environmental news & information about the UK electricity supply industry
Springfields Nuclear Fuel Manufacturing Plant Wins the first George Monbiot Nukiller Greenwash award. To mark the anniversary of the 1957 Windscale [ Sellafield ] fire in Cumbria, the Close Capenhurst Campaign and Radiation Free Lakeland have awarded the first George Monbiot Award to the Springfields Nuclear Fuel Manufacturing plant in Lancashire.
Radiation Free Lakeland 11th Oct 2021 read more »
Although there are 23 fewer nuclear reactors in the world today than at the 2002 peak of 438, the past year saw a small uptick in the number of reactors operating worldwide and a corresponding increase in the global fleet’s net operating capacity. That’s one data point in the World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2021, the latest in a series of annual industry reports compiled by an international team of independent experts led by Mycle Schneider, a consultant based in Paris. The 409-page report, released this week, is packed with information about global and country-specific trends, but several findings stand out, and they don’t bode well for the nuclear energy industry. Without China, where most of the new construction is happening, the decrease in production would look even bigger. In 2020, China for the first time produced more nuclear electricity than France, which relies heavily on nuclear energy. Only the United States produced more.
Bulletin of Atomic Scientists 1st Oct 2021 read more »
Fraud, counterfeiting, bribery, corruption, sabotage, theft, and other criminal activities are rife in global nuclear industry.”As prime minister of Japan at the time of the [Fukushima] disaster, I now believe that the time has come for Japan and the world to end its reliance on nuclear power,” Naoto Kan writes in the introduction of the World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2021 (WNISR). “Around once a year, I still visit the remains of the Fukushima Daiichi site. Even though ten years have passed, progress in the decommissioning process remains frustratingly slow, driving home to me the importance of avoiding any repeat of such an event. “The large quantities of radioactive debris that remain within the stricken reactors continue to release alarming levels of radiation. We already know from the example of Chernobyl that the timescale needed for this nuclear waste to drop to safe radioactivity levels will be measured in terms of centuries.”
Ecologist 4th Oct 2021 read more »
British Scientist discovers the cause of cancer in the Hiroshima Black Rain survivors. Massive errors in the basis of legal controls on radiation exposures. In a peer-reviewed paper published by the respectable journal Cancer Investigations, British Scientist Dr Christopher Busby reveals the results of his investigative research into the Hiroshima A-Bomb Black Rain, torrential rain that fell on Hiroshima after the detonation of the US atomic bomb. The issue of cancer risks in people who lived in the area of the back rain was headlined recently when the Japanese government lost a court case taken by Hibakusha groups who believed that their cancers were a result of the A-Bomb, but who lived in the black rain areas too far from the detonation to have received any external radiation dose. One problem for these people is that there has been no scientific explanation. The black rain was believed to be insufficiently radioactive to cause cancer. The report: “The Hiroshima A-Bomb black rain—a resolution of the enigma” provides evidence from an obscure US restricted report from 1976, declassified in 2014, that the 55kg of unfissioned material of the bomb, Enriched Uranium, contained vary large amounts of the Uranium isotope U234 which formed the condensation nuclei for the black rain and contaminated Hiroshima’s water and air for many years. The calculated exposures from the long-lived Uranium particles due to inhalation and ingestion by those living in Hiroshima after the bomb were 10,000 times greater than exposures to the isotope Caesium-137. U-234, which is lighter than U235 (the fissile component) is extracted into the Enriched Uranium during the separation process.
Nuclear News 9th Sept 2021 read more »
Unions call for ownership change at Lancashire nuclear fuel site. Unions have called on the Government to change the ownership model at Lancashire’ nuclear fuel production plant at Salwick.
Blackpool Gazette 26th Sept 2021 read more »
Fylde MP Mark Menzies has urged Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak to support jobs and skills in the nuclear industry ahead of the Government spending review. Mr Menzies met with the Chancellor to discuss his priorities ahead of the announcement scheduled to take place next month. He made clear the need to support the workforce at Fylde nuclear plant Springfields and the vital role future nuclear will play in ensuring the UK’s energy security.
Lancashire Post 24th sept 2021 read more »
The demand for uranium is limited to nuclear power production and medical equipment. Annual global demand is 150 million pounds, with nuclear power plants looking to secure contracts roughly two years ahead of use. While uranium demand is not immune to economic downturns, it is less exposed than other industrial metals and commodities. The bulk of demand is distributed across some 445 nuclear power plants operating in 32 countries, with supply concentrated in a handful of mines. Kazakhstan is easily the largest producer with over 40% of output, followed by Australia (13%) and Namibia (11%). Combined with recent optimistic releases about nuclear power from the World Nuclear Association and the International Atomic Energy Agency (the IAEA upped its projections for future nuclear-power use for the first time since Fukushima) this is all making investors more bullish about future uranium demand. The effect on the price has also been multiplied by issues on the supply side. Due to the previously low prices, uranium mines around the world have been mothballed for several years. For example, Cameco, the world’s largest listed uranium company, suspended production at its McArthur River mine in Canada in 2018.
The Conversation 24th Sept 2021 read more »
Britain’s nuclear power stations insisted they had enough carbon dioxide to last the winter, amid fears they might have to be shut if supplies were not restored. Seven of the UK’s eight nuclear power stations operate advanced gas-cooled reactors that require tonnes of CO2 a week to operate. Government sources highlighted the nuclear industry as part of the rationale behind their decision to provide a multi-million pound bailout to a US fertiliser company that suspended its operations in the UK because of rising gas prices. Yesterday EDF, which operates the plants, said that it had a robust supply chain and enough CO2 stockpiled to ensure the plants could be safely run for a long time without the need to replenish supplies. “Carbon dioxide is vital to generating the low carbon electricity produced by EDF’s nuclear fleet and for many years we have managed robust supply chains to ensure all of our stations have appropriate stocks,” a spokesman said.
Times 23rd Sept 2021 read more »
Chernobyl established the monopolization of the authoritative knowledge of ionizing radiation by a small group of organizations — the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) and the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR). Through a series of alliances and co-options, these organizations formed a monolithic bloc on the issue of radiological risk. From that moment on, divergent points of view were de-legitimized and relegated to a form of militant marginality. These included the positions of such individuals as “dissident” scientist Keith Baverstock who directed the radiation protection program at the World Health Organization’s Regional Office for Europe, and those of such organizations as the International Association of Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW).
Beyond Nuclear 12th Sept 2021 read more »
Preston MP Sir Mark Hendrick fears for future of Springfields nuclear fuel plant. Preston MP Sir Mark Hendrick joined a Westminster Hall parliamentary debtate this week to raise concerns about the future of Springfields at Salwick and the UK nuclear power industry.
Lancashire Evening Post 8th Sept 2021 read more »
Staff from Westinghouse’s Springfields plant at Salwick are campaigning to get the Government to move forward with the next generation of nuclear fuel power plants after decades of inaction by successive administrations and some high profile plans which failed to come to fruition.
Blackpool Gazette 8th Sept 2021 read more »
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