Bradwell Nuclear Power Station closed 16 years ago, now ready for decades of “interim” wastes
Maldon & Burnham Standard 23rd July 2018 , BRADWELL Power Station has finished treating radioactive waste as it makes another big step towards being decommissioned. Site operator Magnox is now
preparing the site for the 80 year care and maintenance process. The power
station stopped generating electricity in March 2002, after running for 40
years. In a programme spanning seven years, hundreds of thousands of litres
of radioactive resin and sludge has been made ready for interim storage.
The radioactive sludge was collected from the ponds which stored the
site’s spent nuclear fuel during operation. The resins helped with
removing the radioactive content from site’s discharges – making sure
they were kept within safe and permitted levels. Once it had been
retrieved, the waste was treated and packaged in self-shielding ductile
cast iron containers known as yellow boxes, making it suitable for interim
storage in the site’s purpose-built facility.
http://www.maldonandburnhamstandard.co.uk/news/16371458.bradwell-power-station-finishes-treating-radioactive-waste/
Scandal of radioactive particles on Britain’s beaches
Radiation Free Lakeland 24th July 2018 , An urgent request has been sent to Sellafield to monitor and retrieve
radioactive particles from St bees beach ahead of Cumbria Wildlife
Trust”s ‘Beached Art’ day. Sellafield have treated this
straightforward request under Freedom of Information rules which means that
there will not be a reply for at least a month and then we may have to pay
for the request to be answered.
The request has been sparked by a citizen
science project carried out by Radiation Free Lakeland volunteers in
collaboration with nuclear science undergraduates at Worcester Polytechnic
Institute in the US. The accuracy of the independent report has been
confirmed by the Environment Agency (letter from EA below on original ) . Marianne
Birkby of RaFL says “the EA recognise the accuracy of our citizen science
project and the accuracy of the students work, but they fail to acknowledge
that our samples were taken without the use of expensive detecting (or any)
equipment,
Also plutonium was not tested for, so this report while accurate
does not reveal the full picture. This means that the volume and
viciousness of radioactive particles being washed onto our beaches is far
greater than is being admitted to. It also means the likelihood of
inhalation and ingestion of particles by beach users is far greater than
“low.” Cumbria Wildlife Trust and other beach users have faith in the
authorities when they say the beaches are safe. This faith is misplaced.
The nuclear waste scandal has been going on for decades polluting our
beautiful beaches with insidious radioactive particles and it will continue
unabated unless people square up to the nuclear industry and say enough is
enough”
https://mariannewildart.wordpress.com/2018/07/24/radioactive-sand-sculptures-by-cumbria-wildlife-trust/
Britain’s nuclear regulator concerned for Hinkley project, as Flamanville nuclear project’s delays and safety problems continue
Times 26th July 2018 , Doubts about the Hinkley Point nuclear plant being built on time
intensified yesterday when its developer announced fresh delays to a prototype in France caused by defective welding. EDF, the French state-controlled energy company, is building Britain’s first new nuclear plant in a generation in Somerset and aims to start generating electricity from the £20 billion project in 2025.
The company is building the same
reactor type at Flamanville, Normandy, but has repeatedly had to put back
the start-up date, originally 2012, because of construction problems. EDF
said yesterday that first power generation at Flamanville would now slip by
a year to early 2020 because it needed to repair “quality deficiencies”
in the welding in part of the plant that carries steam to the turbines. The
cost of the plant has increased by a further €400 million to €10.9
billion, more than three times its original budget.
City analysts at RBC
Capital Markets said the announcement would “add to concerns about
whether EDF’s other projects . . . can be delivered on time and
budget”. Hinkley Point is due to generate 3.2 gigawatts of power, seven
per cent of Britain’s power needs, and is meant to help keep the lights
on when coal and older nuclear plants close. EDF insists it has learnt the
lessons from the EPRs being built elsewhere, ensuring that the British
project will proceed more smoothly.
However, Britain’s nuclear safety
regulator has raised concerns about substandard quality control checks on
EDF’s supply chain. A source insisted that Hinkley should not suffer the
same problems as Flamanville because the project uses a different
contractor and testing method, both of which had already been deployed
successfully in Finland. Kate Blagojevic, head of energy at Greenpeace UK,
said: “EDF’s nuclear design just doesn’t work very well. The nuclear
power plant in Finland is a decade late and because of yet more technical
problems, the Flamanville plant has gone from late to later. This bodes ill
for Hinkley Point C.” A spokesman for EDF said: “The construction of
Hinkley Point C remains on track. The project has already benefited, and
will continue to learn from the experience of other projects.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/reactor-fault-raises-spectre-of-delays-at-20bn-hinkley-point-xflrcbg2j
UK’s nuclear plans mean taxpayers take on unlimited costs for any accidents, and for longterm wastes
Politics Home 24th July 2018 , Alan Brown MP: Government mustn’t sign up to ‘crazy proposals’ leaving the
taxpayer facing unlimited risk over nuclear incidents. Shadow SNP
Spokesperson for Energy, Alan Brown MP, writes ahead of his Westminster
Hall debate on ‘Taxpayer liability for safety at the Wylfa Nuclear power
project’. The nuclear industry in the UK, whilst keeping the lights on for
decades has come at a price.
The legacy of contamination and clean-up is
estimated by the National Audit Office to come in at £121bn by completion
in 2020. The Magnox swarf storage silo contains waste sludge which is
corrosive and radioactive and deemed a hazard until 2050 and there are a
number of existing nuclear power stations still to be decommissioned.
Yet we are told by the UK Government that we need more nuclear as a low carbon
means of energy generation. While the process may indeed be low carbon, it
is anything but green given the toxic legacy.
Why do we want to commission more at exorbitant costs?
With regards the cliché “we need the baseload,” as far back as 2015, the chief executive of National Grid
argued that the baseload concept was outdated. The only other reasoning I
can see is the equally outdated concept of the UK being a world leader in a
particular sector.
I have my own bias of course, but I would suggest the UK
may be the world leader in bad nuclear deals. A 35 year agreement for
Hinkley Point C at £92.50/MWh, when offshore wind recently came in at
£57.50 for a 15 year tenure. The Hinkley deal so bad it was criticised by
the NAO as bad value for money.
Part of the problem with Hinkley was the
risk and the financial exposure to private investors. A risk allayed with
the fact the technology for the European Pressure Reactor (EPR) has still
to be proven, with all existing EPR projects under construction facing
delays.
As investment in nuclear around the world falls, the UK has ten
stations on the go in terms of planning. Yet, the National Infrastructure
Commission’s latest report states that they believe there should be a
maximum of just one new nuclear contract signed before 2025. This is
because of the reduced costs of renewables and the other emerging
technologies including the massive decrease in cost of batteries.
Their report also illustrates that over the years the cost of nuclear has not
decreased, debunking another UK Government aspiration. This backdrop brings
us directly to Wylfa. Direct information from the Government remains
difficult due to the claims of “commercial confidentiality”. However,
again it is clear that the private developer, Hitachi, has had difficulties
with the costs and risks associated with the project. This has led to the
suggestion of the Government taking a £5bn direct stake in the project. In
principle for key infrastructure projects, a direct Government stake makes
sense as it can borrow cheaper than the private sector.
However, this seems to be part of another wider blank cheque type agreement for a Government
desperate to get the project over the finishing line. When strike rate
figures of £77.50/MWh are quoted for Wyfla, then this stake is one reason
for the reduction. Under the Paris and Brussels conventions, a nuclear
operator has the liability for any nuclear incidents. Even so, there is a
cap ay £1.2bn euros, so way below the true cost of a catastrophic
incident. Hitachi has already had two serious safety breaches in other
nuclear developments, and for one was fined $2.7bn from the US Government.
Apparently learning from this, Hitachi are resisting taking on liability
for nuclear incidents. We do not know exactly what they are proposing, but
it marks a departure from current agreements and the “polluter pays”
principle. It is critical that the UK Government does not sign up to any
such crazy proposals. The cost legacy is bad enough; we still don’t have
a solution to long term disposal of nuclear waste and it is folly to sign a
deal for the taxpayer to take unlimited risk on a nuclear incident. This
could prove to be the worst deal yet unless the Government changes tact
soon. https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/energy/nuclear-power/opinion/house-commons/97117/alan-brown-mp-government-mustnt-sign-crazy
The Small Modular Nuclear Reactor dream could be over for Rolls Royce
Nucnet 23rd July 2018 , Rolls-Royce is preparing to shut down its project to develop small modularnuclear reactors if the government does not make a long-term commitment to the technology, including financial support, in the coming months, the Financial Times reported. According to the UK-based newspaper, the UK aero-engine maker has scaled back investment significantly, from several millions to simply paying for “a handful of salaries”. Warren East, Rolls-Royce chief executive, told the Financial Times:
However, David Orr, executive vice-president of Rolls-Royce’s SMR programme, said that without comfort from the government on two fronts the project “will not fly. We are coming to crunch time.”
Rolls-Royce is one of several consortia to have bid in a government-sponsored competition launched in 2015 to find the most viable technology for a new generation of SMRs. https://www.nucnet.org/all-the-news/2018/07/23/rolls-royce-planning-to-shut-down-smr-project-without-government-support
UK government has not come clean on its plans for nuclear safeguards post Brexit
David Lowry’s Blog 23rd July 2018 ‘Mark-your-own-homework’ nuclear “safeguards” proposed by UK Government as
part of Brexit plans. A week ago the Government published a near 100-page
report titled ‘The future relationship between the United Kingdom and the
European Union’, which has provoked much public and political discussion.
But one important issue not examined in the media was the section on the
future of the UK commercial nuclear sector and any future relationship with
the EU nuclear agency, Euratom. (The section on Euratom is reproduced
below)
http://drdavidlowry.blogspot.com/2018/07/mark-your-own-homework-nuclear.html
EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee want clarity on UK’s nuclear plans after Brexit
House of Lords 19th July 2018 The EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee has written to the Minister for Business and Industry, Richard Harrington MP, following an evidence session with the Office for Nuclear Regulation which considered their efforts to prepare for Brexit.
The Committee has written to BEIS’ Minister for Business and Industry to ask for further clarity on the ONR’s future funding arrangements, and to request regular updates between now and the point of withdrawal to ensure the ONR’s preparation remains on track.
The Committee also asks for an update on negotiations regarding the intended Nuclear Cooperation Agreements with the USA, Canada, Japan and Australia.
https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/lords-select/eu-energy-environment-subcommittee/news-parliament-2017/nuclear-preparedness-letter-to-minister/
Britain’s new rules will force companies to declare their carbon footprint
Telegraph 18th July 2018, Britain’s largest companies will need to lay bare the size of their
carbon footprint alongside their statutory financial results in their
annual reports from next year. Under new rules, the Government will force
large private companies and those quoted on the London Stock Exchange to
account for their energy use, carbon emissions and their energy efficiency
measures in the drive towards a zero carbon economy. The new rules take
effect for the financial years from April 2019 and replace a defunct carbon
reporting regime which was heavily criticised by business for needlessly
adding layers of bureaucracy at a cost of around £20m.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2018/07/18/government-force-carbon-accounting-annual-reports/
Anxiety about nuclear weapons transport paused for 2 hours
Herald 16th July 2018 , AN INVESTIGATION has been launched after a freight train carrying nuclear
material ran a stop signal near to Kingussie on Friday night. The service
was carrying spent fuel from the Dounreay Power Station to the
decommissioning site at Sellafield, Cumbria. It came to a stop after
travelling past a red light before being moved to a “position of safety” by
concerned officials. Direct Rail Services (DRS), the company which handles
shipments between the two sites on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning
Authority (NDA), said they understand there was no risk of collision due to
the error.
However, concerns have been raised as to why a train loaded with
radioactive material was allowed to sit there for almost two hours. An
investigation has since been launched into the circumstances of the
“highly-disturbing” incident. DRS has been transporting spent fuel between
the two sites for a number of years. The material is taken from Dounreay to
Georgemas Junction and loaded on to the train to Carlisle and then onto
Sellafield.
Tor Justad, chairperson of the Highlands Against Nuclear
Transport group, said: “We’ve been campaigning for these shipments to be
stopped and for the material to be kept on site. Storing nuclear material
is hazardous enough but it’s when you go to transport it that accidents can
happen. And obviously an incident like this is highly-disturbing. We know
that low-level radiation is emitted from these canisters so to hear that
the train was sitting at Kingussie for hours is concerning.”
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/16356092.investigation-launched-after-train-carrying-nuclear-material-ran-stop-signal-at-kingussie/
66% of UK voters support onshore wind power
Independent 16th July 2018 , Two-thirds of British people think the government should ditch the policies
that have all but killed off the UK’s onshore wind industry, according to a
new poll.
Since new rules governing the construction of onshore turbines
were introduced following the election in 2015, planning applications for
new wind farms have plummeted by 94 per cent. As the government struggles
to meet strict greenhouse gas emissions targets, experts have criticised
the effective ban on technology that is widely considered the UK’s cheapest
new power source.
Aside from the environmental and industry arguments for
promoting onshore wind, the technology has considerable support from the
British public, as the government’s own data on public attitudes to
renewable energy have shown. Now, a new opinion poll by YouGov has revealed
66 per cent of voters would support a change in policy that allowed onshore
wind farms to be built in places where they have local backing. Current
policies were initially introduced following a Conservative promise to
“halt the spread of onshore wind farms” which “often fail to gain public
support”.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/onshore-wind-ban-lift-voters-renewable-energy-renewableuk-yougov-a8449381.html
Cool down nuclear plan because renewables are better bet – advisers tell UK government
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jul/10/nuclear-renewables-are-better-bet-ministers-told ministers told Government advisers say UK should back just one more new nuclear power station in the next few years, Guardian, Adam Vaughan, 15 July 18
Government advisers have told ministers to back only a single new nuclear power station after Hinkley Point C in the next few years, because renewable energy sources could prove a safer investment.
The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) said the government should cool down plans for a nuclear new build programme that envisage as many as six plants being built.
The commission, launched by George Osborne in 2015, said that a decade ago it would have been unthinkable that renewables could be affordable and play a major role in electricity generation. But the sector had undergone a “quiet revolution” as costs fell, it said.
Sir John Armitt, the NIC’s chairman, said: “They [the government] say full speed. We’re suggesting it’s not necessary to rush ahead with nuclear. Because during the next 10 years we should get a lot more certainty about just how far we can rely on renewables.”
He argued that wind and solar could deliver the same generating capacity as nuclear for the same price, and would be a better choice because there was less risk. “One thing we’ve all learnt is these big nuclear programmes can be pretty challenging, quite risky – they will be to some degree on the government’s balance sheet,” he said.
“I don’t think anybody’s pretending you can take forward a new nuclear power station without some form of government underwriting or support. Whereas the amount required to subsidise renewables is continually coming down.”
Renewables were a “golden opportunity” to make the UK greener and make energy affordable, he added.
Armitt said he was agnostic about whether the next power station was the one Hitachi wanted to build in Wales, or one EDF Energy hoped to build in Suffolk. The government is in the process of negotiating a deal with Hitachi to enable the project at Wylfa on Anglesey to go ahead.
But the NIC’s report was unequivocal. It said: “Government should not agree support for more than one nuclear power station beyond Hinkley Point C before 2025.”
Armitt said: “By that point we should be in better position on storage technology and presumably [will] continue to see a drop in price on renewables.”
The NIC said that by 2030 a minimum of 50% of power should come from renewables, up from about 30% today.
New figures released by energy analytics firm EnAppSys show renewables have already overtaken nuclear for electricity generation. Wind, solar and biomass power stations supplied 28.1% of power across April, May and June, with nuclear at 22.5%, the third quarter in a row that renewables have outstripped nuclear.
But Armitt said he was hopeful that, as an independent adviser to ministers, his recommendations would fall on receptive ears. “We’ve seen how long it took to negotiate Hinkley – does the government really want to have to keep going through those sort of negotiations?” he said.
Separate research commissioned by the NIC and published on Tuesday found that nuclear and renewables could meet climate targets for comparable costs.
Aurora Energy Research concluded that, regardless of which technology was pursued, the power sector would have to reach zero emissions by 2050 to hit legally binding carbon goals.
In a statement, EDF Energy said it believed “in having as much renewable power as practically possible and is making major investments in renewables. However, having too much of one energy type creates risks to security of supply and increases costs.”
UK’s Ministry of Defence secretive about safety ratings for the Trident nuclear weapons system
Trident nuclear safety ratings kept secret by MoD, Herald Scotland, Rob Edwards , 14 July 18
UK’s academic and government experts now agree that renewable energy, not nuclear power, is Britain’s future
Telegraph 15th July 2018 , Support for renewable energy is no longer the preserve of eco-warriors, nor
the enemy of the sceptical pragmatist. Experts from academia and government
agree that after years of heavy subsidy, renewable energy is close to
paying its own way.
“Few would have imagined that by 2018 we would be
talking about a subsidy-free future for renewables,” admits Mateusz Wronski
of Aurora Energy Research. “Yet this is where we have arrived – and our
research highlights clearly the enormous prize and potential in the market,
not only in Great Britain but across Europe.”
Aurora broke ranks with traditional energy rhetoric earlier this year by publishing data showing
that new renewable energy projects are now the cheapest source of
electricity in the market and hold the promise of a multi-billion-pound
investment boom for Britain. “The subsidy-free revolution is here, and it’s
big. This is a £60bn investment opportunity in north-west Europe alone,”
Wronski says, with Britain poised to gain far more than any other country
from the coming revolution.
A rapid shift in the economics of energy has
brought renewables to the brink of a major tipping point only a few years
away. Britain could begin to host onshore wind and solar projects without
the need for subsidies from the early 2020s, to unlock about £20bn of
investment between now and 2030. At the end of the next decade, offshore
wind will follow suit.
Last week, the renewable agenda found a fresh ally.
Sir John Armitt, the chairman of the National Infrastructure Commission,
made the most hard-headed case for renewable energy yet. In the first ever
independent assessment of Britain’s infrastructure needs, the commission
dealt a blow to the Government’s nuclear ambitions by warning ministers
against striking a deal for more than one follow-up to the Hinkley Point C
project before 2025.
Instead, government should focus its efforts on
rolling out more renewable power. The pace of the zero-subsidy roll-out
could become quicker if developers are allowed to enter their “zero” bids
into the flurry of auctions held by National Grid throughout the year to
guarantee generation and an optimal frequency for the grid. By taking part
in the subsidy auctions, wind developers would soon be able to cast a bid
at or below the cost of wholesale power prices, which would effectively
mean zero added costs to bills. This would provide certainty to investors,
lower the project’s risk and reduce the cost of capital needed to bring the
projects to life. In turn, consumers would be in line for lower bills.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2018/07/15/wind-change-reshape-energy-landscape-renewables-start-pay-way/
Fukushima residents visit north Wales to warn people against nuclear power
What Fukushima disaster victims want to tell people of North Wales about new reactor plans, Daily Post , 15 July 18
Visitors from the stricken region have been in Anglesey and Gwynedd,
Victims of the nuclear disaster at Fukushima in Japan visited North Wales to warn people against building new reactors at Wylfa and Trawsfynydd.
Horizon Nuclear Power’s plans to build the £12bn Wylfa Newydd have been formally accepted for consideration by the Planning Inspectorate.
A period of consultation is now taking place while talks are held with the Westminster Government, which also recently revealed plans to build another reactor at Trawsfynydd.
Yesterday morning, two farmers and a journalist from Fukushima visited Anglesey to share their first-hand experiences of the nuclear …….Farmer Satoshi Nemoto said: “The nuclear accident has kept farmers throwing away their products. Dairy farmers have been forced to kill cows or leave them behind in sheds. Farmer Satoshi Nemoto said: “The nuclear accident has kept farmers throwing away their products. Dairy farmers have been forced to kill cows or leave them behind in sheds. Fellow farmer Isao Baba from Namie, 10km from the disaster site, said he still can’t return home to what is called the “Difficult to Return Zone”. ……https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/what-fukushima-disaster-victims-want-14907594
British residents will be locked into very high electricity costs, as govt takes a £16 billion stake in Wylfa nuclear station
London Economic 4th July 2018 After weeks of discussions over the risks of investing in large-scale
energy projects, the British government proposed to become an equal
investment partner in the new Wylfa Newydd nuclear plant. Under a
tripartite financing structure, London is going to take a £16 billion
stake in the plant, signalling that it has learned its lessons from past
failures. Both in Wales and further east in Europe, a public stake plays a
critical role in facilitating large-scale, low carbon energy projects.
Any discussion of the planned Wylfa Newydd project is obliged to give a cursory
nod to Hinkley Point C, the first and only nuclear power station to be
built in the UK since 1995. When complete, Hinkley Point will produce the
most expensive electricity compared to all power stations bar none.
Globally.
The irony is that this is largely due not to the installation
costs (admittedly somewhat higher than competition) but to its financing
model. The House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts frets that with
“estimated costs to the consumer having risen five-fold” since the
project’s go-ahead, the deal struck on Hinkley Point locks Brits into
footing the bill for the government’s lack of nous when negotiating the
‘strike price’ for electricity produced at the facility.
https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/opinion/splitting-the-financial-atom-how-public-backing-produces-cheaper-nuclear-power/04/07/
1 This Month
4 May -West Suburban Peace Coalition to discuss Iran war at May Educational Forum
Monday, May 4, 7:00 – 8:00 PM Central Standard Time
Title: : How Trump’s Narrative Tries to Shape the Reality of the War on Iran.
Contact Walt Zlotow, zlotow@hotmail.com 630 442 3045 for further information
14 May – online event From Bombs to Data Centres: the Face of Nuclear Colonialism
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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