College of Engineering Receives DOE Funds to Improve Nuclear Safety -USA
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, will take part in two U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) projects totaling more than $9 million which involve a team of institutions to improve upon nuclear energy safety and efficiency.
The projects draw upon lessons learned from the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident.
The two awards are part of the DOE’s 2012 Nuclear Energy University Programs (NEUP) Integrated Research Programs (IRP).
A proposal by Kurt Sickafus, head of the Department of Material Science and Engineering, was awarded $3.5 million to improve the nuclear fuel cladding in light water reactors. Cladding refers to the metallic tube that protects the fuel in a nuclear reactor from the surrounding coolant such as water.
“Currently, the alloys in the cladding when at high temperatures can oxidize, releasing hydrogen gas which can cause an explosion similar to the one we saw in Japan,” Sickafus said.
Citizen group to sue Entergy -USA Plymouth
Sheehan acknowledges that the EPA has previously asserted, in a letter sent subsequent to the issuance of the discharge permit, that it gave permission to Energy to discharge tolytriazole.
“But we assert this is illegal,” Sheehan said. “The EPA can’t make closed-door deals with polluters to change permits. It has to be done in the prescribed manner under the law, with public notice and comment.”
[…]
All told, the NOI sent to Entergy, various officials from state and federal environmental entities and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, cites 15 separate violations
Frustrated at a lack of penalties for what they believe are ongoing violations of the Clean Water Act by the Entergy at its Pilgrim Station nuclear facility, local residents have taken the unusual step of filing written notice of their intent to sue the Louisiana-based corporation.
The Clean Water Act includes specific provisions that allow citizens the right to enforce its regulations if government fails to do so. The notice of intent (NOI) filed officially Oct. 5, claims that since 2006 Entergy has violated the Act more than 33,000 times. If upheld, each violation carries a $25,000 civil penalty, for a total potential liability of more than $800 million.
This citizen action is being supported by the offices of EcoLaw, whose lead Attorney Margaret Sheehan is also a member of Cape Cod Bay Watch, which has unsuccessfully lobbied state and federal government officials on the same issues over the last few years.
But Sheehan said this isn’t simply a new tactic.
“This is one of the most effective ways that the 40-year-old Clean Water Act is enforced,” Sheehan said. “There is a long history of groups and citizens suing under the ‘citizen suit; provisions of the federal Clean Water Act to get penalties from polluters and stop the pollution from happening.’”
Areva delays $1 bln Namibia uranium mine
11 October 2012
WINDHOEK (Reuters) – French energy group Areva said on Thursday it had delayed the start of its $1 billion Trekkopje uranium mine in Namibia until market conditions improve.
“Considering both the continued decrease of uranium prices coupled with the investments yet to be made on site, AREVA has no other option than to postpone the launch of the Trekkopje mine,” the company said in a statement.
Uranium prices have been on the decline since the nuclear disaster at Fukushima in Japan in March 2011, with some countries questioning the safety and viability of nuclear energy and some suspending their plans to build new plants altogether.
The uranium spot price hit a new two-year low last week at $45.75 per lb. That compares with the February 2011 average spot price of $69.63.
Areva said the project, which makes use of the “heap-leaching” extraction process and is about 80 percent complete, was only viable at a price of $75 per lb or more. It will cost the company $10 million a year to keep the project under care and maintenance.
The company plans to finish all ongoing construction by December.
Trekkopje was expected to produce 3,000 tonnes of uranium oxide per year. Areva said it was committed to the project once economic conditions improve.
http://news.yahoo.com/areva-delays-1-bln-namibia-uranium-mine-140919124–sector.html
Anti-nuclear group sets up hotline -high cancer rates -Canada
“We’re not trying to shut it down, we’re trying to make it run safely and right now we don’t believe it is safe at all.”
By Ashley Wills
paNOW staff
Submitted on October 11, 2012 – 7:46am
A hotline has been set up by an anti-nuclear group in Saskatchewan for people to confidentially voice their concerns about uranium mine safety.
“They feel that they can’t ask the mining companies the questions, or the regulators, for fear of losing theirjobs,” said Pat McNamara, an activist who works with the Committee for Future Generations (CFFG).
The whistle-blower hotline will act as a buffer between employees and companies. The information that is gathered will be presented to Health Canada and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. If the regulators do not act on the information, CFFG will publicize the issues as much as possible, said McNamara.
“We’re not trying to shut down the mining industry … but we’re getting so many complaints and so many concerns raised about it,” he said.
So far, four uranium miners from northern Saskatchewan have used the hotline to ask questions about chest pains they experience on the job.
“Like heartburn that builds up over the days that they’re working in the mine, and it gets progressively worse until they go home and then it clears up during their days off,” said McNamara, who has written several books on nuclear safety issues.
Russia to Salvage Sunken Nuclear Subs
Thursday, 11 October 2012
The Russian Defense Ministry is planning to raise and scrap two sunken nuclear submarines in the northern Barents and Kara seas in order to prevent potential radioactive pollution of the area, the Izvestia newspaper said on Thursday.
The ministry will announce an international tender, which may include companies from the France, the Netherlands, South Korea and United States, as the Russian Navy does not have the necessary equipment to carry out deep-sea salvage operations, Izvestia said, citing a military source.
The B-159 (K-159), a November class nuclear submarine, sank in the Barents Sea in August 2003, 790 feet (238 m) down, with nine of her crew and 1760 lbs (800 kg) of spent nuclear fuel, while being moved for dismantling.
The K-27 was an experimental attack submarine built in 1962 and decommissioned in 1979 due to its troublesome nuclear reactors. Her reactor compartment was sealed and the submarine was scuttled in the eastern Kara Sea in 1982 at the depth of 220 feet (75 m).
New! -Importation Of Some Food Items From Japan Suspended -Lack of trust? -Brunei Darussalam
THURSDAY, 11 OCTOBER 2012 08:50ROKIAH MAHMUD
Bandar Seri Begawan – The importation of certain products from Japan has been temporarily suspended by the-government as a precautionary measure to safeguard the public from radioactive contaminants in food originating from the country.
A press release dated March 29, 2011 from the Ministry of Health (MoH) said the MoH and Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources (MIPR) have continuously monitored, reviewed the situation and obtained further information from regional neighbours and relevant international organisations.
In this regard, importers and the public have been informed that the importation of certain food categories has been suspended.
The importation of any meat, seafood, milk and milk products, fruits and vegetables (fresh and processed), tubers including potato and sweet Potato, seaweed and green tea products from Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Kanagawa, Tokyo and Chiba Prefectures are temporarily suspended.
After Decades of Uranium Mining, Navajo Nation Struggles With Devastating Legacy of Contamination (Video)
New Mexico’s long history of uranium mining on Native American lands provides fuel for the front end of the nuclear industry and stores much of the mine tailings and radioactive waste from nuclear weapons and power plants. We look at the devastating impact uranium mining continues to have on Native lands with Leona Morgan of Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining, a group dedicated to protecting the water, air, land and health of communities in areas impacted by uranium mines. We’re also joined by Jay Coghlan of Nuclear Watch New Mexico and former Los Alamos National Laboratory investigator Chuck Montaño.
Leona Morgan, coordinator with the Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining. Their mission is to protect the water, air, land and health of communities in areas impacted by uranium mines.
Jay Coghlan, Executive Director at Nuclear Watch New Mexico.
Chuck Montaño, former investigator and auditor at Los Alamos who faced retaliation after he blew the whistle on wasteful spending and fraud at the lab. He is now a board member with the Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety…….
2 men arrested for selling falsely labeled Fukushima onions
“..Police said the men first began selling the onions to schools and elderly care homes last January. Around 31 transactions have been discovered so far. The men claim the produce was tested for radiation before being shipped and was found to be within acceptable limits, according to TBS…”
“..They also apologized to those affected, particularly children…”
October 11th, 2012 |
TOKYO —Two men in Fukushima Prefecture have been arrested for relabeling spring onions grown in the prefecture to conceal their point of origin.
According to police, the men, who work for a food wholesaler based in Miharu, are accused of falsely labeling the onions to indicate that they were grown in Ibaraki and Chiba prefectures, TBS reported Wednesday.
[…]
The men were charged with obtaining money by deception. They released a joint statement through their lawyers in which they said they were unable to meet demand for vegetables grown outside Fukushima Prefecture. They also apologized to those affected, particularly children.
There has been a doubling of the concentration of nuclear radiation in the atmosphere.
“Yet another concern is the increase of radiation in our global environment – including the doubling of the concentration of nuclear radiation in the atmosphere.”
Re “Safety Report Says Europe’s Nuclear Reactors Need Repair” (news article, Oct. 4):
I spent the last year reviewing Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, Fukushima and so on and found that neither they nor practically any of the 435 operating nuclear plants around the world are designed for safe shutdown in case of simultaneous external and internal electricity failure.
Similarly, few of them are protected against hydrogen explosions, and practically none can handle regular or cyberterrorist attacks.
I also found that most are not fully automated but operated in the dangerous, old semimanual mode. Many were designed for a useful life of 30 years and yet reached 40. There is still no permanent disposal site for their waste, and decommissioning of the few that have been shut down takes decades: Chernobyl occurred in 1986, yet the end of decommissioning is planned for 2015.
In spite of all that, and in spite of the doubling of radioactivity in the atmosphere, 60 new plants are under construction, 150 more are planned and Europe is writing reports about possibly repairing some.
In short, while the question is not if but when and where the next accident will occur, even our presidential candidates neglect the issue.
Japan keen on nuclear cooperation with India but concerns over “civil nuclear liability”
India | Posted on Oct 11, 2012
IBN live
New Delhi: Ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s likely visit to Tokyo next month, Japan has conveyed to India its keen desire for civil nuclear cooperation with India. It has also sought some clarifications on the civil liability law that will provide the framework of such cooperation. They have conveyed that they are interested in civil nuclear cooperation with India, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said in a telephonic interview from Tokyo. The issue of carrying forward talks on civil nuclear cooperation was discussed in a joint working group on nuclear energy, part of the broader India-Japan Energy Dialogue, in Tokyo Tuesday, said Ahluwalia.
“They have sought certain details and clarifications on issues related to but concerns over law from India’s department of atomic energy,” Ahluwalia said. Ahluwalia was speaking after co-chairing the sixth round of the India-Japan Energy Dialogue that concluded in Tokyo on Wednesday.
If Manmohan Singh goes to Tokyo, likely next month, imparting a fresh thrust to negotiations for a civil nuclear deal will be high on the agenda. A decision on the prime ministerial visit is expected by next week, said well-placed sources.
Ahluwalia also stressed that the Japanese side has conveyed that they won’t be eliminating their reliance on nuclear energy. Earlier, Japan had declared the goal of zero-nuclear energy by 2040, but following pressure from the powerful business lobby it has effectively given up this option.
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