Antinuclear

Australian news, and some related international items

Small Nuclear Reactor fans now fighting Big Nuclear in UK

text-cat-questionUK’s most aggressive nuclear lobby is pushing for Small Modular Nuclear Reactors and Thorium Reactors. They’ve even got themselves classed as a Charity!!!  So, is the thinly veiled co-operation between the old Big nuclear camp, and the new geewhiz Little nuclear camp now wearing thin in Britain?

NUCLEAR LOBBY DISPUTE

Pro-nuclear environmentalists in call to scrap Hinkley C plans
Three leading experts urge government to end nuclear project saying delays will create panicked scramble back to fossil fuels,
Guardian, , 19 Sept 15 Three leading environmentalists who broke ranks to give their support to a new generation of nuclear plants have now urged the government to scrap plans for Hinkley Point C.

The call comes as George Osborne and Amber Rudd, the secretary of state for energy and climate change, head off to China, where they will discuss Beijing’s proposed investment in the new nuclear plant in Somerset.

George Monbiot, Mark Lynas and Chris Goodall say the soaring cost and delays to the Hinkley project leave ministers with no option but to pour the estimated £24.5bn worth of investment into other low-carbon technologies

“Hinkley C bears all the distinguishing features of a white elephant: overpriced, overcomplicated and overdue. The delay that was announced recently should be the final straw. The government should kill the project,” they write in a comment piece for the Guardian.

“The new delay should not surprise anyone who’s aware of the technological issues,” said Tony Roulstone, who runs the masters programme in nuclear engineering at Cambridge University. He argues that the plan for Hinkley C is like “building a cathedral within a cathedral”. It is, he concludes, “unconstructable”………

EDF, the French energy group, promoting Hinkley, has already won a generous financial aid package from the government through its “contract for difference” mechanism but has yet to sign the definitive deal it needs with Beijing investors.

This is expected to happen when the Chinese premier visits the UK next month, leaving EDF in a position to finally give the green light to the first nuclear plant to be built in the UK for 20 years.

But the energy company and its French engineering partner, Areva, have been beset by problems, leaving a growing number of former supporters from the world of energy and the City to question the viability of the whole project…….http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/18/nuclear-environmentalists-scrap-hinkley-c-plans

September 19, 2015 - Posted by | Uncategorized

1 Comment »

  1. Granted the Nuclear Industry and their Political influence is huge but that does not make Nuclear the best choice for now or the future, just the most “promoted”, which is why I coined the term Nuclear Payback*. because it identifies the reason the real reason why so many support Nuclear, they are or expect to receive something in return.

    Day by day support for using Nuclear is declining globally because people realize that despite what the Nuclear Industry says, nuclear is not only becoming too expensive but it poses a real threat to everyone on the Planet.

    You can quote warm fuzzy platitudes or tired old claims but they will not change the fact that ever more people just do not trust the Nuclear Industry when it comes to safety, since they have a track record of covering up, especially after an accident – Fukushima is a perfect example.

    Now the Japanese Gov’t (who owns TEPCO) is cracking down on Free Speech in order to protect their Nuclear Utility “Gangs”, so it is no wonder that ever more people see Nuclear as something that is being forced upon them by a Government that is being manipulated by an Industry that is connected to the Military and those that seek or already possess Nuclear weapons.

    People want Peace, not War and they also realize that using Nuclear just makes it easier for those in Power to gain new or Bigger Nuclear weapons, which will then be used for some reason, somewhere, by someone, and that is unacceptable.

    N☢ Nuclear Reactors reduces the chances of a nuclear accident or “Event” and one thing that the Planet does not need is an “unscheduled Sunrise”.  If you are as smart as you claim I would promote tripling Nuclear Safety, especially against Cyber Attacks because it would make our reactors safer but I bet that even you would get the “cold shoulder” since that would just increase costs since the Nuclear Industry/Utilities are far more concerned with their bottom line than they are on additional safety, which most of them see as unnecessary.

    * http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Nuclear+payback

    Those that support nuclear power because nuclear power somehow supports them; no matter what the health implications or other “costs” are for others. 

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    CaptD's avatar Comment by CaptD | September 20, 2015 | Reply


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