New Nukes
Letter Andy Blowers: It is true that the government expects high-level radioactive waste to be buried in a deep repository, but this solution is nowhere near in sight and applies only to legacy wastes. Meanwhile, the government, in effect, is about to announce up to 11 sites where highly radioactive spent fuel and other wastes will be stored indefinitely in vulnerable coastal locations. For these wastes the “effective arrangements” for disposal required by government policy simply do not exist.
Guardian 26th Oct 2009 more >>
Letter Will Day: Even if the UK’s existing nuclear capacity were doubled, it would only result in an 8% cut in CO2 emissions, relative to 1990 levels. Given the timescales for such an expansion, including the replacement of capacity from plants reaching the end of their lives, it also means that these savings would not be fully realised until the 2030s, with little contribution to emissions reductions before 2020. As a result, the Sustainable Development Commission found that the problems of nuclear power far outweighed the potential benefits.
Guardian 26th Oct 2009 more >>
A target for Britain to derive 30 per cent of its electricity from nuclear power by 2030 is needed to ensure planned cuts in the nation’s carbon dioxide emissions, according to Vincent de Rivaz, chief executive of EDF Energy. The objective would double the share of nuclear power in Britain’s electricity mix.
FT 26th Oct 2009 more >>
US
The economics of nuclear power alone could be the most difficult hurdle to surmount. A new UCS analysis, Climate 2030: A National Blueprint for a Clean Energy Economy, finds that the United States does not need to significantly expand its reliance on nuclear power to make dramatic cuts in power plant carbon emissions through 2030 and indeed that new nuclear reactors would largely be uneconomical.”
Be Spacific 25th Oct 2009 more >>
Iran
Inspectors from the U.N’s nuclear watchdog have visited a controversial uranium processing plant in Iran. The inspectors intend to compare engineering designs with the actual facility, interview employees and take environmental samples to verify the site has no illicit military dimension.
Daily Mail 26th Oct 2009 more >>
Scotsman 26th Oct 2009 more >>
Times 26th Oct 2009 more >>
The Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has exposed divisions in Nato by accusing the west of treating Iran unfairly over its nuclear programme and describing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, its vehemently anti-western president, as a friend.
Guardian 26th Oct 2009 more >>
Israel
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has said that the Palestinians should be allowed to have nuclear weapons if the world does not act to disarm Israel of its arsenal. Colonel Gaddafi accused the international community of “double standards” because Israel is allowed to maintain a barely-hidden nuclear capability while Iran comes under massive pressure not to develop its own .
Ananova 26th Oct 2009 more >>
Trident
The decision to replace an unaffordable Trident missile system calls into question Gordon Brown’s stated commitment to nuclear disarmament, a former Labour foreign secretary says. In a sweeping attack on the government’s defence policy, Lord Owen describes the estimated £15bn-£20bn cost of replacing Trident in its 2006 white paper as “no longer credible”. Abandoning Trident and instead having a number of cruise missiles equipped with nuclear warheads would be cheaper and more flexible, making it easier for the UK to contribute to disarmament measures over the coming decades, Owen said. The option is favoured in some quarters of the Ministry of Defence and is being considered by the Liberal Democrats.
Guardian 26th Oct 2009 more >>
Peak Oil/Renewables
An excellent new report, Heads in the Sand, released last week by the non-governmental organisation Global Witness – the group that first brought “blood diamonds” to the world’s attention – looked in depth at what is happening to the supply of oil. And it is frightening. In mid-October the Department of Energy and Climate Change closed the consultation on the “feed-in tariff” proposal it has been forced to introduce by backbench MPs. Feed-in tariffs have kickstarted renewables in many countries, especially Germany, by offering consumers a healthy price for electricity they feed into the grid. The energy department will announce its decisions in about a month but, unsurprisingly, officials are aiming low. They want the tariff to offer returns on investment of 5-8%. That’s not enough. The Germans get around 10%.
Guardian 26th Oct 2009 more >>
