USA « nuclear-news

Comprehenisve Test Ban Treaty not likley to be ratified

Obama no closer on nuclear test ban ratification, THE HUFFINGTON POST, Desmond Butler, 2 April 2010, Obama, whose Democratic Party enjoys a majority of 59 votes in the Senate, will need to win over enough Republican senators to reach the necessary two-thirds-majority vote for ratification. While there appears to be strong bipartisan support for the new START treaty, which could be ratified this year, the test ban treaty has been much more contentious.And it is likely to be more so after November, when Democrats are projected to lose seats. Continue reading →

April 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Nuclear power executives get top payments

Salary Survey: Nuclear Exec Earns $3 Million, Energy Section, Amy Harder, April 2, 2010 The nuclear power industry may be stagnant, but the sector’s top trade group is banking on turning that around — and as one sign, it’s giving its top executive a hefty salary.

The Nuclear Energy Institute in 2008 paid its president and CEO, at that time Frank Bowman, more than $3 million in total compensation. Bowman was the seventh-highest-paid executive out of more than 500 organizations in all different policy areas, according to an annual National Journal salary survey.

Continue reading →

April 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin | Leave a comment

Stimulus spending goes to nuclear waste cleanup states

it’s not clear to me that this has much of a stimulative effect on the American macroeconomy

Gotcha on stimulus spending? Washington Examiner, By: Michael Barone, 2 April 2010, “…………lots of stimulus dollars went to the 4th district of Washington, which is on the other side of the Cascades from Olympia, and which with the South Carolina 3rd is the only non-state capital district among the top 25 districts on de Rugy’s list. What these two districts have in common is the presence of two Energy Department nuclear manufacturing sites—the Hanford Site and the Savannah River Site.

These have had huge pollution problems, and have been part of a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar cleanup process. I gather that the Energy Department was in a position to ramp up this process quickly and got a lot of stimulus funds to do so.

This may be a worthy use of federal dollars; these sites were contaminated because we were sloppy in the development of nuclear weapons during World War II and the Cold War, and it may very well make sense to clean them up. In effect we’re paying for past wars, as we do when we pay for veterans’ benefits. But it’s not clear to me that this has much of a stimulative effect on the American macroeconomy. Gotcha on stimulus spending? | Washington Examiner

April 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radioactive, reactors, uranium, wastes | Leave a comment

Oklahoma House Panel promoting nuclear power industry

the bill removes prohibitions in state law that specifically excluded nuclear energy as an eligible power source.

Oklahoma House Panel Greenlights Nuclear Power Bill, – Nuclear Power Industry News, Measure will permit municipalities to buy nuclear energy – Edited by April Murelio 2 April 2010, -According to a report by newsok.com, a House panel has passed a measure that would allow municipal power authorities to buy electricity from nuclear plants and to invest in a joint venture for a nuclear power plant.

The committee voted 21-4 to pass Senate Bill 1668. It now goes to the House of Representatives. Rep. Rex Duncan, House author of the bill, said that the bill removes prohibitions in state law that specifically excluded nuclear energy as an eligible power source. The exclusion was written at a time when it was feared radioactive waste from nuclear plants would threaten public health and natural resources.

Oklahoma House Panel Greenlights Nuclear Power Bill – Nuclear Power Industry News

April 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, reactors | Leave a comment

Nuclear Regulatory Commission downplaying radiation risks

the level of cesium 137 contamination at Vermont Yankee was “three to 12 times the levels found at Chernobyl,” the 1986 nuclear accident in Ukraine.…….

Lawmakers take NRC to task: Rutland Herald, by Daniel Barlow, April 2, 2010“……….several lawmakers questioned the NRC’s overall approach to dealing with aging nuclear power plants and wondered if they were downplaying the dangers associated with some of the radiological releases from the 38-year-old Vernon reactor. Continue reading →

April 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | spinbuster, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, radioactive, reactors | 1 Comment

Energy companies stifling renewable energy at the local level

Think Locally, Pollute Globally: Dirty Energy Sector Wages a State-by-State War on Solar and Wind Technology BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS, by Meg White 2 April 2010 President Obama frames his decision to allow increased offshore drilling, new nuclear power plants and the pursuit of “clean” coal technology as a type of a stopgap measure to fill American demands for cheap energy while renewable sources of energy are developed. But is this a case of sleeping with the enemy? Continue reading →

April 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable, USA | antinuclear, energy efficiency, renewable energy, renewables, solar | 2 Comments

Mountainous cost of nuclear wastes and still no plan

The DOE now has no place to put the waste and no plan

Seeking a ‘Plan B’  for nuclear waste: With Yucca Mountain site dead, billions paid into project are in limbo By Margaret Newkirk , The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 2, 2010 “…….. Georgia electric customers paid the U.S. government more than $701 million over nearly three decades, in exchange for a service now 12 years overdue.Today, the U.S. government is as far away from delivering on its part of the bargain as it has ever been. Continue reading →

April 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, radioactive, reactors, uranium, wastes | Leave a comment

Obama’s Nuclear Posture Review soon to be released

Nuclear Madness Month at the White House, The Atlantic, Mar 31 2010, Next week kicks off nuclear madness month at the White House — or, as one senior administration official resignedly describes it, “all nukes, all the time.” By mid-May, the world ought to know whether President Obama is really a deterrencer in a dove’s clothing. Continue reading →

April 2, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Uranium mining devastates indigenous communities

According to the EPA , “Approximately 30 percent of the Navajo population does not have access to a public drinking water system and may be using unregulated water sources with uranium contamination.” Uranium exposure is a known cause of cancers, organ damage, miscarriages and birth defects.

Resisting the Nuclear Boom: A new wave of uranium mining threatens Indigenous communities in the Southwest By Klee Benally and Jessica Lee April 2, 2010

GRAND CANYON, Ariz.—The American Southwest has again become ground zero in the debate about nuclear power. Continue reading →

April 2, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | indigenous issues, USA | antinuclear, indigenous, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium, water | Leave a comment

The staggering and increasing costs to USA taxpayer of the “nuclear revival”

While the nuclear power loan guarantees essentially subsidize new power plants, what has not been factored in are the hidden costs of “clean” nuclear power: the financial legacy of past mining and milling operations have reached into tens of billions of dollars in the West’s “National Sacrifice Areas.”

Hot Rocks: Hidden Cost and Foreign Ownership of “Clean” Nuclear Fuel Emerging,THE HUFFINGTON POST, D.A. Barber, 1 April 2010, “…..Political Costs Critics say the new nuclear power subsidies should not come as a surprise. Over the last decade, the nuclear industry has spent more than $600 million lobbying Washington and another $63 million in campaign contributions, according to the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University.

Critics like Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C. have questioned whether banks will back new nuclear plants – which cost nearly 35% more than coal or natural gas plants – until the nuclear waste issue is dealt with. Continue reading →

April 2, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | AUSTRALIA, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear spin, radiation, radioactive, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Censorship of scientists on cancer risks of radiation

Scientist: FDA suppressed imaging safety concerns, Science news, By Matthew Perrone, 30 March, WASHINGTON — A former Food and Drug Administration scientist said Tuesday his job was eliminated after he raised concerns about the risks of radiation exposure from high-grade medical scanning.
Dr. Julian Nicholas said at a public hearing that he and other FDA staffers “were pressured to change their scientific opinion,” after they opposed the approval of a CT scanner for routine colon cancer screening. Nicholas said that he objected to exposing otherwise healthy patients to the cancer risks of radiation. Continue reading →

April 2, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | antinuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Florida call for truly clean, renewable, energy jobs

Florida Mayor Calls for State to Foster Renewable Energy Jobs, Clean Energy Footprints, 1 April 2010, Tom Larson, Renewable energy expansion can drive Florida jobs growth–we just need to post our “Open for Business” sign. Orange County, Florida (home of Orlando), is inviting cleantech investments, in engineering, manufacturing and development of innovators by entrepreneurs and at our centers of higher education. This is the Sunshine State: Continue reading →

April 2, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable, USA | climate change, energy efficiency, renewable energy, renewables, solar | Leave a comment

Uranium mining leaves behind toxic and EXPENSIVE wastes

at each step of this process, the material leaves behind progressively more toxic – and expensive – waste.

Hot Rocks: Hidden Cost and Foreign Ownership of “Clean” Nuclear Fuel Emerging,THE HUFFINGTON POST, D.A. Barber, 1 April 2010, “…..Unlike coal, which goes straight from the mine to the power plant, uranium goes through several steps to become fuel for “clean” nuclear power plants and then needs to be disposed of. From the mine the ore goes to a mill to be turned into “yellow cake,” which then goes to an enrichment facility to boost its potency. Continue reading →

April 2, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear costs, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

EPA issues warning on in-situ uranium mining and water safety

Water concerns delay Wyoming uranium projects By DUSTIN BLEIZEFFER -Star-Tribune , March 26, 2010 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to go back to the drawing board with its site-specific environmental reviews of three proposed in-situ uranium mines in Wyoming. Continue reading →

April 2, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, water | antinuclear, nuclear costs, uranium, water | Leave a comment

Escalating costs of taxpayer funded uranium mining cleanup

Hot Rocks: Hidden Cost and Foreign Ownership of “Clean” Nuclear Fuel Emerging,THE HUFFINGTON POST, D.A. Barber, 1 April 2010, Western U.S. supporters of “clean” nuclear power say it means more jobs at uranium mines and mills. But critics say the escalating costs of past uranium facility clean-up, billion-dollar subsidies, and the fact that most of the companies are foreign-owned, has seemingly gone unnoticed. Continue reading →

April 2, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment