A very long haul to clean up Savannah River’s plutonium wastes
The amount of plutonium in the waste tanks is uncertain. Savannah River was built to make plutonium, and the material in the tanks is what was left over after the material was produced in reactors and scavenged in chemical plants. But a fair amount ended up in the waste tanks
A Very Long Road for Military Nuclear Waste By MATTHEW L. WALD, NYT, March 29, 2012 Slowly, slowly, the Energy Department is moving forward with solidifying the liquid nuclear wastes left over from cold-war weapons production. On Thursday, the department said it had closed two more of the 51 underground tanks at the Savannah River Site in western South Carolina. The high-level waste was mixed with molten glass to keep it chemically locked up for millennia, and the lower-level material was mixed with a kind of cement that is supposed to keep it in place until the radioactivity dies down.
The department has 22 tanks at Savannah River that do not meet Environmental Protection Agency standards , mostly because they are single-wall tanks rather than double-wall. It closed two of them in 1997 but has faced numerous technical problems. Continue reading
CT scans a radiation concern, especially for young patients with gastrointestinal illnesses
Patients with digestive disorders may receive high levels of X-ray radiation Medical Express, March 29, 2012 Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and other gastrointestinal (GI) disorders may be exposed to significant doses of diagnostic radiation, according to a new study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association.
“Our results show that significant increases in radiation exposure in the last decade have paralleled the increased use of computed tomography imaging,” said Alan N. Desmond, MB, BMedSc, MRCPI, of the Cork University Hospital, Ireland, and lead author of this study. “While cumulative exposure is highest in patients with Crohn’s disease, high exposure may also occur in patients with other gastrointestinal disorders.”….
because CT uses higher levels of radiation than other imaging options, more widespread use has led to increases in the amount of radiation to which patients are exposed. This is a cause for concern, because radiation exposure might be associated with increased lifetime risk of
cancer. These risks may be particularly relevant to younger patients.
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-patients-digestive-disorders-high-x-ray.html
Yes, Virginia, a nuclear bomb would effectively destroy our Washington DC
A nuclear blast of any size would end D.C. as we know it Washington Post, By Mike DeBonis, 27 March 12, Last November, federal researchers issued a report commissioned by the Department of Homeland Security on what would happen if a relatively small nuclear device — the kind a terrorist group would most likely come to possess — were detonated at 16th and K streets NW.
“National Capital Region: Key Response Planning Factors for the Aftermath of Nuclear Terrorism” was little noticed until the Federation of American Scientists posted a copy of the study on its Secrecy News blog. It was then picked up by this newspaper, Gizmodo and others.
Today, the Associated Press wrote up a story on the report, and it’s a good summation of the aftermath of a terrorist nuclear blast in all its awful detail. But it moved across the wire with an unfortunate headline: “Gov’t report: DC nuke blast wouldn’t destroy city.”
Make no mistake, a nuclear blast of any size would destroy D.C. as we know it.
Yes, the loss of life (45,000 dead) and damage to property caused by a 10-kiloton ground blast — approximately Hiroshima-level — would be nowhere as apocalyptic as the multiple, multi-megaton air bursts that the city would absorb during a Cold War-type nuclear exchange.
Most of the city’s residents would survive and most of its residential neighborhoods would remain intact, but any nuclear blast would be an existential dagger for Washington as a center for government and commerce — a death knell for D.C. as a city worthy of that word….. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/mike-debonis/post/a-nuclear-blast-of-any-size-would-end-dc-as-we-know-it/2012/03/27/gIQAieZmeS_blog.html
NRC forbids San Onofre nuclear power plant to restart
San Onofre nuclear power plant prohibited from restarting The Nuclear Regulatory Commission lays out steps that Southern California Edison must take before the troubled San Onofre plant will be allowed to come back on line. By Abby Sewell, Los Angeles Times March 28, 2012 The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, citing serious concerns about
equipment failures at the San Onofre nuclear power plant, has prohibited Southern California Edison from restarting the plant until the problems are thoroughly understood and fixed. Continue reading
Loan guarantees to nuclear power not scrutinised like solar loans
why do we continue to nurture nuclear power so much more generously than safer and less costly sources of electricity?
The Nurture of Nuclear Power, NYT, By NANCY FOLBRE , 27 March 12, Free enterprise? States’ rights? Public opinion? These concepts seem to bounce off the nuclear power industry like a pebble tossed at a reactor containment vessel.
Remember the brouhaha about $563 million in Obama administration loan guarantees to Solyndra , the solar panel manufacturer that went belly up last fall? Neither President Obama nor Republicans in Congress have voiced opposition to an expected $8.3 billion Energy Department guarantee to help the Southern Company, a utility giant, build nuclear reactors in Georgia. Continue reading
USA’s ‘moral obligation’ to lead in nuclear disarmament – Obama
Obama: US nuclear disarmament ‘a moral obligation’ News Ok, Joel Gehrke | Published: March 26, 2012 President Obama called nuclear disarmament as “a moral obligation,” as he suggested that the United States is leading by example to bring about “a world without nuclear weapons.” “American leadership has been essential to progress in a second area — taking concrete steps towards a world without nuclear weapons,” Obama said yesterday during a speech in Korea. “I believe the United States has a unique responsibility to act — indeed, we have a moral obligation.”
: http://newsok.com/obama-us-nuclear-disarmament-a-moral-obligation/article/feed/364015#ixzz1qLGS7kxF
Bill Gates’ fantastic new nuclear vaccine- or intractable virus
Nuclear energy like a fantastic vaccine? http://blog.seattlepi.com/energy/2012/03/26/nuclear-energy-like-a-fantastic-vaccine/ seattle pi, 26 Mar 12In the 1950s, “too cheap to meter” was the tag line for then-nascent atomic energy. That promise, which Bill Gates now calls a “fantastic vaccine,” has thus far been more of an intractable virus.
Last week Mr. Gates revived the “nuclear is cheap” message to promote his TerraPower nuke startup venture . He also came off decidedly pessimistic about the world’s prospects for combating climate change.
The nuclear industry has long touted “cheap” alongside “clean” in its bid against renewable energy to supply electricity to a power-hungry world. It has also argued loudly against subsidies for renewables, and claimed that nuclear is the only way to slow global warming.
Gates has joined that chorus , stating that he’s skeptical that the world can dramatically cut greenhouse-gas emissions in less than 75 years, and suggesting that wind and solar subsidies should be conditional upon commercializing energy storage technologies first.
To make the “cheap and clean” argument, you have to ignore some significant externalities. A big problem with “cheap” nuclear power has been the cost — construction budget overruns , bailouts , storing spent rods , site clean-up , and human lives . The caveat with “clean” (low-carbon) nuclear power is its multigenerational legacy of radioactive waste.
The traveling wave reactor technology revealed in 2008 as the core of TerraPower’s development is a half-century-old breeder-reactor technology that could run on some of the waste stream from nuclear fuel production. A TWR has been computer-modeled, but never built.
If Gates and his TerraPower partner Nathan Myhrvold want to change the world with nuclear energy, they need to overcome several major issues, and quickly, before the widely imagined nuclear renaissance completely loses steam:
Developed nations, the ones the world is most comfortable with having radioactive materials, have for the most part stopped building nuclear power plants. Emerging nations, even if they can afford to experiment with this new technology, will need to handle the radioactive fuel and waste, including the eventual decommissioning of plants themselves. Convincing populations of a TWR plant’s safety will be a significant hurdle.
Even before Fukushima, John Rowe, chief executive of nuclear power heavyweight Exelon, said in a Politico interview that “except with massive subsidies, there’s really nothing one can do to make a whole lot of nuclear plants economic right now.” The company bought a major renewable energy firm and started moving into wind power.
USA – nuclear powered drones? Well, not just yet.
No Go On A Nuclear-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle? http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/2012/03/25/no-go-on-a-nuclear-powered-unmanned-aerial-vehicle/ Ottawa Citizen, David Pugliese, March 25, 2012. There have been a number of articles lately about the U.S. developing a new unmanned aerial vehicle in secret. Dave Majumdar, at Air Force Times, recently had an article about how the U.S. Air Force’s decision to postpone development of a next generation unmanned combat aircraft suggests that service might be developing something else in the “black world.” Continue reading
Vermont Governor backs anti nuclear protestors, as dozens arrested
Dozens arrested in Vt. nuclear plant protest, Google News, By WILSON RING, Associated Press –24 March 12, BRATTLEBORO, Vt. (AP) — A 93-year-old anti-nuclear activist was among more than 130 protesters arrested at the corporate headquarters of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant on the first day of the plant’s operation after the expiration of its 40-year license.
Frances Crowe, of Northampton, Mass., said she wants Vermont Yankee to cease operations because she feels it’s a threat to the people who live nearby.
“As I was walking down, all I could think of was Fukushima and the suffering of all the people, and I don’t want that to happen to New England,” Crowe said, referring to the Japanese nuclear reactor damaged last year after an earthquake and tsunami.
When asked how many times she’d been arrested, she answered: “Not enough.”…..
A crowd estimated at more than 1,000 gathered in a downtown Brattleboro park before they marched the 3 1/2 miles to the headquarters. Some marched on stilts. Others with painted faces carried signs that read “hell no, we won’t glow.” Many chanted: “Shut
it down.”
Gov. Peter Shumlin was sympathetic to the protesters. “I am very supportive of the peaceful protesters gathered today in Brattleboro to express their — and my — frustration that this aging plant remains open after its agreed-upon license has expired,” he
said….
The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued the plant a 20-year license extension, but the state of Vermont wants the plant to close and the two sides are fighting a legal battle. In January, a federal judge issued an order that allows the plant to continue
operating while the legal case continues in court….. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5id0Xp4AtvKoXSXRWciy2ukdioKyg?docId=594ef1f733024b8f964ef1bcea14c163
Texas likely to take in radioactive wastes from other States
Critics maintain that that Mr. Simmons’s financial might has helped him win state backing for the site. Mr. Simmons has donated more than $1 million to Gov. Rick Perry, who appoints board members to Texas agencies that oversee the waste site,
Texas Nears Approval of Multistate Nuclear-Waste Dump WSJ, By NATHAN KOPPEL, March 23, 2012, Texas moved closer Friday to allowing low-level radioactive waste from dozens of states to be trucked in and disposed at a site in West Texas, which would become one of only four in the nation that could take low-level radioactive waste shipped from out of state.
A state agency with oversight of waste imports adopted rules Friday that help clear the way for the 1,338-acre dump near the New Mexico border, despite concerns expressed by environmentalists that such a facility may be unsafe. Continue reading
Another complaint, by whistleblower at Hanford nuclear waste site
“This is an aggressive, retaliatory stance,” …”It is demonstrative of the systemic issues here, so significant that even the Department of Energy found it offensive.”
New complaint filed about Wash. nuclear waste site SF Gate, By SHANNON DININNY, Associated Press, March 23, 2012 The Energy Department is investigating another complaint claiming a contractor at the nation’s most contaminated nuclear site interfered with an investigation into the design and safety of a massive plant under construction to treat nuclear waste.
The complaint is the latest in a string of whistleblower and other claims related to the design and safety of the $12.3 billion waste treatment plant at the Hanford nuclear reservation in south-central Washington……. Continue reading
Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) cleared out of several nations
US says 5 nations clear out weapons-grade uranium NewsDay, DOUGLAS BIRCH WASHINGTON – (AP) March 22, 2012 The U.S. has helped five nations completely clear out their stocks of highly enriched uranium since President Barack Obama outlined his plans for securing all weapons-usable materials worldwide, officials say, citing it as progress in the administration’s efforts to prevent nuclear weapons from getting in terrorists’ hands.
Anne Harrington, the National Nuclear Security Administration’s nonproliferation chief, said that since Obama’s April 2009 speech in Prague announcing his plans, the U.S. has helped remove enough material from about a dozen countries to make almost 30 warheads. She added that several global leaders are expected to use a nuclear security summit in Seoul, South Korea, which starts Sunday, to announce similar advances.
Arms control experts say the most difficult part of building an atomic bomb is acquiring the weapons-grade uranium or plutonium needed for the explosive core of the weapon. Locking up or eliminating these materials is crucial to preventing nuclear-armed terror.
Harrington said that’s the administration’s top national security concern: “Issue No. 1 … above anything else, keeping this material out of the hands of terrorists,” she said.
Over the past three years, officials say, the U.S. has helped Romania,
Libya, Turkey, Chile and Serbia completely clear out their stockpiles
of weapons-usable uranium. They join 13 other nations that did so
previously — Brazil, Bulgaria, Colombia, Denmark, Greece, Latvia, the
Philippines, Portugal, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and
Thailand.
For the most part, this has meant shutting down civilian research
reactors fueled by weapons-grade uranium, or converting those reactors
to use low-enriched uranium…..
http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/us-says-5-nations-clear-out-weapons-grade-uranium-1.3617219
USA in a pickle – can’t afford to bury its dead nuclear reactors
Decommissioning a reactor is a painstaking and expensive process that
involves taking down huge structures and transporting the radioactive
materials to the few sites around the country that can bury them.
The cost is projected at $400 million to $1 billion per reactor, which in some cases is more than what it cost to build the plants in the 1960s and ’70s.
As Reactors Age, the Money to Close Them Lags NYT, By MATTHEW L. WALD March 20, 2012 WASHINGTON — The operators of 20 of the nation’s aging nuclear reactors, including some whose licenses expire soon, have not saved nearly enough money for prompt and proper dismantling. Continue reading
Uranium mining threatens water supply
even a small spill could affect the water supply for growing populations in North Carolina, and that radioactive mill waste would have to be monitored forever.
Water worries continue to flow around uranium controversy Go Dan River, 21 March 12, Residents and leaders downstream of a proposed uranium site in Pittsylvania County say they bear risks from the project, but have nothing to gain. Continue reading
USA, Iran and the doctrine of pre-emptive strike
The Bush-Obama Pre-Emption Doctrine By MICHAEL CROWLEY | TIME | March 20, 2012 Writing at CNN.com, former CIA Director Michael Hayden, an adviser to Mitt Romney, makes a provocative point. If Barack Obama’s threat of military action to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon is serious, doesn’t that amount to a policy of… pre-emption? Continue reading
1 This Month
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
-
Archives
- October 2026 (256)
- September 2026 (339)
- August 2026 (330)
- July 2026 (355)
- June 2026 (287)
- May 2026 (306)
- April 2026 (356)
- March 2026 (251)
- February 2026 (267)
- January 2026 (308)
- December 2025 (358)
- November 2025 (359)
-
Categories
- 1
- 1 NUCLEAR ISSUES
- business and costs
- climate change
- culture and arts
- ENERGY
- environment
- health
- history
- indigenous issues
- Legal
- marketing of nuclear
- media
- opposition to nuclear
- PERSONAL STORIES
- politics
- politics international
- Religion and ethics
- safety
- secrets,lies and civil liberties
- spinbuster
- technology
- Uranium
- wastes
- weapons and war
- Women
- 2 WORLD
- ACTION
- AFRICA
- Atrocities
- AUSTRALIA
- Christina's notes
- Christina's themes
- culture and arts
- Events
- Fuk 2022
- Fuk 2023
- Fukushima 2017
- Fukushima 2018
- fukushima 2019
- Fukushima 2020
- Fukushima 2021
- general
- global warming
- Humour (God we need it)
- Nuclear
- RARE EARTHS
- Reference
- resources – print
- Resources -audiovicual
- Weekly Newsletter
- World
- World Nuclear
- YouTube
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
