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USA nuclear firms worried about becoming liable for nuclear accident costs

Lawmakers in New Delhi approved a bill last night that makes suppliers and builders of atomic reactors potentially liable in the event of an accident…..None of India’s biggest prospective suppliers, including GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy or Westinghouse Electric, are likely to sign contracts if they can be held liable for third-party damages,

India Risks Nuclear Power Isolation With Break From Post-Chernobyl Accord, Bloomberg, By Natalie Obiko Pearson – Aug 26, 2010 India’s push to end a three-decade ban on buying nuclear equipment from abroad may founder on laws passed by its own parliament. Continue reading

August 26, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, India | , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Uranium mining study group members’ conflict of interest

“Unfortunately, it appears that several members of the provisional committee may have conflicts of interest….”

(USA) Regional groups voice concerns over uranium study committee, By TIM DAVIS/Star-Tribune, August 25, 2010 The Roanoke and Dan River basin associations want the National Academy of Sciences to investigate the backgrounds and professional relationships of several appointees to a provisional committee that will study uranium mining in Virginia. Continue reading

August 26, 2010 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, Uranium, USA | , , , , , | 1 Comment

Careless use of radioactive materials at Army hospital

Feds: Radiation exposure at Walter Reed. The Washington Post, by Christian Davenport, 26 Aug 2010, Two packages of radioactive material sat under a counter in the main lobby of Walter Reed Army Medical Center for 44 hours, possibly exposing patients and staff to elevated radiation, according to an investigation by federal regulators……Walter Reed officials determined radiation levels at the concierge desk were two millirems an hour, which exceeds allowable limits. The average American is exposed to 620 millirems a year, according to Neil Sheehan, an NRC spokesman.The violations at the Northwest Washington hospital follow a similar violation there in 2008….Post Now – Feds: Radiation exposure at Walter Reed

August 26, 2010 Posted by | safety, USA | , , , , | Leave a comment

Way behind schedule – UK’s planned nuclear reactors

the companies behind the designs – French consortium Areva, EDF and US firm Westinghouse – had been repeatedly submitting information which was incomplete and late………we could be faced with the farcical situation where the government is letting utilities press ahead with building work for reactors that haven’t been given safety approval.”

UK’s nuclear reactor programme falls behind schedule. Regulator and builders blame each other for construction hold-up as designs await approval Tim Webb , guardian.co.uk, ,  25 August 2010 Continue reading

August 26, 2010 Posted by | technology, UK | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Legal action over UK radiation leak

Prosecution possible over radiation leak at Dounreay, BBC News , 25 Aug 2010, The operators of the Dounreay nuclear site in Caithness could face prosecution over a radiation leak last year which affected a group of workers.Up to nine were understood to have been exposed to higher than expected levels of radioactivity while working with an intermediate level waste container……

BBC News – Prosecution possible over radiation leak at Dounreay

August 26, 2010 Posted by | Legal, UK | , , , | Leave a comment

A limited nuclear conflict would cripple global agriculture

a conflict involving just 0.4% of the world’s 25,000 nukes would produce enough smoke to cripple global agriculture…...

Castro: Worries Over Nuclear Winter – ScienceInsider, by Antonio Regalado on August 25, 2010 , “……….Although fears over nuclear winter have generally faded along with the Cold War, some recent research suggests even a limited conflict could pollute the atmosphere enough to cause worldwide famines. Continue reading

August 26, 2010 Posted by | 2 WORLD, weapons and war | , , , , | Leave a comment

UK’s French built nuclear plants to cost $9 billion

EDF, RWE May Spend $9.3 Billion Per New Nuclear Plant in U.K., Hendry SaysBy Fred Pals and Kari Lundgren – Aug 26, 2010 Utilities building new nuclear power plants in the U.K. may have to spend as much as 6 billion pounds ($9.3 billion) on each plant, according to Charles Hendry, the country’s minister of state for energy…………

EDF, RWE May Spend $9.3 Billion Per New Nuclear Plant in U.K., Hendry Says – Bloomberg

August 26, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, UK | , , , | Leave a comment

Climate change effects could stop nuclear industry

.the effects of climate change could make it to impossible to run nuclear reactors.

The Nuclear Industry Needs A Cap On Carbon To Survive, Wonk Room 26 Aug 2010, “……..the effects of climate change could make it to impossible to run nuclear reactors. For example, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has drastically reduced power generation at the Browns Ferry nuclear plant this summer: The Tennessee Valley Authority has lost nearly $50 million in power generation from its biggest nuclear plant because the Tennessee River in Alabama is too hot Continue reading

August 26, 2010 Posted by | climate change, USA | , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Breast Cancer risk increased with new medical radiation techniques

A single BSGI exam was estimated to involve a lifetime risk of fatal cancer 20 to 30 times that of digital mammography in women aged 40 years, while the lifetime risk of a single PEM was 23 times greater than that of digital mammography.

New nuclear breast imaging technologies associated with higher cancer risks — Science Blog, Aug 23 2010, OAK BROOK, Ill. — Some nuclear-based breast imaging exams may increase a woman’s risk of developing radiation-induced cancer, according to a special report appearing online and in the October issue of Radiology. Continue reading

August 25, 2010 Posted by | 2 WORLD, health | , , , , | Leave a comment

Airport scanning: radiation dangers raised in U.S. Congress

certain travelers may be particularly vulnerable to emissions from the scanners including seniors, women prone to breast cancer, expectant mothers and children for which the impact hasn’t been fully evaluated….

Lawmakers continue to voice concerns over whole-body imagers | Center for Investigative Reporting, G. W. Shultz, August 24, 2010, It wasn’t a lead story when scientists from the University of California at San Francisco first publicly expressed their unease earlier this year about the possible negative health effects caused by full-body airport scanners now being used across the United States to stop explosives from making it onto jet airliners. Continue reading

August 25, 2010 Posted by | health, USA | , , | Leave a comment

$Billions debt will be the result of USA’s nuclear loans

These kinds of advance payments are exactly the kind of financial shenanigans that brought the last nuclear-construction boom to an end, leaving utility ratepayers with billions of wasted dollars in costs.

Sorry, But Nukes Still Don’t Pencil Out, THE HUFFINGTON POST, Carl Pope, August 24, 2010 “……the present generation of pressurized-vessel nuclear power plants makes so little economic sense Continue reading

August 25, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, USA | , , , , , | Leave a comment

India’s Nuclear Liability Bill really aimed at protecting foreign nuclear companies

‘Intent is to give immunity on a platter’, The Hindu , 25 Aug 2010, Nuclear scientist A. Gopalakrishnan, a strong critic of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, has alleged that the real intent of the measure, ‘diluted’ by the Union Cabinet, is to provide foreign supplies total immunity from any liability Continue reading

August 25, 2010 Posted by | India, politics international | , , , , | Leave a comment

Nuclear industry worried as India agonises over Nuclear Liability

Industry upset with N-liability bill changes – India – The Times of IndiaTNN, Aug 25, 2010, NEW DELHI: Amid indications that the government may amend the nuclear liability bill yet again to accommodate the Opposition’s protest against dilution of the clause dealing with supplier liability, industry on Tuesday mounted a campaign warning that the toughening of the very same provisions could scare away suppliers — both Indian and foreign. Continue reading

August 25, 2010 Posted by | India, politics | , , , | Leave a comment

Uranium theft in Eastern Europe

If the Uranium had been sold in the illegal market, it would have fetched the gang around $11 million.

3 Held Over Uranium Seizure In Moldova, RTT News, 8/24/2010 Moldovan authorities on Tuesday arrested three people in connection with the recovery of some two kilograms of a radio active material from the capital Chisinau, it has emerged.Officials told media that the Uranium-238, which could be used to build a dirty bomb, was found concealed inside a container in a garage there….. Continue reading

August 25, 2010 Posted by | EUROPE, secrets,lies and civil liberties, Uranium | , , , | Leave a comment

Uranium theft in Australia

Depleted uranium and a substantial amount of chemicals and glassware were found at the shed…

Uranium stash claim,WHITNEY HARRIS  The Advertiser, 24 Aug, 2010 A Kangaroo Flat man accused of drug trafficking after a series of police raids turned up a stash of uranium will stand trial next year. Continue reading

August 25, 2010 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, secrets,lies and civil liberties | , , , , , , | Leave a comment