EDF says individuals detained after breaking into Cruas nuclear plant
“All you need to do is make a hole (in the building) to start a fire,” Yannick Rousselet, Greenpeace France’s chief anti-nuclear campaigner told AFP.
November 28, 2017
A group of Greenpeace activists broke into a French nuclear plant on Tuesday and scaled the walls of a building containing spent nuclear fuel to highlight security shortcomings at the facility.
Around 20 activists took part in the latest stunt by the environmental campaign group aimed at showing that France’s 58 nuclear reactors are vulnerable to attack.
The group said the protest at Cruas-Meysse plant in the southeastern Ardeche region, which has four reactors, proved that security around spent nuclear fuel pools was particularly lacking.
Four activists scaled one of the buildings containing pools used to cool highly radioactive spent fuel rods and set off flares.
“All you need to do is make a hole (in the building) to start a fire,” Yannick Rousselet, Greenpeace France’s chief anti-nuclear campaigner told AFP.
France’s state-owned energy giant EDF which operates the plant confirmed the intrusion but said that the plant’s safety was never in danger.
Regional security officials said 22 people were arrested, adding they had posed no threat.
The incident is the second of its kind in as many months.
In October, Greenpeace activists got inside a nuclear plant in Cattenom, near the border with Luxembourg, and set off fireworks at the foot of a spent fuel pool.
France is the world’s most nuclear-dependent country, with atomic plants providing 75 percent of the country’s electricity.
Around a third of all reactors in the country are set to be closed by 2025 under a government plan to boost renewables.
In a report in October Greenpeace noted that most of France’s nuclear plants were built before the rise of threats from non-state terror groups such as the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda and claimed that their defences were weak.
Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-11-greenpeace-alarm-nuclear-safety-break-in.html#jCp
Search of Areva’s headquarters in connection with a sale of Nigerian uranium in 2011
Paris (AFP)– The headquarters of Areva, former French flagship of nuclear already in the heart of the scandal Uramin, was the subject of a search Tuesday as part of an investigation into an allegedly dubious sale of Nigerian uranium in 2011.
The search, which began in the morning at the headquarters of the company in the Paris business district of La Defense, ended around 21H00, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Areva “confirms a search” and “collaborates closely with justice,” said the group in the day, without giving further details.
This operation, carried out by the investigators of the financial brigade of the judicial police, relates to a Nigerian uranium brokerage case that had resulted in significant losses for Areva, told AFP sources close to the case .
The case, dubbed “Uraniumgate”, is the subject of a preliminary investigation opened by the National Public Prosecutor’s Office in 2015.
It broke out in February 2015 with the publication, in the Nigerian weekly Le Courrier, of documents relating to the sale in the fall of 2011 of a large quantity of uranium for $ 320 million.
The stock was initially sold by Areva to a Russian company, Energo Alyans, which later sold it to Optima Energy Offshore in Lebanon.
A few days later, Optima sold the uranium to Niger’s state-owned Niger Mines Corporation (Sopamin). Areva then bought this stock from Sopamin at a price much higher than the price at which it initially sold it.
Retrocommissions?
“It was a trading operation as part of an integrated offer,” said spokesman Areva Christophe Neugnot in April. Clearly, the French group was in contact with an operator interested in buying nuclear power plants who also wanted, in order to secure its supply, to obtain uranium.
“Finally, the sale of the reactor was not made, we bought the uranium”, with ultimately “a loss of 18 million dollars,” added Mr. Neugnot.
Investigators question the capital gains pocketed by intermediaries, including “$ 82 million for Energo Alyans (…), unknown to traders (and) who would have disappeared completely shortly after the facts”, d ‘ after the newspaper Jeune Afrique.
“They want to know if, in general, this montage could have been used to hide commissions or retrocommissions”, according to one of the sources close to the file.
The group is at the center of another investigation into the acquisition of a Canadian mining company, Uramin, which owns three uranium deposits in Africa, for which it paid 1.8 billion euros in 2007.
The operation had turned into a fiasco: after the departure of his boss Anne Lauvergeon, Areva had divided by five the value of the company and passed, at the end of 2011, a heavy provision of 1.5 billion euros.
This controversial buyout is at the heart of two judicial information. One relates to suspicions of fraud and corruption during the acquisition of Uramin, the other concerns the provisions inscribed by Areva, magistrates suspecting group officials for presenting inaccurate accounts to hide the collapse in the value of Canadian society.
Under the leadership of the French state, Areva is engaged in a vast restructuring. Its reactors business should notably come under the control of EDF by the end of the year.
These measures should enable it to recover from heavy setbacks attributable to the setbacks of the construction of its EPR reactor in Finland, the financial fiasco of the acquisition of Uramin and the sluggishness of the atom sector since the Fukushima accident. (Japan) in 2011.
Source French only
Nuclear sludge at Washington state site put in safer storage
SNIP
The sludge left over from the production of plutonium for nuclear weapons was transferred from the old single walled tanks into modern double wall tanks that are considered much safer, the U.S. Department of Energy said in a statement provided to The Associated Press Monday.
While the event is regarded as a major milestone for the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, the waste removed came from only one of the facility’s 12 tank farms containing radioactive waste.
A government contractor is in the final stages of removing waste from one of the tanks, which has a capacity of 530,000 gallons (2 million liters), the energy department said. It has stored waste since 1947 and officials suspect it has been leaking.
Cleanup of the waste at Hanford has been underway since the 1980s and is expected to last for decades, costing an additional $100 billion.
END SNIP
Vietnamese environmentalist Blogger gets 7 years in prison for writing about cyanide spill – Nguyen Van Hoa #UNHCR @amnesty
They said he was spreading anti-state propaganda.
Blogger Nguyen Van Hoa was handed a seven-year prison sentence by a court in Vietnam for reporting on the aftermath of one of the country’s worst environmental disasters.
Hundreds would get sick as a result of eating fish that had been swimming in cyanide-tainted water. The chemical spill originated with the factory Formosa Ha Tinh Steel, while simultaneously threatening the livelihoods of workers in the fishing and tourist industries.
In addition to writing about the spill and ensuing protests, Hoa produced videos in the wake of the disaster that began when the Taiwan-owned steel plant sent cyanide, carbolic acids and other deadly toxins out into the South China Sea, reaching 120 miles of coastline, The New York Times reports.
Formosa Ha Tinh Steel
The 22-year-old was arrested in April for disseminating material critical of Vietnam’s one-party government before his brief trial that ultimately ended in a guilty verdict.
After admitting to flushing its chemicals into the water, Formosa Ha Tinh Steel agreed in July 2016 to pay $500 million to compensate for the 70 tons of fish that were killed off and the devastating effect the spill had on the tourism sector.
Joining Hoa behind bars is fellow blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, who was sentenced to 10 years for similar charges in June.
Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh on trial in June in the south central province of Khanh Hoa, Vietnam
Quynh wrote about the Formosa spill as well as other issues such as Chinese economic influence in the country, including the controversial construction of a Beijing-backed bauxite mine.
According to Human Rights Watch, over 105 people are in prison for criticizing the government and engaging in protests.
Playing cards marked with radioactive iodine 125 — Berlin police arrest woman
German police have arrested a 41-year-old woman on suspicion of rigging card games by dousing specific cards with iodine-125. The cards could then be recognized by a gambler carrying a concealed detector.
German police on Tuesday revealed that they had raided a Berlin restaurant after a trail of radioactive card fragments found at a waste treatment plant was traced back to the premises.
It was there that authorities uncovered and confiscated 13 other cards with traces of the radioactive substance iodine-125, a nuclide commonly used in medicine. A club center, karaoke bar, some offices and an apartment were searched.
Read more:German city of Aachen offers iodine tablets amid nuclear fears
According to the police, the woman was involved in a scheme to rig card games. One of the players would carry a detector under their clothing enabling them to identify certain cards. Police said they were investigating how much the fraudsters might have netted.
Reports suggest that the raided restaurant did not have a gambling license.
The 41-year-old suspect from Berlin’s Marzahn-Hellersdorf district remains under investigation, and could face a fine and up to five years in prison.
Authorities played down the risk of any damaging health effects to those who came in contact with the cards. Even from half a meter away, the dose of radiation on the card could no longer be detected.
However, two local Berlin government agencies said that they had taken precautions by shutting the restaurant and contracting a specialist renovation company to have it cleaned.
Nuclear Hotseat notes for 22 Feb 2017 Iodine 131 in Europe, the evidence!
,,,,,,,,“In November 2011, for example, iodine-131 had been detected in air in several European countries and the survey4 had led to the rejection of iodine-131 from a radioisotope production institute in Budapest ( Hungary). Measurements carried out by the CRIIRAD laboratory in November 2011 confirmed a significant contamination of the vegetation with iodine-131 and iodine-125 in Budapest, several kilometers from this nuclear site.”,,,,,,,,,
Criirad file on the January 2017 release in French concerning Halden nuclear research reactor in Norways September 2016 radioactive Iodine release (use Google translate); http://balises.criirad.org/pdf/CP%20%20CRIIRAD%20170214%20%20I131%20Europe.pdf
,,,,,,,,Eurdep radiation mapping mostly gets switched of when there is an unintended release. This is done by the IAEA to protect the nuclear industry and have it seem in a better light.,,,,,,,, https://europeannewsweekly.wordpress.com/2017/02/21/nunclear-hotseat-notes-for-22-feb-2017-iodine-131-in-europe-the-evidence/
Italian case about stolen medicine affects Denmark
21 stolen packages of medicine from Italy have probably been sold on the Danish and German markets. The Danish Health and Medicines Authority has asked the company to recall the medicine (the batch).
The stolen packages contain the medicinal product Abilify®, oral solution, 1 mg/ml, which is used for the treatment of schizophrenia and mania. Up to 21 of the packages have been repacked by the company EuroPharmaDK and then sold on the Danish and German markets.
Stolen medicinal products are by definition falsified – even if they are manufactured in the right way – because they have been distributed outside the legal distribution chain. Consequently, we have asked the company to recall any unsold packages of the medicinal product (the batch) from pharmacies.
In connection with its control during the repackaging, EuroPharmaDK found no signs that the contents of the stolen medicine packages have been manipulated. The medicinal product is very stable and there are no special storage requirements. Against this background, we assess that the quality of the medicinal product has not been affected. We recommend that patients in treatment with Abilify oral solution from EuroPharmaDK continue the treatment.
Italian case about stolen medicinal products
The case about stolen medicinal products was first mentioned on our website in April 2014; at that time the case was about cancer medicine.
As the investigation progressed, it was found that the case also involved other types of medicine that were not sold in Denmark. The case is still being investigated in Italy in collaboration with other European authorities. A number of illegal companies have distributed the stolen medicinal products in the legal distribution chain in Europe.
We follow the situation closely and cooperate with other European drug regulatory authorities. When we get new information about the stolen medicine, we will investigate whether the medicine has been distributed to Danish pharmacies or consumers.
Stolen from hospitals in Italy
The medicine was stolen from hospitals and during transportation in Italy. Illegal companies using false authorisations in several European countries then sold the medicine in the legal distribution chain. After having been sold in the legal distribution chain again, the medicine could potentially have been distributed between several authorised wholesalers, all of which have bought the products in good faith just like EuroPharmaDK.
At present, no Danish companies have traded directly with the illegal companies.
So far the investigation in Italy has revealed that the following illegal companies have distributed medicines without holding a valid authorisation:
1. CARNELA LIMITED str. Michalaki Karaoli 8, Nicosia, Cyprus, VAT CY10308068X
2. ABLE POWER INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS str. Podmaniczky Utca 57. 2/14, Budapest, Hungary
3. AVIMAX HEALTH AND TRADE KFT Fòti U. 4 Szàm, HU-2161 Csomàd, Hungary, VAT HU24206028
4. MARS DISTRIBUTIONS KFT Tompa M. Utca 9, HU-8360 Keszthely, Hungary, VAT HU11779074
5. EURORIGA MED Import Export – str. Akademika Mstislava Keldisa Iela 12-158, Riga, Latvia, VAT LV40103517211
6. LATVAMED INTERNATIONAL Imp. Exp – str. Akademika Mstislava Keldisa Iela 12-158, Riga, Latvia, VAT LV40103572887
7. PERSONAL COMMODITY RINGSIDE Municipiul Arad, str.Tribunal Dobra n.18 Judet Arad, Romania, Fiscal code RO31031066 dated 19.12.2012
8. ZEAPHARMA S.R.L , Municipiul Targu Jiu, Victoriei, bloc196, scara 3, etaj 2, ap. 10, Judetul GORJ, Romania (note: Zeapharma is authorised as pharmacy, not as wholesaler)
9. EXIMP AZ – sro, Bratislava, Slovak Republic
10. PIRAMID D.O.O Brniceva Ulica 31, 1231 Ljubljana, Slovenia, VAT 61869937
11. TAIN D.O.O Nova Gorica, str. Kridiceva Ulica n.19, Slovenia, VAT 76488632
12. HILDONS, Feidiou 3, Thessaloniki Greece, VAT number EL 800528668
The below companies holding a valid authorisation have traded directly with the non-authorised companies and then distributed the medicine to a number of European countries:
1. FARMA GLOBAL SNC Via Boscofangone Snc, 80035 Nola, Napoli, VAT 06474151211
2. FARMACEUTICA INTERNAZIONALE SRL Via Dell’industria Snc, 83030 Pietradefusi, Avellino, VAT 02715470643
3. FARMACIA COZZOLINO DI MARIO & CIRO S.N.C. – Corso Italia 15, 80056 Ercolano, Napoli, VAT 02778921219
4. FARMACIA DELLA ROCCA Via Sottotenente Ernesto Cirillo 207, 80041 Boscoreale, Napoli, VAT 06345681214
5. PHARMA-TRADE SPA, Via Roma,12 (Operative site: Via S.Abbondio, 158), 80045 Pompei (NA), VAT 07034161211
6. PHARMASEA Ltd. 11, Dingli Street, Sliema, Malta
The purpose of the further investigation is to unravel the supplier chain following these wholesalers.
https://laegemiddelstyrelsen.dk/en/news/2014/italian-case-about-stolen-medicine-affects-denmark/
Fukui Governor OK to Restart Kansai Electric’s Oi Nuclear Plant Reactors N°3 & N°4
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Fukushima Cover-Up and Denial
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