Radioactive Waste
Letter from Ruth Balogh and Jean McSorley: Readers may be forgiven for wondering why you showed a picture of us at a meeting to discuss nuclear waste disposal, when your report was almost entirely devoted to Councillors Elaine Woodburn vigorously denying there was any ‘done deal’ over a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF). The Managing Radioactive Waste Safely Partnership invited us to provide an ‘environmental perspective’ on this issue. We gave a joint presentation of our personal views. To summarise, we feel that all the authorities, from DECC to our local councils, are offering an over-confident view of the problems involved with nuclear waste management and disposal. The Partnership process is not a substitute for full and rigorous scrutiny of the evidence as to whether it’s even possible to host a GDF here. The cart seems well ahead of the horse. The Government says there is no Plan B. Plan B is to make Plan A work’. The authorities are determined that somehow, all problems will be resolved and a GDF will be sited somewhere here in West Cumbria, and say the major battleground is over public acceptance, not whether it’s the best thing to do.
Whitehaven News 10th March 2010 more >>
EDF
THE owner of Gatwick and City airports is preparing to join the £4 billion chase for London and the east of England’s electricity network. Global Infrastructure Partners is expected to join three other bidders for the utility, which was put up for sale by EDF, the French group, as part of its effort to cut debt it took on to buy British Energy, the nuclear generator, last year.
Times 14th Mar 2010 more >>
Hinkley C
Please sign the petition.
Stop Hinkley 10th March 2010 more >>
Cumbria
A row has erupted over the running of the trademark for Cumbria’s crafts, gifts and food producers. The Made in Cumbria brand, which promotes the county’s cottage industries, is to be switched from county council control to the stewardship of Cumbria Chamber of Commerce. The chamber wants to apply its commercial nous to the project and expand the brand to include partners such as Sellafield Ltd and BAE Systems, the Barrow-based defence giant. But Made in Cumbria member Marianne Birkby, a wildlife artist and anti-nuclear campaigner, says she is horrified by the move.
NW Evening Mail 12th Mar 2010 more >>
COUNCILLORS are to ask Sellafield if a route can be created through the nuclear site to reduce long-standing traffic problems on the A595. The move to create a diversion comes after years of complaints from drivers, who face lengthy detours when the road between Calder Bridge and Gosforth is closed by roadworks or accidents.
NW Evening Mail 13th Mar 2010 more >>
THOUSANDS of jobs created by new nuclear power stations across Cumbria could be put at risk in the event of a hung Parliament. It follows revelations from the Liberal Democrats, who said it would push the Tories to halt the programme started by the Labour government. Lib Democrat energy spokesman Simon Hughes is demanding the government hold a public inquiry into plans for new power stations across the UK – which would assess whether the benefits of new nuclear build outweigh the “potential detriments.”
NW Evening Mail 13th Mar 2010 more >>
Nuclear War
Nuclear war of any kind would devastate the Earth’s environment and cause incredible cooling in surface temperatures. Yet these climatic consequences are never considered by the nuclear weapon states when they are formulating their nuclear doctrines. To change this dynamic, the scientific community should pressure countries such as the United States and Russia to better consider the catastrophic potential of their nuclear arsenals.
Bulletin of Atomic Scientists 12th Mar 2010 more >>
Disarmament
Russia and the US have both said it should soon be possible to conclude a new nuclear disarmament treaty. Officials in Moscow and Washington said US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had a “good conversation” reviewing negotiations. The two countries are trying to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which expired last December.
BBC 14th Mar 2010 more >>
About 1,000 people have joined an anti-nuclear protest in Edinburgh calling for the scrapping of Trident. Organisers of the Cut Trident Not Jobs march said money spent on the nuclear weapons system would be at the expense of public sector jobs and services.
BBC 13th Mar 2010 more >>
First Minister Alex Salmond has joined hundreds of marchers in calling for the Trident nuclear programme to be scrapped. Police estimated about 1,000 people gathered in Edinburgh for the Cut Trident Not Jobs march organised by anti-nuclear campaigners.
Sunday Herald 14th Mar 2010 more >>
Emergency Planning
Loud hailer announcements by a water company and a leaflet advising what to do during a radiation leak caused fears of a nuclear catastrophe in Dorset.
BBC 14th Mar 2010 more >>
Iran
IRAN’S lurch towards becoming a nuclear power took another stride last night after reports of a new missile-launching facility. Satellite images of the complex reinforced concerns that the Islamic Republic is being aided by North Korea.
Sunday Express 14th Mar 2010 more >>
Germany
The German environment ministry has given the go ahead for a site in northern Germany to be explored further as a potential final storage site for nuclear waste, German weekly magazine Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. The ministry took the decision last week and expects the investigation of the Gorleben site in Lower Saxony to last up to ten years, the magazine said.
Interactive Investor 13th Mar 2010 more >>
Reuters 13th Mar 2010 more >>
Coal
PLANS for a new £3 billion coal-fired power station in Scotland will be lodged tomorrow, prompting warnings of mass protests by green groups. Ayrshire Power infuriated environmental organisations yesterday when confirming its intention to build a new coal plant at Hunterston in Ayrshire. A leading Scottish environmentalist predicted this could spark “the next Kings-north”. Ayrshire Power’s power station would have to include technology to capture carbon emissions from at least 300MW of the plant’s capacity from the start. However, this would still mean about three-quarters of its emissions would be released into the atmosphere.
Scotland on Sunday 14th Mar 2010 more >>
