2010 June 24 « nuclear-news

U.S. govt’s duplicity in comparing depleted uranium to tungsten

DU is in fact much more dangerous than tungsten. It may be depleted of some of its neutrons but it is still radioactive enough to cause cancer and birth defects.

US Government web site psyop promoting depleted uranium munitions | qbit.cc June 23rd, 2010 “…….This propaganda is expertly crafted to avoid directly stating that Depleted Uranium (DU) munitions are as safe as tungsten, while belittling the (valid) belief that DU is incredibly dangerous, Continue reading →

June 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | spinbuster, USA | antinuclear, depleted, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Enrichment of uranium continuing in Iran

Iran has produced 17 kilos of 20% enriched uranium Tehran Times June 24, 2010 TEHRAN – Iran has produced 17 kilograms of uranium enriched to the 20 percent level, an official announced on Wednesday. “(We) have produced over 17 kilograms of 20 percent enriched uranium, and we have the ability to produce 5 kilograms a month, but we are not in a hurry,” Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Director Ali Akbar Salehi said during a visit to the ISNA news agency. Iran will continue to enrich uranium up to the purity level of 20 percent to the extent the country needs, Salehi stated….. tehran times : Iran has produced 17 kilos of 20% enriched uranium

June 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Iran, politics | antinuclear, enriched, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, uranium | Leave a comment

Gloom persists in uranium market

Quiet uranium market impacts on prices | Industrial Fuels and Power, 24 June 2010, “……..The market was very quiet with muted buying interest and discretionary demand. While the price spread between buyers and sellers has continued to narrow to US$0.50-0.75, the gap appears to be too large still to bridge, according to TradeTech.

Meanwhile, the Noble Group, the world’s second-largest commodities trading and logistics company, has bought a 5.1 per cent share in USEC, the sole American-owned provider of enriched uranium for use in civilian nuclear reactors. The acquisition is seen by some quarters as China’s move into the enrichment industry as the Chinese government’s sovereign wealth fund owns a minority stake in Noble. Noble wants to become USEC’s partner in marketing uranium enrichment for reactors in Asia, particularly mainland China, according to Richard Elman, Noble’s founder and executive chairman………. Quiet uranium market impacts on prices | Industrial Fuels and Power

June 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, business and costs | antinuclear, enriched, nuclear costs, uranium | Leave a comment

Renewable energy future for South East Asia

Greenpeace urge SE Asian to invest in renewable energy, WikiPeers.com 23 June 2010, “……Greenpeace International senior energy expert Sven Teske explained in his report, Energy (R)evolution: A Sustainable World Energy Outlook, that if the Southeast Asian nations will engage in producing renewable energy from the sources he mentioned, it would bring almost 100 percent boost in their economy by 2050 as it would certainly generate 700,000 jobs and 30 percent more jobs up until by 2020. Continue reading →

June 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ASIA, renewable | antinuclear, climate change, energy efficiency, global warming, renewable energy, renewables, solar, wind | Leave a comment

Renewable energy – the numbers add up

The global financial crisis is partly to blame, but political will would seem to be the resource in shortest supply. BP’s Gulf of Mexico disaster may have changed that.

Do renewable energy by the numbers, and it all adds up, Sydney Morning Herald, MIKE SANDIFORD June 24, 2010 “……..Each year, we are increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by 1 per cent. The effect of this increase is to trap a tiny extra bit of the incoming solar energy, so we are heating not only the atmosphere, but also the oceans and land, and at a phenomenal rate.The scary thing is we have only just begun. Continue reading →

June 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, climate change | energy efficiency, renewable energy, renewables, solar, wind | Leave a comment

China investing in USA’s USEC uranium enrichment comany

Fuel Maker for Reactors Has China as Investor – NYTimes.com, 24 June 2010, “…….Even a passive Chinese government stake in USEC could draw attention in Washington for its strategic and diplomatic implications. USEC, the parent of the United States Enrichment Corporation, is a cornerstone of America’s nuclear establishment, with classified operations that date back to the initial development of the atomic bomb during the Manhattan Project in World War II……

With $2 billion a year in sales, USEC holds about 30 percent of the worldwide uranium enrichment market for commercial reactors.

And it has been at the center of an Energy Department-administered program to take highly enriched uranium from former Soviet military stockpiles and dilute it for USEC to sell as fuel in civilian nuclear reactors, the so-called megatons-to-megawatts program. It may now do the same for the United States military after President Obama and President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia signed an agreement in April calling for deep cuts in nuclear weapons…….

Fuel Maker for Reactors Has China as Investor – DealBook Blog – NYTimes.com

June 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | antinuclear, enriched, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, uranium | Leave a comment

Germany to introduce tax on uranium fuel rods

Merkel rebuffs industry opposition to tax on uranium fuel, Monsters and Critics, Jun 23, 2010, Berlin – Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday rebuffed opposition from German industry to a planned tax on the uranium fuel rods used in nuclear power stations, her spokesman said. Current legislation requires all the German reactors to cease operation by about 2022……….. Continue reading →

June 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Germany | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, uranium | Leave a comment

Radiation risks for nuclear plant workers

Nuclear plant balks at regulator request to test all employees for radiation Globe and Mail , Jun. 23, 2010 Federal regulators at the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission have asked the operator of an Ontario power plant to test hundreds of its workers by this Friday for exposure to cancer-causing alpha radiation, but the company is balking at the request……….. Continue reading →

June 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, health | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, radiation, radioactive, reactors | Leave a comment

Low uranium prices, concerns about Uranium One merger

Uranium One shares in limbo ahead of merger – MarketWatch By Rebecca L. McClay, 24 June 2010, SAN FRANCISCO — While Uranium One executives wade through the details of granting a Russian government-owned company a controlling stake, minority shareholders must decide whether to keep their stock or sell it…….analysts say investors have had serious concerns about the change of control, including political risk and Russian corporate governance. Uranium One , one of Canada’s largest uranium mining companies, announced June 8 that ARMZ, a Russian company controlled by the state, will acquire a 51% stake in the Vancouver-based company………..
Uranium prices have fallen sharply in the past two years………

June 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, business and costs | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin | Leave a comment

Uranium One company to be controlled by Russia

Russia’s ARMZ gains control of Canada’s Uranium One, Industrial Fuels and Power, 9 June 2010, Russia’s ARMZ has agreed to acquire a controlling stake in Canada’s Uranium One Inc by buying 356m new shares, effectively raising is current 23 per cent holding to at least 51 per cent. ARMZ will pay the Toronto-based company US$610m cash as well as interests in two Kazakh mines. Uranium One will gain 50 per cent of the Akbastau mine and 49.7 per cent of Zarechnoye in the south of the country.
The acquisition is part of the expansion plans of Rosatom Corp, ARMZ’s parent company and represents the first North American uranium venture for the firm. Russia’s state-owned nuclear company is seeking more uranium sources to supply the nuclear reactors its is building outside Russia. Last month, it revealed plans to invest US$1bn in Namibian uranium deposits. “We’ll use Uranium One as a platform for growth,” Rosatom CEO Sergei Kiriyenko said.

Russia’s ARMZ gains control of Canada’s Uranium One | Industrial Fuels and Power

June 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, uranium | Leave a comment

China pushing ahead of USA on renewable energy

A copy of the report was obtained by Secrecy News. See “China and the United States — A Comparison of Green Energy Programs and Policies,” June 14, 2010.

China’s Green Energy Programs, and More from CRS, Secrecy News, June 23rd, 2010 by Steven Aftergood One thing that is even more impressive than China’s nuclear history is its emerging green energy future. “China has set ambitious targets for developing its… renewable energy resources with a major push of laws, policies and incentives in the last few years,” according to a new report (pdf) from the Congressional Research Service. Continue reading →

June 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | China, renewable | climate change, energy efficiency, global warming, renewable energy, renewables, solar, wind | Leave a comment

Depleted uranium – a documentary film

DOCUMENTARY Silent genocide – Depleted uranium | qbit.cc An award winning documentary film produced for German television by Freider Wagner and Valentin Thurn. The film exposes the use and impact of radioactive weapons during the current war against Iraq. The story is told by citizens of many nations. It opens with comments by two British veterans, Kenny Duncan and Jenny Moore, describing their exposure to radioactive, so-called depleted uranium (DU), weapons and the congenital abnormalities of their children. Dr. Siegwart-Horst Gunther, a former colleague of Albert Schweitzer, and Tedd Weyman of the Uranium Medical Research Center (UMRC) traveled to Iraq, from Germany and Canada respectively, to assess uranium contamination in Iraq.