Nukes vs Climate
Nuclear power is one of the least damaging sources of energy for the environment, and the green movement must accept its expansion if the world is to avoid dangerous climate change, some of the world’s leading conservation biologists have warned. Rising demand for energy will place ever greater burdens on the natural world, threatening its rich biodiversity, unless societies accept nuclear power as a key part of the “energy mix”, they said. And so the environmental movement and pressure groups such as Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace should drop their opposition to the building of nuclear power stations. In an open letter to be published next month in the journal Conservation Biology, more than 65 biologists, including a former UK government chief scientist, support the call to build more nuclear power plants as a central part of a global strategy to protect wildlife and the environment. The full gamut of electricity-generation sources, including nuclear power, must be used to replace the burning of fossil fuels such as oil, coal and gas if the world is to have any chance of mitigating severe climate change, their letter says. The letter is signed by several leading British academics including Lord May of Oxford, a theoretical biologist at Oxford University and former chief scientific adviser; Professor Andrew Balmford, a conservation biologist at Cambridge; and Professor Tim Blackburn, an expert in biodiversity at University College London. As well as reducing the sources of carbon dioxide, the chief man-made greenhouse gas implicated in climate change, the expansion of nuclear power will leave more land to support biodiversity and so curb the extinction of specie s, they say.
Independent 4th Jan 2014 read more »
See also.
Ecologist 18th Dec 2014 read more »
Moorside
Opponents of a multi-billion nuclear complex have held a protest near to the earmarked site. Around a dozen supporters of pressure group Radiation Free Lakeland met in Beckermet, near Egremont, on New Year’s Eve to make their feelings against the Moorside project known.
Radiation Free Lakeland 3rd Jan 2014 read more »
Dounreay – waste transport
A final load of nuclear waste from the experimental Dounreay power plant in Scotland has arrived in Belgium. It’s the twenty-first such set of spent nuclear fuel and it arrived on Boxing Day, according to Belgium’s nuclear regulator, FANC. A shipping container holding three barrels of nuclear waste encased in cement was put into storage in Dessel, at the site of Belgian nuclear energy firm Belgoprocess. The waste, which was originally sent to Scotland from Belgium for reprocessing, will be held in this special bunker temporarily until a final destination is found. It was carried from Scotland by sea and across Belgium to Dessel by rail.
Energy Live News 4th Jan 2014 read more »
Sizewell
The proposals to build an A12 bypass around Stratford St Andrew, Farnham, Marlesford and Little Glemham, to ease congestion have been in the pipeline for many years. The EADT-backed campaign has grown in response to EDF Energy’s proposals to build Sizewell C, as the increase in traffic associated with the construction of the power plant is feared to place an intolerable strain on the road. Dr Poulter has spoken of his desire for EDF to help fund the bypass proposals and urged Suffolk County Council to take a firmer stance in its role as lead negotiator.
East Anglian Daily Times 3rd Jan 2014 read more »
Heysham
Energy is another large player in Wales, as in Heysham, with the nuclear power stations and with energy installations along the Cumbrian Coast. In Anglesey, like Heysham, they are also earmarked for a new nuclear power station and the site in Anglesey is the second site in the country to be built. I am able to meet with Horizon Energy, who are building the site and help them with any delays in the process. This means that when it is the turn of Heysham 3 to be built, all of the administrative problems will have been ironed out, which will secure jobs in north Lancashire.
Westmorland Gazette 3rd Jan 2014 read more »
France – Radwaste
A huge pocket of warm water exists beneath what is supposed to be France’s largest nuclear garbage pit, located near the town Bure. This site is destined to store, for at least 100,000 years, the most dangerous high-level waste that has accumulated since France built its first reactor. 125 meters tall, 30 kilometers wide and dozens of kilometers long, this reserve of warm water could sooner or later be used to produce heat or energy. The water is a comfortable 66 degrees, but it is found at a depth of 1,800 meters, while the nuclear waste is to be buried above it at a depth of 500 meters. On January 5, 2015, the agency for the management of radioactive waste (ANDRA) will find itself on trial in high court in Nanterre for having divulged false information concerning the supposed absence of concern about significant underground water tables at the site in Bure. The citizen groups Sortir du nucléaireand Stop Bure 55, and Mirabel Lorraine Nature Environnement have brought the charges.
Nuclear News 3rd Jan 2014 read more »
Iran
Iran has denied striking a deal with the US to reduce Tehran’s potential ability to manufacture nuclear weapons, following earlier reports that an agreement had been reached. The Associated Press said on Friday that Tehran and Washington had agreed the outline of a deal under which Iran would ship its surplus enriched uranium to Russia. It also said negotiators had drawn up a catalogue outlining areas of potential agreement and differences in the long-running dispute. Iran’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said, however, that “no agreement on any nuclear topic” had been reached.
Guardian 3rd Jan 2014 read more »
Ukraine
Over the last week, more publications, including Zero Hedge, have started reporting on a still developing nuclear problem at the largest nuclear plant in Europe. This news has been widely circulated in Eastern Europe over the last few weeks. The problem in Ukraine has been and remains verification: Ukrainian sources have not been forthcoming. When this first occurred I was contacted through a second party and told directly after the officially reported transformer incident that a radiation spike was observed in Crimea, which is 140km away from the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. The spike was small against background radiation but noticeable on a geiger counter. I was also given hacked files of the emergency conversation that happened at the plant that day. They are included at the bottom of the article. The proximity to what is coming to light means they cannot be ignored.
Global Research 3rd Jan 2014 read more »
Renewables – Scotland
DECEMBER was a record month for wind power in Scotland, according to environmentalists who have hailed 2014 as a “massive year” for renewable energy. The biggest day for output for wind was on December 10 when there was enough energy generated to supply 6.34 million homes for the whole day, analysis from WWF Scotland showed. The charity said wind turbines generated enough power to supply over 100 per cent of Scottish households on 25 out of the 31 days of December. Throughout the year wind provided enough power for the electrical needs of 98 per cent of Scottish households, with solar power meeting two-thirds or more of household electricity or hot water needs, it added.
Scotsman 3rd Jan 2014 read more »
Renewables – Wind
New figures show £53m was given to the wind industry last year to keep turbines switched off to regulate electricity supplied to National Grid.
Telegraph 4th Jan 2014 read more »