Iran
North Korea is helping Iran to prepare an underground nuclear test similar to the one Pyongyang carried out last year. Under the terms of a new understanding between the two countries, the North Koreans have agreed to share all the data and information they received from their successful test last October with Teheran’s nuclear scientists.
Telegraph 24th Jan 2007
North Korea
North Korea is showing “flexibility” to a “proactive” offer by the US and South Korea that could lead to the scrapping of North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme, South Korea’s foreign minister said on Wednesday, raising hopes for progress in the next round of multilateral talks.
FT 24th Jan 2007
Reuters 24th Jan 2007
France
Areva has won an order for a nuclear steam generator from Electricite de France for use in EDF’s future nuclear power plant at Flamanville.
ABCMoney 24th Jan 2007
New Nukes
Rising sea-levels, increased wave height and increased storm surge height must all be considered in the planning of the UK’s future nuclear stations. Specialists from the Met Office make the recommendations in a report that assesses the likely risks to the industry from climate change. It was commissioned by the nuclear power company British Energy. All the current stations are on the coast, chosen for remoteness and guaranteed access to cooling water. The study concludes future power plants will need to be further inland and may need added protection. The government is likely to release its criteria for possible sites in March.
BBC 24th Jan 2007
Nuclear power stations on the British coast will experience storm surges up to 1.7 metres (5½ft) higher by 2080 because of global warming, a study suggests. The research, commissioned by British Energy, the nuclear plant operator, suggests that new coastal defence strategies may be needed to protect sites from a combination of more extreme weather and higher sea levels. All of Britain’s 15 nuclear plants are near the coast, and the prospect of rising sea levels has raised questions about whether the sites will be suitable if a new generation of reactors is built.
Times 24th Jan 2007
Dr Tim Stone, chairman of KPMG’s Global Infrastructure and Projects group, has won the prestigious role of the senior costs advisor on a multibilllion-pound government nuclear waste programme. The GIP group specialises in advising asset owners, government bodies, contractors and infrastructure funds on the financing of major projects worldwide across a wide range of sectors.
Finance Director 23rd Jan 2007
Trident
THE government’s decision to replace Britain’s nuclear submarine fleet is “highly premature”, an expert from the United States told MPs yesterday. Richard Garwin, an architect of the first hydrogen bomb, questioned a claim by the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, that work must start soon on replacing the ageing Vanguard-class subs which are based on the Clyde.
Scotsman 24th Jan 2007
Guardian 24th Jan 2007
BBC 23rd Jan 2007
The government has “stack-ed the deck” in favour ofan immediate decision to replace the Trident submarine fleet that carries Britain’s nuclear deterrent, according to one of the US’s most eminent physicists. Richard Garwin, principal architect of the first US hydrogen bomb design and a long-standing consultant to successive US administrations on security matters, says the decision announced by the government in December to build three or four submarines to replace the existing Vanguard-class ships is “highly premature”. Mr Garwin, an expert on submarine design, will give evidence today to the House of Commons defence select committee and present a paper by him and the three scientists: Philip Coyle, Theodore Postol and Frank von Hippel. Parliament is due to discuss the issue in March.
FT 23rd Jan 2007
A REITIRED GP from Taunton is today (Thursday) joining a health professionals blockade of the Faslane Trident Submarine Base in Scotland.
NewsQuest South West 23rd Jan 2007
Nuclear testing
From 1949 until 1990, the Soviet Union used the Semipalatinsk region of East Kazakhstan as a nuclear testing site.
Scotsman 24th Jan 2007
Lithuania
General Electric Co has expressed an interest in a project to build a new nuclear power plant in Lithuania, officials said.
ABC Money 23rd Jan 2007
Israel
Israeli Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer hinted that his country should consider producing nuclear power for civilian purposes.
ABC Money 23rd Jan 2007
Aldermaston
Eight people were arrested after they chained themselves together as part of a protest at a nuclear weapons factory.
BBC 23rd Jan 2007
Nuclear Waste
Letter from Gordon MacKerron: As chair of the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management, I reject any suggestion of political manipulation (“Blair accused of nuclear waste ‘cover-up’ “, 19 January). CoRWM is an independent advisory body which has operated without preconceptions or undue influence from external bodies. All of our meetings have been held in public and our decisions subject to peer review and the widest possible scrutiny.
Independent 24th Jan 2007
Dounreay
The UK Atomic Energy Authority yesterday won permission to construct a £100m plant to deal with the most hazardous radioactive waste at Dounreay, but financial shortfalls could delay the work. The Caithness area committee of Highland Council gave outline permission for the construction of three buildings, covering an area the size of a football pitch, that are key to decommissioning the Dounreay site. The largest is the intermediate level waste cementation plant and store, designed to immobilise and encapsulate more than 30 years’ worth of
intermediate level liquid waste from fast reactor reprocessing and provide for its secure storage until a national repository is available. Construction is due to begin in 2008 and 120 jobs should be created. It is expected to take four years to build and commission, allowing the waste to be treated by 2017. It is also planned to take parts of reactor components and subject them to cementation. However, the development comes at a time of uncertainty for Dounreay as the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency (NDA), the body which finances the decommissioning programme, tries to make up a deficit of £200m. It is believed that Dounreay’s grant for 2007/08 could be cut back by £57m, around a quarter of this year’s budget of £277m, and may mean the shedding of up to 500 jobs.
Herald 23rd Jan 2007
Scotsman 23rd Jan 2007
Iberdrola
A consortium of Alstom and Spanish utility Iberdrola is a strong contender to win a modernisation contract for Mexico’s Laguna Verde nuclear power station, les Echos said, without citing sources. The project will involve the modernisation of the power station and expansion of its capacity from 1,365 to 1,500 megawatts. Alstom and Iberdrola submitted an offer worth 606 mln usd, undercutting its two rivals in the contest. Ibderdrola is waiting to hear from the EC if its bid for Scottish Power will be allowed.
Forbes 22nd Jan 2007
