Full steam ahead with nuclear proliferation
Ron F | 04.10.2001 00:09
Full steam ahead with nuclear proliferation
As President Blair was wrapping up the Labour Conference in blustery Brighton a major news story appeared with barely a whisper. Nuclear fuel reprocessing plant at Sellafield is to commence production.
As President Blair was wrapping up the Labour Conference in blustery Brighton a major news story appeared with barely a whisper. Nuclear fuel reprocessing plant at Sellafield is to commence production.
Full steam ahead with nuclear proliferation
As President Blair was wrapping up the Labour Conference in blustery Brighton a major news story appeared with barely a whisper. Wednesdays update to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) website announced in hushed tones that the nuclear fuel reprocessing plant at Sellafield was to commence production. The decision was confirmed to the BBC by Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett. Greenpeace condemned the go-ahead as "dangerously irresponsible". Charles Secrett, Director at FOE stated
"Yesterday Tony Blair talked of the need for international action to build a safer global community. Today his government does the reverse. This isn't joined-up government. It's unhinged government."
Irish Green MEP, Nuala Ahern, said "Producing mox at Sellafield will make the world a less safe place". MOX (mixed-oxide) is produced by combining extremely toxic uranium and plutonium imported from around the world. The Mox fuel would then be shipped back to its original destination, or anywhere there's a market. Whether there are markets depends to an extent on what stance President Bush takes on the nuclear sector. The US hasn't commissioned a new commercial reactor since the Three Mile Island disaster on March 28, 1979, but Bush wants to change that. Needless to say he has close personal, political and financial relations with the nuclear lobby.
Concern was also expressed by Joe Jacob, Irish Minister responsible for nuclear matters, who said "I would have considered that the whole rationale for this energy source would have been undergoing a serious reappraisal".
That's what Dubya plans to do - but not in the way Mr Jacob intended.
http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2001/011003b.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
http://www.reuters.co.uk/
As President Blair was wrapping up the Labour Conference in blustery Brighton a major news story appeared with barely a whisper. Wednesdays update to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) website announced in hushed tones that the nuclear fuel reprocessing plant at Sellafield was to commence production. The decision was confirmed to the BBC by Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett. Greenpeace condemned the go-ahead as "dangerously irresponsible". Charles Secrett, Director at FOE stated
"Yesterday Tony Blair talked of the need for international action to build a safer global community. Today his government does the reverse. This isn't joined-up government. It's unhinged government."
Irish Green MEP, Nuala Ahern, said "Producing mox at Sellafield will make the world a less safe place". MOX (mixed-oxide) is produced by combining extremely toxic uranium and plutonium imported from around the world. The Mox fuel would then be shipped back to its original destination, or anywhere there's a market. Whether there are markets depends to an extent on what stance President Bush takes on the nuclear sector. The US hasn't commissioned a new commercial reactor since the Three Mile Island disaster on March 28, 1979, but Bush wants to change that. Needless to say he has close personal, political and financial relations with the nuclear lobby.
Concern was also expressed by Joe Jacob, Irish Minister responsible for nuclear matters, who said "I would have considered that the whole rationale for this energy source would have been undergoing a serious reappraisal".
That's what Dubya plans to do - but not in the way Mr Jacob intended.
http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2001/011003b.htm http://news.bbc.co.uk/ http://www.reuters.co.uk/
Ron F