nuclear-news

Going NuclearT  Eneergy Bangla 21 Jan 09 René B. AzurinWhat a nuclear power plant does is boil water. The boiled water becomes steam, the steam turns a turbine, and the rotating turbine spins conductors in a magnetic field to generate electricity. What makes this simple process complicated is that a nuclear reactor boils water in a complicated and dangerous way. Going nuclear, therefore, shouldn’t be a foregone conclusion. Yet, that is precisely what is implied by the proposed bill that effectively mandates the commissioning of the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant………………………

………Opponents argue that operating a nuclear plant is inherently risky and requires a strict adherence to a stringent and complex set of safety measures if one is to avoid nuclear accidents (like the 1986 Chernobyl explosion that scattered radiation to large parts of Europe) or radioactive contamination (like the 1997 and 1999 incidents at Takaimura that leaked radiation to the surrounding community). They dispute the safety argument, pointing out that accidents and near-accidents at nuclear plants occur with disturbing regularity every few years or so. They also point out that nuclear plants may not emit carbon and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere but they create even more toxic pollutants that remain deadly for millenia not only to humans and animals but also to flora and fauna……

…………….In any event, whether the rehabilitation and eventual operation of the BNPP is technically and economically advisable is still a question mark. More fundamentally, the operation of a nuclear power plant remains a controversial issue for most. Generating electric power from nuclear fission needs to be measured against cleaner alternatives like power from renewable and perpetual sources like wind and sun. The recently passed Renewable Energy bill makes those even more viable. And, given the current state of technology and relative costs, an array of wind farms and solar farms may now be better alternatives to nuclear plants, even for base-load power. It has been demonstrated that we can economically turn turbines with the wind. And we can boil water in simpler fashion using the sun.

North East families fight for nuclear test compensation Chronicle Live Jan 20 2009 By Paul JamesThe Ministry of Defence will tomorrow begin a legal bid to derail High Court compensation claims by 1,000 nuclear test veterans before they have even begun.The claims relate to bomb testing in mainland Australia and its island territories by the Ministry of Defence at the height of the Cold War in the 1950s.Veterans from all parts of the country and who served in all three services, the Army, Royal Navy and Air Force, as well as New Zealand and Fijian claimants, are involved in the landmark compensation case.Around 20 nuclear explosions in mainland Australia, the Montebello islands off the west Australian coast and on Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean, form the centre of the claim.Lawyers say the veterans involved suffered personal injuries of all types, ranging from minor injuries and skin conditions to cancers of the thyroid, liver, intestine and lungs and even death.

It is estimated that the case could cost the MOD hundreds of millions of pounds in damages payouts if it is successful.

But tomorrow MOD lawyers will attempt to halt the claim on the basis that the events concerned happened too long ago to be the subject of a compensation claim now, using arguments under the Limitation Act 1980……………………….

…………Douglas Hern, litigation secretary for the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association, claimed he and his comrades had been used as “guinea pigs” by the military……………………”There are thousands of children that have been affected and the Government does not want to know,” he said.

“What happened to our families is going to be published and they are not going to get away with it.”

The hearing to assess whether the claims are barred by the Limitation Act is due to begin tomorrow and last for three weeks.