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

Rush to market nuclear technology to India, despite its weapons record

“At a time when the international spotlight seems trained on North Korea and Iran, a growing tolerance for India’s belligerence in building its nuclear and missile capabilities appears to shield it from.. scrutiny.”…”. . . the nuclear deal is part of a broader set of [U.S.-Indian] agreements [which] US-based multinationals are . . . hoping to use . . . as a wedge to further open India to foreign investment and sales.”

Would You Trust a Country That Named Its First Nuke Test ‘Happy Buddha’?, Russ Wellen, June 28, 2010 “…………it’s the state with a reputation for being the most spiritual in the world since it’s the birthplace of both Hinduism and Buddhism — India, of course. Yet it (or its rulers and policymakers at the time) were seemingly out of touch with said spiritualism to such an extent that in 1974 they code-named India’s first nuclear test the Smiling Buddha. They even scheduled it for the day on which the Buddha’s birth is celebrated in India. This was only the start Continue reading

June 29, 2010 Posted by | India, politics international | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Nuclear company AREVA venturing into renewables

Christina Macpherson's websites & blogs

(Can we trust AREVA to really promote renewable energy? – Christina Macpherson)

Areva’s strength is nuclear power–it is the world’s biggest nuclear company–but it is venturing into other carbon-free generation technologies.

Solar Thermal or Solar Photovoltaic? Areva Says ‘Both!’  – Forbes.com, 26 June 2010, Anne Lauvergeon, chief executive of the French nuclear giant Areva, hinted last week during a meeting in Forbes offices that Areva is developing a hybrid solar power plant concept that combines a solar thermal system with solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. Continue reading

June 29, 2010 Posted by | France, spinbuster | , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

How can nuclear energy go ahead, with no waste disposal solution?

The Feds Must Address Nuclear Waste Storage Problem By STUART PRICE | TIMES-DISPATCH   June 27, 2010 Richmond, Va.

Last January, President Obama announced that the Department of Energy was creating a new group, the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future, to review the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle and challenge national practices in place for more than 50 years.

One of the commission’s opportunities will be to determine if spent nuclear fuel rod assemblies can be safely recycled, thereby reducing the final quantity of waste requiring disposal. The commission’s challenges will include defining permanent nuclear waste solutions and selecting final repository sites. In July 2010, a commission subcommittee on waste disposal will meet in Washington. The commission’s final report is expected in January 2012.

June 28, 2010 Posted by | USA, wastes | , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Nuclear, uranium, workers need health compensation

the health impacts on families of uranium workers and residents of uranium-development communities.


Senators want uranium compensation on fast track, GJSentinel.com, June 26, 2010 Colorado’s two U.S. senators are seeking a hearing on a bill that would expand the compensation program for the nation’s nuclear-weapons industry workers. Continue reading

June 28, 2010 Posted by | health, USA | , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Land grab from Australian Aboriginals for the nuclear industry

Uranium mining has to go, along with the racist government policies used to justify and continue the theft of Aboriginal land.

Youth candidates to witness NT intervention , Zane Alcorn, candidate for Newcastle , Green Left Weekly, 26 June 2010, We need to stand behind the first people of this country and fight for their land and cultural rights. The government’s so-called concern for Aboriginal welfare and living conditions is nothing but a cloak for a blatant land grab.

The uranium-rich land of central Australia is coveted by government and private mining corporations alike. Aboriginal land rights are a direct threat to this potential source of huge wealth. Continue reading

June 28, 2010 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, indigenous issues | , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Vietnam’s nuclear plans unlikely to succeed

A recent World Bank study found Vietnam could produce more than 500 gigawatts of electricity from land-based and off-shore wind farms, 10 times the country’s expected national demand in 2020.

Vietnam’s unnecessary nuclear ‘renaissance’ Greenpeace International, by jmckeati – June 23, 2010 The news just in from Vietnam is that Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved the construction of eight new nuclear power plants in the country. Each plant will feature ‘at least’ four reactors and all will be operational by 2030.

So, that’s ‘at least’ 32 reactors built within the next 20 years. Good luck with that, Mr Dung, because you’re really going to need it. Continue reading

June 28, 2010 Posted by | ASIA, business and costs | , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Nuclear resuscitation is struggling in France, Finland, England

Generation III nuclear reactors: late again, Greenpeace International, by jmckeati – June 25, 2010T he continuing and farcical story of the state of the art European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) being built by AREVA at Olkiluoto in Finland. The many, many diverse delays incompetence in the project have led to it being (at the time of writing) four years behind schedule and 2.3 billion euros over-budget. Continue reading

June 26, 2010 Posted by | 2 WORLD, business and costs | , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dangerous idea: Plutonium powered nuclear facilities planned for space

the Obama administration would turn to nuclear power in space — and on Earth.
We have been seeing — for two months now — the damage of technology run amok in the Gulf of Mexico. Consider the consequences of dangerous, expensive, unnecessary nuclear-powered technology running amok above our heads

Obama Seeks to Revive Space Nuclear Power, Karl Grossman, June 25, 2010 Despite its huge dangers, the Obama administration is seeking to revive the use of nuclear power in space. It wants the U.S. to produce the plutonium isotope that has been used for electric generation in space and is also looking to build nuclear-propelled rockets for missions to Mars.. Continue reading

June 26, 2010 Posted by | technology, USA | , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Not hard to get hold of Highly Enriched Uranium, especially in Russia

What’s It Take to Build a Nuclear Weapon? | TakePart by Adam Trunell, 25 June 2010, The Nuclear Material “………The most important ingredient in a nuclear bomb is the nuclear stuff itself, which is also the hardest to get. No way can you find nuclear material like plutonium or highly enriched uranium stockpiled in a tool shed behind some half-hearted padlock. Right? Wrong.

Every nuclear-powered nation on the planet has nuclear material, and not all of it’s under lock and key. Civilian stockpiles in Europe and Japan aren’t staffed by armed guards, nor are most nuclear research reactors on U.S. college campuses.But if you’re looking for a truly easy score, try Russia. Continue reading

June 26, 2010 Posted by | Russia, weapons and war | , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Nuclear Suppliers Group cartel in disarray over China and Pakistan

Nuclear meeting ends amid divisions over Pakistan, BBC News, 25 June 2010, -A meeting of countries exporting civil nuclear technology has ended with uncertainty about Chinese plans to sell two nuclear reactors to Pakistan.Such a deal would appear to be against the rules set by the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).But the group’s annual meeting, held in New Zealand, has revealed divisions in the international response……

BBC News – Nuclear meeting ends amid divisions over Pakistan

June 26, 2010 Posted by | 2 WORLD, politics international | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Australia’s Northern Territory asks new Prime Minister to stop nuclear waste dump plan

Former Prime Minister John Howard planned to build the dump on Muckaty Station, in Central Australia, because the Northern Territory did not have the constitutional strength to block the move.

Hendo urges Gillard to dump Muckaty, Northern Territory News, NICK CALACOURAS  June 26th, 2010 AUSTRALIA’S new Prime Minister Julia Gillard should rethink her predecessor’s decision to build a nuclear waste dump in the Northern Territory, Chief Minister Paul Henderson said. Continue reading

June 26, 2010 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, wastes | , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Cartel to promote nuclear power sales meets in New Zealand

Although the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG ) claims to serve the interests of the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, its consultations and decision- making are closed to 144 of the 190 states party to the treaty. It is not accountable to the decision-making organs of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Thrashing out nuclear deals a juggling act for New Zealand, Stuff.co.nz, By BOB RIGG   24/06 New Zealand has found itself between a rock and a hard place as it chairs a meeting trying to juggle competing superpower positions on who gets enriched uranium and nuclear technology that could encourage the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Continue reading

June 25, 2010 Posted by | 2 WORLD, politics international | , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Move to weaken U.S. nuclear security regulation, despite oil spill disaster

Certain nuclear energy supporters are trying to weaken regulation of new nuclear reactors in any proposed climate and energy or energy-only legislation.

Did the Nuclear Industry and Politicians Learn Anything from the BP Oil Spill? : CleanTechnica, by Zachary Strachan, 24 June 2010, A major factor causing the BP oil spill to be the disaster that it is turning out to be is deregulation of the oil industry. You would think that if people, especially politicians, learned one thing from this disaster, it would be that we need strong government oversight of risky technologies.It seems right now that some in the nuclear industry and Congress have missed that completely or just haven’t heard the news about the BP oil spill at all. Continue reading

June 25, 2010 Posted by | Canada, safety | , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Nuclear Suppliers’ Cartel anxious about Pakistan

Nuclear proliferation in South Asia The power of nightmares,  The Economist, 24 June 2010, China’s proposed sale of nuclear reactors to Pakistan will intensify nuclear rivalry with India. But the damage will go far wider Continue reading

June 25, 2010 Posted by | 2 WORLD, safety | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

British govt plays waiting game on compensation for nuclear test veterans

Nuclear test veteran fears he may not live to see final decision, Burton News & Staffordshire Newspaper by ROB SMYTH, 24 June 2010, A NUCLEAR test veteran has described how he believes his battle for compensation from the Government may not be won in his lifetime.Archie Ross, of Oak Close, Castle Gresley, made the claim as an appeal by the Ministry of Defence, against a decision to allow compensation for more than 1,000 servicemen, continues. Continue reading

June 25, 2010 Posted by | UK, weapons and war | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment