nuclear-news

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

Plutonium from spent nuclear fuel rods pouring into the sky

plutonium scattered into the atmosphere is even more dangerous that the combustion products of rods without plutonium,

Alert, Fushima coverup: forty years of spent nuclear fuel rods blown sky high,  PrisonPlanet TV, Paul Joseph Watson and Kurt Nimmo March 15, 2011 Infowars analysis: In addition to under reporting the fires at Fukushima, the Japanese government has not told the people about the ominous fact that the nuclear plant site is a hellish repository where a staggering number of spent fuel rods have accumulated for 40 years. Continue reading →

March 17, 2011 Posted by | Japan, safety, technology | 1 Comment

Technical information on the Fukushima nuclear loss of coolant

Moreover, in the spent fuel pools usually situated next to nuclear power plants, there are large numbers of additional fuel rods, used ones, disposed of as waste. There must be constant water circulation in the spent fuel pools. In what is labeled a “loss-of-water’ accident in a spent fuel pool, the zirconium cladding of the fuel rods is projected as exploding—sending into the environment the lethal nuclear poisons in a spent fuel pool…….

Behind the Hydrogen Explosion at the Fukushima Nuclear Plant, Common Dreams, by Karl Grossman, 12 March 11, The explosion at the Fukushima nuclear power plant is being described as caused by a “hydrogen build-up” The situation harks back to the “hydrogen bubble” that was feared would explode when the Three Mile Island plant in 1979 underwent a partial meltdown…… Continue reading →

March 13, 2011 Posted by | Japan, safety, technology | 1 Comment

A new worldwide standard for monitoring workers for radiation exposure

New ISO standard will improve protection of workers exposed to radiation, IEWY News 3 March 11, A  new ISO standard will help optimize individual monitoring and protection of workers exposed to radiation. It will also provide the technical basis for reinforcing regulation in this field worldwide. Continue reading →

March 4, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, health, technology | Leave a comment

Stuxnet attack on Iran’s nuclear plants, by USA

the Stuxnet code was designed to trick human operators by showing them recorded readings indicating machinery is running normally while behind the scenes they are heading for destruction….it is a generic attack that would work well in factories, power plants, or other operations plentiful in the United States.

Computer expert says US behind Stuxnet worm, Google hosted news, By Glenn Chapman (AFP) – 4 March 11, LONG BEACH, California — A German computer security expert said Thursday he believes the United States and Israel’s Mossad unleashed the malicious Stuxnet worm on Iran’s nuclear program. Continue reading →

March 4, 2011 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, technology, USA | Leave a comment

The danger of nuclear plants that are out of sight

The concern arises from new and anticipated developments that will allow nuclear fuel facilities — uranium enrichment technologies — to get so small and so efficient that U.S. surveillance methods can’t spot them.

Why we need to keep nuclear facilities in plain sight, The Hill, By Francis Slakey – 03/02/11 ……… technology over the last few decades that got smaller, more efficient, and easier to conceal. Facilities that manufacture nuclear fuel are following that same trend – one that’s creating a national security risk . Continue reading →

March 3, 2011 Posted by | safety, technology, USA | Leave a comment

France’s plan for nuclear reactors out of sight, undersea

Anti-nuclear groups such as “Sortir du Nucleaire” (“Phasing Out of the Nuclear Age”) have described the project as “absurd”.

“Radioactivity would spread even more quickly in the water than in the air, with even fewer means to control leaks,” said Sortir du Nucleaire coordinator Anne-Laure Meladeck in Lyon……

French scientists eye underwater nuclear plants By Marie Maitre PARIS, March 2 (Reuters) – French scientists are looking at the possibility of submerging small nuclear power plants deep underwater to supply low-cost energy to isolated countries or islands that cannot afford a major inland atomic plant. Continue reading →

March 3, 2011 Posted by | France, technology | Leave a comment

Stop producing plutonium, to stop nuclear weapons spread

Halting production of bomb-grade materials “is in the interest of every country,” Clinton said, urging the UN to open negotiations on a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty “without further delay.”

Clinton Urges Treaty to Halt Production of Nuclear Bomb Material, Bloomberg, By Viola Gienger and Indira A.R. Lakshmanan – Mar 1, 2011 U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for an international treaty to bar production of plutonium and uranium for use in nuclear bombs, Continue reading →

March 1, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, technology, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Fast breeder nuclear reactor trains for Russia?

Russia designs nuclear train2011- BarentsObserver Thomas Nilsen 24 Feb 2011, Sounds like a chapter in a science fiction book? Well,it’s not. Rosatom and Russian Railways are seriously developing a nuclear powered train.Vice-president of Russian Railways (RZhD) Valentin Gapanovich says they will present the layout of the train by the end of this year. The train will consist of 11 wagons.The engine of the train will be a small fast breeder reactor, and in its initial stage, the train will be a scientific exhibition complex.The design is made by Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation, Rosatom…….Russia designs nuclear train – BarentsObserver

February 25, 2011 Posted by | reprocessing, Russia, technology | Leave a comment

Reprocessing nuclear waste – not a solution to the intractable waste problem

Nuclear waste- no place to go? Environment Reseach by Dave Elliott on February 19, 2011 Reprocessing nuclear waste provides little short-term benefit because the process costs too much and uranium supplies remain plentiful, according to a new study of US nuclear waste management options by MIT, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Continue reading →

February 22, 2011 Posted by | reprocessing, USA, wastes | Leave a comment

Finacial cold water thrown on USA plan for small nuclear reactors

“It’s going to come down to cost,” said Johnson. If a 100-MW plant will have to need the same size security and operating staff as a 1,000-MW unit, he said, “that’s going to make it difficult.”…..

Utilities split over small nuclear reactor economics Washington (Platts)–18Feb2011 Despite enthusiasm among nuclear reactor vendors and the Obama administration about the potential of small nuclear reactors, some utilities remain to be convinced of their economic viability. Continue reading →

February 19, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, technology, USA | Leave a comment

Graphite in nuclear reactors damaged by radiation

UK Engineers Examine Damages in Nuclear Reactors Due to Radiation Exposure, Azo Nano Technology, 18 Feb 2011, Researchers from the University of Leeds have teamed up with colleagues from the Universities of Manchester, Nottingham, Salford, Sussex and Huddersfield to examine how daily radiation exposure gradually damages the graphite blocks that sustain nuclear chain reactions……. Continue reading →

February 19, 2011 Posted by | technology | Leave a comment

Britain to break international agreement in releasing plutonium into sea

Sellafield activity ‘will ensure UK breaks nuclear pollution  promise’ Group monitoring nuclear plant says ‘crash programme’ by government’s NDA will put UK in breach of Ospar convention Rob Edwards, guardian.co.uk,  17 February 2011
• ‘Sellafield is where we house the toxic legacy of our failed nuclear industry’

Britain is on course to break an international agreement to reduce radioactive pollution of the seas, because of an increase in activity at the Sellafield nuclear site, Continue reading →

February 18, 2011 Posted by | politics international, reprocessing, UK | 1 Comment

MOX – Britain’s failed attempt to deal with its plutonium problem

The problem is that Britain has the dubious distinction of being the world’s civilian plutonium capital, with 112 tons of it – about half the global total – almost all stored at Sellafield. It is there because, unlike in America, we “reprocess” our nuclear waste to extract plutonium. The idea was for it to power a new generation of “fast breeder” reactors, but the industry admits these are still half a century away, and so we are stuck with the stuff.

So the nuclear plant does not work, loses £90 million a year, and could be a security risk? Let’s build another, say ministers A bomb factory in our back yard, – Telegraph, UK, 14 Feb 2011, The so-called Mox plant could well go rogue, – Geoffrey Lean.

How’s this for timing? A week ago The Daily Telegraph published a confidential cable from the US embassy calling a controversial plant at Sellafield “one of Her Majesty’s Government’s most embarrassing failures in British industrial history”. Then, within days, ministers said they were minded to build another one like it. Continue reading →

February 15, 2011 Posted by | reprocessing, UK | Leave a comment

UK’s plutonium stockpile could be used in new subsidy to nuclear industry

This could easily end up as yet another black hole for taxpayers’ money. The use of the UK plutonium stockpile in reactors could be yet another subsidy for new nuclear.”

Mox proposal would pay nuclear firms to use recycled plutonium• French group Areva wants to build a Mox plant at Sellafield• Greenpeace fears ‘yet another subsidy for new nuclear’   Tim Webb guardian.co.uk, 7 February 2011  Areva submitted a proposal to the government to build a Mox plant at Sellafield.

Nuclear companies could be paid by the government to buy recycled nuclear fuel from a new taxpayer-funded plant, to reduce the country’s stockpile of plutonium. Continue reading →

February 8, 2011 Posted by | reprocessing, secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK | Leave a comment

Unacceptable risks of plutonium nuclear fuel

Energy NW asked not to use plutonium reactor fuel | Seattle Times Newspaper, 4 Feb 2011, RICHLAND, Wash. —Friends of the Earth is calling upon Energy Northwest not to consider using nuclear reactor fuel derived from weapons-grade plutonium at its Columbia Generating Station at Hanford.The environmental organization says it has obtained Department of Energy documents that say the public power consortium is evaluating the potential use of plutonium mixed oxide fuel at the reactor. It says the use of such fuel poses unacceptable risks and costs.The government says the fuel could produce energy while disposing of plutonium from abandoned nuclear weapons. The Energy Department is building a plant in South Carolina to make the fuel.Energy Northwest spokeswoman Rochelle Olson says it has no plans to use the fuel until studies prove it would be safe, economical and technically feasible. Local News | Energy NW asked not to use plutonium reactor fuel | Seattle Times Newspaper

February 5, 2011 Posted by | reprocessing, safety, USA | Leave a comment