nuclear costs « nuclear-news

Finland’s 100,000-Year Plan to Banish Its Nuclear Waste

There are somewhere between 250,000 and 300,000 tons of high-level radioactive waste already in the world, much of it in pools on the sites of nuclear power plants where the rods have to cool for years before they can be put into containers.

Films on ScienceFinland’s 100,000-Year Plan to Banish Its Nuclear Waste – NYTimes.com, 11 May 2010, Continue reading →

May 11, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Finland, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radioactive | Leave a comment

General Atomics might not be able to restart uranium mill

“Since General Atomics acquired the Cotter Corporation in 2000, the company has had over a hundred violations of federal and state environmental laws,” Jantz told The Independent. “This demonstrates a pattern of willful disregard for environmental law, which is a real concern for the community.”

Proposed Mt. Taylor uranium mine faces new obstacle « New Mexico Independent, By Marjorie Childress 10 May 2010, A controversial plan to open an old uranium mine on Mt. Taylor, near Grants, New Mexico, is now facing a new obstacle. The Colorado legislature just passed a law forbidding an expansion or increase in operations at uranium mills until they clean up existing sites their operations have contaminated in the past. Continue reading →

May 11, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, USA | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, uranium | Leave a comment

Uranium One’s complicated moves as revenue falls

Uranium One posts loss on higher costs TORONTO, May 10 (Reuters) Reporting by Euan Rocha; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn, Dave Zimmerman) – Uranium One (UUU.TO) reported a first-quarter net loss on Monday, citing falling revenues and higher operating expenses………. Revenue fell 17.4 percent to $35.5 million on lower sales volumes and a lower realized uranium price…….. Continue reading →

May 11, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, business and costs | antinuclear, nuclear costs, uranium | Leave a comment

France pretty desperate to sell nuclear technology overseas

France needs to win international contracts, given that there will be little growth at home

French report hopes to heal nuclear division By Peggy Hollinger, FT.com : May 9 2010 “…..And, just maybe, it will help to end the years of public bickering and rivalry that have divided France’s nuclear champions – Areva, EDF, 36 per cent state-owned GDF-Suez and the Atomic Energy Commission – and which threaten to damage the industry’s international competitiveness………..The report is expected to call for greater government involvement in identifying the markets it wants its nuclear companies to target……….The organisation will aim to ensure France’s political interests are served by its state-owned companies, and to provide the political and commercial resources to identify new markets and give French technology a head start……..France needs to win international contracts, given that there will be little growth at home

FT.com / Industrials – French report hopes to heal nuclear division

May 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, France | antinuclear, AREVA, EDF, nuclear costs, nuclear technology | Leave a comment

Opposition in Indian Parliament to Liability Bill that would protect foreign nuclear companies

“What kind of a joke is this? If we are the victims of an accident, our tax money will be used to pay us compensation. Why should we shield the foreign suppliers of equipment?”…. “This is not America, this is not Russia. In India, the density of population is very high. The impact of a nuclear accident would be enormous.”

Indian parliament introduces liability bill that would allow U.S. companies to set up reactors By Rama Lakshmi Washington Post Foreign Service May 7, 2010;

NEW DELHI — A controversial law to establish a compensation system for nuclear accidents — a key step to allowing American companies to set up reactors in India — was introduced in parliament Friday, as opposition lawmakers accused the government of favoring U.S. and business interests over the rights of the people. Continue reading →

May 8, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, politics | antinuclear, nuclear costs, radiation, reactors | Leave a comment

Disappointment on uranium mining projects

Major Volatility Is Coming To The Uranium Market , Dave Forrest Business Insider, 11 May There was a mysterious disappearance of uranium in South Australia last week….Last week’s updated resource however, showed just 4.75 million tons using the 300 ppm cutoff.Based on the findings, PepinNini and partner Sinosteel have decided to put the project on hold……This kind of disappointment on uranium projects is becoming more common. This week Aussie developer Toro Energy announced it will abandon a deal to acquire the 13.2 million-pound Napperby uranium project in the Northern Territory.Toro’s management said the numbers on Napperby just don’t pass muster.

………supply above 75,000 tonnes per year has to come from lower-quality, lower-grade deposits … We only have so many high-grade deposits on Earth.Now with uranium languishing in the $40/lb range, we’re not so sure.

May 8, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, business and costs | antinuclear, nuclear costs, uranium | Leave a comment

Cancer caused by ionising radiation and toxins “grossly underestimated”

President’s Cancer Panel claims cancers due to environmental toxins grossly underestimated – – TIME.com, President’s panel analyzes environmental cancer impact by Tiffany O’Callaghan 6 May 2010, “……what evidence there is suggests that the “true burden of environmentally induced cancer has been grossly underestimated,” the authors write……In hospitals and doctor’s offices, the authors emphasize the need to minimize radiation exposure, Continue reading →

May 7, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, USA | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear costs, radiation, reactors | 2 Comments

U.S. Energy Secretary wants to add another $13 billion to the $54 billion nuclear loans!

Steve Chu Looks For $13 Billion For Nuclear Plant Loan Program Energy Secretary Steven Chu Seeks $13 Billion For Nuclear-Plant Loan Program Nuclear Power Industry News – Edited by Mark McFadden 7 May, 2010–According to a Dow Jones report, an additional $13 billion in loan-guarantee authority is needed if the U.S. Department of Energy is to award three more nuclear-power projects, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Speaking before a Senate appropriations subcommittee. Typically, about $100 million in government money can leverage around $1 billion in loan guarantees……. In the White House’s 2011 budget, the DOE asked for a total of $54 billion in loan-guarantee authority to move ahead several other nuclear-power projects.

Steve Chu Looks For $13 Billion For Nuclear Plant Loan Program – Nuclear Power Industry News

May 7, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin | Leave a comment

Nuclear Power Plants “large white elephants” says World Bank

Nuclear power in developing countries: radioactive waste, proliferation and debt « Charles Santiago 6 May 2010,The World Bank view – NPPs are large white elephant s T he World Bank has labeled nuclear plants “large white elephants”.. Its Environmental Assessment Source Book is unambiguous about nuclear’s problems: “Nuclear plants are thus uneconomic Continue reading →

May 7, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, business and costs | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear wastes, uranium | Leave a comment

European nations call for removal of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons

West Europeans target US nukes at treaty session Politics News, UNITED NATIONS, 6 May 2010, — Germany and other West European nations at the U.N. nonproliferation conference are calling for elimination of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons in Europe — “leftovers from the Cold War” — as a way to advance global arms control. Continue reading →

May 7, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | EUROPE, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Nuclear power a financially risky option for developing countries

Nuclear power in developing countries: radioactive waste, proliferation and debt « Charles Santiago 6 May 2010, For developing countries, nuclear power is a high cost option -environmentally, socially and economically…….
A history of failure in developing countries Continue reading →

May 7, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ASIA, business and costs | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, reactors | Leave a comment

World Council of Churches pushes for Nuclear Weapons Convention

Churches push for nuclear treaty at NPT Review conference, | Ekklesia, 7 May 2010, “…….after years of work – mostly by civil society groups including churches – a majority of the governments represented in New York are now in favour of starting work on a nuclear weapons convention. While the NPT was designed to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and someday to reverse it, the proposed convention would ban them completely. Continue reading →

May 6, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, Religion and ethics | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Worldwide nuclear energy diminishing

Another drop in nuclear generation, World Nuclear News, 05 May 2010 …Annual generation of nuclear power has continued on a slight downward trend, decreasing 2% last year to 2558 TWh, according to the latest estimates……One factor in nuclear power’s perfomance since 2007 has been the prolonged shutdown of large reactors at Kashiwazaki Kariwa in Japan following the Niigata-Chuetsu-Oki earthquake. …….Two reactors came back into service during 2009 with five still under repair.

Last year saw the shutdown of four reactors but the start-up of only two. Closures included France’s Phenix, a prototype fast reactor which produced 233 MWe, and Lithuania’s Ignalina 2 which produced 1185 MWe but has been closed early as a condition of EU entry. This was the last of the EU-motivated shutdowns that have taken away a total of 4806 MWe since 2002.

May 6, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, business and costs | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, reactors | Leave a comment

USA nuclear industry stalled momentum, despite govt $billions,

Some States Push For New Nuclear Reactors, With Little Success | SolveClimate.com, by Dave Levitan – May 5th, 2010 “…..Stalled Momentum

Many other states do not have moratoria in place —only about 12 do—but even those that have the legal greenlight are seeing the nuclear momentum get held up recently. In Georgia, the first two reactors to be singled out for multi-billion dollar federal loan guarantees hit a bump in the road last week, when a judge ruled the certification process was illegal. Skyrocketing costs of other plants have put them on hold in the past, and environmentalists like Kraft and Metropulos think there is ample reason to simply stop trying…..

The billions of dollars potentially coming from Washington to help build nuclear reactors may be enticing, said Metropulos, but the pushback on the state level might indicate a lack of real motivation.

“Although the federal government seems to want to put out a lot of subsidies, I don’t think the people will buy it,” he said. “I think there are other ways that people will go about energy production rather than looking at nuclear.” Some States Push For New Nuclear Reactors, With Little Success | SolveClimate.com

May 6, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Nuclear radiation leaks are invisible, unlike oil spills

If only radiation — which leaks every day at the 104 nuclear reactors in the US — was as visible as the growing BP oil slick in the Gulf Coast

Wake up and smell the oil THE HUFFINGTON POST, John Rosenthal, May 3, 2010 “………..Close your eyes and imagine for a minute that instead of BP’s deepwater offshore well exploding 5,000 feet below the surface of the ocean, spreading millions of gallons of toxic and visible oil across the Gulf Coast, that one of the 104 nuclear reactors operating in the US, exploded Continue reading →

May 6, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, radioactive, reactors, uranium | 1 Comment