2009 February 11 « nuclear-news

Bill would limit future Utah nuclear power plants

Bill would limit future Utah nuclear power plants

Associated Press – February 11, 2009 1:15 PM ET SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Lawmakers have introduced a bill in the Utah House that would effectively stop any nuclear power plant from setting up in the state. The measure introduced on Wednesday would prevent nuclear power plants from operating in Utah unless there is a federally licensed facility with adequate capacity available to dispose of any high-level radioactive waste. The proposed Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada has a capacity limit that is already too low to handle the material expected to be generated by the country’s 104 commercial reactors before they are shut down. Unless Congress removes the 77,000-ton limit on Yucca Mountain, it would have to approve a search for a second repository to handle future waste. A companion bill also has been introduced in the Utah Senate.

February 11, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | Leave a comment

US using British atomic weapons factory for its nuclear programme

US using British atomic weapons factory for its nuclear programme guardian.co.uk 9 feb 09 Joint warhead research carried out at Aldermaston• Work breaches nuclear treaty, campaigners warn

The US military has been using Britain’s atomic weapons factory to carry out research into its own nuclear warhead programme, according to evidence seen by the Guardian.

US defence officials said that “very valuable” warhead research has taken place at the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire as part of an ongoing and secretive deal between the British and American governments.

The Ministry of Defence admitted it is working with the US on the UK’s “existing nuclear warhead stockpile and the range of replacement options that might be available” but declined to give any further information.

Last night, opposition MPs called for a full parliamentary inquiry into the extent of the collaboration at Aldermaston and campaign groups warned any such deal was in breach of international law. They added that it also undermined Britain’s claim to have an independent nuclear weapons programme and meant British taxpayers were effectively subsidising America’s nuclear programme…………………………….

Congress has stopped funding research into RRW but campaigners believe the US military may have used facilities in the UK to get around the restrictions at home.

“Billions of pounds have been poured into the Atomic Weapons Establishment over recent years to build new research facilities,” said Hudson. “If these are being used to support US programmes outside Congress’s controls on spending, it raises even more serious questions about why the British taxpayer is paying for a so-called ‘independent deterrent’.”

US using British atomic weapons factory for its nuclear programme | World news | The Guardian

Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, uranium, radioactive

February 11, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK | Leave a comment

Nuclear waste issue remains unaddressed

Nuclear waste issue remains unaddressed
APP.com Paula Gotsch February 10, 2009 If the Nuclear Regulatory Commission chooses to ignore the flashing red lights of unresolved safety problems at the Oyster Creek generating station by relicensing the facility to run for another 20 years, there still remains another unresolved problem no one has found a permanent answer for: What do you do with nuclear waste?

The problem is playing out all over the world as countries scramble to get rid of their poisonous legacy. Italy has entered into agreements to send theirs to the U.S. for temporary storage in places like Texas. The United Kingdom and France are trying to figure out what to do with their failed and leaking reprocessing plants that have contaminated rivers and land areas. Germany is concerned about childrens’ health problems around some of its storage facilities. And everywhere, the cost to even begin clean up is astronomical.

The tons of nuclear waste generated by Oyster Creek will continue to pile up in the spent fuel pool on top of the reactor and in cask storage on the ground………………….At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Toms River Library auditorium, the League of Women Voters of Ocean County will hold a Community Dialogue on options for communities faced with the problem of neighborhood nuclear waste……………………………..The league also will announce a new program, Equal Protection for Women and Children, that will address the problem of low-level radiation and how the most vulnerable are, with the current standard used by federal agencies, the least protected.

Nuclear waste issue remains unaddressed | APP.com | Asbury Park Press

Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, uranium, radioactive

February 11, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | wastes | Leave a comment

Nuclear test case on hold…months before judge’s ruling

Nuclear test case on hold…months before judge’s rulingB
TS23 Billingham by Evening Gazette on Feb 10, 09
A TEESSIDE widow and more than 1,000 atom bomb test veterans and their families will have to wait until after Easter to discover if their compensation claims can go ahead.The ex-servicemen, their widows and families claim that the men were made ill by radiation exposure following nuclear tests in the Pacific and mainland Australia in the 1950s.The claims, if successful, could potentially cost the Ministry of Defence hundreds of millions of pounds in compensation payments for a wide range of health problems………………. The judge has now opted to go away to read and consider the evidence and submissions before giving a decision.

Nuclear test case on hold…months before judge’s ruling – Billingham – TS23

Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, uranium, radioactive

February 11, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, UK | Leave a comment

Global Wind Energy Capacity Grew by 28.8 percent in 2008

Global Wind Energy Capacity Grew by 28.8 percent in 2008S energy bangla 02.07.2009, 11:56am (GMT)Global wind energy capacity grew by 28.8 percent last year to reach total global installations of more than 120.8 GW at the end of 2008, according to Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).Over 27 GW of new wind power generation capacity came online in 2008, 36 percent more than in 2007.”These figures speak for themselves: there is huge and growing global demand for emissions-free wind power, which can be installed quickly, virtually everywhere in the world. Wind energy is the only power generation technology that can deliver the necessary cuts in CO2 in the critical period up to 2020, when greenhouse cases must peak and begin to decline to avoid dangerous climate change,” said Steve Sawyer, Secretary General of GWEC. “The 120 GW of global wind capacity in place at the end of 2008 will produce 260 TWh and save 158 million tons of CO2 every year.”

Energy Bangla – Global Wind Energy Capacity Grew by 28.8 percent in 2008

February 11, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, ENERGY | Leave a comment

Centrica faces investor revolt on British Energy

rom The Times February 11, 2009Centrica faces investor revolt on British EnergyShareholders voice anger at the utility’s proposed £3.1bn nuclear deal and call on it to buy gas assets instead

Centrica is facing a shareholder rebellion over its plan to spend £3.1billion buying a stake in Britain’s nuclear industry.

A leading institutional shareholder in Centrica, the owner of British Gas, is urging the company to scrap its plan to acquire 25 per cent of British Energy from EDF of France and use the money to buy more gas assets instead.

The investor, which asked not to be named, is the latest in a growing chorus of City objectors to the deal.

Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, uranium, radioactive

February 11, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, UK | Leave a comment

Salazar: Renewable energy offers ‘huge potential’ along Atlantic Coast

Salazar: Renewable energy offers ‘huge potential’ along Atlantic Coast

capecodtoday By James Kinsella 10 Frb 09

When it comes to wind projects built off the coast of Massachusetts, the proposed Cape Wind project south of Cape Cod might just be the start.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said renewable energy offers “huge potential” along the nation’s Atlantic Coast.

I