Decommissioning
An important local community public consultation is under way looking at what will become of a former power station site.Two local public exhibitions on the subject will take place next month – one at Lydney. A similar exercise involving residents within a five-mile radius recently took place on the future of land at the Oldbury Power Station site. The subject of this consultation is the Berkeley nuclear site, pictured, which stopped generating electricity in 1989 and has since been the location of administrative and research and laboratory operations for the nuclear industry.
The Forester 21st Dec 2006
British Energy
NUCLEAR power giant British Energy has suffered another day of heavy falls after confirming a worst case scenario in the repair of two of its reactors. BE revealed that repairs to its Hunterston B plant in Ayrshire and Hinkley Point B in Gloucestershire would not be completed until at least March, and even then they would only run at 70 per cent capacity.
Scotsman 21st Dec 2006
Independent 21st Dec 2006
FT 21st Dec 2006
Guardian 21st Dec 2006
Herald 21st Dec 2006
It’s one mishap after another at British Energy. Being bailed out by the state four years ago should have been a galvanising experience, but to judge by a string of profit and revenue warnings over the past year, the nuclear power generator’s operational problems remain as acute as ever.
Independent 21st Dec 2006
NDA
Britain’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority faces a £200 million funding shortfall that could threaten clean-up work and lead to substantial job cuts. Britain’s main nuclear agency is facing the funding shortage after cuts to government grants and a commercial downturn. The NDA expects to suffer a £160 million drop in its decommissioning grant from the Government at the same time as its commercial income from reprocessing and Magnox nuclear reactors has fallen sharply. The blow for the NDA, created by the Government last year, comes as British Energy,the nuclear generator, which is 65 per cent government owned, admitted yesterday that two plants would be out of action until the spring, putting pressure on winter power supplies.
Times 21st Dec 2006
Whitehaven News 21st Dec 2006
Dounreay
While the former reactor complex at Dounreay is being taken apart, public agencies in the far north are making plans for new nuclear-related bases to come to Thurso. The site’s £2.9billion clean-up programme has lined up the town to locate the Scottish arm of the National Nuclear Skills Academy. And several other similar developments are being courted in a bid to maximise spin-offs to an area, which is going to increasingly feel the effects of the jobs rundown already under way at the UKAEA plant.
Aberdeen Press & Journal 21st Dec 2006
New nukes
New research for the Nuclear Industry Association shows that 72% of the British public agree that the UK needs a mix of energy sources to ensure a reliable supply of electricity, including nuclear power and renewable energy sources. When asked specifically about nuclear newbuild, to ensure the same proportion of nuclear energy is retained, 39% would support it while 29% would oppose it. The remainder are undecided.
Ipsos-Mori 7th Dec 2006
Iran
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday mocked the United States and its allies for trying to stop Iran’s nuclear programme which he said had become a source of inspiration for other nations.
Reuters 21st Dec 2006
Libya
Argentina’s state-owned technology group INVAP will handle a 10-million-dollar upgrade of a Libyan nuclear reactor built in the 1970s, a National Atomic Energy Commission official said.
Middle East Online 21st Dec 2006
North Korea
Negotiators were edging forward on Thursday with proposals to begin dismantling North Korea’s nuclear weapons, but Pyongyang’s anger at U.S. financial curbs threatened efforts to agree on first steps to implementation.
Reuters 21st Dec 2006
