antinuclear « nuclear-news

Questions in Washington on costs of nuclear weapons

Langevin calls for precise tally of nuclear weapons costs , Projo 7 to 7 News Blog | Rhode Island news | The Providence Journal Jun 22, 2010 | John E. Mulligan, Washington bureau
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. James R. Langevin has joined a Republican colleague in calling for a more precise accounting of what it costs to develop and maintain the nation’s nuclear arsenal. Continue reading →

June 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Nuclear plant’s flood warning emergency

Neb. N-plant declares low-level emergency state, Google hosted news, (AP) 23 June 2010, oBROWNVILLE, Neb. — A nuclear power plant near Brownville in southeast Nebraska notified public and federal regulators early Tuesday that it was in a low-level emergency state because of flooding from the rising Missouri River nearby…….NPPD said it could continue generating power at Cooper until the river hits 45.5 feet. Then it would be taken offline as a safety precaution.The National Weather Service said in a flood warning posted at 3:16 Tuesday morning that the river was at 42.5 feet, 10.5 feet above flood stage, and was headed to near 42.9 feet later in the day. Then it was expected to fall.

The district provides power to about 1 million Nebraskans through retail service to about 80 communities and wholesale service to 52 towns and 25 rural districts and cooperatives. The Associated Press: Neb. N-plant declares low-level emergency state

June 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, climate change | Leave a comment

Nuclear company’s violations of waste storage regulations

FPL fined $70,000 for nuclear waste storage problem, SunSentinel.com, by Julie Patel on June 22, 2010The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced Tuesday that it will fine Florida Power & Light Co. $70,000 for three violations related to its waste storage at its Turkey Point plant near Miami.In December, NRC officials said they found the amount of Boraflex in a nuclear waste storage pool at Turkey Point was lower than it should be. (Boroflex panels in the pool absorbs neutrons so there isn’t a mini-reaction as the nuclear waste is being cooled.)…………The Commission will hold informal information meetings in July on FPL’s proposal to build two new nuclear reactors at Turkey Point

June 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes | Leave a comment

International Surfers’ Day – an International Anti-Nuclear Event

The message is clear from the surf community in Jeffreys Bay and is supported by surfers from all over the world. Don’t build a Nuke at Thuyspunt.

23 June 2010, The Jeffreys Bay surf community came out in full support of the Supertubes Surfing Foundation’s call to prevent the building of a nuclear power station at nearby Thuyspunt.200 – 250 people donned either black or yellow T-shirts and formed a human NO nuke sign on the Supertubes beach, the venue of the annual Billabong Pro surf event.

The protest formed part of International Surfing Day, a worldwide event where surfers from beaches across the planet unite to celebrate the Sport of Kings and highlight issues facing the environment.The biggest concerns the Jeffreys Bay surf community have regarding the unpalatable prospect of having a nuclear power station on their doorstep are not hard to understand. Continue reading →

June 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, South Africa | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, reactor | Leave a comment

Nuclear terrorism’s close shave: plutonium store still at risk

Pelindaba was also the site of an incredible break-in in the end of 2007.

Palindaba Uranium Facility Assult Was Nearly Successful OverTheLimit June 21, 2010 Pelindaba is a nuclear power plant tucked back in the bush of South Africa. While it may seem like an ordinary plant, Pelinadaba was used as a secret weapons facility by the previous Apartheid government. Here they created weapons grade uranium, and it is here that that same plutonium is stored now that the new government has control and the weapons manufacturing has stopped. Continue reading →

June 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, South Africa | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, plutonium, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

People for Ethical Treatment of Animals rally against monkey radiation experiments

PETA protests BNL monkey research, Long Island Business News, by Claude Solnik June 22, 2010 , NASAPlans to expose monkeys to high levels of radiation at Brookhaven National Laboratory have prompted concerns from advocates who argue the research is cruel and could be done by other means.Protesters from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals today rallied outside BNL, where NASA is planning to fund a $1.75 million experiment by a Harvard-affiliated researcher……………..

PETA argues NASA’s European counterpart – the European Space Agency – has stated it “declines any interest in monkey research and does not consider any need or use for such result.”

PETA contends NASA instead could conduct studies using human tissue and simulators that would “yield results relevant to humans, something that animal experiments cannot do.”

June 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Religion and ethics, USA | antinuclear, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Australian govt’s welfare measures push Aboriginals off homelands

The NT intervention is clearly racist and is not motivated by concern for Aboriginal children but to enable government control of Aboriginal land.

Many Aboriginal communities have been forced to sign over their land on five-year leases to the federal government — land that contains gold, iron ore, uranium as well as areas that have been slated as potential nuclear waste dumps.

We are all in this together, Green Left Weekly, Ruth Ratcliffe June 20, 2010“…….The Rudd government plans to extend the paternalistic policy of welfare quarantining, which the Howard government initiated in remote Aboriginal communities, to other areas of disadvantage. Instead the government should adequately fund appropriate services and empower communities. Continue reading →

June 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, indigenous issues | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, indigenous, nuclear wastes, uranium | Leave a comment

U.S. defense officials, like Australian unionists, know the dangers of uranium mining

United States defense officials having knowledge of the dangers of uranium are shown in “Censored News,” which publishes human rights reports about indigenous peoples. The photo ( stated that “Navajo uranium miners during the Cold War were sent to their deaths in the mines after the U.S. knew of the dangers of radioactivity.”
Australian Union Bans Workers from Uranium Mines, Nuclear Power Stations – Huntington News Network

Australian Union Bans Workers from Uranium Mines, Nuclear Power Stations By Tony RutherfordHuntingtonnews.net Reporter Huntington, WV (HNN) – Fears of radiation exposure to uranium workers has led to the Electrical Trades Union in Brisbane, Australia, to ban members from working in uranium mines, nuclear power stations, and any part of the nuclear fuel cycle, according to a BBC report. Union leaders believe uranium exposure will replace asbestos as the high profile toxic workplace contaminant.
ETU state secretary, Peter Simpson, stated that uranium is the next asbestos in the workplace. The report predicts that due to the danger other trade unions will follow and the ban will expand beyond Australia. Continue reading →

June 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, health | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, cancer, indigenous, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Nuclear accidents, like black swans – rare, but do happen

A Nuclear Secret, THE HUFFINGTON POST, Craig K. Comstock, June 20, 2010 :”……..The point for today is that, when nuclear weapons are involved, we are one step away from irreparable consequences…………….In financial analysis, “black swans” have become a popular metaphor for dangers that are very high in negative consequences, even if they seem vanishingly low in probability. Continue reading →

June 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, safety | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, reactors | Leave a comment

China needs to improve nuclear safety

Monitoring of nuclear safety needs attention, China Daily, BEIJING, June 22 (Xinhaunet) — “……..China needs to invest more in monitoring nuclear safety at civilian nuclear power projects,…China adopted its nuclear power industry standards from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Yu Zusheng, a member of the experts committee with State Nuclear Power Technology Corp (SNPTC). “They are among China’s first group of standards which are in line with international markets.”…………
Chinese expenditure on monitoring nuclear safety at the 11 operating nuclear power plants totals around 40 million yuan ($6 million) per year. In comparison, in the United States, which has around 100 nuclear power plants, the country’s total budget for monitoring nuclear safety is $700 million annually.

Monitoring of nuclear safety needs attention

June 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | China, safety | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, reactors | Leave a comment

Ionising radiation at Niagara Falls – long buried secret of nuclear wastes

The nuclear age is littered with tragedies of unnecessary contamination of unsuspecting populations because of the pretense by government and the nuclear industry that the very real hazard of low levels of internal exposure is no hazard at all.

Radiation Alert: Niagara Falls , The Palestine Telegraph, June 21, By Paul Zimmerman and Louis Ricciuti, “………..Witnessing all this sunshine activity around you, you remain innocently oblivious to the underlying reality being played out before your eyes on this summer day, 2010, in downtown Niagara Falls, New York. In truth, the scene is shrouded by a pall, both invisible and macabre. For you see, what is being excavated besides decayed roadway are dirty little secrets long buried. The dirt and dust taking flight upon the wind is laced with radioactive waste!……….. Continue reading →

June 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

USA’s new coalition for really clean, renewable eneergy

New energy coalition calls for passage of clean energy bill, Energy Portal eu, 20 june 2010, On the heels of President Obama’s June 15 speech calling for clean energy legislation, a new coalition of renewable energy, energy efficiency, and biofuels organizations today called on the U.S. Senate to quickly pass comprehensive energy legislation that will create millions of American jobs and decrease our reliance on foreign supplies of fossil fuels by using our own clean and abundant resources. Continue reading →

June 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | antinuclear, climate change, energy efficiency, global warming, renewable energy, renewables, wind | Leave a comment

Push to prevent uranium shipments through New Zealand ports

Trans-shipment of nuclear ore appeared to contravene the principles of the Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament and Arms Control Act 1987, which bans nuclear weapons and nuclear-powered ships from New Zealand waters.

Moves to stop uranium shipment Herald Sun: AAP * June 21, 2010 NEW Zealand politicians say they are looking for ways to update anti-nuclear legislation in a bid to block uranium shipments from South Australia passing through New Zealand ports. Continue reading →

June 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | New Zealand, politics international | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear secrecy, uranium | Leave a comment

South Africa’s pebble bed reactor project doomed

Solidarity union reports last rites for the PBMR Engineering News Keith Campbell

21st June 2010 South African trade union Solidarity affirmed on Monday that the country’s pebble-bed modular reactor (PBMR) nuclear energy project has probably gone beyond the point of no return, despite suggestions that the government may resume funding for it in August.

June 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | South Africa, technology | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, reactor | Leave a comment

AREVA supplying parts to attempt to re-start damaged nuclear reactor

FirstEnergy to place lid on Davis-Besse nuclear power plant cleveland.com, June 21, 2010, “………Davis-Besse has been shut down since Feb. 28 for extensive work to repair cracks in the lid that sprouted unexpectedly in critical components. Such cracks can allow radioactive coolant into the reactor’s containment building — or worse.

Federal rules require an immediate shutdown if leaks are detected.The cracks are similar to fissures that opened up in the late 1990s in parts of Davis-Besse’s original lid and led to a pineapple-sized corrosion hole in that lid before it was discovered in 2004 Continue reading →