Hinkley
EDF Energy has been given permission to remove a 40-year-old pile of buried waste containing suspected asbestos at Hinkley Point – after denying the work was linked to plans for a third nuclear reactor.Crispin Aubrey, speaking on behalf of anti-nuclear group Stop Hinkley, said he believed the application formed part of plans for a new Hinkley C station, as the mound had not been touched for decades and was not significantly contagious.
This is the West Country 11th Jan 2011 more >>
Wylfa
A political row has broken out over who should pay to develop Anglesey as a base for renewable energy. UK Energy Minister Charles Hendry said Wales would have to pay to develop Holyhead port to make the island more accessible for renewable energy firms.
BBC 10th Jan 2011 more >>
Readers of local blogs will generally be enthusiastic supporters of Wylfa ‘B’, bringing with it as it does the prospect of employment and economic benefits. But hang on. We’re talking about approving a new nuclear station on land barely 15 metres above sea level. Whilst Horizon do know and have factored-in sea level rise due to a warming ocean (currently running at 4mm a year), it seems that they have opted for a very optimisitc model of just how much sea level will rise within the station’s operating and decommissioning lifetime. Horizon seem to be ignoring the now large body of evidence that shows sea level rise is going to take us by surprise. This week, a new scientific study covered in New Scientist magazine announced that, by 2040, it will be too late to prevent a total collapse of the Greenland ice sheet. Now, the precise rate of melt is something we can argue about, but in total, it has the capacity to raise sea level worldwide by 7 metres.
Photon Blog 11th Jan 2011 more >>
Sea-Level
New Scientist Last chance to hold Greenland back from tipping point.New data and models show that Greenland’s ice cap, the world’s second largest, is on track to hit a point of no return in 2040. ON 4 AUGUST 2010, the Petermann glacier in Greenland sounded a warning. A gigantic slab of ice broke off and the glacier retreated 15 kilometres, leaving it further inland than it has been since observations began a century ago. Greenland’s ice sheet holds enough ice to raise global sea levels by 7 metres. Ice melting at the surface and breaking off at the margins of the ice sheet is already adding up to about 300 gigatonnes each year. That accounts for about 25 per cent of the annual, global rise in sea levels.
New Scientist 5th Jan 2011 more >>
AP1000
Despite the discovery of a continuing series of cracks and holes in protective structures at the nation’s nuclear power plants, federal regulators are bowing to industry pressure and forging ahead to approve new nukes despite a critical design flaw. Federal nuclear regulators are neglecting similar vulnerabilities with Westinghouse’s new reactor in order to accommodate industry pressure for design approval. That’s according to a former industry senior vice president who says the AP1000 cannot meet safety standards due to a significant design flaw, and that the safety flaw would allow radiation during a nuclear plant accident to pour into the atmosphere without filtration. During a press conference today, nuclear engineer Arnold Gundersen said the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) continues to neglect regulations and its own engineering standards in its review of the Westinghouse AP1000 containment system. Even though certified inspections of operating reactors have failed to detect containment failures for years, the NRC appears to be accepting the AP1000 and its flawed design for the containment system – the primary barrier against radiation releases.
NC Warn Press Release 10th Jan 2011 more >>
Nuclear Containment Failures: Ramificatoins for the AP1000 Containment Design.
Fairwinds, 21st December 2010 more >>
Planning
It is often said that the UK faces an energy crisis, with the danger of ‘the lights going out’ in 2017, if not earlier. But what are the facts and figures of the crisis? This blog entry sets out the sources and figures behind the three main drivers behind the need for new low-carbon electricity production in the UK. A future entry will look at whether the current authorisation regime is equipped to supply it.
Bircham Dyson Bell 11th Jan 2011 more >>
Aldermaston
The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) in Aldermaston has confirmed the departure of two of the company’s high command after just two years. Chief executive officer Robin McGill and Andrew Kershaw, director of finance and IT, both quit their positions at the end of last year, the bomb factory confirmed yesterday.
Get Readng 7th Jan 2011 more >>
Basingstoke Gazette 7th Jan 2011 more >>
US
Many nuclear power advocates appeared in front of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future in Augusta, Georgia, on Friday in support of a permanent repository for nuclear waste and supported the concept of reprocessing nuclear waste. Environmentalists opposed reprocessing because there is no permanent waste repository and reprocessing creates more waste. They believe reprocessing wastes taxpayer dollars on special interests.
DC Bureau 11th Jan 2011 more >>
US/Russia
A new deal that allows US firms to export nuclear energy technology to Russia came into effect today. The civil nuclear agreement, passed by the US Congress last month, allows the United States and Russia to exchange technology, set up joint commercial nuclear power ventures and work more closely to tackle nuclear proliferation. Moscow hopes it will lead to juicy contracts for its nuclear industry, including projects to enrich uranium and make uranium fuel.
Morning Star 11th Jan 2011 more >>
Diplomats from six countries have been busy, with Romania and Japan signing bilateral agreements in Jordan and Saudi Arabia and the final entry into force of a cooperation agreement between Russia and the USA.
World Nuclear News 11th Jan 2011 more >>
China
China should ‘keep a clear head’ on nuclear power, concentrate more on Generation-III reactors and keep its new build ambitions for 2020 to around 100 GWe, said a state body yesterday.
World Nuclear News 11th Jan 2011 more >>
Nuclear Weapons
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has visited China’s nuclear warfare headquarters, at the end of a four-day visit to try to mend relations between the two militaries.
BBC 12th Jan 2011 more >>
North Korea is becoming a direct threat to the United States, the defence secretary, Robert Gates, said today, in a marked shift in the administration’s position. Gates said that North Korea was not an immediate threat but that he believed it would develop an intercontinental ballistic missile within five years. He had previously focused on the dangers posed by Pyongyang in terms of proliferation.
Guardian 12th Jan 2011 more >>
