New Nukes
A DECISION on which sites will be approved to house a new fleet of nuclear reactors will be announced before the general election is called, The Whitehaven News has been told. Consultations taking the form of a series of exhibitions and public discussions will close on February 22 after which views will be subjected to parliamentary scrutiny and also a debate in the House of Commons.
Whitehaven News 13th Jan 2010 more >>
Transcript of evidence to the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee investigation on National Policy Statements,
House of Commons 6th January 2010 more >>
County MP Tim Farron has been asked to sign an early day motion on the Nuclear National Policy Statement. Radiation Free Lakeland have written to the Liberal Democrat member for Westmorland and Lonsdale asking him to sign the EDM which asks that the public and expert witnesses should have the opportunity to scrutinise the draft NNP statement. It points out that the Energy Select Committee has been time-tabled wrongly and given too little time to scrutinise the Nuclear National Policy Statement despite its importance.
Get Noticed Online 13th Jan 2010 more >>
Companies
French nuclear power producers, such as GDF Suez, need to have access to a wider choice of reactors if they want to win more deals around the world, GDF Suez Chief Executive Gerard Mestrallet told reporters on Wednesday.
Reuters 13th Jan 2010 more >>
Westinghouse, designer of the AP1000 nuclear reactor currently under assessment for the UK’s civil nuclear programme, has appointed Serco as its lead nuclear safety adviser in Britain.
The Engineer 13th Jan 2010 more >>
Hinkley
A demonstration is taking place outside the Bridgwater offices of Electricite de France (EDF) in protest at the lack of real local involvement in the proposal to build a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point. It seems to be a common theme across the country as local voices are being ignored under a welter of spin and propaganda.
Get Noticed Online 12th Jan 2010 more >>
Oldbury
Oldbury nuclear power station will hold its next Site Stakeholder Group meeting at the Park Hotel, Falfield, near Thornbury. The meeting is open to all members of the public and starts at 1pm on Wednesday, January 20. Those attending will get an update on the site’s current operations and activities.
Bristol Evening Post 13th Jan 2010 more >>
Chernobyl
Doctors at the Children’s Cancer Hospital in Minsk, Belarus and at the Vilne Hospital for Radiological Protection in Eastern Ukraine are telling international media that they are seeing what they have no doubt is a spike in cancer rates, mutations and blood diseases among their patients linked to the world’s largest nuclear disaster at Chernobyl 24 years. If the reports of the local doctors and researchers, many of who spoke to Bellona Web Monday and in interviews last week, prove to be true, they could stand over two decades’ worth of research by the United Nations and affiliated organisations on its head, and cast a shadow over the research techniques that have thus far been employed. The local data clash with figures release by the UN’s World Health Organisation and the International Atomic Energy Agency, Those agencies have fixed the number of victims of the blast and fallout that occurred when Chernobyl’s No. 4 reactor experienced a melt-down in 1986 and exploded at 56.
Bellona 11th Jan 2010 more >>
Radiation and Health
AN Oxford professor believes that radiation health risks surrounding nuclear sites such as Sellafield have been exaggerated.
Whitehaven News 13th Jan 2010 more >>
Radwaste
RESIDENTS who live in North West Copeland will have a chance to hear about West Cumbria’s plans for managing radioactive waste safely at the next neighbourhood forum. Councillor Elaine Woodburn and Willie Slavin, chair of the West Cumbria Strategic Partnership, will speak on the topic before taking questions. There will also be updates on other matters of community interest, including Keekle Head Waste Management Centre, the Household Waste Recycling Centre at Moresby Parks, and the Holiday Park at Lowca.
Whitehaven News 13th Jan 2010 more >>
Renewables
Two years ago Eigg did not even have mains electricity. Now the tiny Scottish island, population 95, has won a UK-wide award for its leap forward in harnessing renewable energy and its approach to tackling climate change. Among the measures it has adopted are using spent cooking oil from the local ferry in its community vehicles, and running public conveniences by solar power. Eigg was yesterday among three groups each receiving a £300,000 share of a £1 million prize offered by the Big Green Challenge, a competition organised by the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts to reduce carbon emissions. Sharing the jackpot were The Green Valleys, a project based in the Brecon Beacons, and the Household Energy Service, based in Ludlow, Shropshire. Low Carbon West Oxford received £100,000 as runner-up. Eigg managed the greatest decrease in CO2 emissions, with a cut of 32 per cent.
Times 14th Jan 2010 more >>
Herald 14th Jan 2010 more >>
BBC 13th Jan 2010 more >>
Smart Meters
The £8.1 billion rollout of smart meters in Britain could be knocked off course unless the Government and Ofgem, the energy regulator, act urgently to convince the public that the information provided by the meters will be held securely. Fears that data on energy consumption could be misused by criminals, police or insurance companies have curtailed the compulsory introduction of the meters in the Netherlands, according to a report by Datamonitor, the market analyst.
Times 14th Jan 2010 more >>
Fuel Poverty
AT least 25 per cent of people in Copeland are said to be living in ‘fuel poverty’. This is when a household needs to spend more than 10 per cent of its income on fuel to maintain warmth in the home (21 degrees for main living area and 18 degrees for other occupied rooms).
Whitehaven News 13th Jan 2010 more >>
The Scottish Government has not ruled out bringing in a boiler scrappage scheme, Communities Minister Alex Neil has insisted. But he said the Holyrood administration would target its efforts on those people who are suffering from fuel poverty. The Scottish Government has faced calls from both small businesses and opposition politicians to establish a boiler scrappage scheme, after Chancellor Alistair Darling announced one was being set up for England and Wales.
Herald 14th Jan 2010 more >>
