New nukes
A new generation of nuclear reactors could receive approval in about half the time it took to gain consent for Sizewell B, the last nuclear station to be built in Britain, according to government safety experts. In a submission to the energy review to be published today, the Health & Safety Executive said that the process of licensing a new series of nuclear stations could take three to four years. This compares with the six and a half years it took to gain a licence for Sizewell B, the pressurised water reactor on the Suffolk coast which opened in 1995 after a mammoth public inquiry.
Independent 28th June 2006
Financial Times 28th June 2006
Times 28th June 2006
Letter from Terrence Price: David Howarth’s letter on nuclear power (June 23) should not go unanswered. He asserts that nuclear power could not be built up quickly. History tells a different story. In 1974, France was dependent on oil and gas for 46 per cent of its electricity. At the time, nuclear contributed only 8 per cent.
Financial Times 28th June 2006
Letter From Mr Ian Hore-Lacy of the World Nuclear Association. David Howarth is indeed suffering some illusions which pose a real danger for UK energy policy. Nuclear energy’s carbon output from the full fuel cycle is not a matter for conjecture; audited figures are published, and are very much the same as the best figures for renewables. In particular, they are typically about 2 per cent of what you would get from using coal, and if one goes to very low-grade uranium ores, that figure could rise to 3 per cent. Hardly a big deal, and it certainly shows that greenhouse-friendliness is significant.
Financial Times 28th June 2006
Alistair Darling has thrown his weight behind rebuilding the nuclear power industry and plans to use the energy review to push a fast-track planning process for atomic plants, wind farms and even transport schemes. In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, the new trade and industry secretary gave a blunt warning to householders and local councils that they had to support new power projects in Britain – or the lights would go out.
Guardian 28th June 2006
Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Tuesday he would need a lot of convincing that the country’s future energy needs could be met without nuclear power, signalling his support for a new generation of reactors. Blair said it would be a “dangerous gamble” to put complete faith in renewable energy to meet the country’s requirements, exposing it to dependency on imports of oil and gas from abroad. He also rejected the idea of offering government subsidies to developers of new nuclear plants.
Reuters 27th June 2006
Daily Mirror 28th June 2006
Scotland
Fancy a nuclear dump in your back yard? It seems the latest solution to the problem of storing radioactive waste is to find a community that really wants it, with accompanying jobs. This, after all, is an industry with a future – a 24,000-year future. At a press conference repeated questions about the prospects for replacing Scotland’s nuclear power plants saw the First Minister move on from the old coalition mantra about postponing decisions until storage issues are resolved and shifting the emphasis on to renewable energy. Scotland can wait, at least until the battle for public opinion is won in the south, until next year’s election is out the way, and until private companies are willing to risk the Scottish political minefield.
Herald 28th June 2006
JACK McConnell believes Scotland can avoid building new nuclear power stations by becoming the “world leader” in renewable energy.
Scotsman 28th June 2006
Iran
SUPREME leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran does “not need” talks with the US over its nuclear programme because nothing would be gained.
Scotsman 28th June 2006
Independent 28th June 2006
Iran’s supreme leader said yesterday “the ground was prepared” for negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear programme but he reiterated that Iran would not negotiate over its “right” to obtain and use nuclear technology.
Financial Times 28th June 2006
Nuclear Weapons
There is nothing new and something depressing in Gordon Brown’s public commitment to replace Britain’s Trident nuclear weapons system. The UK chancellor of the exchequer’s political positioning is transparent enough. So, too, is the absence of strategic thinking. The global landscape is being remade by huge shifts in relative power. Yet the prevailing presumption is that the past is permanent.
FT 28th June 2006
Letter: Whether the statement by the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, in support of a renewed nuclear arsenal will prompt a 1980s-style debate about disarmament remains to be seen (your report, 22 June). But the arguments about the costs and the danger of proliferation certainly remind me of Labour’s agony over the issue in the past.
Scotsman 28th June 2006
BNFL
Britain’s most notorious nuclear company is in its death throes. British Nuclear Fuels, known for decades as BNFL, is to be terminated, according to one of its veteran managers. Roger Coates, former head of health and safety at BNFL, predicts that the state-owned company will be wound up as a result of a major government reorganisation. This will be “the end of an era”, he says.”
Rob Edwards.com 28th June 2006
CoRWM
After three years of deliberation, CoRWM has concluded what should have been blindingly obvious from the start – namely that nuclear waste should be buried in a deep underground repository. It does have sensible things to say about the importance of consulting the public over nuclear waste, but it falls short on technical recommendations. Having wasted much valuable time debating – and then dismissing – exotic solutions such as firing the waste into space, the committee has given no clear view on what kind of repository should be built or even what kind of geology would be most suitable for such a site. These decisions still need to be made, which will only delay construction of a repository still further. Blair’s apparent enthusiasm for nuclear power is to be welcomed, but a clear long-term plan on what to do with the waste needs to be in place before the construction of any new stations begins.
Physics World June 2006
India
The Bush administration scored a key victory in securing congressional support for its historic agreement to allow civil nuclear co-operation with India when the House foreign relations committee voted 37 to five on Tuesday to allow it to proceed with legislation.
Financial Times 28th June 2006
BBC 28th June 2006
United States
The government would store nuclear waste for up to 25 years on federal land under a proposal offered Tuesday to deal with growing volumes of used reactor fuel at nuclear power plants. The waste sites could be built to accommodate a region or individual state, said aides to Sen. Pete Domenici as they prepared to put the proposal up for a vote by a Senate subcommittee that he leads. The proposal is aimed at addressing growing concern about the thousands of tons of used reactor fuel accumulating at power plants, waiting to be shipped to an oft-delayed central government repository in Nevada. The proposed Yucca Mountain waste site – which would bury the used fuel deep beneath the Earth – has yet to receive a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It is not expected to open – even if a license is approved – before 2018, Energy Department officials have told Domenici’s staff.
Guardian website 27th June 2006
Decommissioning
Wire impregnated with diamonds has been used to decommission concrete used to sheild nuclear material based in a difficult to access area of Harwell, Oxfordshire – the birthplace of the UK’s nuclear industry.
Environment Times 27th June 2006
