nuclear-news

The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope

UK’s climate change secretary, Chris Huhne two faced on nuclear power

Huhne noted the UK has enough high-level nuclear waste to fill “three Olympic-sized swimming pools, and enough intermediate waste to fill a supertanker”. Because of the errors of the past, his department was spending £2bn a year “cleaning up” the “mess” of nuclear waste which he said would rise two thirds next year.

Chris Huhne: UK’s nuclear policy is most expensive postwar failure Climate change secretary, under pressure from fellow Lib Dems over nuclear power, says UK must learn from past mistakes   Guardian Uk 13 Oct 11, The climate change secretary, Chris Huhne, has described the UK’s nuclear policy as the “most expensive failure of postwar British policy-making” in a “crowded and highly-contested field”.

Huhne set out five tests for how power plants would be adopted in a cautious new regime, but is under pressure from his party to ensure any new-builds do not receive public subsidy – something the coalition has pledged it will not allow…..

The energy secretary’s speech was emphatically critical of the industry in the UK, Continue reading →

October 14, 2011 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

UK Royal Society calls for a plan for long term disposal of nuclear wastes

Group wants long-term nuclear plans, Belfast Telegraph 13 Oct 11, The Government must establish long-term plans for a new generation of nuclear power plants so future generations are not left dealing with its legacy, experts have urged. Continue reading →

October 13, 2011 Posted by | UK, wastes | Leave a comment

In 2011, UK’s record growth in renewable energy

UK Reports Record Level of Renewable Energy, October 10th, 2011 by Jenson Brayshaw According to new reports, the second quarter of 2011 has seen green energy contribute to about 9.6 percent of the UK’s total electricity supply. This is a huge rise on 2010 levels. This news was reported by the Department of Energy and Climate Change. Continue reading →

October 11, 2011 Posted by | renewable, UK | Leave a comment

Radioactive danger on Scotland’s Fife beach

Revealed: the radiation risk on Fife beach, HERALD SCOTLAND,  ROB EDWARDS , 9 Oct 2011 Young children exposed to radioactive pollution from old military planes at a popular Scottish coastal resort face a “significant” risk of getting cancer later in life, according to a new health study by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa).

Babies or toddlers who accidentally swallow one of the tiny “hot particles” that keep polluting the foreshore near a yacht club at Dalgety Bay in Fife could get radiation doses hundreds of times higher than the maximum permitted from nuclear reactors….. http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/transport-environ

October 10, 2011 Posted by | environment, UK | Leave a comment

Radioactive leak from Dounreay nuclear plant

Leak found at former nuclear plant, Google News, (UKPA) 9 Oct 11, Scotland’s environment secretary has called for a full investigation after a radioactive leak was found at the former Dounreay power station. The leak was discovered during a routine operation of the plant which is destroying the liquid metal used as the coolant in the Dounreay Fast Reactor (DFR).

Monitoring systems detected drips of caustic liquor from pipework in a shielded cell. Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) said the plant was immediately shut down and the leak isolated and stopped. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) said no material had been released into the environment and that the leak was “minor”….

Dounreay’s nuclear reactor was shut down in 1994 and work to decommission the site in Caithness has been under way since then. It was the only plant in Britain to use liquid metal instead of gas or water in the cooling circuits…. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5gbScqRflnDY2MmCLODQSX6TveHNA?docId=N0834141318086993943A

October 10, 2011 Posted by | incidents, UK | Leave a comment

Britain’s nuclear power plans in doubt, as companies try to get out

Britain’s nuclear future is not so bright as firms look for exit strategy, This Is money, By PETER CAMPBELL, 6th October 2011, The future of Britain’s nuclear power is at risk, with one of the three groups looking to build the next generation of reactors on the brink of splitting up.  Continue reading →

October 8, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, UK | Leave a comment

Britain’s government spends millions to prevent atomic veterans getting justice

Around 1,000 atomic test veterans are trying to claim compensation for exposure to radiation in the Pacific Ocean and Maralinga in Australia, between 1952 and 1967.

the MoD, which denies responsibility for the men’s illnesses, has spent £5m on legal fees trying to stop compensation cases going to court.

Atomic bomb test veterans prepare for court battle, Portsmouth News UK 6 October 2011VETERANS who are fighting for compensation over radiation exposure at nuclear bomb testing sites held a remembrance service at Portsmouth Cathedral yesterday. Continue reading →

October 8, 2011 Posted by | Legal, UK | Leave a comment

UK blockade of nuclear power plant shows growing opposition to new nukes

 Stop New Nuclear comprises groups from across the UK, including the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), CND Cymru, Stop Nuclear Power Network UK, Kick Nuclear, South West Against Nuclear, Shutdown Sizewell, Sizewell Blockaders, Trident Ploughshares and Stop Hinkley..…

Activists hail nuclear plant protest, THE INDEPENDENT, By David Wilcock, 3 Oct 11, Protesters who blockaded a nuclear power station today have said their actions were a “phenomenal success” in shedding light on opposition to new nuclear reactors.

Members of several anti-nuclear groups who are part of the Stop New Nuclear alliance barred access to Hinkley Point power station in Somerset in protest against EDF Energy’s plans to renew the site with two new reactors. Continue reading →

October 4, 2011 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, UK | Leave a comment

UK Govt sacks Nuclear Submarine Medics, While Spending Up Big on Weapons

Submariners sacked at sea despite MoD promise, Swathes of sailors on submarines have been sacked at sea despite Ministry of Defence promises that no servicemen would be made redundant. Daily Telegraph, By , Defence Correspondent :04 Oct 2011

 A fifth of submarine medics serving on board Trident nuclear deterrent and hunter killer submarines have been axed, including one who cared for the wounded on the HMS Astute after a crewman went on the rampage. Continue reading →

October 4, 2011 Posted by | UK, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Medical radiation treatment necessary, but carries risks

Radiation treatment meant mother could not touch son Hartlepool Mail, 30 September 2011   A MUM was forced to stay away from her baby son after being given potentially dangerous treatment when she found she had a rare form of cancer.  New mum Jill Teasdale could not get close to little son Max just months after he was born after contracting thyroid cancer.

The 30-year-old found a lump in her neck and following hospital tests, was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer. Within weeks, she had undergone an operation to remove her thyroid gland and was prescribed a course of radioactive iodine treatment.

“The treatment lasted about a week, but because of the radiation I wasn’t allowed to get close to my little boy,” she said. “I had to have minimum contact.”

Although diagnosed in June 2009, it was not until the following April that Jill was given the all clear…..

http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/local/radiation_treatment_meant_mother_could_not_touch_son_1_3822684

October 3, 2011 Posted by | health, UK | Leave a comment

UK cuts back on armed forces, spends up big on nuclear weapons

The huge sum, signed off with little parliamentary scrutiny, has raised questions over the accountability of AWE to the taxpayer and the MoD’s priorities

while all armed forces are suffering cuts, the UK’s nuclear weapons programme is benefiting from significant increases in spending, even before the government makes a decision on replacing Trident, the ballistic nuclear missile system.

Britain’s nuclear spending soars amid defence cuts Secret MoD report reveals £750m bill for enriched uranium plant as Liam Fox announces axing of 1,100 navy personnel. The Guardian, ,  2 October 2011, Government spending on Britain’s nuclear weapons programme is defying the swingeing budget cuts being experienced across Whitehall.

As the Ministry of Defence cuts frontline positions in the military, a previously confidential report reveals that the taxpayer is committed to paying almost £750m for the construction of a new enriched-uranium facility at the Atomic Weapons Establishment in Berkshire.The 32-page MoD report, Defence Equipment & Support … UK Enriched Uranium (EU) Capability Investment Appraisal, spells out the taxpayer’s commitment to funding Project Pegasus, which will replace the enriched-uranium facility built at the site in the 1950s. Continue reading →

October 3, 2011 Posted by | UK, Uranium, weapons and war | Leave a comment

UK: public consultation on nuclear policy a farce

Labour’s love-in with the nuclear industry still blossoming Its support remains steadfast but not without a few indiscreet words slipping out at Labour conference on subsidies and public consultations Guardian UK Damian Carrington, 29 Sept 11

Labour’s love-in with the nuclear industry continued at a fringe event at the party conference in Liverpool, though not without some indiscreet words slipping out. Continue reading →

September 30, 2011 Posted by | spinbuster, UK | Leave a comment

UK’s nuclear power plan looking gloomy as utility pulls out

SSE’s withdrawal from a major nuclear project in its home market casts a shadow over U.K. government plans to build a fleet of new nuclear reactors ……

Furthermore, public opinion has turned against nuclear power following the Fukushima disaster. 

SSE Pullout From UK Nuclear Casts A Pall Over Sector

-Scottish & Southern Energy selling stake in NuGen nuclear group to partners

–SSE move casts a shadow over U.K. government plans for new nuclear power in U.K.

–SSE to focus on renewables, gas-fired power stations and carbon capture and storage

–Analysts see the U.K. building less new nuclear than originally planned

WSJ, By Selina Williams 23 Sept 11 LONDON (Dow Jones)–U.K. utility Scottish andSouthern Energy PLC (SSE.LN) Friday exited a major new nuclear project in the U.K.,announcing it would sell its 25% stake in the NuGeneration Ltd. consortium topartners Iberdrola SA (IBE.MC) and GDF Suez SA (GSZ.FR) for an undisclosed sum. Continue reading →

September 24, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, UK | Leave a comment

Nuclear radioactive leaks in the UK

Nuclear leaks in the UK

Windscale, Cumbria, 1957: Fire at a military plutonium reactor spread radioactive contamination over large parts of England and Europe

Dounreay, Caithness, 1963-84: Tens of thousands of radioactive particles from old reactors contaminated the shoreline and the seabed

Sellafield, Cumbria, 1983: The government advised people not to swim or use beaches along 10 miles of coastline after a radioactive leak from a reprocessing plant

Chapelcross, Dumfriesshire, 2000-05: 126 radioactive particles from defunct reactors found on the shore of the Solway Firth

Sellafield, Cumbria, 2006-11: 1,233 radioactive particles and pebbles contaminated by historic leaks found and removed from nearby beaches

Dalgety Bay, Fife, 1990-2011: Hundreds of radioactive remnants from the luminous dials of second world war aircraft removed from foreshore

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/sep/21/scottish-nuclear-leak-clean-up?newsfeed=true

September 23, 2011 Posted by | safety, UK | Leave a comment

Dounreay nuclear plant’s radioactive pollution of Scotland’s North coast seabed

“Once again, we see the nuclear industry causing a problem it can’t solve, and dumping the cost and consequence on the rest of us,” 

Scottish nuclear fuel leak ‘will never be completely cleaned up’ The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has abandoned its aim to remove all traces of contamination from the north coast seabed s  guardian.co.uk,  21 September 2011 Radioactive contamination that leaked for more than two decades from the Dounreay nuclear plant on the north coast of Scotland will never be completely cleaned up, a Scottish government agency has admitted. Continue reading →

September 22, 2011 Posted by | oceans, UK, wastes | Leave a comment

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