nuclear-news

Moulton couple’s campaign moving in right direction
Spalding today 18 November 2008

Douglas Hern went to London to meet Veterans’ Minister Kevan Jones to discuss health problems suffered by descendants of people exposed to radiation during nuclear weapons tests in the 1950s and 1960s……………………..He and fellow members of the British Nuclear Test Veterans’ Association (BNTVA) want the Government to help with a scientific study into the problem, which has left several generations with diseases linked to exposure to radiation.

Mr Hern and his wife Sandie, of Bell Lane, have received details of many veterans who have suffered over the years.

Mr Hern’s daughter died of a rare form of cancer when she was just 13.

Uranium One makes cuts after Q3 losses
World Nuclear News 17 November 2008Uranium One is planning “significant” reductions in exploration expenditure across all its operations after a third quarter which saw net losses of $2 billion from continuing operations.

Permanent storage remains unsolved in new push for nuclear energy
MEDILL REPORTS by Fui Tsikata Nov 19, 2008 Applications for new nuclear reactors keep rolling into the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), but everyone seems to be ignoring the crucial question: where will used nuclear rods be stored permanently?

As nuclear companies continue to store nuclear waste on-site, environmentalists warn that without a permanent storage location, building more nuclear plants could be dangerous to the country’s security………………………Yucca mountain, 80 miles from Las Vegas, Nev., was identified years ago as a potential storage area for spent nuclear rods and other nuclear waste. Now, a decade after the repository was to open, it has been weighed down by controversy. Fear of volcanic activity in Yucca, lawsuits and other challenges considerably slowed down its development. Presently, the NRC has a three- to four-year time frame to complete geological analysis and assess the feasibility of Yucca mountain……………………………..There are no functioning permanent storage facilities anywhere in the world, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. Finland has identified a site, which has public support but is still a few years away from being operational, according to Negin. France relies on “temporary” sites like one in Gorleben, a town in Northern German to store its nuclear waste.

Meanwhile, in the absence of any permanent storage, companies like Exelon store spent fuel rods on-site in large pools of water and in large containers known as dry casks. The U.S. Navy, whose nuclear ships generate spent rods, stores them in pools of water as well.

Nuclear plant problems push British Energy into the red
The Guardian 18 Nov 08 British Energy, which operates 15 reactors at eight nuclear power stations around the country generating electricity, posted a 49.7% fall in first-half earnings today due to power station shutdowns and lower electricity output………………..The company has seven reactors out of action due to unexpected or routine repairs

Ranger mine expansion short-sighted: ACF
ABC News Nov 17, 2008

The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) says it would be short-sighted to expand the Northern Territory’s Ranger uranium mine now that another major potential deposit has been found.

Energy Resources of Australia says it has found a potential further 40,000 tonnes of uranium oxide near the Ranger mine in Kakadu National Park, which could extend the mine’s life by seven years.

Dave Sweeny from the Conservation Foundation says focusing on the jobs it could bring will put the environment at a greater radioactive risk.

He says everyone at the Ranger mine could be employed for the rest of their working lives cleaning up the site.

“There is an obligation on Energy Resources Australia to clean up its mess, and its mess is considerable,” he said.

“They’ve got a legal requirement to keep radioactive tailings, which there’s a mountain of them out in Kakadu, to keep them out of the Kakadu environment for a period of not less than 10,000 years.”

Australians ‘will accept nuclear power’
ABC News Nov 18, 2008- “…………………

Dr Ziggy Switkowski …..has dismissed concern about finding a storage site for waste from future nuclear reactors.

“To find one location in central Australia presumably that will progressively store the spent fuel from Australia’s reactors at the end of this century, we’re talking 80 years out, strikes me as a very straight forward technical problem,” he said.

Dirty money, or filthy rich
WA Today * Tim Clarke * November 18, 2008 *  Opponents to the immediate lifting of the ban on uranium mining in WA say the decision could leave the state with a deadly legacy……………………..

Making good on one of his key election promises, Premier Colin Barnett and his cabinet yesterday said any future mining leases granted in the state would not incorporate the clause excluding uranium, as they had done since 2002.
 
That opens the way for companies such as BHP Billiton to finally mine their vast deposits in WA, which one model estimates could generate up to $4 billion in export values.
 
But according to Greens MLC Giz Watson that will mean “unacceptable risks” for West Australians.

The Wilderness Society claims thousands of tonnes of radioactive tailings will end up buried somewhere in WA.
 
“Uranium is not just another mineral to be exploited for cash,” Ms Watson said. Radioactive waste is produced at every stage of its mining and processing. This will create a deadly legacy for all West Australians for tens of thousands of years,” she said.
 
“Which port does he (Barnett) intend the yellow cake to be shipped through – which community will become the new Esperance?”…………………..Peter Robertson of the Wilderness Council said bringing a “dirty and dangerous” industry into the state would create issues at every stage of production.
 
“Uranium mining uses millions of litres of water, produces masses of radioactive tailings and opens up the question of transporting the material,” he said. “Uranium brings with it a whole new set of regulatory risks.
 
“And it will also undoubtedly bring more pressure on Australia and WA in regards to accepting nuclear waste.”

Green group slams nuke plant rehab By Abigail Kwok
INQUIRER.net 11/18/2008MANILA, Philippines — The environmentalist group Greenpeace expressed “strong opposition” to the rehabilitation and reopening of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), saying it would be “stacking one potential catastrophe over another.”

At a press conference Tuesday, Amalie Obusan, Greenpeace Southeast Asia climate and energy campaigner, presented the group’s position paper against Senate Bill 2665 (An Act Mandating the Immediate Re-commissioning and Commercial Operation of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant).

Greenpeace will be giving copies of their position paper to concerned agencies, including the Senate and the Department of Energy, Obusan said.

“You can’t solve a problem by creating another problem. To propose nuclear expansion in the name of climate change is stacking one potential catastrophe over another,” Obusan said…………

“Nuclear power could at best make only a negligible contribution to greenhouse gas reduction, and investment in this technology deprives real climate solutions, such as renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies, of funding,” it said.

Baconguis also said rehabilitating and reopening the BNPP would bring the risk of “nuclear terrorism” should groups get their hands on nuclear waste to produce “dirty bombs.”

“Experiments by the US government have proven that several nuclear weapons can be built in a matter of weeks using ordinary spent fuel from light water reactors. One study showed that a country with a minimal industrial base could quickly and secretly build a small reprocessing facility, called a ‘quick and dirty’ plant, capable of extracting about a bomb’s worth of plutonium per day,” Greenpeace said.