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Photos: Leaking Nuclear Waste Fills Former Salt Mine
Mon, 07/12/2010 - 15:08"Deep in an abandoned German salt mine, barrels of nuclear waste lie in a jumbled heap—untouched since the 1970s, when this picture was taken.
Since the 1960s the Asse II chambers in Lower Saxony (map) have served as storage sites for more than a hundred thousand barrels of low- to medium-level nuclear waste. Low-level waste isn't considered dangerous to handle, but medium-level waste may need shielding before disposal—such as encasing reactor components in concrete—according to the World Nuclear Association, which promotes nuclear energy.
In 2008 reports emerged that water leaking from Asse II since the 1980s is radioactive." Annotated link http://www.diigo.com/bookmark/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/07/photogalleries/100708-radioactive-nuclear-waste-science-salt-mine-dump-pictures-asse-ii-germany/#salt-mine-nuclear-waste-asse-germany-waste-barrels_23159_600x450.jpg
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The Hindu : News : Call to scrap Nuclear Liability Bill
Mon, 07/12/2010 - 15:07"A Public Consultation on the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill 2010 on Wednesday held it unconstitutional and violative of the right to life and demanded that it be scrapped.
The Bill is currently with the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, which in an advertisement on June 24 had called for wider consultations to include public opinion on the Bill.
Organised by the University of Mumbai's Law Department, Greenpeace India and Human Rights Law Network (HRLN), the consultation is an attempt to put forward a strong people's mandate against the Bill by the time it comes up for discussion before the Standing Committee between July 13 to 17. "
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170,000 say no to Turkey’s dirty nuclear deal | Greenpeace International
Mon, 07/12/2010 - 15:05"We’ve talked often before about Turkey’s many embarrassing attempts to build a nuclear reactor. Every time the plan falls down, it gets up again – it’s had more comebacks than Freddie Krueger.
Unable to admit defeat – and in the face of legal challenges, rigged bidding processes, and ludicrous, record-breaking costs - the country’s government have resurrected the plan once again and have drawn up an agreement with Russia to build a nuclear reactor in the south of Turkey. The parliament will vote on the agreement this Friday."
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Canada's AECL Sale Hurt by New Brunswick's Contract With Areva, Globe Says - Bloomberg
Mon, 07/12/2010 - 15:03"The Canadian government may be hampered in trying to sell Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. because of a decision by the New Brunswick government to work with a competitor, the Globe and Mail reported.
New Brunswick dropped a proposal by Atomic Energy to build a new nuclear reactor because the Canadian crown corporation had failed to make progress on a plan to build the reactor and sell the power to New England, the newspaper said.
Instead, the province signed a letter of intent yesterday with Areva SA of France to build a so-called “energy park.” "
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DOE seeks home for depleted uranium - UPI.com
Mon, 07/12/2010 - 15:01"The U.S. government is looking for even a temporary storage site for 10,000 drums of depleted uranium from a South Carolina nuclear plant, Utah officials said.
The waste was supposed to have been stored permanently in Utah by EnergySolutions Inc. But the state intervened as the first shipment arrived, seeking more information from the Salt Lake City company and a review of the site.
Now the U.S. Department of Energy is searching for sites outside of Utah where the waste can remain for up to seven years, The Salt Lake Tribune reported Thursday. Temporary storage bids are being accepted until next Thursday."
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Brian Clark Howard: Close Aging Nukes By Installing LEDs
Mon, 07/12/2010 - 15:00"Remy Chevalier is a brilliant and eccentric eco-activist with a "bright plan": he believes a very achievable switchover to green lighting will save enough energy to shut down our aging nuclear power plants -- in particular Indian Point, one of the oldest and most controversial plants, and roughly 30 miles north of Manhattan. Seth Leitman and I found this out while working on our book about green lighting, to be published early this fall by the Green Guru Guide series. "
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DOE: Blue Ribbon Commission Webcast on America's Nuclear Future
Mon, 07/12/2010 - 14:26Date: July 7, 2010
The Blue Ribbon Commission on American’s Nuclear Future (the Commission) was established in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as amended, 5 U.S.C. App. 2, and as directed by the President’s Memorandum for the Secretary of Energy dated January 29, 2010: Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future. This charter establishes the Commission under the authority of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
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Nuclear opponents fight $140 billion total nuclear subsidies in Kerry-Lieberman American Power Act
Mon, 07/12/2010 - 14:21"Michael Mariotte, Executive Director for the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS) said today the estimated $140 billion in total for nuclear subsidies in Kerry-Lieberman American Power Act are wrong. The Union of Concerned Scientists released a report July 1, 2010 documenting that the legislation could be worth a total of $140 billion to the nuclear industry.
Taxpayers to fund through the Federal Financing bank
The NIRS further reported to its members that the House Appropriations Committee may take up a $36 billion increase in nuclear reactor loans for an increase in the construction of new reactors. This is money the NIRS says “would go to some of the wealthiest companies in the world like Electricite de France, Areva, NRG Energy, Toshiba, General Electric, and the like.”"
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Feds want home for Utah's delayed nuclear waste
Mon, 07/12/2010 - 14:19"The US Department of Energy is looking for a temporary home for two thirds of a shipment of low level nuclear waste that was headed to Utah. Waste containing depleted uranium from the Savannah River site in South Carolina has had its storage here delayed after the Department of Energy and Governor Gary Herbert agreed more information was needed to ensure the safety of nearby residents. The highly populated Salt Lake Valley is just 75 miles east of Energy Solution's Clive Storage Facility in the Tooele Valley.
Depleted uranium is low level radioactive waste at this time. The problem is, as it breaks down, its radiation levels increase, with radon emissions peaking after one million years. Energy Solutions is currently working on a report confirming the Clive site can successfully store large quantities of depleted uranium, but it is not expected to be complete before the end of the year. "
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BusinessDay - Pebble bed technology is ‘a costly source of energy’
Mon, 07/12/2010 - 14:15"THE pebble bed modular reactor (PBMR) technology is unlikely to solve SA’s energy shortage in a cost- effective way, according to an Institute of Security Studies paper on the project.
The paper pours cold water on the benefits of the PBMR technology at a time when the future of the PBMR company lies in tatters, following the government’s decision to drastically cut its funding.
Trade unions last month said the majority of the company’s employees had opted to take voluntary retrenchment packages."
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Feds defend plans to put AECL on auction block | Canada | News | Toronto Sun
Mon, 07/12/2010 - 14:14"Selling all or part of the country's publicly-owned nuclear agency is the only way to save it, says embattled Natural Resources Minister Christian Paradis.
He appeared Wednesday before the Senate's finance committee, which is furiously studying a massive 900-page budget bill that includes giving the government carte blanche to restructure Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. any way it sees fit without any public consultation.
Paradis - who is under investigation by Parliament's ethics czar for a potential conflict in dealings with disgraced former MP Rahim Jaffer - argued AECL and particularly the CANDU reactor division is too small to compete globally and needs a huge injection of cash to get it on a more competitive footing.
CANDU hasn't sold a new reactor in over 10 years."
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Heart tests add to U.S. radiation dose concerns | Reuters
Mon, 07/12/2010 - 13:54"Heart imaging procedures can deliver a significant amount of radiation to patients, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday, urging patients and doctors to weigh the risks against the benefits.
They said nearly one in 10 adults under the age of 64 had a heart procedure involving radiation over a three-year period in five major healthcare markets.
"For many patients in the United States, there is a substantial cumulative radiation exposure from cardiac procedures," said Dr. Jersey Chen of Yale University School of Medicine, whose study appears in the Journal of the American College of Radiology."
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Touching On Israel's Nuclear Secrets : NPR
Mon, 07/12/2010 - 13:31"President Obama obliquely referred to the Israeli nuclear weapons program Tuesday, and expressed continued U.S. support for it. Nonproliferation expert Avner Cohen of the Monterey Institute of International Studies talks with Robert Siegel about the well-known "secret" program."
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Daily Post North Wales - News - North Wales News - Farmers in Wales still stalked by Chernobyl
Mon, 07/12/2010 - 02:09"RADIATION from Chernobyl was carried far and wide by the wind and some of it was deposited in heavy rain on the upland areas of North Wales.
More than 300 Welsh farmers are still unable to take a total of 180,000 lambs to market without calling in Government inspectors armed with Geiger counters.
The men from the ministry scan animals for signs of radiation because the land they graze is still contaminated. Many continue to have to be moved to lower pastures in order to be clear of radioactivity."
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Toshiba, Hitachi, Tokyo Electric to Form Japan Nuclear Venture - Bloomberg
Mon, 07/12/2010 - 02:08"Toshiba Corp., Hitachi Ltd. and Tokyo Electric Power Co. are among six Japanese companies that will form a joint venture to sell nuclear reactors and technology to Vietnam and other countries.
The group, which includes Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Chubu Electric Power Co. and Kansai Electric Power Co., will seek financial assistance from the trade ministry, they said in a joint statement yesterday. The companies have set up an office ahead of forming the venture this autumn.
Japan is holding talks for nuclear cooperation treaties with India, Jordan, and Russia and has had preliminary discussions with Vietnam. The trade ministry will work to speed negotiations for the treaties, which are necessary for Japanese companies to export nuclear technology, the ministry said in a statement yesterday. "
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Nuke Industry Bullies Students, Demands Lunch Money | Friends of the Earth
Mon, 07/12/2010 - 01:50"House Democrats choose preemptive bailout for nuclear industry over preventing teacher layoffs
WASHINGTON, D.C.-- This week, the House of Representatives is expected to vote on supplemental appropriations for the war in Afghanistan and several domestic programs. The domestic program funding preserves $9 billion in loan guarantees for nuclear reactors, while cutting $13 billion in funds to prevent teacher layoffs.
Friends of the Earth's climate and energy tax analyst, Ben Schreiber, had the following response:
"This week Congress will vote on whether to take teachers away from students so that they can give nuclear reactors a $9 billion preemptive bailout. We continue to be shocked that Congress brazenly puts the interests of corporations above the needs of regular Americans, including teachers and children. This is further proof our political system has been corrupted by corporate influence and special interests."
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Video of Oak Ridge protest | | knoxnews.com
Mon, 07/12/2010 - 01:48This link will send you to the ORNL action where 37 people were arrested.
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News
Mon, 07/12/2010 - 01:46"An Anglo-French consortium has clinched a deal to build a nuclear waste processing plant at Sellafield, said to be worth an eventual £1.5 billion.
A group involving British firms Amec and Balfour Beatty and French outfit Areva will design and construct the new Highly Active Liquid Effluent Facility at the site.
The plant will analyse and treat radioactive liquid arising from reprocessing at Sellafield before it is made safe for long-term storage."
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ANALYSIS - India's nuclear ambition runs up against China's | Reuters
Mon, 07/12/2010 - 01:44"A 2008 civilian nuclear energy pact between the United States and India was meant to lift a 34-year-old embargo on nuclear trade despite New Delhi's longstanding weapons programme, a move seen as bolstering it as a counterweight to China.
It was also aimed at unlocking the energy-starved country's nuclear industry market, estimated at $150 billion, at a time when nuclear power is undergoing a nascent renaissance worldwide as a more environment-friendly alternative to fossil fuels."
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The Brooklyn Paper: State moves to close radioactive waste plant near W’burg school
Mon, 07/12/2010 - 01:43"A controversial radioactive waste plant three blocks from a Williamsburg school will be forced to close under a bill passed by both houses in Albany late last week.
Radiac Research and Environmental Sciences, a hazardous waste facility on Kent Avenue since 1969, could finally be compelled to relocate after the state Senate and Assembly made it illegal to operate such a facility within 1,500 feet of a school.
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Assemblyman Joe Lentol (D-Williamsburg), who sponsored the legislation, called the bill “a real victory for the North Brooklyn community and the safety of our children,” particularly students at PS 84 on Berry Street and S. First Street, just steps from the waste-processing site."
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