nuclear-news

Highlights of nuclear news this week

Christina Macpherson’s websites & blogs

Japan:  Fukushima is top of the news, unfortunately. Groundwater is flooding into the plant’s reactor buildings at the astonishing rate of 285 litres a minute. The highly radioactive water has to be stored in  in tanks which cover 17 hectares of the plant’s grounds. Tepco is now clearing a nearby forest to make space for more tanks.

Japan is starting up the Rokkasho nuclear reprocessing plant, which has had  a chequered career of huge costs and safety failures. It will produce 9 tons of plutonium each year, (enough for 2000 bombs), and they don’t know what to do with this radioactive trash. Prime Minister Abe is in Dubai, trying to sell Japan’s nuclear technology to United Arab Emirates.  On May 2nd, the Monju reprocessing plant issued black smoke, and there was  a fire alarm, but Japanese officials say it is OK.

Uranium: Cameco’s earnings went down 93% so far this year. Their shares were 33 cents last year. Now they’re 2 cents. Uranium price for immediate delivery has slumped 40 percent over the past 2 years.

USA continues to angst over its radioactive trash problem. Duke Energy pulls out of plan to build 2 new nuclear reactors. San Onofre nuclear plant might be shut down. Los Angeles City Council demands   thorough safety investigations before any question of restarting it. Experts consider it dangerous, and there are doubts that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s special investigation team is impartial – the NRC is seen as too cosy with the nuclear industry.

May 3, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes