UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority doesn’t know what to finally do with nuclear wastes
No plan to dump nuclear waste Bill Hamilton The Guardian, 22 June 2013 As a public body, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has a duty to deliver value for money. Moreover, all nuclear site operators have a regulatory requirement to optimise site operations. There is no proposal to “dump” radioactive waste at Bradwell or at any other NDA-owned site (Only way is Essex – nuclear waste row, 17 June). Our first decommissioning priority is hazard reduction, which includes the safe, secure and environmentally responsible interim storage of intermediate level waste (ILW) until geological disposal becomes available.Currently, the plan is to build an interim storage facility at each Magnox reactor site to store the ILW from that site. A number of interim stores have already been constructed, with several more stores planned. In the interests of value for money to the taxpayer, we are exploring whether there is a business case for reducing the number of new stores that need to be built. There could also be environmental benefits from building fewer stores. The option of storing ILW from a small number of other sites at Bradwell, which already has an ILW store, is one of a number of options under consideration.
Our intention to explore the potential benefits of building fewer interim storage facilities was first made public in our strategy published in 2011, on which we engaged widely and consulted publicly. We are engaging openly and transparently with stakeholders on the options under consideration and will consult on our preferred option(s) at the appropriate time. Furthermore, any decision that requires a change to existing storage plans will require consultation and local planning permission.
UK’s new nuclear plan will dramatically increase electricity costs
Electricity From New UK Nuclear Plant To Be Linked to Inflation WSJ, By SELINA WILLIAMS AND GERALDINE AMIEL, 18 June 13, The U.K. government has agreed that the guaranteed fixed price for electricity from a new nuclear power plant that Electricite de France SA EDF.FR +0.30% (EDF.FR) wants to build would be fully linked to inflation, said people familiar with the matter, a move that would add tens of billions of pounds to the total cost of electricity from the reactors.
The agreement to inflation-link the electricity price EDF would receive–known as the strike price–for 35 years substantially eases the financial risks for the French utility for constructing two nuclear reactors, but there is still no deal on the actual price, the people said.
The whole nuclear plant is estimated to cost around 14 billion pounds ($22 billion) to build.
EDF, the world’s largest nuclear operator, seeks a strike price between GBP95 to GBP100 per megawatt hour of electricity while the government would rather settle around GBP80 to GBP85 per megawatt hour, one of the people said. The current wholesale electricity price is around GBP48/MWh. The talks are expected to continue for several weeks, the person said.
Whether EDF and the U.K. can reach an agreement is seen as a litmus test for nuclear energy and its economic viability in Europe……
The agreement links the strike price, which amounts to an indirect subsidy for nuclear power, to an inflation measure called the consumer price index, one of the people said. This would dramatically increase the costs to taxpayers, said Roland Vetter, head of research at CF Partners, an environment and energy advisory, trading and investment
firm.
“Indexation is important because it will increase the subsidies every year in line with inflation and the public therefore will carry thelong-term inflation risk in their electricity bills,…… http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323566804578553030018924570.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Rosatom (builder of Chernobyl reactor) aiming to sell nukes to Britain
Russians target Britain in nuclear power deal:This is Money, 16 June 13, Builder of reactor at Chernobyl has gained a toehold in UK market Britain has signed a deal with Moscow that could pave the way for Russia’s state-owned nuclear power company Rosatom to build plants in Britain.
Energy Secretary Ed Davey has made an agreement with the deputy primeminister of Russia, Arkady Dvorkovich, to set up a joint working group between Rosatom and the UK on the future of nuclear power.
Rosatom has claimed that the deal could lead to the fulfilment of its longstanding ambition to build nuclear plants in this country.
The agreement, signed last week, comes while Britain is locked in fraught negotiations with French electricity group EDF over the terms to build a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset.
MPs have already warned that the Government is being held to ransom by EDF because it is the only group bidding for the contract.
Sergey Ruchkin, Rosatom’s new representative in the UK, said Rosatom was following the EDF deal closely. ‘We will learn lessons from EDF in this area,’ he said.
‘On the working level, we have been in contact with our colleagues from the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change and there is the potential at some time in the future, if the decision has been made,
to enter the British nuclear new-build market.’
Rosatom is essentially the same group that build the reactors at Chernobyl, one of which exploded in 1986. That blast was the worst nuclear power plant disaster in history. It released 400 times more radioactive material into the atmosphere thanthe atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima during the Second World War….
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2342208/Russians-target-Britain-nuclear-power-deal-Builder-reactor-Chernobyl-gained-toehold-UK-market.html#ixzz2WVxeNBXC
Western powers want to sell nukes to India, never mind about the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)……
Western powers have taken a keen interest in the nuclear emergence of India …… making it an attractive
prospect for technology exporters.
If India joined the NSG, it would be the only member of the suppliers group that has not signed up to the 1970 nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT)
BRITAIN LOBBIES FOR NUCLEAR EXPORT GROUP TO ADMIT INDIA Yahoo 7 News, Reuters June 15, 2013 By Fredrik Dahl VIENNA – Britain has stepped up efforts to let India join an influential global body controlling nuclear exports, a move that would boost New Delhi’s standing as an atomic power but which has faced resistance from China and other countries. Continue reading
Could Britain achieve 100% renewable energy?
Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Italy, Spain and all these other European countries show that it is possible to do so. They are all out-classing Britain.A bright future, full of jobs and export potential, with far less global upheaval caused by climate chaos awaits us, if only the political will was thereEU: 100 Percent Renewable Energy Is Here, The Energy Collective, David Thorpe, 13 June 13 Britain can, clearly, do far better, never mind all the party political wrangling over support for green technologies. If other countries can do it, so can we.
UK wind power succeeding without need for fossil fuel backup
Fossil fuel plants not needed to back up UK wind http://reneweconomy.com.au/2013/fossil-fuel-based-power-stations-unnecessary-to-back-up-wind-23670 By Joshua Hill 14 June 2013 An incidental note at the bottom of a wildlife article covering the culling of badgers in the UK newspaper the Daily Telegraph could have explosive results for the energy industry.
According to the addendum, a measly four paragraphs in length, the National Grid — the country’s electric grid operator — has reported that wind energy produced 23,700 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of power, requiring only 22 GWh of power from fossil fueled stations to fill the gaps: that is less than a thousandth of wind’s output, and ironically, less than a tenth of what was needed to back up conventional fossil fueled power stations.
The figures were similarly impressive when looking at emissions. According to the National Grid, wind saved nearly 11 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over the period accounted for (April 2011 through to September 2012) and required only 8,800 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions to be released as backup, measuring in at only 0.081%.
There is no easy information available on the National Grid website to confirm these figures referenced in the Daily Telegraph article, and furthermore the paper’s final sentence — “Not surprisingly, given these figures, no new fossil‑fuel power station has been built to provide back‑up for wind farms, and none is in prospect” — seems to be in direct contradiction to a BBC News story published this week, reporting that two diesel power stations are planned to compensate for fluctuations in green energy.
According to the article, Green Frog Power received planning permission last year to build its diesel power station in Plymouth, while Fulcrum Power has made an application for a similar power station in Plymouth, as well. Unsurprisingly, given the current climate surrounding the energy industry, both companies said that they support renewable energy. This article was originally posted on Cleantechnica. Re-produced with permission.
Britain’s Labour Party snubs atomic test veterans
Labour ‘snub’ for A-bomb veterans The Shields Gazette, 13 June 13 A NUCLEAR test veteran from South Tyneside is “very disappointed” at the response of Labour Party leader Ed Miliband to a call for support. John Taylor wrote to Mr Miliband, on behalf of himself and the 1,000 ex-servicemen, demanding justice after being exposed to radiation during British nuclear weapon tests in the Pacific in the 1950s.
Mr Taylor, 76, of Carnegie Close, South Shields, had a chance meeting with the Labour leader, while he was supporting Emma Lewell-Buck during her successful by-election battle in the town. But although Mr Miliband asked Mr Taylor to write to him about the campaign, the atom bomb veteran was “unhappy” with the Labour leader’s response.
Mr Taylor said: “Basically, everything in the letter was stuff we already knew. There was no pledge to back our campaign. “There is nothing in Ed Miliband’s letter that suggested he was going to support us. I was very disappointed, because I thought Mr Miliband could have taken up our fight in Westminster.
“I think the veterans’ solicitors will be disappointed with his response too. “His letter really suggested that we would have to fight our cases individually, rather than as a concerted campaign.”
Wearing little or no protective clothing, Mr Taylor witnessed three nuclear explosions between July and September 1957, as part of Operation Antler, while serving as a leading aircraftman with the RAF in Maralinga, Australia.
All the vets claim the nuclear tests caused medical problems for themselves and their families……..
Although the veterans saw their case rejected by the Supreme Court in London last year, Mr Taylor and fellow campaigners hope for a more positive hearing later this year at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.http://www.shieldsgazette.com/news/crime/labour-snub-for-a-bomb-veterans-1-5761740
UK emergency services not up to dealing with a nuclear transport radiation accident
Nuclear convoy disaster exercise reveals weaknesses in emergency response Rob Edwards The Guardian, 13 June 2013 Internal report highlights five-hour wait for weapons experts and confusion over radiation monitoring. An emergency exercise has exposed serious weaknesses in Britain’s ability to cope with a catastrophic motorway pileup in which a nuclear bomb convoy burns and spreads a cloud of radioactive contamination over nearby communities.
An internal report released by the Ministry of Defence reveals that the emergency services faced “major difficulties” in responding to the mocked-up accident near Glasgow because they had no help from MoD weapons experts for more than five hours.
At times the response, which involved 21 agencies, was disorganised, the report says. Heated disputes with ambulance staff over how to handle casualties contaminated with radioactivity at the crash site caused “considerable delay”, resulting in one victim being declared dead.
Other problems included outdated, paper-based communications systems, poor mobile phone signals, conflicting scientific advice on health hazards and confusion over radiation monitoring.
Nuclear weapons are transported in heavily guarded road convoys up to six times a year between bomb factories at Aldermaston and Burghfield in Berkshire and the Royal Naval Armaments Depot at Coulport on Loch Long in Argyll. The trips are needed to ensure that Britain’s stockpile of about 200 Trident missile warheads is properly maintained…. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/12/nuclear-convoy-disaster-exercise-emergenc
Biggest pile of plutonium in the world: Britain’s nightmare
Britain has accumulated the biggest stockpile of civil
plutonium in the world, a target for terrorists and future bomb-makers. What was once thought to be a valued asset is now a costly liability. The Government faces a dilemma. Should it try to
turn the stuff into nuclear fuel at huge cost or write off the plutonium altogether? Previous attempts to deal with the problem went disastrously wrong, costing the taxpayer more than a billion pounds. Tonight File on 4 investigates what’s been called one of the most embarrassing failures in British industrial history. And now MP’s are worried taxpayers could be asked to pay up again. Continue reading
Britain’s quite horrible problem of stockpiled plutonium
UK’s plutonium stockpile dilemma http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21505271 By Rob Broom byFile on 4 June 2013, Britain has accumulated the biggest stockpile of civil plutonium in the world. What was once a valued asset is now viewed as a costly liability and a target for terrorists.
Previous attempts to deal with the stockpile have gone wrong and the government now faces a dilemma. Should it try to turn the stuff into nuclear fuel or write off the plutonium altogether?
Amid tight security at the Sellafield nuclear plant in Cumbria, is a store holding most of Britain’s stockpile of plutonium. Continue reading
Britain’s rather horrible plutonium and Mixed Oxide Fuel (MOX) dilemma
“……….The Government wants to try and turn plutonium into a fuel which can be usedUK government’s big gamble in subsidising new nuclear power
Nuclear subsidies: a gamble on the price of gas, Climate Spectator, 20 May 13Will Blyth “…..the idea of billion pound subsidies for a new crop of nuclear power stations in a time of austerity sounds outlandish. Is this a sensible use of the public’s money?
We should note that the government is not parting with any cash up front. This is a buy-now, pay-later deal. Money will only flow to the nuclear companies from our bills once they start generating electricity.
The first nuclear plant in the pipeline is Hinkley Point in Somerset, which has received planning consent. The government is currently negotiating a contract with the owner, energy company EDF, to agree a price they can charge when the plant comes online.
The contract terms will be long – perhaps up to 40 years – giving the company revenue certainty, and reducing their capital costs in the face of fluctuating market prices. Yet to be announced, this fixed price may be 70 per cent higher (worth more than £1 billion per year) compared to today’s market prices. But as the plant will not be operational for at least 10 years, the key question is what price power will be a decade from now.
That depends. If the price of gas stays where it is or falls, government will have locked consumers into an expensive energy source for 40 years. But if gas prices rise, electricity prices will also rise, and nuclear energy will subsidise us rather than the other way round. In which case, if the government fails to build new nuclear plants now it will have locked out consumers from a relatively cheap source of future power.
This is the nature of the commercial risks associated with nuclear, and why companies will not build new plants without some price assurance from government. By fixing a price, the government transfers that risk to the consumer. Depending on the terms of the contract agreed with EDF, the public may also share the risk of major cost overruns, and of dealing with nuclear waste.
Britain’s existing nuclear plants are also operated by EDF, which bought them from the government in 2009 for £12.5 billion in a deal that left the costs of cleaning up with the government. This is going to be expensive: the decommissioning of the huge nuclear reprocessing plant at Sellafield, Cumbria, is estimated at more than £67 billion, a bill that costs the government £2.3 billion per year through the annual budget of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. EDF pays nothing into this fund as the “polluter pays” principle says they should, so this represents a hefty subsidy. But the government would never have received such an attractive sale price if the taxpayer had not been left to pick up the tab.
……Judged on purely commercial grounds, the nuclear decision is a large bet on the price of gas (not to mention nuclear safety) http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2013/5/21/energy-markets/nuclear-subsidies-gamble-price-gas
British atomic veteran not giving up his fight for justice
Fife Christmas Island veteran vows to fight on with campaign http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/fife/fife-christmas-island-veteran-vows-to-fight-on-with-campaign-1.91551 By MICHAEL ALEXANDER, 9 May 2013
A Fife Christmas Island veteran who recently won a legal fight against the Ministry of Defence (MoD), has vowed to continue his fight for “the truth”, despite 12 ex-servicemen losing their appeal to be granted a war pension.
Dave Whyte, 76, of Kirkcaldy, told The Courier that, thanks to his recent freedom of information victory over the MoD, he can now “prove beyond doubt” that he was exposed to massive levels of unsafe radiation following the British nuclear tests carried out in the 1950s.He remains adamant the whole situation is a “cover up” by the MoD to protect the civilian nuclear industry.
Mr Whyte took the MoD to court last year for refusing to supply him with information about radiation levels he and thousands of veterans were exposed to while serving in the armed forces. Continue reading
Britain’s government keeps public in the dark about increasing costs of new nuclear power
Ministers urged to clarify nuclear cost overruns http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/10065162/Ministers-urged-to-clarify-nuclear-cost-overruns.html
The Government has been urged to clarify who will bear the risk of any cost overruns in building new nuclear plants, after ministers appeared to suggest the burden could fall on consumers. By Emily Gosden 17 May 2013 In a memo to the energy select committee, released on Friday, ministers also admit that delays or cost overruns at EDF’s proposed £14bn nuclear plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset could jeopardise the chances of any other new UK nuclear plants being built. Continue reading
UK government hanging on to its nuclear dreams, despite financial gloom
Coalition still ‘optimistic’ about nuclear power despite EDF and China concerns. Guardian UK Building programme advancing, says minister as expectations of timetable delay at Hinkley Point grow and Chinese ‘lose interest’ The government has insisted it was still optimistic about plans to build a series of nuclear power stations despite expectations that EDF would delay its timetable for a new reactor at Hinkley Point and concerns that China was losing interest in being a co-investor…….
On Friday, the construction trade paper Building quoted industry sources as saying that EDF did not expect to take a final investment decision on Hinkley in Somerset until September at the earliest.
The firm, 80% of which is owned by the French state, had originally talked about concluding negotiations by the end of 2012. That was later extended to the first quarter of 2013. Delays have traditionally dogged nuclear energy projects but are particularly worrisome in this case because Britain faces a potential energy capacity crisis within five years…..Sam Laidlaw, Centrica’s chief executive, told shareholders: “Not only had the cost increased but also the schedule had lengthened very considerably. So instead of taking four to five years to build, EDF were telling us that it was going to take nine to 10 years to build. That is a long time to be writing out a cheque for this project.”….. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/may/17/coalition-optimistic-nuclear-power-edf-china
1 This Month
Read the Public Inquiry Report, the Commissioners’ report, Surrendering Australia: The AUKUS Deception is available to download for free at aukuspublicinquiry.com. Or just watch the replay of the National Press Club Luncheon.
19 November – Webinar – The Reality of Reprocessing
Time: 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada) / 2:00 PM Eastern / 7:00 PM UK / 8:00 PM CET
Register for the Zoom Event Here
Shut down the radiation-damaged Heysham nuclear reactors now
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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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