Nuclear energy neither clean nor safe
Nuclear energy neither clean nor safe
Amy Collard, Natural Resources Critic, Green Party of Canada 1 July 09 “Several assumptions need to be corrected. Canada’s energy mix is 59.8 per cent hydro, 16.1 per cent coal, 11.6 per cent nuclear, 6.7 per cent oil, 4.9 per cent natural gas and 0.9 per cent renewables……………………..Replacing all nuclear and fossil fuel energy sources with renewables by 2040 would result in this mix: 47.2 per cent hydro; 13.8 per cent wind; 7.2 per cent solar; 5.5 per cent tidal/wave; 23.1 per cent geothermal; 3.2 per cent other renewables, such as biomass and waste water.
This is a manageable expectation, especially in Ontario where we have made a commitment through the Green Energy Act. The GTA has made significant progress in both renewable sources of energy and energy conservation.
Renewable energy is clean, safe and cost effective. The same cannot be said about nuclear.
Uranium mining is not clean; the transport of radioactive materials is hazardous; waste management solutions do not ensure safety; and nuclear weapons proliferation is a serious threat.
TheStar.com | Opinion | Nuclear energy neither clean nor safe
The nuclear option [Areva]
The nuclear option – AREVA
appomattox’s posterous 2 July 09 “………………………………”Though Niger is the fourth-largest producer of uranium in the world, it sees almost none of the wealth. Because of a long-standing contract, the French consortium* pays only 5.5 percent of its revenue in taxes, and most of it goes to subsidize elites in the dusty capital of Niamey. Almost three-quarters of the people cannot read, and those who survive to the age of forty-five are living on statistically borrowed time. Niger was recently named the most deprived country on earth by the United Nations, ranked dead last among the world’s sovereign nations on a comprehensive scale called the Human Development Index, which charts life expectancy, education, and standard of living…””Uranium: War, Energy, and the Rock that Shaped the World,” by Tom Zoellne……………..…………..President Nicolas Sarkozy has been active in trumpeting his country’s know-how to win French companies new business abroad…Areva needs between eight and 10 billion euros by 2012 to fund its investment program, notably to develop its third-generation EPR nuclear reactor. It also needs an estimated two billion euros to buy out Siemens’ stake in Areva NP, its reactor subsidiary.” ………………….
…………..Areva needs between eight billion and 10 billion euros (11.2 billion and 14.0 billion dollars) by 2012 to fund its investment program, notably to develop its third-generation EPR nuclear reactor. The company also needs an estimated two billion euros to buy out Siemens’ stake in Areva NP, its reactor subsidiary.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i7L4s3lyWXxYV0rTTNpBou6r7Jeg
In other words, it appears Areva is in deep financial doings, and ownership of the company is being diluted from a state-run operation to privatization – a movement that seems to annoy the French government.While financial doings are deep (albeit perhaps not troublesome, depending on the availability of investors), the climate in Africa poses some problems:
“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.” On the other side of that coin, Areva faces problems with water shortages in its mining and milling processes.
The nuclear option [Areva]: Virginia Business – News – appomattox’s posterous
Nuclear power and global energy needs
Nuclear power and global energy needs
Earthwitness 3 July 09 Nuclear energy is too expensive, too dangerous and has no place in our energy future, says a Greenpeace reportThe nuclear industry is using the issue of climate change and energy security as a means to win political and financial support for its dirty and dying industry, says a report by Greenpeace released on July 3.Even a massive, four-fold expansion of nuclear power by 2050 would provide only marginal reductions (4 per cent) in greenhouse gas emissions, when we need global emissions to peak at 2015, cuts of 40 per cent by 2020 and to drop by at least 80 per cent by 2050.Nuclear energy’s ‘contribution’ to fighting climate change would come too late (long after 2020), with huge costs (USD10 trillion), and would create a myriad of other serious hazards related to accidents, waste management and proliferation.
Wheels Coming Off Nuclear Bandwagon
Beyond
Nuclear 2 July 09 International leaders of the nuclear power “renaissance” have recently announced major delays, or outright cancellations, of new reactors. In the U.S., John Rowe, CEO and Chairman of the largest nuclear utility Exelon, dropped its application to NRC to build two reactors at Victoria County Station, Texas and instead will pursue a more generic Early Site Permit approval without committing to a specific reactor design. This latest stumble is admittedly due to “limited availability of federal loan guarantees.” (See Wall Street Journal coverage with links to more articles). In Ontario, $26 billion in nuclear power plant refurbishment and new reactor construction plans have been suspended, as the Province seeks to bargain down Atomic Energy of Canada Limited’s skyrocketing price tags, especially given the government -owned “Crown Corporation’s” current troubles and uncertain future. (See press coverage). And recent developments in South Africa have likely rung the death knell for the pebble bed modular reactor, once touted as the lead “Generation IV” design for “advanced reactors.” (See The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists story). ??
New study: Nuclear workers at higher risk for cancer –
New study: Nuclear workers at higher risk for cancer Brattleboro Reformer By BOB AUDETTE, Reformer Staff July 2BRATTLEBORO — Are nuclear power plant workers at higher risk to die of cancer?A study conducted by a Canadian researcher concluded the risk is substantially higher to them than to the general public.The document, “Exposure to Radiation and Health Outcomes” was made public last week. It was written by Mark Lemstra, who was formerly a senior research epidemiologist for the Saskatoon, Canada, Health Region……………………In the radiation report, in which Lemstra reviewed 1,725 articles related to radiation studies, he concluded that nuclear power plant workers have a “relative excess risk” of getting cancer.
In epidemiology, excess risk is defined as the difference between the proportion of subjects in a population with a particular disease who were exposed to a specific risk factor and the proportion of subjects with that same disease who were not exposed.
In the case of nuclear power plant workers, that risk factor is low-dose radiation.
New study: Nuclear workers at higher risk for cancer – Brattleboro Reformer
France imports UK electricity as plants shut
July 3, 2009 France imports UK electricity as plants shut TIMESONLINE
France is being forced to import electricity from Britain to cope with a summer heatwave that has helped to put a third of its nuclear power stations out of action.
With temperatures across much of France surging above 30C this week, EDF’s reactors are generating the lowest level of electricity in six years, forcing the state-owned utility to turn to Britain for additional capacity.
Fourteen of France’s 19 nuclear power stations are located inland and use river water rather than seawater for cooling. When water temperatures rise, EDF is forced to shut down the reactors to prevent their casings from exceeding 50C.
Exxon still aids denialist lobby
Exxon still aids denialist lobby Sydney Morning Herald David Adam in London July 3, 2009
THE world’s largest oil company is continuing to fund lobby groups that question global warming, despite its public pledge to cut support for climate change denial.Company records show ExxonMobil gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to such lobby groups last year. These include the National Centre for Policy Analysis in Dallas, which received $75,000, and the Heritage Foundation in Washington, which received $50,000……………………….According to Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics, the NCPA and Heritage Foundation have published “misleading and inaccurate information about climate change”…………………………The Heritage Foundation’s December “web memo” said: “Growing scientific evidence casts doubt on whether global warming constitutes a threat, including the fact that 2008 is about to go into the books as a cooler year than 2007.”……………………….Mr Ward said: “ExxonMobil has been briefing journalists for three years that they were going to stop funding these groups [but] … they are still doing it. If [it] wants to fund climate change denial then it should be upfront about it and not tell people it has stopped.”
French Polynesia French nuke vets unhappy with compensation
French Polynesia French nuke vets unhappy with compensation ABC Radio Australia
The French National Assembly has approved a bill to compensate the victims of the nuclear tests it carried out in French Polynesia and Algeria for more than three decades. It’s the first time the French government has acknowledged it has a legal obligation to compensate the 150,000 military personnel and local staff who may have suffered serious health problems due to exposure to radiation.
But the workers aren’t happy, saying the new bill falls short of what they need. Presenter: Meredith Griffiths
Speaker: Roland Oldham, President of Moruroa e Tatou; Nic Maclellan, author We have a very high rate of cancer here in our country and some of the cancer very, very rare. The problem is our system especially the French system of health department, no data has been done about it……………………………..This law is completely controlled by the Ministry of Defence. They have been doing 30 years of nuclear tests here and today they are the same ones who make a law to compensate the people. It is not independent institution at all. It is a committee of compensation that is nominated by the Ministry of Defence. There is no representation of the victims committee. The area of concern is also decided by the Ministry of Defence..
Nuclear site safety probe jobs worry
Nuclear site safety probe The Gazette 2 July 2009 A DECISION on Fylde’s nuclear ambitions could be delayed because of safety concerns around a rival bidder’s Toshiba Westinghouse, owner of Springfields, is in the running to build the reactor for the UK’s new-build nuclear power station.
But the Health and Safety Executive has not yet started examining the company’s designs because of safety concerns around another firm’s proposals.
Rival bidder, French company Areva and EDF, has received confirmation from the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) of concerns about the technology being used for the four reactors it wants to build across the country.
And the Health and Safety Executive, which oversees the NII, said the design could be rejected for use in the UK if its concerns could not be addressed.
Guardian Newspapers
Tension in Niger as Tandja ‘muscles for third term’ Focus By Ben Ukwuoma 2 July 09 WITH plans of a referendum and constitutional amendment thrown to the dustbin by the country’s highest court, President Mamadou Tandja at the weekend assumed emergency powers, deepening political crisis in the uranium rich country.Like other sit-tight African leaders, Mamadou Tandja, is playing a game with time.He is bent on grinding all opposition in the uranium rich country into the dust in a desperate move to cling to power……………………… According to him people want him to complete large infrastructure projects, including a hydroelectric dam, an oil refinery and French energy giant Areva’s 1.2 billion euro Imouraren uranium mine.
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