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The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope

Stuxnet computer worm was designed to disable nuclear plant

it’s more likely that the target in Iran was a nuclear facility in Natanz…..The new information released by Symantec last week supports this speculation…..

Clues Suggest Stuxnet Virus Was Built for Subtle Nuclear Sabotage , Wired.com,  By Kim Zetter   November 15, 2010 New and important evidence found in the sophisticated “Stuxnet” malware targeting industrial control systems provides strong hints that the code was designed to sabotage nuclear plants, Continue reading

November 17, 2010 Posted by | Iran, secrets,lies and civil liberties | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Vermont nuclear reactor ready to be dead and buried

“Vermonters no longer trust that Vermont Yankee can operate safely, without accident or radioactive releases to the groundwater,” ……“Entergy needs to stop putting their profits ahead of the safety of New Englanders, and shut down Vermont Yankee as scheduled.”

Nuclear Reactor in Vermont Needs to be Shut Down, Greenpeace on the Case – Planetsave.com 16 Nov 10, An old nuclear reactor in Vermont, the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station, has had a number of problems lately and Greenpeace has taken notice. “ The 38-year-old reactor has a history of contamination issues, including a recent leak of radioactive water,” Becky Striepe of our sister site Ecoscraps writes. Continue reading

November 17, 2010 Posted by | decommission reactor, USA | , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

India joins nuclear cartels, but controlled by USA

India’s admission to the four cartels—Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), Australia Group and Wassenaar Arrangement—is expected to be a lengthy process, dependent on building consensus and the “evolution” of new “membership criteria”. More importantly, these cartels are aimed at controlling technologies, not sharing them.

Controlling technology flows – Views – livemint.com,Brahma Chellane, 15 Nov 10, “….The Obama administration actually has initiated a broader export-control review with the aim of spurring US economic growth through stepped-up technology exports to all emerging economies, not just to India. Continue reading

November 17, 2010 Posted by | India, politics international | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Scottish beach still radioactive after 60 years

23 drums of radioactive waste have been removed. Two years ago SEPA said particles found on the beach could give a child a potentially lethal dose of radiation and suggested partially covering the “hot spot” in concrete……Experts admit the particles could kill if they found their way inside the body.

Families allowed on Fife beach awash with radiation « Deadline Press & Picture Agency, Amanda MacMillan, 15 Nov 10, THE clean-up of a Fife beach has been halted putting families at risk of potentially lethal radiation. Continue reading

November 15, 2010 Posted by | environment, UK | , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

BHP Billiton uranium company to be questioned over radioactive waste dumping plans

BHP Billiton boss faces a grilling  (at its Annual General meeting, Perth Australia, 16 Nov) Sydney Morning Herald, Mathew MurphyNovember 15, 2010 “……The Australian Conservation Foundation is also expected to attack BHP over its $20 billion expansion plans for Olympic Dam, the world’s largest uranium deposit.ACF nuclear free campaigner David Noonan said the group will ask the BHP board if the new open-pit mine is only considered economic because it is designed to leak up to 8 million litres of radioactive waste a day.

”This company plans to dump rather than to dispose of their radioactive wastes, and do not intend to rehabilitate the proposed open pit, intending instead to leave a toxic lake as a permanent scar on the landscape,” he said. …..BHP boss faces a grilling

November 15, 2010 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, wastes | , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Egypt’s anger over IAEA claims of Egypt’s enriched uranium

Egypt denies discovery by IAEA of enriched uranium at nuclear facility,  Today’s News from Egypt, Hisham Omar Abdel HalimSun, 14/11/2010 Egypt on Sunday denied that the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had discovered traces of enriched uranium at an Egyptian nuclear facility. Continue reading

November 15, 2010 Posted by | Egypt, politics international, Uranium | , , , | Leave a comment

Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) – a reminder of how close we came to WW3

40-year Cold War, during which each side produced enough nuclear weapons to end life, as we know it, on this planet. No other incident during that insane time provided such stark reality to this fact than the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Close out the nuclear era Bennington Banner 11/11/2010 When the Senate returns in session following the November election break, it is expected to act on the ratification of a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START. The new treaty, signed by President Obama as an agreement subject to Senate ratification, and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, on April 8, commits both the Russian Federation and the United States, to reduce their stockpiles of strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550 and restrict delivery vehicles to 800 by the year 2020. Continue reading

November 12, 2010 Posted by | history, USA | , , , | 1 Comment

Four priniciples to deal with nuclear radioactive wastes

our position can be summarized by four clear principles:
*No reprocessing of radioactive waste

*Isolation from the biosphere for as long as it remains a hazard

*Hardening and improved monitoring of the waste where it is currently stored

*Stop Making Radioactive Waste!


Sign the Petition: Principles for Radioactive Waste Policy, Nuclear Information and Resource Service, November 10, 2010 In light of its decision to end the failed and scientifically-indefensible Yucca Mountain, Nevada radioactive waste dump, the Obama Administration has established the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future (BRC) to re-evaluate radioactive waste policy. Continue reading

November 11, 2010 Posted by | USA, wastes | , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Hillary Clinton in Australia faced no hard nuclear questions from a self-censored forum

Here, then, are the questions that weren’t asked of Hillary Clinton, but at least a couple of which should have been: lf the primary justification is ”regional security”, why should Australia agree to even greater military ties with the US when it will make us more of a potential target for terrorism?

Questions Hillary wasn’t asked on her date with Australia, Sydney Morning Herald, Hamish FordNovember 10, 2010 – “………Even closer military and political ties mark the latest hotting up of an old but seriously unequal love story….

..Throughout, no one challenged Clinton on the purpose or impact of her nation’s  unprecedented global power. It beggars belief that your average room of youngish university folk wouldn’t contain at least some who were capable and willing of sterner stuff…. Continue reading

November 10, 2010 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, spinbuster | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hanford’s super hot radioactive waste needs a robot for cleanup

The Tank C-107 holds 247,000 gallons of radioactive and chemical sludge

Robotic arm to clean out Hanford waste tank,  Seattle Times Newspaper, 9 Nov 10, Workers at the Hanford nuclear reservation are cutting a bigger hole in a high-level radioactive waste tank so a robotic arm can be inserted for cleanup work Continue reading

November 10, 2010 Posted by | USA, wastes | , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Germans’ anti-nuclear message reverberates around the world

The anti-CASTOR protestors are sending a clear and strong message to the German government, the nuclear industry, and the world – that nuclear energy is not an option.  The dangers associated with this costly and unnecessary energy source are nowhere better illustrated than with the CASTOR nuclear transport itself…

Raw power of peaceful protest: 10,000 people take direct action against nuclear transport | Greenpeace International by Laura K. – November 8, 2010 From Australia to Canada, from India to the UK – the world is watching the ongoing protest of the CASTOR nuclear transport in Germany. Continue reading

November 10, 2010 Posted by | general | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Highly Enriched Uranium – so easy to make an atom bomb

Since the end of the Cold War the International Atomic Energy Authority, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, has logged 800 incidents of radioactive material going missing or being seized by smugglers.

Mission to stop nuclear terrorism, Telegraph A multi-million dollar US programme is attempting to make safe the world’s bomb-grade uranium before terrorists can get to it. By Nick Meo in Warsaw  11 Oct 2010 “…..Intelligence agencies will not reveal their reasons for being so frightened now about what for years seemed a remote and unlikely risk. But it may be because of the deeply troubling cases of smuggling that surface from time to time in Eastern Europe, hinting at the existence of a nuclear black market. Continue reading

November 9, 2010 Posted by | 2 WORLD, safety, Uranium | , , , , | Leave a comment

Obama’s nuclear concessions to India, despite India not joining Nuclear non Proliferation Treaty

Both the Missile Technology Control Regime and the nuclear exporters group mandate that nations seeking membership join the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. India has not done so

Obama Eases Nuclear Export Controls on India, Washington and New Delhi also inked a memorandum of understanding that outlines areas the United States can collaborate with India as the South Asian state establishes the Global Center for Nuclear Energy Partnership, the White House announced, Global Security Newswire,  Nov. 8, 2010 President Obama on Saturday declared the United States would ease some controls on high-tech trade with nuclear-armed India, restrictions originally put in place in response to the South Asian nation’s 1998 nuclear tests, Continue reading

November 9, 2010 Posted by | India, politics international, USA | , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

17,000 police can’t get nuclear waste train through German protest

Police used tear gas, baton charges, horses, water cannon, pepper spray and human brute force but wave after wave of protesters continued to swarm on the last stretch of track before the city of Dannenberg.

Fierce battles as nuclear ‘train of death’ held up in GermanyA nuclear waste train inching through Germany was unlikely to reach its destination until Monday after massive protests along every foot of railway line. Telegraph By Allan Hall in Berlin 07 Nov 2010 “….The security operation to ensure the cargo of reprocessed fuel from nuclear power stations in Germany reaches its destination is one of the biggest ever mounted with 17,000 police officers on duty. Continue reading

November 8, 2010 Posted by | Germany, opposition to nuclear | , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Nuclear waste must not be exported to other countries: EU

to put a stop to the current practice where EU member states, which do not want to store spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste on their territory, can pay countries outside the bloc to do the job for them…….The facilities would have to deal with material that can stay radioactive for up to one million years.

EU: Nuclear waste cannot be outsourced,  New Europe, 7 November 2010 The European Commission on 3 November unveiled new proposals, stating that EU governments will be banned from offloading their nuclear waste onto third countries. Continue reading

November 8, 2010 Posted by | EUROPE, wastes | , , , , | Leave a comment