Navy chief warns of nuclear bomb in containers- Politics/Nation-News-The Economic Times
Navy chief warns of nuclear bomb in containers19 Feb 2009, 0354 hrs THE ECONOMIC TIMES , ET Bureau NEW DELHI: Warning of a nuclear threat from the sea, the Indian Navy chief on Wednesday said terrorists may use shipping containers
to smuggle
nuclear weapons into the country.
“Today 70-75% of global cargo is containerised…container is the most likely means for terrorist organisations for illegal transporting of nuclear weapons and, hence, the serious concerns about container security
,” Admiral Mehta told reporters at a seminar on ‘Port Sector, Developments and Security.’
Navy chief warns of nuclear bomb in containers- Politics/Nation-News-The Economic Times
U.S. Requires New Nuclear Reactors to Withstand Plane Crashes
U.S. Requires New Nuclear Reactors to Withstand Plane Crashes
By Tina SeeleyFeb. 17 (Bloomberg) — New nuclear power plants must be built to ensure that a strike by a commercial airplane won’t result in a radioactive release, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said.
“This is a common-sense approach to address an issue raised by the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001,” Dale Klein, chairman of the commission, said in an e-mail statement today after the final rule was passed.
Companies including Dominion Resources Inc., Exelon Corp. and Entergy Corp. have already filed applications seeking to build reactors and would be subject to the new standards.
British and French nuclear subs collide
Sydney Morning Herald February
Robin Millard
17, 2009
The collision between French and British nuclear submarines was a hugely improbable one-off, but it was no surprise that they did not detect each other, experts said on Monday.
For one nuclear-powered, nuclear arms submarine to collide with another one in the middle of an ocean was unprecedented and sheer bad luck, they said……………
…………..The RUSI expert said despite the close NATO and European Union ties between Britain and France, the two countries would be very reticent to share information on what their nuclear submarines were up to.
Earthquake in area nuclear facility in Japan
Strong earthquake hits northern Japan
Canada.com 17 Feb 09 A strong earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale shook northern Japan early Thursday………………..
Japan endures some 20 per cent of the world’s powerful earthquakes.
The area of the earthquake lies near Rokkasho, the hub of Japan’s nuclear power industry and site of a controversial plant that reprocesses spent fuel.
Officials said they detected no problems in the nuclear power plants, with some shut down manually.
An earthquake last year caused a small leak in the world’s largest nuclear power plant in Niigata prefecture northwest of Tokyo………………………
http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/story.html?id=9aae5ae9-fb31-4bb4-a19a-1912849b8ddc
MPs demand inquiry into ‘hushed-up’ nuclear subs crash
THE SCOTSMAN 17 February 2009
The vessels, the Faslane-based HMS Vanguard and Le Triomphant, both believed to be carrying nuclear missiles, collided two weeks ago. Intelligence experts said that the crews might have been playing a game of cat and mouse when the incident happened.
The Ministry of Defence admitted the collision only yesterday, after it was confirmed by French officials, prompting one politician to accuse it of a “hush-hush attitude”. The submarines – each nearly 500ft long – were both damaged in the underwater incident, thought to have happened on the night of 3-4 February…………………….Disarmament campaigners described the incident – in the Atlantic’s 41 million square miles – as a “nuclear nightmare of the highest order”, which could have released “vast amounts of radiation”…………………..”The MoD needs to explain how it is possible for a submarine carrying weapons of mass destruction to collide with another submarine carrying weapons of mass destruction in the middle of the world’s second-largest ocean.”
New nuclear plants will produce far more radiation
New nuclear plants will produce far more radiation Industry documents reveal modern reactors more dangerous in an accident than the ones they replace THE INDEPENDENT By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor 8 Feb 09
New nuclear reactors planned for Britain will produce many times more radiation than previous reactors that could be rapidly released in an accident, The Independent on Sunday can reveal.
The revelations – based on information buried deep in documents produced by the nuclear industry itself – calls into doubt repeated assertions that the new European Pressurised Reactors (EPRs) will be safer than the old atomic power stations they replace.
Instead they suggest that a reactor or nuclear waste accident, althouguh less likely to happen, could have even more devastating consequences in future; one study suggests that nearly twice as many people could die……………………Until now the reactors have been widely thought to be less dangerous than those already in operation, largely because they contain more safety features and produce less waste. But the information in the documents shows that they produce very much more of the radioactive isotopes technically known as the “immediate release fraction” of the nuclear waste, because they could get out rapidly after an accident.
New nuclear plants will produce far more radiation – Green Living, Environment – The Independent
Oyster Creek concerns transcend drywell issue
Oyster Creek concerns transcend drywell issue APP.com 15 Feb 09
The focal point of most of the safety concerns at the Oyster Creek nuclear plant recently has been the drywell, a steel barrier surrounding the plant’s reactor vessel that is supposed to contain radiation in the event of an accident. The fear is that the 40-year-old drywell is continuing to erode to the point it could buckle, creating a potentially cataclysmic accident.
That concern is well-warranted. Thanks to the tenacity of citizen activists, approval of a 20-year license renewal is being held up pending further analysis of the drywell’s structural integrity…………………….
But that issue has tended to obscure broader concerns about nuclear power — issues that argue strongly against the renewed push to increase the nation’s dependence on it. The point was underscored at a forum last week sponsored by the Ocean County League of Women Voters. Two experts on nuclear waste, Paul Gunter of Nuclear Watch, and Frank von Hipple, a physics professor at Princeton University, expounded on the topic.
They addressed two major issues: the vulnerability of Oyster Creek’s spent fuel pool to a terrorist attack and the ongoing failure to find a safe, practical way to dispose of the huge amounts of nuclear waste being generated by the nation’s, and the world’s, reactors……………………… even if the drywell passes muster, the plant as a whole, and nuclear power, likely never will. Despite claims by the industry that nuclear power is efficient and affordable, it benefits from huge indirect federal subsidies, and the economics are growing worse.
According to the current issue of FP magazine, it costs $5 billion to $9 billion to construct new plants, takes nine to 12 years to build them once they are approved and requires 2,400 people to operate them. For nuclear energy to even maintain its current 15 percent global share of electricity through 2030, a 1,000-megawatt reactor — nearly double that of Oyster Creek — would have to be built every 16 days for the next 21 years.
Extending the life of Oyster Creek is a bad idea. Counting on nuclear energy to supply the electrical needs of future generations is economic and environmental suicide.
Oyster Creek concerns transcend drywell issue | APP.com | Asbury Park Press
Deployment of nuclear warship off the coast of Japan touches a nerve
Deployment of nuclear warship off the coast of Japan touches a nerve- THE CANADIAN PRESS 16 Feb 09 YOKOSUKA, Japan
— As Masahiko Goto sees it, the USS George Washington is not a ship. It’s a floating nuclear disaster waiting to happen near one of the world’s biggest cities.The recent deployment of the huge aircraft carrier to a port just south of Tokyo has been welcomed by brass bands, an open-house crowd of 30,000 and promises of greater security for Japan and northeast Asia.
But to determined opponents here, it all boils down to two nuclear reactors and one big question. Are they safe?”It is unthinkable that we have reactors floating in the bay,” said Goto, a lawyer who is leading an effort to have the USS George Washington banned from Japan. “If there was a problem, it would affect not just our city, but Tokyo and the heart of Japan.”The George Washington is the first and only U.S. nuclear-powered warship with a home port outside the United States, and officials know that Japan – the only country ever attacked by nuclear weapons – has special sensitivities about anything nuclear…………………………..
Two recent incidents have raised concerns, however.
The George Washington’s arrival in September was delayed after a fire broke out in its lower decks on May 22 while it was docked in the United States under repairs. A Navy investigation found it took nearly eight hours to discover the source of the smoke and flames, by which time the fire had burned through eight decks and damaged 80 compartments…………………………a month earlier, it emerged that the submarine USS Houston had leaked radiation during visits to two Japanese ports, provoking headlines and a formal Japanese government protest.
Goto and others, who are pushing a referendum on whether Japan should host nuclear-powered vessels, have raised both incidents, saying they undermine the Navy’s general claim that the George Washington is safe.
The Canadian Press: Deployment of nuclear warship off the coast of Japan touches a nerve
The most serious accident in US commercial nuclear power history: people vs. government
The most serious accident in US commercial nuclear power history: people vs. government the Morehead News By Nicole Back February 13, 2009 After three decades, the debate continues.The Nuclear Regulatory Commission stands by its claim that the most serious accident in US commercial nuclear power history did not cause any physical harm to those who were directly affected.Hundreds of people lived near Three Mile Island when equipment malfunctions, design related problems and worker errors led to the partial meltdown of the TMI-2 reactor core. Residents insist the US government is lying about what really happened to them.“Here I am 30 years later and I’m absolutely astounded that they got away with murder,” Mary Osborne said………………………..Osborne has been researching the accident and its effects on her and her neighbors ever since it happened. She takes pictures of mutated plants and animals, collects official documents and gives presentations in Washington, D.C. She has written separate letters to The Economist and Fortune Magazine. Her work was presented in Japan in 1987 and at DePaul University in Chicago in 2001…………………………………A professor with the University of North Carolina School of Public Health led a study of cancer cases within 10 miles of the facility from 1975-85. Dr. Steven Wing’s findings were published in the Journal of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in November 2003.
According to his report, hundreds of local residents questioned the NRC’s position that high-level radiation exposure as a result of TMI was impossible. People who lived near TMI reported metallic taste, nausea, vomiting diarrhea, erythema, hair loss, deaths of pets and farm and wild animals and damage to plants………………………..Lung cancer and leukemia rates were two to 10 times higher downwind of the TMI reactor than upwind……………………..On December 3, 2002 The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld the Summary Judgment of the United Sates District Court for the Middle District. Lawyers for 1,990 plaintiffs who claimed they suffered health damage from radiation released during the reactor meltdown gave up. The lawsuits were mostly against former TMI owner General Public Utilities Corp.
Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, urasnium, radioactive
Emergency nuke centers ordered to bolster radiation protection
The Japan Times Saturday, Feb. 14, 2009 Emergency nuke centers ordered to bolster radiation protectionKyodo NewsThe internal affairs ministry Friday advised seven facilities designated to serve as command centers in the event of a nuclear emergency to bolster their safety systems against radiation exposure.The seven are among 22 command centers across Japan operated by the industry and science ministries. Each was built within 20 km of a nuclear plant so it can expeditiously deal with an emergency.
A recent inspection of 13 centers by the Internal Affairsand Communications Ministry found that seven would have problems with radioactive contamination in an accident, exposing those inside to the risk of radiation sickness.
Five were found to have ventilation problems, but shielding was found inadequate at all seven facilities.
Emergency nuke centers ordered to bolster radiation protection | The Japan Times Online
Manila scientists oppose nuclear plant – upiasia.com
Manila scientists oppose nuclear plant UPI Asia.com By Gerry Albert Corpuz 12 Feb 09 Manila, Philippines — Scientists in Manila have declared war against a government plan to revive the controversial Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, which was built by 1984 but never operated. They dismissed the completed but not yet fueled plant as a sleeping monster and a monument of corruption.
The nuclear plant, located in Morong on the Bataan peninsula, is the current object of outrage by members of the scientific community and anti-corruption watchdogs throughout the Philippines. The plant was started in 1976 at an estimated cost of US$600 million. By the time it was finished in 1984 the price tag was US$2.3 billion – the price bloated by cronies of former Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos to ensure fat kickbacks for the ruling president’s group at the time.
The government was paying some US$300,000 a day on interest alone, essentially Filipino taxpayers money, on a loan sourced for Westinghouse, the plant builder, under the auspices of and guaranteed by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund…………………………………
According to the Philippine-based geologist, the United States Geological Survey recorded at least six earthquakes in sites near Mt. Natib and the site where the plant is located. Rodolfo said uranium is not carbon-free as proponents of nuclear energy have been claiming.
He said fossil fuels are still used to mine, mill and process uranium before it reaches a reactor and every watt of electricity generated by a nuclear power plant makes around 30 percent as much carbon as a watt generated by burning fossil fuel, further complicating the problem of global warming.
Professor Giovanni Tapang, also a renowned scientist and physicist from the University of the Philippines, said the risks in getting the nuclear plant online would outweigh the benefits of the 620 megawatts of electricity it could generate………………………Based on the views of foreign and local scientists, and from the political and moral perspectives of groups and individuals opposing the revival of the nuclear plant, the Manila government should stop pursuing the project and instead focus on sourcing energy from alternative, cheaper and safer sources of energy.
Nuke plant unsafe, says study
Nuke plant unsafe, says study
By Leila Salaverria Philippine Daily Inquirer 02/08/2009 MANILA, Philippines—The Senate and the Office of the President have in their possession an explosive study whose disclosure could very well result in the permanent shuttering of the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant and end moves in Congress to reopen the facility, according to environmentalist Nicanor Perlas.According to Perlas, it is important that the four-year study be made public as Congress has now begun debates on a bill filed by Pangasinan Rep. Mark Cojuangco seeking to rehabilitate the BNPP at a cost of $1 billion.He said the study, conducted in 1991 by local and foreign experts, showed that the plant’s most serious defect concerned its Quality Assurance Program, which the experts found to be sloppy and below regulatory standards………………………………Even if $1 billion is spent to rehabilitate the plant, this would not be enough to cure the defects because in the first place, there is no way of pinpointing where all these problems are, Perlas said.
“The design and construction problems of BNPP are frozen in concrete and steel,” he said…………………………..
He said that at the time the Philippine Atomic Energy Commission had minimal experience in nuclear regulation. And the energy department at the time was run by the dictator Ferdinand Marcos’ energy czar. Thus, the regulator had a conflict of interest.
“So it was very shady… This is where the corruption meets the technical and creates a nightmare scenario for the quality of the plant,” Perlas said.
If there should be an accident as a result of an earthquake, volcanic eruption, tsunami, faulty equipment or operator error, the resulting meltdown would cause an unspeakable disaster, he warned.
Nuke plant unsafe, says study – INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos
Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, radiation, uranium
Entergy apologizes for mishaps at nuclear plant
Associated Press – February 1, 2009 11:45 AM ET
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – An Entergy Nuclear official says the company has replaced several employees following two recent leaks of radioactive water at the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power plant.
Entergy Vice President Jay Thayer apologized to key lawmakers Friday for the two mishaps………………The two leaks in January raised concern among lawmakers, following the plant’s problems with its cooling towers last year.
NJ nuclear plant shut down by fire
Officials are investigating a fire at the nation’s oldest commercial nuclear plant.
Exelon Nuclear says the fire was in one of the Oyster Creek nuclear plant’s two main transformers………………Oyster Creek is located in Lacey Township, about 60 miles east of Philadelphia and is 38 years old. Its owners are seeking to renew its license.
Revealed: the nuclear waste on Cheshire’s roads – Chester standard
Revealed: the nuclear waste on Cheshire’s roads
The Standard 2nd February 2009
REGULAR loads of nuclear waste are travelling along Cheshire roads, it has been revealed.Emergency services went on full alert after a trailer carrying a load of low-level waste from Sellafield Ltd’s Capenhurst decommissioning site to its repository at Drigg in Cumbria became unhitched from the HGV tractor towing it near the junction of the A41 and the A5117 at Great Sutton.
Officials at the company along with outside safety watchdogs have now ordered a top-level inquiry into the incident
Revealed: the nuclear waste on Cheshire’s roads – Chester standard
1 This Month
of the week– Nuclear Reactor Information Task Force
14 May – online event From Bombs to Data Centres: the Face of Nuclear Colonialism
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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