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

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

The nuclear fuel bank – an attempt to secure plutonium and weapons grade uranium

“there is a large universe of nuclear material sites around the world and there are many unknowns and uncertainties…”

The nuclear clean-out,  FP, David Hoffman, 30 Dec 10, “………On Dec. 3, the IAEA’s 35-nation board approved plans for a new nuclear fuel repository. The idea is to encourage nations which want low-enriched fuel for civilian reactors to acquire it from the international fuel bank rather than build a domestic capability which can raise concerns about proliferation and making nuclear weapons. Continue reading →

December 30, 2010 Posted by | 2 WORLD, safety, Uranium | Leave a comment

Concern in Kuwait over nuclear energy spread

“We can easily set up nuclear energy with the French company, there is no question about that, but the question is will our children still play in in safer surroundings the next 50 years? That is our concern,”

Expert advises against entry to nuclear club » Kuwait Times , : December 28, 2010  By Ben Garcia, KUWAIT: Kuwait should not embark on constructing a nuclear energy plant but is highly recommended that it try safer options like the development of wind and solar energies, Continue reading →

December 28, 2010 Posted by | MIDDLE EAST, safety | Leave a comment

Grim reality of what a terrorist attack on nuclear facility would mean

local emergency responders shouldn’t expect any substantial federal help for at least 24 hours, and perhaps as long as 72 hours……

Thinking about the unthinkable — a terrorist nuclear attack, Winnipeg Free Press  , 26 Dec 10,  The Obama administration is faced with one of those damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t decisions: Should it be giving Americans advice on what to do in case of a nuclear attack by terrorists on an American city?………… Continue reading →

December 27, 2010 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Uranium industry in Africa fraught with corruption and poor safety

Wikileaks: Africa Offers Easy Uranium  Global Issues by Julio Godoy (paris)  December 25, 2010 Wikileaks cables have revealed a disturbing development in the African uranium mining industry: abysmal safety and security standards in the mines, nuclear research centres, and border customs are enabling international companies to exploit the mines and smuggle dangerous radioactive material across continents. Continue reading →

December 27, 2010 Posted by | AFRICA, safety | Leave a comment

Airport radiation scanners not effective security anyway

Fears over fatal flaws in full-body airport scanners The Age Derek Kravitz, WashingtonDecember 27, 2010 US SECURITY experts have questioned the ability of full-body scanners to detect modern chemical explosives taped to a passenger’s abdomen or hidden in a cavity.The full-body scanners – planned for some Australian airports in 2011 – can detect small amounts of contraband and hidden weapons but could miss something far more deadly…… Continue reading →

December 27, 2010 Posted by | 2 WORLD, safety | Leave a comment

Public danger in trucking nuclear wastes across U.S. States

“Truck crashes occur all the time on our highways,” Smith said. “This plan would dramatically increase the amount of radioactive waste traveling through our communities. We believe that if people know what is at stake, they will contact state officials and demand that the compact commission drop the proposal.”

Sure, Simmons May Bury Nuclear Waste in West Texas. But It Has To Get There Somehow. – Dallas News By Robert Wilonsky,  Dec. 23 2010 “………While routes are not yet designated, potential routes would take waste from the Gulf Coast area on Interstate 10 through Houston and San Antonio; waste from southern states would be trucked on I-20 and I-30 though Dallas and Forth Worth; Midwestern and Northeastern waste would be driven on I-40 and I-27 though Lubbock and Amarillo; and waste from Western states would be driven though the cities of El Paso and Odessa taking I-10 and I-20, according to Martin Resnikoff of Radioactive Waste Management Associates. … Continue reading →

December 24, 2010 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Wikileaks: frightening revelations about nuclear theft

The leaked cables tell hair-raising tales of casks of uranium found in wicker baskets in Burundi, a retired Russian general offering to sell “uranium plates” in Portugal, and a radioactive Armenian car on the Georgian border.

WikiLeaks cables: How US ‘second line of defence’ tackles nuclear threat Diplomatic dispatches reveal world of smugglers, ex-military fixers and radioactive materials found in unlikely locations Julian Borger and Karen McVeigh * guardian.co.uk, Sunday 19 December 2010The leaked US cables reveal the constant, largely unseen, work by American diplomatic missions around the world to try to keep the atomic genie in its bottle and forestall the nightmare of a terrorist nuclear attack. Continue reading →

December 21, 2010 Posted by | EUROPE, safety, Uranium, Wikileaks | 1 Comment

Loose nuclear materials – U.S anxiety revealed by Wikileaks

WikiLeaks: From Congo to the Caucasus — chasing loose nuke material By Tim Lister, CNN, December 20, 2010 One of the nightmare scenarios of the 21st century is a “rogue state” or terror group getting its hands on nuclear material that could be sufficiently enriched to make a weapon. And diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks show that from central Africa to central Asia, it’s a constant preoccupation of U.S. officials. Continue reading →

December 21, 2010 Posted by | 2 WORLD, safety | Leave a comment

Wikileaks reveal the danger of Yemen’s nuclear material

“Very little now stands between the bad guys and Yemen’s nuclear material,” the official is quoted as saying in the cable,

WikiLeaks: Yemen nuclear material was unsecured(AP) – Google hosted news, 20 Dec 10, CAIRO (AP) — A storage facility housing Yemen’s radioactive material was unsecured for up to a week after its lone guard was removed and its surveillance camera was broken, a secret U.S. State Department cable released by WikiLeaks revealed Monday. Continue reading →

December 21, 2010 Posted by | MIDDLE EAST, safety, Wikileaks | Leave a comment

Chernobyl nuclear reactor still has 180 tons of radioactive material

the status of the estimated 180 tons of radioactive material trapped inside the nuclear power plant is still unclear.

Chernobyl Tour, Ukraine: Visit the Site of the Nuclear Disaster/Accident.Ukrainian Web 17 Dec 10, n 26 April 1986, reactor # 4 at the Chernobyl (Chornobyl) Nuclear Power Station, 100 km north from Kiev, blew up during a routine daily operation. Nearly nine tons of radioactive material – 90 times as much as the Hiroshima bomb – were hurled into the sky. Winds over the following days, mostly blowing north and west, carried, fallout into Belarus, as well as Russia, Poland and the Baltic region. Continue reading →

December 17, 2010 Posted by | safety, Ukraine | Leave a comment

Sellafield nuclear site at risk of terrorist attack

Sellafield is considered to be one of the most at-risk nuclear plants because of its growing plutonium stock.

(UK) Nuclear sites found to be vulnerable to attack by terrorists  Daily Mail   15th December 2010 An anti-terror review has been launched after weaknesses in security measures were found at a nuclear power station.The assessment – being carried out by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary – is focussing on Sellafield in Cumbria where enough plutonium is held to make thousands of nuclear weapons.

A bunker capable of storing 100 tonnes of raw plutonium was completed at the site earlier this year, making it a prime target for a terrorist attack. Continue reading →

December 16, 2010 Posted by | safety, UK | Leave a comment

South African nuclear reactor shut down due to radioactivity levels

Eskom Says High Radioactivity Level Prompts Shutdown Of Nuclear Unit, NASDAQ,  By Robb M. Stewart, 16 Dec 10, JOHANNESBURG -(Dow Jones)- South Africa’s state-owned power company said Tuesday it will suspend a unit at its nuclear power station near Cape Town because of higher-than-normal levels of radioactivity.The radioactivity level in Koeberg Unit 1’s primary coolant circuit is the result of one or more defective fuel rods in the reactor, Eskom Holdings Ltd. said in a statement………Eskom Says High Radioactivity Level Prompts Shutdown Of Nuclear Unit

December 16, 2010 Posted by | safety, South Africa | Leave a comment

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