Nuclear Weapons
Anti-nuclear campaigners called for an “open” debate about whether Britain renews its Trident nuclear deterrent ahead of a vote in Parliament on the crucial issue. The Government has promised MPs they will have the final say on whether to order a new generation of nuclear missiles, which would cost up to £25 billion. The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament welcomed the move but said the vote must be preceded by a full public and Parliamentary debate.
Guardian website 23rd July 2006
Radiation and Health
Dr Chris Busby is calling for an investigation into a childhood cancer cluster around a nuclear plant which pumps radioactive waste in an open channel through housing estates. Leukaemia rates in children within a three-mile radius of the Capenhurst atomic plant in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, are four times the national average. Capenhurst, which has supplied enriched uranium to Britain’s civil nuclear industry since 1962, emits liquid discharges of uranium and its derivatives to the Rivacre Brook which flows past schools and playing fields.
Daily Post 24th July 2006
Romania
RWE AG has joined the bidding for a Cernavoda, Romania nuclear plant extension contract, a company spokesman told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. So far, 15 local and international companies, including E.ON AG, Iberdrola SA and Enel SpA, are bidding for the contract.
Interactive Investor 23rd July 2006
Radioactive Scrap
A SHIPMENT of radioactive scrap metal that arrived in Scotland eight years ago has been found to be still lying in storage, awaiting a decision on its fate. The cargo, which was shipped from Egypt to Coatbridge in Lanarkshire in 1998, has become the source of a long-running dispute between the UK and Egyptian governments over its ownership. According to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), the scrap had been brought to the UK to be disposed of, but when it was found to have low levels of naturally occurring radioactivity, it was decided it should be sent back.
Scotsman 24th July 2006
Herald 24th July 2006
With quotes from Nuclear Free Local Authorities.
Sunday Post 23rd July 2006