North Korea
North Korea has established secret towns with thousands of closely guarded residents whose sole mission is to develop nuclear weapons, a South Korean lawmaker said on Tuesday.
Scotsman 31st Oct 2006
South Korean president Roh Moo-Hyun has named a new ministerial team to handle foreign affairs, relations with North Korea and security, less than one month after the North’s nuclear test.
Interactive Investor 1st November 2006
The list of UN sanctions agreed on Oct 14.
Telegraph 1st Nov 2006
The secretive North Korean regime agreed to return to talks on its nuclear weapons programme yesterday after a clandestine meeting with American and Chinese negotiators in Beijing.
Telegraph 1st Nov 2006
Guardian 1st Nov 2006
Independent 1st Nov 2006
Times 1st Nov 2006
Europe
Neelie Kroes claims to be winning her argument that only the forced break-up of Europe’s vertically integrated energy giants will stamp out market abuse and create lasting competition in this sector. The competition commissioner said this week she saw “growing support for this argument, both from regulators and from large parts of the market”. But even assuming she can persuade her fellow commissioners to turn this into a formal proposal, she will only convince Europe’s governments to put it into law provided it does not patently cut across their other objectives of assuring energy security and climate stability. For governments regard these twin goals of their energy policy as too important to be left entirely to the sort of market forces that Ms Kroes champions.
FT 1st Nov 2006
Bulgaria
Bulgarian state-owned electricity company NEK has awarded Russia’s Atomstroyexport a contract to build a second nuclear plant in Belene.
Energy Business Review 1st Nov 2006
Nuclear Skills
The Government is to open the first specialist nuclear academy – to train thousands of people for work in the industry.
Independent 1st Nov 2006
A new National Nuclear Laboratory for the UK is to be formed out of the British Technology Centre at Sellafield in Cumbria and Nexia Solutions, the research company currently owned by BNFL.
Nuclear Engineering International 31st Oct 2006
Nuclear Waste
Letter: THE bribe the Government is offering to communities which tender for storing nuclear waste is very obvious. It is aimed at rural communities with deep seated, multiple deprivation problems. All the old assurances about safety will be trotted out, just as they were at Sellafield and Dounreay. These assurances on safety have proved inadequate and will continue to be in the future. This facility should be located at or near the seat of government. That would ensure all safety precautions would be constantly monitored and properly supervised. Precautions would be doubled,trebled, and quadrupled.
Glasgow Evening Times 31st Oct 2006
FEARS that a Nottinghamshire colliery could be used as a nuclear dumping ground have this week been put to bed, after a Government minister confirmed that nuclear waste would not be stored at local pits.
Mansfield Today 31st Oct 2006
Nuclear Industry
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Areva have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate in the area of nuclear energy. As a first step, the two companies have already agreed to develop a third-generation 1000 MWe nuclear power plant and the agreement covers other fields of possible cooperation such as procurement, services, fuel cycle and new types of reactors.
Nuclear Engineering International 31st Oct 2006
Uranium
The price of uranium has hit a new high after one of the world’s richest potential sources of nuclear fuel was put out of reach by a subterranean flood. The 7pc surge from $56 (£29.50) a pound to $60 is the biggest weekly rise in 20 years. The increase comes a week after a rock fall caused an uncontrollable flood at the unfinished Cigar Lake mine in Canada. Half-owned by Cameco, the world’s biggest uranium miner, Cigar Lake was expected to produce 18m pounds of uranium a year, around 10pc of global consumption and enough to run about 40 nuclear power stations.
Telegraph 1st Nov 2006
