Iran
THE British government was warned more than two years ago that Iran had illegally acquired a missile system capable of carrying nuclear warheads. It has emerged that a foreign government delivered the warning to Britain in early 2004. Separately, it has been disclosed that the system was sold to Iran by a former senior member of the Ukrainian security service. The deal was brokered by an organised crime boss and, it is feared, contributed to the Iranian nuclear programme that is now the subject of an international confrontation.
Sunday Times 3rd September 2006
THE United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan is expected to confront President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran today over Iran’s refusal to suspend its uranium enrichment programme.
Sunday Times 3rd Sept 2006
THE European Union agreed yesterday to try to clarify Iran’s stance on halting uranium enrichment within two weeks and the UN secretary-general arrived in Tehran to discuss the dispute.
Scotland on Sunday 3rd Sept 2006
Sweden
A QUESTION mark hangs over the emergency shutdown of nuclear reactors after two of the four diesel generators at a Swedish plant failed to connect properly during a 22-minute power cut. Plant operator Forsmark Kraftgrupp, a subsidiary of Vattenfall and Eon, has just submitted a report to the Swedish atomic regulator about the events, which occurred after the grid failed to supply electricity to Forsmark, resulting in an emergency shutdown on July 25. During the incident, the reactor control rods were automatically placed into the reactor to shut it down – but plant staff could only surmise the position of these rods as the power cut had affected the flow of information to the control room. The operators could only confirm that a stable shutdown had been achieved after 45 minutes. Forsmark is putting on a brave face but anti-nuclear campaigners across Europe see the incident north of Stockholm as proof that reactors are far from safe. The incident was rated at two on the International Nuclear Event Scale, where seven is a major accident.
Sunday Herald 3rd Sept 2006
BNFL Privatisation
Lord Renwick of Clifton, the chairman of the UK business of Fluor, the American engineering giant, has launched a scathing attack on the Government’s handling of the sale of British Nuclear Group.
Sunday Telegraph 3rd Sept 2006
