Hundreds of calls to Virginia’s Governor McDonnell to keep ban on uranium mining
Va. governor hearing from public on uranium mining http://www.nbc12.com/story/21089999/va-governor-hearing-from-public-on-uranium-mining
Feb 09, 2013 RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Gov. Bob McDonnell is hearing from hundreds of people who want him to keep in place a ban on uranium mining in Virginia.The governor’s office says as of Friday, 894 calls, letters, emails and faxes were received in support of the ban, with 171 support mining.
The call on the ban is not McDonnell’s to make but he could keep the issue alive this year. He’s been asked to use his executive powers to direct the drafting of regulations for mining. The General Assembly would still have to act to end a decades-old prohibition on uranium mining.
The debate is being fueled by a company’s quest to tap a deposit of the ore in Pittsylvania County.
McDonnell has said he has not arrived at a position on the issue.
Florida nuclear companies got $1 billion from customers, for non existent power plants
Time to repeal nuclear recovery lawhttp://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/fl-sccol-oped0210-20130210,0,5173814.story, By Susan Clary February 10, 2013 With the help of the Florida Legislature, two energy companies have been able to collect more than $1 billion from utility customers for the construction of nuclear power plants with no guarantee they would ever be built. Continue reading
A disastrous precedent – Obama’s executions by drones
The violations of national sovereignty in Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Libya and now Mali are bound to spark resentment. And, indeed, evidence is that the strikes are breeding anti-American sentiment and are used as a recruiting devise for al Qaeda.
it will probably be years, even decades, before we see the most negative effects of these policies. The precedent that the Obama administration is setting should concern everyone.
The United States is leading the world in a terrible direction by the use of these drones. “The drones sound cheap and easy and save our soldiers live.” “They are our eyes in the skies.” “We have beheaded some of our worst foes.” All this may or may not be true, but ..the future is grim and diabolical
Drones Debate: The Worst Is Yet to Come. HUFFINGTON POST, Jack Healey, 8 Feb 13, ”……Broadly, the drone issue is whether the death penalty should be delivered from the sky, without trial; often in countries were the U.S. is not legally at war. Continue reading
Exelon nuclear company blaming wind energy for decline in electricity prices
Exelon is merely “looking for a scapegoat” after power prices plummeted following the utility’s “bet on the electricity spot market” with nuclear.
Exelon chief: Wind subsidies could shut down nuclear plants,THE HILL By Zack Colman – 02/08/13
A major utility that was ousted from a wind energy trade group last fall said continued government support of wind power could shutter nuclear plants.
Exelon Corp. CEO Christopher Crane told the Chicago Tribune in comments published Friday that his company might eventually have to close nuclear facilities “if we continue to build an excessive amount of wind and subsidize wind.”
Exelon vocally opposed the extension of the wind production tax credit last year. That led the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) to kick the Chicago-based utility out of the organization.
Exelon will likely try to quash AWEA’s push this year for a phase-out of the 2.2 cent per kilowatt-hour credit for wind power production. Exelon has ties to the White House, as one of its directors is a top fundraiser for and friend of President Obama. Former strategist David Axelrod also consulted for the utility, and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who served as Obama’s first chief of staff, helped create the firm through a merger in 2000 while working as an investment banker. Continue reading
South Dakota uranium decision a blow for the environment
Evidently, South Dakota lawmakers care more about foreign uranium companies than they do about their own citizens.
A tough day for uranium opponents, South Dakota Peace and Justce Center, February 8, 2013 Yesterday was a tough day for those of us who want to keep South Dakota’s water safe for future generations. At 10:00 am, the Senate Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee held a hearing for Senate Bills 148, 149, and 150 to bolster state oversight of uranium mining (read more in our earlier post on the three bills). After hearing from ranchers, public health experts, activists, lobbyists, and South Dakota citizens who will have to deal with the fallout from Powertech’s proposed Dewey-Burdock Project in Fall River County, the Committee promptly voted to defer all three bills, effectively killing them.
Above the law: Obama’s drone killings
Mr. Obama has argued that he can kill Americans whose deaths he believes will keep us all safer, without any due process whatsoever. No law authorizes that.
Did you consent to a government that can kill whom it wishes?
NAPOLITANO: Obama demands unquestioning acceptance of his ability to kill http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/feb/7/obama-demands-unquestioning-acceptance-of-his- abil/#ixzz2KLwwpcgK By Andrew P. Napolitano , February 7, 2013 Drone strikes are legal, but the research is confidential Earlier this week, the government sent a summary of its legal memos on presidential use of drones to kill persons overseas — even Americans — to an NBC newsroom. This was done after more than a year of stonewalling federal judges and ordinary citizens who sought the revelation of the government’s secret legal research justifying the president’s use of drones. The administration claimed the research was so sensitive and so secret that it could not be revealed without serious consequences.
This revelation will come as a great surprise, and not a little annoyance, to U.S. District Court Judge Colleen McMahon, who heard many hours of oral argument during which the government predicted gloom and doom if its legal research were subjected to public scrutiny. She very reluctantly agreed with the feds, but told them she felt caught in “a veritable Catch-22,” because the feds have created “a thicket of laws and precedents that effectively allow the executive branch of our government to proclaim as perfectly lawful certain actions that seem on their face incompatible with our Constitution and laws, while keeping the reasons for their conclusion a secret.”
She was writing about President Obama killing Americans and refusing to divulge the legal basis for claiming the right to do so. Now we know that basis.
The undated and unsigned 16-page document leaked to NBC refers to itself as a Department of Justice white paper. Its logic is flawed, its premises are bereft of any appreciation for the values of the Declaration of Independence and the supremacy of the Constitution, and its rationale could be used to justify any breaking of any law by any “informed, high-level official of the U.S. government.” Continue reading
Cloudy future for nuclear power in USA
The Nuclear Power and Natural Gas Equation
NYT, By JON HURDLE, 7 Feb 13, Duke Energy is weighing the issue of how to replace the power generated by its troubled Crystal River nuclear plant in Florida, which the company has announced that it will permanently shut down.
One option is the construction of a new plant fired by natural gas, given the low price and abundant supply of that fuel source. Such a plant could come online as early as 2018, Duke said on Tuesday……
In a post-Fukushima world in which regulators are tasked with rigorously policing nuclear safety, ailing plants like Crystal River are less likely to survive than they once were, one analyst suggested on Wednesday. …. even if it had restarted, it would have faced the same regulatory rigor and some local opposition. Similar concerns have arisen about plants like Vermont Yankee, which the Vermont Senate voted to have shut down, a move blocked by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and Indian Point in New York, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said he wants closed…..
Concern about the age of many American nuclear plants is exacerbated by the fact that 72 of them have had their original 40-year operating licenses extended for another 20 years, Mr. McIntyre of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission noted. The oldest plant is Oyster Creek in New Jersey, which began operating in 1969; the newest is Watts Bar in Tennessee, which went online in 1996……
the future of nuclear plants is clouded by the abundance of domestic natural gas, which has led many utilities to embrace that fuel for power generators.
USA’s Energy Dept plan to sell nuclear wastes into consumer products
This approach ignores the current scientific consensus that there is
NO safe level of radiation exposure.
the fundamental safety question is whether any additional radiation
exposure is safe in any meaningful sense.
This approach also fails to deal with the reality that once the
department has released radioactive materials for commercial use, it
loses almost all control over how and where they’re used, and in what
concentrations.
Multimillion Dollar Bonanza: Nuclear Waste from US Weapons Industry To
Be Sold for Profit? By William Boardman Global Research, February 05,
2013
An Energy Department plan to allow the
recycling of scrap metals emitting very low levels of radiation is
drawing opposition because of concerns about potential health hazards.
But the upside for U.S. atomic bomb-makers is that waste now requiring
costly storage could be sold for a profit.
In something of a stealth maneuver during the 2012 holiday season, the
U.S. Department of Energy set about to give every American a little
more radiation exposure, and for some a lot, by allowing manufacturers
to use radioactive metals in their consumer products – such as
zippers, spoons, jewelry, belt buckles, toys, pots, pans, furnishings,
bicycles, jungle gyms, medical implants, or any other metal or
partly-metal product. Continue reading
Alarm over USA’s so-called “legal,” “ethical” “wise” drone killings
The memo says the U.S. can carry out targeted drone executions even when the U.S. doesn’t have “clear evidence that a specific attack in U.S. persons and interests will take place in the immediate future.”
The White House this week defended the drone program as “legal,” “ethical” and “wise.”
Congress gets Obama data on use of drones, By Susan Crabtree The Washington Times, February 6, 2013 White House gives in before Brennan hearing With the fate of his pick to head the CIA in danger, President Obama reversed course Wednesday night and released to Congress the classified legal advice that the Justice Department has given the White House on using drones to execute American citizens in the war on terrorism.
The about-face came less than a day before John O. Brennan, Mr. Obama’s homeland security adviser and his pick to be CIA director, was to face a Senate confirmation hearing, and hours after Sen. Ron Wyden, Oregon Democrat, threatened to hold up the appointment unless more information was forthcoming. Continue reading
Nuclear physicist Moniz next USA Energy Secretary?
Obama considers MIT nuclear physicist as next energy secretary. The Age, 7 Feb 13, President Barack Obama is considering naming nuclear physicist Ernest Moniz, one of his science and energy advisers, as the next energy secretary, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. Moniz, who was undersecretary at the Energy Department during the Clinton administration, is a familiar figure on Capitol Hill, where he has often talked to lawmakers about how abundant supplies of US natural gas will gradually replace coal as a source of electricity.
Moniz is director of MIT’s Energy Initiative, a research group that gets funding from industry heavyweights including BP , Chevron, and Saudi Aramco for academic work on projects aimed at reducing climate-changing greenhouse gases.
He did not respond to an e-mail request for comment on Wednesday evening…… From his time in the Clinton administration, he has experience managing the department’s oversight of a chain of national laboratories and the US stockpile of nuclear weapons.
After Obama made good on a first-term campaign promise to shut down the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site in Nevada, he named Moniz to a “Blue Ribbon” panel that looked for a new approach for storing toxic nuclear waste.
http://www.theage.com.au/environment/obama-considers-mit-nuclear-physicist-as-next-energy-secretary-20130207-2e1lq.html#ixzz2KKsxrFxw
Wind energy to be stored in USA’s largest power storage system
Duke Energy completes North America’s largest energy storage system,
Renewable Energy Magazine Robin WhitlockThursday, 07 February 2013
The 36MW energy storage system will store power generated by the
nearby Notrees wind farm and became fully operational in December
The company announced plans to install large-scale energy storage
systems to service its wind farm at Notrees in late 2009, matching a
$22 million grant from the US Department of Energy (DOE).
As well as helping to meet power demand the system will also help to stabilize the frequency of electricity travelling through the power grid. DukeEnergy is currently working closely with the Energy Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) which will indicate whether the system shoulddispatch stored energy to increase frequency or absorb energy to decrease it. Performance data will be collected from the battery storage system by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to help assess the broader potential for deployment of storage solutions throughout the sector. Continue reading
South Dakota rejects power for control over uranium mining permits
South Dakota Senate panel rejects uranium mining bill
http://www.ksfy.com/story/21076787/south-dakota-senate-panel-rejects-uranium-mining-bill
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) – A South Dakota Senate committee has rejected a
plan to restore some of the state’s permitting authority over a
proposed uranium mine.
The Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee voted 7-1 to kill the
bill after committee members said they see no need for the state to
duplicate federal regulatory programs.
The committee hearing focused on Powertech Uranium Corp.’s proposed
uranium mine near Edgemont. It would pump groundwater into the
underground ore deposits to dissolve the uranium. The water would be
pumped back to the surface, where the uranium would be extracted.
The Legislature two years ago suspended state rules on permitting such
uranium mines. That means federal agencies will decide if the mine
gets a license and can inject water underground.
The state controls water rights permits.
“Zombie” uranium mines can keep operating near Grand Canyon
conservation groups that had challenged the decision to reopen Arizona
1 said the court’s ruling sets a precedent that will let “zombie
mines” operate under old regulations and ignore years of new
environmental science.
“They are basically zombie mines that will live perpetually without
ever being subject to new environmental reviews,”
Appeals court upholds reopening of uranium mine near Grand Canyon By
Mary Shinn, Cronkite News Service February 5, 2013
WASHINGTON – A federal appeals court Monday upheld the government’s
decision to let a uranium mine near Grand Canyon National Park
continue to operate under environmental standards now decades old. Continue reading
Another nuclear power plant bites the dust in USA
“I believe this is going to be further fuel on the fire for the Legislature, hopefully, to begin to question the wisdom of these high-risk investments in energy,” said Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.”
Florida Progress’ nuclear plant in Crystal River to close By MICHAEL SASSO | The Tampa Tribune February 06, 2013 TAMPA — Progress Energy Florida will permanently shut its damaged nuclear reactor in Crystal River, capping a very public and costly embarrassment that played out over the past three years.
Progress Energy, a subsidiary of Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy, said Tuesday that it will begin decommissioning the Crystal River reactor instead of making repairs, which could have cost billions. Continue reading
USA Senator calls for investigation into administration of San Onofre nuclear power plant
Barbara Boxer On San Onofre: Nuclear Power Plant Should Be Investigated
HUFFINGTON POST, By MICHAEL R. BLOOD 02/06/13 LOS ANGELES — California Sen. Barbara Boxer pressed federal regulators Wednesday to open an investigation into equipment problems at the shuttered San Onofre nuclear power plant.
In a letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Democrat said information in a previously unreleased report shows operator Southern California Edison and the company that built the plant’s ailing steam generators, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, were aware of design problems before the equipment was installed.
Edison spokeswoman Maureen Brown did not immediately respond to an email and phone message seeking comment. Mitsubishi spokesman Patrick Boyle did not immediately respond to an email or phone message seeking comment……. Continue reading
1 This Month
23-25 October – on Zoom – World BEYOND War’s annual global conferenc
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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