nuclear-news

UK nuclear lobby desperate to keep the industry alive, therefore needs waste dump quickly

 without a positive decision, new nuclear development could be put
at risk.

Ministers are thought to be working on plans to try to ensure the
new-build programme is not derailed. Final investment decisions and
approvals for EDF’s proposed nuclear plant in Somerset are expected
next year.
a “no” vote in Cumbria in January would be likely to
deter a consortium that is at the early stage of planning a new plant
in the county, as it would have to invest hundreds of millions of
pounds before seeking planning permission….

Nuclear sector pushes for green light on waste dump. Telegraph By
Emily Gosden  30 Dec 2012
Britain’s nuclear industry has warned that a “no” vote by local
councils on crucial plans to assess sites for a major radioactive
waste dump would be “an injustice to future generations”.

Writing in today’s Sunday Telegraph, Lord Hutton, the former defence
secretary who is now chairman of the Nuclear Industry Association,
said that it was no longer possible to pass the buck and that the
research on a suitable waste site should go ahead.
Sir David King, the former government chief scientific adviser, warned
that without a positive decision, new nuclear development could be put
at risk.
Three Cumbrian councils will vote in January on the next stage of
plans for the £12bn underground development which will be used to bury
Britain’s existing and future nuclear waste.
Britain’s nuclear new-build programme could be hindered by a “no”
vote, potentially leaving it facing a legal challenge as there is
currently no alternative permanent plan for the waste the industry
creates.
Lord Hutton says that plans for a permanent solution for Britain’s
radioactive waste are at a “critical” stage…..
Much of Britain’s existing nuclear waste is stored at surface level at
Sellafield in Cumbria. January’s vote will decide whether
investigations into the geological suitability of possible burial
sites can continue, with a final decision on the project a decade
away……
The vote was delayed from October to January 30 as the councils –
Cumbria County Council, Copeland Borough Council and Allerdale Borough
Council – raised concerns, including their rights to back out of the
process at a later date.
Opponents of the facility say it would harm the Lake District’s image
as a tourist destination.
The Government insists it will not impose the dump if the local
community does not want it. No other areas have yet expressed interest
in hosting the waste.
Shepway District Council in Kent decided against exploring such
options earlier this year and transporting the waste long distances
would be controversial…….

He said that if anti-nuclear campaigners seeking a “no” vote in
Cumbria succeeded, they might then mount legal challenges to the wider
new nuclear programme which many see as necessary to provide enough
energy for the UK’s future needs.
“They will then say, ‘You have no means of managing the nuclear waste
and therefore we have to stop all nuclear build’,” he warned.
Two senior nuclear industry sources also said they believed there
could be legal challenges, which would be likely to centre on the then
Labour government’s 2008 pledge that new nuclear power station
consents would be granted only if “effective arrangements exist or
will exist” for their waste.
Ministers are thought to be working on plans to try to ensure the
new-build programme is not derailed. Final investment decisions and
approvals for EDF’s proposed nuclear plant in Somerset are expected
next year.
One source warned a “no” vote in Cumbria in January would be likely to
deter a consortium that is at the early stage of planning a new plant
in the county, as it would have to invest hundreds of millions of
pounds before seeking planning permission…..
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/9771135/Nuclear-sector-pushes-for-green-light-on-waste-dump.html

December 31, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, UK, wastes