nuclear « nuclear-news

Radiation risks for nuclear plant workers

Nuclear plant balks at regulator request to test all employees for radiation Globe and Mail , Jun. 23, 2010 Federal regulators at the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission have asked the operator of an Ontario power plant to test hundreds of its workers by this Friday for exposure to cancer-causing alpha radiation, but the company is balking at the request……….. Continue reading →

June 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, health | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, radiation, radioactive, reactors | Leave a comment

Uranium One company to be controlled by Russia

Russia’s ARMZ gains control of Canada’s Uranium One, Industrial Fuels and Power, 9 June 2010, Russia’s ARMZ has agreed to acquire a controlling stake in Canada’s Uranium One Inc by buying 356m new shares, effectively raising is current 23 per cent holding to at least 51 per cent. ARMZ will pay the Toronto-based company US$610m cash as well as interests in two Kazakh mines. Uranium One will gain 50 per cent of the Akbastau mine and 49.7 per cent of Zarechnoye in the south of the country.
The acquisition is part of the expansion plans of Rosatom Corp, ARMZ’s parent company and represents the first North American uranium venture for the firm. Russia’s state-owned nuclear company is seeking more uranium sources to supply the nuclear reactors its is building outside Russia. Last month, it revealed plans to invest US$1bn in Namibian uranium deposits. “We’ll use Uranium One as a platform for growth,” Rosatom CEO Sergei Kiriyenko said.

Russia’s ARMZ gains control of Canada’s Uranium One | Industrial Fuels and Power

June 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, uranium | Leave a comment

Depleted uranium – a documentary film

DOCUMENTARY Silent genocide – Depleted uranium | qbit.cc An award winning documentary film produced for German television by Freider Wagner and Valentin Thurn. The film exposes the use and impact of radioactive weapons during the current war against Iraq. The story is told by citizens of many nations. It opens with comments by two British veterans, Kenny Duncan and Jenny Moore, describing their exposure to radioactive, so-called depleted uranium (DU), weapons and the congenital abnormalities of their children. Dr. Siegwart-Horst Gunther, a former colleague of Albert Schweitzer, and Tedd Weyman of the Uranium Medical Research Center (UMRC) traveled to Iraq, from Germany and Canada respectively, to assess uranium contamination in Iraq.

Silent genocide – Depleted uranium | qbit.cc

June 24, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, health | antinuclear, cancer, depleted, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, radiation, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

A nuclear radioactive mess under London’s Olympic Games site?

Tonnes of radioactive waste casts doubt over London’s Olympic stadium legacy• Presence of waste on site could complicate redevelopment after 2012 Games | UK news | The Guardian, Ian Griffiths 20 June 2010,
The development of the Olympic site in east London after the Games have finished could be in jeopardy because of radioactive waste buried beneath the site, experts have warned. Continue reading →

June 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | UK, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Nuclear company’s violations of waste storage regulations

FPL fined $70,000 for nuclear waste storage problem, SunSentinel.com, by Julie Patel on June 22, 2010The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced Tuesday that it will fine Florida Power & Light Co. $70,000 for three violations related to its waste storage at its Turkey Point plant near Miami.In December, NRC officials said they found the amount of Boraflex in a nuclear waste storage pool at Turkey Point was lower than it should be. (Boroflex panels in the pool absorbs neutrons so there isn’t a mini-reaction as the nuclear waste is being cooled.)…………The Commission will hold informal information meetings in July on FPL’s proposal to build two new nuclear reactors at Turkey Point

June 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes | Leave a comment

International Surfers’ Day – an International Anti-Nuclear Event

The message is clear from the surf community in Jeffreys Bay and is supported by surfers from all over the world. Don’t build a Nuke at Thuyspunt.

23 June 2010, The Jeffreys Bay surf community came out in full support of the Supertubes Surfing Foundation’s call to prevent the building of a nuclear power station at nearby Thuyspunt.200 – 250 people donned either black or yellow T-shirts and formed a human NO nuke sign on the Supertubes beach, the venue of the annual Billabong Pro surf event.

The protest formed part of International Surfing Day, a worldwide event where surfers from beaches across the planet unite to celebrate the Sport of Kings and highlight issues facing the environment.The biggest concerns the Jeffreys Bay surf community have regarding the unpalatable prospect of having a nuclear power station on their doorstep are not hard to understand. Continue reading →

June 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, South Africa | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, reactor | Leave a comment

U.S. defense officials, like Australian unionists, know the dangers of uranium mining

United States defense officials having knowledge of the dangers of uranium are shown in “Censored News,” which publishes human rights reports about indigenous peoples. The photo ( stated that “Navajo uranium miners during the Cold War were sent to their deaths in the mines after the U.S. knew of the dangers of radioactivity.”
Australian Union Bans Workers from Uranium Mines, Nuclear Power Stations – Huntington News Network

Australian Union Bans Workers from Uranium Mines, Nuclear Power Stations By Tony RutherfordHuntingtonnews.net Reporter Huntington, WV (HNN) – Fears of radiation exposure to uranium workers has led to the Electrical Trades Union in Brisbane, Australia, to ban members from working in uranium mines, nuclear power stations, and any part of the nuclear fuel cycle, according to a BBC report. Union leaders believe uranium exposure will replace asbestos as the high profile toxic workplace contaminant.
ETU state secretary, Peter Simpson, stated that uranium is the next asbestos in the workplace. The report predicts that due to the danger other trade unions will follow and the ban will expand beyond Australia. Continue reading →

June 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, health | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, cancer, indigenous, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Nuclear accidents, like black swans – rare, but do happen

A Nuclear Secret, THE HUFFINGTON POST, Craig K. Comstock, June 20, 2010 :”……..The point for today is that, when nuclear weapons are involved, we are one step away from irreparable consequences…………….In financial analysis, “black swans” have become a popular metaphor for dangers that are very high in negative consequences, even if they seem vanishingly low in probability. Continue reading →

June 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, safety | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, reactors | Leave a comment

China needs to improve nuclear safety

Monitoring of nuclear safety needs attention, China Daily, BEIJING, June 22 (Xinhaunet) — “……..China needs to invest more in monitoring nuclear safety at civilian nuclear power projects,…China adopted its nuclear power industry standards from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Yu Zusheng, a member of the experts committee with State Nuclear Power Technology Corp (SNPTC). “They are among China’s first group of standards which are in line with international markets.”…………
Chinese expenditure on monitoring nuclear safety at the 11 operating nuclear power plants totals around 40 million yuan ($6 million) per year. In comparison, in the United States, which has around 100 nuclear power plants, the country’s total budget for monitoring nuclear safety is $700 million annually.

Monitoring of nuclear safety needs attention

June 23, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | China, safety | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, reactors | Leave a comment

Ionising radiation at Niagara Falls – long buried secret of nuclear wastes

The nuclear age is littered with tragedies of unnecessary contamination of unsuspecting populations because of the pretense by government and the nuclear industry that the very real hazard of low levels of internal exposure is no hazard at all.

Radiation Alert: Niagara Falls , The Palestine Telegraph, June 21, By Paul Zimmerman and Louis Ricciuti, “………..Witnessing all this sunshine activity around you, you remain innocently oblivious to the underlying reality being played out before your eyes on this summer day, 2010, in downtown Niagara Falls, New York. In truth, the scene is shrouded by a pall, both invisible and macabre. For you see, what is being excavated besides decayed roadway are dirty little secrets long buried. The dirt and dust taking flight upon the wind is laced with radioactive waste!……….. Continue reading →

June 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

South Africa’s pebble bed reactor project doomed

Solidarity union reports last rites for the PBMR Engineering News Keith Campbell

21st June 2010 South African trade union Solidarity affirmed on Monday that the country’s pebble-bed modular reactor (PBMR) nuclear energy project has probably gone beyond the point of no return, despite suggestions that the government may resume funding for it in August.

June 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | South Africa, technology | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, reactor | Leave a comment

AREVA supplying parts to attempt to re-start damaged nuclear reactor

FirstEnergy to place lid on Davis-Besse nuclear power plant cleveland.com, June 21, 2010, “………Davis-Besse has been shut down since Feb. 28 for extensive work to repair cracks in the lid that sprouted unexpectedly in critical components. Such cracks can allow radioactive coolant into the reactor’s containment building — or worse.

Federal rules require an immediate shutdown if leaks are detected.The cracks are similar to fissures that opened up in the late 1990s in parts of Davis-Besse’s original lid and led to a pineapple-sized corrosion hole in that lid before it was discovered in 2004 Continue reading →

June 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA | antinuclear, AREVA, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, radioactive, reactor, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

China to sell nuclear reactors to Pakistan, as U.S. to sell them to India

Having muscled the Indian deal through the NSG in 2008, the US is likely to struggle to forge a consensus against China’s deal with Pakistan.

US defies China on Pakistan reactors Jeremy Page, Islamabad The Australian * June 22, 2010 CHINA and the US are on a collision course over Chinese plans to build two nuclear reactors in Pakistan. Continue reading →

June 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | China, politics international | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons, reactors | Leave a comment

The Bunker mentality – U.S. nuclear weapons plans

The Obama administration is making generous concessions to the nuclear industry presumably, as alluded to above, to win votes from Republicans….ways to keep the “nuclear-industrial complex” humming along,

Seed of Destruction: Nuclear ‘Pits’, Foreign Policy In Focus , By Russ Wellen, June 21, 2010 “……The nuclear-weapons industry adopted the word “pit” for the weapon’s core, which is power-packed with the varieties of uranium or plutonium isotopes capable of a warp-speed chain reaction. Yes, it’s a seed for the a chain reaction. ……the pit instead serves as a cache for .. a seed of destruction……

A project for their production is pivotal to the Obama administration’s plans for nuclear modernization. In a Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists piece titled Bunker mentality: Is NNSA digging itself into a hole at Los Alamos?, Greg Mello writes that “as part of the New START ratification package, the administration projects $16 billion in new warhead spending over this decade.” Continue reading →

June 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, radiation, reactors | Leave a comment

Radiation detected after North Korea nuclear fusion test

South Korea Detects Radiation After Nuclear Fusion Test In North Korea

Windsor Genova – AHN News News Writer, 20 June 2010,Seoul, South Korea (AHN) – A radiation detection station of South Korea measured increased levels of radioactive xenon in the air two days after North Korea announced a nuclear fusion test on May 12. Continue reading →

June 22, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, North Korea | antinuclear, nuclear, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment