safety « nuclear-news

Highly Enriched Uranium – so easy to make an atom bomb

Since the end of the Cold War the International Atomic Energy Authority, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, has logged 800 incidents of radioactive material going missing or being seized by smugglers.

Mission to stop nuclear terrorism, Telegraph A multi-million dollar US programme is attempting to make safe the world’s bomb-grade uranium before terrorists can get to it. By Nick Meo in Warsaw 11 Oct 2010 “…..Intelligence agencies will not reveal their reasons for being so frightened now about what for years seemed a remote and unlikely risk. But it may be because of the deeply troubling cases of smuggling that surface from time to time in Eastern Europe, hinting at the existence of a nuclear black market. Continue reading →

November 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, safety, Uranium | enriched, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, uranium | Leave a comment

16 nuclear submarine crashes, admission by UK Ministry of Defence

The incident involving HMS Astute was clearly not a one-off, and the MoD must explain why previous groundings have not been made public,…….

Revealed: MoD admits to 16 nuclear submarine crashes – Herald Scotland Rob Edwards, 7 Nov 2010 The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has been accused of a “catalogue of blunders” after admitting there have been 16 crashes involving British nuclear-powered submarines since 1988. Continue reading →

November 8, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

UK nuclear powered submarine ran into rescue vessel

U.K.’s Stricken Nuclear Submarine HMS Astute Collided With Rescue Vessel, Bloomberg, By Chris Spillane – Nov 5, 2010 HMS Astute, the British nuclear- powered submarine that ran aground off Scotland’s Isle of Skye last month, collided with one of the vessels charged with its rescue, the defense ministry said……Astute, which was commissioned into the Royal Navy on Aug. 27, is “the U.K.’s most powerful attack submarine,” the ministry said on its website. Built by BAE Systems Plc, it is quieter than other submarines in the fleet, even though it is 50 percent bigger, and can circumnavigate the world without surfacing…… U.K.’s Stricken Nuclear Submarine HMS Astute Collided With Rescue Vessel – Bloomberg

November 6, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Dangers, weapons spread, and mounting unsolved problem of nuclear wastes

Recent scientific publication from U.S. Department of Energy, states: “It is estimated that by 2015, the country will face a total disposal problem of more than 100,000 tonnes of high-level military and civilian nuclear waste.”….

Nuclear Power Industry: Promise Or Peril? 03 November 2010 Nigerian Compass, “………Among the area of concern of the safety of environment is the fear that the reactor core of nuclear plants may melt down. If the coolant system suddenly fails, this could lead to the release of dangerous levels of radioactive nuclides and radiation into the atmosphere. Continue reading →

November 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, safety | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Glitches in nuclear weapons systems are cause for alarm

“It is yet another indication of the risk associated with having these types of weapons around,”

Missile Mishap Revives Alarm Over Nuclear Arsenal, AOL News, Joseph Schuman, (Oct. 27) — Computer glitches, hardware failures and unexplained communication outages happen all the time. But when the affected systems control nuclear-armed missiles, it gets a little scary. Continue reading →

October 29, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, plutonium | Leave a comment

US nuclear missiles shut down by power failure

Power Failure Shuts Down Squadron of Nuclear Missiles, The Atlantic, Oct 26 2010, President Obama was briefed this morning on a power failure at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming that took 50 nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), one-ninth of the U.S. missile stockpile, temporarily offline on Saturday.

The base is a main locus of the United States’ strategic nuclear forces. The 90th Missile Wing, headquartered there, controls 150 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic nuclear missiles. They’re on full-time alert and are housed in a variety of bunkers across the base……. Power Failure Shuts Down Squadron of Nuclear Missiles – Marc Ambinder – Politics – The Atlantic

October 26, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Aging nuclear reactors, like Indian Point, raise safety fears

He believes that the NRC does not enforce nuclear safety strictly enough, and he is especially concerned with the degradation of older reactors like the ones at Indian Point.

Concerns Raised Over Pipeline Near Indian Point : NPR, 25 Oct 10, A former utility executive and nuclear opponent is raising concerns about the presence of two large underground natural gas pipelines that cross within a few hundred feet of the Indian Point nuclear facility in Buchanan, N Y Continue reading →

October 26, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, reactors | Leave a comment

Previous nuclear submarine incident off treacherous coast

(UK) Previous submarine incident off Skye in 2002 Nuclear submarine HMS Trafalgar hit the seabed while taking part in a military exercise. STV News, 22 October 2010 Shortly before 8am on Wednesday November 6, 2002, nuclear submarine HMS Trafalgar hit the seabed off the coast of the island while taking part in a military exercise.Following the incident a Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said there was no danger to the public as a result of the accident and that the reactor was fine.Like the Astute class submarines, Trafalgar class vessels are nuclear powered, but do not carry nuclear weapons…..HMS Trafalgar was decommissioned on the December 4 2009, the Trafalgar class submarines being replaced by the new Astute class vessels. But while the new submarines make use of the latest technology, it seems that the rocky coastline of Skye remains a difficulty for the Royal Navy’s submarine service….. Previous submarine incident off Skye in 2002 | Highlands & Islands | STV News

October 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Revelation about lost nuclear codes

…the episode showed that no system could be entirely safe from human error,….Retired US Air Force lieutenant colonel Robert Patterson wrote that Mr Clinton, and not an aide, allegedly lost track of the codes.

Nuclear codes ‘went missing’ during Clinton presidency ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 22 Oct 10 Special codes that allow the US president to order a nuclear attack went missing “for months” during Bill Clinton’s time at the White House, Continue reading →

October 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy | Leave a comment

Columbian rebels seek nuclear materials to make a ‘dirty’ bomb

emails found on the computers proved that since 2005 the Farc had been trying to buy nuclear material in Ukraine.

Colombia tries to stop rebels from getting nuclear arms, BBC News, 20 October 2010 Colombian police have created the first counter-nuclear arms unit in the region dealing with leftist rebels. The new Centre for Nuclear Security will try to prevent members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) from obtaining nuclear material to make a “dirty bomb”. Continue reading →

October 20, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, SOUTH AMERICA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Breach of nuclear security at Sellafield nuclear plant

information on the stick that suggested that the International Atomic Energy Agency technicians visiting the site were not sufficiently briefed on health and safety regulations…..

Nuclear Station Suffers USB Data Breach | eWEEK Europe UK, 19 Oct 10, An investigation has begun after a USB stick containing sensitive information about Sellafield was found in a hotel room * By: Tom Jowitt * October 19, 2010 The data breach threat posed by USB sticks has once again been exposed after nuclear processing company Sellafield began an investigation into the loss of a USB device, said to contain information about its business operations. Continue reading →

October 19, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology | Leave a comment

Radioactive contamination, kidnappings, as uranium mining continues in Niger

shortcomings in the protection of workers against radiation, and increasing numbers of people living at Arlit or Akokan, a nearby town, cited this as the cause of their ill health…..uranium mining continues despite kidnappings

Safety concerns dog French uranium mines in Niger Still no sign of medical provisions Areva promised in 2009 Hervé Kempf * Guardian Weekly, 15 October 2010 For years uranium mining in Niger proceeded without giving rise to any major problems for companies, but things changed at the turn of the century. Since then the population of the mining town Arlit has become increasingly concerned that radioactivity may be exceeding regulatory limits. Continue reading →

October 16, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Niger, safety, Uranium | antinuclear, AREVA, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive | 1 Comment

Canadian uranium miner fined for burning hazardous wastes

Uranium company fined $85K for burning hazardous waste in northern Saskatchwan Canadian Business LA RONGE, Sask. – A Saskatoon-based uranium company has been fined $85,676 for burning hazardous waste materials.The Ministry of Environment received a call in April 2009 that led conservation officers to a remote area on Sutton Lake in northern Saskatchewan to investigate a suspicious fire.Hazardous waste materials had been ignited and left to burn at a vacant exploration camp site, resulting in environmental charges being laid against Titan Uranium Inc. (TSXV:TUE) Uranium company fined $85K for burning hazardous waste in northern Saskatchwan | Markets | Headline News | Canadian Business Online

October 16, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, safety, Uranium | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear decommissioning, uranium | 1 Comment

Nuclear regulators cutting corners on safety, just as oil regulators did

another case of regulators cutting corners to accommodate industry’s needs, just as the now-renamed and revamped Minerals and Management Service did for the oil and gas industry before the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Nuclear watchdog groups say corners cut on fire safety, Politics AP – MiamiHerald.com, By RENEE SCHOOF 14 Oct 10, WASHINGTON — Nuclear watchdog groups say that an internal report by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on fire safety at nuclear plants shows that regulators don’t have enough information to know whether its new fire rules will ensure safety…… Continue reading →

October 14, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, reactors | Leave a comment

Complexity of shipping Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU)

These reactors are using highly enriched uranium fuel pure enough for a bomb. Since Sept. 11, 2001, the U.S. government has grown increasingly worried that terrorists could steal the material or buy it. ….. these reactors aren’t very well guarded.

Nuclear Road Trip: Shipping Uranium A Complex Task, NPR, by Geoff Brumfiel, 11 Oct 10, A shipment of bomb-grade uranium arrived at a secure facility in Russia on Monday, sent from a research reactor in Poland as part of a race to secure dangerous radioactive material around the world. Continue reading →

October 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | EUROPE, safety | antinuclear, enriched, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment