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The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant for sale, radioactive leaks and all

A couple days ago, still more tritium was discovered in the reactor’s pipelines, some 150 to 200 feet north of the plume previously found to be leaking toxins……

Decrepit Nuclear Power Plant Still for Sale…Despite Another Radioactive Discovery, Change.org, by Nikki Gloudeman January 24, 2011 In its attempted sale of the decrepit Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant, Entergy has had a rough go of it. Continue reading →

January 25, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Stuxnet slowing Iran’s nukes, but it’s a mixed blessing

If Stuxnet was responsible for slowing Iran’s nuclear development, then it accomplished over a period of a few months what the United States and its allies have failed to do in years of talks, threats and sanctions. It also achieved that goal without a shot being fired, buying more time for negotiators to try to persuade Iran to stop its bomb-making efforts.

Will the cyber worm turn?,  latimes.com, 23 Jan 2011, Stuxnet reportedly set back Iran’s nuclear program. That’s the good news. But what about threat to us?The tale of the Stuxnet worm is one of those seemingly good-news stories that grows more worrisome over time. Continue reading →

January 23, 2011 Posted by | safety, technology, USA | Leave a comment

Fire in old nuclear power station in Britain

Bradwell nuclear power station hit by fire, BBC News -21 January 2011 Bradwell nuclear power station hit by fireA fire has broken out at a disused nuclear power station in Essex.Twelve fire crews were called to the blaze in a condenser unit, measuring four by six metres, at Bradwell Power Station at about 1230 GMT. Assistant Divisional Officer Neil Fenwick, of the Essex Fire and Rescue Service, said titanium rods were being broken down and caught fire.An Essex fire service spokesman said the blaze was brought under control by 1430 GMT.A spokeswoman from Bradwell Power Station said: “The immediate vicinity was made safe and evacuated and the emergency services called who then promptly extinguished the fire….. BBC News – Bradwell nuclear power station hit by fire

January 22, 2011 Posted by | safety, UK | Leave a comment

Cameco’s ship with uranium spill headed back to Vancouver

Uranium ship likely coming to Vancouver for spill cleanup, The Vancouver Sun, by Cassandra Kyle, 20 Jan 2011, The ship containing Cameco Corp.’s spilled uranium concentrate will likely be moved to the Port of Vancouver for cleanup, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) says.In a regular public meeting broadcast Wednesday over the Internet, CNSC staff members did not give a timeline for the transfer of the ship or say how long the cleanup could take…… Continue reading →

January 21, 2011 Posted by | Canada, safety | Leave a comment

Financial and safety threats in expanding production of plutonium

Some of the intractable challenges facing the President’s Commission -and the public- include some 67,000 metric tons of highly radioactive waste in temporary storage today, the prospect of expanded production of plutonium as both a health and a national security threat, nationwide transportation of highly radioactive waste, to and from, the Savanna River Site over road, rail and waterways and the unresolved problem of finding a secure repository for the long term storage of nuclear waste.

A blue-ribbon, “nuclear” bus ride Mountain Xpress,Ned Ryan Doyle, 21 Jan 2011, How could a nuclear-energy park in South Carolina impact the people of WNC? On January 7th, a “WNC Citizen’s Delegation” chartered a bus to Augusta, GA, for the only public hearing in the Southeast held by President Obama’s appointed “Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future”… Continue reading →

January 21, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA, wastes | Leave a comment

Questions on earthquake risks to nuclear plant

Is Diablo Canyon Quake Safe? – KVEC, King Harris, 20 Jan 2011, San Luis Obispo, CA — PG&E says Diablo Canyon can withstand any quake the nearby faults can deliver. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission held a meeting in San Luis Obispo last night to discuss the Shoreline Fault and other faults surrounding the nuclear power plant.According to the report, Diablo Canyon was designed to survive a magnitude 7.5 earthquake, and all the local faults are likely to produce a quake no stronger than magnitude 6.5. The Shoreline Fault was discovered in 2008 and has created some concern in the community, especially as the plant moves forward with its proposed license renewal.The Nuclear Regulatory Commission still needs to analyze PG&E’s report. Is Diablo Canyon Quake Safe? – KVEC

January 21, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

The global threat of nuclear terrorism

Congress must get serious about the threat of nuclear terrorism

The Hill, By Sarah Williams and Alexandra Toma – 01/18/11 “………..The fight to prevent nuclear terrorism will be lost without a serious commitment to the goal of securing all vulnerable nuclear material around the globe. Currently, more than 30 countries possess significant amounts of material that could be used to make a nuclear weapon, and much of it is stored in less-than-secure facilities. Continue reading →

January 20, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Cameco uranium company working out how to clean up ship’s uranium spill

Cameco, regulators finalize cleanup plan for uranium concentrate spill , The Vancouver Sun, By Cassandra Kyle January 18, 2011 A ship whose cargo of uranium concentrate spilled during bad weather at sea is docked in British Columbia while a Cameco Corp. team assesses damage to its product and devises a plan to clean up the spill. Continue reading →

January 20, 2011 Posted by | Canada, safety, Uranium | Leave a comment

USA, Canada, paying for nuclear security in Russia

.. The US and Canadian governments will share part of the costs.

US, Canada to help Russia with nuclear counterterrorism centre, Sify News, 19 Jan 2011, Moscow, Russia has stepped up cooperation with the US and Canada to protect its nuclear installations from terrorist attacks, Continue reading →

January 20, 2011 Posted by | Russia, safety | Leave a comment

Why abolition of nuclear weapons should be the top global priority

transforming the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) into a nuclear abolition agreement….Daley suggests that civil society and non-nuclear nations join together to insist that nuclear nations “move the issue to the top of their agendas.”

Building a Nuclear Weapons-Free World, HUFFINGTON POST, Lawrence Wittner, 18 Jan 2011, Apocalypse Never (Rutgers University Press, 2010), by Tad Daley, is a new book that deserves wide circulation, for it is a spirited, ringing call for nuclear weapons abolition — including why it is imperative and how it can be achieved. Continue reading →

January 18, 2011 Posted by | resources - print, safety | Leave a comment

China is lax in overseeing spread of nuclear materials

Lax oversight is enabling front companies to buy sensitive materials that can advance Iran’s pursuit of nuclear capability,

China Not Doing Enough to Control Spread of Nuclear Material, Lugar Says, Bloomberg, By Julie Hirschfeld Davis – Jan 15, 2011 U.S. Senator Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, the Foreign Relations Committee’s top Republican, said he’s concerned China isn’t doing enough to control the spread of nuclear material.

Reports that China has failed to prevent its companies from selling sensitive materials to Iran for its nuclear programs are “worrisome,” Lugar said in an interview for Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt,” airing this weekend…..

A leading expert on Iran’s nuclear program said yesterday China remains “a major gap” in enforcing global sanctions on Iran. Lax oversight is enabling front companies to buy sensitive materials that can advance Iran’s pursuit of nuclear capability, said David Albright, a nuclear physicist who inspected Iran’s nuclear facilities for the United Nations’ atomic energy agency in the 1990s……

China Not Doing Enough to Control Spread of Nuclear Material, Lugar Says – Bloomberg

January 16, 2011 Posted by | China, safety | Leave a comment

No funds to deal with UK’s dead nuclear submarines: public at radiation risk

The reports also reveal that there is “no funded plan” for the decommissioning of Britain’s 16 defunct nuclear submarines…..the need to make cost savings is being put ahead of the need to meet regulatory safety and environmental standards.”

Nuclear weapons sites cuts put public at risk, says watchdog, The Guardian, 12 Jan 2011, Staff shortages and funding cuts at nuclear weapons sites across the UK have put the public and the environment at risk, according to the Ministry of Defence’s nuclear safety watchdog. The analysis, marked “restricted”, points to 11 “potentially significant risks” at bomb-making sites and ports housing nuclear submarines, documents seen by the Guardian show. Continue reading →

January 13, 2011 Posted by | safety, UK | Leave a comment

Close shaves in near accidents of nuclear waste transport ship

Nuclear Waste Ship Patched-Up In Nick Of Time, Jalopnik. 12 Jan 2011, When a Norwegian environmental group heard a nuclear waste ship was transporting spent nuclear fuel off the country’s coast they complained an accident, if it occurred, would have “dramatic consequences.” A week later the ship started sinking. Continue reading →

January 12, 2011 Posted by | EUROPE, safety | Leave a comment

Avoid radiation “backscatter” airport scanning

There are two types of scanners. The millimetre wave machine (left)  is safe, creating an image of the body by using electromagnetic waves. The other, “backscatter” devices, )right) use low-energy X-rays to produce a picture of the body. These are not so safe…………

Doctor advises travellers to avoid being X-rayed Pat-downs far healthier choice, The Vancouver Sun,  By Dr. W. Gifford Jones, Special to the Windsor Star January 6, 2011 Continue reading →

January 7, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | 1 Comment

U.S. nuclear sites not ready for emergencies

Emergency Readiness Said Lacking at U.S. Nuclear Sites, NTI: Global Security Newswire , Jan. 6, 2011 Emergency preparedness and continuity of operations programs at U.S. Energy Department facilities suffer from “significant weaknesses” that could endanger lives and federal property, the DOE Inspector General’s Office said in a report issued this week Continue reading →

January 7, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

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