Nuclear Waste
TRANSMUTATION, in which lasers might cut the half-life of radioactive waste from millions of years to mere minutes, and other futuristic remediation technologies, have believers. From now on, any underground nuclear waste dumps built in the UK will be designed to allow for the possibility of such technologies. So said the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) in new technical and safety rules published this week. Any new sites must allow waste to be retrievable for 100 years. Although there is currently no way to reduce the half-life of high volumes of radioactive waste, huge lasers have reduced the half-lives of specks of such material. “If something like that were to become successful, the facility must not preclude the option of retrievability,” says Bruce McKirdy of the NDA.
New Scientist 23rd Feb 2011 more >>
Safeguarding the public, the workforce and the environment from exposure to radiation through a multi-barrier approach is key to the safe disposal of the UK’s higher activity radioactive waste. These are the major considerations for the NDA’s Radioactive Waste Management Directorate’s (RWMD) scientists and engineers who are working on plans to safely and securely build and operate a deep underground disposal facility which will need to keep the radioactive materials isolated from the environment for hundreds of thousands of years. In July last year, the NDA published its Geological Disposal: Steps towards implementation report which set out the steps required to bring such a facility to fruition. As a next step in this process we have today published a suite of scientific and technical reports which explain all of the safety factors that need to be considered when we submit an application to the nuclear regulators for permission to operate such a facility.
NDA 23rd Feb 2011 more >>
Developing Disposal System Safety Case.
NDA 23rd Feb 2011 more >>
Into Eternity Film Trailer.
Keswick Film Festival 12th Feb 2011 more >>
Nuclear Subsidies
A complaint has been made to the European Commission that nuclear power in the UK is receiving subsidies, and that those subsidies are unlawful ‘state aid’ under laws governing competition in the EU. “One of the biggest subsidies for nuclear power in the UK is that it is required to pay much less than the full cost of insuring against a Chernobyl-style disaster or worse” said Dr Gerry Wolff, a member of the Energy Fair group that has made the complaint. “The nuclear industry is also paying much less than the full cost of disposing of nuclear waste and for the decommissioning of nuclear plants.” “Without the subsidies that it is receiving, nuclear power would be hopelessly uncompetitive. But it is a mature technology that should be commercially viable without support. Those subsidies are distorting the market and working against the development of the clean, green sources of power that are now urgently needed. There are now many reports from reputable sources showing that there are more than enough renewable sources of power to meet our needs, now and for the foreseeable future.”
Energy Fair Press Release 23rd Feb 2011 more >>
Since its inception more than 50 years ago, the U.S. nuclear power industry has been propped up by a generous array of government subsidies that have supported its development and operations. Despite that support, the industry is still not economically viable, according to a report released today by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). The report, “Nuclear Power: Still Not Viable Without Subsidies,” found that more than 30 subsidies have supported every stage of the nuclear fuel cycle, from uranium mining to long-term waste storage. Added together, these subsidies often have exceeded the average market price of the power produced.
Union of Concerned Scientists 23rd Feb 2011 more >>
Also available here nuclear subsidies report: more >>
New Nukes
Put in context of the deaths and destruction of property arising from hydro dam failures, oil rig disasters, oil pollution (seen most recently in the Gulf of Mexico), coal mine accidents, LPG explosions and turbine disintegration, the health and safety record of nuclear generation is outstanding for its lack of death or destruction or major environmental impact. Waste would be a genuine concern if the amount produced by new-build nuclear plants was equal to the legacy waste from the historic generating plants. However, the future waste generation from nuclear new-builds will be a small fraction of existing legacy waste.
Utility Week 9th Feb 2011 more >>
Old Nukes
Three UK reactors were offline Wednesday: Dungeness B-21 (planned refueling), Dungeness B-22 (unplanned outage) and Hunterston B-7 (planned maintenance). Dungeness B-21 and B-22 are due to restart March 2 and February 28, respectively. Hunterston B-7 will likely restart mid-March.
Platts 23rd Feb 2011 more >>
Sellafield
NUCLEAR bosses have strongly denied that Sellafield’s sea discharges are set to rise dramatically. Cumbrians Opposed to a Radioactive Environment (CORE) claims to have “exposed Sellafield plans for substantial increases in radioactive discharges into the Irish Sea over the coming decade.” CORE also alleges that the rate of discharges and radioactive concentrations in the marine environment will breach international commitments. But Sellafield’s owners – the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority – told The Whitehaven News: “We categorically deny there will be a substantial increase in radioactive discharges unto the sea.”
Whitehaven News 18th Feb 2011 more >>
Whitehaven News 23rd Feb 2011 more >>
SELLAFIELD’S new top boss Todd Wright has pledged: There are no more job losses in the pipeline. Only three weeks into the hot seat, the managing director told The Whitehaven News: “There are no current plans for redundancies.” Unions and site stakeholders have welcomed the statement following the recent loss of 800 jobs through voluntary redundancy.
Whitehaven News 23rd Feb 2011 more >>
The former boss of two United States key nuclear waste plants – Hanford and Savannah River – gives an assurance that Sellafield’s full-scale workforce review is not an excuse to justify more job cuts.
Whitehaven News 23rd Feb 2011 more >>
Hinkley
Hinkley has played host to nuclear power for nearly 50 years and its past and present stations have provided welcome jobs. EDF says the new station will give a £500 million boost to the South West economy while giving a massive boost to Britain’s low-carbon energy production. The company expects around 5,000 Somerset people will work on the new site at some stage, with up to 1,250 Somerset people employed at any one time. When operating it will employ 900, of whom it is claimed 95 per cent will be from the county. But the jobs bonanza promised when the biggest civil engineering project in the South West kicks off also brings controversy. Anti-nuclear groups say it is an unproven design and will leave a hazardous legacy, while local authorities are fighting for a better deal for the community for the disruption, and the fact that spent fuel may have to be stored on site for up to 100 years beyond the plant’s 60-year life.
This is Somerset 23rd Feb 2011 more >>
Look out from a cliff top outside the little French port of Flamanville and you will see what the future may hold for thousands of people across Somerset. For below is the massive construction site where French energy giant EDF is building the first of a planned series of new European Pressurised Reactor nuclear power stations. The 85 per cent Government-controlled company is building two more EPRs at Taishan in China, and plans another four in the UK. Providing the design is approved and planning permission granted, the first will be at Hinkley Point on the Bristol Channel coast. Work is due to start in 2013, with the first reactor completed in 2018. The twin reactors at Hinkley C will provide enough power for five million homes – an astonishing 20 per cent of the nation’s housing.
This is Somerset 23rd Feb 2011 more >>
The leader of the Labour group on the county council, Andrew Govier, said it was a “dark day” for Somerset, with £34m cuts, but the leader of the ruling Conservative group, Ken Maddock, pointed to job-creating projects like Hinkley Point C as evidence that better times lie ahead.
Bridgwater Mercury 23rd Feb 2011 more >>
Scotland
First Minister Alex Salmond has said it would be ‘utter madness’ to carry on with an expensive form of energy in nuclear power and stated that Hunterston is well situated to help serve Scotland as an international leader in the ‘marine engineering centre of Europe’. An offshore wind farm construction yard has already been earmarked for Clydeport grounds at Hunterston. The ‘News’ exclusively spoke to Scotland’s top politician Alex Salmond when canvassing in Largs last Wedensday afternoon, and was pinned down on his views of the future of nuclear power and whether a fully functional station will be operating at Hunterson in ten years time. He responded: “Not when I am in charge of this country – we won’t have another nuclear power station. We don’t need it. From our renewables, we are going to have ten times the electricity we need in Scotland; it would be absolutely mad not to concentrate our efforts on renewables that is where the future lies for this country.
Largs & Millport News 23rd Feb 2011 more >>
Reactor Designs
The Atmea1 reactor design has been put to Canadian regulators as a first step towards deployment in the country. Areva announced the move late yesterday. It founded Atmea with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Atmea1 is to be the joint venture’s first offering to commercial power companies. It is positioned as a ‘mid sized’ pressurized water reactor producing 1100 MWe. It features long operation cycles, short refuelling outages and the load-following ability to adjust power output by 5% per minute.
World Nuclear News 23rd Feb 2011 more >>
Chernobyl
Timebomb Nuclear Power- 25 Years after Chernobyl, Urania, Berlin, April 8 – 10, 2011. Conference organised by German affiliate of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Physicians for Social Responsibility in cooperation with the Society for Radiation Protection, the Physicians of Chernobyl, the Scientists Initiative for Peace and Sustainability and the Nuclear Free Future Award.
Chernobyl Congress 23rd Feb 2011 more >>
Iran
David Cameron has threatened Iran with fresh sanctions if it continues its nuclear weapons programme, saying it risks becoming “a pariah state”. He said there was “grave concern” and promised to “work vigorously” to force Iran’s government to change course.
BBC 23rd Feb 2011 more >>
Iran is gradually overcoming problems in its nuclear program, and could still detonate a nuclear device within a year if it put its mind to it, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said.
Yahoo News 24th Feb 2011 more >>
North Korea
The foreign ministers of South Korea and China expressed worries yesterday about North Korea’s recently disclosed uranium enrichment program, which could give it a second way to make atomic bombs, a South Korean official said. The foreign ministers agreed to consult closely on how to deal with the North’s uranium program, a South Korean Foreign Ministry official said on condition of anonymity because of department policy.
Kuwait Times 24th Feb 2011 more >>
China on Wednesday refused to let the UN Security Council publish a report on North Korea’s nuclear sanctions busting, diplomats said. The sanctions panel report calls for tougher implementation of sanctions against North Korea and outlines progress the isolated Stalinist state has made with its uranium enrichment, according to diplomats.
The Straits Times 24th Feb 2011 more >>
The South China Morning Post 24th Feb 2011 more >>
The Telegraph 24th Feb 2011 more >>
South Korea’s nuclear envoy left Thursday for talks in Washington on North Korea’s uranium enrichment activities, after China blocked publication of a United Nations report criticising the programme.
Yahoo News 24th Feb 2011 more >>
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Thursday urged the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to stop developing nuclear weapons, saying it is essential to ensure peace and stability in northeast Asia.
People’s Daily 24th Feb 2011 more >>
Syria
Western intelligence services have identified a site that looks like it was geared toward making material for Syria’s alleged secret nuclear programme, a German newspaper reported in its Thursday edition.
Monsters and Critics 24th Feb 2011 more >>
The Wall Street Journal 24th Feb 2011 more >>
