Sizewell
PROTESTERS staged a demonstration at Sizewell power station over the weekend to show their anger at plans to build two new nuclear reactors.
Campaigners against the proposed new development on the Suffolk coast lined the entrance to Sizewell A and B power plants to voice their opposition.
East Anglian Daily Times 27th Apr 2009 more >>
Millom
RWE’s plan for a new nuclear power station at Kirksanton, near Sellafield, would mean the destruction of a community-owned wind farm already producing electricity on the site. The three companies running the Haverigg wind project on the Cumbrian coast only found out that their land was part of the German utility’s plan when the full list of nominated sites was published by the Government earlier this month. Colin Palmer, the founder of Windcluster, one of the companies with turbines at the site, said: “RWE is planning to knock down our windmills to build a nuclear power station but they didn’t even have the decency to contact us.”
Independent 28th Apr 2009 more >>
Guardian 28th Apr 2009 more >>
IAEA
A total of five candidates have put themselves forward to succeed Mohamed ElBaradei as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it was announced Monday, as the deadline for nominations drew to a close. With a deadline of midnight on Monday, diplomats said there was little likelihood of a last-minute sixth candidate coming forward.
Earth Times 27th Apr 2009 more >>
Government
Lord Mandelson has set up an “energy and climate change unit” to lobby Ed Miliband’s new energy and climate change department on behalf of business. Energy insiders said the move was further evidence of the peer encroaching on Ed Miliband’s brief in a bid to water down green policies which may damage business.
Guardian 26th Apr 2009 more >>
Scotland
A SCOTTISH Labour MP is poised to reignite a row over the Scottish Government’s threat to block the construction of any new nuclear power plants north of the border. In a move certain to provoke an SNP response, Ochil and South Perthshire MP Gordon Banks is to question the use of planning law which is devolved to Holyrood to determine energy policy, which is a Westminster responsibility, in a Commons debate tomorrow. He said last night he called a debate in Westminster to discuss the role Scotland should play in meeting UK energy needs and would not be calling for a reduction in the planning powers of the Scottish Parliament, but would ask if the use of planning powers to impose a nuclear ban is appropriate.
Aberdeen Press & Journal 27th Apr 2009 more >>
Sellafield
Cumbria narrowly averted a nuclear disaster “five times worse than Chernobyl”, a county councillor has claimed. Labour’s Wendy Kolbe, who represents Ulverston East, told councillors that a failure in the cooling system at Sellafield on April 1 could have led to a catastrophic explosion. Her comments have been dismissed as alarmist and untrue.
Carlisle News and Star 24th Apr 2009 more >>
Faslane
CONCERNS have been raised about safety at Faslane after it was revealed nuclear waste has leaked into the Clyde. The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) has said that if Faslane was a civilian installation it would consider closing it down. The worst breaches included leaks of radioactive coolants from nuclear subs in 2004, 2007 and 2008, according to documents obtained by Channel 4 under the Freedom of Information.
Scotsman 28th Apr 2009 more >>
Daily Mail 28th Apr 2009 more >>
View London 27th Apr 2009 more >>
FASLANE is set to be the UK’s only submarine base in a move that will boost the economy yet will also be seen as a snub to the Scottish Government’s anti- nuclear stance. Ministry of Defence documents suggest that the seven Trafalgar class submarines currently based in Devon will be relocated to Faslane on the Gare Loch near Glasgow by 2015.
Scotsman 28th Apr 2009 more >>
IF THERE is one part of Scotland which really grates with Alex Salmond, it is Faslane. The nuclear submarine base on the Clyde is not only a perpetual reminder of Britain’s nuclear deterrent, to which the SNP is fundamentally opposed, but it also provides a concrete example of the strict limits of the Scottish Government’s power. The SNP administration does not want nuclear weapons, it does not believe the country needs them and it is irked by the simple fact that the UK’s nuclear deterrent is based in Scotland – against the will of the Scottish Government.
Scotsman 28th Apr 2009 more >>
The Scottish government called for an “immediate and top-level investigation” yesterday into reported radioactive leaks at Faslane, the country’s main nuclear submarine base. The party’s Westminster leader, Angus Robertson, called the disclosures of a series of safety breaches at the base “utterly damning”. He added: “We are not talking about a one-off incident but a whole catalogue of serious and frankly shocking failures.”
Times 27th Apr 2009 more >>
FT 28th Apr 2009 more >>
Faslane Trident base would have been shut down by civilian environmental authorities if the Ministry of Defence did not have immunity, it emerged yesterday. The Clyde facility is also likely to become the UK’s sole nuclear submarine base within six years, according to reports released under
Freedom of Information rules. The MoD described safety failings at Faslane, on the Gare Loch as a “recurring theme” following major leaks of radioactive coolant from nuclear submarines in 2004, 2007 and 2008 into the Firth of Clyde. Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) warned it would consider closing the base if it had the power to do so but civil radioactive safety regulations do not apply to MoD sites, although the department has previously said it would volunteer to uphold them at the base.
Herald 28th Apr 2009 more >>
Trident
BRITAIN must not abandon its independent nuclear deterrent in the face of the current financial and economic crisis, Defence Secretary John Hutton, pictured, warned yesterday. Ministers have faced calls to scrap the £20 billion update of the Trident nuclear deterrent after Chancellor Alistair Darling revealed the dire state of the public finances in the Budget.
Scotsman 28th Apr 2009 more >>
Thailand
Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) has identified four provinces for potential sites for a nuclear power plant. Kamol Takabut, EGAT’s assistant governor for power plant engineering, said that the feasibility study was one-third concluded and was scheduled for the completion in late 2010.
Energy Business Review 28th Apr 2009 more >>
Nuclear Testing
A court in French Polynesia has begun hearing complaints from former workers at France’s nuclear weapons test sites. The cases, being heard for the first time, relate to work in Mururoa and Fangataufa and seek recognition and compensation for ill health.
BBC 28th Apr 2009 more >>
Emergency Planning
Klaus Umminger’s job is to cause havoc. At Europe’s only nuclear power plant simulator, in the Bavarian township of Erlangen, the project manager is preparing a catastrophe: the simulation of a huge leak. The experiment in the grey building near the German headquarters of Areva NP, the Franco-German reactor engineering business, demonstrates that the nuclear chain reaction can be kept under control. “The leakage could cause the water . . . to cool down too rapidly, but our safety technique will prevent that,” Mr Umminger says.
FT 28th Apr 2009 more >>
Pakistan
Pakistan’s president has given assurances his country’s nuclear weapons are not at risk of falling into the hands of the Taliban. As the Taliban extends its influence closer to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington could not contemplate the possibility of a nuclear-armed Taliban.
ITN 27th Apr 2009 more >>
Coal
Growing concerns about Britain’s future energy security are putting coal back on to the centre stage, the boss of Britain’s biggest producer, UK Coal, said yesterday. The company, reporting a loss of £15.6m, said it had signed a contract to supply Scottish and Southern Energy and renewed deals on better terms with E.ON, Drax and EDF over the past 12 months.
Guardian 28th Apr 2009 more >>
