Tag: nuclear-power

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Why a nuclear waste train crash just south of the border is timely reminder of Scottish Labour’s support for new nuclear plants in Scotland

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The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Cumbria last week but, of course, no link to the story from the BBC Scotland site: The nuclear watchdog has issued an improvement notice after two railway wagons carrying nuclear waste crashed. It happened on … Continue reading Why a nuclear waste train crash just south of the border is timely reminder of Scottish Labour’s support for new nuclear plants in Scotland

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Labour’s decision to keep the cracked Torness nuclear reactor going is ‘an experiment and hoping nothing will go wrong’

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Many thanks again to Alan Gordon for alerting me to this. In December 2021, spreading cracks were found in the aging nuclear power station at Torness in East Lothian and its operator EDF decided to shut it down two years early, in 2028. Then in December 2024, the new Labour government’s energy minister, Ed Miliband, in pursuit of their carbon reduction strategy decided it should stay open. Why is this a concern? In 2023, prior to the above decision, Dr Ian Fairlie, an independent consultant on radioactivity in the environment, gave evidence in a briefing … Continue reading Labour’s decision to keep the cracked Torness nuclear reactor going is ‘an experiment and hoping nothing will go wrong’

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Listen to Australian Labor Party’s academic expert as she warns nuclear energy proposal causes ‘cancer, strokes and heart attacks’

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Professor John Robertson OBA The Labour Party in Scotland fully backs the UK Government plans to build new nuclear power stations in Scotland, regardless of widespread opposition to the idea among the population and UK research linking these installations to a range of cancers, but especially breast cancer, thyroid cancer and child leukaemia, in surrounding areas.1 Meanwhile, in Australia, the Labor Party is campaigning against plans there using research by the former GP now Melbourne University lecturer, Dr Margaret Beavis, who argues: “There are definite increases in cancer, strokes and heart attacks with nuclear power. With renewable energy we have … Continue reading Listen to Australian Labor Party’s academic expert as she warns nuclear energy proposal causes ‘cancer, strokes and heart attacks’

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Labor Party warns nuclear energy proposal causes ‘cancer, strokes and heart attacks’

johnrobertson834

The Labour Party in Scotland fully backs the UK Government plans to build new nuclear power stations in Scotland, regardless of widespread opposition to the idea among the population and UK research linking these installations to a range of cancers, but especially breast cancer, thyroid cancer and child leukaemia, in surrounding areas.1 Meanwhile, in Australia, the Labor Party is campaigning against plans there using research by the former GP now Melbourne University lecturer, Dr Margaret Beavis, who argues: “There are definite increases in cancer, strokes and heart attacks with nuclear power. With renewable energy we have much safer alternatives,” she … Continue reading Labor Party warns nuclear energy proposal causes ‘cancer, strokes and heart attacks’

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UK Government to risk lives in Scotland by extending life of cracked power station against wishes of Scottish Government

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By Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Scotland, today: The lifespan of Scotland’s last remaining nuclear power station and three other plants in England are to be extended. EDF Energy says Torness, in East Lothian, and its sister site Heysham 2, in Lancashire, will continue generating for an extra two years until 2030. Two other sites – Hartlepool and Heysham 1 – will continue for an extra year until 2027. The French state-owned company says it will now invest £1.3bn across its operational nuclear estate over the next three years.1 This decision has been taken to help with UK Labour’s allegedly ‘clean … Continue reading UK Government to risk lives in Scotland by extending life of cracked power station against wishes of Scottish Government

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Will Scottish Labour MPs challenge cuts to nuclear safety which will have ‘devastating consequences’ for their own constituents?

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By Professor John Robertson OBA From the Guardian today, the above, and: Rachel Reeves has been urged not to carry out mooted funding cuts for nuclear sites including Sellafield amid safety concerns, as it emerged that the number of incidents where workers narrowly avoided harm had increased at the Cumbrian site. The GMB union has written to Reeves, the chancellor, before Wednesday’s budget to raise safety concerns after rumours emerged that the budget for the taxpayer-owned Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) could be reduced, which could result in cuts at nuclear sites including Sellafield and Dounreay in Scotland. In the letter to Reeves, seen … Continue reading Will Scottish Labour MPs challenge cuts to nuclear safety which will have ‘devastating consequences’ for their own constituents?

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Nuclear waste – cleaning up Sellafield will take 100 years, or more

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By stewartb With the Labour government in Westminster embracing nuclear energy just as much as the Tories before it – committed to more big nuclear power stations and to ‘small modular reactors’ – it’s instructive, sensible and sobering to read about the legacy of the UK’s past investments in civil nuclear power. There is much in the recent National Audit Office (NAO) report that should – but won’t – change Westminster/Whitehall establishment minds about the merits of another generation of nuclear power installations. Source National Audit Office (16 October 2024) Decommissioning Sellafield: managing risks from the nuclear legacy – Department for Energy … Continue reading Nuclear waste – cleaning up Sellafield will take 100 years, or more

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Texas takes fight against massive federal Sellafield-like nuclear dump proposal to highest level – supreme court

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By Professor John Robertson OBA In the Texas Tribune, two days ago: The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up a yearslong dispute over a plan to ship highly radioactive nuclear waste to rural West Texas, a case that could have sweeping implications for how the nation deals with a growing stockpile of waste generated by nuclear power plants. A company called Interim Storage Partners has long pursued the plan to move “high-level” nuclear waste from power plants across the nation to an existing nuclear waste storage facility in Andrews County, on the Texas-New Mexico border. Last year, in a Texas-led lawsuit, a federal … Continue reading Texas takes fight against massive federal Sellafield-like nuclear dump proposal to highest level – supreme court

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“If the technologists and scientists involved in disposal [of nuclear waste] are so confident in the safety then they should do it in the cities which are demanding the energy,”

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When I moved to Ayr in 1984, locals were protesting British Nuclear Fuel’s plans to bury nuclear waste under a hill only 15 miles to the south of the town. The protest worked and the waste is still being dumped at Sellafield in Cumbria. However, Ayr remains on the atmospheric and coastal water flows from it, the most toxic site in Europe, and local shellfish, estuary and beach sediment, bottom feeding fish and animals that feed on them, are more radioactive than EU legislation on consumption would allow. Scottish Labour, doing what they’re told, are in favour of the new … Continue reading “If the technologists and scientists involved in disposal [of nuclear waste] are so confident in the safety then they should do it in the cities which are demanding the energy,”

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Another nail in Scottish Labour’s nuclear balloon as cost of one station in England now exceeds total devolved budget for Scotland

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I’m grateful to Dottie once more for alerting me to this and for the above headline mixing metaphors to good effect in triggering the above image in my head. From the FT yesterday: UK ministers have made contingency arrangements to fund the Sizewell C nuclear power project in case a final agreement with potential private investors is delayed by as much as two years, officials have admitted. A £5.5bn subsidy scheme set up in August to support the construction of Britain’s next nuclear power station at Sizewell in Suffolk envisages a scenario where there is no agreement with private sector … Continue reading Another nail in Scottish Labour’s nuclear balloon as cost of one station in England now exceeds total devolved budget for Scotland