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Secret history of UK’s Dalgety Beach radioactive pollution

Secret report warned that Dalgety Bay posed a radiation risk.. in 1958 http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2012/05/03/secret-report-warned-that-dalgety-bay-posed-a-radiation-risk-in-1958-86908-23846064/ May 3 2012  A SECRET report in 1958 warned of a radiation risk on a Scottish beach – but was ignored by the Government, it emerged yesterday. Continue reading →

May 5, 2012 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK | Leave a comment

UK may have 1000 radioactive waste sites

Nuclear waste ‘may be blighting 1,000 UK sites‘ MoD under fire after report finds number of contaminated sites is far higher than previously estimated Rob Edwards, guardian.co.uk,  2 May 2012 Hundreds of sites across England and Wales could be contaminated with radioactive waste from old military bases and factories, according to a new government report. Continue reading →

May 3, 2012 Posted by | UK, wastes | Leave a comment

Report on financial problems in investing in new nuclear power

Around the world, solar power and wind power are growing fast, while the number of operational nuclear reactors in the world is shrinking
THE FINANCIAL RISKS  OF INVESTING IN NEW  NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
www.energyfair.org.uk, March 2012 Since most of the cost of nuclear electricity is in the capital cost of nuclear plants, since build times can be 7 years or more, and since payback times can be 30 years or more, investors in new nuclear plants are exposed to financial risks from inaccurate estimates and from changes in markets in the  future.

There is increasing recognition in the business world that investing in new nuclear power stations is commercially risky.
This report describes five major types of risk for any investor considering putting money into new  nuclear plants, with particular emphasis on the situation in the UK: Continue reading →

April 30, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, Reference, UK | Leave a comment

China joins the frenzy to sell nuclear reactors to Britain

CHINA POWERS UP £6BN NUCLEAR BID , Express UK, April 29,2012 By Tracey Boles  ONE of China’s state-backed nuclear companies is in talks to invest more than $10 billion (£6 billion) in Britain’s new nuclear reactors.

According to Whitehall sources, the State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation is considering funding a bid for Horizon, the nuclear venture put up for sale by German utilities RWE and Eon. It is in talks about joining forces with Japan’s Toshiba which owns
Westinghouse, the reactor designer formerly owned by the UK government. Over time, the tie-up could be worth $60 billion (£37 billion), sources said. Continue reading →

April 30, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, UK | Leave a comment

French firm EDF pressurises UK government to subsidise nuclear power

EDF boss piles pressure on government over nuclear plans 5 April 2012 | By Vern Pitt Head of French energy firm wants guaranteed price for nuclear power which greens oppose as a subsidy

The head of French energy firm EDF Energy has piled pressure on the government to speed up its energy market reform plans, so the firm can build new nuclear power plants in the UK.

Although deputy prime minister Nick Clegg pledged earlier this month to push on with the reforms in the next session of Parliament the government is not due to have its electricity market reforms on the statute book until spring 2013.

Speaking at an infrastructure conference today in London,  Vincent de Rivaz, chief executive of EDF Energy, said:  We are getting on with the job [of building new nuclear power plants] and we are gathering pace. Our determination needs to be matched with visible momentum from government.

It s critical the government continues to make progress with electricity market reform.

Although EDF has already spent millions on developing its first nuclear project at Hinkley Point in Somerset, it will not make a decision on whether to commit to the scheme until later this year.

He said that certainty on how  contracts for difference , the part of the reforms that will allow the government to set a higher energy price for low carbon technologies, would work was crucial to the firm s investment decision.

But green campaigners have described such a system as a  subsidy  for nuclear power.

Nick Molho, head of energy policy at WWF, said the contracts amounted to a  subsidy for a 60-year old technology .

He added:  This is a recognition that nuclear power plants cannot be built in a liberalised electricity market and still need government support.

De Rivaz s comments follow calls from the construction industry to speed up the reforms so that a buyer can be found for Horizon Nuclear Power, which was put up for sale by joint investors RWE N-power and E.ON last month.

Horizon Nuclear Power has licences for two sites where it expects to build nuclear power plants.

This week MPs on the energy select committee said they would investigate the  future of the nuclear industry in the wake of the Horizon sale.

 

April 27, 2012 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

Sneaking a nuclear waste dump in, under another name

 Opponents believe that attempts to ‘spin’ a potential Lakeland nuclear waste dump as ‘West Cumbrian’ is an irresponsible strategy of deception that glibly condemns both Cumbria and the Lake District as a whole to inevitable environmental catastrophe…

Nuclear waste – tarnishing the Lake District ‘brand’? Virtual Lancaster, 26 APRIL 2012  The Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) has issued a consultation response  that indicates that its sole concern about having a dump for high-level nuclear waste built under the Lake District is bad publicity to the Lakeland ‘brand’. Continue reading →

April 27, 2012 Posted by | spinbuster, UK | 1 Comment

Squabble in UK over who gets the lucrative nuclear decommissioning job

Union fury as US firms eye nuclear work The Independent MARK LEFTLY     23 APRIL 2012 A swath of US firms are preparing to bid to oversee the multibillion-pound decommissioning of 10 obsolete Magnox reactor-powered nuclear stations, angering unionsthat want the work to go to British outfits. Continue reading →

April 23, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, UK | Leave a comment

UK poll shows overwhelming support for renewable energy

Poll: Nine out of 10 people want more renewables Friends of the Earth survey latest to show public support for renewables as green group launches new Clean British Energy campaign  BusinessGreen  23 Apr 2012 
Almost nine in 10 people want to see the government ramp up the UK’s use of clean domestic energy and reduce the country’s reliance on imported gas, a new YouGov poll reveals.
Just under two-thirds of the 2,884 people questioned on behalf of campaign group Friends of the Earth listed wind, wave, solar, or tidal as power sources they wanted to see playing a greater role in the UK’s electricity mix over the next decade, while just two per cent backed an increase in gas capacity.  The survey is the latest to signal strong public backing for renewable energy, following Sunday’s YouGov poll for Scottish Renewables that found 71 per cent of Scots supported wind power, and a separate Ipsos MORI survey last week that reported 67 per cent of respondents were in favour of using more wind power…..  http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2169394/poll-people-renewables

April 23, 2012 Posted by | renewable, UK | Leave a comment

“Contracts For Difference” – UK’s deceitful plan to subsidise the nuclear industry

“Industry on all sides believe this is a subsidy.”

Green campaigners believe the Lib Dems have been persuaded into allowing higher energy bills to flow into increased profits for nuclear companies by a sleight of hand that lets ministers disguise nuclear subsidies as support for “low-carbon power”.

“even the nuclear industry accepts this is a covert subsidy.”

Ministers planning ‘hidden subsidies’ for nuclear power Lib Dem worries over leaked document revealing plans to subsidise nuclear through electricity bills Fiona Harvey and Terry Macalister guardian.co.uk,   20 April 2012 Ministers are planning to subsidise nuclear power through electricity bills – despite their promises not to, a secret document seen by the Guardian reveals. Continue reading →

April 21, 2012 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

Another sort of “feed-in tariff” – UK’s sly subsidy for nuclear power

The “feed-in tariffs” referred to in the leaked submission are not the same as the feed-in tariffs by which households can gain extra income by installing solar panels. 

Ministers planning ‘hidden subsidies’ for nuclear power Lib Dem worries over leaked document revealing plans to subsidise nuclear through electricity bills Fiona Harvey and Terry Macalister guardian.co.uk,  20 April 2012 “……The leaked document, a submission to the European commission, which the government has confirmed as genuine, says: “Our reforms will put in place a regulatory framework based on feed-in tariffs for all low-carbon technologies, which will allow younger technologies to mature so that in the near- to mid-term future they will be able to compete in the open market … in time, we expect that this regulatory framework will enable different low-carbon technologies to compete against each other on a level playing field for their appropriate role in the energy mix.” Continue reading →

April 21, 2012 Posted by | politics, Reference, secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK | Leave a comment

Britain’s nuclear pickle, as French firms demand more subsidies for building reactors

The comments will send a shockwave through Whitehall because they come just weeks after the German utilities RWE and E.ON said they would not proceed with plans to build new nuclear plants at Wylfa in Wales and Oldbury in Gloucestershire.

 “UK energy policy is being manipulated and subverted to make it possible for French nuclear power companies (EDF and Areva) to start building four new reactors in the UK – two at Hinkley Point in Somerset and two at Sizewell in Suffolk.”

GDF Suez’s nuclear reservations hit government energy policy French firm needs more financial incentives if it is to proceed with new nuclear plant in Cumbria, says CEO Gérard Mestrallet, Terry Macalister guardian.co.uk,   16 April 2012  The government’s energy policy has suffered a fresh blow when GDF Suez, the French firm behind plans to build a new nuclear plant in Cumbria, said it needed more financial incentives if it was to proceed. Continue reading →

April 18, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, politics, UK | Leave a comment

Developing nuclear weapons together – Japan and UK

UK and Japan agree to act in unison on nuclear interests Enformable, 13 April 12, For the first time in history, Japan has agreed to develop weapons with a country other than the United States, proclaiming the agreement will strengthen bilateral defense cooperation, including joint weapons development. Continue reading →

April 13, 2012 Posted by | Japan, UK, weapons and war | Leave a comment

UK’s messy situation – the economics of new nuclear reactors

Japan, the nation who cannot even restart its own reactors or bring the Fukushima disaster to a close, will be allowed, no encouraged, to sell the UK its own technology right back, and presumably for a profit.

The Nuclear Powers of Japan and United Kingdom Enformable, 13 April 12,  “……The history of nuclear energy economics in the UK is equally complex. The once-mighty UK nuclear fleet, which at the beginning of the 1990s generated over 25% of the nations power, has fallen hard in more recent years.   Continue reading →

April 13, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, Reference, UK | Leave a comment

Renewable energy investment climbing in UK

Renewable energy investment bounces back after 2010 slump UK came 7th in global ranking for investment in clean energy last year, spending $9.4bn – up from $3.3bn in 2010, Madeleine Cuff guardian.co.uk,  11 April 2012 Investment in clean energy in the UK bounced back last year after its 2010 slump, the respected US-based Pew charitable trust has said in a comparison of investment across G20 countries.  A total of $9.4bn was invested in wind, wave, solar and other renewable sources of power compared to $3.3bn in 2010 – a leap of 185%.

The UK came seventh in the global ranking for total investment in the Clean Energy Race 2011 report, below the United States, China, Italy and Germany. In 2010 the UK fell from 3rd to 13th in the world ranking, as investment plummeted from a high of over $11bn in 2009. The reduction was attributed to “uncertainty surrounding the policy perspective of a new government,” according to the 2010 report from Pew…..

Global investment in clean energy rose in 2011 by 6.5% to $263bn, fuelled by rising demand for solar panels, which are becoming ever cheaper to make and install. America is currently top of the clean energy table, but Italy and India saw large increases on their 2010 investment levels. The figures, based on Bloomberg New Energy Finance data released in a less granular form in January, also include finance for improving energy efficiency and research into low carbon technology.

Over half of Britain’s renewable energy comes from wind, and there is growing interest in the development of offshore windfarms. An extra $2.3bn of investment was ploughed into the UK wind sector this year….. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/apr/11/renewable-energy-investment-bounces-back

April 12, 2012 Posted by | renewable, UK | Leave a comment

There’s gold in them thar dead nuclear reactors

Christina Macpherson's websites & blogs

And some of us thought that the nuclear industry wasn’t profitable any more!

Well, after ripping off the taxpayer all these years  they  will now be back in business with a vengeance.   The almost eternal task of buryng dead nuclear reactors could turn out to be even more profitable than ever

UK in nuclear decommissioning deal with Japan http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/10/japan-britain-nuclear-idUSL6E8FA3JP20120410    by Oleg
Vukmanovic; Edited by David Holmes  LONDON, April 10   Apr 10, 2012  (Reuters) – Britain and Japan signed a framework civil nuclear co-operation pact opening up Japan’s multi-billion pound decommissioning sector to UK companies, the UK energy ministry said.

The announcement on Tuesday came as UK Prime Minister David Cameron kicked off his tour of Asia in Japan. The tour is aimed at boosting trade and investment ties, while the nuclear pact follows the devastating Fukushima nuclear plant meltdown in March last year. Continue reading →

April 11, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, decommission reactor, Japan, UK | Leave a comment

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