Hinkley
More than 150 people marched through Bridgwater today to protest against EDF Energys plan for two new mega-reactors at Somersets Hinkley Point nuclear power station. In the first of a series of demonstrations over the next three days, protesters converged opposite EDF Energys regional headquarters with an array of costumes and banners before marching through the town centre. Two protesters were dressed as the grim reaper and carried a large banner saying: Nuclear energy: the death of a safe, affordable future. Boycott EDF. A choir from Wales also sang songs opposing a new reactor proposed for Wylfa nuclear power station on Anglesey. A rally then took place in Cornhill where speakers from anti nuclear groups including, Stop Hinkley, CND and Greenpeace France outlined the dangers of nuclear power. The crowd heard that radioactive waste from the new EPR reactors earmarked for Hinkley will be so toxic that it will have to be stored at the site for more than 100 years. This region deserves decent jobs that are safe and sustainable, said Crispin Aubrey from campaign group, Stop Hinkley. Nuclear power cannot meet this requirement.
Stop New Nuclear 1st Oct 2011 more >>
BBC 1st Oct 2011 more >>
West Country Tonight 1st Oct 2011 more >>
‘Bang Goes the Theory’ – the BBC’s guide to popular science – will be examining nuclear power following events in Japan earlier this year in the final programme of the current series, which visits Hinkley Point power station near Burnham-On-Sea.
Burnham-on-sea 30th Sept 2011 more >>
Radwaste
Members of the West Cumbria Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS) Partnership will visit a research facility in France, which is managed by the French waste management agency, to further their understanding of the work that is being carried out to look at geological disposal in other countries. As part of the trip, Partnership members will visit the Meuse/Haute-Marne underground research laboratory near Bure in France. The facility has been built to test the suitability of the area for a geological disposal facility. The Partnership members will also meet with community leaders, and representatives from Andra the French national radioactive waste management agency.
Cumbria Crack 29th Sept 2011 more >>
The Partnership patsys should go for a walk up Scafell instead of spending taxpayers money on a jolly. A walk up Scafell would give them a sense of the scale of DECCs proposal for a huge hole in the ground. Scafell is a mere 978 meters the proposal is for up to 1000 meters.
Cumbria Crack 1st Oct 2011 more >>
Switzerland
The Swiss chapter of the physicians for social responsibility / for the prevention of nuclear war (PSR/ IPPNW, Peace Nobel prize 1985) has taken, with satisfaction, notice of todays vote by the the council of states, promoting the definite phase-out of civil use of nuclear power at the end of the lifespan of the existing 5 powerplants.
IPPNW 29th Sept 2011 more >>
Belarus
The Russian Federations ambassador to Belarus Alekhandr Surikov told reporters in the Belarusian capital Minsk that a draft Belarusian-Russian interstate agreement on the construction of a new 2,400 megawatt nuclear power plant for Belarus will be ready in October.
Oil Price 1st Oct 2011 more >>
Aldermaston
Government spending on Britain’s nuclear weapons programme is defying the swingeing budget cuts being experienced across Whitehall. As the Ministry of Defence cuts frontline positions in the military, a previously confidential report reveals that the taxpayer is committed to paying almost £750m for the construction of a new enriched-uranium facility at the Atomic Weapons Establishment in Berkshire. The 32-page MoD report, Defence Equipment & Support UK Enriched Uranium (EU) Capability Investment Appraisal, spells out the taxpayer’s commitment to funding Project Pegasus, which will replace the enriched-uranium facility built at the site in the 1950s. The report, marked “Secret UK Eyes Only”, was published in heavily redacted form earlier this year following freedom of information requests. The Information Commissioner recently ruled that the redaction, hiding the full £747m investment cost of the project, should now be made public.
Observer 2nd Oct 2011 more >>
Renewables
British homeowners are increasingly able to build greener homes by using cheap solar panels from China, but western workers are paying the price with a wave of corporate collapses and layoffs among green energy firms. The price of PV (photo voltaic) solar panels has dropped by as much as a third this year alone, hastening the introduction of a low-carbon economy and reducing the time period when renewable energy needs public subsidy. And there is a boom at present as consumers try to install the low-cost equipment before the level of handouts via the government feed-in tariff (FIT) is reassessed in April next year. “Prices (of solar panels) are falling so fast that some buyers are holding off making purchases on the expectation they will come down even more. We have seen an average fall of around 33% so far this year and I would expect to see a further 15% decline in the last quarter,” says Gabriel Wondrausch, founder of Exeter-based PV installer, Solar Gift Solar.
Observer 2nd Oct 2011 more >>
Thames Water is a sewage dynamo. Every day the London and Thames Valley monopoly deals with enough lavatory flushings, shower and bath drainage and run-off to fill the Royal Albert Hall 47 times over. It should be little surprise, then, that few firms are as good at coming up with ways to put human waste to good use. The latest innovation was unveiled last week: a system that converts sludge, the solids left after waste water is treated, into high-grade fuel.
Sunday Times 2nd Oct 2011 more >>
Every year about 18,000 tonnes of solid Marmite residue is left stuck to the sides of the equipment used to manufacture the spread. Up to now, this has been cleaned off and flushed through the sewerage system or sent to landfill. Unilever plans to recycle the love it or loathe it Marmite leftovers to create power from next year. The remains will be placed in an anaerobic digester a composter where it will be eaten by bugs. As they feed on the waste, they release methane that can be burned in a boiler or a combined heat and power engine, which is connected to a generator that produces power.
Sunday Times 2nd Oct 2011 more >>
Green Deal
No 10 is investigating ways to pump money into green building projects to help kickstart the economy. Representatives of several large companies, including Balfour Beatty, J Sainsbury and Bovis, were summoned to Downing Street on Friday to discuss energy performance contracts a scheme to speed up investment in insulation, solar panels and other energy-saving improvements. It was an exploratory meeting but the idea is a mini Plan A plus putting money into construction projects to get things moving, said one source. David Cameron will announce a scheme at the Conservative party conference this week to build 100,000 homes using brownfield government land. Meanwhile, some of Britains biggest firms have formed a consortium to bankroll the Green Deal, the coalition scheme to help families with the cost of making their homes more energy efficient. Businesses including British Gas, EDF, Scottish & Southern Energy, Kingfisher and a string of banks and law firms are backing the Green Deal Finance Company.
Sunday Times 2nd Oct 2011 more >>
Transition Towns
Its founder believes it is our best hope for a future after the worldwide banking crisis. Now, it seems, a growing number of people are starting to agree. The “Transition” movement has grown eightfold since the recession hit three years ago and is now operating in 35 countries around the world. When the first Transition town was established five years ago in Totnes, Devon, the “experiment” was simple. Like-minded people would work on creating a more sustainable community to reduce their dependency on oil. By 2008, there were 100 registered initiatives in 11 countries. Today, there are more than 850 Transitions in three times as many countries. More than 300 groups have signed up in the past year.
Independent 2nd Oct 2011 more >>
