Heysham
Firefighters were called to investigate “explosions heard at a Lancashire nuclear power station – and found them to be fireworks.
Lancashire Evening Post 28th Feb 2010 more >>
Waste Transport
The first shipment of high-level radioactive waste (HLW) from the UK to Japan left the port of Barrow on January 21 UK time (January 22 Japan time). It is the first repatriation of any category of foreign waste to overseas customers from the UK and is some 15 years later than originally projected. The ship, the Pacific Sandpiper, passed through the Panama Canal early February and is scheduled to arrive in the port of Mutsu-Ogawara, Aomori Prefecture in early March.
CNIC 28th Feb 2010 more >>
CERN
Operators of the world’s largest atom smasher restarted their massive machine today in a run-up to experiments probing secrets of the universe. After a cautious trial period, Cern (the European Organisation for Nuclear Research) plans to ramp up the energy of the proton beams travelling around the 17-mile tunnel housing the Large Hadron Collider under the Swiss-French border at Geneva to unprecedented levels – and start record-setting collisions of protons by late March. The restart follows a two and a half month winter shutdown during which scientists made improvements and checked out the smasher’s ability to collide protons at energies three times greater than has ever been achieved previously.
Guardian 1st March 2010 more >>
Iran
For years, the US has retained the option of a military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities. Not preferred by either George W. Bush or Barack Obama, it has nonetheless survived the US presidential transition as a last resort should diplomacy and economic sanctions fail to persuade Tehran to put its nuclear programme back under proper restrictions and inspections. As an option, however, it should not become a self-fulfilling prophecy. We need instead to develop a long-term strategy for dealing with a nuclear Iran and not box ourselves into war.
FT 1st March 2010 more >>
Japan
As their new Patriot missile defence system is deployed, the Japanese are gaining a new confidence in relations with China, North Korea and Russia.
Guardian 1st March 2010 more >>
