United Kingdom

Spanish say adios to UK nuclear

Sunday, September 30, 2012

The owner of Scottish Power has pulled out of a multibillion-pound plan to build atomic reactors, dealing a blow to Britain’s faltering nuclear renaissance.

The decision by Iberdrola, the Spanish energy giant, means there is now a question mark over two of the three groups that planned plants. Ministers hoped the trio would build a dozen reactors generating roughly a fifth of Britain’s power over the next 20 years.

Posted in | »

Nuclear new build programme faces uncertainty

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Britain’s nuclear new build programme is facing fresh uncertainty amid fears that Cumbria county council will postpone or even reject plans to host a permanent storage facility for the country’s nuclear waste.

Local politicians have warned that the council is increasingly wary about volunteering to store hundreds of thousands of tonnes of radioactive material underground amid the rolling hills of the north-west.

Posted in | »

SSE attacks secrecy of nuclear subsidy talks

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Government negotiations with French energy giant EDF over subsidies for new nuclear power are being conducted in “a smoke-filled room”, the chief executive of rival company SSE claimed yesterday.

Ian Marchant attacked the lack of transparency in the talks as he warned MPs on the energy select committee that ministers’ plans to reform the energy sector were so complex and risky as to leave consumers “paying a higher price”.

Posted in | »

GDF Suez's nuclear reservations hit government energy policy

Monday, April 16, 2012

The government's energy policy has suffered a fresh blow when GDF Suez, the French firm behind plans to build a new nuclear plant in Cumbria, said it needed more financial incentives if it was to proceed.

Gérard Mestrallet, chairman and chief executive of GDF, said he wanted talks with the government about a fixed or minimum price for producing nuclear energy: "We are, with our partners, going to take a decision in 2015 [on building a new plant at Sellafield]. Today it is very difficult to invest in a nuclear power plant without clear visibility."

Posted in | »

France, Britain deny seeking subsidies for nuclear industry

Monday, April 16, 2012

(BRUSSELS) - France, Britain, Poland and the Czech Republic rejected a report Friday that they want nuclear energy to receive subsidies similar to the ones enjoyed by renewable energies.

The German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported earlier that those four countries sent letters outlining their request to Brussels ahead of a meeting by European Union energy ministers next week.

Posted in | »

E.ON, RWE drop UK nuclear plans - sources

Thursday, March 29, 2012

(Reuters) - German utilities E.ON and RWE have shelved their plans to build new nuclear plants in Britain, sources told Reuters on Thursday.

"The companies want to withdraw from that," said a source close to the companies and informed about the developments. Both companies and their joint venture Horizon declined to comment.

Posted in | »

UK nuclear plans 'put energy in French hands'

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Government plans for nuclear power risk handing control of the UK's climate and energy policies to France, according to four senior environmentalists.

Energy giant EDF and reactor builder Areva, big players in the UK's plans, are largely French government-owned.

Jonathan Porritt, Tom Burke, Charles Secrett and Tony Juniper say the firms are landing UK citizens with all the financial risks of nuclear new build.

They have told Prime Minister David Cameron he is being badly advised.

Posted in | »

Sixteen states talk nuclear power

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

The representatives of the 16 EU countries that have opted for nuclear energy have identified the four 'pillars' on which the EU's energy policy must be built: safety of sourcing, consumer purchasing power, industrial competitiveness and the fight against global warming.

Posted in | »

UK 'subsidising nuclear power unlawfully'

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Green energy campaigners are attempting to block new nuclear power stations in the UK by complaining to the European Commission that government plans contravene EU competition regulations.

They say financial rules for nuclear operators include subsidies that have not been approved by the commission.

Posted in | »

RWE weighs up sale for UK co-owned Urenco

Sunday, October 16, 2011

German energy giant RWE has appointed advisers for a strategic review of Urenco the nuclear power company it co-owns with the British and Dutch government.

The move could press the UK Government to formalise its own strategy on disposal of the company, which is expected to net UK taxpayers 1bn.

Posted in | »