Scotland
Nicola Sturgeon, deputy leader of the opposition SNP, wants to know what Jack McConnell really thinks about nuclear waste. She knows, that we know, that he knows, why the first minister cannot afford an honest opinion just at the moment. Any answer will land him in trouble with someone.
Scottish Herald 2nd June 2006
Iran
The world’s major powers last night agreed a package of incentives for Iran to give up key parts of its nuclear programme – and a series of punishments if it does not. The plan drawn up by America, Russia, China, France and Germany is designed to present Teheran with a bleak choice: halt the most dangerous parts of the nuclear programme and integrate into the world, or face isolation and economic damage.
Telegraph 2nd June 2006
FT 2nd June 2006
Scottish Herald 2nd June 2006
Scotsman 2nd June 2006
Iran appears determined to make nuclear weapons and could develop such an arsenal as early as 2010, US National Intelligence Director John Negroponte said in an interview broadcast today.
AFX 2nd June 2006
Telegraph 2nd June 2006
BBC 2nd June 2006
North Korea
North Korea invited the chief U.S. envoy to stalled nuclear talks to visit Pyongyang, but Washington rejected the invitation on Thursday, saying any negotiations must be in the six-nation format.
Reuters 1st June 2006
Nuclear Weapons
There has been a dangerous loss of momentum and direction in efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons, a commission set up by Sweden says. The commission, led by ex-UN weapons inspector Hans Blix, looked at ways of reducing the dangers from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.
BBC 1st June 2006
Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, arrives in Singapore on Friday for a three-day conference on Asia security issues that is likely to include much discussion about China following the release last month of his department’s annual report on the Chinese military. The Pentagon drew plenty of attention last week when it suggested that US defence analysts had been surprised by changes in the capacity of China’s nuclear deterrent, including the “pace and scope of its [nuclear] strategic forces modernisation”.
FT 2nd June 2006
Australia
Australia’s centre-right coalition is poised to announce a formal inquiry into the country’s nuclear options, in a further sign of the reversal in the global industry’s fortunes. Australia is home to some 40 per cent of the world’s uranium reserves, putting it in a key position in the debate over whether increased use of nuclear power can help combat climate change and energy shortages.
FT 2nd June 2006
Nuclear Transport
CUMBRIA’S nuclear rail freight company Direct Rail Services is pushing into the general freight market as Britain’s nuclear decommissioning gathers pace. Direct Rail Services (DRS), which is based at Kingmoor in Carlisle, expects to see work transporting spent nuclear fuel from across the UK to Sellafield reduce by 25 per cent over the next seven years. As a result, the company, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), is looking to expand into general freight.
Cumberland News 2nd June 2006
Fusion
Chinese scientists have completed construction of an experimental superconducting fusion reactor that will replicate the same energy generation process that fuels the sun, with tests to begin as early as July.
CNN 2nd June 2006
France
Twenty years after the explosion at the nuclear reactor at Chernobyl in the Ukraine, the legal fallout has just reached France. Professor Pierre Pellerin, who was the head of France’s nuclear safety watchdog 20 years ago, has been formally accused of deliberately concealing the seriousness of contamination of parts of the French countryside from the French people.
Independent 2nd June 2006
Flamanville, Normandy, France — A Greenpeace protester today took off in a powered parachute, a “pego-jet”, within the 3km air exclusion zone around the Flamanville nuclear plant in Normandy, France. The activist was protesting plans by Electricite de France (EDF) to build a large European Pressurized Water Reactor (EPR) at the site; he came within 300m of the two reactors currently operating at the site before landing close to the plant.
Greenpeace International Press Release 1st June 2006
Sellafield
International Nuclear Solutions jumped on its second day on AIM as the group confirmed it has been awarded a deal with British Nuclear Group for design and engineering work at Sellafield. The company, a specialist provider of nuclear engineering and consultancy services, said it has been awarded a three year Framework Agreement for work on the Mixed Oxide Fuel facility. The contract is expected to be worth £8m over 3 years.
Share Cast 1st June 2006
NDA
TRADE unions are warning that safety standards will be compromised during Britain’s £70 billion programme to clean up the radioactive mess left by the nuclear industry. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is inviting multinational companies to bid for three-year contracts to clean up old nuclear complexes Sellafield in Cumbria, which have been previously run by government agencies. But the nuclear industry’s biggest union, Prospect, says the NDA is pressing ahead too fast and that rules could be broken and accidents could happen as a result.
Carlisle News and Star 1st June 2006
Nuclear Waste
RAF WOODVALE could be used as a nuclear waste dump. A government strategy to dispose of radioactive waste will be recommended next month.
Formby Times 1st June 2006
