Nuclear Consultation
The public consultation over whether a new generation of nuclear power stations should be built will be closed on Wednesday amid concerns from environmental groups that the decision will be rushed through The government, which has sought the views of private companies, interest groups and members of the public, is under pressure to take a decision by the end of the year to avoid delays in building new capacity. Critics have voiced concern that the public consultation has been skewed in favour of the industry.
FT 9th Oct 2007 more >>
The British government’s legally forced public consultation on whether it should give the green light to a new fleet of nuclear power stations to fight global warming ends on Wednesday with the process deep in controversy.By coincidence, Wednesday is also the 50th anniversary of Britain’s worst nuclear accident when the reactor core at the Windscale plant in north western England caught fire sending a plume of radioactive material across the country.
Planet Ark 8th Oct 2007 more >>
DILLINGTON House near Ilminster will be joining forces with the Royal Society of Arts to offer a one-day seminar exploring nuclear power generation and surrounding issues.
This is the West Country 8th Oct 2007 more >>
New nukes
Électricité de France (EDF) has been steadily making the British energy market its own. Since its first foray in 1998, when it bought London Electricity in what was seen at the time as an audacious move, the French state-controlled group has extended its reach considerably. Now it has more than five million customers in the UK, three electricity supply businesses, three generators and two wind farms. Soon it hopes to take the big step into new nuclear power in this country. EDF’s newest nuclear project at Flamanville in Normandy is costing €3.3 billion (£2.3 billion) to build. Mr de Rivaz believes that Britain’s next generation would cost around that level and he would like to be involved in four stations.
Times 8th Oct 2007 more >>
Electricite de France (EDF), the French power giant, said it plans to build four new nuclear power stations in the UK if it gets government approval and reckons the first could be onstream by 2017. The UK government’s consultation on nuclear power ends Oct 10 and a decision on whether to go ahead with investment in new nuclear capacity will be made by the end of year.
ADVFN 8th Oct 2007 more >>
North Korea
Japan has extended economic sanctions on North Korea, citing a lack of progress in a row over Japanese nationals abducted by Pyongyang. The measures – which ban imports from North Korea and visits by its ships – will continue for another six months.
BBC 9th Oct 2007 more >>
The South Korean president said Monday the global standoff over North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs will soon be resolved, as U.S. experts prepared to travel to Pyongyang to form a plan for disabling the country’s reactors.
Guardian website 8th Oct 2007 more >>
India
The Indian government and its communist allies meet on Tuesday to discuss a nuclear energy deal with the United States, as speculation grew that a political impasse between the two sides would spark snap elections.
Reuters 9th Oct 2007 more >>
The Indian government is to open formal negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency over the implementation of a civil nuclear deal with the US, setting the stage for a clash with its Communist allies that is likely to lead to early general elections, analysts predicted on Monday.
FT 9th Oct 2007 more >>
Nuclear Waste
Authorities in Italy are investigating a mafia clan accused of trafficking nuclear waste and trying to make plutonium. The ‘Ndrangheta mafia, which gained notoriety in August for its blood feud killings of six men in Germany, is alleged to have made illegal shipments of radioactive waste to Somalia, as well as seeking the “clandestine production” of other nuclear material.
Guardian 9th Oct 2007 more >>
Times 9th Oct 2007 more >>
Three Greenpeace activists boarded the Atlatic Osprey as it was on its way from Sweden to Sellafield with a cargo of nuclear waste.
Carlisle News and Star 8th Oct 2007 more >>
US
The US Army secretly explored the potential for using radioactive poisons to assassinate “important individuals; such as military or civilian leaders”, newly declassified documents disclose. Approved in 1948, the effort was a well-hidden part of the military’s pursuit of a “new concept of warfare” that was to have used radioactive materials from atomic bomb-making to contaminate enemy land or attack military bases.
Times 9th Oct 2007 more >>
Nuclear Weapons
Letter: It is no longer defensible today to use weapons of mass destruction which cannot be targeted precisely on military installations or bases, and their only purpose is to wipe out defenceless civilian populations in huge numbers.
Herald 9th Oct 2007 more >>
Europe
Renewable energies alone will not be sufficient to deliver the ambitious CO2 reduction targets agreed by EU leaders for 2020, warned a top Commission official speaking to EurActiv. Nuclear power and ‘clean’ fossil fuels using carbon sequestration and storage will be needed if Europe is to make up for the shortfall, said Matthias Ruete, Director General of the Commission’s Transport and Energy directorate.
World Business Council for Sustainable Development 8th Oct 2007 more >>
Windscale
Radioactive fallout from a major accident at Sellafield 50 years ago was underestimated, with scores more falling ill with cancer as a direct result than previously thought.
Belfast Telegraph 8th Oct 2007 more >>
Hunterston B
Scotland’s electricity output was cut by a quarter yesterday when British Energy closed down both reactors at Hunterston B nuclear power station in Ayrshire. The company said the move – due, ironically, to problems with the station’s power supply – was likely to be temporary. One of the two 485-megawatt reactors, known as unit 4, had been restarted only hours earlier following a maintenance closure but British Energy said this was a coincidence. “The two are not connected,” said a spokeswoman.
Herald 5th Oct 2007 more >>
Coal
Though the electricity companies spend millions telling us about their investments in renewable energy, at least four of them – E.On, RWE npower, ScottishPower and Scottish and Southern – are developing plans for new coal-burning generators, which produce roughly twice the carbon emissions of gas burners. According to one government document, there are “£20 billion [worth of] of new coal-fired power stations planned to be built in the UK before 2020”.
Guardian 9th Oct 2007 more >>
Climate
Protesters blockaded the entrance to a departure lounge at Manchester Airport yesterday to highlight the apparent contradiction between planned growth in air travel and the Government’s commitment to cutting carbon emissions.
Independent 9th Oct 2007 more >>
Times 9th Oct 2007 more >>
Russia
One option is to build smelters linked to Russian nuclear power projects. UC Rusal has signed a memorandum of co-operation with Rosatom, Russia’s state-owned nuclear group, to look into building a 1,000MW nuclear reactor and aluminium smelter complex in Russia’s Far East region.
FT 9th Oct 2007 more >>
