Oldbury
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has today announced that Oldbury Power Station will continue to generate electricity into 2009 and beyond. Originally planned for closure at the end of this year Oldbury now has the opportunity to continue producing electricity for a further period – likely to be around two years. Reactor 2 will continue generating power into 2009 past its scheduled closedown date of December 31st 2008. Reactor 1 remains offline and awaits a safety case to be approved by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) before it can restart.
NDA Press Release 18th Dec 2008 more >>
FT 20th Dec 2008 more >>
Anti-nuclear campaigners have reacted with astonishment after Oldbury nuclear power station was been given permission to carry on generating for another two years. The atomic plant had been set to close down at the end of December. A delay in the defuelling schedule meant it was possible for the station on the banks of the river Severn to stay in operation, provided site regulators gave their approval. That go-ahead has now been given by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII). The decision was welcomed by locals, who said they had lived alongside the station for the past 40 years and were happy to see it continue to provide energy and jobs. But members of the Shut Oldbury campaign said it was a “mad idea”. They said there had been safety concerns for the past six years, particularly surrounding the graphite core of its two reactors.
Bristol Evening Post 19th Dec 2008 more >>
Emergency Planning
STAFF at Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, joined an emergency exercise to test responses in the event of a nuclear incident. They worked with other emergency services and the local authorities to rehearse procedures for a radioactive leak at Hinkley Point B Power Station. A decontamination tent was set up, staff wore emergency protective clothing and went through the procedures for decontaminating and treating ‘dummy’ patients.
Somerset County Gazette 19th Dec 2008 more >>
EDF
Constellation Energy and EDF Development, a wholly owned subsidiary of EDF, have announced a definitive investment agreement under which the latter will acquire a 49.99% interest in the Constellation Energy Nuclear Group for $4.5 billion.
Energy Business Review 18th Dec 2008 more >>
AWE
AWE denies that proposed new bomb-assembly complex to replace aging “gravel gerties” will be a flood risk. PLANS for a new bomb-making facility at the Atomic Weapons Establishment’s Burghfield plant have been submitted to the district council. If approved, the final assembly of nuclear warheads ready to be installed in Britain’s Trident submarines will be moved to a new complex to replace the Cold War “gravel gertie” bunkers hit by floods last July. AWE bosses insist that the replacement facility, named Project Mensa, will be built on higher ground on a different part of the site safe from flooding. But anti-nuke campaigner Di McDonald, of the Nuclear Information Service said that she feared that global warming would lead to floods across the Burghfield site.
Newbury Weekly News 18th Dec 2008 more >>
Britain has sold off its stake in the Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment, relinquishing control of nuclear warhead production in the UK, it has been revealed. A US firm has bought British Nuclear Fuels’ one-third share in AWE Management, giving Americans a controlling influence of the facility. The fee paid by California-based Jacobs Engineering has not been disclosed.
Loughborough Echo 20th Dec 2008 more >>
Ananova 20th Dec 2008 more >>
Guardian 20th Dec 2008 more >>
Independent 20th Dec 2008 more >>
Telegraph 20th Dec 2008 more >>
Bulgaria
Germany’s RWE AG signed a deal with Bulgaria’s state-owned NEK power utility on Friday to become a strategic investor in the country’s second nuclear plant. RWE outbid rival Belgian energy company Electrabel, owned by France’s GDF Suez SA, for a 49-percent stake in Belene Power Company, which will own and operate the new nuclear power plant.
AP 19th Dec 2008 more >>
Reuters 19th Dec 2008 more >>
Yucca Mountain
Here is the federal government’s plan to keep Las Vegas safe from the radioactive waste it wants to store at Yucca Mountain: High-tech metal containers for the waste; Multibillion-dollar titanium shields to protect the containers from drips of corrosive water; Robots to install the shields 100 years from now. Too bad none of those things exist, opponents say. Arguments over these canisters, drip shields and robots are central to their case against the Energy Department’s application to turn the mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, into the nation’s nuclear dump. They plan to file more than 200 legal objections, called contentions, today with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is to decide whether to license the site.
Las Vegas Sun 19th Dec 2008 more >>
Turkey
Turkey’s Atomic Energy Board (TAEK) on Friday sanctioned the technology of a Russian-Turkish consortium which was the sole bidder in a tender to build the country’s first nuclear power plant.
Yahoo 19th Dec 2008 more >>
Nuclear Weapons
Russia will stop developing some strategic nuclear weapons if the US drops plans for a missile shield in Europe, a top Russian general has said.
Sky News 19th Dec 2008 more >>
Fusion
CAITHNESS is being touted as the base for a major research project into fusion energy.
John O Groat Journal 19th Dec 2008 more >>
