BEIS is to invest up to £44 million in the Advanced Modular Reactor (AMR) Feasibility and Development (F&D) project. In this context Advanced Modular Reactor (AMRs) are defined as a broad group of advanced nuclear reactors. AMRs differ from conventional reactors, which use pressurised or boiling water for primary cooling. They aim to maximise the amount of off-site factory fabrication and can target:

• generating low cost electricity
• increased flexibility in delivering electricity to the grid
• increased functionality, such as the provision of heat output for domestic or industrial purposes, or facilitating the production of hydrogen
• alternative applications that may generate additional revenue or economic growth

This project has 2 phases:

• phase 1: funding (up to £4 million, excluding VAT) to undertake a series of feasibility studies for AMR designs. Contracts are worth up to £300,000 (excluding VAT)
• phase 2: subject to phase 1 demonstrating clear value for money and government approval, a share of up to £40 million (excluding VAT) could be available for selected projects from phase 1 to undertake development activities. Up to a further £5 million may also be made available to regulators to support this

The following 8 organisations have been awarded contracts to produce feasibility studies as part of phase 1 of the AMR F&D project:

• Advanced Reactor Concepts LLC
• DBD Limited
• Blykalla Reaktorer Stockholm AB (LeadCold)
• Moltex Energy Limited
• Tokamak Energy Ltd
• U-Battery Developments Ltd
• Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation
• Westinghouse Electric Company UK

As part of their application, each organisation supplied an abstract summarising their proposal. The claims and opinions expressed in the abstracts are those of the applicant organisation and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of BEIS.

The revised flood and coastal erosion risk management (FCERM) strategy requires a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) under the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations.

The scoping stage of SEA decides the issues we should address and the approach. We will present the outcome in the environmental report. This will be published together with the consultation on the draft FCERM Strategy 2050.

We will consult with interested parties, in particular the statutory SEA consultation bodies.

You can respond to this consultation by email to FCERMstrategy@environment-agency.gov.uk. Alternatively write to our National Customer Contact Centre. Please mark for the attention of the SEA team.

For information about the FCERM Strategy 2050 see the FCERM consultation hub.

John Bruce (aged 46) is already serving 26 months imprisonment for dumping, burying and burning hazardous waste at Ridgeway Park Farm, Throckmorton Airfield, Worcestershire.

On Tuesday 4 September, Bruce pleaded guilty to a charge in relation to operating a regulated facility at Ridgeway Park Farm without an Environmental Permit. Worcester Crown Court handed Bruce a 22 week custodial sentence to run concurrently to his existing 26 month sentence.

The case, brought by the Environment Agency, concerned illegal waste operations at Ridgeway Park Farm in 2016. Bruce had accepted over 60 tonnes of redundant kitchen and bathroom materials onto his site. When Environment Agency officers visited the farm, they saw that in addition to these materials, flat pack furniture and packaging materials were being burnt on site.

In mitigation, the Judge noted that Bruce had pleaded guilty and therefore avoided the need for a full trial.

An Environment Agency officer in charge of the investigation said:

Mr Bruce has shown a blatant disregard for the environment and local community by operating a large scale illegal waste site at his farm. His actions undermine legitimate business also the investment and economic growth that go with it.

The Environment Agency will use all its enforcement powers, where we believe environmental offences have been committed. In cases where we believe monies have been unlawfully gained, we will investigate under the proceeds of crime act and confiscate assets.

The Environment Agency urge people to report waste crime on our Incident Hotline 0800 80 70 60 or anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

The case was brought by the Environment Agency.

In 2016 Mr Baker imported 7,514 tonnes of inert waste on a field at Poltimore, Exeter under the guise of ‘drainage’ works. This amount of waste far exceeded that permitted under an authorisation, issued by the Environment Agency, known as a U1 waste exemption. A U1 exemption enables waste to be reused without the need for an environmental permit but sets a maximum tonnage limit of 1,000 tonnes for soil and sub-soil.

The waste, from development sites around Exeter, was used to level off a significant part of the site, altering the character of the field and that of the surrounding landscape. The defendent not only failed to comply with the conditions of his U1 waste exemption but he also failed to secure planning permission from Devon County Council.

Richard Tugwell for the Environment Agency said:

This was a serious abuse of a U1 waste exemption which had a significant impact on the Devon landscape. People who use waste exemptions must ensure they comply with them and obtain appropriate planning permission.

Appearing before Exeter magistrates, Roger Baker, of Bovey Tracey, Devon, was fined £1,710 and ordered to pay £4,946 costs after pleading guilty to an offence under Reg 38 of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016. The court also ordered Mr Baker to remove and appropriately dispose of the waste he’d illegally imported within 12 months.

The case was heard on 23 August 2018.