Nuclear Safety
The Energy and Climate Change Committee will hold a one-off oral evidence session with the Government’s Chief Inspector of Nuclear Installations, Dr Mike Weightman, on the conclusions of his interim report published today on the implications of events at Japanese nuclear reactors on existing and new plants in the UK.
UK Parliament 9th June 2011 more >>
After the nuclear disaster in Japan, just how safe are our nuclear power stations? MPs have been asking the man in charge of the industry’s safety at a special session in Parliament. Here’s our Political Correspondent, Phil Hornby. Answering the questions is Mike Weightman, Chief Nuclear Inspector.
Meridian TV 9th June 2011 more >>
Learning all lessons from the accident at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power station could take a decade, according to France’s top nuclear safety officer. But all nuclear countries should carry out safety tests within a year, said Andre-Claude Lacoste. The chairman of the French nuclear safety agency (ASN) was speaking at a forum in Paris organised by the OECD’s Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA). Regulators said international control of nuclear safety would be “difficult”.
BBC 9th June 2011 more >>
Imagine a country where corruption is rampant, infrastructure is very poor, or the quality of security is in question. Now what if that country built a nuclear power plant? It may sound alarming but that is what could happen in many developing countries which are either building nuclear power plants or considering doing so – a prospect that raises serious questions after Japan’s experience handling a nuclear crisis. In a cable from the U.S. embassy in Hanoi in February 2007, concerns are raised about storing radioactive waste in Vietnam, which has very ambitious plans to build nuclear power plants. In Azerbaijan, a cable written in November 2008 describes the man who would have the responsibility for regulation of a proposed nuclear program, Kamaladdin Heydarov, as “ubiquitous, with his hands in everything from construction to customs.” Even in India, which already has a well developed nuclear industry and plans to build 58 more reactors, eyebrows can be raised. The security at one nuclear facility visited by a U.S. delegation in November 2008 is described in one cable as only “moderate” with security officers performing bag and vehicle checks that weren’t thorough, a lack of cameras in key areas, and some parts having very little security at all.
Reuters 9th June 2011 more >>
Cumbria
“The Cost of Nuclear” is a free, illustrated talk at Victoria Hall in Grange-over-Sands on 15th June with speakers: Marianne Birkby of Radiation Free Lakeland and David Riley of the Friends of Chernobyl Children, South Lakes. Free admission with donations to the Friends of Chernobyl Children, South Lakes. Refreshments will be available. “The geology of Cumbria has not changed since Nirex found it to be unsuitable for an underground nuclear dump – all that has changed is the Government’s rush for new nuclear build. An earmarked high level nuclear waste dump gives the appearance of having “solved” the waste problem. These steps towards geological disposal are leading Cumbria up the toxic garden path – there is no plan B – our only chance of a viable future is to say a resounding NO!” – Radiation Free Lakeland.
Grange-over-Sands Town Council 9th June 2011 more >>
Sellafield
A CONSORTIUM of businesses has sealed a multi-million pound deal for the next stage of the decommissioning work on the Sellafield nuclear power station site. Cumbria Nuclear Solutions Ltd (CNSL), a consortium comprising of James Fisher Nuclear Ltd, React Engineering Ltd, Shepley Engineers Ltd, Stobbarts Ltd, WYG Engineering Ltd and Westinghouse Electric Company, has been awarded the four-year Decommissioning Framework Agreement by Sellafield Ltd. The framework is estimated to be worth around £30m per year over four years. The team are expecting to commence their first project within the coming weeks.
Newcastle Journal 9th June 2011 more >>
ONE workers sickness at the weekend led to the closure of a major reprocessing plant and cost Sellafields operators at least half a million pounds in lost production. The Magnox reprocessing plant (B205) was forced to shut for nearly five days after a specialist shift team leader went sick. There were not enough suitably qualified staff to take charge over the plants daily three eight-hour shifts.
Whitehaven News 9th June 2011 more >>
SELLAFIELDs operators have been accused of pillaging nature along the River Calder to make its banks area less vulnerable to potential terrorists. It is thought that the banks have been cleared to improve the sites security. Sellafield Ltd yesterday declined to comment on security issues but confirmed that trees have already been felled. A stretch of the Calder runs through part of the nuclear site. One Sellafield employee who has worked there for 30 years said he had seen devastation taking place. His reaction was shock and horror. Sellafield Ltd responded: We recognise the concern that has been expressed but we followed the recognised procedure before carrying out the work and have adapted our plans when environmental concerns have arisen. The NDA, as land owners, successfully applied to the Forestry Commission for a felling licence in order to permit the felling and coppicing of trees, shrubs and bushes on and around the Sellafield site.
Whitehaven News 9th June 2011 more >>
Scotland
THE Scottish Government’s target of generating 100 per cent of the country’s electricity needs from renewables by 2020 is unrealistic and unachievable, according to a leading economist. Inverness-based Mackay Consultants forecasts that while renewables production will rise substantially, it will reach only 39 per cent by 2020. The assessment was dismissed yesterday by the Scottish Government. A spokesman said: “This analysis is wrong. Scotland already produces over a quarter of electricity from renewables and we have enough renewables capacity installed, under construction or consented to provide almost 60 per cent of our electricity needs.
Scotsman 10th June 2011 more >>
Niall Stewart, chief executive of Scottish Renewables said ee stand by all our research. The industry is very confident these targets are achievable and indeed there is already more than enough in the pipeline.
Herald 10th June 2011 more >>
Europe
The nuclear stress tests on all the EU’s 143 nuclear reactors, due to start this month, together with the issue of nuclear safety in the EU’s neighbouring countries, will be the subject of a debate with the Commission on Thursday morning.
eGov Monitor 9th June 2011 more >>
Following the request of the European Council on 25 March that the safety of all EU nuclear power plants should be reviewed on the basis of a comprehensive risk and safety assessment, on 24 May the Commission and ENSREG reached agreement on the criteria, methodology and timeframe for carrying out these stress tests in the EU.
eGov Monitor 10th June 2011 more >>
Japan
Japanese green tea, recognised around the world for its purity and health benefits, has become contaminated with radiation as fallout from the Fukushima nuclear plant continues to blight Japans agricultural heartlands. The authorities said for the first time yesterday that green tea from the biggest Japanese tea-growing area, Shizuoka prefecture, contained radiation higher than the permitted level. The contamination of the tea has created an argument among local and national officials about how to measure the radiation and what constitutes a safe level of contamination.
Times 10th June 2011 more >>
Economic risks are too high for Japan to pull the plug on its 54 nuclear plants next year despite intense public pressure on Tokyo to cut reliance on atomic power in favor of other clean energy sources. Unless Tokyo overrides resistance from local officials, orders reactor restarts and faces down public disapproval, by April next year Japan’s last plant would shut for maintenance and leave the country with no nuclear power.
Reuters 9th June 2011 more >>
The report on the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant the government has submitted to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is full of passages describing mistakes made and lessons they offer. Although it is presented as a preliminary report, the document contains most of the elements of the government’s response to the nuclear disaster that have been criticized and recognized by the government itself as flawed. There is one notable statement concerning problems with locating more than one nuclear reactor at one site. It says, “(concentration on ) the development of an accident at one reactor affected the emergency responses for nearby reactors.”
Asahi 10th June 2011 more >>
The cabinet is expected to approve on Tuesday a bill to help Tokyo Electric Power Co meet its massive compensation payments through measures such as injecting money into the utility in the wake of the ongoing nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, government sources said Thursday. The government has decided to submit the bill during the current Diet session, which will end June 22 unless extended, to speed up the process for provisional payments to people affected by the nations worst nuclear plant disaster, the sources said. Under the bill, the government will create a new institution to aid TEPCO in ensuring the swift payment of compensation that may total trillions of yen and allocate to the institution a type of bond that can be cashed when necessary, and give state guarantees on loans provided by financial institutions to the entity.
Japan Today 10th June 2011 more >>
A DUMBARTON nuclear scientist is in Japan this week helping to plan the massive clean-up operation at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Dr Ian McKinley, a leading expert in nuclear waste management, is closely involved in dealing with the aftermath of the radiation leaks at the plant struck by a post-earthquake tsunami in March.
Lennox Herald 10th June 2011 more >>
Sokyu Genyu, a Buddhist priest from a temple just 45 km (28 miles) west of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant in northeast Japan, is drawing attention to the less visible scars from the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. As a member of a government panel to come up with a blueprint for rebuilding after the deadly earthquake and tsunami on March 11, Genyu is adding the people’s voice — and a different view — to debate on dealing with the loss of homes, jobs and communities.
Reuters 9th June 2011 more >>
Syria
Syria is to be reported to the UN Security Council over its alleged nuclear programme, four years after Israeli jets destroyed what is believed by the West to have been a secret atomic reactor.
Independent 10th June 2011 more >>
Scotsman 10th June 2011 more >>
Telegraph 9th June 2011 more >>
Guardian 9th June 2011 more >>
BBC 9th June 2011 more >>
Iran
World powers expressed “deeper concern” Thursday about the intention behind Iran’s controversial atomic drive in face of its refusal to answer questions about possible military dimensions to the work. A day after Iran announced it was expanding uranium enrichment — the most senstive part of its nuclear programme — Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States expressed their concerns in a joint statement to a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 35-member board of governors here.
Middle East Online 9th June 2011 more >>
US
The nuclear disaster in Japan has killed the chances for a US clean energy standard (CES), according to a top Congressional staffer. President Barack Obama has stated his support for an expansion of the US nuclear industry, saying that nuclear power can count towards his goal of generating 80% of electricity from clean energy sources by 2035. Right now there is no plausible political path forward, Campbell told attendees of the SNL Power Policy Forum in New York on Tuesday. Fukushima pretty well killed the CES. Its chances were very, very slim beforehand, but without nuclear to supply the baseload, we just cannot get there.
Environmental Finance 9th June 2011 more >>
India
India successfully test-fired surface-to-surface nuclear capable Prithvi II ballistic missile in the eastern state of Orissa on Thursday.
IB Times 9th June 2011 more >>
Prime Minister and chairman, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Dr. Manmohan Singh chaired a special meeting of NDMA earlier this month to review Indias disaster preparedness in the wake of the recent Japanese disasters. National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) will be conducting a mock drill at the Tarapur Nuclear facility in order to assess the capability of the district administration to deal with an off-site emergency.
Info4security 10th June 2011 more >>
Germany
Members of the German cabinet have backed chancellor Angela Merkel’s plans to phase out nuclear power in the country by 2022.
Low Carbon Economy 9th June 2011 more >>
Aldermaston
The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) has published the report of its internal inquiry into the fire which broke out in a building containing high explosives at the AWE Aldermaston site in August 2010, highlighting a number of safety failings (report available for download at the bottom of this article).
Nuclear Information Service 9th June 2011 more >>
Disarmament
On 14th to 15th June 2011 the Department of International Politics at Aberystwyth University will host a two-day symposium on the prospects for cooperation and trust-building between nuclear-armed powers and potential nuclear weapon states.
Welsh Country 9th June 2011 more >>
Renewables
The Government’s decision to cut subsidies for solar energy to all but the smallest projects will threaten investment and job creation in the alternative energy sector, environmental and industry groups warned yesterday. The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said the change to feed-in tariffs would maintain funding for households to put up panels by diverting them from larger projects. But campaigners said the decision would kill off schemes planned by schools, housing associations and other community organisations. Howard Johns, the chairman of the Solar Trade Association, accused the Treasury of handicapping DECC’s ability to respond to developments in the market when the UK should be investing in one of the industries of the future.
Independent 10th June 2011 more >>
The announcement of new and, for the most part, substantially lower feed-in tariffs for solar-power projects will come to be seen as another black mark on the Coalition Government’s record on climate change and a huge missed opportunity. An independent report in the US yesterday revealed that in much of the country, solar power is now no more expensive than electricity generated from oil or gas. This “grid parity” is now being achieved without any subsidies but only because the solar industry has had enough support in the past for technologies to be explored that have brought down costs, and for scale to be reached. What a pity, then, that in the UK, we are withdrawing such support barely a year after introducing it. For the feed-in tariffs for all but the smallest projects in themselves worthy, but not collectively able to produce significant amounts of power are now being cut so drastically that large-scale projects are likely to disappear.
Independent 10th June 2011 more >>
Solar power developers have secured a judicial review to challenge the Governments controversial decision to slash subsidies for larger projects. Chris Huhne, the Energy Secretary, is the named defendant in the action, which will go to the High Court for a two-day hearing at the end of next month. If the ten developers involved prevail, the Government would be forced into an embarrassing climbdown over the cuts, the size of which were confirmed yesterday.
Times 10th June 2011 more >>
Telegraph 10th June 2011 more >>
Howard Johns, Solar Trade Association chairman, said: The UK government is derailing solar just as other major economies including China, Japan and Germany are moving solar to the heart of energy policy. Schemes in leisure centres, supermarkets and schools would be severely limited, he added. Some energy policy analysts also questioned the decision. This is an overreaction, said Dr Robert Gross, an energy policy expert at Imperial College London. We should still support people putting solar panels up on factories and warehouses.
FT 10th June 2011 more >>
Reducing subsidies for large-scale solar installations, as the government had done today, is intended to increase the number of panels on house roofs. However, the Guardian has learned of dozens of examples of projects, often community-led, that will not now go ahead because the cuts subsidies on some schemes have been slashed by two-thirds mean the returns on investment now being offered are insufficient to attract bank loans or other forms of financing.
Guardian 10th June 2011 more >>
