New Nukes
Just this week Prime Minister Gordon Brown confidently assured us that the UK was at the forefront of a global “nuclear renaissance” and that within a few years we’d be home to at least eight bright, shining new reactors. We’re told a week is a long time in politics, but it must seem an absolute eternity to the ever more bedraggled British nuclear industry.
Guardian 18th July 2008 more >>
NDA
Yesterday, the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) released their annual report and, as surely as night follows day, the news is that the bill for decommissioning and cleaning up our existing nuclear plants is rising. And rising. And rising. In fact, we could have funded two London Olympics just from the rises in the estimated costs over the past two years. Although no one really has a precise figure (and the NDA admits it can’t tell us what the final bill will be), the estimate now stands at around £85bn – about the same amount as the Apollo Moon Landings cost.
Greenpeace UK 18th July 2008 more >>
The estimated cost of decommissioning and cleaning up nuclear sites has risen as much as 15 per cent over the past year. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority today said undiscounted costs for a 130-year programme were £73.6 billion, up from an estimate of £63 billion last year.
Construction News 18th July 2008 more >>
Companies
AMEC, the international project management and services company, has formed an alliance with Corus Process Engineering to provide at the latter’s site in Workington, UK, a comprehensive test rig design, build simulation and experimental test service for Sellafield and other licensed nuclear sites.
Energy Business Review 18th July 2008 more >>
Dounreay
LET’S make it happen.” That is the clear message Richard Lochhead, cabinet secretary for rural affairs and the environment, will be taking back to Holyrood after hearing about plans to harness tidal energy in the Pentland Firth.
John O Groat Journal 18th July 2008 more >>
France
The French nuclear giant Areva yesterday confirmed there was a radioactive leak from a broken pipe at a nuclear fuel plant in south-eastern France, a week after a uranium spill at another of its plants polluted the local water supply. The latest incident comes as an embarrassment to the French government as it struggles to contain environmentalists’ anger and reassure residents near its nuclear plants that they are safe.
Guardian 19th July 2008 more >>
Independent 18th July 2008 more >>
CNN 18th July 2008 more >>
Interactive Investor 18th July 2008 more >>
Iran
Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator said he hoped for “good and constructive” talks when he left Tehran on Friday to meet world powers in Geneva on the country’s disputed nuclear program.
Reuters 19th July 2008 more >>
Talks are due to take place today between the EU, US and Iran over Tehran’s controversial nuclear programme.
View London 19th July 2008 more >>
European and US diplomats yesterday played down expectations of a breakthrough at today’s meeting in Geneva with their Iranian counterparts aimed at resolving the nuclear stand-off.
Guardian 19th July 2008 more >>
World powers will sound out Iran’s readiness to negotiate an end to the long dispute over its nuclear programme on Saturday, and Tehran said more such meetings might be needed.
Reuters 18th July 2008 more >>
Iran’s leaders are weighing up a crucial strategic choice over their nuclear programme as they prepare for direct talks with America on an issue which casts a shadow over the Middle East.
Telegraph 19th July 2008 more >>
Benny Morris’s op-ed in The New York Times is essential reading. He sets out how any Israeli, as opposed to American, strike on Iran could easily escalate into a nuclear war.
Spectator 18th July 2008 more >>
Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki has said today that talks regarding the country’s nuclear programme due to start tomorrow are a positive step and signal good developments ahead.
View London 18th July 2008 more >>
North Korea
Further progress on North Korea’s nuclear disarmament programme could be made when the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, and the North Korean foreign minister, Pak Ui Chun, meet next week for talks – the highest level of contact between the countries for four years.
Guardian 18th July 2008 more >>
India
If you listen to the Congress party the nuclear deal is about preserving India’s energy security in the future. If you listen to the communists, it’s about selling out to the Americans. Both see it as a matter of preserving the national interest. And the deal will stand or fall with the government.
BBC 18th July 2008 more >>
Indian officials have met members of the world nuclear regulatory body in Vienna to discuss plans to safeguard India’s civilian nuclear facilities.
BBC 18th July 2008 more >>
Fuel Poverty
Consumer watchdogs last night called on energy companies to do more to protect vulnerable people from the worst effects of rising gas and electricity prices. They predicted the number of households suffering fuel poverty would rise by around 50% to more than 6m following warnings that gas bills alone could soar by the same figure beyond £1,000 a year within a few years.
Guardian 19th July 2008 more >>
Gas
A lack of adequate gas storage has left Britain’s energy market like a “house of cards”, more vulnerable to supply shocks than any other country in Western Europe, according to a leading energy analyst.
Times 19th July 2008 more >>
