Huge rise predicted for Britain’s seas and tidal rivers
Nuclear Energy Agency’s “pretend transparency”
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Nuclear Energy Agency’s Janus-like approach to nuclear transparency: a case study in obstruction, 21 February 2020 By Dr David Lowry, Nuclear Transparency Watch
![]() “…………. Conclusion
NEA cannot make publicity it is hosting an international meeting on stakeholder engagement, but only allow well-resourced stakeholders to participate, having allocated no budget line for accommodation or travel for civil society organisations (CSOs). Initially, NEA refused to reveal which Civil Society / NGO groups had shown up to participate, because – I believe – they were embarrassed that so few were there. Aside from representatives of civil society groups invited (and remunerated) as speakers, there was virtually no civil society representation. The final list of attendees, released after four months of pressure from me, shows the balance of participants was about 95% pro nuclear institutional interests, 5% civil society or non-aligned interested parties. To label such an imbalanced event a “Stakeholder Engagement” meeting is an abuse of language. The nuclear industry cannot be allowed to pretend they believe in transparency, then practice secrecy, as NEA did in this sorry saga. Because, like a dog with a bone, I refused to let go in this, I finally forced disclosure. But this should have come automatically. NEA needs to learn the lessons: the first is, it needs to abide by the dictionary definition of transparency, and deliver it in future! http://www.nuclear-transparency-watch.eu/activities/transparency-and-public-participation/nuclear-energy-agencys-janus-like-approach-to-nuclear-transparency-a-case-study-in-obstruction.html
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Chinese-led nuclear company pretending that Sizewell project is a ‘fait accompli’ – no, it is far from it.
BANNG 1
020, The Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group (BANNG) has learned that GNSL, the Chinese-led company seeking to build a mammoth new nuclear power station at Bradwell, is preparing to launch its pre-application public consultation for planning permission later this year.
This will be long before detailed discussions with the nuclear regulators are concluded. There are major issues and challenges still to be confronted. ‘It seems that the Chinese developers are taking a risk in trying to present the public and politicians with an apparent ‘fait accompli’ well before major design
and environmental hurdles have been crossed’ said Prof. Andy Blowers,
Chair of BANNG.
GNSL greeted the announcement that the Generic Design
Assessment (GDA) for Bradwell B had begun Step 4 as a major milestone,
clearing the path for deployment of Chinese nuclear technology in Britain.
That is far from the case. Moving to Step 4 in the GDA is like reaching a
hurdle, not passing a milestone. It is at this stage that all the tricky
issues facing the Bradwell B project must be confronted, including the
cooling system, site suitability, security, coastal defence, impacts on
marine and terrestrial environments and so on.
Step 4 is a long and intensive process between the developer and the independent regulators, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and the Environment Agency (EA). It is not expected to be concluded for another two years. A pre-application should follow, not overlap, Step 4 of the GDA.
https://www.banng.info/news/press-release-18th-february-2020/
UK’s new nuclear projects headed to be submerged due to climate change?
Speeding Sea Level Rise Threatens Nuclear Plants https://www.ecowatch.com/sea-level-rise-nuclear-plants-2645160125.html?rebelltitem=2#rebelltitem2 Climate News Network, Feb. 15, 2020 By Paul Brown
The latest science shows how the pace of sea level rise is speeding up, fueling fears that not only millions of homes will be under threat, but that vulnerable installations like docks and power plants will be overwhelmed by the waves.
New research using satellite data over a 30-year period shows that around the year 2000 sea level rise was 2mm a year, by 2010 it was 3mm and now it is at 4mm, with the pace of change still increasing.
The calculations were made by a research student, Tadea Veng, at the Technical University of Denmark, which has a special interest in Greenland, where the icecap is melting fast. That, combined with accelerating melting in Antarctica and further warming of the oceans, is raising sea levels across the globe.
The report coincides with a European Environment Agency (EEA) study whose maps show large areas of the shorelines of countries with coastlines on the North Sea will go under water unless heavily defended against sea level rise.
Based on the maps, newspapers like The Guardian in London have predicted that more than half of one key UK east coast provincial port — Hull — will be swamped. Ironically, Hull is the base for making giant wind turbine blades for use in the North Sea.
The argument about how much the sea level will rise this century has been raging in scientific circles since the 1990s. At the start, predictions of sea level rise took into account only two possible causes: the expansion of seawater as it warmed, and the melting of mountain glaciers away from the poles.
In the early Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports back then, the melting of the polar ice caps was not included, because scientists could not agree whether greater snowfall on the top of the ice caps in winter might balance out summer melting. Many of them also thought Antarctica would not melt at all, or not for centuries, because it was too cold.
Both the extra snow theory and the “too cold to melt” idea have now been discounted. In Antarctica this is partly because the sea has warmed up so much that it is melting the glaciers’ ice from beneath — something the scientists had not foreseen.
Alarm about sea level rise elsewhere has been increasing outside the scientific community, partly because many nuclear power plants are on coasts. Even those that are nearing the end of their working lives will be radio-active for another century, and many have highly dangerous spent fuel on site in storage ponds with no disposal route organized.
Perhaps most alarmed are British residents, whose government is currently planning a number of new seaside nuclear stations in low-lying coastal areas. Some will be under water this century according to the EEA, particularly one planned for Sizewell in eastern England.
The agency’s report says estimates of sea level rise by 2100 vary, with an upper limit of one meter generally accepted, but up to 2.5 meters predicted by some scientists. The latest research by Danish scientists suggests judiciously that with the speed of sea level rise continuing to accelerate, it is impossible to be sure.
A report by campaigners who oppose building nuclear power stations on Britain’s vulnerable coast expresses extreme alarm, saying both nuclear regulators and the giant French energy company EDF are too complacent about the problem.
The report said: “Polar ice caps appear to be melting faster than expected, and what is particularly worrying is that the rate of melting seems to be increasing. Some researchers say sea levels could rise by as much as six meters or more by 2100, even if the 2°C Paris target is met.
“But it’s not just the height of the rise in sea level that is important for the protection of nuclear facilities, it’s also the likely increase in storm surges. An increase in sea level of 50cm would mean the storm that used to come every thousand years will now come every 100 years. If you increase that to a meter, then that millennial storm is likely to come once a decade.
Bearing in mind that there will probably be nuclear waste on the Hinkley Point C site [home to the new twin reactors being built by EDF in the West of England] until at least 2150, the question neither the Office of Nuclear Regulation nor EDF seem to be asking is whether further flood protection measures can be put in place fast enough to deal with unexpected and unpredicted storm surges.”
Tortuous progress, ever-increasing costs for UK’s Sizewell and Hinkley Point C nuclear projectsy
Reports: EDF readies plans for £16bn Sizewell C nuclear plant, Business Green , Michael Holder, 17 Feb 20, EDF is gearing up to formally submit plans for a new £16bn-£20bn nuclear power station at Sizewell in Suffolk within weeks, which if approved could generate enough energy for around six million UK homes, according to reports.The French state-controlled energy giant has again teamed up with CGN – the Chinese state-owned company with which it is currently developing Hinkley Point C power station in Somerset – on the project, which would include two new EPR reactors, reports The Telegraph.
A planning application is currently being prepared for the new Suffolk nuclear plant, which would be located at the same site as EDF’s existing Sizewell B nuclear plant, and could be lodged by as soon as the end of this month, or potentially in March, the newspaper revealed on Saturday. Due to the size of the development, the project requires a Development Consent Order (DSO) to proceed from the UK’s Planning Inspectorate, which could take around a year to approve or reject the application. …. concerns reportedly remain about flood risk at the site due to its low lying coastal location, while a framework for funding the new Sizewell nuclear plant still needs to be ironed out, which could potentially delay the plant’s development, according to the newspaper. A spokesperson for EDF said work on the DSO application “is continuing” but declined to comment any further when contacted by BusinessGreen. It comes in the wake of criticism over the decision to proceed with the two firms’ other flagship nuclear project Hinkley Point C due to the high cost associated with the project, which is being paid for through a surcharge on consumer energy bills. In September EDF was once again forced to increase its cost estimates for the Somerset project, admitting that costs are likely to soar £2.9bn over the original budget, and that it may not start generating electricity until 2026, 15 months later than previously scheduled. More broadly the UK’s nuclear sector has suffered setbacks over the past couple of years, with two other major projects at Wylfa in North Wales and Moorside in Cumbria having both been shelved by developers over cost concerns…….. https://www.businessgreen.com/news/4010867/reports-edf-readies-plans-gbp16bn-sizewell-nuclear-plant |
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Climate change to continue hitting UK with bigger storms
![]() UK must prepare for more intense storms, climate scientists say
Government urged to create more natural drainage systems to cope with impact of crisis, Guardian, Jonathan Watts 17 Feb 20, Britain must brace for more storms like Dennis and Ciara because rainfall will be more intense in a climate-disrupted future, scientists have warned.They said the government needed to increase the creation of more natural drainage systems if it wanted to avoid having to raise the level of sea and river defences every few years to counter the growing threat of flooding and storm surges. Storm Dennis killed at least three people and flooded many parts of the country at the weekend. Politicians from all parties have acknowledged the link to the climate crisis, but differ over how to respond. The new environment secretary, George Eustice, said on Sunday that the UK was already spending billions of pounds on flood infrastructure, but that there was a limit to how effective this could be in the face of a worsening threat…… Dr Mohammad Heidarzadeh, the head of coastal engineering and resilience at Brunel University, said the UK’s flood defences were not suited to the current situation, which is characterised by high frequency and high intensity climate events. “While the interval for major floods was 15-20 years in the past century in the UK, it has dramatically shortened to two-to-five years in the past decade. Therefore, it is no surprise that several flood defence systems were overtopped or damaged by flood water,” he said…… After Storm Desmond devastated parts of Scotland, the Lake District and Northern Ireland in 2015, scientists estimated human-driven change to the climate made extreme rain about 40% more probable. Similar attribution studies for the latest downpours will need more time, but the overall trends towards more extreme weather are well established. Compared with 50 years ago, the Met Office says the maximum daily deluge each year has risen by 17% from 64mm to 75mm, while the longest wet spell has increased from an average of 12.4 days to 12.9 days. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/feb/17/uk-must-prepare-for-more-intense-storms-climate-scientists-say |
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The plutonium dilemma – Japan and UK


What should be done with Japan’s plutonium now stored in the UK? ~ Research trip report. BY by Caitlin Stronell, CNIC
From September 11 to 21, Ban Hideyuki and Caitlin Stronell from CNIC visited the UK in order to survey opinions on what should be done with Japan’s 21.2 tons of plutonium presently stored at the Sellafield facility in the UK. As Japan does not have an operating reprocessing plant, spent fuel was shipped to the UK and France for reprocessing and fabrication into MOX fuel from the late 1970s. Including Japan’s 21 tons, a total of approximately 140 tons of separated plutonium are held in the UK, which has offered to take ownership of foreign owned plutonium on its soil, subject to acceptable commercial terms. There have already been several such cases of ownership transfers of plutonium. (For example, in January 2017 the UK took ownership of 600 kg of plutonium previously owned by a Spanish utility and 5 kg previously owned by a German organization.)
Last year Japan’s Ministry for Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced that a dialogue concerning plutonium between the UK and Japan had begun. Although the details of this dialogue have not been released, ownership transfer may well be one of the discussion points. If Japan does go through with the ownership transfer, it will be an admission that the plutonium, which it has spent vast sums on extracting from the spent fuel, is not a precious resource at all, but material that now has to be disposed of, again at large cost. This would be another heavy blow against Japan’s reprocessing policy. However, how do people in the UK feel about accepting 21 tons of Japanese plutonium? This was what we tried to find out on our research trip.
Closely related to the issue of plutonium in both Japan and the UK is the issue of nuclear waste and we also wanted to find out about how the UK is planning to deal with this issue, especially in terms of siting a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF). Plans to site the GDF in Cumbria were rejected by the Council in 2013 and since then the national government has introduced a new system where smaller communities are able to request that they be considered as a GDF site. We wanted to find out how people were reacting to this and what the prospects are for the government being able to successfully site a GDF under this system.
We spoke to a large range of people directly concerned with these issues, of course anti-nuclear activists, but also a scientist involved in research on direct disposal methods for plutonium, as well as a number of people who work at Sellafield and local councilors for the area. Their answers to the question of what to do with Japan’s 21 tons of plutonium were varied and, in some cases, a little unexpected. For example, I was expecting that Prof. Neil Hyatt of Sheffield University, who is conducting cutting edge research on plutonium disposal, would be more open to accepting Japan’s plutonium, but he expressed some hesitation, saying that if the UK government agrees to take ownership of such a large amount of plutonium, it will break trust with local people by increasing their waste burden.
Divided opinions
We also noticed a split opinion between the two Cumbrian Councillors we interviewed. Cumbria is the county where the Sellafield Site is located and the nuclear industry obviously plays an important part in the local economy and politics………
The NDA is also tasked with siting the GDF for radioactive waste, which has proved to be a difficult task indeed, as it is all over the world, including in Japan where little progress has been made. There have been three attempts so far in the UK to try to decide on a site for the GDF, none of which have yielded results and so a new process for finding a GDF site began in January 2019. This process allows any community, no matter how small, to express an interest in starting a dialogue regarding hosting a GDF. …….
These and many other campaigns led by local communities show that the authorities and industry claims of transparency and safety cannot be trusted and in this sense it was easy to understand comments by Cr. Celia Tibble regarding the public reaction if the UK government were to accept Japanese plutonium. It would be seen as another lie and breach of trust…….
Conclusion
I thought that there were many similarities between the situation in Japan and in the UK regarding nuclear fuel cycle policy. Both countries must deal with massive amounts of plutonium, extracted at huge cost and risk, which now has no apparent use. Both the governments of Japan and the UK try to convince themselves and the world that it can be used as MOX fuel, but without a fabrication plant or sufficient MOX reactors, this solution is totally unconvincing. In the UK, it seems at least some industry people are facing up to this reality. In Japan, however, the government, at least at a policy level, hasn’t even faced up to the reality that plutonium is not a resource. Transferring ownership of its 21 tons of plutonium held in Sellafield to the UK would be an important step in facing up to this reality and could open the door to more practical and constructive discussions on how to reduce the plutonium stockpile. These discussions will not be easy and require an honest and concerted effort on the part of local and national governments, industry, communities and citizens. https://cnic.jp/english/?p=4681
#WETOOARE PROTESTERS FREE JULIAN ASSANGE
https://weetoo.home.blog/We are a group of mothers, fathers, teachers and students from all over the world, and we are extremely worried about the health condition, as well as the violations of the most basic human rights, of journalist and editor Julian Assange.
The award-winning journalist, in fact, has been held for months in isolation in the maximum security of Belmarsh Prison waiting for extradition to the United States where, confirmed by United Nations experts, it will be difficult for him to have a fair trial and where he risks up to 175 years in prison or even the death penalty.
The motive for the indictment was made mainly by his having published military documents confirming corruption and atrocious war crimes; in particular his website Wikileaks documents show how the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that have massacred millions of people were created by governments for economic interests and for the exploitation of resources. In these territories the number of terrorists has increased exponentially. Not only that, Assange unveiled the conditions of Guantanamo prisoners, abuses of every type, and tens of thousands of civilian homicides in Iraq and Afghanistan by the American army, including the assassination of two Reuters journalists all documented in the chilling video, Collateral Murder. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rXPrfnU3G0&t=59s
In Julian Assange’s long and frightening persecution, we witnessed seven years of systematic violation of his human rights. The right of citizens to question public interests was also completely ignored. Now, we refuse to participate in a further extension of psychological and physical torture perpetrated against the journalist, as reported by Nils Melzer, the special reporter of the United Nations, who found Assange in a condition of extremely troublesome health. Continue reading
Rolls Royce plans small nuclear reactors near Snowdonia National Park in Wales.
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Rolls-Royce eyes Snowdonia nuclear site for first small modular reactor, https://www.constructionnews.co.uk/sustainability/rolls-royce-eyes-snowdonia-nuclear-site-for-first-small-modular-reactor-14-02-2020/BY MILES ROWLAND Engineering firm Rolls-Royce has said that the first of its planned small nuclear reactors could be built at a site near Snowdonia National Park in Wales.
Speaking to the BBC today, Rolls-Royce chief technology officer Paul Stein said there was a “high probability” that Trawsfynydd would be the site of the first such reactor, which would be assembled from pre-manufactured components. The site was previously home to a nuclear reactor, closed in 1991, and has an existing local nuclear supply chain. Stein said: “Trawsfynydd is a great first site for the [reactor]. Right now the jury’s out – there are a number of great sites around the country – but two of the three sites [under consideration] are in Wales.” He added: “With so-called brownfield sites, where there has been a nuclear reactor, we know the local population is happy, there is a skilled local population that used to run the plant, there’s a grid connection and the seismic condition of the site [is suitable].” Rolls-Royce announced last year that it was working with a consortium of companies including Laing O’Rourke, Bam Nuttall and Atkins to develop small modular reactors (SMRs), with Laing O’Rourke telling Construction News that it could use its offsite manufacturing facility to produce components. Once operational, each SMR could generate 440MW of energy, enough to power Cardiff, Swansea and Newport combined, according to Rolls-Royce. The reactors have a target cost of £1.8bn each by the time five stations have been constructed, though the first will not be completed until at least 2029. Wylfa in Anglesey has previously been identified by Rolls-Royce as another potential site for SMRs. |
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Few permanent jobs in small modular nuclear reactors?
In Cumbria 12th Feb 2020, Plans to develop unique small nuclear reactors in Cumbria by Rolls-Royce should not be seen as a “saviour of the county”, one of its major rivals said.
in-Cumbria exclusively revealed in November that a consortium, led by
the engineering giant, was focusing its efforts on efforts on developing
its emerging Small Modular Reactors at existing nuclear licensed sites –
with Cumbria and Wales its top targets.
But John Coughlan, chief executive of TSP Engineering, based in Workington, said he was concerned that people would think the plans would prompt people to think thousands of jobs would be created. TSP Engineering is also developing its own version of the technology, and while Mr Coughlan acknowledged that they were rivals and that was a factor in him speaking out, he was also passionate about the local community. He said:
“Make no mistake. When Rolls-Royce talk about developing their reactors in Cumbria, they are talking about a construction site. “If they get the go-ahead for Cumbria, the reactors will be shipped in from elsewhere and built on the site. So you are probably looking at a large number of short-term construction jobs – say 1,000 – then only about 60 to 100 people with a permanent position there.
Decline and uncertainty in UK nuclear construction
Construction News 10th Feb 2020, Contractors hoping to work on nuclear builds have been forced to scale back their workforce in recent months, according to the head of the sector’s trade body. Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) chief executive Tom Greatrex told Construction News that the uncertain future for nuclear megaprojects such as the £16bn Wylfa Newydd , which was suspended by Hitachi in January 2019, has had a negative impact on construction firms
Greatrex said: “There’s a lot [of nuclear specialists] that have cut back their
headcounts. If they don’t feel there’s going to be any work to do in that
area, they’ll focus on other areas and costs will be cut.” He added that
the NIA was aware of “a few small companies that have ceased to trade”,
but declined to name them.
While the Australian government ignores Julian Assange’s plight, two MPs head to UK to help him
MPs take Assange freedom campaign to UK
https://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/mps-take-assange-freedom-campaign-to-uk/news-story/633a9baa272bd155623423565e86e6b4 12 Feb 20,
Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie and Queensland Nationals MP George Christensen will travel to the United Kingdom to lobby for Julian Assange’s freedom Paul Osborne, Two Australian politicians will travel to the UK this weekend at their own expense to visit Julian Assange in jail and seek his release.
Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie and Queensland Nationals MP George Christensen, who chair a parliamentary group in support of the WikiLeaks founder, will pay a visit to Belmarsh Prison near London and lobby the British government.
Assange is set to face trial on February 24 to determine whether he should be extradited to the US, where he has been charged with 17 counts of spying and one count of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion.
Sellafield and Drigg, Today and tomorrow’s Flood Warning.
should be no new nuclear wastes arriving at Sellafield, no new so called
Small Modular Reactors on this floodplain ….and no new coal mine deep
under the Irish Sea. Cumbria (and the fallout is planetary) is ALREADY
under intolerable risks. Today’s flood warnings …fingers crossed.
Climate emergency plans must have a ‘no new nuclear’ clause
The nuclear and fossil fuel industry are mutually intertwined.
“There is no such thing as a zero or near-zero-emission nuclear power plant”
the mean value is about 66 grams of carbon dioxide for every kWh produced by nuclear power. This compares to about 9g for wind, 32g for solar and 443 for gas.
“This puts nuclear as the third highest carbon emitter after coal-fired plants and natural gas….
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No new nuclear https://theecologist.org/2020/feb/06/no-new-nuclear Radiation Free Lakeland, 6th February 2020
Campaigners demand a ‘no new nuclear’ clause in climate emergency planning. Climate activists across the world are uniting to protect the planet from continuing fossil fuel use. There is much talk of a green industrial revolution and a Green New Deal. This sounds good, but what does it mean?
Kevin Frea, co-chair of the Climate Emergency Network and deputy leader of Lancaster City Council has worked hard to sign local councils up declaring a climate emergency. He said: “This movement is being led by every political group and is involving local people in planning the actions needed to cut carbon.” But there’s an important thing missing here. Last September members of Radiation Free Lakeland lobbied Lancaster City Council asking the council to include a No New Nuclear clause in their climate emergency planning. Continue reading |
Corpses of UK’s nuclear submarines still unburied after 25 years
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Nuclear vessels still languish at Fife dockyard 25 years after pledge against submarine graveyard, by Cheryl Peebles The Courier.co.uk
February 7 2020,Seven of the vessels, which contain radioactive material, have languished for decades at the Fife dock awaiting dismantling by the Ministry of Defence.
They include HMS Dreadnought, the UK’s first nuclear-powered submarine which was retired from service in 1980. It was during a visit to Rosyth in January 1995 that the then defence procurement minister Roger Freeman made the statement. The milestone prompted a repeated demand from Dunfermline and West Fife MP Douglas Chapman for action to deal with the vessels. Mr Chapman said: “It is astonishing that 25 years after Roger Freeman made that statement we are still waiting for the UK government to clear up these submarines that were decommissioned in the 1980s. “I have pressured the government for years to have some sort of joined-up thinking to remove these. “It is not only costing the taxpayer millions every year to keep them but also taking up valuable dock space that Babcock could be utilising for more economically productive activities.”…… https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/local/fife/1123498/nuclear-vessels-still-languish-at-fife-dockyard-25-years-after-pledge-against-submarine-graveyard/ |
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