New Nukes
A devastating blow to the much-hyped revival of atomic power has been delivered by an unlikely source—the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The NRC says the “standardized” designs on which the entire premise of returning nuclear power to center stage is based have massive holes in them, and may not be ready for approval for years to come. The NRC gave conditional “certification” to thw “standardized” AP1000 design in 2004, allowing design work to continue. But as recently as June 27, the NRC has issued written warnings that hundreds of key design components remain without official approval. Indeed, Westinghouse has been forced to actually withdraw numerous key designs, throwing the entire permitting process into chaos.
Counterpunch 25th July 2008 more >>
British Energy
SHAREHOLDERS in British Energy, Britain’s nuclear power group, are to be offered a share of the company’s future profits in a plan that should clear the way for it to be taken over by the French. The scheme, sketched out by advisers in recent weeks, is aimed at breaking a stalemate over price. Electricit de France (EDF), the utility, made an indicative offer of about 680p a share for BE several weeks ago. The price values the group at about £9.5 billion. Shareholders are holding out for a higher price, with some indicating privately they will not be satisfied with less than 800p a share. They argue that rising electricity prices make BE worth more than EDF has offered. BE shares closed on Friday at 726.5p.
Sunday Times 27th July 2008 more >>
Proliferation
Forty years ago this month, more than 50 nations gathered in the east room of the White House to sign the treaty on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons. In his memoirs, Lyndon B Johnson called it “the most significant step we had yet taken to reduce the possibility of nuclear war”. Today, with the benefit of time, we can evaluate whether the accord truly marks the “historic turning point” President Johnson hoped for. The evidence suggests that while the pact’s dykes have largely held, serious leaks have developed, prompting nuclear vigilantes to apply force when they have concluded that diplomacy would fail to halt the bomb’s spread. Whether this behaviour is a harbinger for the future remains unclear, but it raises a continuing spectre given the failure of the NPT to include an effective enforcement mechanism.
Guardian 26th July 2008 more >>
Germany
There were 122 notifiable incidents at German nuclear plants last year.
Mathaba 26th July 2008 more >>
Iran
Iran has claimed to have more than 5,000 centrifuges actively enriching uranium – a major expansion, if true, in its nuclear operations which Western intelligence agencies believe are intended to produce atomic weapons.
Telegraph 27th July 2008 more >>
Sunday Times 27th July 2008 more >>
BBC 26th July 2008 more >>
Reuters 26th July 2008 more >>
Nuclear Weapons
Three members of a ballistic missile crew fell asleep holding the launch codes for the nuclear weapons. The blunder happened at the same US base which loaded six nuclear weapons by mistake on to a B-52 bomber and then flew them across America.
Mirror 26th July 2008 more >>
Coal
British scientists have called on the government to deploy speedily a new technology which will almost completely eliminate carbon emissions from power stations. In a letter published in The Observer today, they say failure to capture emissions from dirty coal plants planned for Britain will have catastrophic environmental consequences. In addition, the group – which includes scientists from Imperial College London and Cambridge, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Bristol and Nottingham universities – warns that, unless Britain acts with urgency, it risks losing a world lead in carbon capture technology to other nations, including Canada, Germany and the US.
Observer 27th July 2008 more >>
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology can in theory reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power stations by up to 90 per cent. The gases are ‘captured’ and then stored underground rather than released into the atmosphere.
Observer 27th July 2008 more >>
Letter from Stuart Haszeldene et al: The government has successfully stoked great enthusiasm in a UK carbon capture industry, developers are elbowing their way in to compete. But is the sum total of UK policy, merely to produce one winner and 15 losers in a competition to build part of one clean coal power plant?
Observer 27th July 2008 more >>
Fuel Poverty
An estimated 500,000 households will be plunged into ‘extreme fuel poverty’ as a result of the latest round of utility bill hikes, consumer watchdog Energywatch has warned.
Observer 27th July 2008 more >>
