USA « nuclear-news

Oil disaster does not augur well for uranium amd nuclear industry

One virtually certain outcome of the environmental disaster currently blackening the Gulf of Mexico is that federal regulators will take a harder line on enforcement of environmental regulations. Uranium miners are likely to be particularly hard hit because there isn’t a person in the US who doesn’t fear the consequences of radiation exposure…….Playing fast and loose with the environment is no longer a winning strategy.

Uranium Miners Get Some Good News and Some Bad 24/7 Wall St., Paul Ausick, June 1, 2010 “....The first installment of the investment will help USEC to continue its deployment of its American Centrifuge Plant which produces enriched uranium for use in nuclear power generation. The cash will also help support USEC’s $2 billion loan guarantee application with the US Department of Energy. The not-so-good news for uranium companies was delivered Continue reading →

June 2, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance | Leave a comment

Some responses to the idea of “nuking the oil spill”

Using a nuclear device in an attempt to shut down the GOM oil spill seems like using a battleship to cross a river.Success is not guaranteed and the side effects could be horrendous.”

Nuking The Oil Slick? The Oil Drum by Big Gav on May 31, 2010 – ]A recent interview with Matthew Simmons on Bloomberg discussed the possibility of a nuclear explosion being used to seal the leaking Macondo oil well. Continue reading →

June 1, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Doctors oppose radiation experiments on squirrel monkeys

Belmont hospital faulted for monkey experiments, BostonHerald.com, By Associated Press , May 31, 2010 BELMONT – An anti-animal research group is preparing to unveil two billboards criticizing McLean Hospital in Belmont for experiments with squirrel monkeys.The Washington, D.C.-based Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is scheduled to unveil the billboards Tuesday near the hospital.According to the group, squirrel monkeys will be exposed to harmful radiation at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York and will then be sent to McLean for various tests.

June 1, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Religion and ethics, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, radioactive, reactors | Leave a comment

California to demand recording of medical radiation doses

Calif. could require recording of radiation doses , San Francisco Chronicle May 28, 2010 California would create safeguards to protect patients from being exposed to excess radiation under a bill approved by the state Senate. Continue reading →

June 1, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear technology, radioactive | Leave a comment

New efforts to make California a leader in renewable energy feed in tariffs

Can California Lead the Nation on Feed-In Tariffs? | SolveClimate.com Reviews are mixed, as efforts get underway in the state to pass a somewhat improved FIT bill by Leslie Berliant – May 31st, 2010i
California legislators have struggled to pass a “feed-in tariff” for renewable power that actually works. But a new push looks to fix past mistakes and make California a national model for a financing technique that has helped to turn Germany and Spain into world leaders in solar energy. Continue reading →

June 1, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable, USA | antinuclear, energy efficiency, renewable energy, renewables, solar, wind | Leave a comment

Vermont nuclear plant likely to be source of radiation in fish

it was impossible to establish a baseline for strontium-90 in Connecticut River fish, because the state had not tested for it before this year.

Bad news: Radioactive fish found near Vt. nuclear plant; Worse news: Fish said to be ordinary, Washington Examiner, By: DAVE GRAM, Associated Press05/30/10 MONTPELIER, VT. — When a fish taken from the Connecticut River recently tested positive for radioactive strontium-90, suspicion focused on the nearby Vermont Yankee nuclear plant as the likely source. Continue reading →

May 31, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Texas to get nuclear wastes from 36 States?

Tx. Could Receive Nuclear Waste from 36 States, Environmental Leader, May 24, 2010, Texas could become the repository for low-level nuclear waste from 36 states, according to a report in the Associated Press.According to a rule change proposed by the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission, the state could accept radioactive materials such as glass, metal and clothing used at power plants, research centers, and medical facilities throughout the country at a storage facility in West Texas. The 1,340-acre site, located in Andrews, Tx., is run by Waste Control Specialists.Local opposition to the rule change has come from the Texas chapter of the Sierra Club, which successfully pushed the state legislature to delay its decision on the rule change until at least June. According to a presentation created by Texas Nuclear Safety, an organization opposing the rule change, the amount of waste at the facility could increase up to 19 times.

Tx. Could Receive Nuclear Waste from 36 States · Environmental Leader · Green Business, Sustainable Business, and Green Strategy News for Corporate Sustainability Executives

May 31, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear wastes, radioactive | Leave a comment

U.S. politicians wake up to nuclear scam, postpone “Emergency Bill” bonus for nukes

HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE POSTPONES CONSIDERATION OF EMERGENCY BILL, $9 BILLION IN NEW REACTOR LOANS, Nuclear Information and Resource Centre, 28 May 2010, About 3 pm yesterday, the House Appropriations Committee suddenly postponed its scheduled 5 pm meeting to consider the emergency supplemental funding bill, which right now includes a provision that would allow $9 Billion in new taxpayer loans for nuclear reactor construction.

The meeting has not yet been rescheduled, but will take place after the Memorial Day recess; most likely the week of June 14.

Many Appropriations Committee members apparently didn’t even realize the nuclear loans are in this bill. And because of the way they are described–as $90 million for nuclear and $90 million for renewables under the byzantine Congressional budgeting procedures–some members may not have understood that translates into $9 Billion in taxpayer loans for new reactors.

May 29, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, uranium | Leave a comment

AREVA’s uranium enrichment plant a danger to Idaho’s groundwater

Areva uranium enrichment plant in Idaho would threaten aquifer, Beyond Nuclear, 28 May 2010, The $2 billion in federal loan guarantees just awarded to Areva by the U.S. Department of Energy for a new uranium enrichment plant in Idaho, will produce depleted uranium (half-life of 4.5 billion years) and will threaten the Snake River Aquifer, say leaders of the Snake River Alliance.

Areva plans to build a new uranium enrichment plant “on the upstream end of the Snake River Aquifer a few miles east of the Idaho National Laboratory,” stated the Alliance in a press release. “INL’s nuclear activities have already contaminated the aquifer and have left substantial radioactive waste behind. Addressing these environmental challenges has already cost billions of taxpayer dollars and will continue for decades”. Continue reading →

May 29, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, water | antinuclear, AREVA, depleted, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

American Indians against new uranium mining

“Our Navajo communities rely on the groundwater for everything. These new projects could contaminate the source of drinking water for 15,000 Navajo community members,”

Navajo Activists Protest Uranium Mining Plans, May 28, 2010, warresisters By Bruce Finley, The Denver PostUranium-mining leaders and federal regulators poised to fuel a resurgent nuclear power industry gathered in Denver on Wednesday,…outside the conference Wednesday, American Indian demonstrators with drums and signs demanded a halt to all new uranium mining on Navajo land, where federal regulators have permitted several projects. Continue reading →

May 29, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | indigenous issues, USA | antinuclear, indigenous, nuclear, nuclear wastes, radioactive, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

USA govt still pushing nuclear energy as “clean”

Energy Secretary Steven Chu Announces $38 Million for 42 University-Led Nuclear Research and Development Projects, Nuclear Power Industry News, 28 May 2010, We are taking action to restart the nuclear industry as part of a broad approach to cut carbon pollution and create new clean energy jobs,” said Secretary Chu.

“These projects will help us develop the nuclear technologies of the future and move our domestic nuclear industry forward – Edited by April Murelio -U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu has announced the selection of 42 university-led research and development projects for awards totaling $38 million. These projects, funded over three to four years through the Department’s Nuclear Energy University Program, will help advance nuclear education and develop the next generation of nuclear technologies.

May 28, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | antinuclear, climate change, nuclear costs, nuclear spin | Leave a comment

USA: National institute fro Renewable Technology launched

Green Technology -Innovate Texas Announces Formation of National Institute for Renewable Energy MCNet.com, 27 May By Calvin Azuri,

Innovate Texas Foundation, in collaboration with the Texas Tech University System and The Wind Alliance, have announced the formation of the National Institute for Renewable Energy (NIRE) at the Windpower 2010 Conference in Dallas. NIRE, an independent public-private collaboration formed to develop nation’s wind and renewable energy resources, will help in solving key scientific and technology challenges faced by the wind power industry.

Green Technology -Innovate Texas Announces Formation of National Institute for Renewable Energy

May 28, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable, USA | climate change, global warming, renewable energy, renewables, solar, wind | Leave a comment

Nuclear solution to oil spill could be worse than the problem

BP Oil Spill: The Nuclear Option, THE HUFFINGTON POST, Susan Deily-Swearingen, 26 May 2010, “……One solution that is getting increased attention on the web and in the European press is the terrifying sounding nuclear option which, essentially, would detonate a nuclear bomb underground near the oil well shaft……………What are the lasting effects of such an explosion? Is there a potential for them to be even worse than the pollution from the dispersants already used to “solve” or abate the problem? Continue reading →

May 27, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radioactive, reactors | Leave a comment

Nuclear energy salesmen run Obama’s Oil Disaster Commission

With Graham and Reilly on the commission, it’s far more likely that this commission will advance a much different agenda—a nuclear energy agenda…..one must ask if Graham is simply a nuclear energy salesman who knows how to play the game………both Graham and Reilly have strong ties to nuclear energy interests. They are spearheading a so-called independent commission

Nuclear Energy Has a Friend in Heads of Obama’s BP Oil Disaster Commission, by kgosztola May 25, 2010 IN In his weekly radio address on Saturday, May 22nd, President Obama selected the two men that will be leading an independent commission that will examine the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, find the “root causes” of the disaster, and produce a report in six months. Those men were former Sen. Bob Graham (D-FL) and former head of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under George H.W. Bush, William K. Reilly, a Republican……………. Continue reading →

May 26, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | spinbuster, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear renaissance, nuclear spin, renewable energy | Leave a comment

U.S. media bias in failing to report full story on Iran’s nukes

it seems, the United States isn’t ready to deal because the Obama Administration is afraid of Congress.
(VIDEO) Robert Naiman: U.S. Media Censors U.S. Support of Iran Fuel Swap

U.S. Media Censors U.S. Support of Iran Fuel Swap, THE HUFFINGTON POST, Robert Naiman, 25 May 2010, “……….But if you get your information from major U.S. media, here’s something that you almost certainly don’t know: Brazil and Turkey say that before they reached the deal, they understood that they had the backing of the Obama Administration for their efforts. The available evidence suggests that Brazil and Turkey had good reason to believe that they had U.S. support, and that the Obama Administration has taken a 180 degree turn in its position in the last few weeks, and is now trying to cover its tracks, with the active collaboration of major U.S. media. Continue reading →

May 26, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | spinbuster, USA | antinuclear, enriched, nuclear, nuclear weapons, uranium | Leave a comment