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Open pit uranium mine fire in Namibia

exclamation-SmFire at Namibia’s Rossing Uranium plant A fire has broken out at the product recovery plant of the Rio Tinto-owned Rossing Uranium mine in Namibia, the company confirmed on Friday. The Citizen, 13 Feb 15  “The origin and cause of the fire and possible damage to equipment or the final product recovery (FPR) building is currently being assessed,” the mine said in a statement on its website according to a Sapa correspondent. The mine is situated in the central Namib Desert, 60 kilometres east of the coastal tourism town of Swakopmund.

The fire broke out around midday on Thursday in the FPR plant of the open pit mine, where drums are filled with processed uranium, also called “yellow cake”.

Emergency response teams brought the fire under control…….The German language newspaper Allgemeine Zeitung reported that members of the fire brigade had to hand in their protective clothing to mining officials after the fire was extinguished and had to undergo urine tests……http://citizen.co.za/326132/fire-namibias-rossing-uranium-plant/

February 14, 2015 Posted by | incidents, Namibia | Leave a comment

Los Alamos scientist had plan to build nuclear weapons, and to bomb New York

exclamation-Flag-USAUS nuclear scientist secretly taped by FBI claiming he could bomb New York , Guardian, 29 Jan 15  Los Alamos scientist Pedro Leonardo Mascheroni jailed for five years after also offering to build nuclear weapons for Venezuela A disgruntled, former Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist promised to build 40 nuclear weapons for Venezuela and design a bomb targeted for New York City in exchange for “money and power,” according to secret FBI recordings released Wednesday.

In the recordings, Pedro Leonardo Mascheroni tells an agent posing as a Venezuelan official that the bombs would prevent the United States from invading the oil-rich nation and brags to his wife that the passing of secrets would make him wealthy.

“I’m going to be the boss with money and power,” the naturalized US citizen from Argentina is heard saying. “I’m not an American anymore. This is it.”

Mascheroni said his New York bomb wouldn’t kill anyone but would disable the city’s electrical system and help Venezuela become a nuclear superpower. It was not known how realistic his New York bombing idea was.

But he suggested that once Venezuela obtained a bomb, the country should explode it “to let the world know what we’ve got,” according to the recordings….The US government did not allege Venezuela sought US secrets…..http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jan/29/us-nuclear-scientist-secretly-taped-by-fbi-claiming-he-could-bomb-new-york

January 30, 2015 Posted by | incidents, USA | Leave a comment

Fatal accidents cause TEPCO to suspend decommissioning at Fukushima No. 1 power plant

Tepco suspends Fukushima No. 1 cleanup to probe fatal accidents Japan Times STAFF WRITER JAN 23, 2015 Tokyo Electric Power Co. has said it will suspend decommissioning work at the wrecked Fukushima No. 1 power plant until it completes safety checks related to two fatal accidents at its facilities in the prefecture this week……http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/01/23/national/tepco-suspends-fukushima-no-1-cleanup-to-probe-fatal-accidents/#.VMWMHtKUcnm

January 26, 2015 Posted by | incidents, Japan | Leave a comment

When a B-52 crashed due to turbulence – carrying 2 nuclear bombs!

the weapons are found. Not entirely safe, but “…relatively intact…” according to the Air Force. It’s a scary sounding moderation to describe radioactive A-bombs lying around in the woods of the Eastern U.S. unattended.

[Read also: On this day in 1968 a B-52 crashed in Greenland with 4 hydrogen bombs]

exclamation- The nuclear nightmare of Savage Mountain: when a B-52 crashed due to turbulence. With two nukes, The Aviationist, Jan 15 2015 By Tom Demerly

This is true. And it’s terrifying. It reads like an Ian Fleming or Tom Clancy thriller. But it’s real. Continue reading →

January 16, 2015 Posted by | history, incidents, weapons and war | Leave a comment

France’s government on high alert due to UFO’s over nuclear facilities

UFOs spotted over nuclear plants in France and Belgium Open Minds Alejandro Rojas January 15, 2015  
The French government is on high alert due to a large amount of UFO sightings over nuclear power plants since October, 2014. The latest sighting in France was just last week, and witnesses in Belgium spotted one in December. Most media outlets suspect that the objects are drones, but not all of the witnesses are convinced. If they are drones, the authorities say they do not know who they belong to. According to Austrian news site ORF.at, there were 18 separate occasions UFOs were seen flying over nuclear power plants in France between early October and early November. They say authorities suspect it is the coordinated effort of an unknown group.

ORF.at says the sightings have sparked a debate over nuclear power plant security. Greenpeace has accused the French government of downplaying the danger of these unknown over flights.

The latest incident was announced on January 3, 2015. The nuclear power plant in Nogent-sur-Seine, southeast of Paris, says two security guards saw “two flying objects.” In late December, an object flew over a nuclear power plant in Belgium. The power plant is in Doel, about 10 miles from Antwerp. The news site Spiegel Online, says that plant had been shut down four months ago reportedly due to sabotage. No further details have been released.

According to Speigel Online, Greenpeace again raised concerns that the plants “are not adequately protected from attacks by drones.”……….http://www.openminds.tv/ufos-spotted-nuclear-plants-france-belgium/31709

January 16, 2015 Posted by | France, incidents | 1 Comment

More worrying flights by drones, near France’s nuclear plant

drone-near-nuclear-plantCatch me if you can: More drones break into France’s nuclear air space Rt January 04, 2015  Two aircraft – presumably drones – were spotted flying over a French nuclear power plant on Saturday. The incident happened amid the country’s efforts aimed at detecting and intercepting such flying objects above nuclear facilities.

The latest intrusion happened at a nuclear power plant in Nogent-sur-Seine in north-central France, AFP reported on Sunday.”Around 6:40 p.m., site safety officers observed two flying objects that flew over the land reserve located on the perimeter of the nuclear plant,” a spokesman for the power station told AFP. The objects were believed to be drones, and the gendarmerie has been alerted………Drones that breach the highly-guarded plants’ area could potentially be used for gathering information that might pose a security threat: the unmanned flying objects can take pictures of film the nuclear facilities, collecting information, or even drop explosives to damage power or communications networks. http://rt.com/news/219775-france-drones-nuclear-plant/

January 5, 2015 Posted by | France, incidents | Leave a comment

Oil leaking into Lake Michigan from Cook Nuclear Plant in Bridgman

Cook Nuclear Plant in Bridgman has been leaking oil into Lake Michigan. MLive By Julie Mack | jmack1@mlive.com on January 04, 2015 BRIDGMAN, MI — Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant in Bridgman has leaked an estimated 2,000 gallons of oil into Lake Michigan since Oct. 25, according to an event notification posted on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission website.

Plant officials notified the NRC, plus state and local officials, on Dec. 20 about the leak, which is from the Unit 2 main turbine lube oil cooler. …….

It wasn’t until Dec. 16 that it was determined a leak might exist and on Dec. 19, it was traced to one of four heat-exchange tanks, where hot oil runs through hundreds of tubes and is cooled by lake water in the tank……

The estimate of 2,000 gallons of oil leakage overall is based on a calculation that the leak began Oct. 26…..

In August, plant officials issued a report that 8,700 gallons of diesel fuel were suspected to have been released from a buried fuel oil tank, but later said there was no leak and the report resulted from “instrumentation error.”

The plant is located near Bridgman, 11 miles south of St. Joseph along the Lake Michigan shoreline. Unit 2 went into operation in 1978.

The plant is owned by American Electric Power and operated by Indiana Michigan Power, an AEP subsidiary.

Julie Mack covers K-12 education and writes a column for Kalamazoo Gazette. Email her at jmack1@mlive.com, call her at 269-350-0277 or follow her on Twitter at @kzjuliemack. http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2015/01/cook_nuclear_plant_in_bridgman.html

January 5, 2015 Posted by | incidents, USA | Leave a comment

Computer worm uploaded into South Korean Nuclear Plants

computer-worm-nukeflag-S-KoreaHackers Uploaded a Worm to South Korean Nuclear Plants  Adam Clark Estes  http://gizmodo.com/hackers-uploaded-a-worm-to-south-korean-nuclear-plants-1676378891  30 Dec 14 Here’s a scary thing that happened: South Korean authorities found evidence that a worm was recently removed from devices connected to nuclear power facilities. The news comes a little over a week after the country’s nuclear plant operator received warnings on Twitter that its network had been compromised. Thankfully, the reactor controls were not infected.

The specific details of the low-risk worm remain unclear. South Korea’s Energy Ministry says that the malware probably ended up on the nuclear power facilities through an unauthorized USB device. The reactor controls of Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP), the state-run utility affected, are not connected to any external networks. However, somewhat surprisingly, Energy Minister Yoon Sang-jick told parliament that the worm was not connected to the other hacking incidents, a claim that “[drew] skepticism from some lawmakers,” according to Reuters. Either way, the worm and them hacks do not reflect well on the state of South Korea’s cybersecurity.

This is an especially worrisome attack in South Korea, since a third of the country’s power comes from nuclear reactors. Authorities have not ruled out the possibility that North Korea is to blame, and KHCP is beefing up its cybersecurity staff from 53 to 70. That still seems like a small number of people to guard 23 nuclear reactors, huh? [Reuters]

December 31, 2014 Posted by | incidents, South Korea | Leave a comment

Three South Korean workers died after accident at nuclear plant construction site

South Korea workers die at nuclear plant site, Sky News 27 Dec 14  Three South Korean workers have died after apparently inhaling toxic gas at a construction site for a nuclear plant being built by South Korea’s monopoly nuclear power company, which has come under recent threats by hackers.

The accident at the construction site in the southeastern city of Ulsan came as the state-run Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co was on high alert over a series of threats by hackers who claim they can disable the control systems of its plants.

http://www.skynews.com.au/news/world/asiapacific/2014/12/27/south-korea-workers-die-at-nuclear-plant-site.html#sthash.ZUm6GETo.dpuf

December 27, 2014 Posted by | incidents, South Korea | Leave a comment

South Korea wants China’s help to investigate hacking attempts on nuclear power company

flag-S-KoreaKorea calls on China for help following hack attempt on nuclear power company IP address used in the hack traced to city on China-North Korea border. Ars Technica by  – Dec 24 2014

Last week, Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power, which runs South Korea’s 23 nuclear plants, suffered a security breach in which personnel records, public health monitoring data, and reactor designs were obtained from the company’s systems and posted online. The attacker, which linked to the materials on an anti-nuclear activist site, also threatened to release further information unless three of the company’s plants were shut down by tomorrow.

Now, Korean investigators have identified a Chinese IP address as the source of the attacks and are asking the Chinese government for assistance in the investigation.

According to a report in The Korea Times, the attacks were routed through three different VPN service providers in the US, Japan, and Korea. By obtaining these records, the initial IP address that launched the attack were traced to the city of Shenyang, which is on the China-North Korea border.An article from Australia’s ABC indicates that this city hosts one end of North Korea’s main Internet connection to the outside world, which was severed earlier this week.

A number of sources confirm that South Korea has asked for China’s assistance in the matter and quote an unnamed official as saying the country isn’t pointing the finger at its neighbor: “There is a possibility that the IP addresses in China are not the final source but used in a routing.” But suspicion isn’t directed at China itself; rather, it’s suspected that North Korean agents were using the Chinese city for their activities……..http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/12/korea-calls-on-china-for-help-following-theft-from-nuclear-power-company/

December 26, 2014 Posted by | incidents, South Korea | Leave a comment

Y-12 nuclear weapons plant has chemical spill, causing evacuation

Chemical spill at Y-12; building evacuated as part of emergency response http://www.knoxnews.com/news/local-news/chemical-spill-reported-at-y12-personnel-evacuated_18047765

Spill has been contained Frank Munger  Dec 16, 2014 OAK RIDGE — Federal spokesman Steven Wyatt confirmed that a chemical spill occurred Tuesday morning inside a building at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant.

The building has been evacuated, but Wyatt could not immediately say how many people had been evacuated. He confirmed that the chemical involved was acetonitrile, a flammable and toxic solvent that can cause respiratory problems if breathed.

Wyatt said the building was the Purification Facility. He said the chemical had been contained in the “affected area.” All employees have been accounted for, with no injuries reported, he said.

The Purification Facility is known to be the facility where Fogbank — a classified substance used in some thermonuclear weapons — is produced. But Wyatt declined to say whether or not the spill was associated with that mission.

December 17, 2014 Posted by | incidents, USA | 4 Comments

Torness nuclear power station needs safety probe: too many faults in UK nuclear reactors

safety-symbol-Smflag-UKCalls for nuclear safety probe over station faults http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/calls-for-nuclear-safety-probe-over-station-faults-1-3634131 14 Dec 14, Torness is one of 15 nuclear power stations across the UK that have been forced to shut down due to faults over the last three years – with campaigners calling for an urgent review into the reliability of nuclear energy.

Analysis for local councils revealed that 15 reactors have had 62 unplanned shut-downs since 2011, with Torness near Dunbar forced to close twice last year due to the build-up of seaweed clogging the plant’s filters.

The research – which was carried out by Edinburgh-based nuclear consultant Pete Roche – found plants hit by a range of faults including cracks and electrical, boiler and valve defects.

And now the 50-strong group of local authorities who commissioned the report are raising fears over safety and the UK’s future energy supply.

Manchester councillor Mark Hackett, who chairs the group, said: “I call upon the UK Government, the National Grid and the nuclear regulators to urgently review the safety issues around such a large number of unplanned shutdowns.

“The Government also has to prioritise alternatives over the next 12 months to ensure the unreliability of nuclear power does not lead to the lights going off around the country.”

Dungeness nuclear power station in Kent had to be shut down 21 times between 2012 and 2014.

December 15, 2014 Posted by | incidents, UK | Leave a comment

In secret project Oak Ridge nuclear workers exposed to radiation

Oak Ridge workers exposed to radiation during secret project, The Tennessean Associated Press OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — A top official at Oak Ridge National Laboratory says at least eight workers received internal radiation while carrying out a classified project earlier this year at the facility.

The Knoxville News Sentinel (http://bit.ly/1xdVbpH) reports that ORNL Deputy Director Jeff Smith confirmed the Aug. 25 incident, which involved an unexpected airborne release of radioactive material…………Smith said some employees at ORNL have jobs in which it’s anticipated they’ll receive some low-level radiation exposures. The lab tries not to have any unplanned radiation exposures, but it’s not unusual for there to be one or maybe two per year, he said.http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/2014/12/14/oak-ridge-workers-exposed-radiation-secret-project/20400333/

December 15, 2014 Posted by | incidents, USA | Leave a comment

Record breaking Radiation detection in Texas Panhandle!

A repost from NukePro:

“Breaking …

Quote: “Update: 12/14/14, 8:06 A.M. – Record breaking Radiation detection in Texas Panhandle!

On the late afternoon of December 4th, a long time running station located in Bolger, Texas, northeast of Amarillo, set off our Alert system, recording readings as high as 25,000 CPM!!! In fact, the radiation levels were well into the 000’s for so many minutes that the software almost could not keep up. ( graph ). For context, he is operating the pancake-tubed Inspector Alert indoors from the second story of his home. His normal baseline background is about 40 CPM.

A storm was rolling through at the time, accompanied by rain, and the Jet Stream map shows its active precipitating fringe directly over the panhandle at the time of the alert – see map below. Wind was from the south. The fact that it was raining set up an opportunity to collect a water sample to confirm that the radiation was related to the storm. So the operator did successive 10 minute average scans of the exact same sample of rainwater to first confirm its radioactive nature, then secondly to measure its radiation level, and thirdly (and of critical importance) to measure the decay rate to to the end of ruling in or out various isotopes of known half life. i.e. the “Poor Man’s Isotope Identifying Test”, using a Geiger counter.

Results: The rainwater was in fact radioactive, starting out around 300 CPM, and its radioactive constituent decayed very rapidly, indicating a half life of a few hours, such that by the following morning, the same rainwater sample measured no more than background.

Conclusions: Because of the short half life, many fission by-products can be ruled out, and so the initial tendency would be to implicate naturally occurring Radon washout. However, we have never seen raw environmental readings of Radon daughters this high – yes, commonly in the 00’s of CPM, even over 1,000 CPM, but never to our knowledge averaging well into the 000’s and in this case, as high as 25,000 CPM.

So the working theory we have now, (if not Radon washout), among the station operator and a few of our members involved in the analysis that evening, is a possible detection of some sort of radioactive release from the Pantex plant located only 25 miles to the southwest. Pantex is involved in the disassembly of nuclear weapons at that site. Interestingly, this same Texas monitoring station recorded a possible radiation detection from Pantex on a couple of previous occasions – search the Archives for the Updates of 4/15/13 and 11/24/12″

Quoted from: http://www.radiationnetwork.com/Message.htm
Credit for my relay: http://optimalprediction.com/wp/recent-health-issues/comment-page-8/#comment-56455

Quote of Bobby1: “I am having a severe relapse of ME. It is possible this is being triggered by radiation. But it’s hard to tell with this damned disease.”

He could probably use some friendly visitors to his site to warm his heart.”

http://nukeprofessional.blogspot.com/2014/11/massive-radiation-found-in-upper.html?showComment=1418579039281#c3176492892818160061

December 14, 2014 Posted by | incidents, USA | Leave a comment

Palisades Nuclear Plant safety violation

safety-symbol-SmNRC finds Palisades Nuclear Plant safety violation involving monitoring workers for radiation By Emily Monacelli | emonacel@mlive.com COVERT TOWNSHIP, MI, 11 Dec 14  — Federal regulators found a safety violation involving monitoring of workers for radiation exposure at the Palisades nuclear power plant inCovert Township early this year, according to a report……. David Lochbaum, director of the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Nuclear Safety Project, expressed concern Thursday about a report recently released that showed NRC inspectors examined 20 components at Palisades and found 10 low-level safety violations. Lochbaum said it is alarming that the problems were found by NRC inspectors and not first by Entergy workers.

“You have to do more than fix these violations,” Lochbaum said, adding that to prevent recurrences requires that Palisades operators get to the root of the problems. http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2014/12/palisades_safety_violation.html

December 13, 2014 Posted by | incidents, USA | Leave a comment

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