Rob Edwards

Plutonium reactor plan rejected

from The Guardian, 24 January 2012

A plan to build a plutonium-burning reactor at Sellafield in Cumbria, proposed by a US multinational and championed by some environmentalists, has been rejected by the UK government’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).

Internal emails seen by The Guardian reveal that the NDA regards the reactor technology as immature and commercially unproven. It would also create large amounts of plutonium-contaminated waste and increase the risk of terrorists acquiring nuclear weapons, the NDA says.

The reactor plan was announced by General Electric (GE) Hitachi in November as a way of converting the UK’s 82-tonne stockpile of plutonium at Sellafield into power. It was backed by The Guardian’s environmental commentator, George Monbiot.

But it now looks like the prospects of the company getting to build it in the UK are slight. Known as "Prism" (Power Reactor Innovative Small Modular) it is a new design of sodium-cooled fast reactor that is fuelled by plutonium.

In an email to GE on 29th November 2011, the NDA’s strategy and technology director, Dr Adrian Simper, said that the two organisations “have struggled to reach a clear agreement on the work necessary to demonstrate credibility, without which neither NDA nor government can consider Prism further in the development of our strategy.”

New coal plant could threaten nuclear safety, says power company

from Sunday Herald, 22 January 2012

The company that runs the nuclear reactors at Hunterston in North Ayrshire is warning that their safety could be jeopardised by plans to build a huge, new coal-fired power station next door.

EDF Energy says that the construction and operation of the controversial new plant could block the evacuation of staff and deprive its site of electricity and vital cooling water in an emergency. The French nuclear company is also worried that discharges from the coal plant could compromise reactor cooling systems.

EDF Energy has lodged and maintained a formal objection to an application by Ayrshire Power to build a £3 billion coal station at Hunterston. Ayrshire Power was set up by Peel Holdings, a property company that owns Clydeport, the operator of west coast ports including one at Hunterston.

Following rejection of the application by North Ayrshire Council in November, the Scottish Government has now confirmed that it will go to a public inquiry later this year. It is one of the most disputed planning applications in Scotland, sparking over 20,000 objections.

Colin Weir, EDF’s station director at Hunterston, told the government that a series of discussions with Ayrshire Power “have not yet been able to adequately demonstrate that there will be no unacceptable impact on the safety and operational efficiency of Hunterston”.

Why does a nuclear plant make the sea glow green?

from Sunday Herald, 22 January 2012

Don’t be afraid. The sea near the Hunterston nuclear power station does glow spookily green - but it’s not because of radioactive leaks.

A local resident raised the alarm after spotting a patch of luminous green on the satellite photographs of the North Ayrshire site published online by Google Earth. There’s an equally vivid area visible just inside the site boundary.

Given the nature of the site, first thoughts were of plutonium or some other nuclear nasties contaminating the water, and endangering the health of local children.

But not so, says EDF Energy, the French company that generates electricity from the Hunterston B reactors. The green glow has a more mundane explanation: bubbling water.

The nuclear plant takes in large amounts of seawater to cool its reactors, and then discharges it back into the sea. The greenish area at sea is where the warmed water bubbles up from a pipeline, and the greenish area on the site is a shaft through which the water surges.

Pesticides are killing bees, say US scientists

from Sunday Herald, 15 January 2012

Nicotine-based pesticides in widespread use by farmers are implicated in the mass deaths of bees, according to a new study by US scientists.

The authoritative, peer-reviewed research undermines the pesticide industry’s long-repeated arguments that bees are not being harmed, and piles pressure on UK and US authorities to follow other countries by introducing bans.

Pesticide companies have been trying to protect their multi-billion pound businesses by lobbying internationally against bans on neonicotinoids, a group of toxic chemicals designed to paralyse insects by attacking their nervous systems.

Agricultural crops in Scotland, England and around the world are dosed with the chemicals to prevent insects from damaging them. But evidence has been mounting that they could be to blame for the “colony collapse disorder” that has been decimating bee populations.

The US has been losing a third of its honeybee hives every year, while beekeepers in Europe say that more than a million bee colonies have been wiped out in France, Germany, Italy and the UK since 1994.

Although neonicotinoids have faced bans or restrictions in Germany, France, Italy and Slovenia, regulators in the UK and the US have so far accepted the industry’s contention that the toxins were not poisoning bees.

Reprimand for safety lapses at Torness nuclear plant

from Caledonian Mercury, 12 January 2012

EDF Energy has been reprimanded by the government’s nuclear watchdog for a series of safety lapses at the Torness nuclear power station in East Lothian, the Caledonian Mercury can reveal.

The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has criticised the French power company for a “shortfall” in its arrangements for checking safety valves and for inadequacies in addressing concerns about the state of radioactive waste discharge pipes following a leak.

ONR has also expressed concern over slow progress in introducing self-closing “hazard barrier doors” to prevent large releases of hot gas. And it has urged EDF to improve its early warning systems after a “jellyfish blockage” caused Torness to be shut down last June.

The revelations have prompted critics to question the safety of prolonging the working life of Torness, alleging it is becoming increasingly unreliable. EDF, however, says the plant has a good safety record.

ONR has posted its latest report on Torness online, covering 1 July to 30 September 2011. It disclosed that staff at the plant failed to inspect a safety relief valve on a nitrogen test rig when they should have done.

MoD suffering worsening staff crisis, leaked survey reveals

from Sunday Herald, 08 January 2011

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is suffering a severe and deteriorating crisis of confidence amongst its staff because of cutbacks and bad management, according to an internal survey leaked to the Sunday Herald.

The vast majority of MoD civil servants have lost faith that their managers can steer them through difficult times. They feel more negative about almost every aspect of working for the MoD than they did a year ago, and their morale is much worse than the rest of the civil service.

The revelations have prompted a fierce reaction from trade unions and a former MoD official, who confirm that the workforce is deeply demoralised, upset and angry. According to one union, the words most often used to describe the MoD management are “incompetent, short-sighted, inept, poor, uncaring and self-interested.”

The leaked survey was conducted in the autumn by the US opinion research company, ORC International, as part of an annual questionnaire of the entire civil service. It received responses from nearly 33,000 staff, 44% of the MoD’s workforce.

Overall only 22 percent felt positive about the MoD’s “leadership and managing change”, three points less than in 2010 and 16 points below the median for the civil service. A meagre nine per cent agreed that “when changes are made in MoD they are usually for the better”.