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Goin’ nukular : Sonoma Valley Sun

Goin’ nukular
– Sonoma Valley Sun December 12, 2008 “……………..The use of nuclear power in Europe and other parts of the world is used as reassurance that this form of energy production is safe, reliable and nonpolluting; this in spite of the toxicity of some of the most dangerous substances in the history of mankind.
Plutonium isotopes (the stuff of nuclear weapons), are a common byproduct of nuclear power reactors, as are many other toxic radioactive isotopes. The half-life of plutonium-239 is 24,000 years, which means that in that amount of time, half of the radioactive plutonium concerned would remain. In another 24,000 years, half of that remaining amount would remain, and so forth. In other words, it takes over 200,000 years for plutonium-239 to become fully non-radioactive. Plutonium-242 has a half-life of 376,000 years.
The toxicity of plutonium is enormous. If inhaled into the body, it remains in the lung, liver, bone and bone marrow tissue, where it generates cancerous mutations. Inhalation of as little as a few milligrams is inevitably fatal. Moreover, plutonium is a fissile material, which means it can be used to create a nuclear fission explosion. In the hands of people intent upon making a weapon, it constitutes a major threat to life, and an explosion used to incite terror would likely ignite dire unforeseen circumstances.
At present, the storage and security of fissile materials like plutonium is unresolved. Most “spent” reactor-grade radioactive materials are stored in deep pools of water at the nuclear power stations themselves. Their movement by rail or truck is so controversial and dangerous that protocols for their safe transport and storage remain undeveloped.
A recent EPA report indicates that any nuclear storage facility must be able to provide a secure and inviolable repository for one million years……………….Producing penetrable depositories of deadly substances therefore constitutes a moral failing of the highest order, and accordingly, “goin’ nukular” should be shelved forever.

Goin’ nukular : Sonoma Valley Sun

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December 13, 2008 Posted by | wastes | Leave a comment

AFP: US refuses Marshalls bid to use aid for nuclear victims

US refuses Marshalls bid to use aid for nuclear victims

 MAJURO (AFP) 12 Dec 08 — The US has refused a request by the Marshall Islands to use grant money to compensate victims of the American nuclear weapons testing programme in the western Pacific atoll nation, officials said.The US tested 67 nuclear weapons at Bikini and Enewetak atolls from 1946 to 1958 and a Nuclear Claims Tribunal was set up by the two governments to compensate those displaced or suffering health problems due to the tests.But the 150 million dollars the United States provided for paying settlements ran out three years ago and the US State Department has said there is no obligation to pay more.More than 22 million dollars remains unpaid for personal injury awards and about two billion dollars is outstanding for land damage awards made by the tribunal.

AFP: US refuses Marshalls bid to use aid for nuclear victims

December 13, 2008 Posted by | environment | Leave a comment

Entergy reduces Vt Yankee reactor due ice storms | Industries | Industrials, Materials & Utilities | Reuters

Entergy reduces Vt Yankee reactor due ice storms
NEW YORK, Dec 12 (Reuters) – Entergy Corp (ETR.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reduced the output of the 620-megawatt Vermont Yankee nuclear power station in Vermont due to snow and ice storms that have left more than 300,000 customers without power in New England, the company and local utilities said Friday.

Entergy reduces Vt Yankee reactor due ice storms | Industries | Industrials, Materials & Utilities | Reuters

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December 13, 2008 Posted by | business and costs | Leave a comment

This is Obama’s chance to leave the world a lasting legacy – Opinion – Editorial – General – The Canberra Times

This is Obama’s chance to leave the world a lasting legacy

The Canberra Times HELEN CALDICOTT AND TIM WRIGHT
12/12/2008 US President-elect Barack Obama has shown he has the power to change hearts and minds. Soon he’ll also have the power to render the planet dead and uninhabitable for the rest of time with just the press of a button.

Despite the end of the Cold War, the United States still maintains a supersized arsenal of 10,000 nuclear warheads, more than half of them deployed, and about a quarter of them on hair-trigger alert. They come at a whopping cost of $US50 billion ($A76 billion) a year, roughly the amount needed to pay for universal health care for every US citizen.

Most of America’s nuclear weapons are hundreds of times more powerful than the two atom bombs that obliterated the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Each of them directly threatens global security and human survival. No doubt Barack Obama will find it more than a tad discomforting when, come January, he’s granted this incredible power. Unlike the last three Oval Office occupants, he believes that the world would be better off without nuclear weapons…………………..Commendably, the Australian Labor Party promised before last year’s federal election that in government it would ”drive the international agenda for a nuclear weapons convention”. But it hasn’t followed through, choosing instead to continue the usual mantra of countries with powerful nuclear-armed allies like the US: it’s too soon to be thinking about an abolition treaty……………This October, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon lauded the idea of a new treaty in his UN Day speech, and the Dalai Lama had earlier said that a nuclear weapons convention is ”feasible, necessary and increasingly urgent”. Indeed, if we’re to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and avert nuclear catastrophe elimination through a binding treaty is our only option. Now is the time to pursue it.

All countries have a legal obligation, under the Non-Proliferation Treaty and customary international law, to achieve nuclear disarmament. It cannot be postponed indefinitely. This is the ruling of the world’s highest court, the International Court of Justice……………………………History will judge Barack Obama, the next American leader, by his success or failure on this crucial issue. Ridding the planet of nuclear weapons the ultimate instruments of terror could be his single most important legacy.

This is Obama’s chance to leave the world a lasting legacy – Opinion – Editorial – General – The Canberra Times

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December 13, 2008 Posted by | weapons and war | Leave a comment