Stress Tests
EDF Energy says its fleet of nuclear reactors in the UK have passed European stress tests and are safe even under extreme conditions.
Energy Efficiency News 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
The environmental group Greenpeace has published a map allowing citizens in every European country to see how nuclear plants fared under so-called ‘stress tests’. After the Fukushima disaster in Japan in March, the EU told all nuclear power plant operators to carry out tests, hand over and publish the results by 31 October. They are meant to see whether plants can stand up to extreme scenarios, including earthquakes, floods, loss of power and cooling. It is claimed, however, that several regulators have failed to disclose the results to the public, despite being urged to do so by the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group, the organisation that designed the tests. Initial Greenpeace analysis of the 10,000 or so published report pages revealed “missing results”.
The Parliament.com 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
Radwaste
WEST Cumbrias potential involvement in where a future underground nuclear waste repository might go is set to take an important step forward. A meeting in Egremont today is expected to decide that a major public consultation exercise should take place. West Cumbria Managing Radioactive Waste Safely Partnership has prepared a draft consultation document and at todays meeting will ask members to agree a final version. This will cover issues relating to the possibility of West Cumbria taking part in the search for somewhere to locate an underground repository for higher activity radioactive waste. The proposed consultation will ask the public for their views on the Partnerships initial opinions.
Whitehaven News 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
Jill Perry: This week, copies of Your Cumbria have been dropping onto the doormat. In it, a four-page special on the plans to bury nuclear waste in West Cumbria keeps readers up-to-date. This is very timely as the Managing Radioactive Waste Partnership will shortly be launching a public consultation on whether to proceed to the next stage decision to participate of hosting a nuclear waste dump. On both double page spreads it states that there is a right to withdraw up until the point where construction starts. We know from the Government White Paper on Radioactive Waste, however, that once the decision to participate has been taken, the Right of Withdrawal (RoW) becomes less clear-cut. The following quote is from the White Paper: All parties in a Partnership would be expected to work positively to seek to avoid the need to exercise the RoW. So your borough council may take the decision to participate without knowing what site will eventually be chosen, and then you may find yourself living in the selected area but expected to work positively to help the dump go ahead. This was the reason The Green Party, at its autumn conference in Sheffield, passed an emergency motion supporting us and other groups in our efforts to oppose the deep geological disposal plans and to call for alternative disposal methods to be revisited. We continue to call on the local authorities not to proceed to the next stage, not to commit their area to something it would be very hard to withdraw from.
Whitehaven News 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
Campaigners from King’s Cliffe in Northamptonshire have lost their high court bid to stop plans for a low level nuclear waste dump near their village.The proposal was given the go ahead by the Government back in May, but campaigners say not enough consideration has been given to the long term environmental impact.
Anglia Tonight 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
Peterborough Evening Telegraph 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
Ripley & Heanor News 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
THE man who now runs the UKs only facility for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste is determined to build on the good relationship the site has with its neighbouring village of Drigg.
Whitehaven News 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
EMR
Chris Huhne, the energy secretary, is locked in battle with the Treasury and business departments over his refusal to help pay for measures to assist energy-intensive manufacturers cope with the governments climate change policies. George Osborne, the chancellor, and Vince Cable, the business secretary, are working on a deal to help heavy users of energy cope with the added financial burden of the carbon floor price when it is introduced in 2013.
FT 4thy Nov 2011 more >>
Heysham
Britain’s 450-Megawatt nuclear plant Heysham 1-2 stopped output for a scheduled statutory outage until Nov. 14, according to data from EDF Energy .
Reuters 4th Nov 2011 more >>
Dounreay
More than 200 jobs in the far north are under threat after the Ministry of Defence said yesterday they have no further need for a nuclear submarine engine testing base. News of the potential jobs blow led to calls being made to the UK Government to commit resources to help offset the rundown of the MoD site at Vulcan in Caithness. The deathknell for continued operations at the nuclear plant after 2015 was sounded in a written statement from Junior Defence Minister Peter Luff.
Press & Journal 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
Rolls-Royce has declined to comment on the future of a submarine nuclear reactor test site in Scotland it has managed for almost 50 years.
BBC 4th Nov 2011 more >>
Letter: A previous objection by Cumbria County Council was reported back in 2004 in a Times & Star article County council opposes nuclear waste plan, saying: The application by the UKAEA to transport nuclear waste from Dounreay to Sellafield because Dounreays nuclear waste disposal facility is almost exhausted is not acceptable to this county. Nuclear waste should be stored where it is created. Despite this, I neither heard nor saw any council outcry when it was announced in a News & Star article on June 12 this year (£30m cost to move radioactive material from Dounreay to Sellafield) that high-level waste from Dounreay is now effectively on its way to Cumbria. Perhaps the councillor would like to enlighten Joe Public what has changed in the intervening period and why it is now okay for HIGH level waste to be dumped (and not LOW level waste) in Cumbria. Or is it that the PUBLIC money is better from the MRWS quangos Trojan Horse he is personally linked to and supports? Maybe he cant say with him knowing less.
Whitehaven News 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
Sellafield
EFFORTS are under way to try and make sure West Cumbria gets a bigger share of the £800 million a year Sellafield spends on business nationwide. Sellafield Ltd and local authorities are to work together to determine how the money is spent in the local supply chain, following concerns that not enough of the £800 million goes to local companies.
Whitehaven News 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
SELLAFIELD has been given the thumbs up over its security after unprecedented high-level independent checks were carried out on the site. The checks by the International Atomic Energy Agency were ordered early last year by then Prime Minister Gordon Brown as part of a world-wide drive to prevent the spread of nuclear materials. In line with a commitment given in advance of President Obamas Nuclear Security Summit in April 2010, it was the first time the IAEA had been called in to inspect Sellafields security arrangements. Mr Brown took the step saying it was essential to stop nuclear weapons and fissile materials falling into the hands of rogue states and international terrorists.
Whitehaven News 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
Scotland
Alex Salmonds plans to make Scotland self-sufficient in renewable energy by 2020 risks pushing more people into fuel poverty, an influential engineering body has warned. A report by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers also expresses doubts that the SNP governments target can be achieved. However, the Scottish government retorted that the report did not properly represent the official position and the government did have a clear strategy for meeting its targets. Meanwhile, Scottish Renewables, the industrys trade body, repeated its claim that the target was achieveable.
Times 4th Nov 2011 more >>
Guardian 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
Ireland
RTE ‘News at One’ excitedly announced the other day that work had started on the new electricity interconnector between Ireland and Wales. This, carolled the RTE reporter with all the cretinous piety that characterises any discussion on the subject in Ireland, will enable us to export renewable energy to the rest of Europe! If we seriously wanted to cut CO2 production, we’d already have embraced the nuclear option, which alongside wind would rapidly cut carbon emissions from electricity production to zero. But that would require an intellectual clarity that is beyond the powers of our “thinking” liberal classes.
Irish Independent 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
Taiwan
No life extensions will be granted to Taipower’s existing nuclear power plants in a newly announced nuclear energy policy that promises eventually to make the island ‘nuclear-free’.
World Nuclear News 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
Japan
Eight months on from the devastating tsunami and earthquake which sparked a nuclear crisis in Japan, an expert tells Channel 4 News new signs of fission at the plant are “a concern”. John Large told Channel 4 News that any evidence of fission was a “concern” which raised problems for Tepco’s plans to make the plant safe by the end of the year. He added: “It shows there are still considerable problems. It’s concerning because it shows they are not in total control of the nuclear processes in the plant – and even a small amount of fission is a concern because it can become a large amount of fission.”
Channel 4 News 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
A Japanese utility operator has denied any problematic nuclear reactions at a tsunami-hit power plant, saying a radioactive gas in one of the damaged reactors came from spontaneous fission that occurs in any idle reactor.
Wales Online 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
Guardian 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
Iran
PRESSURE is building on Iran ahead of the publication next week of a report on its nuclear programme. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is apparently preparing his cabinet for the possibility of an airstrike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, while a report in the UK claims the Ministry of Defence is drawing up plans in case it is asked to join a putative US attack.
The Week 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
The covert war on Iran’s nuclear programme was launched in earnest by George Bush in 2007. It is a fair assumption that the western powers had been trying their best to spy on the Islamic Republic since the 1979 Iranian revolution, but the 2007 “presidential finding” put those efforts on a new footing.
Guardian 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
Iran has warned the US not to set the two countries on a collision course over Tehran’s nuclear enrichment programme, as diplomatic tensions reflected growing concern that the Middle East might be on the verge of new conflict.
Guardian 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
Iran ratcheted up tensions in the Middle East yesterday when its foreign minister declared the country was ready for war with Israel and the West. In inflammatory remarks certain to fuel uncertainty in the volatile region, Ali Akbar Salehi warned that Tehran would not hesitate to retaliate if attacked. His posturing came as Foreign Secretary William Hague urged Israels defence minister not to fan the flames during top-level talks in London.
Daily Mail 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
Rae Street: So the UK is stepping up plans for possible missile attacks on Iran, apparently to help Washington “because there is increasing concern about the possible existence in Iran of … undisclosed nuclear-related activities”. So no concerns about Israel escalating its nuclear capabilities, including extending the range of its Jericho III missiles and the size of its nuclear-tipped cruise missiles on the submarine fleet. Israel’s nuclear-capable Dolphin submarines are sold to them by Germany. This skewed diplomacy and dangerous nuclear arms race in the Middle East will never bring peace.
Guardian 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
The IAEA report due to be released later this month is likely to herald resolutions before the United Nations for more sanctions against Iranian institutions, possibly including the Central Bank of Iran, which would have a severe effect on the country’s already staggering economy. Some politicians are already complaining loudly in the Iranian media about the imminent collapse of Iranian industry. It is not clear what new evidence the IAEA has, but it is likely to focus on Iran’s capacities in building missiles that can carry nuclear warheads. A United Nations panel earlier this year concluded that Iran had been co-operating with North Korea, which already has a nuclear weapons capability in defiance of the United Nations, on developing weapons systems. It is thought likely that this is occurring with the connivance of China, through which flights from North Korea carrying weapons parts, have to pass. China has a United Nations security council veto and its attitude will be crucial.
Telegraph 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
Research from the Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will next week flag up the military dimension of Iran’s nuclear programme: evidence gathered by the UN-backed inspectors will suggest the Iranian regime is back on course to build nuclear weapons. Far from delaying the Iranian nuclear programme for three or four years, it appears that the success of Stuxnet was vastly overstated.
Telegraph 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
If the IAEA whose monitoring has sometimes been pretty complacent (is it related to the Moodys credit rating agency, by chance?) in the past has decided things are getting serious, they probably are. But does that justify a pre-emptive strike like Israel’s against Iraq’s Osirak nuclear plant nicknamed “O’Chirac” in honour of French technical assistance in 1981? As the Guardian’s editorial points out, such a move would almost certainly lead to a wider war with uncertain results for all concerned. Uncertain, that is, except for still higher oil prices and renewed recession. On balance, I don’t think it does justify such an attack and that it won’t happen. The Israelis would do it if they could, but this time they probably can’t. Washington won’t let them. The Saudis are always tempted to “cut the head off the snake”. Ditto. In any case, Israel already has unacknowledged nuclear weapons, and the international community turns a blind eye to the fact. In addition to the five official nuclear weapon states the US, Russia, Britain, France and China, in that historic order India, Pakistan and North Korea have developed some form of capability since the non-proliferation treaty was signed in 1970.
Guardian 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
Belgium
The last thing Mr Mestrallet expected this week was for Belgiums government to accelerate the phase-out of its nuclear plants, which are all operated by his vast Franco-Belgian power utility. All the more galling is that, as well as his Belgian difficulties, Mr Mestrallet is facing problems in his own French backyard, where the government has maintained a freeze on domestic gas prices and frustrated his efforts to expand into the countrys nuclear sector. Since pulling off his previous big coup with the 2008 merger of Suez and Gaz de France, GDF Suez has lost half its stock market value. In fairness, EDF, the state-owned electricity behemoth, has done even worse although it has a much smaller float. But other European utilities have fared slightly better, dropping by about 40 per cent.
FT 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
India
India is also putting increased focus on emergency preparedness and response to a nuclear accident beyond the design basis accidents. India on Wednesday said it attaches “the highest priority” to the safety of its nuclear plants and will invite experts from the IAEA to assist it in reviewing and enhancing their operational safety performance.
Info4Security 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
Uranium
French nuclear group Areva has suspended its uranium mining project in the Central African Republic for two years, following a fall in uranium prices after the Fukushima disaster, an Areva official said on Thursday.
Reuters 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
Nuclear Weapons
Actor Michael Douglas visited officials at the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C. on Thursday (03Nov11) to urge them to press on with plansfor international nuclear disarmament.
Female First 4th Nov 2011 more >>
Contact Music 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
Test Veterans
Veterans minister Keith Brown has written to the UK Government, raising concerns of Scottish nuclear test veterans before the next stage of their legal battle for compensation. The UK Supreme Court has given veterans permission to further argue their right to seek damages for illnesses allegedly caused by exposure to radiation during nuclear testing. Mr Brown led a debate in Holyrood outlining the Scottish Government’s initiatives for veterans before Remembrance Day.
Perthshire Advertiser 3rd Nov 2011 more >>
