Comment: No to Nuke Power!
Monday, April 13, 2009
NUCLEAR INCIDENTS - a (partial) timeline
This is a partial list of international nuclear incidents and accidents.
See also: Nuclear Weapons Accidents - www.NuclearFiles.org
20 Mishaps That Might Have Started Accidental Nuclear WarLet the Facts Speak - An Indictment of the Nuclear Industry (pdf).
14 April 09, Japan - N-plant pipe data falsified
NUCLEAR INCIDENTS - a (partial) timeline
This is a partial list of international nuclear incidents and accidents.
See also: Nuclear Weapons Accidents - www.NuclearFiles.org
20 Mishaps That Might Have Started Accidental Nuclear WarLet the Facts Speak - An Indictment of the Nuclear Industry (pdf).
14 April 09, Japan - N-plant pipe data falsified
Hitachi Ltd. and Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy Ltd. announced Monday that they had found falsified data in the inspection records of components they manufactured for use in nuclear power plants.
Fire breaks out at N-plant
NIIGATA - A fire broke out Saturday night at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co. in Kashiwazaki and Kariwamura, Niigata Prefecture, scorching the motor of an air conditioner. No radiation leaks or injuries were reported. - The Daily Yomiuri Online
7 April 09, Brits' nuclear sub accident surfaces
A BRITISH nuclear-powered submarine with 130 crew crashed into Australia's continental shelf off the coast of Perth in a potentially deadly accident that was covered up at the time.
The incident caused a 5200-tonne Royal Navy attack submarine, HMS Trenchant, armed with cruise missiles, to become "grounded" off Rottnest Island in July 1997, according to information just released in the British parliament.
The accident was one of 13 collisions involving Royal Navy nuclear-powered submarines since 1988 and was released last week by Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth.
- The Australian
6 April 09, Indonesia goes cold on nuclear power
INDONESIAN President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono yesterday backed away from a plan to build a nuclear reactor in one of the world's most seismically active countries.
Dr Yudhoyono said Indonesia would develop existing energy sources and explore renewable alternatives before pursuing the nuclear option.
- The Age
16 Feb 09, mid-Atlantic - French and British Nuclear Subs Collide
Submarines collide in Atlantic Ocean
Both were carrying nuclear weapons
the submarines did not damage their nuclear parts in the crash
A senior Navy source said: “The potential consequences are unthinkable. It’s very unlikely there would have been a nuclear explosion. “But a radioactive leak was a possibility. Worse, we could have lost the crew and warheads. That would have been a national disaster.” - The Sun
12 November 08, UK - Lost nuke 'left in Greenland'
THE US abandoned a nuclear weapon under the ice in northern Greenland in 1968, it has been claimed.
Using testimony of those involved and declassified documents obtained under the US Freedom of Information Act, the BBC yesterday reported that despite a desperate search of the crash site near a US military base at Thule, the weapon was never found. - The Age
31 Oct 08, UK - Nuclear missile site fire undetected
A FIRE at a US nuclear missile launch site burned itself out and was undetected for five days, US military sources say. – news.com.au
11 Oct 08, UK - Britain's nuclear weapons factory 'nearly overwhelmed' by flood
Alarm systems at Britain's nuclear weapons factory were put out of action for 10 days by last summer's floods, leaving tens of thousands of people without warning in the event of anuclear accident. More: The Telegraph.
24 Sep 08, Sydney - WATER SEEPING AT LUCAS HEIGHTS NUCLEAR REACTOR
CHRONIC water seepage at Australia's only nuclear reactor has sparked plans to build a plant to treat the water in a sign the problem might never be fixed. More here.
9 Sep 08, France - Incident at nuclear plant
A SECURITY incident has occurred at a French nuclear site already under scrutiny because of a series of safety scares over the summer, France's ASN nuclear safety authority said overnight.
ASN said two fuel units became snagged in a reactor at Tricastin in southern France overnight when site workers were attempting to remove them during maintenance work. More: here.
25 August 08, Spain - Nuclear Plant Closed After Fire
A NUCLEAR power station shut down after an electrical generator fire today, safety officials said, the latest incident at a station that has already been
hit with record fines for its safety record.
The incident came just weeks after the government vowed to take action
against another nuclear station over a radioactive leak last year. More: here.
21 July 08, France - New uranium Leak at Areva Nuclear Plant
French nuclear firm Areva has found a uranium leak at a factory in southeastern France, but there is no danger to the environment, the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) said on Friday.
The news came a day after the government ordered safety tests at all the country's 19nuclear power plants following another leak at an Areva facility earlier this month.
However, Energy and Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo moved to reassure the public over the latest incident. 'We mustn't over-exaggerate,' he told reporters, saying there were 115 such 'little anomalies' in France's nuclear industry each year. - Planet Ark.
10 July 08, France- Nuclear leak Pollutes Water and Closes Nuclear Plant
A nuclear power plant in a tourist region of southern France has been closed after a uranium leak polluted the local water supply. French nuclear company Areva said on Tuesday 30 cubic metres of liquid containing uranium was accidentally poured on the ground and into a river at the Tricastin nuclear site.
Waste containing unenriched uranium leaked into two rivers at the Tricastin plant at Bollene, 40km (25 miles) from the popular tourist city of Avignon; people in nearby towns have been warned not to drink any water or eat fish from the rivers since Monday's leak. - BBC, Guardian and Planet Ark.
27 June 08, UK - British Warheads Could Accidentally Explode
The British Ministry of Defense (MoD) has warned in a declassified manual that some British warheads could set off a popcorn-like chain reaction.On Thursday, the New Scientist repeated the findings of the MoD that had been declassified in a manual one month ago: A design flaw in some British warheads could set off a chain explosion, 'like popcorn,' if dropped. The 'popcorn effect' is when one weapon explodes causing another to explode and so on.
A typical Trident missile contains three to six warheads and submarines can carry up to 24 missiles.
Although the MoD admits that 'popcorning' is only theoretically possible, it predicts that the worst case scenario could kill people a kilometer away. - Duncan Gardham, 'Nuclear Missiles Could Blow Up 'Like Popcorn',' Daily Telegraph, reported in The Sunflower, Issue 132.
19 June 08, USA - US 'loses nuclear missile parts'
THE US military has lost more than one thousand 'sensitive' nuclear missile parts, officials close to the Pentagon say. A recent investigation condemning the US military's accidental shipment of nuclear cones to Taiwan also found that the US Air Force doesn't know what happened to many other nuclear parts, The Financial Times reported. - Herald Sun
16 June 08, Japan - Small radioactive water leak within TEPCO nuclear plant
Water containing a small amount of radiation leaked within a Tokyo Electric Power Co nuclear power facility located in northern Japan, where a strong earthquake hit on Saturday, company officials said. - Planet Ark
5 June 08, Slovenia - Leak Shuts Down Nuclear Plant, EU Alerted
Slovenia today began shuttting down its only nuclear power plant in Krsko following a leak in the cooling system.In Brussels, the European Commission issued an EU-wide radiation alert following the incident in the central European state that currently holds the European Union's rotating presidency. - Herald Sun
5 June 08, USA - Cyber Incident Blamed for Nuclear Power Plant Shutdown
A nuclear power plant in Georgia was recently forced into an emergency shutdown for 48 hours after a software update was installed on a single computer.
The incident occurred on March 7 at Unit 2 of the Hatch nuclear power plant near Baxley, Georgia. The trouble started after an engineer fromSouthern Company, which manages the technology operations for the plant, installed a software update on a computer operating on the plant's business network. More: The Washington Post
May 08, USA - Simulated Attack Reveals Security Flaws at Livermore Lab
A recent mock terrorist infiltration conducted at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), located near San Francisco, showed that fissile material necessary for building nuclear weapons was not hard to obtain.
In Building 332, the faux-invaders found access to approximately 2,000 pounds of weapons-grade uranium and deadly plutonium, a surplus bountiful enough to build at least 300 nuclear weapons.
While the security failures exposed at Livermore seem unacceptable to most, many experts believe that many more exist, and remain undiscovered due to inherent flaws in the 'force-on-force' simulated attacks. The mock intrusions generally occur at night or on weekends when the lab's employees are safe at home and not susceptible to hostage-taking, and when the defenders are given advance notice of the attack.
The exercises also do not assess the lab's capability of withstanding an attack from a rogue aircraft passing along one of the flight paths to or from one of the nearby airports. - Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.
23 May, 08 - Alice Springs Uranium Explorers to admit to leak at Canadian Operation
A company applying for a uranium exploration licence near Alice Springs has admitted it may have leaked uranium into one of North America's largest lakes.
Cameco is the world's largest uranium producer and along with Paladin Energy is applying to explore the Angela and Pamela deposit 25 kilometres south of Alice Springs.
The company has told Canadian nuclear regulators their plant at Port Hope may have leaked uranium, arsenic and fluorides into Lake Ontario.
The plant has been closed since last year to clean up contaminated soil deposits, but the company says trace elements of uranium could have flowed into the lake.
Their application to explore near Alice Springs now lies with mines minister Chris Natt. More: ABC News
26 March, 08 - US sent Taiwan nuclear missile components by mistake.
The United States mistakenly sent Taiwan four fuses used to trigger nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles in late 2006 and only discovered the error lastweek, the Pentagon said Tuesday.Nose cone assemblies containing the fuses were recovered Monday from Taiwan where they had been held in storage after being shipped there as helicopterbatteries, senior Pentagon officials said. More.
25 Jan, 08 Japan - video of the Monju reactor leak of 1995.
Following an announcement this week that the infamous Japanese Monju fast-breeder nuclear reactor would be reopened, activists in Japan have leaked suppressed video footage of the disaster that led to its closure in 1995.
The infamous sodium spill, an accident that long ago earned itself a place in the history of nuclear power in Japan, has returned one more time to haunt government and industry officials with images they had hoped they would never see again. More.
10 Dec, 07 Germany - Child Cancer Risk Higher Near Nuclear Plants - Study
28 Nov, 07 USA - The nation's three nuclear weapons laboratories have had almost 60 serious accidents or near misses in the past seven years, according to a report released Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office. More: CNN
3 Nov, 07 USA - New Tracker Shows United States Nuclear Reactors, Safety Records.
A new web-based tool unveiled by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) can provide you with possibly more information than you'll be comfortable knowing about.
3 Nov, 07 - USA - Pipe Bomb found at nuclear plant
Authorities say a nuclear power plant in Arizona has been locked down after security guards discovered a pipe bomb in a contract worker's truck.
Plant operator Arizona Public Service called the discovery an 'unusual event' and sealed off the site, with no traffic entering or leaving the grounds.
A bomb squad from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Department declared the pipe bomb a 'credible explosive device.' More: ABC News
31 Oct 07, Radiation leak at Russian nuke plant
YEKATERINBURG, Russia: Safety breaches have caused a radiation leak at a major nuclear reprocessing plant in the Ural mountains, Russia.
The Mayak plant, dubbed 'Russia's ticking time bomb' by environmentalists, suffered a series of accidents in 1949, 1957 and 1967 but these were hushed up by Soviet governments. Nuclear weapons and nuclear waste are reprocessed at the highly secretive plant, about 2000km east of Moscow. Foreigners are not usually allowed access because of its sensitive work with nuclear weapons. More: The Australian
29 Oct 07, USA - Security upgrades at several nuclear sites are laging, auditors find. More than a year after Congress told the Energy Department to harden the nation's nuclear bomb factories and laboratories against terrorist raids, at least 5 of the 11 sites are certain to miss their deadlines, some by many years. More: The New York Times
5 Sep 07, Nuclear bombs mistakenly flown over US. A B-52 bomber was mistakenly armed with six nuclear warheads and flown for more than three hours across several states last week, prompting an Air Force investigation and the firing of one commander, Pentagon officials said Wednesday. More: Forbes/Associated Press
1 Sep 07, UK's nuclear accidents blamed on poor safety.
TWO of the UK's most serious nuclear weapons accidents in the 1980s were caused by continual lapses in safety procedures, according to newly declassified government reports released to New Scientist under freedom of information laws. What is more, the accidents were of greater seriousness than previously admitted by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). More: New Scientist Tech
31 Aug 07, USA - A one-two punch to Vermont's lone reactor
Two mishaps within 10 days at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant including collapse of a cooling tower and faullty valve.
In its formal report on the incident, the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission said a third glitch cropped up during Thursday's shutdown: An automatic system designed to control pressure levels in the reactor failed to kick in as the plant shut down, forcing control room operators to do the work.
The NRC said this happened 'for some unknown reason,' and that Vermont Yankee 'is investigating the event.' More: Forbes/Associated Press
31 Aug 07, TOKYO - Japan halts nuclear research units on safety concerns. Japan has halted work at three nuclear research units run by its Atomic Energy Agency due to concerns over the handling of fuel material and other problems, Kyodo news agency said on Friday. The Science and Technology Ministry suspended activities at the units in Tokaimura, Ibaraki prefecture, after the agency reported 46 problems including procedural flaws, Kyodo said. - www.enn.com
20 August 07, Tenn. USA - Nuclear fuel problems kept secret
A three-year veil of secrecy in the name of national security was used to keep the public in the dark about the handling of highly enriched uranium at a nuclear fuel processing plant - including a leak that could have caused a deadly, uncontrolled nuclear reaction.The leak turned out to be one of nine violations or test failures since 2005 at privately owned Nuclear Fuel Services Inc., a longtime supplier of fuel to the U.S. Navy's nuclear fleet. More: The Guardian
3 Aug 07, Nuclear safety reports called into question - Gaps in global database blamed on regulators. A scare in BulgariaTo inform the public about nuclear-plant mishaps, a United Nations agency in 1989 helped create a Richter-like scale rating them from zero to seven. Chernobyl was pegged as a seven. Three Mile Island rated five. How many mishaps have occurred over the years - and is the rate getting better or worse? It's hard to know. That's because every day, the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency deletes from its web site any rated incident that's more than six months old. The Agency says it doesn't want to penalize more-forthcoming countries by making it look like they have poor safety records. More: NuclearNo.com
28 July 07, Australia - New reactor closed down
Australia's new $400 million Lucas Heights nuclear research reactor, opened by the Prime Minister, John Howard, three months ago, has been shut down after three uranium fuel plates came loose.
It is expected to be out of operation for eight weeks while the problem is fixed, the chief executive of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Dr Ian Smith, said yesterday.
Dubbed OPAL, the reactor is powered by 16 fuel assemblies, each containing 21 uranium plates about eight centimetres square.
In three assemblies one plate had become dislodged and risen 'a few centimetres' , a Lucas Heights spokeswoman, Sharon Kelly, said.
'It was only noticed when we did a routine shutdown to do a fuel change,' she said, adding that the reactor had been working normally.
'It is possibly a manufacturing problem. We have to find out why they got loose.'
Although there was no danger, the nuclear safety authority had been informed, she said.
Engineers will use the unplanned shutdown to study another fault, a minor water leak, noticed in February.
Ms Kelly said no radioactivity had escaped as a result of either problem. - Richard Macey
27 July 07, Australia - Defence warned on waste
The Australian Defence Department has been forced to 'significantly improve' its regulations and handling of radioactive material after a high-level inquiry into contamination at a Brisbane barracks.
Australia's nuclear watchdog told the review 'that Defence's management of its regulatory requirements' needed significant improvement.
Defence Minister Brendan Nelson ordered the review after revelations in The Australian in April of the tritium contamination and a botched 'clean-up' during which contractors used Chux Super Wipes to wipe down radioactive surfaces and left them in a tea room to dry.
The Australian also revealed that the British high commission and a British optics firm, which repaired the army compass and gunsights containing the tritium fluid as a light source, complained about tritium levels. - The Australian
27 July 07, Australia - Sydney's reactor to be shut down to fix 'faults'
The new OPAL research reactor at Sydney's Lucas Heights nuclear plant is to be shut down for eight weeks because of technical faults, officials say. Chief executive of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) Ian Smith, said the supply of nuclear medicines would not be affected by the temporary shutdown as arrangements were in place to import these products [as could be done all along, as with routine shut downs].- AAP [The reactor complex also sits on two known fault lines]
24 July 07, Japan - Fire at nuclear plant
A small fire broke out today at a partly constructed nuclear power station in northern Japan, the third blaze at the plant this month. It comes a week after an earthquake caused a radioactive spillage at another atomic plant. The operator, Hokkaido Electric Power (Hepco), said there was no danger of a radiation leak and there were no injuries during the incident at the Tomari plant. - The Guardian
23 July 07, Japan - Nuclear plants ill-equipped for fires
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=214632362&blogId=289277470
Fire breaks out at N-plant
NIIGATA - A fire broke out Saturday night at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co. in Kashiwazaki and Kariwamura, Niigata Prefecture, scorching the motor of an air conditioner. No radiation leaks or injuries were reported. - The Daily Yomiuri Online
7 April 09, Brits' nuclear sub accident surfaces
A BRITISH nuclear-powered submarine with 130 crew crashed into Australia's continental shelf off the coast of Perth in a potentially deadly accident that was covered up at the time.
The incident caused a 5200-tonne Royal Navy attack submarine, HMS Trenchant, armed with cruise missiles, to become "grounded" off Rottnest Island in July 1997, according to information just released in the British parliament.
The accident was one of 13 collisions involving Royal Navy nuclear-powered submarines since 1988 and was released last week by Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth.
- The Australian
6 April 09, Indonesia goes cold on nuclear power
INDONESIAN President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono yesterday backed away from a plan to build a nuclear reactor in one of the world's most seismically active countries.
Dr Yudhoyono said Indonesia would develop existing energy sources and explore renewable alternatives before pursuing the nuclear option.
- The Age
16 Feb 09, mid-Atlantic - French and British Nuclear Subs Collide
Submarines collide in Atlantic Ocean
Both were carrying nuclear weapons
the submarines did not damage their nuclear parts in the crash
A senior Navy source said: “The potential consequences are unthinkable. It’s very unlikely there would have been a nuclear explosion. “But a radioactive leak was a possibility. Worse, we could have lost the crew and warheads. That would have been a national disaster.” - The Sun
12 November 08, UK - Lost nuke 'left in Greenland'
THE US abandoned a nuclear weapon under the ice in northern Greenland in 1968, it has been claimed.
Using testimony of those involved and declassified documents obtained under the US Freedom of Information Act, the BBC yesterday reported that despite a desperate search of the crash site near a US military base at Thule, the weapon was never found. - The Age
31 Oct 08, UK - Nuclear missile site fire undetected
A FIRE at a US nuclear missile launch site burned itself out and was undetected for five days, US military sources say. – news.com.au
11 Oct 08, UK - Britain's nuclear weapons factory 'nearly overwhelmed' by flood
Alarm systems at Britain's nuclear weapons factory were put out of action for 10 days by last summer's floods, leaving tens of thousands of people without warning in the event of anuclear accident. More: The Telegraph.
24 Sep 08, Sydney - WATER SEEPING AT LUCAS HEIGHTS NUCLEAR REACTOR
CHRONIC water seepage at Australia's only nuclear reactor has sparked plans to build a plant to treat the water in a sign the problem might never be fixed. More here.
9 Sep 08, France - Incident at nuclear plant
A SECURITY incident has occurred at a French nuclear site already under scrutiny because of a series of safety scares over the summer, France's ASN nuclear safety authority said overnight.
ASN said two fuel units became snagged in a reactor at Tricastin in southern France overnight when site workers were attempting to remove them during maintenance work. More: here.
25 August 08, Spain - Nuclear Plant Closed After Fire
A NUCLEAR power station shut down after an electrical generator fire today, safety officials said, the latest incident at a station that has already been
hit with record fines for its safety record.
The incident came just weeks after the government vowed to take action
against another nuclear station over a radioactive leak last year. More: here.
21 July 08, France - New uranium Leak at Areva Nuclear Plant
French nuclear firm Areva has found a uranium leak at a factory in southeastern France, but there is no danger to the environment, the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) said on Friday.
The news came a day after the government ordered safety tests at all the country's 19nuclear power plants following another leak at an Areva facility earlier this month.
However, Energy and Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo moved to reassure the public over the latest incident. 'We mustn't over-exaggerate,' he told reporters, saying there were 115 such 'little anomalies' in France's nuclear industry each year. - Planet Ark.
10 July 08, France- Nuclear leak Pollutes Water and Closes Nuclear Plant
A nuclear power plant in a tourist region of southern France has been closed after a uranium leak polluted the local water supply. French nuclear company Areva said on Tuesday 30 cubic metres of liquid containing uranium was accidentally poured on the ground and into a river at the Tricastin nuclear site.
Waste containing unenriched uranium leaked into two rivers at the Tricastin plant at Bollene, 40km (25 miles) from the popular tourist city of Avignon; people in nearby towns have been warned not to drink any water or eat fish from the rivers since Monday's leak. - BBC, Guardian and Planet Ark.
27 June 08, UK - British Warheads Could Accidentally Explode
The British Ministry of Defense (MoD) has warned in a declassified manual that some British warheads could set off a popcorn-like chain reaction.On Thursday, the New Scientist repeated the findings of the MoD that had been declassified in a manual one month ago: A design flaw in some British warheads could set off a chain explosion, 'like popcorn,' if dropped. The 'popcorn effect' is when one weapon explodes causing another to explode and so on.
A typical Trident missile contains three to six warheads and submarines can carry up to 24 missiles.
Although the MoD admits that 'popcorning' is only theoretically possible, it predicts that the worst case scenario could kill people a kilometer away. - Duncan Gardham, 'Nuclear Missiles Could Blow Up 'Like Popcorn',' Daily Telegraph, reported in The Sunflower, Issue 132.
19 June 08, USA - US 'loses nuclear missile parts'
THE US military has lost more than one thousand 'sensitive' nuclear missile parts, officials close to the Pentagon say. A recent investigation condemning the US military's accidental shipment of nuclear cones to Taiwan also found that the US Air Force doesn't know what happened to many other nuclear parts, The Financial Times reported. - Herald Sun
16 June 08, Japan - Small radioactive water leak within TEPCO nuclear plant
Water containing a small amount of radiation leaked within a Tokyo Electric Power Co nuclear power facility located in northern Japan, where a strong earthquake hit on Saturday, company officials said. - Planet Ark
5 June 08, Slovenia - Leak Shuts Down Nuclear Plant, EU Alerted
Slovenia today began shuttting down its only nuclear power plant in Krsko following a leak in the cooling system.In Brussels, the European Commission issued an EU-wide radiation alert following the incident in the central European state that currently holds the European Union's rotating presidency. - Herald Sun
5 June 08, USA - Cyber Incident Blamed for Nuclear Power Plant Shutdown
A nuclear power plant in Georgia was recently forced into an emergency shutdown for 48 hours after a software update was installed on a single computer.
The incident occurred on March 7 at Unit 2 of the Hatch nuclear power plant near Baxley, Georgia. The trouble started after an engineer fromSouthern Company, which manages the technology operations for the plant, installed a software update on a computer operating on the plant's business network. More: The Washington Post
May 08, USA - Simulated Attack Reveals Security Flaws at Livermore Lab
A recent mock terrorist infiltration conducted at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), located near San Francisco, showed that fissile material necessary for building nuclear weapons was not hard to obtain.
In Building 332, the faux-invaders found access to approximately 2,000 pounds of weapons-grade uranium and deadly plutonium, a surplus bountiful enough to build at least 300 nuclear weapons.
While the security failures exposed at Livermore seem unacceptable to most, many experts believe that many more exist, and remain undiscovered due to inherent flaws in the 'force-on-force' simulated attacks. The mock intrusions generally occur at night or on weekends when the lab's employees are safe at home and not susceptible to hostage-taking, and when the defenders are given advance notice of the attack.
The exercises also do not assess the lab's capability of withstanding an attack from a rogue aircraft passing along one of the flight paths to or from one of the nearby airports. - Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.
23 May, 08 - Alice Springs Uranium Explorers to admit to leak at Canadian Operation
A company applying for a uranium exploration licence near Alice Springs has admitted it may have leaked uranium into one of North America's largest lakes.
Cameco is the world's largest uranium producer and along with Paladin Energy is applying to explore the Angela and Pamela deposit 25 kilometres south of Alice Springs.
The company has told Canadian nuclear regulators their plant at Port Hope may have leaked uranium, arsenic and fluorides into Lake Ontario.
The plant has been closed since last year to clean up contaminated soil deposits, but the company says trace elements of uranium could have flowed into the lake.
Their application to explore near Alice Springs now lies with mines minister Chris Natt. More: ABC News
26 March, 08 - US sent Taiwan nuclear missile components by mistake.
The United States mistakenly sent Taiwan four fuses used to trigger nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles in late 2006 and only discovered the error lastweek, the Pentagon said Tuesday.Nose cone assemblies containing the fuses were recovered Monday from Taiwan where they had been held in storage after being shipped there as helicopterbatteries, senior Pentagon officials said. More.
25 Jan, 08 Japan - video of the Monju reactor leak of 1995.
Following an announcement this week that the infamous Japanese Monju fast-breeder nuclear reactor would be reopened, activists in Japan have leaked suppressed video footage of the disaster that led to its closure in 1995.
The infamous sodium spill, an accident that long ago earned itself a place in the history of nuclear power in Japan, has returned one more time to haunt government and industry officials with images they had hoped they would never see again. More.
10 Dec, 07 Germany - Child Cancer Risk Higher Near Nuclear Plants - Study
28 Nov, 07 USA - The nation's three nuclear weapons laboratories have had almost 60 serious accidents or near misses in the past seven years, according to a report released Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office. More: CNN
3 Nov, 07 USA - New Tracker Shows United States Nuclear Reactors, Safety Records.
A new web-based tool unveiled by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) can provide you with possibly more information than you'll be comfortable knowing about.
3 Nov, 07 - USA - Pipe Bomb found at nuclear plant
Authorities say a nuclear power plant in Arizona has been locked down after security guards discovered a pipe bomb in a contract worker's truck.
Plant operator Arizona Public Service called the discovery an 'unusual event' and sealed off the site, with no traffic entering or leaving the grounds.
A bomb squad from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Department declared the pipe bomb a 'credible explosive device.' More: ABC News
31 Oct 07, Radiation leak at Russian nuke plant
YEKATERINBURG, Russia: Safety breaches have caused a radiation leak at a major nuclear reprocessing plant in the Ural mountains, Russia.
The Mayak plant, dubbed 'Russia's ticking time bomb' by environmentalists, suffered a series of accidents in 1949, 1957 and 1967 but these were hushed up by Soviet governments. Nuclear weapons and nuclear waste are reprocessed at the highly secretive plant, about 2000km east of Moscow. Foreigners are not usually allowed access because of its sensitive work with nuclear weapons. More: The Australian
29 Oct 07, USA - Security upgrades at several nuclear sites are laging, auditors find. More than a year after Congress told the Energy Department to harden the nation's nuclear bomb factories and laboratories against terrorist raids, at least 5 of the 11 sites are certain to miss their deadlines, some by many years. More: The New York Times
5 Sep 07, Nuclear bombs mistakenly flown over US. A B-52 bomber was mistakenly armed with six nuclear warheads and flown for more than three hours across several states last week, prompting an Air Force investigation and the firing of one commander, Pentagon officials said Wednesday. More: Forbes/Associated Press
1 Sep 07, UK's nuclear accidents blamed on poor safety.
TWO of the UK's most serious nuclear weapons accidents in the 1980s were caused by continual lapses in safety procedures, according to newly declassified government reports released to New Scientist under freedom of information laws. What is more, the accidents were of greater seriousness than previously admitted by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). More: New Scientist Tech
31 Aug 07, USA - A one-two punch to Vermont's lone reactor
Two mishaps within 10 days at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant including collapse of a cooling tower and faullty valve.
In its formal report on the incident, the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission said a third glitch cropped up during Thursday's shutdown: An automatic system designed to control pressure levels in the reactor failed to kick in as the plant shut down, forcing control room operators to do the work.
The NRC said this happened 'for some unknown reason,' and that Vermont Yankee 'is investigating the event.' More: Forbes/Associated Press
31 Aug 07, TOKYO - Japan halts nuclear research units on safety concerns. Japan has halted work at three nuclear research units run by its Atomic Energy Agency due to concerns over the handling of fuel material and other problems, Kyodo news agency said on Friday. The Science and Technology Ministry suspended activities at the units in Tokaimura, Ibaraki prefecture, after the agency reported 46 problems including procedural flaws, Kyodo said. - www.enn.com
20 August 07, Tenn. USA - Nuclear fuel problems kept secret
A three-year veil of secrecy in the name of national security was used to keep the public in the dark about the handling of highly enriched uranium at a nuclear fuel processing plant - including a leak that could have caused a deadly, uncontrolled nuclear reaction.The leak turned out to be one of nine violations or test failures since 2005 at privately owned Nuclear Fuel Services Inc., a longtime supplier of fuel to the U.S. Navy's nuclear fleet. More: The Guardian
3 Aug 07, Nuclear safety reports called into question - Gaps in global database blamed on regulators. A scare in BulgariaTo inform the public about nuclear-plant mishaps, a United Nations agency in 1989 helped create a Richter-like scale rating them from zero to seven. Chernobyl was pegged as a seven. Three Mile Island rated five. How many mishaps have occurred over the years - and is the rate getting better or worse? It's hard to know. That's because every day, the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency deletes from its web site any rated incident that's more than six months old. The Agency says it doesn't want to penalize more-forthcoming countries by making it look like they have poor safety records. More: NuclearNo.com
28 July 07, Australia - New reactor closed down
Australia's new $400 million Lucas Heights nuclear research reactor, opened by the Prime Minister, John Howard, three months ago, has been shut down after three uranium fuel plates came loose.
It is expected to be out of operation for eight weeks while the problem is fixed, the chief executive of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Dr Ian Smith, said yesterday.
Dubbed OPAL, the reactor is powered by 16 fuel assemblies, each containing 21 uranium plates about eight centimetres square.
In three assemblies one plate had become dislodged and risen 'a few centimetres' , a Lucas Heights spokeswoman, Sharon Kelly, said.
'It was only noticed when we did a routine shutdown to do a fuel change,' she said, adding that the reactor had been working normally.
'It is possibly a manufacturing problem. We have to find out why they got loose.'
Although there was no danger, the nuclear safety authority had been informed, she said.
Engineers will use the unplanned shutdown to study another fault, a minor water leak, noticed in February.
Ms Kelly said no radioactivity had escaped as a result of either problem. - Richard Macey
27 July 07, Australia - Defence warned on waste
The Australian Defence Department has been forced to 'significantly improve' its regulations and handling of radioactive material after a high-level inquiry into contamination at a Brisbane barracks.
Australia's nuclear watchdog told the review 'that Defence's management of its regulatory requirements' needed significant improvement.
Defence Minister Brendan Nelson ordered the review after revelations in The Australian in April of the tritium contamination and a botched 'clean-up' during which contractors used Chux Super Wipes to wipe down radioactive surfaces and left them in a tea room to dry.
The Australian also revealed that the British high commission and a British optics firm, which repaired the army compass and gunsights containing the tritium fluid as a light source, complained about tritium levels. - The Australian
27 July 07, Australia - Sydney's reactor to be shut down to fix 'faults'
The new OPAL research reactor at Sydney's Lucas Heights nuclear plant is to be shut down for eight weeks because of technical faults, officials say. Chief executive of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) Ian Smith, said the supply of nuclear medicines would not be affected by the temporary shutdown as arrangements were in place to import these products [as could be done all along, as with routine shut downs].- AAP [The reactor complex also sits on two known fault lines]
24 July 07, Japan - Fire at nuclear plant
A small fire broke out today at a partly constructed nuclear power station in northern Japan, the third blaze at the plant this month. It comes a week after an earthquake caused a radioactive spillage at another atomic plant. The operator, Hokkaido Electric Power (Hepco), said there was no danger of a radiation leak and there were no injuries during the incident at the Tomari plant. - The Guardian
23 July 07, Japan - Nuclear plants ill-equipped for fires
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