New nukes
Building nuclear power plants should be a priority in the green revolution said MP for Copeland Jamie Reed.
Whitehaven News 22nd March 2007
Trident
Public Finance understands that the 87-strong Labour rebellion could have been bigger had the spin around costs been better assessed. Following a debate that led one minister to resign and 15 former ministers – including ex-home secretary Charles Clarke – to reject Blair’s policy, one senior rebel said: ‘Several floating voters in the Labour camp considered opposing the project but concluded that a £20bn top-end cost wasn’t significant for a 30-year deterrent.’ Well, how does £91bn sound? Because that might be a more realistic estimate of the bill taxpayers will foot for a new submarine-based nuclear ballistic missile system – one that some experts believe is a white elephant.
Public Finance 22nd March 2007
Iran
The latest incident comes at a time of renewed tensions with Iran over Tehran’s nuclear programme, which Britain and other Western powers fear could be used to develop a nuclear weapon.
Portsmouth News 23rd March 2007
The showdown between Western capitals and Iran over its disputed nuclear programme is set to erupt inside the chamber of the UN Security Council when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attends a vote on extending sanctions.
Belfast Telegraph 23rd March 2007
Independent 23rd March 2007
Chancellor Gordon Brown may lead efforts to revive the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as a way of tackling Iran’s atomic ambitions, his most pressing foreign policy challenge once he becomes prime minister. Government and diplomatic sources say he may have less than a year to influence policy on Iran as Washington’s patience with Tehran wears thin.
Reuters 22nd March 2007
Eastern Europe
Italy’s Enel has signed a Memorandum of Intent on the development of the electricity sector and nuclear power generation in Russia and in Central and Eastern Europe with Russia’s RosAtom.
Modern Power Systems 23rd March 2007
North Korea
Negotiators are trying to find a bank outside China to receive North Korea’s frozen funds in an attempt to settle a banking dispute that has stalled nuclear disarmament talks, South Korea’s envoy was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying.
Interactive Investor 23rd March 2007
INTERNATIONAL talks in Beijing on North Korea’s nuclear ambitions broke down yesterday over a financial dispute.
Scotsman 23rd March 2007
The Economist 22nd March 2007
Germany
Germany could abandon nuclear energy more quickly than planned and still achieve a 40-percent cut in carbon dioxide emissions, environmental group Greenpeace said on Thursday. If all nuclear power stations were closed by 2015, instead of the planned date of 2020, Germany could still reduce its CO2 emissions by 40 percent, according to a study prepared for Greenpeace by the EUtech institute, based in the western German city of Aachen.
Yahoo 22nd March 2007
THORP
JORDAN NUCLEAR, which supplies, installs and commissions mechanical and electrical plant, will work on the Sellafield Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP). The company will install a Medium Salt Free Evaporator and supply and install associated vessels, modules, plant and pipework.
Share Cast 22nd March 2007
Interactive Investor 22nd March 2007
Ireland
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions says it believes Irish society should have a debate on nuclear energy. The organisation says the Government side-stepped the issue in its recent proposals on meeting Ireland’s energy needs. Although it doesn’t fully support the idea of nuclear facilities, Congress says there still needs to be a debate on the issue.
Belfast Telegraph 22nd March 2007
Dounreay
DOUNREAY firefighters were called out after a leak of a highly volatile compound in the Fuel Cycle Area of the defunct reactor site. The spillage occurred during decommissioning work in the Dounreay Fast Reactor. It involved what a site spokesperson described as a “teaspoon-sized” amount of the sodium/potassium mix which was used to cool the reactor. The leak occurred during an operation to remove measurement devices in the tank holding the coolant. The alert was raised when a process worker noticed about two grams of the mix seeping into a custom-made safety glove-bag. The latter contains nitrogen which prevents the risk of an explosion.
Caithness Courier 21st March 2007
THE quango in charge of cleaning up Dounreay is being urged to go beyond what is being proposed in terms of the condition in which the site is left. The current blueprint would see all the radioactive hazards removed and the ground made safe by managing the residual contamination where it is. That would leave the radioactivity to decay, meaning the site would remain fenced off until 2300. Dounreay Stakeholder Group favours actively cleaning up areas to allow parts of the site to be de-licensed by the end of the decommissioning programme, currently due about 2030. DSG, which is the site’s community liaison body, supports the measure as a way of encouraging new enterprises to start up. It also believes it would contribute to an improved public perception of the clean-up process. The proposal is to be put to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, which is in charge of the clean-up of Dounreay and the UK’s other defunct civil reactor sites.
Caithness Courier 21st March 2007
Sellafield
ONE of the world’s biggest nuclear-related engineering and construction companies has spoken publicly for the first time about its bid to become top boss at Sellafield. The American company Fluor is one of seven bidders to take over the overall site running from present operators British Nuclear Group which is in the process of being sold off.
Whitehaven News 22nd March 2007
A SENSITIVE nuclear cargo had a four-car police escort and was also under armed guard as it made its way from Sellafield, last Friday, a high visibility transport which attracted attention all along the route from the nuclear plant to Workington. The latest consignment of Mox (plutonium) made at Sellafield was on its way in “a high security” vehicle to be loaded on a waiting “gun ship”, the HM Atlantic Osprey, for shipment from the port of Workington to an unknown customer in Europe.
Whitehaven News 22nd March 2007
