environmental news & information about the UK electricity supply industry
Report “Updating of knowledge on the biological effects of tritium”: the synthesis of 10 years of research in human and environmental radiotoxicology. This report takes stock of the state of knowledge relating to the biological effects of tritium and details the experimental studies carried out by IRSN in human and environmental radiotoxicology of tritium since 20 10 in collaboration with the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL).
IRSN 6th May 2021 read more »
Few people ever get to go inside Sizewell B’s nuclear reactor – but today, we can give you rare, privileged access to a scientific marvel right here in Suffolk usually hidden from sight. You will probably be very familiar with the power station’s famous white dome, which can be seen from miles away along the Suffolk coastline. But hardly anyone has seen what is inside the dome – until now. There are many very good reasons why the inside of the 65metre high, 45metre diameter building is strictly out of bounds to all but the most highly-trained nuclear engineers. The EDF Energy-run station is currently shut down for a total of six weeks for maintenance work to take place – the most crucial of which is the refuelling of the nuclear reactor, to ensure it can continue operating for another 18 months. That process takes about a month and requires a high level of skill and expertise which takes years to learn, meaning that around 200 people can be in the containment area at any one time.
East Anglian Daily Times 3rd May 2021 read more »
Union bosses have launched a scathing attack after plans to make up to 120 job losses were revealed at a nuclear fuel site near Preston. It has been revealed that up to 120 redundancies are being planned at the Springfields nuclear fuel manufacturing facility to the west of the city at Salwick.
Lancs Live 28th April 2021 read more »
EDF Energy has extended ongoing outages at its Sizewell B nuclear power plant in eastern England by three months for additional work. EDF Energy, owned by French utility EDF EDF.PA, took the reactor offline for planned refuelling and maintenance work on April 16, initially scheduled to end on May 29. “Our anticipated return to service has been updated to 30th August following additional work required on some components identified during the shutdown,” a spokeswoman said on Tuesday.
Nasdaq 27th April 2021 read more »
Trade unions have warned that a new wave of redundancies at Springfields Fuels Ltd, the UK’s only nuclear fuel manufacturing facility, risks not only the future of the site but the UK’s drive for net-zero. Springfields has told some staff there are to be 120 redundancies, which unions Prospect and Unite warn risks hollowing out the skills base at the site which employs around 800 people near Preston in Lancashire, and supports 4,000 jobs in the wider supply chain.
Machinery 27th April 2021 read more »
Around 120 jobs may be under threat at Lancashire’s nuclear fuels plant, as unions blame the government for dragging its feet on building new nuclear power stations. Trade unions have warned that the possible redundancies at Springfields Fuels Ltd, the UK’s only nuclear fuel manufacturing facility, risk not only the future of the Salwick site but the UK’s drive to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The Prospect and Unite unions said some Springfields staff have been told there are to be 120 redundancies, which the unions warn risks hollowing out the skills base at the site which employs around 700, and supports around 4,000 jobs in the wider supply chain. Fylde’s Conservative MP Mark Menzies said the site should get the contracts for all UK future reactor fuel production. It is understood that the company is looking for voluntary redundancies.
Blackpool Gazette 26th April 2021 read more »
Risks of lifetime extension of old nuclear power plants – A look at the age structure of existing nuclear power plants shows the importance of analysing risks of life-time extension and long-term operation. Some of the world’s oldest plants are located in Europe. Of the 141 reactors in Europe, only one reactor came into operation in the last decade, and more than 80 percent of the reactors have been running for more than 30 years (see Figure 1). Nuclear power plants were originally designed to operate for 30 to 40 years. Thus, the operating life-time of many plants are approaching this limit, or has already exceeded it.
INRAG 26th April 2021 read more »
Nuclear risks: when will the monopoly of international experts end? In December 2020, twenty years after the final closure of the plant, the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine announced its intention to prepare the application for the inclusion of certain objects in the exclusion zone around Chernobyl on the list of Unesco World Heritage. The ministry planned to submit its request in the spring of 2021, a way to mark the 35th anniversary of the crash, on April 26. This project would make it possible to set up a system to preserve the site, but above all to highlight its universal historical importance. The Chernobyl site would symbolize the long history of the accidents that marked the age of the atom, from Kyshtym to Windscale (1957) and from Three Mile Island (1979) to Fukushima (2011), whose tenth anniversary this year. What is more, the Chernobyl accident marks a particular moment in this history, namely the beginning of the institutionalization of the international management of the consequences of nuclear accidents, the influence of which was fully appreciated at the time of the accident. from Fukushima. While the origins of accidents are most often explained by factors linked to the development of the nuclear industry and its regulatory bodies at the national level, the “management” of their consequences gradually transcends national borders. As such, the Chernobyl accident will sanction the monopolization of the authority of knowledge on ionizing radiation by a restricted set of organizations – the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the International Commission on Radiation Protection (ICRP) and the United Nations Scientific Committee for the Study of the Effects of Ionizing Radiation (UNSCEAR). Through a set of alliances and co-options, these organizations form a monolithic whole on radiological risk.
The Conversation 23rd April 2021 read more »
Nuclear: countries that have power plants are not necessarily those that have uranium
There are 444 reactors in operation on the planet in 33 countries. Most of the uranium resources come from other countries. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the total nuclear generation capacity is 394 gigawatts (GWe). 54 more reactors are currently under construction, of which about a third are in China. They would add 57 gigawatts to current capacities. To run these power plants, uranium must be enriched, the resources of which are distributed all over the planet. Two-thirds of production in 2019 came from countries that do not have nuclear reactors, the main exporter being Kazakhstan (42% of production in 2019). According to the World Nuclear Association, it takes about 65,000 tonnes of uranium each year to power existing plants.
Liberation 26th April 2021 read more »
A RETIRED Hunterston worker says an increase in power cuts locally is a ‘real possibility’ when the station shuts. Hunterston is scheduled to close in nine months time and fears are growing that blackouts will become more commonplace as a result. Hunterston B is capable of supplying electricity to approximately 1.7 million UK homes but will be switched off as go into a period of decommissioning. Fairlie Community Council members were recently addressed by Alan Holden, a retired Hunterston, worker on the issue. He said: “A large part of what we use in the UK comes from gas-fired or nuclear power stations and wind turbines – and if we run out of those, we run out of electricity.
Largs & Millport Weekly News 22Nd April 2021 read more »
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