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Chernobyls’ veteran “liquidators” storm Ukraine’s parliament

Chernobyl veterans seek to storm Ukraine’s parliament Times of Oman Nov 01 2011  Ukraine: About 1,000 Ukrainian veterans of theclean-up from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster tried Tuesday to storm parliament in Kiev in outrage at planned benefit cuts, an AFP correspondent reported.

The demonstrators broke down a metal fence which was built up around the parliament several weeks ago after the first attempt of the Chernobyl “liquidators” and veterans of the Soviet Afghan war to break into the building.

About 100 riot policemen gathered near the parliament entrances to prevent the veterans coming into the chamber itself.  The protesters stayed on the square between the parliament and the broken fence and shouted “Shame!”.

In September, lawmakers gave initial approval to a bill cutting back benefits paid to those who helped clean up the April 1986 nuclear disaster and those who still live on the affected lands.
However the protests have meant the parliament has not taken further action.  http://www.timesofoman.com/innercat.asp?detail=51553

November 2, 2011 Posted by | politics, Ukraine | Leave a comment

USA companies want to sell nuclear to India, but not be liable for accidents

The crux of the issue is: Who will be held responsible in case there is an accident at a plant that is set up by foreign investors?

US may press India to amend nuclear legislation, Business Standard   New Delhi November 02, 2011,  Friendly, but blunt. That will be the tone of the message from the
United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to India.

When NRC chairman Gregory Jaczko comes here later this month to meet with his counterparts in the Atomic Energy Commission and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India, he would say that this country’s civil nuclear liability law would not pass muster in the US. For, as sourcesnote, it would require to be substantially amended if New Delhi hopes to get business from the US.
The US has discussed the law — The Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill 2010 — with France and Russia. These are the other two countries with whom India wants to do business in nuclear power…. Continue reading →

November 2, 2011 Posted by | India, politics international, USA | 1 Comment

Foolhardy action to drink radioactively contaminated water

“Oh God,” said John Large, a British nuclear expert who has helped assess disasters including the wreck of the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk, when told of Mr. Sonoda’s actions. “That is incredibly foolhardy and somewhat patronizing to members of the public,”

 if you drink the water you’re potentially providing radioactive particles a pathway into your gut system. It’s then down to how your gut system deals with it. It might ignore it and urinate it out. Or it might say ‘that’s a nice piece of cesium, I’ll store that in muscle tissue’ which is not a goodthing.”….

Japanese Official Drinks Water From Fukushima Reactor Buildings, NYT By ROBERT MACKEY and RAVI SOMAIYA, November 1, 2011, After insisting for weeks that water collected from reactor buildings at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant posed no threat to human health once it was decontaminated, a Japanese government official poured himself a glass of the liquid and drank it on livetelevision on Monday. Continue reading →

November 2, 2011 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

United Nations passes Iran’s nuclear disarmament bill

UN passes Iran’s bid for N disarmament, Press TV 1 Nov 11The UN General Assembly’s First Committee has endorsed an Iran-sponsored resolution on nuclear disarmament despite attempts by the US and the Israeli regime to kill the bid.

The committee, which focuses on disarmament and international security issues, approved the resolution with 107 votes on October 31, despite strong opposition and negative campaigning by the US, the Tel Aviv regime as well as some European governments, IRNA reported.

The resolution calls for the implementation of pledges made at the three most recent Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conferences.  It also reiterates the urgency for a nuclear-free Middle East and demands that the Israeli regime must sign the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Israel, widely believed to be the sole possessor of a nuclear arsenal in the Middle East with over 200 undeclared nuclear warheads, pursues the policy of “deliberate ambiguity” for its nuclear program.

Tel Aviv has so far rejected all global demands to join the NPT and does not allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors to inspect and monitor its controversial nuclear program.

The Israeli regime has never denied or confirmed the existence of its nuclear arsenal as part of its long-held ‘nuclear ambiguity’ policy. Despite international objections to such dubious policy, the UN and its nuclear regulatory agencies have never taken serious steps to censure or impose sanctions on the defiant regime.  Tehran has also proposed a draft resolution on missiles, which is to be discussed in the committee’s next session.

November 2, 2011 Posted by | Iran, politics international, weapons and war | Leave a comment

India’s uranium enrichment plant at risk from cyber attack?

Uranium plant faces cyber attack, Deccan Chronicle November 2, 2011 , By S. Raghotham , Bengaluru India’s lone uranium enrichment facility at Rattehalli, near Mysore, may become the target of the gravest act of cyberwar against India to date, attacking no less than its strategic nuclear programme, sources in the Indian hacker/cyberwarfare community have warned.The sources said that computers at the Rattehalli facility, euphemistically called Rare Materials Plant (RMP), have likely been infected by the deadly Stuxnet, or a Stuxnet-derived malware, as a precursor to an attack to destroy thousands of centrifuges installed at the facility. Such an attack was made on Iran’s Natanz enrichment plant last year, destroying over 1,000 centrifuges and setting its alleged nuclear bomb programme back by at least 12-18 months…..

The discovery last week that the new Duqu malware, a trojan derived from the Stuxnet worm, had infected computers at a private Web hosting firm, Web Werks, in Mumbai, has lent new credence and urgency to the warning about the Rattehalli facility. While attempts to elicit the views of officials in the Department of Atomic Energy went unanswered, an Indian government official charged with protecting critical infrastructure against cyber attacks said he did not ‘rule out Stuxnet-like attacks on India’. http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/bengaluru/uranium-plant-faces-cyber-attack-157

 

November 2, 2011 Posted by | India, safety, Uranium | Leave a comment

Japan finds ways to have adequate power without nuclear energy

Japan winter power enough despite nuclear lack: government, By Risa Maeda,TOKYO Nov 1, 2011  (Reuters) – Japanese utilities will largely avoid power shortages this winter despite prolonged reactor shutdowns amid public concerns over nuclear safety, but hurdles remain for next summer, the government said on Tuesday.

It also unveiled ways to bridge the gap next summer, when peak-hour demand is expected to exceed supply by 16,560 megawatts, compared with the biggest gap this winter of 2,530 MW in one area, if no reactors restart by then. Continue reading →

November 2, 2011 Posted by | ENERGY, Japan | Leave a comment

Virgina nuclear plant still shut down after 10 weeks following earthquake

Nuclear power plant remains offline after August earthquake, Washington Post, by ,   November 1 Ten weeks after a magnitude 5.8 earthquake knocked a central Virginia nuclear power station offline, the plant’s operator, Dominion Virginia Power, is still waiting for the go-ahead from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to restart the facility’s two reactors.

“We want to make absolutely certain that there is nothing we haven’t evaluated yet,” said Roger Hannah, an NRC spokesman. He provided no timeline for when the NRC might allow a restart.

In mid-October, an NRC inspection team — the second sent to the site — examined the North Anna power plant near Mineral to evaluate its readiness to restart. The agency is still reviewing data collected then, Hannah said…… http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/nuclear-power-plant-remains-offline-after-august-earthquake/2011/11/01/gIQAFIBUdM_story.html

November 2, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Ammonia leak results in evacuation at USA nuclear plant

Evacuation after ammonia leak at US nuclear plant, Google News, (AFP) 2 Nov 11 LOS ANGELES — Workers were evacuated from an area of a California nuclear power plant Tuesday after an ammonia leak, but there was no immediate danger to the public, the operator said.

The leak occurred in a steam system used to drive the turbines at the San Onofre nuclear plant between Los Angeles and San Diego, said Southern California Edison (SCE), its majority owner. “As a precaution, the company evacuated employees in the area near where the leak was found,” it said in a statement after the incident occurred shortly after 3:00 pm (2200 GMT…. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gKAcb3zlu5Bn9FTnnYxZty24JR7Q?docId=CNG.276d0d2174cdd5ece8f4386a68f0b386.b1

November 2, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

UN investigators suspect nuclear weapons site in Syria

Syria nuclear weapons site revealed by UN investigators, Guardian UK 1 Nov 11, IAEA identifies uranium enrichment plant design at Hasakah and finds correspondence with Pakistan atomic expert, sources claim

UN investigators have identified a previously unknown complex in Syria that bolsters suspicions the government in Damascus worked with Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan‘s atomic bomb, to acquire nuclear weapons technology. Continue reading →

November 2, 2011 Posted by | Syria, weapons and war | Leave a comment