Hitachi- from the country that brought the world Fukushima

Hitachi- from the country that brought the world Fukushima
We feel very sad for the people of Japan who want to end nuclear energy whilst a potential new government and big business are desperate for it

No Fukushima at Oldbury

No to Fukushima at Shepperdine!

No to Fukushima at Shepperdine!
オールド全く福島ません

Wednesday 29 September 2010

NDA National Conference at 5 Star Hotel

Don't you just think it's great that while us minions are trying to make ends meet and avoid losing our jobs the NDA held it's 11th National Conference in a five star hotel.

The meeting on the 21st September was held at The Lowry Hotel, Salford , Manchester, England.

It included overnight stays for at least 150 people......Party Time!!

Looks as though this government (which isnt new anymore)needs to get a grip on our hard earned taxpayers money before donating it a pro nuclear quango.

Chris Huhne, Charles Hendry and George Osborne.....Get a grip.

Interestingly enough a small group of stakeholders who have concerns about new nuclear trudged their way (those who could afford to) to Westminster yesterday to have a discussion with Senior Civil Servants and Regulators for free....gratis......nada...not a bean in expenses.

Excellent value for the taxpayer but a bit lopsided one thinks?

Friday 24 September 2010

Zac Goldsmith says no nuclear power plant has ever been built without subsidy!

What with the CEO of RWE saying they will not invest without subsidy and E.on having words with Chris Huhne about his stance at the ECC Select Committee over subsidy we think it is coming close to the end game for these gigantic German energy corporations.

They have said they need more help than the tinkering with emissions trading prices ( which ,by the way will be a subsidy to this archaic industry)-----Our understanding is this would benefit nuclear but would be detrimental to coal and oil leaving e.on and RWE with not much benefit for attempting to build new nuclear.

EDF appear confident they can build new nukes without subsidy. (from the UK).....maybe the French government will help them fund it?

Below Zac Goldsmith states his position...not all Tories are rabid nuke lovers. Check out his book The Constant Economy and his website www.zacgoldsmith.com


Nuclear Power

The Party's position is simply that the market should decide. There should be zero subsidies (direct or indirect) for nuclear, and nuclear providers must demonstrate an ability to cover future costs of waste disposal and decommissioning. My view – shared by almost all the energy experts I’ve consulted - is that there can be no new nuclear power without government support. There never has been.
 
Any money the government is willing to invest in energy should be spent in areas that will deliver the greatest returns. That’s not nuclear. It has been calculated by the Rocky Mountain Institute that a pound invested in energy efficiency for instance buys seven times more solution than a pound invested in nuclear.

 

Subsidies should be for start up, immature technologies, which is why we will introduce Germany’s Feed-In-Tarrifs. Under the German system anyone generating electricity from solar PV, wind or hydro is guaranteed a payment of four times the market rate. The system boosts take-up by consumers by reducing the payback times on such investments to less than 10 years - compared with 25 or 30 years in Britain. As a result, Germany has 200 times as much solar energy as Britain, and a flourishing renewable energy sector.
 
I do think it’s worth putting nuclear in context. It provides only 18% of our electricity, and electricity is only a small part of the energy we use. Heat is more significant. It is a big political issue, but it has been blown out of proportion in terms of its actual importance. Dependence on Russia for instance is principally a heat issue - not an electricity issue, and would not be solved by nuclear.
 
If you’d like to read more about my views nuclear go to www.zacgoldsmith.com

 
 

How many British workers would get work in the construction of new nuclear?

Foreign workers at nuclear construction site live isolated lives
Researcher Anna Kontula observed lives of Olkiluoto builders for a month


Sociologist Anna Kontula
 print this

The construction of Olkiluoto 3, Finland’s fifth commercial nuclear reactor, involves 1,200 workers from different countries, who live in barracks far away from the rest of society.
      The workers come from around Europe: Poland, Portugal, Kosovo, Albania, and Germany.
      The barracks are about 20 kilometres away from any services or local people, and the workers’ contacts with the rest of Finnish society do not function very well in general.
     
The construction workers spend months and years in isolation, almost out of sight of the rest of society.
      Sociologist Anna Kontula became interested in the Olkiluoto construction site, and decided to spend a month interviewing the employees and following their lives.
      Kontula has written a pamphlet which will be published on Wednesday under the name Näkymätön kylä (“Invisible Village”), which tells of the isolation of the migrant workers, and of their difficulties both at the Olkiluoto construction site, and at the general level.
     
“Finnish workers resort to their labour unions, public services, and unofficial networks. With the migrant workers, the networks are very distant, they do not know how to utilise public services, and they often have not heard of the labour unions. All of this underscores dependency on employers”, Kontula says.
      Kontula points out that the builders in Olkiluoto are in a much better position than many other itinerant workers. However, underpaying and other abuses have also been found to exist there as well. The quality of occupational safety varies there as well.
     
Workers from outside the EU have only limited access to Finnish public services and legal protection, Kontula says.
      If health care has not been arranged, or if the employer doesn’t let the worker go to a doctor, a migrant worker might find it difficult to seek help in public health care.
      “Access to protection from the police and the legal system is less in practice than with Finns.”
     
Kontula says that official supervision does not sufficiently extend to the Olkiluoto building site, where hundreds of Finnish and foreign companies operate in a chain of subcontracting and a maze of contracts and practices.
      “If supervision is not possible even in this kind of a public construction site, how can it work on strawberry farms or in strip-tease clubs?” Kontula asks.
      Underscoring the isolation of the Olkiluoto construction workers are a lack of language skills and having to live away from their families. Most of them would work in their home countries if it were economically feasible.
     
Kontula felt that the status of migrant workers should be improved through increased supervision and above all, through legislation.
      “There are people on the labour market with different rights and obligations. It has created two separate labour markets here”, she says.
      One solution could be an aliens’ act which does not separate workers into different categories.
      “For instance, consideration of the need for labour applies only to the workers. It is one factor that maintains dependence on the employer.”
     
Kontula feels that the labour unions also face a big challenge, but ultimately, migrant workers need to take action themselves to improve their status, although Finns can ease the process and make it possible.
      She does not believe that improving the position of foreign labour would cause problems for Finnish workers.
      “At the moment, foreign labour is pulling down Finnish wages and terms of employment.”


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Concrete coverups and others at nuclear construction site (31.1.2010)
  Olkiluoto III migrant contract workers play a lot of cards, check out the Pori nightlife, and go fishing (15.10.2007)
  The Merry Wives of Olkiluoto (10.12.2006)

Links:
  Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant (Wikipedia)
  Teollisuuden Voima (TVO)
Helsingin Sanomat

Thursday 23 September 2010

Simon Hughes shows Lib Dems are still Anti-Nuclear! From FT Blog

Simon Hughes breaks ranks on nuclear power
September 21, 2010 12:35pmby Jim Pickard | Share
The “new improved” Simon Hughes is suddenly on best behaviour up in Liverpool at the Lib Dem annual conference, after several months of mischief-making. That is the theory. But you don’t have to look too hard or too far to find evidence of his potential trouble-making capacity.

In today’s speech he says that the Liberal Democrats will continue to fight:

On issues which are important to us:

In opposition to a like for like replacement of Trident
In opposition to nuclear power
Scrapping tuition fees
Always defending human rights and civil liberties
And always campaigning against obscene profits and obscene bonuses whilst others struggle to make ends meet.

On Trident we already know Clegg and his party are opposed to the Tories. Defending civil liberties and rubbishing bankers are par for the course for the coalition at this point in time.

But ministers may wish that Hughes would stay silent over tuition fees - not least as they are probably about to go up if anything (depending on the Browne review).

More importantly, his opposition to nuclear power is telling. Not least given that Chris Huhne, the new Lib Dem energy secretary, has signalled his willingness to accept the need for nuclear. (He now says he has ‘no intention of the lights going out under my watch.‘)

Any signs of enduring resistance within the coalition to new nuclear power stations could create nervousness within the industry. Especially as E.ON, the world’s largest utility company, has written to Huhne to demand clarification of remarks made by Huhne last week.

According to this morning’s Times (business section, page 45) the group and its partner RWE-npower want a consumer-funded levy to help support its £15bn investment in two new nuclear reactors. They were therefore unhappy to hear Huhne tell a select committee that he thought the industry view had converged on the view “that the carbon price floor will be enough (alone)”.

Lib Dem MPs have been given a free vote on any future Commons votes involving nuclear power, under the coalition agreement. With Hughes, deputy leader of the party, speaking out against the policy it would be no surprise if many of his colleagues follow suit.

UPDATE: Chris Huhne is making an energy speech later this afternoon. Expect him to issue the coalition line about backing nuclear power but only if it doesn’t involve public subsidies. Over at the FT’s energy blog they will be following progress closely.

UPDATE at 4.30pm: Yes, Huhne has this to say about nuclear:

And George Osborne expects me to deliver our agreement on nuclear power, which is that there is an important place for new nuclear stations in our energy mix as long as there is no public subsidy. A deal is a deal, and I will deliver. I’m fed up with the stand-off between renewable and nuclear which means we have neither – we will have both. We will have low carbon energy, and security of supply.

And I say again there will be no subsidy to nuclear, for a very clear reason: it is a mature technology, not an infant needing nurture. Every person in my department has a very clear motivation to ensure that the full costs of nuclear – present and future – are fully taken into account. More than half our budget – £1.7bn a year – goes on the clean-up costs of old nuclear facilities. Britain had artificially cheap nuclear electricity for decades. Governments repeatedly looked only at the short term. The result is that we are paying far, far more than if we had dealt with waste and decommissioning in a timely manner. Never again. Not on my watch. No hidden subsidies.

September 21, 2010 12:35pm in UK politics | Comment

E.on,Rwe and Edf off to China?

It has been reported to us that at the recent meetings between the Office for Nuclear Development and South West councils from Somerset and South Gloucestershire A representative from OND urged local councillors and executives to go easy on the European megaliths or they may decide to take their money to China and build there.

Could this really be true?

Wednesday 22 September 2010

Nuclear Power Generation and Childhood Leukaemia - When are COMARE going to deliberate over the recent German Kikk study? They were asked by the Health Protection Agency to do this months and months ago is it perhaps because they cant give an answer the Government wants to hear?

There is considerable recent medical evidence to support increased health risks associated with nuclear power stations, including and especially childhood cancers in populations living near nuclear power stations both in Germany and the UK, significant steps in this research include:

Green Audit 2001: "Cancer Mortality and Proximity to Oldbury Nuclear Power Station in Gloucestershire 1995-1999". This found a childhood leukaemia cluster in Chepstow a statistically significant cluster similar in intensity to the notorious Seascale cluster. Chepstow is just down stream from the existing Oldbury power station.1

In 2004 the Committee Examining Radiation Risk of Internal Emitters (CERRIE) pronounced that isotopes could be ten times more harmful than hitherto expected and consideration should be given to the protection of children in particular.2

In 2005 the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE) published a paper on childhood cancers near nuclear power stations.3 Although they were puzzled to find extra cancer cases near nuclear weapons factories and dockyards, they said there was no effect near civil nuclear power stations. In fact their study covered a wide 25 kilometre radius around nuclear sites which embraced large towns at the periphery of this radius. Previous studies have only shown an effect at a radius of 8 kilometres so it was surprising that COMARE should throw their net so wide and thus result in a distortion of the results.

The more recent KiKK German Government study 2008 found more than double childhood leukaemias near every nuclear power station.4 The German Government has abandonned building any new nuclear power stations as a result of this study.

All current UK research including the various Government COMARE reports are now out of date. They have effectively been superceeded by the more recent and more comprehensive German KiKK study, commissioned by the German government. Indeed COMARE have been requested by the Department of Health to undertake a full review of their recent reports on this issue in the light of the German KiKK study.5 This review is still in progress and until this has been completed and their report is made available for scrutiny, no one is in a position to confirm that there is "no evidence for unusual aggregations of childhood cancers in populations living near nuclear power stations".6 Indeed the most recent evidence suggests quite the opposite.

1 "Cluster of Childhood Leukaemia and Cancer in Chepstow similar to Seascale" see www.llrc.org/health/subtopic/chepstow.htm

2 "Dose is meaningless" see www.llrc.org/index

3 Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE) 10th Report 2005, see www.comare.org.uk/documents/COMARE10thReport.pdf

4. "Epidemiological study on childhood cancer in the vicinity of nuclear power plants "(KiKK) carried out by the German Childhood Cancer Registry in Mainz on behalf of the Bfs, the German Federal Office for Radiation Protection, see http://www.bfs.de/en/kerntechnik/kinderkrebs/kikk.html and http://www.bfs.de/en/kerntechnik/kinderkrebs/statement_kikk_en.pdf

5 COMARE KiKK report due April 2010 but to date not yet published see www.comare.org.uk/comare_work.htm

6 Statement by Horizon Nuclear Power in their recent response to public concerns raised during the consultation undertaken in Dec 2009 over their proposals to build a new 3rd generation nuclear power station at Shepperdine, Nr Oldbury see www.horizonnuclearpower.com/downloads/horizon-env-ecoping-report.pdf

E.on to pay 1 billion euros in new german nuclear tax

By Jan Hromadko
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

COLOGNE, Germany (Dow Jones)--E.ON AG (EOAN.XE) Chief Executive Johannes Teyssen expects the tax on nuclear fuel rods the German government is imposing from 2011 to reduce the utility's adjusted after-tax profit by up to EUR1 billion a year in the next six years.

A company spokesman later clarified the tax will dent E.ON's adjusted after-tax profit by around EUR700 million a year after deducting part of the levy against corporate and business taxes. Before deduction, the impact would be around EUR1 billion, the spokesman said.

The nuclear tax, which utilities fought against vigorously, will be in place from 2011 to 2016 and will generate some EUR2.3 billion a year, which the government will put toward a broader effort to cut EUR80 billion from the federal budget.

The tax is part of a broader government energy plan through 2050, under which Germany's nuclear reactors will be allowed to operate longer than under the existing agreement to phase out the last reactor by around 2022.

The government is expected to present the final energy roadmap Sept. 28 after the cabinet has voted on the package.

On the sidelines of an energy conference in Cologne, Teyssen told journalists he expects all of the company's nuclear reactors to remain operable despite the tax.

"Individual reactors will operate on the limits [of profitability], but I expect that all should continue to be operable," Teyssen said.

Hans-Peter Villis, chief executive of E.ON rival EnBW Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg AG (EBK.XE), earlier this month said his company might be forced to shut down its nuclear reactor Neckarwestheim I. The government's nuclear tax and costs for refitting the plant are reducing the profitability of the reactor, Villis said.

RWE AG (RWE.XE), a third operator of nuclear power plants in Germany, has previously said the nuclear tax would hit its recurrent after-tax profit by around EUR500 million a year.

E.ON CEO Teyssen also Wednesday said the company has decided to postpone its next capital markets day to Nov. 10, as it needs more time to evaluate the impact of the government's proposed energy policy.

E.ON had previously planned to host its capital markets day, at which is intends to present a new corporate strategy, on Sept. 28.


-By Jan Hromadko, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 69 29 725 503; jan.hromadko@dowjones.com

Monday 20 September 2010

E-on to withdraw investment from UK nuclear energy?

We have already heard that RWE will not build new nuclear plants in the UK unless they get subsidies from our hard pressed pockets! ---To take back to Germany to give to their investors/shareholders.

We now see (at the bottom of this article) that E-on are thinking of taking their metaphorical ball back to Germany with them because their own government in Germany has decided to impose a tax on existing nuclear power plants in return for an extension of the lives of the reactors!

These companies are the ultimate in "have your cake and keep it"----Atomkraft , Herr E-on and Herr RWE,
Certainly Nein Danke!!

You can smell the teenage pheromones exuding from them!

Energy security??...............From German and French power megaliths!!..............I dont think so!



Centrica alert over a nuclear snubBy Lisa Buckingham And Tom Mcghie


Last updated at 10:13 PM on 18th September 2010

British Gas owner Centrica will be forced to spend billions of pounds on new gas-fired power stations to keep the lights on if it does not secure consent for the Hinkley nuclear reactor by early 2012.

Delays in the planning system could also spark a dash for gas among other energy providers.

Centrica chief executive Sam Laidlaw warned that would jeopardise the security of energy supply as Britain would need to import about 75 per cent of its gas needs.

In addition, the country would almost certainly face penalties for failing to meet internationally agreed emission targets.

Laidlaw said speedy planning consent was vital if Centrica and EDF, its nuclear building partner, were not to risk being 'sent to the back of the queue' for crucial nuclear construction contracts.

An aide to Laidlaw pointed out that more than two gas-fired stations, each costing hundreds of millions of pounds, would be needed to produce the same amount of power as a nuclear station on the scale of Hinkley. EDF and Centrica plan four nuclear plants.

Laidlaw said there was also a need for the Government and industry swiftly to reach an agreement on a new minimum carbon price and to redesign the pricing of the electricity market to take account of alternative energy sources such as wind power. Consumers face an average £260-a-year rise in fuel bills.

In a further potential setback to Britain's nuclear-building programme, energy giant Eon is reconsidering all investment in the UK after the imposition of new financial burdens in its domestic German market.

A new nuclear tax will take an estimated £2 billion a year out of the business, making it more difficult to raise money and potentially threatening its ability to build nuclear stations in Britain.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-1313298/Centrica-alert-nuclear-snub.html?ito=feeds-newsxml#ixzz104lK6S1G

Will the EA and HSE compromise on their standards and allow Horizon to use the 3rd best form of cooling?

If you cant emit hot water through the river water and you cant allow it to vapourize and rise naturally through gravity then the only other option is to build massive fans to blow the steam out of forced draft cooling towers! Bananas?!

Environment Agency study concludes that the "Best Available Technology" for the new nuclear power stations is direct cooling. But this method is not possible at Oldbury so surely this confirms that the site is unsuitable?


The Environment Agency have published a report on the cooling options for new nuclear and states that the Best Available Technology is Direct Cooling, which as we know is not possible at the new site at Shepperdine. This surely means that since they cant use the Best Technology at Oldbury the site should not be nominated as suitable.

How can this be a seen as a suitable site if the technology to be adopted is known to be less suitable than direct cooling, it makes no sense to settle for anything other than the truely best technology!

The report concludes that the second Best Available Technology is Gravity Towers and according to Horizon the site will need to have three or four 200m high gravity towers! Horizon have now admitted that the visual impact of such monstrous towers will be unacceptable in this location. Note they have only admitted this recently to appease this community.

Horizon's preferred option is the Hybrid towers (still massive at 70m high). However, this is neither the Environment Agency's 1st nor their 2nd choice but comes 3rd in their preference so will they allow Horizon to go with this solution?

To view the summary report go to http://publications.environment-agency.gov.uk/pdf/SCHO0610BSOU-e-e.pdf
or the full report at http://publications.environment-Agency.gov.uk/pdf/SCHO0610BSOT-e-e.pdf

Pershore to support No Need For Nuclear?

Councillors in Pershore are helping to debate whether new nuclear is needed to provide energy.

Also check out http://www.noneedfornuclear.org.uk/

PERSHORE Town Council has pledged to support an early day motion calling for an inquiry into whether or not nuclear power stations are needed.


With energy resources coming under increased scrutiny, an organisation called No Need for Nuclear approached the council and asked whether it might be willing to assist its objectives by writing to the local Member of Parliament in support of the motion.

The council, which signed up to the Pershore Transition Town movement - a group aiming to make the town less reliant on oil and develop more sustainable forms of energy - last year, voted in favour of the motion by six votes to three, but not before the issue had been discussed at length.

Coun Charles Tucker said: “This is something I would like to support. I think there is a large amount we should be doing in Pershore to become more sustainable and create more sustainable energy.”

Coun Val Wood agreed. She said: “What would we do with the waste from nuclear power stations? It causes problems all over the world.”

However other councillors were in favour of more nuclear reactors in the UK.

Former mayor, Coun Ken Rowe, said: “I think we should get on and build nuclear as soon as possible,” while Coun Peter Merry said: “Renewable energy is fine, but it is very intermittent. I don’t think it is in Pershore’s interests to obstruct the building of nuclear power stations.”

Some councillors believed this wasn’t an issue which they should even be discussing.

Coun Chris Smith said: “This is a national issue, and nothing to do with the local council. For that reason I won’t be supporting it.”

After taking a vote, the town council will now be writing to Pershore MP, Harriet Baldwin, in support of the motion. For more information on No Need for Nuclear go online at noneedfornuclear.org.uk

BBC Photos of the Berlin Protest

On Saturday up to 100,000 people from all over Germany took to the streets of Berlin to condemn the governments proposals to extend the life of nuclear power stations owned by E.on and RWE amongst others.

The German public understands the implications of nuclear disasters after the Chernobyl incident.

Please check out    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/11358042

E.on and RWE are being alloweed to build new nuclear in the UK but cannot do so in their home country.

Friday 17 September 2010

Cooling tower announcement brings support and solidarity amongst local residents including from both the local Tories and the Lib Dems... they know this site is not right here.....

See the latest from our local newspaper, the Thornbury Gazette:



Cooling tower announcement angers residents

10:30am Tuesday 14th September 2010


By Liza-Jane Gillespie



CAMPAIGNERS have criticised a nuclear energy company's announcement concerning the height of cooling towers.

Horizon Nuclear Power, the firm behind plans to build a new nuclear plant at Shepperdine near Oldbury, announced last week that 70 metre high cooling towers were its preferred option.

It said previously that it was considering both 70 metre hybrid towers and 200 metre natural draught towers, which would have to be built as part of the new station.

Tim Proudler, planning and consents manager for the project, said: "This has been a big decision for Horizon. Natural draught cooling towers have real advantages. They're cleverly designed to move air without the use of electricity, and could be said to be the obvious technical choice, being cost-effective, easy to maintain and sustainable.

"However, we appreciate that these would be a prominent feature in the local landscape. Some of the visual impact could be improved by careful arrangement, but after discussion with, and listening to, the local community, we wanted to respond."

However, the announcement has not been welcomed by members of the community.

Reg Illingworth, chairman of Shepperdine Against Nuclear Energy, said: "They still seem to be reserving the right to use the natural draught cooling towers.

"The towers are just one concern. This feels like a bit of PR to appease the community."

Mr Proudler said the announcement last week was not a PR stunt but genuine commitment by Horizon towards the hybrid design.

He said: "We have a very clear view of the natural draught towers, and have a preference towards hybrid cooling towers.

"As an engineer you could argue they are not the best thing but this is about achieving an acceptable balance and we have had a very clear message from people."

Steve Webb, MP for Thornbury and Yate, said: "It is a step in the right direction. The cooling towers are a big issue but far from being the only issue.

"Up to four 70 metre cooling towers will make the estuary look very different. The campaign goes on."

Matthew Riddle, South Gloucestershire councillor for the Severn ward, added: "These 70 metre hybrid cooling towers are hardly inconspicuous and we will still need to consider their impact when we see Horizon's firm proposals."

Horizon will be holding a series of drop-in sessions next month at Oldbury Memorial Hall on Monday, October 4 (3-9pm), and Thornbury Leisure Centre on Wednesday, October 6 (3-9pm).

Thursday 16 September 2010

Merkel pays the price for supporting e.on and RWE

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15/09/2010Anti-nuclear opinion powers German Greens to record support

Germany's opposition Green party has soared to a record 22-percent support, according to a poll published Wednesday, thanks in part to public ire over Chancellor Angela Merkel's nuclear energy plans.
The survey by the independent research group Forsa showed the Greens gaining one point over last week to come within reach of Germany's main opposition party, the Social Democrats (SPD), which tallied 24 percent, down one point.
The Greens, born 30 years ago out of the environmentalist movement, fiercely oppose the centre-right government's scheme to extend the life of Germany's atomic energy plants by several years, unveiled this month.
While in power with the SPD between 1998 and 2005, the Greens successfully championed legislation that would have mothballed all 17 of the country's nuclear reactors by around 2020.
The Greens scored 10.7 percent at the last general election a year ago, which saw the conservative Merkel re-elected and able to form a coalition with her partner of choice, the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP).
In the Forsa poll, Merkel's Christian Union bloc dropped one point to 30 percent, the FDP remained steady at five percent and the far-left Linke reached 11 percent, down one point.
"The Linke looks pale, the (Christian) Union is adrift and the SPD still lacks a clear profile," said political scientist Gero Neugebauer of Berlin's Free University, explaining the Greens' relative strength.
Merkel's government has seen its support plummet in recent months due to incessant internal squabbling over issues such as tax cuts, health care reform and social welfare benefits.
The poll indicated that if the general election were held this week, the SPD and Greens would be well placed to reclaim power in Berlin.
Forsa conducted the survey September 6-10 among a representative sample of 2,501 German voters.


© 2010 AFP

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Wednesday 15 September 2010

Photos from Der Spiegel...... Germany gets ready for the weekend protests

The link to Der Spiegel shows a number of photos from different aspects of the nuclear showdowns in Germany.

http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-59273-13.html

Check out the photos of the CEOs of e.on and RWE and remember these men control a significant proportion of both power generation and distribution in the UK.

They have bullied the German government and now they will eat the British government in a continental breakfast.

Our support is with the European citizens who will protest in Berlin at the weekend.

Deutsche Atomkraft! Nein Danke

Tuesday 14 September 2010

Anybody going to Berlin?

One of our members and regular readers would like to know if anybody is going to Berlin by car or coach for the mass demonstration this weekend coming.

I think he is interested in driving if anybody wants to share the costs with him.

It will be a fantastic weekend with a lot of stress put on the German government and their stance that a significant proportion of the German public are against.

Atomkraft? Nein Sanke!

Monday 13 September 2010

Hinkley Protest Yesterday....Shepperdine Soon?

Congratulations to Jim and his team at Hinkley--- A brilliant performance to raise awareness of  the sheer lunacy of the Nuclear Madhatters Tea Party.

What you have done yesterday....Shepperdine may well do soon!

We need to make it plain to E-on and RWE, Siemens etc that we do not want new nuclear... and we do not want foreign companies controlling our energy infrastructure and security.----It is too dangerous

Take your money back to Germany and invest in new nuclear there.......



.........................................................................................................................................................

Protestors blocked the Hinkley Point main gates for almost an hour this liunch-time as they demonstrated against the premature destruction of upto 435 acres of open land and wildlife habitats before major consents are approved for the two giant reactors proposed by EdF.


A large group of campaigners, together with local residents including children, held banners and placards in front of Hinkley Point, preventing any traffic movements. The Hinkley main gates were forced to shut from 11.45 to 12.45pm and no traffic entered or left during that time. Some of the protestors wore face paint images of sunflowers, the Stop Hinkley logo and anti-nuclear signs. Others dressed as nuclear 'boffins' and with a loudhailer led a march through the ear-marked greenfield site.

The 'nuclear boffins' highlighted badger setts which had been cemented over or had been covered with metal grills, beautiful old woodlands and individual trees destined to be bulldozed and they walked down some of the scores of sunken lanes criss-crossing the fields lined by ancient hedgerows brimming with wildlife.

At the coast the tour-guides showed where the so-called 'temporary' jetty will be built over the 200 million year old fossil-filled rocky beach.

At the beach destination of the march, one campaigner read aloud a poem on the need to respect nature and its part in global ecology.

Crispin Aubrey, spokesman for Stop Hinkley who marshalled the demonstration, said: "There is obvious strong feeling against destroying this beautiful area. Despite being close to the existing power stations there are large expanses of beauty and tranquility. It's wrong for EdF to jump the gun by trashing the area such a long time before it receives major consents for the two reactors."

The protest was part of a two day Action Weekend. Yesterday a series of talks and workshops took place in Bridgwater for campaigners around the region. Three national-level speakers gave talks:

Greenpeace

Ben Ayliffe, nuclear campaigner for Greenpeace said: "Greenpeace is opposed to new nuclear power stations because they would make a minimal contribution towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions, they have multiple dangers from long-lived radioactive waste through to nuclear proliferation, and they are a distraction from real solutions such as renewable energy."

"In particular we see two major problems - waste disposal and economics – both could sink the proposal for Hinkley C," he said.



"The coalition government has said that there will be no subsidies for new nuclear plant. Economics could be the thing that makes it impossible for Hinkley C to go ahead. No nuclear power station has ever been built without public subsidy.”

On waste he said that the amount EDF were being asked to pay for disposing of the radioactive legacy from Hinkley C was not enough to cover the true cost. “It amounts to a £1 billion subsidy to the company per year, according to our calculations,” he said.

He also referred to delays and cost over-runs on similar projects in both Finland and France, where the first reactors like the one proposed for Hinkley C are being built.

The Greenpeace strategy was to challenge the process of approving new nuclear power stations all the way. This included exposing the risky economics, promoting the alternatives and legal challenges.

Health

Professor Chris Busby talked about studies that he, and Somerset Health authority in the eighties, had shown that there was a higher incidence of cancers round Hinkley Point and other nuclear power stations. He said the international model used by regulators to estimate the effects of radiation on human health is being widely challenged, and a former head of the international radiation commission accepted that their model did not stand up in the case of a serious accident.

"Our studies have shown raised levels of cancer along the downwind coast from Hinkley to Burnham-on-Sea. Health officials have objected to our findings on spurious grounds including random clusters in other areas but year on year we keep finding an entrenched problem near Hinkley. The officials have got it wrong."

Alternatives

Neil Crumpton, former Friends of the Earth energy campaigner, presented an alternative vision of the UK’s electricity supply in which nuclear power was marginalised and new sources of renewable energy, such as concentrated solar power imported from North Africa, were developed on a large scale. He also dismissed the suggestion that the lights would go out without nuclear, listing the many other options, including gas-fired plants, which were queueing up to fill any gap in supply.

"Friends of the Earth and other organisations are confident we can put forward a reasonable low carbon energy network based on current technology. More than that we can very soon tap resources like Clean Coal Technology and solar-power from the Sahara to boost our own abundant natural elements of wind, tide and wave driven electricity."

Jim Duffy

Stop Hinkley Coordinator

http://www.stophinkley.org/

07798 666756

Quotes from Crispin Aubrey who coordinated the Action weekend: 01278 732921 / 07920 523673

Professional photographs for the media available immediately from

Simon Chapman: 07889 747916

Related Link: http://www.stophinkley.org

Would you buy a second hand car off Areva or Wetinghouse??

After attending the recent Environment Agency/HSE GDA consultation day in Birmingham recently we (SANE) were left with the impression that both Areva and Westinghouse are not ywt suitable candidates to build the latest reactors.

In fact we felt we wouldn't even like to by a second hand car off them for fear of it being a lemon!

The article below, from The Financial Times, highlights the current deficiencies of the only manufacturers who want to build reactors in the UK.

Nuclear: New dawn now seems limited to the east


By Ed Crooks

Financial Times

The renaissance of nuclear power is a much fabled beast that is often talked about but rarely seen.

A new wave of construction of nuclear power stations, bringing to an end the lull in the industry since the Chernobyl disaster of 1986, has been widely predicted for much of the past decade.

Growing concerns about energy security and dependence on fossil fuels, combined with the fight against climate change, have prompted a resurgence of interest in nuclear power.

In terms of intentions, at least, there is plenty of evidence of a revival. Worldwide, there are plans to build 149 reactors, and proposals for 344 more, according to the World Nuclear Association (WNA), the industry group.

If all those projects went ahead, they would more than double the number of reactors in operation, which is about 440.

However, many of the hopes and claims made for the nuclear renaissance have been excessive. Industry executives and analysts suggest most of those new reactors are unlikely to be built on their proposed schedules, if at all.

The pace of development of reactor projects is slow in Europe, and even slower in the US. Any upturn in construction is happening in emerging economies, above all in China.

Danny Roderick, senior vice-president for new plants at GE Hitachi, the US-Japanese nuclear engineering joint-venture, says the revival is still to come.

“Some people think that the renaissance is over, and we missed it,” he says, “but I don’t believe it has happened yet. We just need the right conditions to be in place.”

Those conditions, which seemed to be coming into alignment in the middle years of the past decade, have in the past three years shifted clearly against new nuclear investment.

First, the global financial crisis that began in the summer of 2007, has curbed investors’ appetite for risky commitments, including large nuclear plants costing €5bn-plus ($6.3bn-plus) that face unpredictable risks in terms of energy markets, technology, regulation and political support.

Second, the recession has caused a fall in power demand, which has made energy companies think again about the need for further investment in generation capacity.

Third, there has been a tendency for countries to take the cost-effective option, by extending the operating lives of existing nuclear plants, rather than building new ones. Spain and Belgium have taken this route, Germany this month opted to do the same, and the UK is likely to follow suit.

Fourth, concerns about energy security have eased following the opening up of America’s “unconventional” reserves of shale gas and other resources that were previously uneconomic to produce.

Fifth, public attitudes towards nuclear power remain ambiguous in many developed countries, with significant opposition even when majority opinion is in favour.

“No one has ever built a nuclear plant in a liberalised electricity market,” says Omar Abbosh, the managing director for natural resources in the UK for Accenture, the consultancy.

“So, for new nuclear construction there inevitably has to be some level of government support and encouragement,” he adds.

The concerns in Britain created by the arrival of the anti-nuclear Liberal Democrats as part of the governing coalition are a prime example of the uncertainties facing the industry in democratic countries.

Sixth, the pressure to curb carbon dioxide emissions, which was growing for much of the past decade, now appears to be easing. Nuclear power benefits from a tough regime of emissions controls, but the global recession and the failure of the Copenhagen climate talks last December have cut the price of emissions in the EU’s trading scheme, and reduced the likelihood that other countries will go ahead with tough carbon dioxide curbs on their own.

Finally, there have been clear signs that the nuclear industry itself is not ready to accelerate construction. The delays and cost overruns suffered by the EPR reactors from Areva, the French nuclear group, being built at Olkiluoto in Finland and Flamanville in France point to a lack of clear regulation, the difficulties in building “first of a kind” projects, and insufficient skills and capacity in the supply chain.

Put together, these factors are likely to continue to delay nuclear investment in developed countries for years to come.

Mr Roderick of GE Hitachi observes that in the past five years, only a fraction of the proposed reactor projects went ahead, and he expects the same to be true in the next five years.

In emerging economies, however, the picture is very different. The recession has had much less impact, and it is clear that electricity demand will continue to grow.

Climate policy has always been less of a concern than energy security.

India has announced plans to raise its nuclear generation capacity from 4,000 megawatts to 30,000MW by 2020, following its 2008 deal with the US that gave it access to civil nuclear technology.

While democratic politics has threatened to delay the development of India’s nuclear industry, there are no such problems in China. There, the number of reactors under construction has risen from 12 early last year to 24 today, according to WNA figures.

Mr Roderick argues that later in the decade, the “pillars” of the nuclear renaissance, in terms of energy demand and climate policy, may be more firmly in place in the US and Europe.

The plans for nuclear power stations in the UAE, to be built by a South Korean-led consortium, point to the development of a new industry in the Middle East, in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt.

But for now, as Colette Lewiner from Capgemini puts it: “When you speak about the nuclear renaissance, you are really talking about Asia.”

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.

Thursday 9 September 2010

Atomkraft? Nein Danke

Time is rolling on in Germany and 18th September is getting closer!

On this day the significant and intelligent opposition to nuclear power will take to the streets to protest at the deal struck by Angela Merkel's coalition government and the mega German power companies of which RWE and e-on are the largest.

The leader of the Green Party has promised "a hot Autumn" following the deal.

Last year 50,000 took to the streets of Berlin to confirm the message Atomkraft? Nein Danke.

As the Government has now shown it's cards it is anticipated that the protest will be massive with ordinary citizens from around Europe heading to Berlin to express their dissatisfaction for the deal.

Let's us hope the British government see this and stand firm with the " No Subs 4 New Nukes" message.

Wednesday 8 September 2010

SANEs view of the Horizon letter to local householders

The paragraph below is from the Horizon letter to residents of Shepperdine, Oldbury, Oldbury Naite and Nupdown:-

"As our studies continue, we will now treat the hybrid as our preferred option. However, we will still include consideration of the natural draught cooling tower within the overall suite of cooling options when we come to carry out our formal pre-application consultation activity"

Does this indicate that if the EA do not accept the Horizon proposals they will opt for natural draught cooling towers?....Could be !!!


Our community is also concerned about :-

1. Even with the fan assisted hybrid towers the project is still massive in terms of scale and will industrialise a huge section of the banks of the River Severn, 4 times the length of the existing site.

2. The fan assisted towers are noisy and will have an unacceptable impact on the many residents living close to the site.

3.. The impact of the steam plumes from these towers, has yet to be assessed, but we know that in other countries this can create a changes in climatic conditions in areas down wind of the towers depositing contaminated drizzle/rain on the communities in these locations and this is totally unacceptable to the local residents affected.

4. The site is within a level 3 flood zone which is the highest level risk, which is a ridiculous location for such a nuclear power station. The existing power station has been cut off by floods in the past and this is a very serious issue. The flood defence measures necessary to protect this site will also have a major impact on the area including raising the site and access road to the site above the flood level. This will also create a serious risk of collateral flooding - from flood defences preventing effective drainage of surface water further inland - thus increasing flood risks to surrounding areas. This matter has not even been considered yet!

5. The need to store highly toxic waste on site for 150 years plus, made even more ridiculous given that the site is in a level 3 flood zone. The governments plans for a national geological disposal facility for this waste are a long way off reality. They have yet to identify a suitable site within a volunteer community and, if even if they do manage to find a community to confirm agreement to host this, it will take decades of testing to confirm whether or not such a site is geologically suitable. If (and its a bif if) they eventually manage to confirm such a site is suitable it will then take decades to build. In the meantime our community is expected to host the storage of this highly toxic material for an indefinate period. Add to this the fact that it is on the flood plain of the River Severn and this is a totally absurd proposal!

6. The impact on the community during construction will destroy this beautiful area for ever. The damage done by traffic, road widening, temporary accomodation for 5,000 largely migrant workers and so on can not be over stated. South Gloucestershire Council have estimated that the material needed to raise the site alone will require 1500 HGV movements per day for 18 months!

7. The site is far too close to some significant populations including the town of Thornbury (less than 5 miles and a population of circa 12,500), the city of Bristol (less than 10 miles with a population of circa 450,000) and the towns of Chepstow and Lydney directly accross the river! DECC have in their own siting documents suggested that these power stations must not be located close to large populations for safety reasons and we are therefore at a loss to understand why anyone considers this site as suitable.

8. It is illogical to consider detailed plans for Shepperdine without knowing whether or not a Severn Barrage will go ahead or the details/location of such a barrage. To do so could very well pre-determine the outcome of this hugely important renewable scheme and is definitely not in the long term interests of this country. Now that it would appear that the larger Barrage has been ruled out this makes the smaller options more likely which are closer to the proposed new site at Shepperdine, nr Oldbury.

Press Release from Horizon and finally some mock up photos!

We thank Tim and his team for keeping us in the loop on what is a very important matter for the SANE community.

You can see the press release at :-http://www.horizonnuclearpower.com/downloads/Horizon_Oldbury_cooling_tower_press_release_8_Sept_2010.pdf

Dear Reg,


Just wanted you to be aware of a press release that is being issued tomorrow (8th September), which concerns Horizon’s thinking on the cooling towers that could be used as part of a future nuclear power station near Oldbury. Clearly this has been a key concern on your blog. We’ll be posting the press release on our website, and we’ll also be door-dropping letters locally (in Shepperdine, Nupdown, Oldbury Naite and Oldbury-on-Severn) to explain the context. You may wish to include a copy of the letter and press release (both attached) on your blog. We’ll also be e-mailing the information in the door drop letter to those who have signed up to be kept informed by that route.

Kind regards,

Tim

Tim Proudler

Planning & Consents Manager – Oldbury

Horizon Nuclear Power

EDF Criticised over Hinkley Point!


That looks a sweet little building compared to The Shepperdine Site!


Somerset councils call EDF nuclear plans 'unacceptable'

Hinkley Point C proposalThe stage two consultation for Hinkley Point C finishes in October
Two Somerset councils have called the latest plans for a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point "unacceptable" and "completely inadequate".
West Somerset District Council and Somerset County Council have both criticised a lack of detail in EDF Energy's proposals.
They have highlighted the "poor" worker transport and accommodation plans.
EDF Energy said the criticism was "quite unfair" but accepted there was more work to do to flesh out the plans.
The two councils are considering their responses to the second round of consultation which ends on 4 October.
'Purchasing consent'
West Somerset leader Tim Taylor said: "We are very unhappy about the way EDF Energy has consulted local communities and responded to government guidelines.
"EDF are consulting on their terms and we the councils are trying to defend our local communities on our terms and it's very difficult to make the two meet."
He said more research needed to be done on the impact of taking local skilled workers out of their normal jobs for the site's construction and the effect the power station would have on tourism and the housing market.
Mr Taylor added that the energy company had not taken into consideration the local viewpoint, saying EDF had proposed the bare minimum to build and operate two nuclear reactors.
But David Eccles from EDF said: "I don't think 10,000 pages is a minimum amount of detail."
He added: "I know there's more to do, particularly on the accommodation and transport strategy, but I think we have made a huge contribution to the debate and we've got an awful lot of information out there in which people can provide a response."
He said the energy company did not need to build affordable housing to be able to build power stations and that EDF must be careful not to be seen to be "purchasing consent".

Good news from Tenner Films!

Well done to Vicki....Cant wait to see yout latest film!


Morning everyone,

A quick message to kick off this rainy Wednesday - and it's a double whammy of good news. Firstly I'm delighted to report that we successfully reached (and actually surpassed) our IndieGoGo target - hurrah! Thanks so so much to every one of the 27 people who collectively donated  a grand total of $880 - earning a nice little bonus of $44 on top of that from IndieGoGo themselves. I really am enormously grateful - all the supporters of this film constantly prove that there is an appetite for the kind of documentary we're making and it's a privilege to get your vote of confidence in this most concrete of ways. And don't forget that if you didn't manage to donate this time but still want to, you can make a contribution any time at the Tenner FIlms website - just log on to http://www.tennerfilms.com and click on Donate. 

The money raised on IndieGoGo will go towards a day's filming in London - and I'll of course keep you posted on how it goes.  Beyond that, there are exciting behind-the-scenes developments afoot at the moment which I'll tell you all about once they've progressed a little bit further. Suffice to say, things are  looking good here at Tenner Towers - and we couldn't do any of it without your support.

One other nice bit of news that reached me last night was that the latest Tenner short, Fifty Years, has been selected for this year's Document Human Rights Film Festival, taking place in Glasgow at the end of October. The full programme hasn't been published yet so I don't know the exact time or date of the screening. I'll update you once I do know but in the meantime you can find out more about the festival on their website at http://www.docfilmfest.org.uk/

Thanks again and don't forget your brolly - looks nasty out there...

Vickix

Tuesday 7 September 2010

News about cooling towers

We believe that tomorrow there will be a press release issued by Horizon giving further details about the type of cooling towers they are intending to use should the site be included on the list of suitable sites in the rehashed NPSs due out this Autumn.

We are aware of it's contents and will provide comments tomorrow.

Press or media are free to contact me on 07979 560056 for comments

Find out more about the Berlin anti-nuclear protest

Check out http://www.campact.de/atom2/demo1809/home and learn all there is to know about the planned Berlin protests.

People will be travelling from all over Europe as this is going to be a massive statement by the German public about there utter contempt for even existing nuclear let alone new nuclear

Appeal to all British staff of E-on and RWE

We understand the dilemma a lot of E-on and RWE staff must be experiencing.

You are being manipulated by your employers into what is best for their shareholders and not what is best for our country.

This has come around because of the system that allows our home utilities to be owned by foreign companies with no motivation to preserve our way of life.

As the investment opportunities become smaller and smaller the greedy fiefs (as described by the German Green Party) have to go further and further and do riskier things to maintain or increase the dividends for shareholders.

We understand there will be a lot of dissatisfied staff in the UK arms of E-on and RWE who are welcome to join us or even to talk to us privately to preserve your morality and integrity.

Please feel free to contact us anytime and we will maintain your complete confidence.

Monday 6 September 2010

Do you want to go to the protest in Berlin?

We are planning to run a small charter to Berlin close to the protest date if we can generate enough interest.

I will be unable to go as I am otherwise indisposed but if you want to go please contact me on oldburynuclear@btinternet.com

As you can see the nuclear fiefs including E-on and RWE have softened up the german government.

Berlin - German opponents of nuclear energy Monday vowed to bring mass protests to the streets, after Chancellor Angela Merkel's government agreed to extend the life of nuclear power stations.


On Sunday the cabinet reached a late-night deal which would see the country's 17 nuclear plants run on average 12 years longer than planned, with the last due to close by 2021.

A narrow majority of the public opposes the plan, according to opinion polls.

"With the decision to lengthen the nuclear power station life-cycles, the popular resistance is really going to kick off," said Jochen Stay, spokesman for an umbrella group of anti-nuclear protest groups.

Merkel on Monday appeared to reach out to the protest movement, saying their concerns had been taken seriously.

"I know that many people are very sceptical and critical of nuclear energy," she said, but advanced the view that Germany needed nuclear as well as coal as 'bridge technologies'" to reach "the era of renewable energy."

A mass demonstration has been planned for September 18 in Berlin. A year ago a similar event drew tens of thousands of anti-nuclear protestors.

The centre-right coalition government has agreed to lengthen the run-times in return for a 2.3-billion-euro (2.9 billion dollars) per year tax on fuel rods, as well as contributions from the industry to a renewable energy fund.

On Sunday as the deal was being worked out in Berlin, the opposition Green and Social Democrat parties vowed to repeal the prospective law should they win a general election scheduled for 2013.

The red-green coalition, under previous chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, took the initial decision to phase out all the country's civil nuclear reactors - now overturned by Merkel.

"I promise the government a 'hot autumn,'" said Green Party leader Claudia Roth.

Merkel's coalition has been riven by internal conflicts, including over nuclear energy strategy, since coming to power in 2009.

Copyright DPA

Friday 3 September 2010

SANE to meet with DECC

Great news! SANE will be meeting with DECC in the next few weeks.

Will report back to you all after the meeting.

DECC NGO engagement meeting


Dear all,

Thank you for getting back to me on your availability for dates. We have now settled on the above date for the first DECC NGO engagement meeting having taken into account the availability of individuals and meeting rooms.

A sandwich lunch will be provided, please let me know of any special dietary requests. Directions to the venue are at the foot of this e mail.

I will be in touch shortly with a proposed agenda and confirmation of the attendee list.


Kind regards


Margaret Mary



Margaret Mary McLaren

Nuclear Communications

Office for Nuclear Development

Tel: 0300 068 5907

Steve Webb meets with Horizon

Steve Webb, our MP, and important protector of our community is due to meet with Horizon today.

Steve has reported to SANE that  he will be asking Horizon a set of searching questions about their plans for what would be a totally unsuitable site for such a massive development.

As soon as we hear from Steve we will feed the information back to you, the SANE membership, as key stakeholders in this matter.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank both Steve and also Matthew Riddle who are working hard to preserve the community that is The Severn Vale.
 
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