Short items

French plant captures its carbon

Total’s gas-fired power plant in Lacq has become the first in the world to be retrofitted with a carbon capture and storage system. The waste CO2 will be pumped down a pipeline that previously supplied the plant with natural gas, and stored in the now-empty gas field. The €60 million (£53 million) project will bury 60,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. The gas field will be monitored to check the CO2 remains trapped. 

The Guardian, 9 April 2009 

Statins all round 

Results of a clinical trial of AstraZeneca’s cholesterol and heart disease drug Crestor (resuvastatin), involving 17,802 healthy people,have shown that the drug could reduce the risk of conditions involving blood clots, such as deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). The findings concentrate on people with high levels of a protein called CRP, which is linked to inflammation and heart problems.

The Times, 30 March 2009 

Man killed by chemical in his car 

A UK motorist traveling along the A1 died after exposure to the first world war nerve gas phosgene, produced by reaction of the industrial rabbit poison phostoxin with water. Police and paramedics called to the parked car had to be decontaminated and kept in hospital to ensure they were not suffering from phosgene poisoning. Police are not treating the death as suspicious.

Daily Record, 8 April 2009 

Boom turns to bust for uranium 

The prospect of a resurgence in nuclear power has fuelled a massive surge in uranium prices over the last few years, but a supply glut and political delays over commissioning new nuclear stations have seen prices drop from $138 (?92) per pound in 2007 to just $42. Long term prices are expected to recover as new plants are agreed.

Financial Times, 6 April 2009