nuclear-news

AREVA’s nuclear reactor sales target postponed

Areva says nuclear reactor sales target may slip by 1-2 years PARIS Tue May 20, 2014 May 20 (Reuters) – Areva’s chief executive softened his forecast that the French state-controlled nuclear group would sell 10 reactors by 2016, saying it would be no problem if that deadline slips by a year or two.

May 21, 2014 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Fossil fuel lobby’s media war against climate scientists

David Suzuki Discusses the War on Climate Scientists http://ecowatch.com/2014/05/18/suzuki-climate-scientists/ Everybody ought to be doing their part to fight climate change, but instead some are focusing their energy on taking down the folks providing the research on our planet’s future.

From laughter to vehemence, it’s clear that the war on climate scientists and their research is on. In the second part of his conversation with Bill Moyers, Dr. David Suzuki says climate deniers are engaging in a good ol’ game of “kill the messenger.”

“This is a very effective thing that we know has been done by the tobacco industry [and] it’s being done by the fossil fuel industry… You attack a person on the basis of their trustworthiness, their ulterior motives, anything to get away from dealing with the issues,” the scientist, author and philanthropist said.

He said it’s not unlike the attacks he has experienced from Canada’s prime minister, corporations and others over the years for speaking his mind about the government and the fossil fuel industry.

“The fossil fuel industry knows that fossil fuel use is at the heart of climate change,” Suzuki said. “But the problem is their job as CEOs and executives is to make money for their shareholders, and they’ll do it.”

May 21, 2014 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Media ignoring the catastrophic global danger of the nuclear industry

How the nuclear industry may unintentionally obliterate humankind (NaturalNews) May 20, 2014 by: J. D. Heyes In modern times, the nuclear disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi plant in March 2011 has been one of the most under-reported of cataclysmic events, and some critical analyses have concluded that coverage likely would have been more complete had the accident occurred in a country not allied with the United States.

That said, notes Andrew McKillop at 21st Century Wire, we might as well “write off” most of the American (and Japanese) media, as well as politicians from both nations, regarding the dangers that the accident truly poses to Mankind. “For reasons associated with the nuclear lobby and its corporate machine, their tongues are tied on the issue,” he writes.

The ‘alternative media’ keeping an eye on Fukushima developments

Continuing his criticism, McKillop jabbed further:

More silence, a few new theories and a couple of less than convincing assurances like, “It’s all under control, the humming birds and the badgers have returned to the exclusion zone and there’s a lot of very affordable property now, lost of economic opportunity in Fukushima”, (if you had any doubt of how spineless and redundant our leadership would be in the event of a true humanitarian crisis, this should be your ‘eureka’ moment). The best they could manage is release a new Godzilla film production — and that’s about as close as you’ll get to an admission from the global elite’s media machine.

May 21, 2014 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Nuclear industry: costs and delays cast a gloom on chance of “new nuclear’

In Europe and the U.S. cost overruns and delays raise questions about the market for a new generation of safer nuclear reactors Scientific American, May 20, 2014 

More than a decade ago a contract was signed to build the world’s first third-generation European pressurized reactor (EPR) in Finland. The cutting-edge, 1,600-megawatt nuclear power plant, Olkiluoto 3, which its French maker Areva boasted as the most advanced safety design of the time, is still under construction today. There have been various setbacks as well as endless finger-pointing between Areva and the Finnish utility TVO, which are locked in court battle over expanding costs. Now the reactor might not be completed until at least 2017, if at all, with a price tag of $11 billion, more than double its original estimate.

The Olkiluoto 3 situation is not unique. Another Areva EPR in Flamanville, France, is also behind schedule and over budget. A recent government deal for two new EPRs in the U.K. has also come under fire.

The prospects for a nuclear power revival are no better in the U.S. Although the technology has never been cheap, cost overruns and delays are plaguing the handful of next-generation pressurized water reactors currently being built, the first since Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. Even before that event, a study from Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that the cost of new nuclear plants, globally, doubled from 2002 to 2009. The third-generation reactors have safety features that should prevent a meltdown similar to Fukushima’s but political controversy, along with the high price tag means that new nuclear complexes in the U.S. and Europe could be in the single digits instead of dozens originally planned less than a decade ago……….

Costs and delays are also rising for the AP1000 being built by Georgia Power, in part because the units must meet more stringent safety requirements that regulators have introduced in the wake of September 11, 2001, attacks and the Fukushima meltdown. ……

Although the AP1000 is an intrinsically simpler design than the EPR, they both have also faced cost overruns because they are first-of-their-kind deployments. A report by Citi Research found that the Vogtle project is about six months behind schedule and will cost at least $1 billion above original projections. “We’re learning how to do this as efficiently as we can,” says Benjamin, who admits there has been a learning curve. Finalizing the design for construction, which has been approved by American and Chinese regulators, has taken longer than anticipated. So has securing delivery on certain components, such as reactor coolant pumps, because they are being produced for the first time. “We take these lessons as we learn them,” says Benjamin, “and make sure these issues get [resolved] so we don’t face them again.”

Westinghouse hopes that working out the kinks in the first designs will drive down the tim

May 21, 2014 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | 1 Comment

Death of peace activist and atomic veteran Acie Byrd

Peace Activist, Broadcaster Acie Byrd Dies at 77 OpEd News, By Democracy Now! 20 May 14 Peace activist and radio commentator Acie Byrd has died at the age of 77 following a battle with cancer. Byrd was among an estimated quarter of a million U.S. military personnel exposed to radiation from U.S. nuclear tests that took place from 1945 to 1962.

He was exposed to hydrogen bomb testing in the mid-1950s in the Pacific. He became a leading advocate for fellow atomic veterans, calling for healthcare compensation and a comprehensive test ban treaty. In 1977, Byrd was one of the founding members of Pacifica station #WPFW in Washington DC, where he served as a local and national commentator and board member for many years……..http://www.opednews.com/articles/Peace-Activist-Broadcaste-by-Press-Release-Acie-Byrd_Military_Peace-Advocacy-Activism_Radiation-140520-67.html

May 21, 2014 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

White House an Republicans at odds over Nuclear Security Provisions

GOP, White House Clash over Nuclear Security Provisions in Defense Bill National Jurnal, By Douglas P. Guarino 20 May 14, As annual defense authorization legislation nears the House floor, the Obama administration and House Republicans continue to clash over key nuclear weapons and nonproliferation issues.

In a statement of administration policy released Monday evening, the White House says it “strongly objects” to bill language that would prevent the Energy Department from continuing to conduct nuclear security work in Russia until the Ukraine crisis — and concerns about potential Russian violations of various arms control treaties — are resolved.

The work includes efforts to secure buildings in Russia where sensitive nuclear materials are stored, among other projects. “Cooperation with Russia remains an essential element to the global effort to address the threat posed by nuclear terrorism,” the statement says, echoing sentiments of U.S. Undersecretary of State Rose Gottemoeller. The State Department official said earlier this month that stopping such collaboration would be tantamount to shooting “ourselves in the foot.”

According to the White House, “Critical bilateral nuclear nonproliferation activities are continuing in a number of key areas, and nuclear security is of paramount importance.”

Similarly, the administration “strongly objects to the significant reduction of funds” the House bill seeks to make to the Energy Department’s Second Line of Defense program, which aims to prevent the smuggling of dangerous nuclear materials across borders.

Congressional Democrats and nuclear watchdog groups, meanwhile, have complained that the Obama administration has not been requesting enough funds for the program in recent years………http://www.nationaljournal.com/global-security-newswire/gop-white-house-clash-over-nuclear-security-provisions-in-defense-bill-20140520

May 21, 2014 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment