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Pro nuclear push in US Senate

Help Stop Pro-Nuke Budget Amendments NOW!

March 31, 2009

They’re at it again! And we have to act again–now!

The U.S. Senate is currently debating President Obama’s FY 2010 budget on the Senate floor.

A small group of Senators, led by Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsay Graham (R-SC), is preparing to introduce a number of pro-nuclear amendments intended to support still more subsidies to the nuclear industry. Other Senators involved are Crapo, Brownback, Voinovich, and Vitter.

One amendment we’ve seen would allow money to be shifted around in the budget if the nuclear industry can get $50 billion in new loan guarantees later. Another would allow money to be shifted around if pro-nuclear boosters are successful in getting more R&D money for Generation IV reactors. Another would do the same if construction of a reprocessing facility were authorized. These amendments are intended to make it easier for nuclear backers to try again to boost nuclear spending once the budget bill is enacted.

Please call your Senators–NOW--and urge them to vote against any and all amendments to the budget bill that would pave the way for additional nuclear subsidies. Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121.

And please send your Senators an e-mail on these amendments by clicking here.

And please help us pay for this ongoing campaign by making your donation here. Your contributions of any size are gratefully appreciated, and enable us to continue doing this work.

Spread the word–post this Alert everywhere!

Thanks for all you do,

Michael Mariotte

Nuclear Information and Resource Service

www.nirs.org

nirsnet@nirs.org

April 1, 2009 Posted by | politics, USA | , | Leave a comment

Yucca Mountain Plan for Nuclear Waste Dies

Yucca Mountain Plan for Nuclear Waste Dies

The New York Times March 31, 2009, Yucca Mountain Plan for Nuclear Waste DiesBy David M. HerszenhornNothing makes the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, madder than folks pushing for the storage of nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain in Mr. Reid’s home state………………………Senator John McCain of Arizona, the former Republican presidential nominee and a big proponent of the nuclear storage area, declared on Tuesday that Yucca Mountain was no longer a realistic option given the opposition of the Obama administration……………………….Mr. Reid earlier this week said he had received firm assurances from President Obama, that Yucca Mountain would never be operational. “It’s dead,” Mr. Reid said in an interview.

Yucca Mountain Plan for Nuclear Waste Dies – The Caucus Blog – NYTimes.com

April 1, 2009 Posted by | USA, wastes | Leave a comment

As CT Radiation Accumulates, Cancer Risk May Rise

As CT Radiation Accumulates, Cancer Risk May RiseThose who have the most scans over a lifetime face greatest risk, experts sayP osted March 31, 2009

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, March 31 (HealthDay News) — Cumulative exposure to radiation from CT scans can increase the risk for cancer by as much as 12 percent, Harvard University researchers report……………………………people who are having a lot of CTs need to think more carefully and talk with their doctor to determine whether additional scans add value to their care because the risks can add up over time, he said. “We found cancer risks up to 12 percent” higher for people who had 38 scans, he said.

The report is published in the April issue of Radiology.

As CT Radiation Accumulates, Cancer Risk May Rise – US News and World Report

April 1, 2009 Posted by | environment, USA | , , | Leave a comment

Nuclear waste storage a boon for Taitung?

Nuclear waste storage a boon for Taitung?

The China Post 31 March 09 “…………………….a preferred storage site for such low-radiation waste is somewhere reasonably remote with a small population………………………..Taipower has selected two sites they believe are best suited as storage locations. The first is Wan-an Township located on the Penghu archipelago’s Dongji Island. The second site is Taitung County’s Da-ren Township. Predictably, many of the residents of both sites are strongly against the proposal. The opposition is fiercest in Wan-an where some 90% are said to be against the plan……………………Many at the two proposed sites feel as if their ancestral lands are being polluted. Therefore, the company is offering a NT$5 billion (US$146 million) “friendly-neighbor” payment to the residents of the selected site…………………….Taitung is one of the poorest counties in Taiwan and is home to a significant number of Paiwan aboriginal people……………….hopefully through consultations and outreach, Da-ren Township will come to see that this plan could be in their interest.

Nuclear waste storage a boon for Taitung? – The China Post

April 1, 2009 Posted by | China, indigenous issues | Leave a comment

NIGER: Desert residents pay high price for lucrative uranium mining | Economy Environment Health & Nutrition Conflict Water & Sanitation | Feature

NIGER: Desert residents pay high price for lucrative uranium mining IRIN 1 April 09 DAKAR,  – After a visit in late March from French President Nicholas Sarkozy to Niger, residents in the uranium-exporting desert country continue questioning whether AREVA, a company primarily owned by the French government, will honour its promise to protect communities from mining hazards.

Studies and residents’ testimonies have pointed to health and environmental dangers from mining operations owned and operated by both AREVA’s subsidiaries and the Niger government…………………… The AREVA majority-owned mine called COMINAK (Mining Company of Akouta) commissioned an environmental study of its operations in Arlit in 2006, which reported that the number of deaths linked to respiratory infections was twice as high in the mining town (16 percent) as in the rest of the country.

Arlit’s population is 110,000.

“The wind carries dust contaminated with the long-lasting radium [time required for it to lose toxicity is more than 1,600 years] and lead…Samples taken from 5km within site…Sandstorms [and] atmospheric waste from mines could be aggravating factors for pulmonary [illnesses] in the region,” the researchers wrote in COMINAK’s environmental study. ………………. Radioactive waste – possibly used in road construction – may be responsible for the abnormally high levels of radiation, according to CRIIRAD. In 2007 CRIIRAD researchers wrote that radiation levels were up to 100 times above average in front of the AREVA-funded hospital near the COMINAK mine…………………… But environmental studies carried out by CRIIRAD and Sherpa in 2005 in mining communities showed water radiation levels up to 110 times higher than World Health Organization (WHO) safe drinking water standards in industrial areas

IRIN Africa | West Africa | Gabon Niger | NIGER: Desert residents pay high price for lucrative uranium mining | Economy Environment Health & Nutrition Conflict Water & Sanitation | Feature

April 1, 2009 Posted by | indigenous issues, Niger | , , , | Leave a comment

Europe Won’t Buy Into Nuclear Power Until Waste Problem Is Solved

Europe Won’t Buy Into Nuclear Power Until Waste Problem Is Solved THE BUSINESS INSIDER Jay Yarow|Mar. 31, 2009, The renaissance of the nuclear power industry appears to be in a holding pattern. The two big problems: Lack of funding for the expensive construction of the reactors, and public skepticism about nuclear waste.

EE News attended a two-day nuclear energy conference last week and reported that Ute Blohm-Hieber, head of nuclear energy and waste management at the European Commission, agreed that waste is the “Achilles’ heel of the nuclear industry.” What’s interesting is that the news org didn’t have any word from the conference of workable solutions to the problem.

Europe Won’t Buy Into Nuclear Power Until Waste Problem Is Solved

April 1, 2009 Posted by | business and costs, EUROPE | , , | Leave a comment

Nearly $2 billion for Hanford cleanup

Nearly $2 billion for Hanford cleanup seattlepi.com By SHANNON DININNYASSOCIATED PRESS WRITERRICHLAND, Wash. — The Department of Energy plans to spend about $2 billion in stimulus money to speed some of the cleanup at south-central Washington’s highly contaminated Hanford nuclear reservation………………..The extra $2 billion equals what the federal government typically spends cleaning up Hanford each year……………………53 million gallons of radioactive brew, were left behind in 177 underground tanks. Some of those tanks are known to have leaked into the aquifer, threatening the neighboring Columbia River, and 144 tanks remain to be emptied.

Nearly $2 billion for Hanford cleanup

April 1, 2009 Posted by | business and costs, USA | , , , | Leave a comment