Some nuclear nations keen to keep weak safeguards
IAEA Nations Divided Over Nuclear Reforms After Japan Crisis, NTI, Sept. 9, 2011 A faction of International Atomic Energy Agency member nations appears set to succeed in striking legal mandates from atomic accident prevention reforms proposed by the agency’s chief amid the crisis at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported on Friday (see GSN, Aug. 26). Continue reading
9/11 anniversary – a time for bipartisan effort to prevent nuclear disaster
The nuclear bottom line remains ominous. ….During the last two U.S. presidential elections, both the Republican and Democratic nominees recognized the nuclear danger and agreed on the broad outlines of a response. ……
the public deserves a debate whose goal is not to score political points, but to focus solely on reducing nuclear threats to the American people.
Too much to ask? Not if we expect to act with the urgency necessary to avoid what President John F. Kennedy once referred to as “the final failure.”
The Final Failure, This is no time for either President Obama or the GOP to forget the threat of nuclear weapons., FP, BY SAMUEL R. BERGER, STEVE ANDREASEN | SEPTEMBER 8, 2011 In the decade since Osama bin Laden masterminded the 9/11 attacks, U.S. security policy has centered on al Qaeda and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — fueled by a deep and bipartisan concern that a terrorist group might acquire the means to strike again, this time perhaps with nuclear weapons…..
No nuclear renaissance – nuclear power a declining industry
Is this, finally, the “nuclear renaissance” that the industry has been heralding for the past decade? The answer is no. Construction starts aside, many industry status indicators are on a negative trend…. Production in 2010 was practically identical to production in 2005, and production in 2011 will undoubtedly be lower….
2010–2011 world nuclear industry status report, Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, By Mycle Schneider, Antony Froggatt, and Steve Thomas | 8 September 2011
Article Highlights In 2010, there were more nuclear power units under construction worldwide than in any year since 1988. Even before Fukushima, however, status indicators for the international nuclear industry were showing a negative trend. Fewer countries are operating nuclear fission reactors for energy purposes than in previous years, and many countries are now past their nuclear peak. Worldwide nuclear production is generally declining, and many new projects are experiencing construction delays. Even if reactors can be operated for an average of 40 years, 74 new plants would have to come on line by 2015 to maintain the status quo, which is impossible given current constraints on fabricating reactor components. Developments in Asia, particularly in China, do not fundamentally change the global picture. The dramatic post-Fukushima decisions in two of the four largest economies, Japan and Germany, and in several other nuclear countries could accelerate the decline of a rapidly aging industry. Continue reading
Japanese govt admits that it underestimated Fukushima radiation
Some USA extreme Christians look forward to nuclear war
At least some portion of the population also practices mental readiness for a nuclear strike. The country’s solitary final assembly plant for nuclear weapons is located in Amarillo, Texas. Twenty-five years ago the journalist A. G. Mojtabai set out to understand how the people of this city bear the psychic burden of this work. As she 
reported inBlessèd Assurance: At Home with the Bomb in Amarillo, Texas, many members of the population believe in the Rapture—the end of the world and the gathering of true believers into the arms of Christ. For many of these believers, nuclear weapons, far from being something to repudiate, are vehicles to this blissful end-time event…….
Jerry Falwell stated, “In terms of its impact on Christianity, [Left Behind is] probably greater than that of any other book in modern times, outside the Bible.” But whether or not readers believe in the literal claims of the book, they are surely being counseled to regard nuclear disarmament as morally sinister and nuclear weapons as morally good, even godly...
Until late July 2011, the Air Force had a mandatory course on Nuclear Ethics and Nuclear Warfare for its missile officers…The course—“mandatorily teaches its nuclear missile launch officers that fundamentalist Christian theology is inextricably intertwined with the ‘correct’ decision to launch nukes.”
Extreme Injury, Boston Review, Elaine Scarry, September 2011 “…….Our nuclear weapons are, at every minute of the day and night, ready for use Continue reading
Secretive company Glencore now has to come clean, well, a bit, anyway
Secretive Glencore, Swiss- based international company, has a very bad record – connected with fraud, corruption, environmental degradation (- check it out at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glencore )
Glencore is now more or less forced to reveal some information, seeing that it recently changed from a private company to public. The change was connected to it increasing its share in uranium miner Xstrata . Pretty inportant, as Xstrata is defending an environmental court case run by Friends of the Earth – a FOE win here could be an unwelcome precedent for Glencore’s world-wide activities. – Christina Macpherson
Glencore’s 1st Sustainability Report Shows 18 Deaths, Planet Ark, s 08-Sep-11 Eric Onstad Commodities group Glencore released its first sustainability report on Wednesday showing it paid $780,000 in major environmental fines last year and had 18 fatalities. Continue reading
Japan’s former Prime Ministers fears on Fukushima – a ‘national disaster’
160,000 US army bases to get rooftop solar panels
U.S. military to be largest rooftop solar customer CNet News,By: Martin LaMonica, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011d more:The Department of Energy today backed a deal to connect solar electric panels at 160,000 locations on military bases, a move which could double the number of residential solar installations in the U.S.
The DOE said it has provided a conditional commitment to guarantee a $344 million loan for the SolarStrong Project, which will help the military meet its renewable energy targets and bring solar power to a many states which now have little. SolarCity, which specializes in residential solar installation and financing, has been tapped to install, own, and operate the panels in up to 124 military bases in as many as 33 states. The five-year project will add 371 megawatts of solar capacity, bringing rooftop solar to military families’ homes as well as warehouses and administrative offices on bases.
“This is the largest domestic residential rooftop solar project in history,” Energy secretary Steven Chu said in a statement. “This groundbreaking project is expected to create hundreds of jobs for Americans and provide clean, renewable power to our military families.” SolarCity said it hopes to fill as many jobs as possible with U.S. veterans and military family members.
This deal brings a clever residential financing model to a scale never been done before. Rather than pay for rooftop solar panels, customers pay a monthly fee–either to purchase the energy produced by panels or a solar lease. The arrangement allows consumers to avoid the big upfront cost of panels and lower their monthly spending on electricity.
For the SolarStrong deal, investor U.S. Renewables Group will serve as the lead lender for the project in partnership with Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The DOE will guarantee loans provided for the residential solar installations……http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20102845-54/u.s-military-
Radiation technician falsified tests at nuclear plant
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says Michael McCarrick of Oswego admitted he falsified “qualitative fit test” records relating to 32 workers at the nuclear plant in Scriba (SKREYE’-buh), 35 miles northwest of Syracuse. Fit tests are designed to establish a proper respirator seal, but he didn’t perform the tests.
Respirators are protective devices given to employees for use during emergencies, such as a chemical release resulting in fumes that could otherwise endanger worker health…. http://online.wsj.com/article/APd05c4a90d9124978abca596509040e68.html
Russia giving up on plan for nuclear plant in Haripur, India
Russia wants West Bengal nuclear plant relocated, Sachin Parashar, TNN | Sep 9, 2011,Times of India NEW DELHI: The government is looking at allotting another site for nuclear reactor to Russia in place of Haripur in West Bengal, a location marred by controversy. Confirming that the Russians have officially sought another site, government sources indicated a new site could be allotted soon.
The Mamta Banerjee-led government in the state announced last month that it was going to
scrap the project, but it did not prevent Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from making a
strong case for nuclear energy when he visited Kolkata later.
“There is no decision yet but we are looking at the request from the Russians. We can allot another site to them,” said a senior government source. The Russians have been expressing concern about protests in Haripur since last year, but the government was still hopeful of a way out. With Mamata’s regime not relenting, the Centre has been forced to think of other alternative sites.
West Bengal power minister said in the assembly last month that the government would not allow any nuclear power plant to be set up in the state. Russia’s state-owned nuclear power 
equipment and service giant Rosatom had asked the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) to consider allotting it another site for the plant. ……
Rosatom chief Sergei Kiriyenko had earlier said that a total of 12 nuclear power units were to be built at Kudankulam and Haripur. Haripur was said to be an important part of the Centre’s plans for achieving its target of generating 30,000MW of nuclear power by 2030.
Germany and UK selling out from uranium enrichment company
German Paper: RWE and E.ON Consider Urenco Sale, Nuclear Street, Sep 8 2011 Reports indicate two German utilities are preparing to sell their stake in Urenco, a uranium enrichment company that recently opened a new centrifuge plant in New Mexico.
Urenco’s other owners include the governments of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. In recent years, the UK also has indicated it wants to sell its 33 percent stake in the company. ….
Media Cover-Up of radiation health effects started in 1945
Laurence’s account of this visit … disclosed quite frankly why he and thirty other journalists had been invited: to “give lie to” Japanese propaganda “that radiations were responsible for deaths even after” the Hiroshima attack, as he wrote
How a famous NYT Reporter Led the Media Cover-Up of Radiation Dangers, http://www.thenation.com/blog/163193/how-famous-nyt-reporter-led-media-cover-radiation-dangers, The Nation Greg Mitchell, September 7, 2011 William L. Laurence earned the nickname “Atomic Bill” several times over. As I’ve explored here in the past, he was Pulitizer-winning New York Times science reporter who became embedded with the Manhattan Project and followed its creation of the first atomic bombs at several sites around the United States. As the first use of the new weapon against Japan neared, he wrote several lengthy articles glorifying the Bomb and the men who made it, which were published, with overwheming impact, by his paper (and others) starting on August 7, 1945. Continue reading
Buying support for uranium mining
“In Virginia, there are grave concerns about the industry’s ability to manage all of that radioactive and toxic waste,” said Cale Jaffe, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center…
Va. company picking up tab for uranium-mining tour, Boston.com, RICHMOND, Va.—A company that wants to mine uranium in Virginia is flying state legislators, local officials and residents to Canada to visit uranium mining and milling operations. By Steve Szkotak, Associated Press / September 7, 2011
The trip is one of several sponsored by Virginia Uranium Inc. as it lobbies to end a 1982 moratorium on uranium mining so it can tap a 119-million-pound deposit in Southside Virginia. The uranium deposit is believed to be the largest in the U.S. and one of the largest in the world. Continue reading
Christian Bishop Explains His Anti Nuclear Campaign
Why go to anti-nuclear demos? It’s part of my faith, Echo (UK) 7th September 2011 BLOCKING the gates to an atomic weapons research centre and taking communion outside a weapons store aren’t typical activities for a bishop.
But for the Bishop of Chelmsford, Stephen Cottrell, voicing his opposition to nuclear weapons is an important part of his Christian faith. Bishop Continue reading
Grim outlook for Australia’s uranium mining industry
Investor support has evaporated and the share prices of most ASX-listed uranium plays have fallen more heavily than the wider market. The share price falls have eroded any chance of capital raisings to fund drilling programs or project development while continued production problems experienced by market leader Paladin Energy have added to the negative sentiment hanging over the sector.
The Merrill Lynch uranium equity index, which tracks global listed stocks, is down 19 per cent over the past month and 23 per cent in the past year.
More pain for uranium sector as price dips, PETER KLINGER, The West AustralianSeptember 7, 2011 Already battered by headwinds, including strong opposition from environmentalists, WA’s fledgling uranium sector is set for more grief amid expectation the nuclear fuel’s low price will fall another 6 per cent within the next few months. Continue reading
1 This Month
29 Jan. Thursday 7-8 p.m. Webinar – World’s Largest Nuclear Station in Port Hope, ON?
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