2010 March « nuclear-news

Quebec government’s contempt for public opposition to uranium mining

(Canada) Quebec disregards petition, rejects call for uranium moratorium Media Co-op, Tim McSorley, 22 March 2010, Concerned residents of Sept-Iles are furious with the Quebec government today, calling the Minister of Natural Resources Serge Simard a liar after he announced there would be no moratorium on uranium exploration in the area. Simard was responding to a 14,000-signature peitition in support of the moratorium……. Continue reading →

March 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, politics | antinuclear, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

1000 tons of marine life killed yearly by nuclear plant

Oyster Creek nuclear plant kills 1,000 tons of sea life a year, agency says APP.com EnviroGuy,March 22, 2010 By Todd B. Bates The Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in Lacey has killed 80 million pounds of aquatic organisms in the past 40 years, a federal agency says. In a March 15 letter to a state Department of Environmental Protection official, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service repeated its support for cooling towers to be built at the plant. In 2005, the service also concluded that closed-loop cooling (cooling towers) is the best technology available at Oyster Creek, according to the letter.

A draft DEP permit calls for cooling towers, but Oyster Creek officials have said they aren’t necessary and they’ll close the plant if required to build them.

Oyster Creek nuclear plant kills 1,000 tons of sea life a year, agency says | EnviroGuy

March 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear wastes | Leave a comment

UK’s Conservative Party’s confused nuclear energy policy

Both Labour and the Tories claim that they will not provide any public subsidy, but both know that this cannot be true when the nuclear industry that has never been able to survive without it.

(UK) THE TORIES ARE FICKLE AND NUCLEAR IS TOO BIG TO FAIL SAYS SIMON HUGHES, Steve Beasant, Liberal Democrat Councillor for East Marsh Ward, 23 March 2010, Launching the Tories’ energy policy in July 2006, David Cameron, gave a convincing and well-reasoned argument explaining why nuclear power must be a “last resort”. Later that year he described Labour’s enthusiasm for nuclear power as “irresponsible”. As Cameron rightly pointed out: “The problems of nuclear waste haven’t been dealt with. They have got to be dealt with in order to make any new investment possible.” Four years on, we’re no closer to finding out how to deal with highly toxic nuclear waste and the Tory leader’s point stands as strong as ever. But unfortunately, the Tories no longer seem to care. Continue reading →

March 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Even the NRC states that uranium waste is radioactive for 1000 years!

The design must provide “reasonable assurance of control of radiological hazards to be effective for 1,000 years, to the extent reasonably achievable, and, in any case, for at least 200 years,” according to the NRC.

Risk assessment a complex task – Experts described the top threat from uranium mining, and regulators cited thorough efforts, League of Individuals for the Environment, Inc, By Duncan Adams, 23 March 2010, One thousand years.If uranium mining and milling of ore happens someday near Chatham, Va., Virginia Uranium or another company involved could be required by Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations to design a disposal system that can safely impound mining wastes for a millennium. Continue reading →

March 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Canadian doctors protest uranium mining, threaten to resign

Anti-uranium doctors renew threat to resign, March 22, 2010 CBC News Nearly two-dozen doctors in Sept-Îles, Que., are renewing their threats to resign and leave the province after the government rejected calls for a moratorium on uranium mining and exploration in the region. Continue reading →

March 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1 | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Nuclear terrorism the subject of new book

New book on nuclear terrorism M.S. Kirann Peddling Peril, 23 March 2010,
Excerpt from David Albright’s new book, Peddling Peril: How the Secret Nuclear Trade Arms America’s Enemies.BY DAVID ALBRIGHT | MARCH 17, 2010 The image of Osama bin Laden discussing nuclear weapons around a campfire with two former senior Pakistani nuclear engineers is the stuff of movies. Yet it actually happened in August 2001, when A.Q. Khan’s deal with Libya was in full swing. Access to these Pakistani engineers was a major shortcut to possessing nuclear weapons. No one could dismiss the likelihood of nuclear terrorism again.

New book on nuclear terrorism « M.S. Kiran

March 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Nuclear energy unsafe for Asia: renewables are the way to go

Asia’s nuclear dilemma, Global Post, by Jonathon Adams, 21 March 2010 Nuclear not the answer: activists, “….Philip White, of the Tokyo-based Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center, disputed those [nuclear power]figures. “Renewable energies like wind and solar are not too expensive,” wrote White in an email. “Wind is cheaper than nuclear now. Solar will soon be cheaper when economies of scale and the associated development advances get operating.” Continue reading →

March 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, safety | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, wastes | Leave a comment

USA to provide nuclear power plants to Pakistan?

US amenable to providing Nuclear power plants to Pakistan Rupee News, March 21, 2010 There seems to be sea change in US attitudes towards Islamabad. According to press releases, analyst reports, Islamabad’s demands, and positive signals from US officials, Pakistan will ask for Atomic energy, and the US Administration seems to be amenable to providing Civilian Nuclear Power plants to Pakistan… Continue reading →

March 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Pakistan, politics international | cancer, nuclear, nuclear weapons, radiation, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

War veterans demand focused study on depleted uranium’s health effects

The veterans want help with their health conditions and treatment now. Their pain is real physiological damage.

Depleted Uranium Research-DU affects DNA, Veterans Today, March 20, 2010 by Denise Nichols · -More Research Indicated To Assess Health Risk. The research on depleted uranium comes out of French researchers that examined the manner DNA is affected by enriched and depleted uranium. Continue reading →

March 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | depleted uranium, MIDDLE EAST | antinuclear, depleted, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

China leaping ahead in renewable energy

China – A Powerhouse in Renewable Energy, Renewable Energy World, March 21, 2010, “China missed the first industrial revolution, missed the computer revolution, and the biology revolution – they want to be a leader in the green revolution.” And indeed, China is now the third largest producer in the wind power market and one of the fastest-growing in domestic wind installations. For the fourth consecutive year, China has more than doubled its wind installations.

And offshore wind, a technology with a great deal of sex appeal, is yet another story. While China installed its first major offshore wind farm near Shanghai and is 9^th in the world as far as total offshore capacity, the U.S. is not even on the list.

China is also the world leader in PV manufacturing and production –

March 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | China, climate change, renewable | energy efficiency, renewable energy, renewables, solar | Leave a comment

Success of Taiwan’s antinuclear movement

For now, anti-nuclear forces are focused on opposing any plans for a nuclear dumping ground. Like the U.S. and Japan, Taiwan has not found a final resting place for its nuclear waste, another reason not to expand nuclear power, say activists.

Asia’s nuclear dilemma, Global Post, by Jonathon Adams, 21 March 2010, Taiwan’s activists have successfully slowed, if not stopped, the island’s nuclear expansion. …Save energy, don’t produce more.Kao Cheng-yan has some ideas about that. Continue reading →

March 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, politics, Taiwan | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Nuclear ‘renaissance’ threatened by the wastes ‘elephant in the room’

[U.S. government is ] naming an expert panel to find solutions for the waste. The nuclear industry argues it is ready to move ahead regardless of the panel’s deliberations….

ANALYSIS – Toxic waste weighs on revival of nuclear industry Reuters, Mar 17, 2010 By Ayesha Rascoe WASHINGTON Reviving the U.S. nuclear industry could get hung up on the political minefield of how to handle the security, legal and environmental risks posed by a growing mountain of radioactive waste. Continue reading →

March 21, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, radioactive, reactors | Leave a comment

UK Conservative Party produces financially impossible nuclear power plan

“Huge amounts of private sector investment will be needed to deliver this energy infrastructure.”

Tory energy policy given lukewarm response by energy analysts, Energy analysts have criticised Tory plans to effect the biggest shake-up of Britain’s energy policy in a generation as “verging on the impossible”. Telegraph, By Louise Armitstead 19 Mar 2010 “……….. Central to the Conservatives’ policy document, called Rebuilding Security, are plans to fast-track the building of nuclear power plants but allowing their construction to be approved directly by Parliament to avoid lengthy delays by protesters. Continue reading →

March 20, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, UK | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, reactors | Leave a comment

USA anger at Russia’s support for Iran’s nuclear plant

Clinton, Lavrov Clash Over Iran Nuclear Plant Antiwar.com by Jason Ditz, March 18, Visiting Russia today with an eye toward negotiating a nuclear arms reduction treaty, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton instead harangued Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov over Iran’s civilian nuclear program.Secretary Clinton called on Russia’s government to stall the completion of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran until further notice. Russia is constructing the plant, and expects it to be completed this summer.

Clinton, Lavrov Clash Over Iran Nuclear Plant — News from Antiwar.com

March 20, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics international, Russia | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear weapons, reactors | Leave a comment

Depleted uranium used by Israel in Gaza

Israel used depleted uranium ammo during last war in Gaza – experts, The Voice of Russia, Mar 19, 2010, Israel used depleted uranium ammunition during its Cast Lead military operation in Gaza in the winter of 2008-2009. According to the Al-Hayat newspaper, this follows from forensic studies of Palestinians’ bodies by Italian experts. Continue reading →