View Full Version : The end of Thurso as we know it!!!
Thousands, yes thousands of jobs to go at Dounreay over the next 15 years. OK, its old news to us,we all knew it was going to happen but will it be the end of Thurso as we know it??
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-12619375
C3.....:(:(
weezer 316
02-Mar-11, 19:21
Probably. Dounreay is the backbone of the entire county. Still be in horse and carts if it wasnt for it.
They will need to employ a few folk before they can punt 2000
Have no fear Alex is here - he claims his party will drive forward its green energy plans and make Scotland into, "the world's first hydro-economy – wisely exploiting our water to help drive our economy".
Licences have already been issued to develop wave power generation around the north coast on Caithness - we're saved!;)
Have no fear Alex is here - he claims his party will drive forward its green energy plans and make Scotland into, "the world's first hydro-economy – wisely exploiting our water to help drive our economy".
Licences have already been issued to develop wave power generation around the north coast on Caithness - we're saved!;)
Phew!!!...So we wont be going back to the horse and cart then?
Shame, I was looking forward to a slower pace of life!!!
C3.....:roll:;)
John Little
02-Mar-11, 21:56
There was this guy called Jim Mather on the radio this afternoon saying that Scotland was rich in energy. Maybe he means windfarms in Caithness....
Dog-eared
02-Mar-11, 22:02
There'll be plenty of golden handshakes distributed. Most employees will stay here.
It's the younger folk in Caithness who will suffer the decline if the renewables thing doesn't stick onto Caithness.
At one time a Dounreay apprenticeship stood you well in the world - Merchant Navy , offshore oil, etc.
I hope the engineering apprenticeship scheme advertised in the local rag works out Ok for the trainees.
There was this guy called Jim Mather on the radio this afternoon saying that Scotland was rich in energy. Maybe he means windfarms in Caithness....
I woudnt think so John, lets face it, Caithness and Sutherland arent really Scottish are they?.......They are too remote even for the Scottish Govt never mind the English one. They have been used as a dumping ground for years and left out in the cold as far as investment and jobs. Its no wonder that so many up here are on benefits and the Govt's dont bat an eyelid because they know full well that there arent any jobs to apply for.
Never mind, in 50 years time when England and the Central Belt are full to capacity they might just get around to investing up here, but dont hold your breath!!
C3.....:(
There'll be plenty of golden handshakes distributed. .
I wouldnt bank on that, there aint much golden about a compulsary redundancy package
There'll be plenty of golden handshakes distributed. Most employees will stay here.
Do you think so Dog Eared?,Have a read of this, I think many more dirty tricks will be pulled by the employers.
http://news.stv.tv/scotland/highlands-islands/174352-dounreay-clean-up-staff-in-redundancy-row/
Thousands, yes thousands of jobs to go at Dounreay over the next 15 years. OK, its old news to us,we all knew it was going to happen but will it be the end of Thurso as we know it??
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-12619375
C3.....:(:(
Wasn't the opening of Dounreay the end of Thurso as you knew it?
ah but wait for the closure of Vulcan.
given the cancelation of Nimrod- the plane that supports Trident, and Call me Dave's and Georgi Osby's determination to save money at all costs on defence, it's inevitable
But with all that property in Caithness dropping in price every moment- just wait until the great unwashed who will no longer afford London rent on housing benefit will be coming to a street near you- very soon
Great, will they bring jellied eels?:D
But with all that property in Caithness dropping in price every moment- just wait until the great unwashed who will no longer afford London rent on housing benefit will be coming to a street near you- very soon[/QUOTE]
The same is occurring in other parts of the World. Was the property ever worth the triple increase that was seen over the past 10/15 years?
Also some really interesting stuff!
1. I read on here some time ago that the normal way to make an offer on a house/property was to offer 10% over the asking price...
2. That to put in an offer below the ask price was called a 'Cheeky Offer'........
Gosh properties in the North are presently going for quite a bit cheaper than the asking 'Fixed Price'.......Sometimes perhaps 30%.
One property on the ORG started at 380k and is now listed at 240k!!!!!!!
I had been interested in a House in Caithness a couple of years ago, but the owner held out for much more that I was willing to pay. I now see that the Solicitor has 'Offers' on it......
There is a theory which simplifies it all....What goes up must some down!
[QUOTE=Corrie 3;826002]I woudnt think so John, lets face it, Caithness and Sutherland arent really Scottish are they?.......They are too remote even for the Scottish Govt never mind the English one. They have been used as a dumping ground for years and left out in the cold as far as investment and jobs. Its no wonder that so many up here are on benefits and the Govt's dont bat an eyelid because they know full well that there arent any jobs to apply for.
Never mind, in 50 years time when England and the Central Belt are full to capacity they might just get around to investing up here, but dont hold your breath!!
C3> I've been saying that for many years. Even on here and got shot down for it.
ah but wait for the closure of Vulcan.
given the cancelation of Nimrod- the plane that supports Trident, and Call me Dave's and Georgi Osby's determination to save money at all costs on defence, it's inevitable
The closure of Vulcan was decided long before the defence review.
oldmarine
06-Mar-11, 17:54
Thousands, yes thousands of jobs to go at Dounreay over the next 15 years. OK, its old news to us,we all knew it was going to happen but will it be the end of Thurso as we know it??
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-12619375
C3.....:(:(
After reading this article I find it difficult to understand what it has to do with Thurso. What did I miss?
After reading this article I find it difficult to understand what it has to do with Thurso. What did I miss?
Dounreay is the only thing that keeps Thurso going Oldmarine, once all the jobs have gone and the white settlers have returned "home" then Thurso will be a run down old town that will need massive investment which I am sure it wont get.
Wick is in dire need of investment but there is little chance of that also and it will remain a town of Charity shops and Bookies.
Sad really, we are really left out in the cold up here by the UK and Scottish Govt's I feel!
C3....:(
John Little
06-Mar-11, 18:35
Back in the 1950s Thurso faced the same problem and your local MP lobbied for a nuclear site.
In Kenya the same phenomenon is happening.
http://www.nation.co.ke/business/news/Govt+seeks+site+for+nuclear+power+producing+unit++/-/1006/1120008/-/151bm2hz/-/index.html
The SNP appears to be pretty isolated in thinking that nuclear power has no future, judging by what other nations are doing.
You may have a new government after May; seems to me that some lobbying may be in order...
Do I remember wrong or didn't socialists used to demonstrate and protest about nuclear weapons and defence spending?
Now I think they will be manning the baracades in support. :confused
Yes, why is the National party of Scotland against Nukes? Mr Salmond needs to give himself a shake.
Tidal, wind and solar power are at this time and for the foreseable future just a dream....Was reading an article by analysts who predicted it will take years to have any of them fine tuned......
John Little
06-Mar-11, 19:20
Yes, why is the National party of Scotland against Nukes? Mr Salmond needs to give himself a shake.
Tidal, wind and solar power are at this time and for the foreseable future just a dream....Was reading an article by analysts who predicted it will take years to have any of them fine tuned......
Be careful!
We agree on something.
Nationalists and Socialists should take a back seat sometimes and allow Pragmatists to do the driving.
The best asset of Thurso has been its people, their skills and attitudes. Many of them have been used to having nuclear power on their doorstep and do not have the superstitions about it which are common away from such places. Further, many of them have great skills, which lead the world in the handling of radioactive material.
And Dounreay has made its mistakes.
That's how you learn not to make others.
Was there not some talk of having a nuclear waste facility at Dounreay for some time? With Japan, Korea, China, India, Korea, Iraq et al going down the nuclear road, as well as England and Wales having 10 new nuclear power stations will the waste not have to be processed somewhere?
Seems to me that the strength of Dounreay and Thurso is right there - you have the future but it is being taken away from you by an act of politics outside Caithness.
Get round all the emotive baggage about dumping the world's nuclear dirt in Caithness and ask who leads the world in the handling of it?
Wha's like ye?
NIREX
That's opening another can of worms.:lol:
John Little
06-Mar-11, 19:31
I am aware of it.
It has to be done somewhere.
Why not by the best in the world?
I was open minded during the enquiry in the 80s. Still am.
John Little
06-Mar-11, 19:36
The 80s is a long time ago.
I wonder where FOE and Greenpeace would rather have waste processed? In some labour cheap developing country where they take shortcuts or where it is done properly?
Or again.
Which is best?
A prospering Thurso with decommissioning plant.
Or a ghost town and a ghost county with population plummeting.
I have much more hope for Thurso than this thread displays. The old doom and gloom gene is in overdrive these days.
Sure. a nuclear waste repository at Dounreay would be a bonus (maybe) but Thursos changing not dying.
John Little
06-Mar-11, 19:40
That is most encouraging to hear.
I read that the cost of erecting new Towers/Power Lines...the infrastructure...from Caithness South, was a huge impediment. It was not cost effective.
I read that the cost of erecting new Towers/Power Lines...the infrastructure...from Caithness South, was a huge impediment. It was not cost effective.
It's unlikely they would build a nuclear power station up here sandy but the waste from other nuclear power stations have to be stored somewhere until it's safe to flush down the sink. About 50,000 years, apparently. :eek:
It's unlikely they would build a nuclear power station up here sandy but the waste from other nuclear power stations have to be stored somewhere until it's safe to flush down the sink. About 50,000 years, apparently. :eek:
Yes we are sending 'stuff' to Sweden as we speak......Perhaps part of this whole problem is that they already 'flushed some stuff' without knowing the toxicity. Both in the Uk and around the World...
I read the Russians and perhaps others are sinking their Nuke ships in the deepest parts of the ocean, just to get rid of them. Accidental they call it!
And I am sure that Thursaaaaaaa will not disappear...just slow down.....Alho it is frightening to see all the 'jackets' walking in the Toon after 5pm.
Dog-eared
06-Mar-11, 23:36
I don't think storing waste for the 50,000 years required is entered in many nuclear power plant's operating costs ? It should be.
If it's stored in Caithness, who is going to maintain the facility for even 1000 years ?
Out of sight , out of mind. For the people who don't have to live here.
If our present legacy, after discharging all that of nuclear waste from Dounreay , happened in a fully functioning plant like Dounreay was, who's going to be trusted to look after even more tons of the really hoach'in stuff for generations to come ?
If our present legacy, after discharging all that of nuclear waste from Dounreay , happened in a fully functioning plant like Dounreay was, who's going to be trusted to look after even more tons of the really hoach'in stuff for generations to come ?
I understand the sentiment, but you can't compare Dounreay, and its problems, to new build, commercial plants.
Dounreay was an experiment. Mistakes were made and lessons learned.
There's commercial plants all over the world operating well and not producing a fraction of the waste.
John Little
07-Mar-11, 10:08
"Out of sight , out of mind. For the people who don't have to live here."
I don't get that.
I never have.
It makes Caithness/Thurso sound like a victim.
You could easily say the same of Dungeness, the nuclear power station down the road from me which is fully functioning. True, it does not own Kent because Kent has a diverse economy, but they were going to build an experimental nuclear establishment somewhere in the 1950s. The local MP lobbied very hard for Caithness and for economic reasons, though it was not the first choice. Hinton favoured the West coast somewhere.
You could also say the same about rubbish tips, or oil refineries or recycling plants or chemical works. All of which are dangerous and potential polluters.
Nuclear waste has to be re-processed somewhere. Where-ever it is done it will stimulate jobs and the local economy.
If they choose to do it at Dungeness I do not mind.
We are moving to Somerset this year - and if they choose to reprocess waste at Hinckley Point then I do not mind.
The location is, to me irrelevant. TheOne has it right - mistakes were made and lessons learned. The point is that you have, currently, some of the most able decommissioning teams in the world in Caithness.
Accident of History it may be - but if you want all that to fade and disappear then along with that must be an acceptance that the economy will shrink too unless something drastic happens.
Is something drastic going to happen?
rob murray
07-Mar-11, 13:55
After reading this article I find it difficult to understand what it has to do with Thurso. What did I miss?
"Thousands of jobs to go at Dounreay over next 15 years" : yes doesnt directly mention Thurso, but as Thurso has the most Dounreay related workers then make the connection yourself
Shabbychic
07-Mar-11, 14:37
Why so much doom and gloom. As someone previously mentioned, Thurso, and Caithness are changing, not dying.
Check some of these out. Scotland and Norway (http://www.just4theplanet.com/?p=5694). WWF's Report (http://www.thecourier.co.uk/News/National/article/10380/scotland-can-take-initiative-in-hunt-for-renewable-energy-billions.html). Moray Offshore Renewables (http://www.ukoffshorewind.com/news/morl-announce-scoping-study.aspx). ScottishPower Renewables (http://www.caithnesschamber.com/news/index.asp?Article=1175).
There are lots of things going on out there. Losing Dounreay is not the end of the world, nor the end of Thurso.
oldmarine
07-Mar-11, 19:14
I have much more hope for Thurso than this thread displays. The old doom and gloom gene is in overdrive these days.
Sure. a nuclear waste repository at Dounreay would be a bonus (maybe) but Thursos changing not dying.
gleeber: Your comment is the best news I have read so far. Thurso was amongst my favorite towns. Also Castletown. Sure hope things look up for them also.
Sad really, we are really left out in the cold up here by the UK and Scottish Govt's I feel!
C3....:(
I guess there is where, as a Yank, I get confused. The government is never going to give you a fair shake - ever. The county's jobs and well being should be in the hands of the local population. What Caithness needs is more freedom to innovate, not more government aid. I have great faith in the Scottish work ethic and history of innovation, if given enough freedom these problems can be overcome in a decade or less.
Has there been any consideration for building new, more powerful and cleaner nuclear power generation facilities on or near the Dounreay site? "Green" energy is all nice and posh, but can it keep the lights on?
Bruce H
Has there been any consideration for building new, more powerful and cleaner nuclear power generation facilities on or near the Dounreay site? "Green" energy is all nice and posh, but can it keep the lights on?
Bruce H
Good post Bruce.
But the answer is no.
The Scottish Government has the authority to allow or prevent developments of a certain size/nature. Power plants are one of them.
The SNP are in charge, and they are anti-nuclear.
Potential sites for Britain's new nuclear builds were looked into a couple of years ago, and decisions taken on where they should be. Scotland was discounted because of the stance of the SNP.
It's a real shame, because one of the desirable qualities for potential sites was that they were currently nuclear licenced. Dounreay would have been a good candidate.
That said, it probably wouldn't be economically viable to build a major power generator up here, the losses transferring the power to the main population centres are too great.
It's strange that isn't the case for the windmills................
John Little
11-Mar-11, 07:44
"That said, it probably wouldn't be economically viable to build a major power generator up here, the losses transferring the power to the main population centres are too great.
It's strange that isn't the case for the windmills................"
My thoughts are exactly in tune with yours .....
orkneycadian
11-Mar-11, 09:44
"That said, it probably wouldn't be economically viable to build a major power generator up here, the losses transferring the power to the main population centres are too great.
It's strange that isn't the case for the windmills................"
Odd - Didn't seem to be a problem when Dounreay was built first time round! Or the hydro schemes!
Major new build tender at Sellafield has just been issued, sorry mislaid the link, back in a minute.........
here it is: http://www.publictenders.net/tenders/archive/70722
Odd - Didn't seem to be a problem when Dounreay was built first time round! Or the hydro schemes!
Dounreay was never built to be an economically viable power station. It was an experiment.
As for the hydro schemes, there's little choice in where to site them, they were put where the land allowed. That said, hydro power is produced by the potential energy provided by the rain. Any "losses" are not at cost to the producer.
There's nothing odd about it, times and priorities change.
Good post Bruce.
That said, it probably wouldn't be economically viable to build a major power generator up here, the losses transferring the power to the main population centres are too great.
It's strange that isn't the case for the windmills................
Bah! Not so. The project to build the high power connector to the south or even east to Scandinavia or north to Orkney would be a hugely productive use of public funds if you had a nice big power plant in Caithness to drive it. The world needs more energy. Energy drives commerce and quality of life. Cheap, reliable energy is a economic advantage to any country or region that has it. Shame the SNP is against a reliable, on demand power source that emits no carbon.
Bruce H
....The Scottish Government has the authority to allow or prevent developments of a certain size/nature. Power plants are one of them.
The SNP are in charge, and they are anti-nuclear....... Dounreay would have been a good candidate.
..........
So if we can lose the SNP ........
So if we can lose the SNP ........
Possibly. But I think the decision on new build has lready started/been taken.
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