FoENuclearNetwork NEWSLETTER #12

Posted: 18th January 2023

Hi Nuclear FoElk

...................As usual if you have any responses, ideas, suggestions, news of events, free beer or Nuclear Power related information to broadcast you can LET US KNOW PLEASE BY EMAILING:- 

<b> <a>[email protected]</a> </b>. We had one response asking for this Newsletter to come out more often but as volunteers I'm afraid it will come out when we have capacity as its a lot of 
work.  Steve is planning a major update on the <b>RisingTideUK Nuclear Power Briefing Paper</b> requested by the COP26Coalition: 
<a href="https://www.risingtide.org.uk/node/581">"Same Old Not New Not Zero Nuclear" (or, most of what you need to know about Nuclear Power in the UK but weren't nerdy enough to ask):</a>  -<b> </b><a href="https://www.risingtide.org.uk/node/581">https://www.risingtide.org.uk/node/581</a><b>.  </b>
Any updates/amendments/changes please let us know and we'll review it. RTUK will endeavour to keep it updated here:- <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KI_2HfexzDUjmn-RiX9e3xLb5mjHN2khSo7yhPgBrWQ/edit?usp=sharing">https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KI_2HfexzDUjmn-RiX9e3xLb5mjHN2khSo7yhPgBrWQ/edit?usp=sharing</a>
 
In addition to this Newsletter/email account we still have the Network Faecesberk page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/FoENuclearNetwork">https://www.facebook.com/groups/FoENuclearNetwork</a> (where you'll find our Statement of Intent - 
 <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/FoENuclearNetwork/permalink/3954675454601875/">https://www.facebook.com/groups/FoENuclearNetwork/permalink/3954675454601875/</a> );  and we still encourage you to sign-up to the excellent essential NuClear News
 <a href="https://www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk/mailing-lists/">https://www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk/mailing-lists/</a> and also to help them out with a donation. Details here:- <a href="http://www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk/donations/">http://www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk/donations/</a>  as we won't be duplicating their
 stuff if we can help it!
 
We're trying a different site and subject based format this year - let us know what you think. Unfortunately rogue formatting wouldn't let us change the order from draft! Obviously there is some 
crossover especially when covering a hat-trick of PMs.
Either of these might work to bypass paywalls: <a href="https://12ft.io/">https://12ft.io/</a> or <a href="https://archive.ph/">https://archive.ph/</a>
 
<b>NEWSLETTER CONTENT</b>
1) HINKLEY POINT C &amp; B
2) WALES
3) UKgov POLICY &amp; AGENCIES
4) EU &amp; INTERNATIONAL
5) GENERAL POLICY
6) WASTE, DECOMMISSIONING &amp; GDF
7) SELLAFIELD
8) FUSION
9) BRADWELL
10) SIZEWELL C &amp; A
11) CONFERENCES
12) PROTESTS
13) SMRs
14) DOUNREAY
15) LIFETIME EXTENSIONS
 
Upandatom!
Love Ian (Cambridge) &amp; Steve (Greater London) - FoE (Grassroots) Nuclear Network Joint Co-ordinators.

1) HINKLEY POINT C & B

* Nuclear Regulation Group of Environment Agency update on environmental permits :New application to change the Water Discharge Activity (WDA) permit to vary the operational Water Discharge Activity (WDA) permit, to remove conditions that relate to an Acoustic Fish Deterrent (AFD) and add a waste stream for discharge from the Fish Recovery and Return system (FRR). Consultation for 20 working days upcoming by end of Jan’23. 

 https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/hinkley-point-cs-first-nuclear-reactor-ready-for-delivery-16-12-2022/  –  The reactor pressure vessel is the first to be built for a British power station for more than 30 years. Built in France by nuclear engineering company Framatomet, 13m tall, the high-strength steel cylinder weighs 500tonnes and will hold the nuclear fuel and house the chain reaction that generates heat. Once in use, its core will have an average temperature of 300C, that heat beng used to create high pressure steam powering the turbines. –  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-64006027 -  https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/First-reactor-vessel-for-Hinkley-Point-C-completed . 

* Nov’22 - Daily Telegraph and Daily Express reported a new contract between UKgov and EDF suggests Hinkley Point C HPC) might not be ready until 2036 – 11 years later than originally planned. Whilst EDF insists that its latest finishing date of 2027 has not changed – but the contract commits UKgov to funding the project even if it is not completed by 2036. - http://stophinkley.org/press-releases/edfs-protestations-that-changes-to-hinkley-point-c-contract-dont-mean-more-delays-fail-to-convince/  .

 May’22 EDF increased its cost estimate by £3bn, to £25-£26bn and delayed the completion date yet again to June 2027. Original estimated cost was £18bn and when building started in 2017 would be ready in 2025. 

The old 2-reactor Hinkley Point B “Advanced gas-cooled reactor” (AGR): UK’s most productive nuclear power plant to close - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-62339183 & https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/hinkley-point-b-closure-what-are-the-uks-future-energy-options-05-08-2022/ . This is the third 2-reactor AGR which has closed down in the last five years, leaving just five 2-reactor AGRs operating, all due to close down by 2028, and one 1-reactor Pressurised Water Reactor at Sizewell B. The waste legacy will remain though for thousands of years and even after generating waste for 46 years, we are still not sure what will happen to it other than a vague promise that it will be buried underground in a Geological Disposal Facility – a site for which has still not been found. - http://stophinkley.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/PressRelease27thJuly2022.pdf

* Appeal dismissed to remove acoustic fish deterrent at Hinkley Point C. Read the Secretary of State’s decision document and the Inspector’s report & background .  

2) WALES  

* Nuclear power: Radioactive waste to be buried at Gwynedd plant - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-64065576  

Rolls Royce is trying to sell to UKgov 2 SMRs on each site at Wylfa and Trawsfynydd. Each covers an area of ten football pitches- not the “small” reactors they are touting at all, at 470MW. Much the same size as the old Magnox reactors.  https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/step-forward-for-proposed-small-nuclear-power-plant-in-wales-12-10-2022/

3) UKgov POLICY & AGENCIES

* Annual update on mechanisms implemented under the Electricity Market Reform programme - Contracts for Difference and Capacity Market scheme update 2022

* Dec’22 update of Contracts for Difference

* Updated Dec’22 to include Final Stages of Nuclear Decommissioning – Excluded disposal sites - Energy Security Bill: policy statements and draft regulations  introduced to Parliament 6th Jul’22. 

* UK Atomic Energy Authority  Our governance structure – Dec’22

 https://theferret.scot/brexit-threat-nuclear-safety-laws/  

* Sep’22 – Updated assessment of the economic impact of the 12 Magnox sites on their local economies - Economic impact assessment of Magnox sites, May 2022

Sep’22 – Ukgov backing for the next generation of nuclear reactors - £3.3 million boost for next generation nuclear technology

* Aug’22 – Nuclear Regulation Group of the Environment Agency – Climate change guidance updated:- “Nuclear site licence holders in the civil nuclear industry are required to meet robust standards including ensuring that sites have the necessary defences in place to protect them against the effects of climate change such as flooding and flash flooding, sea level rises, coastal erosion, heatwave and drought. In England they are overseen by the Office for Nuclear Regulation and the Environment Agency. We expect that operators of nuclear sites or sites for radioactive waste disposal will take account of the most recent projections – as of 2022 these are the UK Climate Projections 2018 (UKCP18) – when assessing the impacts of climate change. We have recently published updates to our joint guidance documents. Read the documents. ”

* Jul’22 – £75 million Nuclear Fuel Fund opens to boost production of fuel for reactors - Government fund to accelerate nuclear fuel supply opens

* Jul’22 – Civil Nuclear Police Authority - CNPA Three Year Strategic Plan 2022/25

* Jul’22 – All previous editions of UKAEA’s Supply Chain Newsletter and its contents are available to view in the UKAEA Supply Chain Newsletter Archive

* Jul’22 - UKAEA Annual Report and Accounts, 2021/22, HC 566

4) EU & INTERNATIONAL 

Europe faces tough decisions over nuclear power - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63245112  

Jul’22 – FRANCE TO RE-NATIONALISE EDF (Sept’22 – recently fully nationalised) – The French Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne announced to the French parliament on 6th July. French state already has an 84% stake in EDF so will buy the other 16%, proposing to pay €8bn; to have full control over electricity production and performance, in particular energy prices. EDF is one of the world’s biggest nuclear energy companies but is heavily indebted largely through long delays and large budget overruns in building French-designed European Pressurised Reactors in Flamanville (France), Olkiluoto (Finland) and Taishan (China); plus also suffering the cost of trying to maintain in operation an ageing fleet of nuclear reactors in both France and the UK. As many as 12 French reactors are currently requiring to be taken off-line for maintenance, refuelling and repairs. Under these circumstances, if EDF is to carry out the French government’s Feb’22 plan to build 6 new EPRs in France and to launch studies for the construction of another eight by 2050, the French government clearly sees it necessary to take full control of the company. 

5) GENERAL POLICY

* Sep'22 - Mark Z. Jacobson, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Director, Atmosphere/Energy Program, Stanford University article (ONLY!) "7 reasons why nuclear energy is not the answer to solve climate change" -  <a href="https://www.oneearth.org/the-7-reasons-why-nuclear-energy-is-not-the-answer-to-solve-climate-change/">https://www.oneearth.org/the-7-reasons-why-nuclear-energy-is-not-the-answer-to-solve-climate-change/</a>   
* Sep'22  - Nuclear energy too slow, too expensive to save climate: report by World Nuclear Industry Status Report -  <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-energy-nuclearpower/nuclear-energy-too-slow-too-expensive-to-save-climate-report-idUSKBN1W909J">https://www.reuters.com/article/us-energy-nuclearpower/nuclear-energy-too-slow-too-expensive-to-save-climate-report-idUSKBN1W909J</a>

6) WASTE, DECOMMISSIONING & GDF

* Oct’22 Nuclear Waste Services’ (NWS) Chief Policy Advisor Bruce Cairns, Sky News and The Guardian were hosted by Finland’s Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) developer, Posiva, on a visit to the first underground repository for disposing of nuclear waste - https://news.sky.com/story/inside-the-worlds-first-nuclear-waste-tomb-in-finland-12723295 & NWS hosts Sky News visit to world’s first GDF in Finland

* Nov’22 Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) project progresses as second borehole test gets seal of approval - Latest step of borehole sealing project a success

* nuClear News No.140 special Issue by Steve Thomas, Emeritus Prof. Energy Policy, PSIRU, Business School, University of Greenwich on the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s liabilities:- https://www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/nuClearNewsNo140.pdf

* Sep’22 – UK’s nuclear waste clean-up operation could cost £260bn -https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/23/uk-nuclear-waste-cleanup-decommissioning-power-stations

* UK looks to Sweden for a solution to nuclear waste - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62677534  

Sep’22  New NWS films explain how a GDF works and the opportunities it creates : Prof. Neil Hyatt presents ‘Inspired by nature, perfected by science’ and ‘Building the future today’

* Sep’22  GDF to create more than 4,000 jobs within the first 25 years  NWS report highlights significant and long-term opportunities for a local workforce.

* Summary of public register data from EA Dec’22 - Discharges and Environmental Monitoring Annual Report 2021  

* Nov’22 – Re-signing of a cooperation agreement with Tokyo Electric Power Company –  Sellafield Ltd and Japan prove the value of continued cooperation

* Sep’22 - Publication scheme which specifies categories of information that Sellafield Ltd regularly publish and explains how to get that information.

* Sep’22 - The economic contribution of the NDA to the West Cumbria economy, April 2022 that Sellafield Ltd and Low Level Waste Repository (LLWR) Ltd made to the West Cumbria and UK economies in 2021.

* Sep’22  Review of the Year 2021/22 – Creating a clean and safe environment for future generations  progress made in tackling one of the world’s most complex decommissioning challenges.

* Jul’22  Job done: Sellafield plant safely completes its mission  70yrs of nuclear fuel reprocessing in the UK ended.

* Jan’23 - General Fusion’s fusion energy demonstration receives consent  – South Oxfordshire District Council Planning Committee approves fusion energy project; construction to start this year at UKAEA’s Culham Campus.

* US scientists announce fusion energy breakthrough - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-63950962 10 kettles are go (not counting the energy burned for the laser);-p

* Oct’22 - UKAEA and Tokamak Energy to collaborate on developing spherical tokamak technology for commercial fusion energy.

* Oct’22 – During a visit to UKAEA Tony Blair backs fusion for energy security and climate change  

* Public told ‘half truths’ over nuclear fusion plan, say anti-nuclear groups - https://theferret.scot/public-half-truths-nuclear-fusion-anti-nuclear/

* Aug’22 – UKAEA confirms partners to help advance STEP and the commercial viability of fusion energy - STEP forward to fusion

* Jul’22 - UKAEA Sustainability Strategy outlines commitment to delivering fusion research sustainably.

9) BRADWELL

* Some BANNG Jun-Dec'22 articles and Press Releases:
<b>10) SIZEWELL C &amp; A</b>  (<b> NB Generation Company (SZC) Ltd) </b>
* Judicial Review – Dec'22 -

SuffolkCoastFoE and Stop SZC are working with TASC to request a Judicial Review of the SoS’s decision to go ahead. This is despite the fact that EDF had failed to secure a guaranteed supply of potable water for operation of the station. It was largely for this reason, along with potential environmental impacts, that the Infrastructure Planning Inspectorate had recommended refusal of EDF’s application. The first judge who looked at the documents, which included their grounds for making the challenge together with rebuttals from the other side, decided that the claims were insufficient. However, this did not mean the end of the proceedings, as an oral hearing with a different judge was booked for 14th Dec’22. The judge was unwell and so the hearing has been postponed, awaiting date. 

* Nov’22 Grant Shapps, BEIS Secretary, visited Sizewell to sign a contract with EDF committing UKgov to a £679 million investment, confirming the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement announcement. Previously CGN had had a 20% stake but was bought out by UKgov (us) for £100bn. They also agreed a 50:50 partnership equal with EDF to collectively pursue a Final Investment Decision (FID), requiring other investors to stump up 60% of the total construction costs. The FID is said to be a year to 18 months away and would seem to depend on finding such investment. Greenwich Business School has issued an average estimate that the construction will take 15 years and cost £35bn, that is £2.3bn per year. Previously EDF had claimed the project would cost £20bn and take 10-12 years. 

* Scrapping Sizewell C nuclear plant would put net-zero at risk, ministers warned - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/sizewell-nuclear-climate-change-sunak-b2217659.html

*  https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/campaigners-launch-legal-challenge-against-sizewell-c-decision-09-08-2022/ & https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/aug/08/sizewell-c-nuclear-plant-approval-faces-legal-challenge and Leigh Day’s press release. The government’s approval letter “The very substantial and urgent need for the proposal outweighs the harms” is chilling. Press release Together Against Sizewell C (TASC)  Please donate to the legal challenge:-  https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/save-suffolks-heritage-coast-w/ . Sizewell C granted development consent by government despite the fact that the Examining Authority of the Planning Inspectorate could not recommend it on two main counts: lack of secure water supply during operation and outstanding issues concerning wildlife and habitats but overruled by Kwasi Kwarteng. - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-62235221 & https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/20bn-sizewell-c-nuclear-plant-gets-planning-green-light-20-07-2022/  which includes funding RAB model developments & Wylfa

* Sep’22 – Magnox Ltd’s update on the details of the agreed mitigation measures to prevent, reduce and, if possible, offset any significant adverse environmental effects of the decommissioning work in Sizewell A Site Environmental Management Plan

11) CONFERENCES
* Next steps for the UK nuclear industry – 27th Mar’23 Online - https://www.westminsterforumprojects.co.uk/agenda/Nuclear-23-agenda.pdf

* Priorities for developing the fusion industry in the UK policy conference – 3rd Feb’23 Online –  https://www.westminsterforumprojects.co.uk/agenda/Fusion-UK-23-agenda.pdf

<b>12) PROTESTS</b>

* Kick Nuclear “Remember Fukushima – End Nuclear Power” vigils are on the 2nd and last Fridays 11-12.30pm in London at the Japanese Embassy at 101-104 Piccadilly, followed by 1-1.30pm at the Tokyo Electric Power Company at Marlborough Court, 14-18 Holborn. Everyone invited to join them.  

* Who knows?;-p Oct’22 – FOI request 2022-126 reports between 1st Jan’10 & 20th Jun’22 - FOI 2022-126 on unauthorised aerial incursions into the airspace above UK nuclear facilities ! Sep’22 Report on MARCH FROM TRAWSFYNYDD TO WYLFA – Members of the youth cohort of CND Cymru over a week to marched from Trawsfynydd Nuclear Power Station in Gwynedd to Wylfa Nuclear Power Station on Ynys Môn, in protest against the Westminster government’s decision to locate Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMRs) on the decommissioned sites. This decision came hand in hand with the growing frustration felt by young people following the government’s ‘greenwashing’ of nuclear energy; selling it as a form of clean, safe and homegrown energy in the backdrop of the climate crisis. They are equally concerned about the disastrous effects of uranium mining on the lands of indigenous people in Australia as well as in areas of the Global South – not to mention the links between nuclear power, the military and nuclear weapons. They want their voices heard in the debates that will depict the future landscape in which they will have to live in. They demand to see preparations for a genuinely green future and the creation of jobs that will not come at the expense of the health of workers and their communities, or the environment. Climate justice cannot be achieved by nuclear energy.   

13) SMRs

* Dec’22 Daily mail reported that a joint GEC/Hitachi project was working on designs for SMRs.

 https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/wylfa-among-four-sites-prioritised-by-rolls-royce-for-small-nuclear-reactors-10-11-2022/  – others at Oldbury, Sellafield and Trawsfynydd. With 4 further sites as potential options which require further investigation. They include sites in Berkeley (Glos), Hartlepool (Durham), Heysham (Lancs) and Bradwell (Essex).  

 https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/rolls-royce-shortlists-six-sites-for-modular-nuclear-reactor-factory-05-07-2022/  but their SMR factory location is down to being chosen from 3 sites: The International Advanced Manufacturing Park (IAMP)- Sunderlandand South Tyneside; Teesworks, Teesside; and Gateway, Deeside. 

* Rolls Royce took a stand at COP27 in Egypt in Nov’22 to show off their planned SMR’s:- ”Stand 001: Rolls-Royce pioneers cutting-edge technologies that deliver clean, safe and competitive solutions to meet our planet’s vital power needs.To meet the demands of a growing, more connected society, the power that matters must be sustainable power – this is our challenge. Find out more ”   their blurb is mostly here now https://www.rolls-royce.com/innovation/small-modular-reactors.aspx#/ but with a dedicated site here https://www.rolls-royce-smr.com/ .  

14)DOUNREAY

* Oct’22 –  First containers sealed into Dounreay low level waste vaults

15) LIFETIME EXTENSIONS

Find out more – call Caroline on 01722 321865 or email us.