A promissory note to sway the vote? Lincolnshire opts to seek nuclear waste 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
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.
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.
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/
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
Britain’s Energy Secretary Follows Tech Giants In Pursuit Of New Nuclear Power Stations
the government is “determined to drive forward” with nuclear power through both public and private investment, despite this being a period of “immense challenge for the public finances.”
Miliband was speaking in London on Thursday at the Nuclear Industry Association’s Nuclear 2024 conference, where he told the audience that their industry has an essential role to play in the U.K.’s pursuit of achieving a [ ?] clean power system by 2030.
Robert Olsen, Forbes 7th Dec 2024
British Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has been watching U.S. tech companies striking deals with operators and developers of nuclear power plants, and now he’s eager to pursue similar projects in the U.K.
“My message is clear: if you want to build a nuclear project in Britain, my door is open,” Miliband said. “My department is listening. We want all your ideas for projects that can work and provide value for money.”
Miliband was speaking in London on Thursday at the Nuclear Industry Association’s Nuclear 2024 conference, where he told the audience that their industry has an essential role to play in the U.K.’s pursuit of achieving a [ ?] clean power system by 2030.
He said the government is “determined to drive forward” with nuclear power through both public and private investment, despite this being a period of “immense challenge for the public finances.”
Great British Nuclear (GBN), the government body tasked with spearheading the development of small modular reactors (SMRs), has started contract negotiations with four companies shortlisted for the U.K.’s small modular reactor program, and final decisions will be made next year.
Britain’s Rolls-Royce is competing with U.S.-based rivals GE Hitachi, Holtec and Westinghouse Electric for contracts to develop SMRs in the U.K. The competition was launched last year, as part of the government’s plan to replenish the country’s dwindling nuclear industry………………………………..https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertolsen-1/2024/12/07/britains-energy-secretary-follows-tech-giants-in-pursuit-of-new-nuclear-power-stations/
Hinkley update: mixed reaction as first reactor drops into place
Mr Vince said: “I’m really pleased to be a patron of the Stop Hinkley campaign which is working to stop the government wasting billions of taxpayers’ money on a technology which is hugely expensive and slow to develop.”
By Simon Hacker , Punchline Gloucester 6th Dec 2024
It may be delayed to the extent that existing nuclear reactors are now planning to remain operational for an extra three years, but Hinkley Point C has come a step closer to activation with an overnight operation to drop a crucial 500-tonne reactor for the process into place.
When switched on, Somerset’s Hinkley Point C, near Bridgwater, is estimated to be capable of providing 7% of the UK’s power needs – calculated to keep six million homes supplied.
The 13m-long reactor is the first of two to be put in place by French project owner EDF and each will contain the nuclear chain reaction that will generate power from a planned operational date of 2030. the 12-hour operation to manoeuvre the unit into place was the first such job in 30 years in the UK.
But the road to this landmark has been far from smooth. With the installation some five years later than was originally planned, Covid, supply chain issues and political negotiations have ensured an uphill slog on the technology’s re-introduction, while – in keeping with the original advent of nuclear power – costs have spiralled: back in 2017, the taxpayer was told that the cost of this project would be £18bn. It now stands at £46bn.
Gloucestershire businessman and energy entrepreneur Dale Vince, who owns Ecotricity and campaigns for Britain’s energy production to be brought back into the hands of British business, has argued against nuclear installations on the Severn Estuary since 1983 and became a patron of the Stop Hinkley campaign this summer.
Speaking about the decision, Mr Vince said: “I’m really pleased to be a patron of the Stop Hinkley campaign which is working to stop the government wasting billions of taxpayers’ money on a technology which is hugely expensive and slow to develop.”
Alongside Mr Vince, the Somerset campaign is urging the government to adopt a 100% renewable energy strategy which it argues is “perfectly feasible” and which, compared to the UK Government’s current strategy, would save more than £100bn on the route plan to reach net zero by 2050.
Roy Pumfrey, Stop Hinkley spokesperson, said nuclear power is “rapidly losing ground to the astonishing growth in renewables” and the campaign has wanred that there is “no scientific solutuon to safeguarding nuclear waste” and contends that while no electricity production is zero carbon, nuclear is calculated to produce between 8 and 11 times more carbon emissions than renewable sources.
EDF has also waded into controversy here in Gloucestershire this week after the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust claimed the supplier’s mitigation scheme for fish killed in the planned nuclear site was “shambolic” and threatens to create the perfect conditions for an ecological disaster in the Severn Estuary.
Hinkley Point C is financed by the state-owned French energy giant EDF Energy and China General Nuclear Power Group, which is also state-owned. https://www.punchline-gloucester.com/articles/aanews/hinkley-update-mixed-reaction-as-first-reactor-drops-into-place
Explosives speed Sizewell A turbine hall decommissioning
WNN, Friday, 6 December 2024
More than 1200 holes were drilled and 700 kilogrammes of explosive used for the demolition of large concrete plinths in the turbine hall of Sizewell A nuclear power plant in the UK.
Nuclear Restoration Services said it was the largest use of explosives on a nuclear site for conventional demolition purposes in decades.
After the holes were drilled into the plinths, the charges were set and covered for the detonation, which was all planned and carried out with Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) oversight.
A series of test blasts had to take place and special detonator timings designed to meet nuclear site regulations for air overpressure and ground vibration, with Offive for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) having placed a hold point on the work until they were sure any risks from the novel operation had been minimised.
The ONR said that following the blasts, the huge turbine supporting concrete bases can be removed using heavy machinery within two weeks, rather than “deploying older and slower methods of drilling the structure apart which would have taken several months”.
Sizewell A’s twin reactors shut down in 2006 after 40 years of operation. Planning consent was given to demolish the turbine hall and electrical annexe in August and more than 35 miles of cabling and 8000 scaffolding boards, clips and pipes have been taken out………………………….. https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/explosives-used-in-sizewell-a-turbine-hall-decommissioning
Drugs found in control room at Dungeness Nuclear Power Station
Millie Bowles
https://www.kentonline.co.uk/romney-marsh/news/drugs-found-in-nuclear-power-station-control-room-316864/
mbowles@thekmgroup.co.uk. 05 December 2024
Staff were drug tested and sniffer dogs were deployed after a bag of suspected drugs was found at a nuclear power station.
The package, believed to have contained powdered drugs thought to be cocaine, was discovered by a worker at Dungeness B Power Station last month.
Safety warnings as cracks rise at Torness nuclear plant
Rob Edwards, The Ferret, 22 July 24,
The number of cracks in the core of an ageing nuclear reactor at Torness in East Lothian has risen to 46, prompting warnings that prolonging its operation would be “gambling with public safety”.
The UK Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) told The Ferret that the cracks were detected in April 2024 and were “at the upper end of expectations”. The first three cracks were discovered at Torness in February 2022. July 21, 2024
ONR has previously said that spreading cracks could result in debris inhibiting the cooling of hot radioactive fuel. This can lead to a reactor meltdown, which can result in the escape of radioactivity to the environment.
In 2021 the plant’s operator, EDF Energy, said that Torness would be closed in 2028 – two years earlier than expected – because of expected cracking. The station was originally scheduled to close in 2023, and in 2016 its expected life was extended to 2030.
But in January 2024 EDF changed its mind, and announced it would review whether the plant’s life could again be extended beyond 2028 “subject to plant inspections and regulatory approvals”.
Campaigners are now worried that EDF could be putting nuclear safety at risk. They are calling for Torness to be shut down “sooner rather than later”.
EDF, however, insisted that the cracks did not affect normal operations or the ability to shut down Torness in an emergency. The plant’s life would be reviewed “by the end of 2024” with the “ambition” of generating electricity after 2028.
ONR pointed out that EDF would have to demonstrate Torness would be safe to operate beyond 2028. “We will not allow any plant to operate unless we are satisfied that it is safe to do so,” it said.
The cracks have opened up in the ring-shaped graphite bricks packed around the reactor’s highly radioactive uranium fuel. They were detected in one of the two reactors at Torness during EDF’s latest inspection on 18 April 2024.
“EDF’s sampling of fuel channels showed 46 bricks with a single full height axial crack (a crack all the way through), which was at the upper end of expectations,” said ONR in response to freedom of information requests from The Ferret…………………………………………………………………………….
Scotland’s other nuclear power station at Hunterston in North Ayrshire was closed down in January 2022, more than a year earlier than planned. This followed the discovery of an estimated 586 cracks in its two reactors.
Torness ‘well past’ its design life
Pete Roche, a veteran nuclear critic, pointed out that it was EDF that decided to close Torness in 2028 because of cracking. “Given that the number of cracks are increasing, they would be gambling with public safety to now go back to a 2030 closure date,” he said.
“It’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that EDF is prepared to gamble because the plant it is building in England at Hinkley Point C is so late.”
The Guardian reported in February 2024 that delays and cost overruns at Hinkley in Somerset had cost EDF £11 billion. The plant was originally due to be built for £18bn in 2017, but is now expected to cost £46bn and be completed by 2031.
According to environmental campaigner, Dr Richard Dixon, Torness was “well past” its 30 year design life. “Now the cracks are meeting the worst predictions but suddenly EDF thinks it is a good idea to run the reactors for longer,” he said.
The Scottish Greens warned of the “devastating destruction” that could be caused by poorly maintained nuclear plants. “These reports are very worrying and should concern us all,” said the party’s co-leader and Lothian MSP, Lorna Slater.
“When it comes to something as dangerous as nuclear energy, there can be no room for error or regret. It underlines why Torness needs to be shut down sooner rather than later.”……………………………………………………………………………………………. more https://theferret.scot/torness-safety-warnings-as-cracks-rise/
Cost of switching off UK wind farms soars to ‘absurd’ £1bn
Britain’s curtailment cost jumps as grid struggles to cope with power
British bill payers have spent an “absurd” £1bn to temporarily switch
off wind turbines so far this year as the grid struggles to cope with their
power.
The amount of wind power “curtailed” in the first 11 months of
2024 stood at about 6.6 terawatt hours (TWh), according to official
figures, up from 3.8 TWh in the whole of last year. Curtailment is where
wind turbines are paid to switch off at times of high winds to stop a surge
in power overwhelming the grid.
Households and businesses pay for the cost
of this policy through their bills. The cost of switching off has reached
about £1bn so far this year, according to analysis of market data by
Octopus Energy which was first reported by Bloomberg. This is more than the
£779m spent last year and £945m spent in 2022.
The jump in curtailment
follows the opening of more wind farms at a time when the country still
lacks the infrastructure needed to transport all the electricity they
generate at busy times. Clem Cowton, the director of external affairs at
Octopus, added:
“The outdated rules of our energy system mean vast
amounts of cheap green power go to waste. “It’s absurd that Britain
pays Scottish wind farms to turn off when it’s windy, while
simultaneously paying gas-power stations in the South to turn on.
Telegraph 2nd Dec 2024,
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/12/02/britain-paying-wind-farms-record-1bn-to-switch-off/
Lincolnshire county councillors demand answers on Nuclear Waste Services’ (NWS) proposed Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) at Theddlethorpe
By James Turner, Local Democracy Reporter, 03 December 2024
Lincolnshire county councillors demand answers on Nuclear Waste Services’
(NWS) proposed Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) at Theddlethorpe.
Concerned representatives have criticised the level of communication from
the government body behind a proposed underground nuclear waste facility.
Members of Lincolnshire County Council’s executive raised concerns about a
number of unanswered questions regarding Nuclear Waste Services’ (NWS)
proposed Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) during a meeting on Tuesday
(December 3) – specifically about where it could be built and, crucially,
whether it is safe. NWS was previously considering three sites to locate
the facility, which is estimated to cost between £20 billion and £53
billion, making it the largest planned infrastructure project in the UK.
Lincs Online 3rd Dec 2024 https://www.lincsonline.co.uk/louth/very-poor-communication-slammed-as-members-demand-to-know-9394650/
UK underestimates threat of cyber-attacks from hostile states and gangs, says security chief
New head of National Cyber Security Centre to warn of risk to infrastructure in first major speech
Dan Milmo technology editor, Guardian, Tue 3 Dec 2024
The UK is underestimating the severity of the online threat it faces from hostile states and criminal gangs, the country’s cybersecurity chief will warn.
Richard Horne, the head of GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre, will cite a trebling of “severe” incidents amid Russian “aggression and recklessness” and China’s “highly sophisticated” digital operations.
In his first major speech as the agency’s chief, Horne will say on Tuesday that hostile activity in UK cyberspace has increased in “frequency, sophistication and intensity” from enemies who want to cause maximum disruption and destruction………………………………………………….. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/dec/03/uk-underestimates-threat-of-cyber-attacks-from-hostile-states-and-gangs-says-security-chief
Delays to nuclear plants giving Sizewell B a new lease of life
EDF is considering plans to keep the power station in Suffolk going for an extra
20 years to underpin Britain’s net zero ambitions after building new
plants proves tricky. Sizewell B in Suffolk, the nuclear power plant that
provides about 3 per cent of the UK’s electricity and has been in the
midst of a 47-day maintenance outage.
Nuclear power has dwindled to about
14 per cent of the UK’s electricity mix, down from about a quarter in the
late 1990s. Of the five plants still running, all of which are operated by
EDF, the French state-backed power group, only Sizewell B is set to be
still running by the end of the decade.
Efforts to revive the industry have
been beset by delays and soaring costs, with Hinkley Point C, the first
plant to be built in Britain in more than two decades, running up to six
years behind schedule and billions over budget. Sizewell B, which began
generating power in 1995, was the last. It is against this backdrop that
the operators of Sizewell B will make the case to EDF in Paris to extend
the life of the plant, capable of powering two million homes, by another 20
years.
Keeping the plant running until 2055 is set to cost roughly £700
million. The plant has relatively fixed costs and has already forward-sold
the majority of power set to be generated next year. However, the
volatility in power prices since the pandemic, exacerbated by the Russian
invasion of Ukraine, has complicated the business case for keeping Sizewell
B running for longer.
The French energy group, which has an 80 per cent
stake in Sizewell B alongside Centrica’s 20 per cent, is attempting to
pay down a debt pile of almost £45 billion. Here in the UK, it is in talks
with private investors to raise between £4 billion and £5 billion to help
meet the spiralling bill to complete Hinkley Point C. Sizewell C is also
competing for EDF capital, even if the company intends to eventually sell
down its stake in the project from 50 per cent to about 20 per cent. Two
nuclear power stations with identical designs in America — Wolf Creek and
Callaway — have already been granted extensions to their operating
licences that will see them run from 40 years to 60 years, providing a
precedent.
Times 2nd Dec 2024 https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/energy/article/delays-to-nuclear-plants-giving-sizewell-b-a-new-lease-of-life-r6fdzx9j5
Lifespan of four nuclear power stations extended
Kevin Keane, BBC Scotland environment correspondent, 3 Dec 24
The lifespan of Scotland’s last remaining nuclear power station and three other plants in England are to be extended.
EDF Energy says Torness, in East Lothian, and its sister site Heysham 2, in Lancashire, will continue generating for an extra two years until 2030.
Two other sites – Hartlepool and Heysham 1 – will continue for an extra year until 2027.
The French state-owned company says it will now invest £1.3bn across its operational nuclear estate over the next three years.
Torness employs about 550 people with a further 180 contractors also working on site.
It began generating electricity in 1988 and was originally due to be decommissioned last year.
Construction work on Hartlepool power station started in 1968, taking 15 years to complete. Heysham 1 began generating in 1983 followed by Heysham 2 five years later.
In 2016, a decision was taken to extend Torness’ life until 2030 – but the discovery of cracks in the graphite bricks, which make up the reactor cores of some advanced gas-cooled power stations, led to a review.
As a result, it was announced in 2021 that the closure dates for Torness and Heysham 2 would be brought forward again by two years to 2028.
EDF says it has spent several years studying the progress of cracking and engineers feel they have a better understanding of the issues.
It says regular inspections will be carried out to ensure the sites can continue to operate safely.
……………………………………………The company made the decision following a year-long review into the four sites.
A separate review is looking at the possibility of extending its Sizewell B facility in Suffolk for a further 20 years…………………. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c33dvekx021o
1 This Month
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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