Costly delays in fixing nuclear plant
Point Lepreau refurbishment 9 months late
September 2, 2009 ATCBC NewsThe troubled $1.4-billion refurbishment of the Point Lepreau nuclear reactor is suffering another setback, pushing the massive project nine months behind schedule, CBC News has learned.
Sources inside NB Power say the refurbishment of the reactor is being stalled because of problems with the installation of the plant’s new calandria tubes…………
Point Lepreau is the first Candu-6 reactor to undergo a complete gutting and rebuild. It was intended to be a showcase for AECL to display its ability to revive the 1980s-era reactors.
When the refurbishment project started, it was supposed to last 18 months and have the reactor back on line in October 2010
However, crews at Point Lepreau struggled to deconstruct the old reactor, finally finishing that stage in late July, almost eight months behind schedule.
NB Power has acknowledged delays at Point Lepreau will cost $20 million a month.
Nuclear energy a fading dream
Energy dream fades in New Brunswick
By Megan O’Toole, Canwest News Service“……………The $1.4-billion refurbishment of New Brunswick’s Point Lepreau nuclear generating station, home to the first Candu 6 reactor in the world, was undertaken with the mantra “on time and on budget” as its driving force. But unforeseen delays and cost overruns have since plagued to the project–already half a year behind schedule–with ratepayers on the hook for replacement power costs. Continue reading
The search for a nuclear graveyard
The search for a nuclear graveyard
The Globe and Mail 26 August 09
40,000 metric tonnes of radioactive waste is stored at sites across Canada. Anna Mehler Paperny reports on the hunt for a permanent solution
Wanted: Friendly, open-minded community in need of jobs and a whack of infrastructure cash. Must be willing to play host to nuclear waste, perhaps until the end of time.More than six decades after joining the nuclear club, Canada is home to 22 nuclear reactors, 18 of them in operation, producing about 15 per cent of the country’s electricity. Canada also has 40,000 metric tonnes of radioactive waste – and counting.
For years, the issue of how to best dispose of this waste has plagued policy-makers, scientists and citizens. Suggestions have included shooting it into outer space or exporting it to the South Pole.
Now, Canada is preparing to get rid of its nuclear detritus once and for all – by burying it. Continue reading
Truckers exposed to high dose of radiation
(Canada) Truckers exposed to high dose of radiation during cross-country haul: report
Google News
By Steve Rennie (CP) – 4 August 09 OTTAWA — Two truckers were exposed to excessive doses of radiation last year while hauling a radioactive device across the country, newly released documents show.A preliminary investigation by Canada’s nuclear-safety watchdog found the drivers got more than their yearly limit of radiation on a six-day trip last December.The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission learned of the problem when the shipment triggered a radiation alarm on arrival at an MDS Nordion office in Ottawa.
The Canadian Press: Truckers exposed to high dose of radiation during cross-country haul: report
nuclear reactors not needed for Medical Isotopes
Race on in the Prairies to solve isotope shortage
Acsion Industries, University of Winnipeg say their cheap solution could be running in three years
The Globe and Mail 1 August 09
“…………………the smaller operation could be up and running inside three years, with little regulatory hassle, and for the bargain-basement price of $35-million……………………………I don’t think you’ll find another expression of interest that combines so clearly a health-care focus and a low cost. We’ll have to be taken seriously.”…………………..
the University of Winnipeg submission offers something completely different.
Under the proposal, researchers would shore up the country’s isotope stocks using a Manitoba-based particle accelerator rather than a nuclear reactor.
Unlike a reactor, a particle accelerator does not produce nuclear waste and would not be subject to the same stringent rules that make reactor construction a decade-long process.
“It’s a completely different technology,” said Jeff Martin, a University of Winnipeg physicist. “The regulatory process is much simpler, and for good reason. For instance, you can shut an accelerator off. With a reactor, that’s tricky.”
To carry out the proposal, the university has launched the Prairie Isotope Production Enterprise (PIPE), a not-for-profit partnership that includes Acsion, the province, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and other nuclear and radioisotope companies……………………..
While the Manitoba solution isn’t intended to solve international supply issues, the technology could be exported.
“Once you get it working here,” said Randy Kobes, associate dean of science at the university, “you can franchise it.”
Race on in the Prairies to solve isotope shortage – The Globe and Mail
Nuclear critics suspect hidden agenda in Sask. medical isotope plan
Nuclear critics suspect hidden agenda in Sask. medical isotope plan , July 10, 2009 CBC News Critics of nuclear development in Saskatchewan say a plan by the provincial government to supply medical isotopes may lead to more substantial nuclear facilities…………………………….
Jim Penna, a retired philosophy professor and a member of the Coalition for a Clean Green Saskatchewan, said there are ways of producing isotopes for medical diagnostics that do not require the construction of a nuclear reactor.
Penna said people should be wary of the motives behind the premier’s proposal. Penna said a plan for a research reactor may be the thin edge of the wedge leading to further expansion of the nuclear industry.
“That’s how it’s argued you see,” Penna told CBC News on Thursday. “They do talk about a research reactor … as one of the elements of a nuclear program for Saskatchewan. So this is a way of bringing about their nuclear agenda by piggybacking on the medical isotope issue.”…………………………….
Sandra Morin, environment critic for the Saskatchewan NDP, said Thursday that an economic feasibility study should be prepared, to demonstrate the project’s financial viability.
“We need a much more careful examination of just how much money will be put up by the Saskatchewan taxpayer and whether this is truly a feasible option for our province,” Morin said. “By all accounts, an isotope reactor simply doesn’t make sense from an economic standpoint so I would question the rush for the province to get involved in one.”
Morin also raised questions about one of the people closely involved in Saskatchewan’s pitch to the federal government, Richard Florizone.
Florizone, the vice-president of finance and resources at the University of Saskatchewan, is helping to prepare Saskatchewan’s proposal.
Florizone also chaired the province’s Uranium Development Partnership, the group appointed to look for ways to develop the uranium industry. Their report recommended building a research reactor that could produce medical isotopes.
Morin called the overlap of roles troublesome.
Nuclear critics suspect hidden agenda in Sask. medical isotope plan
A new face of nuclear medicine
A new face of nuclear medicine Heart Institute makes own medical isotopes By Tom Spears, The Ottawa Citizen J uly 7, 2009 “…………………In the institute’s basement, there’s a machine with a name like a carnival ride — the cyclotron — that produces medical isotopes (radioactive atoms) without a nuclear reactor.
To anyone who has toured a nuclear reactor building, the contrast is startling. Reactors are huge machines in earthquake-proof buildings running 24 hours a day, surrounded by layer upon layer of security and shutdown systems, and with radioactive waste that will last for millennia.
They cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build (even the smallest ones), and the last pair built in Canada flunked their safety tests last year and therefore have never operated.
The cyclotron at the Heart Institute is a big metal box in a room that measures about eight by 10 metres. You can walk right up to it safely while it’s running.
At night, the staff just turn it off and go home.
This is a new face of nuclear medicine, making medical isotopes that will make pictures of the heart, brain, bones and so on.
De Kemp continues his explanation of the glowing blobs on a compu
Wall must ignore nuclear hype, make an informed decision
“……………………………..the legitimacy of nuclear power as a cost-efficient energy source was dealt a severe blow this week with the news that the Ontario government has suspended the tender to build two new reactors at Darlington — part of a $26-billion nuclear building refurbishment plan. This development has certainly put a perspective on the foremost problem with nuclear power development — the exorbitant pricetag — that business proponents like the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce have sadly been downplaying.
New study: Nuclear workers at higher risk for cancer –
New study: Nuclear workers at higher risk for cancer Brattleboro Reformer By BOB AUDETTE, Reformer Staff July 2BRATTLEBORO — Are nuclear power plant workers at higher risk to die of cancer?A study conducted by a Canadian researcher concluded the risk is substantially higher to them than to the general public.The document, “Exposure to Radiation and Health Outcomes” was made public last week. It was written by Mark Lemstra, who was formerly a senior research epidemiologist for the Saskatoon, Canada, Health Region……………………In the radiation report, in which Lemstra reviewed 1,725 articles related to radiation studies, he concluded that nuclear power plant workers have a “relative excess risk” of getting cancer.
In epidemiology, excess risk is defined as the difference between the proportion of subjects in a population with a particular disease who were exposed to a specific risk factor and the proportion of subjects with that same disease who were not exposed.
In the case of nuclear power plant workers, that risk factor is low-dose radiation.
New study: Nuclear workers at higher risk for cancer – Brattleboro Reformer
Reactor design puts safety into question
Reactor design puts safety of nuclear plants into question Globe and Mai Jun. 29, 2009 Feature speeds up rate of atomic reactions in event of a coolant leak; regulators say they misjudged size of the problem
Martin Mittelstaedt
If reactors are not shut down quickly, their ability to keep radioactivity from escaping would be put to the test, according to an internal commission document.
The document says Canada’s seven nuclear stations, which all use Candu technology, have a feature known as “positive reactivity feedback,” in which their atomic chain reactions automatically speed up if the water pumped into the reactors to cool them leaks, one of the worst accidents possible at a nuclear station. If reactors aren’t immediately shut down during this type of incident, positive reactivity leads to a quick snowballing in the pace of nuclear reactions, which in turn could cause potentially damaging overheating.
The fear is that with a large loss of coolant, such overheating could put the nuclear facilities’ containment features – the concrete domes and other protective mechanisms around reactors that are the last-ditch defences to stop the spread of radioactivity into the environment – to a dangerous test.
Reactor design puts safety into question – The Globe and Mail
A holy terror
A holy terror Catholic archbishops speak out against nuclear reactors VICTORIA HANDYSIDES METRO NEWS 18 June 09 EDMONTON Toxic waste, terrorist threats and depleted natural resources could be part of Alberta’s future if nuclear reactors are erected in the province, a reality of which citizens are largely unaware, Alberta’s Catholic archbishops said yesterday. Continue reading
Ottawa to spend $6M seeking medical isotope alternatives
Approval for alternative types of medical isotopes such as thallium for cardiac scans and sodium fluoride for bone scans has also been been sped up, Aglukkaq said.”Although the next month is going to be challenging with Petten down as well, I believe that the increasing use of those two alternatives really does give us a significant step up in coping with the need to help our patients,” said Dr. Sandy McEwan, the federal government’s new special adviser on medical isotopes.Also on Tuesday, Ontario’s Health Ministry announced it will pay $1.4 million in one-time funding to produce sodium fluoride as an alternative diagnostic procedure for about 2,000 cancer patients.
AECL worried about Ont. nuclear cost overruns
AECL worried about Ont. nuclear cost overrunsUpdated:
Tue Jun. 09 2009 8:56:31 PMctvtoronto.caAs Ontario comes close to deciding who it will pay $20 billion to build two new nuclear reactors, the Canadian bidder is already worried that it will face large cost overruns.The warnings are contained in the secret documents left by a former member of Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt’s staff at CTV’s Ottawa bureau recently.In the documents is a page dealing with the bid by Atomic Energy Canada Ltd. (AECL), which hopes to win the contract. On that page is the following statement: “… There is the risk there could be large cost overruns.”……..
….The last nuclear plant constructed in Ontario was the Darlington project, which went over-budget by about $15 billion when it was finally opened nearly 20 years ago. Ontario’s hydro customers are still playing off that debt.
Nuclear power consultation process blasted by Northern Alberta residents
Nuclear power consultation process blasted by Northern Alberta residents By Hanneke Brooymans, edmontonjournal.com une 5, 2009 EDMONTON — Citizens who gathered in Edmonton Friday to participate in a provincial government consultation on nuclear power blasted the process for being secretive and rushed………………………….
Citizens who don’t want nuclear power plants in Alberta say the entire consultation process on the issue has been biased, beginning with the expert report released earlier this year.
They also found the five weeks given to the public to fill out a survey workbook was too short.
Albertans were given 75 days to offer their thoughts on new licence plates and 60 days on parks consultations, said Mark Sandilands, a member of a southern Alberta environmental group called Greensence.
The group is pushing for the provincial government to also run a public consultation process on renewable energy options.
Nuclear power consultation process blasted by Northern Alberta residents
Anti-nuclear opinions dominate uranium forum in Regina
Anti-nuclear opinions dominate uranium forum in Regina By Angela Hall, Leader-PostJune 5, 2009 REGINA — More than 400 people gathered in Regina to weigh in on the province’s nuclear options, with many in the crowd firmly opposed to the idea of building a reactor………………
During the open microphone portion of the meeting Thursday night, Regina resident Ron Bocking asked those opposed to nuclear power to raise their hand — which prompted most of the crowd to cheer and put up their arm.
“I’m strongly opposed to nuclear energy for three main reasons,” said Bocking, calling it economically unfeasible, dangerous due to the waste that has to be isolated from the environment and unnecessary. “There’s many other forms of energy.”………………………
Others called for a bigger focus on renewable energy options.
“Why isn’t there a public meeting of this size talking about solar and wind?” asked one man.
1 This Month
26 April – Chernobyl: Inside the Meltdown airs on National Geographic on Sunday 26th April from 4pm
29 April – Nuclear Expert Webinar #1 – Radiation Impacts on Families with Mary Olson and Cindy Folkers
- 12:15 PM MT – 1:45 PM MT
- Location: Virtual – REGISTER TODAY
4 May -West Suburban Peace Coalition to discuss Iran war at May Educational Forum
Monday, May 4, 7:00 – 8:00 PM Central Standard Time
Title: : How Trump’s Narrative Tries to Shape the Reality of the War on Iran.
Contact Walt Zlotow, zlotow@hotmail.com 630 442 3045 for further information
14 May – online event From Bombs to Data Centres: the Face of Nuclear Colonialism
Pine Ridge Uranium is the real threat, not Tehran- Tell Burgum: Stop the Extraction.
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/2352741955560
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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