American public misunderstands scientific agreement on climate change
“It is no accident that so many Americans misunderstand the widespread scientific agreement about human-caused climate change. A well-financed disinformation campaign deliberately created a myth about there being lack of agreement. The climate science community should take all reasonable measures to put this myth to rest.”
Support for Climate Policy Linked to People’s Perceptions About Scientific Agreement Regarding Global Warming, ScienceDaily (Nov. 21, 2011) — People who believe there is a lot of disagreement among scientists about global warming tend to be less certain that global warming is happening and less supportive of climate policy, researchers at George Mason, San Diego State, and Yale Universities report in a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change. Continue reading
Nuclear power for space research (another ploy to keep nuclear industry alive?)
Nuclear or Solar, Where Does the Future of Space Exploration Lie? Oil Price.com , James Burgess, 24 November 2011 “………The major problem that NASA faces when pursuing this form of technology is that, as Dr. John M. Logsdon, a space expert at George Washington University, said “It’s really only possible with plutonium-238 to do what it’s intending to do,” and the United States stopped making Plutonium-238 in the 1980’s. Since then they have bought it from Russia, but now they no longer make it either. A 2009 report by the National Academy of Sciences called for restarting production, but this has not been done, mostly for cost reasons….
Therefore, solar cells have always been used where possible. Steven W. Squyres, a professor of astronomy at Cornell who is the chief scientist behind the Opportunity and Spirit rovers, said: “You always use solar when you can; it’s simpler, cheaper, just easier to do. You only use nuclear when you have to.’’ This thought was obviously prevalent when NASA launched their Jupiter-bound, Juno space shuttle, as that too relies upon solar cells….”
http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Nuclear-or-Solar-Where-Does-the-Future-of-Space-Exploration-Lie.html
Thanksgiving for the free fuel of wind and sun
Thankful for Alternatives to Coal and Nuclear November 24th, 2011 › Clean Energy › Simon Mahan › Last week, SACE participated in a media flurry over two released reports. The first report documents how America’s traditional power plants (like coal and nuclear) consume vast amounts of freshwater – an invaluable, and increasingly stressed resource here in the Southeast. The second report gives us a path forward – away from dirty, thirsty coal plants and equally thirsty nuclear plants.
The other report (“Toward a Sustainable Future for the US Power Sector: Beyond Business as Usual 2011“) was published by Synapse Energy Economics and commissioned by the Civil Society Institute to figure out how the U.S. could power our country without coal.
Hardly a pie-in-the-sky, academic endeavor, Beyond Business as Usual looks at a 40 year timeframe to phase out coal and cut nuclear without heavy reliance on any one single source of electricity generation. By ramping up energy efficiency, solar, wind energy, biomass and other renewable energies, the report lays out a roadmap for eliminating coal by 2050 – all while reducing consumer costs by $18 Billion. This is possible, in part, due to renewable energy’s fuel costs being stable in perpetuity – in other words, the wind and sun are free whereas coal and natural gas prices are expected to continue to fluctuate wildly. Anadditional $450 billion in health-related costs would be avoided (such as asthma and premature deaths caused by coal) and are not included in the analysis’ initial $18 Billion savings figure. Water consumption would be expected to drop 90% over a business-as-usual scenario – nearly a 54 trillion gallon per year reduction.
This Thanksgiving, in addition to family and friends, I’m also thankful for energy alternatives to “business as usual.” http://blog.cleanenergy.org/2011/11/24/thankful-for-alternatives-to-coal-and-nuclear/
Failure of nuclear “renaissance” makes loans to uranium company unwise
Henry D. Sokolski, the executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, said Piketon was not a good bargain for taxpayers. “This thing has got more than nine lives, and none of them are worth living,” he said. “It will not do to whine about Solyndra
and wink at this.”……
John R. Longenecker, a consultant in the nuclear fuel business, said…. the industry had hoped for a renaissance that would result in many more reactors, he said, but “if that happened, I blinked and missed it.”
Loan Request by Uranium-Enrichment Company Scrambles Politics as Usual, NYT By MATTHEW L. WALD, November 24, 2011 WASHINGTON — The only American-owned company capable of enriching uranium is asking for government help to modernize its plant and remain in business. Continue reading
USA Senator calls for independent health study of radiation airport scanners
Collins wants TSA to study health effects of scanning machines, THE HILL By Gautham Nagesh – 11/23/11 Senate Homeland Security Committee ranking member Susan Collins (R-Maine) wrote to the head of the Transportation Security Administration on Wednesday reiterating her request for an independent study of the health effects of scanning machines. Continue reading
Independent report on water concerns in uranium mining and milling
“The most powerful influences in any decision on uranium mining and processing are likely to be financial and political,”
“Thus, it is imperative that the public evaluate the long-term ‘big picture’ because the actual impacts will be paid for by numerous future generations.”..
Uranium mining, milling threatens water, report claims, By TIM DAVIS/Star-Tribune, November 22, 2011 A report funded by the Roanoke River Basin Association warns that a proposed uranium mining and milling project in Pittsylvania County could be a serious threat to water quality and may increase competition for water in the future.
The 39-page report, “Site-Specific Assessment of the Proposed Uranium Mining and Milling Project at Coles Hill, Pittsylvania County, Va.,” was released Thursday.
It was written by Colorado scientist Robert E. Moran, PhD., who has 40 years of experience and served as a hydrogeological and water quality consultant to Marline Uranium and Union Carbide on the Coles Hill project in the early 1980s. Continue reading
Silex laser uranium enrichment may open the door to nuclear weapons proliferation
many of the good things GE is using to make a case about Silex—less use of resources and electricity and increased efficiency—are actually negatives that make it easier for rogue states to hide clandestine plants…..methods for the production and use of nuclear materials that would be more difficult to detect,” the report states
New Uranium Enrichment Technology Alarms Aviation Week, By Kristin Majcher Washington 23 Nov 11 General Electric says it has successfully tested a faster, cheaper way to produce nuclear reactor fuel, and is planning to commercialize the technology by building a facility in Wilmington, N.C. While the prospect of saving resources to generate energy at a lower price sounds like a breakthrough, scientists are concerned that the top-secret method of enrichment that GE is using will indirectly elevate proliferation risks around the world, thus inspiring rogue states to develop their own laser enrichment facilities for nuclear weapons.
The enrichment technology is the Separation of Isotopes by Laser Excitation (Silex). It was developed by Silex of Australia in 1992. The technology company USEC funded early research on Silex, but abandoned it in favor of focusing on centrifuge enrichment. In 2006, GE signed an exclusive agreement to commercialize and license the technology and spearhead further research and development. Continue reading
Nuclear power’s not doing too well on Earth, but then, there’s always Mars
The Competition Between Solar and Nuclear Energy Moves to Mars, NYT By MATTHEW L. WALD, 23 Nov 11 NASA’s last two Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, launched in 2003
and carried solar panels, but the new Mars rover that the space agency is scheduled to launch on Saturday morning from Cape Canaveral uses nuclear power, a fact that did not escape the partisans of nuclear power here on Earth. Continue reading
A site specific report on uranium mining, milling, in Pittsylvania County,
Uranium mining, milling threatens water, report claims, By TIM DAVIS/Star-Tribune , November 22, 2011 “………Moran’s study is one of the few reports on the potential impact of uranium mining not funded by the mining industry,…
Moran’s site-specific findings include:
Virginia Uranium has failed to present any sort of detailed project proposal in writing.
The verbally described plans have changed constantly, depending on the audience.
Hence, the public has no way of reliably knowing the details of the proposed mining and mineral processing methods or the related impacts.
The project as proposed may generate at least 28 million tons of solid uranium mill tailings and roughly the same amount of liquid waste.
The solid wastes would remain on site forever, requiring maintenance forever.
Uranium mill tailings would contain radionuclides, heavy metals, and other toxic elements.
Undiluted tailings liquids may contain 1,160 to 1,460 times the existing Safe Drinking Water Act standard for uranium.
The confirmed presence of sulfides in the Coles Hill rock raises the possibility that long-term, active water treatment may be required, in perpetuity.
Numerous factors combine to provide long-term pathways for the migration of contaminants into local waters.
As proposed, the Coles Hill project would require over 5 billion gallons of water. During the start-up period, the project would use at least 525.6 million gallons per year.
It has been estimated that at least 136 million gallons of groundwater would flow into the open pit per year.
This water would become contaminated with numerous radioactive and non-radioactive contaminants.
To allow mining, this contaminated water must be pumped out of the open pit and discharged to some undefined location.
The Coles Hill project may use over 2,030 tons of explosives per year, releasing potentially toxic concentrations of nitrate, ammonia, and other organic compounds into the environment.
Such a project would cause long-term, chronic degradation of water quality and increase wate competition in the region.
Statistically adequate baseline data (water quality, quantity, etc.) have never been collected, compiled, and interpreted, or released to the public.
Thus, the public has no reliable “yardstick” against which to demonstrate that changes have occurred or not.
There is no credible evidence to indicate that either the federal or state regulatory agencies have sufficient staff, budgets, or political clout to adequately oversee and enforce the appropriate regulations…. http://www.wpcva.com/articles/2011/11/23/chatham/news/news43.txt
Does USA really need to spend $700 billion on nuclear weapons?
there are serious questions about whether all of these programs are necessary. Do we need to keep almost 5000 warheads in the active stockpile? Do we need to replicate the entire existing fleet of missiles, planes and subs for another 50 years, as the Pentagon now proposes?
Nuclear Turkeys, Huffington Post, Joe Cirincione , 22 Nov 11 Washington is planning to spend over $700 billion on nuclear weapons and related programs over the next ten years. Some programs are necessary, some are questionable and some are simply turkeys gobbling up defense dollars.
With the failure of the Supercommittee almost certain, pressure to cut military spending will increase. These nuclear turkeys offer lawmakers a way to reduce spending without any harm to national security. Continue reading
Nuclear waste safety problems, retaliation against whistleblowers
The agency “seems to be more interested in paying contractor fees than in paying attention to safety concerns or to those who are disciplined for raising them,”
Hanford Nuclear-Waste Safety May Not Be Assured, Markey Says, By Brian Wingfield Nov. 22 (Bloomberg) –– The U.S. Energy Department may not have adequately responded to safety questions and allegations of retaliation against whistle-blowers at a nuclear-waste treatment plant in Washington state, Representative Edward Markey said. Continue reading
USA in peril – time to end the warfare state
Our future depends on stopping an attack on Iran, Harvey WassermanWar is the health of the corporate state. The 1% needs its endless cash flow to stay in power.
As the slaughters in Iraq and Afghanistan transform into something less visible, the 1% war machine must have a new profit center. The pretext for this latest war is the spectre of a nuclear-armed Iran. It’s a tawdry re-run of the lies George W. Bush used to sell the 2003 attack on Iraq. It’s no surprise those “Weapons of Mass Destruction” were never found—or that Bush could later joke about it.
The hypocrisy of the 1% railing against bombs allegedly flowing from Iran’s “Peaceful Atom” program comes in unholy tandem with the corporate push for a “nuclear renaissance” peddling these same reactors all over the world. (It helps to remember that the nuclear industry once tried to sell 36 “peaceful” reactors to the Shah).
STOPPING THE ATTACK ON IRAN IS ABSOLUTELY VITAL TO OUR HOPES FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND DEMOCRACY. THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT HOLDS THE KEY. Continue reading
A silver lining to USA militarisation of northern Australia – renewable energy marines?
When the case for renewables is made on the grounds of national security, the arguments of climate denialists and delay merchants are bombed back to the Stone Age. ….
as the U.S. Marine Corps demonstrates, energy conservation and renewable energy are now critical national security concerns.
Will President Obama Send Green Marines to Darwin?, Renewable Energy World, By Dan Cass ,November 18, 2011 President Barack Obama was in Australia this week and upset China and Indonesia with the annoucement of an increased military presence in this country, including 2500 US Marines to train and provision equipment in Darwin.
When the U.S. Marine Corp establish themselves a new home in Darwin, they will bring some seriously green equipment and ideas to our shores. This is because in the three years of his Presidency, Barack Obama has actively led the U.S. Department of Defense to embrace renewable energy and a strategic awareness of climate change…. Continue reading
How USA can financially rip off India – cutting through the ‘spin’
The hard reality is that the government has watered down the nuclear liability law to accommodate the US business interests….
The watering down has been done in close consultation with Washington and the latter’s rhetoric in the most recent weeks shows that it is simply thrilled with what the mandarins in the PMO have been doing behind closed doors.
India delivers, it’s Obama’s turn now, Rediff.com, 18 Nov 11 Timing is three-fourths in international diplomacy. The spectacular display of 3 happy coincidences on the eve of PM Manmohan Singh’s pow-vow with US President Barack Obama in Bali is near-perfect in timing:
USA President’s plane – prepared for nuclear Armageddon
The nightmare jets and the President, Crikey.com November 17, 2011 , by Ben Sandilands The two Presidential flying command posts held at constant readiness in Australia for the duration of Barack Obama’s visit are more than exceptionally modified Boeing 747-200 Classic model jumbo jets, or the occasional specially equipped 757 or 767 in support.
These are, at worst, the Armageddon jumbo jets, flying high or low over a world ruined by a nuclear holocaust, winding their way between the stratospheric funeral pyres of incinerated cities. Either of them is ready to preserve the primary chain of command of the Union even if America has, to all intents and purposes, ceased to exist. 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
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