nuclear-news

NRC chief Allison Macfarlane cautious about San Onofre nuclear plant restart

Regarding the future of the San
Onofre plant, NRC regulators will not allow the reactors to restart
until they are convinced the plant is safe, she said.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission chief visits Diablo Canyon, The Tribune
January 15, 2013 Chairwoman discussed seismic safety issues with plant
managers during her first tour of the local facility By David Sneed
Allison Macfarlane, chairwoman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
was in San Luis Obispo on Tuesday to tour Diablo Canyon nuclear power
plant and meet with local elected officials, plant managers and
community activists.

This was Macfarlane’s first visit to Diablo Canyon since being
appointed chairwoman by President Barack Obama in July. On Monday, she
toured the troubled San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in Southern
California, which is idled because of problems with its steam
generators. Continue reading →

January 17, 2013 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Nuclear power: films at Central University of Jharkhand

Spotlight on ‘nuclear world’ at film festival  By Ammi Kumari, TNN | Jan 14 RANCHI: International Travelling Uranium Film Festival will begin here on January 15 to spread awareness on nuclear issue and engage people in developments related to nuclear energy.

The three-day festival will screen some of the world’s best videos, documentaries, fiction filmsand animation movies covering various facets of the issue.

The festival started in Delhi on January 4 and travelled to Shillong. Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and other cities, which hosted the event.

“The response of the audience was good in these cities. People wanted the movies to be screened in the rural areas also to create awareness among them,” said Shriparaksh, the Indian co-coordinator of the film festival…..

Shriprakash said a variety of films would help in creating a total picture, bring to light the pros and cons of nuclear energy and help people take a stand on the issue…… Some movies like ‘Radioactive Wolves’, a 52-minute film directed by Klaus Feichtenberger basically talks about the aftermaths of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster on the animal population 25 to 30 years after it took place.

‘Into Eternity’ directed by Michael Madsen got the best feature documentary jury award in 2011, which talks about the underground space being built by Finland to preserve the nuclear wastes and the challenges they face while doing it.”

The inauguration will be held at Central University of Jharkhand. Next day the film festival will be held at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sceinces which will conclude with the ‘Synergy Fest’ going at RIMS…… http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ranchi/Spotlight-on-nuclear-world-at-film-festival/articleshow/18011985.cms

January 14, 2013 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Nuclear waste for the beautiful Lake District National Park?

Lake District National Park may host nuclear waste site BBC News 13 Jan Sellafield already stores a large amount of radioactive waste earmarked for disposal

Campaigners have called for the Lake District National Park to be excluded from a search for an underground nuclear waste repository in Cumbria.

Councils in the west of the county have expressed an interest in taking waste from the Sellafield reprocessing plant.

But at a public meeting in Keswick the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) was urged to rule out the national park….http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-20998160

January 14, 2013 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

The world’s white elephant – nuclear weapons

Fortunately there are renewed calls for the elimination of these outdated weapons. The risk of possible use of nuclear weapons by terrorists calls for completely new strategies and does nothing to justify the growth and preservation of existing strategic arsenals by new and aspiring nuclear states.

On the uselessness of nuclear weapons Scientific American By Ashutosh Jogalekar | January 13, 2013 “……..The future   Nuclear weapons are often compared to a white elephant. A better comparison might be to a giant T. rex; one could possible imagine a use for such a creature in extreme situations, but by and large it only serves as an unduly sensitive and enormously destructive creature whose powers are waiting to be unleashed on to the world. Having the beast around is just not worth its supposed benefits anymore, especially when most of these benefits are only perceived and have been extrapolated from a sample size of one.

Yet we continue to nurture this creature. Much progress has been made in reducing the nuclear arsenals of the two Cold War superpowers, but others have picked up the slack and continued to pursue the image and status – and not actual fighting capability – that they think nuclear weapons confer on them. Continue reading →

January 14, 2013 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Rising violence in nuclear armed Pakistan

Fears for nuclear-armed Pakistan as blasts kill 125 ahead of
elections, news.com.au, Maaz Khan AFP January 11, 2013 EXTREMIST bomb
attacks killed 125 people in one of Pakistan’s deadliest days for
years, raising concerns about rising violence in the nuclear-armed
country ahead of general elections……
http://www.news.com.au/world/at-least-81-killed-as-suicide-bombers-target-snooker-hall-in-quetta-pakistan/story-fndir2ev-1226551761961

January 11, 2013 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Nuclear weapons makers excluded from Norway Oil Fund

Norway Oil Fund Excludes Nuclear Weapon Producers, Reverses
Exclusions, WSJ, 11 Jan 13
Norway’s Ministry of Finance found Babcock & Wilcox operates
facilities producing fissile material for nuclear warheads, while
Jacobs Engineering Group is part of a company developing, producing
and maintaining nuclear weapons… (subscribers only)
http://blogs.wsj.com/corruption-currents/2013/01/11/norway-oil-fund-excludes-nuclear-weapon-producers-reverses-exclusions/

January 11, 2013 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | 1 Comment

Chinese technology removed from US nuke weapons lab – a security risk

US Nuclear Lab Removed Chinese Tech Due To National Security Risk Gizmodo, 9 Jan 13 ASHLEY FEINBERG After recently discovering that its computer systems contained several Chinese-made network switches, a major US nuclear weapons lab has replaced at least two components because of national security concerns.

According to a document acquired by Reuters:

A letter from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, dated November 5, 2012, states that the research facility had installed devices made by H3C Technologies Co, based in Hangzhou, China. H3C began as a joint venture between China’s Huawei Technologies Co and 3Com Corp, a U.S. tech firm, and was once called Huawei-3Com. Hewlett Packard Co acquired the firm in 2010.

The US government has previously expressed concerns about Huawei and any potential ties to the Chinese military and government, although the company denies that the Chinese military holds any influence over its business and the security of its products……

In October, the House Intelligence Committee issued an investigative report on Huawei and ZTE, claiming they “cannot be trusted to be free of foreign state influence” and pose “a security threat to the United States and to our systems”. http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2013/01/us-nuclear-lab-removed-chinese-tech-due-to-national-security-risk/

January 9, 2013 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Don’t be duped by the thorium hype

Thorium nukes are just the 21st century version of “too cheap to meter” that the nuke lobby was pushing in the last century. They always have some amazing technology just around the corner, but it’s just  a smokescreen to distract from what they are trying to sell now.

Learn a few facts and you won’t be so easily duped:

Thorium: Back to the Dream Factory

Benefits of thorium as alternative nuclear fuel are ‘overstated’

Thorium Nuclear Information Resources

January 9, 2013 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

The way forward must be 100% renewable energy

100% Renewable Energy – The Only Way Forward, The Energy Collective Anna Leidreiter January 8, 2013 It is a fact that non-renewable energies will, by definition, run out. It is also a fact that in the meantime, dependence on these energy sources is causing multiple existential global crises. If human beings are to preserve modernity and planetary habitability, we must soon shift to 100% renewable energy in all sectors. A fossil-free energy system is the only way forward as it results in socio-economic development and regional value creation.

The world’s leading scientists have issued a mandate that we must change our energy system to a sustainable one based on conservation, efficiency and renewable energy in the near future or risk losing planetary habitability. The energy transition is not a lifestyle choice; it is an essential way to combat climate change and save our planet.  Continue reading →

January 9, 2013 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

New management for Oak Ridge nuclear weapons breakin site

U.S. uranium complex changes management after activists break in Al
Arabiya News, 08 January 2013 TIMOTHY GARDNER  REUTERS The U.S.
government has named a new group to manage security at a site where it
processes and stores enriched uranium after anti-nuclear activists,
including an 82-year old nun, broke into the site in 2012.

The National Nuclear Security Administration said on Tuesday it has
chosen Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC to manage and operate the
Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where the
breach occurred last July, as well as the Plantex Plant near Amarillo,
Texas.

The group selected is comprised of Bechtel National Inc, Lockheed
Martin Services Inc, ATK Launch Systems Inc and SOC LLC. Consolidated
will begin a transition immediately and the contract will start on May
1, the NNSA said.

The five-year contract, with options to renew it for another five
years, also includes construction project management of the uranium
processing facility of the Y-12 complex and an option for work at the
Savannah River tritium operations in South Carolina.

The contract includes a total available fee of about $446 million if
the Savannah River option is picked up by the end of the first year,
the NNSA said…..
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2013/01/08/259387.html

January 9, 2013 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

South Korea going ahead with nuclear energy, but public feeling is against it

South Korea to expand nuclear energy despite growing safety fears, The
Star, 8 Jan 13,  By Meeyoung Cho “….The proportion of South Koreans
who considered nuclear power safe fell to 34.8 percent in a survey
conducted in November and published on Tuesday, down from 40 percent
in April 2011 and 71 percent in January 2010, the Ministry of
Knowledge Economy said.

The ministry has been sharply criticised for its role as regulator and
operator of the country’s nuclear power plants, and one of its
subsidiaries was accused of suppressing negative public opinion after
the Fukushima disaster by not publishing polls.

A fake parts scandal closed two reactors last year and the industry
suppressed details of the closure of the Kori No.1 reactor early in
2012.

“It is an urgent priority to recover people’s trust and the safety of
reactors just as it is unavoidable to maintain nuclear at a certain
percentage of the total power supply, considering the power supply and
demand situation,” the ministry said……”

January 9, 2013 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

A call to action on climate change, before it is too late

An extremely wealthy and powerful fossil fuel industry is behind this political failure to act. Just like the tobacco industry before them, the fossil energy industry spends hundreds of millions of dollars on misinformation about climate change and lobbyists to fight against any action to reduce fossil fuel use.

Time is short. There are just 24 months to 2015 when emissions need to begin to decline. There are no other options left but to march in the streets. The environmental organisation 350.org is organising one such march Feb. 17 in Washington D.C.Dozens more marches are absolutely essential. It is time to act. It is time to march.

Climate Inaction Is a Clear Failure of Democracy, By Stephen Leahy UXBRIDGE, Canada, Jan 4 2013 (IPS) – Around the world, 2012 was the year of extreme weather, when we unequivocally learned that the fossil fuel energy that powers our societies is destroying them. Accepting this reality is the biggest challenge of the brand new year. Continue reading →

January 7, 2013 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Staggering level of denial about the seriousness of the Fukushima nuclear calamity

Radiation cover-up at Fukushima exposed , WW4 Report,    by Bill Weinberg  01/06/2013– Over 150,000 evacuees remain in temporary housing, and many will probably never be able to return home. This includes people from the mandatory 20-kilometer-radius evaucaiton zone, and the voluntary 50-kilometer-radius evacuation zone that was finally declared a full six weeks after the start of the disaster. Officials say an area the size of the state of Connecticut will have to be deconraminted. The government has admitted that the most highly contaminated areas will likely never again be fit for human habitation, and like the town of Chernobyl, will remain desolate ghost-towns for decades to come. (NYT, Nov. 27; Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 2; CTV, March 11, 2012) Continue reading →

January 7, 2013 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Radioactive materials dumped into Fukushima rivers

CROOKED CLEANUP (1): Radioactive waste dumped into rivers during
decontamination work in Fukushima reports by Miki Aoki, Tamiyuki Kihara
and Toshio Tada.
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN, 6 Jan 13,  Cleanup crews in Fukushima Prefecture
have dumped soil and leaves contaminated with radioactive fallout into
rivers. Water sprayed on contaminated buildings has been allowed to
drain back into the environment. And supervisors have instructed
workers to ignore rules on proper collection and disposal of the
radioactive waste.

Decontamination is considered a crucial process in enabling thousands
of evacuees to return to their homes around the crippled Fukushima No.
1 nuclear power plant and resume their normal lives.

But the decontamination work witnessed by a team of Asahi Shimbun
reporters shows that contractual rules with the Environment Ministry
have been regularly and blatantly ignored, and in some cases, could
violate environmental laws……
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201301040058

January 7, 2013 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Dilemma in Cumbria about nuclear waste burial plan

VIDEO  Ennerdale’s nuclear debate   POTENTIAL NUCLEAR WASTE SITE FOR
ENNERDALE –  5 Jan 2013 A community in west Cumbria fears it may be
chosen to host an underground store for Britain’s nuclear waste.

Residents in Ennerdale say their area of the Lake District is one of
only a few places where the geology is thought to be suitable.

They’ve set up a protest group and are holding a referendum to find
out the views of everyone in the community.

Samantha Parker has the full report:
http://www.itv.com/news/border/2013-01-05/ennerdales-nuclear-debate/

January 7, 2013 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment