Draft report from USA’s Blue Ribbon Commission on nuclear wastes
U.S. nuclear waste: where to now?, Smart Planet 5 Aug 11, By Melissa Mahony | August 1, 2011, Radioactive waste has been accumulating at sites across the United States for decades. The 75,000-metric-ton problem isn’t going away (well, not for a million years or so). And as of now, it’s not going to Nevada’s Yucca Mountain either. Tasked with finding long-term solutions to this disposal issue, the Blue Ribbon Commission released a draft report on Friday. Continue reading
Uranium industry heading for collapse
The disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi power plant following the March earthquake and tsunami has essentially killed investor enthusiasm for uranium stocks…… The other uranium stocks are all miners, but if there is no support for new nuclear development, then the value of these stocks will drop as well. Aside from early comments supporting nuclear power, the US has been non-committal, whereas Germany and Italy have both indicated that no new nuclear plants will be built and, in Germany, existing plants will be closed over the next decade or so.
USEC Shares Collapse on Loan Worries (USEC, URRE, UEC, URG, URZ, URA),August 5, 2011, 247Wst.com Paul Ausick, The sole US provider of low-enriched uranium fuel for nuclear power plants is in serious trouble. USEC Inc. (NYSE: USU) shares have fallen more than -12% this morning and posted another new 52-week low on concern that the company’s loan guarantee from the federal government will not be approved in time to prevent USEC from running into liquidity problems.
Every US company involved in the nuclear fuel business is getting beaten up this morning. Continue reading
Israel tried to drag USA into a war with Iran
How Iran defeated Obama. By Patrick Seale, The Diplomat 5 Aug 11“……..What is less well understood is that Obama was also defeated in another major area of foreign policy – relations with Iran. When he came to office he vowed to ‘engage’ with the Islamic Republic, but this admirable objective was soon supplanted by a policy of threats, sanctions and intimidation aimed at isolating Iran, subverting its economy and overthrowing its regime.
Israel and its friends led the campaign against Iran, demonizing it as a threat to all mankind, and forcing the United States to follow suit. Israel has repeatedly, and very publicly, threatened to strike at Iran’s nuclear facilities, and has done its best to drag the United States into war against it, in much the same way as pro-Israeli neo-conservatives at the Pentagon were alleged to have manipulated intelligence to push the United States into war against Iraq in 2003, with catastrophic consequences.
Why did they do it? Because they feared that, having survived the eight-year Iran-Iraq war, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq might just possibly pose a threat to Israel. It had to be destroyed. Tony Blair, Britain’s prime minister at the time, was foolish enough to tag along. The war totally discredited him…..”http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/05/how-iran-defeated-obama/
USA’s Price Anderson Act – a scam to prop up nuclear industry
Musicians United for Safe Energy Launch Mega-Concert in San Francisco This Sunday, Huffington Post, Joan Brunwasser, 6 Aug 11, “……Price-Anderson was passed because the administration wanted to build commercial reactors as a happy face for the nuclear weapons industry. But no utility company or builder would take on the liability. So the industry asked for the liability shield until the reactors were safe enough to attract private insurers. That was more than a half-century ago. The current deal stretches it out until at least 2020. It’s a terrible and unique scam. We can “just say no” except for the billions in funny money certain dark forces have invested in this failed technology. At this point, a free market in energy, with no subsidies for ANY technology, would bring us a green-powered Solartopian planet very quickly, and King CONG — coal, oil, nukes and gas — would fade away very quickly. All the dirty energies are totally reliant on ripping of the tax/rate-payer, as well as destroying the planet…..”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joan-brunwasser/musicians-united-for-safe_b_919042.html
Jesus does not love nukes – Christians and Atheists agree on this
The Christians Bryan Cones at U.S. Catholic was elated by the news. “We can be grateful today that the U.S. Air Force will no longer include biblical or Christian justifications for the use of nuclear weapons in its ethics training for officers,”
Atheists, Christians Agree: Jesus Wouldn’t Launch Nukes – – The Atlantic Wire, John Hudson,4 Aug 11, A curious mix of vigilant atheists and devout Christians are celebrating the Air Force’s decision to suspend a Christian-themed course taught to nuclear missile launch officers at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
For almost 20 years, military chaplains presented these officers with slides filled with biblical references such as “Revelation 19:11 Jesus Christ is the mighty warrior” and Christian literature, such as St. Augustine’s Just War Theory, in an attempt to dismantle the moral and ethical qualms of annihilating human beings with nuclear weapons. Surprise! Not everyone liked it. Continue reading
Irradiated fish found near Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant
Vermont finds contaminated fish as nuclear debate rages | Reuters, by Scott DiSavino Aug 2, 2011 NEW YORK – Vermont health regulators said on Tuesday they found a fish containing radioactive material in the Connecticut River near Entergy’s Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant which could be another setback for Entergy to keep it running.
The state said it needs to do more testing to determine the source of the Strontium-90, which can cause bone cancer and leukemia.Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin wants the 620 megawatts reactor shut in March 2012 when its original operating license was to expire.
“Today’s troubling news from the Vermont Department of Health is another example of Entergy Louisiana putting their shareholders’ profits above the welfare of Vermonters,” Shumlin said in a statement….
Entergy filed a complaint in federal court to block the state from shutting the reactor next year…..
Vermont is the only state in the nation with a say on whether a nuclear plant within its borders can operate. The state gained that right, which Entergy is now challenging in federal court, when it agreed to allow Entergy to buy the plant in 2002…..
Vermont finds contaminated fish as nuclear debate rages | Reuters
Vermont Yankee nuclear plant – radioactive leaks over several years
Vt nuke had past radioactive releases – BostonHerald.com, 4 Aug 11, “……..an Associated Press review of Nuclear Regulatory Commission records finds that Vermont Yankee reported releasing strontium-90 into the environment several times since Entergy bought the reactor in 2002. Annual reports to the NRC show strontium-90 releases from Vermont Yankee in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005….”Vt nuke had past radioactive releases – BostonHerald.com
A ‘deeply flawed project,’ Yucca Mountain isn’t the answer for nuke waste – , Aug. 4, 2011 – Las Vegas Sun Editorial: For years, the nuclear industry and its supporters in Congress have tried to shove through plans to make Nevada a nuclear waste dump, repeatedly ignoring scientific and safety concerns.
Their plans have been frustrated over the years because of the work of Nevada’s congressional delegation, led by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Now, the plans to put waste in Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, are on the verge of being extinguished. President Barack Obama has ordered his administration to quit work on it, and he created a blue ribbon commission to study alternatives for the nation’s nuclear waste. Continue reading
Record heat forces nuclear plant to half power
River temperature forces nuclear plant to 50 percent power | timesfreepress.com, by Pam Soh 4 Aug 11, Not even TVA can beat the heat.On Wednesday, the utility had to bring a third reactor at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant down to 50 percent power to avoid environmental sanctions because the water in the Tennessee River — where the plant’s cooling water is discharged — already was at 90 degrees.”When the river’s ambient temperature reaches 90 degrees, we can’t add any heat to it,” said TVA’s nuclear spokesman Ray Golden.Similar problems last summer forced the Tennessee Valley Authority to spent $50 million for replacement power, according to Golden. The extra expense translated to something between 50 cents and $1 on most electric bills several months later, officials have said…..
Fighting the heat
Chattanooga’s July clocked in as fifth-hottest July on record, according National Weather Service meteorologist and intern Kate Guillet in Morristown, Tenn. In the Knoxvillle area, the month was the third-hottest July on record, and the Huntsville region near Browns Ferry recorded the 11th-warmest July. Weather Service records date back to 1850.
The rest of August is also going to be above normal in temperature, said Paul Barys, chief meteorologist for WRCB-TV Channel 3.……River temperature forces nuclear plant to 50 percent power | timesfreepress.com
Uranium miller wants to cease monitoring toxic waste area
Cotter asks to stop testing impoundment pond due to dangerous conditions – The Denver Post, by Bruce Finley, 4 Aug 11 Cotter Corp. managers of a uranium mill have asked state regulators to let them stop testing the acidity of a leaking toxic- and radioactive- waste impoundment pond — saying conditions have become too dangerous for workers…..
The Cotter efforts to reduce monitoring affect Colorado’s oversight of the cleanup because state regulators rely on company data instead of conducting independent tests.
Cotter is in the process of dismantling its shuttered uranium mill, located south of the Arkansas River near Cañon City.
With state permission, the company has been moving 90,000 gallons of radioactive sludge and solvents into the impoundment, although regulators know the impoundment is leaking. Liquid waste is mixed with a material resembling cat litter that renders it more solid….
Workers at the mill, built in 1958 with federal support, processed uranium for weapons and power plants. Cotter dumped waste in 11 unlined ponds, leading to contamination of groundwater, which spread to Cañon City.
Federal Environmental Protection Agency officials in 1984 declared the mill and surrounding area a Superfund environmental disaster — then entrusted state authorities with supervising the cleanup...Cotter asks to stop testing impoundment pond due to dangerous conditions – The Denver Post
USA Air Force to discontinue religious justification for nuclear war
In addition to using Jesus to justify nuclear war, the course also referenced German rocket scientist Wernher Von Braun as an authority on the morality of nuclear war. A questionable reference since Von Braun was once a member of the Nazi Party and used Jews imprisoned in concentration camps to build V-2 rockets for Hitler’s Third Reich.
Secular victory: Air Force ends Bible study for nuclear launch officers, Michael Stone, Humanist Examiner, August 3, 2011 In a victory for secular America and the U.S. Constitution, the United States Air Force has suspended a Bible based, Christian themed course mandated for all nuclear launch officers. Continue reading
Nuclear waste company fined for violation, but can leave the waste there anyway
EnergySolutions identifies violation and pays fine, Examiner.com. Shad Engkilterra , August 3, 2011 -“……EnergySolutions has paid an $80,000 fine, which meets the statutory limit that can be imposed according to Rusty Lundberg, DRC director.
EnergySolutions will not be required to remove the non-Class A waste…. http://www.examiner.com/community-activism-in-salt-lake-city/energysolutions-identifies-violation-and-pays-fine
How to hide highly radioactive waste – “down blending”
“Blenced nuclear wastes” – a way to get around restrictions on toxic wastes
But HEAL said the prospect of more blended waste should be the subject of a more focused study of the Tooele County site to address the long-term safety and health questions raised by federal regulators and the state Radiation Control Board. In addition, said Thomas, blending will allow the company and its customers, in effect, to bury waste more hazardous than the Class A waste currently allowed in the state.
“It circumvents the state’s ban on Class B and C waste, which has been in place for years,” said Thomas.
He added that one analysis estimated the radioactivity at the EnergySolutions site would increase eight-fold if blended waste is permitted… http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/52305223-90/waste-blended-radiation-state.html.csp
EPA study into uranium contamination of Navajo land
The Mariano Lake Mine is one of a handful of sites that the EPA and its Navajo Nation counterpart have targeted for investigation or cleanup so far. They’ve been assessing hundreds of abandoned uranium mines to address what has become a legacy of death and disease across the reservation.
EPA announces deal for uranium contamination probe, Canadian Business, August 01, 2011 FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is overseeing an effort to determine the extent of contamination at a former uranium mining site on the Navajo Nation that marked a high priority for assessment. Continue reading
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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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