New Nukes
Monbiot: We must apply the same standards to all energy-generating technology as we do to nuclear power. The accusations have been so lurid that I had to read my article again to reassure myself that I hadn’t written the things that so many of my correspondents say I wrote. So, before I begin the counter-attack, here’s what I didn’t say about nuclear power. I did not claim that there is no alternative to atomic energy, or any such thing. Nor did I suggest that nuclear should replace renewables, or produce any higher proportion of our electricity than it does already. But I did point out that most of the countries that might abandon nuclear power are likely to replace it not with renewables but with fossil fuel, and that this is a major change for the worse. Environmentalist Mark Lynas has shown how phasing out planned nuclear programmes in a number of countries as a result of the Fukushima disaster could add another degree to global warming. Author and blogger Chris Goodall estimates that if the planned construction of new nuclear power stations in the UK stalls in response to the crisis, the result will be an increase of 9m tonnes of carbon dioxide for every year we delay.
Guardian 2nd April 2011 more >>
The co-convener of Scotland’s Greens is to debate nuclear power with one of Britain’s leading environmental commentators on Sunday. Patrick Harvie will take part in the debate with George Monbiot at Glasgow’s Citizens Theatre. The party is opposed to new nuclear power and extended the life of Scotland’s existing plants.
STV 3rd April 2011 more >>
Only nuclear power will stop the lights going out in Britain: PROFESSOR Sir David King, a former government chief scientist, has not let the crisis in Japan dampen his enthusiasm for nuclear power. He believes the case “has never been stronger”. Britain should ramp up its nuclear industry so that the plants can generate 60 per cent of the electricity the country uses, compared with the current 18 per cent, he believes.
Express 3rd April 2011 more >>
Is nuclear power the long-term solution to our energy crisis or a disaster waiting to happen? Our fearless columnist investigates.
The Times 3rd April 2011 more >>
Energy Supplies
Beth Stratford, energy campaigner for Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: “The important thing is to put this in perspective. The possibility of wind output varying by 7-8 per cent from year to year is rather less worrying than the possibility of an enormous power station like Sizewell B having to shut down in an emergency and not reopen for six months, as it did last year. “In terms of resilience and reliability, a decentralised energy system based on a broad variety of renewables wins hands down over a centralised system which relies on a handful of enormous power stations, which could fail with no warning whatsoever.”
Scotsman 2nd April 2011 more >>
Wylfa
Wylfa has two nuclear reactors – Wylfa-1 and Wylfa-2 – and generates around 23 gigawatts per hour to the National Grid. It was announced in 2006 that the plant would shut down in 2010 – more because of the cost of processing spent rods in the aftermath of the closure of the facility at Sellafield than any specific relating to the ageing structure, which turned 40 in January this year. However, in 2010, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, which owns the site, announced that Wylfa would continue operating in its current form until 2012.
Wales on Sunday 3rd April 2011 more >>
Scotland
THE exploding Japanese power stations have failed to turn Scots against nuclear power with more than half still believing that nuclear power should be part of Scotland’s energy mix. For every Scot who believes that there is no place for nuclear power in Scotland, there are two others who believe that the controversial method of generating electricity has a future in the country, a poll for Scotland on Sunday reveals. The findings are a blow to Alex Salmond, who has made a no-nuclear stance a key strand of the SNP election campaign. Iain Gray’s Labour Party has argued that there should not be a presumption against building new nuclear power stations resulting in the issue becoming one of the few policies that divides the two main parties apart from independence.
Scotland on Sunday 3rd April 2011 more >>
Sellafield
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s business plan published today outlines a £2.9 billion a year spend, covering all of its 19 sites – £12 billion in total over four years. But Sellafield’s annual share will be the biggest for any site – £1.55 billion. The NDA describe this as Sellafield’s highest ever and includes the continued construction of Evaporator D – “the largest single project in the UK nuclear estate”. The new evaporator is crucial to the longer-term operations of Sellafield.
Whitehaven News 1st April 2011 more >>
B30 is highlighted in the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s strategy for delivering the UK’s nuclear clean-up mission safely and efficiently. It forms part of Sellafield legacy ponds and silos. These, says the strategy report, were used historically to prepare fuel for reprocessing or store waste. It points out: “Radioactive materials have accumulated and remain since operations ended. Over five decades the plant conditions have deteriorated and there is now increased urgency to reduce the risk they pose.
Whitehaven News 31st March 2011 more >>
ONE of the most important engineering projects in the history of Sellafield has reached a key milestone. Work on the Evaporator D scheme, currently the largest nuclear project in the UK, is progressing so well a ‘topping out’ ceremony was held by Sellafield and builder Costain to celebrate. Work started in May 2009 and construction is due to be completed in 2014. Once commissioned, Evaporator D will provide additional capacity to support the site’s existing evaporators. The evaporators play a pivotal role in the delivery of nuclear fuel reprocessing contracts and high level waste management at Sellafield.
Whitehaven News 31st March 2011 more >>
Japan
Japanese engineers have admitted that they have failed to seal a crack from which highly radioactive water is spilling into the Pacific Ocean from the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant. Officials said a concrete barrier that had been poured in to a maintenance pit at Unit 2 – to seal a recently discovered eight-inch crack in the wall of the reactor – had not successfully stemmed the flow of water. Officials say a renewed inspection of the plant had not uncovered any other leaks, but this was the only good news from a day where it was also revealed that two workers bodies had been found at the plant.
Daily Mail 3rd April 2011 more >>
Independent 3rd April 2011 more >>
Japan’s prime minister, Naoto Kan, will tell workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to “fight with the conviction that you absolutely cannot lose”, as highly radioactive water continued to seep into the sea. The discovery by officials of a 20cm crack in the wall of a concrete pit could explain the continued flow of contaminated water that has jeopardised the operation to calm the reactors and raised fears about radiation levels in the sea and nearby soil.
Observer 3rd April 2011 more >>
Scotland on Sunday 3rd April 2011 more >>
As Japan’s prime minister visited tsunami-ravaged coastal areas for the first time Saturday, frustrated evacuees complained that the government has been too focused on the nuclear crisis that followed the massive wave.
Independent 3rd April 2011 more >>
Hundreds of evacuees from Futuba, the town nearest to Japan’s Fukushima nuclear reactor, have been moved again – to a school which may be home for months or years.
Telegraph 2nd April 2011 more >>
A U.S. simulation exercise conducted about 30 years ago of what would happen at a boiling-water reactor if all power sources were lost eerily matches what has unfolded at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. In 1990, when the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan decided on guidelines for approving safety design at nuclear plants, it stated, “There is no need to consider the loss of all AC power sources for a long period of time because we can expect a restoration of power transmission lines or the recovery of emergency AC power source facilities.” Shojiro Matsuura, president of the Nuclear Safety Research Association, once served as NSC chairman. “There was the unspoken understanding that we did not have to think about a situation in which everything failed,” Matsuura said. “It was not possible to foresee every possibility, such as a direct hit by a meteor.”
Asahi Shimbum 1st April 2011 more >>
Water with high levels of radiation has been confirmed to have seeped into the sea from the No. 2 reactor at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, government officials said Saturday, raising wider fears of environmental contamination by the release of radioactivity. The water has been leaking into the sea from a 20-centimeter crack detected at a pit in the reactor where power cables are stored, the government’s nuclear safety agency said, adding that Tokyo Electric Power Co., known as TEPCO, is ready to encase the fracture in concrete. The first detection of tainted water flowing out into the Pacific Ocean could force the government and the operator to limit further expansion of radioactive contamination, likely hampering efforts to restore the crippled cooling functions at the complex.
Kyodo News 2nd April 2011 more >>
The Ukrainian-American was a volunteer “jumper” who helped clean up after the nuclear disaster in the town of Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union in April, 1986. These are people who jump into a radioactive area to clear debris or mend pipes and run to safety before radiation reaches lethal levels.
Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) is trying to get jumpers — reportedly for $5,000 (£3,102.50) a day — to bring its damaged nuclear power plant in northern Japan under control after it was severely damaged by last month’s earthquake and tsunami, the world’s worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.
Yahoo 3rd April 2011 more >>
Letter: The Japanese are aware of those institutional arrangements and various mechanisms in the civil service system that enable the ministries to establish close links to industries under their administrative jurisdiction. Kan has been trying to reform this system, but with little success. There will be an investigation into why Daiichi was not designed to withstand a major earthquake-prone zone and why the plant has not been closed down despite problems that had been plaguing it as far back as 1971, such as cracks, leaks of radioactivity triggered by earthquakes, an incident that killed one worker and lawsuits brought by local residents to stop operations.
Scotland on Sunday 3rd April 2011 more >>
Implications
Scores of nuclear power plants worldwide are at risk from tsunamis or earthquakes similar to the natural disasters that crippled Japan’s Fukushima reactors, according to new research. Many at-risk plants are in countries less able to cope with a disaster than Japan, experts have warned. Seventy-six operating power stations in Japan, Taiwan, China, South Korea, India, Pakistan and the US are located in areas close to coastlines deemed vulnerable to tsunamis.
Independent 3rd April 2011 more >>
Trident
One of the US nuclear weapons labs, Sandia, has revealed in its “Lab Accomplishments” brochure that it has conducted tests on an upgraded nuclear warhead intended for the Trident replacement in the UK.
Guardian Blog 2nd April 2011 more >>
