2010 August « nuclear-news

Obama urged by Nobel Laureates to attend Hiroshima Peace Summit

The 11th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates is scheduled to be held in Hiroshima from Nov. 12-14. While Obama is not scheduled to attend the event, he does appear set to visit Japan in the same time period.

Nobel Laureates Urge Obama to Renew Nuclear Disarmament Campaign, NTI: Global Security Newswire -, Aug. 26, 2010 Five recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize are urging U.S. President Barack Obama to renew efforts toward global nuclear disarmament by making a high-profile trip to Hiroshima, the Japanese city where an atomic weapon was first used in war, the Associated Press reported yesterday. Continue reading →

August 27, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear weapons, peace, peaceful | Leave a comment

USA and China seeking to resume N Korea nuclear talks

US declines to rule out resumption of NKorea nuclear talks, Google hosted news, (AFP) – 26 Aug 2010, WASHINGTON — The United States on Thursday declined to rule out a resumption of six-party nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea following meetings at the UN General Assembly late next month.”We do have the UN General Assembly coming up. It will be an opportunity for the United States to engage directly with our partners in the six-party process,” State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters……

Wu Dawei, China’s special envoy on Korean affairs, was due in South Korea from Thursday to Saturday to discuss ways to resume talks on dismantling North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

Wu visited Pyongyang last week to discuss the resumption of six-party talks aimed at persuading the North to give up its nuclear weapons in return for diplomatic and economic gains.

AFP: US declines to rule out resumption of NKorea nuclear talks

August 27, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Hezbollah wants nuclear energy for Lebanon

Hezbollah chief calls for nuclear energy, August 25 2010 PoliJAM , Lebanon, (UPI) — Lebanon has the right to consider nuclear power as a way to address an energy crisis in the country, the Hezbollah secretary-general declared….. I call on the government to consider building a nuclear plant for peaceful energy,” he was quoted by Hezbollah’s al-Manar news agency as saying.
Nasrallah’s patrons in Iran during the weekend began operations at the Bushehr nuclear power plant with the help of Russian atomic energy corporation Rosatom.
The Hezbollah chief said that Lebanon should follow Iran’s example and embrace nuclear energy as a cost-saving measure.

Hezbollah chief calls for nuclear energy

August 27, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | MIDDLE EAST, politics international | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs | Leave a comment

After the Bhopal gas disaster, who can trust compensation for nuclear accidents?

The tale of two liabilities , Hindustan Times New Delhi, August 24, 2010 Assume: A reactor blows up in India because of a defective component supplied by a foreign company. If the present nuclear liability Bill is passed, says its opponents, victims of this blowout will get compensation only from the Indian government, even though the government is not to blame. The foreign supplier of the component will get away scot-free………….

Johnm Who with a straight face can claim that survivors of a nuclear accident will get ‘appropriate compensation’ as per ‘normal product liability’ from an international supplier of defective reactor components after going through the courts? Please review the outcome of Bhopal, and explain again to us how successful the system has been, if you can. I for one don’t see it happening.

August 27, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Award winning media investigation into medical radiation

the newspaper reported on a fast-evolving medical world in which safety has lagged behind technical innovation. It found that financial incentives have driven the medical radiation boom,…..The award recognized papers that creatively used digital tools in the role of being a community’s watchdog

NY Times’ radiation investigation wins APME award, Google hosted news, (AP) –26 Aug 2010, NEW YORK — An investigation into the dangers of the increasing use of radiation in diagnosing and treating disease earned The New York Times a Public Service Award Wednesday from the Associated Press Managing Editors association. Continue reading →

August 26, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | media, USA | antinuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, radiation | Leave a comment

Review of “Chain of Decay” – film on nuclear power

CHAIN OF DECAY — IndieGoGo Chain of Decay is a feature-length documentary that brings together a series of discrete but thematically-linked short documentary and animation segments to create an engaging and provocative portrait of a world most of know precious little about – the world of civil nuclear power. Continue reading →

August 26, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Resources -audiovicual | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, radiation, renewableenergy, uranium | Leave a comment

Whole body scanning at airports raises radiation risks

certain travelers may be particularly vulnerable to emissions from the scanners including seniors, women prone to breast cancer, expectant mothers and children for which the impact hasn’t been fully evaluated….…

(USA) Lawmakers continue to voice concerns over whole-body imagers | Center for Investigative Reporting, G. W. Shultz, August 24, 2010, It wasn’t a lead story when scientists from the University of California at San Francisco first publicly expressed their unease earlier this year about the possible negative health effects caused by full-body airport scanners now being used across the United States to stop explosives from making it onto jet airliners. Continue reading →

August 26, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

USA nuclear firms worried about becoming liable for nuclear accident costs

Lawmakers in New Delhi approved a bill last night that makes suppliers and builders of atomic reactors potentially liable in the event of an accident…..None of India’s biggest prospective suppliers, including GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy or Westinghouse Electric, are likely to sign contracts if they can be held liable for third-party damages,

India Risks Nuclear Power Isolation With Break From Post-Chernobyl Accord, Bloomberg, By Natalie Obiko Pearson – Aug 26, 2010 India’s push to end a three-decade ban on buying nuclear equipment from abroad may founder on laws passed by its own parliament. Continue reading →

August 26, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, India | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, radiation, radioactive, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Uranium mining study group members’ conflict of interest

“Unfortunately, it appears that several members of the provisional committee may have conflicts of interest….”

(USA) Regional groups voice concerns over uranium study committee, By TIM DAVIS/Star-Tribune, August 25, 2010 The Roanoke and Dan River basin associations want the National Academy of Sciences to investigate the backgrounds and professional relationships of several appointees to a provisional committee that will study uranium mining in Virginia. Continue reading →

August 26, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties, Uranium, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, uranium | 1 Comment

Careless use of radioactive materials at Army hospital

Feds: Radiation exposure at Walter Reed. The Washington Post, by Christian Davenport, 26 Aug 2010, Two packages of radioactive material sat under a counter in the main lobby of Walter Reed Army Medical Center for 44 hours, possibly exposing patients and staff to elevated radiation, according to an investigation by federal regulators……Walter Reed officials determined radiation levels at the concierge desk were two millirems an hour, which exceeds allowable limits. The average American is exposed to 620 millirems a year, according to Neil Sheehan, an NRC spokesman.The violations at the Northwest Washington hospital follow a similar violation there in 2008….Post Now – Feds: Radiation exposure at Walter Reed

August 26, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Way behind schedule – UK’s planned nuclear reactors

the companies behind the designs – French consortium Areva, EDF and US firm Westinghouse – had been repeatedly submitting information which was incomplete and late………we could be faced with the farcical situation where the government is letting utilities press ahead with building work for reactors that haven’t been given safety approval.”

UK’s nuclear reactor programme falls behind schedule. Regulator and builders blame each other for construction hold-up as designs await approval Tim Webb , guardian.co.uk, , 25 August 2010 Continue reading →

August 26, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | technology, UK | antinuclear, EDF, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, reactors, Westinghouse | Leave a comment

Legal action over UK radiation leak

Prosecution possible over radiation leak at Dounreay, BBC News , 25 Aug 2010, The operators of the Dounreay nuclear site in Caithness could face prosecution over a radiation leak last year which affected a group of workers.Up to nine were understood to have been exposed to higher than expected levels of radioactivity while working with an intermediate level waste container……

BBC News – Prosecution possible over radiation leak at Dounreay

August 26, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, UK | antinuclear, nuclear costs, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

A limited nuclear conflict would cripple global agriculture

a conflict involving just 0.4% of the world’s 25,000 nukes would produce enough smoke to cripple global agriculture…...

Castro: Worries Over Nuclear Winter – ScienceInsider, by Antonio Regalado on August 25, 2010 , “……….Although fears over nuclear winter have generally faded along with the Cold War, some recent research suggests even a limited conflict could pollute the atmosphere enough to cause worldwide famines. Continue reading →

August 26, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

UK’s French built nuclear plants to cost $9 billion

EDF, RWE May Spend $9.3 Billion Per New Nuclear Plant in U.K., Hendry SaysBy Fred Pals and Kari Lundgren – Aug 26, 2010 Utilities building new nuclear power plants in the U.K. may have to spend as much as 6 billion pounds ($9.3 billion) on each plant, according to Charles Hendry, the country’s minister of state for energy…………

EDF, RWE May Spend $9.3 Billion Per New Nuclear Plant in U.K., Hendry Says – Bloomberg

August 26, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, UK | antinuclear, EDF, nuclear costs, reactors | Leave a comment

Climate change effects could stop nuclear industry

.the effects of climate change could make it to impossible to run nuclear reactors.

The Nuclear Industry Needs A Cap On Carbon To Survive, Wonk Room 26 Aug 2010, “……..the effects of climate change could make it to impossible to run nuclear reactors. For example, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has drastically reduced power generation at the Browns Ferry nuclear plant this summer: The Tennessee Valley Authority has lost nearly $50 million in power generation from its biggest nuclear plant because the Tennessee River in Alabama is too hot Continue reading →

August 26, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, USA | antinuclear, climate change, global warming, nuclear renaissance, nuclear wastes, reactors, water | 1 Comment