Rob Edwards

Revealed: the secret of who makes Trident nuclear warheads tick

from Sunday Herald, 29 November 2009

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has been accused of “deceit” after it was forced to confess to one of the most closely guarded secrets of making Britain’s nuclear bombs.

For years UK ministers have repeatedly refused to say where neutron generators - a vital component of the Trident warheads stationed on the Clyde - were manufactured. The information had to be kept secret for national security reasons, they said.

But now, confronted with undeniable evidence by the Sunday Herald, the MoD has admitted that the devices are imported from the United States. And in so doing, it has opened the Westminster government to a barrage of criticism from experts, politicians and campaigners.

“This is another deceit of the British public by Westminster,” declared Dan Plesch, director of the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy at the University of London.

“It’s another smoking gun in the arsenal of evidence that shows that there is no such thing as a British bomb. The weapon will become unusable should the Americans withdraw their support,” he said.

Study prompts new cancer fears from pylons

from Sunday Herald, 29 November 2009

A new study suggesting that children living near high voltage power lines suffer an increased risk of cancers has re-ignited fears about the dangers of building a new chain of pylons across Scotland.

Health researchers in Japan found that children exposed to high levels of electromagnetic radiation from power lines were 11 times more likely to develop brain tumours.

This means, claim campaigners, that the health of hundreds of people will be jeopardised by the proposal to erect a new 400,000 volt electricity transmission line between Beauly, near Inverness, and Denny, near Stirling. The line should be buried underground to make it safe, they say.

The Sunday Herald reported last month that the controversial Beauly Denny line would be given the go-ahead by the Scottish government. Ministers, under fierce pressure from the electricity industry, have promised to make an announcement before the end of the year.

But now the Japanese study has raised new doubts about the safety of living  close to pylons. Scientists from the National Research Institute for Child Health and Development in Tokyo and 14 other health bodies found an 11-fold increase in brain tumours amongst children under 15 exposed to more than 0.4 microteslas of electromagnetic radiation.

Extreme adventures: swimming through the ice to save the planet

from Sunday Herald, 29 November 2009

It was all fearsome Nanny Wigley’s fault. When he was just a toddler, she used to make him go out barefoot into the Perthshire winter wearing only shorts and a shirt.

Now, more than 40 years on, the world-renown polar explorer, Pen Hadow, attributes his famed endurance of extreme cold to his harsh Scottish upbringing. Without it, he says, he may not have survived some of his more dangerous encounters with the arctic ice.

This Friday he is coming back to the land of his birth to talk about his extraordinary adventures to the Royal Scottish Geographical Society in Glasgow. He will also be sounding some dire warnings about the irretrievable damage being done to the planet by human pollution.

Before minding the wee Hadow at the manse in Glen Devon near Auchterarder in the 1960s, Enid Wigley had been nanny to Scott of the Antarctic’s son, Peter. To try and make sure Peter wouldn’t befall the same fate as his father, she had developed a “polar conditioning programme” which she later inflicted on Pen.

This only ceased when frostnip, a form of frostbite, was found to be freezing his extremities. But Nanny Wigley, a faithful family retainer, carried on filling the young boy’s head with exciting stories about Scott and other great explorers.

New move to protect golden eagles

from Sunday Herald, 29 November 2009

Golden eagles, one of Scotland most iconic birds, are going to be given greater protection against persecution and disturbance, the Sunday Herald can reveal.

On Tuesday the environment minister, Roseanna Cunningham, is expected to announce proposals to create six large new ‘special protection areas’ for eagles in northern and western Scotland.

This will give the government more powers to help prevent the soaring birds of prey from being poisoned or shot by game keepers. It will also encourage landowners to site potentially damaging developments like wind farms more carefully.

“Scotland is an internationally important stronghold for the golden eagle but their future is finely balanced due to their need for large, undisturbed spaces in which to live,” said Cunningham.

“We are keen to find a balance between access, conservation and development to ensure that all sectors can benefit from and enjoy the countryside.”

Climate change, housing and revolution

a talk to the Scottish Government Housing Investment Division West Region, Glasgow, 24 November 2009.

Thank you for inviting me. I am particularly delighted to be talking to you today because you are employees of the Scottish Government and that  gives me an excuse to tell a story I’ve been dying to tell for years, many years.

Decades ago I worked for the housing campaign group, Shelter. After I left to become a freelance writer and journalist, I was commissioned to write an assessment of the Tenant Participation Advisory Service in Scotland from 1980 to 1986. This involved me in talking to tenants’ organisations, voluntary groups, housing experts and, crucially, relevant officials in the then Scottish Office. I remember conducting a major interview with a bright young civil servant, who made some frank, critical and interesting remarks about the advisory service, some of which I included in my final report.

BP dropped as good example of safety after complaints

from Sunday Herald, 22 November 2009

The oil giant, BP, has been dropped as a leading example of good safety practice by a government watchdog after fierce complaints from occupational health experts.

In recent years BP has been landed with record fines for major accidents, injuries and deaths at oil refineries in Grangemouth in Scotland and Texas in the US. Despite this, the company has been highlighted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for its inspiring “leadership” on safety at work.

Last week, however, the HSE withdrew its case study lauding BP’s approach just days after demands from critics who accused BP of being a “serial safety offender” and a “disgrace”. HSE, however, claimed that the case study had been removed because it was "old".

In 2002 BP was the first company in Britain to be fined £1 million for safety violations that caused three accidents and a massive fire at the Grangemouth refinery, which it used to run. “Only good fortune prevented workplace and public casualties,” said the HSE at the time.

Then in March 2005, BP’s refinery in Texas City exploded, killing 15 people and injuring 170. Last month the US government’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) imposed a record fine of £53 million on BP for allowing 270 potential hazards to persist at the Texas refinery.

Can we save the summit that is meant to save the world?

from Sunday Herald, 22 November 2009

It is a classic tactic in international diplomacy. If you’re worried about not succeeding, talk up your chances of failure in the hope that whatever you do end up achieving looks like a success.

That is exactly what has been happening in the run-up to the crucial world climate summit in Copenhagen, Denmark. Negotiators, led by the host country’s prime minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, have been deliberately lowering expectations so that whatever agreement is reached next month will seem like a breakthrough.

The resulting uncertainty has put all those who care about the future of the planet on a rollercoaster of hopes and fears over the last two weeks. At times the summit has looked doomed, but then have come signs that something worthwhile could be salvaged.

This weekend, the prevailing mood amongst the many experts and observers canvassed by the Sunday Herald is a kind of desperate optimism. This is often coupled with increasingly anxious pleas for world leaders to see sense and do the right thing.

Tighten safety rules for nuclear bomb bases, says Scottish government

from Sunday Herald, 22 November 2009

The Scottish government is to press Westminster to tighten up the regulation of nuclear bomb bases in Scotland following a series of safety problems revealed by the Sunday Herald.

Scottish ministers have promised to lobby the UK government to close the loopholes which allow the Faslane and Coulport bases on the Clyde to escape statutory scrutiny by government watchdogs.

In response to a report by the nuclear weapons working group, the Scottish government also said that it will ask the Ministry of Defence to tell local authorities when nuclear weapons convoys are coming through their areas. At the moment, councils are not informed.

Nature agency under fire for 'inconsistency'

from Sunday Herald, 22 November 2009

The government’s conservation agency, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), has come under attack for allegedly making contradictory decisions in different parts of the country.

Although it objected to a crematorium near Melrose in the Borders because it would spoil a national scenic area, it raised no objection to a development of 1,500 houses in the Cairngorms national scenic area near Aviemore.

This is “extraordinarily inconsistent”, say environmental groups, who are fearful that SNH is weakening the protection it gives to important landscapes and wildlife areas by allowing damaging developments to go ahead.

The Scottish Campaign for National Parks has written to the chairman of SNH, Andrew Thin, criticising the agency’s decisions. “Things seems to have changed in recent times,” said the campaign’s chairman, Robert Maund.

“We no longer feel able to rely on SNH to provide consistent advice and, where necessary, firm objections on development proposals which can do serious damage to the landscape and sensitive habitats.”

Could the US and Canada go to war over water?

review from Scottish Review of Books, 16 November 2009

Peak Water: Civilisation and the World’s Water Crisis, by Alexander Bell, Luath Press, £16.99.

Leaving Las Vegas is an exhilarating experience. As the flashing lights fade and the gaudy boulevards give way to empty highways, the joy of escaping into the wild and mountainous reaches of the Mojave desert can be intoxicating.

There are many things that are disturbing about the city - its greed, its morality, its music - but there is one that rankles above all: its environmental absurdity. To sustain the metropolitan area’s population of approaching two million, water is brought 1,400 miles from the Rockies by the Colorado River via a vast artificial lake created by the Hoover dam.

It is, as Scottish journalist Alexander Bell emphatically points out in his book, a dangerous mirage. “This may be a sure case of ecocide,” he says. “Las Vegas can only die, and within our lifetimes, because the water supply is running out.”

He recounts how the compact agreed in 1922 to divide up the water between the seven states that border the river was fundamentally flawed, because it was based on an unusually wet period in history. As a result, the compact has been under increasing strain, and periodically the mighty Colorado fails to make it to the sea.

Probe into top planner's 'collusion' with Trump

from Sunday Herald, 15 November 2009

 

An investigation has been launched into allegations that one of Scotland’s senior planners has breached her professional code of conduct by “colluding” with the American property tycoon, Donald Trump.

The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), which represents 22,000 planners in the UK, is examining a complaint that Dr Christine Gore, director of planning for Aberdeenshire Council, failed to act with integrity and independence while handling Trump’s application for a £1 billion luxury golf resort.

But the council has strongly defended Gore’s behaviour and promised full co-operation with any investigation. It accused Trump’s critics of promoting “misinformation” to win publicity for their cause.

The investigation comes as a new opinion poll released today shows that three-quarters of Scots are opposed to any plans Trump might have to use compulsory purchase to evict families to make way for his luxury leisure and housing development. This contrasts with the strong local support that Trump claims for his scheme.

Bhopal protest comes to Grangemouth

from Sunday Herald, 15 November 2009

Dharmesh Shah has come all the way from India to Grangemouth this weekend for a purpose. He wants to stick it to one of the world’s biggest chemical companies.

The 26-year old Indian campaigner is outraged that the Dow Chemical Company seems to have washed its hands of the terrible disaster at Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, 25 years ago next month. So he is attending a protest today (Sunday) at the US multinational’s newly acquired Scottish factory in Wholeflats Road.

“We have not learnt the lessons we should have done, so it’s just a matter of time before another Bhopal happens because big companies have shown that they don’t respect human life,” he told the Sunday Herald. 

“There are still communities living around chemical plants, and companies are sending all their dangerous products to India, where the safety regulations are weak.”

Government clean coal plants ‘will bust climate targets’

from Sunday Herald, 15 November 2009

Attempts by Scottish ministers to clean up coal so that it can replace nuclear power will lead to massive amounts of pollution and wreck the government’s targets to combat climate change.

A new analysis reveals that the £2 billion “clean” coal plant proposed for Hunterston in North Ayrshire would end up belching over 100 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere over its lifetime.

Last week, the UK government gave the go-ahead to ten new nuclear power stations across England and Wales. None were proposed in Scotland, though, because of opposition from the Scottish government.

Instead, Scottish ministers have made it clear that they want to build new coal-fired power stations, fitted with carbon capture and storage technology to curb their pollution. On Monday, the Scottish finance secretary, John Swinney, announced that any new coal station would have to capture carbon from 300 megawatts of its electricity generation from the first day of operation.

But the new coal plant planned at Hunterston by Clydeport’s owners, Peel Holdings, is going to generate 1,600 megawatts of electricity. That means that four-fifths of the plant will produce pollution as usual -  millions of tonnes of it every year for many years.

No real sign of a nuclear renaissance

for Sunday Herald, 15 November 2009

France is the world’s biggest consumer of nuclear power, with more than three quarters of the country’s electricity being generated by 58 reactors. But even it has its nuclear headaches.

This summer, the heat put a third of the reactors out of action, because the river water needed to keep them cool became too warm. This winter the French nuclear industry is expecting to have to import electricity from abroad because several plants will be shut down for maintenance and repairs.

And last week Brazil had to shut down its two nuclear reactors because of a major power blackout caused by the collapse of transmission lines. The reactors need power from the grid to keep them safely cooled.

10,000 dance for the climate in Belgium

11 November 2009

Over 10,000 people on a sunny beach in Belgium dance together for action to cut climate pollution at the Copenhagen summit in December. Joyous. More here.

Nuclear workers told to ‘spy’ on their colleagues

from Sunday Herald, 08 November 2009

Thousands of staff at nuclear power stations across the UK have been told to inform on colleagues who might become “vulnerable” to blackmail or bribery by terrorists because of changes in their personal lives.

Moves by the government’s nuclear security agency to step up the vetting of civilian nuclear workers have been condemned by trade unionists and critics as “Orwellian”. But the agency insists the measures are justified by the threat of terrorism.

On Monday the UK government is due to give the green light to a major new programme of nuclear power stations in England and Wales. No plants are likely to be proposed in Scotland because of opposition from the Scottish Nationalist government in Holyrood.

The secretive Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS) is charged with regulating security measures at 31 nuclear sites in the UK, including Dounreay in Caithness, Hunterston in North Ayrshire, Torness in East Lothian and Chapelcross in Dumfries and Galloway.

In its latest annual report, made available online, the OCNS reveals that it provided security clearances for nearly 15,000 nuclear workers in 2008-09. Personal details of staff were vetted to try and ensure that they would not leak sensitive information which could render nuclear plants more vulnerable to attack.

But the OCNS director, Roger Brunt, made it clear that he wanted to go further. Several initiatives had been launched to “raise the level of awareness of vetting issues within the civil nuclear industry,” he said.

“I would like to see all employees develop an awareness of how they can help identify and provide support for individuals holding a vetting clearance who may become vulnerable, for example, as a result of a change in personal circumstances.”

Demand for last ditch ‘climate revolution’ to prevent disaster

from Sunday Herald, 08 November 2009

Poor countries have demanded that rich countries like Scotland launch a “climate revolution” in a last ditch bid to prevent millions from suffering droughts and malnutrition.

If the industrialised world fails to cut its pollution and help poor countries with funds, it will be flooded with migrants from Africa and elsewhere, political leaders have warned.

Hopes and fears for the Copenhagen climate summit next month are intensifying in the wake of last week’s preparatory talks in Barcelona, which saw western negotiators talking down the prospects of reaching a legally-binding agreement.

Environmental and development groups have accused rich countries of trying to “kill” the Copenhagen summit and wriggle out of their responsibilities to cut greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol.

But developing countries like Mali in Africa are still relying on Scotland and the UK to take a lead. Ibrahim Togola, the director of the influential Mali Folkecenter, said that the Scottish government’s target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 42% by 2020 could set an example for others to follow.

“To fight against darkness you have to light a candle,” he told the Sunday Herald. “If we have a light coming from the UK, coming from Scotland, that will be a signal to the rest of the world.”

Salmon farming industry under attack in new film

Exclusive, 08 November 2009

Salmon farming multinationals are this week facing an unprecedented broadside from a new film which blames the industry for wrecking the environment and destroying livelihoods in Scotland, Canada and Chile.

The film accuses two leading Norwegian-owned companies, Marine Harvest and Cermaq, of spreading disease and lice to wild fish by siting their cages in the wrong places and allowing thousands of fish to escape.

This allegedly puts the jobs of shellfish farmers, local tourist businesses and   others at risk, while rewarding shareholders in Norway. The fish farming industry, however, described the accusations as outdated and inaccurate.

The film, ‘Farm Salmon Exposed’, has been made by Canadian filmmaker, Damien Gilles, and is being launched at a screening in Edinburgh tomorrow as part of a global week of action. Later in the week, it is also being shown in Dundonnell and Oban in Scotland, as well as Dublin in Ireland, Santiago in Chile, Vancouver in Canada, Washington DC in the US and Oslo in Norway.

Government watchdog withdraws safety advice on lead

from The Guardian, 05 November 2009

Government advice suggesting that people exposed to low levels of lead pollution don’t suffer serious illness has been withdrawn after it was criticised as inaccurate by experts.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) yesterday removed from its website an official leaflet saying that serious health problems “rarely” occur unless people have at least 100 microgrammes of lead per decilitre of blood in their bodies.

This is ten times higher than the levels which scientists now say can cause heart disease, brain damage and cancer. The HSE has accepted that its guidance “could be made clearer” and is reviewing the wording.

The move comes in the wake of an investigation for Channel 4 News alleging that the HSE is ignoring expert advice to tighten up its lead safety limits. Researchers say that as many as 100,000 workers in scrap, demolition and other industries in Britain could be suffering from chronic lead poisoning - and that most of them are missed by official figures.

Lead has long been recognised as a major threat to public health, and was eliminated from petrol and paint twenty years ago. But it is still used in batteries and plastics, and lingers in old buildings and public infrastructure projects, putting workers, families and children at risk.

People, pollution and profits

book review for New Scientist, 28 October 2009

 

'Green Intelligence: Creating environments that protect human health' by John Wargo

Published by: Yale University Press

Price: £25/ $32.50

The buses that take our children to school should be safe places. But according to John Wargo, a professor of environmental risk analysis and policy at Yale University, they are polluted by diesel exhausts.

Riding the buses with monitors, Wargo and his colleagues discovered that children were at "significant risk" from tiny particles of half-burnt diesel fuel sucked in through doors at bus stops or belched out by the bus in front. At its worst, when lines of idling buses dropped off and picked up students at schools, the pollution caused "a burning sensation at the back of the throat", he says.