Tag: nuclear

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Alister Jack and Labour’s commitment to building new small modular reactors in Scotland ignores research revealing their greater toxic waste production and thus cancer risk

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From the Herald: The next government is being urged to make “big decisions” on nuclear power projects to help deliver jobs and energy security. The Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) has published its manifesto, saying it was important to ensure continued momentum. The association called for measures including pressing ahead with the planned Sizewell C power station, as well as extending the life of current power stations. The manifesto also pressed for the building of a fleet of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) across the country and a third large-scale station at Wylfa on Anglesey in north Wales. https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/national/24357628.call-next-government-make-big-decisions-nuclear-power-projects/ Labour’s manifesto commitment: … Continue reading Alister Jack and Labour’s commitment to building new small modular reactors in Scotland ignores research revealing their greater toxic waste production and thus cancer risk

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Exposure to carcinogens in Faslane

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In May 2024: Silence is revealing? In May 2023: QUESTIONS are hanging over the safety of Britain’s nuclear arsenal after it was revealed there were 58 radiation leaks at Trident facilities in Scotland this year so far. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has revealed there were 15 recorded radiation leaks at Coulport and a further 43 at Faslane in 2023 as of April – but said none were considered “serious”. https://www.thenational.scot/news/23545590.trident-mod-confirms-50-radiation-leaks-year/ In March 2016: Twenty workers at the Faslane nuclear submarine base were exposed to radiation due to safety errors, newly-released documents have revealed. The engineers were repairing a leaking … Continue reading Exposure to carcinogens in Faslane

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Governor General expects Unionist regime in Scotland by 2026 with plans to impose nuclear power regardless of risks

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By Professor John Robertson STV News has just reported: The UK Government is considering plans to build a nuclear reactor in Scotland, despite long-standing opposition from the Scottish Government. Scottish secretary Alister Jack has told a Westminster committee that he has asked ministers at the Department for Energy and Net Zero to plan for a nuclear reactor to be built in Scotland, as part of a UK-wide programme. He also said he expected a “Unionist regime” to be in power in Scotland by 2026. Responsibility for energy is reserved to Westminster, but the Scottish Parliament has control over planning and … Continue reading Governor General expects Unionist regime in Scotland by 2026 with plans to impose nuclear power regardless of risks

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Industrial action to add days to 24 000 year clear-up of Scottish nuclear energy site and Scottish Labour want to extend that

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Proud GMB member and champion of nuclear energy, Labour candidate Alan Gemmell. From BBC Scotland today: More than 500 members of the Unite union at the Dounreay nuclear power complex have voted to strike in a dispute over pay. The workers, who will take action on Wednesday, have rejected the latest offer to resolve the matter. Meanwhile, the Prospect union said in a close ballot its members had voted to accept the deal, and the GMB union said the result of its vote was expected later but expected to back strike action. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq5nnl9vjzeo While it is always disturbing to hear … Continue reading Industrial action to add days to 24 000 year clear-up of Scottish nuclear energy site and Scottish Labour want to extend that

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America’s Sellafield and the near impossibility of proving a cancer is the result of life in a ‘contaminated environment’

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By Professor John Robertson I hadn’t heard of an equivalent nuclear-reprocessing plant to Sellafield – ‘the most toxic site in Europe’ – only a few miles from the Scottish border and with regular leaks of radioactive material into the air and water flows heading north, constantly. According to US writer Shannon Cram, author of the just published Unmaking the Bomb, above, most Americans are unaware that a site, like Sellafield, had produced weapons-grade plutonium and now houses the majority of the nations’ high-level nuclear waste. Hanford Nuclear Reservation is eerily placed, like Sellafield, about as far away from the Capital … Continue reading America’s Sellafield and the near impossibility of proving a cancer is the result of life in a ‘contaminated environment’

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After 60 years of nuclear power generation and unknown further decades to make the sites ‘safe’ Ayrshire does not need the new risk and contamination Scottish Labour offers it

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The Labour candidate for Central Ayrshire, Alan Gemmell, is a ‘proud GMB member.’ The GMB union helped found [i] the Labour Party, funds it [ii] and is the union for nuclear industry workers. Gemmell is a certain recipient of that funding. The other two candidates, Irene Campbell for North Ayrshire where the Hunterston power station is located and Elaine Stewart for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock, will be obliged to follow the UK Labour line supporting the building of new stations. Hunterston A was commissioned in 1964 and taken out of service in 1990 but full clearance of the site will … Continue reading After 60 years of nuclear power generation and unknown further decades to make the sites ‘safe’ Ayrshire does not need the new risk and contamination Scottish Labour offers it

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Scottish MP backs dangerous reduction in safety standards to expand UK nuclear power

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From Policy Mogul today: Government roadmap includes exploring a new power station as big as Hinkley C and Sizewell C  UK becomes first country in Europe to launch high-tech nuclear fuel programme with up to £300 million investment into UK production, pushing Putin out of global market  Measures such as smarter [sic] regulation will help quadruple UK nuclear power by 2050 up to 24GW – the biggest expansion for 70 years  Minister for Nuclear Andrew Bowie said:   “The government’s investment in nuclear will ensure the UK remains at the forefront of technological developments.  “Our plans will give investors the confidence to back … Continue reading Scottish MP backs dangerous reduction in safety standards to expand UK nuclear power

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Does Scottish Labour support French energy company extending lives of unreliable, inefficient and unsafe nuclear power stations including one in Scotland?

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In the Guardian today: EDF Energy is planning to extend the life of four nuclear power stations in the UK and step up investment in its British nuclear fleet. The French energy company said it would make a decision on whether to extend the life of the four UK plants with advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGR) – Torness [East Lothian], Heysham 1 and 2, and Hartlepool – by the end of the year. This would require regulatory approval. A spokesperson for the company said it would depend on inspections, adding there would not be long lifetime extensions but “incremental”. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/jan/09/edf-energy-uk-nuclear-power-plants The Scottish station, … Continue reading Does Scottish Labour support French energy company extending lives of unreliable, inefficient and unsafe nuclear power stations including one in Scotland?

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Energy-rich Scotland doesn’t need costly and dangerous nuclear power

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Leah Gunn Barrett Two recent letters responding to Tory nuclear energy minister, Andrew Bowie, and Paul Wilson in The Scotsman, who call for more nuclear power plants in Scotland. The first appeared in the Edinburgh Evening News on December 7th, but The Scotsman chose not to publish the second. I wonder if Andrew Bowie, the clueless, youthful ministerial cheerleader for nuclear power, is concerned at all about leaks coming from a huge silo of radioactive waste at the crumbling Sellafield nuclear site.  Norway, Ireland and the US certainly are. Norway is worried that an accident could lead to a radioactive … Continue reading Energy-rich Scotland doesn’t need costly and dangerous nuclear power

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Scotland is at the greatest risk from Europe’s most hazardous nuclear plant

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In the Guardian today, the above map, and this: Sellafield, Europe’s most hazardous nuclear site, has a worsening leak from a huge silo of radioactive waste that could pose a risk to the public, the Guardian can reveal. Concerns over safety at the crumbling building, as well as cracks in a reservoir of toxic sludge known as B30, have caused diplomatic tensions with countries including the US, Norway and Ireland, which fear Sellafield has failed to get a grip of the problems. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/dec/05/sellafield-nuclear-site-leak-could-pose-risk-to-public BBC Scotland today is not reporting this but rather is pushing against the Scottish Government’s manifesto commitment … Continue reading Scotland is at the greatest risk from Europe’s most hazardous nuclear plant