Rob Edwards

Ex-spy's polonium poisoning hints at sophistication

from New Scientist, 27 November 2006

The poisoning of former Soviet spy, Alexander Litvinenko, with polonium-210 has all the hallmarks of a well-organised state operation, possibly involving the military, according to experts.

Litvinenko's death at the age of 43 from heart failure in a London hospital last Thursday was linked to traces of polonium-210 found in his urine by the UK Health Protection Agency (HPA). An inquest into his death is due to open later this week.

Saving the planet with 1,500 climate-wrecking flights

from Sunday Herald, 26 November 2006

Officials from the government agency that is championing the fight against climate chaos have taken 1500 climate-wrecking flights between Scotland and England in the last year.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has been sending its staff on an average of five or six mainland air trips every working day - at the same time as urging everyone else to "fly less" to help save the planet.

Dounreay ‘will pollute for decades’

from Sunday Herald, 26 November 2006

Radioactive particles from the Dounreay nuclear plant will keep polluting public beaches for decades to come, and the environment will never be completely cleaned up.

These are the conclusions of the latest expert study of the hundreds of thousands of fragments of nuclear fuel known to have leaked into the sea from the Caithness plant since the 1950s.

Chernobyl: The plume of doom

from New Scientist, 23 November 2006

It starts off as a small blob over Ukraine, but then spreads. Constantly changing shape and colour, it curls its way round most of Europe. Sometimes it looks like an ink blot, sometimes like a demented bird and sometimes, even, like an angel of death.

The French government's Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) has posted on its website a graphic animation (14.2MB) of the plume of radioactive caesium-137 from the world's worst nuclear accident at Chernobyl in April and May 1986. It is, as one radiation scientist told me, an extraordinary tour de force.

114 freedom of information applications

updated 28 May 2007

PLEASE NOTE: subsequent updates will appear here.

The Scottish Executive likes keeping secrets. Of 24 appeals made to the Scottish Information Commissioner, Kevin Dunion, over the last two years, 21 have been against the Executive.

Scottish civil servants have repeatedly refused to release information on breaches of European law, farming subsidies, the M74 extension, nuclear waste, nuclear power, energy policy, environmental justice, bathing waters, beavers and road user charging.

An updated analysis of the 114 freedom of information requests I have filed to 30 public agencies since January 2005 also shows that government agencies like the Ministry of Defence, British Nuclear Group and the Department of Trade and Industry can take a year or more to respond. The information commissioners in Scotland and England are also taking up to 18 months to investigate appeals.

Resignation row over scampi sent to Thailand

from Sunday Herald, 19 November 2006

An executive of the seafood company planning to shed jobs in Scotland by shipping langoustines to Thailand for shelling is facing calls for his resignation from the international environmental agency in which he plays a leading role.

Mike Parker, deputy chief executive of Young’s Seafood, is a member of the board of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). The council is an independent global organisation set up by environmentalists to encourage a sustainable fishing industry.

‘Secretive’ officials erode public trust

from Sunday Herald, 19 November 2006

PUBLIC trust in government has declined sharply in the past year because of revelations about the secretive behaviour of officials exposed by freedom of information legislation.

Only 46% of people in Scotland think the public should have more confidence in the decisions made by public authorities, compared with 53% a year ago. And there has been a similar drop, from 67% to 60%, in those who think public authorities are becoming more accountable.

Anger over sidelining of organic food

from Sunday Herald, 19 November 2006

Environment minister Ross Finnie has come under fire for failing to promote organic food in the Scottish Executive’s campaign to combat climate change.

The Soil Association, which supports organic farming, has complained that a new government website designed to encourage climate-friendly behaviour makes no mention of organic food or its environmental benefits.

The MoD's nuclear information errors

14 November 2006

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has apologised for behaviour that was "neither reasonable nor acceptable" in dealing with a request under freedom of information legislation.

Jane Lewis, a senior official in the MoD's information directorate in Whitehall, has admitted to long delays and a series of "handling errors" when responding to a request for information on safety incidents at the nuclear weapons base on the Clyde near Glasgow.

Exposed: Scotland’s global warming roll of shame

from Sunday Herald, 12 November 2006 

MORE than 25 million tonnes of climate-wrecking pollution is being spewed into the atmosphere every year by 80 industrial plants across Scotland, the Sunday Herald can reveal. 

An analysis of new data released by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) exposes the well-known companies responsible for emitting the most greenhouse gases and threatening the future of the planet.

Another beach tainted with radioactivity

from Sunday Herald, 12 November 2006

A beach in the south of Scotland has been contaminated with radioactive particles from an old nuclear power station, raising fears that the country's nuclear legacy is not being properly cleaned up.

The pollution of part of the Solway Firth near Annan by a waste pipeline from the nearby Chapelcross nuclear station brings to four the number of Scottish beaches open to the public now known to have been tainted with radioactivity.

World faces 'dirty, insecure' energy future

from New Scientist, 07 November 2006

Governments must make a dramatic shift towards climate-friendly energy policies to avoid global economic disruption, industrialised countries warn.

The International Energy Agency (IEA), which involves 26 governments, says that business as usual could lead to price shocks and sudden interruptions in energy supply, as well as a huge growth in climate-wrecking carbon dioxide emissions.

Car industry breaks pollution promise

from Sunday Herald, 05 November 2006

THE car industry has admitted that it won’t meet its target for cutting the pollution that is disrupting the climate, prompting governments to threaten a legal crackdown.

Can we really save the planet?

from Sunday Herald, 05 November 2006

Something shifted last week. One of the world’s leading economists put a cost on the climate chaos being caused by pollution, and everyone sat up and started to take notice.

With the publication of Sir Nicholas Stern’s review of the economics of climate change, the argument suddenly seems to have got serious. It’s no longer just scientists and environmentalists worried about humanity who are demanding urgent action, it’s bankers worried about the bottom line.

Depleted uranium risk 'ignored'

01 November 2006

The BBC today reports allegations that the World Health Organisation (WHO) blocked research on the health risks of using depleted uranium in weapons.

Evidence that radiation from the metal, used to harden the tips of shells, could trigger cancers was ignored in an investigation by the WHO in 2001, says Keith Baverstock, a former WHO radiation scientist. The allegation is denied by the WHO. You read it here first.