New Nukes
Growth in the construction of new nuclear plants worldwide is at risk because of the global financial crisis, U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said Wednesday, adding that short-term projects like oil drilling are more likely to go ahead. During a visit to Paris, Bodman said the crisis could have an impact on the “nuclear renaissance” that is sweeping the industry as countries around the globe search for alternatives to fossil fuels.
AP 1st Oct 2008 more >>
MORE than half of people living close to nuclear plants, such as Hinkley in Somerset, still have concerns over threats to security and health, a report has revealed. Researchers from Cardiff University and the University of East Anglia said almost two-fifths (38 per cent) of local residents accepted their nearby power station “reluctantly”, but 16 per cent were opposed outright to it. One of the main criticisms from locals has been the lack of consultation over potential nuclear power plant schemes. The researchers found 54 per cent of those questioned worried about the risks of living within 10 miles of a power station. The results are a warning to the Government against assuming strong local support for new-build power stations on existing sites – thought to be the only places where it is likely the plants will be able to be given the go-ahead. More than half of those questioned – 61 per cent – near Hinkley Point, Somerset, and half of those questioned near Oldbury, Gloucestershire, were in favour of new-builds on their local site. But the survey of 1,326 residents found almost a quarter at Hinkley Point and almost a third near Oldbury opposed a new power station.
Western Morning News 1st Oct 2008 more >>
News Wales 1st Oct 2008 more >>
THE West Somerset area could be boosted by a double jobs boom as plans are unveiled to build TWO nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point. The West Somerset County Gazette has reported how if plans are approved to build a new reactor at Hinkley, there could be a peak of 2,000 short-term jobs plus 350 permanent posts. But that was based on the model of a one-reactor plant in Normandy, France. Now energy giant EDF says it plans to build two new reactors. That could mean hundreds more permanent posts at Hinkley plus potentially 4,000 short-term positions if the two new reactors are built at the same time.
Somerset County Gazette 30th Sept 2008 more >>
Letter: The Government’s abandonment of advanced technologies by handing critical developments on a plate to foreign government-backed enterprises is not limited to the nuclear sector. Precisely the same series of events happened post-Concorde when the previously British-led automatic flight control team was supplanted by a French government-subsidised bid for what has now become an intrinsic part of the whole Airbus family.
Times 1st Oct 2008 more >>
Laing O’Rourke is launching a bid to push into the nuclear sector in a bid to challenge Balfour Beatty’s role as leading contractor in the £40bn market.
Contract Journal 1st Oct 2008 more >>
The Conservatives have made it clear to nuclear power companies that Britain will be “a safe place to come and invest” if they win the next election, a shadow minister has said. Shadow junior transport minister Robert Goodwill told a fringe meeting at the party’s conference in Birmingham that aside from NGOs such as Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and “some self-appointed environmentalists”, public opinion was behind an expansion of nuclear power.
ePolitix 1st Oct 2008 more >>
Letter: First, government have stressed that they don’t wish to see a nuclear monopoly in the UK, and several other utilities have already begun considering investment in new reactors. Westinghouse are committed to securing new power plant business in the UK – working with companies such as BAE Systems, Doosan Babcock and Rolls Royce.
Independent 2nd Oct 2008 more >>
Nuclear Waste
Letter: Steuart Campbell maintains that the cost of decommissioning new nuclear power stations and the disposal of the associated nuclear waste has been allowed for in the costings for these new stations. Since there is not even a site selected for a long-term nuclear waste storage facility, how is it possible to include for a share of the cost of this facility and the long-term attendant costs?
Scotsman 2nd Oct 2008 more >>
Nuclear Security
An international initiative to help safeguard nuclear materials worldwide was announced on 30 September. The World Institute for Nuclear Security plans to do for nuclear security what the World Association of Nuclear Operators, created in the aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl power-plant accident, does for nuclear safety.
Nature 1st Oct 2008 more >>
Russia
Russian nuclear scientists and the mayors of six Siberian cities, which until recently were closed to the outside world, will visit Northamptonshire for advice on boosting jobs.
Northamptonshire Chronicle 1st Oct 2008 more >>
India
The U.S. Congress approved a landmark deal on Wednesday ending a three-decade ban on nuclear trade with India, unleashing billions of dollars of investment and drawing the world’s second most populous country closer to the West.
Yahoo 2nd Oct 2008 more >>
FT 2nd Oct 2008 more >>
Telegraph 2nd Oct 2008 more >>
BBC 2nd Oct 2008 more >>
Iran
An Iranian envoy says Tehran has dropped its bid for a seat on the board of the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA. Ali Asghar Soltanieh said Iran wanted to make way for its regional ally Syria to become a board member instead.
BBC 1st Oct 2008 more >>
Middle Eastern countries should set up a new regional organisation that includes all Arab states as well as Israel, Iran and Turkey, pro-western Bahrain urged yesterday.
Guardian 2nd Oct 2008 more >>
Japan
Japan’s total nuclear power plant utilisation rate by the 10 nuclear power generators fell to an average 60.5 percent in September, down from 71.4 percent in August.
AFX 1st Oct 2008 more >>
Korea
The chief US negotiator on North Korea’s nuclear programme has arrived in the country for crucial talks aimed at salvaging a nuclear disarmament deal.
View London 1st Oct 2008 more >>
US
EDF is nearing a deal with private equity group KKR which it hopes could trump billionaire businessman Warren Buffett in his agreed $4.7bn takeover of Baltimore-based Constellation Energy. Pierre Gadonneix, chief executive of the French electricity group, will meet KKR executives in the US this week to finalise details of a new assault on the company it had chosen as its bridgehead into North America, where it is looking to tap into the revival of civil nuclear power generation.
FT 2nd Oct 2008 more >>
