EDF
Dougie Rooney, national officer of Unite, said that unless EDF is forced to sell strategic parcels of land it has acquired, it would be very difficult for an alternative reactor maker to compete and would mean most of the skilled work for the construction of new power stations would be done in France. EDF took centre stage in the UK’s plan to build new nuclear power stations when it agreed to buy British Energy in September for £12.4bn. British Energy owns the most attractive sites on which to build reactors. EDF strengthened its position further by buying several farms near another site in Wylfa on the island of Anglesey in north Wales, which is seen as the next best place to build a power station. The farms have been described as “ransom strips” by critics of EDF, who believe the company could use the land to freeze out competition. The European Commission will give its ruling on EDF’s acquisition of British Energy on Monday.
Sunday Telegraph 21st Dec 2008 more >>
Companies
Japanese engineering conglomerate Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd will launch joint production of nuclear fuel with its French partner Areva SA , the Nikkei business daily reported on Sunday. Under the plan, the French nuclear engineering firm will take up a roughly 30 percent stake in Mitsubishi Nuclear Fuel Co, which is owned in 66 percent by Mitsubishi Materials Corp and 34 percent by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the Nikkei said.
Money AM 21st Dec 2008 more >>
AWE
The government’s sale of its final stake in the Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) to an American company was challenged yesterday by opposition parties.
Sunday Times 21st Dec 2008 more >>
Telegraph 20th Dec 2008 more >>
Politics.co.uk 20th Dec 2008 more >>
View London 20th Dec 2008 more >>
Climate
Barack Obama ushered in a revolution in America’s response to global warming yesterday when he appointed one of the world’s leading climate change experts as his administration’s chief scientist. The president-elect’s decision to make Harvard physicist John Holdren director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy reveals a new determination to draw a line under eight years of US policy that have seen George Bush steadfastly reject overwhelming evidence of climate change.
Observer 21st Dec 2008 more >>
Independent on Sunday 21st Dec 2008 more >>
MPs opposed to construction of a third runway at Heathrow are planning a massive cross-party revolt in the new year in a final effort to halt the project.
Observer 21st Dec 2008 more >>
Emissions from aircraft are our fastest-rising source of carbon dioxide and by 2050 could account for or almost all the nation’s permitted carbon output. Cars, homes, factories and power plants would have to become carbon neutral just to accommodate the aviation industry’s desire for unbridled expansion. A third runway is incompatible with the fight against climate change, the most pressing issue facing the nation, it is claimed.
Observer 21st Dec 2008 more >>
Standard 75W, 100W and 150W incandescent bulbs will disappear from sale in January under a government plan to switch to environmentally friendly, but often more expensive, eco-bulbs. It is planned that by 2010 the 40W bulbs will have followed the other bulbs into history.
Observer 21st Dec 2008 more >>
