nuclear-news

German anti-nuclear waste newswire now active
indybay.org by Diet SimonSaturday Nov 1st, 2008 Anti-nuclear activists in Germany are gearing up for another transport of highly active nuclear waste to run through France and Germany from 7 to 9 November for dumping at the north German village of Gorleben. About 20,000 police will be deployed to guard the consignment against thousands of demonstrators. At http://www.castor.de/ticker/index_en.html is a newswire run by the protest movement. It already has some run-up stories on it.

NUCLEAR POWER: Nuclear power bad on so many levels

ajc.com By David Kyler

For the Journal-Constitution

Sunday, November 02, 2008

After 60 years and many billions of dollars in government subsidies, nuclear power should finally have to prove itself on its own merits —- which evidently it cannot do in a free market.

Not only are taxpayers and citizens shouldering an unfair burden of the costs of nuclear power, but, even with these subsidies, as consumers we will be forced to cover the rising costs of nuclear plant construction.

These costs have consistently been well above even the high price tag quoted at the start of the project. Overruns of 50 percent or more will be paid by energy consumers, as utility rates are raised ever higher to protect guaranteed profits for investors………………………….

Added to these unfair economic burdens on American taxpayers and consumers are the significant risks of moving and storing nuclear materials, made even more threatening by the prospects of terrorism.

Following six decades of attempting to find a “safe” and dependable way of storing radioactive waste from nuclear plants, experts still have no solution. These materials will remain a major public health threat for thousands of years. The more such materials we use, transport and store, the greater that threat becomes…………………Due to water demands for cooling, extravagant federal subsidies for new nuclear plants would worsen problems in our rivers and intensify disputes over water supply. Fish habitat and recreational amenities would also suffer, while funds taken from taxpayers and consumers paid for this wasteful energy choice……………………………Ultimately, the costs of wind power would be far lower than those of conventional sources that face rising fuel prices and diminishing supplies. Recent analysis by Amory B. Lovins (“The Nuclear Illusion” ) found that, including expenses for facilities, infrastructure and operations, power produced from wind costs half as much as nuclear. Notably, the enormous costs of storing radioactive waste and decommissioning old plants were not even included in this comparison.

Why Sarah Palin is wrong about fruit fliesHer flippant comment about science reveals a great misunderstanding
TimesOnline  Mark Henderson November 1, 2008 “…………..Taxpayers’ money, she pointed out, was being wasted on “things like fruit fly research”…………………It is her broader disdain for research into fruit flies, though, that is most worrying. For this is a discipline that has delivered some of the most important advances yet made in genetics and biology, and that continues to offer insights of great promise……………………..In the 1920s, Hermann Muller used flies to demonstrate that radiation can induce genetic mutations. In the 1980s, fruit flies allowed Janni Nüsslein-Volhard and Eric Wieschaus to show that a common set of “master genes” govern embryonic development across many species, including humans. And the insects have yielded important clues to the workings of the brain and nervous system………………………..Fundamental biological research, of which fruit fly work is a mainstay, is essential to the science that brings forth new medical understanding.

Libya: We signed nuke deal with Russia
Jerusalem Post 3 Nov 08 “……………………..

Tripoli announced that it had signed a deal with Moscow to cooperate on nuclear civilian projects, but Russia has not confirmed the nuclear accord.

Talks reportedly focused on oil, gas and arms purchases.