New nukes
So far this week the prime minister has whipped up controversies over the criminal justice system, animal rights protesters and, perhaps the most explosive, nuclear power. It almost appears that he is determined to get as many people up in arms over his policies as he can humanly manage – surely madness?
BBC 19th May 2006
Caroline Lucas MEP: nuclear is not the answer. It’s not just the astronomical costs of cleaning up the deadly radioactive waste (already £70bn and rising), the risks from accidents or terrorist attack, or that switching to nuclear power couldn’t possibly deliver sufficient CO2 cuts in time to meet our international commitments – or stave off climate change.
Guardian 19th May 2006
Independent 20th May 2006
Why Conservatives must oppose nuclear power, by Peter Franklin – Tory political advisor. Nuclear power is state power and should be opposed from the Right.
Guardian 18th May 2006
After Tony Blair’s endorsement, only the £30bn cost of building reactors seems a stumbling block. Mr Francis, director of Hinkley B can barely control his glee. In the week that Tony Blair told business that nuclear power was back on the agenda “with a vengeance” and Gordon Brown said he agreed with the prime minister that nuclear should replace nuclear, it seemed to the industry that the battle had been won.
Guardian 20th May 2006
FYLDE coast Tories today welcomed the Prime Minister’s latest display of support for the nuclear industry on which hundreds of local jobs depend.
Blackpool Today 19th May 2006
THE outcry in some quarters over the Prime Minister’s statement that nuclear power stations are back on the agenda is missing the point. Tony Blair has been accused of pre-judging his own Government’s energy review and of trying to cast his legacy in stone before he quits office. In fact what Mr Blair has done is to rightly acknowledge that in view of the UK’s looming energy crisis we have to be open to all possible solutions; if the Prime Minister can’t provide a lead on this issue of global importance, then what’s he there for?
West Cumberland Times and Star 19th May 2006
PUBLIC support for a new generation of nuclear power plants has been threatened by a revelation that there have been 57 incidents at existing sites around Britain since 1997.
Carline News and Star 19th May 2006
Australia
Prime Minister John Howard says he has an open mind on the development of nuclear power in Australia, which has 40 percent of the world’s known reserves of uranium, and has called for a full debate on the issue.
Reuters 20th May 2006
Iran
The European Union is ready to help Iran build several light-water nuclear reactors as part of a deal to resolve the longstanding atomic row but is threatening sanctions should Tehran refuse to stop enriching uranium, according to a copy of a draft proposal seen by AFP Friday.
EU Business 19th May 2006
French Reactors
A leaked document on the vulnerability to terrorist attack of the new European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) – being considered or already under construction in several countries including UK, France and Finland – reveals a dangerously flawed approach to security, according to a study commissioned by Greenpeace International.
Common Dreams 19th May 2006
Greenpeace UK Press Release 19th May 2006
Jersey Evening Post 19th May 2006
Sellafield
WOMEN agency workers at Sellafield are getting their knickers in a twist amid claims of “discrimination” over underwear at the nuclear plant. An employee says female agency staff are getting a raw deal over underwear allowances and supplies at the West Cumbrian site.
Carlisle News and Star 19th May 2006
Nuclear Waste
Trains carrying dangerous radioactive waste are passing through London on a weekly basis, and local Greenpeace volunteers will hit the streets on Saturday, 20 May to ask Londoners to help stop these hazardous transports. The environmental group will be at train stations across the capital, where they’ll be asking people whether they’d prefer more nuclear power stations, or a safe, clean and efficient energy supply. The results of the poll will then be presented in the coming weeks to London MPs.
Greenpeace UK Press Release 19th May 2006
Nuclear testing
Israel and South Africa carried out a nuclear test on an offshore platform in the northern Antarctic in 1979, according to a newly disclosed US document.
Interactive Investor 19th May 2006
Times 20th May 2006
Wylfa
There is unlikely to be an extension to the life of Wylfa nuclear power station, a committee of Welsh lawmakers has been told. In evidence to the Welsh Affairs Select Committee, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, or NDA, blamed the costs involved, the report said. Wylfa is due to close in 2010. The local council – Anglesey – had called for Wylfa to continue in operation but has since backed the idea of the area having a second nuclear station. The existing power station supplies electricity directly to the metal smelting plant Anglesey Aluminium in Holyhead. Both plants are major local employers and a report has claimed the planned closure of the power station in 2010 would lead to both sites shutting, with a combined loss of 1,500 jobs.
Dow Jones 19th May 2006
Clean coal
As Tony Blair’s nuclear embrace appears to be reviving one of Britain’s ageing energy industries, another is waiting in the wings, poised for an equally unlikely comeback. Advocates of “clean coal” – until recently a laughable misnomer – are gaining political clout and serious investment.
Guardian 20th May 2006
