nuclear secrecy « nuclear-news

Nuclear Regulatory Commission asleep at the wheel on safety

warning that lax oversight by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) of the nation’s aging 104 nuclear plants has led to near-meltdowns along with other health and safety failings since Three Mile Island – including what some critics say is a flawed federal health study apparently designed to conceal cancer risks near nuclear plants.

Meltdown, USA: Nuclear Drive Trumps Safety Risks and High Cost 06 January 2010 by: Art Levine, t r u t h o u t | News Analysis The pro-nuclear Department of Energy is set to offer this month the first of nearly $20 billion in loan guarantees to a nuclear industry that hasn’t built a plant since the 1970s or raised any money to do so in years. Continue reading →

January 7, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes | Leave a comment

Nuclear posturing by small states like North Korea

The Delicate Art of Nuclear Jujutsu University of North Carolina Press Shane J. Maddock, 7 Jan 2010 The second decade of the twenty-first century looms as the age of nuclear jujutsu. Second- and third-tier powers are increasingly poised to use small nuclear arsenals or the threat of nuclear weapons development to force larger powers to submit to their demands. Continue reading →

January 7, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, politics international | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Conflict of interest in radiation cancer studies

Meltdown, USA: Nuclear Drive Trumps Safety Risks and High Cost 06 January 2010 by: Art Levine, t r u t h o u t | News Analysis“………Because of questions about conflict of interest and research integrity, Beyond Nuclear, among others, is asking the NRC to take a hands-off position in commissioning a new academic study.

“The NRC receives about 90 percent of its funding from nuclear power reactor licensing fees,” said Cindy Folkers, radiation and health specialist with Beyond Nuclear. “As such, NRC clearly stands to gain from more reactor construction. Therefore, it should not be doing cancer studies or directly hiring people to conduct such studies. This is a flagrant conflict-of-interest and puts a scientifically rigorous, non-biased study at great risk

t r u t h o u t | Meltdown, USA: Nuclear Drive Trumps Safety Risks and High Cost

January 7, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, radioactive | Leave a comment

How much of Iran’s nuclear program is hidden in tunnels?

Iran hides nuclear secrets in web of tunnels The Australian January 07, 2010 ?WASHINGTON: Iran has hidden a large part of its atomic complex in networks of tunnels and bunkers across the country, shielding its infrastructure from military attack in warrens of dense rock while obscuring the scale of its nuclear effort, according to reports yesterday. Continue reading →

January 7, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Iran, secrets,lies and civil liberties | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

USA backs AREVA, while indigenous nuclear victims suffer

Meltdown, USA: Nuclear Drive Trumps Safety Risks and High Cost 06 January 2010 by: Art Levine, t r u t h o u t | News Analysis“………whether in Native-American reservations here or in Niger villages abroad, indigenous, impoverished people live near or work in uranium mines to supply nuclear plants, and suffer the consequences in cancers, birth defects and leukemia. Continue reading →

January 7, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | indigenous issues, Niger | antinuclear, AREVA, cancer, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

AREVA’s uranium mining caused radioactivity in Niger city

AREVA confirms Greenpeace’s alarming radiation findings in Niger – All Africa.com 5 January 2010 Following Greenpeace’s report of radioactive hotspots in the uranium mining city Akokan in Niger, AREVA has confirmed that the radioactivity in the streets of Akokan was unacceptably high. Under pressure from civil society the French nuclear company has taken action to clean up the spots indicated by Greenpeace. Continue reading →

January 6, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, Niger | antinuclear, AREVA, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, radioactive | Leave a comment

Story on Iran’s ‘nuclear trigger’ – a forgery

US. intelligence judges the “nuclear trigger” document to be a forgery,

IRAN: New Revelations Tear Holes in Nuclear Trigger Story truthout 05 January 2010 by: Gareth Porter | Inter Press Service Washington – New revelations about two documents leaked to The Times of London to show that Iran is working on a “nuclear trigger” mechanism have further undermined the credibility of the document the newspaper had presented as evidence of a continuing Iranian nuclear weapons programme. Continue reading →

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

Tax-payer must be liable for nuclear accidents

But why haven’t Russia or France demanded that such a law be passed in India? “In the US the equipment manufacturers are in the private sector whereas in other countries they are either government owned or act like one,” Kakodkar replied.

Nuclear liability limit needed to enter global trade: Kakodkar Little About, Chennai, Jan 5 : A law to limit the liability of nuclear equipment makers in case of accident is a basic need to enter global nuclear trade, the ex-head of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) has said, Continue reading →

January 6, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, India | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, radiation, radioactive, reactors | Leave a comment

Mystery of India’s fire deaths at nuclear centre

Mystery hangs over fire mishap at Indian nuclear centre at Trombay Bombay News.NetTuesday 5th January, 2010 ( : Sreekumar Banerjee, Director of Centre and Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) has said a panel of experts is still probing the cause of last week’s fire mishap in a chemical laboratory in the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) at Trombay in Mumbai in which two research students were burnt to death.

Mystery hangs over fire mishap at Indian nuclear centre at Trombay

January 6, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, safety | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy | Leave a comment

India’s nuclear safety is a myth

Myth of Indian nukes safety Pakistan Observer Mohammad Jamil 5 Jan 2010 There have been many accidents and thefts of uranium in India’s atomic research centres and other facilities giving rise to doubts about the security of Indian nukes. Risks related to India nuclear proliferation are many while their security arrangements are far from satisfactory. The world must take note of it before it is too late. On 29th December 2009, two research students died in the fire in laboratory of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) caused by an explosion, Continue reading →

January 6, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, safety | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin | Leave a comment

Lawsuit reveals nuclear plant’s poor safety record

In the hush-hush nuclear world, such insider details rarely, if ever, become public, but now a lawsuit has made public 2,000 pages of testimony…

‘That’s not OK in a nuclear plant’: Safety concerns at South Dade’s Turkey Point revealed The Palm Brach Post News. By John Dorschner, Jan. 4, 2010 Continue reading →

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

Bury depleted uranium first, check safety later?

Utah Burying Depleted Uranium Before Safety Review « Therearenosunglasses’s Weblog SALT LAKE CITY, Jan. 3 (UPI) — Three trainloads of depleted uranium will be buried at a storage site in Utah before experts complete a safety review concerning the issue, experts say. Continue reading →

January 5, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | antinuclear, depleted, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, uranium | Leave a comment

New uranium mining stalled at grand Canyon

Interior to halt uranium mining at Grand Canyon | Political blog January 4, 2010 Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will announce Monday that his department is temporarily barring the filing of new uranium mining claims on about 1 million acres near the Grand Canyon, an Obama administration official said. Continue reading →

January 5, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Showdown for Obama’s review of USA’s nuclear weapons

Obama presses review of nuclear strategy Pentagon is rethinking the unthinkable: Making major changes to Cold War arsenal Boston Globe By Bryan Bender January 3, 2 010

“……….. top US officials are now questioning why the United States still pursues a strategy based on the ability to annihilate its former foe. In a thorough review expected to be completed early this year, the size, structure, and even the very mission of America’s nuclear arsenal are being reconsidered as part of President Obama’s pledge to reduce the role of the world’s most deadly weapons. Continue reading →

January 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Collusion between government and nuclear industry

many companies anticipate decades of assured industrial growth (along with huge windfall profits from the sale of carbon entitlements). For the same reason, governments expect enormous increases in taxes and royalties. Combined, these normally divergent interests have melded into a single influential pro-nuclear constituency.

Canada’s dirty nuclear secret THE GLOBE AND MAIL , by Neil Reynolds 2 Jan 2010 With Atomic Accomplice: How Canada Deals in Deadly Deceit, Mr. McKay documents the official secrecy that has protected Canada’s nuclear industry from public scrutiny for two generations – and demonstrates why Canadian environmentalists have much more to worry about than global warming.It is a damning and alarming indictment – and thoroughly bipartisan, too. Continue reading →

January 2, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, secrets,lies and civil liberties | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes | Leave a comment