Sellafield MoX Plant
A controversial nuclear recycling plant, approved by the Government despite warnings over its economic viability and reliance on unproven technology, has racked up costs of more than £1bn and is still not working properly. Backers of the plant at Sellafield, which promised to turn toxic waste into a useable fuel that could be sold worldwide, had claimed the plant would make a profit of more than £200m in its lifetime, producing 120 tonnes of recycled fuel a year. But after an investigation by The Independent, the Government admitted technical problems and a dearth in orders has meant it has produced just 6.3 tonnes of fuel since opening in 2001.
Independent 7th Apr 2009 more >>
Jean McSorley: The SMP has been a staggering waste of taxpayers’ money, and we doubt that these will be the full costs of this sorry saga. Just imagine what the renewable sector could have done with a subsidy like that. The failure of the Mox plant is another reminder of why the nuclear industry has become notorious for making wildly exaggerated claims about its benefits and precisely why it should treated with scepticism and mistrust.
Independent 7th Apr 2009 more >>
The mixed-oxide (Mox) plant at Sellafield, which was approved by the Government despite concerns over its cost, was supposed to produce 120 tons of fuel a year and return a profit of £200 million in its lifetime. However, figures released to Parliament by the Government show that it has produced just 6.3 tons of fuel in seven years and racked up £626 million of operating costs. It also cost £637 million in construction and commission costs.
Telegraph 7th Apr 2009 more >>
NLFAB
The UK government announced the members of its Nuclear Liabilities Financing Assurance Board, which will examine plans for financing nuclear waste cleanup from power stations, in an effort to keep taxpayers from having to bear the costs. Energy and Climate Change Minister Mike O’Brien said the Board will be yet another protection to ensure that taxpayers are protected from the costs of decommissioning and waste disposal from new nuclear power stations, and that the Board’s diverse membership will help to provide independent scrutiny and advice on the issue.
Climate Change Corp 7th Apr 2009 more >>
Companies
Aker Solutions has announced that it is one of five contractors to be awarded a three-year framework agreement by South African power utility Eskom Holdings to deliver a full range of nuclear engineering design packages at the Koeberg nuclear power station in the Western Cape of South Africa. According to the company, the work will be executed from the company’s Stockton-on-Tees operation in the UK.
Energy Business Review 6th Apr 2009 more >>
Proliferation
President Barack Obama’s speech in Prague on Sunday is a potential game changer for non-proliferation diplomacy. By endorsing the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons, Obama can begin to move international debate about nuclear proliferation beyond the ideologically charged squabbles of the past to where it needs to be: changing the perception among many developing countries, perhaps even most, that nuclear proliferation does not affect them.
Guardian 6th Apr 2009 more >>
Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev has offered to build a nuclear fuel bank on its territory. He made the announcement in a joint press conference with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is visiting Kazakhstan. The idea was first proposed by the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2005, and is supported by both the United States and Russia.
BBC 6th Apr 2009 more >>
US president Barak Obama proposed banning the production of highly-enriched uranium, and advocated that an international, non-political nuclear fuel bank be set up to reduce the risks of proliferation. Obama argued that international nuclear inspections should have greater authority, and there should be greater consequences for those countries that break the rules. He even said that Iran’s civil nuclear power programme can go ahead, provided there are ‘rigorous inspections.’
Nuclear Engineering International 6th Apr 2009 more >>
Disarmament
Letter from Isobel Lindsay: The proposal for a Nuclear Weapons Convention has gained broad international support. In 2006, 125 governments in the United Nations General Assembly voted for this with the aim of prohibiting “the development, production, testing, deployment, stockpiling, transfer, threat or use of nuclear weapons and providing for their elimination”. This was supported by three of the nuclear-weapons states: China, India and Pakistan. Where was the UK? Detailed proposals for such a convention are in place and these include extensive verification procedures.
Herald 7th Apr 2009 more >>
Letters: President Obama’s commitment to a “global zero” as the goal of a nuclear-free future could signify the start of an important shift in America’s legitimacy in tackling the worldwide nuclear arms race. Rae Street: Nato should produce a nuclear-weapons-free defence policy in the revised Strategic Concept expected next year at the summit in Portugal. Let us hope that the UK government can now take the lead in Nato and begin to carry out its NPT obligations, as well as disarm in good faith.
Guardian 7th Apr 2009 more >>
Obama said that agreement with Russia will “set the stage for further cuts, and we will seek to include all nuclear weapons states in this endeavour”. According to Obama’s timetable, this gives Brown until Christmas to develop a plan to include British nuclear weapons in the next round of strategic arms talks, while examining ways of reducing the role of nuclear weapons in national defence strategy.
Guardian 6th Apr 2009 more >>
Beyond North Korea, a long-term project to abolish nuclear weapons would serve several ends of US policy: preventing proliferation; preventing nuclear terrorism; reducing the unique threat of nuclear annihilation; and restoring optimism about American leadership in the world.
Guardian 6th Apr 2009 more >>
North Korea
Letter: Complaints that North Korea ignores the nuclear non-proliferation treaty are specious. It withdrew as it is entitled to do under article X of the treaty.
Guardian 7th Apr 2009 more >>
Iran
Iran criticised on Monday U.S. President Barack Obama for saying Tehran posed a threat with its nuclear programme and urged Washington and other countries possessing atom weapons to dismantle their arsenals.
Reuters 6th Apr 2009 more >>
