nuclear-news

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

Australia’s media sleeps as governments pander to uranium miner BHP Billiton

Today, October 19,  the multinational mining giant BHP will get its own way, as a subserviant South Australian government rushes through a Bill – giving BHP open slather to set up the world’s biggest man made hole – a uranium mine.

While the Australian mainstream media remains silent, both National and State governments have swiftly given approval, including the continuance of BHP’s exemptions from laws.

  •  it will be an open-cut mine 4km long by 3km wide by 1km deep.
  • The tailings are radioactive and carcinogenic.
  • These tailings will be dumped in a gigantic slag heap the size of a mountain range, above ground.
  • Around 70 million tonnes of finely pulverised tailings will be dumped on open ground every year The dump will eventually cover an area of 44 sq. km and soar 150 metres high.

Under the Roxby Downs Indenture Ratification Act 1982, BHP was given legal authority to override important state legislation, including the:

  • Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988
  • Development Act 1993
  • Environmental Protection Act 1993
  • Freedom of Information Act 1991
  • Mining Act 1971
  • Natural Resources Act 2004 (including the Water Resources Act 1997)…..

October 18, 2011 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, politics | 1 Comment

Nuclear corruption in Japan’s government, industry and universities

Japan’s ministries were never intended to regulate industry. Rather, they were intended to promote it. This is a form of government known as the “capitalist development state,” in which the state actively fosters the growth of selected industries through a partnership between industry and bureaucracy (ministries)….. 
Campaign cash from the electric power industry….Given the strong pronuclear bias of Japan’s electric power companies, this effectively guarantees Japanese government support for nuclear power…..The result is that the elite of Japan receives an education that is decidedly pronuclear, while research into the dangers of nuclear power is actively discouraged.
Corrupted academics: The Japanese nuclear industry provides generous support to academic institutions and individual professors in order to influence their views on nuclear power.
Noda, tear down this ‘nuclear village’ -HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO – CHRIS ROWTHORN Japan Times , Kyoto  Oct. 18, 2011

Dear Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda,
The Great East Japan Earthquake was a catastrophe of apocalyptic proportions. While the quake and tsunami did tremendous damage to Tohoku, the triple meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant did even more harm to the country by threatening the health of the population, weakening Japan’s economy, and tarnishing Japan’s reputation as an efficient and safe country. Continue reading →

October 18, 2011 Posted by | Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | 1 Comment

India’s Environment Ministry refuses coastal clearance for Kudankulam nuclear reactors

Kudankulam plant hits coastal wall, Chetan Chauhan, Hindustan Times,New Delhi, October 17, 2011 An environment ministry committee has declined coastal clearance for new nuclear reactors at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu, on the grounds of its impact on marine life and overall safety aspects. Coastal clearance is mandatory to operationalise environment clearances granted to four new reactors for generating 4,000 MW of power, in addition to existing two at Kudankulam in 2008 and 2009……

The committee was, however, not impressed with what the NPCIL said and sought documentary evidence for the same while declining to approve the project. “The documentary evidence shall be submitted in support of this statement, which has a wider ramification in the context of what is happening around the world on similar developments,” the EAC told NPCIL.

In another setback, the EAC rejected NPCIL’s proposal to construct an open channel for outfall of waste water taken from sea for the purpose of cooling the nuclear condensers.

The corporation had proposed that 12,000 cubic metres of water will be lifted from Indian Ocean for condenser cooling and discharged back into the sea. “Due to various environmental problems, including adverse impact on marine life, the present proposal is not acceptable,” the EAC said, while asking the corporation to consider a pipeline for disposal….http://www.hindustantimes.com/Kudankulam-plant-hits-coastal-wall/Article1-758467.aspx

October 18, 2011 Posted by | India, politics | Leave a comment

India’s National Nuclear Safety Authority Bill aims to hide nuclear information

The government also intends to amend the RTI law to exempt the proposed nuclear energy regulator – the National Nuclear Safety Authority – from the ambit of the transparency law….the bill seeks to amend the RTI law to prevent seeking of information on the grounds of “the larger public interest”..
New laws to get around Right To Information act, Chetan Chauhan, Hindustan Times New Delhi, October 17, 2011 India’s transparency law – the Right To Information Act – will not change but the government wants to restrict its applicability to some areas of sports and nuclear safety through other laws.

Two new draft laws – the National Sports Development Bill  and the National Nuclear Safety  Authority Bill – have specific provisions prohibiting disclosure of information in addition to the exemption clauses already in the RTI law Continue reading →

October 18, 2011 Posted by | civil liberties, India | Leave a comment

India’s Koodankulam anti nuclear protestors resume their campaign

Protest against nuclear power plant to resume on October 18 India Today Online Tirunelveli (TN), October 17, 2011 The protest against theKoodankulam Nuclear Power Plant would resume on Tuesday after the two-day suspension in view of the civic polls, one of the movements spearheading the stir demanding scrapping of the project on Monday said. The People’s Rights Protection Movement Coordinator Sivasubramanian said they would resume the indefinite fast by 106 people on Tuesday at Indinthakarai Village in the district.

The second phase of the protest which began on October 9 was suspended on Sunday for two days to enable the residents of villages in and around Koodankulamto exercise their franchise in the local body polls held on Monday…..

“If 1,500 women are sitting round-the-clock in dharna in a remote area… one should understand their strong feeling against the project,” he said The People’s Rights Protection Movement Coordinator Sivasubramanian said….  http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/protest-against-koodankulam-nuclear-power-plant-resume-october-18/1/155296.html

October 18, 2011 Posted by | India, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Unlike its government, India’s people prefer clean energy, not nuclear

Uncommon India, Dissident Voice, by Nidhi Zakaria Eipe / October 15th, 2011 “……..Instead of criticizing Australia’s decision not to ” sell uranium to India, both India and the United States would do well to take a page from Australia’s book, one of the earliest ratifiers of the CTBT. India’s long-touted ‘impeccable record of non-proliferation’ does not provide a moral warrant for it to circumvent internationally established instruments of law and co-operation.

Moreover, when India has already declared a unilateral moratorium on nuclear weapons testing, what is the profound difficulty in making this commitment legally binding? Continue reading →

October 18, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

USA and North Korea to hold nuclear talks

N.Korea, US to hold nuclear talks next week: report, Google News, (AFP) – 17 Oct 11,  SEOUL — North Korea and the United States will hold a second meeting next week in Geneva to discuss ways to restart stalled six-nation talks on the North’s nuclear disarmament, a report said Monday.

“I have learned that a high-level dialogue between North Korea and the US will be held in Geneva,” Yonhap news agency quoted a diplomatic source as saying, adding the meeting may be on October 26.

The South Korean foreign ministry said it had no information on the reported talks. The two sides held a first round of discussions in New York in late July to assess the chances of resuming the talks, which also include South Korea, China, Russia and Japan.

South and North Korean nuclear negotiators met separately, in Bali in July and in Beijing last month, but no clear progress was reported from the Beijing meeting. The North abandoned the six-party talks in April 2009 and staged its second nuclear test a month later. It now wants an unconditional resumption.

The US and South Korea say the communist state must first take steps to show it is serious about the process, for example by shutting down its uranium enrichment programme, which could be reconfigured to make atomic weapons…..

October 18, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Shanghai bans Japanese cargo with high levels of radiation

Cargo banned due to levels of radiation, English East Day, 18 Oct 11 EXCESSIVE levels of radiation have been discovered in cargo arriving in Shanghai from Japan, following the nuclear leak there in March, authorities said yesterday.

Goods with higher than permitted levels of radiation were either returned or destroyed, the Shanghai Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau said. Officials said some ships from Japan also had radiation levels above national limits.

The bureau insisted that checks have remained stringent since an earthquake and tsunami crippled a nuclear power station in Fukushima in eastern Japan and led to radiation escaping. “Inspections cover travelers, ships, flights and cargo,” said Lu Zhongshan, deputy director of the bureau.”We can assure the public that no radiation-polluted goods are allowed to enter the country.”…. http://english.eastday.com/e/111018/u1a6157077.htm

October 18, 2011 Posted by | China, politics | Leave a comment

Plutonium nuclear plant project stopped, – Japan

Japan utility to freeze nuclear power project, Monsters and Critics, Oct 17, 2011, Tokyo – Hokkaido Electric Power Co said Monday it would postpone a plutonium-thermal power generation project at its nuclear power plant on Japan’s northern island, after the company was accused of manipulating public opinion.

A report filed by an independent panel said the utility had asked employees and residents supporting the project to express opinion in favour of the nuclear energy at symposiums and other events organized by the central and local governments.

Hokkaido Electric was planning to implement its so-called pluthermal power generation in spring of 2012 at reactor 3 at the Tomari Nuclear Power Plant on the island.

Hokkaido Electric president Yoshitaka Sato told a news conference that the utility would accept the findings by the panel set up by the company to investigate the scandal…..

The scandal reinforced public mistrust in the nuclear power industry and apparently made it difficult for the restart of idled nuclear reactors….. Plutonium-thermal generation uses fuel made from a mixed oxide of plutonium and uranium (MOX fuel)… http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/business/news/article_1669319.php/Japan-utility-to-freeze-nuclear-power-project

October 18, 2011 Posted by | Japan, reprocessing | Leave a comment

Radiation from Fukushma found in USA rain and food

Japan’s Nuclear Accident Spreading to Some Parts of the United States Universal Detection Technology Comments on Traces of Japanese Radiation Found in US Rain and Food  MarketWatch Oct. 17, 2011, LOS ANGELES, CA, Oct 17, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) –-Universal Detection Technology (www.udetection.com ) UNDT -33.33% , a developer of early-warning monitoring technologies that protect against biological, chemical, and radiological threats, commented today on a recent study funded by the US Departments of Energy and Homeland Security that linked elevated radiation in US rain water and food to the nuclear accident in Japan. Continue reading →

October 18, 2011 Posted by | environment, USA | 1 Comment

Iran’s troubled nuclear program

Iran’s nuclear program suffering new setbacks, diplomats and experts say, Washington PostBy ,  October 17 Iran’s nuclear program, which stumbled badly after a reported cyber attack last year, appears beset by poorly performing equipment, shortages of parts and other woes as global sanctions exert a mounting toll, Western diplomats and nuclear experts say. Continue reading →

October 18, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, Iran | Leave a comment

Some slightly better news on Fukushima radiation

Tepco: radiation from Fukushima plant declines further, By Shinichi Saoshiro TOKYO Oct 17 (Reuters) – The operator of Japan’s tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant on Monday said the amount of radiation being emitted from the complex has halved from a month ago, in the latest sign that efforts to bring the plant under control are progressing.. Continue reading →

October 18, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Hanford nuclear plant on an earthquake fault line?

Washington’s Hanford Reservation and nuclear plant may lie on faults, High Country News, 18 oct 11,  “…….Until now, the extensive seismic hazards of western Washington were treated separately from those east of the Cascades, which were thought to be smaller and farther from population centers. But the fault Sherrod is seeking appears to be part of an interconnected system underlying the Cascades, from Puget Sound to Umtanum Ridge and Rattlesnake Mountain, which loom above Hanford NuclearReservation and the Northwest’s only commercial nuclear plant, the Columbia Generating Station. Should it span the mountains, it could mean emergency planners have significantly underestimated eastern Washington’s earthquake risks. Longer fault systems — and this would be a long one — generally produce larger quakes, though they don’t always rupture along their entire length……. http://www.hcn.org/issues/43.17/washingtons-hanford-reservation-and-nuclear-plant-may-lie-on-faults

October 18, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

More radioactive particles found on Scottish beach

Dalgety Bay: Workers have found more radiation on beach than expected, Around 200 partciles of radioactive material have been found in the Fife beach in the past week. STV 17 October 2011Around 200 particles of radiation have been found on a Fife beach since it was cordoned off a week ago.

The foreshore at Dalgety Bay was closed after tests carried out over the weekend of October 8 and 9 found high levels of radiation.

Since then, workers from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) have been searching the area for more particles. Over the weekend, they found a total of 60 particles.

The amount of radioactive material found has been higher than the agency were expecting and it is all being taken to a laboratory to be examined….

Sepa is due to meet with the Scottish Government and MoD to discuss the long term plan for Dalgety Bay later this month.

October 18, 2011 Posted by | environment, UK | Leave a comment

Video: Why Indian Point nuclear plant should be closed

VIDEO   http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/17/indian-point-nuclear-nrdc-report_n_1015377.html

 Indian Point Nuclear Plant Should Be Closed, Report Says, Huffington Post 10/17/11  A report released Monday says southern New York State’s Indian Point Energy Center should be closed, despite pressure to keep it open.

The Indian Point Energy Center is located along the banks of the Hudson River in Westchester County, less than 40 miles north of New York City. The report, commissioned by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Riverkeeper, suggests that the plant can and should be closed, in favor of readily available alternative energy options, Continue reading →

October 18, 2011 Posted by | Resources -audiovicual, safety, USA | Leave a comment

« Previous Entries