Iran
According to London’s Daily Telegraph , Israel is already on a “war footing” and is negotiating with the United States for permission to fly over Iraq as part of a plan to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities. The objective: Surgical air strikes that will set Iran’s nuclear program back at least 10 years. To conduct the strikes, Israel needs to co-ordinate the plan with the U.S. so that an “air corridor” over Iraq is cleared.
The Market Oracle 8th March 2007
Russian and Iranian nuclear officials failed for a second day Thursday to resolve a dispute over the construction of a Russian-built nuclear energy plant that has fallen behind schedule because of what Moscow said were delays in payments.
Guarduan website 9th March 2007
Iran on Thursday shrugged off the latest punitive U.N. action – suspension of nearly two dozen nuclear aid programs – and showed no signs it was cowed by the possibility of even tougher penalties in the form of new Security Council sanctions.
Guardian website 9th March 2007
BBC 8th March 2007
Iran branded Israel “a uniquely grave threat” to world peace because of its alleged nuclear weapons Thursday, after the UN atomic agency sharply cut aid to Tehran because of its own atomic programme.
Middle East Online 8th March 2007
Trident
Damon Albarn performed an anti-nuclear song on the Atlantic Sunrise on the Thames.
Independent 9th March 2007
NME 8th March 2007
View London 8th March 2007
Entertainment Wise 8th March 2007
Article by William Walker: In its white paper “The Future of the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Deterrent”, the government envisages new Trident submarines being introduced in the late 2020s and operating into the 2050s. Over the same period, it is likely either that Scotland will become an independent state or that the Union will survive through a more extensive devolution of powers to the Scottish parliament. This is a safe prediction given the strength of forces impelling greater political autonomy north and south of the border. Nowhere does the white paper consider these changes and their implications. They matter because the government’s proposals would perpetuate the basing of all British nuclear weapons in Scotland (there are none in England). Tens of billions of pounds could be spent providing a nuclear deterrent for a state that no longer exists, or a deterrent that could become increasingly unreliable and even inoperable under devolution.
FT 9th March 2007
Letter from Gorbachev: I want to express my concern over the intention of Tony Blair’s Government to replace the British nuclear arsenal with a new generation of nuclear weapons. This is happening in an alarming setting: the process of reducing the nuclear arms of the US and Russia has stalled; the negotiations on these issues are virtually frozen. Prominent US political leaders — George Shultz, Henry Kissinger, William Perry and Sam Nunn — have expressed concern over this situation and made specific proposals toward ridding the world of nuclear weapons; President Putin has urged George Bush to negotiate a new agreement to replace the START Treaty. A responsible course of action for the Government would be to postpone the decision on the future of the UK nuclear arsenal at least until the next review conference of the NonProliferation Treaty in 2010.
Times 8th March 2007
New nukes
Opinion piece: The challenges emerging from the overdue energy debate in Europe are threefold: how to strengthen our own security of energy supply and become less dependent on third country imports (such as Russian gas). Nuclear must be at the heart of energy plans.
Scotsman 9th March 2007
Deep divisions over nuclear power and renewable energy threatened to derail the EU’s campaign to assume a global leadership in the fight against climate change at the 27-strong bloc’s spring summit which began last night.
Guardian 9th March 2007
Any binding European Union target for renewable energy sources must take account of the role of nuclear power and clean coal in national energy mixes, French President Jacques Chirac told EU leaders on Thursday. A dispute over whether to set a binding target of 20 percent of EU energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020 was the main open question at a summit due to adopt a long-term strategy on climate change and energy policy.
Reuters 8th March 2007
Sustainable Development International 8th March 2007
Drax, the owner of Europe’s biggest coal-fired power station, yesterday said it may consider a role in Britain’s nuclear future as it raised shareholder dividends for the year to nearly £500 million. Dorothy Thompson, the chief executive, signalled that while there were no immediate plans, Drax may decide to go nuclear after the Government’s forthcoming energy review if the option was “value-added for the business”.
Times 9th March 2007
How Green is Nuclear Power? “It’s easy to show that building more reactors makes climate change worse than it should have been,” says Amory Lovins, chairman of the Rocky Mountain Institute, an energy think tank in Snowmass, Colo. “That’s because a dollar put into new reactors gives two to 10 times less climate solution for the amount of coal-power displaced than if you had bought cheaper solutions with the same dollars.”
Christian Science Monitor 7th March 2007
Congo
The head of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s dilapidated and poorly guarded nuclear reactor plant has been arrested on suspicion of illegally selling enriched uranium, following the disappearance of large quantities of the material.
Guardian 9th March 2007
France
APPROVAL has been given to the new third nuclear reactor at the Flamanville power station, sweeping aside the formal objections of Jersey’s Chief Minister.
Jersey Evening Post 8th March 2007
Dungeness
British Energy’s Dungeness B22 nuclear power reactor restarted on Thursday morning after a month-long maintenance outage, according to the Website of National Grid. The 555-megawatt Dungeness B22, one of two reactors at the Dungeness power plant in Kent, was shut down manually on Feb. 6.
Reuters 8th March 2007
