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
More worrying flights by drones, near France’s nuclear plant
Catch 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.
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.
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
Computer worm uploaded into South Korean Nuclear Plants
Hackers 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]
Three South Korean workers died after accident at nuclear plant construction site
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.
South Korea wants China’s help to investigate hacking attempts on nuclear power company
Korea 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 John Timmer – 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/
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.
Torness nuclear power station needs safety probe: too many faults in UK nuclear reactors
Calls 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.
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/
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.”
Palisades Nuclear Plant safety violation
NRC 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
Uranium smuggling gang arrested in Moldova
Moldova police arrest ‘uranium-smuggling gang’ http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30402104
Moldovan police say they have arrested seven people suspected of smuggling uranium from Russia to sell it on.About 200g (7oz) of the material was seized in a raid last week, with a black market value of about $2.1m (£1.3m; €1.7m).It was allegedly smuggled into Moldova in a special container on a train.
Those arrested had experience of handling radioactive substances, and have admitted their guilt, Moldovan police added.A kilogram of another hazardous material, mercury, was also seized.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation aided the police in their investigation, the Associated Press news agency reports.In 2011, Moldovan police arrested six people trying to sell a kilogram of uranium to buyers in Africa.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission reveals that workers inhaled uranium during spill at an in-situ mine
Nuclear regulatory agency: 6 workers inhaled uranium at Wyoming mine after yellowcake spill, Star Tribune by: MEAD GRUVER , Associated Press : December 5, 2014 CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Six workers at a Wyoming uranium mine inhaled the radioactive element while cleaning up a spill inside a processing building just days before the mine delivered its first shipment last year, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The workers’ urine tested positive for uranium at close to seven times the federal agency’s permissible level, the federal agency alleges in a Nov. 14 violation notice against Lost Creek LLC ISR, a subsidiary of Littleton, Colorado-based Ur-Energy.
The spill happened Nov. 28, 2013, at the Lost Creek in-situ uranium mine in south-central Wyoming. In-situ mining involves pumping fluids underground to release uranium into a solution that is pumped to the surface. No shafts or tunnels are dug.
Some 1,500 pounds of yellowcake, a precursor of enriched uranium, surged onto the floor of a processing building while a worker was filling a 55-gallon drum with the dry, powdery substance, according to the notice…….http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/284909581.html
Ukraine government had to admit to nuclear accident at Zaporizhzhya power plant
Nuclear Accident In Ukraine: Largest Nuke Plant In Europe Shut Down, But ‘No Threat,’ Gov’t Claims, INQUISITR, 3 Dec 14 A nuclear accident at a power plant in Ukraine, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, shut the plant down last Friday, but the Ukraine government did not reveal the alarming mishap until Wednesday, claiming that the accident posed “no threat” to the public from radiation.
The nuclear plant is located just 120 miles from the war-torn eastern Ukraine region of Donetsk, a stronghold of pro-Russian separatist rebels who have battled the Ukraine government in heavy fighting for much of 2014.
Donetsk is the region where on July 17, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down by, it is widely believed, a rebel anti-aircraft missile, killing all 298 people on board.
Nuclear experts have raised the alarm that the power plant could be vulnerable to artillery fire from the war zone nearby………http://www.inquisitr.com/1652271/nuclear-accident-in-ukraine/
Belgian nuclear reactor shut down due to fire: Belgium phasing out nuclear power
Fire shuts down Belgian nuclear reactor https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/25650869/fire-shuts-down-belgian-nuclear-reactor/A Belgian nuclear reactor has shut down after a fire broke out at the plant in the east of the country, the Belga news agency reported. The incident on Sunday could put a further strain on Belgium’s electricity grid, after warnings in August that outages at other nuclear plants could lead to power cuts in the approaching winter.
The Tihange 3 power station, situated 70 kilometres south-west of the German town of Aachen, shut down automatically after one of its transformers reportedly caught fire. The fire, which has since been extinguished, was caused by an explosion, Sudpresse newspaper group reported on its website.
It was unclear Sunday how long the 1,048-megawatt reactor will remain out of service.Tihange 3 is now the fourth Belgian nuclear reactor to be out of service, as another plant at Tihange and two at Doel have been shut down due to defects or security concerns.
The Tihange 1 reactor was not affected by Sunday’s incident, however. Belgium has adopted a nuclear phaseout plan that foresees the complete abandonment of nuclear energy by 2025.
1 This Month
6 June – WEBINAR- Get Inspired by Protests Against Military Bases!
Cuba Is Not a Failed State – It Is a Besieged State
PETITION: “Global Appeal to Endorse Palestinian Right of Return of Refugees”
of the week– Nuclear Reactor Information Task Force
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