nuclear « nuclear-news

Iran rejects UN nuclear deal; Russia “regrets” this

Russia Regrets Iran’s Refusal of UN Nuclear Deal VOA News 22 January Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says his country “regrets” Iran’s apparent rejection of the U.N.-backed proposal to send its uranium abroad to be enriched. Continue reading →

January 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Iran, politics international | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Risk of radicals getting control of Pakistan’s nukes

Nuclear-armed Pak risks slipping into radical hands: David Miliband DNA January 22, 2010 WASHINGTON: In a rare appearance before a powerful US Congressional committee, British foreign secretary David Miliband today warned that a nuclear-armed Pakistan risked slipping into radical hands as the country was home to al-Qaeda leadership.

Nuclear-armed Pak risks slipping into radical hands: David Miliband – dnaindia.com

January 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Worker exposed to radioactive substance at German nuclear plant

Worker exposed to radioactive substance at German nuclear plant Earth Times 22 Jan 2010 Muenster, Germany – A worker has been accidentally exposed to a radioactive substance, uranium hexafluoride, at a uranium enrichment plant in Gronau in northern Germany, officials said Friday…..The Urenco company gave no details on how the substance escaped in the container preparation unit at Germany’s only enrichment plant on Thursday…..The plant enriches uranium for use in nuclear-power reactors. Anti-nuclear groups have vainly called for it to be closed.

January 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Aging Vermont Yankee nuclear plant – a hazard to public health

Beyond Nuclear 22 Jan 2010 Entergy Nuclear has betrayed the trust of the lawmakers, regulators, and citizens of Vermont. Simultaneous with its revelation of radioactivity leaks on site, Vermont Yankee spokespeople engaged in a predictable campaign to downplay the health and safety risks of tritium. However, tritium can impact the human body right down to the DNA level, and can cross the placenta from mother to fragile fetus. At such intimate levels, tritium can and does damage human health, leading to cancer, genetic damage, birth defects, and other maladies. The National Academy of Science has reported consistently over the decades that any exposure to radioactivity, no matter how low the dose, still carries a health risk. As reactors age – and Vermont Yankee is nearly 40 years old – its systems, structures and components degrade, worsening tritium leaks from buried piping. Vermont Yankee’s license should not be extended 20 additional years.

January 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, USA | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Revival of the nuclear industry too costly

(USA) Fortunately, there are viable alternatives to nuclear power, including efficiency, wind, biomass and geothermal, which are not only more environmentally friendly and cheaper, but could be built much more quickly and at much lower risk to investors and taxpayers. And recent changes in the long-term outlook for U.S. natural gas supplies make nuclear power look even more uneconomical.

Nuclear Power: Too Costly to Revive Is nuclear power a solution we can afford? The short answer is no.

GreenTech Media Elliott Negin 01 21 10

“…..Even discounting nuclear power’s security and safety problems, the cost of construction could be the industry’s Achilles’ heel…….the industry has benefited from considerable federal and state government subsidies that mask the true cost of the technology, including staggering capital costs and the risk of catastrophic accidents, by shifting these burdens onto taxpayers and ratepayers. The industry is now seeking to shift even more costs and risks onto the public as part of pending climate and energy legislation. In 2005, Congress authorized $60 billion in loan guarantees for new energy technologies. Of that amount, the Department of Energy (DOE) allocated $18.5 billion for new nuclear plants. But the industry wants more — a lot more. The Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry’s lobbying arm, says it needs a “permanent financing platform” to provide the industry a minimum of $100 billion in additional loan guarantees on top of the billions it already has been allocated. Continue reading →

January 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin | 1 Comment

Anti-nuclear movement grows, with Germany’s unsolved nuclear waste problem

The decision by Britain to send waste to Germany has served as a reminder that the Germans have not solved the problem of how and where to store it. This uncertainty, and news of the mine in Saxony, is stoking the embers of the anti-nuclear movement — demonstrations are planned for this weekend — and reviving it as a political force.

German nuclear programme threatened by old mine housing waste TIMESONLINE By BEN EVANS
Associated Press Writer Roger Boyes in Berlin January 22, 2010

A leaky salt mine used as a radioactive dump is jeopardising Germany’s plans to cling on to nuclear power despite fierce political opposition. Continue reading →

January 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, politics | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Highly radioactive nuclear waste begins its secret journey to Japan

Nuclear waste shipment leaves Britain for Japan Telegraph.co By Julian Ryall in Tokyo 21 Jan 2010 Environmentalists in Japan have expressed concern about the first shipment of highly radioactive waste to leave britain under a controversial repatriation scheme, saying any accident to befall the ship transporting the waste would result in an “environmental disaster”. Continue reading →

January 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Fire risks at nuclear plant

NRC cites fire hazards at Alabama nuclear plant WRAL.com 20 Jan 10WASHINGTON — Federal regulators are raising new concerns about the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Brown’s Ferry nuclear plant in north Alabama. In a letter released Thursday, inspectors from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission found that equipment used to automatically shut down the plant’s reactors in an emergency was not properly protected from fire hazards. The NRC described the findings as significant “apparent violations.”..http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/6855064/

January 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Record high levels of Tritium found at Vermont Yankee nuclear plant

Much Higher Tritium Level Found at Nuclear Plant . Tritium search at Vermont Yankee turns up reading 90 times higher than previous record. ABC News/Money By DAVE GRAM Associated Press Writer
MONTPELIER, Vt. January 20, 2010 (AP) State officials said Wednesday more radioactive tritium had been found at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant — at levels more than 90 times higher than found in a test well nearly two weeks ago……………..State and Vermont Yankee officials said Wednesday they hoped the finding of much higher tritium concentration in the concrete trench might mean they had found the source of the contamination………..
Meanwhile, legislative leaders and the Douglas administration’s point person on utility regulation said the state Health Department should conduct its own tests for radioactive leaks at Vermont Yankee and not rely on the plant for information about testing around the Vernon reactor. That call came a week after it was revealed that Vermont Yankee, owned by New Orleans-based Entergy Corp., had misled state officials by saying the plant did not have underground piping of the type that could carry radioactive substances like tritium……http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=9617971

January 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1 | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

There’s money in nuclear waste, (never mind the danger)

A French state-controlled company, Areva, is now the world’s largest processor of nuclear waste and is keen to secure a bigger share as countries such as China and India expand their nuclear activities rapidly.

Where there’s nuclear muck there’s a growing opportunity for brass TIMESONLINE Robin Pagnamenta: January 21, 2010

“…………Only a handful of countries have the expertise and technology for nuclear reprocessing, in which spent nuclear fuel rods from power stations are chopped up and boiled in acid to extract uranium and plutonium for reuse in a reactor. The by-product is a concentrated form of vitrified nuclear waste that is as nasty as it sounds. Continue reading →

January 21, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | France, wastes | antinuclear, AREVA, France, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radioactive | Leave a comment

Secrets of Europe’s nuclear waste trade

How French solves nuclear waste , Jagadee’s English Webblog January 20, 2010 St. Petersburg, Russian Federation “.……….“The European nuclear power industry can’t deal with its waste mountain so it started dumping some of it in Russia. This is illegal and highly dangerous,” said Vladimir Tchouprov of Greenpeace Russia. “The secretive nuclear industry is claiming that this is legitimate nuclear trade – but the reality is that only a small fraction, 10%, of this nuclear material is processed and sent back to Western Europe – almost all of the waste has been dumped in Russia. Continue reading →

January 21, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | EUROPE, secrets,lies and civil liberties | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

South Korea prepared to use pre-emptive nuclear strike

S. Korean defense minister vows preemptive attack against DPRK in case of nuclear provocation SEOUL, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) — South Korea will initiate a preemptive attack against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) should any clear indication of nuclear provocation by the DPRK be detected, the South Korean Defense Minister said Wednesday, local media reported…………

The minister expressed the same view on a preemptive attack in 2008 in a parliamentary hearing before he was sworn in as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which enraged the DPRK.

english.news.cn

January 21, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | South Korea, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

Will cockroaches really inherent the post-nuclear war world?

Radiation & Roaches, Shortening & Oil San Diego READER By Matthew Alice Jan. 20, 2010 “…………Roaches can withstand much more radiation than people can. But fruit flies and flour beetles and a particular kind of wasp will be around long after roaches are gone. Continue reading →

January 21, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Iran rejects IAEA’s nuclear plan

Iran rejects core terms of IAEA nuclear deal Global Times January 21 2010] * By Liu Dong Iran has informed the UN nuclear-surveillance authority that it rejects core sections of a draft deal concerning its transmission of enriched uranium, officials said Tuesday.

One Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that Iran gave its response at a meeting between the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) new chief, Yukiya Amano, and Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iranian ambassador to the UN nuclear watchdog, earlier this month.

The IAEA refused to say whether the meeting took place or discuss its possible content.But, according to the diplomat, Soltanieh reiterated Tehran’s earlier position, including the demand for a simultaneous fuel swap, which the West has persistently ruled out as unacceptable.The Iranians did not give their response in writing, however, the diplomat noted…………………

Under the terms of a plan, hammered out under the IAEA’s auspices in October, Iran was to have shipped abroad most of its stockpile of enriched uranium for processing into fuel for a reactor that makes radio-isotopes for medical use.

Global Times – Iran rejects core terms of IAEA nuclear deal

January 21, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Iran, politics | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons | Leave a comment

French govt intent on promoting nuclear industry

French PM Stesses Importance Of State Role In Nuclear Sector THE WALL STREET JOURNAL By A.H. Mooradian and William Horobin, Dow Jones Newswires JANUARY 20, 2010 PARIS (Dow Jones)–French Prime Minister Francois Fillon Wednesday said the French state plans to continue playing a major role in the country’s nuclear industry, after meeting with the heads of two energy firms.

Fillion met with Henri Proglio, chief executive of Electricte de France SA (EDF.FR), which is one of the world’s largest operators of nuclear power plants, and Anne Lauvergeon, CEO of Areva SA (CEI.FR), the state-owned French nuclear engineering group.

French PM Stesses Importance Of State Role In Nuclear Sector – WSJ.com

January 21, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | France, politics | antinuclear, AREVA, EDF, France, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes | Leave a comment