Options for power from under the sea – WalesOnline
why make a fuss about nuclear contamination?
WalesOnLine Western Mail – Dr JOHN ETHERINGTON Dec 20 2008No matter which way you want to spin it ………………….. nuclear power carries with it a huge risk, a massive cost and a toxic legacy lasting thousands of years.
Even without counting the current £3bn a year bill for dealing with the waste, nuclear generation has always been the most expensive and heavily subsidised way of producing electricity…………………Germany where the renewable industry is now responsible for 14.2% of gross electricity consumption and supports huge economic benefits with employment in the sector doubling since 2004 to 249,000 jobs with predictions that it will provide up to 400,000 jobs by 2020.
The nuclear power industry is meanwhile doing a nice trade in red herrings and white elephants
Options for power from under the sea – WalesOnline
Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, radioactive, uranium
EcoGeek – Clean Technology
Nuclear Looking Less Viable for our Energy Future
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t’s been a grim month for Nuclear Power, always a contentious issue for greens, power from the atom has taken two steps back as South African utility Eskom announce plans to cancel their tendering process for new nuclear plant in South Africa. It comes a week after revelations from the French economic publication Les Echos reveal that French campaign group “Sortir du nucléaire” have accused EdF of lying during a public consultation exercise which was the prelude to the decision to build a new nuclear plant at Flamanville in France. Originally, it was announced that power from the Flamanville plant was costed at €43 / MWh, however, delays and added construction costs (a feature of every nuclear plant that has gone before Flamanville) have added to the costs and so the price of nuclear electricity from the plant is now estimated to be €55 / MWh – Les Echos stated that EdF were expected to announce this at their next meeting. The only other nuclear plant under construction is that at Olikuoto in Finland. It is of the same EPR (European Pressurised Reactor) design that is being constructed at Flamanville. The Finnsh reactor has also been plagued with problems and at one point in the construction, French contractor Bouygues were accused of using unqualified welders… quite worrying considering the specialised nature of nuclear engineering!
n an economy where finance is hard to come buy, and the governments of the world are already propping up their economies with massive debt, will massive projects which carry potentially massive liabilities such as nuclear power begin to look even less attractive, whilst smaller unit-cost renewables, with a demonstrable payback within their own life time /**/ document.write(”);
if ((!document.images && navigator.userAgent.indexOf(“Mozilla/2.”) >= 0) || navigator.userAgent.indexOf(“WebTV”)>= 0) { document.write(‘‘); document.write(‘‘); } EcoGeek – Clean Technology
Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, radioactive, uranium
On Faith: Guest Voices: The End of WMDs
The End of WMDs
The Washington Post 19 Dec 08 Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan,This month I was privileged to join a distinguished group of 100 international political, military, business and civic leaders in Paris to launch Global Zero, a campaign to mobilize decisive momentum for the global elimination of nuclear weapons. Global Zero is combining public outreach with high-level policy work to develop a step-by-step plan for phased, verified reduction of the world’s estimated 27,000 nuclear weapons down to zero…………………..In recent months, a growing chorus of world leaders of nuclear nations including U.S. President-elect Barack Obama and Russian Prime Minster Vladimir Putin have called for the elimination of all nuclear weapons. The United States and Russia are among 189 countries that have signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.Not surprisingly, the idea has overwhelming public support. A recent Global Zero poll of 21 nuclear and non-nuclear countries found that an average 76 percent of respondents favor an international agreement that would achieve zero nuclear weapons according to a set timetable that would include compliance monitoring.
I am personally committed to Global Zero as an international public servant, a Muslim, a citizen of the Middle East, and as a mother and grandmother………………As a Muslim, my faith strengthens my resolve to eradicate these evil indiscriminate killers. The Islamic Laws of Just War, first enunciated in the 7th Century CE, share with international humanitarian law the fundamental principles of non-initiation of war, and of the sacrosanct protection of non-combatants and civilians even in defensive conflicts (especially including women, children, the elderly and the sick), as well as the forbidding of wanton destruction of animals, the natural environment, medical institutes and places of worship. Thus nuclear weapons and other WMD are in every sense inherently un-Islamic weapons of war in Islamic thought, as they do not distinguish between military and civilians and non-combatants, and they destroy and kill en masse indiscriminately………………………
All Arab countries have signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and over the past 30 years have pursued intensive diplomatic efforts to bring Israel into the treaty.
My husband King Hussein, a Hashemite direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), steadfastly called for removing nuclear weapons from the Middle East, calling them “One of the most dramatic examples of the gaps between the world’s technological progress and moral rectitude.” “Nuclear war is not a military problem. It is a moral dilemma,” he said……………………….So I add my humble voice to so many others around the world, citizens of all nations, devout followers of all faiths, in declaring that now is the time to renew our collective commitment to a nuclear-weapon free world. We truly have no other choice.
On Faith: Guest Voices: The End of WMDs
Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, urasium, radioactive
Will Obama press Israel to allow nuclear inspection of Dimona reactor? – Haaretz – Israel News
Will Obama press Israel to allow nuclear inspection of Dimona reactor?
By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent “…………………..The new president and his choice for secretary of state, New York Senator Hillary Clinton, intend to revive international arms-control efforts, which have been on hold during the eight years of President George W. Bush’s administration. Continue reading
Obama’s New Appointments
Obama’s New Appointments
Baltimore Chronicle by Stephen Lendman Friday, 19 December 2008 Obama’s team assures business as usual, a near-seamless transition from George Bush, and not “change to believe in.” His latest choices raise more cause for concern and with good reason…………………..According to a December 16 Mark Hertsgaard commentary…..Obama’s position on climate change, though far better than Bush’s, is weak compared to what the EU aims for by 2020 and his view on coal is unclear. His support for so-called “clean coal” has no basis in reality. It’s an industry-invented phrase about the dirtiest fossil fuel on the planet and nothing in prospect will “clean” it…………………………..Steven Chu
He’ll become Obama’s new Energy Secretary,…
He strongly backs nuclear power and called it “a necessary part of the portfolio” at the annual Stanford University economic summit last March. Yet he downplays its risks that are considerable. According to Helen Caldicott, nuclear power is dangerous and won’t solve our energy problems. Each commercial reactor is an atom bomb factory. Moreover, they require a vast infrastructure, called the nuclear fuel cycle, that uses huge and rapidly growing amounts of fossil fuels. Each stage in the cycle adds to the problem, starting with the enormous energy needs to mine and mill uranium fuel.
Then there are tail millings that need fossil fuels to remediate. Other cycle steps need them as well, including plant construction, dismantling, cleanup, handling contaminated waste, storing and transporting it. In a word, nuclear power, for commercial or military use, plays Russian roulette with planet earth, and sooner or later we lose.
It’s economics also don’t add up – for construction, insurance, government subsidies, and more. Add the human health toll on uranium miners, nuclear industry workers, and everyone living close to reactors or downwind from them. Plus the danger of an accidental or terrorist-caused core meltdown that some experts believe is inevitable, the waste storage problem, the need to guarantee against seepage for 500,000 years, and the threat of nuclear war and catastrophic nuclear winter that will end all human life on earth.
Chu’s support for the industry is why he’ll be DOE Secretary. When asked in 2005 if fission-based nuclear power plants should be a larger part of the energy-producing portfolio, he responded: “Absolutely,” and elaborated with a cavalier attitude about its dangers in advocating for “recycling” of waste.
As professor of journalism and frequent writer on environmental and energy issues, Karl Grossman states: “recycling and reuse of nuclear garbage ends up spreading poisons that cause cancer, genetic damage, and other causes of premature death.” Chu is “trapped (in a) nuclear mindset,” according to Greenpeace USA’s Jim Riccio. He downplays safe, clean renewable technologies; ignores the concerns that Caldicott and others raise; staunchly advocates for the industry; and will head to Washington to support it. He’d better or he’ll be back at Berkeley and be replaced by someone who will.
Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, urasium, radioactive
ReviewJournal.com – Breaking News – Nevada files 229 challenges over nuclear waste project
Nevada files 229 challenges over nuclear waste project
Las Begas Review Journal 19 Dec 08 Nevada reached a milestone today in its 30-year war to defeat the federal Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project by filing 229 challenges to the Department of Energy’s license application for the planned repository 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.“Clearly this is a seminal day for us,” Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said at the Sawyer Building with State Nuclear Projects Agency Director Bob Loux standing at her side. The state’s petition was filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is expected to take at least four years to review the application and contentions.Loux declared the project dead.
“I do believe it’s truly over,” he said after explaining that the project’s pitfalls to entomb 77,000 tons of highly radioactive waste and spent fuel in a porous, volcanic rock ridge flanked by earthquake faults can’t be fixed.
He said DOE’s reliance on protecting waste containers from corrosion with a system of relatively short-lived titanium drip shields that haven’t been invented and won’t be installed until 100 years after the waste is buried is a major flaw.
ReviewJournal.com – Breaking News – Nevada files 229 challenges over nuclear waste project
Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, urasium, radioactive
“Nuclear arms race will trigger nuclear terrorism” | Interview | Down To Earth magazine
“Nuclear arms race will trigger nuclear terrorism”
Down to Earth 19 Dec 08 Nuclear power is not a long-term solution to electricity shortage. There is a limited stock of uranium and other radioactive metals on the planet. At the current rate of extraction, this stock will last barely a few decades. Radioactive minerals either go into the making of nuclear bombs or end up as waste. There is no scientific method to manage nuclear waste. This waste will harm the environment for billions of years
Solar and wind power are more viable options.Isn’t Australia the second largest producer of uranium? Yes it is. But in Australia people rejected the previous government that pushed for nuclear energy. They voted for a government that has made its anti-nuclear stance quite evident. But a lot needs to be done. Australian activists have emphasized time and again that uranium extraction is not worth the risk it poses to human life.
There is widespread belief that uranium mining is lucrative. Contrary to that, Australia’s uranium export is just 0.28 per cent of its total mineral export. Australia earns just $400 million (US $258 million) from it out of a total export earning of over $100 billion (US $64.5 billion).
One of the bitter truths of nuclear armament is that if one country arms itself, its neighbours follow suit. Nuclear technology is easily available in the international nuclear black market. We have seen nuclear rackets like the one run by A Q Khan of Pakistan. He was involved in the clandestine international nuclear technology proliferation a few years ago. More and more countries are trying to procure nuclear technology. They have completely stalled the nuclear disarmament process. It’s becoming easier by the day to procure nuclear technology. This will eventually trigger nuclear terrorism.
How do you see the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (npt) and nuclear disarmament?NPT has turned into a non-performance treaty that has been rejected by many countries. Many nations have not complied with the treaty even after signing it. India, Israel and Pakistan are freely developing nuclear weapons. North Korea has nearly walked out of the treaty. Lately some actions of the International Atomic Energy Agency have created an imbalance. I am referring to the agency’s approval of the Indo- US nuclear deal.
Hasn’t India already agreed over no first use of nuclear bombs?
That is true but the 123 Agreement gives too much discount to India and it will have a far reaching impact. Other nations that have signed the 123 Agreement with the us have been barred from using their collaboration for nuclear tests. But amendments have been made to exempt India. Such exceptions made for a new signatory are bound to offend previous signatories.
What is the situation in Jadugoda?The situation in Jadugoda is extremely dangerous. I have never seen human settlements so close to a Uranium mine, tailing or waste pond and tailing pipe. In the Dugridih village of Jadugoda a tailing pipe—carrying radioactive waste to the tailing pond of the corporation—burst on August 3 this year, and people have since been living amid the radioactive waste. Nowhere else in the world do people live amid such danger.
How grave is the threat of an impending nuclear catastrophe?
The gravity of the situation can be predicted from the Doomsday Clock, a symbolic clock maintained by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists at the University of Chicago, which conveys how close the planet is to catastrophe. In 1991 the clock was 17 minutes to midnight, wherein midnight represents ‘catastrophic destruction’. Now it has moved five minutes to midnight. The bulletin has specifically mentioned that a nuclear catastrophe is imminent.
“Nuclear arms race will trigger nuclear terrorism” | Interview | Down To Earth magazine
Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, urasium, radioactive
Renewable energy sources to account for 40% of output by 2020 – The Irish Times – Fri, Dec 19, 2008
Renewable energy sources to account for 40% of output by 2020
Irish Times HARRY McGEE, Political Staff 19 Dec 08
SUSTAINABLE AGENDA: THE 2020 target for renewable energy has been increased to 40 per cent as part of the new strategy by Government to make the “green economy” a core component of its recovery plan.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen said the Government’s aim was to deliver a “New Green Deal” that focused on energy efficiency and the investment in clean and renewable technologies………………………..
Minster for Energy Eamon Ryan, who also spoke at the launch of the plan, said it represented a fundamental sea-change in Government thinking and direction.
“The economy is moving in a greener direction,” he said. “The smart economy will be a green economy.”
Renewable energy sources to account for 40% of output by 2020 – The Irish Times – Fri, Dec 19, 2008
Tags: renewableenergy
New Energy Focus – Saudia Arabia declares “shared interest” in renewables
Saudia Arabia declares “shared interest” in renewables
New Energy Focus 19 Dec 08 Saudi Arabia has shown unexpected support for renewables, as world leaders gathered in London today to discuss oil prices and the economics of energy.Speaking to press at the London Energy Meeting this morning, Minister for Energy and Climate Change Ed Miliband said that Saudi minister Mr Al-Naemi had “emphasised the interest that the world shares in developing renewable energy.”
He added that Saudi Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Mr Al-Naemi understood “that not many people expected to hear this from Saudi Arabia”.
New Energy Focus – Saudia Arabia declares “shared interest” in renewables
Tags: renewables
Nevada prepares for nuclear waste battle – Environment- msnbc.com
Nevada prepares for nuclear waste battle
msnbc Associated Press Dec. 19, 2003 Yucca Mountain lawsuits will be heard in court Nevada’s legal team will tell a federal appeals court that the government is trying to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain even though it does not meet the original legal requirements for a dump, lawyers said Thursday.The hearing Jan. 14 before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will cover six lawsuits that the state filed against the federal government between 2000 and 2002, and that have been consolidated……………..the courts might represent the state’s best chance of keeping out 77,000 tons of the nation’s most radioactive waste, lawyers said ………They contend the Environmental Protection Agency and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission failed to comply with the law in developing licensing rules and standards for the project………………….Congress and Bush approved sending nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain last year
Nevada prepares for nuclear waste battle – Environment- msnbc.com
Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, radioactive, uranium
The Associated Press: Court raises hopes of Hanford radiation plaintiffs
Court raises hopes of Hanford radiation plaintiffs
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) 17 Dec 08 — A U.S. Supreme Court decision Monday raised hopes that as many as 2,000 plaintiffs could be compensated for health problems they blame on radiation from a Washington state nuclear site instrumental in the Manhattan Project and the Cold War.The court issued a one-line denial of an appeal by contractors who worked at the Hanford nuclear reservation. The contractors — E.I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co., General Electric Co. and UNC Nuclear Industries Inc. — were challenging a lower-court ruling last spring that sided largely with the plaintiffs.
The people exposed to radiation lived in eastern Washington, eastern Oregon and Idaho, downwind of Hanford, as the U.S. government was developing atomic bombs in the 1940s.
The government did not disclose until 1986 that radiation had been released at the site, and since then the “downwinders” have sought compensation for thyroid cancer and other conditions they believe were caused by the exposure………………………Last spring, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld monetary awards for two “bellwether” plaintiffs, rejected the contractors’ claim of immunity from lawsuits because they were working for the government, and ruled that the deadline for individuals pursuing claims hadn’t expired.
The Associated Press: Court raises hopes of Hanford radiation plaintiffs
Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, radioactive, uranium
Air Force nuclear unit fails inspection – CNN.com
Air Force nuclear unit fails inspection
WASHINGTON (CNN) By Barbara Starr
CNN Pentagon Correspondent 19 Dec 08 — For the fifth time this year, a U.S. Air Force nuclear weapons unit failed an inspection, this time because of failure to document its handling of nuclear missiles and other critical issues, Air Force officials said……………………..The inspection report found the maintenance unit failed to document tests conducted on missiles correctly, including tests on safety devices. The inspector general told the unit the failures indicated either a “lack of competence” or “disregard for procedures,” according to a source who has seen the report.
Additionally, failures included having some personnel on duty without proper medical clearance and failure to inspect radiation detectors.
Other units that failed inspections this year included two bomb wings and two missile units.
Air Force nuclear unit fails inspection – CNN.com
Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, radioactive, uranium
News – Finance/ Labour: Cost of pebble bed project ‘beyond R16bn’
Cost of pebble bed project ‘beyond R16bn’ http://www.iol.co.za John Yeld
December 18 2008 The cost of the controversial Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) project that Eskom wants to build at Koeberg is likely to run well beyond the government’s present estimate of R16-billion – and that’s without taking into account the cost of dealing with the resulting nuclear waste.So says Kommetjie architect and environmentalist Rod Gurzynski in a scathing critique of the specialist study on the financial aspects of the project…………….Gurzynski said.
“Without being specific, the study prepares the way for significant cost over-runs, which is presumed to be acceptable due to this being a ‘first of a kind’ project.”
He also argued that it was clear from the specialist waste management study that the cost of storing and managing high-level nuclear waste off the site had not been included in the government’s figures.
“And (the figures) cannot be (included) because the long-term options (for high-level nuclear waste storage) have not yet been investigated, let alone proven, and therefore cannot be realistically costed.
“Therefore the conclusion is plain that the cost of long-term high-level radioactive waste management will fall on the future taxpayer.”
News – Finance/ Labour: Cost of pebble bed project ‘beyond R16bn’
Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, radioactive, uranium
Security of N power plants under review after Mumbai attacks
Security of N power plants under review after Mumbai attacks
Press Trust of India Chennai/Kalpakkam, Dec18 (PTI) The security of the nuclear power plants across the country was being reviewed in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks and any additional measures required to protect them would be put in place, Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar said today.
Security of N power plants under review after Mumbai attacks
Tags: nuclear, antinucklear, radioactive, uranium
Constellation-EDF deal puts nukes at the core – MarketWatch
France plants its foot in a changing U.S. power market
By MarketWatchLast update: 4:26 p.m. EST Dec. 17, 2008Comments: 2SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) – Electricite de France placed a big bet Wednesday on the future of the North American power grid, securing a 49.9% stake in Constellation Energy’s fleet of nuclear power plants.
t’s costing them a bundle. EDF is paying $4.5 billion for the privilege of owning just under half of Baltimore-based Constellation’s five reactors
Constellation-EDF deal puts nukes at the core – MarketWatch
Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, radioactive, uranium
1 This Month
10 June – Assessing Canada’s Investments in Small Modular Nuclear Reactors – https://zoom.us/meeting/register/IiqHA5feRhaEBycOLNTJlA#/registration
Cuba Is Not a Failed State – It Is a Besieged State
PETITION: “Global Appeal to Endorse Palestinian Right of Return of Refugees”
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