Scotland
At last: a Scottish response to Blair’s energy review. Scottish ministers have finally managed to make their submission to Tony Blair’s energy review – two months late and just a few weeks before the Prime Minister is expected to give the go-ahead to new nuclear power stations.
RobEdwards.com 14th June 2006
The Scottish Executive’s position on nuclear power came under fresh attack from opposition politicians. Ministers have reiterated the position of the Labour-Lib Dem partnership agreement that no new nuclear power stations will be built in Scotland until the issue of waste management is dealt with, in a response to the UK-wide energy review. The SNP’s shadow energy and environment minister Richard Lochhead branded it “absurd” that there was no objection to new nuclear developments.
ICScotland 14th June 2006
Security
Britain’s nuclear police: misconduct and a missing gun. The armed police who guard Britain’s civil nuclear plants have been investigated for 45 cases of misconduct and faced 14 formal complaints over the last five years. In one instance, a handgun and ammunition were stolen from a police station.
RobEdwards.com 14th June 2006
Russia
Russia is to build the world’s first floating nuclear plant, designed to provide power for remote areas. Under a contract signed on Wednesday, the plant will be built at an Arctic site where atomic submarines are made.
BBC 14th June 2006
Energy Business Review 15th June 2006
Scotsman 15th June 2006
Iran
A Central Asian summit on regional cooperation opened in China on Thursday, but the presence of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his nuclear ambitions threatened to overshadow the meeting. Leaders of the six Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) members — China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan — assembled in China’s financial capital for a group photograph and then closed-door discussions ahead of public speeches marking the fifth anniversary of the organisation.
Reuters 15th June 2006
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he had held “constructive” talks with Iran’s main nuclear negotiator, in his first contacts with the Iranians since he visited Tehran last week.
Interactive Investor 14th June 2006
Terror
Article by El Baradei: The simplest way to produce an atomic explosion is to slam together two sizeable chunks of high-enriched uranium (HEU) in what is commonly called a “gun-type nuke”. The approach might sound crude, and it is. No country currently uses this design for its nuclearweapons. But it is worth remembering two things. First, that it was an HEU gun-type nuclear weapon that killed more than 70,000 people at Hiroshima. Second, that terrorists tend to be less focused on elegance of design than on results. This brings us to a critical question: after nearly five years of living under the threat of sophisticated terrorism – and with clear signs of terrorists trying to acquire nuclear material through criminal networks – why are we still moving so sluggishly to get rid of global HEU stockpiles and to minimise civilian uses of HEU?
FT 15th June 2006
Czech Republic
The chairwoman of the Czech Republic’s nuclear safety body has told a conference that more investment in the fuel is required to meet the country’s burgeoning demand for power.
Energy Business Review 15th June 2006
Dounreay
An investigation has been launched after nitric acid leaked from a tank at a nuclear plant, it has been revealed. Around 4.5 litres of the liquid waste spilled from the tank, which was in a sealed cell at the Dounreay site in Caithness.
ICScotland 14th June 2006
BBC 14th June 2006
New nukes
Nuclear power has to be “at least part of the debate” if Britain is to meet its future energy needs, Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Wednesday. Blair argued the benefits of nuclear power in parliament as his government prepares to announce the findings of a crucial energy policy review next month. Blair said last month that the replacement of Britain’s ageing nuclear plants was back on the agenda, angering environmentalists who said it showed he had already decided to back nuclear power, pre-empting the review. Blair was asked by Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell what had changed since a 2003 energy policy document which said building new nuclear power stations was economically unattractive and nuclear waste issues still had to be resolved.
Reuters 14th June 2006
Sir Menzies Campbell has warned the prime minister not to back a new generation of nuclear reactors.
ePolitix 14th June 2006
Rising energy prices have pushed nuclear power onto the world agenda, said Prime Minister Tony Blair. Speaking during Prime Minister’s Questions, Blair added that concerns about security of supply and climate change were also driving the debate on whether Britain should build a new generation of nuclear power stations.
Interactive Investor 14th June 2006
Last night’s TV revelations about increased cancer risks among people who live near the closed-down Trawsfynydd nuclear power station in north Wales reopened the debate about nuclear power. Here DR ROBERT ALLAN, a senior lecturer in environmental science at Huddersfield University looks at the energy issue, and says the nuclear case has yet to be proved.
Huddersfield Daily Examiner 14th June 2006
Letter: According to recent news reports Tony Blair is signing a deal to co-operate with France on new nuclear power stations. If past records demonstrate anything it is the Government’s willingness to sell out our technology industries in favour of foreign ownership and “inward investment”, which means we can soon expect a merger followed by an outright takeover of the remains of our nuclear industry by the French government.
Independent 15th June 2006
Letter: PWRs should be seen as an interim solution. In the long term, we must again take up work on the fast breeder reactor.
Telegraph 15th June 2006
THORP
Manx Government officials have pledged to continue their opposition to the UK Government plans for the Thorp nuclear reprocessing plant at Sellafield. Dr Paul McKenna, of the government’s public health division, said it would keep trying to persuade the UK to close the Thorp section.
BBC 14th June 2006
Privatisation
The Government is looking for a new chief executive of the Shareholder Executive, the quango which overseas publicly-owned companies such as Royal Mail, BNF and National Air Traffic Services. Richard Gillingwater, who has held the post since 2003, is to take up a new part-time role as chairman from September. As chief executive of the Shareholder Executive, Mr Gillingwater has been one of Britain’s highest paid civil servants, earning about £500,000 a year. The Shareholder Executive oversees companies with a combined annual turnover of £20bn. The coming year is key, with the intended sale of British Nuclear Fuels and the flotation of the uranium enrichment business, Urenco
Telegraph 15th June 2006
FT 15th June 2006
