Wales
WELSH Liberal Democrats yesterday set out a target for 100% renewable energy in Wales by 2050. The party’s Assembly leader, Mike German, called for a “green switch” to a Wales without nuclear power.
Daily Post 16th Jan 2007
Germany
German political leader Angela Merkel has suggested that the EU constructs a new gas pipeline network in order to improve security of supply. Meanwhile, Chancellor Merkel has questioned an earlier German political decision to reject the nuclear power option.
Energy Business Review 17th Jan 2007
Nuclear Weapons
The world is closer to apocalypse because of climate change and nuclear proliferation, Professor Stephen Hawking and other prominent scientists warned yesterday as the hand of a symbolic Doomsday Clock moved two minutes closer to midnight.
Telegraph 18th Jan 2007
Submarines
The French general delegation for armaments (DGA) has awarded the Barracuda contract for six new generation nuclear submarines to the consortium DCN / Areva TA.
Nuclear Engineering International 17th Jan 2007
Iran
The International Atomic Energy Agency has suspended some technical aid projects in Iran to comply with new U.N. sanctions imposed on Tehran over suspicions it may be trying to make nuclear weapons, diplomats say.
Reuters 17th Jan 2007
Guardian website 17th Jan 2007
Iran has invited envoys from developing nations accredited to the U.N. nuclear watchdog to visit its nuclear sites in a show of openness about its atomic fuel programme, diplomats said.
Reuters 17th Jan 2007
Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett warned Iran on Wednesday that its persistent refusal to negotiate on nuclear issues was not a ‘cost-free option’. Beckett said she was confident that leading world powers could jointly resist Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, despite criticism that existing United Nations sanctions are ineffective and watered down following pressure from Russia and China.
FCO 17th Jan 2007
North Korea
The United States and North Korea held a second day of unprecedented talks on Wednesday, raising hopes of a breakthrough in efforts to curb the communist state’s nuclear weapons programme.
Reuters 17th Jan 2007
Faslane
THE row over policing of the Faslane Naval base continued this week when two East Kilbride MSPs locked horns over the issue. Local MSP Andy Kerr accused protestors of taking part in “expensive publicity stunts” while the Greenhills-based SSP MSP Carolyn Leckie labelled those who criticise the protestors as “Tony Blair’s nuclear mouthpieces”.
East Kilbride News 17th Jan 2007