It has been announced that as of 1st October 2016, the OGA (Oil and Gas Authority) will be established as an independent regulator by the UK Government and receive new powers that will mean it can act with greater speed and flexibility to drive investment, support jobs and further UK’s competitive edge in the oil and gas industry.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/launch-date-for-oil-and-gas-authority-government-company-announced

HSE have published the second edition of HSG246. This HSG covers safety in the storage and handling of steel and other metal stock. A copy of this can be found on the Simplifi-Solutions web site. http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/hsg246.pdf

The world’s largest offshore windfarm, Hornsea Project Two has received development consent from Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark.

When complete, the windfarm will deliver up to 1,800 megawatts of low carbon electricity to around 1.8 million UK homes.

The windfarm would create up to 1,960 construction jobs and 580 operational and maintenance jobs. If built to the full capacity, the investment would total around £6bn providing a great opportunity for economic growth in the Humber region and beyond.

In November 2014, the Ministry of Defence launched a public consultation about where the storage site for the reactor pressure vessels (RPVs) from twenty-seven de-fuelled submarines should be located.

The consultation ran for 14 weeks from 14 November 2014 to 20 February 2015 and gathered views on three main topic areas:  the Strategic Environmental Assessment (Environmental Report);  the process and criteria being used to compare the shortlisted storage sites; and  the shortlisted sites and the differences between them.

Capenhurst Nuclear Services (CNS), Capenhurst has been selected as the preferred site for the location of the interim Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) store, using an existing storage facility on the site, with a site-level contingency of a new build store. The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), Aldermaston site was named as a contingency site in the event that a contract cannot be agreed with CNS.

The public consultation to choose the site for the storage of the RPVs ensured that the site selection process was open and robust, increased the breadth of the assessment criteria and emphasised the importance of safety and security to the public.