New nukes
Next month the UK Government is expected to sanction a new generation of reactors and, as owner of the sites already zoned for nuclear use, British Energy is best placed to build them. Though old enough to have a free bus pass, the grey-haired Coley will be leading a controversial programme to cut the country’s carbon emissions. Profile of Bill Coley who left US utility Duke Energy after a financial scandal.
Sunday Telegraph 9th Sept 2007 more >>
Early results from a nationwide consultation on the future use of nuclear power in Britain have revealed tentative public support for the plans. A total of 46% of people said they supported or strongly supported the continued use of nuclear power, with only 25% of people saying they either opposed or strongly opposed the idea. But 89% of people said they were either concerned or very concerned about safety and security issues associated with nuclear energy, and 92% were very concerned or quite concerned about creating new nuclear waste.
AP 8th Sept 2007 more >>
Sky News 9th Sept 2007 more >>
Channel 4 News 9th Sept 2007 more >>
Guardian website 9th Sept 2007 more >>
A debate on the future of the UK’s nuclear power in Scotland’s capital ended with an even split for and against. The consultation on the building of nuclear power stations in Edinburgh found 40% disagreed or strongly disagreed and 40% agreed or strongly agreed. Ninety people in the capital were asked the question: “In the context of tackling climate change and ensuring energy security, do you agree or disagree that it would be in the public interest to give energy companies the option of investing in new nuclear power stations?”
ICScotland 9th Sept 2007 more >>
More than 1,000 people, selected as a cross-section of the British public, gathered in nine cities yesterday to debate the merits of nuclear power.
Observer 9th Sept 2007 more >>
The future of nuclear power in the UK has been debated in Liverpool. The city was one of nine participating in a consultation on the building of new nuclear power stations, with more than 1,000 people involved.
Pendle Today 8th Sept 2007 more >>
The future of nuclear power stations in the UK is being debated at Assembly House in Norwich.
BBC 8th Sept 2007 more >>
Nearly 100 people in Exeter are set to give their views as part of a major Government consultation today on whether to build new nuclear power stations. But the process took a dramatic twist yesterday when green groups pulled out of the controversial exercise taking place across the country.
Exeter Express & Echo 8th Sept 2007 more >>
Nuclear Convoys
THE Scottish first minister Alex Salmond is to issue a direct challenge to Westminster’s control of UK defence policy by seeking to ban the transportation of nuclear weapons on Scottish soil. Salmond aims to use powers devolved to the Scottish parliament to prevent the regular shipment of Trident warheads and components by road north of the border.
Sunday Times 9th Sept 2007 more >>
Canadian Tar Sands
Shell is considering using nuclear power to operate its controversial tar sands programme in Canada. Tar sands extraction – mining oil from a mixture of sand or clay, water and very heavy crude oil – uses a huge amount of energy and water. Environmentalists say it results in more than three times as many emissions of carbon dioxide compared to conventional oil production. Now Canadian firms AECL and Energy Alberta have proposed building a nuclear reactor near the site of Shell’s vast Athabasca tar sands development. The boss of Energy Alberta has said the C$6bn (£2.8bn) reactor has the backing of a large unnamed copany that would take 70 per cent of the reactor’s energy.
Independent on Sunday 9th Sept 2007 more >>
Pakistan
Letter from Pakistani High Commissioner: Your article How the West summoned up a nuclear nightmare in Pakistan (Focus, last week) by Adrian Levy and Catherine Scott-Clark alleges that nuclear proliferation continues from Pakistan. We strongly disagree.
Sunday Times 9th Sept 2007 more >>
Iran
The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog body on Friday rebuffed Western critics of a cooperation deal it has struck with Iran as “back-seat drivers” and urged them to give it time to work to help avoid war.
Christian Today 8th Sept 2007 more >>
Uranium
Hundreds of people in Niger marched on Saturday to demand the departure of French nuclear giant Areva, which they accuse of backing a rebellion in the uranium-rich north of the former French colony.
Reuters 8th Sept 2007 more >>
Dounreay
THE NUCLEAR complex at Dounreay has been reprimanded by the UK government’s safety watchdog for breaking the rules when importing radioactive waste from France. More than seven tonnes of irradiated uranium oxide was shipped to the Caithness plant in June. But its operator, the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), “forgot” to ask permission from the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII). The revelation comes from the NII’s latest report to the Dounreay Stakeholder Group, involving local people. “Receipt of this fuel was in breach of Dounreay Licence Instrument No 47,” it says.
Sunday Herald 9th Sept 2007 more >>
WORK is running ahead of schedule on the major engineering job to form an underground grout curtain around Dounreay’s notorious high-active waste shaft. The creation of the barrier is a key part of the £27 million scheme to isolate the former makeshift dump.
John O Groat Journal 7th Sept 2007 more >>
Conservative Party
Zac Goldsmith has signed up to two key elements in the report which are likely to provide Cameron with an escape from two announcements that have caused him grief. John Gummer, the former environment secretary who has chaired the commission, has persuaded his group to abandon the party’s infamous ‘green air miles’ limit under which passengers would pay increasing taxes for flights once they travel beyond a set limit. Instead, aviation taxes will be directed at airlines that harm the environment by using older, more polluting planes. Gummer, whose constituency includes the Sizewell B nuclear power station, will also signal Tory support for nuclear power. Tests will be set for the industry, but Cameron will be given an escape route from his description of nuclear power as an option of ‘last resort’.
Observer 9th Sept 2007 more >>
Energy Efficiency
Television sets and other domestic appliances will be fitted with special devices to switch off standby power as part of a radical plan to cut wasteful use of electricity, a special Conservative report will recommend this week.
Observer 9th Sept 2007 more >>
Article by Gummer: Cutting our emissions by 80 per cent in fewer than 50 years demands a universal response. But it is the rich countries which have caused the problem and profited most from the pollution, so we have to provide the solutions. We won’t succeed unless China and India join in, but we can’t expect the poor to pick up the baton before we have even run the first lap.
Observer 9th Sept 2007 more >>
Renewables
Iberdrola, the Spanish energy giant that bought ScottishPower last year, will raise up to €4bn (£2.7bn) when it floats the world’s largest wind power company.
Independent on Sunday 9th Sept 2007 more >>
