2010 April « nuclear-news

First shipment to USA of highly dangerous Highly Enriched Uranium

A team of Americans finally shipped it out last month just after the country’s massive earthquake, weaving a convoy of trucks around shattered highways in the middle of the night to reach a functioning port.

Chile gives its last weapons-grade uranium to US By MICHAEL WARREN and MEG KINNARD (AP) – Google News Hostimg 12 April”.…..”It” is highly enriched uranium 235, HEU for short. It’s the material that most worries anti-terrorism experts. Just 25 kilograms (55 pounds) of it in a nuclear bomb could devastate an entire city, in the same way the United States destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. Continue reading →

April 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, SOUTH AMERICA | antinuclear, enriched, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Russia to set up “uranium bank” to expand demand for nuclear power

...The bank will allow countries that join the facility to obtain uranium from the stockpile, supplied entirely by Russia, if commercial uranium markets are frozen for political reasons.

Russia’s Rosatom Corp to create a uranium fuel bank with the International Atomic Energy Agency Seeker 401, 12 April 2010, Rosatom Corp., Russia’s state-run nuclear holding company, said its agreement to create a uranium fuel bank with the International Atomic Energy Agency will help expand demand for nuclear power. Continue reading →

April 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Russia | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, uranium | Leave a comment

Radiation illnesses need special hospital treatment

Hospitals not equipped to tackle radiation, The Times of India, Risha Chitlangia, TNN, Apr 10, 2010, NEW DELHI: The incident of radiation exposure in the capital has brought to light the city’s lack of preparedness in dealing with any such incident. Not many hospitals in the city are equipped or their staff trained to deal with patients of radiation exposure, nor do they have a special decontamination room as per the National Disaster Management Authority’s (NDMA) guidelines. Experts also point out that there is no central command that can guide hospitals and the police in dealing with this kind of emergency….

… A person exposed to radiation has to be decontaminated and ideally should be kept in isolation,” said Dr Sanjeev Kumar Bhoi, assistant professor, Medicine, AIIMS Trauma Centre, Hospitals not equipped to tackle radiation – The Times of India

April 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, India | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

To be banned – whole body CT scans for healthy people

Government to ban whole-body CT scans for ‘health MOTs’ |Guardian UK 7 April 2010 BMJ Group The Department of Health is introducing new rules limiting the use of CT scans – detailed 3D X-rays – in private health checks offered to healthy people. Continue reading →

April 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, radioactive | Leave a comment

Exelon nuclear power plant’s radiation monitor not working

Radiation monitor at Oyster Creek nuclear plant is inoperable, officials say NJ.com, By The Associated Press, April 10, 2010, A monitor that measures radiation emissions at the nation’s oldest operating nuclear plant has been found to be inoperable…….Exelon Corp., which owns the plant, recently notified the state Department of Environmental Protection about the problem. But it’s not clear how long the equipment — known as a stack monitor — has been out of service. Radiation monitor at Oyster Creek nuclear plant is inoperable, officials say | – NJ.com

April 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, radioactive, reactor | Leave a comment

Laser technology increases nuclear power danger

Laser Nuclear Technology Might Pose Security Risk by Richard Harris NPR 12 April 2010, “…..a new technology that’s been developed to enrich uranium. It’s intended to make fuel for nuclear power plants — but it could be used for weapons, too. Continue reading →

April 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, technology | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

African countries seeking enriched uranium and nuclear power

others are fearful about security at nuclear power plants in Africa, worried that loose enriched uranium will fall into the wrong hands and be used to build a weapon

Beyond Iran: African Countries Seek Nuclear Power INDYPOSTED, 11 April 2010 by | Ted Webb We hear about Iran’s development of nuclear energy in the news all the time, but many other countries are also working to enrich uranium, including Senegal and other African countries.

Right now South Africa has the continent’s only two nuclear power reactors, ABC News reports. But Senegal, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Algeria, Tunisia, Moroccco, Egypt, Ghana and Niger are all working to achieve nuclear energy.

Some hope nuclear power will help Africa economically, bring electricity to more people and prevent outages. But others are fearful about security at nuclear power plants in Africa, worried that loose enriched uranium will fall into the wrong hands and be used to build a weapon. Beyond Iran: African Countries Seek Nuclear Power

April 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AFRICA, politics international | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Nuclear weapons in Italy and other European countries

ITALIE HAS NUCLEAR WEAPONS. Argue with everyone, 12 April, 2010, Pentagon confirms Italie has nuclear weapons From a report by U.S. environmental association Natural Resources Defense Council [1], we had already learned that the United States store 90 nuclear bombs on two Italian bases: 50 in Aviano (Pordenone) and 40 in Ghedi Torre (Brescia). Continue reading →

April 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Italy, weapons and war | AUSTRALIA, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Iran not technically up to nuclear capability

Iran not yet “nuclear capable,” Gates say POLITICO Liveby Glenn Thrush April 11, 2010 Defense Secretary Robert Gates says Iran is not yet “nuclear capable” – and denied that U.S. officials have given up on being able to prevent Tehran from being able to produce and refine fissionable material.Speaking in a joint appearance with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on NBC’s “Meet the Press” in interviews aired Sunday, Gates said “it’s our judgment here, they are not nuclear capable,” citing Iran’s trouble with processing nuclear fuel in centrifuges.

Iran not yet “nuclear capable,” Gates says – POLITICO Live – POLITICO.com

April 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

As nuclear industry materials proliferate, the threat of nuclear terrorism is real

More than 1600 tonnes of highly enriched uranium and 500 tonnes of plutonium are estimated to have been produced worldwide for civilian and military use – enough material to build 120,000 nuclear bombs. Estimates vary as to how much of it remains unsecured and at risk of falling into terrorist hands……

Obama wrestles with nuclear nightmare that won’t go away Sydney Morning Herald ,SIMON MANN IN WASHINGTON, April 10, 2010 So, what if terrorists did get their hands on a nuclear weapon? It doesn’t bear thinking about. Except, thousands of people are thinking about it now. Continue reading →

April 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, safety | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Iran scorns U.S. nuclear strategy, hosts alternative disarmament conference

Iran dismisses new U.S. nuclear strategy as propaganda. China News TEHRAN, April 7 (Xinhua) — Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Wednesday dismissed the new U.S. nuclear strategy as ” propaganda” and urged Washington to fulfill its promise on nuclear disarmament.

“We consider the latest position and comment of the United States as propaganda … We urge the United States to fulfill its promise on nuclear disarmament in the whole world,” Mottaki said at a press conference in Tehran…..He also said that the upcoming international conference of nuclear disarmament, dubbed “nuclear energy for all, nuclear weapons for none,” scheduled to held in Tehran on April 17 and 18, will push for a global nuclear disarmament. Iran dismisses new U.S. nuclear strategy as propaganda

April 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Iran, politics international | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

U.S. Nuclear Posture Review strengthens North Korea’s defiance

[the US “Nuclear Posture Review”] left open all options, including a nuclear attack, on countries such as North Korea or Iran

N. Korea blasts new US nuclear policy Yemen news Agency ]TOKYO, April 9 (Saba) — North Korea criticized the new US nuclear policy, saying it showed Washington’s continued hostility toward Pyongyang, and vowed to strengthen its own atomic arsenal, Continue reading →

April 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | North Korea, politics international | AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Gloom continues for uranium prices

Are uranium stocks oversold?Despite a breezy longer term outlook, the sector has been on the backburner for months, if not years. Mineweb, Barry Sergeant , 09 Apr 2010 JOHANNESBURG – Relative to most mining subsectors, listed uranium stocks have rendered a poor performance, for some years now, inviting examination as to whether this area is oversold. Commodity pricing here moves in a disjointed way, with little relation to variables such as the value of the dollar……

Canada’s Cameco , the global bellwether in the relatively small uranium sector, saw its stock price fall from around CAD 60.00 in mid-2007 to close on CAD 15.00 towards the end of 2008. The stock is currently around CAD 27.00 a share, leaving buy-and-hold investors which bought the stock across 2006 and 2007 deeply in the red. ………..equity pricing indicates that investors are hardly happy with potentially fuzzy estimates, and the timeframes involved. On the contrary, investors have been taking uranium equities profits off the table, and pushing them into hotter near term stories such as coal and iron ore.

April 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, business and costs | antinuclear, nuclear costs, uranium | Leave a comment

Australian doctor, Tilman Ruff – another international anti nuclear campaigner

The idealist in Ruff is frustrated that it is not going further, happening faster. ”But I am enormously encouraged because we are seeing movement on multiple fronts.

Nuclear nemesis, The Age, JO CHANDLER, April 10, 2010A WHAT makes an activist “……Associate Professor Tilman Ruff, part-time physician, full-time campaigner against nuclear arms, and cancer survivor – a doctor who considers protecting the world from nuclear arms as fundamental to public health as the vaccines he dispenses……. Continue reading →

April 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

al-Qaida seeking to have atomic bomb

US: al-Qaida exemplifies new-age nuclear threat, Google hosted news, By ROBERT BURNS (AP) – 10 April 2010, WASHINGTON The Associated Press: US: al-Qaida exemplifies new-age nuclear threat— The White House on Friday warned that al-Qaida is quietly hunting for an atomic bomb, Continue reading →

April 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, safety | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment