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In focus with Sir Bernard Ingham
Up to our ears in debt but value for money still has no appeal
Well, now we know how much Chancellor George Osborne is committed to value for money in energy policy. Not much. True, in his autumn statement he halved subsidies for solar panels but only because their cost has come down substantially. He also brought in £250m energy cost relief for intensive energy users who are supposed to be a prime target for reducing carbon emissions, thereby complicating energy policy still further while usefully helping to retain heavy industry in the UK.
France’s nuclear safety authority (Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire, ASN) has suspended decommissioning operations after discovering that an inventory of plutonium at a former mixed oxide (MOX) fuel manufacturing facility in southern France was much higher than thought.
UK nuclear regulators have made significant progress toward improving effectiveness in regulating existing nuclear power plants and in preparing to license new nuclear reactor designs, according to a peer review mission.
The UK needs up to three new nuclear units by 2020 if it is to meet legally binding targets of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector by 50 percent by 2020, a report says today.
The UK might have to invest 200 billion pounds (GBP) (319 billion US dollars, 217 billion euro) over the next 10 to 15 years to secure energy supplies and meet carbon targets, partly because of the retirement of some of the countrys older nuclear plants.
Talks that could lead to the international community enriching fuel to be used at the Tehran research reactor in Iran will be discussed in Austria next week, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed.
The European Commission (EC) has adopted proposals calling for the public and private sectors to help invest an additional 50 billion euro (EUR) (73 billion US dollars) in low carbon technologies including nuclear in order to address climate change, secure European energy supply, and secure the competitiveness of EU economies.
Following consultation last year the UK’s regulators have published the final version of their assessment of best available techniques (BAT) for nuclear facilities.
Italy and the US have signed two agreements which the US said could lead to construction of new nuclear power plants and improved cooperation on advanced nuclear energy systems and fuel cycle technologies in both countries.
Nuclear energy safety is one of the top issues this year for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) campaigning around the world, SIGWatch, a consulting group based in Germany has said.
