Alan Whitehead MP, Simon Hughes MP, Caroline Lucas MP, Zac Goldsmith MP House of Commons Westminster 27 March 2013 Amyas Morse Comptroller and Auditor General Energy, Climate Change, and Sustainability National Audit Office London SW1W 9SP Dear Amyas Set in the context of the proposed UK Energy Bill, ongoing Decc and Treasury negotiations with the French nuclear corporation EdF are k... »
12-16 GW of new-build nuclear would take out much if not most the 2020-2030 renewables potential in the electricity sector because gas capacity would be needed in any event. Unless electricity was required at considerably larger scale than currently projected within the heat and transport sectors during the 2020s, which is highly unlikely (eg National Grid’s projections show little increase ... »
The Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011 led Japan, and many other countries, to change their energy policies. Following Germany’s example, some adopted nuclear phase-out plans, focusing instead on renewable energy. Even heavily nuclear-reliant France began to consider a phase-out, and some developing countries in the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific area rethought their nuclear plans. D... »
Thorium: No Silver Bullet for Nuclear Industry A new Briefing, authored by Oliver Tickell, explodes the idea that nuclear reactors using thorium as fuel might provide a viable alternative to reactors using uranium. This has become something of a rallying cry for those who recognise that conventional nuclear technologies are in terminal decline – including a baffling number of environmentalists w... »
Cost of wind, nuclear and gas powered generation in the UK The relative generation costs of the principal energy sources in the UK are a source of constant debate. There are numerous ways of approaching the issue. In the following feature, David Milborrow* sets out to compare generation costs from coal, gas, onshore and offshore wind and nuclear using realistic inputs for plant, fuel and o... »
Some Notes on the Flexibility of Nuclear Units What is “Flexibility”? What does “flexibility” mean for a generating technology? I guess that most people would think about the ability to increase or decrease active power output (Megawatts) either on instruction, or automatically, in order to help balance generation and demand on the system. But the issues are “How much?”; “How... »
Peter You have not looked hard enough for the data, so what you said about nuclear units is misleading. For example: Most French and Belgian nuclear units currently can and do provide automatic frequency response (they have to, to meet UCTE rules). French and some German nuclear units do load following when needed – some German nuclear units now have arrangements to do automatic load follow... »
Note – Claverton is not anti or pro nuclear energy, wind power, ccs etc. It is a neutral discussion forum for energy experts. This article has been copied from the Guardian for comment – it is felt the article is significantly defective in its treatment of the subject. Fall of 7.5% in power obtained from wind, hydro and other renewable sources blamed on dry winter with low wind spe... »
Professor David J. C. MacKay, newly Chief Scientist at the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), whom many of you know has written a splendid book called “Sustainable Energy Without The Hot Air”, is slightly infamous for his optimistic stance on the potential of new Nuclear Power. When dipping into the details of his publication this “holiday” week, I realised tha... »
Claverton Energy Research Group Conference ( This is the draft agenda, speakers and chairs for the latest proposed Claverton conference. Not all speakers or chairs are finally confirmed yet) Seven previous highly successful and highly regarded conferences have been organised by the Claverton Energy Research Group, an independent energy think tank; (See for example – House of Commons event on... »
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