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The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope

Nuclear plants not safe from airplane crash risk

this is the first time that it has been officially admitted that plane crashes could cause a nuclear disaster, and raises questions about the safety of nuclear plants around the UK.

Nuclear risk from plane crashes is higher than estimated, inquiry shows A plane crash could trigger a ‘significant radiological release’, according to an inquiry into the expansion of Lydd airport in Kent Rob Edwards guardian.co.uk,  21 February 2011The risk that planes will crash into nuclear plants and release potentially lethal clouds of radioactivity is significantly higher than off icial estimates, according to expert evidence to a public inquiry. Continue reading →

February 22, 2011 Posted by | safety, UK | Leave a comment

Nuclear no solution to energy shortage – far from it!

It turns out that uranium, the fuel needed to make nuclear power, is completely dependent on oil for the very heavy duty machinery needed for extracting the annual supplies of uranium needed….Uranium depletion is one issue. But the amount of fossil energy fuel needed to extract and then refine the uranium is even more reason that nuclear power will prove unsustainable in freeing the world from fossil fuels.

Nuclear Power Continues World Dependence on Middle East Oil | Green Prophet, 21 Feb 2011, Out of the frying pan…In its haste to free itself from oil-powered electricity, during the Arab oil shocks of the ”70s, France switched to nuclear energy. It had been vulnerable in its dependence on the Middle East, and moved to nuclear to free itself of the risk from more oil shocks. Since then, it has been the poster child nation for nuclear energy, getting almost 80% of its electricity from nuclear power. It must be in good shape to weather the bumpy exit from the oil age, right?

Wrong. Continue reading →

February 22, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, ENERGY | Leave a comment

New Mexico to get Hanford nuclear wastes

Workers entered in groups of three or four wearing three layers of protective clothing and breathing through air hoses,.. [wastes] will be shipped in a waste box to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico for disposal.

Complex cleanup work at Hanford plutonium plant, Seattle Times , Annette Cary, 21 Feb 2011, Hanford workers have begun the complex task of removing 196 “pencil tanks” contaminated with plutonium from inside an enclosed, canyon like room at the nuclear reservation’s Plutonium Finishing Plant…… Continue reading →

February 22, 2011 Posted by | USA, wastes | Leave a comment

Reprocessing nuclear waste – not a solution to the intractable waste problem

Nuclear waste- no place to go? Environment Reseach by Dave Elliott on February 19, 2011 Reprocessing nuclear waste provides little short-term benefit because the process costs too much and uranium supplies remain plentiful, according to a new study of US nuclear waste management options by MIT, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Continue reading →

February 22, 2011 Posted by | reprocessing, USA, wastes | Leave a comment

Pakistan’s race ahead in nuclear weapons

The weapons have been kept at depots all over Pakistan – some are said to be near the main air bases……….It will also raise questions about how the beleaguered administration of President Asif Ali Zardari can justify spending on nuclear weapons when so many in his country live in poverty and appalling conditions.

Pakistan to overtake Britain as world’s fifth largest nuclear power, Mail Online, By David Williams  21st February 2011
Experts think Pakistan could have 110 nuclear weaponsPakistan is on the verge of overtaking Britain as the world’s fifth largest nuclear power at a time when the country faces an unprecedented threat from extremists. Continue reading →

February 22, 2011 Posted by | Pakistan, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Job available after the nuclear holocaust

one “perk” of this job was that they would be expected to survive a nuclear attack, which means that the added benefits to this employment would be a special trip to a safe place to wait out the destruction of the world….. You can read these morbid documents in full at Ptak Science Books.

A job application for restarting the human race after the nuclear apocalypse, 109,  21 Feb 2011, In 1956, the US government issued this totally turgid employment application and list of job requirements for the federal position of Chief, Damage Assessment Division. Continue reading →

February 22, 2011 Posted by | history, resources - print | Leave a comment

Declassified film on nuclear war

You can watch the entire movie at The National Security Archive.

St. Louis Nearly Destroyed in Declassified Military Film Depicting Nuclear War – St. Louis News 21 Feb 2011, It’s believed to be the only U.S. government film depicting the catastrophic atrocities of nuclear war, and for the first-time ever it’s available to the masses. The Power of Decision was produced in 1957 at the request of the U.S. Air Force and ostensibly designed for educational purposes within the military. On Friday the National Security Archives posted the movie onto the Internet. Continue reading →

February 22, 2011 Posted by | Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

French wheeling and dealing to save nuclear export industry

The government also envisages the construction of a new type of reactor in France and will force state-controlled nuclear engineering firm Areva SA (CEI.FR, ARVCY) to confine its uranium-mining operations in a separate legal unit…….the French government, which owns more than 93% of Areva, has been looking to raise the cash needed to realize the company’s investment needs………….

French Government Reaffirms EDF’s Lead Role In Nuclear Energy, FoxBusiness.com, By Angeline Benoit and Geraldine AmielFebruary 21, 2011| Dow Jones Newswires – The French government issued Monday new guidelines for the country’s nuclear-energy industry, reaffirming the leading role of state-controlled  Electricite de France SA (EDF.FR) in the sector after a French consortium failed to win a key overseas contract in 2009. Continue reading →

February 22, 2011 Posted by | France | Leave a comment

AREVA nuclear company tight-lipped about new government guidelines

Areva: No Comment On France’s Nuclear-Energy Policy Decisions – WSJ.com, By Geraldine Amiel and Angeline Benoit, Dow Jones Newswires;22 Feb 2011, PARIS –French state-controlled nuclear engineering firm Areva SA (CEI.FR, ARVCY) Monday denied to make any comment after the French government issued guidelines for the French nuclear-energy industry, which include the company’s confining its uranium-mining operations into a separate legal unit.The guidelines issued Monday in a statement released by the office of French President Nicolas Sarkozy also say that state-controlled power group Electricite de France SA (EDF.FR) should lead French consortiums to bid contracts abroad.-  Areva: No Comment On France’s Nuclear-Energy Policy Decisions – WSJ.com

February 22, 2011 Posted by | France, Uranium | Leave a comment