USA nuclear weapons units – not so safe at all
Military removes commander of nuclear weapons unit KHON 2, By The Associated Press August 25, 2013, MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. (AP) — The Air Force has removed the commander of a nuclear weapons unit at a Montana base following a failed safety and security inspection this month that marked the second major misstep this year for one of the military’s most sensitive missions.
Military leaders say the decision to relieve Col. David Lynch of command at Malmstrom Air Force Base stems from a loss of confidence. They say it is not the result of the failed inspection first reported by The Associated Press on Aug. 13.
The 341st Missile Wing operates land-based nuclear missiles known as 450 Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missiles. The unit failed a review of its adherence to rules that ensure the safety, security and control of its nuclear weapons. Lynch’s removal was announced Friday.
This is the second time in recent months that an Air Force nuclear commander was replaced following a high-profile security problem…… http://www.khon2.com/2013/08/25/military-removes-commander-of-nuclear-weapons-unit/
Businessman caught with plan to sell uranium to Iran
Man caught in ‘uranium for Iran’ sting Sierra Leone man lured to New York with uranium ore hidden in his shoes after US federal agent offered him 1,000-tonne deal Reuters in Miami theguardian.com, Friday 23 August 2013 US prosecutors have charged a man from Sierra Leone with trying to sell undercover agents 1,000 tonnes of yellowcake uranium he thought would be shipped to Iran. He was arrested in New York with a sample of the toxic material hidden in his luggage, authorities said.
Patrick Campbell, 33, of Freetown, was arrested at John F Kennedy airport on Wednesday after he arrived from Sierra Leone with the sample of uranium concealed in the soles of shoes in his luggage, according to a criminal complaint filed in a Florida federal court on Thursday.
He allegedly responded to an ad in May 2012 on the websitealibaba.com seeking to purchase uranium that was placed by an undercover US agent posing as an American broker representing persons in Iran, according to an affidavit by Homeland Security agent Louise Miller.
Campbell agreed to travel to Miami to meet the supposed buyer, who could then analyse the purity of the uranium. Continue reading
Legal complications surround the issue of Yucca nuclear waste dump proposal
As the court concedes, this leaves open a number of future questions: What will the Energy Department do next, as it continues to attempt to abandon its Yucca application? What if the NRC’s remaining $11 million fund runs out, and Congress fails to appropriate any more money? Furthermore, the NRC might decide to comply with its decision deadline by simply rejecting the Energy Department’s application
The D.C. Circuit Goes Nuclear AUG 23, 2013 • BY ADAM J. WHITE To write about the D.C. Circuit this week is to join a much broader discussion about the court’s role in American law and policy…….In a case titled In re Aiken County, the court took the extraordinary step of ordering the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to continue reviewing the Energy Department’s proposal for a federal nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.
I say “extraordinary” not because the court overstepped its bounds, but because the case presents truly rare questions of the D.C. Circuit’s role at the intersection of congressional power, executive duty, agency discretion, and judicial responsibility.
Radioactive leak shuts down New Jersey nuclear plant
NJ Nuclear Plant Shutdown After Radioactive Water Leak. (includes video) August 23, 2013 By Mike DeNardo SALEM, N.J. (CBS) – The Salem Unit-One nuclear plant in South Jersey remains shut down, after radioactive water leaked in a containment building Thursday night. Salem’s Unit-One nuclear plant was shut down around 7:30 p.m., when radioactive water started to leak, says Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokeswoman Diane Screnci:
“They had a valve on one of the systems within the containment. And that valve was leaking, and it reached what are called their technical specification limits, and caused them to begin a shutdown.”
The leak was measured at four gallons a minute — above the one gallon per minute threshold to force a shutdown…. http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2013/08/23/nj-nuclear-plant-shutdown-after-radioactive-water-leak/
America could get to 75% renewable energy quite quickly
Billions of solar panels and millions of wind turbines
The good news is we are already getting these.
With An ‘All-Out’ Federal Renewable Energy Strategy, How Long Before We Could Be 100% Renewably Powered?, Forbes, Mark Rogowsky, Internet Entrepeneur, 22 Aug 13, Probably 20-30 years to get to 70-80%, but 80 years to get the last 20-30%.
Let’s clarify that the assumption here is that the United States actually decides to do this per the hypothetical. That means that for whatever reason, the politics has shifted massively from where it currently stands. There are a lot of roadblocks to 100% renewable energy, but relatively few toward mostly renewable energy — assuming you’ve solved the politics problem. Here’s what you need:
An integrated long-distance grid
You’ll be carrying a lot of wind from the Midwest, possibly from offshore in the East, and tons of solar from the Southwest long distances. So you’re going to want much better long-distance power lines, maybe even with superconducting trunks. This will let you use Arizona’s 5 pm sun to power Florida’s air conditioners at 8 pm. Is this trivial? No. Is it technologically impossible? Absolutely not.
Millions of electric cars
We use a lot of non-renewable fuel for transportation. We’re going to need electric vehicles to fix that. Continue reading
Breakthrough in solar energy storage battery
No Mem-Brainer Flow Battery Delivers Big http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3904 23 Aug 13, A palm-sized experimental flow battery developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers has the potential to solve intermittency challenges in utility-scale renewable energy systems.
The MIT team has engineered a prototype flow battery storage system without the expensive membrane usually required. Continue reading
Low level nuclear alert issued at Hanford
Hanford issues low-level nuclear alert http://q13fox.com/2013/08/22/hanford-issues-low-level-nuclear-alert/#ixzz2cp68IuEI BENTON COUNTY, Wash. — An alert was issued late Wednesday night at the Hanford Nuclear Site in southeast Washington for the lowest level emergency following the detection of radiation on Hanford’s grounds.
The low-level emergency was issued at 10:32 a.m. when higher than expected levels of radiation were found on a routine test of the C Tank Farm, indicating the “potential of a waste transfer leak.” All operations were halted, and personnel were evacuated from the C Tank Farm area. Other affected facility personnel were instructed to take cover, or shelter in place.
Benton and Franklin Counties’ Emergency Operations Centers were activated shortly after the first reading, but the emergency alert was relegated to Hanford’s grounds. Additional radiological tests found no detectable levels of contamination, and the alert-level emergency was lifted at 5:05 a.m. Higher than expected levels of radiation were confirmed, but there was no indication of a leak or spill, and the levels were less than originally discovered, officials with Hanford said. Workers were instructed to report to the site as normal. C Tank Farm prepared to return to normal operations.
Built by early Hanford scientists, engineers, and constructors, single-shell and double-shell storage tanks were constructed throughout Hanford’s 200 Area to store the radioactive liquid wastes generated from the processing facilities on site.
Bradley Manning: 35 years’ gaol for revealing atrocities
Bradley Manning Uncovered U.S. Torture, Abuse, Soldiers Laughing As They Killed Innocent Civilians Huffington Post : 08/21/2013 . — Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, the intelligence analyst convicted of making public thousands of secret documents, was sentenced Wednesday to 35 years in prison. But the files Manning sent to the website WikiLeaks remain on the Internet for anyone to read, and their impact on the world may be debated for as long as he remains in prison.
“Manning was under the impression that his leaked information was going to really change how the world views the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and future wars actually,” Navy Capt. David Moulton, a forensic psychiatrist testifying in Manning’s defense, told the military court on July 14.
“It was his opinion that if through crowd sourcing that enough analysis was done on these documents, which he felt to be very important, that it would lead to greater good, that society as a whole would come to the conclusion that the wars weren’t worth it, that really no wars are worth it.”
Here are some of the documents and revelations Manning leaked to the world from the small, sensitive, compartmented information facility in Iraq where he worked as an intelligence analyst from 2009 to 2010…… http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/21/bradley-manning-leaks_n_3788126.html?utm_hp_ref=tw
“Pockets” of radioactive seawater will impact USA’s West Coast
West Coast of North America to Be Hit Hard by Fukushima Radiation (Excellent maps and animation) http://www.globalresearch.ca/west-coast-of-north-america-to-be-hit-hard-by-fukushima-radiation/5346470 By Washington’s Blog Global Research, August 21, 2013
Radiation Levels Will Concentrate in Pockets In Baja California and Other West Coast Locations
An ocean current called the North Pacific Gyre is bringing Japanese radiation to the West Coast of North America: While many people assume that the ocean will dilute the Fukushima radiation, a previously-secret 1955 U.S. government report concluded that the ocean may not adequately dilute radiation from nuclear accidents, and there could be “pockets” and “streams” of highly-concentrated radiation. Continue reading
Rapid City Council votes for water security, and against uranium mining
Council passes resolution opposing uranium mining, Rapid city Journal, 21 Aug 13 The Rapid City Council passed a resolution late Monday night opposing a uranium mining operation near Edgemont, saying it “poses an unacceptable risk” to the city’s primary water supply.
The 9-1 vote came after council member Steve Laurenti sought to continue the discussion until state hearings for mining and water rights permits for Powertech concluded.
“I will tell you that this issue ranks in the top handful of issues that have generated public concern,” Mayor Sam Kooiker said. “This has really gotten peoples’ interest and there is a lot of concern in the community, and I believe that people have the right to ask questions about this issue.” Kooiker encouraged Laurenti to join the rest of the council in its decision to oppose the mine.
However, Laurenti stood firm with his vote against the resolution, maintaining that more information was needed before he could take a stand against the operation.
“The problem I have, from a logical standpoint, is to oppose something or even to have grave concern, grave meaning that I have a fear for my life,” Laurenti said. “I don’t fear for my life over this issue at this point.”…… The mine would draw up to 9,000 gallons of water per minute from the Inyan Kara and Madison aquifers. The Madison Aquifer supplied Rapid City with 60 percent of its water resources in 2012, according to city officials. http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/council-passes-resolution-opposing-uranium-mining/article_2253d74c-8890-58cc-9688-4bea869afbe9.html
Save Great Lakes meeting fills Detroit hall
Capacity crowd attends ‘Save the Great Lakes from Nuclear Waste’ town hall meeting Macomb Daily By GINA JOSEPH
Gina.joseph@macombdaily.com; @ginaljoseph, 08/20/13 The tide opposing a proposed Canadian underground nuclear waste repository on the shore of Lake Huron appears to be rising.
“I was very happy with the turnout but given the magnitude of the potential risk I wish hundreds more would have been here,” said State Rep. Sarah Roberts (D-St. Clair Shores) referring to the crowd attending last night’s ‘Save the Great Lakes from Nuclear Waste’ public forum at Wayne State University in Detroit. “Tonight demonstrated to me that there are many concerned citizens who care about our Great Lakes, our public health, our drinking water and the potential danger of the proposed underground repository.”
Ontario Power Generation wants the Canadian federal government to approve its plan to bury low and intermediate level radioactive nuclear waste under the Bruce Nuclear Power Plant, located on the shore of Lake Huron in the municipality of Kincardine.
Kincardine is less than three hours from the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron and north of Grand Bend, Ont. Roberts, who introduced a resolution urging Congress to oppose the underground nuclear waste dump, co-hosted the public forum on the proposed nuclear waste dump along with State. Sen. Hoon-Yung Hopgood (D-Taylor), who introduced a similar resolution that was unanimously passed by the Michigan Senate.
If the license is approved by the federal government, Ontario Power Generation will construct a deep geologic repository (DGR), consisting of burial caverns carved out of limestone and shale rock formations, less than a mile inland from the shore of Lake Huron and about 440 yards below the Great Lakes basin…… http://www.macombdaily.com/article/20130820/NEWS03/130829994/capacity-crowd-attends-save-the-great-lakes-from-nuclear-waste-town-hall-meeting
Frightening America makes a lot of money for 5 companies
5 Companies That Make Money By Keeping Americans Scared Reader Supported News, By Alex Kane, Salon 19 August 13 A massive industry profits off the government-induced fear of terrorism.
ichael Hayden, the former director of the National Security Agency, has invaded America’s television sets in recent weeks to warn about Edward Snowden’s leaks and the continuing terrorist threat to America.
But what often goes unmentioned, as the Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald pointed out, is that Hayden has a financial stake in keeping Americans scared and on a permanent war footing against Islamist militants. And the private firm he works for, called the Chertoff Group, is not the only one making money by scaring Americans.
Post-9/11 America has witnessed a boom in private firms dedicated to the hyped-up threat of terrorism. The drive to privatize America’s national security apparatus accelerated in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, and it’s gotten to the point where 70 percent of the national intelligence budget is now spent on private contractors, as author Tim Shorrock reported. The private intelligence contractors have profited to the tune of at least $6 billion a year. In 2010, the Washington Post revealed that there are 1,931 private firms across the country dedicated to fighting terrorism.
What it all adds up to is a massive industry profiting off government-induced fear of terrorism, even though Americans are more likely to be killed by a car crash or their own furniture than a terror attack.
Here are five private companies cashing in on keeping you afraid.
1. The Chertoff Group…..
2. Booz Allen Hamilton……
3. Science Applications International Corp…..
4. Center for Counterintelligence and Security Studies….
5. Security Solutions International….. http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/424-national-security/18979-5-companies-that-make-money-by-keeping-americans-scared
Every 4 minutes A Solar System Is Installed in the US
A Solar System Is Installed in the US Every 4 Minutes http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/america-installs-a-solar-system-every-four-minutes The industry will soon install one solar system every minute and a half. STEPHEN LACEY: AUGUST 19, 2013
A lot happens in America every four minutes. During that short time period, 30 babies areborn, 4,080 McDonald’s Big Macs are consumed, and 48,000 tons of CO2 are emitted.
And as it turns out, the U.S. is now installing one solar photovoltaic (PV) system every four minutes as well. If market growth continues at its current pace, the American solar industry could be installing a system every minute and twenty seconds by 2016. That’s a dramatic difference from 2006, when installers were only putting up one system every 80 minutes. Shayle Kann, vice president of GTM Research, documents the accelerating speed of solar deployment in the chart below:
It may not quite match Big Mac sales yet, but solar is on an extraordinarily fast growth trajectory. According to figures from GTM Research, two-thirds of all distributed solar in the U.S. has been installed over the last 2 1/2 years. And by 2016, cumulative installations of distributed PV will double.
That means the U.S. will hit 1 million cumulative residential solar installations by then — making the market in 2016 ten times larger than it was in 2010. For more information on American solar trends, check out the U.S. Solar Market Insight Report from GTM Research and SEIA.
Record heat brings wildfires, and floods, in Alaska
Heat records tumble as Alaska bakes, burns SMH, August 19, 2013 Alaska residents have been enjoying an unusually warm, sunny summer, but the pleasant weather has come at a cost: choking smoke from an extended wildfire season, flooding rivers due to fast-melting snow and glacial ice, and fish covered in algae.
Wildfires have burned 1.25 million acres (500,000 hectares) across Alaska this summer, according to the state’s fire-management center, the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center. Seventy fires were active on Friday, including a 57,870-acre (23,400-hectare) blaze near Delta Junction, about 95 miles (153 km) southeast of Fairbanks.
The fire season usually winds down in late June or early July, but not this year, said Jim Schwarber, a spokesman for the centre……
Heat brings more problems than just wildfires, Thoman and other experts said. Hot and dry conditions are stunting spruce tree growth in interior Alaska, and adding to stress for nearly all species of trees in the northern forest, he said.
Ocean fish have been found covered with algae, possibly a result of hotter sea-surface temperatures, Thoman said. Streams and rivers fed by glaciers and snowpack have been gorged by meltwater, causing sporadic flooding, while rain-fed waterways in parched areas have been running dry, he said. http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/heat-records-tumble-as-alaska-bakes-burns-20130819-2s5oi.html#ixzz2cYqMCssq
Gloomy future for nuclear energy in South Carolina
Doubts dampen S.C.’s nuclear future The State, South Carolina, August 19, 2013 By RODDIE BURRIS — rburris@thestate.com The hallmark of the future of nuclear power right now is uncertainty.
Utilities largely have backed off any rush to forge ahead in constructing the next generation of expensive, new nuclear reactor plants — even though they seemed plausible just a few years ago. Continue reading
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23-25 October – on Zoom – World BEYOND War’s annual global conferenc
Shut down the radiation-damaged Heysham nuclear reactors now
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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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