Rob Edwards

The truth about nuclear power

from The House Magazine, 29 October 2007

The truth about nuclear power can take a long time to come out. It wasn't until the 50th anniversary of Britain's worst nuclear accident that we learnt just how bad it was.

The real dangers of the cloud of radioactive contamination that billowed out of a blazing plutonium reactor at Windscale in Cumbria on 10-11 October 1957 were covered up for decades. Only now, after a series of new analyses by scientists, do we know that there was twice as much contamination as previously supposed, that it spread far across Europe - and that it caused more than a hundred fatal cancers.

RBS under fire for 'propping up' Burmese junta

from Sunday Herald, 28 October 2007

One of Scotland's premier international companies has been accused of "fuelling repression" by propping up the brutal military regime that rules Burma.

Campaigners allege that the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), though its stake in the Bank of China, is collaborating with oil and gas companies run by the Burmese junta. As a result, they claim, RBS is reaping millions of pounds of profit from a regime that abuses human rights and pollutes the planet.

Fears grow over nuclear future for Nigg

from Sunday Herald, 28 October 2007

Fears that an iconic industrial site in the Highlands could end up as a radioactive scrap yard have been re-ignited by news that a nuclear decommissioning company is set to buy the site.

The former Nigg Fabrication Yard on the Cromarty Firth is up for sale, and the Birmingham-based demolition company, DSM, has become the "preferred bidder". It specialises in breaking up large structures, include oil rigs, ships and buildings.

Mystery of 'missing' Shakespeare portrait

from New Scientist, 25 October 2007

It is the kind of argument William Shakespeare himself would have enjoyed. On one side is a claim that a famous portrait of the Bard has gone missing and been replaced by a fake. On the other side, the claim is dismissed as nonsense.

The row is over a painting of Shakespeare known as the Flower portrait. Hildegard Hammerschmidt-Hummel from the University of Mainz, Germany, examined the portrait in 1996 and pronounced it an authentic representation of Shakespeare, painted in 1609.

The environmental impact of nuclear weapons

a talk to the Scottish Government's summit on Scotland's Future Without Nuclear Weapons, Glasgow, 22 October 2007

I'm very pleased to be here. I want to talk very briefly about the work that's been done on the environmental impact of nuclear weapons, and provide some pointers as to what I think the Scottish Government may be able to do to block Westminster's plans to replace the Trident nuclear weapons system.

We have gleaned a good deal of information over the last couple of years from freedom of information requests to the Ministry of Defence (MoD). As a result we are much better informed about the potential risks of nuclear weapons - and about the potential tools available to the Scottish Government.

I want to talk first about the risks of nuclear weapons convoys, then a little about health and safety at the Faslane and Coulport nuclear bases. Next I will talk about the environmental controls, and say something about potential planning issues. I have to also make the usual caveat. The views I express are mine and not necessarily those of my employers.

Scotland seeks world backing for banning nuclear weapons

from Sunday Herald, 21 October 2007

Alex Salmond has made a major bid to win international backing for his government's campaign to rid Scotland of nuclear weapons, the Sunday Herald can reveal.

The First Minister has written to over 180 countries highlighting the nation's opposition to the deployment of Trident nuclear warheads on the Clyde, and his determination to try and block the UK government's decision to replace Trident over the next few decades.

Salmond is also asking countries to support a request for Scotland to be given observer status at future meetings of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the world's main barrier to nuclear mayhem.

Big rise in pollution threatens government climate target

from Sunday Herald, 21 October 2007

Pollution from Scotland's major coal and gas-fired power stations shot up last year, threatening to wreck the Scottish Government's plans to combat climate change.

New figures from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) reveal massive increases in the amounts of carbon dioxide being belched out by the coal plants at Cockenzie and Longannet on the Firth of Forth, and the gas plant at Peterhead.

Between them the three power stations emitted 4.6 million tonnes more carbon dioxide in 2006 than they did in 2005, swamping significant cuts in emissions achieved by other industries. As a result there was an overall rise of 10 per cent in carbon pollution from Scottish industry.

Forth bridge protest 'gagged' by Parliament

from Sunday Herald, 21 October 2007

Protesters against a new road bridge across the Firth of Forth Forth claim they have been "gagged" by the Scottish Parliament.

They say they are being preventing from speaking in support of their petition at a meeting of the Parliament's Public Petitions Committee on Tuesday. The petition calls on ministers to reverse their decision to back another Forth road crossing.

Clyde Trident upgrade could be halted by Scottish ministers

from Sunday Herald, 14 October 2007

Plans to refurbish the Clyde naval bases to accommodate a replacement for the Trident nuclear weapons system could be stymied by Scottish ministers, according to an internal memo from the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

A new dry dock for servicing nuclear submarines would require planning permission while other developments would be subject to a raft of pollution controls. These are all the responsibility of the Scottish Government, not Westminster.

Virgin using animal sex video to boost train travel

from Sunday Herald, 14 October 2007

A video of pantomime animals simulating vigorous and varied sex acts is being quietly circulated on the internet in an attempt to boost environmental business for Richard Branson's Virgin Trains company.

As part of a new "viral marketing" campaign, bloggers are being offered money to post the unbranded video on their blogs. Called "sex party", it features actors dressed up as wildlife complaining that global warming has made species copulate more early and more often.

Urban green spaces seen as ugly and unsafe

from Sunday Herald, 14 October 2007

The parks, fields and other green spaces in Scotland's towns and cities are seen as dangerous and ugly by nearly half the population, according to a survey to be published tomorrow.

Almost 50% of the people questioned across the country thought that their local green spaces were unsafe for their children to play in, or for adults to take exercise. Just under half also regarded their green spaces as unattractive.

Salmon infected by dangerous worm

from Sunday Herald, 14 October 2007

The government's food safety watchdog has issued a warning about the spread of a potentially dangerous parasitic worm infecting wild salmon.

The nematode worm, known as anisakis, can cause severe illness if eaten, including violent abdominal pain, vomiting and anaphylactic shock. The disease it causes, anisakiasis, is often reported where raw fish is eaten, such as sushi in Japan.

Setting the scene on sustainable waste management

a talk to the 6th Annual Scottish Waste Management Conference, Glasgow, 10 October 2007

Thank you. Like a good opening speaker, I've tried hard to find a good joke about waste, but I failed. All the waste jokes I found on the internet were, well, rubbish. And one I was sent by the consultant George Niblock, who may be known to some of you, was, well, unrepeatable. So I've slightly adapted a joke mocking engineers instead. Forgive me if you've heard it.

A mechanical engineer, an electrical engineer, a waste engineer and a computer software engineer are all travelling along the road in an old banger when all of the sudden the car backfires loudly and comes to a juddering halt.
"Ah!" says the mechanical engineer, "I know what the problem is - it'll be the valves, or the piston in the engine."
"Nonsense!" says the electrical engineer. "It'll be a problem with the spark plugs or the battery!".
"No, no, no," says the waste engineer, "there's bound to be something wrong with the exhaust."
As they argue, they notice that the computer software engineer hasn't said anything, so they turn and ask what should be done.
"Errr," says the computer software engineer, "how about we all get out of the car, count to ten, get back in again and just try to restart it?"

Semiconductor uses the sun to split water

from New Scientist, 08 October 2007

Using hydrogen to power vehicles could free us from our reliance on fossil fuels, and water is its obvious source, but how to get one from the other? Now a semiconductor has been discovered that uses energy from sunlight to do this efficiently.

Funding row delays checks on nuclear pollution

from Sunday Herald, 07 October 2007

VItal checks on whether beaches in the south west of Scotland are contaminated with dangerous particles of radioactivity are being delayed because the nuclear polluter is refusing to pay.

Scotland's environment watchdog has accused the UK government agency responsible for the Sellafield nuclear complex in Cumbria of breaking a promise to fund radiation monitoring of the Solway Firth.

The unprecedented row between the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has caused surveys of three beaches, originally due to begin in August, to be indefinitely postponed.

Scotland still bottom of European waste league

from Sunday Herald, 07 October 2007

Despite investing £375 million over the last seven years to cut the huge amounts of waste dumped as landfill, Scotland is still languishing at the bottom of the European rubbish league.

A Scottish Government analysis passed to the Sunday Herald reveals that only Greece amongst the 15 European Union countries has a worse record. Scotland's position is "shocking", say environmentalists.

Energy ignorance hampers climate fight

from Sunday Herald, 07 October 2007

We want to save energy to help save the planet, but we don't know where to start.

A survey has revealed that although nearly three-quarters of the population are keen to cut their energy bills, as many as half have no idea how much they actually use in their homes.

Contamination from Windscale accident 'worse than thought'

from New Scientist, 03 October 2007

The radioactive cloud from Britain's worst nuclear accident exactly 50 years ago spread contamination over large parts of Europe, much further than previously admitted.

New Scientist reports that studies by British and Norwegian scientists show that radioactivity from the fire at Windscale in Cumbria on 10-11 October 1957 was blown east over Belgium, Holland and Germany, and north over Scandinavia.

Regional nuclear war could trigger mass starvation

from New Scientist, 03 October 2007

A nuclear war between India and Pakistan could cause one billion people to starve to death around the world, and hundreds of millions more to die from disease and conflicts over food.

That is the horrifying scenario being presented in London today by a US medical expert, Ira Helfand. A conference at the Royal Society of Medicine will also hear new evidence of the severe damage that such a war could inflict on the ozone layer.