nuclear costs « nuclear-news

Crummy outlook for uranium prices

Outlook for Uranium, Uncommon Wisdom, by Sean Brodrick on March 11, 2010, Gold is shining … oil is heating up … so what’s up with uranium? The once white-hot metal is certainly way off its highs. In fact, the spot price of uranium recently fell to U.S.$40.50…

.Both Macquarie and UBS forecast spot prices will average$47 per pound this year, down from an average of $52 per pound in 2009. In other words: uranium is not expected to join the recovery elsewhere in the commodity space anytime soon.

March 13, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, business and costs | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, uranium | Leave a comment

Uranium investors worried by corruption in Kazakhstan

Kazakh ex-uranium boss jailed for corruption, Daily Times , 12 March 2010, ASTANA: A Kazakh court sentenced a former uranium tycoon to 14 years in jail for theft and corruption on Friday in a case that has alarmed foreign investors working in the former Soviet republic. Continue reading →

March 13, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties | antinuclear, Kazakhstan, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, uranium | Leave a comment

Nobody knows the future of USA’s nuclear wastes

“I would like to address an “elephant in the room” –What about the Blue Ribbon Commission? The Energy Collective 12 March 2010,

blue_ribbonSolutions to the issue of spent nuclear fuel won’t be decided solely at the NRC, nor with or without funding or a license application to review. A Blue Ribbon Commission, appointed by Energy Sec. Chu, will hold its first meeting March 25 & 26 in Washington, DC, to hash out policy alternatives. It will take them 18 months to produce a draft report. Alternatives include finding another geologic repository for spent fuel, reprocessing, use of fast reactors, and a lot of other ideas. No one has a lock on the future of what this body does.

A tale of two speeches

March 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, reactor | Leave a comment

Smuggling of nuclear materials continues

Nuclear Smugglers Still At Work, National Journal Online, By James Kitfield, March 11, 2010 The world is fast approaching a nuclear tipping point, many experts warn. And one key reason is a global smuggling network that traffics in nuclear technologies, materials, and know-how. National Journal spoke recently with David Albright, founder of the Institute for Science and International Security and a former weapons inspector in Iraq, about this network and what it means to the world’s stability and safety… Continue reading →

March 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, safety | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Nuclear power company settles lawsuit over radiation leaks

Exelon to pay $1 million to settle lawsuits Breaking Business News, March 11, 2010 By Michael Hawthorne | Exelon agreed today to pay more than $1 million to settle lawsuits filed by Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan after the company allowed radioactive tritium to leak outside three of its nuclear plants.The settlement involves leaks of tritium-contaminated water that seeped into the ground around the company’s Braidwood, Byron and Dresden plants. The penalties include $628,000 in fines and $538,000 to fund environmental projects in Will, Ogle and Grundy counties.

Exelon to pay $1 million to settle lawsuits – Chicago Breaking Business

March 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, radiation, radioactive, reactor, reactors | Leave a comment

Russia joins the rush to sell nuclear reactors to India

Putin Visits India in Race With U.S. for Arms, Nuclear Deals, BusinessWeek, March 11, 2010, By Lucian Kim and Bibhudatta PradhanMarch 11 (Bloomberg) –– Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin arrives in New Delhi tonight to fend off competition from the U.S. and Europe to supply arms and nuclear energy to India.Putin is set to meet his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh tomorrow to oversee the signing of more than $10 billion in deals, including a refurbished aircraft carrier, MiG-29 fighter jets and two nuclear reactors.

Putin Visits India in Race With U.S. for Arms, Nuclear Deals – BusinessWeek

March 11, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, politics international | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin | Leave a comment

New U.S buildup of nuclear-armed cruise missiles?

Air Force requests funds for new nuclear armed cruise missile. POLITICO.com, Laura Rozen, 11 March 2010, The U.S. Air Force “plans to spend more than $800 million to build a new nuclear-armed cruise missile for its bomber aircraft,” National Journal/Global Security Newswire’s Elaine Grossman reports, digging into the Obama administration’s FY 2011 Pentagon budget request: Continue reading →

March 11, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

UK concerns about safety of French European Pressurised Reactor (EPR).

“the design of the EPR presents a serious risk of a major nuclear accident – a risk deliberately taken by EDF to increase its profitability.”

Design flaws in new nuclear reactors ‘could lead to UK’s Chernobyl’ | Ekklesia, 9 March 2010, Local authorities have written to the nuclear watchdog following new concerns over the design safety of nuclear reactors planned for the UK and of fears about a Chernobyl-type accident. Continue reading →

March 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, UK | antinuclear, EDF, France, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, reactor | Leave a comment

NRC denies Nuclear Energy Institute pitch to extend security deadline

Nuclear Plants Lose Bid to Extend Security Deadline , BusinessWeek, March 08, 2010, By Christopher Martin, March 8 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission denied a petition by the Nuclear Energy Institute to extend by nine months a deadline for new security requirements. Continue reading →

March 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear wastes, radiation, reactor | 1 Comment

France’s Sarkozy keen to sell nuclear reactors, but just to help poor countries!

+jordanFrench President Sarkozy Says Nuclear Power Key To Economic Growth, Clean Environment, Examiner.com March 9, Examiner, Michael Zey “…In his speech Sarkozy reiterated France’s support for the continued development of nuclear energy throughout the world. However, Sarkozy made an even more important pronouncement: aggressive development of technologies such as nuclear power is key to lifting the developing nations out of poverty and increasing the net wealth of the planet…..Of course, the French president’s own candidate for best new nuclear plant design is the one France’s own Areva has developed. Areva has designed the European Pressurized Reactor (EPR), a third-generation reactor design that France considers the most advanced in the world.

+jordanFrench President Sarkozy Says Nuclear Power Key To Economic Growth, Clean Environment

March 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | France, spinbuster | antinuclear, AREVA, EDF, France, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, reactor | Leave a comment

India’s nuclear power industry stalled in Parliament

Now, nuclear liabilities bill under a cloud, Business Standard, New Delhi March 10, 2010, The Bharatiya Janata Party, the largest opposition party that helped pass the women’s Bill, has now told the government that it would do nothing to jeopardise the Finance Bill and the Vote on Account — which needs to be passed by March 16 when Parliament goes into recess.

But it would not help it pass the critical Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages Bill…..The nuclear liabilities Bill is considered essential to jump-start civil nuclear commerce. …If the UPA could have banked on SP and RJD’s support, it could have ignored the opposition’s objections. But in the current environment, it is entirely possible that if the Bill is introduced in the lower House, it could be defeated.

Now, nuclear liabilities bill under a cloud

March 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, politics | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, reactor | Leave a comment

France taking a moral posture on its nuclear sales pitch

French PM: EPR Reactor Is World’s Safest In Its Class – WSJ.com, By Adam Mitchell Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES PARIS (Dow Jones) 10 March 2010, –France’s flagship EPR-type nuclear reactor is the world’s safest in its class and the French nuclear-safety arrangements are the most complete in the world, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said Tuesday.Fillon’s speech to a nuclear conference contrasts with recent allegations by an anti-nuclear group, Sortir du Nucleaire, which cast aspersions on the EPR-type reactor’s safety….
The prime minister also said that France ….. has a “responsibility” to promote civil nuclear technology around the world.

UPDATE: French PM: EPR Reactor Is World’s Safest In Its Class – WSJ.com

March 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | France, spinbuster | antinuclear, AREVA, EDF, France, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, radiation, radioactive, reactor | Leave a comment

AREVA warns on nuclear industry safety shortcuts

No “two-track” nuclear industry, warns Areva | Business News, 9 March 2010, The CEO of nuclear reactor builder Areva has warned against cutting corners on nuclear reactor projects at an international nuclear conferenceBy Chris Farnell
The conference took place at the headquarters of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Speaking to the conference, Areva Chief Executive, Anne Lauvergeon, said: “We cannot see a two-track nuclear industry develop, with a low-cost one for some and high standards for others.”….

United States Deputy Secretary of Energy, Daniel Poneman, who also attended the OECD conference, said there could be no compromise on safety at nuclear plants.

“We still must focus on security. A nuclear accident anywhere is a nuclear accident everywhere,” he said.

No “two-track” nuclear industry, warns Areva | Business News | Energy Digital

March 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | France, safety | antinuclear, AREVA, France, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, radiation, radioactive, reactor | Leave a comment

Revealed: Japan’s secret nuclear arms deals with USA

Japan ‘lied’ on secret US nuclear deal Peter Alford, Tokyo correspondent , The Australian March 10, 2010 JAPANESE governments lied to their people for more than 30 years about a “tacit” secret agreement allowing nuclear-armed US vessels to use their ports, a special Foreign Ministry panel reported yesterday. Continue reading →

March 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

U.S., Russia, negotiating nuclear arms reduction

U.S., Russia resume talks on reducing nuclear arsenals GENEVA, March 9 (Xinhua) Editor: Mu Xuequan— Negotiators from the United States and Russia on Tuesday resumed talks aimed at reaching a new nuclear arsenals reduction agreement to replace the 1991 START treaty, diplomatic sources said. Continue reading →

March 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment