Hinkley
CAMPAGINERS fighting plans to erect a new overhead power line across the North Somerset countryside have welcomed news that National Grid is to review its policy about putting cables underground. The energy giant, which wants to create the new line from Bridgwater to Avonmouth to bring electricity from the proposed new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point on to its transmission network, confirmed it is to launch a public consultation on its approach to undergrounding electricity lines.
This is Somerset 23rd Dec 2010 more >>
Radwaste
Following last nights earthquake in Cumbria – just one of the increasingly frequent earthquakes to hit this area, our Cumbrian councillors should think again about their support for new nuclear build and the geological disposal of high level nuclear wastes. Earthquakes and nuclear power are not happy bedfellows with the need to retain radioactive releases compromised in unpredictable ways.
Stop Oldbury 23rd Dec 2010 more >>
Waste Transport
Serbia sent 2.5 tons of its remaining nuclear waste, including 13 kilograms of highly enriched uranium, from its sole nuclear research facility near Belgrade to a disposal site in Russia, Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic said. In coordination with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency and under tight security, the radioactive cargo was transported via Hungary and Slovenia to the Mayak reprocessing facility in the Urals, in an operation that cost $55 million, Djelic said.
Bloomberg 23rd Dec 2010 more >>
SKB has commissioned a new ship to ferry used nuclear fuel and radioactive waste from Swedish nuclear power plants to storage facilities near Oskarshamn and Forsmark.
World Nuclear News 23rd Dec 2010 more >>
Nuclear Smuggling
A judge yesterday called for the prosecution of three Swiss engineers suspected of smuggling nuclear weapons technology following allegations that the US pressured Switzerland to destroy incriminating evidence to conceal their work for the CIA. The three are suspected of supplying technology to a nuclear smuggling ring in Pakistan run by Abdul Qadeer Khan, a nuclear scientist reputed to be the “father” of Pakistan’s atomic bomb. Mr Khan, who now lives under government surveillance in Pakistan, is suspected of having aided Iran, Libya and North Korea with uranium enrichment programmes. They are alleged to have played a bizarre dual role as nuclear weapons smugglers who at the same time worked for the CIA as informers and banked on the agency’s protection
Belfast Telegraph 24th Dec 2010 more >>
Independent 24th Dec 2010 more >>
Scotsman 24th Dec 2010 more >>
France
Burglars stole two computers containing confidential information from a power company’s nuclear energy research site. The burglary, discovered on Monday, was at the lectricit de France’s office in Chatou west of Paris, even though it is protected by highly secure anti-theft systems. Police suspect industrial espionage. An EDF spokeswoman said that the office is for research purposes only. The company said that the two laptops “contain no information about the operating systems of nuclear plants”.
Independent 24th Dec 2010 more >>
US
The Senate was forced to pull the “Omnibus” funding bill it had proposed, which included the $8 Billion in taxpayer loans for the nuclear industry, and instead a “Continuing Resolution” was passed that funds the government through mid-March. That makes at least seven major efforts over the past two years by nuclear industry backers to increase taxpayer loans for new reactors–and every one of those efforts has been blocked! So take a moment to celebrate this holiday season. And get ready to do it all over again early in the new year–because the nuclear industry will surely be back, hat-in-hand, looking for your money again.
NIRS 23rd Dec 2010 more >>
North Korea
North Korea yesterday threatened to launch a “sacred” nuclear war against South Korea if it is attacked. It came as the South staged military exercises that have raised already-high tensions on the peninsula. The remarks seemed aimed at reviving patriotic spirit on the 19th anniversary of the North’s leader Kim Jong II’s appointment as the supreme military commander.
Press & Journal 24th Dec 2010 more >>
Herald 24th Dec 2010 more >>
Belfast Telegraph 24th Dec 2010 more >>
Daily Mail 24th Dec 2010 more >>
Telegraph 24th Dec 2010 more >>
Guardian 24th Dec 2010 more >>
Mirror 24th Dec 2010 more >>
Switzerland
Three Swiss utilities have agreed to jointly develop projects to replace old reactors and cut back on energy imports from France. The move is the latest configuration of power companies that want to address an upcoming security of supply issue in the country.
World Nuclear News 23rd Dec 2010 more >>
Argus Media 23rd Dec 2010 more >>
Reuters 23rd Dec 2010 more >>
Disarmament
US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev have hailed the New Start nuclear arms treaty as a “historic event”, the White House says. In a telephone call on Thursday, Mr Medvedev congratulated Mr Obama on achieving Senate approval of the pact.
BBC 23rd Dec 2010 more >>
Guardian 24th Dec 2010 more >>
The Treaty was supposed to be the first step in a two-stage process that would make big cuts to the US and Russian nuclear arsenals. But officials are already warning that the next step will be much more difficult.
FT 24th Dec 2010 more >>
Microgeneration
Don’t miss this week’s Micropower News, which should be available later today. There is news of a new Government consultation on Microgeneration Strategy which aims to, amongst other things, ensure microgeneration is available to all. The 14-page document, which will be open for consultation until March, addresses the non-financial barriers to the rollout of small-scale renewable energy technologies, such as solar panels, micro wind turbines and ground source heat pumps, and puts forward a range of proposals for accelerating deployment of these green technologies. The Government has also published a new report setting out recommendations to ensure all new homes are zero carbon from 2016, and provided £1.1million funding to 3 geothermal energy projects. The Isos Housing Group in North Shields has completed a demonstration renovation project of a terraced house which has reduced energy bills by 80%.
Microgen Scotland 24th December 2010 more >>
