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

Threat of nuclear revenge of Bin Laden’s death

9/11 Mastermind Reportedly Warned of ‘Nuclear Hellstorm’ if Bin Laden Killed, May 02, 2011,  FoxNews.com The self-proclaimed mastermind of the 9/1l terror plot told interrogators at Guantanamo Bay that Al Qaeda has a nuclear bomb somewhere in Europe and would detonate it if Usama bin Laden was ever captured or killed, The Daily Telegraph reported, citing WikiLeaks’ cables.

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May 3, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, safety | 1 Comment

Just how safe are Pakistan’s nukes?

the fact remains that the security of these weapons rests in the hands of those who somehow missed bin Laden’s mansion just down the street from their training facility, who receive their information from the same intelligence services that consider the Taliban a strategic asset, not an enemy

Pakistan can’t be trusted with nuclear weapons, National Post, Matt Gurney, 3 May 11, “…bin Laden wasn’t hiding in some dank cave, but was in fact living in a newly built mansion in an affluent Pakistani city, apparently within a 10 minute walk — a mere thousand yards — of a Pakistani military academy …… The government of Pakistan is divided up into competing factions, with their own agendas and plots against each other. This breeds instability and the risk of rapid shifts in the balance of power within Pakistan.… Continue reading

May 3, 2011 Posted by | Pakistan, weapons and war | Leave a comment

USA’s Nuclear Establishment Ponders About Nuclear Wastes

Nuclear waste storage a top issue for NRC-chairman,   * How long should plants store waste in pools? * NRC studies issue after Fukushima pool damage  * Task force also studies power blackouts, flooding  By Roberta Rampton,  WASHINGTON, May 2 (Reuters) The U.S. nuclear safety regulator is studying whether to require plants to more quickly move radioactive waste out of pools as part of a review on safety in the wake of Japan’s nuclear disaster, its chairman said on Monday.


…….. Dry casks use air to keep fuel cool, rather than pumped water, which needs steady power. A recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology study has pushed for a system of regional dry cask storage sites to hold nuclear waste.

Jaczko said it’s too soon to say what the NRC will do. A task force is studying what the U.S. regulator can learn from the Japan disaster and will issue recommendations in a couple of months.

The task force is slated to hold its first public briefing on its progress on May 12. It will also conduct a longer six-month review.

……… A “blue ribbon” panel also is currently studying long-term solutions for handling U.S. nuclear waste after the Obama administration shut down plans for a permanent dump site deep inside Nevada’s Yucca Mountain. That group is slated to deliver a draft report by July 29.

…….. http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFN0230128220110502

May 3, 2011 Posted by | USA, wastes | Leave a comment

German Chancellor wants definite date for closing nuclear industry

Merkel seeks to accelerate nuclear power exit-paperBERLIN May 2 (Reuters) by Christian Ruettger – Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to accelerate Germany’s planned exit from nuclear energy by fixing a precise date, business daily Handelsblatt quoted senior government sources as saying on Monday.

In a high-level meeting last week with Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen and her chief of staff Ronald Pofalla, Merkel pressed for an exact year when nuclear power will be taken off line, the sources said.

Merkel would like to have the nuclear plants switched off before the previous date of about 2022 agreed by the former centre-left government of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, the sources said…….. http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE7410MU20110502

May 3, 2011 Posted by | Germany, politics | Leave a comment

Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant the world’s most dangerous complex

Making Hamaoka a special concern to its opponents is the presence of plutonium. Chubu is the only utility in Japan to have signed a contract to process mixed oxide fuel containing plutonium and uranium with the Sellafield plant in the UK.

The industry’s clout, its collusion with government watchdogs and a largely compliant media have helped smother concerns about this potentially explosive collision of state-of-the-art atomic power with primordial seismic instability

‘We all said disaster would strike here, not Fukushima’, The Independent, 3 May 11, After a 40-year campaign, warnings about the vast nuclear power station on Japan’s earthquake faultline are finally being heard. By David McNeill in Omaezeki and Nanako Otani, Norihiko Watanabe is pointing to his home, 600m from what he calls the most dangerous nuclear power complex on the planet. “There’s nothing like it anywhere in the world,” he says, eyes widening. “If it blows up, we’re all finished.” Continue reading

May 3, 2011 Posted by | Japan, reprocessing, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Suspected radioactive leak in Tsuruga nuclear plant, Japan

Another radiation leak suspected in Japan, NZ Herald, 3 May 11, A radioactive substance leak from fuel rods is suspected to have occurred at another nuclear power plant in Japan, Kyodo News is reporting today.It’s occurred in Tsuruga, the Fukui prefectural government said, citing a rise in the level of radioactive substances in coolant water.

The operator, Japan Atomic Power Co, says it will manually shut down the No. 2 reactor of the plant on the Sea of Japan coast and examine its primary cooling system…..http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10723121

May 3, 2011 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Chile gets some radioactive cars from Japan

Radioactive cars from Japan arrive in Chile, NZ Herald, 3 May 11 Customs agents in Chile have detected low levels of radioactivity in cars shipped from the Japanese port of Yokohama….http://www.nzherald.co.nz/motoring/news/article.cfm?c_id=9&objectid=10723126

May 3, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment