Can US taxpayers afford the nuclear industry?

Can We Afford More Subsidies for Nuclear Power? Common Dreams.org Union of Concerned Scientists WASHINGTON – October 20 – The Senate may finally start debating climate and energy legislation now that Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.) have introduced the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act. But the addition of a nuclear provision to the bill raises some questions. What will be the fate of the so-called nuclear power renaissance, and to what extent will taxpayers be asked to underwrite it?…………. Continue reading →

October 21, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, business and costs, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes | Leave a comment

WHAT Nuclear Power Renaissance?

Nuclear Power Renaissance? Thirty years after Three Mile Island, nuclear is still too risky. But now the risks have shifted from physical to financial. Technology Review Nov/Dec 2009 By Matthew L. Wald “………………the nuclear industry faces tremendous risks, though their nature has changed since 1979. As the possibility of an accident that panics or injures the neighbors has diminished, the likelihood has grown that even a properly functioning new reactor will be unable to pay for itself. Continue reading →

October 21, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, politics, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin | Leave a comment

Scandalous legacy of depleted uranium

America’s Poison Legacy Pacific Free Press by Dave Lindorff 19 October 2009 Depleted Uranium Weapons:

The Dead Babies in Iraq and Afghanistan Are No Joke The horrors of the US Agent Orange defoliation campaign in Vietnam, about which I wrote on Oct. 15, could ultimately be dwarfed by the horrors caused by the depleted uranium weapons which the US began using in the 1991 Gulf War (300 tons), and which it has used much more extensively–and in more urban, populated areas–in the Iraq War and the now intensifying Afghanistan War. Continue reading →

October 21, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, Afghanistan, Iraq, weapons and war | antinuclear, depleted, indigenous, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium, wastes | Leave a comment

UK: expensive problem of aging nuclear industry

Nuclear industry: Crumbling stores, leaky plants and the dangers of old age Guardian, by Terry Macalister 20 October 2009

Dealing with the problems of old age lies at the heart of the nuclear industry’s challenge to convince the public of its safety: leaky power plants, crumbling waste stores nearing the end of their lives and overworked inspectors who do not have the time to assess properly the next generation of power stations. Continue reading →

October 21, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, UK, wastes | antinuclear, AREVA, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Olkiluoto III nuclear plant delayed indefinitely

Date of completion for Olkiluoto III nuclear plant still anybody’s guess HELSINGIN SANOMAT 20 Oct 09
– “……….yet another delay in the construction of the third nuclear facility in the Olkiluoto site.
This latest announcement moves once again the completion date for the Olkiluoto III project to the unforeseen future. Continue reading →

October 20, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, business and costs, Finland | antinuclear, AREVA, EDF, France, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, radioactive | Leave a comment

Documentary exposes scandal of France’s nuclear waste

Unclean Energy Truth Out 10 October 2009by: | Libération “Waste, the Nuclear Nightmare,” a documentary by Eric Guéret and Laure Noualhat, produced by Arte France and Bonne pioche. Demain, 20h45, Arte. Continue reading →

October 20, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, France, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radioactive, wastes | Leave a comment

Dispelling the myth of uranium mining as “clean”

Uranium Mining and the Governor’s Race Appomattox News By Jack Dunavant 19 October 2009 The Richmond Times-Dispatch published a letter last month titled “Mined Uranium Is Harmless Mineral” written by William Schmidt a long-time power company employee. Continue reading →

October 20, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, Canada, spinbuster | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear spin, uranium | Leave a comment

Nuking Climate Change

Nuking Climate Change mother nature network, by Ken Edelstein Oct 19 2009 When people like John Kerry back nuclear subsidies, green activists find themselves in a difficult position…………………………In many ways, Kerry’s support for nuclear subsidies demonstrates just how desperately he and others view the prospect of climate change. It’s not that nuclear plants have become any safer. Continue reading →

October 19, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, climate change, USA | antinuclear, climate change, nuclear, nuclear spin | Leave a comment

India’s pursuit of nuclear – fraught with obstacles

India’s desperate pursuit of nuclear energy risky the New Nation, bangladesh, Savvy Soumya Misra October 19, 2009 Ever since the Indo-US nuclear deal signed in October last year lifted 34-year-old global sanctions that denied India access to the international atomic energy market, including uranium, Delhi has been on a shopping spree, buying nuclear fuel and reactors.India has signed civil nuclear agreements with France, USA, South Korea and Russia in the past 18 months………………… Continue reading →

October 19, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, business and costs, India | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Mainstream media and its pro-nuclear bias

An opinion poll, on Australian attitudes to “considering” nuclear power, resulted in so many headlines like the one below. But IS that what the poll found?

Australians Keen to Embrace Nuclear Power

(VOA News By Phil Mercer
Sydney
15 October 2009)

In fact the results went like this: Here is extract from Nielsen’s report:

Almost one in two voters (49%) said they supported the consideration of nuclear power while 43% were opposed. Six in ten (62%) of Green voters were opposed to nuclear power while 58% of Coalition voters were in favour.

“It is important to understand two things about this question. First, it was deliberately asked in the context of addressing climate change. Second, it asked whether voters felt the government should consider nuclear power, not introduce it. Even in this context, nuclear power failed to achieve support from a majority of voters and a significant minority (43%) remain opposed” said Nielsen Research Director, John Stirton.

October 16, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | spinbuster | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear spin | Leave a comment

Nuclear lobby looking to “modernising” old reactors, as AREVA’s new ones failing

SPIEGEL ONLINE By Dinah Deckstein, Frank Dohmen and Cordula Meyer Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan. 16 Oct 09

Modernization instead of new construction. Is the new strategy to launch a renaissance through the back door? At first, the chaos surrounding the Olkiluoto reactor reveals that the industry is by no means ready to build new power plants cheaply and safely in the Western world. Utilities, with their massive financial risks, can no longer support such mammoth projects — unless the government steps in. Continue reading →

October 16, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, business and costs | antinuclear, AREVA, EDF, France, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin | Leave a comment

Nuclear industry stalled in all safety-conscious countries

SPIEGEL ONLINE By Dinah Deckstein, Frank Dohmen and Cordula Meyer Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan. 15 Oct 09

Global Renaissance off to a Slow Start

The French state-owned company isn’t the only one having trouble building new nuclear power plants. Last year, for the first time since the beginning of the nuclear age, not a single new reactor went into service worldwide. Continue reading →

October 16, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, safety | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin | 1 Comment

US Climate Bill turning into a pro-nuclear excuse?

Nuking the Climate Bill

CounterPunch By HARVEY WASSERMAN 16 Oct 09

Is the Climate Bill morphing into an excuse to promote fossil fuels and new nuclear power plants?

Sen. John Kerry’s (D-MA) recent promotion of a pro-nuke/pro-drilling/pro-coal agenda in the name of Climate Protection has been highlighted in a New York Times op ed co-authored with Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC). The piece brands nuke power “our single largest contributor of emissions-free power.” Continue reading →

October 16, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, USA | antinuclear, climate change, Copenhagen, nuclear, nuclear spin | 1 Comment

“New generation” nuclear renaissance is just not happening

Problems Plague Launch of ‘Safer’ Next-Generation Reactors

SPIEGEL ONLINE By Dinah Deckstein, Frank Dohmen and Cordula Meyer Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan. 15 Oct 09

The executives of electric utilities worldwide are dreaming of a renaissance in nuclear power. But problems with a new, state-of-the-art reactor in Finland suggest that this is unlikely to happen. The industry’s alternative strategy is to modernize older plants to drastically extend reactor lifetimes. Continue reading →

October 16, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Finland | antinuclear, AREVA, EDF, France, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin | Leave a comment

Financial risk in Entergy’s nuclear plan

Greenpeace says beware of Enexus The Brattleboro Reformer By BOB AUDETTE 13 Oct 09 BRATTLEBORO — Despite the Department of Public Service’s assertion that recent concessions made by Entergy will benefit Vermont ratepayers, the company’s plan to spin off Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant into a new subsidiary is bad news for the Green Mountain State. Continue reading →

October 13, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, business and costs, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin | Leave a comment