Amid safety risks, India’s ambitious nuclear plan gets a sham safety regulator
Fear over India’s nuclear embrace, Narromine News BEN DOHERTY With SOM PATIDAR 23 Dec, 2011 “…..The Indian government is seeking to dismantle the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, proposing to abandon the long-standing independent regulator in favour of a new body directly controlled by the central government.
Critics have condemned the move, arguing the new regulator will be captive to government and unable to properly pursue safety concerns. Although the law is expected to pass the national Parliament without significant alteration, a former head of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, Dr A Gopalakrishnan, has labelled the proposed replacement body
as a sham. Continue reading
India weakens nuclear safety, and nuclear liability law
The bill aims at a formal ‘regulatory capture’ of the nuclear sector
so that a few top people in the executive branch, in collusion with some of the senior atomic scientists, bureaucrats and politicians, can help the Indian and foreign corporate sectors in importing foreign power reactors into India on their terms, irrespective of their
relative safety or cost merits.”
Safety fears for new uranium customer SMH, Ben Doherty, Som Patidar, Som Patidar December 23, 2011 NEW DELHI: India, Australia’s newest uranium export destination, is to dismantle its nuclear regulator, replacing the expert panel with a government-controlled body critics say will be a ”sham” and ”no regulator at all”. Legislation before the Indian parliament would replace the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, which has monitored the use, transfer and disposal of nuclear material in India for 28 years, with the Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority.
The NSRA will be answerable to a clutch of government ministers who can direct the regulator, even sack its members, giving rise to allegations that the new body will be captive to government. The controversial move comes as Australian officials prepare to begin negotiations with India about the sale of uranium to its civilian nuclear program.
This month the Labor Party overturned a long-standing ban on selling uranium to India because it refused to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. India remains steadfastly outside the treaty Continue reading
United Nations concerned about Libya’s unsafe uranium stores
UN watchdog worries about Kadhafi uranium in Libya Google News, (AFP) 23 Dec 11 UNITED NATIONS — The UN atomic watchdog has told Libya to urgently find a home for yellow cake uranium from the Moamer Kadhafi era left in thousands of deteriorating barrels, a UN envoy said Thursday.
Kadhafi renounced efforts to make weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear bombs, in 2003, but a major storage base with the raw uranium was found in the uprising which led to his death in October.
An International Atomic Energy Agency team completed a visit to the Tajoura nuclear complex in Tripoli and the Sabha uranium storage base, in the desert of southern Libya, on December 9, UN envoy to Libya, Ian Martin, told the UN Security Council….
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hQJCokPyuiEQ14EK2iCPsN0zw_yA?docId=CNG.e2eaa3a1d5b6df35ac9841bb3a6ef85b.431
Shipping dead nuclear reactors across Great Lakes – a dangerous precedent
One of the major concerns is that if this transport goes ahead, it will pave the way for further similar shipments with little government or environment oversight.
Hundreds of municipalities across Ontario, Quebec, U.S. and the U.K. and Sweden have publicly opposed the shipment, citing concerns over the potential for radioactive material to leak into water systems.
Controversial nuclear shipping plan remains on hold Vanvouver Sun, By Linda Nguyen, Postmedia News December 20, 2011 TORONTO — A controversial plan to ship 16 decommissioned nuclear steam generators across Ontario’s Great Lakes and eventually to Sweden for recycling continues to remain on hold, nearly two years after it was first proposed. Continue reading
No confidence in safety of Taiwan’s new nuclear plant
Even though it is not yet operational, the plant had already been declared by the World Nuclear Association as one of the most dangerous in the world,
NGOs have no confidence in safety of nuclear plant, Taipei Times, 20 Dec 11 TIME IS TICKING:One NGO director said solutions for several flaws at the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant would be useless unless they were implemented immediately By Shelley Shan Non-governmental organizations (NGO) supervising the construction and operation of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant said they would issue a statement of no-confidence in reaction to a safety
report, to be submitted by Taiwan Power Corp (Taipower) today, which fails to tackle structural issues. Continue reading
USA’s sorry nuclear record of recent safety violations and “near misses”
Risk of nuclear energy too high, Syracuse.com, By Jessica Maxwell , December 15, 2011, The Post-Standard Marvin Fertel’s letter on behalf of the Nuclear Energy Institute (Dec. 11) paints a rosy picture of the U.S. nuclear industry.
It’s reMarkable, given the report released Friday, Dec. 9 by Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., detailing collusion on the part of four Nuclear Regulatory Commission members — with strong nuclear industry ties and backing — to impede the work of the NRC Near-Term Task Force on Fukushima and delay or prevent NRC chairman Gregory Jaczko’s attempts to strengthen safety regulations post-Fukushima.
Just a few days earlier (Dec. 6), Jaczko voiced strong concerns that “U.S. nuclear plant operators have become complacent” in the wake of Fukushima. The source of his worries? A series of incidents this year at multiple U.S. reactors related to human error, botched repairs and inadequate preparedness for natural disasters: workers exposed to higher than normal levels of radiation at Cooper Nuclear Station in Nebraska and Perry Nuclear Power Plant in Ohio; the Crystal River nuclear plant in Florida remains closed after a series of failed repairs and upgrades (and is likely to remain closed for a total of at least five years); Fort Calhoun in Nebraska remains shut down following severe flooding; and the North Anna plant in Virginia only recently reopened after being shut down for three months due to damage sustained during the Northeast earthquake that exposed it to seismic activity reportedly twice what it was designed to withstand.
The NRC has conducted 20 special inspections this year (prompted by site-specific concerns) — more than at any point in recent memory. For the first time in over a decade, several U.S. nuclear plants were shut down at the same time. In 2010, the NRC documented 14 “near-misses” (significant safety- and security-related events) at U.S. reactors. None of these facts bode well for the nuclear industry’s ability to provide safe and reliable energy.
The nuclear industry isn’t willing to accept the most basic lesson of Fukushima — best expressed by former Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan who, in July, announced Japan’s transition to conservation andrenewable energy, concluding simply, “the risk of nuclear energy is too high.” http://blog.syracuse.com/opinion/2011/12/risk_of_nuclear_energy_too_hig.html
USA nuclear lobby aims to oust Gregory Jaczko, safety conscious head of Nuclear Regulatory Commission
it’s also clear that the nuclear industry is using the conflict to attempt to neutralize or remove Jaczko from the NRC, where he has been a consistent advocate for tighter safety controls
Commissioner William Magwood, who is leading the charge against Jaczko, has deep [nuclear] industry ties. His appointment was opposed by over 100 watchdog groups for that reason. Notably, Magwood did consulting work for Tepco—the company that runs the Fukushima plant.
Action and dysfunction in the Beltway swamp. Republicans Intensify Attacks on the Nuclear Safety Chief The Nation George Zornick on December 14, 2011 If there was any doubt that an imbroglio around the leadership of Gregory Jaczko, [at left] chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, would be used to try to force his ouster from that agency, a Wednesday
hearing before a House panel removed it.
All five members of the NRC appeared before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which is chaired by Representative Darrell Issa. Four commissioners publicly aired their grievances about Jaczko’s leadership, which include charges of bullying and intimidation of staff, along with refusing to share information with fellow commissioners.
Jaczko said he did nothing wrong, and cited a report from the NRC inspector general clearing him of legal wrongdoing when it came to sharing information among his colleagues. But Republicans went directly for the jugular. Continue reading
Fort Calhoun nuclear plant to stay closed, as new problems found
Regulators up scrutiny of Fort Calhoun nuclear plant after finding more problems Washington Post, 13 Dec OMAHA, Neb. — Several new problems have been found at a Nebraska power plant that suffered flood damage earlier this year, federal regulators said Tuesday, so inspectors will be watching the plant north of Omaha even more closely as repairs from flooding are made.
The tougher oversight for the Omaha Public Power District plant in Fort Calhoun will likely further delay its restart from early next year until sometime in the spring as it makes repairs from the summer flooding. Continue reading
Security breaches, costs, politics – France’s nuclear industry in trouble
activists remained inside the Cruas site for 14 hours before being caught
Electricite de France (EDF) shares have slumped (EDF) 37 percent since the Fukushima disaster, on concern about the amount of investment needed to keep French reactors running safely in the coming years.
At the same time, the opposition Socialist and Green parties are campaigning to close 24 reactors by 2025 to cut dependence on atomic power.
France’s Biggest Nuclear Breach Raises Alarm as Support for Reactors Wanes Bloomberg By Tara Patel – Dec 13, 2011 Just after 6 a.m. on Dec. 5,under cover of darkness, nine Greenpeace activists cut through a fence at the Nogent-sur-Seine atomic plant 95 kilometers (59 miles) southeast of Paris and headed for a domed reactor building.
They scaled the roof and unfurled a “Safe Nuclear Doesn’t Exist” banner before attracting the attention of security guards. Two remained at large for four hours.
On the same day, two more campaigners breached the perimeter of the Cruas-Meysse plant on the Rhone, escaping detection for more than 14 hours while posting videos of their sit-in on the Internet. Continue reading
Nuclear terrorism risk for European soccer championships
UN agency tackles potential nuclear threat at European soccer championships UN News Centre 13 Dec 11, 13 December 2011 – When the 2012 European soccer championships kick off in Poland and Ukraine next June, the United Nations atomic energy will be centrefield offering its expertise to guarantee the safety of the tournament’s spectators and participants.
With over one million fans expected to descend on the two countries during the tournament, the Vienna-based UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA ) will provide first-hand experience in training authorities in Poland and Ukraine to quickly detect, identify, and
deal with a potential atomic threat…..
“We have around 200 events per year in our illicit trafficking database showing that nuclear material can be used for malicious acts,” said Khammar Mrabit, Director of the IAEA’s Office of Nuclear Security, “Therefore we’re trying everything together with the Member
States to prevent and reduce these threats and these
risks.”…http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=40712&Cr=nuclear&Cr1=
Radioactive spill adds to the problems of Point Lepreau nuclear power plan
Radioactive water spilled at Point Lepreau nuclear power plant in New Brunswick The Canadian Press 12/13/2011 LEPREAU, N.B. – Radioactive heavy water spilled Tuesday evening at the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant in New Brunswick.
Kathleen Duguay, a spokeswoman for NB Power, said the spill occurred in the reactor building…..The cause of the accident wasn’t known.
Lepreau was taken offline in March 2008 for an overhaul that was supposed to take 18 months. But the project has been plagued by cost overruns and delays and is now not expected to return to service until the fall of 2012.
Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. is overseeing the refurbishment. The province has pegged the total cost overruns, including replacement power while the nuclear reactor is offline, at about $2.4 billion..http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/breakingnews/radioactive-water-spilled-at-point-lepreau-nuclear-power-plant-in-new-brunswick-135542773.htm
Nuclear terrorism is likely within the next few years
“ it is more likely than not that a weapon of mass destruction will be used in a terrorist attack somewhere in the world by the end of 2013,” concluded The Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism
Security and Defense: Preparing for nuclear terrorism, 
Jerusalem Post, By YAAKOV LAPPIN 12/08/2011 Israel will hold a civil defense drill that for the first time will simulate the response to an attack by a dirty bomb. In January, a “Dark Cloud” will descend on northern Israel. The name for a civil defense exercise, Dark Cloud will be Israel’s first simulated response to a radioactive dispersal device attack, the official term for what is more commonly known as a “dirty bomb.”….
Already in the early 2000s, Western intelligence agencies began to warn of nuclear terrorism. Continue reading
Terrorists getting into USA armed forces?
Terrorists said to be infiltrating military By Shaun Waterman The Washington Times, 7 Dec 11, Al Qaeda and other terrorists are trying to infiltrate the U.S. armed forces, which makes military facilities in the U.S. dangerous for American troops, lawmakers said Wednesday. Continue reading
France needs to boost nuclear security, following Greenpeace’s infiltration of nuke plant
EDF to boost security at nuclear power plants-CEO Dec 8, 2011 Dec 8 (Reuters) – EDF will reinforce security at its nuclear power plants, its chief executive said on Thursday, after Greenpeace activists succeeded in entering two of them this week to alert the public on their lack of security.
Greenpeace activists entered the Nogent plant near Paris early on Monday and climbed onto one of the domes that houses a reactor, while others went into the Cruas nuclear power site in southeastern France.
“Measures have already been decided which will make this kind of intrusion even more difficult and probably more painful,” Proglio said on the margins of a partnership announcement with GE Energy. He declined to give details on those measures….
France’s dependence on nuclear energy, more than any other country, has been much debated ahead of the presidential election in April. The Socialist Party and the Greens struck a deal last month to shut France’s 24 oldest reactors by 2025 and not to build any more reactors if they come to power, marking a U-turn by the Socialists who had supported nuclear power in the 1980s and the 1990s.
After Japan’s Fukushima disaster in March 2011, France decided to carry out safety tests on its 58 nuclear reactors to check their capacity to resist flooding, earthquakes, power outages and failure of the cooling systems as well as operational management of accidents.
The tests did not include terrorist attacks or the possibility of a plane crash. (Reporting By Muriel Boselli, editing by Jane Baird)
Japan’s Mihama nuclear reactor to shut down following leak
Kansai Electric to manually shut Mihama nuclear unit Mihama 500 MW unit one of only nine reactors still running in Japan TOKYO, Dec 7 (Reuters) – Kansai Electric Power Co will manually halt its Mihama No. 2 nuclear reactor as a safety precaution after it
discovered unusual levels of coolant leaking from a valve inside the containment vessel, Continue reading
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of the week– Nuclear Reactor Information Task Force
14 May – online event From Bombs to Data Centres: the Face of Nuclear Colonialism
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