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Turkish Parliament Approves Russian-Built Nuclear Plant, Anatolia Reports - Bloomberg
Sun, 07/25/2010 - 23:01"Turkey’s parliament approved legislation opening the way for Russia to build the country’s first nuclear power plant.
The measure approved in the Ankara assembly today guarantees to buy power from the planned reactor at Akkuyu on the Mediterranean coast at 12.35 cents per kilowatt hour plus sales tax, the state news agency Anatolia reported. "
Categories: Nuke News
northumberlandnews.com / indynews.ca | Federal nuclear regulator wants more emissions info from Cameco
Sun, 07/25/2010 - 22:58"Uranium emissions that possibly exceeded the action level at Cameco's Port Hope Conversion Facility has the federal nuclear regulator asking for more emissions information from the company.
According to a Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) media release, the CNSC feels further improvements to Cameco's uranium dioxide (UO2) plant in-house stack sampling system and preventative maintenance program are needed after uranium emissions at the plant on June 29 potentially exceeded the action level. Based on a Cameco report, the CNSC determined the UO2 plant uranium emission rate was 7.21 gU/h (grams of uranium emissions per hour). Although this rate is well below the licensed limit of 150 gU/h, it is above the plant's action level of 7 gU/h."
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Greg Mitchell: Secrecy, Cover-ups and Deadly Radiation: On the Birth of the Nuclear Age 65 Years Ago
Sun, 07/25/2010 - 22:52"While most people trace the dawn of the nuclear era to August 6, 1945, and the dropping of the atomic bomb over the center of Hiroshima, it really began three weeks earlier, in the desert near Alamogordo, New Mexico, with the top-secret Trinity test. Its sixty-fifth anniversary will be marked -- or mourned, if you will -- tomorrow, July 16.
Entire books have been written about the test, so I'll just touch on one key issue here briefly (there's much more in my book with Robert Jay Lifton, Hiroshima in America). It's related to a hallmark of the age that would follow: a new government obsession with secrecy, which soon spread from the nuclear program to all military and foreign affairs in the cold war era."
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Friends of the Earth: Did Democratic Leadership Try To Buy A House Seat with a $25 Billion Nuclear Bailout?
Sun, 07/25/2010 - 22:50"Today, the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee included a $25 billion preemptive bailout of the nuclear industry, in the form of loan guarantees for new reactors, in the Energy and Water Appropriations bill.
Members of the subcommittee delayed markup of the appropriations bill until the bailout was included in the legislation, with Democratic Congressman Chet Edwards being particularly vocal.
Since May, Congressman Edwards has been using nuclear bailouts as an election issue against his opponent in Texas’s 17th District, attacking him for suggesting that federal money should not be used to construct nuclear reactors. Edwards wants a preemptive bailout for an expansion of the Comanche Peak reactor in his district.
With Edwards in a tightly contested race, it appears that House leadership has caved to his demands and Edwards is declaring a victory. "
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Oyster Creek owner accused of cover-up | APP.com | Asbury Park Press
Sun, 07/25/2010 - 22:48"Members of an environmental coalition who opposed the relicensing of the Oyster Creek Generating Station have accused its owner, Exelon Nuclear, of violating state law.
The coalition's attorney Richard Webster, who is the legal director of the Eastern Environmental Law Center, said Tuesday that "Exelon covered up tritium discharges that occurred in July 2007 and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission failed to follow up to ensure a violation that was to be corrected 10 years ago had been."
Tritium contamination was found in the ground at the facility in May. Exelon attributed the contamination to a July 17, 2007 tritium release. Tritium is a weak, naturally occurring radioactive form of hydrogen.
Webster maintains that a freedom of information request revealed that Exelon illegally failed to report a major discharge of tritium to the ground in 2007.
"As the Department of Environmental Protection has noted, Exelon is required to report tritium discharges," he said."
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The Blade ~ Toledo Ohio: Court upholds convictions of Davis-Besse workers
Sun, 07/25/2010 - 22:47"A federal appeals court has upheld the convictions of two former nuclear plant workers in Ohio who were found guilty of helping to cover up the worst corrosion ever found at a U.S. reactor.
The U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati found no reason to overturn the convictions of Andrew Siemaszko and David Geisen.
Both were sentenced to probation and fined for misleading regulators in 2001 to delay a safety inspection at the Davis-Besse plant along Lake Erie.
Inspectors later found an acid leak that nearly ate through the reactor's 6-inch-thick steel cap.
The plant operated by FirstEnergy Corp. was shut down from early 2002 until 2004."
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Gallery: Blue Ribbon Commission
Sun, 07/25/2010 - 22:40"U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced the formation of a Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future to provide recommendations for developing a safe, long-term solution to managing the nation's used nuclear fuel and nuclear waste. The 15 person commission is being co-chaired by former Congressman Lee Hamilton and former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft. They, along with officials and members of the public, toured five Hanford waste sites on Wednesday. The commission will provide advice and make recommendations on issues including alternatives for the storage, processing, and disposal of civilian and defense spent nuclear fuel and nuclear waste. "
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Italian waste | The Salt Lake Tribune
Sun, 07/25/2010 - 22:39"EnergySolutions says it no longer aspires to import the world’s nuclear waste to Utah. Instead, it wants to export its expertise to the world, and help other nations dispose of their own radioactive waste.
After the company doggedly pursued a license to import waste from Italy in the face of overwhelming opposition, the shift in strategy announced this week seems a welcome turn of events. This page has long advocated that the company grow its business by exporting landfills instead of importing waste.
So, arrivederci, foreign waste. The world will have to find another sap. EnergySolutions’ low-level radioactive waste disposal facility in Tooele County is not the solution to the planet’s radioactive waste disposal needs."
Categories: Nuke News
asahi.com（朝日新聞社）：EDITORIAL: NPT framework in peril - English
Thu, 07/22/2010 - 00:18"China is interested in cooperating on nuclear power plant construction with Pakistan, a country that not only armed itself with nuclear weapons without joining the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NTP) but also has suspected ties to the world's "black nuclear market."
Should China go ahead with this cooperation, it will further strain the already frayed seams of the NTP.
To contain India's growing presence in Asia as an emergent powerhouse, China has been supplying neighboring Pakistan with weapons and other forms of aid while deepening its ties with Sri Lanka and Myanmar (Burma) through port construction and other joint projects. "
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Group calls NRC's meeting 'one-sided' - Brattleboro Reformer
Thu, 07/22/2010 - 00:17"A statewide energy group is criticizing the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for shutting them out of today's talks regarding the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant.
The Vermont Energy Partnership has sent a letter to NRC Chairman Gregory B. Jaczko expressing its disappointment they were denied participation in today's roundtable discussions.
VTEP President Brad Ferland said his organization has repeatedly sought an audience with Jaczko during his visit to the Green Mountain State, but has been denied time to speak with NRC staff.
Jaczko will meet with groups seeking to close Vermont Yankee once the current license expires in March 2012, disheartening news to business and labor leaders wishing to gauge the chairman with their viewpoints. "
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The Associated Press: Foes tell nuclear regulator to shutter Vt. plant
Thu, 07/22/2010 - 00:17"The nation's top nuclear industry regulator has gotten an earful from residents concerned that the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant is seeking to extend its operating permit.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko (YAZ-coh) held a 90-minute round-table discussion with residents Wednesday in Brattleboro. Several gave reasons they believe the plant should be closed.
Representatives of some organizations criticized the commission at the meeting for not cracking down on the plant after radioactive tritium was found earlier this year to have leaked into soil around the plant.
Opponents also are concerned about safety at the plant during the next 20 months, when its license is scheduled to expire. Vermont Yankee wants permission to continue operating."
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Watertown Daily Times | Nuclear waste worries groups
Thu, 07/22/2010 - 00:15"SEAWAY CARGO: Canadian plant awaits OK for its shipping plan
By JAEGUN LEE
TIMES STAFF WRITER
WEDNESDAY, JULY 14, 2010
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A Canadian nuclear power station is planning to ship 16 decommissioned radioactive steam generators through the St. Lawrence Seaway this September.
And although the company's application is pending the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission's approval, the idea of having nuclear waste traveling on Lake Huron, through the Welland Canal and the St. Lawrence Seaway is raising concerns among the region's environmental groups.
"Do we have the capability to handle a nuclear accident? I'm not sure if we're prepared for it," said Jennifer J. Caddick, executive director of Save the River, Clayton. "But the bigger issue here is transparency. There are a ton of questions that need to be answered.""
Categories: Nuke News
The Associated Press: Tribes: Nuclear waste can't be stored at Hanford
Tue, 07/20/2010 - 12:14"The Hanford nuclear reservation is already the most contaminated U.S. nuclear site, and federal efforts to find a permanent place for all of the nation's radioactive waste shouldn't impede plans to clean it up, people from various backgrounds told a federal commission Wednesday.
The panel, appointed by President Barack Obama to examine U.S. nuclear waste policies, toured the Hanford site, heard from local advocacy groups and Northwest American Indian tribes about the need for cleanup.
The visit to south-central Washington was one of several planned around the country by the 15-member Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future. The group is charged with reviewing U.S. treatment, transportation and disposal of radioactive waste."
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Tasty metaphors aside, board tackles blended hot waste | The Salt Lake Tribune
Tue, 07/20/2010 - 12:12"Sweet-shop metaphors were being tossed around like ammunition in a food fight Tuesday at a meeting of the state Radiation Control Board. Some likened the blending of low-level radioactive waste to concocting a sugar cookie, others to baking a layer cake.
But board members preferred less-creative analogies when considering the serious issue of various types of nuclear- reactor rubbish that EnergySolutions and others want to stir together to be buried forever at the company’s disposal site in Utah.
The Radiation Control Board a few months ago approved a position paper that said even though blended waste is not significantly more hazardous than the Class A waste allowed in Utah, the state doesn’t want any radioactive waste that is blended just to change its classification so that it can be legally buried at the EnergySolutions site."
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EnergySolutions says blended waste uniform, like sugar cookie | Deseret News
Tue, 07/20/2010 - 12:11"Is it akin to a chocolate chip cookie, a pot of Earl Grey tea or a sugar cookie?
On the issue of radioactive "waste blending," members of the Utah Radiation Control Board were presented Tuesday with a smorgasbord of food analogies to help them as they grapple with the question of imposing stricter disposal guidelines on the material.
EnergySolutions senior vice president Tom Magette told the board that so-called blended waste represents the uniformity of a sugar cookie, not a chocolate chip cookie peppered with higher radioactive waste resins."
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The Associated Press: Utah firm nixes plan to import Italian nuke waste
Tue, 07/20/2010 - 12:10"EnergySolutions Inc. said Wednesday it is abandoning its plans to dispose of nuclear waste from Italy in Utah's west desert and instead will try to help open a disposal facility in that country.
The Salt Lake City-based company had been seeking to import up to 20,000 tons of low-level radioactive waste from Italy's shuttered nuclear power program. After processing in Tennessee, about 1,600 tons would have been buried in Utah.
The proposal drew opposition from two Republican Utah governors and led the U.S. House to pass a bill banning the importation of foreign nuclear waste. The measure has languished in the Senate."
Categories: Nuke News
EnergySolutions dumps Italian waste bid for Utah | The Salt Lake Tribune
Tue, 07/20/2010 - 12:09"EnergySolutions Inc. announced Wednesday it is dropping plans to import significant quantities of foreign radioactive waste for disposal in Utah.
The decision turns the heat down on a three-year controversy in Utah and beyond that has sizzled since the company asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to allow 20,000 tons of cleanupwaste from Italy’s defunct nuclear program to be shipped to the United States, some 1,600 tons of it for burial in Utah.
Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, called it: “A win for Utahns,” and said the state “shouldn’t be the world’s dump.”
The announcement, made at a news conference at the company’s Salt Lake City headquarters, signaled yet another dramatictransformation fora company started two decades ago as a shovel-and-truck enterprise centered at its mile-square disposal site in Tooele County."
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Britain should rethink nuclear weapons policy - poll | Reuters
Tue, 07/20/2010 - 12:03"Nearly three-quarters of opinion formers in Britain think the government should either scrap the country's nuclear weapons or look for a cheaper alternative, according to a poll published on Tuesday.
Just under a third of business leaders, politicians, academics and journalists polled by YouGov for the Chatham House think tank said Britain should abandon its nuclear deterrent after it expires in 2024.
This is higher than a fifth of ordinary voters polled by YouGov who want to scrap it.
The replacement of Britain's submarine-launched Trident missile system is expected to cost at least 20 billion pounds, a sum critics say is unthinkable at a time of drastic spending cuts pushed by Prime Minister David Cameron."
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Mayor wants say in plan to ship radioactive relics - St. Catharines Standard - Ontario, CA
Tue, 07/20/2010 - 12:00"Municipal leaders deserve a say in whether radioactive recyclables are ferried through the Welland Canal, says the mayor of St. Catharines.
The Bruce Nuclear Generating Station has asked for a licence to ship "low-level" radioactive generators from Lake Huron, through the Welland Canal and the rest of the St. Lawrence Seaway to a recycling plant in Sweden.
Each of the 16 bus-sized steam generators contains steel that can be decontaminated and reused, according to Bruce Power officials, but about 10% of the material is thought to be too radioactive to recycle and will be returned to the Lake Huron facility for storage. "
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Fewer Nukes, More Cash: Energy Dep’t Wants $175 Billion for Weapons Complex [Updated] | Danger Room | Wired.com
Tue, 07/20/2010 - 11:58"President Obama says he wants a “world without nuclear weapons.” But his Department of Energy may not be so persuaded. It’s prepping for a future where the U.S. keeps double the amount of nuclear weapons a new treaty permits — and at higher cost-per-nuke than it currently spends to maintain its arsenal. We’re talking $175 billion over two decades.
According to an Energy Department plan submitted to Congress in May that the Federation of American Scientists and the Union of Concerned Scientists obtained and published, the department’s National Nuclear Security Administration proposes to slash the 5,000-warhead nuclear arsenal down to “approximately 3,000 to 3,500″ warheads. So far, so clear. Nukes going down. President Obama’s plan for a nuke-free world going up."
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