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Need for probe on Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s dubious safety culture

U.S. Nuclear Agency Needs Independent Probe, Markey Says Bloomberg News, By Katarzyna Klimasinska  June 04, 2012 An independent investigation is needed of alleged lapses in the safety culture at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Representative Edward Markey said, citing worker concerns about a lack of management support. Continue reading →

June 6, 2012 Posted by | safety, USA | 1 Comment

David Suzuki on Germany’s example in renewable energy

with conservation and improved efficiency, along with better storage and smart grid management, we could switch to renewables without the need for large-scale baseload. 

Renewable energy solutions exist. We just need governments with as much foresight as Germany’s to implement them

David Suzuki: Germany shows that renewable energy is possible, Straight.com.   By David Suzuki, June 5, 2012  Germany recently reached a renewable energy milestone. On Saturday, May 26, the country met half its midday energy needs with solar power. On the preceding workday Friday, it met a third with solar. According to German renewable energy expert Norbert Allnoch, during those midday periods, the country’s solar plants produced 22 gigawatts of electricity, as much as 20 nuclear power stations running at full capacity.

Granted, those were sunny days, but Germany gets about 20 percent of its overall annual electricity from renewable sources, including solar, wind, water, and thermal. A Reuters article reports that “Germany has nearly as much installed solar power generation capacity as the rest of the world combined and gets about four per cent of its overall annual electricity needs from the sun alone. It aims to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020.” Continue reading →

June 6, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Seabrook nuclear power plant fails safety test

NRC reports Seabrook nuclear plant failures in emergency test, SeaCoast online, By Shir Haberman, June 05, 2012 SEABROOK — The operators of the Seabrook Station nuclear power plant failed to properly detect a simulated radiological release and also failed to advise state emergency planning officials during a test of the emergency preparedness process held in April.

Plant staff also failed to detect the lapse until Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspectors pointed it out, an NRC report dated May 29 indicated.

“The finding (by NRC inspectors) is more than minor because it … affected the … objective to ensure that the licensee is capable of implementing adequate measures to protect the health and safety of the public in the event of a radiological emergency,” the report reads.

Multiple errors occurred during the full-scale, biennial emergency planning exercise conducted April 16-17 at the Seabrook plant, according to the NRC report. The test assigned to the plant’s emergency staff was a large-break loss of reactor coolant…..
http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20120605-NEWS-120609849

June 6, 2012 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Nuclear capable missile tested by Pakistan

Pakistan tests nuclear-capable Hatf VII cruise missile By: Online | June 05, 2012 Pakistan on Tuesday test-fired another medium range cruise missile Hatf-VII (Babur) having a range of 700 km, the third successful test in a week. “It’s a multi tube, indigenously developed cruise missile Hatf-VII having a range of 700 kms,” ISPR said in a statement. “Babur Cruise Missile is a low flying, terrain hugging missile with high maneuverability, pin point accuracy and radar avoidance features. It can carry both nuclear and conventional
warheads and has stealth capabilities,” ISPR says. …..
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/national/05-Jun-2012/pakistan-tests-nuclear-capable-hatf-vii-cruise-missile

June 6, 2012 Posted by | Pakistan, weapons and war | Leave a comment

AREVA looks to China to save its nuclear export industry

Areva sets nuclear sights on China http://www.brecorder.com/fuel-a energy/193/1196628/ JUNE 04, 2012 RECORDER REPORT   French nuclear group Areva said it is prepared to put its mid-sized Atmea1 reactor into direct competition with a future Franco-Chinese reactor it hopes to help develop in an effort to sweep into China’s booming electricity market.

The head of Areva’s reactors and services division told Reuters it expects to know this year if it has a role to play in the construction of a 1,000 megawatt (MW) third-generation reactor alongside China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co (CGNPC) and French utility EDF. That reactor would compete with the 1,100 MW Atmea1 pressurised water reactor (PWR) that Areva and Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) have developed through their Atmea joint venture.

“If the new product or the development of the product corresponds to a clear opening of the Chinese market, to important industrial returns for us and with the support of EDF and CGNPC, I have no qualms about cannibalising Atmea1, and neither does MHI,” Claude Jaouen said in an interview.

The Franco-Chinese project is in a preliminary phase with EDF, CGNPC and Areva, in agreement with MHI, looking to see to what extent the reactor can resemble Atmea1 and at what cost.

Under France’s previous government, the Nuclear Policy Council last year decided to forge a partnership with China to build a new type of nuclear reactor, widening France’s nuclear range with a cheaper and smaller model than the 1,600 MW EPR reactor, which has suffered from cost overruns and delays.

June 6, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, France | Leave a comment

Fewer nuclear weapons, but still great nuclear danger

Budget woes curb arms trade but nuclear threat strong: SIPRI  JUNE 05, 2012 RECORDER REPORT   World military spending failed to rise last year for the first time since 1998 in what could herald a major trend break, but the global nuclear threat remains strong, think tank SIPRI said Monday.

As the global economic crisis cuts into defence spending, conflicts around the world are also becoming smaller, shorter and less deadly, and the number of wars between states are at historically low levels, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said. ….  Nuclear arsenals declined last year, the report said, as the United States and Russia further reduced their inventories of strategic nuclear weapons.

At the start of 2012, eight countries – Britain, China, India, Israel, France, Pakistan, Russia and the United States – held some 19,000 nuclear warheads, compared to 20,530 at the start of 2011, it said. However, long-term modernisation programmes under way in nuclear
states “suggest that nuclear weapons are still a currency of international status and power,” SIPRI researcher Shannon Kile said.

“In spite of the world’s revived interest in disarmament efforts, none of the nuclear weapon-possessing states show more than a rhetorical willingness to give up their nuclear arsenals just yet,” he said. The report noted that Iran and Syria came under intensified scrutiny in 2011 for allegedly concealing military nuclear activities. …

June 6, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, weapons and war | Leave a comment

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