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USA losing the battle to sell nuclear plants to India

the chances of altering how the legislation works appear to be dimming….it looks increasingly likely that the Obama visit will center instead around job-creating deals for the U.S………..Nowhere did the statement contain a reference to the nuclear deal.

U.S. Chances Dim on India Nuclear Revision – India Real Time – WSJ, by Paul Beckett, September 20, 2010, “…. the U.S. government and nuclear-equipment industry have been scrambling to alter the impact of nuclear-liability legislation passed by the Indian parliament that the U.S. side views as unfavorable to U.S. nuclear suppliers as the Indian market opens up. Continue reading

September 21, 2010 Posted by | India, politics international | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Unsolved nuclear waste problem may stop nuclear industry in USA and EU

On Wednesday last week, Greenpeace launched a broadside against the European repository plans, arguing that leaders were being misled over safety issues – particularly relating to groundwater contamination. It appears the repository battle is about to go nuclear here, too.

President Barack Obama’s Yucca Mountain decision is a blow to US nuclear power- Telegraph UK, By Garry White 20 Sep 2010, US President Barack Obama appeared to deal a decisive blow to America’s nuclear power industry earlier this year, when he pulled the funding for a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. Continue reading

September 21, 2010 Posted by | USA, wastes | , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Cover-up of uranium news in India

As we shuttled between the police station and the district court in Jamshedpur for a week to get our equipment back, we got a glimpse into the kind of helplessness local villagers experience throughout their lives. If a journalist working for a national newsmagazine could be arrested and booked for visiting villages that have an overview of the mine, who would listen to the villagers?

Uranium mines afecting health of workers and local communities, India Info Online, 20 Sept 10, “…….UCIL seems to believe that national interest overrides the baggage of liabilities the pursuit of nuclear ambitions carries. Is it in our national interest to stand by silently as this scenario plays out in other uranium mines in the next year? Continue reading

September 21, 2010 Posted by | India, secrets,lies and civil liberties, Uranium | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Nuclear power costs out of control as it becomes a socialised ‘ward of the State’

“This analysis shows the greatest danger is not that the U.S. will import French technology, but that it will replicate the French model of nuclear socialism,”…”Nuclear power will remain a ward of the state, as has been true throughout its history in France.”

U.S. Nuclear Industry Will Remain Ward of the State, as in France, Report Warns By Sara Stroud   SolveClimateThu Sep 16, 2010 Government subsidies of nuclear power plans could hitch U.S taxpayers to a technology that suffers out-of-control costs while pushing aside renewable energy development, according to a study released last week by the Vermont Law School’s Institute for Energy and the Environment. Continue reading

September 20, 2010 Posted by | politics, USA | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Atomic secrets sold by U.S. nuclear scientist?

Mascheroni in March 2008 allegedly told an undercover FBI agent posing as a Venezuelan government official that he could help Venezuela develop a nuclear bomb within 10 years, according to the indictment.

U.S. scientist charged with peddling nuclear secrets   Reuters, By Tabassum Zakaria, WASHINGTON  17 Sept 10, – A former Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist and his wife were charged with trying to sell nuclear weapons secrets to a person they believed was a Venezuelan government official, the Justice Department said on Friday.They were also charged with conspiring to participate in the development of an atomic weapon for Venezuela, the Justice Department said. Continue reading

September 17, 2010 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | , , , | Leave a comment

The end for South Africa’s failed Pebble Bed Nuclear Reactor

Hopes that a successful bid by a US consortium — which included Westinghouse, one of the PBMR’s partners — for the US’s next-generation nuclear plant programme would give the PBMR a new lease of life were dashed when Westinghouse withdrew in May.

Hogan ends pebble bed reactor project, BusinessDay The government’s decision to stop investing in the project supersedes its previous decision to downsize the PBMR company by 75%. LINDA ENSOR 2010/09/17 Public Enterprises Minister Barbara Hogan drew the final curtain yesterday on SA’s bid to be a leader in nuclear technology when she announced the closure of the pebble bed modular reactor (PBMR), which has cost R7,4bn of taxpayers’ money……… Continue reading

September 17, 2010 Posted by | South Africa, technology | , , , , | Leave a comment

Radioactive Dounreay fast breeder nuclear reactor site dangerous for over 300 years

the whole 150-acre Dounreay site is likely to remain closed to the public for almost 300 years after it is decommissioned because of continuing contamination.

Doomsday for Dounreay dome as site is too costly to develop – Herald Scotland David Ross, 17 Sep 2010“……… plans are being finalised to demolish the Dounreay’s nuclear reactor’s iconic golf- ball dome. Continue reading

September 17, 2010 Posted by | decommission reactor, UK | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Anger rising against German government’s astonishing concessions to nuclear industry

The government is making astonishing concessions to the industry…for example..by spending more on nuclear safety they will be able to spend less on alternative energy.

Coalition Fission – Merkel’s Nuclear Plan Encounter Mounting Opposition :: Free Internet Press, 13 Sept 10 “……The agreement Merkel reached with the utility executives last week includes substantial concessions to the industry. Continue reading

September 15, 2010 Posted by | Germany, politics | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mexico finding that gas is cheaper than nuclear power

Mexico Delays Decision on New Nuclear Plants as Gas Price Falls,  By Carlos Manuel Rodriguez Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) — Mexico, one of three Latin American nations that use nuclear power, is delaying by as much as two years a decision on building nuclear plants as lower natural-gas prices reduce the attraction of the alternative energy source…

…A final decision on whether to build new nuclear plants and the quantity will be based on cost-effective “technical” factors, including the outlook for gas prices, Kessel said……In the U.S., lower gas prices, combined with less demand for electricity because of the weak economy, has slowed investments in renewable-energy projects and may prevent expansion of nuclear energy, NextEra Energy Inc. Chief Executive Officer Lewis Hay said in a June 23 interview.

September 15, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, SOUTH AMERICA | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

In 15 years, America’s nuclear firms will be liable for accident costs!

Indians have little to gain from caving to U.S. pressure….nuclear electricity is still one of the most uneconomical ways for it to meet its near and mid-term power requirements……..

More important, domestic U.S. legal nuclear liability caps will sunset in 15 years and leave firms totally exposed in the case of a nuclear accident…….

India Unmasks America’s Nuclear Liabilities – WSJ.com, * SEPTEMBER 13, 2010 Private companies should insure themselves, not ask Delhi to do it for them. By HENRY SOKOLSKI

India’s parliament last week gave the U.S. nuclear industry the legal equivalent of a Bronx cheer: It passed a law that denied American firms legal immunity from being sued in the event of a nuclear accident. Continue reading

September 15, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, India, USA | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Australia’s Green Party highlights shaky economics of uranium mining

“In contrast to claims put out by the uranium industry about its supposed financial benefits, we have seen proposed uranium projects on increasingly shaky financial ground.

Greens to Stick to Uranium Mining Ban Policy, Mathaba, 15 Sept 10, The Australian Greens have confirmed they will continue to push for a ban on uranium mining across Australia, in line with long-held Greens policy……….. Continue reading

September 15, 2010 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, politics | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Merkel bypasses German Parliament in move to prolong nuclear power

Merkel has indicated that she believes she will be able to bypass the Bundesrat because the new deal prolongs the phase-out period, but does not actually overturn the 2002 law. This apparent skipping of parliamentary process in such a significant policy for Germany’s energy future will form the crux of the anti-nuclear lobby’s opposition……..The Social Democratic Party and the Greens have made it clear that if the deal goes ahead they will make it a major issue in the next election and overturn it if elected.

Germany’s ‘hot autumn’ of nuclear discontent, Sydney Morning Herald, James Norman and Dave Sweeney, September 15, 2010, “…….. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrat coalition will move a new accord to extend the life-span of Germany’s 17 existing nuclear power plants by 12 years ….

The move has signalled a new “hot autumn” of anti-nuclear sentiment in Berlin and beyond. Continue reading

September 15, 2010 Posted by | Germany, politics | , , , , | Leave a comment

America’s nuclear industry near death – begging for money

As renewables plummet in cost, and private financing stays nil, the nuclear industry is desperate to gouge billions from Congress for loan guarantees to build new reactors. Thus far, citizen activism has stopped them. But the industry is pouring all it has into this fall’s short session, yet again demanding massive new subsides to stay on life support

Is the “Nuclear Renaissance” Dead Yet?, HUFFINGTON POST, Harvey Wasserman: 13 Sept 2010, America’s much hyped “reactor renaissance” is facing a quadruple bypass. In actual new construction, proposed projects and overseas sales, soaring costs are killing new nukes. And the old ones are leaking like Dark Age relics on the brink of disaster. Continue reading

September 14, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, USA | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Inquiry wanted into uranium mining plan for caribou country

Last spring, the regulatory process began for the $1.5-billion Kiggavik project, a uranium mine proposed for just west of Baker Lake by French uranium giant Areva. It is the first such mine to come before the Nunavut Impact Review Board and the first proposed for the wildlife-rich Thelon Basin, home to major caribou herds.

(Canada) Nunavut residents want inquiry into uranium mine – CTV News, 14 Sept 10, The tiny, remote community of Grise Fiord on the frozen shores of Ellesmere Island is nearly as far as it gets from the giant uranium mine proposed for the southern tundra near Baker Lake.

But that didn’t stop 46 people in the community from signing a petition tabled in the legislature last summer demanding a public inquiry over the project. Five other Nunavut communities tabled similar petitions. Continue reading

September 14, 2010 Posted by | Canada, opposition to nuclear | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Scanner making companies design the safety tests for airport X-Ray Scanners

guess who was on the committee that developed the guidelines for the X-ray scanners? Representatives from the companies that make the machines and the Department of Homeland Security, among others. In other words, the machines passed a test developed, in part, by the companies that manufacture them and the government agency that wants to use them..….

Body scan or pat down: Decisions abound with airport security – San Jose Mercury News, By Susan Stellin, New York Times 09/12/2010 “…….The more controversial “backscatter” devices project an X-ray beam onto the body, creating an image displayed on a monitor viewed by a TSA employee in another room. The “millimeter wave” machines, considered less risky because they do not use X-rays, bounce electromagnetic waves off the body to produce a similar image. Continue reading

September 13, 2010 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties | , , , , , | Leave a comment