nuclear secrecy « nuclear-news

“New Generation” nuclear reactors – a selection of duds

The death of the Pebble Bed has considerable significance. Harvey Wasserman, 23 Sept 10, For nearly two decades reactor backers have counted it in the imaginary fleet of new generation reactors coming to save us. Its alleged bright future would make it just one of the many new nuclear technologies that would render solar and wind energy unnecessary. Continue reading →

September 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, technology | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, reactors | Leave a comment

UK’s Lib Democrat leader wimping out on nuclear power

the Green Party leader, Caroline Lucas, said that he was putting too much trust in nuclear power….“He’s wrong about nuclear. It won’t deliver emissions cuts fast enough or big enough”. She dismissed his claims that there would be no public subsidies for nuclear power, suggesting that the nuclear industry’s failure to pay its full waste and decommissioning costs, is itself a subsidy.

Sceptical response to Huhne’s ‘green government’ pledge | Ekklesia, 21 Sep 2010 Environmental groups have given a sceptical response to comments made by the Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne at the Liberal Democrats’ party conference today (21 September).Huhne reiterated the coalition’s pledge to be the “greenest government ever”…….. Continue reading →

September 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, UK | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, reactors | Leave a comment

UK govt report reveals safety problems with nuclear submarines

Exercise at nuclear submarine yard exposes serious safety failings BAE Systems to rerun mock accident after mistakes at Barrow dockyard that could have put lives at risk Rob Edwards guardian.co.uk, 22 September 2010 Continue reading →

September 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Lawsuit about uranium mill’s contamination of water

The creek contains uranium levels as high as 310 parts per billion, which is more than 10 times the 30 ppb health standard for drinking water.

Group Sues Over Cotter Corp. Uranium Mill Cleanup – cbs4denver.com, Sep 22, 2010 U.S. MountainGroup Sues Over Cotter Corp. Uranium Mill Cleanup DENVER (AP) ― A citizens group has filed a lawsuit accusing Colorado regulators of failing to require Cotter Corp. to set aside enough money to clean up its uranium mill in Canon City. Continue reading →

September 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, Uranium, USA | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, radiation, uranium | Leave a comment

USA no idea how to get rid of its 70,000 tons of nuclear waste

the panel’s report [Obama’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Nuclear Wastes] isn’t due until January 2012. And the group’s recommendations aren’t binding on the White House or Congress..….the country’s political leaders are no closer to a safe, permanent disposal plan for nuclear waste than they were a generation ago,

Nuclear waste piles up with no disposal plan, APP.com | Asbury Park Press, By RAJU CHEBIUM • WASHINGTON BUREAU • September 15, 2010 — Tens of thousands of tons of potentially lethal radioactive waste have been piling up across the nation for more than a generation, but the federal government has yet to decide how to get rid of it permanently. Continue reading →

September 21, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes | Leave a comment

Workers contaminated with radiation at South African nuclear plant

The Democratic Alliance has accused Eskom of mishandling the contamination and risking the health of workers.

Koeberg workers contaminated, News24: South Africa: News, 2010-09-20 Koeberg shut down due to corrosion Johannesburg – A total of 91 Eskom workers were contaminated with a small amount of radiation while doing maintenance work at the Koeberg power plant, the parastatal said on Monday. Continue reading →

September 21, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, South Africa | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, reactor | Leave a comment

India’s tragic uranium mining effects on communities

Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD), an affiliate of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize recipient International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, conducted a health survey in 2007 that looked at 2,118 families within 2.5 km of the mines.It found that 9.5 percent of newborns die each year due to extreme physical deformities…….

Uranium mines afecting health of workers and local communities, India Info Online, 20 Sept 10, AT BANDUHURANG, there are no prohibitory signs, no warnings about radiation, no barbed wire and no demarcation of territory. Continue reading →

September 21, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, India, Uranium | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

250,000 tonnes of nuclear waste to be stored for 100,000 years

there’s a big question mark over whether future generations will have the knowledge to understand nuclear waste’s silent but deadly threat.

Where do you put 250,000 tonnes of nuclear waste? Wired UK, By Duncan Geere 20 September 2010 Around the world, nuclear power plants are churning out high-level radioactive waste at a rate of knots. It’s estimated that about 250,000 tonnes of the material is currently in interim storage, submerged in huge tanks of water in facilities that keep it safe — temporarily.

But there’s very little agreement on what to do with the stuff long-term, as it will remain a danger for around 100,000 years — almost as long as humans have existed, and far longer than we’ve been using tools. Continue reading →

September 21, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Call for referendum on Germany’s nuclear power plants

“Angela Merkel’s nuclear deal brings people onto the streets because when a government leader makes deals in the backroom that call into question the security of old nuclear plants, this is a recipe for political disenchantment,”

German Opposition Seeks Nuclear Referendum, NYTimes.com, By JUDY DEMPSEY September 20, 2010 * BERLIN — In what is seen as a direct challenge to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s energy strategy and style of leadership, the opposition Social Democrats called Monday for a referendum on the future of the country’s nuclear power plants………….. Continue reading →

September 21, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, politics | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, reactors | Leave a comment

Unsolved nuclear waste problem may stop nuclear industry in USA and EU

On Wednesday last week, Greenpeace launched a broadside against the European repository plans, arguing that leaders were being misled over safety issues – particularly relating to groundwater contamination. It appears the repository battle is about to go nuclear here, too.

President Barack Obama’s Yucca Mountain decision is a blow to US nuclear power- Telegraph UK, By Garry White 20 Sep 2010, US President Barack Obama appeared to deal a decisive blow to America’s nuclear power industry earlier this year, when he pulled the funding for a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. Continue reading →

September 21, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, Copenhagen, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, reactors | Leave a comment

German anti nuclear movement to keep up the pressure on Merkel

rallies were planned on October 6 in the southern city of Stuttgart, on October 9 in Munich and on November 6 against the arrival of a shipment of highly radioactive nuclear waste in the northern region of Wendland.

German anti-nuclear movement vows to continue protests, Expatica Germany, 20 Sept 10, After a major protest that drew tens of thousands of people to the streets of Berlin, Germany’s anti-nuclear movement vowed Sunday to keep up the pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government. Continue reading →

September 20, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Berlin protest as thousands reject nuclear power

the anti-nuclear movement has not seen such strong public support since the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the Soviet Union, in 1986.

Berlin / Munich – Two Cities / Different Crowds, EU Australia Online , September 19th, 2010 Weekend events in Germany saw a large protest in Berlin over nuclear power stations,…….CONFRONTATION OVER NUCLEAR STATIONS Crowds estimated at between 40-100000, depending on who was counting, paraded to the office of the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, in Berlin, objecting to government plans for extending the life of ageing nuclear power plants. Continue reading →

September 20, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, opposition to nuclear | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radiation, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu awarded international peace prize

Vanunu’s data showed that Israel possessed over 200 bombs with boosted devices, neutron bombs, F-16 deliverable warheads, and Jericho warheads.

Medal for Israeli nuclear whistleblower, tehran times, September 20, 2010, A human rights organization has planned to present a peace prize to the whistleblower of Israel’s secret nuclear program.The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) said it would give the award to former Israeli nuclear technician Mordechai Vanunu, the Israeli newspaper Maariv reported on Sunday.
Vanunu will receive the 2010 Carl von Ossietzky medal. German journalist Ossietzky won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1935 for speaking out against the Nazi Party. Continue reading →

September 20, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, peace | Leave a comment

Nuclear missile shields are a provocation, not a prevention

No missile shield system will be able to prevent every missile from reaching its target. The expansion of the shield encourages more nations to develop means of penetrating it. The penetration and detonation of one modern nuclear weapon and its radioactive fallout would be so devastating as to traumatize any nation and its neighbors.

Stop the Missile Shield Now PETER G. COHEN FOR BUZZFLASH/TRUTHOUT, 20 Sept 10, The United States is now installing a missile shield from Northern Poland through the Mediterranean and Black Sea to Asia and Japan. The nations and warships involved are near to or bordering on Russia and China, though the stated intent is to protect our allies from the missiles of Iran and North Korea. Continue reading →

September 20, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | EUROPE, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Russian nuclear powered ice-breaker in the Arctic

Russians go nuclear in bid to crack pole The Australian September 20, 2010 THE Arctic icecap faces a new threat from Russian plans to build the world’s largest icebreakerThe new ship will be capable of smashing its way across the polar region even in winter.The nuclear-powered vessel would create shipping lanes across the Arctic Ocean while helping energy companies exploit the region’s gas and oil reserves.
The proposal coincides with reports last week that the Arctic icecap had shrunk to 4.66 million sq km, the third-lowest recorded since 1979. Its average winter thickness at the North Pole has also halved, to about 2.4m, since 1976.……Russians go nuclear in bid to crack pole | The Australian

September 20, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, Russia | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin | Leave a comment