nuclear secrecy « nuclear-news

Hypocrisy as Japan seeks to be nuclear power salesman

Japan emphasises that its technology exports are for the peaceful production of nuclear energy.

But as it knows only too well, the plutonium produced in fission reactors can also be used to produce nuclear weapons.

Anxiety mushrooms over Japanese nuclear exports | The Australian, Rick Wallace, July 15, 2010 IT’S hard not to draw cynical conclusions about Japan’s decision to pursue sales of nuclear technology overseas. One of the country’s most treasured principles appears to have a price as it hawks nuclear systems to India, the Middle East and perhaps other countries. Continue reading →

July 16, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, spinbuster | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin | Leave a comment

South Korea wants nuclear reprocessing and uranium enrichment

the South Korean government also wants to acquire a uranium enrichment capacity to make the traditional fuel for reactors — another activity banned by the 1974 accord because enriched uranium can also be used for weapons………. South Korea’s ambition is tied to its drive to become a major exporter of nuclear reactors.

U.S. Wary of South Korea’s Plan to Reuse Nuclear Fuel, By CHOE SANG-HUN New York Times, July 13, 2010 “……another nuclear dispute is emerging on the Korean Peninsula — this one between the United States and South Korea. South Korea, which has no oil reserves, derives 40 percent of its electricity from nuclear reactors and is running out of space to store the highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel. Continue reading →

July 15, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics international, South Korea | antinuclear, enriched, fast breeder, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, plutonium, radiation, radioactive, reactors, reprocessing, uranium | Leave a comment

65 years of lies and cover-up about nuclear bomb and radioactivity

When reports of thousands in Hiroshima and Nagasaki afflicted with a strange and horrible new disease emerged, General Groves, at first, called it all a “hoax” and “propaganda” and speculated that the Japanese had different “blood.”

Secrecy, Cover-ups & Deadly Radiation: On the Birth of the Nuclear Age 65 Years Ago The Nation, Greg Mitchell J uly 14, 2010 While most people trace the dawn of the nuclear era to August 6, 1945, and the dropping of the atomic bomb over the center of Hiroshima, it really began three weeks earlier, in the desert near Alamogordo, New Mexico, with the top-secret Trinity test. Its sixty-fifth anniversary will be marked—or mourned, if you will—this Friday, July 16. . Continue reading →

July 15, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, radiation, reactors | Leave a comment

UK’s Trident nuclear weapons – expensive, unnecessary

“Describing this as a ‘value for money’ review is nonsense – the fundamental question is whether Britain needs a cold war weapons system decades after that conflict ended.

(UK) Nuclear weapon review ‘nonsense’ Morning Star, 14 July 2010, by Will Stone Anti Nuclear campaigners have branded the government’s proposed “value-for-money” review of the multibillion-pound renewal of Trident as nonsense. Continue reading →

July 15, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | UK, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Pyroprocessed plutonium could quickly become nuclear weapon

a country with South Korea’s nuclear expertise could quickly turn pyroprocessed plutonium into weapons

U.S. Wary of South Korea’s Plan to Reuse Nuclear Fuel, By CHOE SANG-HUN New York Times, July 13, 2010 “……..South Korean engineers are championing a new technology called pyroprocessing, which the Bush administration endorsed. They call it “proliferation-resistant” because the plutonium produced through pyroprocessing is not pure and cannot be used directly for nuclear weapons.
Skeptics say the technology is far more dangerous than leaving the spent fuel intact in storage because a country with South Korea’s nuclear expertise could quickly turn pyroprocessed plutonium into weapons-usable material should it decide to break out of the nonproliferation treaty…….
Washington is wary of South Korea’s motives. Seoul embarked on its short-lived nuclear arms program in the early 1970s when President Richard M. Nixon reduced the number of American troops in South Korea to 40,000 from 60,000. In 2004, South Korea revealed to the International Atomic Energy Agency that its scientists had dabbled in reprocessing and enrichment without first informing the agency. U.S. Wary of South Korea’s Plan to Reuse Nuclear Fuel – NYTimes.com

July 15, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | South Korea, technology | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, plutonium | Leave a comment

Vermont Yankee nuclear plant’s history of leaks and deception

In May, plant officials revealed that in cleaning up the tritium leak, they found strontium-90, which is a more potent radioactive isotope, in soil near where the leak occurred. Strontium-90 is a byproduct of nuclear fission that has been linked to cancer and leukemia……

Foes tell nuclear regulator to shutter Vt. plant, Google hosted news, By JOHN CURRAN (AP) – 15 July 2010, BRATTLEBORO, Vt. — Venturing into unfriendly territory, the chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission sat down Wednesday with representatives of seven anti-nuke groups who say the agency has fallen down on the job in keeping tabs on the problem-plagued Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. Continue reading →

July 15, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

St Lawrence Seaway at risk from shipment of old nuclear reactors

the idea of having nuclear waste traveling on Lake Huron, through the Welland Canal and the St. Lawrence Seaway is raising concerns among the region’s environmental groups……..

Nuclear waste worries groups, SEAWAY CARGO: Canadian plant awaits OK for its shipping plan, Watertown Daily Times By JAEGUN LEE, JULY 14, 2010, Continue reading →

July 15, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear decommissioning, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Nuclear co-operation deal USA and Australia

(Does the Australian public know anything about this?)

If not opposed by a joint resolution of disapproval or other legislation, then the agreement will be considered approved at the end of this time period.

U.S.-Australia Civilian Nuclear Cooperation: Issues for Congress, East Asia: , 14 July 2010, Mary Beth Nikitin, Bruce Vaughn Continue reading →

July 15, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, uranium | Leave a comment

British govt sent compensation to Australia, but not to British nuclear veterans

Veterans are betrayed by double standards, This Is Derbyshire, 14 July 2010, A document discreetly entitled The Australian Treaty Series 1993 No.40 hides a huge untold human story of military service, international diplomacy and, some say, betrayal. Continue reading →

July 15, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, cancer, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Uranium mining executive boasted on political upheaval in Australia

‘Policymakers around the world can learn a lesson when considering new taxes to plug a revenue gap or play to local politics,” he said.

Indeed they can, particularly if they note the ousting of a sitting prime minister by his own party.

Big-talking giants may come down with a thud, Sydney Morning Herald, Ian Verrender, July 13, 2010 If the European Union had reservations about the iron ore tie-up between the mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, it no doubt would have been stunned by Tom Albanese’s extraordinary remarks in London last week…….. Continue reading →

July 14, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, politics | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, uranium | Leave a comment

China quietly investing in USA enriched uranium company USEC

Fuel Maker for Reactors Has China as Investor – NYTimes.com, Matthew Wald, June 2010, A Hong Kong company that is partly owned by the Chinese government has quietly purchased a 5.1 percent stake in the only American-owned provider of enriched uranium for use in civilian nuclear reactors, Continue reading →

July 14, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics international, USA | antinuclear, enriched, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, reactors, uranium | 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

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

Ever more radioactive – they don’t know what to do with Depleted Uranium

Depleted uranium, unlike other forms of nuclear waste, grows more dangerous as it ages, making storage difficult.

DOE seeks home for depleted uranium, SALT LAKE CITY, July 9 (UPI) — The U.S. government is looking for even a temporary storage site for 10,000 drums of depleted uranium from a South Carolina nuclear plant, Utah officials said.The waste was supposed to have been stored permanently in Utah by EnergySolutions Inc. But the state intervened as the first shipment arrived, seeking more information from the Salt Lake City company and a review of the site………

Depleted uranium, unlike other forms of nuclear waste, grows more dangerous as it ages, making storage difficult.

The first shipment from the Savannah River site, 5,400 barrels, is now in an EnergySolutions storage cell in Utah. The rest is still in South Carolina.….DOE seeks home for depleted uranium – UPI.com

July 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, depleted, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

The movement for a Nuclear Free Pacific

VIDEO NZ On Screen – A Nuclear Free Pacific (Niuklia Fri Pasifik) , 10 July 2010, This documentary travels to nine Pacific nations, including New Zealand, to chronicle the long struggle to create a regional nuclear arms free zone. Interviews with politicians, activists, radiation victims and American and French admirals are counterpointed. When hopes of a treaty are dashed at a South Pacific Forum meet, it is pointed out that the David Lange-trumpeted independence of NZ’s nuclear free policy is evidently “not for export”. Local music scores the doco, including Australia’s Midnight Oil, whose lead singer (future MP Peter Garrett) is interviewed.