UK « nuclear-news

16 nuclear submarine crashes, admission by UK Ministry of Defence

The incident involving HMS Astute was clearly not a one-off, and the MoD must explain why previous groundings have not been made public,…….

Revealed: MoD admits to 16 nuclear submarine crashes – Herald Scotland Rob Edwards, 7 Nov 2010 The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has been accused of a “catalogue of blunders” after admitting there have been 16 crashes involving British nuclear-powered submarines since 1988. Continue reading →

November 8, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

UK nuclear powered submarine ran into rescue vessel

U.K.’s Stricken Nuclear Submarine HMS Astute Collided With Rescue Vessel, Bloomberg, By Chris Spillane – Nov 5, 2010 HMS Astute, the British nuclear- powered submarine that ran aground off Scotland’s Isle of Skye last month, collided with one of the vessels charged with its rescue, the defense ministry said……Astute, which was commissioned into the Royal Navy on Aug. 27, is “the U.K.’s most powerful attack submarine,” the ministry said on its website. Built by BAE Systems Plc, it is quieter than other submarines in the fleet, even though it is 50 percent bigger, and can circumnavigate the world without surfacing…… U.K.’s Stricken Nuclear Submarine HMS Astute Collided With Rescue Vessel – Bloomberg

November 6, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Dirty tricks in the nuclear industry, using Stuxnet computer worm?

if Areva wanted to harm Siemens reputation or make it less attractive to Rosatom, what better way than to demonstrate the unreliability of its control system software?

British Nuclear Power Plant Goes Dark. Stuxnet Worm To Blame?, Forbes, The Firewall , Nov. 1 2010 – by Jeffrey Carr, British Energy, owned by France’s EDF Energy PLC, has reported an “unplanned outage” at its Heysham 1 nuclear power plant yesterday. A company spokesperson told the Associated Press that repairs to one of the reactors are ongoing but didn’t say when the plant was expected to resume operations.
According to Siemens’ website, EDF Energy is a customer of the German technology giant, whose infrastructure software has suffered from a global infection of the sophisticated Stuxnet worm……. Continue reading →

November 4, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK | antinuclear, AREVA, EDF, France, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, reactor | Leave a comment

No money for nuclear!

If the nuclear industry is not covering its costs then the government will be left with a shortfall which they will have no choice either to write off the debt or to pass that cost onto the consumer.

Nuclear Power : Not cheap, Not safe, Not Wanted No Money for Nuclear, Nov 2010, Welcome to No Money for Nuclear The No Money for Nuclear movement was formed to concentrate on one issue. Whether the level of support that the nuclear industry will receive for building new nuclear power stations is justified, especially when contrasted with the severity of public expenditure cuts already announced. Continue reading →

November 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, reactors | Leave a comment

Britain and France get together on nuclear weapons

Britain, France sign military co-operation pact – The Globe and Mail, 2 Nov 10, In French military circles they are known as the “crown jewels,” the fleet of Mirage fighter jets kept in the sky and devoted to delivering a nuclear strike. In Britain, the four Scottish-based submarines armed with 200 Trident nuclear warheads are considered untouchable……
The agreement was nonetheless signed on Tuesday by President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister David Cameron, both of whom are struggling with deep budget cuts and sagging economies. It will place British and French special forces together in a joint force of 10,000 troops and permit the sharing of aircraft carriers, unmanned drone aircraft and other military hardware. Most controversially, it will combine the testing and oversight of the two countries’ nuclear arsenals at a joint facility near Dijon, France…… Britain, France sign military co-operation pact – The Globe and Mail

November 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | France, UK, weapons and war | antinuclear, France, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

More anti-nuclear protestors face court in UK

The protest was organised by the campaign group Trident Ploughshares which said it was opposed to the UK’s Trident nuclear weapons’ system.

More charges over anti-nuclear protest at Devon base, BBC News, November 2010 Eight more people have been charged with public order offences following an anti-nuclear protest outside Plymouth’s Devonport naval base.More than 100 people took part in the demonstration on Monday morning.
The charges include aggravated trespass and wilful obstruction of a public highway other than with a car. Continue reading →

November 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | opposition to nuclear, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Protest against Trident nuclear missiles shuts UK dockland

Not only was Trident bad for jobs, but the radioactive substances it requires were highly dangerous for the 250,000 people living in Portsmouth

Dockyard shut by anti-nuke activists , Morning Star, by Lizzie Cocker, 1 Nov 10,

lizziecocker@peoples-press.com Anti-nuclear campaigners successfully blockaded all entrances to a Plymouth dockyard today.They were protesting at the role the site plays in maintaining Trident nuclear submarines. Continue reading →

November 2, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | opposition to nuclear, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, renewable energy, wind | Leave a comment

Britain embarrassed as USA pays compensation to nuclear test victim’s widow

Her victory is an embarrassment for the MoD, which has battled for decades to avoid paying money to nuclear test veterans and their families. She condemned the MoD’s behaviour as “shameful” – a criticism echoed by a Conservative MP.

Widow of British nuclear test veteran awarded $75,000 by US Department of Justice pays compensation to wife of British airman who witnessed US tests after Ministry of Defence had refused to accept radiation led to his fatal throat cancer Rob Edwards The Observer, Sunday 31 October 2010 Continue reading →

October 31, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, UK | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons, radiation | Leave a comment

Survey finds Cumbria site wrong for nuclear waste dump

Cumbria not suitable for nuclear waste repository: survey | TopNews United Kingdom, 30 Oct 10, The initial study into the possible dumping grounds for nuclear waste has suggested that West Cumbria is unsuitable for the purpose. However, is still in the running for providing the deep geologic storage of nuclear waste.The study conducted by the British Geological Survey ruled out a tract of land alongside the coast, ranging from St Bees Head to Maryport…….

The government is in search for an apt ‘dumping ground’ for the nuclear industry as there are plans for building more nuclear power stations on eight sites, which require deep geologicalstorage by 2040….Cumbria not suitable for nuclear waste repository: survey | TopNews United Kingdom

October 29, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | UK, wastes | antinuclear, Copenhagen, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, reactors | Leave a comment

England’s beautiful Lake District could get radioactive waste dump

the report showed “almost anywhere in the Lake District could become a dump for the UK’s radioactive waste”…dumping this stuff underground is no solution anyway – wherever it is. So we certainly shouldn’t be creating any more nuclear waste.

Nuclear waste could be dumped in Lake District The Lake District could become a ‘dumping ground’ for the nuclear industry, environmentalists fear, after the Government failed to rule out England’s largest national park to bury radioactive waste. Telegraph UK By Louise Gray, 28 Oct 2010 The problem of where to store nuclear waste has dogged the British Government since the first power stations were built in the 1950s. Continue reading →

October 29, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | UK, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Repair to nuclear submarine to cost British govt many millions

the cost of the repair was likely to be millions ‘Inevitable’ damage Depending on the damage, repairs to the £3.5bn submarine could cost between £1-2m right up to more than £100m, he said.

Submarine accident ‘could cost millions’ – Channel4 News, 25 Oct 10, The Ministry of Defence could face a bill of hundreds of millions of pounds to repair a nuclear-powered submarine which ran aground last week, depending on the damage, an expert tells Channel 4 News. The incident, in which the HMS Astute ran aground near the Isle of Skye, could also have longer term implications for the viability of the rest of the Astute-class fleet if any generic weakness in the boat is uncovered, Channel 4 News understands. Continue reading →

October 26, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | UK, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Previous nuclear submarine incident off treacherous coast

(UK) Previous submarine incident off Skye in 2002 Nuclear submarine HMS Trafalgar hit the seabed while taking part in a military exercise. STV News, 22 October 2010 Shortly before 8am on Wednesday November 6, 2002, nuclear submarine HMS Trafalgar hit the seabed off the coast of the island while taking part in a military exercise.Following the incident a Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said there was no danger to the public as a result of the accident and that the reactor was fine.Like the Astute class submarines, Trafalgar class vessels are nuclear powered, but do not carry nuclear weapons…..HMS Trafalgar was decommissioned on the December 4 2009, the Trafalgar class submarines being replaced by the new Astute class vessels. But while the new submarines make use of the latest technology, it seems that the rocky coastline of Skye remains a difficulty for the Royal Navy’s submarine service….. Previous submarine incident off Skye in 2002 | Highlands & Islands | STV News

October 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

In UK’s liberalised competitive market, nuclear power has no chance

Now the landscape is infinitely harsher. Britain has a liberalised, highly competitive energy market, and ministers are swearing blue that no nuclear subsidies will be provided. No nuclear power station has yet successfully been built, anywhere in the world, in such circumstances.

Will Chris Huhne succeed where Mrs Thatcher failed? I wouldn’t bet on it – Telegraph UK, By Geoffrey Lean October 19th, 2010 “…….the new announcement by the formerly anti-nuclear Chris Huhne takes me back some thirty years to the time when Mrs Thatcher’s government unveiled its atomic ambitions, the last serious British attempt to expand the country’s use of the technology. Continue reading →

October 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, UK | Leave a comment

No decision on UK’s Trident nuclear weapons until after next election

“Pushing this decision back to after the next election will hopefully allow politicians to catch up with what the majority of the public and a growing number of military voices acknowledge – that nuclear weapons are a costly irrelevance to the threats Britain faces.”

Trident decision delayed until after the election – UK Politics, – The Independent, 20 Oct 10, Arguments about the need to replace the Trident nuclear weapons system will continue to rage until the next general election after the Prime Minister announced a delay of at least six years. Continue reading →

October 19, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Breach of nuclear security at Sellafield nuclear plant

information on the stick that suggested that the International Atomic Energy Agency technicians visiting the site were not sufficiently briefed on health and safety regulations…..

Nuclear Station Suffers USB Data Breach | eWEEK Europe UK, 19 Oct 10, An investigation has begun after a USB stick containing sensitive information about Sellafield was found in a hotel room * By: Tom Jowitt * October 19, 2010 The data breach threat posed by USB sticks has once again been exposed after nuclear processing company Sellafield began an investigation into the loss of a USB device, said to contain information about its business operations. Continue reading →

October 19, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology | Leave a comment

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Read the Public Inquiry Report, the Commissioners’ report, Surrendering Australia: The AUKUS Deception is available to download for free at aukuspublicinquiry.com. Or just watch the replay of the National Press Club Luncheon.