Project: Disposal of Surplus Plutonium in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
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Crisis time for U.S. nuclear industry
Watershed year ahead for US nuclear industry, WNN, 22 January 2018 This may be a “watershed” year for the US nuclear industry, which must maintain a strong domestic sector by keeping its reactors operating but must also demonstrate it can build new plants, while paving the way for advanced reactors, the Nuclear Energy Institute’s (NEI) John Kotek told the US Energy Association’s State of the Energy Forum on 18 January………
Evacuation is no solution to nuclear weapons
With nuclear weapons, evacuation is not an option, The Hill , BY DAVID KRIEGER, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR — 01/22/18 “…….The fire, named the Thomas Fire, turned out to be the biggest in California history. ……..We were under mandatory evacuation from our home for 12 days, and then were evacuated from the place we were staying as the evacuation zone was expanded. The fire roared on in the backcountry, continuing to spew ash from the dry brush and trees it was consuming.
Throughout the area, people were wearing masks to keep from breathing in the ash. The sky was a sickening yellow-gray. It looked and felt like we were survivors of a nuclear attack. We were living with apprehension day to day, glued to the news, except when the electricity went out.
The fire was finally brought under greater control, and we were allowed to return to our homes. But a few weeks later, the expectation of heavy rains and possible flooding caused us to again be put under mandatory evacuation.
While still evacuated and feeling the pain of our community’s disaster, news came that on Jan. 13 a worker at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency accidentally released an Emergency Alert warning that a ballistic missile was inbound to the state and that the people should seek immediate shelter. The alert emphasized, “THIS IS NOT A DRILL.” It was all too believable.
People scurried to be with loved ones or to call them to tell them they loved them and to say goodbye. The threat seemed very real, but the solution offered by the authorities was ridiculous. Shelter does not protect against thermonuclear weapons.
Nothing protects against thermonuclear weapons: not shelter, not nuclear deterrence, not missile defenses.
Thirty-eight minutes later came the message that the warning had been a “false alarm.” This is yet another reminder that accidents happen and humans are fallible, even in the best designed systems……..
I would hate to see the catastrophe experienced by our community played out on a global nuclear battlefield, but that is the direction in which the world is heading. The time ending the nuclear weapons threat to humanity is now, before it is too late. The draft Nuclear Posture Review should be scrapped and replaced with the commitment to take nuclear weapons off high alert status; to implement pledges of No First Use; and to commit to negotiate to achieve the only number that makes sense in a nuclear context: Zero.
With nuclear weapons, evacuation is not an option.
David Krieger is a founder of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, and has served as its president since 1982.http://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/370165-with-nuclear-weapons-evacuation-is-not-an-option
Police raid headquarters of Newsweek
NYPD officers raid Newsweek headquarters https://nypost.com/2018/01/18/nypd-officers-raid-newsweek-headquarters/amp/?__twitter_impression=true, By Keith J. Kelly January 18, 2018 About two dozen NYPD offficers and investigators from the Manhattan district attorney’s office raided the offices of Newsweek and its parent company, IBT Media, on Thursday.
IBT Media was co-founded by Jonathan Davis and Etienne Uzac. The IRS placed a $1.2 million federal tax lien against Uzac in December 2017.
The agents were said to be photographing servers in the offices, but not downloading any files at the offices on 7 Hanover Square, according to sources.
They appeared to be photographing the serial numbers on the machines, said a source.
In the past, IBT has been linked to a Christian church founded by Korean American evangelist David Jang and Olivet University, a university in California that Jang’s followers founded.
NYPD and the IRS had not responded to a call by press time. The Manhattan DA declined to comment.
Forgotten Guinea Pigs: The Downwinder’s Story
https://forgottenguineapigs.weebly.com/ “The greatest irony of our atmospheric testing program is that the only victims of U.S. nuclear arms since
World War II have been our own people.”
— “The Forgotten Guinea Pigs: A Report on Health Effects of Low-Level Radiation Sustained As a Result of the Nuclear Weapons Testing Program Conductedby the United States Government”
Having lost their right to life, liberty and the ability to pursue (or live) happily due to the negligent and deceptive behaviors of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), Downwinders (victims of atomic fallout) had to force the U.S. government to take responsibility for the consequences of America’s nuclear testing program.
Japan broadcaster issues a false missile alert
Japan Broadcaster Joins Hawaii in Issuing False Missile Alert, Bloomberg, By Gareth Allan,
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Error days after U.S. state caused panic with similar mistake
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NHK apologizes on evening broadcast for erroneous warning
Japanese national broadcaster NHK issued a false alert about a North Korean missile launch, adding to questions about the reliability of early-warning systems after a similar incident in Hawaii.
False alarm incident shows unpreparedness of Hawaii (and elsewhere?) for a nuclear attack
Missile-alert error reveals uncertainty about how to react, Hanford Sentinel, By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER and BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press, 15 Jan 18
Nuclear And Shale Are Wrecking Britain
Impact4All 11th Jan 2018, ‘Nuclear And Shale Are Wrecking Britain’, Says Top UK Solar Boss.
Jeremy Leggett is the founder of Solar Century, an international solar
solutions company, and chairman of the Carbon Tracker Initiative, a
financial-sector think-tank warning of carbon-fuel asset-stranding risk to
the capital markets.
Here, he tells Alicia Buller why he hopes the ‘great
renewable energy transition will help bring truth to the fore’. As a
businessperson I know that that I could – rightly – be sent to jail for
telling a single lie to my stakeholders. The first VW executive just been
jailed – rightly – for telling one big lie as part of an
institutionalised fraud.
Yet politicians, particularly rightist populist
politicians, tell lies on an almost daily basis, backed and echoed by
like-minded media organs such as the Daily Mail, and there is no meaningful
recourse for civil society, as things stand. That pains me and I want to
see it changed.
My hope is that the unfolding of the great global energy
transition, with its many intrinsic social benefits, will help in that
wider process of societal recasting, bringing community, equality, and
truth to the fore. http://impact4all.org/nuclear-shale-wrecking-britain-says-top-uk-solar-boss/
Nuclear waste can cause high radiation levels and raise temperature levels.
Energy Business Review 12th Jan 2018,…..waste generated from nuclear activity can pose a
significant risk to the environment if it is not properly handled. The vast
amount of nuclear waste created by power plants can lead to high radiation
and raise temperature levels.
In recent years, many concerns have been raised over the disposal of radioactive waste and harmful radiations fromthe nuclear plants. The transmission of this radiation can cause a
potential damage to the surrounding atmosphere.
The cost of managing the nuclear waste is also high. The damage that could be caused by mishandling
of nuclear waste came into focus after the occurrence of Fukushima nuclear
disaster in Japan in 2011. Spent fuel rods were found to be one of the
major causes of the radioactive emission for the accident that took place
at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima, Japan.
The nuclear accident is considered as the second worst nuclear disaster in the
world. The Kyshtym nuclear disaster also occurred as a result of a
radioactive contamination accident that took place on 29 September 1957 at
Mayak, a plutonium manufacturing facility Russia for nuclear fuel
reprocessing plant of the Soviet Union. A failure of the cooling system
used for one of the tanks containing about 70–80 tons of liquid
radioactive waste had led to the accident. The event resulted in hundreds
of deaths of the people staying in nearby villages to the production site.
The various types of nuclear waste include uranium tailings, transuranic
(TRU) waste, low-level nuclear waste, intermediate-level waste, high-level
waste and spent fuel rods.
http://nuclear.energy-business-review.com/news/major-types-nuclear-waste-that-produce-radioactivity-6027468
Taishan nuclear plant incident indicates China’s nuclear safety risks
World Nuclear Industry Status Report 12th Jan 2018, A recent incident in the nearby Taishan nuclear plant hints at lax quality control that has delayed the project and could pose safety risks, warns international expert Mycle Schneider who fears cost-cutting is also leaving nuclear plants vulnerable to natural disasters and terrorist attack.
https://www.worldnuclearreport.org/Macau-Business-China-Nuclear-deterrent.html
DOE’s compensation scheme for coal and nuclear is dead – Now what?
Environmental Defense Fund, January 12, 2018 In a January 8 Order, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) swiftly dismissed the Department of Energy’s (DOE) proposed out-of-market compensation scheme for coal and nuclear units. DOE’s proposal would have provided guaranteed profits to coal and nuclear plants, despite the fact that these aging units are losing out to more efficient and affordable resources. Instead, FERC took a more measured approach, asking all regional market operators to submit additional information on resiliency issues within 60 days, and providing interested parties an opportunity to respond to those submittals within 30 days. Here’s what we can expect next.
A robust process
The Commission has reasserted its independence and refused to be influenced by Secretary of Energy Rick Perry’s poorly-reasoned proposal, and DOE’s demand that FERC act swiftly without an adequate record. FERC’s order makes clear that while it may take future action on resilience, it will only do so after a complete record and vetting of the issues……..http://blogs.edf.org/energyexchange/2018/01/12/does-compensation-scheme-for-coal-and-nuclear-is-dead-now-what/
Exhibition honours 60 years of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).
Telegraph & Argus 11th Jan 2018, A NEW temporary exhibition is set to open in Bradford to mark 60 years
since the start of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). The Peace
Museum, in Piece Hall Yard, has worked closely with CND Yorkshire to amass
many items that have been used in protests over the years. The extensive
collection includes posters, placards, banners and badges. One of the
highlights of the exhibition is a copy of the original design for the
symbol for CND, created by the artist and peace campaigner Gerald Holtom in
1958.
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/local/localbrad/15821968.Exhibition_looks_at_60_years_of_anti_nuclear_campaign/
Westinghouse saved – nuclear industry must not be allowed to go belly up?
Radiation Free Lakeland 5th Jan 2018, As we predicted Westinghouse has been bailed out by an asset management
company. The nuclear industry will not under any circumstances, apart from huge public outcry and condemnation, be allowed to go belly up.
This means that Westinghouse in Preston will be hoping to gear up to supply all new nuclear reactors here (and overseas ….even Africa is being coerced into nuclear power) with fuel and other nuclear materials.
This is a scandal and it is happening in a small village called Salwick, Nr Preston, Fair Trade Town! Nuclear waste from fuel manufacturing is dumped into the Ribble, Clifton Marsh landfill and to our DNA with, according to nurses we have spoken to, ever increasing childhood cancers in the Preston area. All eyes are directed to fracking in Preston while the nuclear industry is killing
people right now. Fracking is bad….this is badder on a much bigger scale.
https://mariannewildart.wordpress.com/2018/01/05/westinghouse-saved-who-knew-we-did-come-on-and-join-the-resistance-to-the-nuclear-mafia/
General Electric cutting back on energy division, especially nuclear
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CEO Flannery holds fire on job cuts in France due to pledges
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Amid parliamentary probe, unions say posts will eventually go
French workers were spared in General Electric Co.’s decision to axe thousands of jobs, but they won’t be protected for long.
The beleaguered U.S. industrial company is seeking to trim its bloated power division just two years after acquiring French rival Alstom SA’s turbine-making operations. Yet cutting jobs in France wasn’t part of GE’s plan unveiled last month to eliminate 12,000 positions worldwide.
Instead, French workers were shielded by guarantees offered by former Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt to clinch the $10 billion takeover. As he sought crucial French government backing for the deal, Immelt pledged to not only maintain existing employment levels, but add 1,000 net jobs by the end of 2018.
Now, the Alstom bet is looking increasingly ill-timed. The outlook for power activity has soured and GE’s new CEO, John Flannery, is fighting to reverse a deep slump in shares by cutting $1 billion of costs at the unit. Under pressure from investors, he’s narrowing the Boston-based company’s focus and selling assets. French labor groups say the moves have made French job cuts inevitable, since GE’s pledge only lasts through the end of this year.
Slashing Workforce
GE is cutting back after swallowing Alstom’s energy business in 2015…….https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-05/clock-ticks-for-french-workers-as-ge-confronts-bloated-legacy
New Jersey’s flawed legislation – a gift to the nuclear lobby, and its fan Governor Christie
Will NJ Lawmakers Give Governor Christie a Nuclear Goodbye Gift? NRDC, The state’s electric customers may be forced to pay a bigger utility bill to keep something they already have. The New Jersey legislature is expected to begin voting this week to give Chris Christie—the governor with the nation’s lowest approval rating—and his buddies at the state’s largest utility a $300 million annual gift: support for two thriving nuclear plants, piled on the backs of all New Jersey taxpayers.Sound ridiculous? Of course. But by all accounts, the bill flying through Trenton in the waning days of the Christie administration and the lame-duck legislature almost certainly will become law before the new governor, Phil Murphy, takes office on January 16.
Does this make sense anywhere but in the New Jersey legislature?
It’s true that the electricity produced at the Salem and Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Stations in Salem County can’t compete with cheaper options like natural gas and pollution-free alternatives like wind and solar power. Aging nuclear plants are expensive to run everywhere these days. But even the president of the company that owns the plants, PSEG, admits the plants along the Delaware River in the southwestern part of the state aren’t in financial distress—and won’t be for at least two years.
That gives New Jersey plenty of time to decide whether to prop up the plants, and if so, to narrowly tailor such support to a limited time period. The flawed legislation under consideration establishes subsidies for at least three years, with no mechanism to prevent them from continuing forever. What’s more, the plants would qualify for a bailout based on projected—not actual—costs, and if they make money, there’s no requirement to return the profits to customers. There is no need to rush an overly generous bill through to earn Christie’s signature, especially when the incoming governor says he’s going to look closely at the plants as part of his clean energy plan……https://www.nrdc.org/experts/dale-bryk/will-nj-lawmakers-give-governor-christie-nuclear-goodbye-gift
1 This Month
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com/
29 Jan. Thursday 7-8 p.m. Webinar – World’s Largest Nuclear Station in Port Hope, ON?
31st January – Challenging the War Machine – a DECLASSIFIED UK SUMMIT
Website of the Week
Now until to February 10, 2026 Radioactive waste storage in France: the debate is finally open! How to participate?
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