Mailwatch(ed) Forum

Hadn't seen this. As someone BTL says, which tidal power project would pass their "ecosystems" test?

Solar on rooftops is a big red flag too. How much more work is there in that than in the big solar farms they are not always keen on?

Not that tidal barrage, not there.

By the way, Ramsay's statement that Hinckley Point C was promised to be producing electricity by 2017 isn't really true.

Here's the Brown Government launching plans in 2008.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7179579.stm

The reference to 2017 there is from EDF saying they could deliver new nuclear then. For good reasons, developing nuclear isn't something that's delivered by private companies as they like. The nearest thing to a promise from a government minister is John Hutton saying he hoped it could be done "well before 2020". Seeing Labour were gone from Government soon after, would be a bit harsh to hold them to that promise. Though Edwin Hayward probably would.

in 2013, the date given for completion was 2023, but construction didn't start till 2017 when I think the target date was 2027. That's now 2031, which is late but there's no obvious reason why another power station would have to be delayed as much. This stuff of doing all the hard yards, learning the lessons and then not building something where you'd apply those lessons does my head in. Same thing likely with HS2.

Tubby Isaacs wrote: ↑Wed Jun 18, 2025 7:45 pm Hadn't seen this. As someone BTL says, which tidal power project would pass their "ecosystems" test?

Solar on rooftops is a big red flag too. How much more work is there in that than in the big solar farms they are not always keen on?

It's just "nuclear, woo scary Chernobyl Fukushima Three Mile Island Hiroshima RADIATION."

How do they reconcile Germany burning lignite for power?

Here they are objecting to existing nuclear in the UK having its life extended.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20grkz4ge8o

Rigorous research has gone into their position.

Green councillor Gina Dowding said: "I recently asked a qualified architect, who has spent her working life on nuclear issues, about this. She said it would be deeply irresponsible for the council to 'welcome' the extensions."

This architect was washing her hair the night of the council meeting.

And

The councillor added it should "look at anomalies, such as an unforeseen circumstances, which are increasingly happening" such as unplanned shut-downs.

Per wiki

On 15 August 2019, Reactor 8 inside Heysham 2 let off a large amount of steam, with banging noises at approximately 11 pm that could be heard 7 miles (11 km) away in Lancaster. This caused alarm among local residents, and numerous calls to the police reporting “gunshots”. EDF later reported that a reactor had earlier experienced a "non-planned shutdown after an electrical fault", and the noise was from the re-start process when unsilenced relief valves lifted on the Startup Vessels during boiler feeding.

I'd have shit myself at this noise too, but that doesn't mean that everyone nearly died.

On the plus side, the Guardian haven't given Zack Polanski a column to reply to Ellie yet.

Somebody made a good distinction, I thought, between "climate" greens and "nature" greens. The former were "we've got so much stuff to do, it'll cost a lot of money, let's get on with it and accept that there'll be compromises. The latter are more "climate's important but not at the cost of my local area". Someone else associated the former sort with the shire type of Green, like Ellie. I'm not convinced that's particularly fair. I think the "Bristol" type of Green does that sort of thing just as much, because they can't resist the underdog narratives (even about rich people who live in the Chilterns). Ellie may not be helping her bid by tying herself to Adrian Ramsay who's most famous for opposing pylons. In fairness to him, every local candidate will have done the same thing, but can you be deputy leader with this sort of baggage?

Tubby Isaacs wrote: ↑Wed Jun 18, 2025 8:28 pm Here they are objecting to existing nuclear in the UK having its life extended.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20grkz4ge8o

Something I understand EdF are doing in France too.

So I see. If you don't like something, like lots of Greens don't like nuclear power (some do, to their credit), it's easy to get into a mindset that it's one all one big fuck up. In this case, it's going to work quite a lot longer than initially planned.

You see the same sort of thing with Trident. People who don't like it say it's useless because a test launch failed.

As anyone who has been stood next to a steam locomotive when the boiler safety valves lift, it is loud and guaranteed to scare the living daylights out of anyone standing nearby, especially small children. Now, compared to a reactor, a locomotive is both small and a low pressure device...

I didn't know that. But I bet Carla Denyer would have done, as an engineer. I don't really get why she's been sidelined. (She's anti-nuclear, but she could get past the "apocalypse nuke" stuff). Don't want to dunk on this obscure councillor much, but I'd be much more receptive to the Greens if arguments were put in the way Carla Denyer would put them. Lord knows what Polanksi's "eco populism" will be like.

Tubby Isaacs wrote: ↑Thu Jun 19, 2025 10:34 am I didn't know that. But I bet Carla Denyer would have done, as an engineer. I don't really get why she's been sidelined. (She's anti-nuclear, but she could get past the "apocalypse nuke" stuff).

Re: Denyer, me neither. But yes, if you imagine something big, shiny and full of steam at 250psi (typical for an express loco) suddenly relieving the excess pressure in the boiler - the valves 'snap' open, they don't open gradually - I've seen poor littl'uns run away screaming with tears in their eyes and hands over their ears. And now amplify that to much higher pressures and sizes...

Lord knows what Polanksi's "eco populism" will be like.

The 1980s Greens pursued the idea of population reduction. That would go down with Farage's voters if includes immigrant population reduction. As they're in league with Plaid and SNP than the Greens must be in favour of an indy England. That'll go down well with the same voters who believe Jock and Taff are taking them for a ride.

I suppose there might be some "English Parliament" nonsense. which would at least keep the English Democrats company. Probably will be some regional devolution assembly stuff. Ellie might not be too keen on that, seeing Herefordshire isn't somewhere easy to lump in with any region. It comes under the West Midlands for stats purposes, but is culturally more like the South West. Perhaps they can get the old Central South TV team back together- it had all the places that didn't fit in the West or East Midlands sub-regions.

I've designed a new English political capital city and parliament in my head. Don't like to talk about as it sounds a bit tragic like Mark Kerrigan from Peep Show.

I've sort of done that. Or "Birmingham" as it's otherwise known.

I've sort of done that. Or "Birmingham" as it's otherwise known.

Birmingham.
So good Tubby designed it twice.

Chatting to an old couple from Bromsgrove this lunchtime who were complaining about the huge amount of badly thought out new housing going up and feared being swallowed up into greater Birmingham. Sounds exaggerated but was interested to know who was living in these new houses, was it an expanding workforce serving Birmingham? But they didn't seem to know as they weren't miffed enough about the issue. Probably just urban flight like Potters Bar or Stevenage.

My neighbour's daughter and her boyfriend live in Bromsgrove. She was working for the NHS before, now a guide dog charity. Her parents moved here a couple of years ago from Birmingham. I would think her jobs have been local to Bromsgrove rather than in Birmingham, but I'm not sure.

It wouldn't be particularly badly thought out to have more houses in Bromsgrove. See here for the rail capacity that's being added.

https://bromsgrovestandard.co.uk/news/f ... es-effect/

No houses without better infrastructure first! Errr...