German customers are saying ‘No Thanks” to nuclear power
Many German customers are saying ‘No Thanks” to nuclear power
American German Business News Flavia Westerwelle 24 August 09
After the recent nuclear reactor shutdown at the Vattenfall Kruemmel nuclear plant near Hamburg, Germany, many German customers are preferring green energy.On July 4th, 2009 the Kruemmel nuclear plant near Hamburg had been running for less than two weeks after a two year shutdown, when a sudden drop of voltage send shopping centers and traffic lights in Germany’s second largest city into an hour long blackout.After this incident the green energy company Lichtblick saw a dramatic jump in customers, with ca. 200 new customers per day.
This corresponds to a 70 % increase in customers for Lichtblick, a Hamburg-based company providing energy from renewable sources, with a mix of hydro, wind, solar and biomass power.It looks like the recent series of problems at nuclear plants combined with the issue of storing the nuclear waste has trigger a process of rethinking by many German customers eager to find a long term solution for Germany’s energy needs.
Many German customers are saying ‘No Thanks” to nuclear power « American-German Business News
Nuclear Safety in India
Nuclear Safety in India
The Pakistani Spectator 25 August 09
India has not ratified the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Yet, it has been exempted from nuclear restrictions imposed on non-signatories. The West has accorded preferential treatment to India ostensibly in consideration of her `immaculate’ nuclear safety record.India’s Nuclear Power Corporation boisterously claims: “NPC engineers have shared their expertise internationally by participating in safety reviews and inspection of reactors in other countries conducted by the World Association of Nuclear Operators and the International Atomic Energy Agency. We are continuously updating our safety systems and procedures even at the cost of short-term economic benefit. Besides, all our plants are designed, constructed, commissioned, operated and maintained under strict supervision.
”What’s the real situation? It is true that there has not been an accident, leading to core meltdown and radiation exposures. But, the fact remains that several minor accidents have happened in the past. These accidents range from leaks of oil to complete loss of power in the reactors causing all safety systems to be disabled.
Let us look at some of the accidents. The accidents at Tarapur, Madras and Rajasthan plants were due to non-compliance with safety standards. According to the mandatory standards of operation, each reactor is supposed to have an independent emergency core-cooling system. But, in practice, one cooling system was being shared between two reactors.
The investigators were astonished to find that the reactors at Madras and Rajasthan had been operating without backup pumps to continue smooth operation. The plants had to be shut down as whenever the operating pumps were disabled by external factors such as fluctuations in the grid.A study by India’s Atomic Energy Regulatory Board documented over 130 extremely serious safety issues warranting urgent corrective measures in the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Uranium Corporation of India, Heavy Water Board, Indian Rare Earths Limited and several other facilities.
The CIRUS reactor had an inherent problem of radiation leakage. Candu reactors suffered from heavy leakage of water. Dhruva reactor experienced fuel leakage, attributed to imperfect design architecture. Radioactive waste from the Tarapur Plant endangered lives of about 3,000 villagers living nearby……………….
Poor safety practices in India’s nuclear-power plants remain camouflaged under a cloak of secrecy. Authorities get alerted only when an accident occurs, necessitating a shut down. The NSG should have a second look at safety measures `observed’ in India’s power plants.. A cavalier approach to poor safety standards could result in a major accident, like Chernobyl or Three Mile Island.
Russia’s nuclear legacy
Bowermaster’s Adventures — Russia’s nuclear legacy
Gadling.comby Jon Bowermaster
Aug 24th 2009
Just around the corner from Petropavlovsk, ten miles by land or sea, located across Avachinskaya Bay on a small peninsula called Krasheninnikova sits Russia’s largest nuclear submarine base. It is off limits to outsiders and a shell of what it was during the Soviet Union’s heyday. Today – judging by a simple Google map search – there are just a half-dozen active nuclear subs sitting at its docks. Worrying to those who pay attention to such things are the shadows on the far edge of the docks on the same map, indicating somewhere between a dozen and twenty subs piled up next to each other. They are said to be at varying degrees of decommissioning………………….
The operation of nuclear-powered submarines generates considerable amounts of nuclear waste. Liquid and solid radioactive wastes need to be removed from submarines and stored. In addition, periodically the submarine needs to be refueled, thus spent fuel needs to be removed from the submarine and also stored. Decommissioning a nuclear submarine generates these streams of waste and in addition, the refueled reactor compartment must be dealt with…………………This is from a U.S. State Department report: “In Russia every step of the process is facing problems. The support complex which was already in poor shape and accident-prone during Soviet times has been particularly burdened in the last few years. Shore-side waste sites are full of low-level radioactive waste and spent fuel. Shipments of the spent fuel for reprocessing have been delayed due to lack of funds and equipment. The service ships, which unload the spent fuel from submarines, are also full and in poor shape (and some have suffered accidents).
The shipyards where the work is done are facing financial shortages, power blackouts and strikes. There are no final land-based storage sites for decommissioned reactor compartments removed from submarines, so they are being stored afloat in bays near naval bases. Finally, contamination is widespread at waste storage sites in the North and Far East due to accidents. Lower-level contamination is thought to plague virtually every support facility for the fleet. In addition, accidents on submarines have lead to contamination of the surrounding area.
Bowermaster’s Adventures — Russia’s nuclear legacy | Gadling.com
Radioactive wreckage, landmines blight Iraq
Radioactive wreckage, landmines blight Iraq
Herald Sun By Aubrey Belford in BaghdadAugust 24, 2009
RADIOACTIVE wreckage and tens of millions of landmines still blight Iraq after decades of war and the deadly violence that engulfed the nation after the 2003 invasion, the environment minister says.Narmin Othman Hasan said a lack of funding and Iraq’s fragile security situation was hampering efforts to clean up contaminated sites across the country.She said that only a fraction of tanks and other wartime vehicles contaminated with depleted uranium have been successfully treated and disposed of by the Iraqi authorities.”We have only found 80 per cent (of the contaminated sites)… because of the (lack of) security there are still some areas we can’t reach,” she estimated.The twin menaces are the legacy of decades of conflict: the 1980-1988 war with neighbouring Iran, the 1991 Gulf war that followed Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq and its bloody aftermath.
……………Depleted uranium, a radioactive metal present in armour piercing bullets used by US-led forces during the 1991 Gulf War and the 2003 invasion, and which is twice as dense as lead, has been blamed for health problems from cancer to birth defects, but much research remains inconclusive.
“All radiation is dangerous – but how much depleted uranium radiation is affecting health, that is still under study,” Ms Hasan said, a
Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump plan is being killed off
Yucca Mountain funding nears its demise
Government Executive By Darren Goode Congress Daily August 21, 2009
House and Senate Democrats are well on their way to helping the Obama administration kill Nevada’s Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository.Both chambers have approved fiscal 2010 Energy and Water Appropriations bills that match the administration’s $197 million request to let the Energy Department officially keep the project open on paper for a year while funding Energy Secretary Stephen Chu’s blue ribbon panel to develop an alternative plan for storing and managing nuclear waste.
The current 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste are held in temporary surface storage facilities at 131 sites in 39 states.
Yucca Mountain funding nears its demise (8/21/09) — www.GovernmentExecutive.com
uranium mine could adversely affect groundwater
Nunn uranium mine could adversely affect groundwater
The Colorado Independent By David O. Williams 8/19/09
Colorado has uranium on the brain these days.
An environmental engineer and lecturer brought in by conservationists told an audience in Fort Collins Tuesday they should be concerned about the deterioration of their water quality if a proposed uranium mine near Nunn goes forward, according to the Greeley Tribune.
“If I was living in this area, I would certainly have concerns about groundwater,” said Dr. Gavin Mudd, an assistant lecturer at Monash University in Clayton, Australia. “Knowing the extent of problems they’ve had at mines in Wyoming and Texas, for example, I would certainly be concerned about protecting my groundwater quality.”
………Mountain communities in Southwest Colorado, meanwhile, are heatedly debating the benefits and risks of a mill that would process uranium in Montrose County………..
http://coloradoindependent.com/35963/nunn-uranium-mine-could-adversely-impact-groundwater-expert-says
Sellafield nuclear waste: Cumbrian Council doesn’t want it
(UK) Nuclear waste sites set for thumbs down
Charlie, The Whitehaven News 20 August 09
Why do Sellafield want to store their waste in other peoples back yards? If it safe to be stored at Lillyhall then why not dig a big hole on the site of the old reactors? If waste is contained within a defined site it will not give surprises to future generations when the paperwork has been mislaid. This is proved by the problems over what is stored at Drigg. If we can’t trust them to keep track of dangerous waste for fifty years how can we expect them to know what is buried in hundreds of years to come.
The Whitehaven News by Alan Irving 20 August 09
TWO local sites earmarked for radioactive waste disposal are set to get the thumbs down from Cumbria County Council even though one – at Lillyhall – has already taken small amounts.
Cabinet councillors next week are expected to approve a recommendation that the low level radioactive waste is kept at Sellafield rather than sent to Keekle Head or Lillyhall…………
……………..yesterday Councillor Knowles said: “Sellafield waste should be dealt with at Sellafield. What we don’t want is a proliferation of radioactive waste, it should not be put in holes around West Cumbria and imposed on people.” At Keekle Head, French company subsidiary Endecom is already drilling boreholes to see whether it will be suitable. It also has an agreement to buy the derelict 173-acre site……………………
Consultations on the national strategy to manage future arisings of waste will close on September 11. Cabinet members will consider a county council response on the lines that “LLW produced at Sellafield should be disposed of near to Sellafield and should not be dispersed in sites further afield in West Cumbria.”
Whiitehaven News | News | Nuclear waste sites set for thumbs down
Iran’s Nuclear and Ballistic Missile Programs
Iran’s Nuclear and Ballistic Missile Programs Remain Shrouded in Secrecy
— Iran has committed numerous violations of its International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards obligations.
Centre for Arms Control and Nuclear Non-Proliferation 17 August 09
— IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei noted in a June 2008 interview that the Iranians “continue to insist that they are interested solely in using nuclear power for civilian purposes. We have yet to find a smoking gun that would prove them wrong. Continue reading
Non-nuclear production of medical isotopes
National nuclear medicine shortage could have a Wisconsin solution
WTN News Tom StillAugust 17, 2009
“…………Scientists working with the Madison-based company believe they can generate the neutrons necessary to create Mo-99, an essential nuclear medicine tool, without using a nuclear reactor to do so.It’s a safer and more sustainable method than the status quo, which relies on production of Mo-99 from five retirement-age nuclear medicine reactors – two of which are now shut down, one perhaps permanently…………………………”
National nuclear medicine shortage could have a Wisconsin solution (WTN News)
Ionising radiation causing rise in thyroid cancer
Your Health: Rise in thyroid cancer may be tied to radiation
By Kim Painter, USA TODAY 16 August 09A medical mystery: As overall cancer rates fall, why are thyroid cancer rates rising? Diagnoses of cancer in this gland in the neck are increasing about 6% a year, faster than cancers found anywhere else, according to one National Cancer Institute analysis.Researchers know one big reason: The many medical scans Americans have, for everything from neck pain to artery plaque, are turning up thousands of tiny thyroid tumors that otherwise might go undetected and often would do no harm.
“We call them ‘incidentalomas,’ ” says Amy Chen, a head and neck surgeon at Emory University in Atlanta and American Cancer Society researcher.
But that’s not the whole story. Two recent studies, including one co-written by Chen, show larger thyroid tumors are being found at an increasing rate, too. And those can’t be explained by more aggressive diagnosis alone, researchers say.
“There is something else going on” to contribute to the 37,000 cases of thyroid cancer expected this year, Chen says. That’s up from 18,000 in 2000.
Your Health: Rise in thyroid cancer may be tied to radiation – USATODAY.com
Malaysia: Nuclear Energy Costly and Unsafe
Costly and unsafe – opinion from Malaysia
August 16, 2009
The threat of another Chernobyl and the question of where to dump the waste are key arguments against nuclear power.AS mankind begins to come to terms with the fact that oil will run out in the not-too-distant future, nuclear power advocates trumpet a solution that is “clean, efficient, safe and, in some cases, environmentally friendly.………………..Elizabeth Wong, the Selangor Exco for Tourism, Consumer Affairs and the Environment, says nuclear energy is not a safe option for the future.
“Contrary to the claims of the nuclear industry and the federal government, nuclear energy is neither safe nor inexpensive. It is also not a solution to climate change. Nuclear power usage has environmental, health, and security risks that make it an undesirable substitute for fossil fuels.
Radiation Contamination by Depleted Uranium
High Tech Weaponry used in Gaza: Radiation contamination by Depleted Uranium
by Peter Eyre, Global Research, August 14, 2009
I am a Middle East Consultant living in the UK and would like all people living in or near areas of conflict to understand the High Tech Weaponry used by many military establishments worldwide, especially the US (the manufacturers) and other NATO forces.The reason for pointing this out to you is as a response to my research on the terrible rise in cancer related deaths. This is not only confined to military personnel in the battle zone but also the indiscriminate contamination of civilians, field crops and water supplies in the immediate area as well as the adjacent areas/countries. Below is my report:
Concerns regarding radiation contamination by the use of Depleted Uranium (DU) weaponry in the Balkans, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Eastern Mediterranean Countries.
The majority of high tech weapons today contain Depleted Uranium and or other Heavy Metals. Some are coated in DU and others have both DU and Heavy Metal in their warheads. DU is also used to act as a counterweight.
Both DU and heavy metals have the ability to kill indiscriminately subject to how such weapons are used and if those weapons are used in densely populated areas. In the case of the latter and in the context of the Geneva Convention it would be illegal to use such weapons in populated areas like Lebanon and Gaza.
The National Academy of Sciences in their BEIR VII report, regarding low level radiation, stated that there “is no safe level of exposure”. The report also finally admitted that very low levels are more harmful per unit of radiation than higher levels of exposure; also know as the suppralinear effect.
The European Parliament has expressed grave concerns on the use of such weapons………………………
Other nations are also currently using these weapons (NATO) especially in Afghanistan and over the border in Pakistan. One must accept that this is also a crime if civilian populations are involved. However, it doesn’t match up to using them on such dense enclaves as Gaza.
If government are allowing their own troops to become victims of such weapons then they also should be held to account. More importantly the country of origin (namely the US) and their respective arms developers are equally to blame for this inhumane use of DU weaponry.
I hope you appreciate my way of thinking and agree that it doesn’t really matter how people are dying. They are dying without just cause in the most terrible way and that is an act against mankind……………………
……….All of my research experts state it is radiation alpha particles from uranium atoms that cause the problem, and this type of contamination can be measured very precisely. It is the alpha particle that once inside your body runs rife and the rate and type of “Cancer” is subject to if it was inhaled or ingested. The latter is caused mainly in areas where DU dust has spread in the atmosphere and returned to earth in precipitation.
High Tech Weaponry used in Gaza: Radiation contamination by Depleted Uranium
Nuclear power in India: a long string of mishaps and deception
Indian N. proliferation remains unchecked
Sultan M Hali
Pakistan Observer 15 August 09
A decade ago, a nine-month long AERB (Atomic Energy Regulatory Board) safety study of Indian reactors documented more than 130 extremely serious safety issues warranting urgent corrective measures in the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre; Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR); Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited; Uranium Corporation of India Limited: Indian Rare Earths Limited; Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC), and the Heavy Water Board. Cirus, 40 MW has history of developing radiation leaks. Candu reactors suffering from massive leakage of heavy water.
Waste tanks at BARC habitually develop major leaks. Dhruva suffers from design problems, fuel leakages. The Fast Breeder Test Reactor of 40 MW at Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam, built with French assistance, was rated ‘not safe’, and discarded. Similar reactors, like Super Phoenix of France and Monju of Japan, were also discarded because of safety hazards. A brief look at its power plants reveals the following discrepancies: Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) 1986—The inlets of its reactors cracked. 1988—MAPS was shut down after heavy water leaked. 1991—Tons of heavy water burst out, had frequent break downs. Rajasthan Atomic Power Plants (RAPP), Rawatbhat. Suffers from severe design faults. Reactors de-rated from 220 MW to 100 MW. Shut down number of times from 1980 to 1994 due to cracks.
Narora Atomic Power Station (NAPS). On March 1993, a fire in NAPS, 180 km east of New Delhi, nearly caused a melt-down. Kakrapar Atomic Power Plants (KAPP), Gujarat – Unsafeguarded. The radiation leakages from the plants are a usual practice. Concrete containment dome of KAPS collapsed in 1994. Tarapur Atomic Power Plants (TAPP), Maharashtra. A high dosage of iodine was found in seawater around.
In 1995, the radioactive waste contaminated the water supply of nearly 3000 villagers living nearby. Russian VVER Light Water Reactors. The potential radiation leakage remains a high probability. IAEA has expressed doubts about the safety of these plants. Nuclear Fuel Complex, Hyderabad (NFC). None of facilities at NFC are under IAEA safeguards…………….
The list of Indian nuclear scientists involved in cases of proliferation is endless. Some prominent cases are enumerated: Oct 2003. An Indian Sitaram Rai Mahadevan arrested for sending blueprints of specialized valves, a critical part for nuclear plants to North Korea. 2004. Rabinder Singh, director RAW fled to US with sensitive documents. Dr Y S R Parsad helped Iran in building nuclear power plants. Dr C Surrender helped in transferring missile technology to Iran. Dr Mahesh and Mr. Panth helped Iran in enrichment technology of Uranium………….
http://pakobserver.net/200908/15/Articles03.asp
Nuclear Regulatory Commission: failure and cover-up
The NRC’s ghastly failure
It and the Veterans Affairs Department papered over cancer treatment errors.
Philadelphia Inquier, 12 August 09 By Peter Crane
When news broke of the bungled radiation treatments given to prostate cancer patients at the Philadelphia VA hospital, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was quick to deflect responsibility. The agency said it learned of the problems only in May 2008 and then moved “aggressively and decisively” to correct them.
The Department of Veterans Affairs took a similar line. Testifying before a Senate committee in June, acting VA Undersecretary for Health Gerald Cross expressed regret that “this problem went undetected for nearly six years.”
But the NRC’s own records tell a different story. Documents readily accessible on its Web site show it knew of Dr. Gary Kao’s pattern of errors in 2003, saw it recur in 2005, and did nothing about it until 2008. Far from “undetected,” this problem was papered over by the two agencies……………………
the doctors and hospitals licensed by the NRC are a powerful lobby, relentless and all too successful in demanding less regulation. In recent years, the agency has dismantled much of the system of regulations that used to protect patients and the public.
For example, the NRC used to have a rule requiring safety checks that might have prevented the Philadelphia disaster. But, yielding to the industry, the NRC abolished that rule in 2002………..
…..decisions affecting the medical care of Philadelphia’s veterans or anyone else should not be entrusted to an agency of nuclear engineers – certainly not one with the NRC’s record of failure. This would require a change in the law, which Congress should make after thoroughly investigating the NRC’s medical program.In the meantime, President Obama has two vacancies to fill on the five-member Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Recent reports say he is preparing to name two more reactor experts, to the jubilation of the nuclear-power industry. This would only make a bad situation worse.
Obama should instead nominate someone – perhaps a current or former state regulator – with the expertise and will to end the NRC’s long neglect of its medical responsibilities.
Decisions affecting the medical care of Philadelphia’s veterans or anyone else should not be entrusted to an agency of nuclear engineers – certainly not one with the NRC’s record of failure. This would require a change in the law, which Congress should make after thoroughly investigating the NRC’s medical program.
In the meantime, President Obama has two vacancies to fill on the five-member Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Recent reports say he is preparing to name two more reactor experts, to the jubilation of the nuclear-power industry. This would only make a bad situation worse.
Obama should instead nominate someone – perhaps a current or former state regulator – with the expertise and will to end the NRC’s long neglect of its medical responsibilities.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20090812_The_NRC_s_ghastly_failure.html
TVA reduces plans for Alabama nuclear plant to 1 reactor, instead of the 4 originally planned
TVA reduces plans for Alabama nuclear plant to one reactor instead of the 4 originally planned
by Duncan Mansfield NOXVILLE, Tenn. 7 August 09 — The Tennessee Valley Authority, faced with falling electric sales and rising costs from cleaning up a massive coal ash spill in Tennessee, on Friday trimmed plans for a potential four-unit nuclear plant in northeast Alabama to one reactor.The nation’s largest public utility, which two years ago had positioned itself as a leader in this country’s so-called “nuclear renaissance,” said it would prepare a supplemental environmental impact statement to consider a single reactor for its unfinished Bellefonte site near Scottsboro, Ala.
That single unit might be one of the two advanced Westinghouse AP1000 reactors for which TVA has already applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a combined construction and operating license. Or it might be one of the two incomplete reactors that have been mothballed at the site since 1988……………
….TVA had plans in the 1960s and 1970s for as many as 17 reactors, but scrapped most of them because of cost and lack of power demand.
TVA reduces plans for Alabama nuclear plant to 1 reactor, instead of the 4 originally planned
1 This Month
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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