nuclear-news

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

Is depleted uranium too hot for Utah site?

radiation-warningIs depleted uranium too hot for Utah site?

Environment » State Radiation Control Board has decided to look further into the question.

By Judy Fahys

The Salt Lake Tribune

06/10/2009 03

Utah‘s Radiation Control Board will dig deeper into the long-term risks of depleted uranium before it decides whether the unusual form of low-level radioactive waste warrants a moratorium. ………………………..”First of all, I believe the public should be protected and the environment should be protected,” said board vice chair Elizabeth Goryunova, suggesting that the board had a responsibility to consider the need for a moratorium despite hassles that might be involved in imposing one. “That’s absolutely a must.”…………………………

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_12556404

June 11, 2009 Posted by | environment, USA | , , , , | Leave a comment

Utah a nuclear dumping ground?

Utah a nuclear dumping ground?

Globe Salt lake community College Tamara M. Wright & Tiffany Jacobs

6/10/09 EnergySolutions, Inc. – moniker of the famed Utah Jazz’s Arena, major political lobbyist, scholarship funder, and international nuclear services company-filed a lawsuit because a regional compact was forbidding them from allowing the disposal in Utah of 1600 tons of low-level radioactive waste (LLRW). The Northwest Compact, made by congress in 1985, is comprised of Utah and seven other states to responsibly oversee the disposal of nuclear waste.

These 3.2 million pounds of waste in question would likely enter the country through the ports of Charleston, South Carolina or New Orleans, Louisiana as 20,000 tons-40 million pounds-of LLRW, get processed in Tennessee, then move to its new home–or final resting place–specially selected in Clive, Utah…………

……..that is, if the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) grants the company an import license, allowing this glamorous gunk to enter the U.S………

……….Many people in Utah, as well as in the rest of the United States, are concerned about this because the waste was to be coming from out of the country, from Italy. Statewide concern primarily consist of Utahns not wanting nuclear waste-especially not alien waste- in their own backyard; national concern is that this precedent could open the door for other states to be able to do the same thing, further contaminating backyards from foreign sources.

June 11, 2009 Posted by | USA, wastes | , , , | Leave a comment

Russia says bank problems delaying Iran nuclear plant

Russia says bank problems delaying Iran nuclear plant

Washington, 10 June (WashingtonTV)—In an interview with the Interfax news agency published on Wednesday, the head of Russia’s nuclear contractor, Atomstroiexport, said that the completion of Iran’s first nuclear power plant was being delayed by Russian banks refusing to work with Tehran.

The state-owned Atomostroiexport is building the nuclear power plant in the southwestern Iranian city of Bushehr, along the Persian Gulf. The project has experienced numerous delays, including some linked to disagreements over payment terms.

“The problems with financing exist because not all Russian banks are ready to work with Iran, and we have to find alternative options,” Atomstroiexport head, Dan Belenky, told Interfax, according to AFP.

http://televisionwashington.com/floater_article1.aspx?lang=en&t=2&id=11149

June 11, 2009 Posted by | business and costs, Iran | , , , | 1 Comment

Nuclear Opponents Argue Against Comanche Peak Expansion

Nuclear Opponents Argue Against Comanche Peak Expansion

Shelley Kofler, KERA News (2009-06-11) GRANBURY, TX (KERA) – For the second day, North Texas nuclear opponents are presenting arguments before a panel of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board. They are challenging Luminant Generation’s request for a license to expand the Comanche Peak nuclear plant, as KERA’s Shelley Kofler reports.

Luminant wants to add two larger reactors to the two already operating at Comanche Peak, southwest of Fort Worth. Nuclear opponents have raised concerns about public health, cost, and enormous water use……………

………..Eye: These plants as we now know from other regulatory requirements are vulnerable to attack, and the more spent fuel that’s on site the bigger the target the more vulnerable we are to the consequences of a large radiological release

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kera/news.newsmain/article/1/0/1516592/North.Texas/Nuclear.Opponents.Argue.Against.Comanche.Peak.Expansion.

June 11, 2009 Posted by | politics, USA | , , | Leave a comment

Hanford report shows repeated stoppages

Hanford report shows repeated stoppages

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Seattle.pi.com 10 June 09 RICHLAND, Wash. — Work to clean out nuclear waste from underground tanks and to build a plant to treat the waste at the Hanford nuclear reservation was stopped 31 times over nine years to address safety or construction quality issues, according to a new report.

The Government Accountability Office report released Monday says more needs to be done to track the costs of the work stoppages.

June 11, 2009 Posted by | USA, wastes | , , , | Leave a comment

AECL worried about Ont. nuclear cost overruns

nuclear-costsAECL worried about Ont. nuclear cost overrunsUpdated:
Tue Jun. 09 2009 8:56:31 PMctvtoronto.caAs Ontario comes close to deciding who it will pay $20 billion to build two new nuclear reactors, the Canadian bidder is already worried that it will face large cost overruns.The warnings are contained in the secret documents left by a former member of Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt’s staff at CTV’s Ottawa bureau recently.In the documents is a page dealing with the bid by Atomic Energy Canada Ltd. (AECL), which hopes to win the contract. On that page is the following statement: “… There is the risk there could be large cost overruns.”……..
….The last nuclear plant constructed in Ontario was the Darlington project, which went over-budget by about $15 billion when it was finally opened nearly 20 years ago. Ontario’s hydro customers are still playing off that debt.

CTV Toronto – AECL worried about Ont. nuclear cost overruns – CTV News, Shows and Sports — Canadian Television

June 10, 2009 Posted by | business and costs, Canada | , , , , | Leave a comment

Final Nail in Nukes’ Coffin?

nuclear-costs1Final Nail in Nukes’ Coffin? nj.com  by Bill Wolfe June 06, 2009 Huge cost overruns, construction delays, and subsidies doom nuke renaissance – “Things have not gone as planned” In a devastating story, the New York Times Business page lands what could be a knockout blow to the nuclear industry’s attempt to revive nuclear power. Nuke industry PR has argued that new “safe” and “cost effective” engineering designs have solved the safety and economic issues, while the global warming crisis warrants a huge expansion. But the Times story destroys those myths, on purely economic grounds: In Finland, Nuclear Renaissance Runs Into Trouble Cost Overruns at Finland Reactor Hold Lessons – NYTimes.com

At the same time construction costs are escalating, the industry is seeking even more subsidies by taxpayers and electric rate-payers.

The Times story is a huge warning to the Obama energy planners and to State level public utility regulators and policy makers.

Would NJ Legislators and/or the BPU allow electric consumers to get stuck with footing the bill for a failed technology?……………………..

Any move by NJ BPU to allow rate increases to subsidize nuclear construction risks would be a political nightmare.

Finally, would private investors ignore “warning lights” and take on investment risks under current (and projected) market and regulatory conditions?……………………….

“On top of such problems come the recession, weaker energy demand, tight credit and uncertainty over future policies, said Caren Byrd, an executive director of the global utility and power group at Morgan Stanley in New York.

“The warning lights now are flashing more brightly than just a year ago about the cost of new nuclear,” she said.”

Final Nail in Nukes’ Coffin? – Bill Wolfe

June 8, 2009 Posted by | business and costs, USA | , , , | Leave a comment

10 heroes who nailed Ministry of Defence lies over atomic blasts

10 heroes who nailed Ministry of Defence lies over atomic blasts Mirror.co.uk 7/06/2009 These are the 10 heroes whose evidence finally nailed the lies of the Ministry of Defence. Their cases were selected as examples that could be tested to see if a full trial of the facts was possible. All were sent to the Pacific to watch the atomic blasts in the 1950s. Four have died of cancer and another of a combination of illnesses. The survivors are all crippled by horrific medical conditions……………………

10 heroes who nailes Ministry of Defence lies over atomic blasts – mirror.co.uk

June 8, 2009 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK | , , , | Leave a comment

The Nuclear Begging Bowl

The Nuclear Begging Bowl JO ABBESS June 7th, 2009 “……………..In the United States they call this process a “bailout”, making it sound like a worthy rescue of a valued affiliate. In the United Kingdom, it’s called “public support”. It all amounts to the same thing : tax revenue from the public thrown at the private corporations……………

………………….it is unlikely that EdF will be able to persuade investors to put their money behind New Nuclear without some kind of pledge from the UK Government on a price guarantee for the electricity that will eventually (with luck) be generated.

And yet, at present, it is highly unlikely that such a pledge could be extracted, what with the whole Government in turmoil, and with international negotiations on Climate Change set to be turbulent and impactful on Energy provision (in December 2009 in Copenhagen).

The Nuclear Begging Bowl @ Jo Abbess

June 8, 2009 Posted by | business and costs, UK | , , , | Leave a comment

Recycled radiation shows up at home | The Journal Gazette, Fort Wayne, Ind.

Recycled radiation shows up at homeLow levels revealed in consumer goods

journalgazette.net 7 june 09 Isaac Wolf
Scripps Howard News Service

Thousands of everyday products and materials containing radioactive metals are surfacing across the United States and around the world.

Cheese graters, reclining chairs, women’s handbags and tableware manufactured with contaminated metals have been identified, some after having been in circulation for as long as a decade. So have fencing wire and fence posts, shovel blades, elevator buttons and steel used in construction………………………One of the most conservative estimates comes from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, which put the number of radioactively contaminated metal objects unaccounted for in the United States in 2005 at 500,000. Others suggest the amount is far higher. The most recent NRC estimate – made a decade ago – is 20 million pounds of contaminated waste.

Recycled radiation shows up at home | The Journal Gazette, Fort Wayne, Ind.

June 8, 2009 Posted by | USA, wastes | , , , , | Leave a comment

Atomic tests ruling is ‘too late’

radiation-warningAtomic tests ruling is ‘too late’ BBC News 6 June 09

An atomic test veteran from Manchester said a ruling by the High Court to give ex-servicemen the right to sue the British government has come too late.

Peter Gilbody, 70, of Withington, was involved in clearing up nuclear bomb debris in Australia in 1958. He has since been diagnosed with skin cancer.

About 1,000 servicemen blame their ill health on Britain’s involvement in nuclear tests in the South Pacific……………………..

He said: “I used to bury radioactive material… I had a mate who washed down our vehicles and planes and he got it terrible.

“Widows have lost husbands very early in life, children have got leukaemia.

“Compensation is a bit late now, it won’t do me any good now will it?”

In January the MoD tried to halt compensation claims, arguing that they had been made far too late to go ahead.

Many atomic veterans are terminally ill and since the original hearing seven claimants have died.

BBC NEWS | UK | England | Merseyside | Atomic tests ruling is ‘too late’

June 6, 2009 Posted by | environment, UK | , , , | Leave a comment

Court says nuclear test soldiers can sue Britain

Court says nuclear test soldiers can sue Britain

Adelaide Now CHARLES MIRANDA in London

June 06, 2009

THE British High Court has concluded thousands of Australian service men and their families were treated as nuclear ‘guinea pigs’, giving them the right to sue the British Government.

The bombshell decision found the British Ministry of Defence did have a case to answer that it unfairly exposed servicemen from Australia, Britain, New Zealand and Fiji to atomic fallout during the series of tests in South Australia, Western Australia and off the eastern coast on atolls in the Pacific during the 1950s.

The sensational ruling was greeted with cheers from many veterans in Room 73 of the London Royal Courts of Justice where for five years 1000 of them have fought to prove they and their families had suffered because of radioactive exposure.

The case paves the way for millions of dollars in compensation to now be offered to the servicemen exposed on land, air and sea who were directed into mushroom clouds to test the effects of the weaponry on the human body.

The Australian Federal Government had stalled for years on whether to pay compensation, citing it was awaiting for a ruling to be made by the British High Court since the tests were done by the British Government.

AdelaideNow… Court says nuclear test soldiers can sue Britain

June 6, 2009 Posted by | politics, UK | , , , , | Leave a comment

‘The question now is not whether nuclear energy is clean, but is it sustainable to provide power?’

‘The question now is not whether nuclear energy is clean, but is it sustainable to provide power?’ indian express.com by Neha Sinha Jun 06, 2009 – “FRANZJOSEF SCHAUFHAUSEN, Deputy Director General of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, s………………………..Germany is trying to phase out nuclear energy and we don’t support nuclear energy becoming CDM projects. We have scientific studies on the table showing that it is possible to have a future without nuclear energy. We had a very long discussion in Germany on nuclear energy.

The question now is not whether nuclear energy is clean, but is it sustainable to provide power? The position of the German government is that nuclear energy is too risky. At the moment in Europe, we don’t have the possibility to store the very dangerous nuclear waste which is produced from nuclear energy. Also uranium is limited. We have to construct an energy future working with energy efficiency and renewable energy.

‘The question now is not whether nuclear energy is clean, but is it sustainable to provide power?’

June 6, 2009 Posted by | ENERGY, Germany | , , , | 2 Comments

Rogue Radiation

Rogue Radiation abc2news.com 6 June 09 ABC2News investigates how with a lack of federal oversight, there is no way to know the scope of the problem.

Giant piles of scrap metal get melted down to form the types of products you buy everyday, but a lengthy Scripps Howard News Service investigation found that not all those products come out shiny and new. ………………….Neal Shapiro is the owner of Cambridge Iron and Metal in Baltimore.
The concern in the scrap metal business is the recycling of metals with low level radiation.

Our investigation found that in some cases, contaminated metals like medical equipment and old industrial or aeronautical gauges make their way through some scrap yards and smelters without detection.

The end results are new products; radioactive products.

Our investigation found recycled radioactive metal was used to make cheese graters, parts of lazy boy chairs and years ago, the poles of some fast food tables. …………………………..And the equipment to detect is no bargain either, truck scales costs upwards of 50 thousand dollars.  It is a financial burden yards like Shaprio’s responsibly take on, but we found that there is no federal oversight or standard requiring scrap yards to test their metals.

Rogue Radiation – Baltimore News, Weather, Breaking News | WMAR-TV

June 6, 2009 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | , , , | Leave a comment

In Renewable Energy Legislation, Nuclear Power May Find Exemptions

In Renewable Energy Legislation, Nuclear Power May Find Exemptions redOrbit  5 June 2009 In a law that would mandate utility companies to generate a certain amount of electricity from renewable sources, U.S. legislators are trying to increase incentives for the use of nuclear power and energy efficiency. Nuclear power, however, is not currently considered a renewable electricity source according to the terms laid out in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee bill. If the bill becomes law, a predetermined percentage of every U.S. utility company’s total power output would have to be dedicated to renewable energy sources.

The Senate committee recently modified the bill to include an amendment authored by Alaskan Senator Lisa Murkowski. Under the modified legislation, any future increase in capacity at existing nuclear power plants or new nuclear power plants would be exempt from the bill’s green energy requirements.

By not including the expansion of output at nuclear power plants, the amendment would allow these power plants to increase energy production without being subject to mandatory increases in the amount of renewable power they generate.

In Renewable Energy Legislation, Nuclear Power May Find Exemptions – Science News – redOrbit

June 6, 2009 Posted by | politics, USA | , , | Leave a comment

« Previous Entries     Next Entries »