nuclear technology « nuclear-news

Radioactive impact of Chernobyl still affecting Europe

24 Years After Chernobyl, Radioactive Boars Still Roam Germany | Discover Magazine, 21 Aug 2010, A quarter-century after the catastrophe, Chernobyl can’t stay out of the news.When fires broke out in Russia this month, people worried that the flames would spread to areas still affected by the radiation, with unknown consequences. And this week, we learned that Chernobyl-related radiation is actually on the rise somewhere else: in German boars. Continue reading →

August 21, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Nuclear waste problem has not been solved

the problem of radioactive waste storage has not been solved. Today, some 60,000 tons of high-level waste has accumulated in the United States without a successful waste-disposal program.

U.S. Nuclear Waste Panel Slammed for Ignoring Public Fears, Environment News Service, WASHINGTON, DC, August 20, 2010 (ENS) – The Obama administration’s effort to fix the nation’s stalled nuclear waste program is focusing so much on technological issues that it fails to address the public mistrust hampering storage and disposal efforts, say 16 social science researchers from across the country. Continue reading →

August 21, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

AREVA postpones USA nuclear component making to unspecified date

Areva nuclear component manufacturing facility delayed to 2013, Washington (Platts) Steven Dolley, -20Aug 2010 Areva will delay until 2013 the start of manufacturing nuclear power reactor components at a facility being built in Virginia, a company spokesman said Friday…..Areva spokesman Jarret Adams said Friday in an interview that the start-up date for the Newport News facility was postponed because of reduced economic growth and other factors that have “caused some of our customers to slow plans” to build new power reactors. Adams would not name those customers and declined to provide more specific expected dates for completion of construction or the start of manufacturing. Platts: RSS Feed Detailed News

August 21, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA | antinuclear, AREVA, France, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, reactors | Leave a comment

Uncertainty over radiation as Russia’s wildfire danger still exists

Vice President of the European Parliament Rodi Kratsa said in a letter to the chamber last week that there are “serious risks” of radiation reaching Europe and asked her fellow deputies to find out whether Russia has a “prevention plan … to avoid the release of radioactive particles into the atmosphere.”

Fallout from Russia’s Fires – the ashes of Chernobyl, TIME, Simon Shuster , 20 Aug 2010, – “……. On Aug. 18, it [the Russian government] organized a trip to Bryansk for observers and environmentalists. Ivan Blokov, who went on behalf of Greenpeace, says the trip left some of the most crucial questions unanswered and convinced him only that the region’s firefighting infrastructure is “in a state of collapse” and would be unable to contain a major fire in the radioactive forests. Continue reading →

August 20, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, Russia | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, radioactive, recycling | Leave a comment

Gathering opposition to renewal of nuclear plant license

Other groups that have joined the petition include Beyond Nuclear, based in Takoma Park, Md.; New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution of Brattleboro, Vt.; Seacoast Anti-Pollution League in New Hampshire; Pilgrim Watch in Duxbury, Mass.; and C-10 Research & Education Foundation in Newburyport, Mass………….

Opponents petition NH power plant license renewal, BusinessWeek, By KATHY McCORMACK 20 Aug 2010, CONCORD, N.H.Citizens’ groups filed a petition Wednesday to protest an application from New Hampshire’s lone nuclear power plant to extend its license for 20 years. Continue reading →

August 20, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | opposition to nuclear, USA | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, reactors | Leave a comment

Japanese urged not to invest in risky new nuclear reactors

Speaking tour of Japan challenges MOX fuel use and financing for new U.S. reactors, Beyond Nuclear Aug 19 2 010 . Beyond Nuclear’s Kevin Kamps toured Japan from August 2nd to 12th, visiting Tokyo, Fukushima, Fukui, Kansai and Kyushu. Highlights included meeting with officials from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and the Nippon Export and Investment Insurance agency, where a letter signed by 75 U.S. national and grassroots groups was delivered, urging no Japanese financing for risky new reactors in the U.S. Continue reading →

August 20, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, reactors | Leave a comment

Medical radiation a major source of human exposure

The findings are contained in the first of the two volumes of supporting evidence underpinning the UNSCEAR report for 2008 covering medical radiation exposures; the second covers exposures of the public and workers from various sources of radiation.……

UN Identifies Medical Use of Radiation as Main Source of Human Exposure, Turkish Weekly, 18 August 2010 The use of radiation in medicine accounts for most human exposure to ionizing radiation, according to a report issued on 17 August by the United Nations scientific committee on the effects of atomic radiation. Continue reading →

August 19, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, health | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear technology, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Domini Social Investments will invest in energy, but not nuclear

Before nuclear power can be seriously considered to be an effective answer to climate change, we need to solve the nuclear waste problem and we need to address the link between nuclear power and nuclear weapons proliferation.

To date there is no way to distinguish between the uranium enrichment process that is necessary to fuel a nuclear power plant and the enrichment of uranium for use in a nuclear bomb.

Domini does believe that companies with stronger social and environmental profiles should perform better in the long term, and that the use of social and environmental factors can help manage certain types of investment risk.

Social funds: BP, the 1960s, and greed | The Energy Collective, August 16, 2010 by Marc Gunther“.…..I heard from Adam Kanzer, who is managing director and general counsel at Domini Social Investments.….. Continue reading →

August 18, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, business and costs | antinuclear, climate change, energy efficiency, global warming, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, plutonium, reactors, renewable energy, renewables, uranium | Leave a comment

401 wildfires in Russia’s radiation contaminated Chelyabinsk

most worrisome of all, the Chelyabinsk region, home to the Mayak Chemical Combine, Russia’s nuclear reprocessing facility and one of the most radioactively contaminated areas on the planet hosted 401 fires over 3,536 acres.

Russia emergency minister threatens to ‘deal with’ those spreading radiation ‘rumours’ about wildfires in contaminated areas NEW YORK/ST PETERSBURG –Alexander Shurshev contributed from St. Petersburg “Bellona, 17 Aug 2010, ………..By last week Roslesozashchita website was reporting – before it was taken down – that 269 fires were burning over 664 acres in the Bryansk Region.But that was not all. Continue reading →

August 17, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, Russia | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

USA sends help as fires circle Russian nuclear base

Russia admitted yesterday that fires closing in on its main nuclear centre represent ‘a certain danger’ to the secret town which houses its most sophisticated research laboratories.

U.S. sends help as fires close in on Russian nuclear base. Daily Mail 14th August 2010 The United States is sending firefighting equipment to Russia to help deal with 500 wildfires burning across the country, one of which threatens a nuclear base.The blazes have been sparked by the hottest summer ever recorded in Russia, Continue reading →

August 14, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Russia, safety | antinuclear, climate change, global warming, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Public mistrust of nuclear power, anxiety over nuclear wastes

if President Obama is seeking to promote nuclear energy and find a new waste strategy, the waste panel needs to focus on the issue of public mistrust as well as technological solutions

Address Mistrust, Scientists Urge Nuclear Panel – NYTimes.com, August 13, 2010, By LESLIE KAUFMAN “……60,000 tons of radioactive waste are being stored at or near nuclear plants that churned it out, Continue reading →

August 14, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | spinbuster, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

“Countdown to Zero” – film faces the nuclear weapons facts

The only answer, this film and its many talking heads assert, is to rid the world of nuclear weapons. Thus the title of “Countdown to Zero” is less a pessimistic prediction of doomsday than a rallying cry to eliminate the danger. In fact, the film closes on an optimistic note, describing the Global Zero initiative through which world leaders hope to phase out nuclear weapons.

Countdown to Zero’ a frightening nuclear threat, By ROBERT W. BUTLER, McClatchy Newspapers, 14 Aug 2010, “……with the fall of the communist bloc we heaved a collective sigh of relief and looked to a less stressful future.

Well, don’t get too comfortable. Lucy Walker’s documentary is a blood-curdling look at the world’s nuclear arsenal that suggests atomic Armageddon remains every bit as likely as during the height of the Cold War…….. Continue reading →

August 14, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Delays and changes forced in India’s Nuclear Liability Bill

BJP forces Centre to defer Civil Nuclear Liability Bill, By Anil Anand, New Delhi | Agency: DNA 11 Aug 2010, Bowing to opposition pressure, the government has decided against rushing through the controversial Civil Nuclear Liability Bill. It will, instead, hold further discussions with BJP and others. Continue reading →

August 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, politics | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, reactors | Leave a comment

Nuclear weapons reduction treaty needs agreement before U.S. mid-term elections

The new START, which President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed in a landmark ceremony in Prague in April, commits the two former Cold War foes to slashing their nuclear arsenals.

Clinton urges Senate to move quickly on nuclear treaty, (AFP) – Google hosted news, 12 Aug 2010, WASHINGTON — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday urged the Senate to move quickly to pass the new US-Russian nuclear arms reduction treaty when it resumes debate next month.The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week delayed until mid-September its vote on approving the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), the successor to one that expired in December…. Continue reading →

August 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

USA nuclear companies sweating on India’s Civil Nuclear Liability Bill

[The Bill] would free US suppliers of liability…..The haste on part of the ruling side is said to be keeping in mind the November visit of US president Barack Obama. Several US companies are awaiting the bill clearance, which allows nuclear business with the country……

No consensus on N-bill Prasad Nichenametla, Hindustan Times New Delhi, August 11, 2010 After two months of deliberations by a Parliamentary standing committee, consensus still eludes the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill 2010 effectively bringing the proposed legislation, giving effect to Indo-US nuclear agreement, to square one….. Continue reading →

August 11, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, politics international | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, reactors | Leave a comment