LONDON: Britain yesterday said that it had reached a deal to take ownership of almost a tonne of foreign-owned plutonium now stored on British soil, as the government eyes turning spent nuclear waste into fuel for its next generation of nuclear plants. The government is seeking control of foreign-owned plutonium amongst a 123-tonne stockpile kept in northern England — the largest such civilian stockpile in the world — as it looks at ways to recycle the nuclear by-product into fuel that could power reactors over the coming decades. Plutonium also serves as one of the two major ingredients in nuclear bombs, along with highly enriched uranium. In a written statement to parliament, Energy Minister Michael Fallon said Britain would take ownership of 800kg of material from a Swedish utility firm and 140 kg from a German research organisation. Both stocks are already kept in Britain and no more plutonium would be brought into the country. Fallon said the deal was beneficial because it would allow the government to exert more national control over the future of plutonium stockpiles on British soil. Britain took charge of nearly three tonnes of German, Dutch and French plutonium in a deal last year. Almost all the 123 tonnes of plutonium in Britain is stored in northern England at the Sellafield reprocessing plant.
Talks on action to halt Ebola
ACCRA: West African ministers held emergency talks yesterday on containing the worst Ebola outbreak in history, hoping to halt the virus’ deadly rampage after a jump in the number of deaths. The highly-contagious tropical bug has infected hundreds of people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, with the latest World Health Organisation figures showing that confirmed or suspected cases had left 467 people dead and experts fearing it could spread throughout the region. Health ministers from 11 nations were due to finalise two days of talks in Accra with global experts in communicable diseases, with debate raging over the measures required to stop Ebola in its tracks. There are five species of Ebola, three of which — Zaire, Sudan and Bundibugyo — can kill humans. Zaire Ebola, the deadliest and the species behind the current outbreak, can fell its victims within days, causing severe fever and muscle pain, weakness, vomiting and diarrhea — in some cases shutting down organs and causing unstoppable bleeding. There have been 21 Ebola outbreaks since the virus first spread to humans in the Democratic Republic of Congo, then known as Zaire, in 1976.
Hurricane heads for North Carolina
RALEIGH: The first hurricane of the Atlantic season gained strength yesterday and is expected to attain Category 2 status as it reaches the North Carolina coast, where thousands of vacationers scrubbed their July 4 holiday plans amid evacuation orders. Hurricane Arthur was 175km south-southwest of Cape Fear, North Carolina, with current maximum sustained winds of 145km per hour), US forecasters said. Moving faster at 14 mph, the centre of the storm was now expected to brush close to the North Carolina Outer Banks with winds reaching up to 105mph, according to the US National Hurricane Center in Miami. Arthur would be the first hurricane to hit the US since Superstorm Sandy devastated New York and New Jersey in October 2012 and caused $70bn estimated damage.
Govt denies meddling in Sarkozy case
PARIS: France’s Socialist government yesterday rejected claims that it was using the justice system for political ends after ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy accused his enemies of being behind corruption charges. Charged with three corruption-related counts on Wednesday, the right-winger angrily hit back in a televised interview, denying he broke the law and denouncing “political interference” in the case. Sarkozy insisted his political career was not over, but an opinion poll released yesterday showed that nearly two-thirds of French voters against a comeback by the conservative who ran France from 2007 to 2012. “The judiciary is independent, there is no longer any intervention,” government spokesman Stephane Le Foll told Europe 1 radio. “Some people have a hard time believing this, for reasons I don’t want to comment on,” Le Foll said. Agencies
