Radwaste
A multi-million pound project that would have led to radioactive waste being buried along the North Ayrshire coastline has been abandoned in the face of protests by local residents and environmentalists. Investigations into a £3.2 million plan to bury large amounts of radioactive graphite underground at Hunterston have been suspended by the UK Government’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). The area is said to be vulnerable to coastal erosion. Now the graphite waste will be stored in a huge engineered storage facility recently built at Hunterston. Critics had also feared that burying the graphite would free up space in the storage facility for waste from other nuclear sites across the country. They have welcomed the decision to drop the graphite burial project.
Sunday Herald 5th Feb 2012 more >>
Dalgety Bay
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has again missed hundreds of radioactive particles contaminating the beach at Dalgety Bay on the Firth of Forth, prompting accusations that it cannot be trusted to carry on monitoring. In the latest surveys of the Fife foreshore last month the MoD found and removed 83 radioactive particles. A survey of half the same area shortly afterwards by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) found and removed a further 228 particles. The failure of the MoD to detect most of the contamination was described a “cause for concern” by Sepa. “This reinforces the need to have credible investigation plans in place,” said a Sepa spokeswoman. In December, the Sunday Herald reported that previous MoD monitoring of Dalgety Bay had missed 442 radioactive hotspots. If the MoD fails to come up with clean-up plans by the end of this month, Sepa has said it will formally designate the bay as Britain’s first radioactively contaminated land.
Sunday Herald 5th Feb 2012 more >>
Politics
Ed Davey: A new generation of nuclear power stations will cost taxpayers and consumers tens of billions of pounds. In addition to posing safety and environmental risks, nuclear power will only be possible with vast taxpayer subsidies or a rigged market. It is an issue that crops up in my postbag time and time again. People dont want nuclear, but they dont know what the alternatives are. Now they do, and the alternatives are cleaner, safer, greener, and better for the environment and the taxpayer.
Edward Davey 17th July 2006 Accessed 4th Feb 2012 more >>
Chris Huhne’s departure from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) sees the exit of a minister who is generally regarded as having fought tenaciously for “green” policies within the Cabinet.
BBC 3rd Feb 2012 more >>
The challenge facing the new Liberal Democrat energy secretary, Ed Davey, has been laid bare by the revelation that 101 Tory MPs are demanding drastic cuts to the £400m-a-year government subsidies for wind farms. The demands from Conservative MPs, made in a letter to David Cameron, came as a former Liberal Democrat leader, Menzies Campbell, warned that there would be serious trouble from his party’s activists if there was any rowing back from the coalition’s commitment to run the “greenest government ever”.
Guardian 4th Feb 2012 more >>
Telegraph 5th Feb 2012 more >>
Japan
About 2.3 percent of farmers in Fukushima Prefecture yielded rice with radioactive cesium levels exceeding the governments new safety standard, according to prefectural government officials. The new standard of 100 becquerels per kilogram will take effect in April, replacing the provisional standard of 500 becquerels per kg. The results of the Fukushima prefectural governments emergency survey, released on Feb. 3, will be used by the central government to decide on areas where farming will be banned this year.
Asahi 4th Feb 2012 more >>
A total of 573 deaths have been certified as “disaster-related” by 13 municipalities affected by the crisis at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, according to a Yomiuri Shimbun survey. This number could rise because certification for 29 people remains pending while further checks are conducted. The 13 municipalities are three cities–Minami-Soma, Tamura and Iwaki–eight towns and villages in Futaba County–Namie, Futaba, Okuma, Tomioka, Naraha, Hirono, Katsurao and Kawauchi–and Kawamata and Iitate, all in Fukushima Prefecture. These municipalities are in the no-entry, emergency evacuation preparation or expanded evacuation zones around the nuclear plant, which suffered meltdowns soon after the March 11 disaster. A disaster-related death certificate is issued when a death is not directly caused by a tragedy, but by fatigue or the aggravation of a chronic disease due to the disaster. If a municipality certifies the cause of death is directly associated to a disaster, a condolence grant is paid to the victim’s family. If the person was a breadwinner, 5 million yen is paid.
Yomiuri 5th Feb 2012 more >>
Iran
The Anglo-American aggression addicts haven’t kicked the habit. The team that brought you shock and awe and Operation Infinite Justice is gearing up for yet another crack at winning a senseless war in the Middle East. This time the target is Iran, the pretence the regime’s imminent possession of nuclear weapons. But some things will remain the same it will lead to slaughter and end in disaster.
Guardian 4th Feb 2012 more >>
US
A worker at a nuclear power plant fell into a reactor pool as he was leaning over to retrieve a flashlight and lost his balance. The man, who has not been named, was able to return to work at the San Onofre nuclear power plant in California the same day as he was not exposed to a harmful amount of radiation. The pool is more than 20 feet deep and holds water that circulates through the reactor core.
Daily Mail 4th Feb 2012 more >>
Aldermaston
A CATALOGUE of fires, false alarms and chemical leaks at the Atomic Weapons Establishment has emerged in information released to The Gazette. Over 11 years between 2000 and 2011, Berkshire fire crews received more than 2,000 calls about incidents at AWE in Aldermaston, occurring at an average rate of more than four per week. Call-outs were received after an explosion, gas leaks, staff being overcome by fumes and fires breaking out in a radiation building.
Basingstoke Gazette 4th Feb 2012 more >>
Submarines
The Royal Navy is sending a nuclear submarine to the Falkland Islands amid heightened tensions between Britain and Argentina over the disputed islands, it has reported.
Huffington Post 4th Feb 2012 more >>
Energy Efficiency
SCOTS who do not insulate their homes should be forced to pay higher council tax or face increased stamp duty on their property, according to a leading figure in the sector. Alex McLeod, chairman of the Association for the Conservation of Energy, told The Scotsman he thinks “sticks” as well as “carrots” are needed to encourage people to conserve energy in their homes. He blamed “apathy” for low rates of use of insulation in Scotland and said other European countries were far better at conserving energy. And he suggested penalising people for not insulating their walls and lofts by putting up their council tax or increasing stamp duty linked to the property would force homeowners to take action. However, his views were met with a furious response from groups, who argued that at a time of austerity it would be wrong to penalise already struggling householders. The TaxPayers’ Alliance branded the ideas “outrageous”, and even Friends of the Earth Scotland disagreed, saying the Scottish Government should instead pay for everyone to have free insulation.
Scotsman 4th Feb 2012 more >>
GIVEN how badly most of our homes leak energy, it is perhaps not surprising that our housing stock is responsible for a quarter of Scotland’s climate emissions and, coupled with rising energy bills, that a third of Scottish households are now in fuel poverty. With most of us living in houses that are still going to be here in 2050, we need a co-ordinated programme to transform these properties into energy-efficient, low-carbon homes of the future. Despite efforts to date, we are a long way from exhausting many of the easy improvement measures. More than a million lofts in Scotland still have insufficient insulation and half a million cavity walls suitable for insulation have yet to be filled, despite these being very cost-effective and relatively easy options.
Scotsman 4th Feb 2012 more >>
