India
Pakistan has voiced concern over the US-India deal to share civilian nuclear fuel and technology under a pact that reverses three decades of American anti-proliferation policy.
Mathaba 2nd August 2007 more >>
By reaching a deal with India on civil nuclear co-operation, the US has overcome the single greatest obstacle to a long-awaited rapprochement between the world’s two biggest democracies: New Delhi’s resentment at its status as a nuclear pariah. Advocates of a new relationship between the two “natural allies” see the potential for a strategic partnership capable of redefining the geopolitics of the 21st century. The US, which only recently sought to balance India and Pakistan and to deny the larger country pre-eminence in south Asia, now openly supports its emergence as a great power.
FT 2nd August 2007 more >>
India will not be pressurized into supporting the United States on issues like Iran in return for a nuclear pact with Washington, New Delhi’s envoy said in an interview with a local magazine.
Reuters 2nd August 2007 more >>
Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA) has sent a letter to US President George W Bush warning that a potential nuclear cooperation agreement with India may flout US law.
Nuclear Engineering International 2nd August 2007 more >>
Japan
The IAEA will send a six member team to Japan on Sunday to inspect the reactor hit by an earthquake.
Mathaba 2nd August 2007 more >>
Japanese utility Tokyo Electric Power Company reportedly expects to see a substantial drop in profits for the fiscal year ended March 2008, after an earthquake on July 16, 2007 caused radiation leaks at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant and forced the company to close the facility.
Energy Business Review 1st August 2007 more >>
Iran
A little over a year ago, the world’s big powers set Iran an ultimatum – to stop those parts of its nuclear programme that could help it build the bomb. But the Islamic Republic has brazenly refused to comply with the United Nations Security Council’s demands. That leaves the international community three options in the run-up to the first anniversary of the original deadline of August 31 2006. The outside world must choose whether to do nothing, to strike Iran militarily, or to increase sanctions on Tehran while holding out the prospect of negotiations. Since the first two options could both be disastrous, the last one – of using both carrot and stick to coax Tehran away from its nuclear ambitions – is clearly the best.
FT 2nd August 2007 more >>
A visit to Iran to see its nuclear programme saw hopes of a meeting with Ahmadinejad raised then dashed.
Guardian 2nd August 2007
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Iran will hold a second round of talks with U.N. nuclear watchdog officials in Tehran on August 6 on an “action plan” to defuse suspicions of a covert atom bomb programme, a senior Iranian official said on Wednesday.
Reuters 1st Aug 2007 more >>
US
The Tennessee Valley Authority’s board of directors voted unanimously Wednesday to begin a five-year plan to finish a second nuclear reactor at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant on the Tennessee River.
Guardian website 1st Aug 2007 more >>
Russia
Russia’s new PR weapon is the deployment of “nuclear airheads” or “atomic kittens”. The Kremlin has given its nuclear industry a makeover by holding an annual beauty contest – “Miss Atom”. The winner is Elena Kamenskaya, 24, a blonde. Her job description is straight out of James Bond. She designs counter-terrorist systems, motion sensors, guard towers and patrol paths.
Times, July 31, 2007 more >>
Germany
UNTIL recently, nuclear power seemed to be making its way back into public favour in Germany. A warm winter, and dire warnings by scientists about climate change, convinced many that carbon emissions might be a bigger danger than nuclear accidents or radioactive waste. Opinion polls this spring showed that fewer than half of Germans favoured continuing the policy, adopted in 2000, of phasing out all nuclear plants by 2021. But since the two accidents public support for the phase out has climbed back up to over 50%.
Economist 2nd August 2007 more >>
Libya
A memorandum of understanding has been signed by Libya and France that will see the two nations cooperating to use a nuclear reactor for the desalinisation of seawater.
Nuclear Engineering International 2nd August 2007 more >>
France
Franco-Belgian multi-utility Suez has reached an agreement with the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) to cooperate in research and development in the nuclear energy sector.
Nuclear Engineering International 2nd August 2007 more >>
Nuclear Security
SECURITY experts from all over the world will meet in Edinburgh for a conference on tackling illicit trafficking of nuclear material.
Edinburgh Evening News 2nd August 2007 more >>
Radiation and Health
Children and young people who live near a nuclear plant are far more likely to develop leukaemia, a major study has discovered.
What Doctors Don’t Tell You 2nd August 2007 more >>
Body Parts Scandal
A helpline has been set up as part of the inquiry into the removal of body organs from nuclear workers. Michael Redfern QC is looking into 65 reported cases, mainly involving staff employed at Sellafield in Cumbria between 1962 and 1992. It is believed one case involved a worker from the Springfields site, near Preston.
Preston Citizen 1st August 2007 more >>
Trident
Nine demonstrators were arrested during a protest by schoolteachers at a nuclear base, police said. Six women and three men were detained in the peaceful demonstration at Faslane Naval Base, home to the fleet of Trident nuclear submarines , Strathclyde Police said.
ICScotland 1st August 2007 more >>
Vatican
Nuclear power should be considered a useful energy source, a senior Catholic cardinal has said on Wednesday. The cardinal also went as far as criticising countries such as Italy which have banned the technology on principal.
Christian Today 1st Aug 2007 more >>
Dounreay
UK ATOMIC Energy Authority workers at Dounreay have each pocketed £1000 bonuses as a result of the site’s performance over the past year. The 1000-strong workforce received the pay-outs after meeting safety and operational targets set by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.
John O’Groat Journal 1st August 2007 more >>
Letter from Geoffrey Minter: The highest activity Caesium 137 particle on the much larger beaches near Sellafield (Cs 137 is a component of the Sandside particles) has an activity of 130,000 Bq and not 1300 Bq as in your report. For comparison, the highest activity Caesium 137 particle officially declared at Sandside so far is 500,000 Bq. Also of interest is that it seems that only approximately five per cent of the public beaches near Sellafield have been surveyed by the same means (one of the groundhogs that have been in use in Caithness).
John O’Groat Journal 1st August 2007 more >>
Sellafield
Sellafield Management and Unions are saying that the breaks are not being put on recruitment at the site despite the fact that Sellafield Ltd would like more money to put into productio and clean up.
Whitehaven News 2nd August 2007 more >>
Sellafield’s own landfill site is set to take certain types of low level waste under changes proposed.
Whitehaven News 2nd August 2007 more >>
