Iran
Iran, in a confidential letter posted Friday on an internal Web site of the U.N. nuclear monitor, said its fear of attack from the U.S. and Israel prompted its decision to withhold information from the agency. In the letter, Iran said the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency had repeatedly allowed confidential information crucial to the country’s security to be leaked.
Guardian website 31st March 2007
Middle East
On a tour of Major Middle East ports, the Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior docked near the city of Tel Aviv on Thursday with a call for Israel to suspend its undeclared military nuclear program. The Greenpeace flagship, which has sailed across the world in support of environmental causes, last month embarked on a three-month tour of the region’s countries to promote a nuclear-free Middle East.
Space Daily 29th March 2007
New nukes
The UK’s principal nuclear regulators have published a new guidance enabling an integrated approach to the assessment of nuclear power station designs that provides comprehensive protection for people and the environment.
Connecting Industry 30th March 2007
Nuclear Waste
Britain needs a new strategy for dealing with low-level nuclear waste as current disposal facilities run out of space, the Government said. In a policy published on Monday, Defra called for a UK-wide strategy to provide an alternative to the national low level radioactive waste (LLW) dump in Drigg, Cumbria, which it says lacks long term capacity.
Edie 26th March 2007
British Energy
British Energy shut its Heysham 2-8 nuclear power reactor for planned maintenance on Friday morning. He could not say when the 625-megawatt reactor would restart. The shutdown comes a day after British Energy restarted another reactor at the power station in England after a one-month maintenance and refuelling outage. British Energy has four other reactors at other power stations on long term repair shutdowns, two in Scotland and two in England.
Reuters 30th March 2007
France
A new reactor will help maintain skills in nuclear technologies and support research into new designs. The 500m Jules Horowitz Reactor (RJH), named after the French reactor physics research pioneer, is a 100MWt light water cooled materials test reactor. It will be sited in southern France and operated by the French Commissariat à l’énergie atomique (CEA), which has supplied 50 per cent of the funding. The balance is coming from Electricité de France, 20 per cent; EU research institutes, 20 per cent; and Areva, 10 per cent.
Engineer Live 30th March 2007
Dounreay
THE quango in charge of Dounreay’s future is being asked to consider a compromise solution over what to do with the site’s world-famous dome. The iconic sphere is the centre of a controversy over whether or not it should be kept once the fast-reactor plant it contained is cleaned up and removed. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is not convinced by the case for its retention, though many local people want it to remain. A possible middle way is being suggested by Thurso community councillor Al Christie. Mr Christie, a former chemist at the plant, suggests a replica to provide a lasting reminder of the fast-reactor experiment in Caithness.
John O Groat Journal 30th March 2007
