New nukes
Britain and France are to sign a deal to construct a new generation of nuclear power stations and export the technology around the world in an effort to combat climate change. The pact is to be announced at the “Arsenal summit” next week when prime ministers Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy will meet at the Emirates stadium in north London.
Guardian 22nd March 2008 more >>
A union-sponsored conference on the future of the nuclear industry might once have attracted a few dedicated insiders and PR managers, perhaps to one of the miserably utilitarian buildings around Sellafield. But a meeting on Wednesday organised by Unite will see presentations by the business secretary, John Hutton, British Energy’s chief executive, Bill Coley, and a host of other senior industry figures to a packed room of more than 150 delegates. And it will take place at the incongruously glamorous location of the Bafta film and television headquarters in London’s West End.
Guardian 22nd March 2008 more >>
Nuclear Weapons
Nicolas Sarkozy announced yesterday that France is to cut its nuclear arsenal, but insisted that nuclear deterrence remained a “life-insurance” in the face of new threats. Speaking at the launch of a nuclear-armed submarine, Mr Sarkozy said France’s airborne strike force would be cut by a third, leaving it with fewer than 300 warheads.
Telegraph 22nd March 2008 more >>
Mirror 22nd March 2008 more >>
Daily Mail 22nd March 2008 more >>
BBC 21st March 2008 more >>
CNN 21st March 2008 more >>
President Nicolas Sarkozy called for new limits on nuclear weapons yesterday after accepting an advanced nuclear submarine called Le Terrible into the French navy.
Independent 22nd March 2008 more >>
French President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged on Friday to maintain a strong nuclear weapons program in order to defend his country against threats such as the possibility of a nuclear-armed Iran.
Reuters 21st March 2008 more >>
Proliferation
For a well-resourced state, the undetected procurement of nuclear capability is no longer very, very hard. Today, it is merely difficult. And paranoia, as the Israeli bombing example displays, has risen accordingly. Becoming a nuclear power is a costly, time-consuming and risky exercise involving murky deals on the black market. Players are forced to immerse themselves in a new international industry staffed by mercenary scientists, arms dealers and spies. But it can be done, and the rewards are great. Having the bomb buys a regime or state power, prestige and security.
Daily Mail 22nd March 2008 more >>
Companies
The power group Électricité de France is planning to team up with a construction company to launch a bid worth almost €90bn (£70bn) for two of the three biggest utilities in Spain, it emerged yesterday. The deal would involve the partners taking control of Iberdrola, the owner of Scottish Power, and Unión Fenosa, according to the Wall Street Journal. Under the deal, the Spanish construction company ACS, which owns 13% of the Bilbao-based Iberdrola, would buy it outright and sell off assets such as Scottish Power to EDF. The French giant would then take over parts of Fenosa. ACS owns 45% of Fenosa.
Guardian 22nd March 2008 more >>
Telegraph 22nd March 2008 more >>
Dounreay
DOUNREAY will be no more within 16 years if newly-revised plans by site contractor the UKAEA come to pass. The decommissioning of the one-time hub of the UK’s fast reactor programme can be completed by 2024, the country’s nuclear clean-up quango is being told. The UKAEA is also saying the work can be done for £3 billion – half a billion less than the previous estimate.
John O Groat Journal 21st March 2008 more >>
MOVES to employ robotic search-and-retrieve devices as part of the intended partial clean-up of the contaminated seabed off Dounreay are continuing this week with a new series of underwater trials.
John O Groat Journal 19th March 2008 more >>
A PIECE of radioactive plastic found buried on Dunnet beach is currently being analysed by scientists at Dounreay. It is believed to be the latest unwanted jetsam to have been washed up on the tide from the plant. The UKAEA has confirmed that Tuesday’s find on the beauty spot has the site’s “radioactive signature”. A large particle was detected and recovered on the Sandside foreshore on Wednesday afternoon. Initial tests put it in the significant category, of similar activity to those previously found there.
John O Groat Journal 21st March 2008 more >>
