New nukes
British Energy is reportedly holding secret talks with Scottish and Southern Energy and Centrica regarding plans to build nuclear power stations in the UK, according to the Sunday Telegraph.
Energy Business Review 26th March 2007
Environment ministers from Austria, Iceland, Ireland and Norway said on Monday that nuclear power was not the solution to global warming. In a joint statement following a meeting in Dublin, the four ministers from the non-nuclear countries said the “inherent risks and problems associated with the nuclear energy option remain and it can not therefore claim to be a clean alternative to fossil fuel use”.
IOL 26th March 2007
Emergency Planning
A new study by researchers at the Center for Mass Destruction Defense (CMADD) at the University of Georgia details the catastrophic impact a nuclear attack would have on American cities.
Medical News Today 27th March 2007
Iran
The presidents of Russia and China have called on Iran to fulfil the UN Security Council’s resolutions over its disputed nuclear programme.
Channel 4 News 26th March 2007
Iran has begun payments to a Russian firm building Tehran’s first atomic power plant, the company has said.
BBC 26th March 2007
Ireland
Ulster’s newly-elected Green Party MLA has slammed Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary for his comments in support of nuclear power in Ireland. Brian Wilson, who took one of the six north Down seats, hit back after the controversial airline chief urged Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to think seriously about switching the Republic to nuclear energy.
Belfast Telegraph 26th March 2007
Germany
If the German nuclear phaseout law is not changed before the next general election, four reactors may be forced to close in the current political term.
Nuclear Engineering International 26th March 2007
Radioactive Waste
A UK wide strategy for dealing with solid low level waste was called for today in new policy published by the government. The policy, which follows a public consultation in 2006, identified the lack of long-term capacity at the national Low Level Waste disposal facility near Drigg and pointed to the increasing difficulty of finding small-scale treatment and disposal routes for the least radioactive wastes. It stresses the need to minimise the amount of waste created before attempting to manage disposal options. The policy said the UK needed to create greater flexibility in managing the wide range of waste that already exists and will arise in the future while maintaining a focus on safety.
New Civil Engineer 26th March 2007
Ian Pearson’s Statement to Parliament
Low Level Waste Policy Statement
Sellafield
Nuclear bosses have identified a pool of untapped skills amongst soldiers and have launched a bid to woo them to West Cumbria.
North West Evening Mail 24th March 2007
A £15bn contract to take over the running of the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing facility in Cumbria is set to go to one of half a dozen American-led groups. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, the Government body responsible for the site, announced yesterday that six organisations had pre-qualified as bidders for the contract, which will be worth £1.3bn a year initially and could last for 17 years. The contract, which will be let for an initial five years, will be awarded in the middle of next year and is the biggest single component of the £76bn programme to clean up and decommission Britain’s civil nuclear sites. Among the US giants bidding for the work are Washington Group, Bechtel, Fluor, Jacobs Engineering and CH2M Hill. Some have UK partners although there is not one UK-only bidder on the shortlist.
Independent 27th March 2007
Telegraph 27th March 2007
FT 27th March 2007
Times 27th March 2007
Scotland
Creating a network of local power stations would be far more efficient and lead to lower carbon emissions than building new nuclear power stations, according to a report commissioned by Greenpeace. Decentralising Scottish Energy concludes that generating heat and electricity close to where it is needed could remove the need for nuclear power, as well as being cheaper, less polluting and decreasing Scotland’s reliance on gas. The report also says this approach would work well alongside a policy of harnessing Scotland’s large-scale renewable energy potential.
Herald 26th March 2007
Greenpeace website 26th March 2007
WADE report, Decentralising Scottish Energy
Chernobyl
Chernobyl has been in Maria Sharapova’s thoughts lately. Mostly that she considers herself extremely fortunate to have escaped the effects of the world’s worst nuclear accident, dodging both possible radiation poisoning and death. Sharapova, a woman usually associated with sporting prowess and frothy, girly glamour, is a ‘Chernobyl survivor’.
Telegraph 27th March 2007
