Can Obama stop the bomb in the senate stimulus plan?
The Huffington Post 3 feb 09 by Joseph Romm
A radioactive dirty bomb has been dropped on the Senate stimulus package.
On Wednesday, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to add $50 billion in nuclear loan guarantees to the economic recovery package (S. 336). This “would more than double the current loan guarantee cap of $38 billion” for “clean energy” technology.Yet this provision would not create a single job for many, many years, but would saddle the public with tens of millions of dollars more in toxic loans. As I noted in my 2008 report, “The Self-Limiting Future of Nuclear Power“:
In August 2007, Tulsa World reported that American Electric Power Co. CEO Michael Morris was not planning to build any new nuclear power plants. He was quoted as saying, “I’m not convinced we’ll see a new nuclear station before probably the 2020 timeline,”…………………
Why are we still propping up an industry that can’t survive without the taxpayer swallowing both the economic risk of an actual meltdown and the risk of the new nukes melting down financially — all for a mature technology that has already received more than $100 billion in direct and indirect subsidies (see “Nuclear Pork — Enough is Enough“)?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-romm/can-obama-stop-the-nuclea_b_163110.html
Obama May Embrace Emirates Deal as Model for Nuclear Agreements
By Indira A.R. Lakshmanan
Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) — In her final days as secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice signed a nuclear-energy accord with a Persian Gulf ally 50 miles from Iran, calling the measure “a powerful and timely model for the world.”
President Barack Obama is likely to agree……………………….. The agreement may help Obama keep his pledge to crack down on the production and smuggling of nuclear materials.
He has called the spread of nuclear weapons “the gravest danger we face.” That threat is increasing: With global electricity demand projected to double by 2030, dozens of countries across Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America have expressed interest in nuclear power — and with any nuclear program comes the risk of proliferation………………………….. the Bush administration supported allowing U.S. companies to sell the Abu Dhabi government nuclear technology.
China to Continue Nuclear Weapon Expansion
China to Continue Nuclear Weapon Expansion
Monday, Feb. 2, 2009
Global Security Newswire 2 Jan 09
http://www.globalsecuritynewswire.org/gsn/nw_20090202_6084.php
China plans to continue bolstering its nuclear forces to maintain the nation’s strategic deterrence, two generals stated yesterday in a journal affiliated with the Communist Party of China (see GSN, Jan. 26).
“We will accelerate the building of our nuclear and conventional combat strength,” said Gen. Jing Zhiyuan, who commands China’s nuclear forces as head of the Second Artillery Corps, and Gen. Peng Xiaofeng, the corps’ political commissar. “We will strengthen the buildup of combat systems and improve the training of high-quality personnel.”
The article appeared in Qiushi, a journal used by communist leaders to publish their views, Agence France-Presse reported
Entergy apologizes for mishaps at nuclear plant
Associated Press – February 1, 2009 11:45 AM ET
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – An Entergy Nuclear official says the company has replaced several employees following two recent leaks of radioactive water at the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power plant.
Entergy Vice President Jay Thayer apologized to key lawmakers Friday for the two mishaps………………The two leaks in January raised concern among lawmakers, following the plant’s problems with its cooling towers last year.
NJ nuclear plant shut down by fire
Officials are investigating a fire at the nation’s oldest commercial nuclear plant.
Exelon Nuclear says the fire was in one of the Oyster Creek nuclear plant’s two main transformers………………Oyster Creek is located in Lacey Township, about 60 miles east of Philadelphia and is 38 years old. Its owners are seeking to renew its license.
AFP: Obama, Pentagon pull in different directions on no nukes goal
Obama, Pentagon pull in different directions on no nukes goal
2 Feb 09 WASHINGTON (AFP) — President Barack Obama has set a goal of a “world without nuclear weapons” but the Pentagon is leaning in a seemingly contradictory direction: a modernized nuclear arsenal.The new administration has signaled its intent to swiftly engage Russia in negotiations on deeper cuts in their respective arsenals, with the ultimate aim of reducing them to zero.But US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has been leading another kind of charge, arguing in the final months of the previous administration that deeper cuts must be underpinned by production of a new warhead to replace an ageing nuclear stockpile.
AFP: Obama, Pentagon pull in different directions on no nukes goal
Experts say Vt. Yankee’s nuke waste is here to stay: Times Argus Online
Experts say Vt. Yankee’s nuke waste is here to stay
Times Argus By Daniel Barlow Vermont Press Bureau – Published: January 30, 2009
MONTPELIER – Don’t count on Yucca Mountain or any other national solution for the long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel, a consulting group told lawmakers Thursday.
As the Vermont Legislature considers Vermont Yankee’s proposal to continue operating past its 2012 expiration date, lawmakers should assume that all the radioactive spent fuel left will be stored on-site in Vernon, nuclear consultants said.
Bruce Lacy, the founder of Iowa’s Lacy Consulting Group, told members of several House and Senate committees that dry cask storage of this waste material at nuclear power plants has become the default United States policy……………………..Here in Vermont, lawmakers are considering a request by the owners of Vermont Yankee to extend the Vernon plant’s operating license for another 20 years beyond its 2012 end date. Storage of the nuclear waste – the byproduct of creating nuclear power – is one of the chief concerns lawmakers are struggling with………………………Rep. Sarah Edwards… said she worried about the long-term storage of the waste at the Vernon facility, especially if there is a natural disaster there, such as flooding.
She was surprised Thursday to learn that federal regulators did not consider the possible implications of global warming in their flooding predictions for the facility.
Experts say Vt. Yankee’s nuke waste is here to stay: Times Argus Online
Revealed: the nuclear waste on Cheshire’s roads – Chester standard
Revealed: the nuclear waste on Cheshire’s roads
The Standard 2nd February 2009
REGULAR loads of nuclear waste are travelling along Cheshire roads, it has been revealed.Emergency services went on full alert after a trailer carrying a load of low-level waste from Sellafield Ltd’s Capenhurst decommissioning site to its repository at Drigg in Cumbria became unhitched from the HGV tractor towing it near the junction of the A41 and the A5117 at Great Sutton.
Officials at the company along with outside safety watchdogs have now ordered a top-level inquiry into the incident
Revealed: the nuclear waste on Cheshire’s roads – Chester standard
MuskogeePhoenix.com, Muskogee, OK – Take care of disposal first
Muskogee Phoenix January 31, 2009 -Take care of disposal firstLong-term disposal of radioactive waste should be settled before Oklahoma allows the building of a nuclear power plant in the state…………….
Before Oklahoma goes nuclear, however, the state should guarantee the strictest safety measures will be employed in construction and operation, and a long-term plan for disposal of radioactive waste is in place.
The United States has plans for disposal in Yucca Mountain, Nev., but that plan has been on hold since 1998.
We should not be producing dangerous waste without plans for its transportation or disposal.
Settle those questions about nuclear power. Then let’s discuss it.
MuskogeePhoenix.com, Muskogee, OK – Take care of disposal first
Nuclear waste bound for U.S. | www.tennessean.com | The Tennessean
Nuclear waste bound for U.S. Tennessean.com 2 Feb 09 c: U.S. should just say no to imported hazard
For a nation that still hasn’t found a sure-fire way of storing its own nuclear waste without worry, it certainly shouldn’t be taking waste from other nations.
U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon, a Democrat, and Sen. Lamar Alexander, a Republican, have teamed on legislation that would ban foreign nuclear waste. The legislation follows efforts by a Utah company, EnergySolutions, to import up to 20,000 tons of nuclear waste from Italy that would go through ports at Charleston, S.C., or New Orleans, and through Tennessee on its way to the EnergySolutions site in Utah………………….. for each load that goes through a community, there could be a problem. Alexander says he agrees with Gordon that the U.S. shouldn’t become “the world’s nuclear garbage dump.”The bill offered by Gordon and Alexander should be a no-brainer. Foreign nuclear waste should be prohibited from being brought into this country…………………………..The fact is no one is in position to guarantee the safety of domestic nuclear energy, and no amount of trouble from coal-fired power plants completely erases nuclear concerns. The fight against foreign waste is hard to square with a gung-ho cry for more domestic power generated from nuclear technology.
Nuclear waste bound for U.S. | www.tennessean.com | The Tennessean
The Times – Tenants evicted for nuclear plants
Tenants evicted for nuclear plants The Times.co.za Bobby Jordan Feb 01, 2009Eskom is evicting tenants from pristine coastal land earmarked for nuclear power stations — despite the official postponement of the country’s nuclear expansion programme.
But some tenants and landowners are refusing to budge, claiming the right to stay on until government decides when, where or even if any new nuclear reactors will be built.
Eskom announced its decision in December to postpone the commercial bid procurement process for the construction of two new conventional nuclear power stations on the coast, citing economic constraints as the reason. But it said this week that, despite the delay, it wanted all tenants off its property,
India to sign nuclear safeguards agreement in Vienna today
India to sign nuclear safeguards agreement in Vienna today indian express Amrita Didvala Feb 02, 2009 Ahmedabad: Australian High Commissioner says in Ahmedabad that his country doesn’t oppose India’s access to nuclear energy
India will sign the India-specific safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna on Monday…………………..
Australia, which is a member of the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, has ruled out uranium sale to India on grounds of the latter not having signed the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT). However, the Australian High Commissioner to India, John McCarthy, who was in Ahmedabad on Sunday, said the move was “not aimed at India specifically”.
“The decision was taken due to the internal political compulsions of Australia. Our country has long held on to the policy of not supplying uranium to countries that have not signed the NPT. Our policy is not to oppose India’s access to uranium or nuclear energy. In fact, Australia has been very supportive of India during the legislation and debate on the India-specific safeguards agreement with the IAEA,” McCarthy said.
China’s $12bn asset swoop on miner Rio Tinto | The Australian
China’s $12bn asset swoop on miner Rio Tinto
THE AUSTRALIAN Matt Chambers | February 02, 2009 RIO Tinto has confirmed it is in talks with Chinalco following rumours it plans to sell up to $US8 billion of assets to the company……………………Other assets that could form part of a deal are Queensland and NSW coal operations, Queensland and Northern Territory aluminium operations and Northern Territory uranium assets.
China’s $12bn asset swoop on miner Rio Tinto | The Australian
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FNArena News – January 27 2009 By Greg Peel
The analysts at uranium consultant TradeTech must be wondering if they are watching a global marketplace for an internationally important energy source or listening to the Channel Nine cricket commentary, so somnolent has the former become. For the third straight week, no one has blinked. There have been no transactions in either spot or long dates and no new orders on the buy side.)
Green Left – Traditional owner: don’t mine our land
Traditional owner: don’t mine our landJay Fletcher & Emma Murphy Green Left 4 February 2009 A multinational mining company that has been exposed for leaking uranium into Lake Ontario in North America is now exploring uranium deposits only a few kilometres from a significant Alice Springs water supply.Canadian resource giant, Cameco, has entered a joint venture with Australian Paladin Energy to explore and potentially mine the Angela Pamela uranium tenement 25 kilometres south of Alice Springs near the old outstation of Owen Springs.
Last year, Cameco was forced to admit to leaking uranium, arsenic and fluorides into Lake Ontario, one of the biggest lakes in North America. On May 23, ABC Alice Springs reported that the Port Hope refinery plant was closed when contaminated soil was discovered, but during the “clean-up” it is likely that tailings found their way into the harbour.Moreover, the company has been ordered to pay a C$1.4 million settlement to the state of Wyoming for failing to comply with environmental standards at its uranium mine. Among the charges were problems with the pace of ground water restoration, according to Canada’s Calgary Herald.
Traditional owner Raelene Silverton from Urana Potara community — located on the West Waterhouse station near Owen Springs — told Green Left Weekly in December that mining the site would create serious risk to local and Aboriginal communities. “There are a lot of people saying not to mine in there”, Silverton said. “There’s a bore there and Alice Springs communities get their water from there, it would be too dangerous.”
Cameco-Paladin were granted an exploration permit by the Northern Territory government in 2007. A May 27, 2008 media release from the Central Land Council (CLC) said that negotiations were being conducted with traditional owners, yet local owners such as Silverton, who do not want the plans to go ahead, say they have been excluded from the process.
Juggling nuclear interests tough job – Opinion – Editorial – General – The Canberra Times
Juggling nuclear interests tough job The Canberra Times CARL UNGERER2/02/2009 Nuclear weapons policy is high on the list of priorities for the administration of new United States President Barack Obama. In addition to advocating direct diplomatic engagement with both Iran and North Korea over nuclear proliferation concerns, the Administration has signalled a shift in policy direction across a broad range of nuclear-related issues.
If fully implemented, the scale and ambition of this policy shift will have direct consequences for Australia’s foreign and national security policy interests, including the Rudd Government’s new agenda for nuclear disarmament. Obama is likely to move quickly on strengthening the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, implementing a global ban on the production on new nuclear materials, stopping the development of new nuclear weapons, seeking dramatic reductions in stockpiles of nuclear weapons and material, and making the US-Russian ban on intermediate-range missiles a global agreement.
But not all members of the Obama team share this view………………
…………………India, in particular, unsure of its thermonuclear weapon design from the May 1998 tests, would welcome the opportunity to resume testing. Pakistan would immediately follow suit. And in the context of strained bilateral relations over recent terrorist attacks, could escalate nuclear tensions in South Asia to a dangerous new level.
Renewed nuclear testing among the major powers would consign the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty to the dustbin of history……………………
Australia has competing interests at stake in the nuclear weapons debate. Since signing the non-proliferation treaty in 1972, Australia has supported, with equal vigour, the extended nuclear guarantee and international arms control agreements that would eliminate nuclear weapons. And we have a growing interest in uranium exports. So far we have managed to balance these competing interests in ways that have not upset the US nuclear cart.
But under the Obama Administration, the gap between Australia’s advocacy of nuclear weapons elimination and US nuclear strategy is a potential source of diplomatic uneasiness.
Obama’s priorities to strengthen the non-proliferation treaty regime will likely fall short of the elimination pledge that Australia and others are seeking. And if the US implements its force modernisation plans, including a new round of nuclear weapons testing, Australia would be forced to censure the move.
Juggling nuclear interests tough job – Opinion – Editorial – General – The Canberra Times
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