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Letters: The cost of nuclear doesn't add up | Environment | The Guardian - 0 views

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    Government plans to fast-track major projects pose a real threat to their action plan on global warming (UK's nuclear future is mapped out as race to tackle climate change hots up, 10 November). Reports on the government's national policy statements have predictably focussed on the controversial issue of new nuclear reactors, but a fundamental flaw in the proposals, which has gone largely unreported, threatens to undermine UK targets for tackling climate change. Under the Climate Change Act, the UK has been set legally binding "carbon budgets", setting limits on how much carbon the UK can emit, over five-year budget periods, for the next 15 years. Some of the projects covered by the national policy statements, such as new coal and gas-fired power stations, are likely to have a significant impact on UK emissions - but bizarrely the effect that these developments would have on UK carbon budgets is missing from the proposals, and this issue won't be considered by the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC).
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    Government plans to fast-track major projects pose a real threat to their action plan on global warming (UK's nuclear future is mapped out as race to tackle climate change hots up, 10 November). Reports on the government's national policy statements have predictably focussed on the controversial issue of new nuclear reactors, but a fundamental flaw in the proposals, which has gone largely unreported, threatens to undermine UK targets for tackling climate change. Under the Climate Change Act, the UK has been set legally binding "carbon budgets", setting limits on how much carbon the UK can emit, over five-year budget periods, for the next 15 years. Some of the projects covered by the national policy statements, such as new coal and gas-fired power stations, are likely to have a significant impact on UK emissions - but bizarrely the effect that these developments would have on UK carbon budgets is missing from the proposals, and this issue won't be considered by the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC).
Energy Net

Living with nuclear power: public views not as simple as we thought on Environmental Ex... - 0 views

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    A UK study provides the first contemporary investigation of public perceptions of nuclear power among residents living close to existing nuclear plants. It indicates that responses are not simply 'for' or 'against', but a complex 'landscape of beliefs' that will need complex communication from authorities about plans for new plants. Climate change and energy supply concerns have put nuclear power back on the policy agenda. For example, recent UK government policy proposes that new nuclear power stations should form part of the future UK energy mix(1). As in other countries, many of the candidate sites are those that have existing nuclear facilities. The study examined local response to nuclear power in two UK locations near power stations: Oldbury and Bradwell-on-Sea. It used a technique where participants sorted statements on nuclear power according to how the statements reflect their point of view. The analysis indicated that there are four different 'points of view': * Beneficial and safe. A belief that nuclear power brings both local and global benefits and the power station workers are trustworthy. * Threat and distrust. Nuclear power is unsafe and the government and the nuclear industry are not trustworthy. * Reluctant acceptance. Nuclear power is 'the best of a bad lot'. * There's no point worrying. An indifference to nuclear power and a belief that it is out of our control * These four unique points of view were found at both locations, indicating the results are likely to be reflected in other communities, at least in the UK. Most participants in the study held the first two views.
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    A UK study provides the first contemporary investigation of public perceptions of nuclear power among residents living close to existing nuclear plants. It indicates that responses are not simply 'for' or 'against', but a complex 'landscape of beliefs' that will need complex communication from authorities about plans for new plants. Climate change and energy supply concerns have put nuclear power back on the policy agenda. For example, recent UK government policy proposes that new nuclear power stations should form part of the future UK energy mix(1). As in other countries, many of the candidate sites are those that have existing nuclear facilities. The study examined local response to nuclear power in two UK locations near power stations: Oldbury and Bradwell-on-Sea. It used a technique where participants sorted statements on nuclear power according to how the statements reflect their point of view. The analysis indicated that there are four different 'points of view': * Beneficial and safe. A belief that nuclear power brings both local and global benefits and the power station workers are trustworthy. * Threat and distrust. Nuclear power is unsafe and the government and the nuclear industry are not trustworthy. * Reluctant acceptance. Nuclear power is 'the best of a bad lot'. * There's no point worrying. An indifference to nuclear power and a belief that it is out of our control * These four unique points of view were found at both locations, indicating the results are likely to be reflected in other communities, at least in the UK. Most participants in the study held the first two views.
Energy Net

Government facing key decisions about plutonium stockpile - 0 views

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    The UK Government is facing key decisions about what to do with what is the world's largest plutonium stock pile. A report, published in full for the first time last night (November 26), revealed the UK's estimated 100 tonnes of plutonium is not just a potential terrorist target it's increases the 'risk of nuclear weapon proliferation'. The report, by the highly regarded working party British Pugwash, is called The Management of Separated Plutonium in the UK. The report is an 'optioneering study' which identifies some major issues which it believes must be tackled if the expansion of nuclear power is to be considered as a 'viable future energy option' both in the UK and worldwide. Deputy chairman of British Pugwash, Dr Christopher Watson, said: "The strategy developed in the 1990s for utilising the UK stockpile of separated plutonium is currently in disarray.
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    The UK Government is facing key decisions about what to do with what is the world's largest plutonium stock pile. A report, published in full for the first time last night (November 26), revealed the UK's estimated 100 tonnes of plutonium is not just a potential terrorist target it's increases the 'risk of nuclear weapon proliferation'. The report, by the highly regarded working party British Pugwash, is called The Management of Separated Plutonium in the UK. The report is an 'optioneering study' which identifies some major issues which it believes must be tackled if the expansion of nuclear power is to be considered as a 'viable future energy option' both in the UK and worldwide. Deputy chairman of British Pugwash, Dr Christopher Watson, said: "The strategy developed in the 1990s for utilising the UK stockpile of separated plutonium is currently in disarray.
Energy Net

Letters: Nuclear power is the last straw | Environment | The Guardian - 0 views

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    Nuclear power is not the answer to climate change (Guilty greens admit they could do more, 2 September). Indeed it could well undermine the development of the real solutions - energy efficiency and renewable energy. And yet the Labour government has moved from a position of supporting a programme of replacing older nuclear plants to one of a radical expansion, with talk of a UK nuclear contribution of 35-40% "beyond 2030". Currently the UK gets 13% of its electricity from nuclear sources. The government has also indicated that it saw a major role for exporting UK nuclear technology and expertise. Gordon Brown has indicated that he believes the world needs 1,000 extra nuclear power stations and has argued that Africa could build nuclear power plants to meet growing demands for energy. In 2009 a new UK Nuclear Centre of Excellence was announced to "promote wider access to civil nuclear power across the world", with an initial budget of £20m.
Energy Net

Energy efficient homes and more nuclear power: Conservatives unveil 'green deal' | Envi... - 0 views

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    Tories court property owners with promise of free cost-saving home improvement scheme and pledge 'immediate action to to keep Britain's lights on' The Conservative party annual conference in Manchester. Photograph: Christopher Thomond Every UK homeowners will benefit from an allowance of up to £6,500 to make their properties more energy efficient, under a "green deal" proposed by the Conservatives today. The idea is part of a wider energy and climate change package aimed at kick-starting a green economy in the UK. The shadow energy and climate change secretary, Greg Clark, said a Tory government would immediately approve construction of several nuclear and coal-fired power stations to help prevent electricity blackouts in the next decade, to strengthen the national grid and enable the harnessing of renewable energy sources at sea, and to boost the number of charging points for electric cars.
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    Tories court property owners with promise of free cost-saving home improvement scheme and pledge 'immediate action to to keep Britain's lights on' The Conservative party annual conference in Manchester. Photograph: Christopher Thomond Every UK homeowners will benefit from an allowance of up to £6,500 to make their properties more energy efficient, under a "green deal" proposed by the Conservatives today. The idea is part of a wider energy and climate change package aimed at kick-starting a green economy in the UK. The shadow energy and climate change secretary, Greg Clark, said a Tory government would immediately approve construction of several nuclear and coal-fired power stations to help prevent electricity blackouts in the next decade, to strengthen the national grid and enable the harnessing of renewable energy sources at sea, and to boost the number of charging points for electric cars.
Energy Net

Letters: Dangers of exporting nuclear technology | From the Guardian | The Guardian - 0 views

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    Dangers of exporting nuclear technology Your revelations about Iraq's modern-day atomic aspirations (Iraq seeks permission for new nuclear programme, 28 October) raise the question whether the UK nuclear industry - with encouragement of the government, now all reborn atomic aficionados - will seek to gain a foothold in the re-emerging Iraqi nuclear industry. The UK has form on this: on 31 March 1957 the Baghdad Pact Nuclear Centre opened, with full British support. This pact was created in 1955 by Britain, Turkey, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq with the primary aim of strengthening regional security. A year later, on 29 March 1958, the centre was honoured by a lecture from Sir John Cockcroft, director of the UK's Atomic Energy Research Establishment.
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    Dangers of exporting nuclear technology Your revelations about Iraq's modern-day atomic aspirations (Iraq seeks permission for new nuclear programme, 28 October) raise the question whether the UK nuclear industry - with encouragement of the government, now all reborn atomic aficionados - will seek to gain a foothold in the re-emerging Iraqi nuclear industry. The UK has form on this: on 31 March 1957 the Baghdad Pact Nuclear Centre opened, with full British support. This pact was created in 1955 by Britain, Turkey, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq with the primary aim of strengthening regional security. A year later, on 29 March 1958, the centre was honoured by a lecture from Sir John Cockcroft, director of the UK's Atomic Energy Research Establishment.
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    Dangers of exporting nuclear technology Your revelations about Iraq's modern-day atomic aspirations (Iraq seeks permission for new nuclear programme, 28 October) raise the question whether the UK nuclear industry - with encouragement of the government, now all reborn atomic aficionados - will seek to gain a foothold in the re-emerging Iraqi nuclear industry. The UK has form on this: on 31 March 1957 the Baghdad Pact Nuclear Centre opened, with full British support. This pact was created in 1955 by Britain, Turkey, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq with the primary aim of strengthening regional security. A year later, on 29 March 1958, the centre was honoured by a lecture from Sir John Cockcroft, director of the UK's Atomic Energy Research Establishment.
Energy Net

EDF Demands U.K. Government Help Nuclear Renaissance, an Industrial Info News Alert - 0 views

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    Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas) -- The construction of the U.K.'s first nuclear power plant in more than 20 years could be delayed as Electricite de France (EPA:EDF) (Paris) called on the government to dramatically increase its support for nuclear power. The French state-owned company wants the U.K. government to offer greater incentives for nuclear power, suggesting that a carbon tax would help. For details, view the entire article by subscribing to Industrial Info's Premium Industry News at http://www.industrialinfo.co.uk/showNews.jsp?newsitemID=147716, or browse other breaking industrial news stories at www.industrialinfo.co.uk. Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy related markets. For more than 26 years, Industrial Info has provided plant and project opportunity databases, market forecasts, high resolution maps, and daily industry news. For more information send inquiries to europe@industrialinfo.co.uk or visit us online at Industrial Info Europe (http://www.industrialinfo.co.uk).
Energy Net

UK Government Obsession With Nuclear Power Costly for the Country - 0 views

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    The problematic history of nuclear power in the United Kingdom (UK) suggests that a stronger focus on sustainable energy alternatives is a better and more cost-effective option. This is a conclusion of a report released today by The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI). The British Nuclear Industry: Status and Prospects provides a detailed analysis of the current state of the nuclear power industry in the UK, including its energy strategy and the government's plans for possible new nuclear capacity. While the political momentum in support of nuclear options continues to grow, the study's findings show that the government's strategy is once again thwarting technologies that might prove cheaper and more reliable. "The future of UK's nuclear power is clearly tied to meeting two-long term challenges: Tackling climate change by reducing carbon dioxide emissions both in the UK and abroad, and secondly ensuring the security of UK's energy supplies," writes Ian Davis, the author of the report. "The government's obsession with nuclear power is undermining and marginalizing more efficient and safer technologies - the real energy solutions."
Energy Net

CND plans N-weapons site blockade - UK & Ireland, Breaking News - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk - 0 views

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    "Hundreds of peace activists from across the UK will try to blockade a nuclear weapons site where warheads for the Trident submarines are made. Organisations including the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament are staging the protest at the Atomic Weapons Establishment in Aldermaston, Berkshire on Monday."
Energy Net

Areva hopes nuclear option won't go into meltdown - Telegraph - 0 views

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    Unqualified welders and badly-mixed concrete are just two among 1,700 "quality deviations" that have dogged the construction of Europe's first nuclear plant since Chernobyl. It has turned into a costly €2.3bn (£2.1bn) nightmare for Areva, the company, leading the severely delayed build at Olkiluoto, a tranquil, pine-forested island off the coast of Finland. But Rob Davies, director of UK new nuclear for the French state-owned group, insists Britain's fleet of new reactors will not meet in the same fate. According to Mr Davies, Britain is at the forefront of Areva's plans to show it can deliver a fleet of stations on time, in budget and without safety hitches. For the UK to meet its 2020 targets on cutting emissions - which may even be tightened at the Copenhagen summit next week - it will be vital for Areva to deliver a flawless reactor ready for EDF's first plant in 2017.
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    Unqualified welders and badly-mixed concrete are just two among 1,700 "quality deviations" that have dogged the construction of Europe's first nuclear plant since Chernobyl. It has turned into a costly €2.3bn (£2.1bn) nightmare for Areva, the company, leading the severely delayed build at Olkiluoto, a tranquil, pine-forested island off the coast of Finland. But Rob Davies, director of UK new nuclear for the French state-owned group, insists Britain's fleet of new reactors will not meet in the same fate. According to Mr Davies, Britain is at the forefront of Areva's plans to show it can deliver a fleet of stations on time, in budget and without safety hitches. For the UK to meet its 2020 targets on cutting emissions - which may even be tightened at the Copenhagen summit next week - it will be vital for Areva to deliver a flawless reactor ready for EDF's first plant in 2017.
Energy Net

Oxford Research Group - Briefing papers - Too Hot to Handle? The Future of Civil Nuclea... - 0 views

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    Frank Barnaby and James Kemp, with a foreword by David Howarth MP, July 2007 Supporters of nuclear power claim that the security risks can be managed. However, this briefing paper clearly shows that a worldwide nuclear renaissance is beyond the capacity of the nuclear industry to deliver and would stretch to breaking point the capacity of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to monitor and safeguard civil nuclear power. Even a failed terrorist attack on one of the first new builds would most probably cause subsequent new build to halt in many countries. If this happened, the authors argue that governments would need to again review energy policy - minus civil nuclear power - further delaying progress towards a sustainable and secure energy policy and possibly causing the UK and other countries to miss the window of opportunity to tackle climate change. This briefing paper is one of a series of reports and factsheets published as part of ORG's Secure energy project.
    Availability Download as a PDF   http://www.oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk/publications/briefing_papers/toohottothandle
Energy Net

Nuclear Engineering International: UK government: no subsidies for new nuclear - 0 views

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    The UK is unlikely to hand out subsidies for new nuclear development, according to the UK government's new energy minister, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, who was appointed in June. When asked whether the UK would look to support new nuclear with subsidies, he replied, "Nuclear should be commercially viable. We don't look to a subsidy to encourage development. "I believe the government's role is to get the conditions right in which people make investment - that means the planning system and the system of regulatory consent. It has a longer-term vision; that's where government puts its emphasis."
Energy Net

New fears over nuclear waste site - Lancashire Evening Post - 0 views

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    Concerns have been raised that radioactive rubbish from across the UK will be dumped on the outskirts of a Lancashire city. SITA UK wants permission for waste from more companies to be disposed of at Clifton Marsh. But councillors are worried this will mean nuclear rubbish from all over the country being buried in Lancashire. And they quizzed industry regulators from the Environment Agency for 90 minutes during a Town Hall meeting on Thursday.
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    Concerns have been raised that radioactive rubbish from across the UK will be dumped on the outskirts of a Lancashire city. SITA UK wants permission for waste from more companies to be disposed of at Clifton Marsh. But councillors are worried this will mean nuclear rubbish from all over the country being buried in Lancashire. And they quizzed industry regulators from the Environment Agency for 90 minutes during a Town Hall meeting on Thursday.
Energy Net

Hidden nuclear subsidy with price fix | SNP - Scottish National Party - 0 views

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    "SNP Energy and Climate Change spokesperson Mike Weir MP has warned UK government plans to fix carbon prices amount to a hidden subsidy for new nuclear power stations - despite an explicit assurance by the coalition government that no public subsidy would be used. After an exchange at energy questions in the Commons Mr Weir said: "Fixing the carbon price would amount to a hidden subsidy for new nuclear stations and blows wide open the bogus coalition claim that there will be no public subsidy for nuclear power. "There are already problems within the EU emission trading scheme over free permits and it is ludicrous to pretend the EU will agree to a carbon floor price. This leaves the UK Government in the ridiculous position of attempting to impose a carbon floor price in the UK alone. This is simply unsustainable and legally dubious."
Energy Net

BBC NEWS | BNFL is history as consortium steps in - 0 views

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    In a grand old house on the outskirts of Whitehaven in Cumbria, a small team of international managers are preparing to take on the task of cleaning up the most intricate nuclear complex in the world. Nuclear Management Partners (NMP) - a consortium representing companies from the US, France and the UK - has been awarded a multi-billion pound contract that could turn into the biggest procurement deal ever signed by the UK government. Nuclear Management Partners HQ, prior to taking charge of Sellafield Nuclear Management Partners are taking charge of Sellafield The task ahead: to sort out the mess left behind after more than half a century of nuclear energy and weapons production at Sellafield.
Energy Net

The truth about... nuclear waste - ClimateChangeCorp.com - 0 views

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    Nuclear energy is a key part of the new energy plan. But what plans do we have for disposing of the industry's highly toxic waste? For over 50 years, the world has been generating radioactive waste without any clear idea of what to do with it. In the UK alone, 365,000 cubic metres of high and intermediate-level radioactive waste will be accumulated from its existing nuclear programme that is coming to the end of its life. And with plans for a new breed of nuclear reactors now under debate, that inventory will only proliferate unless a long-term disposal plan is devised. That plan is starting to take shape. In January 2008, the UK government came up with a policy to bury its long-lived high-level radioactive waste deep underground based on recommendations by the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM), a UK advisory group.
Energy Net

Two-faced UK 'fuelling nuclear double standards' - 0 views

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    Britain's lack of clarity on the future of the Trident missile system is helping to aid nuclear proliferation, an influential committee of MPs has said. Refusals by Iran to stop its uranium enrichment programme and North Korea's insistence it will weaponise its plutonium stocks are down in part to no commitment from the UK to disarm, the foreign affairs committee said. The committee said the group of five recognised nuclear powers had "failed to live up to its nuclear disarmament commitments". "We commend the steps that the government has taken to scale down and de-escalate the UK's nuclear arsenal," MPs wrote. "We welcome the prime minister's announcement that the new Trident submarines are to carry fewer missiles than the current boats, and we recommend that the government should do more to highlight this and other nuclear disarmament steps which it has taken."
Energy Net

Nuclear plans in doubt after safety concerns | SNP - Scottish National Party - 0 views

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    Commenting on official safety fears which have thrown the UK government's plans to build a new generation of nuclear power stations into jeopardy, SNP Westminster Energy spokesperson, Mike Weir MP, said the situation underlined why Ministers must concentrate on creating a green energy future rather than the danger, cost and worry of new nuclear stations. UK plans have been thrown into doubt as the nuclear regulatory body in Finland, where the first of the reactors is being built, has taken the extraordinary step of threatening to halt its construction because it is not satisfied that essential safety systems will work. The revelations come in a leaked letter from the Finish government's Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) and the chief executive of French nuclear company Aviva. Mr Weir said: "The Finnish safety concerns, and the regulators threat to pull the plug on construction, has the most serious knock on implications for the UK government's nuclear plans.
Energy Net

PDF Report: New Nuclear - The Economics Say No - 0 views

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    UK Green Lights New Nuclear - Or Does It?  Green lighting new nuclear? - The UK government today announced a fast-track planning process for new nuclear power stations. 10 sites have been approved for possible development. The government is presenting today's announcement as providing the green light for a major new nuclear programme, which it says is needed to meet climate change and security of supply targets.
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    UK Green Lights New Nuclear - Or Does It?  Green lighting new nuclear? - The UK government today announced a fast-track planning process for new nuclear power stations. 10 sites have been approved for possible development. The government is presenting today's announcement as providing the green light for a major new nuclear programme, which it says is needed to meet climate change and security of supply targets.
Energy Net

Budget 2010: Consumers face levy on energy bills to pay for nuclear plants | UK news | ... - 0 views

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    "The government has officially confirmed plans for a new carbon levy on consumer bills which it hopes will make building new nuclear plants viable, as the Guardian revealed in October last year. Nuclear companies like EDF Energy have warned they will not make the billions of pounds of investment necessary in the UK without government financial guarantees. Speaking to the Guardian, the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, admitted that the energy market needed "radical reform", but denied the plans amounted to subsidies for the nuclear industry. He insisted that all forms of low-carbon generation - nuclear plants, wind farms and clean coal plants - would benefit from the proposed changes."
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