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Go tell it on the mountain | Gristmill: The environmental news blog | Grist

Will the push to open Yucca Mountain shift Nevada toward Obama?
– Grist  by Kate Sheppard  01 Oct 2008 The Bush administration is pushing full speed ahead with plans to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain — and that could affect the presidential race in the battleground state of Nevada, where John McCain and Barack Obama are in a dead heat……………………………Most Nevadans probably aren’t concerned about the particulars of radiation standards set for tens of thousands of years from now — they are just generally opposed to the idea of 77,700 tons of waste being shipped to a site 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The state has petitioned the NRC to reject the federal government’s license application………………………Anti-Yucca sentiment, brought front of mind by the Bush administration’s recent moves to push the project forward, would seem to benefit Obama; he’s opposed to using Yucca as a waste site while McCain is a longtime supporter of the idea.

Go tell it on the mountain | Gristmill: The environmental news blog | Grist

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October 4, 2008 Posted by | politics | Leave a comment

Pakistan demands rights to nuclear power after India deal is sealed – Telegraph

Pakistan demands rights to nuclear power after India deal is sealedPakistan has demanded access to international nuclear technology to power its energy-starved economy after a landmark agreement between India and America gained Congressional approval.

Telegraph.co.uk by Damien McElroy and Rahul Bedi in New Dehli
02 Oct 2008

By testing nuclear weapons in defiance of non-proliferation treaties, the sub-continental neighbours were atomic pariahs until India struck a safeguard agreement with the international community. In a move predicted by critics of the deal, Pakistan is now demanding its own exemptions.

“Now Pakistan also has the right to demand a civilian nuclear agreement with America,” Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani told reporters. “We want there to be no discrimination. Pakistan will also strive for a nuclear deal and we think they will have to accommodate us.”

The US-India pact enables nuclear-related exports from the West to a market forecast to exceed £15 billion by 2025. France has already emerged as a leading beneficiary after signing a separate agreement that paves the way for it to sell advanced electricity reactors to India. Once it relaxes its ban on exports to India, Australia is expected to emerge as a leading supplier of uranium to the country.

Pakistan demands rights to nuclear power after India deal is sealed – Telegraph

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October 4, 2008 Posted by | weapons and war | Leave a comment

SCMP.com – the online edition of South China Morning Post, Hong Kong’s premier English-language newspaper

India’s nuclear deal sets a worrying example South China Morning Post

Oct 03, 2008
India’s landmark nuclear deal with the United States ostensibly authorises trade in fuel and technology for civilian use only. But as a country that has tested nuclear weapons and never signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty, there is a danger it will enable India to develop further its nuclear programme, civilian or otherwise. US President George W. Bush’s administration has been an advocate of the deal since 2005, but the two houses of Congress have only come around to sanctioning it now, mainly because of proliferation concerns. India has already signed a similar agreement with France. …

SCMP.com – the online edition of South China Morning Post, Hong Kong’s premier English-language newspaper

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October 4, 2008 Posted by | weapons and war | Leave a comment

Power from the People | Hard News

Power from the People

“HARD NEWS 4 October 08………..Geussing, a tiny Austrian town of less than 30,000 people……………..the entire renewable energy experiment took off and Geussing’s 27 different decentralised power plants became the talk of the towns elsewhere. Today, the energy turnover here is worth about 14 million euros, providing power to 1,500 households, schools and a hospital. The industrial and commercial sectors are heated by a biomass plant while 50 farmers are responsible for the distribution of fuel to different sectors in the city and electricity generation is a 150 per cent.Much of the profit is naturally invested back into more renewable energy projects. The town is famous now for using clean energy that is affordable. People are flooding back into the area where similar enterprises provide thousands of new job opportunities even as the place remains unaffected by the rising price of oil and gas elsewhere.Two decades ago, none would dream of associating an ill-lit Geussing with the glamorous world of tourism. Today, the region’s reputation as an eco-tourism destination is soaring.Nearly 30,000 visitors from all over the globe came here in 2007, mostly to find out how Geussing’s switch to solar power, biomass and bio-diesel could eventually help the entire country to meet more than 50 per cent of its energy needs from renewables by 2020.

Power from the People | Hard News

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October 4, 2008 Posted by | ENERGY | Leave a comment

Political Intelligence – The Texas Observer

Dump and Dumber
The Texas Observer by Forrest Wilder October 03, 2008 | Political Intelligence  – “………………….The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality convened the meeting to gather public input on a proposal by Waste Control Specialists to bury up to 28 million cubic feet of low-level radioactive waste in a landfill 30 miles west of Andrews. The September hearing follows the agency’s release of a draft license and environmental analysis. The documents simultaneously move the project one step closer to opening and raise questions about the environmental impact of what would be the nation’s largest commercial radioactive waste dump……………………………..Waste Control has spent at least 15 years convincing people in Andrews and Eunice that its hazardous and radioactive waste operation will aid the community, using radio and television spots and contributions to local charities and politicians……………………..Two groundwater tables appear to be in the “immediate vicinity” of the dump, one of which could be as close as 14 feet……………………………..The Sierra Club asserts, in written comments submitted to the TCEQ, that issuing the license “is clearly in violation of the law.”

Political Intelligence – The Texas Observer

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October 4, 2008 Posted by | spinbuster | Leave a comment

DIY Geiger Counters Help Us Face Our Dismal, Irradiated Futures – Gizmodo Australia

Help us face our dismal irradiated futures

Gizmodo US Edition  October 3, 2008

What with the financial crisis and recent nuclear (dis)agreements and the possibility of having an insane (but like-able! Teehee!) person becoming the country’s VP, we could be headed for a The Road by Cormac McCarthy-esque situation in the near future. And when that day comes, I’ll be the person on the block with a DIY Geiger counter
Hack-n-Mod has compiled a list of the three best Geiger counter tutorials on the net. Use this one to learn everything about schematics, PCB and shielding; this one for a nifty USB interface, and–if you’re feeling particularly technical–this one for a much more detailed build. Remember: in the apocalyptic future, friends don’t let friends eat friends without testing them for radiation first. [Hack-n-Mod]

DIY Geiger Counters Help Us Face Our Dismal, Irradiated Futures – Gizmodo Australia

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October 4, 2008 Posted by | environment | Leave a comment