Westinghouse
The nuclear giant which owns a Lancashire fuel factory is looking to build three nuclear reactors at the Sellafield plant in Cumbria. Westinghouse UK, which employs more than 1,000 people at the Springfields site in Salwick, near Preston, is also expecting to hear whether it has been successful in a bid to build three reactors at Wylfa on Anglesey within months. Chief executive Mike Tynan, of the group which has its UK head office on Matrix Park in Buckshaw Village, near Chorley, said that he expected to see work “intensify” on the Sellafield site this year. A deal for Westinghouse build its AP1000 reactors at either Wylfa or Sellafield would see fuel from its Lancashire factory required to power them, creating new jobs at Springfields.
Lancashire Evening Post 1st Feb 2011 more >>
Chernobyl
Nearly 25 years after the world’s worst nuclear disaster, it has emerged that only half the money needed to safely secure the wreckage of the Chernobyl power plant has been raised. A new shelter is being built to seal the almost 200 tonnes of melted nuclear fuel rods within the remains of the damaged reactor. But construction may have to be halted if donor nations fail to provide funds.
BBC 2nd Feb 2011 more >>
Bradwell
Campaigners opposed to a new nuclear power station being built on the Essex coast handed a petition of ten thousand signatures to the Energy Minister this morning. The Blackwater Against New Nuclear group are fighting plans to build a new reactor at Bradwell. There are also plans for a new station in Sizewell but many people there aren’t quite as wary.
ITV Anglia 1st Feb 2011 more >>
Wylfa
INITIAL work is underway to establish an electrical link between Anglesey and south east Wales. A National Grid spokesperson confirmed that consultation work had begun on a proposed cable link between Wylfa and Pembroke.
North Wales Chronicle 31st Jan 2011 more >>
Oldbury
Horizon own approx 250 hectares at Wylfa and are in the process of buying more….because they need more for the development…..Horizon own approx 150 hectares in and around Shepperdine and are not buying anymore land ! Given that the developments are both going to have two or three reactors surely they both need the same infrastructure area? This government claims that the suitable sites should be ready by 2025, but given Horizon do not own sufficient land at Shepperdine to develop how could this ever be possible.
Shepperdine Againsy Nuclear Energy 1st Feb 2011 more >>
Terror
Al-Qaida is on the verge of producing radioactive weapons after sourcing nuclear material and recruiting rogue scientists to build “dirty” bombs, according to leaked diplomatic documents. A leading atomic regulator has privately warned that the world stands on the brink of a “nuclear 9/11”.
Vancouver Sun 1st Feb 2011 more >>
Telegraph 2nd Feb 2011 more >>
American officials around the world are locked in a constant race to stop terrorists and rogue states from obtaining nuclear, biological and chemical materials which could be used to construct a “dirty bomb”. These are some of the incidents and extraordinary potential plots involving some of the world’s most dangerous and volatile materials which are disclosed in the WikiLeaks cables.
Telegraph 2nd Feb 2011 more >>
Korea
North Korea has at least one more undeclared secret nuclear facility at which it is developing its uranium enrichment capabilities, a report to be released to the United Nations later this week will claim.
Telegraph 2nd Feb 2011 more >>
Iran
Liam Fox expresses his fear that Iran may have a nuclear weapon next year as Lib Dems demand to know if money is already being spent on components for Trident.
Conservative Home 1st Feb 2011 more >>
Russian president last week remarked that there is no proof that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons. His statement unsurprisingly did not receive due coverage by the mainstream media.
Middle East Online 1st Feb 2011 more >>
Test Veterans
A DERBY MP called on the Government last night to launch a study into genetic damage that veterans of Britain’s nuclear tests may have suffered. Thousands of British servicemen took part in the UK’s nuclear weapons tests in the 50s and 60s and claim their health was damaged as a result of radiation to which they were exposed. Now about 1,000 are involved in a court case to sue the Government for compensation as the Ministry of Defence refuses to accept responsibility for their health problems. Derby North MP Chris Williamson stood up in the House of Commons last night and highlighted a 2007 report by the Health Protection Agency which suggested British veterans may have suffered genetic damage after taking part in the tests.
Derby Telegraph 1st Feb 2011 more >>
Renewables
Plans to use Norway as a giant “battery” to store Scotland’s excess renewable electricity have moved a step closer with an agreement by five companies to examine building an electricity transmission line between the two countries. If the £1 billion scheme is completed it will go a long way towards solving the problems caused by the unpredictability of wind power and potentially provide a new export market for Scottish renewable energy.
Times 2nd Feb 2011 more >>
Britain’s leading renewable energy company has reported a 20 per fall in the amount of electricity produced by its wind turbines. The news came as official figures revealed that on December 30, an exceptionally still day, Britain’s 3,000 operational wind turbines produced only 0.04 per cent of the country’s power. The Energy Minister Charles Hendry told The Times that the figures proved the urgency with which other forms of low-carbon generation needed to be developed.
SSE, the company that trades as Southern Electric and Scottish Hydro, yesterday reported for the first time detailed information on the performance of its renewable power-generating facilities. It admitted that it revealed the figures under pressure from anxious investors.
Times 2nd Feb 2011 more >>
