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India wants to be seen as ‘non proliferation’ state, but won’t sign the Nuclear non Proliferation Treaty

India pitches for membership of global non-proliferation regimes Indrani Bagchi, Times of India | Apr 19, 2012, NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday made the most persuasive case for India’s “full membership” of the global non-proliferation regimes. In a major policy statement, foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai told a gathering of nuclear experts that “the logical conclusion of partnership with India is its full
membership of the four multilateral regimes.”..

.. India’s membership is not an easy decision. First, there is an NPT adherence that is seen
as crucial criteria. India has not signed the NPT and is not likely to do so, as a non-nuclear weapons state. So India’s membership into these groups would have to take this refusal into account….

April 19, 2012 Posted by | India, politics international, weapons and war | 1 Comment

India’s ‘China Killer’ nuclear capable missile takes off

India fires nuclear-capable ICBM Agni-5 Deccan Herald, Bhubaneswar, April 19, 2012,   India on Thursday conducted the maiden test of its indigenously developed nuclear capable Agni V ballistic missile with a strike rangeof over 5,000 km, from the Wheeler Island off Odisha coast.
The three-stage solid propellant missile was test-fired from a mobile launcher from the launch complex-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at about 8.05 a.m., defence sources said……..
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/243162/india-fires-nuclear-capable-icbm.html

April 19, 2012 Posted by | India, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Appeals Court hearing of call to block license for Georgia nuclear power plants

Southern Nuclear Power Plant Foes Ask Court to Block License Bloomberg, By Andrew Harris, Brian Wingfield and Tom Schoenberg – Apr 18, 2012 Southern Co. (SO)’s license from the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. to build two nuclear power plants in Georgia should be blocked, opponents of the project said in a U.S. appeals court filing.

The NRC rejected a request by nine environmental groups that it halt construction at the two facilities on April 16, setting the stage for today’s filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington. The agency approved the license on Feb. 9 by a 4-1 vote

“Issuance of a stay is in the public interest,” the groups said in their filing today, arguing that that NRC failed to fully consider lessons learned from Japan’s Fukushima Dai- Ichi power plant disaster caused by a March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Continue reading →

April 19, 2012 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

Row over membership of USA’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Her [Kristine Svinicki’s]  term expires in June, but President Barack Obama has not announced whether she will be nominated to a new term, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has made it clear he will oppose her….
A spokesman for Reid said the delay in Svinicki’s nomination had nothing to do with her complaint against Jaczko, a former Reid aide who has denied bullying anyone at the NRC. 

“Sen. Reid opposes Commissioner Svinicki’s re-nomination because she lied to Congress about her past work on Yucca Mountain,” Reid spokesman Adam Jentleson said Wednesday.

Svinicki said during a 2007 confirmation hearing that she had not worked directly on the Yucca Mountain project while working at the Energy Department in the 1990s, a statement Jentleson and other Democrats called false. Department records show that Svinicki co-authored technical papers on waste disposal issues related to Yucca Mountain in the mid-1990s

Reid has supported qualified Republicans for the NRC and is open to
supporting another GOP nominee.

GOP leader: Obama targets nuclear regulator Google News, By MATTHEW DALY,  19 April 12 WASHINGTON (AP) — Last December, Kristine Svinicki and other members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission told Congress that the NRC’s Democratic chairman was an intimidating bully whose actions could compromise the nation’s nuclear safety. Continue reading →

April 19, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Sarkozy admits to discussing nuclear reactor sales with Gaddafi

France’s Sarkozy rows back on nuclear help for Libya    Apr 18, 2012 (Reuters) – French President Nicolas Sarkozy backpedalled from a denial and acknowledged on Wednesday that he had discussions with Muammar Gaddafi about selling a nuclear reactor to Libya some four years before Paris helped topple the late dictator in 2011.

France’s readiness to provide a reactor to Gaddafi’s Libya has become a hot issue ahead of the election, eclipsing Sarkozy’s key role in helping drive the dictator from power last year, which he frequently portrays as one of his achievements……  Gaddafi made a state visit to Paris in December 2007 during which France agreed to help Libya build a desalination plant powered by a nuclear reactor, according to remarks by Sarkozy at the time……
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/18/france-election-libya-idUSL6E8FICEC20120418

April 19, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Fukushima Daiichi’s Unit 4 reactor a radioactive time bomb

 if the [spent fuel rods] pool should spring a leak, or another earthquake bring the pool crashing down, all that fuel would be exposed to the outside air, letting them heat up and release massive amounts of radiation. 

Fukushima Daiichi’s Achilles Heel: Unit 4′s Spent Fuel?  WSJ,  By Phred Dvorak, April 17, 2012,  Just how dangerous is the situation at Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant? Very, according to U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, a senior member of the Senate’s energy committee who toured the plant earlier this month.

Another big earthquake or tsunami could send Fukushima Daiichi’s fragile reactor buildings tumbling down, resulting in “an even greater release of radiation than the initial accident,”
Mr. Wyden warned in a Monday letter to Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Ichiro Fujisaki. Continue reading →

April 18, 2012 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

After May 5, Japan will be functioning with no nuclear power

Japan to be without nuclear power after May 5  By Yoko Kubota TOKYO, April 17 | 2012  (Reuters) – Japan will within weeks have no nuclear power for the first time in more than 40 years, after the trade minister said two reactors idled after the Fukushima disaster would not be back online before the last one currently operating is shut down.

Trade Minister Yukio Edano signalled it would take at least several weeks before the government, keen to avoid a power crunch, can give a final go-ahead to restarts, meaning Japan is set on May 6 to mark its first nuclear power-free day since 1970.

“If we thoroughly go through the procedure, it would be (on or) after May 6 even if we could restart them,” Edano told a news conference, adding that whether they can actually be brought back online is still up to ongoing discussions….. Exactly when Fukui Governor Issei Nishikawa and Ohi Mayor Shinobu Tokioka will make decisions is unclear.

Members of the expert panel will be visiting the Ohi plant on Wednesday and are likely to meet several more times before they reach a conclusion, while the Fukui assembly may meet as early as next week to discuss whether they can back the restarts, Masao Sato, a member ofthe assembly, told Reuters…… http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/17/japan-nuclear-idUSL3E8FH16V20120417

April 18, 2012 Posted by | Japan, politics | Leave a comment

Britain’s nuclear pickle, as French firms demand more subsidies for building reactors

The comments will send a shockwave through Whitehall because they come just weeks after the German utilities RWE and E.ON said they would not proceed with plans to build new nuclear plants at Wylfa in Wales and Oldbury in Gloucestershire.

 “UK energy policy is being manipulated and subverted to make it possible for French nuclear power companies (EDF and Areva) to start building four new reactors in the UK – two at Hinkley Point in Somerset and two at Sizewell in Suffolk.”

GDF Suez’s nuclear reservations hit government energy policy French firm needs more financial incentives if it is to proceed with new nuclear plant in Cumbria, says CEO Gérard Mestrallet, Terry Macalister guardian.co.uk,   16 April 2012  The government’s energy policy has suffered a fresh blow when GDF Suez, the French firm behind plans to build a new nuclear plant in Cumbria, said it needed more financial incentives if it was to proceed. Continue reading →

April 18, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, politics, UK | Leave a comment

India’s ‘China killer’ nuclear missile

India to test ‘China Killer’ missile, SMH, Ben Doherty, April 18, 2012 INDIA could test fire its most powerful nuclear-capable missile yet as early as today, a 50-tonne, 20-metre rocket that has the potential to reach all of Asia and large parts of Europe.

The Agni V – named for the Hindu god of fire, but given the incendiary appellation ”the China Killer” by the more sensationalist of the local press – has a range of more than 5000 kilometres, and has beenslated for a 1000-second test flight some time between today and Friday…… Continue reading →

April 18, 2012 Posted by | India, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Nuclear and coal energy in ‘cloud computing’

Apple, Twitter, Microsoft using ‘dirty’ cloud technology: Greenpeace, By Sheila Dabu Nonato, Postmedia News April 17, 2012 Cloud computing — the rapidly expanding practice of delivering data and applications over the Internet — is being fuelled by “dirty” energy, including coal and nuclear power, with some industry leaders like Facebook, Google and Yahoo leading the way in making the technology greener, while other big names such as Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Twitter are lagging behind, Greenpeace says in a report released Tuesday. Continue reading →

April 18, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, ENERGY | Leave a comment

Pro nuclear governments’ dishonest efforts to prop up the ailing nuclear industry

At this critical moment of a fading nuclear power industry, pro-nuclear governments of France, the UK, Poland, and the Czech Republic seem to have embarked upon a mission to save the future of nuclear energy. According to a leaked letter to the European Commission, they have voiced their wish that nuclear energy should be on par with young renewable energy technologies, thus making their struggling nuclear projects eligible to receive EU subsidies.

Where is the Positive Image of Nuclear Energy Coming From?, Clean Technica, 16 April 12, Despite the problems and disasters of the past and present, nuclear power is still being praised for being a cheap, abundant, and clean form of energy production by many politicians. Of course, it’s also “safe” and without any kind of “waste management problems” (due to future developments that would make energy out of dangerous nuclear waste), but those slogans are a little harder to sell today, so the focus is usually on “clean” and “cheap”. Continue reading →

April 18, 2012 Posted by | EUROPE, spinbuster | Leave a comment

Don’t drink and Drive a Nuclear reactor

Nuclear regulator proposes drug, alcohol policy for workers, The Star, 18 April 12  If you can’t drink and drive, maybe you shouldn’t drink and run a nuclear power plant.

Canada’s nuclear regulator has proposed new “fitness for duty” rules that would require anyone with unescorted access to sensitive areas of a nuclear plant to be subject to random drug and alcohol testing. The policy would be a departure for the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. “Presently, the CNSC does not have explicit alcohol or drug testing
requirements,” a spokesman said.

The commission does require nuclear operators to have a “fitness for
duty” program, but doesn’t spell out the requirements for drug and
alcohol use. Now, the commission has released a discussion paper proposing to change that.
“The CNSC believes in being proactive, in order to reduce the risk of impairment-related safety events at Canada’s nuclear power plants,” says the paper……
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/1163170–nuclear-regulator-proposes-drug-alcohol-policy-for-workers

April 18, 2012 Posted by | Canada, safety | Leave a comment

Russia’s top nuclear reactor designer arrested for fraud

Russian Nuclear Reactors’ Designer Held on Suspicion of Fraud. 17/04/2012 MOSCOW, April 17 (RIA Novosti) –The head of the Russian nuclear reactor design bureau Gidropress, a subsidiary of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom, Viktor Mokhov has been detained on suspicion of an 18-million-ruble ($600,000) fraud scheme. Continue reading →

April 18, 2012 Posted by | Russia, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Fire at Idaho nuclear research laboratory

Fire prompts evacuation at nuclear research lab in Idaho  SALMON, Idaho, April 16 (Reuters) – A welder’s torch ignited a small fire on the roof of a building at a nuclear research laboratory in Idaho on Monday, prompting an evacuation, but no one was hurt and no radioactive material was involved, lab officials said.

Nearly 100 employees were cleared from the building, part of a complex that includes facilities housing spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste at the Idaho National Laboratory, the U.S. Energy Department’s leading facility for nuclear reactor technology. Continue reading →

April 18, 2012 Posted by | incidents, USA | Leave a comment

Australia launches renewable energy fund

$10b fund for renewable energy firms http://www.perthnow.com.au/business/b-fund-for-renewable-energy-firms/story-e6frg2r3-1226330084361   AAP April 17, 2012 COMPANIES involved in renewable energy will soon be able to tap into a $10 billion federal pool. The Gillard government released today an independent review into the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), which is due to start operating from July 2013.

The government accepted all recommendations made by the review.

The CEFC will provide $10 billion worth of financing to companies involved in renewable energy, low-emissions and energy efficiency technology. The review was led by Reserve Bank of Australia board member Jillian Broadbent.
The CEFC will encourage private investment and help overcome capital market barriers for cleaner energy technologies, the government said in a statement today.

The fund will apply “commercial rigor” to its investment decisions to make sure companies have a positive rate of return and are able to repay the loans.

April 18, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, renewable | Leave a comment

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