Hutton
Today it is reported that Mr Hutton will be appointed to nuclear power company EDF’s Stakeholder Advisory Panel, which advises the firm’s senior management, and includes Lord Patten, the former Tory Cabinet Minister and last Governor of Hong Kong. It’s called the ‘revolving door. PASC gave Richard Caborn and Lord Warners a roasting about taking vast sums in exchange for their ministerial contacts and ‘expertise.’ We pointed out in our report that Ministers settling contracts might have an eye on the possibility of a fat salary when they step down as ministers. We thought that there is a grave danger that contracts could be awarded for the wrong reasons. We made a major point of this peril in our report. My conviction is that ministers should be banned for life from working in companies that received contracts from them in their ministerial incarnations.
Paul Flynn MP 13th Sept 2009 more >>
The former business secretary John Hutton, who championed the government’s push towards a new generation of nuclear stations, is in talks with French-owned nuclear energy company EDF about joining their group as an adviser. Hutton, who is to leave parliament at the next election, served as business secretary from 2007-08 and announced the government’s decision to build new nuclear reactors. As business secretary in September 2008, he also oversaw the £12.5bn sale of British Energy, the nuclear generator, to EDF, which is 83%-owned by the French state.
Guardian 14th Sept 2009 more >>
Electricity Supplies
Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, has dismissed the prospect of mass power cuts in the UK over the next decade. He said the issue was more a question of whether power needs were met from ‘‘sustainable’’ sources or traditional carbon fuels. The intervention came after the Government’s own new energy adviser warned that green energy was being developed too slowly.
Telegraph 14th Sept 2009 more >>
Companies
A Russian state-owned nuclear firm is attempting to break into the UK market with direct approaches to British firms, it has been reported. Atomenergoprom is thought to have made contact with British Gas owner Centrica and manufacturing giant Rolls-Royce as it looks to become a major player in the UK and beyond. The firm has already signed a joint venture with Toshiba, whose Westinghouse subsidiary runs the UK’s main nuclear manufacturing site, Springfields, near Preston.
Loughborough News 13th Sept 2009 more >>
EDF
Henri Proglio, chief executive of Veolia Environnement, the French water and waste management group, has been selected by President Sarkozy to take over as the head of EDF, the state electricity giant.
Times 14th Sept 2009 more >>
Venezuela
Venezuela President Hugo Chavez said the South American country plans to develop a nuclear energy program with Russia and doesn’t want to build an atomic bomb.
Bloomberg 13th Sept 2009 more >>
Iran
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said Iran is ready to discuss global issues with world powers, but that its nuclear programme is non-negotiable.
BBC 13th Sept 2009 more >>
Herald 13th Sept 2009 more >>
The issue of Iran’s nuclear programme reared its head again last week , even though it received comparatively little attention on an American political stage dominated by the battle over healthcare reform. Four days ago, Glyn Davies, the US envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, warned that Iran had advanced further than previously thought in the process of developing a nuclear bomb.
Sunday Business Post 13th Sept 2009 more >>
Israel
Obama has shown no inclination to address the perils that this entangled alliance with Jewish extremists imposes on US national security and on the prospects for peace. The focal point for peace in the Middle East should not be those nations that do not have nuclear weapons but the one nation that does.
Middle East Online 14th Sept 2009 more >>
Energy Efficiency
The Government’s low-carbon transition plan comprises five key points, ranging from securing international climate agreements to action on carbon budgets. All the points are important, but it is the fifth that will make the real difference “supporting individuals, communities and businesses to play their part”. This plan will work only if individual consumers embrace it and change their behaviour. This change must be significant and go much further than simply switching the television off standby or installing a few low-energy light bulbs. Its success depends on motivating individual consumers to make energy efficiency a priority.We have an opportunity comparable to mobile phones and the internet to transform our energy supply by augmenting large-scale power generation with community and consumer contributions.
Times 14th Sept 2009 more >>
