THORP
British Nuclear Group is being taken to the high court by angry customers who believe they are being made to pay a £500,000 fine incurred by the operator for criminal negligence at its Sellafield plant. The German utility E.ON and others are also challenging the right of BNG to use its “cost-plus” contracts for passing on a bill for tens of millions of pounds’ worth of expenses caused by BNG’s own incompetence. This includes all the repairs plus extra storage fees for spent fuel and waste resulting from a massive leak that has kept the Thorp fuel reprocessing unit at Sellafield closed for two years.
Guardian 19th Jan 2007
Jordan
JORDAN is seeking to establish its own nuclear programme “for peaceful purposes”, according to the country’s king, Abdullah. In an interview with an Israeli newspaper, the king spoke openly about desires for a Jordanian nuclear programme for the first time and said discussions were already under way with western countries.
Scotsman 20th Jan 2007
Guardian website 19th Jan 2007
Reuters 19th Jan 2007
Middle East Online 19th Jan 2007
FT 20th Jan 2007
New Nukes
The Health & Safety Executive is locked in negotiations with the Treasury to bust the civil service pay scale and entice vital nuclear experts to vet a new generation of UK nuclear power stations, according to sources. The HSE’s Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII), which is responsible for the critical two year licensing process to check new nuclear designs, is to start a major recruitment process in an attempt to hire dozens of the country’s top nuclear scientists and stop a brain drain to the private sector.
ABC Money 19th Jan 2007
Construction of new nuclear power plants is expected to become easier this week after safety regulators issued pre-licensing requirements for new plants. The “Generic Assessment of Candidate Nuclear Power Plant Design” document will enable operators and vendors to submit standard design proposals to regulators for approval ahead of planning applications.
New Civil Engineer 19th Jan 2007
North Korea
North Korea has agreed to resume six-country talks aimed at winding up its nuclear arms program soon, the U.S. envoy to the thorny negotiations said on Friday.
Reuters 19th Jan 2007
Germany
Germany is reconsidering its decision to abandon nuclear power after a temporary cut-off from Russian oil highlighted its dependence on foreign fuel imports.
Edie 19th Jan 2007
British Energy
British Energy shut its Heysham 2-8 nuclear reactor on Thursday after being told to reduce output at the plant by network operator National Grid and then finding a problem with the turbine valves, a company spokesman said on Friday.
Reuters 19th Jan 2007
Iran
The head of the UN nuclear watchdog is concerned that UN sanctions on Iran could escalate the stand-off with the US and its European allies.
Yorkshire Post 19th Jan 2007
