TEPCO claims that radioactive substances now responsibility of landowners, not TEPCO
TEPCO: Radioactive substances belong to landowners, not us, By TOMOHIRO IWATA / Asahi Shimbun Weekly AERA, 24 Nov During court proceedings concerning a radioactive golf course, Tokyo Electric Power Co. stunned lawyers by saying the utility was not responsible for decontamination because it no longer “owned” the radioactive substances.
“Radioactive materials (such as cesium) that scattered and fell from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant belong to individual landowners there, not TEPCO,” the utility said. Continue reading
Australia breaking international law if selling uranium to India
PLANS to sell uranium to India could hit a legal snag because of an anti-nuclear treaty Australia helped create. Herald Sun, 29 Nov 11Australian National University treaty law expert Don Rothwell says the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone treaty, known as the Rarotonga treaty, stops Australia trading the nuclear material with India.
Prof Rothwell, who questioned the legality of the Malaysian solution before it was rejected by the High Court, has provided advice to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.
“If India does not agree to Article III.1 Non-Proliferation Treaty safeguards and Australia were to export uranium to India, Australia would be in violation of its Treaty of Rarotonga obligations,” the legal advice says.
This could lead to a challenge from other countries that are part of the treaty.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard wants the ALP to agree to change its platform to allow sales of uranium to India, which she has said would create jobs in Australia and would still have safeguards attached.
A vote will be put to members at the party’s national conference this weekend.
The Coalition already has a policy to allow uranium sales to India.
Tim Wright, the Australian director of ICAN, said the Prime Minister had failed to consult her lawyers. “Not only is the sale of uranium to India illegal, it is also highly dangerous given that India is rapidly bolstering its nuclear forces,” Mr Wright said….http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/rarotonga-treaty-may-prevent-sale-of-uranium-to-india/story-fn7x8me2-1226208772517
The struggle drags on – for justice for UK’s nuclear test veterans
Last year, the Court of Appeal ruled that a group of more than 1,000 veterans’ claims against the Ministry of Defence over illnesses including various cancers and infertility were “statute-barred” because they had been made too late.
“Thousands of people want a court to consider whether their health, and that of their unborn children, was damaged by attending the detonation of nuclear bombs but your government – the latest in a long line of administrations of every political party to do so – is spending millions of taxpayers’ money to deny us this right.
“Your government has enshrined the Military Covenant to honour the sacrifices of all our veterans but we survivors of the nuclear tests are still being denied a fair hearing.”
Christmas Island veterans’ court struggle carries on, Nov 24 2011 by Lynn Jolly, Paisley Daily Express A DETERMINED nuclear testing campaigner has written to the Prime Minister in a bid to highlight the plight of 22,000 men who were forced to watch atomic bomb blasts. Thousands of soldiers claim they were used as guinea pigs on Christmas Island, in the Pacific Ocean, half a century ago as Britain and America carried out a series of nuclear tests.
These include Johnstone man Ken McGinley, 72, who went to Christmas Island as a young sapper with the Royal Engineers and remembers – at the age of just 19 – seeing the bones through his skin as he raised his hands to protect his eyes from the dazzling glare of the test blast. Continue reading
Uranium spill ship leaves Vancouver, as legal wrangles continue
North Vancouver bids adieu to uranium ship By James Weldon, North Shore News November 22, 2011 A boat that sparked concern among some residents of North Vancouver’s waterfront for its connection to a radioactive spill has left its anchorage in Indian Arm………
The Altona became contaminated in the final week of 2010 when an unspecified amount of powdered uranium concentrate — commonly called yellow cake — spilled out of toppled containers and into the hold when the ship hit rough seas en route to China.
The boat returned to Port Metro Vancouver for cleanup, a process that took weeks because of the chemical’s radioactivity and toxicity. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and Transport Canada declared the Altona clean and safe in early May, at which point it was moved to Indian Arm while the legal battles got underway.
The owner of the cargo, Saskatchewan’s Cameco Corporation, claimed the ship’s owners were responsible for the mishap, which Cameco said cost it close to $20 million. Facing the potentially costly lawsuit, the ship’s owners — a company called MS MCP Altona GMBH — went bankrupt, and the ship was put up for sale. That sale is now being finalized, according to the port.
Undeterred, Cameco went after other associated companies and companies involved in loading the cargo to get its money back. The case was expected to take some time to resolve. Proceeds from the sale of the Altona will go to the defunct owner’s creditors. It remains to be seen how much, if any, of that money will go to Cameco.http://www.vancouversun.com/North+Vancouver+bids+adieu+uranium+ship/5749809/story.html
India: High Court upholds rights of anti nuclear activists
Don’t restrain anti-nuclear activists: HC Times of India, Rosy Sequeira, TNN | Nov 15, 2011, MUMBAI: In a victory for anti-Jaitapur nuclear plant activists who claimed their fundamental rights to speech and movement were being trampled upon, the Bombay high court directed the state government not to restrain them from entering Ratnagiri district. Continue reading
Nuclear bomb test veterans take their case to UK’s highest court
Bomb-test veterans go to top court, Google News, 13 Nov 11 Ex-servicemen who say they were made ill as a result of being exposed to radiation during British nuclear weapons tests in the 1950s are to begin the latest stage of their battle for compensation.
Veterans will argue for their right to claim damages from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) at the Supreme Court in London – the UK’s highest court. Continue reading
Legal actions against oil companies on effects of global warming?
Playing the climate blame game, New Scientist 11 November 2011 by Fred Pearce A claim that global warming caused the 2010 Russian heatwave could bring closer the day when climate victims can sue oil firms Editorial: ”Climate blame: send for the lawyers“ BLAMING climate change for extreme weather events, like the 2010 heatwave that set the Moscow region of Russia alight in 2010 or the floods that have ravaged the UK since the 1970s (see “Atmospheric rivers cause the UK’s worst floods“), is one of the hottest topics in climate science. The Russian fires are currently the subject of debate, and the stakes are high. Solving the issue could bring closer the day when disaster victims can successfully sue oil and coal companies. Continue reading
Environmental groups to tale legal action, if NRC approves Westinghouse nuclear reactor design
Environmental group raises new objections to AP1000 reactor Charlotte Business Journal by John Downey, Senior Staff Writer, November 10, 2011 Environmental groups opposed toWestinghouse ’s AP1000 nuclear reactor contend the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has no authority to approve the reactor’s design until it considers design changes recommended by the Fukushima Task Force on lessons learned from the Japanese nuclear accident.
John Runkle, an environmental lawyer from Chapel Hill, says the AP1000 Oversight Group is prepared to go to court to attempt to block certification of the design if, as expected, the commission goes ahead with approval. Continue reading
Brakes put on Colorado uranium mining
in the rush to develop this infamous resource (again), there was a rare moment of rationality two weeks ago when a federal judge ordered DOE officials to halt permits for exploring and mining in Colorado. U.S. District Judge William Martinez said the agency “acted arbitrarily and capriciously in failing to analyze site-specific impacts” on the people and places in the path of the mining boom. He said the DOE violated environmental laws, including the Endangered Species Act, by failing to consult U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service scientists about the potential impacts of the extractions.
In the rush for uranium, cooler heads prevail — for now High Country News, By Heather Hansen, Red Lodge Clearing House, 4 Nov 11 Greens got what seemed like a rare bit of good news when the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) last week released their Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Northern Arizona Proposed Withdrawal. The report looks at the potential impacts of removing federal lands near the Grand Canyon from mining consideration for the next two decades. Continue reading
UK judge rules in favour of nuclear waste dump, rejects local opposition
Kings Cliffe campaigners lose nuclear waste legal battle, The Peterborough Evening Telegraph., By Ken McErlain 3 November 2011 A decision to dump low-level nuclear waste by a village near Peterborough was upheld today
More than 50 people from Kings Cliffe travelled to the High Court in London hoping to overturn a Government decision to allow Augean to dump radioactive waste at its East Northants Resource Management Facility, in Stamford Road, King’s Cliffe.
But Deputy Judge Stewart QC upheld the decision to allow Augean to use half of the site for dumping waste up until August 2013. The judge also refused to give the campaigners permission to appeal.
Villagers had voiced fears about the environmental impact of the decision and were concerned that Augean would look to expand the site’s operation for hazardous and nuclear wastes until 2026 by using the other half of the site. Campaigners against the plans, who raised £30,000 to mount the legal challenge, said they are now considering their next move.
Campaigner Clare Langan, who travelled to London for the hearing, said: “We were very upset and disappointed to hear the verdict.“We will be meeting with our barristers in the coming weeks to see what options are available to us.”… http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/et-business/business-news/kings_cliffe_campaigners_lose_nuclear_waste_legal_battle_1_3212591
Wikileaks’ Julian Assange lost his appeal against extradition to Sweden
Assange Loses Appeal, New Matilda.com , By Paul Farrell, 3 Nov 11 The UK High Court has rejected all four grounds in Julian Assange’s appeal against extradition to Sweden. Paul Farrell reports from the media circus in London on the reasons for the decision Continue reading
Public interest litigation in India questions nuclear power program
Petition filed against nuclear liability Act, THE HINDU, J. VENKATESAN, 15 Oct 11, Petitioners seek safety reassessment and cost-benefit analysis of all nuclear facilities A public interest litigation petition has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010, that indemnifies nuclear manufacturers/suppliers and caps the financial liability of operators. Continue reading UK Coroner to fully investigate radiation murder of Alexander Litvinenko
Marina Litvinenko, Mr. Litvinenko’s widow, said the inquiry would include “an investigation into the involvement of the Russian state in his murder, which is exactly what I want.”
Britain Agrees to New Inquiry Into Poisoning Death of a Former K.G.B. Officer NYT, By ALAN COWELL October 14, 2011 LONDON — A coroner has agreed to open a full inquest into the radiation poisoning of the former K.G.B. officer Alexander V. Litvinenko, potentially bringing the case before a British legal forum for the first time, opening new seams of information about his death and possibly stirring new tensions with Moscow. Continue reading
Nuclear terrorism in London – the murder of Alexander Litvinenko
Alexander Litvinenko murder was ‘London nuclear terror’, BBC News 13 Oct 11 The murder of Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko was “an act of nuclear terrorism on the streets of London”, a coroner has heard.Mr Litvinenko died in 2006 after he was apparently poisoned with the radioactive substance polonium-210. Ben Emmerson QC said 700 people had to be tested for radioactive poisoning.St Pancras coroner Dr Andrew Reid is holding a pre-inquest review where he will decide whether he or a top judge should hear the inquest into the death.
‘Grave suspicion’ Mr Emmerson, representing Mr Litvinenko’s family, said a number of locations were closed for several months as health agencies tried to contain the risk of contamination. He told the hearing at St Pancras coroner’s court in London that the case gave rise to the “grave suspicion” that Mr Litvinenko’s death was the result of state-directed execution by Russia.
British authorities had abandoned the search for truth in order to maintain trade relations with the Russian government, he added. The prime suspect for Mr Litvinenko’s death is ex-KGB officer Andrei Lugovoi who was represented in court. His legal team says he denies any involvement.The family of former Russian spy Mr Litvinenko has called for a senior High Court judge to be appointed to conduct the inquest. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15293395
Shroud of secrecy over USA nuclear loan guarantee program
Nuclear Secrecy – Plant Vogtle Federal Loan Guarantee History Clean Energy.org October 13th, 2011 Sara Barczak After more than a year and a half of stonewalling by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) continues to press ahead with our Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation so that U.S. taxpayers can learn the full extent of the risks to which they are exposed in the massive commitment of$8.33 billion in conditional federal loan guarantees to Southern Company and their utility partners for two proposed new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle in Georgia. Continue reading 1 This Month
26 September – International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
PLEASE OPPOSE HR 8255 AND S.3639 – bills would accelerate satellite deployment, with no environmental review or safeguards – https://ncstd5li.quorum.us/campaign/169331/
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
-
Archives
- September 2026 (233)
- August 2026 (330)
- July 2026 (355)
- June 2026 (287)
- May 2026 (306)
- April 2026 (356)
- March 2026 (251)
- February 2026 (267)
- January 2026 (308)
- December 2025 (358)
- November 2025 (359)
- October 2025 (375)
-
Categories
- 1
- 1 NUCLEAR ISSUES
- business and costs
- climate change
- culture and arts
- ENERGY
- environment
- health
- history
- indigenous issues
- Legal
- marketing of nuclear
- media
- opposition to nuclear
- PERSONAL STORIES
- politics
- politics international
- Religion and ethics
- safety
- secrets,lies and civil liberties
- spinbuster
- technology
- Uranium
- wastes
- weapons and war
- Women
- 2 WORLD
- ACTION
- AFRICA
- Atrocities
- AUSTRALIA
- Christina's notes
- Christina's themes
- culture and arts
- Events
- Fuk 2022
- Fuk 2023
- Fukushima 2017
- Fukushima 2018
- fukushima 2019
- Fukushima 2020
- Fukushima 2021
- general
- global warming
- Humour (God we need it)
- Nuclear
- RARE EARTHS
- Reference
- resources – print
- Resources -audiovicual
- Weekly Newsletter
- World
- World Nuclear
- YouTube
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
nuclear-news 