radiation « nuclear-news

US soldiers the victims of depleted uranium

Dave Lindorff: Pentagon Dirty Bombers: Depleted Uranium in the USA The Huffington Post October 27, 2009 “……………..The Pentagon continues a long history of claiming that DU–which is the uranium that is left after the fissionable isotope U-235 is removed to make nuclear fuel and bombs–is not dangerous, Continue reading →

October 29, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, USA, weapons and war | antinuclear, depleted, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Critical build-up of plutonium in France’s nuclear plant

The French Connection: plutonium problems in France linked to Duke’s Catawba reactor & the Savannah River Site MOX plant The New Liberator Tom Clement, 28 Oct 09 “…………..a serious problem at a plutonium facility in Cadarche, France, which is under the control of the Commissariat à l’énergie atomique (CEA, French Atomic Energy Commission). This facility, the Atelier de Technologie du Plutonium (ATPu), produced plutonium fuel (MOX) and is being cleaned out and decommissioned. Due to poor accounting methods of the plutonium in the facility, it was discovered that the build-up of plutonium had reached amounts of concern for a nuclear criticality incident, which has been big news in France.

The French Connection: plutonium problems in France linked to Duke’s Catawba reactor & the Savannah River Site MOX plant « The New Liberator

October 29, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, France, safety | antinuclear, AREVA, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Financial problems in Bulgarian nuclear plan

German RWE withdraws from nuclear plant project in Bulgaria due to financial issues Washington Examiner Associated Press10/28/09 EDTSOFIA, BULGARIA — German utility RWE AG has announced its withdrawal from a joint nuclear plant project due to problems with its financing, Continue reading →

October 29, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, business and costs, EUROPE | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Worldwide indigenous organising against nuclear industry

Southwest Indigenous Uranium Forum a Success Indybay by Anna Rondon Oct 27th, 2009 This past weekend Indigenous Peoples from Alaska, North America, Bolivia and Japan converged near Acoma Pueblo for the 7th Southwest Indigenous Uranium Forum in Sky City, New Mexico. Continue reading →

October 28, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, 2 WORLD, indigenous issues | antinuclear, indigenous, nuclear, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium, wastes | Leave a comment

Costly Chernobyl cleanup continues

Toxic debt – The Engineer 26 Oct 09 “……………..While the legacy of the Soviet Union’s military might continues to present challenges, it is Chernobyl, a civilian nuclear reactor, which remains the most terrifying symbol of the era. Continue reading →

October 27, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, Russia, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

UK govt promoting new nukes despite waste report

Energy fear over nuclear waste dumps Former senior advisers say ministers ‘cherry-picked’ reports to bolster case for new power plants Guaradian.co.uk Alok Jha 25 Oct 09

Former senior government advisers on nuclear power have accused ministers of being “cavalier” and “cherry-picking” their advice to bolster the case for a new generation of nuclear power stations. Continue reading →

October 26, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, UK, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Risk of low level radiation might be under-estimated

That X-Ray Could Give You A Heart Attack News Junkie , By Dolores M. Bernal Oct 22, 2009

Researchers from the UK have found that small levels of radiation could lead to heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems. The findings were published this week on the journal of PLoS Computational Biology. Continue reading →

October 24, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, 2 WORLD, health | antinuclear, nuclear, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Warning on CT Brain Scans

– FDA Issues Warning About Radiation Overexposure During Brain Scan By: June Chen, MD Health and Age 10/22/2009 Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported cases of radiation overexposure during brain perfusion computed tomography (CT) imaging. Although the reported cases of radiation overexposure all occurred at a single institution, this warning does raise a red flag about potential problems with CT quality assurance programs. Continue reading →

October 24, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, health, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

President Obama misinformed about France and Japan’s nukes

Beyond Nuclear 23 Oct 09 President Obama is either misinformed or uninformed if he believes that France and Japan have operated their nuclear power programs safely and effectively.

Due to its dependency on nuclear power, France has an immense and unsolved nuclear waste problem including 81 + tonnes of plutonium sitting in canisters – enough for 10,000 bombs. Leukemia clusters have been found along the coast near the huge reprocessing plant and radioactively contaminated sites litter the country due to the 210 now abandoned uranium mines.

Japan has suffered a series of tragic accidents at nuclear facilities in the past two decades including an accidental criticality at the Tokai-Mura uranium enrichment facility that killed two workers and exposed many hundreds of local residents and an earthquake that released radioactivity into the ocean from the Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant, the world’s largest with seven reactors.

If Obama is serious about addressing climate change he must get off the nuclear bandwagon and make a real commitment to meaningful progress on renewable energy.

October 23, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment

Chernobyl still has unsolved nuclear waste problem

Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Pond to be Decommissioned Chernobyl and Eastern Europe 22 Oct 09 The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is currently conducting a three-day seminar in Kyiv, Ukraine to discuss problems related to the decommissioning of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant’s cooling pond….
…….The Chernobyl cooling pond is an artificial body of water that was created to cool the heat exchangers of four nuclear reactor units at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. As a result of the Chernobyl accident, the cooling pond was exposed to extremely high levels of contamination. The reservoir area has an approximate volume of 8.5 square miles, or 5,297,199,985 cubic feet.

Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Pond to be Decommissioned – Chernobyl and Eastern Europe Blog

October 22, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, Russia, wastes | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium, wastes | Leave a comment

Yankee nuclear plant safety in doubt

Report raises new questions about Yankee reliability By Nancy Remsen, Burlington Free Press Staff Writer • October 21, 2009 A consultant’s first report to the Legislature raised new concerns about the reliability of the 37-year-old Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee in light of its owner’s desire to re-license and operate the nuclear power plant for another 20 years.Arnold Gundersen of Fairewinds Associates nc. raised five concerns in his first report: Continue reading →

October 22, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium, wastes | 1 Comment

Nuclear revival? – but waste problem still not solved!

Nuclear Power Revival for GE Leaves Waste Unsolved By Jeremy van Loon

Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) — When 65 scientists met at Princeton University in 1955 to decide where to permanently store radioactive waste from nuclear power plants, their conclusion was simple: Bury it deep underground, far from earthquakes.

Since then, reactors worldwide have produced 270,000 tons of spent fuel, storing most of it in canisters above ground. Continue reading →

October 21, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, 2 WORLD, wastes | antinuclear, AREVA, nuclear, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium, wastes | Leave a comment

Scandalous legacy of depleted uranium

America’s Poison Legacy Pacific Free Press by Dave Lindorff 19 October 2009 Depleted Uranium Weapons:

The Dead Babies in Iraq and Afghanistan Are No Joke The horrors of the US Agent Orange defoliation campaign in Vietnam, about which I wrote on Oct. 15, could ultimately be dwarfed by the horrors caused by the depleted uranium weapons which the US began using in the 1991 Gulf War (300 tons), and which it has used much more extensively–and in more urban, populated areas–in the Iraq War and the now intensifying Afghanistan War. Continue reading →

October 21, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, Afghanistan, Iraq, weapons and war | antinuclear, depleted, indigenous, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium, wastes | Leave a comment

UK: expensive problem of aging nuclear industry

Nuclear industry: Crumbling stores, leaky plants and the dangers of old age Guardian, by Terry Macalister 20 October 2009

Dealing with the problems of old age lies at the heart of the nuclear industry’s challenge to convince the public of its safety: leaky power plants, crumbling waste stores nearing the end of their lives and overworked inspectors who do not have the time to assess properly the next generation of power stations. Continue reading →

October 21, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, UK, wastes | antinuclear, AREVA, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Mammography can lead to overdiagnosis

Does Mammography Sometimes Detect Too Much Breast Cancer? National Cancer Institute 20 Oct 09 The argument for screening women for breast cancer with mammography sounds simple: Continue reading →

October 21, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, 2 WORLD, health | radiation, radioactive | Leave a comment