Tag: nuclear

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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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Latest University of California research with 300 000 nuclear workers reinforces fears of positive link with leukemia, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphomas, and multiple myeloma as in WHO study and research in Germany and Scotland 

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By Professor John Robertson Today, from the University of California in Irvine, USA: A major update was made to the International Nuclear Workers Study (INWORKS), an international epidemiological study of workers in the nuclear sector to assess their risks of cancer and non-cancerous diseases.  The researchers assembled a cohort of more than 300,000 radiation-monitored workers from France, the United Kingdom and the United States, employed at nuclear facilities between 1944 and 2016. The study revealed a positive association between prolonged low-dose exposure to ionizing radiation and mortality from these haematological cancers. https://www.newswise.com/articles/new-uc-irvine-study-provides-crucial-insights-into-radiation-exposure-s-impact-on-cancer-risk The University then tries to play down the risk, … Continue reading Latest University of California research with 300 000 nuclear workers reinforces fears of positive link with leukemia, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphomas, and multiple myeloma as in WHO study and research in Germany and Scotland 

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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

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An area in Scotland’s Fast Reactor Centre so dangerous only a snake-like robot can explore it

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By Professor John Robertson OBA A BBC Report yesterday, has nothing to say about just why a robot snake is needed for work on the clear-up of the Dounreay facility in Caithness. We have: From BBC Scotland today: While it is always disturbing to hear of industrial conflict in a nuclear plant, these two-day strikes will, relatively speaking, make little difference to the decommissioning process. Why? Decommissioning began in 2019 and the plan envisages 50-60 years to complete but ‘complete’ doesn’t mean to the company, Magnox Ltd., what it means to most of us and the site will be under surveillance, … Continue reading An area in Scotland’s Fast Reactor Centre so dangerous only a snake-like robot can explore it

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The deadly consequences of living next to nuclear dumps – BBC Scotland writer fails to make the connection to his own workplace on Clyde-by-Faslane-Coulport

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By Professor John Robertson A BBC US & Canada story popped up in my google alert today. The name Andrew Picken, one of the authors, caught my attention. He’s a BBC Scotland reporter. There is no mention of Scotland in the report which considers the deaths from cancers of a UK marine and his wife, 30 years after living for 2 years at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina USA. Of particular interest to us but not to Picken, it seems, is this: In 2021, Joe and Carol were living in Portsmouth when blood tests ahead of a hip replacement operation … Continue reading The deadly consequences of living next to nuclear dumps – BBC Scotland writer fails to make the connection to his own workplace on Clyde-by-Faslane-Coulport

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Labour must give up on nuclear power in Scotland as Torness with 46 reactor cracks is to operate till 2028 yet its troubled French owners are required to investigate plant in France with only 1!

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By Professor John Robertson Many thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this. From the Ferret today: The number of cracks in the core of an ageing nuclear reactor at Torness in East Lothian has risen to 46, prompting warnings that prolonging its operation would be “gambling with public safety”. The UK Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) told The Ferret that the cracks were detected in April 2024 and were “at the upper end of expectations”. The first three cracks were discovered at Torness in February 2022. EDF, however, insisted that the cracks did not affect normal operations or the ability to shut down … Continue reading Labour must give up on nuclear power in Scotland as Torness with 46 reactor cracks is to operate till 2028 yet its troubled French owners are required to investigate plant in France with only 1!

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Will Scottish Labour abandon their call for new nuclear plants in Scotland after French owners of new English ones have to halt three new builds and take three older ones off line?

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I think they bought that. Don’t you? Mugs. By Professor John Robertson Again, thanks to AR for alerting me to this: From Bloomberg, yesterday: French Power Slumps as Surging Renewables Push Out Atomic Plants. Day-ahead prices turn negative, trading at a four-year low. EDF halts three reactors, plans to take three more offline. French electricity prices turned negative as a drop in demand and surging renewables output prompted some nuclear reactors to power down. Who are EDF? Électricité de France, state-owned. What is their role in the UK: EDF manages the UK’s eight nuclear power station sites, five that are generating (Sizewell … Continue reading Will Scottish Labour abandon their call for new nuclear plants in Scotland after French owners of new English ones have to halt three new builds and take three older ones off line?

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Castles made of sand and radioactive particles linked to infant leukaemia – are the Ayrshire Labour candidates relaxed about that?

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By Professor John Robertson Thanks to Frances McKie for alerting me to this. The above two Labour candidates in Ayrshire constituencies have beaches where children play and both are, whether they want to be or not, because Sir Keir tells them to be, supporters of the reintroduction of nuclear power stations across Scotland and, in particular on the the Ayrshire coast, which is still popular on hot sunny weekends with families from all over the West of Scotland. Sand castle building is still a thing. I see them often on my dog walks. The children building them get right into … Continue reading Castles made of sand and radioactive particles linked to infant leukaemia – are the Ayrshire Labour candidates relaxed about that?

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German research suppressed by Labour Government and media in 2008 revealed under 5’s living near nuclear plants more than twice as likely to develop leukemia

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By Professor John Robertson I’m grateful to JB for alerting me to this. I knew nothing of it because mainstream UK media do not seem to have covered it at all. On 30th June 2011, the German Bundestag voted to phase out nuclear energy. Why? Safety was a paramount concern in the decision to phase out nuclear power: the use of nuclear energy causes highly dangerous radioactive radiation for humans and the environment and leaves behind highly toxic waste. High safety precautions must be taken throughout the entire life cycle – from the extraction of the raw material uranium to … Continue reading German research suppressed by Labour Government and media in 2008 revealed under 5’s living near nuclear plants more than twice as likely to develop leukemia