wastes « nuclear-news

Taxpayer cops endlessly rising costs of decommissioning nuclear reactor

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) said that costs changed over time and were constantly being reassessed.

Cost of clearing Suffolk nuclear plant set to soar to nearly £1bn – Norfolk News – EDP24, 4 Oct 10, The estimated cost of clearing the Sizewell A nuclear power station site on the east coast is now a massive £927m, according to new figures.Taxpayers will pick up most of the bill Continue reading →

October 5, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | decommission reactor, UK | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear decommissioning, nuclear wastes, radioactive, reactor | Leave a comment

Nuclear cooling pond an environmental and terrorist danger

Not only does nuclear waste pose an environmental risk, opponents say, the ever-growing collection of spent fuel rods inside the power plant also makes it an inviting target for terrorists…..

Nuclear waste to lingerTown unhappy as Pilgrim rods stay, PLYMOUTH The Boston Globe By Robert Knox October 3, 2010 A new ruling by nuclear power regulators that concludes it’s safe to store nuclear waste at a nuclear power plant for 60 years after the plant closes — the previous limit was 30 years — has led Plymouth officials to concede that nuclear waste will remain in town longer than anybody wants. Continue reading →

October 4, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, reactor | Leave a comment

Disposing of dead nuclear reactors – problem not yet solved

The problem of disposing of this kind of reactors is ripe everywhere, not only in Russia..this branch of the nuclear industry is least developed technically, technologically and marketingwise,..Apart from Russia, this kind of reactor is used in a number of European countries

Russia to retire uranium-graphite reactors Voice of Russia, Oleg Nekhai , Sep 30, 2010 Russian nuclear scientists intend to shut down uranium-graphite reactors on a mass scale. Continue reading →

October 1, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | decommission reactor, Russia | AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear decommissioning, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, reactors | Leave a comment

Great Lakes nuclear shipment plan opens door for dangerous nuclear trafficking

“There is no policy in place in Canada that supports a proposal to export Canada’s nuclear waste in this case reactor refurbishment waste to a foreign country or to allow the residual waste, which will be even more radioactive, to be imported back into Canada. There is, however a very high level of concern in the Canadian public about the potential for international trafficking in nuclear waste,”

Shipment of Nuclear Waste has Northwatch in Ottawa today, North Bay News, By Kate Adams, September 29, 2010 Northwatch is one of seventy five intervenors in a two day hearing of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission reviewing the controversial proposal by Bruce Power to ship 1600 tonnes of radioactive waste through the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River to Sweden, Continue reading →

September 30, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes | Leave a comment

Shipment of nuclear steam generators on Great Lakes sets a dangerous precedent

questions remain about the long-term fate of its radioactive waste material……. the industry faces a major public-relations war whenever it proposes to move radioactive waste.

Plan to ship radioactive generators through Great Lakes draws protest – The Globe and Mail, 29 Sept 10, Bruce Power’s plan to ship radioactive steam generators for recycling in Sweden is raising a storm of protest along the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River – a stark reminder for Canada’s nuclear industry that its waste-handling problems remain an obstacle to development. Continue reading →

September 29, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, radioactive, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

USA’s ‘Blue Ribbon Commission’ looking for answer to nuclear waste

President Barack Obama created the commission after his administration abandoned a proposed nuclear waste storage site in Nevada. The commission is supposed to make the first of its recommendations in the fall of 2011

Nuclear waste panel to visit Georgia site | ajc.com, 26 Sept 10, The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionA panel examining how the United States should store nuclear waste will visit Plant Vogtle in eastern Georgia and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina next year. Continue reading →

September 27, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear wastes | Leave a comment

USA no idea how to get rid of its 70,000 tons of nuclear waste

the panel’s report [Obama’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Nuclear Wastes] isn’t due until January 2012. And the group’s recommendations aren’t binding on the White House or Congress..….the country’s political leaders are no closer to a safe, permanent disposal plan for nuclear waste than they were a generation ago,

Nuclear waste piles up with no disposal plan, APP.com | Asbury Park Press, By RAJU CHEBIUM • WASHINGTON BUREAU • September 15, 2010 — Tens of thousands of tons of potentially lethal radioactive waste have been piling up across the nation for more than a generation, but the federal government has yet to decide how to get rid of it permanently. Continue reading →

September 21, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes | Leave a comment

250,000 tonnes of nuclear waste to be stored for 100,000 years

there’s a big question mark over whether future generations will have the knowledge to understand nuclear waste’s silent but deadly threat.

Where do you put 250,000 tonnes of nuclear waste? Wired UK, By Duncan Geere 20 September 2010 Around the world, nuclear power plants are churning out high-level radioactive waste at a rate of knots. It’s estimated that about 250,000 tonnes of the material is currently in interim storage, submerged in huge tanks of water in facilities that keep it safe — temporarily.

But there’s very little agreement on what to do with the stuff long-term, as it will remain a danger for around 100,000 years — almost as long as humans have existed, and far longer than we’ve been using tools. Continue reading →

September 21, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Unsolved nuclear waste problem may stop nuclear industry in USA and EU

On Wednesday last week, Greenpeace launched a broadside against the European repository plans, arguing that leaders were being misled over safety issues – particularly relating to groundwater contamination. It appears the repository battle is about to go nuclear here, too.

President Barack Obama’s Yucca Mountain decision is a blow to US nuclear power- Telegraph UK, By Garry White 20 Sep 2010, US President Barack Obama appeared to deal a decisive blow to America’s nuclear power industry earlier this year, when he pulled the funding for a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. Continue reading →

September 21, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, Copenhagen, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, reactors | Leave a comment

So called “clean” nuclear technology might return to Hanford

Among the first decisions that DOE is expected to make is whether to lease land to Energy Northwest that’s near the Hanford 300 Area, which is just north of Richland, for a (?) clean energy park……At some point Energy Northwest might look at energy production through new small nuclear modules,

Future of Hanford land up for debate, Northwest News – The News Tribune By Annette Cary, 09/19/10 HANFORD — At the start of the 1940s, most of the 586 square miles that now make up the Hanford nuclear reservation was crop land and sagebrush range land where 20,000 sheep grazed…. Continue reading →

September 20, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Staggering cost and slowness of cleaning up radioactive wastes

GAO: Nuclear Waste Mitigation Too Slow and Costly HStoday, by Phil Leggiere Friday, 17 September 2010 Report cites extensive cost overruns and construction delays in mitigating radioactive waste at Savannah River site. Emptying, cleaning, and permanently closing the 22 underground liquid radioactive waste tanks at the Savannah River Site is likely to cost significantly more and take longer than estimated by the Department of Energy (DOE), according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).The report,titled NUCLEAR WASTE: Actions Needed to Address Persistent Concerns with Efforts to Close Underground Radioactive Waste Tanks at DOE’s Savannah River Site , found that the original cost estimate of $3.2 billion contained in the December 2008 contract between DOE and Savannah River Remediation, LLC (SRR), had increased by more than $1.4 billion or 44 percent by June 2010……..Homeland Security Today – preparedness and security news – GAO: Nuclear Waste Mitigation Too Slow and Costly

September 17, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear wastes, radioactive | Leave a comment

Radioactive Dounreay fast breeder nuclear reactor site dangerous for over 300 years

the whole 150-acre Dounreay site is likely to remain closed to the public for almost 300 years after it is decommissioned because of continuing contamination.

Doomsday for Dounreay dome as site is too costly to develop – Herald Scotland David Ross, 17 Sep 2010“……… plans are being finalised to demolish the Dounreay’s nuclear reactor’s iconic golf- ball dome. Continue reading →

September 17, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | decommission reactor, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear decommissioning, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, reactor | Leave a comment

Moscow facing up to its nuclear radiation mess

There is also an issue of unknown radioactive dumps. Tens of them are found every year all over Moscow…People just do not know whether any nuclear waste is nearby and what the level of radiation on the surface is.

Radiation scare for Moscow parks The Moscow News, – Evgeniya Chaykovskaya – 13 Sept 10, Levels of radiation on Moscow’s streets have reached a level so high that the authorities are about to spend 4.7 billion roubles to get rid of it.The $153 million clean-up will run from 2011-2013 amid reports of no fewer than 18 dangerous radioactive objects within the capital.

And they can be found in heavily built-up areas like Kuzminki, Continue reading →

September 14, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Russia, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Efforts to clean up radioactive Tritium leak at Oyster Creek nuclear plant

Nuclear plant cleaning up tritium, APP.com | Asbury Park Press, By BOB VOSSELLER September 13, 2010 — The state Department of Environmental Protection on Monday announced the start of a tritium cleanup at Oyster Creek Generating Station.The first phase of a cleanup of radioactive tritium that leaked from the Forked River power plant owned by Exelon Nuclear last year was outlined by DEP Commissioner Bob Martin and Exelon officials…….The plan also calls for continued monitoring of the content of the water pulled from the ground, and observation of groundwater levels in the area near the nuclear plant. Contaminated water will be pumped into drums and transferred to a large holding tank on site, to be diluted into massive volumes of water used for cooling the power-generating process, which will bring the tritium levels below detectable standards….

Nuclear plant cleaning up tritium | APP.com | Asbury Park Press

September 14, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | Leave a comment

Danger in blending Class A radioactive wastes with hotter classes

blended waste should be dealt with as part of a comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s low-level radioactive waste, with careful attention paid to public-safety issues…..Under Utah law, Energy- Solutions is banned from taking waste hotter than Class A.

NRC head urges caution on waste blending | The Salt Lake Tribune, By JUDY FAHYS Sep 10, 2010 Las Vegas • Blended radioactive waste won’t be coming to Utah anytime soon if the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission adopts its leader’s position. Continue reading →

September 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | technology, USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment