Sellafield
MORE than 1,500 jobs are to be axed at the Sellafield nuclear site in Cumbria triggering union fears of a workplace bloodbath in the wake of public sector spending cuts. The GMB union claimed that the job losses – a mixture of redundancies and vacancies that will not be filled – were a direct result of the government’s austerity drive to reduce the nation’s budget deficit.
City AM 8th Oct 2010 more >>
Reuters 7th Oct 2010 more >>
Morning Star 7th Oct 2010 more >>
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Telegraph 8th Oct 2010 more >>
Times 8th Oct 2010 more >>
Independent 8th Oct 2010 more >>
CLAIMS that 650 job vacancies will not be filled at Sellafield have been made by leading union GMB. But a Sellafield spokesman said he could not confirm the claims. Steve Gibbons, GMB regional officer, said: “These job losses are short sighted as the work will still need to be done probably at higher costs later.
West Cumbria Times and Star 7th Oct 2010 more >>
NDA
The Guardian haslearned that the nuclear industry has successfully lobbied the government to safeguard the huge budget to decommission the UK’s old reactors, handled by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. This year, about 60% of the NDA’s budget – £1.7bn – came from taxpayers via the DECC, making up about 40% of the ministry’s entire spending. In opposition, the Conservatives had wanted to cut about 25% of DECC’s funding to the NDA. But after the election, industry executives outlined to ministers the urgency of the clean-up of Britain’s nuclear sites, particularly Sellafield in Cumbria. One source said: “We succeeded in scaring David Cameron off.” The NDA, which is cutting its own operating budget, could even secure a slightly higher funding settlement than this year.
Guardian 8th Oct 2010 more >>
Radiation and Health
Doctors who treat cancer patients with radiotherapy are being urged to keep the doses to a minimum over fears the treatment raises the risk of heart disease. Government advisers have urged caution as studies have shown high doses of radiation affect the blood vessels causing them to thicken. Members of the Advisory Group on Ionising Radiation which reports to the Health Protection Agency found that the blood vessels may be affected at levels of radiation associated with cancer treatment.
Telegraph 8th Oct 2010 more >>
HPA 7th Oct 2010 more >>
Radwaste
Letter Prof David Smythe: I was involved in the Nirex project to find a nuclear waste repository at Sellafield, both as an earth scientist on behalf of Nirex but later as an objector at the public planning inquiry held at Cleator Moor in 1995-96. We must not forget that the inquiry effectively ruled out the whole of West Cumbria as a suitable location for nuclear waste disposal, not just on planning procedures, but on the overall science. The fundamental reason is not hard to grasp. Just stand with your back to the sea, anywhere on the coastal plain, looking inland at the mountains of the national park. Imagine the rain falling on these mountains, percolating – however slowly and imperceptibly – through fissures and cracks in these slates and lavas, down towards the sea, over centuries and aeons. These same Lake District rocks are found below your feet, under the sedimentary layers of the coastal plain, constituting what we call geologically the ‘basement’. But the very large hydraulic head of underground water near the coast, thanks to the height of the mountains inland, means that some of this water can percolate back upwards to the surface on its progress to the sea. It is this natural flow pattern that rules out the coastal region from ever being a candidate site; it does not conform to internationally agreed standards for such a repository. In the long term, nature cannot be defied by engineering. The judge at the planning inquiry considered that the government must look at alternative sites within the UK, and that not to do so may well contravene EU, even if not UK, law. So while I look forward to the eventual publication of the now-delayed report from my former colleagues at the British Geological Survey, on the suitability of Allerdale district as a potential waste site, it is already irrelevant. A decision by the government to focus on the Allerdale or Copeland districts will open up several legal challenges, and the only winners will be the lawyers. The BGS should instead have been investigating the vast tracts of eastern England where there is not a mountain in sight. Here the flat-lying sedimentary layers overlying basement rocks do conform to one of the international standard models for a waste dump, known as BUSC, or basement under sedimentary cover. There were three such candidate sites in the formerly secret shortlist of 10 potential sites drawn up in 1988, which at the time included two Sellafield alternatives. But the government has allowed a further 15 years to elapse with no significant new science being done, and now hopes that its new ‘voluntarism’ approach – leading back again to the Cumbria cul-de-sac – will somehow bypass the scientific problems.
Whitehaven News 6th Oct 2010 more >>
New Nukes
Tory energy minister Charles Hendry has attempted to reassure a nervous nuclear industry that a six month delay will not jeopardise plans for a new generation of atomic power stations. Mr Hendry admitted the industry will experience a “period of uncertainty” until the government publishes its long-awaited plans. But he insisted the UK remains “probably one of the most exciting places in the world for new nuclear build.” He also attempted to ease concerns of Tory MPs that energy policy is led by Liberal Democrat cabinet minister Chris Huhne – who has long been seen as an opponent of nuclear power. Mr Hendry described his boss as “brilliant” and “absolutely determined to make the right decisions.” Earlier in the summer, the government revealed that a National Policy Statement, which will pave the way for a new generation of nuclear power, will not be presented to Parliament until next spring.
Lancashire Evening Post 7th Oct 2010 more >>
Energy Supplies
Britain is expected to import more liquefied natural gas (LNG) by ship to meet winter demand set to rise 3.8pc this year, according to National Grid.
Telegraph 8th Oct 2010 more >>
Supplies of North Sea gas are set to tumble a further 9 per cent this winter, forcing Britain to import more of the fuel from overseas than ever before, National Grid said yesterday.
Times 8th Oct 2010 more >>
If ministers are to be believed, Britain is in the midst of a green revolution, with our electricity increasingly being harvested from the wind, sun and waves. The truth, of course, is rather more prosaic. While renewables are making some progress, they remain at the fringes of Britain’s energy industry. The electricity that lights up your home is more likely than ever before to have been generated by burning natural gas,
Times 8thy Oct 2010 more >>
Hinkley
25 years ago October 8, 1985 PLANS for a new Hinkley Point C station were due to be unveiled – with the hope it would bring more jobs and money for Burnham.
This is the West Country 7th Oct 2010 more >>
Europe
Greenpeace delivered radioactive waste to the door of the European Parliament today to remind MEPs in their last plenary session before considering a new nuclear waste law that there is no solution to nuclear waste. Two qualified Greenpeace radiation specialists delivered four radioactive samples in two concrete and lead-lined containers to Parliament’s twin entrances on Rue Wiertz. Dozens of trained Greenpeace volunteers zoned off areas with tape before handcuffing themselves in rings around the containers to ensure their safety. MEPs and staff looked on as Greenpeace climbers scaled 16 nearby flagpoles to hold out banners reading ‘Nuclear waste, no solution’ below the flags of those countries with nuclear energy programmes producing the largest amounts of nuclear waste.
Greenpeace European Unit 7th Oct 2010 more >>
Business Week 7th Oct 2010 more >>
An international scandal came to the steps of the European Parliament today as Greenpeace delivered four consignments of nuclear waste to MEPs. The waste is harmful and exceeds European environmental limits. It and other more harmful radioactive wastes produced by Europe’s nuclear reactors will pose a deadly threat to its citizens and environment for hundreds of thousands of years to come. A solution to this problem has evaded scientists ever since the invention of nuclear power 60 years ago. Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of high-level nuclear waste litter the globe and yet we are no nearer to properly safeguarding it to protect ourselves and future generations.
Greenpeace Nuclear Reaction 7th Oct 2010 more >>
Middle East
The Middle East is poised for a dramatic surge in nuclear power development over the next two decades. By 2025, at least 15 new reactors will be built across the region, from Egypt and Turkey to the United Arab Emirates. With Irans centrifuges at Natanz still spinning uranium in defiance of international conventions, fears will mount that the plans now being announced by Middle East governments mark the first steps in a nuclear arms race across this volatile region.
Times 8th Oct 2010 more >>
France
Analysts have warned that the open ended strikes planned to start next week in France could put the skids under EDF’s nuclear output target. Citigroup said today that the one day strikes held last month “had not derailed EDF from its year end target”. But the firm warned that the new strikes called by the CGT union, should they go ahead, “could have a more substantial impact”.
Utility Week 7th Oct 2010 more >>
Iran
The message I took from the policymakers, diplomats, intelligence types and physicists was depressing in almost every dimension. Iran wants the bomb; and nothing that the west has done thus far is likely to persuade it otherwise. The experts were far from agreed on how best to respond. Some backed military force ranging from naval blockades to the bombing of nuclear sites; others put more faith in diplomacy; others still thought it was time to think ahead to containment and deterrence. What struck me, though, was that hawks and doves alike mostly shared the same view of where we are. Iran is developing a nuclear weapons capability. It remains open as to whether it has taken a strategic decision to build one or, more likely, several weapons. It might yet be content to become a so-called threshold state. But, as the reports of the International Atomic Energy Agency indicate, the programme does not make sense as a civilian enterprise.
FT 8th Oct 2010 more >>
Sweden
Nuclear power could be the lowest-cost option for new electricity generating capacity in Sweden, according to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers conducted for an electricity-intensive industry group. SKGS, which represents Sweden’s forestry, chemical, mining and steel production industries, asked PricewaterhouseCoopers to conduct an indicative estimate of the cost of new investment in nuclear, hydro and wind power as an alternative to fossil fuel power plants. The calculations have been made exclusive of policy instruments in the form of taxes, rebates and grants. For nuclear, however, the cost of waste management and decommissioning has been included in the calculation.
World Nuclear News 7th Oct 2010 more >>
China
China and Belgium have signed a framework agreement on the construction of a pilot MOX fuel fabrication plant in China, and a research collaboration agreement covering developments in the Myrrha hybrid research reactor project.
Your Nuclear News 8th Oct 2010 more >>
Nuclear Weapons
Britain and France are close to agreeing a deal under which British nuclear warheads would be serviced in a French laboratory, the Financial Times reported on Friday. Such a deal, being negotiated while London and Paris are both trying to make major budget cuts, would break with half a century during which the two countries have never collaborated on their independent nuclear deterrents.
Yahoo 8th Oct 2010 more >>
British and French officials are trying to reach a joint accord on the servicing of nuclear warheads indicates the scale of the deal that both sides desire. No aspect of French or British national sovereignty is more jealously guarded than that of the independent nuclear deterrent.
FT 8th Oct 2010 more >>
Trident
At the heart of the defence cuts debate has been whether or not, with what, and crucially when, to start the process of replacing Britain’s nuclear deterrent. Currently, the country boasts four Vanguard-class, nuclear-powered submarines, which are each capable of carrying 16 Trident intercontinental missiles. They provide what’s described as “continuous at sea deterrence” with one submarine on patrol at any one time. But the Vanguard-class submarines are getting older and their lifespan has already been extended by another five years. They are due to end their working lives throughout the 2020s.
The problem, and the reason why the issue is at the top of the political agenda now, is that any replacement submarine force could take anything up to 17 years to design, construct and commission.
This is Devon 7th Oct 2010 more >>
A TRADE union chief in Plymouth has given a cautious welcome to news that Britain’s controversial nuclear deterrent is to be replaced. Roger Darcy, chairman of Devonport Dockyard’s Industrial Trade Unions, believes confirmation over Trident’s replacement is “good” news, but feels Plymouth needs more reassurance from central Government.
Plymouth Herald 7th Oct 2010 more >>
Renewables
Plans to build three new factories to make thousands of giant offshore wind turbines that would create an estimated 60,000 jobs are set to become the latest casualty of the spending review, it has emerged. The previous government had pledged £60m to upgrade ports, mainly in the north-east, to enable them to handle the next generation of giant turbines for installation off the UK coast. Overall, DECC is expected to escape relatively lightly from the spending review. Funds for the £9bn clean-coal programme, which had been under threat, are understood to be have been secured, although the pilot projects may be delayed. But the solar feed-in tariff and the renewable heat incentive, subsidising biomass plants and CHP boilers, are likely to be scaled back.
Guardian 8th Oct 2010 more >>
