New nukes
Sir Jonathon Porritt: it is the view of the Sustainable Development Commission that this Government has got it completely wrong on nuclear power. Despite the fact that it’s going to cost UK taxpayers at least £75bn to clean up the legacy of our current nuclear programme, that we still have no solution to the problems of nuclear waste, that nuclear power remains very expensive, that the risks of proliferation and threats to national security remain high, and that the contribution from a new nuclear programme (if it ever materialises) to total energy needs and CO2 abatement will remain relatively low, ministers are now putting more effort into encouraging nuclear power than they have devoted to the entire field of renewables over the last 10 years. As they see it, this is the only manageable mega-fix available to them, the ultimate get-out-of-jail-free card. But this is a sad and extraordinarily ill-judged illusion.
Independent 4th Feb 2008 more >>
Northern Ireland
Ministers on both sides of the border are calling for the island of Ireland to be made a nuclear-free zone. Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie and Irish Environment Minister John Gormley made a joint call. They are concerned about proposals to include nuclear power as a means of reducing the UK’s carbon footprint.
BBC 3rd Feb 2008 more >>
India
Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee says India may face global isolation if it does not go ahead with a nuclear deal with the US. The landmark deal has been stalled because of stiff opposition from the ruling government’s communist allies.
BBC 4th Feb 2008 more >>
Iran
Iran accused France yesterday of adopting an “unfriendly” position in Tehran’s nuclear row with the West, and said that the military base Paris was setting up in the Gulf would harm peace in the region. The Foreign Ministry summoned the French Ambassador to Tehran, Bernard Poletti, in an apparent tit-for-tat response after Paris called in the Iranian envoy last week over anti-Israeli remarks made by its hardline President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Times 4th Feb 2008 more >>
Uranium
The US and Russia signed a deal that will boost imports of Russian uranium to supply the US nuclear industry, the Commerce Department said.
AFX 3rd Feb 2008 more >>
Renewables
The moors of north Lewis are desolate in midwinter, a treeless expanse of ochre grasses and rich black peat, pummelled by Arctic winds driving in from the north Atlantic. That moor is now at the centre of an increasingly bitter battle between local opponents and two powerful corporations, Amec and British Energy, who are fighting to save controversial plans to build one of the world’s largest wind farms – a vast arc of 181 turbines curving down the northern half of the Hebridean island.
Guardian 4th Feb 2008 more >>
