Nuclear Consultation
The government’s public consultation on the future of nuclear power in this country – part of its shambolic energy review – was held on Saturday. Meg – 35 and a sales assistant from Cardiff – was there. She has posted a comment: “We were told numerous times that we didn’t need to know anything before we came to the event. It became quickly clear that the intention was to provide us with very limited, biased information in order to lead the participants to a predetermined conclusion”.
Greenpeace 12th Sept 2007 more >>
Friends of the Earth were due to protest outside a nuclear power consultation event in Nottingham today. Protesters with gags over their mouths planned to hand out leaflets outside the Hilton Hotel in Milton Street. The meeting is part of the Government’s ongoing national consultation on the future of nuclear power. A number of organisations, including FoE, have withdrawn from the consultation claiming it is flawed.
Nottingham Evening Post 12th Sept 2007 more >>
Dounreay
The latest radioactive fragment found on Sandside Beach near the Dounreay nuclear plant in Caithness is among the “hottest” yet detected. The particle of Caesium-137 was picked up during a sweep of the beach. It was the third recovered since monitoring resumed in August following a lengthy gap. The latest find brings the legacy of pollution from the plant to 97 used reactor fuel particles and an unidentified radioactive object. After being taken back to a laboratory at the former fast reactor complex, last Friday’s find was found to have an activity count of 380,000 Becquerel (Bq).
BBC 12th Sept 2007 more >>
The series of high counts led to environmental radiochemist Philip Day predicting the arrival of a million-becquerel particle – the level which Government experts say would pose a significant health hazard.
John O Groat Journal 12th Sept 2007 more >>
Conservative Party
Mr Cameron receives the final report from the Quality of Life Group, chaired by Zac Goldsmith and John Gummer, today after months of wrangling over its contents. On nuclear power, the report will say that there should be no subsidies but no new obstacles for companies wishing to build power stations.
Times 13th Sept 2007 more >>
France
After a Franco-German summit in Berlin on Monday, M. Sarkozy lectured the Germans publicly on the need to abandon their opposition to nuclear energy. This is a highly sensitive political issue in Berlin.
Independent 13th Sept 2007 more >>
Finland
Finland-based energy company Fortum has appointed Peter Gango as Loviisa nuclear power plant’s new manager, effective January 1, 2008. Mr Gango has previously held several management positions at Loviisa. Currently, He is manager of the UK-Sullom Voe power plant, which is operated and maintained by Fortum.
Energy Business Review 12th Sept 2007 more >>
Canada
Oil and gas company Shell may use nuclear power to mine oil in its Canadian tar sands. According to the report, Canadian firms AECL and Energy Alberta are planning to build a nuclear reactor near Shell’s Athabasca tar sands development site.
Energy Business Review 12th Sept 2007 more >>
Elsewhere Shell denied it was looking at nuclear power for its tar sands operation in Alberta.
Upstream Online 12th Sept 2007 more >>
South Korea
On Wednesday, Seoul’s energy ministry confirmed that South Korea will invest 5.73 trillion won ($6.14 billion) to build two nuclear plants of 1.4 million kilowatts each by 2013-2014.
Product Reviews 12th Sept 2007 more >>
North Korea
Nuclear experts and US officials have toured the reactor at North Korea’s Yongbyon atomic complex. The US State Department said they were allowed to see everything they wished. The team is scheduled to visit other facilities at Yongbyon on Thursday.
Channel 4 News 12th Sep 2007
