Global Energy News Roundup: December 3

December 3, 2016

The Forum on Energy weekly news roundup brings together a mix of global energy stories from around the web. It is published every Thursday and is available on Twitter via @forumonenergy

French Reactors Shut Down After Safety Checksfoe3

13 of EDF’s 50 nuclear plants are offline, some due to planned maintenance, but most for safety checks ordered due to anomalies discovered in reactor parts at France’s newest plant. This unexpected mass shutdown sets France up for power cuts during a cold snap, as the country is currently operating at the lowest level of nuclear power in ten years. This is the latest in a series of blows for EDF as it pursues the Hinkley Point project in the UK.

Source: The Guardian

UK Launches Nuclear Skills Strategic Plan

The Nuclear Skills Strategy Group (NSSG) launched its Nuclear Skills Strategic Plan to ensure UK nuclear employers can “recruit skilled people at the required rate to meet the sector’s ambitious forward program.” The Strategic Plan is underpinned by five themes: meeting the demand; training infrastructure and provision; training standards and qualifications; a clearly defined and NSSG-endorsed skills delivery model; and an agreed nuclear timeline and clarity of demand requirements.

epa04307505 A Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s staff measures radiation dose as workers construct an ice wall to freeze highly toxic water at tsunami-crippled Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, Japan, 09 July 2014. Tokyo Electric Power Co.(TEPCO) conducts to build frozen ice wall around the buildings of Units 1 to 4 at the tsunami-devastated nuclear power plant to stop radiation-contaminated water from flowing to the sea. TEPCO has been struggling with massive amounts of toxic water as the operator continues to pump water into three reactors to keep them cool. The plant suffered meltdowns at three of its six reactors after a tsunami swept through the facilities in March 2011. EPA/KIMIMASA MAYAMA/POOL

Cleanup workers at the Fukushima Daiichi site

Source: World Nuclear News

Source Indicates Price of Fukushima Cleanup to Double

A source in the Japanese government reported that cleanup of the 2011 Fukushima disaster is likely to cost ¥22.6 trillion ($201 billion), slightly more than double a previous estimate made in 2013, which predicted a price tag of ¥11 trillion ($97.9 billion). These estimates include compensation to those forced to relocate in the wake of the accident.

Source: Reuters

Obama Energy Department Urges Trump Transition to Ditch Yucca Mountain

Current U.S. Department of Energy leaders provided a brief to President-Elect Trump’s transition team, which said that Congress has supported the current administration’s position that the site is “unworkable” by not approving any new funding for the repository. President-Elect Trump has not yet commented on Yucca Mountain, but Republicans historically support reviving the stalled project.

Source: E&E News