Iran
SIX major powers announced an agreement yesterday to impose new United Nations sanctions on Iran for its nuclear programme. The measure was sent to the Security Council for an anticipated vote next week. It would penalise Tehran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment, which can be used for peaceful ends or for making bombs.
Scotsman 16th March 2007
Independent 16th March 2007
US
Uranium chips at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant spontaneously caught fire Thursday and the small blaze was quickly extinguished, officials said. Bob Alvarez, a former DOE adviser, released a report last year saying there had been at least 23 fires and explosions involving nuclear and non-nuclear materials at Y-12 since 1992.
Guardian website 15th March 2007
Advanced PWR reactor technology developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has been selected by TXU for new nuclear generation capacity.
Nuclear Engineering International 15th March 2007
Trident
By voting on Wednesday night to renew the Trident nuclear system, Blair, Brown and Cameron suggested that they believe the 1997 answer [to the nuclear question] is still the correct one for senior British statesmen. But the scale of the Labour rebellion and the numbers in public polling on the subject (although inevitably exaggerated by the desire to see an unpopular government in trouble) suggest that the 60-year nuclear consensus at the top of British politics and in the media – buy them and threaten to fire them if necessary – is trembling.
Guardian 16th March 2007
So what exactly is the British nuclear deterrent supposed to protect us against?
Independent 16th March 2007
Four companies are preparing to bid for the nuclear submarine maintenance facility at Devonport in a move that could see BAE Systems wrap up the entire £25 billion Trident replacement contract. BAE, Babcock, Carlyle Group and General Dynamics are all understood to have asked UBS, which is handling the sale of Devonport, for a prospectus. KBR, a subsidiary of United States-based Halliburton, controls 51 per cent of The Devonport Royal Dockyard, or DML as it is called. It is understood that relations between KBR and the Ministry of Defence deteriorated so badly that KBR has effectively been forced into selling the dockyard.
Times 16th March 2007
Various letters: Many of our top scientists will be locked into creating this barbarous new missile system when there are a thousand better projects in which they could be employed, combating global warming for example, or harnessing the wave power of the Pentland Firth. An SNP victory on May 3 would be a major step in ending Blair’s insane plans.
Herald 16th March 2007
Caroline Lucas: Yesterday’s decision to replace the UK’s Trident nuclear weapons system is illegal, immoral, obscenely expensive and utterly irrelevant to the real security threats we face today.
Guardian 15th March 2007
North Korea
Negotiators in Beijing are continuing to discuss a nuclear disarmament deal with North Korea, despite growing rifts over a Macau-based bank. The row stems from a US decision to order US firms to sever ties with Banco Delta Asia (BDA), which is linked to North Korea money-laundering claims.
BBC 16th March 2007
Reuters 16th March 2007
Times 16th March 2007
Central Europe
Italian utility Enel and Rosatom, the Russian nuclear energy agency, have signed a memorandum of intent on the development of the electricity sector and nuclear power generation in Russia and in central and eastern Europe. In a press release, Enel stated that, in particular, the company was hoping to work with Rosatom to jointly develop nuclear power generation, jointly take part in the management of electricity systems and jointly invest and participate reciprocally in nuclear assets.
Energy Business Review 15th March 2007
New nukes
Letter from Dr Gerry Wolff: Nuclear power companies are only required to pay a small fraction of the cost of insuring fully against a Chernobyl-style accident, or worse. If we are to have a level playing field for different sources of energy, then this rather generous subsidy to the nuclear industry should be removed.
Doncaster Today 15th March 2007
Torness
NUCLEAR watchdog John Elliot wants a review of how safety incidents at nuclear power plants such as Torness are rated amid fears they are being played down. Councillor Elliot says he’s unhappy that safety and security lapses haven’t been publicly scrutinised for around two decades. His call comes after it was revealed at Westminster that during 2005 there were more than 30 incidents at the East Lothian coastal plant. And a leading expert on nuclear power and who has studied the Torness failure list believes some of the incidents have been underrated.
Southern Reporter 15th March 2007
Terror
A French court yesterday sentenced Willy Brigitte to nine years’ jail for plotting terrorist offences, including a plan to bomb the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor.
Sydney Morning Herald 16th March 2007
