2011 November 17 « nuclear-news

Govt notifies Rules: N-supplier liability to be ‘limited in time’, Indian Express, 17 Nov 11The foreign suppliers of nuclear material to Indian nuclear power plants would not be held liable for accidents caused by defective or faulty equipment supplied by them if the accident takes place after a guarantee period specified by them.

According to the Rules of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages Act, which was made public today, suppliers of nuclear material would be allowed to specify a ‘product liability period’ beyond which they would not be held liable for any accident.

The operator of the nuclear power plant concerned would therefore have no ‘right of recourse’ against the suppliers after this period is over. Continue reading →

November 17, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, politics, politics international, USA | Leave a comment

Australians kept in the dark on USA new military base in Darwin

We need more details of US build-up: Brown, SMH, 17 Nov 11, Australian Greens leader Bob Brown fears nuclear submarines could be stationed off the coast of Australia as part of a US military build-up in the Top End……

The expansion of the existing collaboration between the Australian Defence Force and the US Marine Corps and US Air Force will allow America to enhance its presence in the Asia-Pacific region

Senator Brown wants to see more details of the deal, announced jointly by Prime Minister Julia Gillard and US President Barack Obama on Wednesday. He also wants a parliamentary debate on the deal. ”I object to Australian people and parliament not knowing what the details are,” Senator Brown told ABC radio on Thursday. Continue reading →

November 17, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, politics international, secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

USA Republican presidential candidates ignore nuclear weapons spending

over 60 percent of the Energy Department’s budget goes to nuclear weapons related spending

Bloated nuclear weapons budget ignored at GOP debate THE HILL, By Kathy Crandall Robinson, Public Policy Director at Women’s Action for New Directions – 11/16/11 U.S. nuclear weapons received decidedly short shrift in Saturday’s Republican Presidential Debates – especially given the billions of dollars spent each year to maintain a vast arsenal and their formerly preeminent role in American power. Which begs the question – why do we continue to pour billions into programs whose role is so clearly diminished?

Over ninety minutes of debate, there was one only question on the topic, aimed at Governor Rick Perry. In an attempt to recover from his previous “oops” moment, Perry confirmed that the Department of Energy (DOE) was number three on the list of federal agencies he’d like to abolish. In his response, however, he indicated that some other government agency could look after the oversight of energy and seemed either unaware or unconcerned about what would happen to the nuclear weapons that are under DOE’s care. Continue reading →

November 17, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Opposition to uranium mining in India

Minister opposes uranium mining
Deccan Herald, Bangalore, Nov 16, DHNS:
Yadgir district in-charge minister Raju Gouda on Wednesday said he would appeal to Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda to cancel the permission granted to the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) to take up uranium mining in Gogi village of Yadgir district.

Addressing the media, Gouda said he would take a delegation to meet the chief minister on Thursday, and submit a memo- randum urging the government to drop the project as it would pose serious health hazards to the people of the region. The minister said the project was not only hazardous to human beings but would also adversely impact the environment and the wildlife, and fertile land in the radius of over 100 km in and around the project would turn barren. The government has agreed to allot about 102 hectares of land to UCIL for taking up mining activities in Gogi, where rich deposits of Uranium have been found. UCIL had already dug up a 273-metre deep tunnel. The effluents generated are being discharged into a nearby water body, which was a water source for the people. Both humans and cattle have been taking ill after consuming this water, he said. .. http://www.deccanherald.com/content/205245/minister-opposes-uranium-mining.html

November 17, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, opposition to nuclear, Uranium | Leave a comment

Uranium mining industry now facing a gloomy future

Canada’s Cameco, the world’s biggest uranium miner by market value, has seen its share price tumble 48 per cent since the beginning of March.

A drop in supply may also be met by a drop in demand, according to UxC. “The reduction in uranium demand will extend to the longer term as some of the reactors taken offline will be permanently shut down,” it says in its report. “In addition, other new reactors under construction or planned will likely be delayed, leading to a further reduction in demand.”….

Uranium miners hamstrung by price and demand By William MacNamara, FT.com November 16, 2011 The uranium industry, suppliers of the fuel that powers nuclear plants, is processing a few hard numbers.

These start with the benchmark spot price for uranium. Since the Fukushima disaster in March, when the price was hovering about $70 per pound, uranium has fallen to a range of $50-$55 per pound. The costs of extracting uranium are rising, and lower prices are affecting producers’ profitability and plans to invest in future supply. Continue reading →

November 17, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, business and costs, Uranium | Leave a comment

France – politics – opposition to nuclear power

Green party presidential candidate Eva Joly has denounced claims of hundreds of thousands of job losses as “scandalous lies” and said 600,000 jobs would be created by tapping alternative energy sources like solar and wind power.

Sarkozy has insisted he will continue supporting nuclear energy, saying the Fukushima disaster was “not a nuclear accident, it was an enormous tsunami”…..

France opposition to reduce nuclear power , SMH, Michael Mainville,November 17, 2011 – France’s long-held support for nuclear energy has emerged as a key issue in next year’s election after the opposition Socialists and Greens agreed to joint efforts to reduce reliance on atomic power.

The deal marks the first significant move toward limiting nuclear power in France Continue reading →

November 17, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | France, politics | Leave a comment

Reprocessing not the answer to nuclear waste, say USA Government Accountability Office

“No currently available or reasonably foreseeable reactor and fuel cycle technology developments — including advances in reprocess and recycle technologies — have the potential to fundamentally alter the waste management challenge this nation confronts over at least the next several decades, if not longer,’’ the report said…..

A Long, Long Road to Recycling Nuclear Fuel, NYT, By MATTHEW L. WALD, 15 Nov 11, The question of what to do with spent nuclear fuel from civilian power reactors has stirred renewed interest in reprocessing — that is, chopping up the fuel, retrieving materials that can power a reactor and possibly recovering the most troublesome waste products so they can be broken up in the reactor into easier-to-handle elements.
But the Energy Department, which is supposed to is evaluate different ways that the used fuel could be recycled, has a long way to go, according to the Government Accountability Office. Continue reading →

November 17, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Reference, reprocessing, USA | Leave a comment

Nuclear fuel company fined for safety breach

Global Nuclear Fuel Fined for Near-Critical Amount of Uranium in Air Filters Nuclear Street, 16 Nov 11, Enough uranium accumulated in air filters at a North Carolina nuclear fuel plant earlier this year to pose a risk of criticality, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has determined…. http://nuclearstreet.com/nuclear_power_industry_news/b/nuclear_power_news/archive/2011/11/16/global-nuclear-fuel-fined-for-near_2d00_critical-amount-of-uranium-in-air-filters-111601.aspx

November 17, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | incidents, USA | Leave a comment

Big boost in renewable energy investment

Clean Energy Investment May Double to $395 Billion by 2020 Bloomberg, By Louise Downing – Nov 15, 2011 Investment in renewable power generation may double to $395 billion a year by 2020, led by growth in offshore wind and solar energy projects, Bloomberg New Energy Finance forecast.

The total may rise further to $460 billion a year in real terms by 2030 from $195 billion last year, according to the research unit of Bloomberg LP. Continue reading →

November 17, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, business and costs, renewable | Leave a comment

Renewable energy to power India’s top tourist destination

Renewable energy to power Palace, Times of India Pavan M V , TNN | Nov 16, 2011 MYSORE: If the official machinery has its way, renewable sources of energy will power the special illumination of the Mysore Palace, which has emerged as the top grosser among tourists in India. Thanks to the ambitious solar city programme sponsored by the Union ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE), the 1 lakh bulbs could draw power by harnessing solar energy.

The project aims to reduce consumption of fossil fuel and electricity in the urban areas and switch to alternate sources of energy. The estimated project cost for the implementation of renewable energy project in Mysore under the project is put at Rs 1,620 crore. The project cost was disclosed during SCP meeting at the MCC on Tuesday….

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mysore/Renewable-energy-to-power-Palace/articleshow/10754836.cms

November 17, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, renewable | Leave a comment

Cheating among U.S, nuclear submarine personnel – it doesn’t inspire confidence!

Navy probes cheating on submarine nuclear exams, CBS News, 16 Nov 11(AP), HARTFORD, Conn. – The Navy’s inspector general for the Atlantic submarine force is investigating claims that pervasive cheating has tainted exams administered to enlisted sailors and officers as part oftheir nuclear training…. Continue reading →

November 17, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

Concern in northern Hawaiian island about radiation from Japan

Why is the Pentagon involved in providing free health care clinics, up to 350 clinical and non-clinical medical personnel, for Kauai’s residents, the north island closest to Japan? Is the Pentagon concerned about radioactive cesium plumes carried by the wind currents across the Pacific Ocean from Fukushima’s nuclear meltdowns?

The big utility lobbyists that pay off our politicians are destroying our lands and our lives. When President Obama says nuclear power is safe, it doesn’t automatically make them safe.

Japan’s Nuclear Radiation and the Pentagon’s Free Medical Clinics in Kauai: Connection? BuzzFlash Blog, JACQUELINE MARCUS , 16 Nov 11 Climate change produced Japan’s catastrophic earthquake and tsunami. Although the corporate media and the U.S. government have swept the Fukushima nuclear disaster under the proverbial censorship rug, it’s important to remember that an earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale and the ensuing 50-foot high tsunami wave led to a meltdown of three of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors. Japan’s nuclear regulatory agency reported that 31 radioactive isotopes were released. In contrast, 16 radioactive isotopes were released from the A-bomb that hit Hiroshima Aug. 6, 1945. The agency also reported that radioactive cesium released was almost 170 times the amount of the A-bomb, and that the release of radioactive Iodine-131 and Strontium-90 was about two to three times the level of the A-bomb. And that information doesn’t include the unknown deadly amount of radioactive water from the Fukushima plants that are being perpetually dumped into the Pacific Ocean since the meltdowns occurred last March 2011….. Continue reading →

November 17, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, OCEANIA, USA | Leave a comment