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

USA nuclear wastes – the intractable problem that just won’t go away

U.S. nuclear operators have begun moving some of their spent fuel out of pools and into “dry casks,” considered safer because the casks require only natural air flow, not mechanically pumped water, to cool the fuel. But only about 15,000 metric tons of fuel are stored this way in the U.S., in part because the system is expensive. Even dry-cask storage isn’t a permanent solution. The casks are expected to last decades, not the thousands of years it takes the fuel to become safe…. “No one else on the planet has a solution either.”..
Problem of Where to Put Waste Besets Nuclear Industry, WSJ, By BEN CASSELMAN, JUNE 9, 2011 No question has bedeviled the U.S. nuclear-power industry more than what to do with the thousands of tons of radioactive waste generated by its reactors every year.

U.S. nuclear reactors run on enriched uranium fuel. A nuclear reaction splits the uranium atoms, emitting heat that boils water, turning a turbine and generating electricity. The process leaves behind waste that is no longer capable of sustaining a nuclear reaction but is still highly radioactive. Continue reading →

June 10, 2011 Posted by | USA, wastes | Leave a comment

Japan’s green tea now radioactive?

Japan’s green tea contaminated with radiation, Herald Sun   June 10, 2011  JAPANESE green tea, esteemed around the world for its purity and health-enhancing properties, has become contaminated with radiation, as fallout from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant continues to blight Japan’s agricultural heartlands, authorities revealed today.Authorities admitted for the first time that green tea from Japan’s biggest tea-growing area, the Shizuoka prefecture, contains radiation higher than the officially-permitted level.

The contamination has opened a furious argument among local and national officials about how to measure the radiation, and what constitutes a safe level of contamination.

Dried leaves from the year’s first harvest in the Honyama area of Shizuoka were found to contain radioactive cesium at a level of 679 becquerels per kilogram, above the permitted maximum of 500 becquerels. But the discovery was made by chance, and the authorities admit that earlier consignments, which were not examined and have gone to the market, may have also been contaminated…….The high reading was discovered not by the tea grower or the local government, but by a mail order tea company in Tokyo that carried out its own measurements….http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/japans-green-tea-contaminated-with-radiation/story-e6frf7ko-1226072822881

June 10, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Environmental hearing on AREVA’s planned uranium enrichment plant

NRC to set hearing on Areva’s Idaho uranium project, Jun 9, 2011 (Reuters) – The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said on Thursday its Atomic Safety and Licensing Board will conduct an environmental hearing on a license application of Areva Enrichment Services CEPFi.PA to construct and operate a uranium enrichment plant near Idaho Falls, Idaho.

The hearing will address various issues including the impact of the Fukushima Daiichi accident on the need for enrichment services, Areva’s plans for remediation of any NRC-authorized pre-construction activities and greenhouse gas impacts of the facility’s operation and power consumption…..http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/09/areva-nrc-idUSL3E7H93A620110609

June 10, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Doom and gloom in the uranium industry

Paladin reacts to share price drop, SMH, June 10, 2011 Uranium miner Paladin Energy Ltd has sought to dampen market rumours about the company’s financing arrangements, a potential capital raising and a potential sale by Newmont Mining of its 6.71 per cent stake in Paladin.

Paladin issued a statement on Friday to clarify its position, after the company’s shares came under “considerable selling pressure” for two days……http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-business/paladin-reacts-to-share-price-drop-20110610-1fvoe.html

EYE ON EQUITIES

Analyst urges caution as First Uranium dips to all-time lows, DARCY KEITH Globe and Mail Update  Jun. 09, Shares in First Uranium Corp. (FIU-T0.56-0.02-3.45%) remain snuggled close to all-time lows after getting smacked Wednesday in response to weaker than expected fourth-quarter results. A resurgence in negative sentiment toward uranium producers after the Japanese nuclear crisis hasn’t helped matters.

Raymond James Ltd. analyst Bart Jaworski thinks investors may be wise backing away from the stock for the time being…..http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/investment-ideas/features/eye-on-equities/analyst-urges-caution-as-first-uranium-dips-to-all-time-lows/article2053830/

 

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June 10, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, business and costs, Uranium | Leave a comment

Netherlands nuclear activists block radioactive waste train

Greenpeace block nuclear waste transport, Greenpeace International  by Justin – June 9, 2011 On Tuesday ten Greenpeace activists in the Netherlands chained themselves to railway lines to block a shipment of nuclear waste. The train, carrying highly radioactive nuclear waste from the country’s Borssele nuclear power plant, is currently en route to France. he highly radioactive waste in the three railcars contain a similar quantity of radioactive material to that released from the nuclear disasters at Chernobyl and Fukushima. The next two years will see ten such shipments to France.

The containers go by train from Belgium to the French nuclear plant at La Hague. There the waste is reprocessed. It’s a risky and polluting process in which radioactive waste is released into the environment.

Unbelievably, only 4% of the waste is converted into new nuclear fuel. The rest of it is returned to the Netherlands and remains dangerous for 240,000 years. However, the country does not have storage facilities to keep the waste safe for that incredible length of time. No-one does…..http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/nuclear-reaction/greenpeace-block-nuclear-waste-transport/blog/35204

June 10, 2011 Posted by | EUROPE, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Growing anxiety of Tokyo residents about nuclear radiation

Radiation leaking from Fukushima power plant should be monitored more closely Mainichi Daily News 10 June Residents of the Tokyo metropolitan area are becoming increasingly concerned about levels of radiation spreading to their neighborhoods from the tsunami-hit Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant. There are some areas called “hot spots,” where high levels of radiation have been detected even though they are far away from the crippled nuclear plant. When radioactive substances leak from a nuclear facility as a result of an accident and spread through the sky, they fall on some limited areas depending on geographical features, wind direction and rain, resulting in high concentration of radiation in these areas…… Continue reading →

June 10, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Video of Fukushima nuclear whistleblower

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/06/09/3240251.htm Nuke worker speaks out about tsunami taboo VIDEO ABC News By North Asia correspondent Mark Willacy A former worker at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan says the operator ignored warnings about a large tsunami hitting the facility.Jun 9, 2011  Continue reading →

June 10, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

India – another nuclear-capable missile test

India tests nuclear-capable missile Express Tribune , 10 June By AFP BHUBANESWAR: India tested a short-range nuclear-capable missile along its eastern coast on Thursday, an official said, as part of the country’s efforts to build up its atomic deterrent.

The surface-to-surface Prithvi-II missile was fired from a range in the eastern state of Orissa and hit its target in the Bay of Bengal successfully, the defence ministry official said.The Prithvi, which is domestically built and developed, can carry nuclear or conventional payloads and has already been inducted into the armed services.

India’s Defence Research Development Organisation is developing a series of missiles as part of the country’s deterrent strategy against neighbouring Pakistan and China which also have nuclear weapons…..http://tribune.com.pk/story/185422/india-tests-nuclear-capable-missile/

June 10, 2011 Posted by | India, weapons and war | Leave a comment

The fallacy of nuclear fallout shelters’ supposed safety

Citizen Cold Warriors in the United States were expected to be able to reconcile these two diametrically opposed thoughts: A nuclear war can destroy all life on earth. You will survive if you build a family fallout shelter….. Fallout can drift in unpredictable directions for thousands of miles over a period of years.

How The US Was Supposed to Survive a Nuclear Holocaust With 9 Inches of Concrete Gizmodo, 9 June 11, Susan Roy — The American people have a well-documented history of panicking during crises. Is it any wonder then that, when faced with possible nuclear annihilation, the US government would use any ploy available to maintain public order? Bomboozled by Susan Roy explains.

In George Orwell’s 1984, citizens of the totalitarian state of Oceania were required to accomplish the impossible task of holding two contradictory ideas in their minds and accepting both of them: War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. Orwell called this “Doublethink.”  Continue reading →

June 10, 2011 Posted by | history, safety, USA | Leave a comment

Nuclear power plant fire

Electrical Fire Knocks Out Spent Fuel Cooling at Nebraska Nuke Plant by John Sullivan, Special to ProPublica June 9, A fire in an electrical switch room on Tuesday briefly knocked out cooling for a pool holding spent nuclear fuel at the Fort Calhoun nuclear plant outside Omaha, Neb., plant officials said.

The safety of deep pools used to store used radioactive fuel at nuclear plants has been an issue since the accident at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant in March. If the cooling water a pool is lost, the used nuclear fuel could catch fire and release radiation.

 As ProPublica reported earlier, fire safety is a continuing concern at the country’s 104 commercial reactors, as is the volume of spent fuel piling up at plants……http://www.propublica.org/article/electrical-fire-knocks-out-spent-fuel-cooling-at-nebraska-nuke-plant

June 10, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Guards asleep at Arkansas nuclear power plant?

Audio KUAR radio newsAllegation: Guards Were Sleeping At Arkansas Nuclear One, 10 June  http://www.kuar.org/kuarnews/25606-report-guards-were-sleeping-at-arkansas-nuclear-one.html

By Michael Hibblen The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is investigating reports that guards at the Arkansas Nuclear One power plant near Russellville were sleeping while on duty.

“These guards were in staging areas where they are expected to remain ready and alert should they be called upon, not at century posts or monitoring stations, but regardless, we take these issues seriously,” said Mike Bowling, a spokesman for Entergy Nuclear, which operates the plant. Photos allegedly capture three guards reclining with their eyes closed and a fourth …

June 10, 2011 Posted by | Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

European Ministers argue over nuclear power safety tests

VIDEO MEPs split over nuclear ‘stress tests’ BBC News 9 June 11MEPs have clashed over plans for “stress tests”, which are due to be carried out on nuclear facilities in the EU.There were angry scenes during the Commission statement on 9 June 2011, which caused Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger to appeal for calm.

Mr Oettinger was outlining plans for the tests – ordered in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima disaster – which are designed to see how Europe’s nuclear facilities are able to withstand natural or man-made disasters.

The so-called stress tests will be performed on Europe’s 143 working reactors and other atomic installations and will consider a range of factors, including seismic activity, flooding, and power loss at reactors.

But German Green MEP Rebecca Harms dismissed the plans as a “paper check” designed to “downplay the risks of nuclear power”.Ms Harms attacked the voluntary nature of the tests, saying it left the checks “largely in the hands of operators”……http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/europe/newsid_9503000/9503899.stm

 

June 10, 2011 Posted by | EUROPE, safety | Leave a comment

Merkel calls on lawmakers to back moves to end nuclear energy

Merkel Asks Lawmakers to Back Shift From Nuclear NYT, By  June 9, 2011 BERLIN — Calling Germany’s plan to phase outnuclear energy by 2022 a “Herculean task,” Chancellor Angela Merkel told lawmakers on Thursday that the country was poised to lead the world in renouncing nuclear energy. Continue reading →

June 10, 2011 Posted by | Germany, politics | Leave a comment

UN reports on Syria’s nuclear program

U.N. Nuclear Watchdog Presses Case Against Syria, NYT, By  June 9, 2011 UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations nuclear watchdog voted Thursday to report Syria to the Security Council, citing Syria’s construction of a covert nuclear reactor and its failure to cooperate with investigators, diplomats said……Citing a lack of confidence that Syria’s nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and pointing to a history of concealment by Damascus, the I.A.E.A. resolution says that the destroyed Dair Alzour site was “very likely a nuclear reactor and should have been declared by Syria.”

The 15-member Security Council has the power to rebuke Syria by urging it to cooperate with the I.A.E.A. and imposing sanctions against the country, as it has done in the case ofIran’s nuclear program. But Russia and China, two veto-wielding members of the Security Council, voted against the resolution, underlining international divisions over how to approach Damascus and signaling that punitive measures against the Syrian government were unlikely.

Syria has said the Dair Alzour site was a non-nuclear facility and has denied having a secret nuclear program. It has urged the I.A.E.A. to focus on Israel and allegations about its own covert nuclear activities…..http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/10/world/middleeast/10nations.html

June 10, 2011 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, Syria | Leave a comment

Anxiety and fear, as Japanese realise the radiation fallout effects of Fukushima


VIDEO  http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/06/08/6815027-japans-radiation-fallout-a-monster-you-cant-see?chromedomain=dailynightly  Japan’s radiation fallout ‘a monster you can’t see   World Blog Robert Bazell 8 June  “….as one gets closer to the reactor site, it’s easy to see how much human damage a radiation leak can cause.  As one engineer told me, “When nuclear reactors fail, they REALLY fail.”….. Levels in the air are two to 50 times the normal level. Radiation levels are high even in populous cities of 400,000 or more people – such as Koriyama and Fukushima City – each about 35 miles from the reactors. Most of the radiation escaped in the first few days of the accident and was deposited on the ground –in school yards, on people’s homes and in massive amounts in the farmlands that make up most of the area.  The government monitors the levels in the air at seven sites in Fukushima Prefecture, but radiation falls in particles, and a very high levels can remain in one place, while just a few feet away there’s very little.

No one knows what the long-term effects of the radiation will be. The health dangers of elevated but relatively low levels of radiation remains one of the biggest disputes in medicine. Residents worry about the effects on themselves, and on their children especially.  Farmers fear the crops they are planting this spring will never come to market after the fall harvest.  And everyone knows there is no end in sight to the crisis.  As Hideo Hanai, a cattle farmer, told me “It’s like being chased by a monster that you can’t see.” http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/06/08/6815027-japans-radiation-fallout-a-monster-you-cant-see?chromedomain=dailynightly

June 9, 2011 Posted by | environment, Japan | Leave a comment

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