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Nuclear weapons numbers to be cut – USA

Obama plans to cut up to 40 percent of nukes, THE HUFFINGTON POST, 13 July 2010, WASHINGTON — A government document reveals that the Obama administration is planning to cut the U.S. nuclear stockpile by up to 40 percent by 2021.The Energy Department document provides details of the reductions that President Barack Obama has called for on a path to eliminating nuclear weapons. The reductions continue a trajectory of cuts that already has reduced U.S. stockpiles by about 75 percent since 1989.In May the administration said that it had 5,113 nuclear warheads.The new document says the administration would like to reduce that number to a range of 3,000 to 3,500. Obama plans to cut up to 40 percent of nukes

July 14, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

USA’s ‘Blue Ribbon’ Nuclear Waste Commission at Hanford

Even if Yucca had opened as planned 10 years ago, it would not have enough space for all of Hanford’s wastes,……there is no final resting place for these “vitrified” wastes……..

A Watchdog’s Warning on Nuclear Waste, NYTimes.com, By MATTHEW L. WALD, July 12, 2010, “…. a new report suggests that Hanford has a lot more plutonium waste that the Energy Department had acknowledged.This week, a blue-ribbon commission on nuclear waste established to seek alternatives to Yucca will hold two days of hearings near Hanford. Continue reading →

July 13, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, plutonium, radiation, radioactive, uranium, water | Leave a comment

USA Nuclear Weapons Modernization to Cost $275 Billion

the NNSA intends to spend more than $175 billion (in then-year dollars) over the next two decades on building new nuclear weapons factories, testing and simulation facilities, and modernizing and extending the life of the nuclear weapons in the stockpile…..The plan does not include the more than $100 billion the Department of Defense is expected to spend in 2010-2030 on the platforms needed to deliver the warheads.

Nuclear Plan Shows Cuts and Massive Investments » FAS Strategic Security Blog, By Hans M. Kristensen, 12 July 2010, The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has sent Congress the FY 2011 Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan (SSMP) with new information about what the administration plans to spend on maintaining and modernizing nuclear weapons and facilities over the next 15-20 years…. Continue reading →

July 13, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, uranium | Leave a comment

Moscow to get 5000 nuclear bomb safety bunkers

Moscow arms against nuclear attack – RT, 12 July, 2010, Nearly 5,000 new emergency bomb shelters will be built in Moscow by 2012 to save people in case of potential attacks. Moscow authorities say the measure is urgent as the shelters currently available in the city can house no more that half of its population.In the last 20 years, the area of air-raid defense has been developed little, and the existing shelters have become outdated. Moreover, they are located mostly in the city center, which makes densely populated Moscow outskirts especially vulnerable in the event of a nuclear attack……. Moscow arms against nuclear attack – RT

July 13, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Russia, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Three times more plutonium waste than they thought, at Hanford!

.“What is reasonably foreseeable is that there are people who will be drinking the water in the ground at Hanford at some point in the next few hundred years,” Mr. Pollet said. “We’re going to be killing people, pure and simple.”

Analysis Triples U.S. Plutonium Waste Figures, NYTimes.com, by Matthew Wald, 12 July 2010, The amount of plutonium buried at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington State is nearly three times what the federal government previously reported, a new analysis indicates, suggesting that a cleanup to protect future generations will be far more challenging than planners had assumed. Continue reading →

July 13, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, plutonium, radiation, radioactive, reprocessing, uranium | Leave a comment

Continued battle to save Colorado Valley from uranium mining

Geologists have warned that mining could deplete and contaminate aquifers that discharge into Grand Canyon and that cleaning them up would be next to impossible.

Appeal Filed in Lawsuit to Protect Grand Canyon From Uranium Mining, Center For Biological Diversity, July 12, 2010, GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz.— Conservation groups and Native American tribes today appealed a federal court decision that denied a request to halt uranium mining just six miles north of Grand Canyon National Park. Continue reading →

July 13, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

USA taxpayer liable for costs of French owned new reactor

Paris-based Areva would provide the reactor technology. Electricite de France and Areva are 85 percent owned by the French government…..“To build the plant with the loan guarantee in today’s power market would be an assurance the taxpayers would get stuck with part of the loan obligation,”

(USA) Maryland nuclear reactor raises foreign ownership concerns, Washington Examiner, By: Hayley PetersonExaminer StaffJuly 12, 2010 “……….. the project at Calvert Cliffs faces many hurdles.

Nuclear energy opponents are challenging the reactor’s licensing qualifications with charges that the amount of foreign ownership violates the Atomic Energy Act — which bars nuclear projects with “foreign ownership, control or domination.” Continue reading →

July 13, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA | antinuclear, AREVA, EDF, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Water leak shuts down nuclear reactor

Surry nuclear reactor shut down for water-leak repair By Cindy Clayton The Virginian-Pilot July 12, 2010 SURRY COUNTY One of two nuclear reactors at Dominion Virginia Power’s plant in Surry was shut down Sunday night after a water leak was discovered, the company said.Shortly before 9 p.m. a plant employee spotted a leak in a 96-inch pipe that carries James River water to a condenser that cools steam at the plant, said Jim Norvelle, director of media relations for Dominion……

Surry nuclear reactor shut down for water-leak repair | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com

July 13, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, water | Leave a comment

Opposition to nuclear steam generators in Canadian harbour

“The idea of having 16 steam generator sitting on the harbour wall for five weeks is not acceptable to me. They do emit radiation,” she said.

Mayor concerned about nuclear steam generators – Bruce Power officials at council tonight Owen Sound Sun Times – Ontario, CA By Denis Langlois 12 July 2010, A plan by nuclear generator Bruce Power to ship 16 radioactive steam generators out of Owen Sound Harbour to Sweden has run into opposition by the city’s mayor. Ruth Lovell Stanners said storing the school bus-sized, decommissioned generators, considered intermediate-level nuclear waste, next to the harbour and then shipping them on the Great Lakes poses too much of a public health and safety risk to ignore…………. Continue reading →

July 13, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, safety | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, radiation, reactors | Leave a comment

Atomic veterans die as UK govt uses delaying tractics on compensation

A legal battle is now ensuing while the Ministry of Defence attempts to avoid paying out to the veterans, who are thought to be dying at the rate of three a month.

Newspaper in compensation bid for nuclear veterans, Holdthefrontpage.co.uk 12 July 2010, by Helen LambourneA regional daily newspaper has launched a campaign calling for compensation for veterans of nuclear testing.The Derby Telegraph is urging the Ministry of Defence to compensate those affected by the tests, which took place during the Cold War. Continue reading →

July 13, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, UK | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Nuclear power getting more costly than solar

proposed new nuclear plants would generate power at a cost of 14 to 18 cents per kilowatt-hour. But commercial-scale solar developers are already offering utilities electricity at 14 cents or less per kWh.

(USA) Solar power now cheaper than nuclear in North Carolina FACING SOUTH 12 July 2010, While the price of solar photovoltaic systems has been falling for decades, the cost of new nuclear plants has been climbing — and a historic crossover point has been reached in North Carolina, where solar power is now cheaper than nuclear. Continue reading →

July 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable, USA | antinuclear, climate change, energy efficiency, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, renewable energy, renewables, solar | 1 Comment

Nuclear radiation risk in highly populated Delaware

they [NRC officials] also have acknowledged in public documents that it is “virtually certain” that radiation exposures will occur more than 150 miles from big reactors in a serious accident…………….

(USA) Nuclear growth puts region at risk The Daily Times, By Jeff Montgomery • July 11, 2010 Port Penn resident Julie L. Harrington is surrounded by nuclear reactors. So is Dae Y. Kwak in Hockessin and Carl Cook in Middletown. Continue reading →

July 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, radiation, radioactive, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

World’s planned biggest uranium mine getting too costly

The recent softening prices for Olympic Dam’s key minerals, especially uranium, and a significant increase in the required capital is also understood to be weighing on BHP,

BHP’s Olympic Dam expansion under pressure, Business Spectator 12 Jul 2010 BHP Billiton Ltd’s $US20 billion Olympic Dam expansion in Australia may be delayed by a protracted environmental assessment and cost, Continue reading →

July 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, business and costs | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear costs, uranium | Leave a comment

Online films recall New Zealand’s Anti Nuclear Battle

Today (Saturday 10 July) is the 15th anniversary of the Greenpeace ship the Rainbow Warrior bombing by French agents. To mark the date, New Zealand On Screen has launched four titles exploring anti-nuclear protest and the politics of New Zealand’s ‘no nukes’ stand.

The movies can be watched online, for free.

When a Warrior Dies – a documentary on the aftermath of the bombing and the efforts by Greenpeace and sculptor Chris Booth to create a remembrance monument.

http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/when-a-warrior-dies-1991

Fallout – excerpts from award-winning Tom Scott and Greg McGee-scripted mini series dramatising events leading to NZ’s 80s ‘No Nukes’ stand

http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/fallout-1994/series

Mururoa 1973 – a landmark Alister Barry doco about protest flotilla who risked their lives travelling to French nuclear testing zone at Mururoa.

http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/mururoa-1973

A Nuclear Free Pacific – documentary on the long struggle for a treaty to declare the South Pacific free of nuclear arms.
http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/a-nuclear-free-pacific–niuklia-fri-pasifik-1988

July 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | New Zealand, politics international | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Nevada to export solar energy, not import nuclear wastes

“Nevadans are well positioned to use their world-class natural resources and talented workforce to be an exporter of clean solar energy rather than an importer of hazardous nuclear waste and polluting fossil fuels,”

Nevada Nuclear Test Site to Host Solar Demonstration Zone, Environment News Service, LAS VEGAS, Nevada, July 9, 2010 (ENS) – Advanced utility-scale solar energy technologies soon will be tested at a sprawling federal site in the Nevada desert where nuclear weapons were tested 60 years ago. Continue reading →

July 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable, USA | antinuclear, climate change, energy efficiency, global warming, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons, renewable energy, renewables, solar | Leave a comment