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National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Nuclear Weapons Testing,

http://kcpw.org/blog/local-news/2012-01-27/victims-of-nuclear-testing-radiation-remembered/   Victims of Nuclear Testing Radiation Remembered, 01.27.2012 by Jeff Robinson (KCPW News) It was 61 years ago today that nuclear testing began on the Nevada Test Site, as many residents of Salt Lake Cityand more rural areas like Kane County know too well. That’s why local leaders are marking a National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Nuclear Weapons Testing, which was designated by the U.S. Senate, to commemorate the lives of downwinders, those who were exposed to the radiation. Local resident Mary Dickson is one of them. She shared her downwinder story with KCPW’s Jeff Robinson.

January 28, 2012 Posted by | Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

Growth of anti-nuclear movement in Asia

Anti-nuclear movement growing in Asia Though nuclear power still has a strong foothold in Asia, anti-nuclear sentiment and protest are growing from Mongolia to South Korea to Taiwan and even – in modest ways – in China. Christian Science Monitor, By Winifred Bird,  January 27, 2012 YOKOHAMA, JAPAN
Heonseok Lee has a simple way of describing how public sentiment toward nuclear power has changed in South Korea since the disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant last March 11. “Before 3/11, I’d post an article criticizing the nuclear power industry, and right away there’d be hundreds of really nasty comments. After 3/11, there’ll still be a few dozen. But not hundreds,” says Lee, a full-time anti-nuclear activist in one of the world’s most pro-nuclear countries.
Though nuclear power still has a strong foothold throughout the region, and public opinion is mixed, activists across Asia have anecdotes like this to show that anti-nuclear sentiment and protest are slowly growing from Mongolia, to South Korea to Taiwan and even – in modest ways – to China.
This month, activists from Japan and South Korea announced plans for a new East Asian civil society network to promote renewable energy and oppose nuclear power. Continue reading →

January 28, 2012 Posted by | ASIA, opposition to nuclear, South Korea | 1 Comment

Florida’s nuclear cost fiasco is a wake up call to Iowa

The Iowa Legislature is currently considering similar legislation (HF 561) that would allow MidAmerican Energy to force Iowa consumers to foot the bill in advance for nuclear reactors, and let MidAmerican keep the money regardless of whether they are ever constructed.

Nuclear Cancellation In Florida Is Warning To Iowa Legislators  Florida utility seeks to cancel nuclear construction plans while leaving customers on the hook for hundreds of millions as Iowa legislators consider allowing a similar
swindle IOWA –-(ENEWSPF)–January 27, 2012. News that Florida utility Progress Energy plans to cancel the construction contract for its proposed nuclear reactors in Levy County — and will leave customers with a bill of hundreds of millions of dollars — should convince Iowa
legislators to finally abandon a proposal by MidAmerican Energy that could bilk consumers across Iowa, said Friends of the Earth. Continue reading →

January 28, 2012 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

12 $billion new Hanford nuclear waste facility has safety flaws

Safety at Wash. Nuclear-Waste Site Scrutinized, SciTech Today, By Peter Eisler January 27,  A new plant meant to stabilize and contain 56 million gallons of radioactive waste is coming under fire by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. A chief concern is that abrasive and corrosive particles in the waste could erode pipes and mixing vessels used to pretreat the material for vitrification, ultimately causing leaks. A federal oversight panel is raising new concerns to the Department of Energy about potentially serious flaws in the design of a first-of-its-kind, $12 billion waste treatment plant that is being built for the nation’s largest radioactive cleanup. Continue reading →

January 28, 2012 Posted by | USA, wastes | Leave a comment

Japan’s nuclear plant stress tests – “flimsy” and unreliable

“I don’t view their evaluation as something that is trustworthy or carries any weight,”  “The last time the IAEA inspectors came to Japan, they simply inspected sites and documents and left saying everything was fine. They submitted a flimsy report, and I fear the same will be the case this time.”

Experts cast doubt on Japan nuclear plant tests,  in Tokyo, guardian.co.uk,   27 January 2012 Japanese government ordered tests on all reactors after Fukushima meltdown, but advisers say they do not prove a plant is safe Advisers to Japan‘s nuclear safety agency have said power plant stress tests do not prove that a nuclear plant is safe, as the country faces the prospect of a summer without a single nuclear reactor in operation. Continue reading →

January 28, 2012 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Bombing Iran – not the smartest way to go

Bomb Iran? Yes we can: a US plan that couldn’t possibly go wrong, SMH, Bill Keller January 28, 2012  “…..An attack on Iran is almost certain to unify the Iranian people around the mullahs and provoke the supreme leader to redouble Iran’s nuclear pursuits, only deeper underground this time, and without international inspectors around.
At the Pentagon, you sometimes hear it put this way: Bombing Iran is the best way to guarantee exactly what America is trying to prevent.
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/bomb-iran-yes-we-can-a-us-plan-that-couldnt-possibly-go-wrong-20120127-1qlqx.html#ixzz1kmwgt4eV

January 28, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

China remains inscrutable on nuclear safety

China denies nuclear accident Telegraph, 27 Jan 12, China has moved swiftly to deny it has become the latest nation to experience a nuclear accident, after claims that it was forced to shut down its newest nuclear reactor last year. By David Eimer in Beijing   27 Jan 2012  A report from Japan’s Atomic Energy Agency said the China Experimental Fast Reactor (CEFR) stopped generating electricity in October following an accident. With Japan already reeling from the meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant in March last year, the incident sparked alarm there and in South Korea over the prospect of radiation leaking from the CEFR.

Those fears were intensified by Beijing’s failure to report the accident or release details of what happened, according to a Tokyo newspaper which cited the Japanese Atomic Energy Agency’s investigation. Continue reading →

January 28, 2012 Posted by | China, safety | Leave a comment

UK’s Dounreay nuclear site still radioactive

Contamination found at nuclear site, Google News, (UKPA) 27 Jan 12, Traces of radioactive contamination have been found on the shoes of workers demolishing a former nuclear power station. It was detected on around a dozen people on Thursday as they prepared to leave a building which they were preparing for demolition.
Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL), which is overseeing the decommissioning of the site in Caithness, has launched an investigation.
It said that the building is in a “controlled” area, where contamination is possible, and controls are in place to manage it.

Dounreay’s nuclear reactor was shut down in 1994 and work to decommission the site has been under way since then as part of a £2.6 billion project. It was the only plant in Britain to use liquid metal instead of gas or water in the cooling circuits.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5gVcbsn-jVhJMOoqqQOYXqz-NAfaA?docId=N0166121327661398947A

January 28, 2012 Posted by | decommission reactor, UK | Leave a comment

Japan can manage summer electricity without nuclear power

Japan says can avoid summer power cuts even if nuclear By Kentaro Hamada TOKYO Jan 27, 2012  (Reuters) – Japan will be able to avoid power cuts this summer even if the nation’s last few nuclear reactors cease operating due to public safety fears after the Fukushima crisis, the government said on Friday….

“We would have to call for conservation of electricity, but there’s an excellent chance (the power lost if all nuclear plants are shut this summer) can be overcome without placing curbs on electricity consumption,” he added.

January 28, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Area on endangered list, due to possibility of uranium mining

Uranium puts Southside on endangered list  GoDanRiver.com  January 27, 2012 Southside landed on the Southern Environmental Law Center’s fourth annual Top 10 Endangered Places in the Southeast list because of proposed uranium mining and pressure to lift Virginia’s uranium moratorium.

Many of the areas on SELC’s top 10 list are endangered by pressure to undercut environmental protections and to lower the hurdles for potentially destructive projects, …..

January 28, 2012 Posted by | environment, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment