nuclear secrecy « nuclear-news

Big anti-nuclear protest blocks UK nuclear site

800 peaceful protestors block gates to Aldermaston nuclear site | Ekklesia 15 Feb 2010
Around 800 nonviolent protesters have succeeded in blocking access to the majority of gates at the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire. Faith groups are playing a major role in the protests, which began at 7.00am this morning. Continue reading →

February 16, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Toxic financial loans to nuclear industry

Nuclear power, strike 2 MNN – Mother Nature Network Karl Burkart 15 Feb 2010 Even Wall Street won’t touch nuclear because it is too financially risky. At least 1 out of 2 nuclear plants will fail, leaving taxpayers with the burden of debt.Sun, Feb 14 2010 Continue reading →

February 16, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin | Leave a comment

Nuclear energy – financially, it’s a corporate killer

”the risks faced by developers à are so large and variable that individually they could each bring even the largest utility company to its knees financially.”

ENERGY: Nuclear Does Not Make Economic Sense Say Studies Australia.to 14 February 2010 by Julio Godoy

BERLIN, (IPS) – The enormous technical and financial risks involved in the construction and operation of new nuclear power plants make them prohibitive for private investors, rebutting the thesis of a renaissance in nuclear energy, say several independent European studies. Continue reading →

February 15, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, business and costs | antinuclear, AREVA, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin | Leave a comment

Is AREVA losing faith in the ‘nuclear renaissance’ ?

Areva Switching From Nuclear Power To Solar ? The Oil Drum by Big Gav February 14, 2010

French energy company Areva (best known for its nuclear power business) has purchased solar thermal power company Ausra – yet another example of a promising Australian technology company ending up with foreign ownership.

One possible positive interpretation of the news is that Areva are losing faith in the oft-predicted but unrealised “nuclear renaissance” and now see the real future growth opportunities in large scale solar power, with nuclear power (at best) a legacy business……………. Continue reading →

February 15, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, climate change, France | antinuclear, AREVA, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, renewable energy, renewables, solar | Leave a comment

Iraq veterans should be tested for radiation poisoning

Use blood tests to check Iraq war vets for radiation poisoning cleveland.com By Anthony Weishar February 11, 2010, How long will the media continue to censor reports on radiation and toxins in Iraq? The Radiation and Protection Center in Iraq released a report on Jan. 23 identifying 42 severely contaminated sites and cities.

Many Iraq war veterans have radioactivity in their systems. The Department of Veterans Affairs refuses to use blood tests to check for radiation poisoning. The urine tests work only within 30 days of exposure — about the time soldiers sit in a safe site waiting to go home. The Radiation Center in Baghdad uses blood tests to determine exposure levels in Iraqis.

When are the Pentagon, the president and Congress going to take care of those who served?

Anthony Weishar Fairview Park

Use blood tests to check Iraq war vets for radiation poisoning | Letters Unlimited – cleveland.com

February 15, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | depleted uranium, USA | antinuclear, cancer, depleted, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Columbia River endangered by radioactive nuclear waste

Analysis warns Hanford cleanup would take decades washingtonpost.com The Associated Press
February 10, 2010;
PORTLAND, Ore. — A federal proposal for cleaning up the nation’s most contaminated nuclear site says radioactive contaminants from the sprawling Hanford nuclear reservation could threaten the Columbia River for thousands of years. Continue reading →

February 15, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, water | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radioactive, wastes | Leave a comment

Canadian govt sort of abandoning nuclear industry

Nuclear industry left hanging, Tim Hudak says Dalton McGuinty Liberals still debating whether to build another plant

Rob Ferguson Queen’s Park Bureau With files from Tanya Talaga thestar.com 10 Feb 2010
The McGuinty government is leaving Ontario’s nuclear industry “drifting in the wind” after handing foreign-based Samsung a $7 billion deal to develop green power, Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak charges. Continue reading →

February 15, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, politics | cancer, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, renewable energy, renewables | Leave a comment

Damn Yankee’s Nuclear Power Plant!

by virtue of a long-standing agreement with Entergy, the Vermont Legislature can deny Yankee’s request for a 20-year extension…Indeed, a desperate national industry now pushing for massive federal subsidies to build new reactors may not survive a flood of elderly clunkers being forced to close by the weight of their own contamination…

Vermont’s radioactive nightmare FDL The Seminal Harvey Wasserman
February 10, 2010

Like a decayed flotilla of rickety steamers, at least 27 of America’s 104 aging atomic reactors are known to be leaking radioactive tritium, which is linked to cancer if inhaled or ingested through the throat or skin.

The fallout has been fiercest at Vermont Yankee, where a flood of cover-ups has infuriated and terrified near neighbors who say the reactor was never meant to operate more than 30 years, and must now shut. Continue reading →

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

Nuclear Regulatory Commission should not be run by nuclear lobbyists

NRC Needs Nuclear Power Regulators, Not Promoters – The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) , Ingrid Drake and Peter Stockton. Feb 08, 2010 It’s not often that POGO lobbies to defeat a presidential nominee. However, we have felt called to speak out as loud as we can in opposition to President Obama’s nomination of William Magwood for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on the grounds that he does not have the independence from the nuclear power industry to regulate it, nor the security oversight background. Along with two other of the President’s nominees to the NRC, Mr. Magwood will come before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee for a confirmation hearing tomorrow…………

As we have outlined in a previous blog post, POGO believes Mr. Magwood’s dozens of years promoting nuclear power make him unqualified to be a regulator of the industry.

There is also evidence that Mr. Magwood will not effectively address the security threats that are a major issue facing the NRC.
NRC Needs Nuclear Power Regulators, Not Promoters – The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) Blog

February 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | spinbuster, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

AREVA’s nuclear reactor safety features now too costly to compete with Korea’s nukes

It was speculated that those expensive features may have cost the company the UAE contract, and Areva has considered scaling back some of those additions for future designs.

Where Is Nuclear Power Really Heading?A Look at Obama’s Call for New Nuclear and the Reactors that Might Be Built by solveclimate Dave Levitan – Feb 5th, 2010

“…….The cost issues surrounding safety have already come up internationally. The United Arab Emirates awarded a high-profile contract for a new plant to a South Korean company late in 2009, after the French company Areva had been positioned as the front-runner.

The Areva EPR reactor has some advanced safety features including a “core catcher” room that could help prevent compromised nuclear fuel from escaping the reactor, as well as an enforced shell that could theoretically withstand an airplane impact. Continue reading →

February 6, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, France | antinuclear, AREVA, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, reactor, reactors | Leave a comment

U.S. Energy Department carefully helping private uranium producers

the additional government supplies in the market could have depressed prices, making it difficult for producers to expand operations……….

Energy Dept cancels surplus uranium transfers

By Tom Doggett

WASHINGTON, Feb 4 (Reuters) – The U.S. Energy Department has canceled plans to put into the market during 2011 extra government-owned surplus uranium supplies, Energy Secretary Steven Chu told Congress on Thursday, Continue reading →

February 6, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, uranium | Leave a comment

Protest growing against uranium storage plant at Aldermaston

(UK) Anti-nuclear protestors dressed as Romans visit council offices to object to proposed development at AWE Green Reading 5 Feb 2010 A Group of ‘Romans’ visited the West Berkshire Council offices bearing ‘gifts’ of radio-active waste. The Romans were, infact, members of the Nuclear Information Service (NIS), a pressure group, who are protesting against the latest development at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE). Continue reading →

February 6, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, UK | antinuclear, enriched, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Baltic sea: a Radioactive Nuclear Waste Dump?

Sweden wants explanation on Baltic nuclear ‘dumping’ By Damien McGuinness BBC News, Riga 5 Feb 2010
The Russian military allegedly dumped nuclear waste into the Baltic Sea in the early 1990s, according to a report on Swedish television. Continue reading →

February 6, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | EUROPE, secrets,lies and civil liberties | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, wastes | Leave a comment

Obama beholden to nuclear industry’s donations and backing?

Obama’s Nuclear Giveaway, Mother Jones 4 Feb 2010 By Kate Sheppard

“………..nuclear interests have been keen boosters of his political career: Executives and employees of Exelon, the Illinois-based utility that produces approximately 20 percent of the country’s nuclear power, donated nearly $210,000 to Obama’s presidential campaign, according to CQ Moneyline.

In fact, Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, helped broker the merger of two utiltilies to form Exelon in 2000 when working as an investment banker at Wasserstein Perella & Co. Obama’s chief political strategist, David Axelrod, consulted for an Exelon subsidiary periodically between 2002 until he started working on the Obama campaign. Exelon officials Frank M. Clark and John W. Rogers Jr. have been among his biggest fundraisers, and Obama has also received donations from John Rowe, Exelon’s chairman. Rowe also heads NEI, is a key player in a business-environmental coalition pushing for climate legislation, and has been selected to serve on the DOE’s panel on nuclear waste. Continue reading →

February 5, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | nuclear secrecy | Leave a comment

Cameco, Exelon, USEC, – Nuclear and Uranium Stocks are Losers

Top Nuclear Stocks Losers (NYSE: CCJ,EXC,USU) Trak In, Business and Finance News by EIN, 2010/02/05 Dallas, Tx – Cameco Corporation (USA) (NYSE:CCJ) went down 2.94% to $27.37 on 2.29 million shares. The stock hit an intraday high and an intraday low of $28.30 and $27.34 respectively. In the last six months the stock went down over 6%. Cameco Corporation is a Canada-based company. The Company, along with its subsidiaries, is engaged in the exploration, development, mining, refining, conversion and fabrication of uranium for sale as fuel for generating electricity in nuclear power reactors in Canada and other countries. Continue reading →