With the news that E.ON and RWE have pulled out of plans to build new nuclear plants in the UK, here is an article published in the August 2011 edition of The Energy Industry Times. There is a general consensus that new nuclear build has been delayed rather than derailed by the Fukushima crisis in … Continue reading
Industrial conglomerate Siemens has abandoned all plans to build new nuclear power stations following Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to phase out nuclear power in Germany. The announcement was made in an interview given to weekly German newspaper Der Spiegel by CEO Peter Loescher, in which he stated that “for us it is a thing of … Continue reading
The chief executive of UK utility EDF Energy Vincent de Rivaz has broken ranks from the rest of the ‘Big Six’ by extolling the virtues of a possible Competition Commission inquiry into an industry under attack from politicians, regulators and consumers alike. Announcing the decision by the UK subsidiary of France’s state-owned utility EDF to … Continue reading
The new chief of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Maria van der Hoeven says nuclear power must have a place in the future energy mix despite the Fukushima catastrophe and the decision by some countries to opt out. The former Dutch minister for economic affairs, who took up the post of IEA executive director on … Continue reading
Malaysia’s state nuclear firm is recruiting a PR agency to build public support for nuclear power, as it seeks to build two 1000 MW nuclear reactors by 2022. According to the PR industry website the Holmes Report, the Malaysia Nuclear Power Corporation (MNPC) has shortlisted three firms for the PR contract. It is understood that a … Continue reading
A devastating tsunami, caused by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake on March 11, washed over the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan and knocked out its emergency power systems, thus leading to a catastrophic loss of coolant and three core meltdowns. That is how the official story goes. But did the earthquake, measuring a comparatively weak … Continue reading
German utility E.ON posted its first ever quarterly loss and is laying off up to 11,000 workers. Compatriot RWE is up the creek following Frau Merkel’s decision to abandon nuclear power. And investors are no longer deeming these utilities a ‘safe haven’ in turbulent financial times. What is going on? E.ON Germany’s biggest utility has … Continue reading
After just ten years of troubled operation, the UK government-owned Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s £1.4 billion Sellafield MOX Plant (SMP) is to be shut down. Built in 1996, but opened five years later, the SMP was designed to produce 120 tonnes of mixed-oxide nuclear fuel – a mixture of plutonium and depleted uranium – per year … Continue reading
The UK Department of Energy and Climate (DECC) latest energy statistics report released today states that electricity generation from renewables rose by a derisory 0.1 per cent in 2010, despite a 15 per cent increase in installed capacity. According to the Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics, also known as DUKES, electricity generated from renewable … Continue reading
Reuters has just released a report into why the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility was the world’s fifth most dangerous nuclear plant by workplace radition. Number one is Perry, Ohio in the USA; number two Cofrentes in Spain; number three is Tarapur in India; and number four Laguna Verde in Mexico. All five plants use General Electric boiling water … Continue reading
