Nuclear Project Hits Obstacle As Exelon Balks – WSJ.com
Nuclear Project Hits Obstacle As Exelon Balks THE WALL STREET JOURNAL By REBECCA SMITH 27 Nov 08
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy has a problem with its latest nuclear reactor: getting someone to build it.
A decision by Exelon Corp. to drop the next-generation GE Hitachi reactor at the Chicago firm’s proposed Texas nuclear project casts a shadow over the design that, so far, exists only on paper and is mired in a difficult certification process at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Exelon said this week it no longer intends to build GE Hitachi’s ESBWR reactor — short for “economic simplified boiling water reactor” — if it proceeds with its project because it has concluded the reactor can’t clear regulatory hurdles fast enough for Exelon to qualify for federal loan guarantees. The decision is significant because Exelon is the largest operator of nuclear reactors in the U.S.
The Argosy.ca
Canada’s deadly secret Retired professor visits Mount Allison to discuss Canada’s nuclear industry Argosy.ca 29 Nov 08 By Zoe Williams This Sunday, Jim Harding, a retired professor, and author of the book Canada’s Deadly Secret, visited Mount Allison and gave a talk that shed some light on a Canadian secret – the nuclear industry.
According to Harding, there is a concerted push in this country to expand the nuclear sector, which includes both mining and nuclear plants, and indirectly, nuclear weapons.
Canada, he said, has been at the forefront of the nuclear industry since the beginning, and although today, there is a decline in interest in nuclear globally,…………………..we are the major producer of uranium and that is an environmental carcinogen that we are exporting around the world, that we need to start thinking in terms of environmental ethics a little more, that Canada is not a leader in renewable energy, and there are reasons why, because the non-renewable sector is so powerful as a lobby.”
Harding blames the powerful business interests behind non-renewable energy, including nuclear, for stifling Canadian innovation……………….The nuclear industry has promoted itself as being both more efficient and more environmentally friendly than fossil fuel-based energy, but Harding said this is demonstrably false.
“They have over their 60 some year history, falsely promoted themselves as being a cheap source of energy, and all the economics show that when you do full costing, they are five or six times the cost, and I don’t know how you do cost-management of plutonium over thousands of years.”
“They promote themselves as peaceful, when it is a carcinogenic product, let alone that it finds its way into the weapons stream and they have promoted themselves as safe in terms of the radiation, when the cumulated knowledge all over the world shows that the levels of radiation that are permissible under regulations are going to increase cancers and particularly childhood cancers around nuclear facilities…they are doing what the tobacco industry did around smoking and cancer.”
Why has this dangerous and inefficient industry been as successful in Canada as it has been? Harding believes the answer lies in the support it receives from the government, in the form of subsidies.
“If these subsidies were pulled they wouldn’t be around, they are state backed [...]”
The reasons for these subsidies come from the historical connection between nuclear energy and weapons manufacturing.
Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, radioactive, uranium
Nuclear waste piles up in state – PittsburghLIVE.com
Nuclear waste piles up in state By Andrew Conte
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, November 28, 2008The Beaver Valley Power Station in Shippingport could run out of space for its low-level radioactive waste in two to five years.
A local university and hospital have changed their practices so they don’t have to keep radioactive isotopes on their campuses.
The problem is that Pennsylvania, like 35 other states, no longer has a place to get rid of its low-level radioactive waste. That means anyone generating the material has to store it, at least temporarily, until a permanent site becomes available.
And that could take years…………….With the waste scattered at sites across the United States rather than in one central depository, some critics fear it is more vulnerable to terrorism and could be used to build a “dirty” bomb, an explosive device that spreads radioactive material……………….About three-quarters of the waste comes from nuclear power plants. Ninety of the nation’s 104 nuclear power plants no longer have a place to dispose of Class B and C waste
The Sydney Morning Herald: national, world, business, entertainment, sport and technology news from Australia’s leading newspaper.
Solar wants tax break
Ben Cubby
November 28, 2008
RENEWABLE energy researchers and businesses believe the Federal Government is allowing Australia to become a solar backwater, and that the proposed emissions trading scheme is not enough to help the nation meet its clean energy targets.
A new national tariff that pays households for all the green power they can produce is essential to make renewable energy competitive with cheaper coal-fired power, according to many delegates at an international conference in Sydney.
“We’re ready to go, the technology is ready to go, the investors are ready to go,” said Dr David Mills, the Australian chairman of the solar thermal company Ausra, of California.
Govt offers further funding for Indigenous environmental projects – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Govt offers further funding for Indigenous environmental projects ABC News 29 Nov 08 The Federal Government says it is offering more opportunities for Aboriginal groups to get funding for environmental projects.It has announced more targets for its $2 billion Caring for Our Country Program, including employing 300 more Indigenous rangers.It also wants to pay Aboriginal communities to conserve biodiversity, and fight weeds and feral animals on an extra 2 million hectares of their land each year.The Australian Conservation Foundation’s Corey Watts says more money is needed to make a real difference to the environment, and it will be good for many communities.”One of the main criteria for funding for many projects, specifically projects linked to Indigenous communities, is that Indigenous communities benefit socially and economically, as well as in terms of improving land health,” he said.”So there are real opportunities here for Government money to catalyse real economic and regional development opportunities.”
Mr Watts says overall the amount of money being spent will still only scratch the surface of what is needed.
“There’s a recognition that Northern Australia has a special culture, has special social issues to deal with and has special natural heritage,” he said.
“A lot of that is still fairly intact. We have a good chance of preserving that, and of developing economic opportunities for communities in the north from conservation.”
1 THIS MONTH
- http://ifyoulovethisplanet.org/?p=5755 Mary Olson on how women are more vulnerable to atomic radiation
of the week http://www.youtube.com/user/GoddardsJournal
Low-Dose Radiation ☢ NEW A-Bomb Study http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VAncqK6bl0&feature=share
“Pay-to-print”: How Media Corruption Undermines Indian Democracy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbjsQ_dYuJQ&feature=share
VIDEO http://vimeo.com/35212151 Cancer Risk To Young Children Near Fukushima Daiichi Underestimated
- and this VIDEO Kazakhstan’s Nuclear Legacy http://www.euronews.com/2010/04/14/kazakhstan-s-nuclear-legacy/
ACTION
USA EMERGENCY PLANNING PETITION NOW OPEN FOR PUBLIC COMMENT
PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS IN FAVOR OF EXPANDING EMERGENCY PLANNING ZONES; IMPROVING REGULATIONS The deadline for public comments is July 16, 2012. You can submit your comments here. more information at http://nuclear-news.net/action/
- Shut down the nuclear restart. Sign now!! http://www.avaaz.org/en/japan_no_to_nuclear_restart_ms/
- Stop Kudankulam - Please sign http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5502/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=10090 –
EVENTS – USA
- May 31 - Portland, Maine, Bonnie Raitt benefit concert for New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution
The Nuclear Industry and WOMEN- theme for May 2012
Women in organisations Strongly present in anti-nuclear activities in peace, environmental, religious and civil liberties, women have also formed their own anti-nuclear organisations . e.g. Women’s International League For Peace and Freedom, Women For Peace. Women Against Nuclear Power, Women Against Nuclear Energy,
“When it comes to opposing nuclear power in Finland, the toughest and most active and conspicuous resistance has been among women. A rather small group of women working as teachers, freelance editors, authors and in rather alternative professions. Women who perfectly well are aware of the fact that they are far too radical to be promoted for high posts within traditional parties or getting well-paying jobs in some big companies. Women who are not trying to reach equality on male values. These women have kept the resistance alive, have invited foreign speakers getting through in the mass media, have arranged post-card campaigns aiming at parliamentarians, have written inserts in daily newspapers, have collected signatures from organizations worldwide against nuclear power, etc.
If women had been asked if nuclear power should be used for energy production or if nuclear weapons should be produced there would hardly be any nuclear power stations in the world and no nuclear weapons. Women represent half of humanity. Our voice must be heard! “- Ulla Klötzer WISE – Nuclear issues information service service
Below, a note on some of the courageous women who have stood out against the nuclear forces and apologies for the thousands of such women who are not mentioned here
Dr Helen Caldicott. - Australia and The World. The single most articulate and passionate advocate of citizen action to remedy the nuclear and environmental crises, Dr Helen Caldicott, has devoted the last 38 years to an international campaign to educate the public about the medical hazards of the nuclear age and the necessary changes in human behavior to stop environmental destruction. Helen Caldicott – About
Jean McSorley. – UK. A prolific writer and activist, Jean McSorley has advised government and environmental organisations, in the UK and abroad, for many years revealing the facts about Sellafield, and other UK nuclear facilities.
Her MajestyQueen Noor ofJordan is an international humanitarian activist and an outspoken voice on issues of world peace and justice. Today Her Majesty Queen Noor plays a major role in promoting international exchange and understanding of Arab and Muslim culture and politics, Arab-Western relations, and conflict prevention. Queen Noor | Global Zero
Ulla Klötzer - Finland. A powerful speaker and writer, Ulla Klötzer continues to oppose uranium mining, nuclear proliferation, and to expose the construction of Finlands reactor, Olkiluto OL 3 – the biggest nuclear reactor in the world.
Satomi Oba – Japan. Another leading voice for non-proliferation and disarmament was Japan’s Satomi Oba, former president of Plutonium Action Hiroshima and chair member of the international non-proliferation movement Abolition 2000. For decades before her untimely death in February 2005, Oba organized grassroots events, spoke to international groups and broke ground for other activists
Dianne Stokes – Australia An Aboriginal elder of the Yapa Yapa clan, which owns land at Muckaty in the Northern Territory, has for years continued the fight against the Australian government’s plan to put a nuclear waste dump on Aboriginal land, – resisting enormous pressure from powerful interests and politicians Toxic feelings at proposed nuclear dump – National – smh.com.au
Jean Grossholtz – (USA) Professor emeritus at the Dept. of Women’s Studies, Mt. Holyoke College, Jean helped organize the Women’s Pentagon Action (1980-82) and has long been active in peace and social justice work.
Ellen Diederich – Germany A peace activist for more than three decades, Ellen Diederich is Director of the German-based International Fasia Jansen Women’s Peace Archive, an extensive collection of books, print, audio-visual and artistic resources on women and militarism and women’s action for peace, world-wide, collected over 25 years.
Corazon Valdez Fabros - Philippines A lawyer by profession, Corazon Fabros is Chairperson of the Pacific Concerns Resource Centre (the Secretariat of the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Movement) and Secretary General of the Nuclear Free Philippines Coalition, which led the successful campaign to stop the nuclear power plant projects in the Philippines . Currently Philippine Coordinator of the No Nukes Asia Forum and the International Network on Military Activities and Environmental Justice.
Karen Silkwood remembered In 1974, US anti-nuclear activist Karen Silkwood was killed in a car crash many suspect was deliberately caused by the Kerr McGee nuclear company.Karen Silkwood will be remembered as someone who fought an uphill and often unpopular battle against the ruthless nuclear industry. She is an inspiration to all who believe in environmental justice and workers’ rights BY SHARYN JENKINS. Karen Silkwood remembered | Green Left Weekly
Much of the material here was obtained from Women and Life on Earth: English by Anna Gyorgy, Women & Life on Earth Network coordinator, English website editor. Contact:info(at)wloe.org
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