It really concerns me that the state of our power generation is not in the mainstream news. They are trying to keep Nuclear power stations open beyond their planned closure dates because they don't have new replacements built in time. This is due to them kicking the unpopular Nuclear question into the long grass for so long. These power plants are creaking at the seams and they are now even increasing the safety limits as they start to approach or breach them. I find that very disturbing. 1) I don't want blackouts (but think they'll be pretty inevitable if they don't act very quickly) 2) I certainly don't want a Nuclear incident. EDF was granted permission by the regulator in the summer to relax its graphite weight-loss limit at the Dungeness reactor in Kent from 6.2% to 8% after it came close to breaching the original safety margin. Hinkley-B and Hunterston-B are also getting close to their higher 15% limits, too. The ONR said changes were safe. Early history In 2006, both reactors developed cracks in "ageing" boiler tubes", forcing the operator to reduce temperatures and make modifications to "mitigate" the effect of the "failure", according to ONR documents. The interior brick material (red) is irradiated more than the outer layers Reactors at Heysham and Hartlepool are currently offline after cracks were discovered in the heavy-duty "spines" that support the boilers positioned around the reactors, threatening their stability. "This is a big one to sort out," one senior nuclear industry insider told the BBC on condition of anonymity. If interested goto: BBC News - New cracks in Hunterston reactor I think it's time to write to our MP's
We live in one of the worlds richest countries, with relatively a small land mass, and high number of population in work How can it even be considered that we will have blackouts If we have one vlackout, one small susension of power, the caninet and all CEOs of every power related utlity busniess must be sacked immediately
Bradders, I agree it's crazy, but it happened in California! I believe our spare capacity margin can already drop as low as 5% in cold weather. So let's say we have another plant closed due to safety concerns and there's a cold snap..... And don't forget we've been closing all those dirty coal burning stations to avoid EU fines.
California was because the state ran out of money wasnt it? Is it very ironic the the Sunny State can't have endless free solar power...if they can't make it work, surely no one can We need politicians with foresight and balls. Build nuclear.
Perhaps the OP should have included a poll option "What future electricity generating plans?" I agree it's a real concern. We're closing coal fired power stations (due to concern about CO2) without building replacements. There will be brown-outs. The problem is in part the Nimbies and BANANAs (build absolutely nothing anywhere near anyone). It seems the greenies don't want nuclear, they don't want tidal barrages, they don't want wind farms, they don't want fossil fuels (whether old school coal, "normal" e.g. North Sea or importted gas, fracking), but they still want the trappings of modern civilisation (so they can continue to blog and tweet about the plight of the planet). It takes way too long to get anything through the planning approvals process. And don't get me started about the opportunities various EU directives e.g. on habitats give, for those who want to put a spanner in the development works. Whatever one's views on climate change, there are good energy security arguments for reducing our dependance on fossil fuels imported from dubious overseas regimes (whether the Russians, the Saudis or whoever). I don't think there is a single solution to the UK's energy needs, whether for electricity generation, heating or transport - I suspect a mixture, with some renewables, including both large scale and more local projects (biogas from waste, anaerobic digestion, small scale hydro) with a baseload of nuclear for all the times the wind isn't blowing, the sun isn't shining, will be needed. But we jolly well need to get on with building something! (Must try and find where I saved "Sustainable Energy without the Hot Air" and actually read it all the way through ....)
A couple of years ago EDFs reactor at Torness was shut down for a lot longer than originally planned. The "brown outs" have been forecast for years. At least six, if I remember correctly. The thing is GVT could do something about it that doesn't even involve building new stations. It could make sure the building regs kept up with technology for a start. They are miles behind. They could also do more to bring the existing building stock closer to available technology. It wouldn't even be cost prohibitive. The energy savings would pay for the investment. Its a win, win scenario. Closing power stations is a good thing, but we need to reduce demand. Don't know about the Greenies in England but up here in Scotland they are all for wind turbines. We build wave and tidal generators on the sea bed, so try are not visible. Once that is developed our energy worries are over. In the future we will heat our homes from electrically powered thermal (water) stores run off immersion heaters. 50% of Scotlands power now comes from renewable. I think its great.
laying the under sea connector from the isles would help. nah lets not bother, to much hassle. aye, we are all in it together.
Yeah, I know. ScoGov is/was leaving UK Gov behind in progressive thinking. Like linking Norway and Scotland with another big cable. No wind? Power flows to Scotland from Norwegian hydro. Plenty wind? Power flows to Norway to pump water back up above dams. Excess capacity? Scotland and or Norway sell it to England/Germany/Netherlands. Wonder if that plan has stopped now that Westminster took energy away from Holyrood so it could force fracking on us?
When you say "We build wave and tidal generators on the sea bed", you seem to be speaking hypothetically about some vague proposals which might be implemented in the distant future, if they can ever be made to work. Bit early to be boasting about them, isn't it?
Apparently there are plans to pay industrial users of gas to shut down to avoid disrupting supplies to domestic users.
Not as long as catastrophic climate change from CO2. We have had 100 days to save the planet since the 80's.
We are building nuclear though, aren't we? I'm sure I heard the Chinese won a contract to build new nuclear installations in the UK a couple of years back.
Construction of the access roads to the new reactor Hinckley Point has started. The reactor construction itself is on hold until EDF and the government come to an agreement on the rate that will be paid for the power...
@Pete1950 yip to much hassle. old school thinking. or lack of. theirs lots and lots of projects going on up here. if you can be arsed looking.world leading actually. quite ironic considering we had our first power cut of the season yesterday morning.
I think you will find that your previous description of the coal stations are the reason and not necessarily the fines. They are hugely dirty, inefficient and require replacement with something cleaner. Switching the things off is the right thing to do. No point worrying about the lights when your children all have severe asthma and you punt kilotonnes of carbon dioxide into the environment.
They stopped being dirty sometime ago, the amount of 'scrubbing' that takes place before the smoke hits atmosphere makes it cleaner than your evening puff... A useful byproduct being gypsum/plasterboard....Not a lot of people know that...:Meh:
Wrong @Nelson. They may be a lot 'cleaner' but they are still filthy. Check the DfEE emissions data. Sure they are approaching oil fired plant levels of emissions but they are still hugely dirty.
