Nuclear Sites
Government plans for a new generation of nuclear power stations have provoked anger from green activists but raised hopes of new jobs and a boost to local economies. Ministers stepped up efforts to find suitable sites in England and Wales by publishing a list of 11 potential areas on Wednesday.
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Local people have been given a month to put forward their views on a list of potential sites for new nuclear power stations. The locations have been named by the Department of Energy and Climate Change after vetting a series of applications to ensure they were credible and that the sites could be operational by 2025.
Public.net 16th Apr 2008 more >>
The intense debate on nuclear energy was reignited yesterday when the government issued a list of 11 potential sites for a new generation of power stations, including Sizewell on the north Suffolk coast.
East Anglia Daily Press 16th Apr 2009 more >>
The locations of 11 possible new nuclear power stations were published by the government on Wednesday, all of them at or next to existing plants.
FT 16th Apr 2009 more >>
The government published a list of potential sites for a new generation of nuclear power plants as it faced warnings that it was not doing enough to prevent a serious energy shortage in six years’ time. Sites at Braystones and Kirksanton, close to the Lake District national park, have been listed as well as nine existing locations for generating facilities to be considered as part of a month-long public consultation.
Guardian 16th Apr 2009 more >>
There was anger yesterday from green campaigners and the Liberal Democrats who are firmly opposed to the renaissance of nuclear power in Britain. Publication of the list was the latest indication that a new nuclear programme for the UK is now rolling remorselessly forward, after the Government firmly committed itself to including nuclear in the future British energy mix in January last year.
Independent 16th Apr 2009 more >>
Craig Lowrey, head of energy markets at EIC, an independent consultancy, said that the new plants would not help Britain to avoid a dangerous slide towards an overreliance on electricity produced from gas-fired power stations, just as domestic supplies of gas from the North Sea are running short and Britain is seeking to slash its carbon emissions.
Times 16th Apr 2009 more >>
Energy experts warned that the first one would not be ready before 2017 at the earliest too late to avoid a yawning gap opening up in Britain’s energy supplies with a string of ageing coal and nuclear stations set to close over the next few years.
Times 15th Apr 2009 more >>
Responding to a short list of potential sites for new nuclear power plants, published today, Friends of the Earth’s energy campaigner Robin Webster said: ”We urgently need to end our addiction to fossil fuels – but breathing new life into the failed nuclear experiment is not the answer.
FoE Press Release 15th Apr 2009 more >>
Bradwell
PROTESTORS aim to raise awareness about the dangers a new nuclear power station could create at Bradwell. The Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group (BANNG) will stage a protest at the Strood at Mersea Island on Thursday April 9. At high tide, the island is cut off from the mainland and the group’s intention is to highlight the dangers posed by a new nuclear power station at Bradwell. If there were to be a major incident from the accidental release of radioactivity, this would create a danger to the residents of the island and surrounding areas, including Tollesbury.
North Essex Gazette 7th Apr 2009 more >>
ONLY 1 per cent of people contacted about plans to build a new nuclear power station at Bradwell attended meetings to discuss the issue. Figures released by EDF Energy, which ran community meetings throughout the Maldon district and in West Mersea, revealed that more than 25,000 people were notified about the possibility of a new power station with almost 250 turning up to talk to the expert.
North Essex Gazette 15th Apr 2009 more >>
Oldbury
Friends of the Earth has condemned government plans for a possible new nuclear station at Oldbury in South Gloucestershire.
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Hartlepool
People living in Hartlepool deserve discounted energy bills if a new nuclear plant is to be built in the town, according to a local councillor. Geoff Lilley, who is also a member of Friends of the Earth, said the community deserved to “benefit from a power station on its doorstep”.
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Wylfa
Residents are being encouraged to submit their views about plans for a new nuclear power station on Anglesey as part of a public consultation. A new station at Wylfa on the island is one of the 11 sites which have been nominated as potential locations for a new generation of nuclear stations.
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Wales Online 15th Apr 2009 more >>
Daily Post 15th Apr 2009 more >>
Heysham
A Lancashire location is on a list of 11 potential sites for new nuclear power stations unveiled by the Government today. Nine of the locations, including the Heysham site, have previously been home to nuclear reactors, while two others are close to the former Sellafield reactor site in Cumbria.
Preston Citizen 15th Apr 2009 more >>
Dungeness
DUNGENESS has been put forward by the government as a site for potential new nuclear build. British Energy, the owners of Dungeness B Power Station, put forward land next to the existing station earlier this year.
This is Kent 15th Apr 2009 more >>
Scotland
Ed Miliband’s visit to Hunterston nuclear power station today emphasises how dramatic the looming energy challenge is becoming for the SNP government. The party’s manifesto commitment opposing any extension of nuclear power in Scotland has become totemic and Alex Salmond is determined to steer Scotland towards a future driven by renewable energy. But increasingly the question being posed by business and even by Mr Salmond’s Council of Economic Advisers is whether this is sustainable.
Times 16th Apr 2009 more >>
UK Environment Minister Ed Miliband has stirred a nuclear storm in Scotland with a challenge to the SNP government to drop its opposition to nuclear power. Mr Miliband claimed that the majority of Scottish people were supportive of nuclear power. “Even previous opponents of nuclear power have accepted that it is wrong to rule out new nuclear in these circumstances,” he said. Mr Miliband received backing from Lewis MacDonald, Scottish Labour’s energy spokesman, and the Conservatives who said anti-nuclear dogma failed to take into account the risks of global warming or the £5bn investment in jobs two new stations would bring.
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Duncan McLaren of FoE Scotland said “We think the Scottish Government is making exactly the right choice, and the Labour government is seeking to undermine them, in the misplaced belief that it will obtain political advantage.” In Mr McLaren’s view, there is a “stark” choice between nuclear and renewables. “Across the energy system, we have limited grid capacity. We have limited time and effort in the planning system. We have limited trained engineers and we have limited money. “We have seen it in the past: when nuclear power is prioritised, renewables and energy efficiency get downgraded, and these are the things we should be doing first,” he said.
Scotsman 16th Apr 2009 more >>
Two south of Scotland MPs have hit out at the Scottish Government’s refusal to approve new nuclear plants being built. Labour’s Russell Brown and Tory David Mundell said it could cost jobs in Dumfries and Galloway where a station was being decommissioned.
BBC 15th Apr 2009 more >>
Surveys of Scottish opinion show both an enthusiasm for renewables and a majority in favour of continuing nuclear generation. The politicians should abandon their entrenched positions to favour a similarly pragmatic approach to the inextricably linked problems of energy supply and the effects of climate change. In the long term a mixed fuel economy will be the most effective solution.
Herald editorial 16th Apr 2009 more >>
East Anglia
The government has named Sizewell in Suffolk and Bradwell in Essex among 11 sites in England and Wales where new nuclear power stations could be built.
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Cumbria
Sellafield in West Cumbria the birthplace of Britain’s nuclear industry and the site of its worst accident, the 1957 Windscale fire is pushing harder than any other region to play a leading role in the industry’s future. Of the 11 sites proposed yesterday for the new nuclear stations, three lie in a corner of the country where, despite a history of leaks and cover-ups, the locals remain supportive of the nuclear industry, a key local employer.
Times 16th Apr 2009 more >>
PEOPLE will be given an early say on the country’s proposed nuclear reactor sites, three of them in Copeland. Yesterday the Government issued its list of 11 nominated sites for new power stations and as expected locations at Braystones, Kirksanton and land around Sellafield are included. But it stressed these are only nominations and until May 14 the public can comment on information supplied against government criteria used in assessing locations.
Whitehaven News 15th Apr 2009 more >>
AN official government consultation was set to begin today on plans to build a new nuclear power plant near Millom. Farmland at Layriggs in Kirksanton was nominated by energy company RWE npower last month. The public can now have their say on the plans – which could see a nuclear plant built 200 yards from villagers’ doorsteps. Land at Braystones near Egremont and Sellafield are also possible nuclear power station sites being considered. Government approval will be given to a selected number of the nominations in August.
NW Evening Mail 15th Apr 2009 more >>
An environmental group has warned that the construction of new nuclear power stations in Cumbria would be a “kiss of death” for the county.
BBC 15th Apr 2009 more >>
South West
The Government has announced that they want to see new nuclear power stations built at Hinkley Point in Somerset and Oldbury in South Gloucestershire. Moves are already underway by the power companies to build new nuclear facilities at both sites and today’s announcement will add momentum to the process.
South West Business 15th Apr 2009 more >>
Building two new nuclear power stations in the West will pump £4 billion into the economy and provide 20,000 jobs, supporters said last night. They were reacting to the news that Hinkley Point, in Somerset, and Oldbury, in South Gloucestershire, have formally been included on a list of suitable sites. But anti-nuclear campaigners vowed to fight the plans for a new generation of reactors that could be operating within eight years.
South West Business 16th Apr 2009 more >>
Companies
JOBS could be created by an engineering firm’s £4m expansion to take advantage of plans for a “nuclear renaissance”. Darchem Engineering will start work next week on expanding its facilities at Stillington, near Stockton, with the largest proportion being spent on its thermal protection business in preparation for the UK’s expected new wave of nuclear plants.
Northern Echo 15th Apr 2009 more >>
Sellafield
An investigation has been launched at Sellafield after a loss of vital coolant water to storage tanks in the high level waste complex. The storage tanks can hold up to 1,000 cubic metres of radioactive liquid waste. Cumbria Opposed to a Radioactive Environment (Core) claim that the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) revealed that the incident followed the incorrect re-instatement of a control valve which had been isolated for maintenance. Sellafield Ltd has confirmed that on Wednesday, April 1 cooling water to priority storage tanks containing liquor was restored within two hours, to other tanks containing liquor within four hours, and to empty tanks within eight hours, which was well within their safety limits.
Carlisle News and Star 15th Apr 2009 more >>
Uranium
The rump of the bankrupt bank Lehman Brothers is sitting on a stockpile of 450,000 lb of uranium “yellowcake” which could be used to power a nuclear reactor or, theoretically, to make a bomb. Lehman’s potentially explosive asset is a hangover from a commodities trading contract undertaken before the Wall Street bank went bust in September. The substance, yellowcake, is a solid form of mined uranium which is yet to be enriched. Liquidators have been trying to offload the stuff for months. But the price of uranium has been dropping steadily, leaving Lehman’s yellowcake languishing in a variety of secure storage facilities, some of which are in Canada.
Guardian 16th Apr 2009 more >>
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Nuclear Research
THE National Nuclear Laboratory based at Sellafield aims to create 180 technical jobs in the North West and invest £1 million a year. The pledge has been made by its new management team which said this week: “We aim to place the lab at the centre of the research and development agenda underpinning the renaissance in the nuclear sector significantly growing revenues and creating jobs.”
Whitehaven News 15th Apr 2009 more >>
IAEA
Deputy Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Yury Sokolov said that the economic crisis would not change the driver for the progress of the nuclear power industry, media reported. Additionally, Sokolov said that the nuclear industry has contributed itself by enhancing performance, maintaining a fair safety record, the continuous technological innovation and successful examples of nuclear programs in many countries as well.
Energy Business Review 15th Apr 2009 more >>
North Korea
UN inspectors ordered out by North Korea have left the country’s main nuclear facility after removing seals and surveillance cameras there, a diplomat said.
Guardian 16th Apr 2009 more >>
Iran
Iran’s president has said he is willing to build a new relationship with the United States and is preparing proposals aimed at breaking the impasse with the West over his country’s nuclear programme.
Independent 16th Apr 2009 more >>
Guardian 16th Apr 2009 more >>
