New Nukes
Starting on 2nd March at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London is the ‘Nuclear New Build Conference: Nuclear’s New Generation Overview’. The topics on the agenda for the two-day conference include supply chain issues, the skills gap, regulation, decommissioning and best practice. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is currently overseeing decommissioning activities at 20 sites across Britain, putting the UK at the forefront of innovation in legacy waste. However, Sizewell B, Britain’s newest nuclear power station, gained its rating certificate some 15 years ago, and questions about home-grown skills will, once again be brought to the fore at the conference. On a broader level, the conference will discuss the thorny issue of ‘hearts and minds’, and sessions will be held on public opinion toward new build. Nuclear issues seem to polarise opinion in much the same way as hunting with hounds, and conference delegates might do well to turn their company’s respective PR budgets to national campaigns in the pursuit of winning public opinion.
The Engineer 1st Mar 2010 more >>
Oldbury
Shepperdine Against Nuclear Energy Protect planned 4th March.
Shepperdine Against Nuclear Energy 2nd Mar 2010 more >>
Uranium
Shares in Uranium explorer Vane Minerals are poised to jump as the company announces one of its discoveries in northern Arizona has been verified by independent auditors.
Telegraph 1st Mar 2010 more >>
Lawyers
Denton Wilde Sapte has hired two leading nuclear specialists from Hammonds who will bring with them tier 1 clients in the nuclear sector. Rupert Cowen and Jonathan Leech will join Dentons imminently. They advised Nuclear Management Partners, a consortium made up of Amec, Areva and Washington International Holdings, on its successful bid to bag the £17bn decommissioning of the Sellafield nuclear site.
The Lawyer 1st Mar 2010 more >>
Legal Week 1st Mar 2010 more >>
Iran
Iran is still failing to co-operate with the UN’s nuclear watchdog, its new head said today, strengthening those voices calling for new sanctions to force Tehran to comply with international demands. Yukiya Amano, addressing the first meeting of the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) since he took over as director-general, said he was unable to confirm that Tehran was engaged solely in peaceful nuclear activities “because Iran has not provided the agency with the necessary co-operation”.
Guardian 2nd Mar 2010 more >>
Middle East Online 1st Mar 2010 more >>
Japan
A nuclear reactor in Ehime Prefecture was activated Monday for the country’s second “pluthermal” power generation operation using plutonium-uranium mixed oxide fuel. Shikoku Electric Power Co. activated the No. 3 reactor at the Ikata power plant in the process to start a self-sustaining chain reaction, which was expected to occur Tuesday, setting the stage for the start of power generation with the MOX fuel Thursday.
Japan Times 2nd Mar 2010 more >>
US
Last week’s vote against the relicensing of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power plant near Brattleboro is considered historic because it has allowed the voices of Vermont people to be heard through their elected leaders who voted against allowing Vermont Yankee to continue past its expected lifetime of 2012. It has allowed the people to say what Entergy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) have been doing: Allowing contamination of the air we breathe and the water we drink, and that is not acceptable.
Energy Bulletin 28th Feb 2010 more >>
Huffington Post 1st Mar 2010 more >>
The Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia, a utility company located in the US south, as early as this week plans to sell $2.5bn in federally-subsidised bonds to help pay for what could be the first new nuclear reactors in the US in more than 30 years. Most of the funds borrowed, some $2.48bn, will be through the Build America Bonds (Babs) programme.
FT 2nd Mar 2010 more >>
Nuclear Weapons
US President Barack Obama is planning “dramatic reductions” in the country’s nuclear arsenal, a senior US administration official has said. This would come as part of a sweeping policy review designed to prevent the spread of atomic weapons, he said. He added that the new strategy will point to a greater role for conventional weapons.
BBC 2nd March 2010 more >>
Daily Mail 2nd Mar 2010 more >>
Metro 2nd Mar 2010 more >>
Telegraph 2nd Mar 2010 more >>
Letter from George Robertson: we proclaimed this debate to be a real opportunity to get rid of more of these weapons by bargaining away some of Russia’s 5,000 short-range weapons. Don’t you care about these weapons? Or has the Guardian gone back to old-style unilateralism (which it used to decry), focusing only US/Nato weapons in Europe?
Guardian 2nd Mar 2010 more >>
Renewables
Ed Miliband, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, will announce a package of measures today to make Britain’s homes “greener and warmer”. A key element will be the Pay as You Save or PAYS scheme which provides “green home loans” of up to £10,000 through supermarkets, DIY chains or local authorities but allows the homeowner to pay back the cost over time as savings are made on energy bills. For example, a home owner can insulate the loft or have solar panels installed and pay the cost back without noticing because it will be taken from savings on the electricity bill.
Telegraph 2nd Mar 2010 more >>
George Monbiot on Feed-in Tariffs: Those who hate environmentalism have spent years looking for the definitive example of a great green rip-off. Finally it arrives, and nobody notices. The government is about to shift £8.6bn from the poor to the middle classes. It expects a loss on this scheme of £8.2bn, or 95%. Yet the media is silent. The opposition urges only that the scam should be expanded.
Guardian 2nd Mar 2010 more >>
