New Nukes
Letters including one from Pete Roche: According to J L Gray, nuclear electricity will cost around 3.5-4p per kW hour, as if there is some kind of certainty (Letters, April 11). In fact, there are some very large uncertainties. Neither of the two competing reactor designs, for instance, has yet been built anywhere in the world. The French type, under construction in Finland, is already three years late and 50% over budget. It was recently reported that the capital costs of new reactors in the United States are “out of control” and expected to reach 10-14p per kWh.
Herald 14th Apr 2009 more >>
Nuclear Transport
PITY the pirates that set their sights on the vast container ships that sail from Barrow-in Furness to the Land of the Rising Sun. For while the Pacific Heron and her sister ships, such as the Pintail, may resemble any one of the thousands of elongated cargo vessels ploughing the world’s sea lanes, they pack quite a punch. Run by the British Nuclear Group, the vessels carry reprocessed plutonium-based fuel from Sellafield to be burnt in Japan’s nuclear reactors, and come equipped with a suitably robust deterrent to pirates: three 30mm canons and a 12-strong security detail from the Civil Nuclear Constabulary armed with Heckler & Koch submachine guns and automatic sidearms. The decision to arm what are essentially British merchant vessels was made a decade ago as a compromise to avoid having a Royal Navy escort on each trip, which would have made the plutonium fuel – an attractive target for terrorists – prohibitively expensive.
Scotsman 14th Apr 2009 more >>
Iran
Iran has welcomed an offer of talks with six world powers over its nuclear programme, state television says.
BBC 13th Apr 2009 more >>
The Deputy Head of Iran Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) Mohammad Saeedi said that Iran will construct nuclear power plants worldwide within the next 10 years. Saeedi said that Iran can attain this technology within 12 years in spite of mounting pressures from home and abroad.
Computer Business Review 12th Apr 2009 more >>
North Korea
North Korea threatened to reopen a nuclear power plant, process more plutonium for nuclear weapons, and withdraw permanently from international disarmament negotiations today, after the UN Security Council condemned its firing of a long range rocket earlier this month.
Times 14th Apr 2009 more >>
Yahoo 14th Apr 2009 more >>
Telegraph 14th Apr 2009 more >>
FT 14th Apr 2009 more >>
Reuters 14th Apr 2009 more >>
BBC 14th Apr 2009 more >>
Banks dealing with North Korea are likely to be among the targets of international sanctions after the United Nations Security Council agreed unanimously yesterday to strengthen measures against Pyongyang, diplomats said.
FT 14th Apr 2009 more >>
US
For 10 years now, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been busily extending the operating license of nuclear power plants designed to run for 40 years another 20 years. Imagine driving down a highway in a 60-year-old car. But safety concerns are minimized by the NRC, a lapdog of the nuclear industry. Just as the NRC has never denied a construction or operating license for a nuclear plant anywhere, anytime in the U.S., it has rubber-stamped every application for a 20-year extension for now 52 nuclear plants.
Counter Punch 13th Apr 2009 more >>
Japan
Tokyo Electric Power Company, Inc. (TEPCO) said that no radiation has leaked after a minor fire broke out late on April 11, 2009 at a warehouse situated on the same grounds as a Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant which remains shut.
Energy Business Review 12th Apr 2009 more >>
Climate
Almost nine out of 10 climate scientists do not believe political efforts to restrict global warming to 2C will succeed, a Guardian poll reveals today. An average rise of 4-5C by the end of this century is more likely, they say, given soaring carbon emissions and political constraints.
Guardian 14th Apr 2009 more >>
The impact of different temperature rises, by Mark Lynas.
Guardian 14th Apr 2009 more >>
Hit with a double whammy of spiralling carbon emissions from the coal-fired boom in developing countries such as China and political stalemate, many climate scientists have become noticeably nervous in recent years. While technical papers in academic journals have tracked increasingly desperate predictions, most have put on a brave face in public. Likely failure to meet the 2C target, and the certainty of dreadful consequences, has been the worst-kept secret in climate science.
Guardian 14th Apr 2009 more >>
Peak Oil
George Monbiot: There is nothing certain about the hypothesis that global supplies of conventional petroleum might soon stop growing and then go into decline. There is a large body of expert opinion, marshalling impressive statistics, which is convinced that peak oil is imminent. There is also a large body of expert opinion, marshalling impressive statistics, which insists that it’s a long way off. I don’t know who to believe. The key data – the true extent of reserves in the Opec nations – is a state secret. Anyone who tells you that oil supplies will definitely peak by a certain date or definitely won’t peak ever is a fraud: the information required to make these assessments does not exist.
Guardian 14th Apr 2009 more >>
Renewables
Britain risks missing out on tens of thousands of jobs and failing to hit its renewable energy target unless the state steps in to rescue the struggling wind power industry, the Government will be warned today. A rapid expansion of wind power and the development of major offshore farms are crucial in the Government’s efforts to meet its legally binding target of producing 15 per cent of energy from renewable sources by 2020. But the spiralling costs of importing wind turbines and problems raising capital have put some major projects planned for the next decade in jeopardy. A report by the Institute for Public Policy Research, published today, says that an offshore wind investment programme is urgently needed, while as many as 70,000 jobs could be created if the Government is prepared to provide financial backing for offshore projects.
Independent 14th Apr 2009 more >>
