The government has revealed which organisations will be eligible to take part in the first phase of its competition to find the “best value” small modular reactor (SMR) design for the UK. Artist’s impression of NuScale SMR being transported The first phase will seek to gauge market interest among developers, utilities, investors and funders in “developing, commercialising and financing SMRs in the UK”. Out of 38 bidders the government deemed 33 eligible to participate. The list includes a number of major players in the development of new larger nuclear plants in the UK: EDF, the developer of Hinkley Point C; China National Nuclear Corporation, which is expected to buy a stake in Hinkley if it goes ahead; GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy, the supplier of two Advanced Boiling Water Reactors (ABWR) for the Wylfa Newydd plant in North Wales; and Westinghouse, the supplier of two AP-1000 reactors for the Moorside plant in Cumbria. It also features NuScale Power, which plans to deploy its first SMR in the state of Idaho in the US in 2024, and Sheffield Forgemasters, which NuScale recently commissioned to forge a demonstration reactor vessel in Britain by the end of 2017. Manufacturing giant Rolls-Royce, accountancy firm EY and the National Nuclear Laboratory – which published a major study into the feasibility of SMRs in 2014 – are among the other notable inclusions. In its 2015 autumn budget statement, the government announced it would invest £250 million in an “ambitious nuclear research and development programme”, including in the SMR competition which was launched in March. The newly formed Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy will put together a roadmap for the development of SMRs in the UK in parallel with the first phase of the competition. The roadmap will be published after the first phase concludes. The idea behind SMRs is that, by virtue of being small and modular, large numbers of them can be pre-fabricated in factories to a single design before being transported on site and combined together to form larger plants. The hope is that constructing reactors in this way will bring down costs.   Last month the Welsh Affairs Committee urged the government not to support the development of SMRs unless it can show there is enough demand for the reactors to make them economically viable.  Source link

Campaign launched to remind trade of waste disposal legislation Published:  14 April, 2016 A Duty of Care awareness campaign has been launched as research suggests 56% of UK businesses are failing to comply with waste disposal legislation. The Duty of Care legislation for waste was introduced by the government in 1990 as part of the Environmental Protection Act. It states that anyone who produces, imports, keeps, transports, treats, stores or disposes of waste must take all reasonable steps to ensure that the waste is managed and disposed of properly. Breaching the legislation can lead to a £5,000 fine in the Magistrates Court, while an unlimited fine can be imposed by a Crown Court. After the number of recorded fly tipping incidents in England increased to 900,000 during 2014/15, an 11% increase on the previous year, the ‘Right Waste, Right Place’ campaign is aiming to inform smaller businesses about the law and their obligations, as research suggests that 94% of non-compliant organisations and small- and medium-sized businesses. Commercial waste is said to be the second largest component of fly tipping, itself rising by 18% during the past year. Fly tipping costs local authorities an estimated £50 million in cleanup costs. Sam Corp, head of regulation at the Environmental Services Association (ESA), which is managing the campaign, said: “The number of organisations actively involved with this project, representing a broad range of sectors, shows just how serious an issue Duty of Care compliance is. “Very few organisations want to actively flout the law, but most are simply not informed about what they have to do. Unfortunately being uninformed is no protection from the law, and we believe that more companies will find themselves exposed to prosecution unless they take the right steps to comply. The right Waste, right Place campaign is designed to help fill the very evident knowledge gap, especially with SMEs.” The ‘Right Waste, Right Place’ campaign will raise awareness of the Duty of Care legislation and provide practical information to help companies, partnerships, family businesses and sole traders from a broad range of sectors to comply and help keep waste out of the hands of waste criminals. An interactive website has been developed as a part of the campaign, www.rightwasterightplace.com and is designed to be easy to use, convenient and pragmatic. The site will also act as a simple portal to a wide range of other information and services for those with more sector-specific enquiries. As well as being managed by the ESA, the campaign is sponsored by the Environment Agency (EA), the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) and the Environmental Services Association Education Trust (ESAET) and supported by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), Build UK, The National Farmers Union (NFU), Veolia, Travis Perkins, URoC, SUEZ and The Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC).   Source link

Barratt Developments, Countryside, Lendlease, Linkcity (Bouygues), Stanhope and Taylor Wimpey UK will battle it out to become the development partner for the 1,400-home High Road West scheme. The project will deliver a new 11 ha public space linking the revamped White Hart Lane station to Tottenham Hotspur’s new £600m stadium. A final decision on the partner will be announced by mid-2017. The High Road West development is the latest project in the £1bn regeneration of Tottenham, which aims to bring 10,000 houses and 5,000 new jobs by 2025. Last month Haringey Council revealed the three shortlisted bidders to become the council’s development partner for its £2bn regeneration programme. The shortlisted firms were Lendlease; Morgan Sindall with Affinity Sutton and Circle Housing; and Pinnacle with Starwood Capital and Catalyst. The construction of the High Road West development will run alongside the construction of Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium, which is to be built by Mace. Haringey Council cabinet member for housing, regeneration and planning Alan Strickland said: “This is a project which will transform Tottenham and bring more than 1,400 new homes and thousands of new jobs to the area. “Developments like High Road West send a clear signal that Tottenham is London’s most dynamic and important regeneration area. “The partner we select for this major project will share our vision for a development that brings huge benefits for our residents and businesses for generations to come.” Source link