nuclear-news

Chinese engineering firm violated nuclear export rules

Chinese firm admits nuclear export violations: U.S. Justice Dept WASHINGTON (Reuters) David Ingram, 3 Dec 12– A nuclear engineering company with ties to the Chinese government pleaded guilty on Monday to charges of illegally exporting coatings that can withstand high temperatures to a power plant in Pakistan, the U.S. Justice Department
said.

China Nuclear Industry Huaxing Construction Co Ltd entered the guilty plea in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, according to the department…..
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-nuclear-coatings-pakistanbre8b2160-20121203,0,5911850.story

December 4, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Introducing Buy Nothing Christmas

http://www.buynothingchristmas.org/index.html Learn About Buy Nothing Christmas Here.
This Christmas we’ll be swamped with offers, ads and invitations to buy more stuff. But now there’s a way to say enough and join a
movement dedicated to reviving the original meaning of Christmas giving.

Buy Nothing Christmas is a national initiative started by Canadian Mennonites but open to everyone with a thirst for change and a desire
for action.

Buy Nothing Christmas is a stress-reliever, and more people need to hear about it. You can change your world by simply putting up one of the posters (or make your own) in your church, place of worship, home or work. Be sneaky about it if you have to. The point is to get people thinking. It’s an idea whose time has come, so get out there and make a difference!

December 3, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Iran shuts down nuclear reactor after finding debris inside
First Post. Dec 2, 2012 Iran’s nuclear chief says fuel was removed
from the country’s sole nuclear reactor in October because debris had
been left behind during its construction.

The Sunday report by several Iranian newspapers quotes Fereidoun
Abbasi as saying that bolts and welding material left inside the
Russian-built Bushehr reactor had led to abnormal readings during
operation…. http://www.firstpost.com/fwire/iran-shuts-down-nuclear-reactor-after-finding-debris-inside-542380.html

December 3, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

possible sabotage at San Onofre nuclear power plant

San Onofre nuclear plant may have been sabotaged
Rt.com : 01 December, 2012,Officials at the San Onofre nuclear power
San Onofre nuclear plant may have been sabotaged
Rt.com : 01 December, 2012,Officials at the San Onofre nuclear powerplant in California are investigating why they found coolant mixed
with oil in their safety equipment. Investigators are now trying to
determine if the incident was an act of sabotage by an employee.
The Southern California Edison’s San Onofre nuclear power plant has
often fallen under scrutiny for creating dangerous conditions that
some have worried could result in California’s Fukushima. The plant
was shut down over radioactive leaks in January, but has since drafted
a reopening plan without undergoing a safety hearing.
While the coolant was found on Oct. 30 before it caused any damage,
the incident comes at a critical time for the company: Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC) officials are set to meet with Southern
California Edison representatives Friday night to discuss the limited
restarting of the plant.
In order to restart, inspectors would have to deem the plant safe
enough to operate. But the presence of the coolant may give some NRC
officials second thoughts……

December 1, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Legal squabbles delay start of Georgia new nuclear power plant

Debate over starting Ga. nuclear plant in 2017 http://www.wtvm.com/story/20197742/debate-over-starting-ga-nuclear-plant-in-2017 Nov 27, 2012  By RAY HENRY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) – Contractors building a new nuclear plant in eastern Georgia have indicated the first of its two reactors may not begin operating until 2017.

Southern Co. Vice President David McKinney said Tuesday that contractors building the new reactors at Plant Vogtle (VOH’-gohl) have indicated it may take until early to mid-2017 to get the first reactor operating. The second reactor would follow about a year later.
McKinney said Southern Co. does not accept those dates and believes its contractors can still speed up the schedule. The utility originally wanted the first reactor to start producing power in April 2016.

The utility and its contractors have sued each other over project costs. Both sides are still working on an updated timeline.
Construction delays could increase project costs.

November 28, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Civil nuclear energy on its last legs

In the end, the nuclear industry has only itself to be blamed for its decimation. Nobody – except probably its own nuclear village fraternity – will shed any tears on its death.

The Imminent Death of Civil Nuclear Energy http://www.dianuke.org/the-imminent-death-of-civil-nuclear-energy/ Anamika Badal, 26 Nov 12
Some may consider that civilian nuclear energy programs are going great guns and will grow in future. They will not. In fact, its slow death is already on and will only accelerate in future. Let’s understand why.
The nuclear energy industry has had a charmed half century of existence.

What essentially started as military research for the development of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) was subtly packaged into a benign energy source. At heart, the roots of nuclear energy are firmly linked to military use.

The cold war was an occasion which offered the nuclear energy industry the use of massive funds, research facilities, government grants (subsidies) and huge freedom to conduct more and more research into making more and more weapons.

Nuclear Energy was simply a byproduct of this military work.

Companies and governments worked overtime to create a veil of secrecy around atomic energy so that the common person would not be able to link the two. And to their credit, they succeeded for a large part. In the days before the advent of the internet, information was scarce and expensive to procure. People – by and large – tended to believe what the ‘scientists’ and the governments told them.
Essentially, they were sold two stories –

1) Nuclear industry means ‘national security’ and ‘national pride.’ Any opposition to nuclear automatically makes you an anti-national.

2) Nuclear Energy has no alternative because of its “cleanliness” and ability to deliver large amounts of power at cheap cost.

It is said that if a lie is told a thousand times, people start to believe that it is the truth. Continue reading →

November 27, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

England’s Prince Charles warns on the planet’s environmental crisis

Mankind must go green or die, says Prince Charles Environmental damage left unchecked would be ‘suicide on a grand scale’, Prince warns The independent, JONATHAN BROWN    23 NOVEMBER 2012 The Prince of Wales has warned that mankind is on the brink of “committing suicide on a grand scale” unless urgent progress is made in tackling green issues such as carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, intensive farming and resource depletion.

Adopting uncharacteristically apocalyptic language, the Prince said the world was heading towards a “terrifying point of no return” and that future generations faced an “unimaginable future” on a toxic planet. Continue reading →

November 26, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Japanese government’s inaction on health of Fukushima’s children

the response by Japanese politicians to the Fukushima disaster has been “ludicrously irresponsible,” not just because of their fundamental ignorance but because of their political ties with TEPCO and the nuclear industry, which tends to orchestrate a large part of the Japanese political agenda.

 Unfortunately, politicians are focused on little but the mid-December national election

The Search for Action among Japan’s Ruling Classes November 14, 2012 By Akio Matsumura “,,,,, The debate right now in Japan centers not on the continuing issues with the Fukushima-Daiichi site, but whether to close down Japan’s nuclear power plants.

While politicians are focusing on national nuclear policy there are growing concerns that
the children of Fukushima require greater medical attention and assistance. After the Fukushima accident, concerns grew in the region as to whether higher rates of cancer, especially in the thyroid gland, would be found in children due to exposure to radioactive iodine. Continue reading →

November 26, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Nuclear lies against Germany have been shown up, in its nuclear free success

unrepentant global warming hysterics such as Britain’s James Lovelock or the USA’s James Hansen cling to the all-powerful image of nuclear power, like any easily impressed and easily manipulated schoolboy

in Germany,  its bet against nuclear power, driven by massive popular and political support has won out against all the nuclear propaganda and lies.

Germany’s Energiewende And The End Of Nuclear Power, The Market Oracle Nov 25, 2012  By: Andrew_McKillop “……..Making a smooth transition to a renewable energy-based economy is simply not possible by ruining energy consumers. The big-spending wishlist, to be sure, is almost endless: as shown by the now  farcical story of UK government attempts to “relaunch nuclear power” in Britain, with its contracts for difference and electricity market regulation – and guaranteed producer prices for nuclear electricity up to 166 euros per 1000 kWh (145 GBP/MWh) – trying to breathe life back into La Fee Atomique, or the nuclear fairy as it is called in nuclear-besotted France, is a very expensive game. Continue reading →

November 26, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

The remains of Lithuania’s Ignalina nuclear plant, dangerous and expensive

Ignalina is turning out to be a hard lesson for Europe: It’s one thing to kill a nuclear power station; getting rid of the remains is another headache entirely.

Lithuanians near old nuclear plant fear for their lives Washington Times, 
By Gary Peach-Associated Press , November 25, 2012 VISAGINAS, Lithuania — The parking lot outside the atomic power plant is weedy and potholed. Bus stops that once teemed with hundreds of workers are eerily empty.

Yet the stillness at Ignalina, a Lithuanian nuclear plant built in the 1980s Soviet era, belies an unsettling fact: There is still nuclear fuel inside one of its two reactors, three years after it was shut due to safety concerns. A temporary storage facility for spent fuel and radioactive waste is four years behind schedule, creating a money drain at a time when the 27-nation European Union grapples with a crippling economic crisis.

States don’t need EU permission to build nuclear plants, but they need to abide by its safety rules, and the problems at Ignalina have provoked threats from the EU to cut the funding promised for dismantling it. Continue reading →

November 26, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

More mistakes found in Japan’s nuclear regulator’s radiation forecasts

Yet again, data errors discovered in radiation forecast maps, Asahi Shimbun  By JIN NISHIKAWA/ Staff Writer, 24 Nov 12 Additional errors were found on the Nuclear Regulation Authority’s maps forecasting the spread of radioactive substances from a serious nuclear accident, but the industry watchdog said these mistakes would not affect evacuation plans. Continue reading →

November 25, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

USA Dept of Energy organising radioactive waste storage, before congress discusses it

Outrageous! DOE quietly prepares for “consolidated interim storage” of radwaste before Congress even considers it. #mobilechernobylhttp://1.usa.gov/XBxlTt

A–High Burnup Fuel Cask Demonstration Project – Federal Business Opportunities: Opportunities

November 22, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Postponed to Nov 30 – Nuclear Regulatory Commission meeting about troubled San Onofre plant

Breaking: NRC Reschedules Edison Meeting http://www.sanclementetimes com/blog/2012/11/20/breaking-nrc-reschedules-edison-meeting/   EYE ON SC, NEWS HEADLINES | NOVEMBER 20, 2012  By Jim Shilander
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has announced a new date and location for its meeting with officials at Southern California Edison to discuss the company’s confirmatory action letter responding to the NRC’s inspection of the steam generator tubes at both units of San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.

The meeting is now scheduled for November 30, from 6-9 p.m at the Hills Hotel in Laguna Hills

The meeting had originally been scheduled for November 16 in Dana Point, but the venue was not secured, and the meeting was delayed so that a new venue could be found.

According to the NRC’s news release, the meeting will include a technical presentation by SCE on the basis, methodology, and conclusions of their efforts to identify the causes of the unexpected steam generator tube wear, the corrective actions taken to address those causes, and the basis for continued safe operation of Unit 2.

The public would be able to interact with NRC officials after the business portion of the meeting.

The NRC is encouraging the public to primarily view the event via webcast, due to the limited capacity (400 people) of the venue.

November 21, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

USA: Nuclear Free Movement Has Made Progress in 2012

Nuclear Information and Resource Center, 20 Nov 12 Sometimes it’s important to step back and reflect on our movement’s accomplishments…. Think about how far we’ve come this year: Continue reading →

November 21, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Cumbran opposition to UK nuclear waste Solway dump plan

MARYPORT HOSTS ‘CRISIS’ TALKS ON SOLWAY NUCLEAR DUMP http://www.in-cumbria.com/maryport-hosts-crisis-talks-on-solway-nuclear-dump-1.1014583?referrerPath=news-archive/mediawatch , 20 November 2012
A campaign to stop an underground nuclear waste store being built on the Solway Plain will step up a gear next week. A series of what are described as “crisis” meetings will be held in Maryport and Silloth.

A recently formed protest group, Solway Plain Against Nuclear Dump, will hold its first public meeting at Maryport’s Wave Centre on Wednesday. Continue reading →

November 21, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment