New Nukes
CAMPAIGNERS opposing plans for a second nuclear power station at Oldbury have been dealt a blow by the Energy Secretary. Chris Huhne said yesterday he would press ahead with the new build programme for atomic plants, telling MPs “a deal is a deal”. He came under pressure in the Commons from pro-nuclear politicians to “take some leadership” over the future of the industry in Britain. But, despite, personally opposing plans for the next generation of reactors, the Government minister is bound by the coalition pact that commits it to allowing new stations to be built. Giving evidence before the Energy and Climate Change Committee, Mr Huhne said the coalition deal states a new nuclear building programme will go ahead – but with no public subsidy.
Bristol Evening News 16th Sept 2010 more >>
Carlisle News & Star 16th Sept 2010 more >>
Cumberland News 16th Sept 2010 more >>
The head of Centrica set out the case for nuclear support on Thursday and said investment decisions were needed now if Britain was to meet its targets to reduce carbon emissions and secure energy supplies. “We need decisions and investments now. And this is simply not happening at the scale and speed required,” Laidlaw said.
Yahoo 16th Sept 2010 more >>
Westinghouse, controlled by Japan’s Toshiba Corp said on Thursday construction time of its AP1000 nuclear reactors in Britain will be less than 15 months because of previous experience with similar projects. “The construction schedules for the first four reactors in China were 15 months, in the U.S. they are less than that,” Rita Bowser, managing director of the Westinghouse consortium bidding to supply nuclear reactors for Britain’s new power stations, told Reuters in an interview.
Reuters 16th Sept 2010 more >>
Nuclear Waste
An Allerdale councillor is pleading with the authority to withdraw its interest in housing another nuclear dump in the area.
Carlisle News & Star 16th Sept 2010 more >>
Experts warn EU proposals for deep geological disposal of radioactive waste have ‘serious potential for something to go badly wrong’. There are ‘serious flaws’ in the advice being given to EU ministers on disposing of nuclear waste deep underground, scientists have concluded.A major review of the science surrounding deep geological disposal, commissioned by Greenpeace, has highlighted numerous risks of failure which could result in highly radioactive waste being released into our groundwater or seas for centuries. Problems include: corrosion of containers; heat and gas formation leading to pressurisation and cracking of the storage chamber; unexpected chemical reactions; geological uncertainties; future ice ages, earthquakes and human interference. Report author Dr Helen Wallace says people need to ‘grasp the enormity of the challenge’.
Ecologist 16th Sept 2010 more >>
Companies
Technology business Pursuit Dynamics’ shares rose 5pc after it set up a joint venture with the UK’s National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) to tap into the market for nuclear decontamination.
Telegraph 17th Sept 2010 more >>
Citywire 16th Sept 2010 more >>
Hinkley
People from the Cheddar Valley were among protestors at the site of a potential nuclear power station close to a nature reserve. A group opposed to EDF Energy’s two planned reactors at Hinkley Point held a series of events over the weekend. They claim the project – which is currently under consultation until October 4 – will destroy acres of open countryside and lay waste to natural habitats. Speakers from Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth addressed the Stop Hinkley campaign on Saturday with members demonstrating outside the plant gates.
Cheddar Valley Gazette 16th Sept 2010 more >>
Letter: one of many facts that I wanted to pass on to you was the myth of nuclear energy being either clean or green. Mining the uranium used in the reactors is such an energy and labour-intensive process that just one huge uranium mine in Australia (on Aboriginal sacred land but that’s another story) produces ten per cent of the continent’s carbon footprint. And add to this all the other uranium mines in the world.
This is Somerset 16th Sept 2010 more >>
Letter: Why are the politicians determined to build two of the world’s most powerful nuclear reactors on Somerset’s beautiful rural coastline? Why take the risk, however small, of an accidental release of clouds of radioactive material, making large parts of this country uninhabitable? Human technology is not infallible. Did we not learn from the Chernobyl accident 24 years ago? Still today, thousands of people cannot return home and even today’s children are suffering ongoing medical cancer and genetic problems.
This is Somerset 16th Sept 2010 more >>
SEDGEMOOR District Council has branded EDF’s Hinkley Point C nuclear plans as having “a serious lack of information and severe negative impacts that raise grave concerns”. The council is set to raise serious concerns over EDF’s proposals at its full council meeting on September 22. In a report to the executive, councillors are likely to raise significant objections to the location, design and scale of the associated development.
This is Somerset 16th Sept 2010 more >>
Plymouth Herald 17th Sept 2010 more >>
Oldbury
WORKERS at the ageing Oldbury Nuclear Power Station are already being supported to find new employment when the plant shuts in two years’ time. Joe Lamonby, the Oldbury site director, has said Magnox, the company which runs the 40-year-old power station, is working closely with its 460 staff members as the plant prepares to stop generating electricity. The site is due to shut down both its reactors by summer next year, however plans are being made to keep reactor one going for an extra 12 months, as long as Oldbury gets the approval of industry regulators.
Gloucestershire Gazette 16th Sept 2010 more >>
Horizon Nuclear Power says that it favours the use of hybrid cooling towers at its proposed new nuclear power plant at Oldbury, UK, which are about one-third of the height of conventional natural draught cooling towers.
World Nuclear News 16th Oct 2010 more >>
Dounreay
The distinctive sphere at the Dounreay nuclear power plant is to be demolished. Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd (DSRL), the company charged with the plant’s decommision, expects to take until 2032 to complete the clean-out and demolition of the remaining facilities at the site. The sphere construction, which contains the nuclear reactor, is likely to be one of the last parts to be removed. There had been talk of preserving the dome at Dounreay in Caithness as a reminder of the nuclear legacy but this was dismissed as impractical.
Scotsman 17th Sept 2010 more >>
The Sun 17th Sept 2010 more >>
Herald 17th Sept 2010 more >>
Uranium
Five French people working in Niger have been kidnapped along with one from Togo and one from Madagascar, France’s foreign ministry said today. The seven, who were employees of the French nuclear reactor builder Areva and a subcontractor, were seized near the uranium-mining town of Arlit as they slept. Both anti-mining campaigners and al-Qaida have conducted kidnappings in the country in the past.
Guardian 17th Sept 2010 more >>
Canada
255 municipalities and regional municipal governments across the province have formally backed a demand that Quebec pull the plug on nuclear energy once and for all.
Montreal Gazette 11th Sept 2010 more >>
Germany
Never before have so many Germans been prepared to vote for the Green Party. But its success comes at a price. The party’s mobilization against Merkel’s plan to extend nuclear lifespans means its hoped-for path to power has now been blocked. The good news for Germany’s Green Party just keeps on coming. In survey after survey, the erstwhile protest party is receiving record support: 23 percent in Bavaria, 27 percent in Baden-W rttemberg and, in a poll released on Wednesday, an amazing 22 percent countrywide, just two percentage points behind the center-left Social Democrats.
Der Spiegel 16th Sept 2010 more >>
North Korea
North Korea has sent “strong and clear signals” that it is prepared to abandon its nuclear weapons programme if the US guarantees it will not attack the communist state, according to Jimmy Carter.
Guardian 17th Sept 2010 more >>
Iran
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad criticised the threat of new sanctions against his country and claimed Iran can survive without the aid of the United States and its allies.
Telegraph 16th Sept 2010 more >>
Trident
Britain is committed to its Trident nuclear deterrent but wants to keep spending tight as it renews it, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday after a report that the replacement of submarines could be delayed.
STV 16th Sept 2010 more >>
Prime Minister David Cameron insisted he was still committed to maintaining a full-time nuclear deterrent last night amid growing concern from Tory backbenchers. But Mr Cameron said it was right to explore how to get the best “value for money” when replacing the ageing Trident system. The comments came as the row over the cost and shape of the UK’s nuclear capability intensified.
Press & Journal 17th Sept 2010 more >>
Western Mail 17th Sept 2010 more >>
Daily Post 16th Sept 2010 more >>
Britain’s nuclear deterrent might as well be scrapped if the Government downgrades a replacement for Trident, the outgoing head of the armed forces has said. Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup said that without having a nuclear submarine continuously at sea, “you are better off having zero”. He added: “Spending money on a less-than-minimum credible deterrent makes, to me, no strategic sense at all.”
Herald 17th Sept 2010 more >>
Daily Mail 17th Sept 2010 more >>
Armed forces chief warns against Trident downgrade
FT 17th Sept 2010 more >>
Letters: A cruise missile will not meet Britain’s nuclear deterrence requirement (The Future of our Forces, September 15) and will cost more than the current state-of-the-art ballistic missile system.
Telegraph 17th Sept 2010 more >>
Ming Campbell: As we consider whether to cancel aircraft carriers, reduce the numbers of fast jets or disband infantry regiments, the replacement for the Trident nuclear deterrent stands uniquely immune. Or does it? The Ministry of Defence may have declined to include it, but not so the hard faced men at the Treasury, who have decreed that any replacement must be funded directly from the defence budget.By this act of austerity, George Osborne, chancellor of the exchequer, has ensured Trident is now de facto part of the review. Any examination of conventional defence capabilities, such as surface ships or transport aircraft, must now weigh-up a replacement Trident that involves four submarines and up to 192 warheads. The submarines will be the elephants in the room.
FT 17th Sept 2010 more >>
Disarmament
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 14-4 to approve the new Start treaty, which would reduce deployed nuclear warheads by about 30 per cent. The full Senate must consent to the agreement before it can go into effect, but with Congress in the hottest part of the political season before mid-term elections, it is unclear when the treaty will get a vote on the Senate floor.
Telegraph 17th Sept 2010 more >>
Old News But Interesting
Environment Agency Response to DECC’s Fixed Unit Price for Waste Disposal Consultation, June 2010.
Environment Agency June 2010 more >>
Environment Agency Response to Funded Decommissioning and Waste Management Programme.
Environment Agency June 2010 more >>
Environment Agency Seminar Generic Design Assessment of New Reactors 6th July – Presentations now available on the website
Environment Agency 6th July 2010 more >>
