HazardEx - Regional News

Regional News

US Hanford nuclear plant is degrading, environment at risk

12 July 2019

A new report from the US Department of Energy has said that a plant at the Hanford nuclear site in the State of Washington is at risk of releasing radioactive contamination into the environment. The PUREX (Plutonium Uranium Extraction) plant is heavily contaminated having been used to produce plutonium for the US defence programme up until the 1980s....
HSE releases annual UK workplace fatality figures

11 July 2019

On July 3, the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) released its provisional annual figures for work-related fatal injuries for 2018/19. These revealed that 147 workers were fatally injured between April 2018 and March 2019 (a rate of 0.45 per 100,000 workers)....
Fire at Russian power plant kills one, injures 13

11 July 2019

A fire broke out at a thermal power plant near Moscow on July 11 killing a woman and injuring 13 people. The blaze started at a natural gas pipeline on the premises of the power plant before being extinguished by firefighters a few hours later....
SPE Offshore Europe 2019 - Breakthrough to excellence

11 July 2019

As the global climate change debate heats up and the oil and gas industry embraces a more digitalised and sustainable role in the energy transition, leaders and innovators from across the energy mix will unite at SPE Offshore Europe 2019 in Aberdeen, Scotland....
Black lung disease on the rise among US coal miners

10 July 2019

Cases of coal miners suffering from pneumoconiosis, also known as black lung disease, are on the rise in the US despite regulations on dust exposure in mining. University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) researchers suggest that the increased rates of the disease could be a result of greater exposure to silica dust, likely due to the mining of ever-narrowing coal seams that require cutting through large amounts of rock to access....

Hazardex Conference & Exhibition returns to Harrogate 10 July 2019

The 2020 Hazardex International Conference and Exhibition will take place on February 26 and 27 at the Majestic Hotel in Harrogate, north-eastern England, its original home. For the last five years the event was located at Runcorn in Cheshire, but before that was run very successfully in the elegant North Yorkshire spa town....

UK downstream oil sector maps out its future in a low-carbon world 09 July 2019

A new report from the UK Petroleum Industry Association (UKPIA) outlines the opportunities across the downstream oil sector – from the refinery to the forecourt – that can help companies decarbonise their operations, provide a new generation of low-carbon liquid fuels to consumers and ensure that the industry continues to be a major contributor to the UK economy....

New technologies are gearing up to find fugitive methane leaks 09 July 2019

A suite of new technologies may soon be patrolling for fugitive — invisible but harmful — natural gas leaks from the oil and gas sector. The University of Calgary's recent study suggests that drones, aircraft, trucks, fixed sensors and even satellites may be poised to help find gas leaks quickly, preventing damage to the environment and human health....

New safe drilling guidance published by Coal Authority 08 July 2019

The UK Coal Authority has updated its guidance to the geotechnical community on the management of hazardous gases when drilling or piling through coal. Forty industry professionals were given an outline of the new drilling guidance during an event at the Coal Authority’s Mansfield headquarters....

Lightning strike at US whiskey warehouse destroys nine million litres 04 July 2019

A fire at the Jim Beam bourbon whiskey warehouse in Versailles, Kentucky, was started by a lightning strike, company owner Beam Suntory said on July 3. Local media said some 45,000 barrels of ageing whiskey were destroyed in the blaze, equivalent to 6.75 million bottles or nine million litres....