nuclear spin « nuclear-news

Russia did not use nuclear explosions to fix oil leaks

all these Soviet nuclear blasts were on land and did not involve oil. Eventually, both superpowers gave up trying to use nukes for peaceful purposes, and one of the reasons was the environmental hazards.

Just Because Someone Else Did It, Doesn’t Mean It’ll Work As the New York Times pointed out, the whole idea came from something the Russians tried back in the 1960s to stop a natural gas fire. Historian and nuclear non-proliferation expert David E. Hoffman tears down the idea that “if it worked for them it’ll work for us”: But didn’t the Soviet Union once use nukes for this? Not exactly. Continue reading →

June 7, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Russia, safety | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Nuclear waste disputes go on; no end in sight

Nuclear waste wars BlueNC by James on Wed, 06/02/2010 It’s depressing to think how much money and time has gone into this bizarre lawsuit over North Carolina’s participation in an agreement to store low level nuclear waste. The U.S. Supreme Court handed North Carolina a victory Tuesday in an epic, decades-long legal battle with other states over plans for a low-level nuclear disposal site that would have been in Wake County. From reading the story, it’s hard to imagine the suit might have turned out any other way. When other states broke their funding commitments, the contract should have been – and was – voided. And while there’s relief that the lawsuit is settled, the looming problem of dealing with nuclear waste remains unaddressed. We keep making the stuff, without the slightest idea of what to do with it.North Carolina may have won this battle over nuclear waste, but the end of the war is nowhere in sight.

Nuclear waste wars | BlueNC

June 7, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes | Leave a comment

Radioactive wastes are produced at all stages of the nuclear fuel cycle

The NUCLEAR INDUSTRY and the GLOBAL NUCLEAR WASTE PROBLEM – our theme for June 2010

June 6, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Nuclear bomb to solve oil spill crisis – a crazy idea, says USA

Nuclear Option on Gulf Oil Spill? No Way, U.S. Says, NYTimes.com, By WILLIAM J. BROAD : June 2, 2010 The chatter began weeks ago as armchair engineers brainstormed for ways to stop the torrent of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico: What about nuking the well?…. Stephanie Mueller, a spokeswoman for the Energy Department, said that neither Energy Secretary, Steven Chu nor anyone else was thinking about a nuclear blast under the gulf. The nuclear option was not — and never had been — on the table, federal officials said. “It’s crazy,” one senior official said.

Government and private nuclear experts agreed that using a nuclear bomb would be not only risky technically, with unknown and possibly disastrous consequences from radiation, but also unwise geopolitically — it would violate arms treaties that the United States has signed and championed over the decades and do so at a time when President Obama is pushing for global nuclear disarmament.Nuclear Option on Gulf Oil Spill? No Way, U.S. Says – NYTimes.com

June 6, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

At least the USA TALKS about nuclear wastes!

Christina Macpherson's websites & blogs

This website might well give the impression that it is anti-American, anti-British etc, – especially on the subject of nuclear wastes.

But – spare a thought for those two countries. At least the nuclear waste subject is RAISED there. (That’s how we can publish it)

Very hard to get a few lines about Russia’s nuclear wastes.

As for China, France and also a few other countries (India, Korea, European states , Israel...) – well there’s nary a word about their nuclear wastes! What do they do with radioactive wastes? It’s a worry. And it seems to me to be complete lunacy for countries like Australia to piously claim safety policy, while selling uranium to such countries.

June 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear renaissance, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, reactors | Leave a comment

Britain faces ever-increasing debt with nuclear wastes

Chris Huhne warns of £4bn black hole in nuclear power budget, guardian.co.uk, Patrick Wintour, 1 June 2010 Energy secretary blames predecessors for avoiding tough decisions in ‘classic example of short-termism’ Chris Huhne, the new energy secretary, said: ‘What we are effectively paying for here is decades of cheap nuclear electricity.’
Britain is facing a £4bn black hole in unavoidable nuclear decommissioning and waste costs, Chris Huhne, the energy and climate change secretary disclosed tonight. Continue reading →

June 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | UK, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, radioactive, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Dirty deals between Areva and Siemens nuclear power companies?

EU probes Siemens, Areva nuclear deal, KansasCity.com, 2 June 2010, The Associated Press European Union regulators said Wednesday that they are investigating nuclear power non-compete deals between France’s Areva SA and Germany’s Siemens AG after Areva took over their joint venture. Continue reading →

June 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | EUROPE, secrets,lies and civil liberties | antinuclear, AREVA, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Highly radioactive wastes from “next generation” nuclear reactors

waste from the next generation plants that use enriched uranium fuel would be two to 158 times more radioactive than waste from existing Canadian reactors….. unfairly paid for by taxpayers, ratepayers and future generations.”

Waste from proposed nuclear plants more radioactive: report The Vancouver Sun, By Mike Desouza, Canwest News Service May 31, 2010 The latest generation of proposed multi-billion dollar Canadian nuclear plants could be up to 158 times more hazardous than their predecessors, opening the door to massive cost overruns and possibly forcing taxpayers to pick up the tab, warns a report to be released today……….. Continue reading →

June 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, wastes | antinuclear, enriched, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Britain’s clean energy cut, as nuclear costs spiral out of control

will see it reduce spending on support for genuinely clean energy projects.

Nuclear costs spiral as clean energy budgets face axe, Left Foot Forward, 2 June 2010, Once again, evidence is mounting that the cost to Britain of nuclear power is spiralling. The new energy secretary, Chris Huhne, has briefed The Guardian this morning that he has inherited a “£4 billion black hole in unavoidable nuclear decommissioning and waste costs”. Continue reading →

June 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radioactive, reactors, renewable energy, uranium | Leave a comment

No solution to ever-growing nuclear wastes

the intractability of the nuclear-waste problem confronting the power sector and the failure of policymakers to find a permanent solution.……the president and the energy secretary are looking to a new blue ribbon commission to recommend “a safe, long-term solution” to the waste problem

Solutions Remain Few on Issue of Nuclear- Waste Storage – Atomic Waste Gets ‘Temporary’ Home, WSJ.com, JUNE 1, 2010 By REBECCA SMITH Three months after the U.S. cancelled a plan to build a vast nuclear-waste repository in Nevada, the country’s ad hoc atomic-storage policy is becoming clear in places like Wiscasset, Maine. Continue reading →

June 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, radiation, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Terrorists seeking nuclear materials in Russia

Terrorists still trying to access nuclear materials in Russia and former-Soviet republics: Russia by : RIA Novosti , June 02 2010 PoliJAM, Terrorists have not given up their attempts to access nuclear materials in Russia and former-Soviet republics, the head of the Russian Federal Security Service said on Wednesday.

“We have information that terrorists are continuing their attempts to access nuclear materials, as well as biological and chemical components,” Alexander Bortnikov said at a news conference after a meeting of the heads of security services from the member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Breaking News, Politics, US and World News, and Entertainment – The PoliJAM Times

June 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Russia, safety | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear renaissance, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radioactive | Leave a comment

U.S. govt in legal trouble over nuclear wastes

Solutions Remain Few on Issue of Nuclear- Waste Storage WSJ.com, JUNE 1, 2010 By REBECCA SMITH “……….Utilities have filed more than 70 lawsuits against the government accusing it of breach of contract because it hasn’t taken the waste. So far, $1.3 billion has been paid out. The Department of Justice estimates the liability will top $12 billion if a waste facility is not opened by 2020…….utilities continue to contribute $770 million a year to a Nuclear Waste Fund to pay for a permanent repository that now isn’t even on the drawing board.In April, a group of utilities sued the federal government, demanding that these storage fees be suspended. Ellen Ginsberg, general counsel of the Nuclear Energy Institute, a trade group, says, “We don’t want to pay any more fees until the government has a waste plan.”

Solutions Remain Few on Issue of Nuclear- Waste Storage – WSJ.com

June 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radioactive, reactors | Leave a comment

Massive taxpayer payouts to UK nuclear executives

all the directors listed have since moved into other jobs in the nuclear industry.

Nuclear costs spiral as clean energy budgets face axe, Left Foot Forward, 2 June 2010, “…..there’s a need for an independent and open audit of NDA spending to examine the room for greater cuts there when you look at these examples of the organisation’s largesse:

* The ex-managing director of Sellafield, Barry Snelson, who ran the site on behalf of the NDA, was recently given a £2,000,000 golden adieu for “loss of office.”

* His colleague David Bonser, head of the thermal oxide reprocessing plant (THORP), was given a £1m pay off at the same time. He was in charge of the site, during the 2007 THORP leak that went unnoticed Continue reading →

June 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear spin | Leave a comment

Thousands of tons of nuclear wastes in above ground casks

– Atomic Waste Gets ‘Temporary’ Home, WSJ.com, JUNE 1, 2010 By REBECCA SMITH “……Power companies are likely to rely on casks even more in coming years. About 80% of reactor sites in the U.S. intend to move used fuel to casks because their storage pools are filling up.

So far, more than 800 casks have been filled and they sit tucked away behind fences on reactor sites. They hold 14,000 metric tons of waste, an amount that is steadily growing. There is an additional 49,000 metric tons being held in spent-fuel pools, used fuel’s first stop after it leaves reactors. Each year, another 2,000 metric tons of nuclear reactor waste is created. Continue reading →

June 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, radioactive, reactors | Leave a comment

Mordechai Vanunu, lonely anti nuclear whistleblower

Mr. Vanunu’s story is to be seen in the wider context of the secrecy that has surrounded Israel’s nuclear weapons programme and its western allies’ complicity.

Lonely battle of an Israeli whistle-blower, The Hindu, Hasan Suroor , June 1, 2010 Mordechai Vanunu’s case is as much about suppressing dissent by a supposedly democratic state as it is a demonstration of western double standards.

Had Mordechai Vanunu been, say, an Iranian or a Russian whistle-blower and facing persecution at home, he would have been assured of a prominent place in the western pantheon of heroes. But he is an Israeli dissident and Israel’s friends in the West have no time for him. Continue reading →

June 2, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Israel | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons | 1 Comment