uranium « nuclear-news

First shipment to USA of highly dangerous Highly Enriched Uranium

A team of Americans finally shipped it out last month just after the country’s massive earthquake, weaving a convoy of trucks around shattered highways in the middle of the night to reach a functioning port.

Chile gives its last weapons-grade uranium to US By MICHAEL WARREN and MEG KINNARD (AP) – Google News Hostimg 12 April”.…..”It” is highly enriched uranium 235, HEU for short. It’s the material that most worries anti-terrorism experts. Just 25 kilograms (55 pounds) of it in a nuclear bomb could devastate an entire city, in the same way the United States destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. Continue reading →

April 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, SOUTH AMERICA | antinuclear, enriched, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Russia to set up “uranium bank” to expand demand for nuclear power

...The bank will allow countries that join the facility to obtain uranium from the stockpile, supplied entirely by Russia, if commercial uranium markets are frozen for political reasons.

Russia’s Rosatom Corp to create a uranium fuel bank with the International Atomic Energy Agency Seeker 401, 12 April 2010, Rosatom Corp., Russia’s state-run nuclear holding company, said its agreement to create a uranium fuel bank with the International Atomic Energy Agency will help expand demand for nuclear power. Continue reading →

April 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Russia | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, uranium | Leave a comment

Radiation illnesses need special hospital treatment

Hospitals not equipped to tackle radiation, The Times of India, Risha Chitlangia, TNN, Apr 10, 2010, NEW DELHI: The incident of radiation exposure in the capital has brought to light the city’s lack of preparedness in dealing with any such incident. Not many hospitals in the city are equipped or their staff trained to deal with patients of radiation exposure, nor do they have a special decontamination room as per the National Disaster Management Authority’s (NDMA) guidelines. Experts also point out that there is no central command that can guide hospitals and the police in dealing with this kind of emergency….

… A person exposed to radiation has to be decontaminated and ideally should be kept in isolation,” said Dr Sanjeev Kumar Bhoi, assistant professor, Medicine, AIIMS Trauma Centre, Hospitals not equipped to tackle radiation – The Times of India

April 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, India | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Laser technology increases nuclear power danger

Laser Nuclear Technology Might Pose Security Risk by Richard Harris NPR 12 April 2010, “…..a new technology that’s been developed to enrich uranium. It’s intended to make fuel for nuclear power plants — but it could be used for weapons, too. Continue reading →

April 12, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, technology | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Gloom continues for uranium prices

Are uranium stocks oversold?Despite a breezy longer term outlook, the sector has been on the backburner for months, if not years. Mineweb, Barry Sergeant , 09 Apr 2010 JOHANNESBURG – Relative to most mining subsectors, listed uranium stocks have rendered a poor performance, for some years now, inviting examination as to whether this area is oversold. Commodity pricing here moves in a disjointed way, with little relation to variables such as the value of the dollar……

Canada’s Cameco , the global bellwether in the relatively small uranium sector, saw its stock price fall from around CAD 60.00 in mid-2007 to close on CAD 15.00 towards the end of 2008. The stock is currently around CAD 27.00 a share, leaving buy-and-hold investors which bought the stock across 2006 and 2007 deeply in the red. ………..equity pricing indicates that investors are hardly happy with potentially fuzzy estimates, and the timeframes involved. On the contrary, investors have been taking uranium equities profits off the table, and pushing them into hotter near term stories such as coal and iron ore.

April 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, business and costs | antinuclear, nuclear costs, uranium | Leave a comment

Spread of radioactive materials increases nuclear danger

Radiation poisoning a reminder of need for better ‘nuclear security, The Hindu , ‘Siddharth Varadarajan and R. Ramachandran, Apr 10, 2010, The Hindu : Front Page : Radiation poisoning a reminder of need for better ‘nuclear security’ New Delhi: Coming on the eve of next week’s Nuclear Security Summit, the news of people being sickened by cobalt-60 in a Delhi market is an embarrassing reminder of weaknesses in the Indian system of tracking minor radioactive substances………. Continue reading →

April 10, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, safety | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

‘Third Generation’ Nuclear Reactors have same old problems – wastes, weapons proliferation

Why James Hansen is wrong on nuclear power | Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal, By Renfrey Clarke April 8, 2010 “….. Third-generation reactors are in essence evolved versions of the pressurised-water installations that provide almost all of today’s nuclear energy. Now being built for the first time, “third-generation” plants are arguably still at the pre-commercial stage…. Continue reading →

April 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, technology | antinuclear, climate change, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Court verdict against South Australian govt in treatment of uranium protestors

Payout for protesters locked in shipping container – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) 9 April 2010, The South Australian Government has been ordered to pay $724,000 to 10 people involved in a protest at the Beverley uranium mine a decade ago.

The Supreme Court has found the nine uranium protesters and a cameraman were assaulted and all but one falsely imprisoned in a shipping container………Payout for protesters locked in shipping container – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

April 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA, Legal | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, nuclear costs, uranium | Leave a comment

USA’s poor security of its own enriched uranium and dead nuke weapons

Will U.S. Inaction on its own Nuclear Security Issues Compromise Summit Success?Across the Aisle: The PSA Blog, by Peter Stockton and Ingrid Drake | April 7th, 2010 “…..Frankly, if we want other nations to follow, we have to lead by example. Highly enriched uranium (HEU) is a prime target for nuclear terrorists: with about 100 pounds it is possible to make an improvised nuclear device that could create a blast on par with the one that devastated Hiroshima. Yet, the U.S. has the world’s second largest stock of HEU and plutonium. Continue reading →

April 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, enriched, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, plutonium, radioactive, uranium | Leave a comment

Nuclear Weapons Proliferation is the biggest risk with Integral Fast Reactors

Why James Hansen is wrong on nuclear power | Links April 8, 2010 Hansen Nuclear Power ….. Renfrey’s article understates the WMD proliferation risks associated with integral fast reactors (IFRs). The plutonium/waste mixture from IFRs could be processed in a conventional reprocessing plant without too much trouble, especially since proliferators would take simple steps (reducing the irradiation time) to maximise the proportion of plutonium-239 and to reduce the difficulty and hazards of transporting and processing the material. Continue reading →

April 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, weapons and war | antinuclear, depleted, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Uranium price goes further down the gurgler

Uranium prices falter on lack of demand Industrial Fuels and Power April 7th, 2010 The spot price of uranium oxide slipped by US$0.25 to US$41.75/lb on April 5, according to Ux Consulting Company. Earlier, on Friday 2, TradeTech had reported an identical decline, pushing the price down to US$41.50 as no transactions or new demand were apparent, prompting sellers to offer lower prices.

Uranium prices falter on lack of demand | Industrial Fuels and Power

April 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, business and costs | nuclear costs, uranium | Leave a comment

‘Fourth Generation’ nuclear reactors sound good, BUT…

fast reactors cannot use water as a coolant, since this would slow the neutrons down. The coolant of choice is molten sodium metal. Sodium is highly reactive, burning readily in air and exploding on contact with water.

Why James Hansen is wrong on nuclear power | Links April 8, 2010“……Compared to earlier installations, the projected fourth-generation plants – specifically, the “integral fast reactor” (IFR) designs that have drawn most attention – promise important advantages. Continue reading →

April 9, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, technology | antinuclear, depleted, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radioactive, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

The nasty truth about France’s AREVA uranium company in Niger

The international nuclear industry is an integral part of this dirty scheme in France, Niger and elsewhere. It’s time to stop it in its tracks and get it to clean up the toxic mess it’s created.

Nuclear colonialism News24: Columnists: AndreasSpath 2010-04-07 Fans of nuclear energy love France. They habitually depict the country which produces more than three quarters of its electricity using atomic power as the way forward to clean, cheap and low-carbon energy for all. In their enthusiasm they tend to ignore the less than glamorous aspects of the French nuclear industry. Continue reading →

April 8, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, Niger | antinuclear, AREVA, cancer, indigenous, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, radioactive, reactors, uranium | 1 Comment

A network of illicit sales of nuclear equipment to Iran

Iran has managed to substantially advance its nuclear-weapons program in recent years by using a network of middlemen to carry out illicit purchases of nuclear equipment in other countries.

Germany Charges Two Over Iran Equipment Deal THE WALL STREET JOURNAL By DAVID CRAWFORD APRIL 8, 2010 BERLIN—Federal prosecutors in Germany have charged two men with delivering to Iran embargoed tools that were intended to build missiles capable of carrying a nuclear payload. Continue reading →

April 8, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Iran, safety | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, uranium | Leave a comment

Navajo heroes fight uranium’s radioactive pollution

VIDEO: 7th Southwest Uranium Forum CENSORED NEWS:April 6, 2010 Listen and watch the Native American environmental movement icons of this era!Norman Patrick Brown, Navajo, says there’s over 1,000 radioactive tailings sites today on the Navajo Nation. “How does one heal a land, how does one heal a person’s DNA? How does one reclaim a sacred site?” Continue reading →