New Nukes
Opinion Poll
Guardian 6th March 2008 more >>
The UK’s reliance on nuclear will increase according to John Hutton.
Whitehaven News 6th March 2008 more >>
REGENERATION organisations have urged utility companies to grasp the opportunity for nuclear new build in West Cumbria after the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority announced it is marketing its four sites to developers. West Lakes Renaissance – the urban regeneration company for Furness and West Cumbria – and the county’s economic development agency, Cumbria Vision, welcomed today’s (Thursday, March 6) announcement that development proposals were being invited for Sellafield, Calder Hall, Windscale and the Low Level Waste Repository facility at Drigg.
Westmorland Gazettte 6th March 2008 more >>
Britain said on Thursday it was making 18 more sites available for the next generation of nuclear power stations and gave operators four weeks to pick the ones they wanted.
Mirror 6th March 2008 more >>
Reuters 6th March 2008 more >>
The UK’s nuclear decommissioning authority (NDA) has launched a process to gauge interest in making its sites available for further nuclear power station development in the UK. The NDA has asked interested parties to write in stating which assets and activities they have an interest in developing, and the ensuing benefits such development would bring for the NDA.
Interactive Investor 6th March 2008 more >>
GNN 6th March 2008 more >>
Western Daily Press 7th March 2008 more >>
The most wide-ranging sell-off of British nuclear assets was under way last night, with the private sector being offered everything from stockpiled
uranium to atomic fuel manufacturing plants and land at 18 sites. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), which is nursing a £300m budget
overrun for 2006-07 alone, is attempting to raise cash to help pay for a £72bn clean-up bill. It looks set to win bids from E.ON of Germany and other power companies that are keen to build nuclear generating plants next to some of the NDA’s key locations, such as Sellafield in Cumbria and Wylfa on Anglesey. The government’s clean-up agency confirmed yesterday that controversial fuel reprocessing plants such as Thorp and the Sellafield Mox Plant – as well as the fuel manufacturing facility at Springfields in Lancashire – could all be included in any sale. This is despite operating problems at the first two which are held largely responsible for the latest budget overrun.
Guardian 7th March 2008 more >>
As the government makes ever more enthusiastic pronouncements about new nuclear reactors for the UK, the outlook is brightening for British Energy, which owns the bulk of the country¹s nuclear plants. On Thursday, John Hutton, the business secretary, revealed in the Financial Times that the government would pull out all the stops to maximise expansion of nuclear power and would drop its previous commitment to holding a minimum
29.9 per cent stake in British Energy.
FT 7th March 2008 more >>
Nuclear Waste
WHO should have the say on whether Copeland eventually has a deep underground dump to hold the nation’s nuclear waste? Politicians are at odds; most of Copeland Council’s Labour members say it should be left to the borough council to decide, but Tory councillors are calling for a referendum to allow the community to have the biggest say. If Copeland can offer a safe site, a government community benefits package could be worth billions of pounds for the area. The terms of engagement for the whole process will be outlined in a White Paper in April, which is expected to include an invitation for communities to volunteer or “express an interest” in hosting a repository with the incentive of a big benefits package. The government favours a deep repository as the “final solution” for disposing of the country’s medium level radioactive waste, most of which is stored and produced at Sellafield through fuel reprocessing.
Whitehaven News 6th March 2008 more >>
Sellafield
Workers at Sellafield may have suffered heart disease as a result of high radiation exposure, but there is no definite proof.
Whitehaven News 6th March 2008 more >>
The MOX plant has produced virtually nothing since it was built six years ago.
Whitehaven News 6th March 2008 more >>
NDA
The UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s (NDA’s) “fifth attempt” at a nuclear decommissioning budget has faced a barrage of criticism from MPs on the Westminster Public Accounts Committee. The uncorrected transcript of the 25 February meeting, which is an as yet unapproved version of the session, shows MPs did not pull any punches when criticising the NDA’s rising budget and the implications it has for the reliability of new build cost estimates.
Nuclear Engineering International 6th March 2008 more >>
Hinkley
Claims that infant mortality rates are three times higher in Burnham-On-Sea and other towns and villages downwind of Hinkley Power station than inland parts of the county have been disputed.
Burnham-on-sea 5th March 2008 more >>
Western Daily Press 6th March 2008 more >>
Bridgwater Mercury 2nd March 2008 more >>
A report by health officials disputing high infant death rates in the Burnham-On-Sea area around Hinkley Point may have diluted the statistics by examining populations less likely to be affected, nuclear campaigners claimed on Wednesday.
Burnham-on-sea News 6th March 2008 more >>
China
The China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group (CGNPG) is reported to have signed an agreement with the provincial Hubei government to build China’s first inland nuclear power plant. The new plant will be located in Xianning City, 421 km southeast of Yichang City, according to local press reports.
Modern Power Systems 6th March 2008 more >>
Czech Republic
CEZ is completing a feasibility study on the development of nuclear energy in the Czech Republic and it is possible that an environmental impact assessment (EIA) on the expansion of the group’s Temelin nuclear power plant could start this year, a company spokeswoman said.
Forbes 6th March 2008 more >>
Slovakia
Greenpeace activists “walled in” a branch of one of Austria’s largest banks, Erste Bank AG, in the centre of Vienna on this morning in protest against its financing of the Mochovce nuclear plant in Slovakia.
AFX 6th March 2008 more >>
Oldbury
Oldbury, Britain’s longest serving nuclear power station, is celebrating the 40th anniversary of producing enough electricity to power all the homes in Bristol and Bath.
Bristol Evening Post 6th March 2008 more >>
Companies
A new company, Toshiba America Nuclear Energy Corporation, aims to market and promote advanced boiling water (ABWR) nuclear power plants. Toshiba also says it wants to increase the scope its new company’s operations by providing licensing and engineering support for the construction of future nuclear power plants. The US apparently plans to build more than 30 new nuclear power plants in the next few years.
Inquirer 6th March 2008 more >>
Energy Business Review 6th March 2008 more >>
Aldermaston
Today would have seen the latest gathering of the band of women who have assembled on the second Saturday of each month since the 1980s to object to the continuing development of the United Kingdom’s nuclear deterrent. Instead, following a High Court ruling this week, the protest tents are being removed, demonstrators are being threatened with arrest and “no camping” signs are being erected.
ICWales 7th March 2008 more >>
FT 7th March 2008 more >>
