Nuclear Safety
The Scottish National Party is calling for an investigation after it was revealed that there have been 165 leaks and fires at the UK’s nuclear plants over the last eight years. According to a parliamentary answer from the House of Commons, there have been 83 escapes of coolant from reactors and 82 fires since 2001. Six fires and nine leaks have happened in the last six months. One of the nuclear sites with the most incidents was Hunterston in North Ayrshire, which recorded 24. There were also eight fires or leaks at Torness in East Lothian, seven at Dounreay in Caithness and one at the Rosyth naval dockyard in Fife.
Sunday Herald 2nd Aug 2009 more >>
Turkey
The Turkish government may take a stake in the country’s first nuclear power plant, which is to be built by Russia’s Atomstroiexport for a price tag of up to $8 billion, the Sabah newspaper said on Saturday.
Yahoo 1st Aug 2009 more >>
Myanmar
Myanmar’s government is building a nuclear reactor and plutonium-extraction facility with North Korean help.
Bloomberg 1st Aug 2009 more >>
Nuclear Weapons
MEMBERS of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament are preparing for the 25th annual Hiroshima remembrance ceremony in Shoreham. The memorial involves sending paper boats holding lighted candles down the River Darent in memory of those who died when nuclear bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
This is Kent 1st Aug 2009 more >>
Climate
A new report highlights the biggest problems now facing the world. It warns that the environmental crisis is deepening every year. Human consumption is now 30% larger than nature’s capacity to regenerate. By 2015 the number of people suffering climate-related disasters could mushroom to more than 375 million a year. By 2030 as many as 660 million people could be affected, with economic losses rising to $340 billion a year. There are currently 15 wars taking place and the report predicts that 3 billion people will have no access to water by 2025.
Sunday Herald 2nd Aug 2009 more >>
Renewables
Today Britain is almost entirely dependent on foreign multinationals to provide the equipment and expertise needed to decarbonise the country. And despite the government’s grand plans, industry executives say it has failed to remove the barriers that have restricted the growth of new firms. First, there is a risk that our clean energy infrastructure won’t get built if investors turn their attention to more lucrative markets, as Vestas has done, and we will therefore miss our renewables targets. Second, most of the returns would flow out of Britain to overseas firms.” According to Nathan Goode, of accountants Grant Thornton, this is already happening under the UK’s renewables obligation certificate (ROC) scheme, the government’s main subsidy programme to encourage the building of low-carbon energy plants.
Sunday Times 2nd Aug 2009 more >>
