nuclear-news

The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope

Nuclear workers’ safety an issue, as Waste Isolation Pilot Plant again threatened by tunnel collapse

Predicted collapse reignites worker safety concerns at WIPP, Adrian C Hedden, Carlsbad Current-Argus  Sept. 29, 2017 Worker safety could yet again become a concern at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.

A rock collapse in a portion of the plant’s underground mine where nuclear waste is permanently emplaced is expected in four to six weeks.

The collapse is expected in Room 6 of Panel 7 in the underground, which was off limits to workers for at almost a year before a Thursday announcement by the U.S. Department of Energy of a potential collapse.

Since it was sealed, no ground control measures took place in Room 6………

Rick Fuentes, president of the United Steelworkers Union Local 12-9477, which represents WIPP waste handlers, said the mine is safe for now.

But Fuentes worried that the underground can be unpredictable, and a collapse could occur sooner than expected.

“We’re not going to take any chances,” Fuentes said. “The underground is unpredictable. It could move faster.”……..

“When you deal with mother nature, it’s hard to know what will happen,” Fuentes said. “Day in and day out we have to stay on our A-game to ensure workers are safe.”

When measurements show the ground is unstable or if stability deteriorates at a dangerous rate, Fuentes said all underground activity will cease until conditions become safe.

“Once we get word that it’s getting close, our plans are to take a safety pause,” he said. “There’s no sense in having anyone down there if it’s going to fall in. We’re not going to put our workers in harm’s way. If that means we have to stop and back up and re-group, then that’s what we’re going to do.” http://www.currentargus.com/story/news/local/2017/09/29/predicted-collapse-reignites-worker-safety-concerns-wipp/717955001/

October 2, 2017 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Trump administration is using an obscure law to save the coal and nuclear industries

An Obscure Statute Is Helping Trump Save U.S. Coal, Nuclear, Bloomberg ,By Catherine Traywick and Jim Polson 

  • Rule would allow certain plants to recover operating costs
  • Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has 60 days to respond

  • The Trump administration is taking advantage of an obscure 30-year-old statute to make good on a promise to help America’s ailing coal industry

    Rick Perry is using an authority granted to him as U.S. energy secretary to call on the independent Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to change its rules and help coal and nuclear plants compete in wholesale power markets. Perry said he’s seeking to ensure dependable power plants recover “a fair rate of return.” Those capable of storing 90 days of fuel supplies at their sites, such as coal and nuclear generators, would be eligible.

     The move underscores the Trump administration’s determination to aid fossil fuels and rescue money-losing coal and nuclear power plants that have seen their profits squeezed by cheaper natural gas and renewables. Federal Register filings show a U.S. energy secretary hasn’t used this authority to direct the energy commission’s work since at least 1994……..
    The energy commission, an independent agency under the Energy Department, has authority over power markets, though the energy secretary may propose rules to the commission. Perry is seeking final action within 60 days.

    New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman vowed on Friday to fight the proposal, saying it “puts the interests of special interests ahead of the health, safety, and wallets of New Yorkers.”

    The American Petroleum Institute said it was concerned that the Energy Department had “mischaracterized” the lessons learned from severe weather events that have taken down power resources in the U.S. in the past.

    “We need to be careful that government doesn’t put its thumb on the scale,” said Marty Durbin, executive vice president at the institute, which represents oil and gas producers. “It’s better to let markets choose.”

    — With assistance by Ari Natter, Joe Ryan, Naureen S Malik, and Tim Loh https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-29/perry-moves-to-aid-coal-nuclear-generators-with-pricing-rule

October 2, 2017 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

UK woodland site to be taken over by £16 billion Sizewell C nuclear power station, despite earlier promises

Ipswich Star 30th Sept 2017, A former nuclear power station employee has accused EDF Energy of being
“disingenuous” over plans to use off-site land to relocate Sizewell B
buildings in the way of the C plant.

Terry Hodgson, a former district and
county councillor for Leiston, worked at Sizewell A for 32 years until he
retired in 2007 and now represents the Suffolk Association of Local
Councils on the Sizewell Stakeholder Group (SSG). He told the latest SSG
meeting that assurances had originally been given that certain areas near
the nuclear site would not be used for development. “Now we are told they
are to be used. This is disingenuous to the local community,” he said.

Under plans being considered, part of a woodland planted to commemorate the
coronation of George V will be bulldozed to make way for the relocation of
some of the Sizewell B power station buildings. The existing buildings,
including a visitors’ centre and training centre, are in the way of plans
for a £16billion Sizewell C nuclear power station.
http://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/edf-accused-over-moves-to-fell-woodland-next-to-sizewell-b-1-5216389

October 2, 2017 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK | Leave a comment

Russia marketing nuclear power to Latin America

Russian Nuclear Company Sees Success in Latin America, 1 October 2017New branches of the company will be constructed in El Alto, Bolivia and should be in operation by 2020.

Two years since its move to Latin America, Rosatom, Russia’s main nuclear power company, has seen great success, the company’s Latin American representative, Ivan Dybov, said.

“Rosatom has several projects in Latin America, but the main one is in Bolivia. Last September 19 we signed the contract for the construction of the Center for Research and Development in Nuclear Technology,” Dybov said.

The new branches will be constructed in El Alto and should be in operation by 2020…..https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Russian-Nuclear-Company-Sees-Success-in-Latin-America-20171001-0005.html

October 2, 2017 Posted by | marketing, Russia, SOUTH AMERICA | Leave a comment

Controversy lives on, 10 years after the death of Edward Teller – the “father of the hydrogen bomb”

Edward Teller: the Real-Life Dr. Strangelove https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/zm3wej/edward-teller-the-real-life-dr-strangelove

In this documentary, Motherboard explores the life and legacy of the father of the hydrogen bomb.  According to North Korea’s Foreign Minister, Kim Jong-un is considering testing its hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean in response to rising tensions with President Trump. But in order to understand the significance of the hydrogen bomb, you need to understand the people who created it.

In a 2013 video documentary, Motherboard explored the life of Edward Teller: the father of the hydrogen bomb, and the inspiration for Stanley Kubrick’s character Dr. Strangelove.

According to Ralph Moir, Teller’s student and eventual colleague, Teller believed that scientists bear no responsibility for the use of their creations.

“He wanted to make a contribution to mankind, but he’s also very interested in science and anything new,” Moir told Motherboard in 2013. “It was patriotic to have a strong defense. But also, it was fascinating science.”

However, not everyone agreed with Teller. In the 1940s, this gave way to an ethical debate that split the world into two groups: Those who sided with Robert Oppenheimer, creator of the atom bomb, believed that a stronger successor to the atom bomb was dangerous and unnecessary. Those who sided with Teller believed in a benefit to building a weapon so destructive that it exists only in obsolescence.

The scientific community almost entirely sided with Oppenheimer, but President Truman sided with Teller. In 1952, the US successfully detonated the first hydrogen bomb.

Later in his life, Teller would help launch Plowshare, a US experiment for nuclear weapons use in building and construction. Teller also believed the US should invest in geoengineering, nuclear engines for spacecrafts, nuclear testing in space, and nuclear reactors powered by thorium rather than uranium. None of these ideas have yet come to fruition.

It’s been over a decade since his death, but Teller’s name remains controversial.

October 2, 2017 Posted by | history, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

IAEA Report on Fukushima Diiachi

October 2, 2017 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

    Next Entries »