General Election
The Liberal Democrats are opposed to new nuclear energy plants, so a coalition with the party could mean a greater focus on renewable energy and less on nuclear. Andrew Mead, an analyst at Goldman Sachs, the investment bank, said Centrica, which owns British Gas, as well as EDF, the French energy giant, are potential losers as they are involved in nuclear generation in Britain. Scottish and Southern Energy and Iberdrola Renovables, part of Spain’s Iberdrola group which own Scottish Power, are likely to benefit, however. Both have significant investments in renewables.
Sunday Times 9th May 2010 more >>
Areas where there is political disagreement will cause the most concern. These include strong Liberal Democrat opposition to build new nuclear power stations and disagreement over a third runway at Heathrow. The long lead in times to build energy infrastructure mean that decisions have to be made immediately to avoid the risk of an energy shortfall in around five years time.
Guardian 7th May 2010 more >>
Uranium
Jean Ziegler, vice-president of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee rang the alarm on the dramatic situation in Niger regarding food and health. He also pointed out how international law could be used to trigger pressure on countries like France and Switzerland, and through them on companies like Areva who do not endorse the full responsibility of the damages they cause in other countries like Niger.
Greenpeace Nuclear Reaction 7th May 2010 more >>
Iran
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has welcomed a proposal for new talks with Western powers over his country’s nuclear programme, possibly in Turkey, media reported late Friday.
EU Business 8th May 2010 more >>
Pakistan
Pakistan’s military said it successfully test-fired two ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
Belfast Telegraph 8th May 2010 more >>
Express 8th May 2010 more >>
Chinese authorities have recently confirmed that China National Nuclear Cooperation has signed an agreement with Pakistan for two new nuclear reactors at the Chashma site – Chashma III and Chashma IV.
Oil price.com 9th May 2010 more >>
Canada
Darlington Nuclear Project: The Joint Review Panel initiated a public review and comment period on the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Licence to Prepare a Site (LTPS) application in November 2009. The end date of the comment period, which was originally scheduled for May 2010, will now be extended as a result of the Panel’s requests for additional information from Ontario Power Generation Inc. The Panel will announce the new review and comment period deadline at a later date, when it receives sufficient information from the proponent.
Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency 5th May 2010 more >>
Test Veterans
The Ministry of Defence is spending £1million in a fresh attempt to deny justice to the survivors of Britain’s nuclear tests. More than 1,000 veterans and widows won a historic victory last year when a court ruled their £100million compensation claims could go ahead. But MoD lawyers have now begun an eight-day appeal against the decision – clocking up the huge legal cost and delaying the case by at least a year. Campaigners claim that, because around three veterans a week die, the move is a cynical attempt to lower the compensation bill.
Sunday Mirror 9th May 2010 more >>
Renewables
THE solar power industry could be saved … by printing presses. British scientists claim to have invented an electrical material that can be used like an ink and printed on to panels by the presses that produce newspapers. Omar Cheema, co-founder and chief executive of Solar Press, the company behind the technology, claims the breakthrough could be the key to getting round the industry’s notoriously high costs and make clean, cheap power available to billions of the world’s poorest people.
Sunday Times 9th May 2010 more >>
CCS
Rising costs have prompted new fears for one of the central planks of the Scottish Government’s strategy for cutting climate pollution. Scottish ministers want to keep burning coal in power stations by developing technology to capture and store the carbon dioxide they belch out. But new evidence from Norway suggests that this could cost nearly three times more than expected. This comes on top of recent expert reports casting doubt on the feasibility of carbon capture and storage (CCS) – the great green hope of the energy industry. But technology is strongly defended by its backers in Scotland. One of Norway’s flagship CCS projects is run by the state-owned gas company, Gassco. But it has revealed that the estimated costs have rocketed from £0.4 billion in 2007 to £1.2bn now.
Sunday Herald 9th May 2010 more >>
Robedwards.com 9th May 2010 more >>
