Nuclear Consultation
Article by David Lowry: the twenty-week public consultation on the future of nuclear power in Britain has come to an end. In an ironic coincidence the consultation concluded on the 50th anniversary of the most devastating nuclear accident this country – the massive fire at the military plutonium production “piles” at the Windscale works at Sellafield on October 10, 1957.
Tribune 18th Oct 2007 more >>
New nukes
Leader: The leaked documents show that the department for business believes emphasis on renewable energy such as wind power is an obstacle to its (still
far from convincing) nuclear power plans. The environment department is set on keeping the renewables target. Both are wrong. First, nuclear and renewable energy are not mutually exclusive. Britain is going to need both. But, second, the right target is not renewables but greenhouse gas emissions. The EU should work to set a consistent price for emitting a tonne of carbon dioxide, then let the market decide how best to cut emissions.
FT 25th Oct 2007 more >>
The eternal tension between environmental campaigners and business has resurfaced this week with a Whitehall battle over the target set by the
European Union that 20 per cent of energy should come from renewable sources by 2020. In one corner stands the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Dberr) which sees the renewable energy target as a threat to investment in the nuclear industry. In the other is the Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) which argues that the UK should invest in both the renewable sector and nuclear power, as both will be
needed to create a low carbon economy.
FT 25th Oct 2007 more >>
Energy companies are likely to invest in fossil fuel plants unless the government reaches a clear position on nuclear power, a leading energy consultant has warned. Parsons Brinckerhoff ratcheted up the pressure on Gordon Brown to give the green light to nuclear new-build in a response to the government’s consultation on the issue. It said even a short delay could have “disastrous” results, by creating dependency on gas from politically unstable states.
Building 26th Oct 2007 more >>
It really comes as no surprise to see the Financial Times has today reported that Gordon Brown’s plans for more nuclear power stations appear to be in total disarray. Government rhetoric has long masked the fact that the ailing, subsidy-gobbling nuclear industry should have been put out of its misery years ago.
Greenpeace 25th Oct 2007 more >>
Plans for a new generation of nuclear power stations have been hit by a series of obstacles, according to leaked reports published yesterday.
Western Daily Press 25th Oct 2007 more >>
A leaked document has given December 17th as the day when the Government will release its White Paper on new nuclear power stations and nuclear waste.
Whitehaven News 25th Oct 2007 more >>
Letter from Lord Howell: The real driver for change is the oil price. If this is high (as it now is – almost back to 1980 levels), and expected to stay high (as it probably will), that will be far the most powerful incentive for making renewables and alternative energy technologies commercial and truly competitive, investing in new-generation nuclear power, dragging down the cost of carbon capture and storage, and thus bringing on board the Chinese with their massive coal-burning plans which, unless cleaned up, will mean that all efforts by the rest of us to reduce carbon will be wasted.
FT 26th Oct 2007 more >>
Renewables
Letters: Ken Livinstone: Gordon Brown should reject attempts to block the development of renewable energy. I hope the prime minister will take the opportunity of this leaked paper to stamp down on those unable to see the growing threat of climate change, and instead map out a coherent programme for Britain to take advantage of our almost unparalleled renewable energy opportunities – from wind, wave, and tidal as well as solar power, so the government’s actions start to match its rhetoric.
Dr Jim Watson: The government is being disingenuous when it claims the renewable energy target agreed by Tony Blair will undermine the European emissions trading scheme. This will only happen if the caps on carbon emissions already agreed are not adjusted to take a more rapid renewables’ expansion into account.
Guardian 25th Oct 2007 more >>
Jeremy Leggett: Germany is mobilising as fast as it did 70 years ago. Our common enemy is global warming, and it is already at our gates. But while our German allies are turning out the renewable energy equivalents of Messerschmitts by the factory-load, Britain is again slow to spring into action. Worse, as we learned yesterday, officials responsible for UK mobilisation have told the prime minister it is impossible for us to build modern-day Spitfires in any number. We should instead oppose European targets set recently for such mobilisation and join other laggards in order to persuade the Germans to scale back their own efforts.
Guardian 25th Oct 2007 more >>
India
The nuclear deal, which Mr Singh would argue is a “manifestly obvious” thing to do, has little chance of coming into force.
Economist 25th Oct 2007 more >>
Iran
The Bushehr nuclear power plant Russia is building for Iran will operate under the strict control of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, a senior Russian official was quoted as saying on Thursday.
Reuters 25th Oct 2007 more >>
Italy
Italy’s government wants a facility to store and treat nuclear waste to be built by 2020, the minister for economic development Pierluigi Berssani said. Plans to build the site, which will also act as a centre for nuclear energy research, will be drawn up within the next six months. The minister reiterated his opinion the reintroduction of nuclear power plants is currently “unthinkable” because of high costs and the lack of nuclear structures such as waste storage.
Interactive Investor 26th Oct 2007 more >>
Sellafield
John Reynolds, who has been communications and marketing manager for Allerdale Council will become senior manager for media relations with Sellafield Ltd.
Carlisle News and Star 26th Oct 2007 more >>
Submarines
The commanding officer of the nuclear-powered submarine USS Hampton was relieved of his duty Thursday because of a loss of confidence in his leadership, the Navy said Thursday. Cmdr. Michael B. Portland was relieved of duty after a U.S. Navy investigation found the ship failed to do daily safety checks on its nuclear reactor for a month and falsified records to cover up the omission.
Guardian website 26th Oct 2007 more >>
Syria
New commercial satellite images show a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor site has been wiped clean since it was bombed Sept. 6 by Israeli aircraft. Analysts say the cleanup will hinder a proposed investigation by international nuclear inspectors and suggests Syria is trying to conceal evidence.
Guardian website 26th Oct 2007 more >>
Images from Google Earth have allowed the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security to pinpoint a complex that they say was likely to have housed a small nuclear reactor. It was believed to be of a design thought capable of making about one nuclear weapon’s worth of plutonium each year.
Telegraph 26th Oct 2007 more >>
NDA
Clean-up work at all of the defunct nuclear reactors in the South of England is to be halted amid funding problems at the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency, The Times has learnt. In its business plan, to be published next month, the NDA is expected to say that resources will be moved to Sellafield and that clean-up work will be suspended at the Sizewell A, Dungeness A, Hinkley Point A, Bradwell and Berkeley magnox reactors.
Times 26th Oct 2007 more >>
Nuclear Weapons
First Minister Alex Salmond was yesterday criticised by a Burmese democracy campaigner after it emerged he had written to the country’s military rulers in his bid to rid Scotland of nuclear weapons. Mr Salmond was also criticised for seeking the support of Zimbabwe and Iran.
Herald 26th Oct 2007 more >>
BBC 25th Oct 2007 more >>
Windscale
A study by Richard Wakeford and John Garland claims that the cancer effects of the 57 fire had been underestimated.
Whitehaven News 25th Oct 2007 more >>
Companies
What Ecotricity does not tell you is that it is also the company with far and away the highest percentage of nuclear in its energy mix. Strange, because there is a whole untapped market of pro-nuclear people out there who would switch to Ecotricity like a flash if they knew.
Telegraph 25th Oct 2007 more >>
