nuclear power

Nuclear reprocessing

Last edited 10 November 2001 at 9:00am
Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant

Every nuclear power station creates plutonium while in operation. The plutonium is contained in the spent fuel elements. A number of countries have shipped their spent fuel to La Hague, (France) or Sellafield (UK) for reprocessing, although Sellafield no longer has any major overseas contracts.

Article tagged as: nuclear, nuclear power, nuclear waste, reactor safety, reprocessing, THORP

Nuclear power background

Last edited 10 November 2001 at 9:00am
Nuclear reactors and reprocessing plants were first designed and created to produce plutonium - for nuclear weapons. Electricity was simply a by-product.
Article tagged as: nuclear, nuclear power, nuclear waste, reactor safety

Britain at the energy cross-roads

Last edited 9 November 2001 at 9:00am
Publication date: 
21 March, 2007

Publication date: November 2001

Summary

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Article tagged as: climate change, energy review, nuclear power, renewable energy

Nuclear power and radioactive waste

Last edited 9 November 2001 at 9:00am
Publication date: 
9 November, 2001

Radioactive substances are produced at every stage of the nuclear fuel cycle, from uranium mining, to the operation of reactors, to the reprocessing of spent fuel. These include plutonium, caesium, ruthenium, iodine, krypton and strontium. Most will remain hazardous for thousands, and in some cases millions, of years. Despite decades of discussion, the nuclear industry has failed to come up with a safe way of dealing with them. So, as they are released into the environment, building up in the food chain and human bodies, they leave a poisonous legacy to future generations.

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Article tagged as: nuclear power, radioactive waste, reports, sellafield

Nuclear reprocessing at Sellafield: What is nuclear reprocessing?

Last edited 9 November 2001 at 9:00am
Publication date: 
9 November, 2001

Nuclear reprocessing involves chopping up the 'spent'nuclear fuel from a nuclear reactor, then dissolving it in nitric acid. The process was designed to separate out plutonium from the other radioactive products in waste fuel - for the production of nuclear weapons and for use in (now abandoned) fast-breeder reactors. 

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Article tagged as: nuclear power, nuclear waste, reports, reprocessing

What is nuclear power?

Last edited 9 November 2001 at 9:00am
Publication date: 
9 November, 2001

Nuclear reactors and reprocessing plants were first designed and created to produce plutonium - for nuclear weapons. Electricity was simply a by-product. The first nuclear power station in Britain was built at Calder Hall in Cumbria, in 1953. And when this was connected to the national grid in 1956, it became the first nuclear power station in the world to provide electricity.

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Article tagged as: nuclear power, reports

Wylfa archive

Last edited 9 November 2001 at 9:00am
The Greenpeace 'Keep Wylfa shut' campaign ran during 2001 when Wylfa nuclear power station in north west Anglesey closed due to the discovery of defects in some welds inside the reactor pressure vessel in April 2000.


A failure of these welds could have lead to a significant release of radioactivity into the environment, putting people's health at risk.

Article tagged as: BNFL, nuclear accidents, nuclear power, reactor safety, wylfa

Greenpeace challenge the Sellafield MOX plant

Posted by bex — 9 November 2001 at 9:00am - Comments
Sellafield nuclear plant

Sellafield nuclear plant

After a total of five separate public consultation exercises, beginning in February 1997, the Government has finally approved the start of operations at the Sellafield MOX Plant. The plant will manufacture fuel (made from mixed oxides of plutonium and uranium - hence MOX) for nuclear power stations using material recovered from old, exhausted (or 'spent') fuel rods. The MOX fuel will initially be manufactured for the export market and will be dispatched on armed ships or perhaps even by plane direct from Sellafield in Cumbria.

Article tagged as: mox fuel, nuclear power, nuclear waste, plutonium, sellafield

Government in court over go-ahead for Sellafield MOX plant

Last edited 6 November 2001 at 9:00am
6 November, 2001

Date: Thursday, 8th November, 2001
Place: the High Court, The Strand, London, WC2

The Government is being taken to the High Court on Thursday 8th November to prevent the controversial new Sellafield plutonium plant from being opened. The joint legal challenge by Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth means a High Court Judge will judicially review the Government's recent decision to allow state-owned British Nuclear Fuels to give the go-ahead for the mixed oxide or MOX plant at Sellafield. BNFL is expected to switch on the plant later this month.

Article tagged as: BNFL, mox fuel, nuclear power, plutonium, press releases, sellafield

Gorsaf ynni niwclear Wylfa

Last edited 2 November 2001 at 9:00am
Publication date: 
21 March, 2007

Publication date: January 2001

Summary

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Article tagged as: BNFL, cymru, nuclear power