Tag: energy

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In current heatwaves, Labour’s new nuclear reactors will be more vulnerable to lower efficiency and productivity

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Professor John Robertson OBA TuS Reader Legerwood commented yesterday under our piece on the widespread corrosion of Frances’s nuclear reactors (https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2025/06/27/reliability-of-nuclear-energy-takes-another-blow-as-france-fears-return-to-2022-when-57-of-all-reactors-were-offline-due-to-corrosion/): It is not just corrosion in its nuclear reactors that France has to worry about. The high temperatures that France now regularly experiences -at the moment 40C or above – affects the nuclear reactors and can lead to them being taken off-line. The high temperatures also heat up river water etc and reduce the water available making it difficult to cool the reactors leading to shut downs. All in all not a good time to go nuclear when the … Continue reading In current heatwaves, Labour’s new nuclear reactors will be more vulnerable to lower efficiency and productivity

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Reliability of nuclear energy takes another blow as France fears return to 2022, when 57% of all reactors were offline due to corrosion

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Professor John Robertson OBA Frances McKie has just alerted me to this reserved report from Reuters on the Civaux 2 nuclear reactor in France: PARIS, June 11 (Reuters) – European power contracts jumped on Wednesday on concerns France might have to reduce its nuclear output after the industry regulator said it had identified “hints” of possible stress corrosion in a reactor. The ASNR watchdog said testing had highlighted possible defects in the Civaux 2 reactor, but that there was no confirmation of corrosion at this stage and more testing was required. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/report-defects-french-nuclear-reactor-civaux-2-lifts-european-power-market-2025-06-11/ On it’s own and with that wording, it … Continue reading Reliability of nuclear energy takes another blow as France fears return to 2022, when 57% of all reactors were offline due to corrosion

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Do Scots have little or no awareness of the scale of value of offshore oil and gas assets in the recent past or now?

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By stewartb I fear that a majority of the electorate in Scotland still have NO IDEA of – (perhaps even conditioned to have no interest in?) – Scotland’s indigenous energy assets and their potential significance for their own lives and those of their children and grandchildren. Little or no awareness of the scale of value of offshore oil & gas assets in the recent past (and still remaining) – Scotland’s great missed opportunity of a generation – and the developing renewable electricity generation assets, their current and realisable potential value – the about to be great missed opportunity of another … Continue reading Do Scots have little or no awareness of the scale of value of offshore oil and gas assets in the recent past or now?

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Do we need nuclear or Brian Wilson? Nope!

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Bob Lamont and Mills James on yesterday’s Sizewell C announcement millsjames1949 With estimates of (up to ) £40 billion as the ( building ) cost of this one Nuclear Station ( with several Small Nuclear stations to follow ) plus the higher cost of electricity to the consumers to access this power …imagine using this money for : a) proper insulation of existing housing stock to reduce energy consumption b) installing solar panels in existing housing stock to offset energy use from the Grid c) installing heat pumps in existing housing stock to reduce energy consumption …. I know , … Continue reading Do we need nuclear or Brian Wilson? Nope!

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LATEST – ‘Scotland and the largest underwater discovery IN HISTORY: The world has been searching for centuries’ but ‘our’ media prefers an imaginary cancer ‘timebomb’, youth violence, not paying to weld UK nuclear subs and parroting the PM, because the project was SNP Government-funded!

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Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks once more to Dottie for this dramatic alert. From The Diary 24, the above and: A green technology company out of Scotland has come up with an industrial solution for offshore hydrogen bunkering and electric charging. The Oasis Marine technology has massive implications as it makes it far easier for marine vessels to switch from emissions-producing diesel systems to green hydrogen if refueling infrastructure is easier to access. Oasis Marine’s initial product offerings involved small-scale mooring buoys, but it wasn’t long before the renewable energy company branched out into larger, more complex systems. Oasis Marine now … Continue reading LATEST – ‘Scotland and the largest underwater discovery IN HISTORY: The world has been searching for centuries’ but ‘our’ media prefers an imaginary cancer ‘timebomb’, youth violence, not paying to weld UK nuclear subs and parroting the PM, because the project was SNP Government-funded!

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The higher burn-up and radioactivity of UK Labour’s preferred Small Modular Reactor spent fuel make it more difficult to handle, transport, and store, safely

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stewartb ‘Imagine how a ‘fleet’ of them will go down with the Nimbys already kicking up hell about pylons…‘ (Bob Lamont comment in TuS, yesterday) Indeed – and let’s add to their concerns. The website https://small-modular-reactors.org is a rich source of information on Small Modular (Nuclear) Reactors (SMRs). It has a noteworthy section on Waste Storage Solutions. ‘Challenges’ for SMR Spent Fuel Disposal include but are not limited to: ‘Higher burn-up and radioactivity: The high burn-up and radioactivity of SMR spent fuel make it more difficult to handle, transport, and store, requiring enhanced safety measures and additional resources.’ Regarding ‘higher burn-up’ – ‘By achieving higher burnup, SMRs can … Continue reading The higher burn-up and radioactivity of UK Labour’s preferred Small Modular Reactor spent fuel make it more difficult to handle, transport, and store, safely

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Telegraph – Economics of Labour’s Small Modular [Nuclear] Reactors could prove hard to justify

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stewartb ‘Reforms to planning rules will clear a path for smaller, and easier to build nuclear reactors – known as Small Modular Reactors –to be built for the first time ever in the UK.’ Just how many SMRs will be built in the UK…. and why? What will determine the number? From Nuclear Engineering International magazine (NEI, May 15, 2025): ‘Is the UK ready to give the SMR go-ahead?’ (https://www.neimagazine.com/analysis/is-the-uk-ready-to-give-the-go-ahead/ ) ‘The UK government wants to open the door to fleets of small modular reactors across the country. To achieve that, it has to sweep away some longstanding barriers created by electricity network rules … Continue reading Telegraph – Economics of Labour’s Small Modular [Nuclear] Reactors could prove hard to justify

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Trump to ape Starmer in scrapping ‘red tape’ for new nuclear power and put all our lives at risk

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Professor John Robertson OBA From The Hill two days ago: President Trump on Friday signed executive orders that seek to quadruple the nation’s nuclear power, including by cutbacks to health and environmental considerations.  In one such executive order, Trump laments that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) radiation safety standards are too stringent. https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5316211-trump-executive-orders-nuclear-power/ From From PM Starmer via GOV.UK on 6 February 2025: More nuclear power plants will be approved across England and Wales as the Prime Minister slashes red tape to get Britain building – as part of his Plan for Change. Reforms to planning rules will clear a … Continue reading Trump to ape Starmer in scrapping ‘red tape’ for new nuclear power and put all our lives at risk

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Dodgy British ‘think tank’ with links to British Labour, British Tories, Russia, and support the Nuclear Energy industry fabricates dodgy Scottish poll

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By JB Dodgy British ‘think tank’ with links to British Labour, British Tories, Russia, and support the Nuclear Energy industry fabricates dodgy Scottish poll. Who are they? Britain Remade, the name itself says it all.  Their plan is to ‘get Britain building again’. They want to ‘make Britain energy secure by 2030’ They back ‘Great British Nuclear’ From their ‘plan’ ‘Britain’s nuclear delivery body Great British Nuclear must be given full backing to buy sites and de-risk development for new fleets of SMRs. Government can play a crucial active role in shaping the market for nuclear energy. Targeted earlystage investment, … Continue reading Dodgy British ‘think tank’ with links to British Labour, British Tories, Russia, and support the Nuclear Energy industry fabricates dodgy Scottish poll

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Sellafield: full site remediation will take until 2125

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https://www.thesun.ie/news/370058/more-than-450-safety-lapses-have-occurred-at-sellafield-nuclear-plant/ stewartb We, our children, grandchildren and beyond will be living – and paying – for the legacy of past and. present nuclear power generation for a long time to come. Source: National Audit Office (16 October 2024) Decommissioning Sellafield: managing risks from the nuclear legacy – Department for Energy Security & Net Zero, Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/decommissioning-sellafield-managing-risks-from-the-nuclear-legacy.pdf ) In the words of the NAO on Sellafield: ‘.. the NDA expects full site remediation will take until 2125.’ So 100 years! We learn that Sellafield spend in 2023-24 = £2.7 billion. And from Para 3.16 of the NAO report: ‘Sellafield spends the majority of its current … Continue reading Sellafield: full site remediation will take until 2125