Dounreay
Radioactive particles from the Dounreay nuclear plant will keep polluting public beaches for decades to come, and the environment will never be completely cleaned up. These are the conclusions of the latest expert study of the hundreds of thousands of fragments of nuclear fuel known to have leaked into the sea from the Caithness plant since the 1950s. The revelations have sparked anger from environmentalists, who say that nuclear power has left Scotland with a “terrible legacy”. Dounreay’s operator, the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), admits that the behaviour that led to the leaks was “just not acceptable”.
Sunday Herald 26th Nov 2006
RobEdwards.com 26th Nov 2006
British Energy
The Government is set to delay the planned multi-billion-pound sale of its stake in British Energy until 2008 at the earliest. The recent slump in British Energy’s share price, caused mainly by problems with its ageing nuclear reactors, has led to the Government’s decision to postpone the sale of part of its 65 per cent stake.
Independent on Sunday 26th Nov 2006
Hinkley
HINKLEY Point B has “no restart date”, according to its parent company British Energy this week, in response to criticism levelled at the plant. The firm spoke out to deny claims made by an anti-nuclear group that it had made promises on operation expectations to “sweeten investors”. Protest group Stop Hinkley released a statement on Monday commenting on the announcement made by British Energy about when it hoped the station would be up and running again.
Somerset County Gazette 24th Nov 2006
Trident
Chancellor Gordon Brown warned against unilateral disarmament in a world where rogue states may acquire nuclear weapons. His remarks came as the debate over replacing Britain’s Trident nuclear weapons system intensified, with a White Paper expected to be published in December on the Government’s preferred option.
Guardian website 25th Nov 2006
This is London 25th Nov 2006
Daily Mail website 25th Nov 2006
Australia
A recent draft report released by the Australian government’s nuclear taskforce giving the green light to a nuclear powered future for the country, has drawn criticism from significant sectors of the community concerned that the report fails to address the issue of the safety of nuclear power plants.
Monsters and Critics 25th Nov 2006
Russian Spy
An investigation was under way last night into Russia’s black market trade in radioactive materials amid concern that significant quantities of polonium 210, the substance that killed former spy Alexander Litvinenko, are being stolen from poorly protected Russian nuclear sites.
Observer 26th Nov 2006
The killing of Alexander Litvinenko with polonium 210 created headlines around the world. It also raised disturbing questions about Russian secret agents and a lethal and growing black market in radioactive waste.
Observer 26th Nov 2006
Independent 26th Nov 2006
Sunday Times 26th Nov 2006
Sunday Telegraph 26th Nov 2006
The last person to meet Alexander Litvinenko before he succumbed to the agonising effects of radioactive poisoning is a self-professed expert in nuclear materials.
Mail on Sunday 26th Nov 2006
POLICE revealed yesterday that several rooms in the London hotel where Alexander Litvinenko met two Russian businessmen had been contaminated with polonium-210, the substance that killed him.
Sunday Times 26th Nov 2006
KREMLIN sources said they did not rule out the possibility that Boris Berezovsky, the exiled Russian oligarch living in London, may have been behind the death of Alexander Litvinenko. The source was angered by accusations in the press — and in the deathbed statement of the former spy — that Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, or the FSB, the country’s security service, had been behind the poisoning.
Sunday Times 26th Nov 2006