Sellafield
The consortium with a £20bn contract to clean up Britain’s Sellafield nuclear plant has been handed a blank cheque by the Government to pay for future accidents there. Taxpayers would pick up a tab for hundreds of millions of pounds in the event of a serious security breach at the Cumbria facility.
Independent 4th Aug 2008 more >>
British Energy
Centrica could dust off plans for a merger with British Energy if France’s EDF abandons its attempt to take over Britain’s nuclear power generator. Centrica, which owns British Gas, looked at the prospect of an all-paper offer for British Energy this year but put its hopes on hold as the odds mounted that a big continental European player would make a cash bid.
Guardian 4th Aug 2008 more >>
Telegraph 4th Aug 2008 more >>
The Government is expected to put intense pressure on EDF, the French state-backed energy group, to table an improved offer to buy British Energy after its £12 billion bid for the nuclear-power company was snubbed by shareholders at the last minute.
Times 4th Aug 2008 more >>
China
China plans to make nuclear power generation account for more than 5 pct of the country’s installed power capacity by 2020, up from the previous goal of 4 pct, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. China will speed up the construction of nuclear power plants in the coastal areas and draw up plans for the inland regions, said Zhang Guobao, director of the newly-established National Energy Bureau.
AFX 4th Aug 2008 more >>
In a move that projects its naval power across the Pacific, China has secretly built a huge underground nuclear submarine base near Sanya on Hainan Island off its southern coast.
Sky News 4th Aug 2008 more >>
Iran
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday that diplomacy is the only way out of his country’s standoff with the West over its disputed nuclear programme and insisted he was serious about negotiations.
Herald 4th Aug 2008 more >>
BBC 3rd Aug 2008 more >>
The favoured season for launching wars used to come when the harvest had been gathered. This year, there is talk of an Israeli strike against Iran in November or December, when it would no longer embarrass the US election process but George Bush will still be in the White House during the presidential transition.
Guardian 4th Aug 2008 more >>
Fuel Poverty
Ministers are examining a raft of green energy measures, including bringing forward a £2.75bn home insulation programme funded by energy companies, to protect Britain’s poorest from the impact of rising gas and electricity prices. They are looking at the idea of front-loading a scheme known as the carbon emissions reduction target (Cert) so that more money is spent sooner by energy companies, with a greater proportion of the funding going to the fuel-poor.
Guardian 4th Aug 2008 more >>
Gordon Brown has intervened in the row over soaring fuel costs by proposing a £500 million carbon tax on Britain’s biggest energy companies to help families with gas and electricity bills . Under proposals to be put to energy companies, the money would come from permits allowing them to offset their carbon emissions over the next five years.
Times 4th Aug 2008 more >>
Climate
Letters: While agreeing fully with Andrew Simms (100 months to save the world, G2, August 1) that we have very little time left – perhaps only 100 months – to do anything effective about reversing global warming, the average consumer is left feeling powerless.
Guardian 4th Aug 2008 more >>
Coal
Leading environmentalists fear setbacks to the Government’s nuclear programme will mean the green light for a new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth.
Kent News 3rd Aug 2008 more >>
