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Tonawanda News – HEALTH: Schumer calls for action on nuclear program

HEALTH: Schumer calls for action on nuclear program
By Mark Scheer The Tonawanda News 13 Nov 08 U.S Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, has asked the U.S. Department of Labor to speed up the processing of compensation claims filed by Western New Yorkers who took part in the development of the nation’s nuclear weapons program during the Cold War……………………..“The one thing our Cold War heroes who were exposed to nuclear radiation don’t have is time,” Schumer said. “The Department of Labor must put their applications for much-deserved health compensation on the fast track immediately.”…………………….Workers who can document their employment history and who have contracted radioactive cancer, beryllium disease or chronic silicosis after working at sites where nuclear weapons work was performed are able to apply for compensation. The workers have long contended that the federal government is purposely delaying the processing of compensation claims to avoid having to pay benefits. While Western New York has one of the highest concentrations of facilities involved in the development of the nation’s nuclear weapons program, Schumer says it continues to lag behind in terms of the number of claims processed.

Tonawanda News – HEALTH: Schumer calls for action on nuclear program

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November 14, 2008 Posted by | environment | Leave a comment

EUobserver

EU-Russia summit to ignore nuclear safety concerns
PHILIPPA RUNNERT 14 Nov 08 EUOBSERVER  BRUSSELS – EU concerns about Russia’s nuclear safety and human rights standards will not get much attention in Nice on Friday  as French President Nicolas Sarkozy celebrates his role in ending the Georgia war.
Two internal documents on EU-Russia relations prepared by the European Commission and EU diplomats ahead of the summit point to mounting environmental concerns about Russia’s defunct nuclear submarines and ageing power plants.

“More than 200 nuclear reactors and some 20,000 spent fuel elements coming from dismantled submarines and icebreakers are stored in poor conditions,” in north west Russia, the EU analysis paper – seen by EUobserver – says.

“Russia has prolonged the lifetime of its first generation nuclear reactors, some of which are of the Chernobyl type and close to the EU’s border,” it adds, noting that an EU-Russia nuclear safety group last met in 2005.

EUobserver

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November 14, 2008 Posted by | safety | Leave a comment

New Yankee discoveries raise doubts about NRC: Rutland Herald Online

New Yankee discoveries raise doubts about NRC
RUTLAND HERALD November 14, 2008By Susan Smallheer Herald Staff BRATTLEBORO — The discovery of more degraded wooden support beams in Vermont Yankee’s cooling towers — this time in the reactor’s only safety dedicated cell — raised questions Thursday about how thorough a special Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspection was this summer.Workers at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant had to immediately replace five deteriorated major support columns in the one safety-related cell of the reactor’s two cooling towers during the plant’s recent refueling outage, according to the NRC.

New Yankee discoveries raise doubts about NRC: Rutland Herald Online

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November 14, 2008 Posted by | safety | Leave a comment

RNN-TV: New York’s Hudson Valley News Authority – National News and Politics — Upstate nuclear plant shuts down reactor after pump problem

Upstate nuclear plant shuts down reactor after pump problem

Associated Press – November 13, 2008 11:25 AM ET

SCRIBA, N.Y. (AP) – Operators of 1 of the nuclear reactors on Lake Ontario near Oswego shut down their reactor today to fix a leaky cooling water re-circulation pump.

Constellation Energy, owner of the Nine Mile Point nuclear plant in Scriba, says it shut down its Unit Two reactor in a planned and controlled shut down. Utility spokeswoman Jill Lyon says an upper pressure seal on a large pump failed and will be replaced.

She would not comment how long the repair work would take.

RNN-TV: New York’s Hudson Valley News Authority – National News and Politics — Upstate nuclear plant shuts down reactor after pump problem

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November 14, 2008 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

NCAI endorses UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples | Indian Country Today | Southwest

NCAI endorses UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Coulter urges action at

Organization of American States

By Gale Courey Toensing

Story Published: Nov 14, 2008

Story Updated: Nov 13, 2008

WASHINGTON – The National Congress of American Indians has passed a resolution supporting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and urging its endorsement by state governments and Congress………………………………While it is not binding in law, the declaration represents the highest moral standard for the treatment of the world’s estimated 370 million indigenous peoples, written as it is in a human rights framework that will guide government policies for indigenous communities and promote the participation of indigenous peoples in the political processes and decisions that affect them………………………….The UN Declaration lays out the minimum human rights necessary for the “survival, dignity and well-being of the Indigenous peoples of the world.” These include the right of self-determination, protections from discrimination and genocide, and recognition of rights to lands, territories and resources that are essential to the identity, health and livelihood of indigenous peoples.

NCAI endorses UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples | Indian Country Today | Southwest

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November 14, 2008 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Uranium price plunges to $46/lb as global economic price bites

Uranium price plunges to $46/lb as global economic crisis bites

MINING WEEKLY By: Irma Venter
Published on 14th November 2008

The uranium spot price has dipped sharply in the face of the current global economic crisis, plummeting from the $90/lb reached in January to the current level of $46/lb.

This is some way off the all-time-high spot price of $136/lb reached in 2007, when fears of a supply shortage loomed large, and the nuclear industry moved back in vogue …………………….

November 14, 2008 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment