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The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope

Indian Point Nuclear Reactor may be first to lose licence

If the DEC does not provide the facility with a water permit, it would mark the first time in the history of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that a nuclear power plant was unable to renew its federal license

New York officials claim power plant is killing endangered fish, Eat, Drink and Be, By Julian Martin. May 19, 2010 New York’s largest power provider may be shut down amidst concerns endangered fish species are threatened by the plant. Continue reading

May 20, 2010 Posted by | environment, USA | , , , , | 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 | 2 WORLD, health | , , , , , , | 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 | 2 WORLD, politics international | , , , , | Leave a comment

Iran planning new uranium enrichment facility

Iran to begin construction of new enrichment plant Tehran Times  20 May,2010, TEHRAN — Iran plans to begin construction of a new uranium enrichment facility by late March 2011, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Director Ali Akbar Salehi said on Wednesday.“This year (1389), after the preliminary stages are conducted, (we) will begin the construction of one of these plants,” Salehi told reporters when asked if any decisions have been made about the locations of the planned plants.Iranian calendar year 1389 began on March 21, 2010 and ends on March 20, 2011.In 2009, the Iranian government approved plans to build 10 new uranium enrichment plants………..
Salehi also said that the Bushehr nuclear power plant is going through its final tests and will come on stream this summer. ….
Asked if the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Saeed Jalili, would be having a meeting with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, Salehi said both sides have expressed their interest in holding talks and they will probably meet in Turkey. …tehran times : Iran to begin construction of new enrichment plant

May 20, 2010 Posted by | Iran, politics | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Uranium contamination blocks plans for Towpath Trail

(USA) Towpath Trail planners consider options in crossing through radioactive site in downtown Cleveland,  cleveland.com By Michael Scott, May 19, 2010, The Towpath Trail is at the crossroads.Planners of the ambitious and nearly complete hiking and bicycle trail are facing three uncomfortable choices as they try again to stitch together the final few miles through a downtown Cleveland industrial area along the Cuyahoga River.Their preferred route is still blocked by the lurking presence of a parcel on the northeast corner of Harvard Avenue and Jennings Road where uranium was once refined during World War II.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have said that the former Harshaw Chemical site won’t be fully cleaned up until about 2016 at the earliest,……Workers at Harshaw had refined uranium for the production of atomic bombs during World War II, leaving behind traces of uranium and other compounds in the buildings and soil on site. Towpath Trail planners consider options in crossing through radioactive site in downtown Cleveland | cleveland.com

May 20, 2010 Posted by | environment, USA | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Any extra nuclear radiation is a grave danger

There is no baseline population of unaffected people anymore…Any additional dose of highly efficient ionising radiation (alpha and beta) when delivered internally is a grave risk to modern humans.

What’s a safe dose of radiation? Paul Langley’s Nuclear History Blog, 19 May 2010,  Depends where it the source is and what cell it is dosing. How often that cell is dividing and whether succeeding generations from that cell are similarly dosed by an adjacent internal emitter (hot particle). In such a case, no amount of external environmental monitoring will detect the threat. Which is probably why Dr Johnson suggested surveying PEOPLE rather then the environment years after the contamination events. Continue reading

May 19, 2010 Posted by | 2 WORLD, health | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Radiation scanning of airline travellers – scientific doubts on safety

There really is no other technology around where we’re planning to X-ray such an enormous number of individuals. It’s really unprecedented in the radiation world”..

Scientists question safety of airport full body scanners, Gadling.com, by Scott Carmichael   May 18th 2010 “…..Since the first of these machines made it to an airport, the TSA has been very vocal about telling the traveling public that they are 100% safe, and that we have nothing to worry about. Except for the risk of too much exposure to ionizing radiation that is… Continue reading

May 19, 2010 Posted by | 2 WORLD, health | , , , | Leave a comment

Court cases looming over radiation exposure

“Their bone marrows were terribly suppressed….”

Radiation victims plan legal action against DU , The Times of India, May 19, 2010, “…. Deepak and Ajay Jain, the two scrap dealers who were battling for life at Army hospital till a month ago, now plan to take legal action against Delhi University (DU), Continue reading

May 19, 2010 Posted by | India, Legal | , , , , , | Leave a comment

How to put it over the people about nuclear power

If nuclear power was really as safe, clean, cheap and reliable as its supporters insist, there’d be no need to ‘socialize’ anybody.

Socializing the dangers of nuclear power Greenpeace International, by jmckeati – May 18, 2010

Indonesia is committed to have a nuclear power plant soon as new source of energy, officials said here on Monday. For the purpose, Indonesia has allocated 7 billion rupiah (about 769,633 U.S. dollars) for nuclear power plant socialization to curb fear among people. Continue reading

May 19, 2010 Posted by | Indonesia, spinbuster | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Uranium market to stay low

There is a lot of uranium being mined across the globe at present  ……..but it is only going into stockpiles at present…..It is for that reason MF Global can see little change to current uranium spot prices

Uranium Market To Remain Subdued. 18/05/2010 ninemsn Money, By Greg Peel Uranium sector consultant TradeTech has left its weekly uranium spot price indicator at US$41.25/lb following last week’s transactions. Continue reading

May 19, 2010 Posted by | 2 WORLD, business and costs | , , , | 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 | 2 WORLD, weapons and war | , , , , | Leave a comment

Iran’s storage deal: less of a worry than Israel’s nuke arsenal?

Iran’s Uranium Storage Deal, Craig Murray , 18 May 2010, -Iran undoubtedly pulled off a diplomatic coup with its announcement yesterday of a deal with Brazil and Turkey to store its low grade uranium. It is very hard for even the most ardent warmonger to claim that Iran is enriching uranium to make nuclear weapons, when that same uranium is in storage in Turkey….there is no indication that Iran has the ability for years to produce a nuclear weapon, and this arrangement makes that ever more plain. If any nation has a genune concern that Iran is seeking to develop a nuclear weapon, this agreement to remove almost the entire stock of uranium from Iran can only be welcomed.The failure to welcome this step by US and UK governments indicates that their actual agenda does not relate to Iran’s nuclear programme at all. And I still wait for a British minister to say something about Israel’s very real and very large stockpile of nuclear weapons.

Craig Murray – Iran’s Uranium Storage Deal

May 19, 2010 Posted by | general | , , , , , | Leave a comment

A tax on carbon emissions would be better than USA’s Climate Bill

Making the Simple Complicated – Economix Blog – NYTimes.com, By EDWARD L. GLAESER 18 May 2010, “…….This bill is a behemoth for three reasons. First, it tries to do far more than just charge for carbon emissions. The bill starts by providing “incentives for the growth of safe domestic nuclear and nuclear-related industries.” It supports carbon capture in coal plants, expands offshore drilling, establishes an Office of Consumer Advocacy and promotes “clean energy career development.” Standard economics suggests that many of these interventions would be unnecessary if we had the right tax on carbon emissions; if companies pay the full social costs of their actions, they have the right incentives to invest in greener technologies without any further help from Uncle Sam………..
At the end of the day, it is hard to relish either this ornate piece of legislation or the prospect of inaction on global emissions.

Making the Simple Complicated – Economix Blog – NYTimes.com

May 19, 2010 Posted by | general | , , , , | Leave a comment

Nuclear Bombing the oil leak? A Radioactive Idea

‘Expert’ proposes nuking the Gulf of Mexico to stop oil spill NATIONAL POST, May 17, 2010,  by Matt Gurney What’s worse than an oil spill? A radioactive oil spill.
Nonetheless, an ‘expert’ (albeit one who doesn’t look old enough to have graduated high school)   has suggested that the United States seal the Gulf of Mexico oil pipe by setting off a nuclear weapon at the site of the ruptured pipe in the hopes, one would presume, that the blast would either seal the leak or melt the pipe…..

…… What if the bomb goes off and doesn’t seal the leak? Then instead of an oil leak, you have a radioactive oil leak. Is that somehow better?

Despite the absurdity of the proposal, apparently, it’s not without precedent. The Soviet Union has reportedly used this technique five times in order to stop natural gas leaks. Four of them worked. Okay…but…what about the fifth? Is there a natural gas leak somewhere out there, deep in a radioactive crater?….. Matt Gurney: ‘Expert’ proposes nuking the Gulf of Mexico to stop oil spill – Full Comment

May 18, 2010 Posted by | general | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Australian Aboriginals fight Govt’s draconian nuclear waste plan

YouTube – Muckaty Voices

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcuNpT84Ov

The proposed waste dump law excludes the Muckaty Traditional Owners from procedural fairness and appeal rights, removes Aboriginal Heritage and environmental protections and overrides any Commonwealth, State and Territory laws that could be used to oppose or challenge the dump plan.

From the campfire to cyberspace: Radioactive waste concerns go global, Natalie Wasley, 18 May 2001 Aboriginal Traditional Owners opposed to a radioactive waste dump at Muckaty Station in the Northern Territory of Australia have taken their campaign to a global online audience. Continue reading

May 18, 2010 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, indigenous issues | , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment