The Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) has appointed Decision Analysis Services (DAS), a UK independent engineering and management consultancy to deliver its new Small Modular Reactor Deployment Enablers project. DAS was established in 2007 and operates across the energy, government and defence sectors in the UK, North America, Europe, Japan and Australasia. Their energy team includes engineers and management consultants with experience of working in the UK civil nuclear sector. The ETI will invest up to £300,000 in the six-month project which will identify what activities need to take place in the first 5 years of a development plan if small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) are to be deployed in the UK. A previous ETI project focusing on alternative nuclear technologies provided an overview of the broad issues and associated timescales required to support a UK SMR fleet deployment from 2030 onwards. It found that there are still many uncertainties around SMR development in the UK but that progress needs to made across a number of areas from 2016 onwards if the option to include them in the UK’s future energy mix is to be kept open. Last year the ETI also released a report – “The role for nuclear within a low carbon energy system,” – which identified the potential for both large nuclear reactors and SMRs to be deployed in the UK as part of the transition towards an affordable low carbon energy system.

Process & Control Technology 29th Feb 2016 read more »

Radiation Free Lakeland have just sent off this ‘submission’ (how we hate that word) to the Welsh Affairs Committee. We urge others to write opposing plans for new nuclear in Wales (or anywhere!). The “high burn” waste from new build would be many times hotter than from existing nuclear plants. Please feel free to use any of the ideas in the letter below. The deadline is 6pm Friday March 4th. No need to cover all the “Terms of Reference” the main thing is to object to the whole shebang.

Radiation Free Lakeland 28th Feb 2016 read more »

Experts have cautioned against a new international mechanism inheriting the Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) process and laid stress on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to have a major role in managing the nuclear security issue. The Strategic Vision Institute, an Islamabad-based think-tank specialising in nuclear issues, held a roundtable to analyse the progress made by the NSS process and discuss the future of the initiative after the last summit being held on March 31 – April 1 in Washington. The experts further deliberated on the role played by Pakistan in the NSS process. With the Nuclear Security Summit weeks away, discussions have focused on the future model of nuclear security cooperation.

Daily Times 28th Feb 2016 read more »

This week the South Australian Royal Commission released “tentative findings” recommending the state take more than 100 tonnes of high-level radioactive waste and store it in the desert for hundreds of thousands of years. A final report is due in May, but already there has been excitement around the proposal, which the Commission says could generate billions of dollars a year and thousands of jobs for the South Australian economy. The state has the highest unemployment in the country.

ABC 19th Feb 2016 read more »

Three former executives at a Japanese power giant have been formally charged with negligence over the 2011 disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant. The trio, formerly of Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), will be the first to go to court over the incident. A citizen’s panel ruled last year they should face trial, forcing prosecutors to pursue the case.

BBC 29th Feb 2016 read more »

The men, who have not been taken into custody, allegedly failed to take measures to defend Fukushima Daiichi, despite being aware of the risk from a tsunami. Experts say prosecutors could struggle to prove criminal responsibility for failing to prevent the meltdown. The trial, which is not expected to begin until next year, could reveal information about the disaster that Tepco has yet to make public. Last year, the International Atomic Energy Agency pointed to a misguided faith in the safety of nuclear power as a key factor in the Fukushima accident. A 2012 parliamentary report said Fukushima was a “manmade disaster” caused by poor regulation and collusion between the government, Tepco and the industry’s watchdog.

Guardian 29th Feb 2016 read more »

Reuters 29th Feb 2016 read more »

Energy Voice 29th Feb 2016 read more »

Despite a nine-month delay in the planned reopening of an underground nuclear-waste repository in New Mexico damaged by a radiation accident, progress is being made in resuming operations, said a top state official overseeing the effort.

Wall St Journal 28th Feb 2016 read more »

The Indian Point nuclear power plant in New York State is leaking radioactive contaminant into nearby groundwater, and despite plant operator Entergy’s assurances that the leak has “no health or safety consequences,” Governor Andrew Cuomo called earlier this month for a full investigation by state environment and health officials. The latest revelations add to a mounting list of recent accidents and problems at Indian Point, and Cuomo’s hard stance is nothing new, either. As of November of last year, Cuomo’s office actively opposed the continuing operation of Indian Point. The plant’s problems are not isolated—leaks have been found at as many as 75% of U.S. nuclear plants. And closing Indian Point would put New York, and the U.S., in line with a sharp global move away from nuclear power following 2011’s meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima Daichi reactor.

Fortune 28th Feb 2016 read more »

Germany’s opposition Greens have softened their stance towards utility companies, agreeing with powerful trade union IG BCE that they should not have to bear alone the costs of the country’s exit from nuclear power. A government-appointed committee chaired by Green ex-environment minister Juergen Trittin is trying to decide how to apportion the costs for the decommissioning of plants and the storage of nuclear waste. The utilities are already struggling with a steep fall in wholesale power prices and the union and others have argued against burdening them with excessive costs for fear of driving them out of business.

Reuters 28th Feb 2016 read more »

The French government is willing to support a 10-year extension to the life of the country’s nuclear reactors, operated by utility EDF, Energy Minister Segolene Royal told France 3 television on Sunday. Nuclear power provides about 75 percent of France’s electricity, but the industry has come under the spotlight since the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan and France has pledged to reduce its reliance on nuclear to 50 percent by increasing renewable energy. Asked if she was ready to raise the limit on existing reactors to 50 years from 40 years, Royal said: “Yes, I am ready to give this the green light, depending obviously on the opinion of the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) …. the French people have for years invested a lot in the nuclear reactors.”

Reuters 28th Feb 2016 read more »