Dounreay
Over the next few months the preliminary BPEO on how to deal with the radioactive particles will be developed and made available for further public comment before UKAEA makes a recommendation to Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority in early 2008
John O’ Groat Journal 4th April 2007
Iran
Iran and the major powers seeking to halt its nuclear program resumed discussions almost immediately after Iran announced that it was releasing a British navy crew, an EU official said Thursday.
Guardian website 6th April 2007
Channel 4 News 5th April 2007
Even as Sir Nigel Sheinwald, Tony Blair’s foreign affairs guru, was in Teheran negotiating the release, work was continuing at Iran’s uranium enrichment plant at Natanz where the Iranians could have sufficient fissile material for an atom bomb by the end of next year. The acquisition of a nuclear arsenal is the ayatollahs’ dream, and everything they do – whether it is grandstanding over the detention of a handful of British Servicemen or prevaricating with UN nuclear inspectors – is aimed at achieving this ambition. With yet another UN deadline approaching for the Iranians to cease uranium enrichment at Natanz or face tougher sanctions, the issue of the British captives provided Ahmadinejad with the perfect platform to demonstrate to an international audience the benefits to be gained from treating Teheran with respect, not threats.
Telegraph 6th April 2007
The Iranian enrichment issue, with its roots in US support for nuclear power development under the Pahlavi regime (1960s and 1970s), has moved through being denounced as ‘un-Islamic’ after Ayatollah Khomenei’s 1979 revolution, to one of national pride under the successor regime embodied by President Hashemi Rafsanjani and spiritual leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
Jane’s 5th April 2007
Hinkley & Oldbury
Two ageing nuclear power stations at Somerset and South Gloucestershire could be switched back on this summer. Hinkley B was shut down in September, 2006 and Oldbury-onSevern has been silent since 2005 – both because of safety concerns. But industry sources say both stations could get the all-clear from the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate.
Western Daily Press 6th April 2007
Wales
LABOUR and Plaid Cymru were locked in a row last night over Plaid leader Ieuan Wyn Jones’s support for a new nuclear power station in his constituency. Mr Jones has declared his support for a proposed Wylfa B power station in Anglesey, while in a pre-manifesto policy statement Plaid said it did not support nuclear power.
Western Mail 6th April 2007
BBC 5th April 2007
Sellafield
Contractors Jordan Nuclear have won a gold medal in an ocupational safety award.
Whitehaven News 5th April 2007
The Installation of a new evaporator at THORP means the roof will have to be taken off so that the equipment can be lowered in. THORP is due to be re-opened in the summer and the new evaporator installed in November, but BNG says the plant will not have to be shut again for the evaporator to be installed.A
Whitehaven News 5th April 2006
Nuclear Waste
MOVES to ask if Cumbrians will be ‘volunteering’ to be home to the UK’s underground nuclear waste dump are to accelerate this summer. This week the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) announced it had taken over all the work and many of the staff from the now deceased Nirex quango. The government decided to pass responsibility for the long term disposal of nuclear waste from Nirex to the NDA. A new Directorate has been established within the NDA – the Radioactive Waste Management Directorate (RWMD) – which will be led by Richard Waite, previously NDA’s Engineering Director. The NDA is to focus on geological disposal of nuclear waste. The nuclear industry had retained land ownership between Sellafield and Gosforth for potential use as an underground nuclear dump site. And the NDA state that their next step is consultation this summer and “This will include proposals for a voluntarist / partnership approach to site selection, and also an outline geological disposal delivery programme.” The NDA will use its new Radioactive Waste Management Directorate to design and build an effective implementing organisation to deliver a safe, environmentally sound, publicly acceptable, geological disposal solution.
Whitehaven News 5th April 2007
