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The search for a nuclear graveyard

The search for a nuclear graveyard

radiation-warningThe Globe and Mail 26 August 09

40,000 metric tonnes of radioactive waste is stored at sites across Canada. Anna Mehler Paperny reports on the hunt for a permanent solution

Wanted: Friendly, open-minded community in need of jobs and a whack of infrastructure cash. Must be willing to play host to nuclear waste, perhaps until the end of time.More than six decades after joining the nuclear club, Canada is home to 22 nuclear reactors, 18 of them in operation, producing about 15 per cent of the country’s electricity. Canada also has 40,000 metric tonnes of radioactive waste – and counting.

For years, the issue of how to best dispose of this waste has plagued policy-makers, scientists and citizens. Suggestions have included shooting it into outer space or exporting it to the South Pole.

Now, Canada is preparing to get rid of its nuclear detritus once and for all – by burying it. Continue reading →

August 25, 2009 Posted by | 1, Canada, wastes | , , , , , | Leave a comment

America’s worst nuclear meltdown – cover-up revealed

Please go to the following link, to read this fine article.

 Science & Environment Articles | Taking Stock After America’s Worst Nuclear Accident | Miller-McCune Online Magazine

50 Years After America’s Worst Nuclear Meltdown
Human error helped worsen a nuclear meltdown just outside Los Angeles, and now human inertia has stymied the radioactive cleanup for half a century.

Miller McCune.com 25 August 09 By: Joan Trossman and Michael Collins | August 24, 2009

My apologies to Miller McCune for my use of the article.

It was not my intention to steal their material. Rather, I wish to lead people towards the source

Christina Macpherson

August 25, 2009 Posted by | 1, safety, USA | , , , | 1 Comment

‘Dirty timebomb’ ticking in Russian nuclear dump threatens Europe

Dirty timebomb’ ticking in Russian nuclear dump threatens Europe
Belfast Telegraph By Rachel Shields  25 August 09

20,000 discarded uranium fuel rods stored in the Arctic Circle are corroding. The possible result? Detonation of a massive radioactive bomb experts say could rival the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

A decaying Russian nuclear dump inside the Arctic Circle is threatening to catch fire or explode, turning it into a “dirty bomb” that could impact the whole of northern Europe, including the British Isles.

Experts are warning that sea water and intense cold are corroding a storage facility at Andreeva Bay, on the Kola Peninsula near Murmansk. It contains more than 20,000 discarded fuel rods from nuclear submarines and some nuclear-powered icebreakers. A Norwegian environmental group, Bellona, says it has obtained a copy of a secret report by the Russian nuclear agency, Rosatom, which speaks of an “uncontrolled nuclear reaction”.

John Large, an independent British nuclear consultant who has visited the site, told The Independent on Sunday: “The nuclear rods are fixed to the roof and encased in metal to keep them apart and prevent any reactions from occurring. However, sea water has eroded them at their base, and they are falling to the floor of the tanks, where inches of saltwater have collected.

“This water will begin to corrode the rods, a reaction that releases hydrogen, a gas that is highly explosive and could be ignited by any spark. When another rod falls to the floor and generates such a spark, an enormous explosion could occur, scattering radioactive material for hundreds of kilometres.”

Mr Large, who was decorated by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin for his role in the salvage operation that retrieved nuclear material from the Kursk submarine in 2000, added: “This wouldn’t be a thermonuclear or atomic explosion, as in a bomb, but the outcome is just as bad. Remember Chernobyl? If you had the right weather conditions and wind pattern, this would mean a radioactive cloud drifting over the UK.”

The three storage tanks contain more than 32 tons of radioactive material. But the Kola Peninsula is littered with relics of Soviet nuclear facilities, housing more than 100 tons of nuclear waste – the largest concentration in the world.

Experts predict that a major explosion at Andreeva Bay could destroy all life in a 32-mile radius, including Murmansk and a sliver of Norway, whose border is only 28 miles away. But a much wider area of Norway, north-west Russia and Finland would be rendered uninhabitable for at least 20 years, and huge quantities of radioactive material would be dumped into the Barents Sea……………………

Another Chernobyl-type meltdown, this time in the Arctic, could have much more far-reaching effects. The worst case would be widespread fallout caused by rain in a densely populated area, causing untold social and economic disruption beyond the threat to life.

‘Dirty timebomb’ ticking in Russian nuclear dump threatens Europe – World news, News – Belfasttelegraph.co.uk

August 25, 2009 Posted by | 1, Russia, safety | , , , , | 1 Comment

German customers are saying ‘No Thanks” to nuclear power

Many German customers are saying ‘No Thanks” to nuclear power
American German Business News Flavia Westerwelle 24 August 09

After the recent nuclear reactor shutdown at the Vattenfall Kruemmel nuclear plant near Hamburg, Germany, many German customers are preferring green energy.

On July 4th, 2009 the Kruemmel nuclear plant near Hamburg had been running for less than two weeks after a two year shutdown, when a sudden drop of voltage send shopping centers and traffic lights in Germany’s second largest city into an hour long blackout.After this incident the green energy company Lichtblick saw a dramatic jump in customers, with ca. 200 new customers per day.

This corresponds to a 70 % increase in customers for Lichtblick, a Hamburg-based company providing energy from renewable sources, with a mix of hydro, wind, solar and biomass power.It looks like the recent series of problems at nuclear plants combined with the issue of storing the nuclear waste has trigger a process of rethinking by many German customers eager to find a long term solution for Germany’s energy needs.

Many German customers are saying ‘No Thanks” to nuclear power « American-German Business News

August 25, 2009 Posted by | 1, ENERGY, Germany | , , , | Leave a comment

Nuclear Safety in India

Nuclear Safety in India

The Pakistani Spectator 25 August 09
India has not ratified the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Yet, it has been exempted from nuclear restrictions imposed on non-signatories. The West has accorded preferential treatment to India ostensibly in consideration of her `immaculate’ nuclear safety record.

India’s Nuclear Power Corporation boisterously claims: “NPC engineers have shared their expertise internationally by participating in safety reviews and inspection of reactors in other countries conducted by the World Association of Nuclear Operators and the International Atomic Energy Agency. We are continuously updating our safety systems and procedures even at the cost of short-term economic benefit. Besides, all our plants are designed, constructed, commissioned, operated and maintained under strict supervision.

”What’s the real situation? It is true that there has not been an accident, leading to core meltdown and radiation exposures. But, the fact remains that several minor accidents have happened in the past. These accidents range from leaks of oil to complete loss of power in the reactors causing all safety systems to be disabled.

Let us look at some of the accidents. The accidents at Tarapur, Madras and Rajasthan plants were due to non-compliance with safety standards. According to the mandatory standards of operation, each reactor is supposed to have an independent emergency core-cooling system. But, in practice, one cooling system was being shared between two reactors.

The investigators were astonished to find that the reactors at Madras and Rajasthan had been operating without backup pumps to continue smooth operation. The plants had to be shut down as whenever the operating pumps were disabled by external factors such as fluctuations in the grid.A study by India’s Atomic Energy Regulatory Board documented over 130 extremely serious safety issues warranting urgent corrective measures in the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Uranium Corporation of India, Heavy Water Board, Indian Rare Earths Limited and several other facilities.

The CIRUS reactor had an inherent problem of radiation leakage. Candu reactors suffered from heavy leakage of water. Dhruva reactor experienced fuel leakage, attributed to imperfect design architecture. Radioactive waste from the Tarapur Plant endangered lives of about 3,000 villagers living nearby……………….

Poor safety practices in India’s nuclear-power plants remain camouflaged under a cloak of secrecy. Authorities get alerted only when an accident occurs, necessitating a shut down. The NSG should have a second look at safety measures `observed’ in India’s power plants..  A cavalier approach to poor safety standards could result in a major accident, like Chernobyl or Three Mile Island.

August 25, 2009 Posted by | 1, India, safety | , , , , | Leave a comment

Russia’s nuclear legacy

Bowermaster’s Adventures — Russia’s nuclear legacy
Gadling.comby Jon Bowermaster
 Aug 24th 2009
Just around the corner from Petropavlovsk, ten miles by land or sea, located across Avachinskaya Bay on a small peninsula called Krasheninnikova sits Russia’s largest nuclear submarine base. It is off limits to outsiders and a shell of what it was during the Soviet Union’s heyday. Today – judging by a simple Google map search – there are just a half-dozen active nuclear subs sitting at its docks. Worrying to those who pay attention to such things are the shadows on the far edge of the docks on the same map, indicating somewhere between a dozen and twenty subs piled up next to each other. They are said to be at varying degrees of decommissioning………………….
The operation of nuclear-powered submarines generates considerable amounts of nuclear waste. Liquid and solid radioactive wastes need to be removed from submarines and stored. In addition, periodically the submarine needs to be refueled, thus spent fuel needs to be removed from the submarine and also stored. Decommissioning a nuclear submarine generates these streams of waste and in addition, the refueled reactor compartment must be dealt with…………………

This is from a U.S. State Department report: “In Russia every step of the process is facing problems. The support complex which was already in poor shape and accident-prone during Soviet times has been particularly burdened in the last few years. Shore-side waste sites are full of low-level radioactive waste and spent fuel. Shipments of the spent fuel for reprocessing have been delayed due to lack of funds and equipment. The service ships, which unload the spent fuel from submarines, are also full and in poor shape (and some have suffered accidents).

 The shipyards where the work is done are facing financial shortages, power blackouts and strikes. There are no final land-based storage sites for decommissioned reactor compartments removed from submarines, so they are being stored afloat in bays near naval bases. Finally, contamination is widespread at waste storage sites in the North and Far East due to accidents. Lower-level contamination is thought to plague virtually every support facility for the fleet. In addition, accidents on submarines have lead to contamination of the surrounding area.

Bowermaster’s Adventures — Russia’s nuclear legacy | Gadling.com

August 25, 2009 Posted by | 1, Russia, wastes | , , , , , | Leave a comment