[ RadSafe ] [Nuclear News] King wants to speed up Jordanian nuclear energy drive

[Sandy Perle]

Index:

King wants to speed up Jordanian nuclear energy drive 
No more action on radiation leak  
Nuclear partnership won't lead to waste dump: Downer
Manmohan to visit 'cradle of nuclear energy'  
Many burning questions to answer on nuclear power
Blix backs nuclear energy
--------------------------------------------------

King wants to speed up Jordanian nuclear energy drive 
 
AMMAN (AFP) - King Abdullah II called Sunday for Jordan's drive to 
set up a civilian nuclear programme to be accelerated in order to 
wean the desert country off oil and gas imports. 
 
"Energy represents the main challenge and we must think about radical 
long-term solutions," the king told the supreme committee for nuclear 
energy strategy, according to a palace statement.

"It's important to accelerate the establishment of the Jordanian 
nuclear programme," he said, underlining the need to "find 
alternative energy sources (...) aimed at reducing Jordanian 
imports."

Minister for Education and Higher Education Khaled Tuqan said 
meanwhile that "nuclear energy will account for 30 percent of the 
total energy produced in Jordan from now until 2030."

Jordan hopes to build its first nuclear power plant by 2015. In 
April, the Jordanian parliament adopted a law allowing for the use of 
nuclear energy to produce electricity and desalinate water.

The desert kingdom, which imports 95 percent of its energy needs, is 
the among the 10 most water-deprived countries on the planet, with a 
deficit of more than 500 million cubic metres a year, according to 
official estimates.
---------------------

No more action on radiation leak  
 
BBC - Aug 27 - The plant on the Suffolk coast was producing 
electricity for 40 years 

A nuclear watchdog has decided not to take further action over the 
leak of 40,000 gallons of radioactive water from Sizewell A in 
Suffolk. The leak at the power station, which closed at the end of 
2006, happened in January this year after a pipe broke.  

A spokesman for Sizewell said the water was contained within the 
plant and no-one was injured. 

The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) has investigated the 
leak and has decided further action is not needed. 

The NII issued a report on the case after the incident and said it 
was satisfied that Sizewell A's operator Magnox Electric Limited had 
complied with its recommendations. 

An NII spokesman told the BBC that any further regulatory action 
would "not be in the public interest". 
---------------------

Nuclear partnership won't lead to waste dump: Downer

ABC News Aug 27 - Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says accepting an 
invitation to join a Global Nuclear Energy Partnership will not lead 
to Australia being used as a nuclear waste dump site.

The United States is expected to ask Australia to join the group, 
which is set up to regulate the production of nuclear resources.

Mr Downer has told the 7.30 Report the Government will consider the 
idea closely but he says it will not result in Australia accepting 
nuclear waste.

"What we sign up, what we'd agree to, let's see what is actually put 
on the table," he said.

"Nobody can make us do anything and no matter what the scare-
mongering of the Labor Party and their friends on the left may be, 
we've made it clear we won't be taking it back, and that's the 
beginning and that's the end of it."
------------------

Manmohan to visit 'cradle of nuclear energy'  

Tarapur (Maharashtra), Aug 27 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, 
facing heat over the India-US nuclear deal, will this week visit 
Tarapur, a picturesque fishing hamlet not far from Mumbai that is 
often called the cradle of India's atomic energy programme. 

On Friday, Manmohan Singh will visit Tarapur, nearly 100 km from 
Mumbai, and dedicate to the nation two 540 MW state-of-the-art 
pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs), said officials of the 
Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and Nuclear Power Corporation of 
India Ltd (NPCIL).

'It is a major event for us as the prime minister himself will 
witness the operation of these two indigenous plants,' an official 
said. 

Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Chairman Anil Kakodkar and NPCIL 
chairman and managing director S.K. Jain will be present on the 
occasion besides top officials of the nuclear sector. 

Later, Manmohan Singh will visit the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre 
(BARC) at Trombay in Mumbai and address scientists there. 

The Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) houses four nuclear power 
reactors - TAPS 1 and 2 and TAPS 3 and 4. 

While TAPS 1 and 2 are boiling water reactors (BWRs) that started 
producing power in 1969, TAPS 3 and 4 are PHWRs. TAPS 4 was 
commissioned 2005 and TAPS 3 followed a year later. 

'These two reactors are the largest single power producing unit in 
the country,' said the official. 

'When TAPS 1&2 were commissioned it heralded the power generation 
programme and when the two PHWRs were commissioned, it marked the 
watershed for high-efficiency PHWRs,' said a source here, adding that 
PHWRs are currently the mainstay of nuclear power programme. 

'Today TAPS 3&4 represents the most modern technology,' the source 
said. TAPS is an active member of World Association of Nuclear 
Operators (WANO) and contributes to various programmes. 

In future, the 540 MW model will be scaled up to 700 MW, said NPCIL 
sources.

Manmohan Singh's Tarapur visit will assume significance in view of 
the political developments in recent weeks over the India-US civil 
nuclear energy deal. 

The Left parties have fiercely criticised the agreement and 
threatened to withdraw their support to the Manmohan Singh government 
if steps were taken to 'operationalise' the deal.

The contentious deal has also led to a debate on nuclear power and 
the prime minister visiting Tarapur - the ancestral home of late Homi 
Bhabha, the father of India's nuclear programme - is expected to 
touch upon the issue. 
-------------------

Many burning questions to answer on nuclear power
  
HEREVER you stand on the issue of nuclear power, Hugh Richards of the 
Welsh Anti Nuclear Alliance is right to raise financial concerns 
about the nuclear programme, which it is very likely that the UK 
Government will endorse.

Despite assurances that no public money will be involved in funding 
any future nuclear power stations, it is clear from evidence 
elsewhere in the world that such projects have a tendency to cost far 
more than original estimates. It is therefore understandable that 
questions will be raised about the financial viability of any future 
power station projects in Britain.

There are other points to be made about the current public 
consultation on whether new nuclear power stations should be built. 
We know Tony Blair was convinced that nuclear energy had a 
significant continuing part to play in Britain´s energy mix. Gordon 
Brown has also signalled his support for such a view.

In these circumstances, it is almost unthinkable that the UK 
Government will rule nuclear power out. That means not only will it 
be ruled in, but that nuclear energy will be expected to provide a 
designated proportion of Britain´s power needs into the long-term 
future.

It follows that around 10 new nuclear power stations will be required 
around the UK. If financial problems arise with these projects, the 
Government could be forced to make a choice between propping them up 
or seeing its own energy policy wrecked.

Because decisions over large power station projects are not devolved, 
the Assembly Government will have no say over whether a new nuclear 
power station should be built at Wylfa. This is convenient for both 
parties of government. Labour anti-nuclear adherents at Cardiff Bay 
can maintain their position on the high moral ground while 
conveniently leaving the decision to Westminster. And Deputy First 
Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones can avoid a showdown with Plaid colleagues 
over his support for a new nuclear power station in his constituency.

While the idea of letting the private sector take the financial risk 
in any future nuclear power projects has its attractions, there are 
many who would be uneasy about the state abandoning control of such a 
hazardous industry. Regulatory regimes in other sectors that have 
been privatised, have sometimes been insufficiently robust.

There is also, of course, the example of the railway network, where 
it is arguable that the financial risk has remained with the state 
while profits have been scooped up by the private sector. The same 
applies to many dubious private finance initiatives.

And, of course, there is the huge issue of public safety.

All of these questions need to be fully considered before new nuclear 
power stations are approved.
---------------------

Blix backs nuclear energy

Australian Broadcasting Company Aug 27 Former chief United Nations 
weapons inspector Hans Blix says more energy should come from nuclear 
sources to help reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

Dr Blix says nuclear power has come a long way and studies show it is 
now safer to produce than hydro-electricity.

The former nuke hunter has also voiced support for the sale of 
uranium to India, provided it is only used to generate energy and 
does not go into the production of nuclear weapons.

He says Australia's proposed uranium sales to India would not breach 
the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, but other safeguards are 
needed.

"You would have a treaty which prohibits states from producing highly 
enriched uranium or plutonium for weapons purposes, and with 
international verification," he said.

"Such a treaty has been proposed for years, but it's not yet on the 
table. It requires negotiation. 

"But that would, I think... [reduce] objection to the agreement with 
India."

Dr Blix says the sale of uranium to India would still raise concerns 
because the extra supply would free up India's other reserves for use 
in nuclear weapons.

Dr Blix says an international inspection regime and treaty would help 
remedy that, and ease the environmental pressures of India's growing 
economy. 

"It is highly desirable that countries like India and China, huge 
counties that will consume more and more electricity, that they 
switch increasingly from the coal, which dominates enormously and 
which really hurts the environment, to nuclear power, that does not," 
he said.

"China does that in a big way and India wants to. And I think it 
would be good that they get access to the latest technology."

-----------------------------------------
Sander C. Perle
President
Global Dosimetry Solutions, Inc.
2652 McGaw Avenue
Irvine, CA 92614 

Tel: (949) 296-2306 / (888) 437-1714  Extension 2306
Fax:(949) 296-1144

E-Mail: sperle at dosimetry.com
E-Mail: sandyfl at cox.net 

Global Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/