Category: Countering Capenhurst

Current work

At present there are a number of issues and projects which we are working upon.

These include noting the anniversary of the Widscale fire which took place on October 10th 1957. On that anniversary we will be announing the 2023 winners of the George Monbiet Nukiller Greenwash award.

While we will soon be printing an update to the Beware nukiller waste trains leaflet. This is the one which is handed out at the various stations they go though. It has been writen in such a way that it can very easily be monified to include your local information.

Current Issues List

While there are a lot of individuals focused upon the continuous disaster at Fukushima, and the situation with regards the nukiller reactors in the Ukraine, we do have to focus our attention upon the following crisis Issues.

They are as follows –

– The treat of New Build, which includes Bradwell, Hinkley, Sizewell, and Wylfa.

– The transport of High level Nukiller waste by DRS though our towns and cities.

– The road transport of Uranium Hex.

– Springfield.

– Capenhurst and Urenco.

– Drigg.

– Windscale / Sellafield.

– The proposed long term nukiller waste dumps in Cumbria and other locations.

– All the Radioactive waste which is and has been discharged into the sea.

– The movement of highly radioactive materials via Barrow Docks.

– Both the mining and processing Uranium.

While we need to keep showing the links between Nukiller Weapons and Nukiller Power.

How nukiller power is a major cause of global warming.

&

Campaign to stop more Astute Class Nukiller submarines being built at Barrow.

To do all of the above we need many more activists, and many more donations to help us continue with our campaigning work.

Short News Items

‘ Uranium spells out nuclear future’.

Of Particular note is the following: –

‘ — recently, political instability in Niger has also prompted a price increase in uranium. According to Reuters a military coup in Niger saw prices rise even though mining operations have continued in what is a top 10 uranium producer.’

&

‘ Uranium supply giant Kazatomprom also issued its second quarter trading update, noting that average realized price for the first half of 2023 was higher compared to the same period in 2022. ‘

https://www.neimagazine.com/opinion/opinionuranium-spells-out-nuclear-future-11079543/

Signal: UK loan to support Ukraine’s nuclear energy

Nuckiller power is Ukraine’s primary source of energy, but Russia’s invasion has created serious problems for the industry.

https://www.energymonitor.ai/news/signal-uk-loan-support-ukraine-nuclear-energy/

Ukraine / First Batch Of Domestic Uranium Concentrate Sent To Cameco For Processing

https://www.nucnet.org/news/first-batch-of-domestic-uranium-concentrate-sent-to-cameco-for-processing-9-2-2023

Acquisition bolsters Hydrock’s nuclear division

‘ The Warrington-based firm’s client roster, which includes Urenco, Sellafield, and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, will complement Hydrock’s existing relationships in the sector. ‘

UK offers Ukraine nuclear fuel boost through £192m deal with Urenco

ttps://www.cityam.com/uk-offers-ukraine-nuclear-fuel-boost-through-192m-deal-with-urenco/

Urenco cancels Russia contract for uranium waste

– Action group Münsterland against nuclear plants

– Environmental Working Group (AKU) Gronau
– SOFA (Immediate Nuclear Abandonment) Münster
– Federal Association of Citizens’ Initiatives for Environmental Protection
(BBU)

Gronau/Münster, 9 March 2022

Urenco cancels Russia contract for uranium waste

– Reaction to protests and EU sanctions

But: Uranium for Ukraine continues despite war Urenco is supplier of enriched uranium

In reaction to the protests of anti-nuclear initiatives and environmental associations and in view of tightened EU sanctions, the Gronau-based uranium enricher Urenco informed the Westfälische Nachrichten yesterday that it had terminated its contract with the Russian nuclear industry. This means that uranium waste will now no longer be exported from Gronau to Russia. As this has so far been the main route for the disposal of waste residues from the Gronau uranium enrichment plant, Urenco spokesman Chris Breuer spoke of “considerable consequences” for his company. German, Russian and Dutch anti-nuclear initiatives had protested foryears against the irresponsible uranium waste exports. Urenco has now announced an earlier commissioning of the uranium oxide uranium waste storage hall in Gronau, built in 2014.

“We of course welcome the overdue stop of the Russian business at Urenco. But it is very sad that it took a Russian war of aggression in Ukraine to get the Gronau uranium enricher to act. We continue to demand a general stop of uranium exports – enriched uranium has no future for a peaceful and renewableenergy world and dramatically aggravates military conflicts,” says Matthias Eickhoff of Aktionsbündnis Münsterland gegen Atomanlagen.

Very worrying, therefore, is yesterday’s announcement by Urenco that it will continue to provide “assistance” to the supplied nuclear power plants in Ukraine. How this is supposed to be possible in the midst of war, Russian attacks and military occupation is completely unclear. Urenco must completely rethink its own business policy – nuclear power is not the solution, but part of the problem. That is why anti-nuclear and peace initiatives are also demanding the shutdown of the Gronau uranium plant.

For several years, the German-Dutch-British uranium enricher Urenco has been supplying Ukraine with enriched uranium. This is then processed into fuel elements by the US company Westinghouse in Västeras, Sweden, and sent from there to Ukraine. The most recent export licenses for enriched uranium from Gronau to the Swedish fuel element factory were issued on 1 February 2022 and 2 December 2021, according to the export list of the Federal Environment Ministry.

Short News Items

Desert Island Risks

Anyone who knows anything about Sizewell, or has studied the OS map of the area, knows that it will become an island as a result of global warming and rising tides. So the proposal to build new reactors at the site can only be described as totally irresponsible in so many ways.

Nuclear Free Local Authorities Briefings

NFLA Policy Briefing 229b: Update on the Ukrainian Power Plants

Environment Agency’s outrageous fee hike ‘pours cold water’ on future small hydro schemes in England

Mistaken Plans

On March 24th URENCO took part in a meeting with the UK government and the following nukiller power companies: – Aviva Investors, Balfour Beatty, Bechtel Group, EDF Energy, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, L&G, Mace, (UK) NuclearAdvanced Manufacturing Research Centre, Nuclear Power Jacobs, NuScale, Rolls-Royce, Rothesay Life, and Westinghouse Electric.

The subject of this gathering was how to accelerate nukiller energy projects.

DRS Haul 1,000 tonnes of waste to Drigg

‘The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority trumpet their latest “success” – the dumping of more than 1000 tonnes of steel drums filled with nuclear wast at the “Low Level Waste Repository in Drigg, Cumbria – from the redundant Magnox site at Winfrith, Dorset.”

DRS Updates

Flask Movements

On March 3rd a single flask was taken from Crewe to Sizewell and back again.

This was one of the yearly movements which rail companies use in order to maintain an allocated railway route.

CCC Finances and Future Activities

We now have reached a stage in our campaigning at which there is an increasing amount of work which needs to be done over the next year or so.

This work is still falling upon a very small number of activists, especially in Cumbria and the Nukiller North West.

It is all manageable to do, but we do need more people to help support our work.

Thus we will be doing a review of how to forward our campaigning work and how to finance it all over the coming months.

In the meanwhile we are still looking to find more people who can help promote our work in a number of locations, and specifically at Chester, Ellesmere Port, Preston, and all those towns where DRS nukiller waste flasks go through.

We also need more donations in order to promote our work, and in order to engage in much more public education on the dangers posed by the nukiller power industry.


URENCO at 52

On March 4th it will be 52 years since the founding of URENCO with Treaty of Almelo.

When the 50th anniversary of the treaty occurred in 2020 we stated that was nothing to celebrate.

We will be going back to the Capenhurst plant at 14.00. on March 4th to repeat this statement.

Short news updates

Civil Nukiller Police

Following a Subject Data Access request it has been revealed (amongst other things) that Radioactive Waste Management has given false information to the police/Civil Nuclear Constabulary about the founder of Radiation Free Lakeland

Windscale Mud

Decades of Sellafield’s Reprocessing Waste on the Irish Sea Bed Would be Churned Up by Coal Mine Subsidence

The Same old

Rising tide has just published the following useful piece: –

“Same Old Not New Not Zero Nuclear” (or, most of what you need to know about Nuclear Power in the UK but weren’t nerdy enough to ask).

DRS Updates

DRS Claim to be a Low Carbon Company

DRS continues to try to kid us all that they are concerned about the environment. It is all a part of the nukiller greenwashing which we are all so depressingly familiar with,

Here is just one example from the DRS Website: –

‘Nuclear Transport Solutions’ rail division has launched a new locomotive design at this year’s Low Carbon Logistics event in Mossend, Scotland.’

Flask Movements.

On January 7th Hunterston B stopped producing electricity having first done so in 1976, and following 8 years of construction.

Now the process of what is known as defuelling has became, and so DRS will be taking the highly radioactive used fuel rods to Windscale / Sellafield for the next three years.

Award Short listing

We are now starting to compile short list for the 2022 George Monbiot Nukiller Greenwash award.

As you will be aware, the award is named after the influential journalist George Monbiot, who mistakenly believes that Nuclear power is the solution to the Global climate change crisis.

So far we have added Drigg and Copeland Council to the short list, but will add more during the year