Posted by NucNet on 30 December 2015 in Issues
It is claimed, under the heading of subsidising growth, that “The UK nuclear industry employs over 60,000 people directly, with tens of thousands more jobs indirectly supported”, and that “The projected new nuclear build projects will create around 40,000 new UK jobs”.
Posted by NucNet on 30 November 2015 in Issues
Off-shore wind As suitable sites for on-shore wind turbines in the UK are limited, given the nuisance they can cause and the amount of land they occupy, more hopes are being placed on the potential for off-shore wind farms. But this is not without its own problems.
Posted by NucNet on 30 October 2015 in Issues
The Vital Spark Athough it was published in July 2013 the Third Harwell Paper with the subtitle “Innovating clean and affordable energy for all” is relevant today. It is based on the work international group of energy ‘experts ‘ (from Japan (4), Brazil (2), England, (3), Sweden (2), ...
Posted by NucNet on 9 October 2015 in Issues
Why Bother In the 17th century, before the development of fossil fuels when Miguel de Cervantes wrote Don Quixote, attacking windmills, seen as a race of giants advancing across the plain, was clearly delusional; they were at that time a valued energy source. Now the situation is reversed ...
Posted by NucNet on 30 August 2015 in Issues
Why? For those who have been puzzled by the French government decision to close the nuclear reactors at Fessenheim on the border with Germany an interesting comment is provided by a Danish colleague, Bertel Lohmann Andersen, on how Merkel and Hollande avoided an embarrassing situation.
Posted by NucNet on 30 July 2015 in Issues
Nuclear matters. Of course nuclear matters; it is a reliable source of secure non-carbon emitting energy, but because of an unwillingness to accept this conclusion it has been desirable, in the USA at least, to form a new organisation for this purpose.
Posted by NucNet on 30 June 2015 in Issues
Chicken or Egg Which comes first? Does the availability of energy trigger economic growth or does growth require an increase in energy supply? A graph of energy and the economy, plotting annual changes in growth suggests that it is the first -smaller changes in energy supply precede larger ...
Posted by NucNet on 30 May 2015 in Issues
A correction In last months NI we muddled up the dates in the first item – ‘An uncertain future’. Sizewell B began operating in 1995, so that if the new Hinkley Point station were to start up in the mid 2020s there would be a gap of some ...
Posted by NucNet on 30 April 2015 in Issues
An uncertain future Our last nuclear power station, Sizewell B began operating in 1966 ; it is possible if EDF plans go ahead, that the next may start operating by the mid 2020s, a gap of over 50 years. We can of course upgrade and extend the lives ...
Posted by NucNet on 31 March 2015 in Issues
The elephant in the room To mark his retirement from the paper the editor of the Guardian has commissioned a series of articles on threat of climate change as a consequence of the ever-increasing discharge of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from the combustion of fossil fuels. His ...
Posted by NucNet on 28 February 2015 in Issues
Energy and Economic growth In explaining how the economy is tied to energy, with the leveraging impact of cheap energy creating growth, the American commentator on energy Gail Tverberg states that “In order for economic growth to occur, the wages of workers need to go farther and farther ...
Posted by NucNet on 30 December 2014 in Issues
The need for nuclear development. The Government “Review of the Civil Nuclear R&D Landscape in the UK “ March 2013 said it all. “The capability in the UK’s national laboratories and industry is smaller and more fragmented than it has been in the past … fission R&D is ...
Posted by NucNet on 30 October 2014 in Issues
SMRs and MSRs The similarity of the acronyms is confusing, but the two nuclear reactor concepts are quite different. Small Modular Reactors are seen as an alternative to the large water reactors now being built. It is argued that ever-larger reactors with their complex safety structure and systems, are examples of diseconomies of scale.
Posted by NucNet on 30 September 2014 in Issues
Can we afford it? The horrendous cost of renewable energy is highlighted in a report for Civitas by Dr John Constable of the Renewable Energy Foundation who claims that, together with VAT, it “would bring the annual additional cost to consumers to upwards of £16 billion a year ...
Posted by NucNet on 30 August 2014 in Issues
People and the Planet This substantial, 132 page, Royal Society report of April 2012 is the work of 24 authors from 11 countries, and should be taken seriously. It gives an overview of the impacts of human population and consumption on the planet. Its concern is the continuing growth ...
Posted by NucNet on 30 July 2014 in Issues
Our nuclear future “Use it or Lose it”. This paper by Candida Whitmill gives a rare, sensible assessment of the role of nuclear power in the UK both in its comments and the implied but unanswered questions it raises. (Civitas, Issue 11 June 2014).
Posted by NucNet on 30 June 2014 in Issues
Avoiding Blackouts The warnings of future electricity shortages follow the failure of the private power companies to invest in sufficient new capacity. The National Grid is looking to save up to 330 megawatts (MW) of power demand capacity this winter and is offering to pay companies to cut ...
Posted by NucNet on 30 May 2014 in Issues
Prejudiced science. It is now possible to have some understanding of the doubts of the climate change skeptics and their criticisms of the IPCC scientists when some of the statements relating to nuclear power from the IPCC show a clear prejudice. This prejudice however is not surprising.
Posted by NucNet on 30 March 2014 in Issues
The Anthropocene. It is claimed that we are now entering a new era with the transition from the previous geological epoch, the Holocene, which began some 10,000 years ago with the retreat of the ice age and the development of human civilizations, to the Anthropocene, which is characterised by increasing influence of human activities.
Posted by NucNet on 31 January 2014 in Issues
Can we stop burning coal? Leaving aside the arguments over the possible threat that climate change may threaten in the future if emissions of carbon dioxide from coal-fired electricity plants continue to rise, there is no doubt at all about the serious health effects that these emissions have.
Posted by SONE on 1 January 2013 in Issues
Beyond design basis The acceptance of a GDA (generic design assessment) for the UK EPR (European pressurise water reactor) in December was reported by the press but nobody got particularly enthusiastic about it. We will have to make up for this because it is a very significant event. ...
Posted by PJ Owen (SONE Webmaster) on 8 November 2012 in Issues
The future of nuclear energy in the UK This report (July 2012) from the Birmingham Policy Commission, of the University, under the chairmanship of Lord Hunt, a former Minister of Energy, gives a valuable assessment of the challenges facing the UK if it is to build up its nuclear programme
Posted by PJ Owen (SONE Webmaster) on 30 October 2012 in Issues
Shut down or safe low power? After a major natural disaster, such as an earthquake, the operators of nuclear power plants usually claim proudly that their reactors shut down automatically. There is a preoccupation with prevention of a reactivity accident. But is this necessarily the best condition for ...
