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MP joy as bay put on nuclear back burner - Morpeth Herald
MOVES away from using Druridge Bay for a nuclear power station have been welcomed by MP Sir Alan Beith.
Campaigners have fought for years to have the area struck off a list of potential sites and last week the Government confirmed it was not being pursued as an option.
Sir Alan, who represents the area, said: "Druridge Bay is the wrong site for the wrong energy policy.
"I am not in favour of an expansion of nuclear power because we still do not know what to do with the waste it creates, but even if you accept the policy, Druridge Bay is a site of enormous scenic habitat which is too far from the grid transmission lines, as the Government has rightly concluded.
Security 'cover-up' at nuclear plants | Environment | The Observer
Ministers refuse to release details of five incidents last year
The government is refusing to provide details on five separate security breaches at Britain's nuclear power stations last year.
The breaches have prompted accusations that ministers are suppressing damaging information at a time when they are attempting to sell the idea of more nuclear power stations. Earlier this month, 10 new sites in England and Wales were approved.
The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, told MPs that nuclear was a "proven and reliable" energy source. But the latest annual report from the Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS) has prompted questions about the measures being taken to protect the country's ageing plants. The report states that nuclear operators must disclose "events and occurrences which may be of interest from a security point of view". It notes: "Five reports were made which warranted further investigation and subsequent follow-up action."
France faces tough choices on Areva T&D sale | Deals | Reuters
France may have painted itself into a corner by pushing state-owned nuclear power group Areva to sell its most profitable unit, and could end up weakening the very domestic industries it is trying to champion.
The government, which owns 93 percent of Areva, must choose between three bids for the Areva's electricity transmission & distribution (T&D) business -- from GE, Toshiba, and a French consortium of Alstom and Schneider Electric -- each of which potentially hurts French economic interests in different ways.
Should the government choose GE or Toshiba for the business, valued at 4 to 5 billion euros ($5.9-7.4 billion), it would in either case end up strengthening a company that competes with Areva in its core nuclear segment.
Miliband grilled over nuclear power - Times Online
Environmental activists yesterday took David Miliband to task over Britain’s renewable energy resources and his support for nuclear power.
The Foreign Secretary faced searching questions from the British Council’s Scottish young climate change champions at the organisation’s office in Edinburgh, as well as from their Japanese equivalents, who joined the debate via a video link.
Ahead of the Copenhagen talks, they questioned Mr Miliband over energy mixes, the viability of a profitable low carbon economy and the ability of the EU member states to work together on the issue.
Canceled nuclear tender disappoints Russians - Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review
The possible cancellation of a nuclear power plant tender in Turkey has disappointed Russians. 'It is very disappointing because we expected progress after the official visits,' economist Natalia Ulchenko tells the Daily News
News that Turkey is going to cancel the tender won by a Russian-led consortium to build a nuclear power plant has disappointed Russians.
Energy Minister Taner Yıldız signaled the cancellation of the nuclear power plant tender Monday. “We will not send the report related to the nuclear plant project to the Cabinet,” Yıldız told reporters.
“It is very disappointing for us because we expected progress in regard to energy cooperation between the two countries after the official visits,” said Natalia Ulchenko, a professor of economics and the head of the Turkish research department at the Oriental Studies Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
St. Petersburg Times - Green Victory as Nuclear Waste Shipments are Halted
Environmentalists from the international pressure group Greenpeace are trumpeting their biggest success in years after German-Dutch company URENCO announced on Monday that it is ending the practice of sending spent nuclear fuel to Russia for reprocessing and storage.
Radioactive loads on board foreign ships had been arriving at the port of St. Petersburg every month for a decade to be sent by rail to factories in Siberia and the Urals.
Environmentalists feared that transporting such loads through the city presented a major threat to public health and environmental security.
In 1999, they failed in their attempts to have the importing of spent nuclear fuel from abroad into Russia banned.
In December 2000, the State Duma voted overwhelmingly to adopt the practice of importing irradiated fuel from other countries.
AFP: Greenpeace boards reactor equipment ship
Six Greenpeace activists Monday boarded a ship carrying French-made steam turbines bound for a new nuclear power station in Finland, the environmental group said.
The protestors climbed on board the Happy Ranger as it made its way through the Fehmarn Belt strait between Denmark and Germany and unfurled banners including one which read "Nuclear madness, made in France".
Greenpeace wants construction halted on a third-generation nuclear reactor currently being built at Olkiluoto, in southwest Finland, by the French company Areva.
BBC NEWS | UK | England | Cumbria | Nuclear waste plan put to public
People in west Cumbria have the chance to find out more about government plans to store nuclear waste underground.
The West Cumbria Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS) Partnership is sending leaflets to all homes in the Allerdale and Copeland council areas.
There will also be a series of public meetings over the next three months.
Nuclear waste moved off the agenda (environmentalresearchweb blog) - environmentalresearchweb
The governments new draft National Policy Statement on nuclear power, indicating which issues the new Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) should take on board, and which it can ignore, contains this remarkable statement:
“The Government is satisfied that effective arrangements will exist to manage and dispose of the waste that will be produced from new nuclear power stations. As a result the IPC need not consider this question.” The draft Statement goes on to say that ‘Geological disposal will be preceded by safe and secure interim storage’.
So it seems, the waste issue is all in hand and we needn’t bother too much about it, or any problems with the much more active spent fuel that the new reactors’ high fuel ‘burn up’ approach will create. Despite the fact that the highly active spent fuel is to be kept on site at the plant for perhaps several decades, that is evidently not something IPC will have to consider in its assessment of whether the proposed plants can go ahead. Instead the IPC will just focus on any conventional local planning and environmental impact issues that may emerge in relation to the 10 new nuclear plants that the government has now backed.
Nuclear disposal put in doubt by recovered Swedish galleon | Environment | guardian.co.uk
The plan to use copper for sealing nuclear waste underground has being thrown into disarray by corrosion in artefacts from the Vasa
Plans for nuclear waste disposal could be thrown into confusion tomorrow at a summit because of new evidence of corrosion in materials traditionally used for burial procedures.
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) says it will keep careful watch on a meeting organised by the Swedish National Council for Nuclear Waste, which will look at potential problems with copper, designated for an important role in sealing radioactive waste underground.
Low French nuclear supply to cost EDF 1 bln euros | Industries | Industrials, Materials & Utilities | Reuters
The drop in French nuclear availability will cost EDF (EDF.PA) one billion euros ($1.49 billion) and availability in 2009 should fall by one percentage point on the previous year to 78 percent, EDF said on Friday.
France, which relies on nuclear power for 80 percent of its electricity, has seen its nuclear availability at record lows in the past few months because of strikes in the spring which delayed maintenance and a high number of unplanned outages.
Russian military to get 30 new ICBMs, 3 nuclear subs in 2010 | Top Russian news and analysis online | 'RIA Novosti' newswire
Russia's Armed Forces are to receive 30 new ground and sea-launched ballistic missiles, three nuclear submarines, and an assortment of other weapons, the Russian president said on Thursday.
Dmitry Medvedev said the list would also include "five Iskander [tactical] missile complexes, about 300 modern armored vehicles, 30 helicopters, 28 warplanes, one corvette-class warship, and 11 spacecraft."
In his state-of-the-nation address to parliament, Medvedev stressed provision of advanced weapon systems to the military was a priority.
"There is no room for debate here: These weapons simply must be procured," he said.
He instructed the government to put in place an effective contract system to strike the right balance between arms manufactured for export and for domestic needs.
BBC NEWS | Litvinenko killing charge dropped
German prosecutors have dropped the case against a suspect in the murder of the Russian dissident, Alexander Litvinenko, in London.
Former KGB agent Mr Litvinenko died in 2006 after he was poisoned with the radioactive substance polonium-210.
Hamburg prosecutors say there is not enough evidence to continue investigating Russian Dmitri Kovtun.
Pretty Dungeness cottage for sale: don't mention the nuclear plant - Times Online
To an estate agent it was a charming fisherman’s cottage on the Kent coast. To anyone else, it was the two nuclear power stations next door that were the main feature. The cottage in Dungeness was highlighted recently after agents found no space in the “for sale” advert to mention the power plants, which were nowhere to be seen in accompanying photographs either.
Though the agents have not been accused of any offence, some viewers were appalled to discover the perimeter fence 100 yards from the front door when they arrived. “It was unbelievable. I had seen the property online and thought it looked just right for me and my family,” said Alex Robertson, 32."The photos make out it is an isolated cottage with nothing surrounding it — but that could not be further from the truth.
Nuclear power industry may benefit from climate change levy exemption - Times Online
The Government is considering fresh tax breaks for Britain’s nuclear power industry that could smooth the way for the construction of a new generation of UK reactors, The Times has learnt.
Whitehall insiders have told The Times that officials at the Department for Energy and Climate Change have been studying the possibility of an exemption for nuclear electricity from the climate change levy, a tax on industrial energy consumption that was created to boost energy efficiency.
The levy, which was introduced in 2001, raises an estimated £1 billion a year for the Treasury. Suppliers pay the levy on electricity provided to businesses to Customs & Excise and then pass on the costs to customers.
Letters: The cost of nuclear doesn't add up | Environment | The Guardian
Government plans to fast-track major projects pose a real threat to their action plan on global warming (UK's nuclear future is mapped out as race to tackle climate change hots up, 10 November). Reports on the government's national policy statements have predictably focussed on the controversial issue of new nuclear reactors, but a fundamental flaw in the proposals, which has gone largely unreported, threatens to undermine UK targets for tackling climate change.
Under the Climate Change Act, the UK has been set legally binding "carbon budgets", setting limits on how much carbon the UK can emit, over five-year budget periods, for the next 15 years. Some of the projects covered by the national policy statements, such as new coal and gas-fired power stations, are likely to have a significant impact on UK emissions – but bizarrely the effect that these developments would have on UK carbon budgets is missing from the proposals, and this issue won't be considered by the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC).
IEA says no emissions deal will double bills - Telegraph
The independent body said the huge price of tackling climate change will eventually be overtaken by the cost of remaining dependent on fossil fuels, which are becoming more difficult and expensive to extract.
It estimates that Europe's annual energy bill will more than double to $500bn (£300bn) by 2030, as the oil price is likely to reach $100 per barrel by 2015 and $190 by 2030.
Publishing its annual World Energy Outlook, the IEA was also forced to defend its reputation as the world's leading provider of statistics on fossil fuels, following claims that it exaggerated oil resources under pressure from the US.
Tories call for vote on nuclear power stations - politics.co.uk
Plans to fast-track a new generation of power stations were met with some resistance today, after the Tories called for a vote on the issue.
The Conservatives support the plans but want a debate in parliament to give them democratic legitimacy.
Climate change secretary Ed Miliband unveiled the plans, including a list of sites deemed suitable for nuclear development, in the Commons this afternoon.
"In every area there will be people who wish to oppose planning applications," he said.
Ed Miliband to unveil plans to fast-track new nuclear power stations | Environment | guardian.co.uk
Government will identify sites around Britain suitable for building nuclear plants as part of new energy policy
Ed Miliband, the energy and climate change secretary, insisted today that nuclear power had a "relatively good" safety record in this country as he prepared to unveil plans to fast-track a new generation of nuclear power stations.
The government will later identify further sites around Britain that could be suitable for building a nuclear plant amid Tory cries that the plans lack "democratic legitimacy".
Miliband will unveil a series of national policy statements setting out the need for new energy infrastructure including renewables, fossil fuels and gas, as well as an overarching energy statement that will include climate change policy. A separate strategy statement on the nation's ports will also be published.
BBC NEWS | UK | UK Politics | Go-ahead for 10 nuclear stations
Campaigners say the government could be open to legal challenge
The government has approved 10 sites in England and Wales for new nuclear power stations, most of them in locations where there are already plants.
It has rejected only one proposed site - in Dungeness, Kent - as being unsuitable on environmental grounds.
A new planning commission will make decisions on the proposals "within a year" of receiving them, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told MPs.
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