nuclear « nuclear-news

Obama’s Nuclear Posture Review will ‘chip away’ need for nuclear weapons

Administration to Signal Shift Away From a Nuclear Future « The Washington Independent, by Spencer Ackerman, 2 April 2010, Set for release early next week, the Obama administration’s long-awaited statement on the future of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile won’t provide a roadmap for their elimination, according to administration officials. But it will chip away at the strategic justification for the stockpile and shift the country’s defense away from nuclear weapons, Continue reading →

April 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Comprehenisve Test Ban Treaty not likley to be ratified

Obama no closer on nuclear test ban ratification, THE HUFFINGTON POST, Desmond Butler, 2 April 2010, Obama, whose Democratic Party enjoys a majority of 59 votes in the Senate, will need to win over enough Republican senators to reach the necessary two-thirds-majority vote for ratification. While there appears to be strong bipartisan support for the new START treaty, which could be ratified this year, the test ban treaty has been much more contentious.And it is likely to be more so after November, when Democrats are projected to lose seats. Continue reading →

April 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Nuclear power executives get top payments

Salary Survey: Nuclear Exec Earns $3 Million, Energy Section, Amy Harder, April 2, 2010 The nuclear power industry may be stagnant, but the sector’s top trade group is banking on turning that around — and as one sign, it’s giving its top executive a hefty salary.

The Nuclear Energy Institute in 2008 paid its president and CEO, at that time Frank Bowman, more than $3 million in total compensation. Bowman was the seventh-highest-paid executive out of more than 500 organizations in all different policy areas, according to an annual National Journal salary survey.

Continue reading →

April 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin | Leave a comment

Oklahoma House Panel promoting nuclear power industry

the bill removes prohibitions in state law that specifically excluded nuclear energy as an eligible power source.

Oklahoma House Panel Greenlights Nuclear Power Bill, – Nuclear Power Industry News, Measure will permit municipalities to buy nuclear energy – Edited by April Murelio 2 April 2010, -According to a report by newsok.com, a House panel has passed a measure that would allow municipal power authorities to buy electricity from nuclear plants and to invest in a joint venture for a nuclear power plant.

The committee voted 21-4 to pass Senate Bill 1668. It now goes to the House of Representatives. Rep. Rex Duncan, House author of the bill, said that the bill removes prohibitions in state law that specifically excluded nuclear energy as an eligible power source. The exclusion was written at a time when it was feared radioactive waste from nuclear plants would threaten public health and natural resources.

Oklahoma House Panel Greenlights Nuclear Power Bill – Nuclear Power Industry News

April 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, reactors | Leave a comment

Tuareg and uranium: AREVA’s grip on Niger

“You can’t just fight against nuclear power plants and waste repositories,” he said. “If you want to kill the tree, kill the roots”. He was referring to the uranium mines.

Uranium Mining in Niger ‘Tuareg Activist Takes on French Nuclear Company’ The Blogger: 2 April 2010, “……..A total of 80,000 people live in the two cities Areva created in the desert to service the mines. There are no paved roads, but there is plenty of reddish-brown dust, which penetrates into every crack and pore. Well water is radioactively contaminated, and precious fossil groundwater is used in the uranium ore processing plant. The region’s nomads are finding fewer and fewer pastures for their cattle, and people are affected by fatal illnesses.

Citizens’ organizations critical of Areva claim that the little money the company pays to the Niger state remains in the capital or simply ends up in the pockets of family members of the longstanding president. When Alhacen is asked what the mine has done for people, he says: “Nothing — except radiation, which will be here for thousands of years”. Continue reading →

April 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Niger, politics | antinuclear, AREVA, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, radiation, radioactive, uranium, wastes | Leave a comment

Nuclear Regulatory Commission downplaying radiation risks

the level of cesium 137 contamination at Vermont Yankee was “three to 12 times the levels found at Chernobyl,” the 1986 nuclear accident in Ukraine.…….

Lawmakers take NRC to task: Rutland Herald, by Daniel Barlow, April 2, 2010“……….several lawmakers questioned the NRC’s overall approach to dealing with aging nuclear power plants and wondered if they were downplaying the dangers associated with some of the radiological releases from the 38-year-old Vernon reactor. Continue reading →

April 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | spinbuster, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, radioactive, reactors | 1 Comment

Mountainous cost of nuclear wastes and still no plan

The DOE now has no place to put the waste and no plan

Seeking a ‘Plan B’  for nuclear waste: With Yucca Mountain site dead, billions paid into project are in limbo By Margaret Newkirk , The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 2, 2010 “…….. Georgia electric customers paid the U.S. government more than $701 million over nearly three decades, in exchange for a service now 12 years overdue.Today, the U.S. government is as far away from delivering on its part of the bargain as it has ever been. Continue reading →

April 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, radioactive, reactors, uranium, wastes | Leave a comment

Scandalous and continuing legacy of uranium mining in Niger

Uranium Mining in Niger ‘Tuareg Activist Takes on French Nuclear Company’, The Blogger, 2 April 2010,“……….Uranium from Niger has served as a fuel for Europe’s energy supply for 40 years. But unlike Saudi Arabia, Niger has arguably reaped little but misery in return.The country in Africa’s Sahel zone is one of the world’s least-developed nations. One in four children dies before the age of five.The conditions in Niger are one of the dirty sides of supposedly clean nuclear energy. The activities there are well hidden from the outside world: Continue reading →

April 3, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Niger, politics | antinuclear, AREVA, France, nuclear, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, uranium, wastes | Leave a comment

Nice for Russia’s nuclear empire – a new World Nuclear Fuel Bank

Russia, IAEA Agree To Establish World’s First Nuclear Fuel Bank – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty © 2010, By Richard SolashWASHINGTON — Russia has signed a deal with the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to set up the world’s first nuclear fuel bank of low-enriched uranium for countries that need fuel for civilian purposes, including nuclear power plants.Russia’s atomic energy chief, Sergei Kiriyenko, signed the deal with IAEA head Yukiya Amano in Vienna on March 29. The IAEA says the bank will eventually hold a stockpile of 120 tons of low-enriched uranium.

April 2, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Russia | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Fires at three U.S. nuclear plants

Fires break out at three U.S. nuclear plants over the weekend, FACING SOUTH, By Sue Sturgis , March 29, 2010 Emergencies were declared at two Progress Energy nuclear power plants in the Carolinas over the weekend due to fires. There was also a fire at a nuclear power plant in Ohio on Sunday that sent two firefighters to the hospital. The blazes were put out and disaster averted, but the incidents underscore concerns about U.S. nuclear plants’ failure to comply with fire safety regulations…… Continue reading →

March 29, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, radioactive, reactor | Leave a comment

The problem of overuse of medical radiation

For patients, navigating the debate can be difficult because doctors, patient advocacy groups and manufacturers often endorse positions that are in their economic self-interest. Radiologists, who often own and use CT machines, for instance, often endorse their use; while gastroenterologists, who often own and use camera scopes, often favor their own methods. Patient groups often get financing from drug and device makers, or physician-specialty groups.

Radiation warnings ignored, GDS Publishing, By Jodie Humphries | 03/29/10 Urgent warnings by government experts about the risks of routinely using powerful CT scans to screen patients for colon cancer were ignored by the Food and Drug Administration, according to agency documents and interviews with agency scientists. Continue reading →

March 29, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, radiation, radioactive | 1 Comment

Australia’s Northern Territory Opposes Rudd Govt on Nuclear Waste Dump Plan

NT not able to cope with nuke accident, says Government, Northern Territory News BEN LANGFORD March 29th, 2010 MOST Territory hospitals and the Port of Darwin are not equipped to deal with a radioactive waste incident or interest from “sophisticated criminal groups”, the NT Government has said.
The Government has told a Senate inquiry into new laws for a nuclear waste dump there would be “negligible economic benefit from the facility” for the NT. Continue reading →

March 29, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, politics | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear spin, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Anti Nuclear Group Seek to Intervene in Nuclear License Renewal

the group has been granted intervener status in previous proceedings and is almost sure to get that designation this time around. It gives the group legal standing in the relicensing proceedings and also gives it greater leverage to file lawsuits if the agency does not meet its demands.

San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace files protest over Diablo SanLuis Obispo Tribune Mar. 29, 2010, Anti-nuclear activists want to be declared an intervener in the license renewal process By David Sneed | The anti-nuclear group San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace has filed five formal protests over plans to extend the two operating licenses at Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant for 20 more years. Continue reading →

March 29, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, radiation, radioactive, reactors | Leave a comment

Resuscitating the nuclear industry by linking it to nuclear non proliferation

Access To Civil Nuclear Energy Voice of America News.com 29 March 2010“Our efforts to reinvigorate the U.S. domestic nuclear industry go hand-in-hand with our efforts in the international arena.”
Speaking about the vital role that nuclear energy plays in our low-carbon future, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman said the United States is working to reinvigorate its domestic nuclear industry. At the same time, he said the U.S. is working with other nations “to ensure that all countries can access nuclear energy for peaceful purposes in a manner that minimizes proliferation risks.”….. Continue reading →

March 29, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, spinbuster | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

“Peaceful Nuclear Power” – it’s an oxymoron

Harmonious relationships between people and nations cannot survive in a nuclear power society, with its atmosphere of secrecy, surveillance , suspicion, fear, and ever-present real danger. Nuclear Power and Peace – our theme for April 2010