nuclear-news

The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope

British energy company pulling back from nuclear energy investment

Centrica says nuclear ‘no done deal’ as reveals £1bn profits, Centrica, the owner of British Gas, has scaled back its investment in new nuclear power, describing its plans to invest in the UK’s first two stations with EDF as “no done deal”…..Telegraph UK 28 July 11“………concerns have been growing about the risks of new nuclear power in the UK since EDF revealed that its flagship plant in Flamanville, north-west France, has suffered two fatal accidents this year and seen costs double to €6bn (£5.3bn). This means it will begin operating six years after the original start date. The nuclear meltdown at Fukushima in Japan will also to increase safety costs.

“EDF had advised us that Flamanville was having problems,” said Sam Laidlaw, chief executive of Centrica. “The reality is that post the news about Flamanville and Fukushima we are clearly going to have some changes. People have been focusing a little more on the optionality since then. It’s by no means a done deal. …..http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/8669145/Centrica-says-nuclear-no-done-deal-as-reveals-1bn-profits.html

July 29, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

USA – North Korea Talks

US to Hold ‘Exploratory’ Talks With North Korea in New York,VOA, David Gollust | State Department 27 July 11,Senior U.S. and North Korean Diplomats meet in New York Thursday for what the State Department calls  “exploratory” talks on Pyongyang’s willingness to resume negotiations over its nuclear program. The talks follow a meeting between North and South Korean negotiators last week on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Bali, Indonesia. .

The meetings at the U.S. mission to the United Nations are expected to extend into Friday, and the Obama administration says it will use the “exploratory talks” to determine if Pyongyang is serious about living up to nuclear obligations.
The meetings at the U.S. mission to the United Nations are expected to extend into Friday, and the Obama administration says it will use the “exploratory talks” to determine if Pyongyang is serious about living up to nuclear obligations….http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/US-Holding-Exploratory-Talks-With-North-Korea-in-New-York-126288928.html

— 

July 28, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Corruption in nuclear industry: “Books are being cooked” on Fukushima

As we have reported in the past, the NRC and the nuclear industry are riddled with corruption on par or above the oil cartels.

Nuclear Whistleblower “Books Are Being Cooked” Fukushima In America Will Happen, Examiner.com 22 July 11, A longtime nuclear whistleblower, as well as a new report from the nuclear watchdog agency, have shed light on some startling flaws at The Watts Bar Nuclear plant in Spring City, Tennessee. Continue reading →

July 22, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Collusion between nuclear regulators and nuclear industry in Japan

Perverse Power in Japan, WSJ 17 July 11, “……..The main incentive in Japan was to continue to build more power plants, especially sprawling multibillion-dollar nuclear facilities, because higher costs meant more profits for the utilities and large budgets for the trade and industry ministry, which both regulates and actively promotes nuclear power. For politicians, it produced fat payouts to rural coastal areas hosting nuclear plants and the electoral support of electric utilities in the hinterlands, where they carry much clout.

Regulators theoretically could force utilities to pay more attention to costs because they vet electricity rates, but they haven’t because the status quo suits the nuclear family just fine….http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304521304576448471896943828.html

July 19, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Health impact of Fukushima radiation will come many years later

“Many people really don’t care because they cannot see the radiation, they cannot smell the radiation,” …

“But the impact of the radiation will come maybe 10 years later.

“It will be a silent killer into the future.”

Fukushima a future silent killer – expert, Herald Sun, AAP , July 15, 2011, JAPAN’S Fukushima nuclear disaster is a silent killer that will claim lives for years to come, an anti-nuclear campaigner from Tokyo says., Rikiya Adachi, who also lectures on Peace Studies at the National University of Japan, recently toured the area north of Japanese capital that had been affected by the nuclear incident and high radiation levels.

He said it was disturbing to see many people still living close to the exclusion zone despite the serious risk to their health after the nuclear meltdown sparked by an earthquake and tsunami on March 11….. Continue reading →

July 15, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

A nuclear free society is the goal, says Japan’s Prime Minister

Kan says Japan Should Become Nuclear-Free Society,July 13th, 2011, Voice of America, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan says Japan should begin working to build a society that can function without nuclear power.

Mr. Kan proposed a wide-ranging review of Japan’s energy policies at a news conference Wednesday. He said a long-awaited bill to boost the use of renewable energy sources will be introduced to parliament on Thursday.

The prime minister acknowledged his responsibility to make sure there is adequate power available for homes and industry. But he said the dangers exposed by the four-month-old disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant demonstrated the need to build a society that is not dependent on nuclear energy.

Mr. Kan said it will take 10 to 20 years before the clean-up at the Fukushima plant can be completed…..

July 14, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Ontario should keep Green Energy Act – for progress and jobs

Ontario urged not to scrap renewable energy policy, SHAWN MCCARTHY, OTTAWA— Globe and Mail , Jul. 14 2011 , Ontario has become a global leader in the clean-energy business and killing the government program that is driving investment in wind and solar industries would be a mistake, says the head of a leading progressive American think tank.

With a fall election looming, Ontario Progressive Conservative Party Leader Tim Hudak has vowed to abolish the Green Energy Act, under which renewable energy producers receive premium prices for their power in exchange for commitments to procure goods and services in the province. The producers are paid a special rate, known as a feed-in tariff. Defenders of the renewable energy policy have enlisted John Podesta, former adviser to President Barack Obama and founder of the influential Washington-based Center for American Progress.

In a meeting with The Globe and Mail’s editorial board, Mr. Podesta said that if the Green Energy Act is abolished, Ontario would be throwing away an opportunity to be a leader in an industry that is gaining momentum around the world, especially in economic powerhouses like Germany and China.

“I think it would be a mistake for Ontario” to repeal the Green Energy Act, he said. “I would think that there’s a strong case to be made given the job growth that’s already been had in Ontario and looking at the energy platforms across the globe in the future, that going backwards is really not the right answer.”….http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/ontario-urged-not-to-scrap-renewable-energy-policy/article2096481/

July 14, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Iran and IAEA talks might lead to better co-operation

Iranian, IAEA Experts to Find New Realms for Cooperation. FARS NewsAgency TEHRAN (FNA) 13 July 11, – Experts from Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are due to hold talks in a bid to explore ways of increasing cooperation between Tehran and the UN nuclear watchdog, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi announced on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters after meeting IAEA Chief Yukiya Amano in Vienna, Salehi described his talks with Amano as positive, and said, “It was decided that the two sides’ experts hold meetings and find a mechanism for further cooperation on Iran’s nuclear issue so that the existing misunderstandings will be removed properly.”

Stressing that Iran’s nuclear case should have been closed long time ago, he said and main points of difference between Iran and the IAEA have been resolved. ….http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=900421327
— 

July 13, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

UK govt twists and turns, as it pretends not to subsidise nuclear power

 Government and the nuclear industry have been in each others pockets ever since, as shown by the shocking collusion to downplay the Fukushima disaster, just hours after it happened….

the “no subsidy” claim is ludicrous in principle, given that taxpayers plays the same role for the nuclear industry as they did for the banks: they bail them out when things go wrong, an implicit subsidy…. burying the subsidies in an attempt to hide political embarrassment hinders proper debate.

Powering the UK: why the new electricity plan is all about nuclear, The Guardian, Damian Carrington, 11 July 11, The UK government has wanted new nuclear reactors for years, but a political contortion means explicit support is impossible. Result: a bewildering maze of measures Continue reading →

July 11, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Fukushima workers evacuated as new earthquake strikes NE Japan

7.0 aftershock hits off Japan coast; no damage reported, Washington Post, By ,  July 10. TOKYO — Northeastern Japan was jolted Sunday morning by a 7.0 magnitude aftershock, the largest to hit here in more than three months, triggering a tsunami warning for coastal areas trying to recover from the March 11 mega-disaster.

Initial reports indicated no damage as a result of this tremor, but residents — including workers at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant — were urged to evacuate. Tsunami waves between 10 and 20 centimeters high were reported in Miyagi and Iwate Prefecture……

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/japan-earthquake-70-aftershock-hits-off-coast-no-damage-reported/2011/07/09/gIQAIZwH6H_story.html

July 10, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Climate change and nuclear power – a lethal mix?

The mix of extreme climate changes around the planet plus nuclear weapons, nuclear waste and nuclear power could very easily be a lethal mix.

Fires and floods, We need more information from governments about nuclear power, By Judith Mohling e Colorado Daily 07/07/2011 , Aweek ago, 700 miles apart, evacuations of heavily populated areas took place as people moved to safety from possible nuclear disasters — two flooded nuclear power plants in Nebraska, Fort Calhoun and Cooper, and a raging wildfire near the nuclear lab at Los Alamos, New Mexico.

………….Today, the dangers to the Los Alamos labs and the flooded nuclear power plants have subsided and many people have been able to sleep in their own beds again. ……..

As climate change worsens, extreme, yet unpredictable weather may befall the earth. Continue reading →

July 8, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Authorities are not giving a clear story on nuclear radiation and nuclear safety

Reporting from the scene of the disaster is hobbled. The only people with access are workers for the Tokyo Electric Power Co., owner of the reactors, and there is abundant evidence that they have downplayed the seriousness at every juncture, for obvious reasons…….

Nuclear plants a ‘plague’ , By Kevin Brooker, Calgary Herald,  July 4, 2011, “…….Earlier this decade, when nuclear power plants were being painted with a green brush by their promoters, Caldicott fired back with a 2006 book, Nuclear Power Is Not the Answer. In it, she contends that nuclear power cannot sustain itself without many, often hidden, subsidies, and moreover, that its supply chain from mining to processing to reactor is itself a massive producer of greenhouse gases. Worse yet, one of the byproducts is plutonium, making them virtual nuclear weapons factories. Continue reading →

July 4, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

UK Liberal Democrat slams windfall funding to nuclear power operators

(UK) New £1bn nuclear windfall must be avoided, John Leech, MP, JULY 2, 2011 On Monday, MPs will be asked to vote through £1 billion in windfall profits to existing nuclear operators for doing absolutely nothing new. The Lib Dems fought the last general election on the promise of opposing new nuclear power and certainly reject public subsidies for nuclear power. Whatever your take on nuclear power though, surely it’s unjustifiable and politically untenable to hand out £1 billion to EDF and Centrica directly from consumer purses, when people are already feeling the squeeze. Continue reading →

July 3, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Things just keep getting worse for the nuclear industry

..Between Vienna and labor woes, its enough to make an Israeli nuclear official wish for something more manageable, like a plague of locusts
Worldwide Nuclear Industry Woes Deepen The year 2011 will go down for the nuclear industry worldwide as an annus horribilis. Minyanville, By Oilprice.com Jun 29, 2011 Add an Israeli nuclear plant work stoppage to Fukushima and the flooding Missouri River, and it paints a grim atomic picture. Continue reading →

July 2, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Ricky Thomason lists the safety failures of TVA’s nuclear power plants

We’re playing with a nuclear Beelzebubba, HUNTSVILLE, Alabama _ We are playing with the devil’s own fire – but the devil ain’t playing, and even if he were he plays for keeps.Al.com By Ricky Thomason , July 03, 2011, 

That’s easy to forget when the Tennessee Valley Authority warms and cools our homes and powers industries that buy our groceries. It’s also easier kept out of sight and mind when powerful nuclear energy concerns downplay, minimize, hide and deny clear and present dangers. Mama Nuke rocks us sweetly with low energy prices and soothes, “Shhhhh – everything is all right. TVA will save the day. Go back to sleep.”….. Continue reading →

July 2, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

« Previous Entries     Next Entries »