nuclear technology « nuclear-news

UK not getting new nuclear reactors any time soon

U.K. Energy Policy In A Muddle – WSJ, By Selina Williams, 24 May 2010, “……….Not all the policies required for the construction of new nuclear power plants–a key source of low-carbon electricity–are finalized and it’s unlikely that any will be built until after 2020, the report adds. Decomissioning of old nuclear power plants and what will be done with the waste have yet to be completely pinned down. And the new coalition government’s decision to do away with the Infrastructure Planning Commission, which the previous government set up to streamline and speed up planning decisions for new nuclear, could create more delays to investment…….U.K. Energy Policy In A Muddle – The Source – WSJ

May 25, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, plutonium, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

U.S. Senator enthuses over $2 billion loan to France’s nuclear giant AREVA

Senator Voinovich Encourages DOE on Nuclear Loan Guarantess, Nuclear Power Industry News, 25 May 2010, “………The $2 billion loan guarantee has been awarded to AREVA’s Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility near Idaho Falls, Idaho, ………….Sen. Voinovich, along with Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), recently led a bipartisan congressional letter to President Obama requesting that the White House join them in hosting a nuclear energy summit to bring together key leaders, stakeholders and innovators to discuss and plan for America’s nuclear energy future. Senator Voinovich Encourages DOE on Nuclear Loan Guarantess – Nuclear Power Industry News

May 25, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, AREVA, enriched, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, uranium | Leave a comment

Radioactive carbon in human teeth – thanks to nuclear bomb testing

The Radioactive Clock In Your Teeth – Forbes.com Jonathan Fahey, 05.21.10, How bomb testing in the 1950s is helping scientists determine a person’s age.“……….They had discovered that a bygone era of world political history had made it possible to date unidentified human remains more precisely than other forensic methods. Aboveground testing of nuclear bombs in the 1950s and early 1960s created elevated levels of radioactive carbon that soon became incorporated into all living things. Continue reading →

May 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, environment | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

No real solution for Hanford’s deadly nuclear weapons waste

one of the biggest challenges the US nuclear weapons complex, and consequentially, the Department of Energy, has ever had to deal with………… the tanks were leaking, and the government had failed to report the leaks and the spreading contamination……….

Cleaning Up After The Cold War: Hanford’s Tank Waste, Daily Kos:by Page van der Linden May 23, 2010 “…..the remote sites around the United States, consisting of laboratories and manufacturing facilities, the complex that made The Bomb possible. And unless you’re very familiar with this complex, or you’re a resident of the Pacific Northwest, you may not know about a remote part of Washington State known as the Hanford Site Continue reading →

May 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, plutonium, radiation, radioactive, wastes | Leave a comment

U.S. to pre-announce missile tests,(with a loophole clause)

The United States … will provide pre-launch notification of commercial and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) space launches as well as the majority of intercontinental ballistic and submarine-launched ballistic missile launches.

Obama decides to unilaterally announce secret U.S. missile tests, satellite launches Los Angeles Times, 21 May 2010, President Obama has decided to pre-announce to the world once-secret American ballistic missile tests and satellite launches.The Democratic administration’s goal is to show a friendlier face to other countries and to coax Russia to do the same. Continue reading →

May 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Russia’s nuclear power sales now going to Bangladesh

Dhaka signs deal with Moscow on nuclear power The Daily Star, 22 May 2010, DhakaBangladesh on Friday signed a crucial framework agreement with Russia on cooperation for its maiden nuclear power plant.A foreign office statement said State Minister for Science and ICT Yeafesh Osman signed the Framework Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of the Use of Nuclear Energy for Peaceful Purposes with Director General of Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation or “Rosatom” Sergey Kirienko, former Russian prime minister, in Moscow.

Dhaka signs deal with Moscow on nuclear power

May 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ASIA, business and costs | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology | Leave a comment

Skin cancer risk from Airport Radiation Scanning

The research also shows children are more vulnerable to radiation damage, because they have more cells dividing at any one time than when fully grown and a radiation-induced mutation can lead to cancer in adulthood……

Airport scanners may increase risk of cancer Alfred Woody Wang’s Kewl Blog, 20 May 2010, Radiation “dangerously underestimated” * Skin around face, neck most at risk US scientists are warning that radiation from controversial full-body airport scanners has been dangerously underestimated and could lead to an increased risk of skin cancer – particularly in children. Continue reading →

May 20, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, health | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Nuclear Non Proliferation talks stalled by Iran sanctions

Iran sanctions snarl global nuclear talks, guardian.co.uk, Julian Borger, 20 May 2010, The brisk rejection of a last minute compromise on Iran proposed by Brazil and Turkey has snarled broader UN talks on disarmament and non-proliferation
The rapid flurry of diplomatic activity in the past few days over Iran has collided with the month-long talks in New York on mending the threadbare Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the results have not been pretty. Continue reading →

May 20, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, politics international | antinuclear, disarmament, nuclear, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty badly in need of reform

Can President Obama Reform the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty? zikkir.com | 18 May 2010, By Hayrettin Kilic“..………In order to reform or re-write the NPT, President Obama needs to study the following existing global nuclear weapons inventory very carefully. As of 2010 there are approximately 23.400 nuclear weapons located at 111 different sites in 14 countries. Half of which is trigger ready or deployable in short time. Russia (13.000) and United states (9.400) possess 96 % of these weapons. The other nuclear club members Britain (180), Chine (240), France (300) along with de Facto countries India (80), Israel (100), Pakistan (90) are also added this monumental list. Continue reading →

May 19, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, weapons and war | antinuclear, disarmament, nuclear, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

It could be the water problem that finishes off the nuclear industry

“The best alternatives from a water perspective are wind and photovoltaics, that require effectively no water.”

Water Adds New Constraints to Power, NYTimes.com By ERICA GIES May 17, 2010 “……In the United States, thermoelectric power generation — mainly coal, nuclear and natural gas — accounted for 41 percent of U.S. freshwater withdrawals in 2005, U.S. Geological Society data show………..

But there is a growing awareness in California and throughout the United States that the use of water for energy generation may be reaching its limits.

California has extensive experience with water shortages, resulting in its adoption of a policy, included in the energy commission’s 2003 Integrated Energy Policy Report, that discourages freshwater use for power plant cooling…….“If you want to build a big central power plant, whether it’s oil, gas or nuclear, you can’t take the water for granted.” Continue reading →

May 18, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, water | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, climate change, global warming, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, reactors, renewable energy, renewables, solar, uranium, water, wind | Leave a comment

International Atomic Energy Agency wants written proof of Iran – Turkey uranium deal

IAEA demands written confirmation of Iran uranium swap deal Israel News, Ynetnews: 05.18.10, The International Atomic Energy Agency called on Iran to submit a written confirmation of its uranium exchange agreement with Brazil and Turkey. “We’ve received the joint statement issued by all three countries, and we are interested in receiving a written confirmation saying Iran agrees to the terms of the agreement,” a spokesman for the IAEA said. (AFP) Print Print Send to friend Send to friend

IAEA demands written confirmation of Iran uranium swap deal – Israel News, Ynetnews

May 18, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Iran, politics international | antinuclear, enriched, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, uranium | Leave a comment

Iran-Turkey enriched uranium deal a problem for Obama

The agreement negotiated by Brazilian and Turkish leaders would have Iran send 1,200 kg of its low enriched uranium stockpile to Turkey, and in turn receive 120 kg of higher enriched uranium for Iranian nuclear medical use within a year.

President Obama’s nuclear headache By Laura Rozen – POLITICO.com | 5/17/10 The Obama administration isn’t publicly celebrating a nuclear fuel swap deal announced Monday in Tehran by the leaders of Iran, Turkey and Brazil. Continue reading →

May 18, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Iran, politics international | antinuclear, enriched, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, uranium | Leave a comment

Nuclear weapons free zone in Middle East is pivotal issue

Half-time at the NPT | World news | guardian.co.uk16 May, 2010, We are half-way through the negotiating marathon that is the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference and the crunch is approaching. The speeches have been made, the working groups set up, and drafts assembled. There are now two weeks left for the tough bargaining between the nuclear haves and have-nots over what the global arms control regime should look like.
The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) has a very useful summary of the positions of various key countries, from which two main themes emerge: there is an Obama-effect at play, and the idea of a nuclear weapons free zone in the Middle East is becoming a make or break issue………

Half-time at the NPT | World news | guardian.co.uk

May 17, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

UK’s nuclear plans hit by one blow after another

Another blow to nuclear plans, Ruscombe Green, 17 May 2010, “….new uncertainty over new nukes following the appointment of anti-nuclear Energy Secretary Chris Huhne. He has strengthened his assertion that new nuclear build will not receive any Government subsidies including in the event of a nuclear accident…….
Nuke-waste subsidy?
Chris Huhne may also be under pressure from anti-nuclear Lib-Dem colleagues to examine other potential aspects of Government subsidy Continue reading →

May 16, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Nuclear fuel cycle requires huge energy, and emits huge C02

Some estimate that the energy requirements of mining and milling lean ores may surpass the energy produced in a nuclear reactor.

5 Questions Iowans Should Answer Before Accepting Nuclear Power, Blog for Iowa, by Paul Deaton, 17 May 2010,” .… 2. Do you accept the socialization of nuclear power? In a recent study in Idaho, Warren Buffet’s MidAmerican Energy found that there is no financial return on investment in nuclear power without substantial government subsidies. Our open market system of capitalism won’t support nuclear power without government subsidies. Continue reading →

May 16, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, climate change | antinuclear, climate change, global warming, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, uranium | Leave a comment