Nuclear News: UK Nuclear power industry may benefit from climate change levy exemption
| Share |
|
Today's big stories from the nuclear industry:
Nuclear power industry may benefit from climate change levy exemption
Government is considering fresh tax breaks for Britain's nuclear power industry that could smooth the way for the construction of a new generation of UK reactors, The Times has learnt. Whitehall insiders have told The Times that officials at the Department for Energy and Climate Change have been studying the possibility of an exemption for nuclear electricity from the climate change levy, a tax on industrial energy consumption that was created to boost energy efficiency. The levy, which was introduced in 2001, raises an estimated £1 billion a year for the Treasury. Suppliers pay the levy on electricity provided to businesses to Customs & Excise and then pass on the costs to customers. Other low-carbon sources of electricity, such as wind energy, are already exempt from the levy, but it draws no distinction between low nuclear and higher-emitting coal or gas generation. Jeremy Nicholson, a spokesman for the Energy Intensive Users' Group, an industry association that has been lobbying for the switch, estimated that an exemption for nuclear power would be worth up to £300 million a year to the industry, or £3 billion over the next decade, during which a big construction programme for new reactors is planned.’
IAEA to Report on Iranian Warhead Study, U.S. Official Says
‘The International Atomic Energy Agency plans next week to outline evidence that Iran has worked on technology for attaching a nuclear warhead to a missile, a senior U.S. State Department official said yesterday. Iran has maintained that its nuclear program has always been strictly peaceful, and the nation has consistently brushed off concerns shared by Washington and other Western governments that its atomic activities could support weapons development. Tehran has also resisted IAEA inquiries into allegations that it has conducted nuclear-weapon design studies, including a purported effort to modify a missile to accommodate a nuclear warhead. The U.N. nuclear watchdog intends next week to "address Iran's continuing failure to cooperate with the IAEA's investigation of the possible military dimensions of its nuclear program, including strong evidence that it has done work on a missile warhead for delivering nuclear weapons," said Robert Einhorn, the State Department's special adviser for non-proliferation and arms control.’
SSE reveals interest in lb4bn EDF bid
& Southern Energy has confirmed that it is in the running to buy the electricity networks business of EDF, a deal likely to be worth more than lb4 billion. Reporting bumper first-half profits, the Perth-based group indicated it might team up with infrastructure funds to buy the three electricity distribution networks, which deliver power to millions of customers in the south-east of England, including London. EDF, the French power giant that bought British Energy this year, has put the assets up for sale to free up cash for investment in new nuclear power stations in the UK. SSE chief executive Ian Marchant said that, while the group was not yet part of a formal consortium, it had held talks with Canadian investors about a bid after concluding the assets "are part of our core competence". Analysts have warned that energy regulator Ofgem may be concerned about the scale of SSE's networks business, as it already owns two distribution and one transmission network. Marchant said that while Ofgem might question the deal if SSE bought EDF's assets outright, he believed a joint bid with another investor "will be acceptable from a regulatory point of view".’
Canada-India nuclear deal on the horizon
Stephen Harper's aides wouldn't say whether he will sign a civil nuclear accord when he visits India next week. Negotiations, they said, were still under way. But if a deal isn't signed now, it will be signed soon, for this simple reason: Canada needs India more than India needs Canada. The Prime Minister's three-day visit to Delhi, Mumbai and Amritsar will be the longest he has ever spent visiting a country. The itinerary is chock-a-block with meetings, roundtables, wreath-laying and photo-ops. There will be movement toward discussions that could lead to negotiations that may or may not produce a Canada-India free-trade agreement before the youngest among us are old. But the signature piece of the trip is supposed to be a civilian nuclear agreement, which has existed in draft form since the summer. The accord would mirror similar deals reached by the United States, France and, mere days ago, the European Union.’
Russia's state-run corporation Rosatom decided to set up TVEL-based fuel company - Atomenergoprom
‘MOSCOW, November 11 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia's state-run corporation Rosatom decided to create a fuel company in the basis of the world's leading nuclear fuel producer TVEL, the press service at the state-run nuclear energy company Atomenergoprom told Itar-Tass. According to the press service, "the decision was approved in the format of the program for restructuring Russia's atomic energy industry in order to raise efficiency of its operation." TVEL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rosatom's subsidiary Atomenergoprom, the press service explained. Atomenergoprom plans to provide TEVL with a 100-percent stake in Separation-Sublimation Complex (RSK), which holds a 100-percent stake in the Angarsk Electrolysis Chemical Plant, Krasnoyarsk Region-based Electrochemical Plant, the Ural Electrochemical Plant, and the Siberia Chemical Complex, the press service said.’
Libya repatriates hundreds of rebels to Niger -radio
‘NIAMEY, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Libya has begun repatriating hundreds of Nigerien Tuareg rebel fighters, state television in Niger reported on Wednesday, the latest sign of progress in pacifying Niger's north after two years of revolt. The fighters, who are from an MNJ faction of Niger's Tuareg rebels who launched an uprising in 2007, had laid down their weapons in Libya, a country that they used as a base but also acted as mediator to end the conflict in the uranium miner. Over the last 48 hours, 386 rebels have been flown back to the town of Agadez, in Niger's north, the television reported. The violence in Niger's north closed down the tourism industry and threatened mining operations. French nuclear giant Areva plans to open a 1.2 billion euro uranium mine in Niger, making the desert state a leading global uranium exporter.’
Kingdom to sign nuclear deal with Australian company
- Jordan will sign an agreement next week with Australian consulting firm WorleyParsons to prepare the foundations for the country's first nuclear power plant. According to the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC), the agency is to sign an agreement on Sunday with the company for the pre-construction phase for a 1,000-megawatt (MW) power plant. Under the agreement, expected to be around $11.3 million, the Australian firm will carry out technology selection and assist in fuel cycle engineering and waste management for the plant, slated to be built near Aqaba. As part of the agreement, WorleyParsons will prepare the tender and aid in evaluating bidders for the plant's construction, according to the JAEC. The firm will also assist in establishing a utility company, expected to be a public-private entity, to own and operate the plant, JAEC Commissioner Khaled Toukan has told The Jordan Times previously. Earlier this year, WorleyParsons was named the consultant for Egypt's first nuclear power plant, a 1,200MW reactor. The Sydney-based company has also provided consultation for the Belene nuclear power plant near Sofia in Bulgaria and is actively working to prepare for a nuclear power plant in Armenia, according to the firm's website.’
