Cumbria
LAKELAND artist and anti-nuclear campaigner, Marianne Birkby, has written a new online book, The Wastwater Gnomes, drawing attention to nuclear new-build. The book is the first in the chronicles of the gnomes and explores the relationship of Wastwater to the nuclear industry. She said: “It questions the sanity of new-build when cooling the existing waste requires four million gallons of fresh water from Britain’s Favourite View every single day.’’
Whitehaven News 18th Nov 2009 more >>
Nuclear debate, Jamie Reed MP vs Jill Perry and other candidates. Jill says there is a far better way to reduce our climate change emissions, which is more effective, cheaper, provides more jobs and does not result in a contaminated environment. We propose a low-carbon energy system that includes making “every building a power station”. The energy efficiency of existing buildings will be maximised, as will the use of renewables to generate electricity.
Whitehaven News 18th Nov 2009 more >>
THE FUTURE is – almost certainly – nuclear. And that’s good news for the West Cumbrian Energy Coast which is well placed to maintain its position as a world centre for nuclear expertise. The winning consortium is Iberdrola (Spain), GDF SUEZ (France), and Scottish and Southern Energy. The plan is to start construction in 2015. The consortium has paid the NDA at least £70 million to take over ownership of the land but is also expected to lead to massive infrastructure investments which will benefit communities right across the area. The three reactors will produce enough electricity for 3.5 million homes.
Whitehaven News 18th Nov 2009 more >>
The Conservative View. BRITAIN needs new nuclear build as part of a balanced energy policy. And West Cumbria has a huge amount to offer as one of the best places to site a new nuclear power facility. If new nuclear power stations are built at Sellafield it will be good for Britain and good for Copeland.
Whitehaven News 18th Nov 2009 more >>
CUMBRIA Wildlife Trust is worried that putting nuclear reactors on three sites in Copeland will wreak havoc with nature and endanger natural habitats. In particular it says Kirksanton, at Millom, faces devastation.
Whitehaven News 18th Nov 2009 more >>
Hinkley
Residents of Somerset are this weekend being asked to have their say on proposals to a build a new nuclear power station in the area. Hinkley Point has been confirmed in by the Government as a potential site for a new nuclear power station.
DECC 18th Nov 2009 more >>
Campaigners fighting plans to put a 400,000 volt power line across the countryside of North Somerset have launched a fighting fund to battle the proposals. Residents living in Nailsea, Wraxall and Backwell have launched the Save Our Valley campaign to fight off plans by National Grid to create a new overhead line from Bridgwater to Avonmouth, to bring electricity from the proposed new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point on to its transmission network.
Western Daily Press 17th Nov 2009 more >>
The south western English county of Somerset is engaging with new nuclear build through a consultation and a new training centre, all related to the forthcoming Hinkley Point C.
World Nuclear News 18th Nov 2009 more >>
Horizon
Clifford Chance has scored a major role advising a joint venture (JV) developer of new nuclear plants. The magic circle firm has been appointed by Horizon Nuclear Power, a 50:50 joint venture between RWE Npower and E.ON UK that will build new UK nuclear power plants.
The Lawyer 18th Nov 2009 more >>
Legal Week 18th Nov 2009 more >>
Scotland
A SURVEY has revealed that more than half of Scots support the use of nuclear power stations to provide Scotland’s energy. The YouGov poll showed that 61 per cent of those surveyed here thought nuclear power should be part of the energy mix. The Scottish sample of the poll was 431 out of 1,000 people surveyed across the UK. A spokesman for finance secretary John Swinney said: “This government was elected on a policy of no new nuclear power stations, and Scotland’s Parliament has since endorsed this position.”
Scotsman 19th Nov 2009 more >>
New Nukes
THE GOVERNMENT has fast-tracked the building of ten new nuclear stations – riding roughshod over the objections of local communities, and ignoring cost and safety concerns. The main beneficiaries are likely to be the giant energy and construction consortiums. Energy secretary Ed Miliband reckons that nuclear power is “proven and reliable” – as if the reality of construction delays, lengthy safety shutdowns, and accidents at Sellafield, Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, never happened!
The Socialist Party 18th Nov 2009 more >>
The first public consultation on the draft Nuclear National Policy Statement took place in Hartlepool last weekend. Turnout was low – about 100 people attended the consultation and 35 attended the open meeting, reports the Hartlepool Mail. According to Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) spokesman, Jonathan Farr, issues raised revolved mainly around local social infrastructure: Where would 9,000 construction workers be housed, roads be built etc. He said this weekend’s consultation over the proposed site at Hinckley Point was expected to be a “bigger deal”, largely due to the 400,000-volt power line that would run 37 miles to Avonmouth.
Utility Week 18th Nov 2009 more >>
Letter. The Government’s decision to speed up the construction of new nuclear power stations is overdue but nevertheless welcome. It was always obvious to those who faced the facts, that we should have to “go nuclear” in the end.
Leicester Mercury 18th Nov 2009 more >>
A major new poll has shown nearly two-thirds of people in the North West believe nuclear is needed to keep Britain’s lights on in the future. The YouGov poll, commissioned by energy giant EDF, also shows that 60% are in favour of building a new generation of reactors with the EDF-owned site at Heysham, near Morecambe, targeted as a site.
Lancashire Evening Post 18th Nov 2009 more >>
Radwaste
THE topic of Managing Radioactive Waste Safely will be on the agenda at next week’s Arlecdon and Frizington Neighbourhood Forum. There will be an opportunity for members of the community to hear a presentation and discuss the topic with Elaine Woodburn, the leader of Copeland Borough Council.
Whitehaven News 18th Nov 2009 more >>
Nuclear Transport
A BARROW-BASED company which operates nuclear ships for Sellafield will be the subject of a public talk tomorrow. The talk “Fisher Defence Projects” will be given at 7.30 pm at Forum 28 in Barrow by Simon Harris, managing director of James Fisher Defence Ltd The event is free and open to the public.
NW Evening Mail 19th Nov 2009 more >>
France
Henri Proglio, the incoming boss of EDF, has sparked a controversy just days before he takes over at France’s state-controlled nuclear operator by claiming the country’s showcase atomic industry is not working. Speaking to the French daily Les Echos, Mr Proglio, who takes over as executive chairman on Monday, said his ambition was to “have a French nuclear industry that works. That means that we have to rethink the whole industry”. He criticised the organisation of a highly sensitive bid by a French consortium including EDFfor a multi-billon euro contract to build reactors in Abu Dhabi and suggested that France’s nuclear champion Areva be broken up, with the fuel business handed to EDF.
FT 19th Nov 2009 more >>
US
If the U.S. wants to help stop global warming, nuclear power is not the way to go, according to a new report released today. The Environment California Research & Policy Center concluded that launching a nuclear power industry nearly from the ground up is too slow and expensive a process. Energy efficiency standards and renewable energy options are better solutions, researchers said.
LA Times 17th Nov 2009 more >>
A new report, Generating Failure: How Building Nuclear Power Plants Would Set America Back in the Race Against Global Warming, analyzes the role, under a best-case scenario, that nuclear power could play in reducing global warming pollution.
Examiner 18th Nov 2009 more >>
Kumi Naidoo was appointed executive director of the environmental campaign group Greenpeace International this month after two decades leading civil society groups in Africa and internationally. He says Nuclear power is a dangerous distraction to real solutions. When you extend a nuclear plant’s life beyond what it was designed for, you make an unsafe technology even more dangerous, create even more waste, and put off decisions on adopting real solutions.
New York Times 18th Nov 2009 more >>
Iran
Iran’s foreign minister has cast doubt on whether the country will accept a deal which offers it the opportunity to continue its nuclear programme. The deal proposed by Western and Russian negotiators envisages nuclear material being enriched outside the country and returned as fuel rods.
BBC 18th Nov 2009 more >>
Iran said Thursday it was open to more talks but offered no concessions after rejecting a proposal for it to send most of its stocks of low-enriched uranium abroad in return for nuclear fuel.
Middle East Online 19th Nov 2009 more >>
U.S. President Barack Obama issued a strong warning to Iran on Thursday of consequences of its failure to respond to the offer of a nuclear deal and could have a package of steps to take “within weeks.”
Reuters 19th Nov 2009 more >>
Poland
Poland’s largest power utility, Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE), has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Electricit de France (EdF) which could see the two companies cooperating in the construction of the country’s first nuclear power plant.
World Nuclear News 18th Nov 2009 more >>
Finland
The cargo ship Happy Ranger made port in Finland today, carrying its cargo of steam generators from France, intended for a nuclear reactor under construction at Olkiluoto. In addition, it is also carrying a protest camp, complete with eight Greenpeace activists from Finland, France, Germany and Sweden. Greenpeace is calling for the plant’s construction to be halted.
Greenpeace 18th Nov 2009 more >>
Trident
The report of the Scottish Government’s working group on Scotland Without Nuclear Weapons has now been published and is online here more >>
Scottish Government’s response to the Working Group report is here more >>
