2010 September « nuclear-news

Israel’s nuclear weapons to be the focus of International Energy Agency debate

Israel center of heated IAEA debates‘, PressTV , 14 sept 10, The Arab League (AL) says Israel’s nuclear activities are to form the center of “heated” debates during the UN nuclear watchdog’s meetings.The United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Board of Governors began to meet in Vienna on Monday.The Arab group and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) — which refuses to ally itself with the major superpowers — were determined to broach Israel’s nuclear program during the gatherings, the head of the AL’s delegation, Dr. Mikhail Wehbe had told the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) ahead of the meetings, independent news outlet the Eurasia Review reported…….PressTV – ‘Israel center of heated IAEA debates’

September 15, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Civil nuclear reactors – soft targets for devastating attack

Its civil nuclear reactors are the “softest” and easiest targets for conventional military attack – with guaranteed devastating sequels

Nuclear Renaissance or The End of Nations ? : The Market Oracle, By Andrew McKillop, 15 Sept 10, “……..THE END OF THE NATION STATE , national security as we know it and with any real meaning no longer exists. Any country with large sized nuclear reactors is not defensible. Its has already positioned Weapons of Mass Destruction – for the enemy side – inside its national territory.

When both belligerent nations have nuclear reactors, they have guaranteed and massive Mutually Assured Destruction.When we take account of the full risks of the coming worldwide nuclear boom, the exploding number of civil reactor numbers, the full extent of fuel production and reprocessing, accumulated nuclear wastes, plutonium production and storage, and the spiralling amounts of ‘new’ nuclear waste being produced each day, the nation state itself has no remaining signification or meaning.

Its civil nuclear reactors are the “softest” and easiest targets for conventional military attack – with guaranteed devastating sequels.The nation state’s “prerogative” of making war, for example in Afghanistan and Iraq is no longer feasible or defensible – but is this known to politicians and the public ? Do they want to know this ? What is the level of debate on this subject ?

Nuclear Renaissance or The End of Nations ? :: The Market Oracle :: Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting Free Website

September 15, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, politics international | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, reactors | Leave a comment

America’s nuclear industry near death – begging for money

As renewables plummet in cost, and private financing stays nil, the nuclear industry is desperate to gouge billions from Congress for loan guarantees to build new reactors. Thus far, citizen activism has stopped them. But the industry is pouring all it has into this fall’s short session, yet again demanding massive new subsides to stay on life support

Is the “Nuclear Renaissance” Dead Yet?, HUFFINGTON POST, Harvey Wasserman: 13 Sept 2010, America’s much hyped “reactor renaissance” is facing a quadruple bypass. In actual new construction, proposed projects and overseas sales, soaring costs are killing new nukes. And the old ones are leaking like Dark Age relics on the brink of disaster. Continue reading →

September 14, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Moscow facing up to its nuclear radiation mess

There is also an issue of unknown radioactive dumps. Tens of them are found every year all over Moscow…People just do not know whether any nuclear waste is nearby and what the level of radiation on the surface is.

Radiation scare for Moscow parks The Moscow News, – Evgeniya Chaykovskaya – 13 Sept 10, Levels of radiation on Moscow’s streets have reached a level so high that the authorities are about to spend 4.7 billion roubles to get rid of it.The $153 million clean-up will run from 2011-2013 amid reports of no fewer than 18 dangerous radioactive objects within the capital.

And they can be found in heavily built-up areas like Kuzminki, Continue reading →

September 14, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Russia, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Inquiry wanted into uranium mining plan for caribou country

Last spring, the regulatory process began for the $1.5-billion Kiggavik project, a uranium mine proposed for just west of Baker Lake by French uranium giant Areva. It is the first such mine to come before the Nunavut Impact Review Board and the first proposed for the wildlife-rich Thelon Basin, home to major caribou herds.

(Canada) Nunavut residents want inquiry into uranium mine – CTV News, 14 Sept 10, The tiny, remote community of Grise Fiord on the frozen shores of Ellesmere Island is nearly as far as it gets from the giant uranium mine proposed for the southern tundra near Baker Lake.

But that didn’t stop 46 people in the community from signing a petition tabled in the legislature last summer demanding a public inquiry over the project. Five other Nunavut communities tabled similar petitions. Continue reading →

September 14, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, opposition to nuclear | antinuclear, AREVA, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, uranium | Leave a comment

Airport screening staff should wear radiation measurement badges

Why do dentists, doctors, med techs, etc.. who work in other x-ray environments gladly wear these exposure detectors on their clothing but TSA employees do not or cannot?

Airport Screeners: Denied radiation badges? | The Science Friday Blog. September 13, 2010 by Ira Flatow I continue to wonder why those TSA folks who stand by x-ray machines for a whole day do not know how much radiation they are exposed to. Last weekend, one of them told me she asked for a common radiation badge and was told she could not wear one. Continue reading →

September 14, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

USA grassroots anti-nuclear movement against massive spending by nuclear lobby

it is now clearer than ever that atomic energy cannot compete, that new construction means new rate hikes, that delays and cost overruns will always outstrip the industry’s initial public assurances,

Is the “Nuclear Renaissance” Dead Yet?, HUFFINGTON POST, Harvey Wasserman: 13 Sept 2010, “…..According to official records, the nuclear industry has spent at least $645 million in the past decade lobbying for taxpayer handouts. It got $18.5 billion in loan guarantees from the Bush Administration in 2005. Obama has asked for some $36 billion more. But so far a national grassroots movement has kept that from happening. Continue reading →

September 14, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

UK likely to delay expensive new Trident nuclear missiles

Trident replacement could be delayed as David Cameron looks for savings Nicholas Watt, guardian.co.uk, Monday 13 September 2010David Cameron is examining plans to delay the replacement of Britain’s Trident nuclear deterrent to reduce the pressure on the public finances during the toughest spending round since the second world war, according to government sources……..

Trident replacement could be delayed as David Cameron looks for savings | Politics | The Guardian

September 14, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | UK, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Efforts to clean up radioactive Tritium leak at Oyster Creek nuclear plant

Nuclear plant cleaning up tritium, APP.com | Asbury Park Press, By BOB VOSSELLER September 13, 2010 — The state Department of Environmental Protection on Monday announced the start of a tritium cleanup at Oyster Creek Generating Station.The first phase of a cleanup of radioactive tritium that leaked from the Forked River power plant owned by Exelon Nuclear last year was outlined by DEP Commissioner Bob Martin and Exelon officials…….The plan also calls for continued monitoring of the content of the water pulled from the ground, and observation of groundwater levels in the area near the nuclear plant. Contaminated water will be pumped into drums and transferred to a large holding tank on site, to be diluted into massive volumes of water used for cooling the power-generating process, which will bring the tritium levels below detectable standards….

Nuclear plant cleaning up tritium | APP.com | Asbury Park Press

September 14, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | Leave a comment

America’s rickety old nuclear reactors becoming dangerous

As reactor owners petition to extend operating licenses for decades to come, the rickety, embrittled old plants become increasingly dangerous.

Is the “Nuclear Renaissance” Dead Yet?, HUFFINGTON POST, Harvey Wasserman: 13 Sept 2010, “……America’s aging fleet of first generation reactors is leaking profusely. Indian Point, north of Manhattan, has suffered seven unplanned shut-downs in two years. In recent months serious emissions of tritium and other radioactive substances into the air and water have been found at Vermont Yankee, Indian Point, New Jersey’s Oyster Creek and many more. Ohio’s infamous Davis-Besse, where boric acid ate virtually all the way through a reactor pressure vessel, has sprung some two dozen leaks which cannot be explained by its owner, First Energy. In Vermont, leaks from pipes the operators said did not exist have seeped contaminated water into the Connecticut River. As reactor owners petition to extend operating licenses for decades to come, the rickety, embrittled old plants become increasingly dangerous.

Harvey Wasserman: Is the “Nuclear Renaissance” Dead Yet?

September 14, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

The ‘nuclear renaissance’ just isn’t happening

“No one has ever built a nuclear plant in a liberalised electricity market,”….Mr Roderick of GE Hitachi observes that in the past five years, only a fraction of the proposed reactor projects went ahead, and he expects the same to be true in the next five years…….

Nuclear: New dawn now seems limited to the east, FT.com, By Ed Crooks: September 12 2010 The renaissance of nuclear power is a much fabled beast that is often talked about but rarely seen. Continue reading →

September 13, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, business and costs | Leave a comment

Even if they go ahead, dubious profitability for Germany’s old nuclear plants

E.On: tax eats profits from nuclear extension-paper Reuters, FRANKFURT, Sept 12 – E.On EOGn.DE says taxes will eat up between half and two thirds of all profits generated from extending the lifespan of nuclear power stations in Germany, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung said on Sunday.”The state will definitely take more than half and combined with the nuclear fuel tax likely cash in two thirds,” E.On CEO Johannes Teyssen said in an interview with the paper.New tax measures are set to be introduced as part of a deal struck between the utilities and the German government earlier this month to extend the operating lifespan of 17 nuclear power plants, giving reactors an extension of about 12 years on average. …….E.On: tax eats profits from nuclear extension-paper | Energy & Oil | Reuters

September 13, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Germany | AUSTRALIA, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, reactors | Leave a comment

Scanner making companies design the safety tests for airport X-Ray Scanners

guess who was on the committee that developed the guidelines for the X-ray scanners? Representatives from the companies that make the machines and the Department of Homeland Security, among others. In other words, the machines passed a test developed, in part, by the companies that manufacture them and the government agency that wants to use them..….

Body scan or pat down: Decisions abound with airport security – San Jose Mercury News, By Susan Stellin, New York Times 09/12/2010 “…….The more controversial “backscatter” devices project an X-ray beam onto the body, creating an image displayed on a monitor viewed by a TSA employee in another room. The “millimeter wave” machines, considered less risky because they do not use X-rays, bounce electromagnetic waves off the body to produce a similar image. Continue reading →

September 13, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Ionising radiation a cancer causer in nearby, non-irradiated cells

The Bystander Effect may be more damaging in the longer term than direct radiation exposure.

Emerging role of radiation induced bystander effects:Cell communications and carcinogenesis, 7th Space.3 Sept 10, Rajamanickam Baskar, Ionizing radiation is an invaluable diagnostic and treatment tool used in various clinical applications. On the other hand, radiation is a known cytotoxic with a potential DNA damaging and carcinogenic effects.

However, the biological effects of low and high linear energy transfer (LET) radiations are considerably more complex than previously thought. Continue reading →

September 13, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, health | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear, nuclear costs, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

South Africa has virtually no control over its radioactive materials

The current situation is a serious indictment on the ANC-government, as it will result or has already resulted in South African citizens being exposed to unnecessary radiation and danger…..

Govt’s radiation control dept almost kaput, Politicsweb, – DAMike Waters 12 September 2010 Mike Waters says vacancy rate at 50%, 64% inspections outstandingRadiation Control Directorate: Non-operation poses threat to public safety The Democratic Alliance (DA) is in possession of internal documents dating as far back as 2003, which reveal that the Department of Health’s Directorate for Radiation Control is almost non-operational. Continue reading →

September 13, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, South Africa | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment