nuclear secrecy « nuclear-news

Nun amongst dozens arrested at anti nuclear protest

Sister Mary Dennis Lentch, a Catholic nun, has been arrested multiple times at the Oak Ridge facility. In her statement, she said, “I believe the continuing weapons production at the Y12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, is in direct violation of the treaty obligations of the United States and consequently, is a violation of Article 6 of the US Constitution.”

Y-12 protest nets dozens of arrests » Knoxville News Sentinel, OAK RIDGE , 5 July 2010, – Some three dozen peace activists and a counter-protester were arrested this morning at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant during a commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the initial “Plowshares” anti-nuclear weapons protest that took place Sept. 9, 1980………..It took officers who were out in force a while to arrest some of the protesters, one of whom was on crutches and presented a dilemma on how to be handcuffed. Continue reading →

July 6, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons | 1 Comment

U.S. Dept of Energy confident of preventing Yucca Mt nuclear waste dump

Nuclear Waste Repository Moving Ahead, Epoch Times, By Nicholas Zifcak, 1 July 2010, “…….The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board ruled against the Department of Energy ‘s (DOE) request to withdraw the application for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. The decision goes against the efforts of Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), and President Obama to prevent the facility from moving forward…

……..But the DOE is not ready to give up. In a statement responding to the decision the DOE said it is confident, “we have the legal authority to withdraw the application for the Yucca Mountain repository. We believe the administrative board’s decision is wrong and anticipate that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will reverse that decision.”

The American Nuclear Society and The National Resources Defense Council did not return requests for comment by press time.

Epoch Times – Nuclear Waste Repository Moving Ahead

July 5, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Cruel and unnecessary radiation experiments on monkeys

Dr. Marge Peppercorn, a retired pediatrician from Sudbury and a member of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, said the experiment, proposed by McLean researcher Dr. Jack Bergman, would yield little useful information and would cost $1.75 million. She said any information from the experiment would provide little evidence of the actual impact of space radiation on astronauts on a deep space mission.

Protesters at Belmont’s McLean Hospital call experiment animal cruelty – Belmont, MA – Belmont Citizen-Herald, By Christian Schiavone Belmont Citizen-Herald, Jun 10, 2010 Belmont, Mass. —About 50 demonstrators held signs outside McLean Hospital for more than an hour Thursday urging the hospital to cancel its plans to participate in an experiment to study the effects of radiation on monkeys… Continue reading →

July 5, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Religion and ethics, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy | Leave a comment

Petition to save squirrel monkeys from radiation experiments

NASA Plans to Expose Monkeys to Radiation – The Petition Site 2 July 2010 NASA has recently announced a shocking plan to spend $1.75 million of taxpayer money to fund an experiment in which up to 30 squirrel monkeys will be blasted with a massive dose of radiation equivalent to what a human would experience during three years in outer space. These monkeys will then live the rest of their lives in cages and be forced to endure years of behavioral tests to measure the inevitable devastation that the radiation causes to their brains and bodies, which would likely include brain damage, skin inflammation, blindness, various types of cancer, including brain tumors, and premature death.
PLEASE SIGN PETITION!

NASA Plans to Expose Monkeys to Radiation – The Petition Site

July 5, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Coastal nuclear plants endangered by sea level rise, and oil spills

the NUCLEAR INDUSTRY and CLIMATE CHANGE – our focus for July 2010

NUCLEAR POWER and SEA LEVEL RISE – All reactors on sea coasts endangered by sea level rise

They are also endangered by accidents such as OIL SPILLS, which can affect their cooling safety sytems

July 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | antinuclear, climate change, global warming, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, reactors, uranium, water | 1 Comment

USA taxpayers fund AREVA and other foreign nuclear companies

Groups: Foreign Companies, Workers Are Big Early Winners Under Federal Loan Guarantees For Nuclear Reactors Taxpayer-Backed Nuclear Loan Guarantees Make July 4th “Energy Non-Independence Day”; 2 of 3 Leading Loan Guarantees Candidates Have Major Foreign Ownership, Large Reactor Component Construction Jobs Are Overseas.WASHINGTON, July 1 USNewswire/ — The notion that taxpayer-backed loan guarantees for more nuclear power means energy independence in the United States is a hoax that could cost unwary U.S. taxpayers tens of billions of dollars while richly benefiting profitable foreign corporations and non-U.S. workers, according to a new report from the nonprofit Nuclear Information & Resource Service (NIRS). Continue reading →

July 2, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | antinuclear, AREVA, France, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, uranium | Leave a comment

Non existent nuclear security for USA’s railroads and coastlines

DHS Effort to Counter Nuclear Terrorism Leaves Huge Gaps, Expert Says | Security Debrief -1 July 2010, The Department of Homeland Security office responsible for protecting the nation against nuclear terrorism grew so distracted over efforts to develop next-generation radiation detectors that it failed to draft a strategic plan to coordinate interagency counterterrorism efforts, a government expert told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday.

The absence of a plan has led to a major security gap, Eugene E. Aloise, director of the GAO’s Natural Resources and Environment Division, said. Because it has focused on improving equipment to detect nuclear materials entering U.S. seaports and border stations, which already have monitors, the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) neglected to build capacity along international railroads and the coastline, where defenses don’t exist, he said.

DHS Effort to Counter Nuclear Terrorism Leaves Huge Gaps, Expert Says | Security Debrief – a blog of homeland security news and analysis

July 2, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Claim that Dubai ports used to smuggle nuclear equipment to Iran

Iran uses Dubai ports to smuggle nuclear equipment, Jewish News, Jul 01, 2010 According to the “Telegraph“, Hamad al-Kaabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, was quoted saying earlier today that “Security forces have interdicted scores of ships suspected of carrying illicit cargo and seized numerous sensitive shipments that could be used for the manufacture of weapons systems, including specialized aluminum sheets, titanium, high-speed computers and sophisticated machine tools.”Mr al-Kaabi added: “The UAE has implemented many notable United Nations security council resolutions. A lot of these have banned certain goods going to certain countries.” Additionally, at a meeting of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism in Abu Dhabi, a senior figure revealed the extent of the trade in weapons and “dual-use” goods. According to this source, officials have admitted that Dubai is being used by Iran as a transit point for smuggling both money and illegal goods….

Iran uses Dubai ports to smuggle nuclear equipment | World of Judaica

July 2, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | MIDDLE EAST, secrets,lies and civil liberties | AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons | 1 Comment

BP oil spill puts safety of nuclear plants at risk

A May 12 situation report from the Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability acknowledged the potential for problems.
“If water supply for these facilities becomes contaminated with oil, cooling water systems could be damaged,” it said.

Gulf Coast nuclear plants at risk from BP oil spill, FACING SOUTH, 1 July 2010, Watchdog groups are warning about the BP oil spill’s potential damage to Gulf and Atlantic coast nuclear power plants that use seawater to cool pumps and other safety equipment. Earlier this month, representatives of the nuclear watchdog groups Beyond Nuclear, Three Mile Island Alert and Unplug Salem wrote a letter to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission seeking details on oil plume monitoring efforts to guard against damage to plants’ safety systems. The letter was copied to the Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Continue reading →

July 1, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, radiation, radioactive, reactors | Leave a comment

Cracks at Texas nuclear waste site

No room for error at radioactive waste site Dallas Morning News, 1 july 2010 Cracked asphalt provides a stark reminder of the nonexistent margin for error at a controversial radioactive waste dump in West Texas. When state inspectors visited the site in Andrews County, they found cracks up to an inch wide in asphalt near canisters of radioactive material. While cracked asphalt is fairly inconsequential – and pretty much par for the course – when it comes to our city streets, it can be a dangerous proposition at a radioactive waste dump.

A spokesman for Dallas-based Waste Control Specialists, which operates the low-level radioactive waste site, dismissed the cracks as superficial and said they have been repaired. But as the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has noted, that asphalt pad is an important safeguard against ground contamination…..

Editorial: No room for error at radioactive waste site | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Opinion: Editorials

July 1, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radioactive | Leave a comment

Canada’s uranium likely to help India’s nuclear weapons

Worry grows over Sask. uranium exports, CBC News 1 july 20201, – Fears that Saskatchewan uranium may be used in weapons have been triggered by a newly signed export agreement with India.Prime Minister Stephen Harper signed a nuclear co-operation agreement on Sunday with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was in Toronto for the G20 summit. It allows for uranium exports to India and technological exchanges that could be worth billions to Canada’s nuclear industry.Ann Coxworth, of the Saskatchewan Environmental Society, said she fears the federal deal could make it possible for Saskatchewan’s uranium to end up in weapons.”We need to very seriously consider whether exporting uranium around the world is the kind of business that we should be in,” said Coxworth………..Coxworth said the environmental society is working to raise public awareness in hopes of stopping the India deal…..Canada stopped nuclear co-operation with India in 1974 after the government used plutonium from a Canadian reactor to build an atomic bomb. CBC News – Saskatchewan – Worry grows over Sask. uranium exports

July 1, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, politics international | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, uranium | Leave a comment

Climate Change is Real, but Nuclear Power is Not the Answer

Time is running out for the expensive, dangerous, dirty, nuclear power industry. The nuclear lobby’s desperate propaganda is that the industry is clean, and is a solution to global warming. That is a lie.

June 30, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | antinuclear, climate change, global warming, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, reactors, uranium | 1 Comment

Airport scanning radiation risk much worse than previously thought

(UK) Airport body scanners deliver radiation dose 20 times higher than first thought, warns expert Daily Mail 30th June 2010 Full body scanners at airports could increase your risk of skin cancer, experts warn…. scientists say radiation from the scanners has been underestimated and could be particularly risky for children. They say that the low level beam does deliver a small dose of radiation to the body but because the beam concentrates on the skin – one of the most radiation-sensitive organs of the human body – that dose may be up to 20 times higher than first estimated…..
The most likely risk from the airport scanners is a common type of skin cancer called basal cell carcinoma, …..Dr David Brenner, head of Columbia University’s centre for radiological research said: ‘There really is no other technology around where we’re planning to X-ray such an enormous number of individuals. It’s really unprecedented in the radiation world.’ Airport body scanners deliver radiation dose 20 times higher than first thought | Mail Online

June 30, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, UK | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, radioactive | Leave a comment

Uranium milling’s legacy of cancer

One family who left the area knows well the paradox uranium has brought to the region. They lived in Uravan in the 1960s and paid a tragic price for living in the old mill town. Three daughters died of cancer. The parents each have lost cancer-ridden body organs. They still have ties to the area and requested anonymity given the contentious nature of the uranium debate in the valley.

Is It Time to Restart the Uranium Industry in the U.S.? Scientific American By Nathan Rice and The Daily Climate June 29, 2010 A proposal to build the nation’s first uranium mill in 25 years has divided opinions Continue reading →

June 30, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, Uranium, USA | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Eight Big Questions about Nuclear Energy

Nuclear Power? 8 Questions Need to Be Answered, THE HUFFINGTON POST, by Brendan Smith 29 June 2010, Here are eight questions that we should answer before, not after, we head down the nuclear path:
1. Are nuclear hazards any different from other hazards we accept every day?…..The scale, deadliness, and unstoppability of radiation after leakage or an accident at a mine or power plant make nuclear energy unique. Dare we create an energy system where one mistake could turn an entire American region into another Chernobyl? Continue reading →