2009 July 10 « nuclear-news

Don’t nuke the climate

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International campaign “Don’t nuke the climate” : we need your support
Please answer before the 12th of July 2009.
Register your group
The first partners In December 2009, at the next UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, it will be the world leaders’ duty to aim for an ambitious agreement regarding greenhouse gas emissions cut targets. They should also agree on a relevant budget to finance climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Nuclear power has been kept outside of climate change mitigation mechanisms like CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) and JI (Joint Implementation) so far. However, some evidence shows that the nuclear lobby could be preparing its comeback at the next COP to have this dirty energy labeled as clean or carbon-free and thus benefit from new subsidies. Will our leaders let themselves be talked into financing a dangerous, costly and irrelevant technology, which would divert urgently needed money from real solutions to climate change?

This is why we now propose you to support the international campaign “Don’t nuke the climate” which will be initiated by the Réseau “Sortir du nucléaire” (French Network for Nuclear Phase-out). A campaign document will be edited at a large scale (several hundreds of thousand copies) by September 2009. It will include petition postcards to be signed by citizens, which will be gathered and then presented in Copenhagen during a media-oriented action. Beside, we will ask citizens to send us pictures to make a huge mosaic showing the face(s) of world citizens’ refusal of nuke as a solution to global warming.

We would highly appreciate to see your logo on this document and on the dedicated website, our aim being to distribute this campaign as broadly as possible, not only in France, but also in Europe and maybe further. Our last campaign on this topic, in year 2008, has already gathered 27 partners at a national level. However, the issue is global and requires international committment. We know some of you are already active on the issue of nukes and global warming, and hope this campaign could contribute in joining our efforts to allow the antinuclear voice to be heard even stronger in Copenhagen.Like already many organizations, do not hesitate to register your NGO as a partner of the campaign “Don’t nuke the climate”The writing work is in progress and your remarks will be welcomed.

Don’t nuke the climate

July 10, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, climate change, politics | antinuclear, AREVA, nuclear, nuclear costs, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Nuclear dawn delayed in Finland

Nuclear dawn delayed in Finland By Rob Broomby BBC World Service, 10 July Olkiluoto, Finland

When it is finished, Finland’s Olkiluoto 3 (OL3) nuclear reactor will be the biggest the world has ever seen, the excavation site alone is the size of 55 football fields.

It was to have been a pilot project for bigger, better, cleaner, Generation III reactors, which would lead the charge back to nuclear power in a continent which had gone cold on atomic energy after the accidents at Chernobyl and Thee Mile Island.

But hopes of an early nuclear dawn on the Baltic coast are fading – the May start up date came and went and the OL3 is now not expected to begin pumping out electricity until 2012 – three years later than planned and about $2.4bn dollars (1.7bn euros) over budget.

The soaring cranes tell the tale: this project is far from complete.

There have been a string of problems starting with the concrete, then the welding.

Now, the safety regulator is questioning the designs for the reactor’s nerve centre – the Instrumentation and Control system……………………..

Even Philippe Knoche, Areva’s chief operating officer, admits things have not been going well.

“It’s no secret that Areva is losing money on this project,” he tells me……………………………..the EPR could be struck-off the list of reactor designs approved for use in the UK, a devastating blow to the French company and the British nuclear programme.

BBC NEWS | Europe | Nuclear dawn delayed in Finland

July 10, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Finland | antinuclear, AREVA, nuclear, nuclear costs | Leave a comment

Conflict on African continent hampers mining industries

Conflict on continent hampers mining industries Mining Weekly

By:Megan Wait 10 July 09Foreign nations’ and companies’ interests in African resources also lead to negative effects. Many foreign companies on the continent are primarily extractive. This means that the countries are seen as suppliers of raw materials, which are exported for processing to other countries. This prevents the esta- blishment of manufacturing and service industries in these countries, which inhibits job creation. The export taxes also create expenses for the country, which is chroni- cally strapped for revenue.

Meanwhile, French nuclear company Areva’s subsidiary, uranium explorer UraMin, reports that the company, although at peace with the government, is concerned about its uranium-excavating project Bakouma, in the Central African Republic (CAR)……………………………….The negative perception of the political, societal and economic situation in Africa, weak leadership and poor governance, and the lack of regional coherence and identity create structural problems that continue the cycle of poverty and insecurity.

Conflict on continent hampers mining industries

July 10, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, France | antinuclear, AREVA, indigenous, nuclear, nuclear costs | Leave a comment

Nuke plant blames maintenance problems for leak

Nuke plant blames maintenance problems for leak philly.com Jul. 9, 2009 The Associated PressLACEY TOWNSHIP, N.J. – Officials at a New Jersey nuclear power plant say a maintenance problem is to blame for a tritium leak this year.The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission released a statement explaining what operators of Lacey Township’s Oyster Creek plant say went wrong.A 1991 report indicated two pipes had been recoated. But a new analysis finds they were not completely recoated and were prone to corrosion.

Nuke plant blames maintenance problems for leak | AP | 07/09/2009

July 10, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, radioactive | Leave a comment

Swedish nuclear watchdog puts plant on probation amid safety concerns |

Swedish nuclear watchdog puts plant on probation amid safety concerns

Detsche Welle 9 July 09 After a series of incidents that could endanger the security at a nuclear plant in Sweden, officials in the Scandinavian country have called for new security measures.

The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) has placed the Ringhals nuclear plant, in the southwest of the country, under special supervision after a series of incidents.

“The agency has on several occasions pointed out deficiencies that have been followed by measures from Ringhals, but the problems still remain,” said Swedish Radiation Safety Authority official Leif Karlsson……………

……………Sweden at one time had as many as 12 nuclear reactors in operation, but decommissioned two reactors at the Barseback plant in southern Sweden in an effort to cut back on nuclear energy. The current center-right government has announced that the country will continue relying on nuclear plants, disregarding a 1980 referendum in which Sweden decided to gradually phase them out.

Swedish nuclear watchdog puts plant on probation amid safety concerns | Europe | Deutsche Welle | 09.07.2009

July 10, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | EUROPE, safety | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, radioactive | Leave a comment