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

Under Russian control Rocky Mountains uranium to Iran?

Four Republican lawmakers have sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner raising concerns that the deal could lead to U.S. uranium reaching Iran.

Russia seeks control of Canadian nuclear company working in U.S. TheSpec , 20 Oct 10, DENVER Russia’s government is trying to enter the U.S. nuclear industry, poised to spend $1.5 billion to acquire a controlling share of Uranium One, a Canadian company operating in the Rocky Mountain region…. Continue reading →

October 20, 2010 Posted by | politics international, Uranium, USA | , , | Leave a comment

Toxic uranium spill still affecting Navajo in New Mexico

People still remember, in part because of lingering illnesses they attribute to the spill,…People got compensated quickly at Three Mile Island – around here, I don’t think anyone got compensated for anything,

Uranium spill elicits traditional approach,  Indian Country Today By Carol Berry,  Oct 19, 2010 CHURCH ROCK, N.M. – About 10 miles north of this predominantly Navajo community, Highway 566 transects Red Water Pond Road, which is blocked at the entrance to an abandoned United Nuclear Corp. mine site from which nearly 1 million gallons of toxic wastewater spilled into the nearby Puerco River 31 years ago. Continue reading →

October 19, 2010 Posted by | indigenous issues, Uranium, USA | , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Uranium mining in Africa – vulnerable to terrorism

France has large economic interests in Africa.  One is the mining of uranium for nuclear power.  Recently several French in the industry were taken hostage in Niger.  A French hostage being held in Mali was killed last summer.

France Terror Warning, Fox News, October 18, 2010 – by: Amy Kellogg French sources tell Fox News that the latest threat of a potential terrorist attack in Europe and particularly France is being taken seriously in Paris. Continue reading →

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

Radioactive waste – depleted uranium headed for Nevada?

Nuclear Waste Shipment Could Be Headed To NV – KTVN Channel 2 , 17 Oct 10, RENO, Nev. (AP) — A shipment of 9,400 drums of depleted uranium oxide could be headed to Nevada. State officials say the U.S. Department of Energy is considering a plan to send the radioactive waste from a cleanup site in South Carolina to the Nevada National Security Site, formerly known as the Nevada Test Site……Stutsman also declined to comment on a published report that DOE wants to permanently dispose of the material at the Nevada site about 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Nuclear Waste Shipment Could Be Headed To NV – KTVN Channel 2 – Reno Tahoe News Weather, Video –

October 18, 2010 Posted by | Uranium, USA, wastes | , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Emperor’s New Nuclear Clothes

Washington’s resolute reaction to the shrinking renaissance affirms the brilliance of Hans Christian Anderson’s ending to his fable “The Emperor’s New Clothes”:

“But he has nothing on!” everybody shouted at last. And the emperor shivered, for it seemed to him that they were right; but he thought within himself, “I must go through with the procession.” And so he carried himself still more proudly, and the chamberlains walked along holding the train which wasn’t there at all.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Honey, I Shrunk the Renaissance: Nuclear Revival, Climate Change and Reality, CleanEnergy Footprints, by Peter Bradford, 15 Oct 10, “………Where have all the reactors gone?The 18 applications to build 27 new reactors that were on file at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in January 2009 (with five more applications for seven units expected by the end of 2010) were hailed by a compliant press to constitute “a nuclear renaissance.” Continue reading →

October 16, 2010 Posted by | spinbuster, USA | , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Canadian uranium miner fined for burning hazardous wastes

Uranium company fined $85K for burning hazardous waste in northern Saskatchwan Canadian Business LA RONGE, Sask. – A Saskatoon-based uranium company has been fined $85,676 for burning hazardous waste materials.The Ministry of Environment received a call in April 2009 that led conservation officers to a remote area on Sutton Lake in northern Saskatchewan to investigate a suspicious fire.Hazardous waste materials had been ignited and left to burn at a vacant exploration camp site, resulting in environmental charges being laid against Titan Uranium Inc. (TSXV:TUE) Uranium company fined $85K for burning hazardous waste in northern Saskatchwan | Markets | Headline News | Canadian Business Online

October 16, 2010 Posted by | Canada, safety, Uranium | , , , | 1 Comment

BHP Billiton calls for carbon price – in order to promote its uranium mining

BHP has an interesting little asset called Olympic Dam in South Australia where it is considering a major series of upgrades. Expanded Olympic Dam output would exceed one quarter of global mined uranium. …..Olympic Dam is the world’s largest known uranium deposit,

BHP: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing? The Star, by Mark Taylor | 15 Oct 10 Why would BHP BHP CEO Marius Kloppers express support for a carbon tax? The mining industry has its fair share of climate skeptics. Geologists and model-based climatologists have very different views of the world. Does BHP stand to gain or lose from a carbon tax? Continue reading →

October 16, 2010 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, spinbuster, Uranium | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Compensation for nuclear workers for radiation induced cancers

Former Ames Lab workers eligible for compensation – chicagotribune.com, 15 Oct 10, AMES, Iowa —Federal authorities have decided to make compensation available faster for former Ames Laboratory workers who developed cancer from radiation exposure.U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin said Thursday that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a directive stating all employees of the Department of Energy who worked at the lab from 1955 through 1960 for 250 consecutive days would be eligible for compensation.Harkin called the announcement “welcome news” for the workers and families. He says they handled “incredibly dangerous” materials in the early days of the Cold War…… Former Ames Lab workers eligible for compensation – chicagotribune.com

October 15, 2010 Posted by | health, USA | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Old nuclear plants have low market value, new ones not viable

..Constellation’s finances have stabilized but demand for electric power has fallen, reducing not only the market value of old power plants but the viability of building new ones.

Constellation’s fallout with French firm unfortunately the new business as usual, The Washington Post, By Steven Pearlstein, October 14, 2010 If you were looking for an example of the erosion in standards of business behavior, you couldn’t do better than the story of Constellation Energy and its recent falling-out with the French nuclear energy company EDF….. Continue reading →

October 15, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, USA | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Nuclear “renaissance” looking riskier than ever, with cancellation of Maryland plant

There’s no gainsaying that nuclear construction projects are looking riskier all the time, especially in the United States, where many factors have conspired to spoil dreams of a big nuclear renaissance: declining energy demand since the onset of the global economic crisis (down 4 percent since 2007 in the States); plummeting natural gas prices (down almost half from what they were a few years ago); collapsing prospects for enactment of a U.S. climate bill (which would have raised the costs of fossil-fuel-generated electricity); and soaring reactor construction costs (with EDF’s current reactor 40 or 50 percent more expensive than originally billed).

Cancellation of Maryland Plant Delivers Double Whammy IEEE Spectrum:  Bill Sweet , October 13, 2010 Continue reading →

October 14, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, USA | , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

UK nuclear industry teetering as two sites dropped from plan

“The apparent withdrawal of these two sites, in the heartland of the nuclear industry, is excellent news for local people”. – Jean McSorley

(UK) Greenfield sites dropped from list of new nuclear reactors, Two sites in Cumbria appear to have been dropped from the government’s list of proposed areas for new reactors  Tim Webb * guardian.co.uk,   13 October 2010 The government has scrapped plans to build nuclear reactors on greenfield sites, according to documents seen by the Guardian, in the latest blow to the industry’s stuttering programme. Continue reading →

October 14, 2010 Posted by | politics, UK | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

India will not change its Nuclear Liability Law to accomodate USA nuclear salesmen

they (the US) also know in a parliamentary system of democracy the bill becomes the law of the land…The minister was replying to questions on whether the government was planning amendments to the Civil Nuclear Liabilities law, which fixes stiff liabilities on suppliers in case of accidents,

Govt rules out any amendments in civil nuclear law, The Hindu, New Delhi, October 13, 2010 Government on Wednesday ruled out any amendments to the recently-enacted civil nuclear law to accommodate concerns of American companies on the issue of suppliers’ liability as a package during the coming visit of President Barack Obama to India next month. Continue reading →

October 14, 2010 Posted by | India, politics international | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Did Stuxnet computer worm damage Iran’s uranium enrichment facility?

A sophisticated malworm such as Stuxnet could potentially include code that would cause uranium enriching centrifuges to explode under high pressure, or at a certain date. Did it actually do it? There were reports that Iran’s uranium enrichment plant at the Natanz facility was attacked by Stuxnet and sustained damage. An earlier report suggested that in 2009 that site suffered a serious nuclear accident that reduced the number of uranium enriching centrifuges by at least 25%. Was Stuxnet the reason?

A Cyber War Against Iran: Whodunit?, THE HUFFINGTON POST, by Haggai Carmon:, 13 Oct 10, The Iranians are frantically looking for those responsible for infecting their nuclear and industrial facilities with Stuxnet, an extremely sophisticated and dangerous viral computer malworm………… Continue reading →

October 14, 2010 Posted by | Iran, Uranium, weapons and war | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Secret transport of highly enriched uranium across Poland

Top secret uranium shipment passes through Poland, TheNews.pl :: News from Poland, 12.10.2010 It has been reported that three shipping containers with thick metal flasks containing highly enriched uranium, or HEU, were loaded onto a specially converted Russian ship in the Baltic port of Gdansk on 26 September….
The Polish uranium shipment was big enough to construct eight nuclear bombs, writes “The Sunday Telegraph”, a British weekly whose reporters observed the shipment organised by American specialists…..

The shipment travelled across half of Poland in total secrecy.

Polish police and maritime border guards refused to confirm or comment on the secret shipment….Top secret uranium shipment passes through Poland – TheNews.pl :: News from Poland

October 13, 2010 Posted by | EUROPE, secrets,lies and civil liberties, Uranium | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Russia boosting nuclear sales – will take back radioactive wastes

Sergei Kiriyenko, a former prime minister, told reporters there that sales would triple by 2030, to $50 billion annually……Under legislation that might have been more difficult to push through a freer political system, Russia allows the importation of spent nuclear fuel from reactors elsewhere.

Russia Seeks to Build Europe’s Nuclear Plants – NYTimes.com, Rosatom, the Russian state-owned nuclear company, is competing with Westinghouse and Areva of France to build new reactors at the Temelin station in the Czech Republic.By ANDREW E. KRAMER   October 11, 2010 MOSCOW — The Russian nuclear industry has profited handsomely from building reactors in developing countries, including India, China and Iran. Now it is testing the prospect of becoming a major supplier to the European Union, too…….. Continue reading →

October 12, 2010 Posted by | politics international, Russia | , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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