Cumbria
South Lakeland anti nuclear group Radiation Free Lakeland has been invited to give oral evidence to the Parliamentary Select Committee Inquiry on the Future of the Nuclear Industry. Marianne Birkby (pictured) founder of the group will be giving evidence on Wednesday, January 27 in Westminster. She said: “The nuclear juggernaught will only be stopped by people saying no – as people are doing in Germany where 50,000 people of all walks of life , including convoys of farmers on tractors marched in Berlin opposing the proposed extension of the life of existing nuclear plants – no one in Germany is proposing new build and certainly no country in the world is proposing such a blanket nuclear sacrifice zone in such a small area as the UK government”.
Get Noticed Online 17th Jan 2010 more >>
Hinkley
Silent protest over Hinkley illustrates fear over being stifled
Western Daily Press 16th January 2010 more >>
Western Morning News 16th January 2010 more >>
Dungeness
Damian Collins – conservative candidate: The Dungeness ‘B’ power station is due to come to the end of its operating life in 2018 and the site had been on the Government’s shortlist for a new generation station to be built. However, following some questions raised by Natural England on the environmental impact of the new station on the shingle beds that form the Dungeness peninsular, the plan was dropped. This decision is still part of a consultation process that will close on 22nd February and there is considerable local support for a new power station which could create up to 2,000 local jobs. It could also supply more than enough clean energy to power the the whole of Kent. Michael Howard and I met with EDF on Tuesday, who are the energy company that run the existing power station to discuss their views on the long term future of Dungeness. I also discussed, with the Mayor of Lydd, a public meeting which he is planning to call for the communities that live near the power station. This is due to be held on 13th February at the Guildhall in Lydd.
Conservative Home 18th Jan 2010 more >>
Protest
A chief constable was tonight accused of undermining the public’s right to protest after documents revealed he urged the owner of a power station to do more to disrupt environmental demonstrators.
Guardian 18th Jan 2010 more >>
Companies
Europe’s fifth-largest electricity generator, GDF Suez, is understood to have made a tentative takeover offer for the FTSE 100-listed International Power in a move likely to raise political concerns about the sale of essential British infrastructure. GDF Suez is 35% owned by the French government. With a market value of more than £55bn, it dwarfs International Power, which owns half a dozen power stations in Britain and is worth just under £5bn. The two companies are believed to have been in talks since before Christmas; last week the French government department that deals with state shareholdings gave its approval for a bid.
Guardian 18th Jan 2010 more >>
International Power is under pressure to clarify its relationship with GDF Suez this week amid mounting speculation that the French power group is about to table a £6 billion bid.
Times 18th Jan 2010 more >>
Chernobyl
Letter Prof Dillwyn Williams: The widely varying assessments of the numbers of deaths attributable to Chernobyl illustrate the need for a definitive unbiased long-term assessment of the overall consequences of the accident, as well as the need to maintain a sense of perspective. An unbiased study of all the health consequences of the Chernobyl accident is therefore essential. A small group to which I belong is advising the European commission to support such a study. If comprehensive impartial studies are not carried out uncertainty will flourish, and with it the fear of radiation which you highlight.
Guardian 18th Jan 2010 more >>
Germany
German Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle will make tough demands in talks with nuclear power operators over extending the lifespan of their plants, abstracts from a newspaper article quoted him as saying on Sunday. The government would siphon off “at least half of additional profits which companies would achieve as a result of the lifespan extension,” Bruederle said in an interview with the Handelsblatt business daily, ahead of publication on Jan. 18.
Interactive Investor 17th Jan 2010 more >>
Iran
A key meeting aimed at tackling Iran’s suspected nuclear arms programme has ended in failure after a low-level Chinese delegate blocked a new round of sanctions against the Islamic republic.
Times 18th Jan 2010 more >>
Major powers will only achieve results in their meetings on Iran if they adopt a “realistic approach” and recognise its nuclear rights, the Islamic Republic’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Sunday.
Reuters 17th Jan 2010 more >>
Renewables
Letter from several people including John Sauven and Andy Atkins: Local, decentralised renewable electricity generation has advantages beyond cutting carbon emissions. Businesses generating their own clean electricity will reduce their energy bills, increase their competitiveness and reduce their vulnerability to future fossil energy price rises. Communities can gain an income and a stake in the creation of a low-carbon economy, and households, social and private landlords and local authorities can cut energy bills and tackle fuel poverty. It will also generate many jobs. Setting higher feed-in tariffs for small-scale renewable generators could treble the amount of renewable electricity generation by 2020 compared with the proposed scheme. This additional generating capacity is the equivalent of the output of Drax coal power station or two-and-a-half times the output of Sizewell B nuclear plant.
Guardian 18th Jan 2010 more >>
Fuel Poverty
Demand for free parcels at food banks soars as big freeze leaves many unable to pay for both food and warmth.
Guardian 18th Jan 2010 more >>
Tar Sands
A coalition of institutional investors has forced a resolution onto the agenda calling for Shell’s audit committee to undertake a special review of the risks attached to the carbon-heavy oil production at Athabasca in Alberta. Co-operative Asset Management and 141 other institutional and individual shareholders raise “concerns for the long-term success of the company arising from the risks associated with oil sands.”
Guardian 18th Jan 2010 more >>
