nuclear-news

Nuclear attack on Melbourne ‘inevitable’, says academic

AN RMIT academic claims a nuclear terror attack on Melbourne is “inevitable” within 10 years because of Australia’s support for the war on terror and “soft” borders.

Global studies Prof Joseph Siracusa will launch a research project on the threat to our city tomorrow.

Perma-Fix fined over issues before purchase of Richland plant

tricityherald.com by Annette Cary, Herald staff writer30 sept 08

Perma-Fix Northwest Richland will pay a penalty of $304,500 after the Environmental Protection Agency found waste treatment problems stemming from the previous ownership of the Richland plant.

Police drop bombshellat nuclear conference
PS News 29 Sept 08 The Australian Federal Police were successful in getting a special session on nuclear forensics included in the recent annual conference of the Australasian Radiation Protection Society, the first time in the Society’s 33-year history.
Radiological expert at the AFP’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Data Centre (CBRNDC), Dr George Koperski said nuclear forensics had become increasingly important in the face of world concern about the proliferation of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction.
“As a scientific discipline, nuclear forensics can assist law enforcement agencies around the world in the fight against the illicit trafficking of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials which may be used by terrorists in ‘dirty bombs’ or for other criminal purposes,” Dr Koperski said………………………..Dr Koperski said CBRNDC’s mission was to enhance Australia’s capability to prevent, prepare and respond to malicious use of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear agents.

Fire at Nuclear Plant Prompts Special Investigation

Occupational Health and Safety 25 Sept 08 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is conducting a special inspection at the DC Cook Nuclear Power Station to review circumstances around a turbine generator fire and degradation of the fire suppression system. The two-unit plant is operated by American Electric Power and is located in Stevensville, Mich.

On Sept. 20, a malfunction in the Unit 1 turbine generator resulted in a fire and caused the operators to manually shut down the reactor.

Water seeping at nuclear reactor
news.com.au

September 24, 2008 12:15am

The problem lies within the new Argentinian-built OPAL nuclear reactor used not to produce power, but rather nuclear medicines, neutrons for scientific research and irradiation services.

Residents urge Yankee shutdown
RUTLAND HERALD September 23, 2008By Susan Smallheer The only people to speak in favor of the continued operation of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant Monday night besides its employees were two state legislators from the Northeast Kingdom and the head of the regional Chamber of Commerce in Rutland.Otherwise, Vermonters overwhelmingly said that the Vernon reactor owned by Entergy Nuclear should be shut down in 2012, if not sooner…………………………….“Vermont Yankee is not ‘safe, clean or reliable,’” said Joan Eckley, quoting Entergy Nuclear’s own statewide advertising campaign. “Please close Vermont Yankee as soon as possible.”

Members of the public raised questions about adequate financing of the reactor’s decommissioning fund, the continuing maintenance and operation problems, and the high-level radioactive waste produced, which will remain deadly for thousands of years…………………..Many speakers said that while the shutdown of Vermont Yankee would eventually mean the loss of jobs in southern Vermont, the difference would be more than made up with innovative, high-technology jobs in alternative energy.

CHANNEL 3 NEWS POLLMajority of Vermonters Want Vt. Yankee Closed

Burlington, Vermont – September 19, 2008

New Channel 3 News poll results find a majority of Vermonters do not want the state’s only nuclear power plant to be relicensed……………………..

When asked if Vermont Yankee should be relicensed in 2012, 52 percent said no, 29 percent said yes and 19 percent were unsure. Opponents to Yankee– and even state officials– say the results are not surprising given all the recent problems at the plant.

Not only do a majority of Vermonters want Yankee closed– many are worried about problems at the plant………………………64 percent say they are willing to pay more for electricity if it means Yankee would close. 28 percent would not be willing to pay more. 8 percent are not sure. Among the 64 percent who say they’ll pay more, half are willing to pay 10 percent more.

Tourists bring nuclear waste souvenir back to China
Shanghaiist.com 16 Sept 08 Three tourists from Xinjiang province returned from their trip to Kyrgyzstan with a lump of depleted uranium. They had bought the radioactive material as a souvenir at a local flea market. This kind of waste can be found at disposal sites left from Soviet-era uranium mining in Kyrgyzstan. After returning to China, they took the uranium to an expert at Tsinghua university to have it identified. The university staff called the police when they realized what it was, however, charges will not be pressed as a the men obviously didn’t know what they had bought.

Bombs found near US base in Japan
ALJAZEERA.net September 13, 2008 Police say they have found evidence of two rocket-propelled bombs after two explosions were heard near a US naval base.

Local media reported that police were investigatng whether the blasts late on Friday were caused by an attempted attack on the Yokosuka Naval Base south of the capital Tokyo………………..The blasts occurred just hours after the US navy announced that the USS George Washington, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was due to arrive on September 25.

It will be the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to be stationed in Japan, the only country to have suffered nuclear attacks.
Local residents and civic groups expressed concerns over the deployment of the USS George Washington after a fire onboard the warship in May.

Some Japanese living near the base are also opposed to the US military presence in Yokosuka and the increased number of American sailors the aircraft carrier would bring to the area.

Nuclear reprocessing is risky and impractical
Greenvilleonline.com By Marcus Newberry and Dana Beach • September 13, 2008 A powerful bipartisan duo, Rep. James Clyburn and Sen. Lindsey Graham, recently joined forces to support “nuclear reprocessing.” We urge these gentlemen to temper their enthusiasm……………………..

Nuclear reprocessing separates plutonium from radioactive waste so that it can be reused to generate additional energy. However, reprocessing also has an unfortunate side effect: It dramatically increases the volume of radioactive waste.

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, “After reprocessing … the total volume of nuclear waste will have been increased by a factor of twenty or more ….”

n addition, waste from nuclear reprocessing is prone to contaminate surrounding communities. A recent report by the Institute for Policy Studies stated: “Denmark, Norway, and Ireland have sought to close the French and English plants because of their radiological impacts. For instance, discharges of iodine-129, a very long-lived carcinogen, have contaminated the shores of Denmark and Norway at levels 1,000 times higher than nuclear weapons fallout. Health studies indicate that significant excess childhood cancers have occurred near French and English reprocessing plants.”

Finally, as South Carolina well knows, nuclear waste will stay right where it was produced, indefinitely. That is because the federal government has struggled for more than 20 years to develop a safe, permanent storage facility at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Optimists predict that Yucca Mountain will open in 2017; others say it will never open at all.

Xcel nuclear plant down again The Monticello facility was shut down for the second time this year after a breaker failure.By DEE DePASS, Star TribuneLast update: September 12, 2008 – “…………………….

In August, Xcel shut down one of its two Prairie Island reactors because of elevated hydrazine levels found in the turbine building. Levels of the anti-corrosive, ammonia-like chemical stayed elevated for about six hours before being corrected. The plant was back to full power the next day.

The problems at both nuclear plants concerned some Minnesota environmentalists and Indian tribes who worry about plant safety and excessive radioactive waste storage.

Concern has heightened since Xcel applied to extend operating licenses for both of its Minnesota-based nuclear plants.