All staff at the Dounreay nuclear energy complex will get a free wind-up radio if there are no security breaches at the Caithness site for 60 days.
The challenge is laid down in the in-house magazine, Dounreay News, and started on Monday.
United Kingdom
Extracting a disaster
Saturday, December 6, 2008The increased sourcing of raw uranium that will arise from nuclear new build is an ethical and environmental nightmare currently being ignored by the government.
The World Nuclear Association (WNA), the trade body for companies that make up 90% of the industry, admits that in "emerging uranium producing countries" there is frequently no adequate environmental health and safety legislation, let alone monitoring. It is considerately proposing a Charter of Ethics containing principles of uranium stewardship for its members to follow. But this is a self-policing voluntary arrangement. Similarly, the International Atomic Energy Agency's safety guide to the Management of Radioactive Waste from the Mining and Milling of Ores (pdf) are not legally binding on operators.
Dump plan decision due next month
Friday, November 28, 2008HIGHLAND Councillors in the Far North will next month make their minds up about a new, low-active nuclear dump planned for Dounreay.
The development earmarked for land to the immediate south of the licensed site is being tabled at a meeting in Halkirk on December 17.
Coal power plan for nuclear site
Thursday, November 27, 2008A new coal-burning power plant, which would be the first conventional station to come on stream in Scotland since 1980, is being planned for the Firth of Clyde.
Denmark's state-owned energy company, Dong, has identified Hunterston, North Ayrshire, as the preferred site.
Art and radioactivity
Sunday, November 16, 2008Nuclear power is re-emerging as a concern for our times, both as a generator of energy and as part of a defence strategy. Today it seems to stand for the failed utopian promises of modernism and a fresh hope for a carbon-free future. The contradictions that lie at its core have provided a rich source of questioning for artists, scientists, ecologists and activists for many years. The Arts Catalyst's exhibition NUCLEAR: art & radioactivity explores these intricacies through two new commissioned works by Chris Oakley and Simon Hollington & Kypros Kyprianou.
CO2 cuts 'can be achieved without nuclear power'
Sunday, November 16, 2008MAJOR reductions in Scotland's greenhouse gas emissions can be achieved by 2050, experts said yesterday.
A Co2 cut of 75 per cent is possible even without controversial measures such as building nuclear power stations, they said.
Police office 'highlight' of trip
Sunday, November 16, 2008A visit to a police station was the highlight of a month-long trip to Scotland for youngsters affected by the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster.
Children from Gomel in Belarus, one of the countries impacted by the reactor explosion in 1986, were hosted on the station visit by Northern Constabulary.
Coal regains crown as slump in nuclear output raises fears of power shortages
Sunday, November 16, 2008ENERGY GAP: Power suppliers are turning back the clock to use coal-fired plants as their main source of electricity in a bid to avert potential shortages this winter.
POWER SUPPLIERS are turning back the clock to use coal-fired plants as their main source of electricity in a bid to avert potential shortages this winter.
Dounreay training team sets up off site
Sunday, November 16, 2008DOUNREAY'S training and development team has become the first of its potential spin-out businesses to move off the site.
The 12-strong group has relocated to Naver Business Centre in Thurso where there are better prospects for growth.
The nuclear reaction - A tour of Britain's nuclear power stations
Sunday, November 16, 2008It's clean, safe and – if done correctly – cheap. Yet thanks to a series of horrific, expensive blunders Britain remains terrified of nuclear power. From Sizewell B to Windscale, Paul Kendall tours the industry's greatest triumphs and disasters and asks: why so scared?
