Nuclear Waste
Article by Gordon MacKerron: THIS week The Scotsman reported that the Scottish Executive would refuse to support a consultation on the geological disposal of radioactive waste. For over 50 years the UK has been creating radioactive waste and hitherto has stored this waste in a variety of ways, none of which represents an acceptable long-term strategy.
Scotsman 30th June 2007 more >>
North Korea
U.N. nuclear watchdog officials reached an “understanding” with North Korea on verification of the shutdown and sealing of the North’s Yongbyon reactor, Kyodo news agency said on Friday. The head of the U.N. delegation said it was “satisfied” with their tour of a North Korean reactor complex that the secretive state has promised to scrap under an aid-for-disarmament deal, it said.
Reuters 29th June 2007 more >>
North Korea moved a step closer to fulfilling a promise to shutter its main nuclear reactor after agreeing with international monitors Friday on how to verify a shutdown.
Guardian website 29th June 2007 more >>
BBC 29th June 2007 more >>
FT 29th June 2007 more >>
Iran
The U.S. and fellow permanent U.N. Security Council members have told Iran they will hold off on new sanctions if it stops expanding its uranium enrichment activities as they seek to restart talks over Tehran’s nuclear program, diplomats said Friday.
Guardian website 29th June 2007 more >>
Czech Republic
A Czech advocacy group has started a campaign to start Zwentendorf in Austria as a parody of the Austrian campaign to Stop Temelin.
World Nuclear News 29th June 2007 more >>
Disarmament
Comment by John Gittings: Was Margaret Beckett’s remarkable speech on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament earlier this week just the swansong of an ex-CND supporter and an about-to-become-ex-foreign secretary, or does it indicate a new approach by Gordon Brown? Or is it a bit of both?
Guardian 29th June 2007 more >>
Germany
From a distance, the Lubmin nuclear power station looks like any other industrial relic from Soviet-era East Germany. Its reactors have gone cold and its gutted buildings flake in the sun. Frenzied activity inside its kilometre-long turbine hall tells a different story, however. Under a ballet of cranes, scores of workers are assembling steel hulls for the nearby shipyards. Lubmin’s rehabilitation is an example of the quiet investment boom spreading through Germany’s former communist east. If all goes according to plan it is Lubmin that will get the biggest investment of all – a €5bn ($6.7bn, £3.4bn) gas pipeline planned by Gazprom of Russia and Germany’s Eon and BASF. The link, scheduled for completion in 2011, will bring gas directly from Siberia’s gas fields to the former power station. Behind the projects, which include two gas and one coal power stations, are investors such as Dong Energy of Denmark, EnBW, part-owned by EDF of France, and Wingas, a joint venture between Gazprom and BASF.
FT 29th June 2007 more >>
France
France’s antitrust watchdog on Thursday gave a big boost to prospects for real competition in the country’s energy market by ordering state-controlled monopoly EDF to cut its wholesale electricity prices.
FT 29th June 2007 more >>
Politics
Letter from David Lowry: The elevation of David Miliband to foreign secretary seems to have been received by politicians and commentators with unnalloyed praise. But there is one area of Miliband’s political beliefs that could create a significant security problem: his support for nuclear power.
Guardian 29th June 2007 more >>
The prime minister suggested Shirley Williams could advise the government on combating the dangers of unsecured nuclear materials and nuclear proliferation, citing her work as the sole British board member of the US-based Nuclear Threat Initiative. It is understood he had a specific task in mind, rather than a role as an ad hoc adviser, but details were still unclear.
Guardian 29th June 2007 more >>
Poly Toynbee: an invitation to Shirley Williams to take some role in nuclear non-proliferation.
Guardian 29th June 2007 more >>
