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Murder and mayhem aboard nuclear submarine

Sailor jailed for nuclear submarine murder, Google News, (AFP) 20 Sept 11,    LONDON — A sailor was jailed for 25 years on Monday for shooting dead an officer in a rampage on a nuclear-powered submarine that only came to an end when council officials overpowered him.

Able Seaman Ryan Samuel Donovan, 23, pleaded guilty to killing Lieutenant Commander Ian Molyneux, 36, with an assault rifle when the HMS Astute was docked in Southampton on April 8.

Donovan also admitted the attempted murders of Petty Officer Christopher Brown, 36, Chief Petty Officer David McCoy, 37, and Lieutenant Commander Christopher Hodge, 45….

Prosecutor Nigel Lickley told the court Donovan had told a colleague more than a year earlier that he was planning a “massacre” in the submarine’s control room…..

HMS Astute made headlines in October when it ran aground off the coast of Scotland and had to be towed home….
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jHeQNnZN70p9-pbvv8z_tNljkXbw?docId=CNG.c9efc9bacaca268a95e91a3cec35f36e.381

September 21, 2011 Posted by | safety, UK | Leave a comment

UK will pursue justice for radiation murder victim

David Cameron vows not to give up on bringing radiation poisoning victim Alexander Litvinenko’s killer to justice, Daily Record, Sep 12 2011 David Cameron insisted that Britain would not give up on bringing Alexander Litvinenko’s killer to justice as he kicked off his visit to Russia today…..

Mr Cameron is the first UK leader to visit Moscow since Tony Blair in 2005.

Relations nosedived following that trip when Mr Litvinenko was poisoned in London, and Russia refused to extradite the prime suspect, ex-KGB agent Andrei Lugovoy…..

Mr Cameron said victims and their families had a “right to justice”…..

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/2011/09/12/david-cameron-vows-not-to-give-up-on-bringing-radiation-poisoning-victim-alexander-litvinenko-s-killer-to-justice-86908-23415302/

September 14, 2011 Posted by | politics international, UK | Leave a comment

Renewable energy top priority for Scotland

Scottish Government puts renewable energy at centre of economic strategy, The Courier, 13 Sept 11, The Scottish Government will invest £70 million to support offshore windfarms as renewable energy becomes the country’s economic priority.

Finance Secretary John Swinney made the announcement as he unveiled the Government Economic Strategy, which puts green technology at the heart of economic recovery. Mr Swinney claimed the government’s plans would support the transition to a low-carbon economy capable of supporting 130,000 jobs by 2020.

He also revealed the Scottish Government is to create four enterprise zones, including sites with a focus on low-carbon manufacturing opportunities, to attract more inward investment….http://www.thecourier.co.uk/News/National/article/17225/scottish-government-puts-renewable-energy-at-centre-of-economic-strategy.html

September 14, 2011 Posted by | renewable, UK | Leave a comment

Sheffield the UK’s top renewable energy producer

Sheffield solar power sees city top table for renewable energy installation, Steel city has added the most renewable energy production per head since introduction of feed-in tariffs last year. Sheffield shines out as the soar-away winner of the solar stakes in the UK, with more solar power generation added in the city per household than in any other British city, according to a league table published on Monday. Guardian UK, Fiona Harvey,  12 September 2011  Continue reading →

September 12, 2011 Posted by | decentralised, UK | 1 Comment

Christian Bishop Explains His Anti Nuclear Campaign

Why go to anti-nuclear demos? It’s part of my faith, Echo (UK)  7th September 2011 BLOCKING the gates to an atomic weapons research centre and taking communion outside a weapons store aren’t typical activities for a bishop.

But for the Bishop of Chelmsford, Stephen Cottrell, voicing his opposition to nuclear weapons is an important part of his Christian faith. Bishop Continue reading →

September 8, 2011 Posted by | Religion and ethics, UK | Leave a comment

UK local councils oppose nuclear waste transport to Sellafield

 “Nuclear-Free Local Authorities” a local government group, which describes itself as the “local government voice on nuclear issues” has condemned the plan for breaching important environmental principles. There are seven member councils, all in Scotland, through which the nuclear material could travel by rail, depending on the route it takes. They are Perth & Kinross, Fife, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Renfrewshire, West Dumbartonshire and Dundee.

The group says the plan fails to ensure that radioactive waste is managed as close as possible to the site where it was produced. It would also lead to increased radioactive discharges into the environment from Sellafield during reprocessing, the councils argue. 

Nuclear train route to Sellafield runs into opposition from local councils, Trains transporting radioactive uranium and plutonium could become target for terrorists, authorities warn, , guardian.co.uk,  26 August 2011 20 A plan to transport 44 tonnes of radioactive uranium and plutonium by train has run into opposition from councils worried about accidents and terrorist attacks. Continue reading →

August 29, 2011 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, UK | Leave a comment

UK and Japanese govts collude with nuclear industry to minimise Fukushima news

[the UK government] invited Westinghouse, Areva and EDF Energy, all pillars of nuclear power production, to contribute to government briefs and statements. “We need to all be working from the same material to get the message through to the media and the public,” ….Such spin and manipulation of information is likely to continue in the coming months as the industry struggles to recover. 

(includes video)After Fukushima: the collusive nuclear industry fightback   Independent Australia, 6 August 11, On the 66th anniversary of Hiroshima today, in a week whenrecord levels of radiation have been found at Fukushima, David McNeill looks at the way the nuclear industry has corruptly colluded with regulators in Japan and Britain to quieten valid public safety concerns about nuclear power. Continue reading →

August 9, 2011 Posted by | spinbuster, UK | Leave a comment

Hiroshima Day plea to stop expensive Trident nuclear weapons project

Hiroshima Day, an apt time to question Trident, , guardian.co.uk, 6 August 2011, While the government slashes public services and conventional military forces, billions are being poured into nuclear projects  

with today the anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, that other image of destruction from Japan leaves many questioning why on Earth we would countenance building a new nuclear weapons capable of causing death and destruction thousands of times worse than the havoc wreaked by a natural disasters and the fall-out from Fukushima……  more and more people are questioning why the government claims that it needs to impose savage cuts on almost all areas of our public services while billions are still being poured into huge military projects that have no relevance to the defence of Britain.

Defence experts have spoken out publicly and former ministers, includingLord Browne of Ladyton, are now actively involved in top level groups on disarmament…………

Trident was excluded from the defence review, its funding guaranteed, when many other public spending commitments were cut back…..

There is no longer a case for wasting Ministry of Defence resources on nuclear weapons. What better time than Hiroshima Day to renew our commitment to a world free of nuclear weapons, and continue the campaign to make it a reality.   http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/06/hiroshima-day-trident-nuclear

August 7, 2011 Posted by | UK, weapons and war | Leave a comment

How the mainstream media influences public opinion against renewable energy

press coverage is important because it can influence not only “what people perceive and believe” but also “what politicians think they believe”. Indeed, politicians take the temperature of public opinion partly through the barometer of the press, and consistently negative coverage of renewables will doubtless “limit the perception of political space and impetus for political action”

How UK newspaper coverage is skewed against renewables, More than half of the coverage of renewable energy solutions in the mainstream British press is negative...The Guardian, by   5 August 2011 “….. previously unpublishedanalysis of British newspaper coverage of renewable energy. Carried out by the Public Interest Research Centre (Pirc), the research confirms the Mail’s unusually anti-green stance, though it also highlights the remarkable degree of negativity that renewable energy receives in the UK press more broadly – including in the Sun. Continue reading →

August 7, 2011 Posted by | media, UK | Leave a comment

Isle of Man wants full closedown of Sellafield nuclear plant

Closure of nuclear plant is welcomed, Isle of man Examiner,  4 August 2011 GREEN campaigners and the island’s Environment Minister have welcomed news that a part of the reprocessing operation at Sellafield nuclear plant is to close…

Japan was the only customer for the MOX plant,

Environment Minister John Shimmin welcomed the news but pointed out the MOX plant was only a small part of the operation at Sellafield. The Manx government’s long-held policy is to call for the full closure of all operations at Sellafield. Continue reading →

August 7, 2011 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, politics, reprocessing, UK | Leave a comment

Scotland’s renewable energy revolution

On-farm energy gets major boost in Scotland  Farmers Guardian, August 5, 2011 | By David Boderke, RENEWABLE projects in Scotland’s agriculture sector have been given a major boost with the announcement of a new Agri-Renewables Strategy.Announcing the strategy at the Black Isle Show, Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead said it will ‘ensure land managers can benefit from the renewables revolution and unlock the green energy potential of their land’.

Welcoming the announcement, NFU Scotland’s president, Nigel Miller said the Scottish Government’s commitment to develop the strategy and, in particular, to simplify the planning process, were ‘spot on’.Mr Lochhead said: “Scotland is currently experiencing a renewables revolution and I want to see farmers, crofters and land managers working with local communities to ensure they grasp the benefits for their businesses and the nation…..
He said the strategy, which he hoped would be in place by summer 2012 ‘at the latest’, will be developed in co-operation with industry representatives and will build on the Scottish Government’s existing renewables activity in the agricultural sector.
On-farm energy gets major boost in Scotland | News | Farmers Guardian

August 5, 2011 Posted by | renewable, UK | Leave a comment

No more MOX plutonium fuel to be processed at Sellafield

UK Plutonium-Processing Plant to Close, 9 News. 4 Aug 11, A British nuclear agency says the country’s only plutonium-processing plant will be closed in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima disaster.The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority said on Wednesday the “risk profile” of its Sellafield mixed oxide fuel plant had changed following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that crippled the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant….environmental campaigners say the plant’s closure highlights what they describe as the folly of the country’s nuclear industry. The recycled nuclear fuel, referred to as MOX, was also used at the Fukushima plant.http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8281227/uk-plutonium-processing-plant-to-close

09:49 AEST Thu Aug 4

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August 4, 2011 Posted by | reprocessing, UK | Leave a comment

Nuclear reprocessing plant closes down

Globally, the shutdown leaves just one other commercial MOX facility operating globally: the French MELOX plant located in Gard.

UK closes key nuclear reprocessing plant – Nature News Blog August 03, 2011 Today the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority announced the closure of the Mixed Oxide fuel fabrication facility at Sellafield. “The reason for this is directly related to the tragic events in Japan and its ongoing impact on the power markets,” Tony Fountain, the decommissioning authority’s CEO, said in a prepared statement. Continue reading →

August 4, 2011 Posted by | reprocessing, UK | Leave a comment

Why Britain’s new nuclear plant might never get built

the most extraordinary thing in this whole saga is that the companies are going ahead without knowing how much this 1,600MW power station will cost.

Hinkley C – Somerset’s nuclear money pit?,  byl  1 August 2011  guardian.co.uk Uncosted, unapproved, and unwanted: why Britain’s new nuclear plant may never get built  French state-owned power company EDF has been given permission to start the pre-construction of “Hinkley C”, the third nuclear power station on the Somerset coast of the Bristol channel. Continue reading →

August 2, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, UK | Leave a comment

Local anger as preparation begins for new UK nuclear plant

Green light for Hinkley C despite protests Edie.net,by Luke walsh,29 July 11, Energy giant EDF has won approval to start work on what would be the first nuclear power station built in the UK for 20 years, despite protests from local campaigners….

Following the council’s ruling, which has been branded ‘jumping the gun’ by anti-nuclear campaigners, EDF can begin the clearance of most vegetation, hedges and trees from a 420 acre site, but will have to pay more than £25 million to cover measures to mitigate the impact of the project.

It also allows for the excavation of more than 2 million cubic metres of soil and rocks, the re-routing of underground streams, the creation of roads and roundabouts, major changes to the landscape and the start of deep excavations for the power station foundations.

Stop Hinkley spokesman, Crispin Aubrey, said: “This is like giving a developer permission to excavate a greenfield site even before they have permission to build the actual houses. “What will those councillors say to the people of West Somerset in two years’ time, with massive holes in the ground lined with concrete and a devastated wasteland – no trees, no hedges, no wildlife – and EDF says ‘Sorry, we don’t think it’s worth going ahead’.” …..
Green light for Hinkley C despite protests

July 30, 2011 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, UK | Leave a comment

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