New Nukes
Government plans for new nuclear stations will not stop blackouts in the next decade, said Liberal Democrat shadow energy and climate change secretary Steve Webb yesterday.
New Civil Engineer 23rd Dec 2008 more >>
British Energy
FRENCH utility EdF yesterday got the green light from European regulators to buy nuclear generator British Energy for £12.5 billion. But the approval came with strings attached. EdF must dispose of its own gas-fired plant at Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire and British Energy’s coal-fired power station at Eggborough in North Yorkshire. It has also agreed to sell a minimum amount of electricity to the UK wholesale market and dispose of one of two possible sites for building a new nuclear power station, at either Heysham in Lancashire or Dungeness in Kent.
Daily Express 23rd Dec 2008 more >>
Oldbury
The UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has announced that the Oldbury nuclear power station, located near Bristol, England can continue to generate electricity beyond its closure date of December 2008, for a further two-year period. The facility is operated by Magnox North, a company owned by EnergySolutions.
Energy Business Review 22nd Dec 2008 more >>
Plymouth
People in one of Britain’s most “hazard-rich” cities better keep their mobiles on because nuclear alerts are to be sent by text. The “emergency notification system” will replace a warning siren that sounds in Plymouth in the event of a crisis. The text messages will alert 20,000 families living within 2km of the city’s nuclear facilities to an imminent disaster or toxic leak.
Daily Mirror 23rd Dec 2008 more >>
Nuclear Weapons
Russia has thrown down a new gauntlet to Barack Obama with an announcement that it will sharply increase production of strategic nuclear missiles. In the latest of a series of combative moves by the Kremlin, a senior government official in Moscow said the Russian military would commission 70 strategic missiles over the next three years, as part of a massive rearmament programme which will also include short-range missiles, 300 tanks, 14 warships and 50 planes.
Guardian 24th Dec 2008 more >>