Little Black Rabbit

 

 

If you were a reader of the old SCRAM journal you'll remember Little Black Rabbit’s collectiion of offbeat tales and rumours about the nuclear industry.

If you have any information of interest, please get in touch.

 

Nuclear leak

LBR has heard that Francis Livens, plutonium chemistry expert on the Radioactive Waste committee (CORWM), has been having a difficult time at home, with his bathroom leaking into his kitchen.

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King nuclear

Sir David King, as cchief scientific adviser, upset environmental groups for being pro GM crops and pro nuclear power. When he left his government post at the end of 2007 there was speculation that his support for GM would see him get a job with the biotech industry, which was denied by King.

However, LBR hears that leading nuclear PFI contractors AMEC and FLUOR may be making good use of the talents and ‘independent’ scientific advice of Sir David King when a suitably ‘decent’ period out of government office has passed.

Did anyone say jobs for the boys?

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Elephant hunt

Ian Marchant, chief executive of Scottish and Southern Energy, speaking at the Edison Electric Institute conference in March 2007, said nuclear power was the elephant in the room. Like an elephant, it costs a lot to buy; it is more trouble to look after than you had expected; it creates a lot of waste; and you don't know what to do with it when it is dead.

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Bicycle Repair Man Through the Looking Glass

Little Black Rabbit has finally found a website with a decent argument in favour of nuclear power. On balance though, LBR is still against - after all if rabbits were to be involved in the proposed mutations, the world could become even more like a Monty Python film than it is already ...

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/46035

... or maybe a mad hatter's tea party

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/alice-in-nuclear-blunderland080306

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Risky business

Those people living near a nuclear power station may be relieved to know that in assessing the future of the UK electricity industry Deloitte accountants have considered the risks before deciding we need more nukes.

Unfortunately your view of the risks of nuclear power stations might not be the same as theirs; as their report's glossary puts it:

“Risk - An event or action (or inaction) which impairs or prevents the achievement of stakeholder objectives.”

The next generation: Meeting UK power generation objectives in 2020 - a strategic insight, Deloitte, 2006

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A former Vice President and his three-headed dog

According to a report in The Times, Dan Quayle is interested in buying Westinghouse from BNFL. As if that wasn’t alarming enough, his company is named Cerberus – the three-headed dog that guards the entrance to Hades.

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Let’s Party

Sellafield may be suffering the after effects of a serious and prolonged nuclear leak, but it's not letting that get it down.

It’s now marketing itself as the hottest venue for kids’ birthday parties. For prices starting at £1.99 per child, BNFL offers young revellers the full party service, including a tour of the Sellafield visitor centre, an interactive birthday show and tea in the Coffee Reactor restaurant.

For some reason the idea has yet to capture the imagination of the youngsters of Cumbria, and bookings are running at just one a month.

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Baby Jack

Little Black Rabbit's favourite MP, Jack Cunningham, or “Nuclear Jack” as he is known to his friends, has now retired. The departure of Labour's veteran MP for Copeland in Cumbria, which includes Sellafield, from the House of Commons,  has been celebrated by opponents of the plant. But they can forget any hope that their new MP will not be quite so pro-nuclear. Labour's chosen candidate is Jamie Reed. He was a press officer at Sellafield.
 
Jamie Reed is already being dubbed "Baby Jack". He was Cunningham's researcher; Reed's grandfather led the GMB union, just as Cunningham's dad did; both men were 31 when they were given the constituency; and both, of course, staunchly defend nuclear power.

In the week before the General Election was announced Reed went to see Tony Blair about nuclear power. He said: “I was made to feel extremely welcome at No 10 and I know that Copeland's concerns are listened to there.” Reed even sounds like Cunningham, too.