin cans and razor blades”.
BABCOCK International want to build a new industrial building at Rosyth
Dockyard for the dismantling of old nuclear submarines. If approved, and a
planning application has gone into Fife Council, the metal waste disposal
facility will go up at the corner of Wood Road and Caledonia Road.
Seven old nuclear subs have been laid up at the yard for decades, Dreadnought has
been there since 1980, longer than it was in service, and last year
councillors were told of a UK Government pledge to “de-nuclearise Rosyth”
by 2035. They were also informed of a world first in removing the most
radioactive waste and the overall aim of cutting up the vessels and turning
them into “tin cans and razor blades”.
Blyth and Blyth, of Edinburgh, have
been appointed by Babcock as civil and structural engineering consultants
for the Rosyth Submarine Dismantling Project and are agents for the
application. The plans say the building would be around 200 square metres
in size and the council are expected to make a decision next month.
Dunfermline Press 16th Oct 2023
https://www.dunfermlinepress.com/news/23853192.rosyth-babcock-plans-new-metal-waste-disposal-building/ #nuclear #antinuclear #NuclearFree #NoNukes #NuclearPlants
Skills gap and grid connections key hurdles in UK’s nuclear energy ambitions, says Great British Nuclear chair
Skills gap and grid connections key hurdles in UK’s nuclear energy
ambitions, says Great British Nuclear chair. Simon Bowen, chair of Great
British Nuclear, the organisation tasked with delivering the Government’s
long-term nuclear programme, has cited the skills gap and grid connections
as key issues faced by the nuclear energy sector on its road to achieving
Government targets.
Yorkshire Post 12th Oct 2023
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/business/skills-gap-and-grid-connections-key-hurdles-in-uks-nuclear-energy-ambitions-says-great-british-nuclear-chair-4369765 #nuclear #antinuclear #NuclearFree #NoNukes #NuclearPlants
Court will hear appeal by environmental groups against Sizewell C nuclear power station
Sizewell C power station plans to be heard in court
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/sizewell-c-power-station-plans-be-hear-court 9 Oct 23
THE future of the government’s Sizewell C nuclear power station will be decided at a hearing in the Court of Appeal next month, it was revealed today.
On November 1 and 2, judges will hear an appeal by campaign groups against a High Court rejection of a review of the decision by then business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng to allow the development on the Suffolk coast to go ahead.
The development is being opposed by campaign groups Together Against Sizewell C (TASC), Suffolk Coastal Friends of the Earth and Stop Sizewell C.
They said the station’s huge consumption of water for its cooling system will threaten local domestic supplies, and that the project should have included a desalination plant.
TASC launched an appeal for funds and said: “Because of the short time-frame that has been forced on us we have little time to raise the £25,000 needed to cover the costs of our legal team for this appeal stage of the proceedings.” #nuclear #antinuclear #NuclearFree #NoNukes #NuclearPlants
Critics are sceptical over County Council’s ‘nuclear engagement officer role’ funded by the industry
Debate ignites over County Council’s nuclear engagement officer role funded by the industry A step towards transparency or a compromise on impartiality?
By Daniel Jaines Local Democracy Reporter , My Local, Lincolnshire, 10 Oct 23
Lincolnshire County Council’s (LCC) job advert for a Policy and Engagement Officer, a role that will research the nuclear sector, has sparked controversy and concerns regarding impartiality and ethical considerations due to its funding by Nuclear Waste Services (NWS).
The job describes the role as a conduit between the council and the proposed Theddlethorpe Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) in Lincolnshire and comes with a salary of £38,296-£42,503. The appointee will be tasked with maintaining an overview of the developments proposed by NWS, ensuring senior politicians and officers are briefed and engaged, thereby helping the council in its role as the principal relevant local authority.
This includes providing advice on the potential advantages and disadvantages of the proposed investment.
The officer will be responsible for ensuring that the local community is provided with balanced information and will coordinate with local and national authorities and organisations to manage and distribute the latest information about nuclear industry developments and waste disposal.
The role also involves advocating activities that enable both the council and the area to derive financial benefits from the proposed GDF through investments in critical infrastructure, business and employment supply chains, and community grants.
The advert notes that while the post is fully funded by NWS, it will operate independently of them, and the LCC has adopted a neutral stance on the GDF.
However, the Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) has expressed concerns, stating that the LCC’s understanding of the sector’s harsh realities is lacking, and that their motivations might be economically driven due to the long-term and uncertain nature of nuclear propositions.
The campaigners believe that LCC, by accepting funding from NWS, may be perceived as aligning itself with NWS or potentially compromising its impartiality in future nuclear-related decisions and policies.
The critics suggest that this funding could be seen as LCC getting “off the fence” and taking a side in the ongoing discussions and debates related to nuclear projects in the region.
Councillor David Blackburn, Chair of the Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) English Forum, expressed his concerns about the direction in which the LCC is heading: “Whilst this may mean job security for the successful candidate, it must represent insecurity for the residents of Theddlethorpe, Mablethorpe, and Sutton.
“For the first duty listed for the post holder will be to act as ‘the main point of contact between the council and the geological disposal facility which is proposed by Nuclear Waste Services for Theddlethorpe in Lincolnshire’.
“If NWS is indeed providing ‘permanent’ funding then it must remain of the view that, despite the clear local opposition to the proposal, a GDF might go forward for Theddlethorpe in the future. Otherwise, why would they invest?”
The Theddlethorpe site, currently under consideration for a GDF by NWS, has been met with significant opposition from the local community and elected members.
Ken Smith, a Theddlethorpe campaigner, has voiced that accepting funding from NWS suggests a bias on the part of LCC towards the GDF, rather than maintaining neutrality.
“In my view, it is totally unethical,” he said. “It gives NWS a direct line to councillors. They can claim independence as much as they like, but he who pays the piper calls the tune.”
He further emphasised the need for the council to encourage companies developing renewables, given Lincolnshire’s ideal location for such technologies………………….more https://mylocal.co.uk/lincolnshire/feed/120078/debate-ignites-over-county-council-s-nuclear-engagement-officer-role-funded-by-the-industry #nuclear #antinuclear #NuclearFree #NoNukes #NuclearPlants
PETITION: Stop calling uranium mined fuels “clean energy”
Scrap the rebranding of nuclear as “clean.” Even the very first step of the fuel cycle, the mining of Uranium is uniquely dirty and dangerous. The extraction of a finite resource which is far from “home grown.”
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero announced in July that “The UK’s nuclear renaissance begins with the launch of Great British Nuclear helping us deliver clean, reliable energy for generations to come.”
Future generations are being dangerously misled about the main product of nuclear power – nuclear waste. This will be just as dangerous to their lives as it is to ours. Using Greenhouse Gas Protocol methodology, the total NDA (Nuclear Decommissioning Authority) group carbon footprint for 2019/20 is 1,046,950 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e)”. We believe much of this is indirectly looking after radioactive wastes at Sellafield………… #nuclear #antinuclear #NuclearFree #NoNukes #NuclearPlants
Boss of Sizewell nuclear project calls for “curbing protestors powers’ to block them in the courts
Nuclear plant developer calls for limits on legal challenges. The
government should seek to accelerate major projects by curbing protestors
powers’ to block them in the courts the boss of Sizewell C says.
Times (not on the web) 9th Oct 2023 #nuclear #antinuclear #NuclearFree #NoNukes #NuclearPlants
Labour should follow Welsh government and commit to nuclear weapon prohibition, fringe meeting hears
Labour Party Conference 2023
Morning Star 9 Oct 23
LABOUR should follow the example of its government in Wales and commit to signing the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, Beth Winter told a packed CND fringe meeting today.
The Cynon Valley MP joined her colleague Bell Ribeiro-Addy in slamming the government’s warped priorities in committing to spend hundreds of billions on nuclear warheads at a time of soaring poverty.
The Senedd voted last year to back the UN treaty, with First Minister Mark Drakeford saying the world needed to get serious about disarmament…………… more https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/labour-should-follow-welsh-government-and-commit-to-nuclear-weapon-prohibition-fringe-meeting-hears #nuclear #antinuclear #NuclearFree #NoNukes
Judicial review will hear appeal against UK govt’s consent for Sizewell C nuclear
Together Against Sizewell C is delighted to announce that we now have the
date for our judicial review in the Court of Appeal, a two-day hearing has
been set for Wednesday 1st and Thursday 2nd November 2023.
This will give our legal team the opportunity to present TASC’s appeal against Justice
Holgate’s refusal in the High Court of our judicial review of then
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng’s decision to give development consent
to Sizewell C.
The unusually early date for the hearing is a result of
pressure from the government requesting the case be treated as a priority.
TASC continues to have the support of Suffolk Coastal Friends of the Earth
and Stop Sizewell C in this vitally important battle for the soul of the
Heritage Coast, however because of the short timeframe that has been forced
on us we have little time to raise the £25,000 needed to cover the costs
of our legal team for this appeal stage of the proceedings.
Crowd Justice 8th Oct 2023 #nuclear #antinuclear #Nuclearfree #NoNukes
https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/save-suffolks-heritage-coast-w/
Residents closest to Dounreay and Vulcan to be excluded from the nuclear emergency planning zone.
By Iain Grant, 06 October 2023 https://www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk/news/nearby-homes-to-be-outside-of-dounreay-emergency-zone-for-fi-328741/ #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclear-free #NoNukes
Residents closest to Dounreay and Vulcan are for the first time to be excluded from the emergency planning zone around the redundant nuclear sites.
It is being shrunk to reflect the perceived reduction in risk to the public presented by the adjoining plants.
The zone would be the focus of the response to what is considered a worst-case scenario involving a radiation release.
Up until the plug was pulled on Dounreay’s fast reactor programme in the mid-1990s, its zone extended to five kilometres. The equivalent at Vulcan was two kilometres.
Dounreay’s limit was subsequently cut to 1.5km and reduced further in 2020 when a new linked zone taking in both sites was set at 700 metres.
Class action launched against British Government over nuclear bomb tests in Australia
By A Current Affair Staff 7 Oct 23 https://9now.nine.com.au/a-current-affair/nuclear-bomb-testing-australia-class-action-british-government/199eafe9-c774-432e-99b2-f71a96ffb696—
It’s a scandal that has spanned decades as Australian and British servicemen sent to nuclear testing sites fight to be officially recognised for their service and suffering.
Between 1952 and 1963, Great Britain carried out nuclear bomb tests in Australia and the Pacific.
Doug Brooks was at the first one.
“The only thing we were told to do was turn our backs to the blast ground zero, cover our eyes with our hands and the blast x-rayed our hands we could see the bones,” he told A Current Affair.
Tony Spruzen was at the Maralinga test range in the remote outback of South Australia.
“The brightness was so much, it’s something like I never experienced before, I could see through my eyelids, I could see the bones of my fingers,” he said.
Doug and Tony are two of the rapidly diminishing number of veterans sent to the nuclear test sites.
In total 45 tests were conducted by Britain’s Ministry of Defence – 12 of those were in Australia at the blessing of the Menzies government.
There were 22,000 servicemen in the Pacific tests. 1500 are still alive.
Now there is a new class action against the British Government.
“Well, what’s prompted it is that we’ve discovered medical records do in fact exist for these servicemen,” lawyer Matthew Jury said.
“We have a copy of these records and what that tells us is the other medical records exist which the government has been concealing for 70 years so those surviving servicemen who want answers now know that those records exist so where and the government has been concealing them.”
Jury’s firm has launched the action class and he claims records reveal the radiation levels in the blood and urine of the servicemen.
“As they have grown older they have developed extreme and aggressive forms of cancer,” Jury said.
“There have been miscarriages and other birth defects which can’t be treated by their doctors because their doctors don’t have their full medical records.”
The British Ministry of Defence hasn’t responded to requests for an interview or statement.
Watch the full story in the video player above. [on original]
Lincolnshire: a green and nuclear promised land
buried in the small print in the accompanying Job Description are the words ‘the post is fully funded by Nuclear Waste Services’ and the post is described as ‘Permanent’.
https://www.nuclearpolicy.info/news/lincolnshire-a-green-and-nuclear-promised-land/ 6 Oct 23 #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclear-free #NoNukes
Lincolnshire County Council intends to ‘pursue nuclear schemes which respond to the growth of the sector’ by creating a specialist officer role to advise it, and Nuclear Waste Services seem keen to back it because they are paying their salary.
The authority has just placed an advertisement for a Policy and Engagement Officer who will ‘build our understanding of the sector, [to] prepare information about the growth of the sector, and [to] pursue schemes which respond to the growth of the sector’.
To the UK/Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities it is clear their understanding of the harsh realities faced by the sector is lacking as they reference the ‘proposed Geological Disposal Facility’, ‘the introduction of a fusion reactor’ and the ‘production of small modular reactors’ as though all are imminent.
If the motivation behind the appointment is primarily economic, then Lincolnshire County Council is labouring under a delusion, for pursuance of any of these propositions would be long-term and very uncertain.
The Theddlethorpe site is one of three that are known to be under active consideration by Nuclear Waste Services for the GDF; however, there is significant opposition from the local community and elected members, any siting will be subject to a promised ‘Test of Public Support’ in 2027, and even if taken forward it will be decades before it is built.
The earliest likely date that any practical fusion reactor, assuming that one can be made to work and is commercially viable, would be sometime in the 2050s. Despite the hype, every fusion experiment so far has required the expenditure of far more energy to start and sustain it than the amount of energy released at the end of it, and all these experiments have been of incredibly short duration.
And with reference to small modular reactors, it was only yesterday that Great British Nuclear recommended a set of designs to take forward. Now, in this nuclear version of a reality TV show, the contestants will face a three-year rigorous assessment by the Office of Nuclear Regulation, and those who survive will have to build a working prototype, build a factory to manufacture the parts, find a site or sites they deem suitable, secure site-specific permissions from regulators, planners, and government, avoid legal challenges from the local community, build the damned thing, and get it working. Sorry LCC – it’s going to be 2030’s at the earliest.
But if any motivation behind the appointment is the Council’s belief that nuclear is somehow the means to create ‘carbon free’ electricity to arrest climate change, their delusion is stronger still. For with over a decade at least to run before any possible earliest deployment of a working reactor in the county, the authority is clearly stepping away from its responsibility to do what it can now to mitigate its effects and for the people of Coningsby in Lincolnshire, who in July 2022, laboured under a temperature of 40.3 degrees centigrade, the hottest recorded in the UK, the wait will be especially bitter.
The NFLAs, wishing to be helpful, offer Lincolnshire County Council some alternate suggestions for duties for the appointed officer.
Councillor David Blackburn, Chair of the NFLA’s English Forum, explains:
“We would love to see the appointee help lower energy bills for the households of Lincolnshire, lower energy consumption, generate truly green, sustainable energy, and create jobs for the county, but new nuclear, which takes forever, costs a fortune, contaminates its surroundings, and leaves a deadly legacy of toxic nuclear waste, need not feature.
“Why? Because this officer should instead be seeking grants to install energy saving devices and insulation in the county’s most energy inefficient homes, many of which will be occupied by households in the greatest financial hardship, and, by working in partnership with communities, district and local councils, educational and medical establishments, social landlords and businesses, help install renewable energy technologies, such as a programme of roof top solar schemes, across the county.
“These activities would generate cleaner, cheaper electricity and create jobs in the short-term, not in the never ever”.
Will the job be repurposed to make this happen? The NFLAs think not as buried in the small print in the accompanying Job Description are the words ‘the post is fully funded by Nuclear Waste Services’ and the post is described as ‘Permanent’.
Councillor Blackburn concluded: “Whilst this may mean job security for the successful candidate, it must represent insecurity for the residents of Theddlethorpe, Mablethorpe, and Sutton.
“For the first duty listed for the postholder will be to act as ‘the main point of contact between the council and the geological disposal facility which is proposed by Nuclear Waste Services for Theddlethorpe in Lincolnshire’.
“If NWS is indeed providing ‘permanent’ funding then it must remain of the view that, despite the clear local opposition to the proposal, a GDF might be go forward for Theddlethorpe in the future. Otherwise, why would they invest?
“I pity the people of Lincolnshire whose County Council appears to want to redesignate the county as a green, but nuclear promised, land.”
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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