antinuclear « nuclear-news

AREVA warns on nuclear industry safety shortcuts

No “two-track” nuclear industry, warns Areva | Business News, 9 March 2010, The CEO of nuclear reactor builder Areva has warned against cutting corners on nuclear reactor projects at an international nuclear conferenceBy Chris Farnell
The conference took place at the headquarters of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Speaking to the conference, Areva Chief Executive, Anne Lauvergeon, said: “We cannot see a two-track nuclear industry develop, with a low-cost one for some and high standards for others.”….

United States Deputy Secretary of Energy, Daniel Poneman, who also attended the OECD conference, said there could be no compromise on safety at nuclear plants.

“We still must focus on security. A nuclear accident anywhere is a nuclear accident everywhere,” he said.

No “two-track” nuclear industry, warns Areva | Business News | Energy Digital

March 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | France, safety | antinuclear, AREVA, France, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, radiation, radioactive, reactor | Leave a comment

Revealed: Japan’s secret nuclear arms deals with USA

Japan ‘lied’ on secret US nuclear deal Peter Alford, Tokyo correspondent , The Australian March 10, 2010 JAPANESE governments lied to their people for more than 30 years about a “tacit” secret agreement allowing nuclear-armed US vessels to use their ports, a special Foreign Ministry panel reported yesterday. Continue reading →

March 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

U.S., Russia, negotiating nuclear arms reduction

U.S., Russia resume talks on reducing nuclear arsenals GENEVA, March 9 (Xinhua) Editor: Mu Xuequan— Negotiators from the United States and Russia on Tuesday resumed talks aimed at reaching a new nuclear arsenals reduction agreement to replace the 1991 START treaty, diplomatic sources said. Continue reading →

March 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Is Obama administration blind to the financial risks of nuclear power?

Obama’s Nuclear Blind Spot , Mother Jones , By Kate Sheppard 9 March 2010 Is the administration ignoring the potential financial fallout of its plans for a nuclear expansion?The Obama administration has embarked on a high-stakes gamble: devoting billions of dollars to an expansion of nuclear power in the hope of winning Republican votes for a climate bill. But in its eagerness to drum up bipartisan support for one of the hardest sells on Obama’s policy agenda, is the administration turning a blind eye to the financial risk? Continue reading →

March 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, radiation, radioactive, reactor, reactors | Leave a comment

Sarkozy getting desperate to sell off France’s costly nukes?

costs of nuclear plants have been “systematically underestimated” by governments worldwide for decades.

Nuclear energy gets new French-driven boost, (philstar.com) March 09, 2010 PARIS (AP) – Poor countries need nuclear power, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said yesterday, urging rich lenders to help pay for a global nuclear expansion in the interests of fighting climate change and feeding the growing world hunger for energy……

His tantalizing vision of nuclear reactors dotting the horizon won over international energy officials from India to Brussels and French executives eager to market their expertise abroad, all present at a Paris conference yesterday.

Some experts, however, say Sarkozy’s push is opening the door to risks that deadly nuclear technology gets into the wrong hands, and warn consumers to pay attention to the staggering price tag of potential nuclear energy growth — up to $3.9 trillion worldwide by 2050…….

Mycle Schneider, an independent researcher on France’s nuclear industry, warned that costs of nuclear plants have been “systematically underestimated” by governments worldwide for decades.

He warned that the nuclear push was premature, since many small countries where France is marketing technology don’t even have large enough electricity grids to support a nuclear reactor.

March 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | France, spinbuster | antinuclear, AREVA, France, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, radiation, reactor, reactors | Leave a comment

Move in U.S. Congress to question nuclear reactor licensing

A “catastrophic accident” poses a greater safety risk than “many orders of magnitude more severe than any other type of power plant,” …There is also a financial risk,

House Democrat asks GAO to investigate nuclear licensing process, The Hill, By Jim Snyder – 03/08/10 Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) is asking the Government Accountability Office to review the permitting process for nuclear plants as others in his party appear poised to offer lucrative incentives to revive the industry.

Among his questions is whether the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has adequately weighed the risks earthquakes and severe weather may pose to nuclear power plants. Continue reading →

March 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, radiation, radioactive, reactor, reactors | Leave a comment

New research points to cancers caused by unnecessary medical radiation

CT scan safety: Concerns mount , Chicago Tribune 9 March 2010,

Does early detection really save lives?

“As physicians find new ways to use diagnostic imaging to discover and deal with disease, concern is growing about Americans’ increased exposure to potentially cancer-causing radiation. Annual radiation doses from medical imaging have soared sevenfold since the early 1980s, according to a report last year from the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements.

Meanwhile, as many as 14,500 people a year may end up dying of radiation-induced cancers caused by CT scans, new research suggests.”–Judith Graham, Chicago Tribune.

Read her whole story: Concerns mount over radiation associatead with CT scans

Julie’s Health Club: CT scan safety: Concerns mount

March 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear spin, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Mainstream media using double standards about costs of nuclear power

Unlike Health Care, When It Comes To Nukes, Cost Is No Object, THE HUFFINGTON POST, 6 March 2010, Saturday’s Washington Post, about the nuclear weapons decisions facing President Obama, runs longer than 1,300 words, but five a reader won’t find are “cost,” “dollars,” “money,” “debt,” or “deficit.” A reader would also search in vain for any talk of a “fiscal crisis” or a need to balance nuclear weapons priorities with available revenues.

That same reader, of course, rarely has to venture past the first sentence of a health care reform story to find that the subject is a “trillion dollar overhaul.” Occasionally, it’s noted that the trillion dollars is spread over ten years.

Unlike Health Care, When It Comes To Nukes, Cost Is No Object

March 8, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | media, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin | Leave a comment

South Korea to become nuclear power giant, with the help of USA

.But a growing radioactive waste stockpile which already amounts to 10,800 tonnes, coupled with a US ban on reprocessing, is fuelling uncertainty about the industry’s future.

S.Korea’s nuclear dreams hinge on new deal with US, Energy Gas Oil, SEOUL, March 7 (AFP) –– South Korea, which has spent decades developing nuclear power to make up for its lack of oil, now hopes to become a global leader in atomic energy Continue reading →

March 8, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics international, South Korea | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

North Korea threatens to call off nuclear disarmament talks

North Korea: Nuclear disarmament is off if military exercises proceed, The Hill, By Bridget Johnson – 03/07/10 North Korea said Sunday that if the U.S. moves forward with a South Korean military exercise, nuclear disarmament is off.” Continue reading →

March 8, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | North Korea, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Foreign uranium companies continue to rip off Niger’s poor

The neocolonial secret agreements giving Areva below-market prices mean that very little of the wealth from Niger’s uranium remains in the country.

Niger’s uranium coup, boilingspot: 7 March 2010 On February 18, Niger’s President Mamadou Tandja was overthrown in a military coup. A military junta calling itself the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy, headed by Major Salou Djibo, took powerTony Iltis | Green Left Online | 6 March 2010 “……the junta is unlikely to confront the causes of Niger’s extreme poverty: Western-imposed neoliberal austerity and the environmentally and socially destructive plunder of natural resources, particularly uranium………….the coup ensures that political power remains with the same military officer caste from which Tandja came……. Continue reading →

March 8, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | indigenous issues, Niger | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, radiation, uranium | Leave a comment

Pentagon mulls use of bunker-busters on Iran’s nuclear sites

Bunker-Busting Hawks, THE HUFFINGTON POST, Craig Crawford:March 7, 2010 So, the Pentagon is looking into what bunker-busting bombs might do to Iran’s underground nuclear sites. Even if it works (a doubtful proposition at best), wouldn’t that just boost Iran’s hardliners to crack down harder on the growing insurgency they face?Signs point to the Obama Administration wanting to prove its toughness, which might fortify Democrats in the coming congressional elections.

Craig Crawford: Bunker-Busting Hawks

March 8, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

They STILL don’t know what to do with nuclear waste!

Future of spent nuclear fuel, The Energy Collective, by Dan Yurman, 03/06/2010
A blue ribbon commission will hold its first meeting March 25-26 in Washington, DC

A panel of nuclear energy experts appointed by the federal government will take up the issue of what to do with 60,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel. Continue reading →

March 8, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Even the nuclear industry itself knows that its future is dodgy

SMi’s 3rd Annual Financing Nuclear Power Conference Will Connect Experts And Executives Nuclear Street, – By April Murelio 8 March 2010,”….. -According to the World Business Academy the availability and cost of financing for new nuclear plants will depend on:

• The level and certainty of government subsidies and incentives•

*The comparative cost and performance of renewable energy sources•

The timing of capital markets’ recovery from the credit crisis•

Estimated construction costs• The structure of the target electricity market (competitive market v. more traditional, regulated cost-of-service market)

• Assessments of plants’ lifetime capacity and performance

• Resolution of the long-term waste storage problem

• Public opinion about nuclear power…

March 8, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, business and costs | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, radiation, reactor | Leave a comment

Ireland to ban uranium use in any weapons

There is persuasive material about long-term health risks to the wider population.

Irish depleted uranium ban bill gets warm reception at second reading, top-u238.blogspot.com 7 marzo 2010 Irish depleted uranium ban bill gets warm reception at second readingIrish depleted uranium ban bill gets warm reception at second reading. Continue reading →

March 8, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Ireland | antinuclear, depleted, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, uranium | Leave a comment