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

UK’s “Renewable Energy Foundation” – a front for anti renewables lobby?

the charity is little more than a front for anti-wind lobbyists…….It would set an unwelcome precedent for a charitable organisation claiming to support renewable energy, to spend time campaigning against what is effectively the chief renewable technology in the UK. It raises issues about the organisation’s motives, as well as financial and reputational advantages of being a registered charity. There needs to be a much clearer sense of how REF fulfils its charitable purpose and lives up to its name…..The problem with the Renewable Energy Foundation is that their name is misleading. It suggests they are in favour of renewables when actually the opposite is true.

Will the real Renewable Energy Foundation please stand up? Guardian UK 20 May 11, The Renewable Energy Foundation says it is not against windfarms, but its critics disagree Will the real Renewable Energy Foundation please stand up? This is a question being asked with increasing intensity within the UK’s renewable energy sector. Continue reading →

May 20, 2011 Posted by | spinbuster, UK | Leave a comment

UK govt should promote renewable energy, says Committee on Climate Change

More renewables needed to power low carbon Britain , Imperial College London Reporter 18 May 11, The UK needs a portfolio of renewable energy and low-carbon alternative energy sources, according to a new energy review by the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), which was launched at Imperial in the second week of May.

The scientific experts on the committee, including Professor Sir Brian Hoskins, Director of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change, and Professor Jim Skea (CEP), said that renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar and geothermal heat, should be able to contribute at least 30 per cent of all power generated in the UK by the year 2030. This would make a major contribution to reducing the UK economy’s carbon footprint over the next few decades.

The committee also suggested that a higher share of up to 45 per cent would be feasible, if the cost of renewable technologies were to fall and if the government pursued policies that would allow low-carbon technologies to be implemented. Current plans, they say, could lead to unnecessary costs that would be passed on to the average household energy user.

Professor Hoskins said: “In order to limit the risks of climate change, it is necessary to significantly reduce global emissions of carbon dioxide by 2050. We know this can be done but only by starting now on a major programme to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop new low-carbon technologies, which themselves could also bring significant economic opportunities.” http://www2.imperial.ac.uk/blog/reporter/2011/05/18/more-renewables-needed-to-power-low-carbon-britain/

May 20, 2011 Posted by | climate change, UK | Leave a comment

Independent testing needed for TSA airport radiation scanners, say scientists

Scientists Seek Independent Testing For TSA Body Scanners Aviation Week May 19, 2011By James Ott A group of scientists are questioning why the U.S. Transportation Security Administration will not permit independent testing of radiation of advanced imaging technology (AIT) full-body scanners.

Pro Publica Inc. says the five University of California San Francisco professors, and another from Arizona State University, in an April 28 letter to White House science adviser John Holdren argue that the TSA-sponsored tests at Johns Hopkins University were flawed. They say the report on tests was heavily redacted and there was no way to repeat any of the measurements.

The professors also raised questions last November in a letter to Holdren about the radiation dosage from AIT machines at airport security checkpoints. ……….

Pro Publica says TSA’s Robin Kane, assistant administrator for security technology, testified in a congressional hearing that outside testing could expose sensitive information…….http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_generic.jsp?channel=aviationdaily&id=news/avd/2011/05/19/12.xml&headline=Scientists%20Seek%20Independent%20Testing%20For%20TSA%20Body%20Scanners

May 20, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

UK govt forging ahead with nuclear program, despite UK’s claim to be “green”

 U.K.’s “Greenest Government Ever” Charges Ahead With Nuclear Power HUFFINGTON POST Mason Inman  05/19/11   Britain’s Prime Minister, David Cameron, has repeatedly pledged to create the “greenest government ever,” and now the country has adopted a new, ambitious goal for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, aiming by 2025 to slash them by half, compared with 1990. Continue reading →

May 20, 2011 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

Indigenous resistance to uranium mining, as Fukushima news continues

before the first pounds of yellowcake are harvested from the tundra, a fearful word has entered the debate: Fukushima. …..Sandra Inutiq chairs a group called Nunavummiut Makitagunarningit, which translates to “Nunavummiut can rise up” and she has opposed uranium development. In an interview, Ms. Inutiq warned that allowing uranium development will transform parts of Nunavut into “a wasteland of tailings.”….And, she added, Fukushima has raised the stakes, as Inuit contemplate the ethical implications of allowing uranium from their territory to be exported around the world –

Fukushima chills uranium development NATHAN VANDERKLIPPE, CALGARY— Globe and Mail , May. 19, 2011 It looked to be a nuclear renaissance set on Canada’s sub-Arctic plains.Over the past few years, a series of companies secured rights to remote stretches of Inuit land that hide rich troves of uranium. One project alone, the five mines that make up the Kiggavik proposal from French nuclear giant Areva, stands poised to increase Canada’s uranium output by 35 per cent. Continue reading →

May 20, 2011 Posted by | Canada, indigenous issues, Uranium | Leave a comment

US Nuclear Regulatory Commission – lax oversight of nuclear power safety

the NRC’s Generic Issues Program….“does not clearly assign ownership for each issue to a particular NRC office and is not transparent to NRC senior management or the Commission.” Also, the safety issues were not always “well-tracked.”…..

Watchdog: Nuclear Regulators’ Action on Safety Issues Is Too Slow, Not Well-Tracked By NICK SCHWELLENBACH, POGO 19 May 11,  As the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster in Japan continues to unfold, POGO, like many others, is concerned about the effectiveness of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) oversight of nuclear power here. The NRC’s internal watchdog, the NRC Office of Inspector General (OIG), has questioned the aggressiveness of the NRC’s oversight as well. Continue reading →

May 20, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Texas environmental agency covered up radiation level in drinking water

Alpha radiation is emitted from radionuclides such as uranium and radium. While health scientists have said it poses little danger if someone is externally exposed to it, the experts maintain that ingesting even the smallest amount of the particles can cause damage to DNA, and in rare cases, cause cancer.

AUDIO  http://www.khou.com/home/-Texas-politicians-knew-agency-hid-the-amount-of-radiation-in-drinking-water-122205439.html  Texas politicians knew agency hid the amount of radiation in drinking water by Mark Greenblatt / KHOU 11 News May 19, 2011  HOUSTON— Newly-released e-mailsfrom the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality show the agency’s top commissioners directed staff to continue lowering radiation test results, in defiance of federal EPA rules. The e-mails and documents, released under order from the Texas Attorney General to KHOU-TV, also show the agency was attempting to help water systems get out of formally violating federal limits for radiation in drinking water. Without a formal violation, the water systems did not have to inform their residents of the increased health risk. Continue reading →

May 20, 2011 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

Labour MP in Wales scornful of UK nuclear policy

Welsh MP attacks Government’s nuclear policy, by David Williamson, Western Mail, 19 May 11,  LABOUR MP Paul Flynn yesterday urged Prime Minister David Cameron to abandon the “national virility symbol” of nuclear missiles and challenged Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne to reject a new generation of nuclear power stations.  Continue reading →

May 20, 2011 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

Criminal cover up of workers’ radiation exposures at Piketon former nuclear plant

One of the first signs of trouble, Lawson said, was an irregularity with the badge worn by Walburn and other employees that detected and record radiation exposure.

“When I went to the health physics department and asked about it, they said, ‘We were told that he might sue, and they’re trying to make it easier to understand by saying he got a zero dose.'”

Lawson said Walburn’s worker’s compensation claims were denied in part because of altered records. Court records obtained by 10TV News detailed a pattern of changing dose level records of workers.

Ex EmployeesAllege crimes at Former Piketon Nuclear Materials Plant  May 19, 2011  WBNS-10TV , PIKETON, Ohio — The future of a site where nuclear materials were once developed was being debated on Thursday, as former employees came forward with allegations of criminal conduct.

For nearly 60 years, the Pike County plant enriched uranium for use in nuclear weapons, 10TV’s Glenn McEntyre reported. Continue reading →

May 20, 2011 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

Ameren electricity company doesn’t support nuclear deal – too costly to customers

Ameren no longer backs nuclear permit compromise , Kansas City.com , 18 May 11 JEFFERSON CITY | Electricity provider Ameren Missouri says it no longer supports a proposed deal that emerged on the final day of the state legislative session to finance a site permit for a potential nuclear power plant.

The legislation had represented a last-ditch compromise among utility companies and industrial energy consumers, among others. It would have let customers be billed for some costs of a site permit application before a nuclear power plant actually is built. But the legislation failed to pass.

Richard Mark is the senior vice president of customer operations for Ameren Missouri. He said Thursday that the company now has concerns the deal could have resulted in significant rate increases for residential customers……Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/05/19/2887911/ameren-no-longer-backs-nuclear.html#ixzz1MrHa4LRQ

May 20, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, USA | Leave a comment

Radioactive pollution dumping in Malaysia, by Australian company Lynas

Fuziah Salleh is critical of what she says are lower environmental standards in Malaysia and double standards from Lynas…SINGH: If it’s reasonably that good, why don’t they do the processing within Australia, why send it to Malaysia? it is a classic example of a polluting industry being exported to a developing country………

Demonstrators are planning to rally outside the Australian Embassy in Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpor on Friday. Radio Australia, 19 May 11,  They’ll be protesting against the Australian mining company Lynas and its plans to process rare earths in Pahang state. Local communities and environmental groups have raised concerns over the management of radioactive waste. They say the waste product thorium will affect fishing, tourism and public health .. while the Malaysian government has also asked for more information.

Continue reading →

May 20, 2011 Posted by | ASIA, AUSTRALIA, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment