2009 February 27 « nuclear-news

Obama Rejects Nuclear Waste Site After 20-Year Fight.

Obama Rejects Nuclear Waste Site After 20-Year Fight.

By Daniel Whitten

Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama won’t let nuclear waste be stored at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, rejecting the project after 20 years of planning at a cost of at least $9 billion.

Obama and Energy Secretary Steven Chu “have been emphatic that nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain is not an option, period,” said department spokeswoman Stephanie Mueller. The federal budget plan Obama released today “clearly reflects that commitment,” she said.

“The new administration is starting the process of finding a better solution for management of our nuclear waste,” Mueller said in an e-mail today.

Obama’s decision leaves unresolved a long-term plan for nuclear waste, primarily from power plants, even as utility companies seek to build more reactors.

Under the disputed proposal, nuclear waste from reactors around the nation was to be shipped to Yucca Mountain, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Las Vegas, to be stored in tunnels 1,000-feet underground. The Energy Department had plans to store more than 109,000 metric tons at the site.

Radioactive waste is now spread among more than 120 sites in 39 states, according to the Energy Department. There are 104 operating commercial reactors in the U.S., and 17 applications are pending at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build 26 more reactors.

Bloomberg.com: Worldwide

February 27, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | 1 Comment

Catholic bishops reject nuclear power plant revival

CBCP rejects nuclear power plant revivalRecommends Bataan facility ‘must be dismantled’ Philippine Daily Inquirer 02/27/2009

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has thrown its weight behind the opposition to rehabilitating the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP).

In a pastoral statement, the CBCP urged Congress to “completely and irrevocably reject the opening of the nuclear plant as the most dangerous and expensive way to generate electricity.”

The statement was issued by the CBCP president, Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo.

“Multiple risks and the possibility of corruption outweigh dreamed benefits. We recommend with other anti-BNPP congressmen and the Greenpeace Forum that the mothballed facility in Morong, Bataan, be dismantled as its revival will be most hazardous to health and life of the people,” read the CBCP statement.

CBCP rejects nuclear power plant revival – INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

February 27, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Philippines, politics | Leave a comment

15,000 demonstrated against nuclear power in Germany with 52 kilometres of light

15,000 demonstrated against nuclear power in Germany Sydney Indymedia February 27th, 2009 by Diet SimonBy Diet Simon Despite icy weather and light rain some 15,000 Germans demonstrated against nuclear power generation their Thursday evening, our early Friday morning, with a chain of light 52 kilometres long.The route linked Braunschweig, Wolfenbüttel and Salzgitter in the north, an area that contains two frighteningly failing underground nuclear waste dumps, Asse II and Morsleben, and another to start operating in 2013, Schacht Konrad in Salzgitter.Although most protesters were from the region, people travelled from all over Germany to the demo, called by trade unions, churches, advocacy groups, local governments, neighbourhood associations, firms, farmers with their tractors, to protest against irresponsible handling of nuclear waste……………………..

The anti-nuclear movement is particularly incensed about a recently passed law that will have taxpayers footing the bill for nuclear dumps although the waste in them was produced by power companies, which will not be paying.

If waste disposal costs were completely factored into the power price, opponents say, the legend of cheap nuclear electricity would be blown away.

15,000 demonstrated against nuclear power in Germany with 52 kilometres of light | Sydney Indymedia

February 27, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, politics | Leave a comment

Russian “Nuclear Renaissance” Hits Roadblock

Russian “Nuclear Renaissance” Hits Roadblock msnbc Business 27 Feb 09 Financial resources and technical capabilities thwart ambitious plans Russia’s ambitions for its “nuclear renaissance” face many obstacles, concludes a report released today by The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI).

The Russian Nuclear Industry: Status and Prospects provides a detailed analysis of the current state of the nuclear power industry in Russia and shows that although this industry has recently been greeted with renewed funding and enthusiasm, achieving its ambitious plans will require it to overcome considerable problems and limitations.

“Continuing a tendency from Soviet-era days, the Russian government has shown a predilection for developing grandiose plans for the expansion of the nuclear energy sector that are not fulfilled,” writes Miles Pomper, author of the paper. “While the first post-Soviet nuclear plans called for a total of 38 new nuclear reactors to be built, only three have actually been constructed and with capabilities that are not superior or even equal to its Western competitors.”

Russian “Nuclear Renaissance” Hits Roadblock – MSNBC Wire Services – msnbc.com

February 27, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Russia | Leave a comment

Obama’s budget focuses on renewable energy

Obama’s budget focuses on renewable energy Tom LoBianco THE WASHINGTON TIMES February 27, 2009 President Obama’s first budget includes $15 billion a year for renewable energy programs and an ambitious plan to raise $656 billion from a carbon reduction proposal.

“Because our future depends on our ability to break free from oil that’s controlled by foreign dictators, we need to make clean, renewable energy the profitable kind of energy,” Mr. Obama said Thursday.

The plan uses money from a cap-and-trade program – which would allow companies to emit carbon dioxide up to a certain level, and then charge them $20 per ton of gasses emitted above that cap – would pay for Mr. Obama’s middle-class tax cuts and investments in renewable energy.

Washington Times – Obama’s budget focuses on renewable energy

February 27, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY, USA | Leave a comment

Iran and USA – new approach needed

Iran and USA – new approach needed

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Broadcast: 26/02/2009

Reporter: Kerry O’Brien

……….ROBERT BAER:………………………President Obama is moving tentatively to open up serious dialogue with Iran, but that process could be a long, slow one. And if further evidence emerges that Iran is moving closer to nuclear weapons capacity, he would come under pressure to act pre-emptively…………………………….what’s happened is that the United States looks at the Middle East through Israel. And the Arabs and the Persians look at Israel as an outpost of the United States of the West. We’ve lost this anti-colonial game and the Iranians have won it. They’ve simply portrayed themselves as not as religious fanatics, but as an anti-colonial power. And everybody in the Middle East, you look at the polls across the board, even countries like Morocco, which are entirely Sunni, look to Tehran as the great anti-imperial power. We’ve lost the ideological war. You know, that doesn’t mean we lost the war entirely, but we’ve lost the ideological war, but by bringing Iran to the negotiating table; by implementing Resolution 242; closing the settlements in the West Bank; getting the Israelis to a position where they don’t have to feel they have to bomb Gaza; will normalise relations in the Middle East…………. It’s a military dictatorship and any military conflict can be negotiated. Ideological ones cannot be…………………………….The nuclear weapons is a red herring in this conflict with Iran because the Iranians are not going to build a bomb now. I’m almost convinced of it. In as much as you can predict anything, they are not going to build and test a bomb now. It causes them too much problems – too many problems – they’ve gained too much. There would be international embargo, sanctions and on and on. Even Russia and China would back away. Nuclear bomb – they don’t need one right now, it’s just a way to get us to the negotiating table. But the major point is they’re not going to commit suicide. If the Iranians wanted to commit suicide, they could have done it long ago in the Gulf. Started a war with the United States. And they’re not going to start one with Israel either.

The 7.30 Report – ABC

February 27, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Iran, politics, USA | Leave a comment