USA « nuclear-news

Nun amongst dozens arrested at anti nuclear protest

Sister Mary Dennis Lentch, a Catholic nun, has been arrested multiple times at the Oak Ridge facility. In her statement, she said, “I believe the continuing weapons production at the Y12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, is in direct violation of the treaty obligations of the United States and consequently, is a violation of Article 6 of the US Constitution.”

Y-12 protest nets dozens of arrests » Knoxville News Sentinel, OAK RIDGE , 5 July 2010, – Some three dozen peace activists and a counter-protester were arrested this morning at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant during a commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the initial “Plowshares” anti-nuclear weapons protest that took place Sept. 9, 1980………..It took officers who were out in force a while to arrest some of the protesters, one of whom was on crutches and presented a dilemma on how to be handcuffed. Continue reading →

July 6, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons | 1 Comment

Move to compensate women made ill by nuclear work

women who worked in the Grand Junction offices of the former Atomic Energy Commission have been diagnosed with diseases that would be compensable under the radiation exposure compensation law and related legislation, except for the fact they were employed by the federal government,

Feds not handling women’s uranium claims, GJSentinel.com, By Gary Harmon, July 5, 2010 The clerks and secretaries who worked in the Atomic Energy Commission offices in Grand Junction during World War II and later during the Cold War handled ore samples and were frequently in and around milling products.One of them, Patie Claypoole of Grand Junction, has developed a pulmonary fibrosis, a condition for which she could receive a compassionate payment from the federal government and medical care, except for one thing. She wasn’t a miner, miller or ore hauler, three occupations compensated in the 1991 Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. Continue reading →

July 6, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, USA | antinuclear, cancer, climate change, nuclear, nuclear costs, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

The menace of USA’s new tactical nuclear weapons

The NPT is dead in the water because the US has now embarked on a new programme of low yield, dial up nuclear weapons that are far more efficient than any of the much larger bombs that were dropped on Japan during WW2…

Did the US drop tactical nuclear weapons on Iraq/Afghanistan – You bet, The Palestine Telegraph, Peter Eyre – Middle East Consultant – 4^th July 2010 “………Iraq 1991 – 317 Cruise missiles were launched against Iraq by 316 ships and 1 submarine Continue reading →

July 6, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war | antinuclear, depleted, nuclear, nuclear weapons, uranium | Leave a comment

U.S. Dept of Energy confident of preventing Yucca Mt nuclear waste dump

Nuclear Waste Repository Moving Ahead, Epoch Times, By Nicholas Zifcak, 1 July 2010, “…….The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board ruled against the Department of Energy ‘s (DOE) request to withdraw the application for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. The decision goes against the efforts of Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), and President Obama to prevent the facility from moving forward…

……..But the DOE is not ready to give up. In a statement responding to the decision the DOE said it is confident, “we have the legal authority to withdraw the application for the Yucca Mountain repository. We believe the administrative board’s decision is wrong and anticipate that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will reverse that decision.”

The American Nuclear Society and The National Resources Defense Council did not return requests for comment by press time.

Epoch Times – Nuclear Waste Repository Moving Ahead

July 5, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Nuclear regulatory Commission judges rule in favour of Nevada nuclear waste dump

Judges block Obama effort to close Yucca Mountain waste site, KansasCity.com By JAMES ROSE, 4 July 2010, The Obama administration has suffered a defeat in its efforts to close the nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.

Three administrative judges within the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ruled last week that President Barack Obama and Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu don’t have the authority to close the controversial site unilaterally. That can only be accomplished, the judges said, by an act of Congress…………… Continue reading →

July 5, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Colorado to take the lead as solar energy State

New funding for green energy announced, July 4, Denver Examiner, Leslee Schmitt In his weekly radio and online address yesterday, President Obama announced almost $2bn in guaranteed loans to two solar companies………..Colorado Senator Michael Bennet commented on the loan guarantees in Boulder yesterday. “I think we have the potential to beat all 50 states in terms of creating an energy-independent future for our kids, creating a cleaner climate and driving our economy as well. Washington may not be ready or willing to compete with China, but Colorado is.”

New funding for green energy announced

July 5, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable, USA | climate change, energy efficiency, global warming, renewable energy, renewables, solar | Leave a comment

Cruel and unnecessary radiation experiments on monkeys

Dr. Marge Peppercorn, a retired pediatrician from Sudbury and a member of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, said the experiment, proposed by McLean researcher Dr. Jack Bergman, would yield little useful information and would cost $1.75 million. She said any information from the experiment would provide little evidence of the actual impact of space radiation on astronauts on a deep space mission.

Protesters at Belmont’s McLean Hospital call experiment animal cruelty – Belmont, MA – Belmont Citizen-Herald, By Christian Schiavone Belmont Citizen-Herald, Jun 10, 2010 Belmont, Mass. —About 50 demonstrators held signs outside McLean Hospital for more than an hour Thursday urging the hospital to cancel its plans to participate in an experiment to study the effects of radiation on monkeys… Continue reading →

July 5, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Religion and ethics, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy | Leave a comment

USA soldiers and depleted uranium – the problem continues

VIDEO
The Stark Raving Viking: Using Depleted Uranium Munitions, a War Crime? July 02, 2010 Radioactive, fragmenting, incendiary, radioactive munitions have been used by the US since the first Gulf War. There seems to be no official US regard for the health of US Troops and citizens of the world. Continue reading →

July 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, USA | antinuclear, cancer, depleted, nuclear, nuclear costs, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

$9 billion ’emergency war” money to go to nuclear industry

Because independent investors won’t fund them, the reactor industry has spent some $645 million in the last decade lobbying Congress and the White House for taxpayer money.

(USA) Can “Emergency” New Nuke Loans Be Stopped Despite Cover of War?, THE HUFFINGTON POST, Harvey Wasserman, 2 July 2010, Amidst a grassroots uproar over funding for the military, the nuclear power industry has again forced $9 billion in loan guarantees onto an “emergency” war appropriations bill for Afghanistan and Iraq. Continue reading →

July 2, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Scientists warn on huge taxpayer bill for USA’s nuclear subsidies

If the industry is able to secure federal approval to build the 31 new reactors it is expected to request, UCS found that total proposed subsidies could be worth from $65 billion to as much as $147 billion.

Senate Currently Proposing $40 Billion to More Than $140 Billion in Subsidies for Nuclear Industry, New Analysis FindsNew Subsidies for Constructing Reactors Would Shift Financial Risks to Taxpayers Union of Concerned Scientists WASHINGTON (July 1, 2010) – Massive government subsidies proposed in two pending Senate climate and energy bills would shift the risk of financing and constructing new nuclear reactors from the industry to U.S. taxpayers, according to an analysis released today by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). Continue reading →

July 2, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology | Leave a comment

USA taxpayers fund AREVA and other foreign nuclear companies

Groups: Foreign Companies, Workers Are Big Early Winners Under Federal Loan Guarantees For Nuclear Reactors Taxpayer-Backed Nuclear Loan Guarantees Make July 4th “Energy Non-Independence Day”; 2 of 3 Leading Loan Guarantees Candidates Have Major Foreign Ownership, Large Reactor Component Construction Jobs Are Overseas.WASHINGTON, July 1 USNewswire/ — The notion that taxpayer-backed loan guarantees for more nuclear power means energy independence in the United States is a hoax that could cost unwary U.S. taxpayers tens of billions of dollars while richly benefiting profitable foreign corporations and non-U.S. workers, according to a new report from the nonprofit Nuclear Information & Resource Service (NIRS). Continue reading →

July 2, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | antinuclear, AREVA, France, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, uranium | Leave a comment

Non existent nuclear security for USA’s railroads and coastlines

DHS Effort to Counter Nuclear Terrorism Leaves Huge Gaps, Expert Says | Security Debrief -1 July 2010, The Department of Homeland Security office responsible for protecting the nation against nuclear terrorism grew so distracted over efforts to develop next-generation radiation detectors that it failed to draft a strategic plan to coordinate interagency counterterrorism efforts, a government expert told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday.

The absence of a plan has led to a major security gap, Eugene E. Aloise, director of the GAO’s Natural Resources and Environment Division, said. Because it has focused on improving equipment to detect nuclear materials entering U.S. seaports and border stations, which already have monitors, the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) neglected to build capacity along international railroads and the coastline, where defenses don’t exist, he said.

DHS Effort to Counter Nuclear Terrorism Leaves Huge Gaps, Expert Says | Security Debrief – a blog of homeland security news and analysis

July 2, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

BP oil spill puts safety of nuclear plants at risk

A May 12 situation report from the Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability acknowledged the potential for problems.
“If water supply for these facilities becomes contaminated with oil, cooling water systems could be damaged,” it said.

Gulf Coast nuclear plants at risk from BP oil spill, FACING SOUTH, 1 July 2010, Watchdog groups are warning about the BP oil spill’s potential damage to Gulf and Atlantic coast nuclear power plants that use seawater to cool pumps and other safety equipment. Earlier this month, representatives of the nuclear watchdog groups Beyond Nuclear, Three Mile Island Alert and Unplug Salem wrote a letter to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission seeking details on oil plume monitoring efforts to guard against damage to plants’ safety systems. The letter was copied to the Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Continue reading →

July 1, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, radiation, radioactive, reactors | Leave a comment

Cracks at Texas nuclear waste site

No room for error at radioactive waste site Dallas Morning News, 1 july 2010 Cracked asphalt provides a stark reminder of the nonexistent margin for error at a controversial radioactive waste dump in West Texas. When state inspectors visited the site in Andrews County, they found cracks up to an inch wide in asphalt near canisters of radioactive material. While cracked asphalt is fairly inconsequential – and pretty much par for the course – when it comes to our city streets, it can be a dangerous proposition at a radioactive waste dump.

A spokesman for Dallas-based Waste Control Specialists, which operates the low-level radioactive waste site, dismissed the cracks as superficial and said they have been repaired. But as the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has noted, that asphalt pad is an important safeguard against ground contamination…..

Editorial: No room for error at radioactive waste site | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Opinion: Editorials

July 1, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radioactive | Leave a comment

Uranium mining, radiation and indigenous land

VIDEO Another Green World: McCain declares (nuclear) war on Navajo & Sioux McCain declares (nuclear) war on Navajo & Sioux, Another Green World, 1 July 2010 ‘Our Mother is suffering….’Radiation levels rising, uranium mining for ‘clean’ nuclear power is killing indigenous land in Arizona and McCain wants more, bet it would be different if his house was next to a radioactive mine.posted by Derek Wall