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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
USA’s missile shield program was a lemon – Wikileaks
A 2007 briefing by General Patrick O’Reilly, director of the US Missile Defence Agency, disclosed that the radar system would be unable to detect long-range missiles in the launch phase because it could only see in a straight line, not over the horizon.
WikiLeaks cables: planned US missile shield blind to nuclear weapons, Telegraph UK, US plans for a missile defence system on Czech soil ran into trouble when defence chiefs realised the proposed radar was blind to nuclear missiles, leaked diplomatic cables show By Heidi Blake 03 Feb 2011 Continue reading
Synchrotron for medical isotopes – no need for nuclear reactor
The NRC says the new method doesn’t pose any security or nuclear proliferation concerns because, unlike a nuclear reactor, it requires no weapons-grade uranium.
Sask. synchrotron to make medical isotopes, CBC News -, 24 Jan 2011, Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan are looking at using the synchrotron to develop medical isotopes without a nuclear reactor. Continue reading
Electric car industry racing ahead in China
Consumers are also benefiting from — and thus helping to support and maintain — China’s commitment to the EV revolution. The government is giving 120,000 yuan (AU$18,276) to each EV consumer. Such strong support from both the public and private sectors should lead to increasingly affordable EVs….Such developments are the rumblings of a formidable domestic market, good news for China’s already-healthy economic appetite.
Don’t put the brake on electric vehicles in Oz, January 24, 2011 Crikey Alice Body The wheels aren’t just turning on the electric vehicle (EV); the whole industry is accelerating thanks to a major new initiative by the Chinese government. Continue reading
France’s AREVA has dangerous plan for undersea nuclear plant at Cherbourg
ecological associations have wasted no time in highlighting the dangers. According to Greenpeace, nothing has been finalised on a technical level or in terms of safety.
1 This Month
19 November – Webinar – The Reality of Reprocessing
Time: 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada) / 2:00 PM Eastern / 7:00 PM UK / 8:00 PM CET
Register for the Zoom Event Here
Shut down the radiation-damaged Heysham nuclear reactors now
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
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