THORP
The Thorp nuclear reprocessing plant, which closed in April 2005 after a serious radioactive leak, will not restart until next summer following the discovery of another technical fault. It is the latest blow for the plant’s owner, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), which is already facing a financial crisis. The NDA funds the £2bn annual budget for cleaning up Britain’s nuclear reactors and is losing an estimated £40m in income every year because of Thorp’s continued closure. Thorp, part of the Sellafield site in Cumbria, reprocesses spent nuclear fuel to extract plutonium. BNFL, the company that runs Sellafield for the NDA, told The Independent on Sunday in October 2005 that Thorp would reopen in March this year. The timetable then slipped to summer 2006 and then the autumn. In September, BNFL said Thorp’s restart would take place in “early 2007”. But BNFL has admitted in a staff newsletter that new technical problems, involving a filter pump in an adjoining facility, mean Thorp will not restart before April. In reality, experts say that the plant is unlikely to be operational until next summer at the earliest.
Independent on Sunday 24th Dec 2006
Iran
The UN security council has unanimously agreed to impose sanctions on Iran for its continued refusal to end its uranium enrichment activities. Under the terms of the sanctions exports and imports of heavy industrial equipment to the Middle Eastern country will be blocked and certain individuals will have travel restrictions imposed upon them and their assets frozen.
Inthenews.co.uk 23rd Dec 2006
Sunday Telegraph 24th Dec 2006
Scotland on Sunday 24th Dec 2006
Independent on Sunday 24th Dec 2006
Sunday Times 24th Dec 2006
Observer 24th Dec 2006
BBC 23rd Dec 2006
Iran condemned a U.N. sanctions resolution as “a piece of torn paper” that would not scare Tehran and vowed on Sunday to accelerate uranium enrichment work immediately.
Reuters 24th Dec 2006
Iran is set to increase its uranium enrichment programme in response to the United Nations Security Council resolution.
Channel 4 News 24th Dec 2006
ITV News 24th Dec 2006
Belfast Telegraph 24th Dec 2006
North Korea
THE first talks on North Korea’s nuclear programme since the communist nation tested an atomic device ended without an agreement on disarmament or a date for further negotiations after five days of meetings in Beijing, China.
Edinburgh Evening News 23rd Dec 2006
Politics
Iain McWhirter’s review of the year: Blair offered a whole Guantanamo of hostages to fortune – supporting the war in Iraq, backing a new generation of nuclear power stations, committing himself to renewing Trident, endorsing identity cards and 90-day detention without charge for terrorist suspects. THESE capitulations are a further testament to the extraordinary hold Blair has over the entire Labour movement. Why did Brown believe it necessary to make such commitments to a discredited leader?
Sunday Herald 24th Dec 2006
