ENERGY MATTERS

[Tizer]

When that day comes I suppose we'll also find `cyber kidnappers' using `ransomware' to switch off our heating, lights,fridge etc until we pay them in bitcoins: LINK
You heard it first on OGFB!

[Stanley]

I heard the interview about that as well David. I have little doubt that it's the shape of things to come....
You're right Tiz, someone will come up with a Cunning Wheeze to make money out of it with a new scam. Did you hear the woman business owner who had to pay £7,000 ransom after her computer was invaded by malware that encrypted all her data?

[Stanley]

See THIS for a BBC report on the reasons why the Financial Director of EDF, the main contractor for the Hinkley Point nuclear power station project has resigned. The news about this project goes from bad to worse!
More bad news in the energy sector, see THIS for an analysis of why N Power, one of the Big Six energy companies in the UK, is cutting 2,500 jobs in its UK operations.

[Tizer]

The German parent of Npower, RWE, should have sacked Npower's bosses and replaced them with competent people years ago. Then they wouldn't have had to sack 2500 workers.

[PanBiker]

It said on the news that the majority of the redundancies would be from the North of England, no change there then.

[Stanley]

P's 'Northern Poorhouse'. He's dead right (as usual).
The latest news on Hinkley point contract looks even worse. Opposition to it is gathering and there are demands that the plug should be pulled on the deal. Question is, what do we replace it with? time has run out, even if an enhanced 'dash for gas' was started now it wouldn't eliminate the chance of power cuts next winter. This is a policy disaster......

[David Whipp]

Our personal power outage over the last three days may have given us a taste of what's to come... although we cheated by running temporary distro from our relatives next door.

A loose connection in the consumer unit was the cause of the problem. Temporary repair carried out, new unit needed.

[Tizer]

That looks nasty, David. I'm glad it didn't cause any greater danger for you.

If Hinckley C doesn't go ahead it will not only affect our energy security but will have major implications locally in Somerset. For example, large housing estates have been built on the assumption that there will be a large influx of workers. People have moved here believing they will find jobs directly or indirectly based on the new plant. The college has planned courses to train nuclear engineers. Road systems have been in chaos for years as they modified routes to allow all the extra traffic to and from the site. Businesses have set up here to support the plant and its workers. Schools have been preparing for more pupils, etc.

[Stanley]

Dead short there David and one wonders why the Company Fuse didn't blow to protect the box, worth asking the Leccy Provider what went wrong. That wouldn't have cured the fault in the distribution box of course but should have blown in sympathy. Have a search on tinternetwebthingy... This has happened to someone else and may be a fault in the design of your box. It should have been impossible for the live feed to short directly to the neutral.
Later at 07:20. See THIS for more bad news in the energy market. We seem to have allowed a bunch of spivs access to our energy market who have troubles at home and the UK consumer is going to end up suffering for it. Or have I got this completely wrong?

[Tizer]

More trouble today for Hinckley C reported in the FT and The Times...
`French watchdog issues warning to EDF over Hinkley Point' LINK

An analysis article by Bronwen Maddox in the FT...
`Time for the UK to end attachment to Hinkley Point nuclear plant'
LINK

[Stanley]

Can't read the articles Tiz, they want me to subscribe.....

See THIS for the latest news about EDF and the contract. They have told the French government that they need more money to back the contract and if they don't get it they can't proceed.It looks as though a three year delay is built into the current thinking.... How much longer can this farce be allowed to go on? It's never been cheaper to borrow money to invest, time we did some old-fashioned deficit financed spending I think! Keynes must be turning over in his grave!

[Stanley]

Worth reading Old Sparky in PE this week. He is usually accurate and his assessment is that the EDF contract at Hinkley is by no means a done deal. He also details the concessions in the contract given to persuade EDF to take the bait. Quite amazing...... (and not good for the consumer!)

[Whyperion]

Isn't the current government great for business, and is full of experts whom know how to write contracts and provide the best value ever for the UK taxpayer and consumer?
Or have I missed something?

[Tizer]

I don't know why the FT won't let you read the articles Stanley. For those who can read them, here's a detailed analysis artcile on Hinckley C and the nuclear power industry more generally: LINK

(Sometimes the FT web site asks a question before letting you view its articles, but they don't ask for anything personal, it's simply anonymous surveying. So they might ask "Have you ever bought a smartphone? Yes/No". Just click and they let you read the article. It's a way for them to `monetise', i.e. pay for, their web site activity.)

[Later edit] I've just clicked on the FT link on `the bill to alter Sunday trading' in your 10th March post in the Politics thread...and the FT wouldn't let me in and wanted me to subscribe, just as happened when you tried to access my FT link. It looks like they're letting people view directly (I got to mine through Google) but not when the link is used `secondhand'. I've just pasted my above FT link into Firefox and it now won't let me into the FT page, which confirms the way it's being blocked.

[Stanley]

They've changed it again from when I was blocked, now it is welcome to our new site and pay up! It's the Digital Revolution!
Old Sparky again worth reading in the latest PE. He reckons that the UK government's next move is to throw even more concessions at EDF, like allowing them to sign up before their latest build is up and running.
But all this is talk and speculation. All we can be sure about is that as things stand at the moment, there is no progress on this build or any of the others. Even the 'dash for gas' is stalled. Given these facts it is inevitable that the natural process of deterioration of existing assets will drop overall capacity and electricity shortages are inevitable. Buy candles.....

[PanBiker]

I heard last week that the government was providing a budget for investigating the possible use of small or micro nuclear reactors. These are the ones that are totally self contained, theoretically maintenance free and designed to power clusters of houses or factories. They are no bigger than an electrical substation with a reactor core about the same size as a Lancashire boiler. A lot cheaper than a full size nuke plant and a lot scarier (if there could be any such thing).

Small Nuclear Reactors

and this:

Small Modular Reactor

[Tizer]

...and a lot scarier (if there could be any such thing).

A few years ago on OGFB I mentioned how we worry about the danger of nuclear as a source of power when we already have another source which is even more dangerous and scarier...giant dams for hydro-electric. At the time I described the enormous dams in China such as those on the Yangtse and Yellow Rivers. If one of those collapses then the torrent of water, an unimaginable quantity, would scour the river valley for a thousand miles to the sea, taking with it all the cities, towns and villages. Millions of people would be drowned, and many more left homeless.

Now such an event is likely to happen very soon - not in China but in Syria. Anthony Loyd, the highly respected war correspondent of The Times, has been to the dam upriver from the city of Mosul. The dam is 2 miles long, 371 feet high and holds 11 billion litres of water (at least, I think it's litres - could be gallons). If it collapses then Mosul will be under 60 feet of water and all cities and towns downstream will also be affected. Baghdad will be under 15 feet of water. Some 500,000 people are expected to drown. Now I guess your thinking "Ah, but it won't happen, will it? It's just scaremongering." Well, no. The local authorities do claim the dam is safe. But American experts say that a catastrophe looms. The chief engineer of the Swedish firm that was involved in building the dam says it hasn't been maintained and that it will definitely collapse very soon. And here's the clincher. The dam's foundations are built on gypsum; yes gypsum, calcium sulphate, a mineral so soft that you can scratch it with your fingernail. And it's sufficiently soluble in water to escape from under the foundations.

The dam is only still standing because 370 engineers have been constantly pumping cement into the foundations. Then for a while Islamic State held that area and the engineers ran away (and I don't blame them). Now it's back in government hands but only 60 engineers have returned and they can't keep up with the work. I'm glad I live near Hinckley point and not downstream from a hydro-electric dam.

[PanBiker]

Why on earth would they build it on Gypsum in the first place? You would have thought they would have put concrete footings in first!

My point, as I am sure you are aware about the SMR's is that you would have the equivalent of a nuclear bomb which in effect is semi detonated (if there is such a thing) running without any human control at the end of your street or neighborhood. A critical or meltdown situation would not bear thinking about.

[plaques]

These things would only be used in very remote areas where getting conventional powerlines to them would be extremely expensive. There would also be a night watchman and his dog and possibly a barbed wire fence so it should be Ok. Come to think of it Barlick might be an ideal place.

[Stanley]

It's a bleak picture isn't it..... I heard that scientist talking about smaller reactors as well Ian but I thought he was talking about plants that were smaller and easier to build than the mega plants like the one at Hinkley. It sounded sensible to me.
As for dams built on bad foundations..... I can't think of a better way of ensuring eventual failure.
I shall check my candle supplies, keep a stock of coal in and polish my Tilley Lamps....

[Tizer]

The safety and accident risk aspects of conventional large-scale nuclear energy projects are less of a worry to me than the security aspects. I share Ian's concerns about the small mobile reactors, again primarily from a security point of view. I heard someone on the radio this morning saying `the industry believes that small reactors are the way to go'. I don't think those decisions should be made by `the industry' alone. Returning to the analogy of dam safety, industry can't simply go ahead and build an enormous dam in the UK without planning permission and the opportunity for public intervention. I suspect the industry likes the idea of being able to stick a machine on the back of a lorry and take it wherever they wish without any planning permission. Of course they also like the fact that it's relatively cheap.

[PanBiker]

The security aspect of unmanned SMR's would be a nightmare. It's not necessarily the possibility of meltdown or catastrophic explosion. Deliberate sabotage to release radioactive contaminants would be a major concern.

[Tizer]

The risks of meltdown or catastrophic explosion in nuclear reactors is much over-stated but I agree with you about the security risks of the mini-reactors. They could even be stolen or hijacked by terrorists.

[Stanley]

See THIS report about hackers getting control of the sluice gate on a flood control dam in America. Luckily the gate was disconnected for maintenance at the time and so couldn't be opened. If it had been it could have caused flooding. Perhaps Ian and Tiz are right about the dangers.....

[Tizer]

Here's a Guardian article with more on the Mosul Dam crisis including maps. Mosul Dam

Now, anyone for a smart meter? I got a phone call yesterday from a man claiming to be from EDF and wanting to talk about my electricity meter. There was a very noisy background and he spoke with a West Indian accent which made it hard to hear what he was saying. I told him that during to security concerns I no longer discuss my personal details including my home over the phone and they must write to me by post on letter-headed paper if they have something to tell me. He claimed that a phone call was safer than post. At that point I terminated the call and dialled 1471 to get his number, then put this into google. There were lots of people saying they were getting cold calls from this number claiming to be from EDF. Some said they think it was a company doing this on behalf of EDF. Whatever the answer, watch out. There'll be malicious types out there who know there's a drive to fit smart meters and they'll piggy back on it to extract your personal details.

Meanwhile, do we even want smart meters...
`Will smart meters be worth the money?'
"Millions of energy users in Britain are about to get a new metering system - smart meters - technology which has been rejected by Germany and found not to be cost-effective by other nations. " LINK