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Scots to pay ‘£1.5m every day for 30 years’ towards Trident renewal

The National 27th Dec 2024, https://www.thenational.scot/news/24821011.scots-pay–1-5m-every-day-30-years-towards-trident-renewal/

The Alba Party have used the latest National Records of Scotland (NRS) figures available as well as a House of Commons library report to highlight the daily cost of the UK’s so-called nuclear deterrent to Scotland.

The party have also used an estimate by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament that up to £205 billion will be spent on replacing the nuclear deterrent that is based at Faslane and Coulport – which considers in-service costs (at 6% of the defence budget) over the 30 years and the cost of additional factors such as infrastructure investment.

Calculated per head of population, Scotland’s share towards the renewal would be over £16 billion – which then comes to over £1.5m every day over the next 30 years.

All three main pro-independence parties have a policy that the Trident would be swiftly removed from a future independent Scotland.

But now, with this new analysis in mind, former defence worker and Alba’s General Secretary Chris McEleny says that the cost of Trident renewal “must be on the table in the here and now”.

He added: “ When we talk about spending over £200 billion on the next generation of nuclear weapons, it is such an abstract and huge number. But what these figures released by Alba Party today show is what the cost will be every single day.

“It is the equivalent of providing free school lunches to around one hundred and fifty classes every single day or paying an additional fifteen thousand pensioners a winter fuel payment every single day.

“When one in four children in Scotland live in poverty it is obscene to be spending so much money every day for the next thirty years on weapons of mass destruction when that money could instead be invested in Scotland’s future.”

December 29, 2024 Posted by | UK, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Jeremy Corbyn speaks out on danger of Trident in Scotland

JEREMY Corbyn has highlighted the danger posed by the UK’s Trident
nuclear submarines – including having them based in Scotland. The former
Labour leader said there is “no defence” for nuclear weapons, adding
that his dissent from supporting their presence and potential use is
“well-known” – including a pledge in 2015 that, if he were to become
prime minister, he would never use them. On the subject of the UK’s
nuclear arsenal, which is hosted in Scotland at HM Naval Base Clyde, Corbyn
said it put a “target” on the city of Glasgow.

 The National 27th Dec 2024, https://www.thenational.scot/news/24819794.jeremy-corbyn-speaks-danger-trident-scotland/

December 28, 2024 Posted by | UK, weapons and war | Leave a comment

British energy supplier Centrica is prepared to “walk away” from a planned investment in the Sizewell C nuclear plant

British energy supplier Centrica is prepared to “walk away” from a
planned investment in the Sizewell C nuclear plant, according to its chief
executive. In an exclusive interview with Energy Voice, Centrica chief
executive Chris O’Shea said “there are a number of criteria we have to
consider to invest in the project”. “We’ve said that we are part of the
Sizewell C process but there are a number of criteria we have to consider
to invest in the project,” O’Shea said. “If these are not met, the
right thing to do would be to walk away to protect the business.”

The UK-based supplier owns a 20% stake in the nuclear power stations, amounting
to a 9 terawatt-hour capacity out of a total of 45 TWh. “When the
conditions are right, we’ve seen how good investing in nuclear can be for
Centrica,” said O’Shea. He added that access to that nuclear power
capacity “will be very valuable to the company and to the UK’s energy
system”. “New nuclear will play a crucial role in the future energy
system, however we will only invest if the risks-and-rewards balance is
right for us,” he said. “If it is not right for us, we will not
invest.”

Energy Voice 23rd Dec 2024 https://www.energyvoice.com/renewables-energy-transition/nuclear/564808/centrica-prepared-to-walk-away-from-sizewell-c/

December 26, 2024 Posted by | business and costs, UK | Leave a comment

Will the legacy of nuclear power ever disappear from our coasts?

 BANNG 17th Dec 2024,
https://www.banng.info/news/regional-life/nuclear-power-legacy/

Andrew Blowers tackles this ongoing question in the December 2024 issue of Regional Life magazine

Back in the last century a fleet of nuclear power stations emerged, their bulky and threatening presence dominating peaceful and often precious, protected coastal environments. Now most have been retired and are in the long process of decommissioning and waste management before all traces of their existence can be erased a century or more from now. Or not…. If plans for new nuclear fructify, then the nuclear presence on our coasts may never disappear.

It is a little difficult to recall Bradwell in past times, a sinister presence on the low shoreline, with its silent reactors and the turbines howling throughout the night; its garish lighting polluting the night sky. Today Bradwell power station is silent and in darkness, its turbines demolished and its reactors shrouded within a huge box clad in grey and blue.

The ecological impact of nuclear power stations is both visible and invisible. Within these structures dangerous radioactive wastes are stored for generations and the risks of radioactive releases, accidental or deliberate (cyber, warfare, terrorism) are incalculable. And, in the age of accelerating climate change, these plants are at risk from sea-level rise, storm surges, flooding and erosion which will inflict yet more grief on future populations.

For existing stations and those currently under construction, there are plans to adapt to changing conditions through massive sea defences and removal of the wastes to a deep repository – if a suitable host rock and willing community can be found. This will be a daunting challenge but greatly exacerbated if a fleet of new nuclear stations is built, leaving vast volumes of wastes to be managed indefinitely on vanishing shores into the far future.

Hinkley Point C

The gigantic Hinkley Point C on the Somerset coast is currently the largest construction site in Europe with a 12,000 workforce and drastic shortage of accommodation for local people. Once operating, it will kill millions of fish, sucked in through its cooling water intake pipes. EDF, the developer, is trying to avoid providing mitigating Acoustic Fish Deterrents (AFD), perversely hoping that by the creation of a saltwater marsh, fish and other marine life will automatically migrate there.

New nuclear is already impacting environments in Somerset and the Suffolk coast is afflicted by preparations for Sizewell C.

Sizewell C

The site lies within a designated National Landscape adjacent to the RSPB’s flagship sanctuary at Minsmere as well as to other designated sites. SZC has not yet got the finance to go ahead but the demolition of a treasured woodland and trashing of other areas has already scarred a wide area in preparation for roads, rail lines, transformer buildings. All in advance of a project that may never materialise. These are premature, wanton acts of vandalism.

Fortunately, the destruction already endured in Somerset and that beginning in Suffolk can be avoided in Essex where proposals for a giant, new nuclear power station which would have inflicted untold damage on the marine and terrestrial environments of the Blackwater region were pushed back by BANNG and other stakeholders.

Now nuclear’s moment may be passing and our energy future lies in other directions, far less dangerous and with far less damaging impacts on the environment for future generations to cope with.

December 24, 2024 Posted by | environment, UK | Leave a comment

Aldermaston nuclear bomb factory makes explosives error

 By Niki Hinman, Local Democracy Reporter, 21 Dec 24

 Aldermaston’s nuclear bomb making factory AWE has been ordered to
improve procedures after damaging an explosives component. The Office for
Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has served an improvement notice on the Atomic
Weapons Establishment following an incident at its Aldermaston site.

 Newbury Today 21st Dec 2024 https://www.newburytoday.co.uk/news/awe-told-to-improve-by-nuclear-regulator-after-explosives-er-9397154/

December 23, 2024 Posted by | safety, UK | Leave a comment

Starmer backs minister accused of embezzling billions in Bangladesh

Tulip Siddiq denies claims that she brokered corrupt deal with Russia to build nuclear power plant.

 Keir Starmer has given his full support to Tulip Siddiq, the Treasury
minister, after Bangladesh’s anti-corruption commission accused her and
family members of embezzling billions as part of a deal for a nuclear power
plant. Siddiq, whose role as economic secretary to the Treasury includes
responsibility for tackling financial corruption.

She has denied any involvement in the claims. While Downing Street strongly defended her, it
is another headache for Starmer after a turbulent few months that included
the sudden departure of another minister, the former transport secretary
Louise Haigh.

 Guardian 19th Dec 2024m https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/dec/19/labour-minister-accused-of-involvement-in-embezzling-billions-in-bangladesh

December 22, 2024 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

“I don’t care if its tainted money”: Council leader’s telling admission in Nuclear Waste Services cash grab debate

 Nuclear Free Local Authorities, 16th Dec 2024

In a busy week for GDF developments, East Lindsey District Councillors were last  Wednesday (11th December) engaged in a fractious debate over proposals to accept £3 million in money from the Environment Agency to carry out coastal defence works. The controversy arose because the money originated from the coffers of Nuclear Waste Services.


It is of course in the interests of NWS to invest in coastal defences because they would not want to see any Geological Disposal Facility sited in Mablethorpe or Theddlethorpe inundated in the future by flooding. The surface site would be operable for up to 175 years, receiving regular shipments of high-level radioactive waste shipments. Flood waters could render the facility inoperable far in advance of this end date.

Local members, Cllrs Travis Hesketh and Robert Watson called the proposal “pure blackmail”. Councillor Watson issued a caution that accepting the money will mean the district council “surrenders its independence” to NWS. Councillor Jill Makinson-Saunders echoed this sentiment, which was shared by many opposition members in the chamber, saying “If we are taking money from the nuclear people, we cannot fly the flag for independence”. In response to his critics, Council Leader Craig Leyland said “I don’t care if its tainted money”.

Despite the strength of opposition, the Conservative Minority Administration, with the support of some opposition members, were able to secure sufficient votes to approve the proposal.

The decision must again cast doubt on the supposed impartiality of the district council over the GDF proposal. There is within the report put before Council an admission that this is infact the case; under a section titled ‘Reputation’ it says:

‘There is risk of perception of predetermination for GDF facility due to the source of funding being NWS. This will be mitigated by providing clear information in public domain at all stages of work on full transparency basis’.

In addition, as the proposal will require East Lindsey District Council to find another source of finance to carry out the work were it to disengage from the GDF process, the Council is in effect curtailed from exercising its Right to Withdraw and it will certainly not be inclined to call for a Test of Public Support within twelve months, as agreed by Council at a previous meeting and as just again asked for by local MP Victoria Atkins.

The decision comes hot on the heels of a decision made by the Executive at Lincolnshire County Council to seek a Hosting Agreement with the NWS and government promising millions if a GDF comes to Lincolnshire.

December 20, 2024 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK | Leave a comment

‘Long journey ahead’ for nuclear plant clean-up

Piers Hopkirk, BBC News, Dungeness, 16 Dec 24

It took about 16 years to build Dungeness B nuclear power station, but to return the site to its original state will take nearly a century.

This is the scale of the task facing EDF as the company continues the process of removing the uranium from this decades-old facility that sits on a remote headland on the Kent coast.

The turbines stopped turning at Dungeness in 2018 and, with the decision taken to cease electricity production, the process of defueling the plant has begun.

In the giant reactor hall the scale of the task becomes apparent.

Buried under the floor are the uranium-filled fuel assemblies that powered the station’s two nuclear reactors.

There are more than 400 rod-filled assemblies in each reactor and it will take six years to safely remove them all.

It is done with the help of a giant 2,000 tonne crane that will carefully lift each one out before moving them into another part of the plant to cool.

Plant Manager, Paul Windle, said: “So far we have removed around 25% of the fuel from one reactor.

“We have got a long journey ahead.”

From the reactor hall the fuel ends up in an area called the ponds.

The fuel, still hot, is stored under water here for 90 days before it is deemed safe enough to be placed into steel flasks which will be moved on to lorries to begin the journey to a nuclear waste facility at Sellafield in Cumbria.

Dungeness B was the first advanced gas cooled nuclear reactor to start construction in the UK.

It was at the vanguard of 20th Century nuclear power generation.

However, in the face of technical challenges that were seen to be too expensive and complicated to address, the decision was taken by EDF to halt energy production………………………………………………………….. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz7qvderej9o

December 20, 2024 Posted by | decommission reactor, UK | Leave a comment

World War II airplanes to blame for radiation halting work on SSEN cable near Dounreay

The radioactive contamination that has suspended work on a
high voltage cable between Orkney and Caithness is being linked to wartime
aircraft. Work on part of the mainland link of SSEN Transmission’s new
cable was halted because of the presence of radioactive contamination.

 John O’Groat Journal 9th Dec 2024
https://www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk/news/world-war-ii-airplanes-to-blame-for-radiation-halting-work-o-368483/

December 13, 2024 Posted by | environment, UK | Leave a comment

Will Donald Trump kill US-UK-Aussie sub defense deal?

The landmark defense agreement between the U.S, U.K. and Australia could be in jeopardy with the maverick Republican back in the White House.

Politico, December 9, 2024, By Stefan Boscia and Caroline Hug

LONDON — There are few issues on which we do not know Donald Trump’s opinion.

After thousands of hours of interviews and speeches over the past eight years, the president-elect has enlightened us on what he thinks on almost any topic which enters his brain at any given moment.

But in the key area of defense, there are some gaps — and that’s leading global military chiefs to pore over the statements of the president’s allies and appointees to attempt to glean some clues, specifically over the $369 billion trilateral submarine program known as AUKUS he will inherit from Joe Biden.

Trump does not appear to have publicly commented on the AUKUS pact — named for its contingent parts Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States — which would see the U.S. share technology with its partners to allow both countries to build state-of-the-art nuclear submarines by the 2040s.

This uncertainty has left ministers and government officials in London and Canberra scrambling to discover how the Republican is likely to view the Biden-era deal when he returns to the White House in January.

Two defense industry figures told POLITICO there were serious concerns in the British government that Trump might seek to renegotiate the deal or alter the timelines.

This is because the pact likely requires the U.S. to temporarily downsize its own naval fleet as a part of the agreement — something Trump may interpret as an affront to his “America First” ideology.

Looking east

There is hope in Westminster that Trump would be in favor of a military project which is an obvious, if unspoken, challenge to China.

The deal would see American-designed nuclear submarines right on China’s doorstep and would form a part of Australia’s attempts to bolster its military might in the Indo-Pacific.

When former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in September 2021 that the deal was not “intended to be adversarial toward China,” President Xi Jinping simply did not believe him.

The Chinese leader said AUKUS would “undermine peace” and accused the Western nations of stoking a Cold War mentality.

Mary Kissel, a former senior adviser to Trump’s ex-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, said “you can assume Trump two will look a lot like Trump one” when it comes to building alliances with other Western countries against China.

“We revivified the Quad [Australia, India, Japan and the U.S.], got our allies to bolster NATO funding and worked to prevent China from dominating international institutions,” she said.

However, the deal also forces the U.S. government to sell Australia three to five active Virginia attack submarines, the best in the U.S. Navy’s fleet, by the early 2030s as a stopgap until the new AUKUS subs are built.

Is America first?

This coincides with a time where there is a widely recognized crunch on America’s industrial defense capacity.

In layman’s terms, the U.S. is currently struggling to build enough submarines or military equipment for its own needs.

One U.K. defense industry figure, granted anonymity to speak freely, said there was “a lot of queasiness” in the U.K. government and a “huge amount of queasiness in Australia” about whether Trump would allow this to happen.

“There is a world in which the Americans can’t scale up their domestic submarine capacity for their own needs and don’t have spare to meet Australia’s needs,” they said.

“If you started pulling on one thread of the deal, then the rest could easily fall away.”

One U.K. government official played down how much London and Canberra are worried about the future of the deal, however.

They said the U.K. government was confident Trump is positive about the deal and that the U.S. was “well equipped with the number of submarines for their fleet.”………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

‘Everyone’s a winner

This attempted U.K.-China reset will likely be high on the list of talking points when Healey meets with his Australian counterpart Richard Marles next month in London for an “AUKMIN” summit.

The Australian Labor government, after all, has conducted a similar reset with the Chinese government since coming to power in 2022 after relations hit a nadir during COVID.

Also at the top of the agenda will be how to sell the incoming president on the AUKUS deal in a positive way.

A second defense industry insider said the British and Australian governments should try to badge the deal in terms that make it look like Trump has personally won from the deal.

“Everybody is worried about America’s lack of industrial capacity and how it affects AUKUS,” they said.

“He is also instinctively against the idea of America being the world’s police and so he may not see the value in AUKUS at all, but they need to let him own it and make him think he’s won by doing it.”………………………………………………………………………..

Pillar II

While the core nuclear submarine deal will get most of the headlines in the coming months, progress on the lesser-known Pillar II of AUKUS also remains somewhat elusive.

Launched alongside the submarine pact, Pillar II was designed to codevelop a range of military technologies, such as quantum-enabled navigation, artificial intelligence-enhanced artillery, and electronic warfare capabilities. 

One Pillar II technology-sharing deal was struck on hypersonic missiles just last month, but expected progress on a range of other areas has not transpired.

Ambitions to admit Japan to the Pillar II partnership this year have also gone unfulfilled……………………………………………………………
https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-aukus-kill-us-uk-aussie-sub-defense-deal/

December 11, 2024 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, politics international, UK | Leave a comment

A promissory note to sway the vote? Lincolnshire opts to seek nuclear waste Hosting Agreement.

9 Dec 24, https://www.nuclearpolicy.info/news/a-promissory-note-to-sway-the-vote-lincolnshire-opts-to-seek-hosting-agreement/

It is said that money talks, and the nuclear industry and national government making an offer of owdles of cash to any financially-challenged local authority[1] which might be a partner in hosting a radioactive waste dump would be a guaranteed conversation starter.

Impatient to jump the gun, the Executive of Lincolnshire County Council met last week to initiate that conversation by placing their own monetary mark in the sand. Before them was a report recommending an approach be made to Nuclear Waste Services and Whitehall for an Hosting Agreement to provide for ‘Significant Additional Investment’ should Theddlethorpe be selected as the eventual location of the Geological Disposal Facility.

In giving their approval to such a proposal, Lincolnshire Councillors were following the lead shown by elected members of two small townships in Ontario, which agreed Host Agreements with Canada’s own NWS, the Nuclear Waste Management Organisation (NWMO) were they to accommodate a Deep Geological Repository. The NWMO was established by the Canadian nuclear industry to find a final destination for that nation’s legacy radioactive waste. Through Host Agreements with the NWMO, Ignace Town Council was promised $170 million over 81 years, whilst South Bruce stood to receive a more significant $418 million over 138 years.

Big money indeed for small municipalities, and certainly the promise of accessing this largesse is likely to have provided a significant inducement to some residents to vote ‘yes’ when casting their vote in recent online ballots, which determined whether their respective communities would continue to be engaged in the siting process. These ballots both led to ‘yes’ results.

So on Tuesday 3 December, citing South Bruce as being ‘of the most relevance’, the Lincolnshire County Council Executive decided to follow their example in seeking their own Hosting Agreement, guaranteeing big bucks to meet six key infrastructure asks in coastal defences, road and rail networks and public transport, education and skills training, energy, the environment and in the economy.


The irony is that the Council bigwigs were meeting after the South Bruce cash cow had bolted; for on 28 November NWMO had announced with great fanfare that they had selected Ignace instead. The NFLAs can speculate that this selection was made on the basis that the latter was so much cheaper and came with greater public backing. For in Ignace 77.3% of those participating in the poll said ‘yes’, but in South Bruce this fell to only 51.2%. Whilst this might seem incongrous, given the whopping disparity in the promised payout, the site in South Bruce was quite close to the township, whilst in Ignace the proposed site is at Revell Lake, some 34 Kms away. Trying not to be a sore loser, South Bruce Council issued a statement congratulating NWMO on its selection and Ignace on its success, whilst seeking to highlight its concilation prize for participating in the process – a disappointing exit payment of $4 million.

The experience of South Bruce demonstrates that hitching your wagon to any competitive sitiing process in the hope of major infrastructure investment is a risky strategy as there is no guarantee your horse will arrive first at its desired destination. And in the UK there are two other competing runners and riders – both in West Cumbria – rather than the two horse race in Canada.

Given the siting process is a long and uncertain race, electors would surely expect the elected members and officers of Lincolnshire County Council to be already repeatedly and vigorously lobbying central government for the money needed to satisfy its wishlist, rather than relying on this game of chance. Can Lincolnshire really wait up to 15 years for site selection before its promissory note is made real? It is difficult to believe that the county has over 15 years of grace before improving its sea defences when climate change will mean steadily encroaching sea levels on England’s East coast.


The County Council can also be challenged on its impartiality over any decision in hosting a GDF. For in seeking a Hosting Agreement so early in the process, the impression is conveyed that the Council would welcome the GDF development were the cash to be forthcoming.

There is also a certain degree of hypocrisy in the ‘asks’ made by the County Council.

For instance, in seeking investment in tourism no account is taken of the massively deleterious impact on the tourist economy that must result from the construction and operation of a GDF on the holiday coast.

A report completed by Global Tourism Solutions and published by East Lindsey District Council in early September revealed that in 2023 4.57 million people visited the district, an 8.2% increase from 2022, whilst in 2023 the local economy benefitted from £857.9 million of tourist income, a new record building on the £824.2 million received in 2022. This sustained an estimated 8,033 tourist jobs (equivalent to 6,143 full time posts).[2]

The results of a survey of over 1,100 tourists were recently published by the Guardians of the East Coast. 83% of respondees said they would question whether to return to any Lincolnshire seaside resort should this massive engineering project come to Theddlethorpe. If this negative sentiment translates into reduced visitor numbers, the economic downturn would be disastrous. In its accompanying report, GOTEC estimated a 40.5% decline in tourism would result, amounting to over 3,000 jobs lost and almost £250 million in lost annual income.

And in seeking investment to grow energy generating capacity which is not ‘visually damaging’ to the environment, the Council seems to have no qualms about trading this for hosting the UK’s largest engineering project, with the construction of the GDF being compared to building the Channel Tunnel.

Finally, there is a further clue as to another probable motivation for seeking a Hosting Agreement at this time and it rather reveals a focus on an event in three years time rather than fifteen.

In the report it states that ‘It is, however, important that LCC ensures that all opportunities that the facility could provide are identified. This will help inform the local community’s response to the Test of Public Support (ToPS) which the council has sought to be held no later than 2027’.

This could be interpreted as the Council adopting a policy of ‘dangling’ the investment carrot before the public in the hope that this will convince them to vote ‘yes’ to the development in three years time; in effect making the Host Agreement a promissory note to sway the vote.

Ends://..For more information please contact the NFLA Secretary Richard Outram by email to richard.outram@manchester.gov.uk

December 11, 2024 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

Starmer to court UAE for British nuclear power investment

The Prime Minister is expected to tell sovereign wealth fund bosses ‘you can trust us’ on Sizewell C

Matt Oliver, Industry Editor,
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/12/07/starmer-to-court-uae-for-sizewell-c-nuclear-investment/

Sir Keir Starmer will court the powerful bosses of United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) sovereign wealth funds this week as he seeks to raise funding for the Sizewell C nuclear project.

On a tour of the Gulf, the Prime Minister is expected to court investment into British infrastructure, including the proposed nuclear power plant on the coast of Suffolk.

His visit will include a meeting with representatives from Mubadala, one of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth funds, sources told The Telegraph.

Those present are expected to include Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Mubadala’s chief executive and the right-hand man to Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE vice president and Manchester City football club owner.

A source said the message would be “you can trust us”, amid concerns about the long-term commitment of successive UK administrations both to nuclear power and major infrastructure schemes.

Downing Street declined to comment. Mubadala was approached for comment.

It comes as the Government seeks to get more investors on board with Sizewell C, after a capital raise process that has dragged on longer than originally anticipated.

Five potential backers are still in the running officially, the boss of Sizewell C confirmed on Thursday.

They are thought to include British Gas owner Centrica, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec), Schroders Greencoat and Amber Infrastructure Group.

However, sources familiar with the situation said the Government hoped additional investors may contribute cash by teaming up with those already involved in the process.

Mubadala may channel funds into Sizewell via Enec, for example. The UAE companies have teamed up to invest in numerous other global projects in the past, one industry insider said.

Ministers previously hoped to take a final investment decision on Sizewell C by the end of this year but it was confirmed in the Budget that it would not happen until the spring, with the project’s fate now understood to be tied up with Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s spending review.

A key issue ministers are grappling with is the need to put the full cost of the Sizewell project – which could be anything between £20bn and £40bn – on the public balance sheet, despite the Government’s intention to sell a significant portion of shares in the project to outside investors.

Currently, the Government owns more than 80pc of the equity, with the French state nuclear giant EDF owning the rest.

Hinkley dilemma

Elsewhere, ministers also face a dilemma over the Hinkley Point C plant in Somerset.

The project, which is majority-owned by EDF, is grappling with a £5bn funding shortfall after co-investor China General Nuclear refused to put in more cash.

That followed the Government’s decision to block Chinese involvement in Sizewell C and other future nuclear projects amid national security concerns.

EDF has called on the UK to step in and help support the project, a suggestion that ministers have so far resisted, with Paris said to be reluctant to put more money into the plant. Hinkley is on course to open years late and cost up to £45bn – far more than planned.

The Telegraph revealed in October that Centrica had emerged as a potential white knight investor in Hinkley, as the electricity supplier looks to replace income generated by other British nuclear plants it owns stakes in as they close.

December 10, 2024 Posted by | business and costs, politics international, UK, United Arab Emirates | Leave a comment

Ed Miliband to bring more misery for Brits and send bills skyrocketing

New projects could be launched by Ed Miliband – and they will hit British taxpayers in the pocket.

By Tom Burnett, Dec 7, 2024 ,
https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1985657/ed-miliband-nuclear-energy-costs-bills-rising

Ed Miliband could be about to send energy bills soaring – as he confirms plans for new major nuclear projects in the UK.

The Energy and Net Zero Secretary has said nuclear power is vital for Labour’s Net Zero plans, and that his ‘door is open’ to tech companies hoping to build ‘modular’ reactors in Britain.

Mr Miliband has argued these projects could deliver ‘big returns’ for the country, and said the Government is exploring how it can help private developers bring advanced nuclear projects to market and ia consulting on a new nuclear planning framework and siting policy next year.

However, bosses at interested firms are reportedly calling for some assurance of financial support to make sure their projects get a minimum return.

While it is currently unclear precisely how these would be funded, the Telegraph reports that options include ‘regulated asset base scheme’ or contracts for difference that are currently awarded to wind and solar farms.

The ‘regulated asset base’ scheme allows investors to begin clawing costs back via customer bills before a project is completed – leading to concerns people could be hit in the pocket.

Speaking at the Nuclear Industry Association’s Nuclear 2024 conference on Thursday, Mr Miliband said: “Of course, it’s early days but we should be open to the potential of SMRs to power the fourth industrial revolution, just as coal powered the first.

My message is clear: if you want to build a nuclear project in Britain, my door is open. My department is listening.

“We want all your ideas for projects that can work and provide value for money.”

Great British Nuclear, a public body which helps bring forward new nuclear energy projects, has started negotiations with four bidders for the UK’s small modular reactor programme, and final decisions are due in spring.

Mr Miliband he was “delighted” that four of Britain’s five nuclear power stations will stay open longer than previously planned, as announced by their operator EDF.

Heysham Two, in Lancashire, and Torness in East Lothian will keep producing electricity for an extra two years until March 2030, while Heysham One and another station in Hartlepool, north-east England, will produce power until March 2027, a year extension.

December 10, 2024 Posted by | business and costs, UK | Leave a comment

Radioactive contamination halts work on SSEN subsea link near Dounreay

 By Iain Grant,  John O’Groat Journal 6th Dec 2024

Work on part of the mainland link of SSEN Transmission’s new high voltage cable between Orkney and Caithness has been suspended because of the presence of radioactive contamination.

The company has been required to have extra monitoring carried out before it resumes work on its new substation near the Dounreay nuclear plant.

A spokesperson said: “We have identified the need for monitoring for radioactivity to be undertaken at the site where the substation will be constructed.

“The monitoring is needed due to the proximity of the site to Dounreay.

“Following the identification of radium contamination at the site, SSEN has stopped work while it acquires an Environmental Scotland authorisation permit. “A permit is needed due to the presence of radium contamination at depths as the planned excavation work is beyond these depths.”……………………..https://www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk/news/radioactive-contamination-halts-work-on-ssen-subsea-link-nea-368353/

December 10, 2024 Posted by | environment, UK | Leave a comment

UK Seeks More Investors as Sizewell Funding Talks Drag On

The UK government is speaking with investors beyond the core group of existing bidders for a stake in the country’s Sizewell C nuclear plant as talks to finalize the project’s funding continue.

Financial Post, Bloomberg News, William Mathis, Priscila Azevedo Rocha and Aaron Kirchfeld, Dec 05, 2024 

he UK government is speaking with investors beyond the core group of existing bidders for a stake in the country’s Sizewell C nuclear plant as talks to finalize the project’s funding continue.  

The government has recently approached infrastructure and other private investors to provide equity to Britain’s next large-scale nuclear power plant, according to people familiar with the matter. The talks come at a critical time for the UK as it seeks to attract financing to overhaul the country’s power grid this decade.

The country recently delayed funding for the project until at least spring 2025, pushing back a previous target to take a final investment decision by the end of the year. Finding investors willing to participate in new nuclear plants is crucial to plans to cut emissions and reach 2050 net zero goals.

The government has been seeking investors for the Sizewell C project for more than a year and canvassed a wide variety of potential backers before honing in on a smaller group of interested parties, the people said. It’s not clear whether any of the investors being contacted now would be able to join the current fundraising process, or if they would buy into a subsequent round as the government further sells down its stake. ……………………………………

A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero said the autumn budget confirmed the current equity and debt raising process will move to its final stages shortly and will conclude in the spring. A final investment decision on whether to proceed with the project will be taken in the multiyear spending review, they added. 

The Sizewell project — owned by the government and minority stakeholder Electricite de France SA — could eventually cost an estimated £20 billion ($25.3 billion) and take roughly a decade to build. 

The government has previously engaged in discussions with investors including Centrica Plc, Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp., Amber Infrastructure Group Ltd. and Schroders Greencoat LLP and the conversations are ongoing, the people said, asking not to be named because the talks are private. Barclays Plc is advising the UK government. 

Spokespeople for Barclays and Centrica declined to comment, while representatives for ENEC, Amber Infrastructure and Schroders didn’t immediately respond to queries. 

Centrica Chief Executive Officer Chris O’Shea has said on various occasions that the company’s engagement in any UK infrastructure projects, including Sizewell, would hinge on the “right conditions.”

At the moment, the only nuclear power station under construction in the UK is Hinkley Point C, which has been repeatedly delayed and is expected to cost as much as £47.9 billion in current terms. EDF is also holding talks with investors over funding for Hinkley as the French utility grapples with the ballooning cost of the project.
https://financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/uk-looks-for-more-investors-as-sizewell-c-funding-talks-drag-on

December 9, 2024 Posted by | business and costs, UK | Leave a comment

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