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 SONE on 30 August 2014 in Newsletters
Three warnings of fragility of energy supplies Three events this month have combined to demonstrate the fragility of the world’s energy supplies and Britain’s in particular. The first was Angela Merkel’s dash to Kiev when yet another sub-crisis of Russia’s annexation of the Crimea boiled up with a ...
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 21 August 2014 in NucNet
Westinghouse Electric Company and Blue Castle Holdings, a US energy infrastructure development company, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the development of two new AP1000 nuclear units in the state of Utah, Westinghouse said in a statement. Westinghouse said the two units are planned for a ...
Posted by SONE on 30 July 2014 in Newsletters
Methinks these soothsayers are slightly potty. While the good ship “Nuclear Power” is becalmed in the bureaucratic doldrums, there has been a flurry of excitement about David Cameron’s re-shuffle which saw 40 changes and brought in ten women – three into the cabinet.
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 16 July 2014 in NucNet
Japan’s nuclear regulator has said that two nuclear reactors meet new standards put in place after the 2011 Fukushima-Daiichi disaster and can be restarted. The Nuclear Regulation Authority, in a 418-page report released today, gave Kyushu Electric Company preliminary approval to restart the two pressurised water reactor units ...
Posted by SONE on 30 June 2014 in Newsletters
A minister crying in the wilderness We live not just in interesting but incredible times. The Ukraine remains a threat to oil and gas supplies. The fragmentation of Iraq (and Syria) by a murderously fanatical Islamic agent known as ISIS has already raised the price of petrol.
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 18 June 2014 in NucNet
The UK and Chinese governments have signed a “landmark” agreement which confirms that Chinese companies could own and operate a Chinese designed nuclear power station in the UK, provided they meet the stringent requirements of the UK’s independent nuclear regulator. The governments also signed a separate four-way civil ...
Posted by NucNet on 12 June 2014 in NucNet
China has successfully manufactured a steam generator and a reactor pressure vessel (RPV) for an AP1000 reactor and both have passed hydrostatic testing and meet Westinghouse’s quality criteria, the China State Nuclear Power Technology Company (SNPTC) has said. The RPV passed pressure testing on 8 June 2014 and ...
Posted by NucNet on 9 June 2014 in NucNet
Three major economic organisations in Japan have issued an urgent appeal for the government to accelerate the process of restarting nuclear power reactors whose safety has been confirmed, the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum has said. The Japan Federation of Economic Organisations (Keidanren), the Japan Chamber of Commerce and ...
Posted by NucNet on 5 June 2014 in NucNet
Uranium mining is one of the most regulated and safest forms of mining in the world, but remains controversial, principally because of environmental and health impacts associated with the early years of uranium mining, according to a new report by the OECD’s Nuclear Energy Agency.
Hong Kong’s electricity supply will be more reliable and cost-competitive if it increases the amount of nuclear energy it imports from China through dedicated transmission lines, the Hong Kong Nuclear Society said. HKNS said it supports using more nuclear energy, but buying electricity from the China Southern Grid ...
Posted by SONE on 30 May 2014 in Newsletters
Let us spread the nuclear message like Professor Fells Let us give thanks for Ian Fells. Newcastle Upon Tyne’s emeritus professor wrote a very simple letter to The Times on May19 in response to its leader a week earlier entitled: “Wanted: An energy policy”. He said: “You emphasise ...
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.
