nuclear-news

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

Endangering, sorry, I mean protecting, London’s Olympic Games

Opening ceremony ticket holder Sharon James was delighted at the announcement, telling us, “If I’m going to be vapourised in an instant, I sure as hell want it to be at the hands of my own government, not because of some Johnny Foreigner on the look out for some after-life poontang.”

Nuclear warheads to protect Olympic village, claims Hammond, News Thump  (satire) 14 November 2011,  Defence Secretary Philip Hammond this afternoon confirmed that the Olympic games in London next summer will be protected from terrorist attack by a series of strategically placed nuclear devices.

In his first appearance at Defence Questions since taking over from Liam Fox, Hammond told MPs that the use of nuclear weapons in London would be a last resort in the face of a terrorist threat.

“We are prepared for every eventuality, and I want to make it clear that we would only destroy everything in and around London when all other options had been exhausted.” Continue reading →

November 15, 2011 Posted by | safety, UK | Leave a comment

Nuclear missiles as security for London’s Olympic Games

Philip Hammond: missiles may be part of Olympic defence Defence Secretary makes extraordinary claim after US concerns emerge over anti-terror measures THE INDEPENDENT   PAUL PEACHEY 15 NOVEMBER 2011 The Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond, said yesterday that surface-to-air missiles could be in place to protect the 2012 Olympics, as the Government insisted its plans could cope with the country’s biggest security operation for decades. Continue reading →

November 15, 2011 Posted by | UK, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Obama puts nuclear pressure on Australian Prime Minister

Australia under nuclear pressure, Independent Australia, 15 Nov 2011 The Prime Minister announced today that Australia is set to overturn its ban on uranium sales to India, a non-signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. The reason why she’s doing this is simple, Barack Obama asked her — because it’s good for the US economy.  Noel Wauchope reports……

As Australia’s biggest trading partner, one would expect that China would be receiving top consideration from the Australian government, but hey — Australia has to be nice to USA, doesn’t it? As we all know, it’s traditional that when USA yells “Jump!”, Australia responds “How high!?”

And so it is that, once again, the Australian government is in the process of jumping hurdles, as dictated by USA, however little sense that might make…..

why do we need this increased U.S. military presence in Australia? Why, to protect ourselves and the U.S.A. against China, of course! (Although Barack Obama did tell the American people that the main purpose was to provide jobs for Americans.)…

The weird part about all this is … that U.S. nuclear companies are selling technology to China to help in its nuclear weapons program….

now, Australia is coming under intense pressure from the U.S.A. to change its policy on uranium sales to India. Why? … — to enable technology sales to India.  Yes, it comes back to the USA’s determination to make money out of nuclear technology.  While USA’s domestic nuclear industry founders – unable to get investment for new nuclear reactors – its big hope is in selling nuclear technology to “developing” countries — India, China, anybody!….

Meanwhile, for Australia, the further development of India’s nuclear arsenal should mean some anxiety about the likely further development of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal. Well, perhaps Australia should sell uranium to Pakistan, too?

China buys our uranium, as it is a member of the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty — but perhaps China will be less than delighted to see Australia stepping outside that Treaty, kowtowing to USA, and furthering the nuclear weapons of its rival, India? http://www.independentaustralia.net/2011/business/australia-under-nuclear-pressure/

November 15, 2011 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, politics international | Leave a comment

India: High Court upholds rights of anti nuclear activists

Don’t restrain anti-nuclear activists: HC Times of India, Rosy Sequeira, TNN | Nov 15, 2011,  MUMBAI: In a victory for anti-Jaitapur nuclear plant activists who claimed their fundamental rights to speech and movement were being trampled upon, the Bombay high court directed the state government not to restrain them from entering Ratnagiri district.  Continue reading →

November 15, 2011 Posted by | India, Legal | Leave a comment

“Duqu” new virus hits Iran’s nuclear programme

Iran claims defence computer systems hit by another ‘supervirus’, Telegraph UK Iran says its defence computer systems have been infected with another “supervirus” known to be similar to one which severely damaged its nuclear programme last year. By , Middle East Correspondent 14 Nov 2011 Anti-virus experts last month identified a virus called “Duqu” that they said shared properties with the now famous “Stuxnet” worm, which spread across the world but is thought to have been successfully targeted at the nuclear programme’s centrifuges, the devices that enrich uranium to create nuclear fuel.

It was not clear on Monday from the Iranian statement whether Duqu had also struck nuclear facilities, but it was the first admission of damage.

“We are in the initial phase of fighting the Duqu virus,” Gholamreza Jalali, the head of Iran’s civil defence programme, said. “The final report which says which organisations the virus has spread to and what its impacts are has not been completed yet….. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/8888967/Iran-claims-defence-computer-systems-hit-by-another-supervirus.html

November 15, 2011 Posted by | Iran, safety | Leave a comment

Thorium nuclear reactors 50 years away, if ever

Technology transitions always happen faster than the conventional market predicts PV MAGAZINE 14. NOVEMBER 2011 BY:  RAY WILLS  “……Some bang on about nuclear – yes, China, in raw numbers, is planning a lot – but the country is comparatively modest in the scale of things: it is planning 70 GW of nuclear by 2020, but 200 GW of renewables, also by 2020! Also, a decision hasn’t been announced over what is being done post-Fukushima, but the analysts expect the country to proceed at a more modest scale. The 12th five-year plan was released post-Fukushima and it was in that that China increased its renewables target on solar from one GW to 10 GW by 2015,…

Thorium is the latest suggestion from those attempting to distract us from renewables as the solution, but according to those in the nuclear research arena, thorium realistically is at least 50 years away from being realized. Nevertheless, I note India talking about building a 300 megawatt (MW) prototype – it’s being played up in some parts of the press – but when you look at the detail, the proponents note, “if all goes to plan, the […] reactor could be operational by the end of the decade”. That’s just a prototype. My view is that by 2025, the game will be over, we will have solved intermittency through storage, and electricity from solar will be cheaper than coal. I don’t believe I’m dreaming, simply looking at technology shifts and the capacity for rapid technology shifts in the past – go back 100 years ago and tell the buggy and whip manufacturers they will soon be out of business and imagine the response.
http://www.pv-magazine.com/opinion-analysis/blogdetails/beitrag/technology-transitions-always-happen-faster-than-the-conventional-market-predicts_100004940/

November 15, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, business and costs, technology, Uranium | 1 Comment

Comparison of radiation levels before and after Fukushima nuclear catastrophe

when the accident struck, Konayashi and his colleagues were in a good position to measure exactly how things changed.

Japanese Physicist Publishes Fukushima Radiation Records, Technology Review, 14 Nov 11 The readings at the Fukushima Medical University, close to the damaged nuclear power plant, make for grim reading.

Today, an insight into the conditions in the region surrounding the Fukushima Nuclear Power plant soon after the magnitude 9 earthquake and resultant tsunami which caused the reactors to explode. Continue reading →

November 15, 2011 Posted by | Japan, Reference, technology | Leave a comment

16000 zombie nuclear warheads in USA

the weapons sit “zombified” which means they are off-line but could be returned to active service within hours to six months. There are more than 16,000 zombified warheads in the United States.

Zombie nukes may be in your backyard!,  11/14/2011 Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)  Nuclear installations pepper America.

See how close nukes are to your home with this interactive map. Continue reading →

November 15, 2011 Posted by | Resources -audiovicual, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Radiation checks being done in Tokyo schools

Tokyo schools checked for radiation, ABC News, By North Asia correspondent,  November 14, 2011 Fears of nuclear fallout from the Fukushima disaster are increasing in
Japan, where local councils in Tokyo have begun checking schools and parks for radioactive contamination.

Tokyo’s metropolitan government has also announced spot checks of fresh and processed foods. In the playground of the Meguro Honcho Nursery School, young children
play in the dirt as officials test it for radiation from Fukushima. “There is no solution here,” said principal Michiko Ikeda, who has been hovering over a Geiger counter writing down readings. “We cannot say this is absolutely safe. Parents are worried about radiation, our staff too. “By taking these radiation measurements, we want to show that we care
for the children.”
Hiroshi Sato, from the local Meguro council, is also at the school to help test for radiation.
“Recently it became clear that radiation came further south than we thought, all the way to Tokyo,” he said. “So we are now checking dozens of schools in the Meguro area.”
In Tokyo, protesters marched past the offices of Fukushima’s owners TEPCO to demand protection for their children…. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-14/tokyo-schools-checked-for-radiation/3664228/?site=newcastle

November 15, 2011 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Change to renewable energy may be happening faster than expected

Technology transitions always happen faster than the conventional market predicts PV MAGAZINE 14. NOVEMBER 2011 BY:  RAY WILLS “…..What are the implications of rapidly shifting technologies for renewable energy sources, such as photovoltaics? Renewable generation of all forms continue to get cheaper while the price of fossil fuel rises, and governments may finally move to also eliminate global fossil fuel subsidies.

Continuing bad (and sad) news from Fukushima will continue to keep nuclear off most agendas. Meanwhile, solar will be at retail grid parity in most of the world by 2015 at the same time that electric vehicles will be produced in numbers (one Chinese manufacturer BYD is planning to build one million electric vehicles by 2015) in the market place, thus creating low cost storage options that deal with intermittency, storage for peak, and minimizing (not yet eliminating) overnight load supplied from fossil fuel generation by 2025…… Continue reading →

November 15, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, renewable | Leave a comment

Terrorist act kills Iran’s nuclear missile chief: Israel responsible?

Israel reported ‘behind blast’ that killed Iran’s missile chief, by   14 November 2011   guardian.co.uk Time magazine quotes ‘western inteligencel source’ as saying Mossad carried out blast at missile base near Tehran

Time’s correspondent in Jerusalem, Karl Vick, is reporting that Israel was responsible for the huge blast on Saturday at a Revolutionary Guard missile base, about 35 km west of Tehran. Vick quotes a western intelligence source as saying that Mossad carried out the sabotage attack, adding that more such attacks are to be expected – “There are more bullets in the magazine.”

If true, it would be the most damaging blow to date in the covert waragainst Iran‘s nuclear weapons programme. It killed 17 Iranian revolutionary guardsmen, including the head of the missile programme, General Hasan Moghaddam, decribed in the Iranian press as “a pioneer” of Iran’s missile project [Farsi]. His official job description was head of the ‘self-sufficiency department” for munitions. The Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was at the funeral today…. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/julian-borger-global-security-blog/2011/nov/14/iran-nuclear-weapons?newsfeed=true

November 15, 2011 Posted by | Iran, Israel, safety | Leave a comment

Open anti nuclear activism in Iran

Iran Activists Join Antinuclear Push, WSJ, 14 Nov 11, By FARNAZ FASSIHI, A group of Iranian dissidents for the first time openly called on their government to suspend uranium enrichment, in an open letter published Monday that adds to the momentum of the international effortto convince Tehran to abandon its alleged nuclear weapons program.

“The current deadlock over Iran’s nuclear ambitions and empty power play will set the stage for war and the people of Iran will have to pay the price,” said the letter. Continue reading →

November 15, 2011 Posted by | Iran, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Russia’s huge and pointless expenditure on nuclear submarines

 former Finance MinisterAlexei Kudrinhas repeatedly warned that the huge increase in military spending planned for the next decade is fiscally untenable and must be reconsidered.

This means that Putin must choose between pursuing prudent and efficient military programs or indulge in huge wasteful and useless Cold War-era military buildup programs

Putin’s Nuclear Submarine Boondoggle, Moscow Times, 15 November 2011, ByAlexander Golts There is one contradiction that is a standard component of the Russian military: Although the military funds some programs that meet the country’s security needs, many others have little value at all….

 Prime MinisterVladimir Putinlast week pressured leaders from the Defense Ministry and the United Shipbuilding Corporation to sign several major contracts worth 280 billion rubles ($9.2 billion) that will primarily be used to fund the development and construction of a new generation of nuclear submarines.

That total is expected to rise even further next year when the final cost is set in the main contract to build a series of Borei-type nuclear submarines. Continue reading →

November 15, 2011 Posted by | Russia, weapons and war | Leave a comment