EDF fined millions for disseminating misleading information about U.K. nuclear projectNuclear NewsPower & OperationsAugust 5, 2020, 3:21PM|Nuclear News StaffThe Enforcement Committee of the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) has imposed a fine of €5 million (about $5.9 million) on Électricitéde France for providing false information about the Hinkley Point C new-build nuclear project in the United Kingdom. The committee has also imposed a €50,000 (about $59,000) fine on EDF’s former chairman and chief executive officer, Henri Proglio. According to a July 30 statement from the AMF, the false information was spread via an October 8, 2014, news release.The AMF is described on its website as an independent public authority that regulates the French financial marketplace and its participants.Details: On October 21, 2013, some five years after acquiring British Energy (now EDF Energy), the French utility announced that it had entered into an agreement with the U.K. government on the key commercial terms of contracts relating to the proposed Hinkley Point C project, including that the project would receive a financing guarantee from the U.K. government, with terms and conditions to be defined.Then, in an October 8, 2014, news release announcing the European Commission’s approval of the agreement, EDF said, “The main elements of the agreements of October 2013 remained unchanged.” That language, the Enforcement Committee determined, was misleading, since there had in fact been substantial changes made to the U.K. guarantee. “EDF had disseminated false information likely to set the share price at an abnormal or artificial level,” the AMF said in its statement.A separate accusation by the AMF regarding the alleged failure in 2015 of EDF and its current CEO, Jean-Bernard Lévy, to promptly disclose “inside information” related to Hinkley Point C was dismissed.Tags:edfhinkley pointjean-bernard lévyShare:LinkedInTwitterFacebook
Nuclear scores point in U.K. green planThe United Kingdom, the first of the world’s major economies to adopt a legally binding commitment to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, has released a blueprint to help realize that goal—one that includes a substantial role for nuclear energyThe Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution will mobilize a total of £12 billion (about $16 billion) of government investment to create and support up to 250,000 highly skilled green jobs in the United Kingdom and spur over three times as much private sector investment by 2030, according to the UK government on November 18.In addition to nuclear, offshore wind, hydrogen production, carbon capture, and vehicle electrification are also earmarked for significant investment in the 38-page document.Go to Article
Hinkley Point B to be retired earlier than plannedHinkley Point B, in Somerset, England. Photo: EDF EnergyEDF Energy has made a “proactive decision” to move Britain’s Hinkley Point B power station into its defueling phase no later than July 15, 2022—some eight months earlier than previously scheduled—the company announced on November 19.The two-unit plant, located in Somerset, England, began generating electricity in 1976 and has since produced more than 300 TWh of power, enough to meet the electricity requirements of every home in the United Kingdom for three years, according to EDF.Go to Article
U.K. trade group debuts blueprint for lowering nuclear construction costsThe Nuclear Industry Association (NIA), the trade group for the United Kingdom’s civil nuclear industry, unveiled a new report yesterday that sets out a framework for cutting the cost of building new nuclear power plants in Britain.The 27-page report, Nuclear Sector Deal: Nuclear New Build Cost Reduction, is available online.Go to Article
Hunterston B Unit 3 to restart soon; plant to retire earlier than expectedWorkers on the fueling machine at Hunterston B. Photo: EDF EnergyEDF Energy has received approval from the United Kingdom’s Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) to restart the Hunterston B power station’s Unit 3 for a limited run, according to August 27 announcements from both the company and the regulator. EDF has permission to operate the unit for up to 16.425 terawatt days (approximately six months of operation), the ONR said.EDF also announced that Hunterston B—located in North Ayrshire, along the western coast of Scotland—will begin its defueling phase no later than January 7, 2022, more than a year earlier than the expected retirement date of March 2023. The decision, EDF said, was made following a series of executive board and shareholders meetings.Go to Article
New design center supports construction of Hinkley Point CUK EPR Design Centre, Bristol, England. Image: EDF EnergyEDF Energy has opened a new engineering design facility in Bristol, England, to support the next phase of construction at the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset, the company announced on July 14. The UK EPR Design Centre at Aztec West brings together nuclear designers and engineers from EDF and British engineering partners and suppliers, including Framatome UK, Atkins, Jacobs, Assystem, Anotech, and Vulcain, the announcement said.Go to Article
Exelon, EDF ask NY to okay proposed nuclear dealExelon Generation and Électricitéde France have asked the New York Public Service Commission to approve the transfer of EDF’s 49.99 percent ownership interest in Constellation Energy Nuclear Group (CENG) to Exelon, which owns 50.1 percent. CENG is the owner of New York’s Ginna and Nine Mile Point nuclear plants, as well as Maryland’s Calvert Cliffs. Go to Article
France’s Fessenheim-2 closes permanentlyFessenheim nuclear power plant. Photo: EDFAfter producing electricity generation for more than 40 years, Fessenheim-2 was disconnected from the grid on June 29, some four months after the retirement of its companion reactor, Fessenheim-1 (NN, Mar. 2020, p. 83). The action completes the closure of what had been France’s oldest operating nuclear power facility.Both Fessenheim units are 880-MWe pressurized water reactors; Unit 1 began commercial operation in December 1977, with Unit 2 going on line in March 1978.Go to Article
More nuclear a good choice for U.K., but costs must fall, report saysA report published last week by Energy Systems Catapult, a U.K.-based clean energy nonprofit, concludes that adding double-digit gigawatts of new nuclear is a “low-regrets option” for the United Kingdom as it strives to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. (Legislation establishing the 2050 target date was signed in June of last year, making the United Kingdom the first of the world’s major economic powers to take that step.) The report also stresses, however, that costs for new nuclear must decrease significantly for the technology to meet its potential.Go to Article
U.S. offers support for U.K. new nuclear buildCiting reports that China has recently threatened to pull its support for new nuclear build in the United Kingdom, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on June 9 offered assistance from the United States and vehement criticism of Beijing.Go to Article
Base for second Hinkley Point C reactor completedConcrete pour at the Hinkley Point C2 reactor. Photo: EDF EnergyWorkers at the Hinkley Point C nuclear construction project in the United Kingdom have completed the 49,000-ton base for the station’s second reactor, Unit C2, hitting a target date set more than four years ago, according to EDF Energy.Go to Article