UK’s new nuclear fleet may be simply unaffordable
UK nuclear plans flicker over cost By: Tracey Boles Express UK, February 10, 2013 ENERGY secretary Ed Davey warned yesterday that he will not do a deal to fund new reactors “at any price” as fears mount that interested utilities cannot afford to build them.French state-owned utility EDF Energy and the Government are negotiating a “strike price” for the new reactors, the unit cost of electricity which would underpin investment plans for EDF’s two reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset.
Keeping the price from being set high would involve taxpayer subsidy. Davey said yesterday he was seeking a “fair price for the consumer”.
Earlier this month, EDF’s partner Centrica withdrew from the UK’s planned nuclear programme because of increasing costs and delays. EDF has also been seeking Chinese state investment to little avail so far…… EDF have always argued that the price must be fair to both sides or it will not be sustainable. “It has to be high enough to encourage investors,” said a source close to negotiations.
Another senior industry source said: “EDF has a huge debt pile in France, and Paris will want to be sure the UK is a good place to put money more than their own market.” …
Secrecy over UK’s freeloader nuclear industry
Negotiations on new nuclear power plants ‘need more scrutiny’ BBC News, 7 February 2013 The cost of cleaning up the Sellafield nuclear waste site has reached £67.5bn, according to MPs Lib Dem MP Martin Horwood has called for a “pause” in negotiations over new nuclear power stations to allow parliamentary scrutiny of whether they were likely to result in a good deal. He urged the government to ensure that the construction of new nuclear power stations was not subsidised.
Mr Horwood likened the nuclear industry to a “freeloader”…..Leading a Commons debate on the subject, Mr Horwood said the use of subsidies for renewable energy was “justified”.
But he said of the nuclear industry: “Wouldn’t it be extraordinary if into this exciting young, diverse and competitive energy market we found that a 56-year-old freeloader, a tailgater left over from another era was trying to slip in unnoticed and pick up all the same kind of advantages and support?”
‘Lack of transparency’
Mr Horwood claimed negotiations on the “strike price” – or minimum price for nuclear generated power – are going on “behind closed doors, as we speak, before the relevant legislation has even passed through this House”…..
Joan Walley, the Labour chair of the Environment Select Committee, supported Mr Horwood’s plan.
She said there was a “complete lack of transparency” because of commercial confidentiality agreements with energy firms.
“Is new nuclear going ahead with or without public subsidy? I think the plain truth is we have no way of telling,” she told MPs….. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21374879
Centrica gets out of UK’s uneconomic new nuclear power project
Centrica pulls out of project to build new UK nuclear plants and launches £500m share buy-back Centrica has scrapped plans to take part in the building of new UK nuclear reactors, blaming spiralling costs and delays, and has launched a £500m share buy-back.Telegraph UK, By Emily Gosden 04 Feb 2013
to build nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset and Sizewell in Suffolk. It capped months of speculation to announce its withdrawal on Monday morning. “Since our initial investment, the anticipated project costs in new nuclear have increased and the construction timetable has extended by a number of years,” Centrica chief executive Sam Laidlaw said.Poor UK new nuclear industry !- stalled by Cumbria’s rejection of waste dump
Much of the UK’s high level nuclear waste is stored above ground at SellafieldNo other community had come forward as a potential site, and no other community looks likely to. And given West Cumbria’s nuclear history it always seemed the best bet.
The government also has to find a solution. It will be harder to justify new nuclear power stations if the country can’t find a long term way of dealing with its existing waste problem.
Is it all over for Cumbrian nuclear waste store plans?, BBC News 1 Feb 13, The long term plan could have seen nuclear waste buried underground in Cumbria For the second time in 14 years the hunt for a long-term solution to Britain’s nuclear waste stockpile seems to have foundered in Cumbria.
In 1999 Cumbria County Council rejected plans for a rock laboratory that could have paved the way for an underground nuclear waste store. And now the same council has again withdrawn as a potential site for a repository. Cumbria’s decision The majority of the council’s executive decided the county wasn’t suitable. The government has also said it accepts Cumbria’s decision and will look elsewhere.
So is it all over? Continue reading
Cumbrians (UK) suggest that underground nuclear waste storage should be ruled out forever
Is it all over for Cumbrian nuclear waste store plans, BBC News 1 Feb 13,”…….Above ground storage ..some say it’s time to rule out underground storage forever.
Martin Forwood, from Cumbrians Opposed to a Radioactive Environment, has accused Jamie Reed of petulance by insisting Copeland could plough on. He says improved above ground storage is the only way forward.
He said: “We will continue to oppose underground dumping anywhere in the UK.
“With significant blight from at least one major nuclear proposal now averted, Cumbria can now look forward to attracting non-nuclear inward investment and diversifying its local economy towards a safer and clean future for all its communities.”
But despite that wish it does appear this story is far from over, and this week’s “no” may not prove to be the end of a Cumbrian nuclear waste saga that’s dragged on for more than 20 years. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-21295465
Lots of government incentives fail to win Cumbrians: nuclear waste dump rejected
Cumbria sticks it to the nuclear dump lobby – despite all the carrots on offer Guardian UK, Terry Macalister, 31 Jan 13, Council’s decision to turn down the hosting of huge underground nuclear waste depository is a body blow for government Cumbria county council’s decision to “dump the dump” by voting against a nuclear waste repository close to the Lake District has drilled a nasty great hole in the middle of the government’s wider nuclear strategy.
Ministers had made clear that part of the agreement with the public over a new generation of atomic power stations would involve finding a safe and permanent home for the high-level waste created by the old ones.
Cumbria’s decision is a body blow for government because though it may not necessarily have been the most geologically suitable spot, it certainly was the most politically suitable.
The “energy coast”, as the region calls itself, is home to Sellafield, formerly Windscale, the largest nuclear complex in Europe with more than 5,000 well-paid jobs, as well as the nuclear submarine-building base at Barrow-in-Furness.
Even a secretarial job there can pay £10 an hour, and to win votes in the local constituency you need to pin your nuclear colour – yellow – to the mast, as the MP for Copeland, Jamie Reed, and his predecessor, “Neutron Jack” Cunningham, have done.
The Unite union, representing many Sellafield workers, can also be relied upon to bang the nuclear drum on a national level, and was quick to condemn the county council’s decision on Wednesday.
The government had dangled all kinds of carrots in front of Cumbria’s local and regional councils, including the prospect that up to 1,000 jobs could be created from the proposed £12bn underground project. It made some headway when Copeland and Allerdale councils voted in favour of further dialogue, but that was not enough without the county council.
Now, if an area steeped in a nuclear culture is not prepared to countenance a waste dump, then who will?…… Continue reading
Britain’s new nuclear power plans stalled, ad Cumbria refuses to host waste dump
Nuclear plans in disarray after Cumbria votes ‘no’ to radioactive dump The future of new nuclear power stations in Britain has been dealt a serious blow, after a council threw out plans for a giant radioactive waste dump near the Lake District.Telegraph UK, By Rowena Mason, and Emily Gosden 30 Jan 2013
Eddie Martin, Conservative leader of the council, told a public meeting he did not feel ministers had offered enough reassurances to Cumbria.
The Coalition wants to see several nuclear power stations built over the next decade, but the plans cannot go ahead unless there are “effective arrangements” for storing the future waste.
Cumbria was the only county council that came forward offering to explore the possibility of a “geological disposal facility” on its land but it has now ruled itself out of contention. Continue reading
Safety fears: UK’s secret uranium enrichment plant closed for 2013
Secret UK uranium enrichment plant closed over safety fears regulators report steel corrosion at Aldermaston plant, which helps enrich uranium for nuclear warheads, Guardian UK , Rob Edwards, 24 Jan 13, A top-secret plant at Aldermaston that helps to enrich uranium for Britain’s nuclear warheads and fuel for the Royal Navy‘s submarines has been shut down because corrosion has been discovered in its “structural steelwork”, the Guardian can reveal.
The closure has been endorsed by safety regulators who feared the building did not conform to the appropriate standards. The nuclear safety watchdog demands such critical buildings are capable of withstanding “extreme weather and seismic events”, and the plant at Aldermaston failed this test.
They have set a deadline of the end of the year for the problems to be fixed.
Although the closed plant has not been officially named for national security reasons, the Guardian understands it is known as A45. It enriches uranium components for Trident nuclear warheads, and has recently been helping to make the uranium fuel for the Astute generation of nuclear-powered submarines.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) insisted it had contingency plans to cover the loss of the enrichment plant, but a prolonged closure could force the government to buy in materials from the US to ensure there is no disruption to Britain’s nuclear weapons programme.
The government’s safety watchdog, the Office for Nuclear Regulation(ONR), has taken legal enforcement action against AWE, the private consortium that runs the nuclear weapons complex at Aldermaston in Berkshire for the MoD, ordering that the corroded steel be repaired. Continue reading
First hand witness of radiation to soldiers in Pacific atomic bomb tests
The with holding of evidence -Dave Whyte. http://nuclearhistory.wordpress.com/2013/01/23/the-with-holding-of-evidence-dave-whyte/ <dave.whyte@blueyonder.co.uk I doubt if we will ever be permitted to have a cytogenetic blood analysis carried out as the Authorities know what the results would be. Everything they do has a delaying action in the hope we will all be dead before they are forced to admit the truth. What irks me, is the fact all Servicemen were loyal to Queen and Country but loyalty has not been reciprocated by our respective Government’s.
It was the Ministry of Defence that kept informing me I should put in for a War Pension if I considered my medical problems were caused by nuclear testing. When I did apply they acknowledged my stomach problems were caused due to service and awarded me a 0% pension: They also admitted the Lymphadenopathy and again awarded a 0% pension; For my claim of infertility and other ailments I was informed I did not receive sufficient radiation to cause my ailments.
I have now added Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) citing the stress involved in attempting to obtain information on the levels of radiation received including the fact that It took the Ministry of Defence over five years to supply me with information on the levels of radiation at ground zero after Pennant and Burgee after denying it existed. They are still refusing to divulge the levels of ‘Beta’ radiation at ground zero after detonation of the bombs, or the radiation levels at our living quarters in the forward area.
There were around 200 of us living at ‘B’ site (I have attached a map) which was situated 3 miles from the atomic bomb ground zero and 6 miles from the point of detonation of the hydrogen bombs Flagpole and Halliard. I saw members of the AWRE regularly checking the area for radiation (they were wearing protective clothing at the early stages). My attempts have failed to get a copy of the logs showing the levels of radiation. I should add, we were never given protective clothing or respirators we went around in shorts and flip-flops.
I believe this was the forerunner to Operation Lighthouse which was cancelled due to the moratorium. The tests were held in quick succession as proposed for Lighthouse: Pennant atomic bomb 22 August, Flagpole hydrogen bomb 2 September, Halliard hydrogen bomb 11 September and Burgee atomic bomb 23 September 1958. I have proof that the forward area was radioactive for nine days after Pennant and six days after Burgee. The authorities are denying there was any radiation in the forward area after the two hydrogen bombs!
I have attached a photograph showing the condition of our living quarters after Pennant.
It is only now I realise there must have been radioactive particles blown into our bedding and other belongings which we could have inhaled or ingested whilst sleeping.
I hope some of this may be of interest.
UK: former Defence Secretary speaks out on out-dated nuclear missile program
Nuclear defence policy hit by fresh blow http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/e067f95a-6583-11e2-a3db-00144feab49a.html#axzz2IuuMBNTq By James Blitz, Defence and Diplomatic Editor, 23 Jan 13,
The government’s insistence on an identical replacement for the UK’s nuclear deterrent will receive a fresh blow on Thursday, when a former Labour defence secretary declares Britain should no longer deploy atomic weapons at sea around the clock.
In an important contribution to the debate on Trident, Lord Browne of Ladyton will argue that Britain should abandon a cornerstone of its nuclear policy known as “continuous at sea deterrence” (CASD). Continue reading
Video: Cumbrians want Sellafield nuclear facility, just not the wastes
VIDEO Protests spread on Cumbria nuclear waste dump plan, guardian UK 17 Jan 13, As Cumbria Tourism joins the Lake District national park inwarning against research in Ennerdale and Eskdale, local meetings and rallies are spreading Here’s more on the growing concern that nuclear waste burial could be considered within the borders of the Lake District national park, followingCumbria Tourism’s stand against the prospect earlier this week.
A meeting in Keswick saw all but three of 500 present vote against the idea of pursuing research in Ennerdale and Eskdale, one of the few areas of stable geology in West Cumbria, the home of the Sellafield nuclear complex.
As well as being in the national park, the lonely valley is the subject of an experiment called Wild Ennerdale which has barred all traffic apart from a few forestry trucks and the Land Rover which services remote Black Sail youth hostel. Even the latter has been limited to the minimum possible number of journeys to sustain the many walkers to whom it is a shrine.
You can read about the Guardian Northerner‘s weekend there last November, here, and a post from its recent wardens Suzanna Brett and Martin Lyne here.…… http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2013/jan/17/ennerdale-nuclear-waste
UK secretly to exploit Australian outback again, testing killer drones
Drones have become a mainstay of warfare but are shrouded in secrecy. The US, ramping up its drone program under President Barack Obama, has used them against “kill list” targets in place such as Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.
Britain’s Taranis tests Australia appealed because it contains a lot of wide open spaces with next to no electromagnetic signals. He believed the tests would take place around Woomera in South Australia…..
It is estimated about 3000 people have been killed in US drone strikes, including hundreds of civilians
$190 million drone coming to Australia, The Age Asher Moses, January 16, 2013 An unmanned British stealth drone that can fly faster than the speed of sound and go undetected by radar will soon have its first test flight in Australia.
The £125 million ($190 million) Taranis, named after the Celtic god of thunder, can attack targets across continents, automatically dodge missiles and other efforts to bring it down and independently identify targets. It can refuel in mid-air and carry weapons including laser guided bombs and missiles.
Designed to avoid having to put human lives at risk (?) Continue reading
UK to get new interim nuclear waste store – so they can make more wastes?
Sizewell B builds new radioactive nuclear waste store, BBC News 15 Jan 13, All the spent radioactive waste from Sizewell B is stored on site An energy firm has begun work on a new store for radioactive waste at Sizewell B nuclear power station.
EDF Energy said the dry fuel store at its site on the Suffolk coast would provide capacity for all the spent fuel created until the plant shuts in 2035.
The store for uranium oxide waste should by completed by 2015…… All the nuclear waste created since Sizewell B started generating electricity in 1995 is currently stored on site under water in storage ponds.
EDF said the new project meant spent fuel would be put in welded metal canisters, cleaned and placed in large concrete casks.
‘Safely and securely’
The energy firm said it would continue to store waste on site until a deep geological disposal facility was made available – similar to the storages created in underground rock caverns in Finland.
Jim Crawford, Sizewell B’s station director, said: “This is an important development for Sizewell B which will ensure we have the ability to continue to store our spent fuel, safely and securely on site for many years to come…..http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-21032888
Opposition growing to nuclear waste plan for Cumbria’s Lake District
‘Nuclear waste? No thanks,’ say Lake District national park tourism
chiefs, Martin Wainwright guardian.co.uk, 16 January 2013
Board joins clamour against idea of digging repository to hold power
station waste under landscape much loved by visitors Cumbria’s tourism
board has joined the growing clamour against any further research into
the burying of nuclear power station waste within the borders of the
Lake District national park.
The board – which oversees the park, the county’s largest earner and
one of the most-visited group of attractions in the UK – has also
stated its strong opposition to investigations in the Solway Coast
area of outstanding natural beauty on the West Cumbrian side of the
famous lakes and fells…..
A crucial meeting of the three councils potentially affected – Cumbria
county and Allerdale and Copeland districts – will decide on 30
January whether to agree to full-scale preliminary planning for a
repository whose underground facilities would cover an area larger
than the nearby town of Workington.
The three councils are the only ones in the UK still considering a
government request to provide underground nuclear storage, but
Cumbria’s fractured geology has already narrowed potential areas to
limited parts of the western coast, including the Ennerdale valley in
the national park.
There were gasps at public meetings in November when mock-ups of the
possible construction project were shown.
The projections, based on a French scheme, showed how construction and
surface maintenance buildings might irrevocably scar the beautiful
foothills of legendary fells such as Great Gable and Pillar…….
Wheeling and dealing as China, France, try to sell nuclear reactors to UK
EDF, China firm held British nuclear talks
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/world/15816531/edf-china-firm-held-british-nuclear-talks/,
Reporting by Dominique Vidalon in Paris, Karolin Schaps, Sophie
Sassard and Sarah Young in London, additional reporting by David
Standway in Beijing; editing by Jason Neely
January 12, 2013 PARIS/LONDON (Reuters) – France’s EDF remains in the
hunt for a partner to build four nuclear reactors in Britain after
talks were halted with China’s Guangdong Nuclear Power Corporation
Holding (CGNPC) , sources close to the talks said on Friday.
“They have talked. EDF and CGNPC have a relationship going back many
years,” one source said. But two other sources close to the
discussions confirmed negotiations regarding a British partnership are
no longer ongoing.
The Wall Street Journal newspaper reported on Friday that the talks
had focused on the state-owned Chinese firm taking over a 20 percent
stake in EDF’s nuclear new build programme owned by UK firm Centrica .
A spokesman for Centrica said the company continued to be involved in
the project.
EDF declined to comment and CGNPC was not available for immediate comment.
CGNPC and EDF along with French reactor maker Areva signed an
agreement in November to jointly develop a new type of reactor.
The French government later said it had opened an investigation into a
partnership deal which EDF had signed with a Chinese nuclear utility
in order to verify whether France’s strategic interests were
respected.
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