Re: Nuclear Madness
 

Can we not build giant treadmills connected to generators and powered by the immigrants in return for a safe haven, gruel and straw mattresses ? It's gotta beat being bombed?
I would have one in the back garden. Maybe even a mini generator for the kids. Possibly the NIMBYs would have a field day but gotta be better than a nuke plant and what else do you do with immigrants ? There is only so many Syrian restaurants that can be opened

Re: Nuclear Madness
 

Never thought I would become an environmentalist.

Re: Nuclear Madness
 

National Grid pays factories NOT to use electricity in bid to keep UK lights on | Daily Mail Online

we need some baseload generation it seems

Or under tock's plan, we need to feed the Syrians some more to get them increasing output.

Re: Nuclear Madness
 

Looks like EDF's got funding problems:

The final investment decision by EDF was expected to be a formality.

But Les Echos said the French firm was struggling to find the cash for its 66.5% stake and was now "putting pressure on the [French] state, which owns 84.5% of EDF, to come up with fresh funds".

It said a final investment decision would now be made at the earliest at EDF's annual results on 16 February.

Decision on new nuclear power plant 'delayed' - BBC News

Re: Nuclear Madness
 

Maybe Osborne wasn't selling off the family silver to Beijing so cheap after all?

Re: Nuclear Madness
 

From Greenpeace:

Hi there,

George Osborne could be about to make a huge mistake.

He's preparing to spend billions on a new nuclear plant at Hinkley in Somerset. If it goes ahead, Hinkley is set to be the most expensive object on Earth [1] – sucking up huge amounts of money that could be spent on renewable energy instead.

But right now we’ve got a chance to stop him. The finance director of EDF -- the energy firm that plans to build the reactor -- just resigned amid concerns that Hinkley could plunge the company into a financial black hole.

It’s going to be pretty embarrassing for George Osborne if he ploughs on when Hinkley’s cost could bankrupt the company building it. So let's seize this moment to turn up the pressure on the chancellor. Let's tell him now’s the time to scrap Hinkley -- and spend consumers’ cash on renewable energy instead.

Sign the petition:
https://secure.greenpeace.org.uk/stop-hinkley

If George Osborne pushes ahead, Hinkley will be the first nuclear plant built in the UK in two decades. But the chancellor's plans are going nowhere fast. The reactor design is so complicated that no one's sure if it will even work. One nuclear expert went so far as to call it "unconstructable" [2]. And three other power stations -- in France, Finland and China -- that are trying to use the same type of reactor are suffering from huge delays too.

The cost of the project is staggering. Best guesses say Hinkley could pass £24 billion -- easily making it the most expensive power station in world history.

Personally I'm shocked that George 'Austerity' Osborne can keep on backing Hinkley, even as the cost keeps going up and up. Can you help tell him that thousands of us think that backing renewable energy is a better use of our cash? Sign the petition here:
https://secure.greenpeace.org.uk/stop-hinkley

While Hinkley nuclear plant has spent almost a decade in limbo, renewable power projects have been far quicker to build. The London Array -- the world's biggest offshore wind farm -- took less than three years to construct. And even if building Hinkley was to begin tomorrow, by the time it's up and running the cost of renewable energy will have dropped even further.

Though George Osborne might tell us we need Hinkley to keep the lights on, we know this is far from the truth. Recent research showed that as soon as 2030, the UK could be powered almost entirely by renewables [3]. The UK is one of the windiest places in Europe, we’ve got huge untapped potential in solar power, and we're surrounded by sea too. If you agree that natural sources of energy like these should top government investment, not more risky and expensive nuclear power, please sign the petition now:
https://secure.greenpeace.org.uk/stop-hinkley

Thanks for being involved,

Richard Casson
Greenpeace UK


NOTES
1. Is the Hinkley C nuclear power station the most expensive object ever built in Britain? | Coffee House
2. Comment: The trouble with Hinkley's reactor design - Energydesk
3. 8 ideas for how the UK can keep the lights on without trashing the planet | Greenpeace UK

Re: Nuclear Madness
 

Suddenly EDF looked at the sums and realised that it does not add up !

Re: Nuclear Madness
 

The guarantee put in place for taxpayer subsidisation is very lucrative, based on current prices it's almost three times the current market price.

Looking at this from EDFs perspective across Europe wholesale electricity prices have slumped (including the UK), delaying a commitment to sink a large chunk of capital on building more capacity (there won't be any return until after 2025, the reactors they are using are still being developed and other projects are running late and over budget) would seem a prudent move. Also Standard & Poor's have already told them they'll be downgraded if they commit to Hinkley.

Worldwide there has been a slowdown in nuclear plants being built. Although fossil fuels are currently cheapest since 2013 the world has added more capacity for renewable power each year than coal, natural gas, and oil combined.

This might be a good moment to pause and consider all of our options.

Re: Nuclear Madness
 

With EDF in near-meltdown, this drives another nail into the coffin. I'm not sure if the quotation below is true: I bloody hope not.

At present, nuclear reactors make up 27% of Europe’s energy capacity and produce less carbon over their lifetime than fossil fuels such as gas, coal or oil. But no solution has yet been found for the long-term storage of radioactive waste.

Europe faces €253bn nuclear waste bill | Environment | The Guardian

Re: Nuclear Madness
 

what if the rocket blows up?

Re: Nuclear Madness
 

A stairway to heaven would do.

Re: Nuclear Madness
 

Not sure whether this is another nail in the coffin or grasping at straws, or neither:

EDF, which is 85% owned by the French state, is struggling against a mountain of debt and has told ministers it will not build Hinkley unless it obtains help from France’s government.

The country’s economy minister, Emmanuel Macron, has talked about taking future dividends in shares rather than cash and a range of other options to lessen the financial burden on EDF.

It is these proposals that the London barristers believe would need clearance from Brussels, a process that would subject Hinkley to further delays.


Halt Hinkley Point until Brussels approves French state aid plans, Osborne told | UK news | The Guardian

Re: Nuclear Madness
 

Vote Brexit

Re: Nuclear Madness
 

That's hyperbole.

Nuclear: You don't have to be a luddite to stand against that. You may stand on one side of the fence or the other, but no-one can deny that the long-term risks are almost impossible to determine, and the short-term ones are something which many would choose not to take.

GMO: The jury's still out on this.

Hydro: It's disingenous to say that Greenpeace are against hydro, Norm - you normally deal with facts, perhaps viewed from a specific perspective - but that's no fact you've stated. What Greenpeace are against is destruction of whole ecosystems by massive dams.

Etc: That's just lazy.

Re: Nuclear Madness
 

I never knew Greenpeace were responsible for this.

Very annoying to not manage to find mossie spray with DDT in it.