UK might make nuclear base in Scotland a ‘sovereign United Kingdom territory”
Trident nuclear base on banks of the Clyde ‘could be designated as UK territory’ if Scotland votes for independence
- Idea floated as a contingency if Scotland breaks away from the UK
- But Number 10 says it is not ‘credible or sensible’
- SNP accused Westminster of trying to bully Scotland
By MATT CHORLEY, MAILONLINE POLITICAL EDITOR, 11 July 2013 The nuclear deterrent base in Scotland would be designated as sovereign United Kingdom territory under plans drawn up by the Ministry of Defence.
The move comes amid warnings of the ‘enormous’ costs of trying to relocate the Trident missile system away from Faslane if Scotland breaks away from the rest of the UK.
But David Cameron today moved to quash the idea, warning it was not a ‘credible or sensible’. The future of Britain’s nuclear deterrent has become a key area of dispute in the run up to the referendum on Scottish independence next year.
The submarines and missiles are housed at a naval base on the Clyde but the SNP wants rid of the system.
Officials in Whitehall have been looking at alternatives to ensure Britain can maintain its at sea deterrent.
Under the plan to reclassify Faslane, the base would be given the same status as the British sovereign military bases in Cyprus, the Guardian reported. Continue reading
Guaranteed money from UK for new nuclear – not a subsidy, REALLY?
Ed Davey ‘will not give an inch’ on nuclear power price As a former nuclear sceptic, energy secretary says he regards the negotiations over Hinkley Point as a personal test The Guardian, Patrick Wintour 6 July 2013 The energy secretary on Saturday intervenes in the debate over nuclear power by insisting he will not budge a further inch in his offer of long-term guaranteed fixed prices for nuclear electricity. Ed Davey [Liberal Democrats] says he regards the negotiations as a test for his commitment to produce nuclear energy at an affordable price and without subsidy by the taxpayer.
The government is locked in lengthy talks with its preferred supplier, the French energy firm EDF, over a planned nuclear plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset, which would be the first in almost two decades. Continue reading
Dodgy tax deals by uranium companies in Africa: Paladin under investigation
Advocacy group ActionAid claims poor countries are losing more than $130 billion in tax revenues a year by giving generous tax breaks to big companies, including Australian miners. There are about 240 Australian mining companies with operations in Africa.
Perth-based uranium miner Paladin Energy, came under scrutiny for its tax arrangements in Malawi where it runs a mine in Karonga. A report by the group Norwegian Church Aid alleges there are discrepancies between Paladin’s reported tax and its tax paid. It also alleges other payments by Paladin in Malawi are lower than the company reports.
Paladin has subsidiaries registered in Mauritius and the British Virgin Islands, both tax havens. Last year’s annual report showed the company accumulated losses that mean it will need to make profits totalling $208 million in Australia before paying any tax.
Tax man takes scalpel to energy and resources firms http://www.theage.com.au/national/tax-man-takes-scalpel-to-energy-and-resources-firms-20130705-2phat.html July 6, 2013 Georgia Wilkins The Tax Office will open 60 cases of suspected tax dodging by Australian and international companies amid global pressure to crack down on profit shifting.
The investigations will add to the 26 cases of offshore restructuring already under review 
by the government body.
Under scrutiny are companies that deliberately restructure their business to route profits through low-tax jurisdictions or tax havens to avoid paying higher taxes in Australia, often through the use of post box companies or marketing hubs that have little real substance. Continue reading
Nuclear power forces get France’s Environment Minister sacked
Sacked French minister lays blame on nuclear power, fracking groups SMH, Tara Patel July 6, 2013 France’s former environment minister Delphine Batho, who was sacked on Tuesday, has blamed the fracking and nuclear power industries for her dismissal.
Ms Batho, who held the energy and the environment portfolios, was fired by President Francois Hollande after she called his 2014 spending plans ”bad” because they cut her department’s funds by about 7 per cent.
These forces that I am talking about wanted my scalp.
Mr Hollande announced her sacking via Twitter.
But Ms Batho said on Thursday that her support for France’s ban on shale gas drilling and reducing its dependence on nuclear power were the real reasons behind her departure. ”The battle crystallised notably on the question of shale gas and more discreetly on the reduction of nuclear in France,” she said at a news conference at the National Assembly in Paris. ”These forces that I am talking about wanted my scalp.”
She left at a critical time as the nation debates its future energy mix after Mr Hollande pledged to lower the proportion of power France derives from nuclear energy, the highest in the world.
An energy law was to be formulated in coming months and sent to parliament early next year.The stakes are high for Electricite de France SA, operator of the country’s 58 nuclear reactors, because it wants to extend the lives of its generators rather than have any of them shut down.
Socialist Philippe Martin was named to replace Ms Batho……… Mr Hollande has pledged to lower the dependence on nuclear energy to 50 per cent of total output by about 2025 from the present 75 per cent. http://www.smh.com.au/world/sacked-french-minister-lays-blame-on-nuclear-power-fracking-groups-20130705-2phc7.html#ixzz2YIsVQFKn
Germany’s Chancellor Merkel got it right, on switch from nuclear to renewables
Nuclear Cuts Vindicate Merkel as RWE Profit Dips, Bloomberg By Julia Mengewein – Jul 5, 2013 Germany’s $710 billion green-energy drive is cutting production at nuclear reactors, the nation’s most profitable large-scale plants, as power prices slump to a six-year low. The proportion of hours during which electricity traded at less than 30 euros ($39) a megawatt-hour, the level at which UBS AG says reactors start losing money, rose to 50 percent last month, the most since 2007 and 92 percent more than a year ago, data from the Epex Spot SE exchange show. RWE AG (RWE) cut output at its Gundremmingen plant near Munich 31 times in the first half as solar and wind output jumped, compared with 18 times in 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The reductions, which typically last for hours at a time, underscore how Chancellor Angela Merkel’s plan to replace atomic power with renewable energy within a decade is gaining ground at the expense of profit at utilities from RWE to EON SE. The boom in green power, coupled with the lowest demand in 10 years, sent the average operating margin at 15 European utilities to the lowest since 2002, company data compiled by Bloomberg show.
“We will see more of those situations where renewable output is so high, that spot prices collapse below the level of the cash costs for nuclear plants,” Patrick Hummel, an analyst at UBS in Zurich, said July 2 by e-mail. “This really is a double-whammy for power producers. Fewer running hours means less power is sold and that happens at a lower price.”….. Continue reading
Tepco rushes effort to restart two nuclear reactors, ignores local councils
TEPCO gets harsh response from Niigata gov. over restarting reactors Global Post 5 July 13 Tokyo Electric Power Co. faced a harsh response on Friday from Niigata Gov. Hirohiko Izumida in its attempt to swiftly apply for a state safety assessment of two reactors there as a step toward resuming their operations.
After meeting with Izumida and the mayors of two municipalities that the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant straddles, TEPCO President Naomi Hirose admitted it is “difficult” to join other utilities’ moves to apply for safety assessment of reactors next Monday, when a set of new regulations for atomic power plants take effect.
Izumida said TEPCO did not offer any explanation to local people before announcing the company’s plan to file for the assessment of the plant’s Nos. 6 and 7 reactors.
“Why did you rush (to make a decision to file for application)?” the governor said in the meeting, while also refusing to accept a paper in which TEPCO sought approval on a plan to install a safety system which is essential to restart the two units under the new safety standards…… http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/kyodo-news-international/130705/tepco-gets-harsh-response-niigata-gov-over-restarting-
Fukushima Prefecture voters stress the reality of the nuclear crisis
Fukushima voters urge politicians to face reality of nuclear crisis Global Post 5 July 13 Voters in Fukushima Prefecture, where about 150,000 people are still living as evacuees from their homes due to the nuclear disaster triggered by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, urged politicians to face the reality of the crisis as official campaigning for the July 21 House of Councillors election got under way Thursday…….
Yasuo Yoshida, a 46-year-old fisherman in Iwaki, a coastal city in the prefecture, said politicians should visit the areas affected by the nuclear disaster more often and listen to the local people.
“Now we face a moment of truth in trying to rebuild Fukushima’s fishing industry and I want politicians to ensure that the central government will take responsibility” for the revival of fishing, he said. Continue reading
Japanese political party to campaign for abolishing nuclear power
Your Party stands against tax hike, nuclear plants Japan Times, 3 July 13 BY REIJI YOSHIDA Your Party will stress its call to freeze the upcoming consumption tax hike and promise to abolish all nuclear power plants by 2030 when the campaign for the Upper House officially starts Thursday, party leader Yoshimi Watanabe
said. Continue reading
Japan’s nuclear industry hope to restart, but delay safety upgrades
I couldn’t help being reminded of Saint Augustine’s famous prayer – “God make me pure – but not yet!”
The cost of upgrading all of the nuclear power plants is expected to exceed ¥1 trillion.
Nuclear safety rules put onus on utilities Japan Times, BY KAZUAKI NAGATA , 1 July 13, The Nuclear Regulation Authority on July 8 will begin enforcing new safety standards at atomic power stations, more than two years after Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 plant experienced three reactor core meltdowns…………
Utilities are meanwhile hoping that the regulators will be lenient with reactor restarts as long as they agree
to upgrade their plants to the new safety regime over time……
A major difference is that it will now be mandatory for utilities to install defenses that can prevent meltdowns from being caused by natural disasters — such as earthquakes, tsunami and tornadoes — as well as defenses against terrorist attacks…… Continue reading
USA House Republicans want more weapons money, less money for renewable energy
House Republicans Think $911 Million In 2014 Renewable Energy Funding Should Go To Military Clean Technica July 1, 2013 This past Tuesday, President Obama unveiled his second-term plan for cutting carbon emissions, and delivered a bracing call for the American economy to advance into a clean energy future. This past Wednesday, House Republicans responded by moving a bill out of the Appropriations Committee that would cut investments in renewables by nearly a billion dollars.
The legislation in question is the Energy and Water appropriations bill, which is the fifth of twelve spending bills the House must pass to establish the discretionary budget for 2014. Sequestration — the across-the-board spending cuts that went into effect earlier this year — set a top-line level of $967 billion for that spending. But Republicans are attempting to ease the cuts to the military by slicing even deeper into other programs. That led to a party-line vote in the committee to cut renewable investments in the bill by $911 million from their level in 2013……http://cleantechnica.com/2013/07/01/house-republicans-think-911-million-in-2014-renewable-energy-funding-should-go-to-military/
Japan’s ruling Party the only one (of 9) to promote nuclear power
LDP alone in fighting nuclear power exit JAPAN TIMES, JIJI, KYODO JUL 1, 2013 OSAKA – The ruling Liberal Democratic Party was the sole opponent of abolishing nuclear power in a policy debate involving the secretaries-general of nine major political parties Saturday….. Among the proponents, Japanese Communist Party Secretary-General Tadayoshi Ichida said it would be inconceivable to restart reactors or export Japan’s nuclear technologies given that the disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 plant has yet to be resolved. His Your Party counterpart, Kenji Eda, said it would be irresponsible to bring reactors back online when locations for disposal facilities for spent nuclear fuel have yet to be decided…..http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/07/01/national/ldp-alone-in-fighting-nuclear-power-exit/#.UdIdkTtwo6I
LDP opposes zero nuclear policy, Japan News, 1 July 13 The Yomiuri ShimbunWith the exception of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, every party at a weekend meeting in Osaka of the secretaries general and equivalent figures from nine major parties expressed support for ending nuclear power generation in the future……. As for whether to aim for the abolition of nuclear power generation, all parties replied yes except the LDP. The DPJ, for example, clearly stated that no nuclear power plant should be in operation by the end of the 2030s in its upper house election platform. Hosono questioned Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s efforts to promote exports of Japanese nuclear reactors.
“It makes me uncomfortable,” he said, to see the prime minister and other government officials actively promoting exports of Japanese nuclear plants while the crisis continues at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant…..http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0000347382
Public needs to know the full costs of new Darlington nuclear plans
Make proposed nuclear bids public: NDP http://www.oyetimes.com/news/canada/45664-make-proposed-nuclear-bids-public-ndp Oye! News from Canada, 28 June 2013 by Justin Stayshyn NDP Energy critic Peter Tabuns urged the Liberal government to make public the full costs of two bids to build new nuclear reactors, including information about whether taxpayers will be on the hook for cost overruns.
Bids to build two new nuclear reactors next to the existing Darlington nuclear plans were submitted to the government today by Westinghouse and CANDU/SNC Lavalin. “The government must be open and transparent about the full costs and risks of building new nuclear reactors so that there can be an informed public discussion about whether the government’s nuclear-first energy plan is cost-effective,” said Tabuns, MPP for Toronto-Danforth.
A 2008 proposal to build a new nuclear plant at Darlington was said to total about $26 billion, and hence was abandoned by the McGuintygovernment.
“The government argues that nuclear power is affordable even though nuclear costs have soared since the Fukishima disaster and every nuclear project in Ontario has gone over budget by millions if not billions of dollars,” said Tabuns. “Ontarians need to know the full costs and terms of the two bids, including who will pay the inevitable cost overruns, so that potentially lower cost alternatives like importing hydro power from Quebec are considered before the government signs another misguided private energy deal.”
USA Senators votes obey their campaign donors
Senators’ Positions on Climate Change Reflect Their Donors’ Wishes ENN. 28 June 13 Earlier this week, President Obama followed up on the promise he made in his State of the Union Address, to take action on climate change even if Congress wouldn’t. Specifically, he said, “if Congress won’t act soon to protect future generations, I will.
Why would Congress be so recalcitrant on an issue of such vital importance as taking action to minimize (it’s too late to avoid) the impact of a crisis that could threaten the existence of civilization as we know it? A recent analysis performed by MapLight suggests the root of much of the underlying motivation for our elected officials is money. While this isn’t terribly surprising, it is stunningly disappointing to see how lacking in character those men and women we have elected to lead us appear to be — trading the broad interests of future generations for their own very narrow, self-serving interest in raising money to enable them to remain in jobs that, it would appear, they are morally unqualified to serve in.
Looking specifically at campaign contributions given to senators, Maplight found the following campaign contribution levels from industries whose short-term financial interests would benefit from no action being taken on climate change during the period from January 1, 2009—December 31, 2012, as well as from those who would stand to benefit from action being taken. (Source: Open Secrets)
The two tables show the name of the industry or interest and the amount contributed to senators…….
A number of bills have been submitted since 2007, mostly by Democrats attempting to deal with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and these have either died in committee or been filibustered to death if they actually made it onto the floor.
So it should not be a surprise to learn that most of these financial contributions went to Republicans. That is certainly true if we look at oil & gas donors, which gave an average of $60,000 last year to Republican members of the House and Senate versus $10,000 given to Democrats. Total contributions last year, including individuals, PAC and soft money topped $65 million, more than doubling from 2010.
Coal mining interests gave out $17 million, almost all of it to Republicans, except for Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who received $222k, about the same as his Republican counterpart.
Electric utilities made contributions of $23 million to elected officials, alongside a whopping $140 million in overall lobbying (about the same as oil & gas). This was more evenly divided across party lines, with Republicans receiving roughly $14 million and Democrats $9 million.
The president has vowed to use executive authority, primarily through the EPA, to address carbon emissions, largely by limiting the allowable emissions from coal plants, which the Republicans will undoubtedly fight, either through the courts or through additional legislation. As President Obama preemptively pointed out in his speech, opponents always claim that this type of regulation will be bad for business and every time they have been wrong. The critics’ focus tends to be on the very short term changes that need to be made, rather than on the ultimate result of a cleaner, safer society being served by more efficient companies. Too often, as Ramez Naam points out in his excellent book, The Infinite Resource, the role that innovation plays is commonly underestimated.Continue Reading at Triple Pundit
£10bn financial guarantee for Britain’s new nuclear power plants
Nuclear power gets £10bn financial guarantee boost guardian.co.uk, 28 June 2013 Patrick Wintour and Phillip Inman Ministers respond to warnings that UK is on brink of power blackouts with support for French generator EDF to build Hinkley Point nuclear power plant
The government has responded to warnings that Britain is on the brink of power blackouts by announcing £10bn in financial guarantees to thenuclear power industry – a concession aimed at paving the way for the building of the first new reactor in the country for a generation.
The support for French generator EDF, which is in negotiations to build the Hinkley Point nuclear power station, was announced by the Treasury chief secretary, Danny Alexander, as the centrepiece of a £100bn package of infrastructure investment covering 2015-20, including new roads, schools and affordable homes.
Michael Fallon, the energy minister, insisted the substantial guarantees represented a commercial loan, not a subsidy, saying: “This is big-scale financing, not available in the markets.” …
EDF had already prepared the site next to the two existing stations, but would not commit to the project unless the government guaranteed a minimum price for the electricity the new reactor would produce……. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jun/27/nuclear-power-10billion-financial-guarantee
Us nuclear corporations regulate the regulators: Indian point has no license
“The regulators are basically being regulated by the corporations that they’re supposedly overseeing,”
GERIATRIC NUCLEAR REACTORS COULD KILL US ALL, VICE NEWS, By Peter Rugh 26 June 13 In America, you need a license to drive an automobile, to operate heavy machinery, to hunt and fish, but apparently not to run a nuclear reactor. Entergy Corp. is slated to become the first company in history to operate a reactor without a license this fall. The Louisiana-based energy corporation’s rogue reactor is located at its Indian Point Energy Center in 
Buchanan, NY—just 24 miles from Manhattan. Entergy Corp’s license to run its Indian Point 2 reactor expires on September 28. The regulations of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), which is charged with overseeing the civilian use of nuclear power, says it is prepared to grant the license but its hands are tied by legal challenges mounted by New York State and a federal court ruling last year. The ruling dismissed the agency’s radioactive waste management plans as inadequate.
Most of America’s nuclear plants were built in the 60s and 70s. They were given shelf lives of 40 years. It was assumed by the industry at the time of their construction that when the millennium rolled around there would be new plants up, running, and ready to replace the old fleet. But between then and now interest in nuclear power has waned due to cost and the public’s reaction to Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and other nuclear calamities. Instead, the energy industry has sought to renew the licenses on the reactors they already operate, while keeping the cost of infrastructure improvements to a bare minimum. They’ve encountered little resistance from the NRC, which has approved 73 separate license renewals and only denied one single application in its history.
Meanwhile, the waste has piled up. The Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry policy group, estimates that US’s 104 commercial reactors have generated 69,720 metric tons of radioactive waste (spent-fuel) over the past four decades, with each plant chipping in approximately 2,000 to 2,300 metric tons each year. Nobody knows what to do with it all. Plant operators are, in a sense, shitting where they eat at the moment by storing nuclear waste onsite at the plants where it is generated. ….. Continue reading
1 This Month
of the week – THE ONENESS of HUMANITY
25 June- THE PUKE ON NUKES
Thursday, June 25, 2026
7pm Central Time (8pm ET, 6pm MT, 5pm PT) UTC – 5
From NRC & DOE Deregulation to Techno-Fascist Billionaires Going Nuclear, Plus a Few Songs from Atomic Cabaret REGISTER
26 June – Radiation Trainwreck at the NRC / Join the Protect Better Campaign – https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/4ZlZ5_qLSHGiLSCg8FF6Bg#/registration
1st July – Webinar Waste of Space: The Environmental Harm of Military and Civil Space Activity st July, 7 pm
Report Launch Online: We are seeing an increasing exploitation of space for military and commercial purposes. This must change.
Protect Sazan Island from the Trump family! https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/protect_sazan_island_from_the_trump_family_loc/?bqFCVab&v=174511&cl=22707147157&_checksum=5e9dde668860e8231c33699735e16a1fbf22ab2cb01da50c999fe8732b9775ef&utm_source=email&utm_medium=blast_email&utm_campaign=174511
Cuba Is Not a Failed State – It Is a Besieged State
PETITION: “Global Appeal to Endorse Palestinian Right of Return of Refugees”
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
-
Archives
- June 2026 (241)
- May 2026 (306)
- April 2026 (356)
- March 2026 (251)
- February 2026 (268)
- January 2026 (308)
- December 2025 (358)
- November 2025 (359)
- October 2025 (376)
- September 2025 (257)
- August 2025 (319)
- July 2025 (230)
-
Categories
- 1
- 1 NUCLEAR ISSUES
- business and costs
- climate change
- culture and arts
- ENERGY
- environment
- health
- history
- indigenous issues
- Legal
- marketing of nuclear
- media
- opposition to nuclear
- PERSONAL STORIES
- politics
- politics international
- Religion and ethics
- safety
- secrets,lies and civil liberties
- spinbuster
- technology
- Uranium
- wastes
- weapons and war
- Women
- 2 WORLD
- ACTION
- AFRICA
- Atrocities
- AUSTRALIA
- Christina's notes
- Christina's themes
- culture and arts
- Events
- Fuk 2022
- Fuk 2023
- Fukushima 2017
- Fukushima 2018
- fukushima 2019
- Fukushima 2020
- Fukushima 2021
- general
- global warming
- Humour (God we need it)
- Nuclear
- RARE EARTHS
- Reference
- resources – print
- Resources -audiovicual
- Weekly Newsletter
- World
- World Nuclear
- YouTube
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
nuclear-news 