Terror
The government’s failure to prepare for a nuclear attack by terrorists is endangering the lives of thousands of people, a former NHS radiation advisor has warned. Professor John Haywood, who retired five weeks ago after 27 years as radiation protection advisor to the health service in the north east of England, has accused the Home Office and the NHS of ignoring the
risks of a terrorist nuclear bomb.
Sunday Herald 7th Jan 2007
and, with nuclear report to download
RobEdwards.com
New nukes
The SNP has claimed the country cannot afford to build new nuclear power stations after it emerged the estimated decommissioning costs for existing plants has risen by £2.1 billion to £64.8 billion. In a letter to the party’s environment spokesman Richard Lochhead MSP, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) also admitted estimates are subject to “significant uncertainty”.
IC Dumfries 7th Jan 2007
Israel and Iran
Israel has drawn up secret plans to use low-yield nuclear weapons to knock out Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities, it was claimed last night. According to a report in The Sunday Times, two Israeli air force squadrons are training to use nuclear “bunker busting” bombs to demolish Iran’s heavily guarded enrichment programme. Israeli military commanders are said to believe that conventional strikes may not be sufficient to wipe out Iran’s enrichment facilities, some of which are built beneath 70ft of concrete and rock.
Independent on Sunday 7th Jan 2007
Sunday Times 7th Jan 2007
Faslane
STUDENTS from across the UK descended on a naval base yesterday to protest against nuclear weapons.
Scotland on Sunday 7th Jan 2006
Decommissioning
least 3,000 jobs are at risk because of the budget crisis at the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), the organisation that funds the clean-up of the UK’s state-owned nuclear reactors and facilities. The NDA pays British Nuclear Group (BNG) and UKAEA to decommission their sites. But because of a £160m funding shortfall, the two companies have nine days to provide the NDA with a list of projects to scrap. These were originally due to go ahead in the financial year beginning this April. The crisis has undermined Britain’s nuclear clean-up programme. The NDA was set up 18 months ago to oversee a competitive market with companies bidding for clean-up work.
Independent on Sunday 7th Jan 2006
Submarines
Defence contractor BAE Systems is pushing to secure control over Britain’s entire submarine industry by taking majority ownership of maintenance and support facilities at Devonport dockyard in Plymouth.
Observer 7th Jan 2007