Nuclear chief’s despair over Sellafield firm NMP revealed in letters written by UK nuclear decommiss

Source: The Independent

Damning criticism of the consortium overseeing the expensive clean-up of the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant has been revealed in a series of hostile letters written by John Clarke, head of the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

Mr Clarke accused Nuclear Management Partners (NMP) of undermining confidence and damaging the entire project’s reputation, as well as criticising Tom Zarges, the consortium chairman, of setting “unduly conservative” targets. In one letter, written in November 2012, Mr Clarke attached slides that outlined the NDA’s frustrations with NMP’s decontamination work at the Cumbrian facility, including concerns about the “quality of leadership” and the “pace of change”, which it said “feels too slow”.

The content of the letters has added to the confusion over why NMP was recently asked to continue overseeing the clean-up of one of the world’s most hazardous nuclear sites until 2019. The correspondence, which was obtained under a Freedom of Information request, covers a 21-month period to November 2013. During this time NMP and the NDA were locked in discussions over a five-year extension to a contract that was originally awarded in 2008.

Politicians and the deal’s numerous critics were shocked when the NDA awarded NMP the extension in October, despite a disastrous tenure during which Sellafield’s clean-up bill soared to over £70bn. The letters warn that a “re-baselining” of budgets will cause cost estimates to further spiral in April this year: “However presented, the extent of change was going to be extremely uncomfortable and difficult to sell.”

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Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/nuclear-chiefs-despair-over-sellafield-firm-nmp-revealed-in-letters-written-by-uk-nuclear-decommissioning-boss-9085512.html

EU regulator slams UK nuclear deal with EDF

Source: Financial Times

Britain’s new nuclear power station would be profitable even without the £17.6bn of potentially illegal state support provided, according to Brussels estimates that underline the uphill challenge ministers face in winning EU approval for the deal.

In a scathing 68-page initial assessment published on Friday, the EU’s top competition regulator raises fundamental concerns about the UK contract with French utility EDF for Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset.

While the commission is now undertaking a more in-depth review of the project that is to provide 7 per cent of UK electricity needs, the severity of initial concerns will cast a dark shadow over government hopes to avoid big revisions to the deal terms.

The commission questions whether the intervention addresses a genuine market failure and suggests the terms will overpay EDF, shield it from almost all operational risk and crowd out alternative sources of energy supply.

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Read more: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2Fac6a7924-8a68-11e3-9c29-00144feab7de.html

U.K. nuclear employees ordered to stay home amid increased radiation levels

Source: NBC News

The United Kingdom's largest nuclear plant ordered thousands of workers to stay at home Friday after recording increased levels of radioactivity, its operator said.

The Sellafield nuclear reprocessing site, in Cumbria, north-west England, told all non-essential employees not to come to work after the elevated levels were picked up by a monitor at the north end of the site.

"Levels of radioactivity detected are above naturally occurring radiation but well below that which would call for any actions to be taken by the workforce on or off the site," said a statement posted on Sellafield's website.

"The site is at normal status and employees and operational plants are continuing to operate as investigations continue. All our facilities have positively confirmed there are no abnormal conditions and are operating normally."

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Read more: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/01/31/22518084-uk-nuclear-employees-ordered-to-stay-home-amid-increased-radiation-levels

Level of security alert at Ukrainian nuclear power plants increased to the second level

Angela Merkel warns US over surveillance in first speech of third term

Source: Guardian

Angela Merkel has used the first, agenda-setting speech of her third term in office to criticise America's uncompromising defence of its surveillance activities.

In a speech otherwise typically short of strong emotion or rhetorical flourishes, the German chancellor found relatively strong words on NSA surveillance, two days before the US secretary of state, John Kerry, is due to visit Berlin.

"A programme in which the end justifies all means, in which everything that is technically possible is then acted out, violates trust and spreads mistrust," she said. "In the end, it produces not more but less security."

Merkel emphasised the need for wider access to the internet for citizens: "We want to make sure the internet retains its promise. That's why we want to protect it".

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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/29/angela-merkel-us-surveillance-speech-germany-chancellor

Koreas accuse Japan of history distortion at U.N.

Source: Yonhap

South and North Korea displayed rare unity on the U.N. Security Council Wednesday, as they fiercely condemned Japan for history "distortions."

The two Koreas, backed by China, said that Japan's conservative leadership is fully responsible for escalating tensions in Northeast Asia over history and territorial issues.

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His remarks reflected uproar in South Korea over Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine in December and his administration's decision to teach students that Dokdo, a pair of rocky outcroppings in the East Sea, is part of its territory.

With its patience wearing thin, South Korea's Park Geun-hye government has launched a more aggressive international campaign to make the case that Japan is distorting history and is the main culprit for soured ties between the neighboring nations.

Japan has a history of aggression against Korea, China and other neighboring nations, including the colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

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Read more: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/yonhap-news-agency/140129/koreas-accuse-japan-history-distortion-at-un

Putin Prize to Be Offered in Martial Arts Contest in London

Roundtable On Threat Of Terrorist Attacks At Power Plants

Source: Ukrainian News Agency

A ROUNDTABLE on the topic “Terrorist Attacks At Power Plants: How Real is the Threat?” will take place at the PRESS CENTER of the Ukrainian News information agency at 11:00 on Thursday, January 30.

Topics for discussion:

• The Security Service of Ukraine has announced an increase in the number of anonymous threats to blow up hydroelectric and nuclear power facilities. Is the threat of damage or destruction of power plants real?
  
  
• How is security maintained at is Ukrainian power generating facilities? Are terrorist attacks possible at Ukrainian power generating facilities?

Canada Restricts Entry For Ukrainian Government Officials

Source: Ukrainian News Agency

Canada has restricted entry to Canada for Ukraine's key government figures as a direct result of their actions in recent days.

Ukrainian News learned this from a joint statement of Canada's Citizenship and Immigration Ministry and Foreign Affairs Ministry.

"Given the violent repression of legitimate protest and the intimidation of opposition voices, we will be restricting entry to Canada - effective immediately - for key government figures as a direct result of their actions in recent days," the statement reads.

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As Ukrainian News earlier reported, on January 22 the United States canceled visas for certain citizens of Ukraine in the wake of the actions against protesters in the center of Kyiv.

Read more: http://un.ua/eng/article/488545.html

Congress wants answers on health impacts of Japan disaster relief