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Nuclear power plant company a victim of cyber attacks

Japanese defence contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which builds submarines, missiles and nuclear power plants, is the first publicly named victim….

Nuclear plant and missile maker Mitsubishi breached in latest cyber attacks, Security Watchdog, 21 Sept 11, Security experts at Trend Micro have uncovered another large-scale, co-ordinated campaign of targeted attacks, this time focused on compromising data at a series of defence industry companies including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan. Continue reading →

September 21, 2011 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

USA’s endless wrangle over its mounting nuclear waste

Yucca Nuclear Waste Wars, Aol Energy, By , September 19, 2011“………Utility commissioners renewed their request to an appeals court to force the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to make a decision on whether spent nuclear fuel can be safely stored at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Continue reading →

September 21, 2011 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

Murder and mayhem aboard nuclear submarine

Sailor jailed for nuclear submarine murder, Google News, (AFP) 20 Sept 11,    LONDON — A sailor was jailed for 25 years on Monday for shooting dead an officer in a rampage on a nuclear-powered submarine that only came to an end when council officials overpowered him.

Able Seaman Ryan Samuel Donovan, 23, pleaded guilty to killing Lieutenant Commander Ian Molyneux, 36, with an assault rifle when the HMS Astute was docked in Southampton on April 8.

Donovan also admitted the attempted murders of Petty Officer Christopher Brown, 36, Chief Petty Officer David McCoy, 37, and Lieutenant Commander Christopher Hodge, 45….

Prosecutor Nigel Lickley told the court Donovan had told a colleague more than a year earlier that he was planning a “massacre” in the submarine’s control room…..

HMS Astute made headlines in October when it ran aground off the coast of Scotland and had to be towed home….
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jHeQNnZN70p9-pbvv8z_tNljkXbw?docId=CNG.c9efc9bacaca268a95e91a3cec35f36e.381

September 21, 2011 Posted by | safety, UK | Leave a comment

Nuclear Reprocessing not looking good, following France’s nuclear accident

French Nuke Accident Leads India To Reexamine Its Nuclear Ambitions, Forbes, Erica Giles, 20 Sept 11,  “……..reprocessing is no silver bullet; in fact, it has created a bitter divide among nuclear experts – and not just because it can be a gateway to proliferation, as India itself so aptly demonstrated in 1974. “At this point, it’s like creationism versus evolution,” said Edwin Lyman, senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, indicating that in his view, the anti-reprocessing camp has science on its side.

Reprocessing via the current commercial-scale process used in France, called PUREX, recovers only a small amount of additional energy and is more expensive than using virgin uranium, he said. And instead of reducing waste, it merely changes its form. “There’s no feasible, practical way to take material from the waste and use it in a nuclear power system so you could get rid of it over any kind of reasonable time frame,” he said.

Many Indians are protesting their country’s rapid nuclear expansion, most recently exemplified by a mass fast in Tamil Nadu state against the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project. But neither their concerns nor nuclear accidents are likely to alter India’s plans…. http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericagies/2011/09/19/french-nuclear-explosion-causes-india-to-think-hard-about-its-nuclear-ambitions/

September 21, 2011 Posted by | France, reprocessing | Leave a comment

USA Department of Energy predicts surge in renewable energy

Renewable energy expected to surge, DOE says, September 19, 2011,Charleston Gaxette By Ken Ward Jr. CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Renewable energy is projected to be the fastest growing source of energy worldwide over the next quarter-century, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s annual international outlook report released Monday. Continue reading →

September 21, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, renewable | Leave a comment

According to France an explosion in its nuclear re-processing plant was not a nuclear accident!

The IAEA does not appear particularly inclined to bow to French demands to classify Monday’s fatal blast as a non-nuclear industrial accident.

France in damage-limitation mode,THE HINDU,  PARIS, September 13, 2011 VAIJU NARAVANE France went into damage-limitation mode following a blast at a nuclear re-processing plant on Monday which killed one person and injured four….

France is one of the world’s leading exporters of nuclear technology and authorities were quick to minimise the seriousness of the explosion. Industry Minister Eric Besson speaking to journalists described the event as “an industrial accident and not a nuclear incident”. Continue reading →

September 21, 2011 Posted by | France, spinbuster | Leave a comment

Russian atomic company loses in Siemens exit from nuclear industry

Siemens partner biggest loser in nuclear exit, By Marilyn Gerlach, FRANKFURT, Sept 19 | 2011 (Reuters) – Siemens’  exit from its nuclear partnership with Rosatom robs the Russian player of a famous brand name it badly needs to compete with the likes of Areva NP , General Electric and Toshiba …. Continue reading →

September 21, 2011 Posted by | Russia | Leave a comment

Iran nuclear experts subjected to spying and assassinations

Iran nuclear chief says UK spies shadowed him, By Fredrik Dahl, VIENNA   Sep 20, 2011 (Reuters) – Iran’s nuclear energy chief accused British spies on Monday of shadowing him around the world — even to the “back door” of his university office — to gather information ahead of a failed assassination attempt on him last year. Continue reading →

September 21, 2011 Posted by | Iran, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment