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Syria pledges to cooperate with UN on matters nuclear

Syria says it will cooperate on nuclear probe but US pushes for UN referral  The Washington Post 29 May  11,  NEW YORK — In a major turnaround, Syria is pledging full cooperation with U.N. attempts to probe strong evidence that it secretly built a reactor that could have been used to make nuclear arms, according to a confidential document shared with The Associated Press on Sunday.

If Syria fulfills its promise, the move would end three years of stonewalling by Damascus of the International Atomic Energy. Since 2008, the agency has tried in vain to follow up on strong evidence that a target bombed in 2007 by Israeli warplanes was a nearly built nuclear reactor that would have produced plutonium once active……AP Exclusive: Syria says it will cooperate on nuclear probe but US pushes for UN referral – The Washington Post

May 30, 2011 Posted by | politics international, Syria | Leave a comment

G-8 wants nuclear safety standards, (but only voluntary ones!)

 binding standards will be an unacceptable constraint on the sovereignty of a growing number of countries that want to develop nuclear energy.

G-8 Affirms Need For Tightest Nuclear Safety, But Won’t Be Bound, FoxBusiness.com, By George Nishiyama and Geoffrey T. Smith   May 26, 2011| Dow Jones Newswires  DEAUVILLE, France – – Leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized countries Thursday affirmed the need to raise safety standards in nuclear energy after the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan triggered the world’s worst nuclear crisis since the 1986 Chernobyl accident. Continue reading →

May 27, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, politics international | Leave a comment

Germany wants global nuclear safety tests

Germany also wanted to become a model to the rest of the world on climate protection and producing green power.

“We want to reach the era of renewable energy more quickly,” she told the Bundestag.

Merkel calls for global nuclear reactor tests  The Local,  26 May 11 Chancellor Angela Merkel called on the rest of the world to carry out atomic reactor “stress tests” and demanded the G8 take a leading role in nuclear security on Thursday, ahead of a meeting of the group of leading nations.
As Merkel prepares for a Group of Eight summit in Deauville, France, on Thursday and Friday, she told the German parliament that such nuclear plant checks needed to extend beyond Germany and the European Union. Continue reading →

May 27, 2011 Posted by | Germany, politics international | Leave a comment

Russia touts nuclear industry – and wants mandatory safety rules

Russia Urges Mandatory Nuclear Safety Rules After Japan Accident,  Bloomberg, By Henry Meyer – May 26, 2011 Russia called for nuclear safety rules to be tightened and made mandatory at an international level after the accident at Japan’s Fukushima atomic plant.

“There is no alternative but to strengthen these rules,” Nikolai Spassky, deputy head of Russia’s Rosatom Corp. holding, told reporters today during the Group of Eight summit in Deauville, France. “All countries which are developing a nuclear industry have to recognize this……Russia Urges Mandatory Nuclear Safety Rules After Japan Accident – Bloomberg

May 27, 2011 Posted by | politics international, Russia | Leave a comment

Nuclear power and unstable Middle east regimes

Nuclear Power and Unstable Regimes  Council on Foreign Relations, Jonathon Pearl 23 May 11,  “………However, many of the same regimes that have signed some form of nuclear agreement with a foreign supplier (eg, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Bahrain) have already been toppled or face serious domestic threats to regime survival. Other states in the region such as Jordan and Saudi Arabia, which are relatively more stable, have witnessed their share of domestic protests and are increasingly concerned about their future. Continue reading →

May 24, 2011 Posted by | MIDDLE EAST, politics international | Leave a comment

Massive radioactive wastes for Malaysia, from Australian company Lynas

  • the space for underground wastes storage cells is very limited due to the groundwater being extremely close to the surface;
  • the ground is susceptible to subsidence as it is a former peat swamp area;

Lynas plant rushed ahead before radiation study malaysiaKini 23 May 11SM Mohamed Idris, president of Consumers Association of Penang and Sahabat Alam Malaysia
— The Lynas plant in Kuantan is unravelling into a nightmare. The lanthamide concentrates (rare earths) from Australia that Lynas will import into Malaysia contain thorium AND uranium, which suggests the processing in Kuantan will produce massive amount of radioactive wastes. Continue reading →

May 24, 2011 Posted by | ASIA, AUSTRALIA, politics international | 1 Comment

Nuclear lobbies fight to weaken Europe’s planned nuclear safety rules

EU nuclear safety testing row in meltdown, Google News, By Roddy Thomson (AFP) – 13 may 11, BRUSSELS — Fractious talks on testing the safety of European nuclear reactors broke down Thursday as calls to include terror attacks and other man-made disasters in the tests faced resistance from powerful nuclear lobbies in London and Paris. Continue reading →

May 13, 2011 Posted by | EUROPE, politics international | Leave a comment

Worried about their nuclear export sales, Russia promotes safety

Vast commercial interests are tied up in the continued adoption of nuclear power and development of reactors, particularly in emerging markets, which are the primary customers of Russia’s nuclear exports….Some of that market is already drying up (at left, Sergei Kiriyenko, Russia’s top nuclear salesman)

Russia Proposes Stricter Rules for Nuclear Safety, New York Times, By ANDREW E. KRAMER,  April 28, 2011, MOSCOW —”…..Russian officials have announced details of what is emerging as their main response to the disaster in Japan: a proposal to create an international regulatory framework for nuclear power….. Continue reading →

April 29, 2011 Posted by | politics international, Russia | Leave a comment

Europe having a big rethink about nuclear power

The March accident at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has rekindled a long simmering debate in Europe over whether nuclear power – with its expense, its waste and especially its risk – is worth it…..”The first lesson that Europe should learn from the Fukushima accident is the fact that safe nuclear does not exist and that an accident can happen everywhere around the world – on any reactor.”

Europe’s Nuclear Debate at Forefront After Japan Disaster, Voice of America,|Lisa Bryant | Paris April 14, 2011 European concerns about the safety of nuclear power were notched up this week after Japan raised its assessment of the crisis at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to the highest level….. Continue reading →

April 15, 2011 Posted by | EUROPE, politics international | Leave a comment

Two Koreas may meet for nuclear negotiations

Chief Nuclear Negotiators from Both Koreas ‘May Meet, The Chosun Ilbo , 12 April 11, ‘South Korea is likely to accept a proposal from China for a three-stage process to revive the stalled six-party talks that would start with an inter-Korean meeting between chief nuclear negotiators as a lead up to North Korea-U.S. talks and the resumption of six-party talks. Continue reading →

April 13, 2011 Posted by | North Korea, politics international, South Korea | Leave a comment

Britain has world’s biggest pile of plutonium and now Japan won’t buy it

Chubu Electric and nine other Japanese power companies have also indicated that because of long-term production problems that have dogged the SMP, they will not now be taking any reprocessed fuel from Britain until at least the end of the decade – nearly 20 years after the plant was opened to serve the Japanese market.

Government’s doomed £6bn plan to dispose of nuclear waste, The Independent, 11 April 11, One month after the Japanese tsunami, the world’s biggest reserve of plutonium waste is reaching crisis point. It was meant to be reprocessed and sold – but now no nation will take it. So where is this vast stockpile? Not Fukushima, but Sellafield, CumbriaBy Steve Connor, Science Editor The nuclear crisis in Japan threatens a carefully choreographed UK Government plan to tackle the world’s biggest mountain of plutonium waste stored at the Sellafield site in Cumbria. Continue reading →

April 11, 2011 Posted by | - plutonium, politics international, UK | Leave a comment

Warning against Russia’s plan to develop nuclear power in Bulgaria

Bulgaria: Russia-Backed Nuclear Project in Bulgaria ‘Pig in a Poke’ – Novinite.com – Sofia News Agency, 11 April 11, The plans for a new Russia-backed nuclear plant in northern Bulgaria aim to help Moscow lay its hands on the energy market, impose a monopoly on the prices and keep them high, a right-wing leader has said.”We are now buying a pig in a poke, which is flying on a Russian plane,” Ivan Kostov, former prime minister and leader of the Democrats for Strong Bulgaria, told Nova TV broadcast on Sunday….
Kostov says boosting the capacity of renewable energy sources is the answer. Continue reading →

April 11, 2011 Posted by | Bulgaria, politics international | Leave a comment

India’s Nuclear Liability Law has new relevance, as Fukushima disaster unfolds

The Obama administration is keen to see the Indian liability law changed, warning that any supplier burden could jeopardize investment gains teed up by the U.S.-India civil nuclear pact in 2005, but the Japanese crisis stands to throw a wrench in that effort…..Should the prospect of nuclear suppliers and operators battling in court over any Indian safety lapse dissuade U.S. companies from entering that country’s market, it would compound the financial blow already expected within the industry as a result of the Fukushima crisis

Japan Disaster Refuels Liability Debate in U.S.-India Nuclear Pact,  NYTimes.com, By ELANA SCHOR   March 25, 2011 Nuclear-powered nations are taking a hard look at safety in the wake of Japan’s struggle to stave off a meltdown. But as the thorny question of liability emerges, a push to reassess who pays for post-disaster rebuilding could flare up in India — where the United States hopes to gain from a nascent nuclear boom Continue reading →

March 26, 2011 Posted by | India, politics international | Leave a comment

US-India nuclear agreement locks India into subordinate role

The WikiLeaks disclosures don’t bring out any new facts. Many of them had been raised earlier,  ………particularly on the Indo-US nuclear agreement…..That the civilian nuclear accord was merely a ruse to seal a strategic partnership and interlock a proud, independent nation into a subordinate relationship is established by these revelations…….The US government has admitted the cables are genuine

Nuclear deal was ruse to subordinate India to the US, DNA Mar 25, 2011,  By Nilotpal Basu | Mumbai The stream of almost unending revelations that comes out everyday punctures the credibility of the Manmohan Singh government.

Continue reading →

March 26, 2011 Posted by | India, politics international | Leave a comment

Lithuania against Russian nuclear projects near its border

The Japanese situation has generated anxiety in Europe over existing and future nuclear plants, and the new nuclear project in Belarus is no exception. This project is particularly concerning to Lithuania because the proposed site for the nuclear plant is Astraviec, a Belarusian town 23 kilometers (14 miles) from the Lithuanian border and just 50 kilometers from the capital of Vilnius…..

Lithuania Agitates Against Russian Nuclear Projects Mar. 24 2011  Forbes,by STRATFOR, Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius said Tuesday that Lithuania is considering asking the European Union to impose restrictions on electricity trading by third parties that generate electric power without complying with nuclear safety requirements. Continue reading →

March 26, 2011 Posted by | EUROPE, politics international | Leave a comment

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