Rob Edwards

The climate campaigners who fly the most

from Sunday Herald, 28 January 2007

Some of the groups in Scotland campaigning against the pollution that causes climate chaos have often chosen to fly - the most polluting way to travel.

A Sunday Herald survey of flights within Britain has exposed the Soil Association, Oxfam, and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) as the most frequent fliers amongst non-governmental organisations.

Dounreay facing legal action on contamination

from Sunday Herald, 28 January 2007

The Dounreay nuclear complex is facing legal action for failing to store radioactive waste safely after an incident in which a worker was contaminated with plutonium.

The government's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) has served two improvement notices on the plant's operator, the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), obliging it to remedy the problem. Inspectors are also considering sending a report to the Procurator Fiscal.

The Scottish Executive's 10,000 climate-wrecking flights

from Sunday Herald, 21 January 2007

They tell us we should fly less to help save the planet, but Scottish civil servants made 10,000 flights within Britain in the past year - more than twice the average for government agencies.

A major investigation by the Sunday Herald has unmasked the Scottish Executive as by far the most frequent flier in the public sector. Officials take about 40 flights between Scotland and England every working day, belching out a massive 4000 tonnes of climate-wrecking pollution every year.

Holyrood fails to save energy

from Sunday Herald, 21 January 2007

MSPs are more worried about how they look on TV than in saving energy to combat climate chaos. And they never seem to turn off their lights and computers.

An independent expert study has revealed that so much energy is wasted in the Holyrood Parliament that it is breaching good practice standards. The building's poor environmental performance is arguably its "biggest disappointment", the study concluded.

Delays and job losses for nuclear clean-up

from Sunday Herald, 21 January 2007

The £3 billion clean-up of the defunct nuclear complex at Dounreay in Caithness is facing prolonged delays and the loss of up to 500 jobs because of a government financial crisis.

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), the state agency that funds the dismantling of all the UK's nuclear plants, has a shortfall of £450 million. As a result Dounreay could see its budget cut by £40 million in 2007-08, drastically reducing the amount available for spending on decommissioning.

Scottish Executive flouts freedom of information

18 January 2007

The Scottish Executive has been found guilty of breaching freedom of information legislation and ordered to release eight secret documents on nuclear emergency exercises.

Europeans don't like nuclear power

14 January 2007

Nuclear power is the most unpopular source of energy in Europe, according to a new opinion poll conducted by the European Union.

Only 20% of European citizens said they were in favour of nuclear energy, compared to 80% who favoured solar energy and 71% who favoured wind energy. Even coal, oil and gas were preferred to nuclear power.

Anger over 275,000 'free-range' hens in sheds

from Sunday Herald, 14 January 2007

Plans to put more than a quarter of a million hens in 11 huge sheds and sell their eggs as "free-range" have been derided as a mockery by animal welfare campaigners.

Glenrath Farms, an award-winning Scottish business which supplies eggs to Tesco and Asda, has run into a storm of protest over its scheme to create one of the world's largest free-range egg farms in the Borders.

Businesses dump two-thirds of waste

from Sunday Herald, 14 January 2007

Two-thirds of the waste produced by Scottish businesses is still being dumped in landfill sites, swamping householders' efforts to recycle more of their rubbish.

Although ministers have invested heavily in schemes to increase domestic recycling, they have been accused of failing to tackle the mountains of waste generated by factories, shops, hotels and restaurants.

Setback for safe storage of waste

from New Scientist, 10 January 2007

A material that promised to lock up nuclear waste for hundreds of thousands of years may not be up to the job.

At present high-level waste is "vitrified" by combining it with liquid borosilicate glass and solidifying the mixture. This makes the waste safer as it delays leakage of the radioactive material. The glass is not ideal, though, because geological activity can break it up, so researchers are on the lookout for more robust "immobilisation" materials.

2006 confirmed as hottest year

09 January 2007

Reports this morning confirm that 2006 was the hottest year ever recorded in Scotland, making the last four years the four warmest since 1914. It is another clear sign that pollution is disrupting the climate, say environmentalists.

See earlier story here.

Government accused of ignoring nuclear terror risks

from Sunday Herald, 07 January 2007

The government's failure to prepare for a nuclear attack by terrorists is endangering the lives of thousands of people, a former NHS radiation advisor has warned.

Professor John Haywood, who retired five weeks ago after 27 years as radiation protection advisor to the health service in the north east of England, has accused the Home Office and the NHS of ignoring the risks of a terrorist nuclear bomb.

Squabble over Forth road bridge plans

04 January 2007

A private squabble between two government transport agencies is marring moves towards building a controversial second road bridge across the Firth of Forth.

The Forth Estuary Transport Authority (FETA) is peeved because it has been frozen out of key discussions on a second crossing by the Scottish Executive's Transport Scotland.