As someone who grew up on the coast in Cumbria, the UK’s world leadership in nuclear power was drummed into us from an early age.
Not far from where we lived, along the Irish Sea shoreline, was the vast Sellafield nuclear complex. Formerly known as Windscale, it included Calder Hall, the world’s first commercial nuclear power station, which went on-stream in 1956.
We were taught how Sellafield was world-beating and revolutionary, and while there was the danger of a nuclear accident, the chances of a serious leak were tiny and we should focus on British innovation and the contribution made to the nation’s electricity supply.
Sellafield very much still exists. It’s Europe’s largest nuclear site, covering 263 hectares (650 acres). But no power generation has taken place there since 2003; instead, today, it focuses on nuclear decommissioning, waste processing and storage.
If anything summed up the backwards direction of British energy policy over recent decades, it is Sellafield. No nuclear power station has been built in Britain since Sizewell B in 1995; electricity production from nuclear has fallen from 25 per cent to 15 per cent; of the five nuclear power stations presently operating, four are due to be decommissioned by 2028.
Rather than construct its own power stations, Britain has preferred to import to meet its energy needs, with the result that a country that should be perfectly capable of looking after itself, and had a head start on everyone else, is at the mercy of the markets.
If there is a shock to the system, as there was when Russia invaded Ukraine and energy supplies were switched off, then Britain is stuck, vulnerable to a lack of capacity and forced to pay high international prices.
It is a damning indictment of successive governments — Tory, Labour and coalition — and the short-termism, not to mention the nimbyist and blinkered approach of our politicians, that we find ourselves in this mess.
The Britain that lectured its children on the country’s genius where nuclear energy was concerned now looks across the Channel, to France, with envy.
Not that the new Energy Security Secretary is downcast. Adopting the boosterism that has become a hallmark of the Tories, first under Boris Johnson, then briefly Liz Truss and now Rishi Sunak, the minister, Grant Shapps, declares: “My very simple objective is to create the economy with the cheapest wholesale electricity price by 2035. That’s what I’m all about. Let’s have Britain with the cheapest energy in Europe.”
To which there are two replies: wow and how?
Nuclear UK
The fact he is no longer called Energy Secretary but Energy Security Secretary speaks volumes. But let’s concentrate on his claim. Rightly, Shapps says “the most successful economies in the world are the ones that have cheap energy prices”.
They’re the ones that meet their own requirements and do not have to run up import costs. For Britain that would have been largely achieved if we’d stuck with, and expanded, nuclear. But we didn’t and now we’re literally paying the price.
Johnson launched Great Britain Nuclear or GBN, with the aim of building a new reactor every year for a decade.
GBN would triple domestic nuclear production to 24GW by 2050, meeting a quarter of the demand for electricity. Eight large new reactors are due to be constructed, along with the two already under way, Sizewell C and Hinkley Point C.
This does not come cheap: Sizewell C will cost about £30 billion ($37.6 billion) and Hinkley Point C £33 billion. Hence, the UK government is going cap in hand to Gulf countries and their sovereign wealth funds.
Norway, with its enormous fund, is also on the Shapps shopping list. But progress here is slow. There is fierce competition, too, for their money.
There is a distinct lack of speed, also, when it comes to the actual planning and building. Delays to national infrastructure projects are in Britain’s DNA. Unless Shapps can change fundamental attitudes, that GBN nuclear target set by Johnson appears unattainable.
Included in the GBN plan were smaller nuclear reactors to be supplied by Rolls-Royce. The time frame for their delivery appears to be slipping as well, as typically process and tendering take charge.
France winning race
As well as nuclear, Shapps is looking to wind and solar to plug the gap. Here he is on stronger ground, especially where wind is concerned. Britain currently boasts the world’s three largest offshore wind farms and a fourth will soon be up and running. Johnson set a goal of 50GW from offshore turbines by 2030, up from 14GW at present. In fact, there is 76GW in the pipeline.
Onshore wind and solar are less productive and more difficult to implement on a large scale, thanks to local planning constraints.
None of this can operate in isolation. If it is to have any chance of succeeding in ceasing to import but also offering the cheapest energy, then Britain must draw economic firepower.
In today’s connected world, that means convincing green energy and electric-vehicle funders to choose Britain over elsewhere.
Here it is in a dogfight, and not only with the US, which has passed its Inflation Reduction Act containing $369 billion of subsidies aimed at incentivising green energy and electric carmakers.
Not content with its lead in nuclear, France has just landed the contract for ProLogium’s first overseas car battery plant, a giant gigafactory to be built at Dunkirk.
The mammoth plant will produce batteries on a large scale. It’s the Taiwanese company’s first overseas manufacturing venture and becomes the fourth such plant in the northern French port city, creating a specialist “cluster” devoted to the electric car industry.
President Macron’s government pulled out all the stops to win the deal, lobbying hard and throwing in all manner of sweeteners to see off the Netherlands and Germany.
Britain was not in the running. Where once it was far out in front, it’s not any more. We have a lot of catching up to do.
SHAITTAN
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Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse Of Madness'
Director: Sam Raimi
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, Michael Stuhlbarg and Rachel McAdams
Rating: 3/5
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
The%20specs%20
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The biog
DOB: March 13, 1987
Place of birth: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia but lived in Virginia in the US and raised in Lebanon
School: ACS in Lebanon
University: BSA in Graphic Design at the American University of Beirut
MSA in Design Entrepreneurship at the School of Visual Arts in New York City
Nationality: Lebanese
Status: Single
Favourite thing to do: I really enjoy cycling, I was a participant in Cycling for Gaza for the second time this year
ICC T20 Rankings
1. India - 270 ranking points
2. England - 265 points
3. Pakistan - 261 points
4. South Africa - 253 points
5. Australia - 251 points
6. New Zealand - 250 points
7. West Indies - 240 points
8. Bangladesh - 233 points
9. Sri Lanka - 230 points
10. Afghanistan - 226 points
Fresh faces in UAE side
Khalifa Mubarak (24) An accomplished centre-back, the Al Nasr defender’s progress has been hampered in the past by injury. With not many options in central defence, he would bolster what can be a problem area.
Ali Salmeen (22) Has been superb at the heart of Al Wasl’s midfield these past two seasons, with the Dubai club flourishing under manager Rodolfo Arrubarrena. Would add workrate and composure to the centre of the park.
Mohammed Jamal (23) Enjoyed a stellar 2016/17 Arabian Gulf League campaign, proving integral to Al Jazira as the capital club sealed the championship for only a second time. A tenacious and disciplined central midfielder.
Khalfan Mubarak (22) One of the most exciting players in the UAE, the Al Jazira playmaker has been likened in style to Omar Abdulrahman. Has minimal international experience already, but there should be much more to come.
Jassim Yaqoub (20) Another incredibly exciting prospect, the Al Nasr winger is becoming a regular contributor at club level. Pacey, direct and with an eye for goal, he would provide the team’s attack an extra dimension.
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The results of the first round are as follows:
Qais Saied (Independent): 18.4 per cent
Nabil Karoui (Qalb Tounes): 15.58 per cent
Abdelfattah Mourou (Ennahdha party): 12.88 per cent
Abdelkarim Zbidi (two-time defence minister backed by Nidaa Tounes party): 10.7 per cent
Youssef Chahed (former prime minister, leader of Long Live Tunisia): 7.3 per cent
Company%20profile
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Gender equality in the workplace still 200 years away
It will take centuries to achieve gender parity in workplaces around the globe, according to a December report from the World Economic Forum.
The WEF study said there had been some improvements in wage equality in 2018 compared to 2017, when the global gender gap widened for the first time in a decade.
But it warned that these were offset by declining representation of women in politics, coupled with greater inequality in their access to health and education.
At current rates, the global gender gap across a range of areas will not close for another 108 years, while it is expected to take 202 years to close the workplace gap, WEF found.
The Geneva-based organisation's annual report tracked disparities between the sexes in 149 countries across four areas: education, health, economic opportunity and political empowerment.
After years of advances in education, health and political representation, women registered setbacks in all three areas this year, WEF said.
Only in the area of economic opportunity did the gender gap narrow somewhat, although there is not much to celebrate, with the global wage gap narrowing to nearly 51 per cent.
And the number of women in leadership roles has risen to 34 per cent globally, WEF said.
At the same time, the report showed there are now proportionately fewer women than men participating in the workforce, suggesting that automation is having a disproportionate impact on jobs traditionally performed by women.
And women are significantly under-represented in growing areas of employment that require science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills, WEF said.
* Agence France Presse
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Superpower%20
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Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
Results
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LIVERPOOL%20TOP%20SCORERS
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Company%20profile
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Company%20Profile
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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RACECARD%20
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ACL Elite (West) - fixtures
Monday, Sept 30
Al Sadd v Esteghlal (8pm)
Persepolis v Pakhtakor (8pm)
Al Wasl v Al Ahli (8pm)
Al Nassr v Al Rayyan (10pm)
Tuesday, Oct 1
Al Hilal v Al Shorta (10pm)
Al Gharafa v Al Ain (10pm)
The specs
Common to all models unless otherwise stated
Engine: 4-cylinder 2-litre T-GDi
0-100kph: 5.3 seconds (Elantra); 5.5 seconds (Kona); 6.1 seconds (Veloster)
Power: 276hp
Torque: 392Nm
Transmission: 6-Speed Manual/ 8-Speed Dual Clutch FWD
Price: TBC
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
AS%20WE%20EXIST
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The%20specs
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Florence and the Machine – High as Hope
Three stars
A%20MAN%20FROM%20MOTIHARI
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