2010 June « nuclear-news

U.S. defense officials, like Australian unionists, know the dangers of uranium mining

United States defense officials having knowledge of the dangers of uranium are shown in “Censored News,” which publishes human rights reports about indigenous peoples. The photo ( stated that “Navajo uranium miners during the Cold War were sent to their deaths in the mines after the U.S. knew of the dangers of radioactivity.”
Australian Union Bans Workers from Uranium Mines, Nuclear Power Stations – Huntington News Network

Australian Union Bans Workers from Uranium Mines, Nuclear Power Stations By Tony RutherfordHuntingtonnews.net Reporter Huntington, WV (HNN) – Fears of radiation exposure to uranium workers has led to the Electrical Trades Union in Brisbane, Australia, to ban members from working in uranium mines, nuclear power stations, and any part of the nuclear fuel cycle, according to a BBC report. Union leaders believe uranium exposure will replace asbestos as the high profile toxic workplace contaminant.
ETU state secretary, Peter Simpson, stated that uranium is the next asbestos in the workplace. The report predicts that due to the danger other trade unions will follow and the ban will expand beyond Australia. Continue reading →

June 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, health | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, cancer, indigenous, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Nuclear accidents, like black swans – rare, but do happen

A Nuclear Secret, THE HUFFINGTON POST, Craig K. Comstock, June 20, 2010 :”……..The point for today is that, when nuclear weapons are involved, we are one step away from irreparable consequences…………….In financial analysis, “black swans” have become a popular metaphor for dangers that are very high in negative consequences, even if they seem vanishingly low in probability. Continue reading →

June 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, safety | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, reactors | Leave a comment

China needs to improve nuclear safety

Monitoring of nuclear safety needs attention, China Daily, BEIJING, June 22 (Xinhaunet) — “……..China needs to invest more in monitoring nuclear safety at civilian nuclear power projects,…China adopted its nuclear power industry standards from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Yu Zusheng, a member of the experts committee with State Nuclear Power Technology Corp (SNPTC). “They are among China’s first group of standards which are in line with international markets.”…………
Chinese expenditure on monitoring nuclear safety at the 11 operating nuclear power plants totals around 40 million yuan ($6 million) per year. In comparison, in the United States, which has around 100 nuclear power plants, the country’s total budget for monitoring nuclear safety is $700 million annually.

Monitoring of nuclear safety needs attention

June 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | China, safety | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, reactors | Leave a comment

Ionising radiation at Niagara Falls – long buried secret of nuclear wastes

The nuclear age is littered with tragedies of unnecessary contamination of unsuspecting populations because of the pretense by government and the nuclear industry that the very real hazard of low levels of internal exposure is no hazard at all.

Radiation Alert: Niagara Falls , The Palestine Telegraph, June 21, By Paul Zimmerman and Louis Ricciuti, “………..Witnessing all this sunshine activity around you, you remain innocently oblivious to the underlying reality being played out before your eyes on this summer day, 2010, in downtown Niagara Falls, New York. In truth, the scene is shrouded by a pall, both invisible and macabre. For you see, what is being excavated besides decayed roadway are dirty little secrets long buried. The dirt and dust taking flight upon the wind is laced with radioactive waste!……….. Continue reading →

June 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

USA’s new coalition for really clean, renewable eneergy

New energy coalition calls for passage of clean energy bill, Energy Portal eu, 20 june 2010, On the heels of President Obama’s June 15 speech calling for clean energy legislation, a new coalition of renewable energy, energy efficiency, and biofuels organizations today called on the U.S. Senate to quickly pass comprehensive energy legislation that will create millions of American jobs and decrease our reliance on foreign supplies of fossil fuels by using our own clean and abundant resources. Continue reading →

June 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | antinuclear, climate change, energy efficiency, global warming, renewable energy, renewables, wind | Leave a comment

Push to prevent uranium shipments through New Zealand ports

Trans-shipment of nuclear ore appeared to contravene the principles of the Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament and Arms Control Act 1987, which bans nuclear weapons and nuclear-powered ships from New Zealand waters.

Moves to stop uranium shipment Herald Sun: AAP * June 21, 2010 NEW Zealand politicians say they are looking for ways to update anti-nuclear legislation in a bid to block uranium shipments from South Australia passing through New Zealand ports. Continue reading →

June 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | New Zealand, politics international | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear secrecy, uranium | Leave a comment

South Africa’s pebble bed reactor project doomed

Solidarity union reports last rites for the PBMR Engineering News Keith Campbell

21st June 2010 South African trade union Solidarity affirmed on Monday that the country’s pebble-bed modular reactor (PBMR) nuclear energy project has probably gone beyond the point of no return, despite suggestions that the government may resume funding for it in August.

June 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | South Africa, technology | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, reactor | Leave a comment

AREVA supplying parts to attempt to re-start damaged nuclear reactor

FirstEnergy to place lid on Davis-Besse nuclear power plant cleveland.com, June 21, 2010, “………Davis-Besse has been shut down since Feb. 28 for extensive work to repair cracks in the lid that sprouted unexpectedly in critical components. Such cracks can allow radioactive coolant into the reactor’s containment building — or worse.

Federal rules require an immediate shutdown if leaks are detected.The cracks are similar to fissures that opened up in the late 1990s in parts of Davis-Besse’s original lid and led to a pineapple-sized corrosion hole in that lid before it was discovered in 2004 Continue reading →

June 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA | antinuclear, AREVA, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, radioactive, reactor, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Future is a gamble for uranium companies

Companies Bet on Rise in Demand for Uranium, By MATTHEW L. WALD NYTimes.com June 18, 2010 WASHINGTON — Uranium enrichment, the market that the Noble Group has entered with its purchase of USEC stock, is a globalized business fraught with uncertainty.
Besides rapidly changing technology and questions about how many new reactors will be built, the market can be affected by vagaries like future arms control agreements……….. Continue reading →

June 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA | antinuclear, enriched, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, uranium | Leave a comment

Uranium not such a good investment now

Uranium Investors More Cautious , Uranium Investing News Jun 21, 2010 By Dave Brown – Interest in uranium investing has declined, according to a recent survey conducted by Resources Investing News. The results indicate that fewer investors were placing their bets on uranium companies, down to 12 percent from 16.9 percent at the end of 2009. Surprisingly, uranium spot prices have declined almost 20 percent since October 2009,……Since last year, the number of operating nuclear power facilities increased by 1 …….. the lag between price and production and future uranium price due to the challenges and complexities of the nuclear fuel cycle.

June 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, business and costs | antinuclear, nuclear costs, uranium | Leave a comment

Research shows Australia’s potential for all-renewable energy sources

Solar, wind power may meet 2020 energy use, Sydney Morning Herald, TOM ARUP, June 22, 2010 A MASSIVE introduction of solar-thermal power plants and wind farms would allow Australia to generate all its energy needs from renewable technologies by 2020, research shows. Continue reading →

June 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, renewable | AUSTRALIA, climate change, energy efficiency, renewable energy, renewables, solar, wind | Leave a comment

Truth emerging on health ill effects of low levels of ionising radiation

Radiation Alert: Niagara Falls , The Palestine Telegraph, June 21, – By Paul Zimmerman and Louis Ricciuti, “…….In the last half century, numerous incidents have testified to the hazard to health from low levels of internal emitters, radionuclides absorbed from nuclear pollution in the environment which undergo radioactive decay while sequestered within the human body’s interior. In many cases, injury was incurred from levels of exposure significantly below what the radiation protection agencies consider the threshold for radiation-induced illness. Continue reading →

June 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, health | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

China to sell nuclear reactors to Pakistan, as U.S. to sell them to India

Having muscled the Indian deal through the NSG in 2008, the US is likely to struggle to forge a consensus against China’s deal with Pakistan.

US defies China on Pakistan reactors Jeremy Page, Islamabad The Australian * June 22, 2010 CHINA and the US are on a collision course over Chinese plans to build two nuclear reactors in Pakistan. Continue reading →

June 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | China, politics international | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons, reactors | Leave a comment

The Bunker mentality – U.S. nuclear weapons plans

The Obama administration is making generous concessions to the nuclear industry presumably, as alluded to above, to win votes from Republicans….ways to keep the “nuclear-industrial complex” humming along,

Seed of Destruction: Nuclear ‘Pits’, Foreign Policy In Focus , By Russ Wellen, June 21, 2010 “……The nuclear-weapons industry adopted the word “pit” for the weapon’s core, which is power-packed with the varieties of uranium or plutonium isotopes capable of a warp-speed chain reaction. Yes, it’s a seed for the a chain reaction. ……the pit instead serves as a cache for .. a seed of destruction……

A project for their production is pivotal to the Obama administration’s plans for nuclear modernization. In a Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists piece titled Bunker mentality: Is NNSA digging itself into a hole at Los Alamos?, Greg Mello writes that “as part of the New START ratification package, the administration projects $16 billion in new warhead spending over this decade.” Continue reading →

June 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, radiation, reactors | Leave a comment

Radiation detected after North Korea nuclear fusion test

South Korea Detects Radiation After Nuclear Fusion Test In North Korea

Windsor Genova – AHN News News Writer, 20 June 2010,Seoul, South Korea (AHN) – A radiation detection station of South Korea measured increased levels of radioactive xenon in the air two days after North Korea announced a nuclear fusion test on May 12. Continue reading →

June 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, North Korea | antinuclear, nuclear, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment