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Enriched uranium stolen in Brazil

Brazilian police disover 450kg of enriched Uranium Follow The Money 25 Jan 2010 Police in the north Brazilian state of Amapa have unearthed a cache with 450 kg of enriched uranium ore, a dangerous mineral used for nuclear arms production.The operation to seize radioactive material was a result of four-month work by investigators, who found a bag of pitchblende on Friday in a remote area of tropical rainforest.

Brazilian police disover 450kg of enriched Uranium « Follow The Money

January 25, 2010 Posted by | safety, SOUTH AMERICA | , , , | Leave a comment

Can nuclear tests cause earthquakes and tsunamis?

Could the eaerthquake in Haiti be man-made?  The answer is yes. Did You Know 23 Jan 2010 “………..There is also this one.  The earthquake that struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra occurred in a location geologists know is susceptible to powerful earthquakes. The quake occurred along a “subduction zone,” in which the Indian tectonic plate is being subducted, or pulled beneath, the Burma tectonic platelet. The overlying plate jumped upward more than 4.5 metres, lifting the water above it and setting off the tsunami.

For some, the finger of blame doesn’t point squarely at nature but at top secret military testing in the waters of the Indian Ocean. The Egyptian weekly magazine Al-Osboa claimed the earthquake that triggered the tsunami “was possibly” caused by an Indian nuclear experiment in which “Israeli and American nuclear experts participated”.

Could the Earthquake in Haiti be man made, the answer is Yes « Did You Know

January 24, 2010 Posted by | 2 WORLD, safety | , , | Leave a comment

Fire risks at nuclear plant

NRC cites fire hazards at Alabama nuclear plant WRAL.com 20 Jan 10WASHINGTON — Federal regulators are raising new concerns about the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Brown’s Ferry nuclear plant in north Alabama. In a letter released Thursday, inspectors from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission found that equipment used to automatically shut down the plant’s reactors in an emergency was not properly protected from fire hazards. The NRC described the findings as significant “apparent violations.”..http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/6855064/

January 22, 2010 Posted by | safety, USA | , , , | Leave a comment

Thousands of underground nuclear pipes may be failing

“Under current regulations, miles and miles of buried pipes within nuclear reactors have never been inspected and will likely never be inspected,”

Nuclear plant pipe failures can threaten safety | The Orange County Register January 15, 2010   By TERI SFORZA

A rash of recent failures in the buried piping systems of nuclear reactors – including one at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station – Continue reading

January 18, 2010 Posted by | safety, USA | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Doctor recommends radio wave airport scanners, not X-ray radiation ones

Sorry, Uncle Sam, I refuse to be ionized, The Daily Observer (Canada)  By DR. GIFFORD-JONES15 Jan 2010

“………Transport Canada reports that more than 40 scanners will be installed in Canadian airports. Fortunately, all of these scanners will use “millimeter wave” technology. This means travellers will be exposed to radio frequency waves that produce a three-dimensional image of a person’s body to detect hidden weapons or explosives. Radio waves are not the same as harmful X-ray ionizing radiation to be used in the U.S. Continue reading

January 15, 2010 Posted by | Canada, safety | , , , | Leave a comment

Another fine for nuclear plant for safety lapses

NRC imposes $35,000 fine for Babcock & Wilcox The News and Advance 12 Jan 2010 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has imposed a $35,000 fine on Babcock & Wilcox because, the government agency said, employees waited too long to declare an emergency in July after finding uranium in a container of oil. Continue reading

January 14, 2010 Posted by | safety, USA | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Airport scanning and radiation

Radiation and whole-body scanners Budget Travel  by: Sean O’Neill, Jan 12,” …………….. a short Q&A on the topic of cancer risk and whole-body scanning machines.
The Transportation Security Administration TSA has deployed two types of scanners. One type uses X-rays and emits some ionizing radiation. These machines are called “backscatter” scanners. The other type of machine uses radio waves, does not emit ionizing radiation, and produces fuzzier images. Continue reading

January 13, 2010 Posted by | safety, USA | , , , | Leave a comment

Obama recognising nuclear terrorism as the greatest risk

Shifting Nuclear Strategy To Focus On Nuclear Terrorism The Wonk Room, National Secvurity By Max Bergmann 13 Jan 2010 In a reported shift that has the nuclear bureaucracy in the Pentagon up in arms, the President wants the new Nuclear Posture Review – the document that lays out US nuclear strategy to actually focus on the gravest security threat to this country: nuclear terrorism. Continue reading

January 13, 2010 Posted by | safety, USA | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Killing of Iranian nuclear scientist

Allegations fly over Iranian scientist’s assassinationTehran claims west was behind killing of nuclear physicist who was a supporter of Iranian  opposition Julian BorgerSaeed Kamali Dehghan guardian.co.uk, 12 January 2010 and “………He was a particle physicist and a supporter of the Iranian opposition movement, raising the possibility he had become the latest victim in a covert war over Iran‘s nuclear aspirations. It is a war in which scientists find themselves potential soft targets. Continue reading

January 13, 2010 Posted by | Iran, safety | , , , | Leave a comment

Generator failure shuts Russian nuclear reactor

Russia nuclear power plant block shut down Jan 10, 2010
MOSCOW, Jan 10 (Reuters) – A reactor block at a nuclear power plant in southern Russia has been shut down for maintenance due to a steam generator failure, Russia’s state nuclear energy firm Rosenergoatom said on Sunday.

“At 0920 (local time) on January 10 the first reactor block at Volgodon nuclear power plant has been shut down….

UPDATE 1-Russia nuclear power plant block shut down | Markets | Reuters

January 11, 2010 Posted by | Russia, safety | , , | Leave a comment

Connecticut River gets radioactive leak from nuclear plant

Test suggests radioactive leak at Yankee Rutland Herald

By Susan Smallheer Staff Writer   January 8, 2010

BRATTLEBORO — Entergy Nuclear announced late Thursday one of its monitoring wells on the banks of the Connecticut River had detected radioactive tritium contamination, the first time such contamination has shown up at the plant. Continue reading

January 8, 2010 Posted by | safety, USA | , , , , | Leave a comment

Indian Point nuke plant’s release of radioactive steam

Nuclear steam leak intentional: Response to Indian Point plant shutdown BY Abby Luby NY DAILY NEWS  January 8th 2010,
The recent shutdown at the Indian Point Nuclear power plant and release of contaminated steam into the atmosphere was intentional, the federal agency that oversees the nation’s nuclear power plants insisted Thursday. Continue reading

January 8, 2010 Posted by | safety, USA | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Design of AREVA’s EPR reactors not shown to be safe

Nuclear Reactors of Unproven Design Planned for California’s Central Valley Environment News Service FRESNO, California, January 6, 2010 (ENS) – At least one nuclear reactor is being planned for California’s agricultural Central Valley but it is already running into grassroots opposition and technical problems. Continue reading

January 7, 2010 Posted by | France, safety | , , , , , | 1 Comment

Nuclear Regulatory Commission asleep at the wheel on safety

warning that lax oversight by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) of the nation’s aging 104 nuclear plants has led to near-meltdowns along with other health and safety failings since Three Mile Island – including what some critics say is a flawed federal health study apparently designed to conceal cancer risks near nuclear plants.

Meltdown, USA: Nuclear Drive Trumps Safety Risks and High Cost 06 January 2010 by: Art Levine, t r u t h o u t | News Analysis The pro-nuclear Department of Energy is set to offer this month the first of nearly $20 billion in loan guarantees to a nuclear industry that hasn’t built a plant since the 1970s or raised any money to do so in years. Continue reading

January 7, 2010 Posted by | safety, USA | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mystery of India’s fire deaths at nuclear centre

Mystery hangs over fire mishap at Indian nuclear centre at Trombay Bombay News.NetTuesday 5th January, 2010 (  : Sreekumar Banerjee, Director of Centre and Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) has said a panel of experts is still probing the cause of last week’s fire mishap in a chemical laboratory in the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) at Trombay in Mumbai in which two research students were burnt to death.

Mystery hangs over fire mishap at Indian nuclear centre at Trombay

January 6, 2010 Posted by | India, safety | , , | Leave a comment