British Energy
BRITISH ENERGY could abandon its £11 billion auction and instead parcel the company’s nuclear development sites into a series of joint ventures. The group, which is chaired by Sir Adrian Montague, has been working on the joint-venture plan in parallel with the auction of the nuclear power company – an auction that appears to be doomed after the rejection of an offer last week from France’s EDF. Shareholders representing at least 25% of the company’s stock are said to support the joint-venture option, which they believe will create more long-term value than a sale. The rejection of the EDF offer came after intensive lobbying from some of British Energy’s biggest shareholders. They believe the bid, priced at about 700p a share, substantially undervalues the company. They argue EDF’s proposal does not take full account of soaring wholesale electricity prices, which will lead to bumper profits.
Sunday Times 15th June 2008 more >>
Iberdrola, the Spanish energy company that owns ScottishPower, said this weekend that despite pulling out bidding for British Energy it still wants to build a nuclear business in the UK. Jose Luis del Valle, who last week handed over the reins as chief executive of ScottishPower to Nick Horler, said a mix that included nuclear energy was very important to the company’s growth in Britain.
Sunday Times 15th June 2008 more >>
THE British business community is openly critical of the government’s limp attempts to come up with a workable energy policy. Our leading businessmen say the country is walking into an energy crisis – and unless the matter is addressed urgently it will be too late. Last week the business secretary, John Hutton, attempted to put some clarity into the situation. He could not have been more emphatic in his support for a new generation of nuclear power stations moving Britain to a low-carbon economy less dependent on gas and coal. As soon as he had said this, however, there was a collapse in the auction to sell British Energy, which operates more than 90% of our nuclear capacity and has the best sites for new reactors. British Energy’s board, chaired by Sir Adrian Montague, said the last bidder in the auction – EDF, the French energy giant – had not offered enough.
Sunday Times 15th June 2008 more >>
Nuclear Waste
AN UNPRECEDENTED plan to export radioactive waste from old nuclear submarines in Scotland to Sweden is coming under fire from local authorities worried about accidents and pollution. The naval dockyard at Rosyth in Fife has applied for permission to ship metal contaminated with radioactivity to a smelter near Nykping in Sweden, run by the nuclear waste company Studsvik. The plan is for the metal, from the decommissioning of seven defunct submarines laid up at Rosyth, to be melted, decontaminated and reused. The contaminated slag will then be sent back to Rosyth to be disposed of at the low-level radioactive waste dump at Drigg, near Sellafield in Cumbria.
Sunday Herald 15th June 2008 more >>
RobEdwards.com 15th June 2008 (with links) more >>
Dounreay
A FURTHER 21 boreholes have been drilled around the underground waste shaft at Dounreay.They are being used to measure how much less groundwater is reaching the shaft following hydraulic isolation. Swedish company SolExperts is taking measurements from each borehole and its report is expected to be complete in a few weeks. The results will provide important information about the effectiveness of a “grout curtain” installed around the unlined shaft.
John O Groat Journal 11th June 2008 more >>
Climate
The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, could face another rebellion from his backbenchers if he fails to include aviation in his targets to cut the
pollution that is warming the globe. Two thirds of Scottish Labour backbenchers favour the inclusion of emissions from international air travel in Westminster s forthcoming climate change bill, according to a survey by Friends of the Earth Scotland. Many of the MPs have signed a parliamentary motion by the former Labour minister, Nigel Griffiths, calling for aviation to be included. The motion also urges the UK government to increase its target cut in carbon emissions from 60% to 80% by 2050.
Sunday Herald 15th June 2008 more >>
Renewables
Britain will put “rocket boosters” behind developing tide and wave energy under a future Conservative government, David Cameron is to promise
tomorrow. He will also undertake to force a debate in the House of Commons to get the Government to explain “why so little has been done for so long” to exploit the energy pounding the country’s shores.
Independent on Sunday 15th June 2008 more >>
Faslane
Hundreds of demonstrators formed a human chain at a nuclear submarine base as part of a protest against the weapons. Organisers said about 500 people took part in the demonstration at the Faslane Naval Base on the Clyde. The protest took place on the 40th anniversary of the first nuclear submarine patrol from the base.
PA 14th June 2008 more >>
Scotland On Sunday 14th June 2008 more >>
Perthshire Advertiser 14th June 2008 more >>
Hamilton Advertiser 14th June 2008 more >>
Observer 15th June 2008 more >>
Iran
Frantic diplomatic negotiations took place in Tehran yesterday as Iran weighed up a package of trade inducements offered by world powers in exchange for the abandonment of its uranium enrichment programme. European foreign policy chief Javier Solana arrived in Tehran with the offer of the last-ditch deal on behalf of Britain, the US, Germany, Russia, France and China. Tehran is being given a month to agree to suspend enrichment of uranium in exchange for economic, technological and political incentives or face further punitive measures, including the prospect of unilateral sanctions by the EU.
Observer 15th June 2008 more >>
Iran again ruled out suspending sensitive nuclear work on Saturday, despite an offer by six world powers of trade and other benefits to try to coax it into stopping activities the West fears are aimed at making bombs.
Reuters 14th June 2008 more >>
Proliferation
A court is to hear damning claims that a German engineer played a key role in an international nuclear trafficking gang set up by Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadir Khan, the news magazine Der Spiegel said Saturday. It said the allegations were made by Gerhard Wisser, a German businessman living in Johannesburg, South Africa, as part of a plea bargain last year to reduce charges over his own role in the ring.
Earth Times 14th June 2008 more >>
