safety « nuclear-news

lingering radioactivity affects worker

The site south of Buffalo housed a nuclear fuel reprocessing operation from 1966 to 1972. Uranium and plutonium were extracted from spent fuel. Cleanup has been ongoing since the 1980s.

NY nuke site worker had slight radiation exposure – BusinessWeek, WEST VALLEY, N.Y., 4 Aug 2010, A worker at a New York nuclear cleanup site had to be decontaminated after moisture seeped through her protective clothing while she was cleaning a floor, exposing her to a slight amount of radiation. Continue reading →

August 5, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, plutonium, radiation, radioactive, reprocessing, uranium | Leave a comment

Fire at UK nuclear weapons factory

Residents evacuated after fire at UK’s main nuclear weapons factory, Telegraph UK, 4 Aug 2010, Residents located near Britain’s main nuclear weapons factory were forced to evacuate after a fire broke out in one of the plant’s buildings. By Andrew Hough An investigation has been launched into what sparked the blaze at the Atomic Weapons Establishment in Aldermaston, Berks, which maintains the warheads for the UK’s Trident nuclear deterrent…….
Both Thames Valley Police and the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service declined to comment.

In December ministers sold off the Government’s last remaining one-third ownership to a Californian engineering company.

Residents evacuated after fire breaks out at UK’s nuclear weapons factory – Telegraph

August 5, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, radiation, radioactive, reactor | Leave a comment

China has no national strategy for nuclear wastes

the IAEA panel said the government should set up a comprehensive national strategy for dealing with nuclear waste

Chinese nuclear safety bodies need more money, IAEA experts say | Earth Times News, 30 July 2010, Vienna – China’s nuclear safety authorities need more funds and staff to keep pace with the country’s rapidly expanding nuclear energy sector, a panel of experts appointed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Friday. Continue reading →

July 31, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | China, safety | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, radiation, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

France steps up security in its uranium colony, Niger

Areva extracts almost half its uranium from Niger, where it has been active for 40 years.

French nuclear giant steps up security after hostage killing, Expatica France, 27 July, 2010, French nuclear power giant Areva said Tuesday it had stepped up security around its sites in the West African country of Niger after Al-Qaeda murdered a French hostage captured in the region…… Continue reading →

July 28, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Niger, safety | antinuclear, AREVA, France, nuclear, nuclear spin, uranium | Leave a comment

Why not adopt safer, non radiation, airport scanners?

Given that the two types of machines are both deemed effective by the T.S.A., why doesn’t the agency just abandon backscatters and use the millimeter wave machines, which don’t pose radiation issues?

Radiation Questions Over a Body Scanner – NYTimes.com. By JOE SHARKEY July 26, 2010“………travelers also do not fully trust the security agency’s assurances that the new machines are safe, that they can’t be defeated by a terrorist and that personal privacy will be protected — at least, to the extent the agency has claimed. Continue reading →

July 27, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Nuclear option for Gulf Oil Spill – potential for catastrophe

DEEP OIL WELL DRILLING ALWAYS BRINGS INCREASED LEVEL OF RADIOACTIVITY

BP NUCLEAR OPTION Spells Mega-Disaster For Gulf Of Mexico, thepeoplesvoice.org, Dr. Tom Termotto, 24 July 2010, National Coordinator Gulf Oil Spill Remediation Conference (International Citizens’ Initiative) There has been much speculation lately about a nuclear device being planned for closing in the BP Macondo Well in the Gulf of Mexico. The consequences of exercising this option go well beyond killing the Gulf of Mexico; there would be far-reaching and profound ramifications for the oceans of the world. Continue reading →

July 25, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear wastes, radioactive, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Uranium spill shuts US highway

U.S. Highway 412 at Bouse Junction east to State Highway 58 at Ringwood has been shut down for containment purposes. They initially reported that the chemical spilled was uranium

Uranium Accident Prompts Road Closure , Evacuations Reported Near Fairview KOCO Oklahoma City, July 22, 2010 An accident involving a vehicle carrying cesium has forced the closure of a road in Major County, according to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. According to a news release from the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, U.S. Highway 412 at Bouse Junction east to State Highway 58 at Ringwood has been shut down for containment purposes. They initially reported that the chemical spilled was uranium.Fairview police said there have been evacuations about 1,000 feet around the area. It has not been determined whether anything is leaking.Authorities at the scene are waiting for officials from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to arrive from Tulsa.Chemical Accident Prompts Road Closure – Oklahoma City News Story – KOCO Oklahoma City

July 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, radiation, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Nuclear Regulatory Commission not concerned with weapons proliferation risks

a systemic flaw at the NRC: The commission does not conduct broad assessments of the proliferation concerns associated with licensing projects…….

Nuclear Licensing Process Raises Proliferation Concerns « The Washington Independent, NRC Not Required to Assess Proliferation Risks When Approving New Technology, By Andrew Restuccia 7/21/10 This Thursday in Wilmington, N.C., officials from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the government agency responsible for overseeing the country’s nuclear energy activities, are slated to present a report laying out the environmental impacts of a proposed uranium enrichment facility, a key step in approving the facility’s license. Continue reading →

July 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, Uranium, USA | antinuclear, enriched, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, uranium | Leave a comment

Why New Zealand ports should not allow uranium shipments

……the risks are there, and the risks are genuine. Accidents do happen, especially at sea. Fires can rage for days, and cargo can move around on board, splitting open containers. Our ports and our port workers are not equipped to deal with radioactive spills.

Feature Columnist: Gareth Hughes | Craccum, 19 July 2010, Recently, the Paranagua Express, carrying tonnes of radioactive uranium ore, was berthed at the Port of Auckland.. Continue reading →

July 20, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | New Zealand, safety, Uranium | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, uranium | Leave a comment

Radioactive tritium escaping from Pilgrim nuclear power plant

there are not enough monitoring wells, and that the EPA standards for allowable tritium are outdated.

Elevated levels of radioactive isotope at Pilgrim nuclear power plant – Boston Globe, By Carolyn Y. Johnson, 14 July 2010, Continue reading →

July 14, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Opposition to nuclear steam generators in Canadian harbour

“The idea of having 16 steam generator sitting on the harbour wall for five weeks is not acceptable to me. They do emit radiation,” she said.

Mayor concerned about nuclear steam generators – Bruce Power officials at council tonight Owen Sound Sun Times – Ontario, CA By Denis Langlois 12 July 2010, A plan by nuclear generator Bruce Power to ship 16 radioactive steam generators out of Owen Sound Harbour to Sweden has run into opposition by the city’s mayor. Ruth Lovell Stanners said storing the school bus-sized, decommissioned generators, considered intermediate-level nuclear waste, next to the harbour and then shipping them on the Great Lakes poses too much of a public health and safety risk to ignore…………. Continue reading →

July 13, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, safety | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, radiation, reactors | Leave a comment

China building nuclear plants in earthquake area

Nuclear power stations in south China not affected by earthquake. English.news.cn 2010-07-10 GUANGZHOU, July 9 (Xinhua) — Two nuclear power stations under construction have not been affected by a mild earthquake that struck south China’s Guangdong Province Friday, company officials said.According to the provincial earthquake monitoring network, an earthquake measuring 3.1 on the Richter Scale Friday hit the junction of Taishan City and Yangjiang City where the two nuclear power stations are located.Nuclear power stations in south China not affected by earthquake

July 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | China, safety | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, radiation, reactors | Leave a comment

Arrest of men trying to sell radiation device

(South Africa) Four nabbed with ‘radiation device’, News – Crime & Courts:, 9 July 2010, Four men were arrested on Friday afternoon in Pretoria for allegedly possessing and trying to sell an “industrial radiation device,” police said.The four, all South Africans, were caught in Garsfontein in Pretoria East….trying to sell the device for about R45 million……The four would appear in court soon on charges of theft and possession of a radioactive device, as well as charges relating to violating health legislation for handling such material in public. – Sapa News – Crime & Courts: Four nabbed with ‘radiation device’

July 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, South Africa | nuclear, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Hanford radioactive waste needs more, not less, safety regulation

A nuclear disaster at a cleanup site like Hanford is to be avoided at all costs. The persistence of radioactivity in the environment for thousands of years makes large areas of land uninhabitable, and wreaks an ongoing and incalculable human health toll. Prevention, rather than reaction, to such tragedies should be driving law and policy.

(USA) Nuclear cleanup regulation could put public at risk, Seattle Times, July 9, 2010, The weaknesses of federal regulatory agencies have been exposed by recent high-profile accidents. Tom Carpenter fears the Department of Energy will reduce its oversight of cleanup at the nation’s nuclear waste sites.
Millions of gallons of oil gush continue to rush unabated from BP’s mile-deep well in the Gulf of Mexico, and 11 workers are dead from the massive explosion that caused the biggest oil spill in decades. Weeks before this event, the news was dominated by the preventable explosion that killed 29 West Virginia coal miners……………. Is nuclear next? Continue reading →

July 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons, radioactive | Leave a comment

Smaller methods of uranium enrichment bring bigger risks of nuclear weapons spread

some of the new technologies could represent proliferation game changers because they would lead to smaller, more efficient methods for production and use of nuclear materials that would be more difficult to detect,”

US physicists call for change in nuclear licensing – physicsworld.com, Peter Gwynne, 5 July 2010, The American Physical Society (APS) is urging the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to change its licensing rules over fears that smaller, more efficient ways of enriching uranium will increase the risk of nuclear proliferation. Continue reading →

July 6, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, enriched, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, uranium | Leave a comment

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Read the Public Inquiry Report, the Commissioners’ report, Surrendering Australia: The AUKUS Deception is available to download for free at aukuspublicinquiry.com. Or just watch the replay of the National Press Club Luncheon.