DTE seeks to downplay incident at Fermi II nuclear power plant
DTE seeks to downplay incident at Fermi 11 nuclear power plant By Eartha Jane Melzer 4/7/09 According to plant report, the water level in the reactor vessel fell to 162 inches during March 28 shutdown but Fermi spokesman says he doesn’t think that ‘necessarily indicates that there was any loss of water level at all. An incident involving a nuclear reactor going into “hot shutdown” at DTE Energy’s Fermi II power generation station in Monroe County late last month went largely unnoticed locally and is raising questions about what exactly happened at the plant. DTE officials have minimized the incident,…………………………
Michael Keegan, a nuclear power critic who lives near the Fermi II plant said that he learned of the incident through a notice on the NRC website.
Keegan, who is among the individuals trying to block the construction of an additional reactor at the Fermi complex, said that locals are “salivating” at the prospect of jobs in building the new plant. He said that he finds the lack of local media on the situation disturbing.
“It’s kind of peculiar,” he said. “You see [this incident] is picked up by Reuters and you can read about it in New York but you can’t read about it in your home town.”…………………..
Jim Riccio, a Greenpeace nuclear policy analyst said he is not surprised that a utility spokesman would try to play down a drop in reactor vessel water levels.
“He wants to make you believe that splitting atoms is something safe, but its not,” Riccio said. “The risk is that if the water levels go too low you uncover the core and you start to melt down, that is what happened at Three Mile Island,” referring to the 1979 partial core meltdown at the nuclear power station near Harrisburg, Pa.
Michigan Messenger » DTE seeks to downplay incident at Fermi II nuclear power plant
Mines and plants hit by low prices, high costs – Forbes.com
Thomson Reuters
FACTBOX-Mines and plants hit by low prices, high costs
04.07.09, 06:47 AM EDT – “……………….Uranium miner Denison Mines ( DNN – news – people ) will temporarily suspend production at its Sunday and Rim mines in the western United States and will likely shut its White Mesa mill in May……………
FACTBOX-Mines and plants hit by low prices, high costs – Forbes.com
Press freedom body slams Niger media ‘harassment’
Press freedom body slams Niger media ‘harassment’ NIAMEY (AFP) 4 April 09 — A press freedom organisation Friday condemned the government of the west African state of Niger for “harassing” Dounia, an independent broadcasting group.”The Dounia group is the victim of repeated harassment by the judicial authorities,” Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders) said in a statement………………………..
The statement follows the arrest of Abibou Garba, director of the Dounia radio and television station, on charges of “disseminating false news” following a discussion of a recent visit to Niger by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
“We urge the authorities to withdraw the charges against Garba,” RSF said.
Garba and Idi Abdou, a political activist in the Alternative Citizen Space organisation, were charged after a televised discussion on the Dounia channel about the mining of uranium in Niger by the French group Areva.
Nuclear-waste contract opposed
Nuclear-waste contract opposed Fairplay Daily News 02 Apr 2009
RUSSIAN environmental groups are urging rejection for a contract renewal to ship radioactive waste through St Petersburg’s port to a storage facility at Ust-Luga on the Gulf of Finland.Greenpeace told Fairplay that it had urged Russia’s government-owned nuclear fuel trading company Techsnabexport (Tenex) not to renew its contract to accept uranium hexafluoride …
Fiscal stimulus and the environment
Greenstanding
Apr 2nd 2009
From The Economist print editionGordon Brown’s New Deal will do little to advance renewable energy
Mr Brown’s green New Deal looks flimsy. On March 31st HSBC, a big bank, published a report ranking countries by how green their economic-stimulus packages were. The bank reckons that Britain is allocating just 7% of its fiscal stimulus to greenery, compared with 12% in America, 34% in China and a whopping 81% in South Korea (see chart). A separate report prepared for Greenpeace, a pressure group, by consultants at the New Economics Foundation (NEF) considers only genuinely new funding and arrives at a figure of just 0.6%, or £120m……………………….
………………….It has moved speedily to revive the nuclear-power industry, by contrast. From a position of cordial dislike in 2003, the government announced itself in favour of new nuclear plants in principle as early as 2006.More recently ministers have been positively prescriptive, suggesting how many plants might be built and where. A takeover of British Energy, which runs most existing nuclear plants, by EDF, keen to build more, took place last year. A new nuclear laboratory has been founded, schemes to train workers set up and the vexed issue of waste disposal re-examined.Nuclear-power stations take many years to build, so new ones will not help Britain meet its 2020 targets for curbing emissions. But the technology is well understood. Politicians may have calculated that a few nuclear-power stations will be easier to sell the public than thousands of wind turbines. And energy does not have to be renewable to be low-carbon.
Fiscal stimulus and the environment | Greenstanding | The Economist
Nuclear Power: ‘They only tell part of the truth’
Nuclear Power: ‘They only tell part of the truth’ VUE WEEKLY Community activists charge bias in government’s nuclear report by Jan Buterman April 2, 2009
Opponents of nuclear power in Alberta say a “balanced and objective” report prepared at the request of the provincial government to look at the “factual issues pertinent to the use of nuclear power to supply electricity in Alberta” relies on a select group of experts with ties to the nuclear industry and omits or glosses over key information.“In one word? Fraudulent,” charges Pat McNamara, a Grande Prairie carpenter and founding member of the grassroots group Nuclear Free Alberta, pointing to the lack of representation of heath or environmental experts on the panel which prepared the report. “The thing that’s wrong with it is that they only tell part of the truth,” McNamara says. While the report, which the province will use to guide public consultations on the issue starting in April, deliberately uses non-technical language throughout, McNamara says it fails to elaborate on key issues which Albertans need to understand if they are to make an informed decision on bringing nuclear power to the province. The issues are complex but not impossible to learn, argues McNamara……………
……………….Despite the report’s claim of focusing on factual issues, the section dealing with fuel disposal relies heavily on language describing work to be developed or still in research, with theoretical outcomes posed as “could be” and “likely.” At the end of the day—or in the case of nuclear power stations, the end of several human generations from now—nuclear power stations leave behind highly toxic waste that cannot be completely recovered or recycled and must be stockpiled well into the timeline of those future generations. As the waste materials decay, they remain toxic—some of the the breakdown products are even more radioactive than the original material.
Vue Weekly : Edmonton’s 100% Independent Weekly : Nuclear Power: ‘They only tell part of the truth’
Militarisation of Science and Nuclear Policy
Militarisation of Science and Nuclear Policy
Web Newswire April 1, 2009 <!–
–> Dhirendra Kumar – “………………………………..Pro-nuclear pundits have, however, claimed that the N-power programme is now a peaceful civil industrial activity, eco-friendly, and necessary for the country’s energy requirement for futuristic development. Also that the engineering of nuclear reactors had reached high levels of safety of “one in the millionth” chance of an accident or radiation leaks. If that were the case, our civic administration and population around nuclear establishments should be provided with possible risks warnings and as with normal industrial activities, the public should be provided with adequate Insurance coverage against radiation damage and injury. Radiation accidents should be covered in Insurance Policies. Presently all Insurance Policies carry a special “ exclusion” clause that the policy excludes any radiation damage to life and property…………………
……………..Science and Public Policy principles cannot and must not be ignored in formulating the nuclear power policy. Political expediency, and narrow chauvinistic aspiration to have the Bombs must not be the basis of Science policy……………..
…………….the fission process suffers from genuine technological infirmities resulting from radiation and there is no fail-safe reactor system to guarantee absolute safety for our oncoming generations. Notwithstanding the Right to Information Act, the Department of Atomic Energy is free from any public and parliamentary scrutiny…………
………………..There is no constitutional protection for a whistleblower or informer who dare to report any radiation leaks or nuclear accident.Concerned scientists’ opposition to nuclear power primarily centers on how and how soon N- technology can resolve problem of waste disposal. Sufficient scientific data exist to indicate potential biological hazards from actinides, including potential genetic effects of exposure and high probability of migration of radioactivity through the food chain……………
……………..Technical problems of de-commissioning of dead reactors and the long-term waste storage cannot be ignored. For, to keep the large amount of radioactive waste material would requ
Militarisation of Science and Nuclear Policy | webnewswire.com
NBRI’s radioactive waste being released in Gomti? –
NBRI’s radioactive waste being released in Gomti? THE TIMES OF INDIA 2 Apr 2009, 0215 hrs IST, Neha Shukla, TNN LUCKNOW: Could NBRI be dumping radioactive
waste in Gomti directly through its sewage system? Knowing that radioactive material can induce
cancer, birth defects and infertility in humans directly exposed to it, releasing it in Gomti is a huge big ecological disaster. A Bareilly-based NGO, Shree Mahalaxmi Aushadhiya Paudha Sanrakshan Vikas Samiti, has accused NBRI of polluting Gomti. It filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the high court claiming NBRI is illegally discharging radioactive elements in the river
NBRI’s radioactive waste being released in Gomti? – Lucknow – Cities – The Times of India
As CT Radiation Accumulates, Cancer Risk May Rise
As CT Radiation Accumulates, Cancer Risk May RiseThose who have the most scans over a lifetime face greatest risk, experts sayP osted March 31, 2009
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay ReporterTUESDAY, March 31 (HealthDay News) — Cumulative exposure to radiation from CT scans can increase the risk for cancer by as much as 12 percent, Harvard University researchers report……………………………people who are having a lot of CTs need to think more carefully and talk with their doctor to determine whether additional scans add value to their care because the risks can add up over time, he said. “We found cancer risks up to 12 percent” higher for people who had 38 scans, he said.
The report is published in the April issue of Radiology.
As CT Radiation Accumulates, Cancer Risk May Rise – US News and World Report
NIGER: Desert residents pay high price for lucrative uranium mining | Economy Environment Health & Nutrition Conflict Water & Sanitation | Feature
NIGER: Desert residents pay high price for lucrative uranium mining IRIN 1 April 09 DAKAR, – After a visit in late March from French President Nicholas Sarkozy to Niger, residents in the uranium-exporting desert country continue questioning whether AREVA, a company primarily owned by the French government, will honour its promise to protect communities from mining hazards.
Studies and residents’ testimonies have pointed to health and environmental dangers from mining operations owned and operated by both AREVA’s subsidiaries and the Niger government…………………… The AREVA majority-owned mine called COMINAK (Mining Company of Akouta) commissioned an environmental study of its operations in Arlit in 2006, which reported that the number of deaths linked to respiratory infections was twice as high in the mining town (16 percent) as in the rest of the country.
Arlit’s population is 110,000.
“The wind carries dust contaminated with the long-lasting radium [time required for it to lose toxicity is more than 1,600 years] and lead…Samples taken from 5km within site…Sandstorms [and] atmospheric waste from mines could be aggravating factors for pulmonary [illnesses] in the region,” the researchers wrote in COMINAK’s environmental study. ………………. Radioactive waste – possibly used in road construction – may be responsible for the abnormally high levels of radiation, according to CRIIRAD. In 2007 CRIIRAD researchers wrote that radiation levels were up to 100 times above average in front of the AREVA-funded hospital near the COMINAK mine…………………… But environmental studies carried out by CRIIRAD and Sherpa in 2005 in mining communities showed water radiation levels up to 110 times higher than World Health Organization (WHO) safe drinking water standards in industrial areas
Europe Won’t Buy Into Nuclear Power Until Waste Problem Is Solved
Europe Won’t Buy Into Nuclear Power Until Waste Problem Is Solved THE BUSINESS INSIDER Jay Yarow|Mar. 31, 2009, The renaissance of the nuclear power industry appears to be in a holding pattern. The two big problems: Lack of funding for the expensive construction of the reactors, and public skepticism about nuclear waste.
EE News attended a two-day nuclear energy conference last week and reported that Ute Blohm-Hieber, head of nuclear energy and waste management at the European Commission, agreed that waste is the “Achilles’ heel of the nuclear industry.” What’s interesting is that the news org didn’t have any word from the conference of workable solutions to the problem.
Europe Won’t Buy Into Nuclear Power Until Waste Problem Is Solved
Nearly $2 billion for Hanford cleanup
Nearly $2 billion for Hanford cleanup seattlepi.com By SHANNON DININNYASSOCIATED PRESS WRITERRICHLAND, Wash. — The Department of Energy plans to spend about $2 billion in stimulus money to speed some of the cleanup at south-central Washington’s highly contaminated Hanford nuclear reservation………………..The extra $2 billion equals what the federal government typically spends cleaning up Hanford each year……………………53 million gallons of radioactive brew, were left behind in 177 underground tanks. Some of those tanks are known to have leaked into the aquifer, threatening the neighboring Columbia River, and 144 tanks remain to be emptied.
Anti-nuclear groups fear danger at new reactor
Anti-nuclear groups fear danger at new reactor Mar 28 2009 by Darren Devine, Western Mail ANTI-NUCLEAR campaigners have warned a type of uranium that is up to 15% more radioactive and has to be stored on site for 100 years will be used, should a new Welsh plant get the go-ahead.The warning came as the Government’s deadline for nominations for sites to house a new generation of nuclear plants passes on Tuesday.The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), which owns Wales’ only nuclear power station at Wylfa, on Anglesey, has already indicated it intends to nominate the site as suitable for a new facility.But the Wales Anti-Nuclear Alliance and Anglesey group Pawb warned that the only two firms left in the bidding process to build and run the new plants intend to use so-called “high burn-up uranium”.The two firms hoping to build the new nuclear sites are US company Westinghouse Electric and Areva of France.
WalesOnline – News – Wales News – Anti-nuclear groups fear danger at new reactor
Bill Would Stop Uranium Mining Near Grand Canyon National Park
Bill Would Stop Uranium Mining Near Grand Canyon National Park
FLAGSTAFF, Arizona, January 26, 2009 (ENS) – Congressman Raul Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat, has reintroduced legislation prohibiting new uranium claims, exploration, and mining across one million acres of public lands watersheds surrounding Grand Canyon National Park.The lands covered by the bill are the last remaining public lands not protected from new uranium development around the park, which extends for 277 miles along the Colorado River in Arizona and receives some five million visitors a year.
The bill protects the Tusayan Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest south of the canyon, the Kanab Creek watershed north of the park, and House Rock Valley, between Grand Canyon National Park and Vermilion Cliffs National Monument.
………………….”Uranium mining poses one of the greatest risks to Grand Canyon National Park in decades,” said Roger Clark of the Grand Canyon Trust. “It threatens to contaminate park waters with radioactive waste, poses public-health problems for local residents and downstream communities dependent upon the Colorado River, and endangers the park’s unique ecosystems.”
Bill Would Stop Uranium Mining Near Grand Canyon National Park
Cleanup agencies looking for more money as Hanford work continues
Cleanup agencies looking for more money as Hanford work continues Jan 26, 2009
Komo News By SHANNON DININNY, Associated Press
RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) – Each year, the federal government spends roughly $2 billion to rid the nation’s most contaminated nuclear site of toxic and radioactive waste………………………..The federal government created Hanford in the 1940s as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb. Today, it is the nation’s most contaminated nuclear site, with cleanup costs expected to top $50 billion…………………Even more challenging in recent months: finding the money to complete the work and meet legal deadlines for cleanup.The Energy Department has said it will miss 23 deadlines this year because there is insufficient money in the 2009 budget. Now, some U.S. senators are pushing the Obama administration to spend stimulus money to clean up not just Hanford, but all Cold War-era sites……………….In 1989, the state and federal government signed the Tri-Party Agreement to establish legal deadlines for completing all phases of the cleanup. Twenty years later, the two sides are embroiled in a lawsuit over missed deadlines and inadequate funding.
1 This Month
petition to oppose the rapid increase of space-military industry threatening Jeju Island and the region.
[Petition by April 19th (KST)] Stop the joint military-Hanwha Systems-Jeju Provincial Government Sea Launch!
World Nuclear Power. Reactors 1951-2026, 75 Years of Nuclear Power.
Interactive Map– https://dv.worldnuclearreport.org/
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/2352741955560
of the week–London Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Tell the Ukrainian Government to Drop Prosecution of Peace Activist Yurii Sheliazhenko
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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