2010 July « nuclear-news

UK govt to let local councils sell renewable energy?

local authorities will be able to sell electricity from renewables – generating revenue to help local services and keep council tax down.“

Councils may gain power to sell green energy | ZDNet UK, By Tom Espiner, 8 July, 2010 The government wants to overturn a ban which prevents councils selling renewable energy to the grid, energy minister Chris Huhne announced on Wednesday.The Local Government ACT 1976, which currently prevents councils from selling electrcity, will be amended, said Huhne in a statement.”It’s ridiculous that the 1976 Local Government Act prevents councils from selling electricity from local wind turbines, or from anaerobic digestion,” said Huhne. “I want to see this repealed and by the end of the year I hope local authorities will be able to sell electricity from renewables – generating revenue to help local services and keep council tax down.”

Councils may gain power to sell green energy | ZDNet UK

July 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable, UK | climate change, energy efficiency, global warming, renewable energy, renewables, solar, wind | Leave a comment

USA federal govt threatening financial renewable eneergy initiatives

The PACE program provides a great incentive for homeowners to switch to renewable energy or reduce their energy consumption….If PACE is to be saved, the Obama Administration needs to send a clear message to all federal agencies, including those bailed-out, quasi-private bodies like Fannie and Freddie, to get on the green energy train. Today.

The Federal Government Attacks Creative Local Green Energy Finance, THE HUFFINGTON POST, July 8, 2010 Continue reading →

July 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable, USA | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, energy efficiency, renewable energy, renewables, solar, wind | Leave a comment

Effect of nuclear radiation on sheep

Caesium-137 is considered a health hazard because it can easily enter the food chain and be taken up by the body. Sheep grazing on upland grass especially in the summer months are likely in the worst-affected regions to build up levels of caesium-137 t

Scottish sheep farms finally free of Chernobyl fallout – Science, News – The Independent, By Kevin Rawlinson and Rachel Hovenden, 7 July”…….

The effect of radiation* Two factors led to the imposition of restrictions on the sale and movement of some flocks of sheep in Britain soon after the Chernobyl accident in 1986, which sent a radioactive plume over much of north-west Europe. Continue reading →

July 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear weapons, radiation, reactors | Leave a comment

GE-Hitachi, Westinghouse face risk of increaded nuclear weapons proliferation

The renewed risk of nuclear proliferation in one of the world’s most unstable regions is the latest hurdle for companies including US-based firms GE-Hitachi and Westinghouse Electric, a subsidiary of Japan’s Toshiba Corp, trying to enter India’s nuclear energy sector

Nuclear proliferation, Manila Bulletin, By SANJEEV MIGLANI, July 8, 2010, SINGAPORE (Reuters) — A 2008 civilian nuclear energy pact between the United States and India was meant to lift a 34-year-old embargo on nuclear trade despite New Delhi’s longstanding weapons program, a move seen as bolstering it as a counterweight to China. Continue reading →

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

Australia’s strategy to get Aboriginal land for mining and nuclear industry

Through the intervention, the government is weakening land rights. It is clear who [uranium miners] will benefit as Aboriginal people move off their land, settle in larger towns and lose connection with country.

What’s behind the NT intervention? | Green Left Weekly. July 3, 2010 By Peter Robson, Continue reading →

July 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, indigenous issues | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear weapons, uranium | Leave a comment

Community push to shut down Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor

NRC Chairman To Meet With Vermont Yankee Critics, wbztv.com, Jul 8, 2010 BRATTLEBORO, Vt. (AP) ― The chairman of the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission is traveling to Vermont next week to meet with groups critical of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant.Gregory B. Jaczko will hold a round-table discussion on Wednesday in Brattleboro.Invited participants include representatives of Citizens Awareness Network, Safe and Green Campaign, Conservation Law Foundation and Vermont Public Interest Research Group.The discussion will be held at the Ramada Hotel and Conference Center and the public is invited to listen.The groups want Vermont Yankee shut down until repairs can be completed to ensure any leaks of radioactive substances have stopped.

NRC Chairman To Meet With Vermont Yankee Critics – wbztv.com

July 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | opposition to nuclear, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, radiation, reactor | Leave a comment

Radioactivity in British sheep – the long legacy of Chernobyl

Before farmers in restricted areas can sell or move any of their livestock, they must have each animal tested..

Scottish sheep farms finally free of Chernobyl fallout – Science, News – The Independent, By Kevin Rawlinson and Rachel Hovenden, 7 July 2010 Farmers in affected areas have to have each of their animals tested before they can move or sell any livestock Continue reading →

July 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Military talked Nixon out of nuking North Korea

Richard Nixon planned nuclear strike on North Korea, Telegraph, 7 july 2010, The United States drew up plans for a tactical nuclear strike against North Korea in 1969, but quickly stepped back from the brink fearing it would trigger an all-out war, newly declassified documents in Washington have shown. By Peter Foster in Beijing 08 Jul 2010.…… Documents released by the National Security Archive in Washington detail plans for Operation Freedom Drop which included conventional war and a nuclear attack using bombs 20 times the size of that dropped on Hiroshima……… “But constantly you find the military saying, ‘But the risks probably still outweigh the potential gains,’.” Richard Nixon planned nuclear strike on North Korea – Telegraph

July 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

USA’s heat wave – but they’re wasting that solar energy!

America sizzles in heat, but remains unclear on tapping into it | BrighterEnergy.org, 8 July 2010, As much of the East Coast wilts in a heat wave at the moment, there seems to be a lot of solar energy going to waste.In Washington DC, the heat may be making it even more difficult for the nation’s politicians to work on an agreement that might make the most of all this free energy. Continue reading →

July 8, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, climate change, energy efficiency, global warming, renewable energy, renewables, solar | Leave a comment

Renewable energy provided 62% of Europe’s new electricity

Europe’s 2009 Energy Growth Dominated by Renewables, IEEE Spectrum, Dave Levitan July 07, 2010, The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre released its annual “Renewable Energy Snapshots” report this week, and found that 62 percent of all new electricity generation installed in 2009 in the 27 EU member countries was from renewable sources. This represented an increase from 2008, when 57 percent of new electricity was renewable………

IEEE Spectrum: Europe’s 2009 Energy Growth Dominated by Renewables

July 8, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | EUROPE, renewable | antinuclear, climate change, energy efficiency, global warming, renewable energy, solar, wind | Leave a comment

Delays, cost, opposition, to UK’s nuclear waste plans

Budget cuts caution on UK nuclear waste plan, BBC News, 7 July 2010 The UK’s deep store for nuclear waste should open for business around 2040 – but spending cuts could delay the plans, and community support is vital. These are the key messages in a report from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), the agency charged with managing the nation’s waste………….

The UK’s nuclear waste problem is considerably bigger than either of the Scandinavian countries……….

The total volume of waste from past and present operations amounts to about 500,000 cubic metres, although there is a huge variety in types of waste, the level of radioactivity and how long it will remain dangerously radioactive.

The coalition government has said it is committed to finding a long-term solution for the UK’s nuclear waste problem………..If no communities want the repository, said Alun Ellis, it will not be built.

“The government’s answer to this question is that Plan B is to make Plan A work,”

July 8, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | UK, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, radiation, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Civil Liability Bill for the benefit of USA nuclear industry, not India

In the event of a tragedy, tax payers will have to cough up the compensation while foreign companies will go scot free,… foreign nuclear companies have seen their market dry up in the US, UK and France because no new plants have been set up there in 20-30 years, and therefore, India was a plum market. And it is with an eye on securing these companies’ interests that the US and other developed nations are insisting that India pass the Nuclear Civil Liability Bill.

Public hearing nukes civil liability bill Indian Express07 Jul 2010 HYDERABAD: Speakers at a public consultation on the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill 2010 held here today pilloried the Union government for learning nothing from the Bhopal gas tregady. They described as a sellout the Bill’s provision to impose a ceiling on the compensation payable by foreign nuclear suppliers in the eventuality of a nuclear accident. Continue reading →

July 8, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, politics international | AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, uranium | Leave a comment

USA – no idea what to do with depleted uranium wastes

Feds seek a temp home for depleted uranium | The Salt Lake Tribune, By JUDY FAHYS 8 July 2010, The U.S. Department of Energy has started looking beyond Utah for temporary storage of nearly 10,000 drums of depleted uranium for up to seven years…….. Continue reading →

July 8, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | depleted uranium, USA | antinuclear, depleted, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, uranium | Leave a comment

Concern over Russian ownership brings fall in uranium share price

“alarmed industry observers worried that the Vancouver-based company might end up serving the Kremlin’s strategic interests.”
The spot price of uranium reacted to this news by falling in price.

Financing uranium mining raises concern, Star Tribune, Hildred Shelton, July 7, 2010 The hearing on uranium mining conducted in Chatham on June 22 by the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission Subcommittee has received extensive comment………………..that brings up a current development in financing uranium mining which is causing international commentary…that “world of capital.” Continue reading →

July 8, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, uranium | Leave a comment

NASA to persist in useless, but cruel, animal radiation tests

Because of drastic biological differences between species, radiation experiments on monkeys won’t tell scientists anything about how astronauts will react to deep space.

NASA Plans to Expose Monkeys to Radiation, ALLVOICES, By StevieNicoleDow Washington : DC : USA | Jul 07, 2010 NASA has announced that it plans to fund a $1.75 million project in which up to 30 squirrel monkeys will be exposed to a very large, harmful dose of radiation and then be locked in steel cages without any companionship. They will be forced to endure years of behavioral tests to measure the inevitable devastation that the radiation causes to their brains and bodies, which would likely include brain damage, skin inflammation, blindness, various types of cancer, including brain tumors, and premature death. Continue reading →

July 8, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Religion and ethics, USA | antinuclear, cancer, radiation, reactors | Leave a comment