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UK nuclear industry has a sinking feeling
Officially the UK nuclear industry is going ahead with building a new generation of power stations. But it can’t find anyone to pay for them. The future of the UK nuclear industry looks increasingly bleak, despite the Conservative government’s continued insistence that it wants to build up to 10 new … [Continue Reading]
Winners, losers and the low-cost energy future
Some technologies win, others lose, at least in the short term. The UK tidal power industry has been taking stock after the UK government decision not to proceed with the 320 MW Swansea lagoon as it saw it as too costly. “We saw no appetite from government to think differently, … [Continue Reading]
Nuclear power Weatherwatch: nuclear power plants feel the heat
During this summer’s heatwave, nuclear reactors in five European countries had to be shut down or put on reduced power, writes Paul Brown. An argument of the nuclear lobby is that renewables, particularly wind and solar, are unreliable because of changing weather. Only nuclear power can guarantee to keep the … [Continue Reading]
Small modular reactors have little appeal
The last hope of the nuclear industry for competing with renewables is small modular reactors, but despite political support their future looks bleak, writes Paul Brown. On both sides of the Atlantic billions of dollars are being poured into developing small modular reactors. But it seems increasingly unlikely that they … [Continue Reading]
How rapidly can we transition to 100% renewable electricity?
Science tells us that, to avoid devastating climate change, we must rapidly cut greenhouse gas emissions to zero. How fast is possible, asks Mark Diesendorf of the Cooperative Research Centre for Low Carbon at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Australia. He believes the sceptics may be wrong. This article focuses on the … [Continue Reading]
The nuclear option and rising levels of anxiety
Danger of coastal flooding might make sensible people think twice about building houses in vulnerable places, let alone nuclear power stations Back in 2012 a document obtained under the Freedom of Information Act showed that the Environment Agency was warning that 12 out of the UK’s 19 nuclear sites were … [Continue Reading]