2010 September « nuclear-news

Greens surge ahead in Germany due to anti-nuclear stand

Surveys have shown a majority of Germans are opposed to extending nuclear lifespans and Merkel faces a battle to get the planned measures through parliament. The SPD and Greens have said they will go to court to stop the extensions becoming law.

German Greens Hit Record, Pull Level With SPD: Poll Planet Ark: 23-Sep-10 GERMANY : Erik Kirschbaum Germany’s Green Party has drawn level for the first time with the main opposition Social Democrats, a leading poll showed, propelled by its campaign against government plans to extend the use of nuclear energy. Continue reading →

September 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, politics | antinuclear, nuclear | Leave a comment

Lower energy costs, more jobs with UK’s new wind farm

“It’s absolutely the case that the cost of green energy will come down as the supply increases and companies become better at deploying these kinds of large offshore projects,”

Indeed, the expansion of renewable energy technology such as wind farms will result in “tens of thousands of jobs”,

World’s largest wind farm opens in UK today, / Renewable energy , by Emily Thomas, 24 September 2010 The world’s largest offshore wind farm opens off the coast of Kent today (September 23rd), projecting the UK as a leader in renewable technology. Continue reading →

September 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable, UK | antinuclear, global warming, renewable energy, wind | Leave a comment

“New Generation” nuclear reactors – a selection of duds

The death of the Pebble Bed has considerable significance. Harvey Wasserman, 23 Sept 10, For nearly two decades reactor backers have counted it in the imaginary fleet of new generation reactors coming to save us. Its alleged bright future would make it just one of the many new nuclear technologies that would render solar and wind energy unnecessary. Continue reading →

September 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, technology | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, reactors | Leave a comment

Low uranium price stops building of new plant

R3.5bn uranium project hit by price slump., Brendan Ryan , 22 Sep 2010 [miningmx.com] — CONSTRUCTION of the proposed R3.5bn Rand Uranium plant to be built near Randfontein could be delayed because of current low uranium prices
That’s according to Harmony CEO, Graham Briggs, who was replying to a question posed after his presentation to the Denver Gold Forum being held in Denver, Colorado. Harmony holds a 40% stake in the unlisted Rand Uranium into which it injected assets formerly belonging to the Cooke and Randfontein sections of the Randfontein mine including the high uranium grade Cooke tailings dump. Uranium prices have been depressed for the past 18 months….

September 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, South Africa, Uranium | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, uranium | Leave a comment

Death of the Pebble Bed Nuclear Reactor

economic realities make any tangible future Pebble Bed as a major source of new energy largely imaginary.

(South Africa) Another feeble-headed nuke drops dead Harvey Wasserman September 24, 2010
For years “expert” reactor backers have touted the “Pebble Bed” design as an “inherently safe” alternative to traditional domed light water models. Now its South African developers say they’re done pouring money into it. Continue reading →

September 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | South Africa, technology | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear technology, reactors | 1 Comment

For South Africa, more jobs in renewables than in coal

Renewable energy offers more jobs than coal | West Cape News, 24 Sept 10, Focussing on renewable energy initiatives would not only make South Africa more energy secure, it would create more jobs than alternative coal dependent scenarios and save hundreds of billions of rands over the long term. Continue reading →

September 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable, South Africa | climate change, global warming, renewables | Leave a comment

France’s heavily subsidised nuclear industry – a costly warning to USA

The French nuclear program has been a state-owned monopoly from the outset, heavily subsidized by the government. It could not survive in a free market. By copying the French model – both in its energy choices and its willingness to use public funds to subsidize an industry that has never been self-sustaining – the U.S. is heading down a dangerous path of nuclear socialism.

France’s Nuclear “Miracle” is More Fantasy that Fact, The Hill, By Mark Cooper – 09/23/10 Among backers of nuclear power development in the U.S., France has long been held out as the model to emulate. Now, as pressure builds on policy makers in Washington to set a new domestic energy course, the French experience once again is being heralded as proof that nuclearpower is the way to go.
Trouble is, France’s nuclear “miracle” is more fantasy than fact. Continue reading →

September 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, France | antinuclear, AREVA, EDF, France, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, reactors | Leave a comment

AREVA’s nuclear workers kidnapped by al-Qaida in Niger

Six of the seven hostages worked at a huge uranium mine in northern Niger run by French state-owned nuclear power giant Areva. The seventh was married to an Areva employee…….

France’s Sarkozy calls Niger kidnappings worrying By JENNY BARCHFIELD (AP) – 23 Sept 10, PARIS — French President Nicolas Sarkozy vowed on Wednesday to mobilize his government to free five French people abducted last week by an al-Qaida affiliate in Niger, calling it a “very serious and worrying affair,” Continue reading →

September 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Niger, safety, Uranium | antinuclear, AREVA, France, nuclear, nuclear costs, uranium | Leave a comment

Uranium market’s doubtful long term future

..“There are a lot of projects on the drawing board that will have trouble getting into production or will be delayed”…The “long-term” price “is really the more important indicator when it comes to supporting new project development, rather than the spot price,”

Uranium Miners Need 25% Price Advance for Expansion Incentive, Rio Says, Bloomberg, By Anna Stablum – Sep 23, 2010 Uranium must rise 25 percent to give mining companies an incentive to start or expand projects outside of top producer Kazakhstan, said Clark Beyer, managing director of Rio Tinto Uranium Ltd….. Continue reading →

September 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, business and costs, Uranium | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, uranium | Leave a comment

Warm support for UK’s anti-nuclear Lib Democrat Simon Hughes

Hughes shines as keeper of party’s conscience, By Alex Barker in Liverpool September 22 2010 Simon Hughes burnished his credentials as the conscience of the Liberal Democrats on Tuesday, promising activists he would never “back off” confronting Conservatives over student fees and the Trident nuclear deterrent.
The Lib Dem deputy leader’s warmly received speech to the conference underlined his growing influence in a party that sees him as constructively voicing grassroots angst over power sharing.

FT.com / UK / Politics & policy – Hughes shines as keeper of party’s conscience

September 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear spin | Leave a comment

UK’s Chris Huhne losing support, due to his pro nuclear backdown

what Huhne had to say on nuclear power may have been too pragmatic even for his own party, which has grave doubts about the technology. Huhne himself has previously argued that “outdated” nuclear power is not needed to meet the UK’s climate targets. “Nuclear is a tried, tested and failed technology,” he said in November 2007.

Lib Dems will not be reassured by Chris Huhne’s speech guardian.co.uk, 21 September 2010 n the early days of the coalition there was a fair amount of cautious goodwill from environmentalists. Continue reading →

September 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, reactors | Leave a comment

UK’s Lib Democrat leader wimping out on nuclear power

the Green Party leader, Caroline Lucas, said that he was putting too much trust in nuclear power….“He’s wrong about nuclear. It won’t deliver emissions cuts fast enough or big enough”. She dismissed his claims that there would be no public subsidies for nuclear power, suggesting that the nuclear industry’s failure to pay its full waste and decommissioning costs, is itself a subsidy.

Sceptical response to Huhne’s ‘green government’ pledge | Ekklesia, 21 Sep 2010 Environmental groups have given a sceptical response to comments made by the Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne at the Liberal Democrats’ party conference today (21 September).Huhne reiterated the coalition’s pledge to be the “greenest government ever”…….. Continue reading →

September 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, UK | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, reactors | Leave a comment

International church group slams Australia’s Aboriginal Intervention

“The Intervention has taken control of the lives of Aboriginal peoples through such measures as compulsory income management and compulsory acquisition of leases over Aboriginal land.

“The Labor Government has continued the Intervention which remains a blight on Australia’s reputation.”

Territory shame The Catholic Leader: : 26 September 2010By: Paul Dobbyn AUSTRALIA’S “shameful treatment” of indigenous people in remote Northern Territory communities has been exposed during a six-day fact-finding mission by local and international visitors, Continue reading →

September 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, indigenous issues | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, indigenous | Leave a comment

UK Member of Parliament calls for justice for nuclear veterans

These were young men who were put in the vicinity of weapons tests of which we had no idea about what the side effects would be. “Many of them have now died, many of them are extremely ill and successive governments have done all they can to block compensation to these men.

A MEMBER of an influential parliamentary committee has backed the Derby Telegraph’s campaign to make the Government compensate British nuclear test veterans. derbyshire telegraph 21Sept 10, Some 20,000 servicemen took part in Britain’s atomic bomb tests in the 1950s and 1960s, with many now claiming they suffer ill health as a result of radiation exposure. Continue reading →

September 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

UK govt report reveals safety problems with nuclear submarines

Exercise at nuclear submarine yard exposes serious safety failings BAE Systems to rerun mock accident after mistakes at Barrow dockyard that could have put lives at risk Rob Edwards guardian.co.uk, 22 September 2010 Continue reading →

September 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment