2010 July « nuclear-news

Ever more radioactive – they don’t know what to do with Depleted Uranium

Depleted uranium, unlike other forms of nuclear waste, grows more dangerous as it ages, making storage difficult.

DOE seeks home for depleted uranium, SALT LAKE CITY, July 9 (UPI) — The U.S. government is looking for even a temporary storage site for 10,000 drums of depleted uranium from a South Carolina nuclear plant, Utah officials said.The waste was supposed to have been stored permanently in Utah by EnergySolutions Inc. But the state intervened as the first shipment arrived, seeking more information from the Salt Lake City company and a review of the site………

Depleted uranium, unlike other forms of nuclear waste, grows more dangerous as it ages, making storage difficult.

The first shipment from the Savannah River site, 5,400 barrels, is now in an EnergySolutions storage cell in Utah. The rest is still in South Carolina.….DOE seeks home for depleted uranium – UPI.com

July 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, depleted, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

The movement for a Nuclear Free Pacific

VIDEO NZ On Screen – A Nuclear Free Pacific (Niuklia Fri Pasifik) , 10 July 2010, This documentary travels to nine Pacific nations, including New Zealand, to chronicle the long struggle to create a regional nuclear arms free zone. Interviews with politicians, activists, radiation victims and American and French admirals are counterpointed. When hopes of a treaty are dashed at a South Pacific Forum meet, it is pointed out that the David Lange-trumpeted independence of NZ’s nuclear free policy is evidently “not for export”. Local music scores the doco, including Australia’s Midnight Oil, whose lead singer (future MP Peter Garrett) is interviewed.

July 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | OCEANIA, weapons and war | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Nuclear injustice to the people of Marshall Islands

And now the US government is washing it hands of the people of the Marshall Islands. Aid, funding and compensation are being cut off and forced returns to the contaminated islands are being contemplated…

Remember the Rainbow Warrior and the Marshall Islands | Greenpeace International, 9 July 2010, Tomorrow is the 25th anniversary of the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior by the French secret service in New Zealand’s Marsden Wharf. Continue reading →

July 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | indigenous issues, OCEANIA | antinuclear, cancer, indigenous, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, uranium | 1 Comment

China building nuclear plants in earthquake area

Nuclear power stations in south China not affected by earthquake. English.news.cn 2010-07-10 GUANGZHOU, July 9 (Xinhua) — Two nuclear power stations under construction have not been affected by a mild earthquake that struck south China’s Guangdong Province Friday, company officials said.According to the provincial earthquake monitoring network, an earthquake measuring 3.1 on the Richter Scale Friday hit the junction of Taishan City and Yangjiang City where the two nuclear power stations are located.Nuclear power stations in south China not affected by earthquake

July 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | China, safety | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, radiation, reactors | Leave a comment

Christians against nuclear weapons

most voiced disappointment that his [Obama’s] administration’s fiscal year 2011 defense budget–even when adjusted for inflation–surpasses any Pentagon budget since World War II………

Nuclear swords to God’s plowshares – On Faith at washingtonpost.com, 9 July 2010, “………radical Christian pacifists want to dismantle bombs, not detonate them. More than 180 peace activists convened last weekend to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Plowshares movement, an anti-nuclear weapons movement spearheaded by religious pacifists. Continue reading →

July 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Religion and ethics, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Iran persisting with nuclear programme, despite sanctions

Iran will not give up nuclear programme: Ahmadinejad – Hindustan Times Abuja, July 09, 2010 Iran will, under no circumstances, stop its peaceful nuclear activities, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said. Addressing a group of scholars in the Nigerian capital, Ahmadinejad said late on Thursday that UN’s anti-Iran resolutions are but a piece of paper and they will not be able to halt Iran’s nuclear activities even if they turn all the paper in the world into resolutions.”The latest anti-Iran sanctions of the UN Security Council (UNSC) will have no effect on Iran’s nuclear programme,” IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.

“There will not be the slightest change in our nuclear programme,” said the president who is in Abuja for summit of the Group of Eight Developing Countries (D8). Iran will not give up nuclear programme: Ahmadinejad – Hindustan Times

July 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Iran, politics | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, reactors | Leave a comment

Arrest of men trying to sell radiation device

(South Africa) Four nabbed with ‘radiation device’, News – Crime & Courts:, 9 July 2010, Four men were arrested on Friday afternoon in Pretoria for allegedly possessing and trying to sell an “industrial radiation device,” police said.The four, all South Africans, were caught in Garsfontein in Pretoria East….trying to sell the device for about R45 million……The four would appear in court soon on charges of theft and possession of a radioactive device, as well as charges relating to violating health legislation for handling such material in public. – Sapa News – Crime & Courts: Four nabbed with ‘radiation device’

July 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, South Africa | nuclear, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Hanford radioactive waste needs more, not less, safety regulation

A nuclear disaster at a cleanup site like Hanford is to be avoided at all costs. The persistence of radioactivity in the environment for thousands of years makes large areas of land uninhabitable, and wreaks an ongoing and incalculable human health toll. Prevention, rather than reaction, to such tragedies should be driving law and policy.

(USA) Nuclear cleanup regulation could put public at risk, Seattle Times, July 9, 2010, The weaknesses of federal regulatory agencies have been exposed by recent high-profile accidents. Tom Carpenter fears the Department of Energy will reduce its oversight of cleanup at the nation’s nuclear waste sites.
Millions of gallons of oil gush continue to rush unabated from BP’s mile-deep well in the Gulf of Mexico, and 11 workers are dead from the massive explosion that caused the biggest oil spill in decades. Weeks before this event, the news was dominated by the preventable explosion that killed 29 West Virginia coal miners……………. Is nuclear next? Continue reading →

July 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons, radioactive | Leave a comment

Magnificent Nuclear Deception by France’s AREVA corporation

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Are Americans and Canadians really that stupid? Are they going to fall for AREVA’s deceptive sales strategy? The sales pitch is that nuclear power is clean, green and economic. All grand lies.

I suppose that France’s AREVA had to think up such a confidence trick – faced with the ruthless success of South Korea’s KEPCO in selling its wares to the Arabs, and USA’s Westinghouse pitching nuclear to India.

So – AREVA came up with the con trick of the “Clean Energy Park” – combining nuclear reactors with renewable energy generation. Not only does this pretend that nuclear energy is clean, – it also carries a threat – no nuclear, no renewable energy. What a toxic marriage!

Still judging from the actions of the USA government in funding AREVA’s uranium enrichment – Americans and perhaps Canadians, too, ARE that stupid.

July 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | antinuclear, AREVA, France, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, reactors, renewable energy, renewables, solar, uranium, wind | Leave a comment

USA govt $2 billion funding to France’s nuclear company AREVA

Areva accepts $2 bil US loan guarantee for uranium enrichment plant, Washington (Platts)–8Jul2010/ Areva Wednesday said it accepted the US Department of Energy’s offer of a $2 billion loan guarantee to help finance construction of the Eagle Rock uranium enrichment plant in Bonneville County, Idaho, which Areva estimates will cost $3 billion to build. The DOE offer to Areva is the first of two loan guarantees DOE is expected to extend to front-end nuclear facilities, with USEC the expected recipient of the second. Platts: RSS Feed Detailed News

July 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | antinuclear, AREVA, France, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

AREVA’s “renewable energy” a front for nuclear reactor sales

renewable generation..…….“window dressing” to the nuclear reactor.”Their (Areva’s) core business is nuclear and it is going to remain nuclear going forward,”

Areva has big plans in U.S. New Brunswick Business Journal, Christine Dobby 8 July 2010, Last June, French nuclear company Areva announced plans to take part in an alliance to pursue the development of America’s first clean energy park – including a nuclear reactor – in Piketon, Ohio. Continue reading →

July 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | spinbuster, USA | antinuclear, AREVA, climate change, energy efficiency, France, global warming, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, reactors, renewable energy, renewables, solar, wind | Leave a comment

AREVA’s “clean energy” strategy to sell its nuclear reactors

Areva finds a third site to combine nuclear and renewable electric power, POWER-GEN , 8 July 2010 — Areva, the province of New Brunswick and New Brunswick Power signed a letter of intent to develop a “clean energy park” near the Point Lepreau nuclear station in Canada. The project represents the third such project that would be developed by Areva. The site would feature a mid-sized generation III+ nuclear plant and renewable energy sources all built by Areva. Power would be used in the province and exported to the Canadian Maritime region and to New England. Areva said the agreement further validates the clean energy park concept to build new CO2-free energy facilities. AREVA is working on similar developments near Piketon, Ohio with Duke Energy and Fresno, Calif. with FNEG.

July 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, spinbuster | antinuclear, AREVA, climate change, energy efficiency, France, global warming, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, reactors, renewable energy, renewables, solar, wind | Leave a comment

AREVA spruiking its nuclear wares pre elections in Canada

the French nuclear company has been courting New Brunswick with the idea of a second reactor at Point Lepreau, along with solar and tidal power alternatives.

(Canada) Areva deal smacks of politics: PCs, Greens, CBC News, 7 July 2010, The Liberal government’s planned announcement with France’s Areva on Thursday regarding a possible second nuclear reactor is being derided by New Brunswick’s opposition political parties. Continue reading →

July 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, AREVA, France, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, reactor, uranium | Leave a comment

Point Lepreau nuclear reactor costing $millions daily

“I mean, you look at Lepreau right now, it’s gushing a million bucks a day [in extra fuel costs due to the delay] and more probably – and they’re talking about a second nuclear reactor.”

(Canada) No new reactors: Greens, 7 July 2010, “…………The Green leader said the provincial government shouldn’t be entertaining new nuclear energy talks when the Point Lepreau reactor is so far behind schedule. Continue reading →

July 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, AREVA, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, reactor, uranium | Leave a comment

“Countdown to Zero” an inconvenient film for nuclear industry

highly enriched uranium could be easily smuggled into the United States

An “Inconvenient Truth” Film for Nuclear Analysts? – By David Hoffman | Foreign Policy, 8 July 2010, “………………harrowing tales of the nuclear age thrust back into the limelight this summer in a new documentary film, Countdown to Zero, Continue reading →

July 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, enriched, nuclear, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, uranium | Leave a comment