Nuclear Waste
The government has been warned that it would be “wrong” and possibly illegal to use Sellafield in West Cumbria for long term nuclear waste disposal as consultation on where to store the UK’s atomic legacy ends today. David Smythe, emeritus professor of geophysics at the University of Glasgow and a nuclear waste expert, said ministers should have ruled out Sellafield – assumed to be the favoured site – long ago after spending millions over previous decades on research that proved the area was unsuitable because of its rock formations.
Guardian 2nd Nov 2007 more >>
FT 2nd Nov 2007 more >>
Starting next summer, many power plants, hospitals, universities and companies in 36 states will be forced to store low-level radioactive waste on their own property because a South Carolina landfill is closing its doors to them. The states have known for years that this day would come. But because of political opposition, environmental fears and cost concerns, most of them have done almost nothing to construct new landfills in the meantime.
Guardian website 1st Nov 2007 more >>
Sellafield
UNIONS at Sellafield have teamed up with Labour politicians to do battle with the NDA. Concern at the massive job losses which could hit Sellafield in the coming decade are behind the formation of a new pressure group, the Sellafield Copeland Alliance (SCA). The NDA has also been in the firing line as a community package has so far not been presented to the community around the Drigg low level nuclear
site. The union leaders and Labour councillors met in private on Friday to form the new alliance.
Whitehaven News 1st Nov 2007 more >>
China
China’s nuclear sector will continue to “absorb” and “update” foreign technology in order to meet its ambitious 2020 target to lift capacity to 40,000 MW, according to an industry plan approved by the State Council, China’s cabinet.
Interactive Investor 2nd Nov 2007 more >>
Iran
Arab states in the Gulf have come up with a compromise aimed at defusing the crisis between the West and Iran over its disputed nuclear programme, a specialised Middle East publication said on Thursday. The six-member Gulf Cooperation Council has proposed to Iran that it create a multinational consortium to provide enriched uranium to the Islamic republic as a way of resolving the standoff, Middle East Economic Digest (MEED) reported on its website.
AFP 1st Nov 2007 more >>
FT 2nd Nov 2007 more >>
Times 2nd Nov 2007 more >>
The Crown Prince of Bahrain has become the first Arab leader to jettison the language of diplomacy and directly accuse Tehran of seeking nuclear weapons.
Times 2nd Nov 2007 more >>
Representatives of the six major powers involved in talks about Iran’s nuclear programme will meet in London on Friday, the British government said Thursday. A Foreign Office spokesman said “political directors” from Britain, France, Germany, the United States, Russia and China would meet as part of a pattern of regular exchanges at senior official level.
AFP 1st Nov 2007 more >>
Pendle Today 2nd Nov 2007 more >>
Iran gave the U.N. nuclear watchdog “the necessary information” to remove ambiguities about a key part of its nuclear programme in talks that ended on Thursday, a senior Iranian official was quoted as saying.
Reuters 1st Nov 2007 more >>
Gordon Brown is considering a Saudi plan to limit the supply of uranium to potential nuclear weapons states and will call for new EU sanctions against Iran in the next few weeks, most probably in the form of an end to export credit guarantees.
Guardian 2nd Nov 2007 more >>
US
You probably wouldn’t offer to take your neighbour’s trash unless you had a pretty clever way of getting rid of it. But that’s what the Bush administration was accused of this week over its plan to reprocess other nations’ nuclear fuel.
New Scientist, 1st Nov 2007 more >>
robedwards.com, 1 Nov 2007 more >>
Westinghouse Electric Company has filed a combined construction and operating license application with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for two reactors at the Bellefonte nuclear power plant in northern Alabama, in response to an announcement by the Tennessee Valley Authority and NuStart Energy consortium.
Datamonitor 1st Nov 2007 more >>
Hiroshima
Paul Tibbets, the pilot who dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima has died.
Scotsman 2nd Nov 2007 more >>
Korea
A team of U.S. experts landed in the North Korean capital on Thursday to start work on disabling the country’s main nuclear complex.
Guardian website 1st Nov 2007 more >>
Reuters 1st Nov 2007 more >>
Submarine
The Royal Navy’s newest and most advanced nuclear submarine has submerged for the first time in tests in Cumbria of her underwater systems. Built in Devonshire Dock, Barrow, Astute was launched in June and the ongoing tests represent a major performance milestone.
Pendle Today 1st Nov 2007 more >>
Gas
BG, one of the UK’s key gas producers, joined the row over high energy prices in Britain yesterday saying it was “part of the solution” rather than part of the problem. Frank Chapman, BG’s chief executive, denied that delays to the opening of its Dragon liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility, the diverting of cargoes to Asia and its own North Sea production problems had added to the difficulties.
Guardian 2nd Nov 2007 more >>
BG chief executive Frank Chapman is expanding the LNG division by signing supply agreements with exporters including Nigeria and Egypt and building a new import terminal in the UK.
Telegraph 2nd Nov 2007 more >>
With energy experts forecasting tight global markets for liquefied natural gas over the next few years, BG should be in a sweet spot for earnings, with the capability to divert cargoes where margins are highest, such as Asia.
FT 2nd Nov 2007 more >>
Electricity
Letter from Association of Electricity Producers: Your report that Britain faces power shortages (Rising fear of energy crisis this winter, October 31) was somewhat alarmist. The recent calls from National Grid for more power to be produced were, in fact, an example of the system working – extra power was delivered. This winter, as usual, the electricity producers will make every effort to avoid a crisis. In the longer term, however, maintaining the high quality of Britain’s electricity supply rests also with government and regulators.
Guardian 2nd Nov 2007 more >>
