Tuesday, October 27, 2009
French nuclear policy clouded in secrecy
Comment: Virginia should not be kissing up to the French, we want true green power, not nuke power! Just listen to the excuses the French makes about the problems in Nuke power!
October 2009
Several kilos of plutonium have been discovered at an Areva nuclear plant in Cadarache, in France.
Environmentalists have long complained that the nuclear industry, which fulfills 75 percent of France's energy needs, is shrouded in secret:
Click Title or Read the complete post at link below:
http://www.allvoices.com/s/event-4401971/aHR0cDovL3d3dy50cnV2ZW8uY29tL251Y2xlYXItZW5lcmd5LWZyZW5jaC1udWNsZWFyLXBvbGljeS1jbG91ZGVkLWluL2lkLzE4NDYzNzQ4NzY=
Dave Lindorff: Pentagon Dirty Bombers, Depleted Uranium in the USA
Comment: Depleted Uranium will be our Middle East's VAs agent orange (Vietnam VA)! Pray for our troops and all our Veterans!
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Mon, 10/26/2009 - 2:11pm. Dave Lindorff
The Nuclear Regulator Commission will be holding hearings tomorrow and Wednesday in Hawaii on an application by the U.S. Army for a permit to have depleted uranium at its Pohakuloa Training Area, a vast stretch of flat land in what's called the "saddle" between the sacred mountains of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea on Hawaii's Big Island, and at the Schofield Barracks on the island of Oahu.
In fact, what the Army is asking for is a permit to leave in place the DU left over from years of test firing of M101 mortar "spotting rounds," that each contained close to half a pound of depleted uranium (DU). The Army, which originally denied that any DU weapons had been used at either location, now says that as many as 2, 000 rounds of M101 DU mortars might have been fired at Pohakuloa alone.
But that's only a small part of the story.
The Army is actually seeking a master permit from the NRC to cover all the sites where it has fired DU weapons, including penetrator shells that, unlike the M101, are designed to hit targets and burn on impact, turning the DU in the warhead into a fine dust of uranium oxide.
Among the sites identified by the NRC as being contaminated with DU are: Ft. Hood, TX; Ft. Benning, GA; Ft. Campbell, KY; Ft. Knox, KY; Ft. Lewis, WA; Ft. Riley, KS; Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD; Ft. Dix, NJ; and Makua Military Reservation, HI.
Other locations identified as having DU weapons contamination are: China Lake Air Warfare Center, CA; Eglin AFB, FL; Nellis AFB, NV; Davis-Monthan AFB; Kirkland AFB, NM; White Sands Missile Range, NM; Ethan Allen Firing Range, VT; and New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.
An application for a 99-year permit to test DU weapons at the NM Institute Of Mining and Technology claimed that that site's test area was "so contaminated with DU…as to preclude any other use"!
DU weapons have also been used by the Navy at Vieques Island off Puerto Rico (the Navy claimed it was a "mistake."
The Pentagon continues a long history of claiming that DU is not dangerous, although this official stance is belied by the warnings it has given to its troops (though not to civilians in battle zones), to stay well clear of tanks and other equipment destroyed by U.S. tanks, which used DU weapons as the ordnance of choice in both the Gulf War and the current Iraq War.
Read the complete post at or click Title:
http://blog.buzzflash.com/lindorff/284
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Mon, 10/26/2009 - 2:11pm. Dave Lindorff
The Nuclear Regulator Commission will be holding hearings tomorrow and Wednesday in Hawaii on an application by the U.S. Army for a permit to have depleted uranium at its Pohakuloa Training Area, a vast stretch of flat land in what's called the "saddle" between the sacred mountains of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea on Hawaii's Big Island, and at the Schofield Barracks on the island of Oahu.
In fact, what the Army is asking for is a permit to leave in place the DU left over from years of test firing of M101 mortar "spotting rounds," that each contained close to half a pound of depleted uranium (DU). The Army, which originally denied that any DU weapons had been used at either location, now says that as many as 2, 000 rounds of M101 DU mortars might have been fired at Pohakuloa alone.
But that's only a small part of the story.
The Army is actually seeking a master permit from the NRC to cover all the sites where it has fired DU weapons, including penetrator shells that, unlike the M101, are designed to hit targets and burn on impact, turning the DU in the warhead into a fine dust of uranium oxide.
Among the sites identified by the NRC as being contaminated with DU are: Ft. Hood, TX; Ft. Benning, GA; Ft. Campbell, KY; Ft. Knox, KY; Ft. Lewis, WA; Ft. Riley, KS; Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD; Ft. Dix, NJ; and Makua Military Reservation, HI.
Other locations identified as having DU weapons contamination are: China Lake Air Warfare Center, CA; Eglin AFB, FL; Nellis AFB, NV; Davis-Monthan AFB; Kirkland AFB, NM; White Sands Missile Range, NM; Ethan Allen Firing Range, VT; and New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.
An application for a 99-year permit to test DU weapons at the NM Institute Of Mining and Technology claimed that that site's test area was "so contaminated with DU…as to preclude any other use"!
DU weapons have also been used by the Navy at Vieques Island off Puerto Rico (the Navy claimed it was a "mistake."
The Pentagon continues a long history of claiming that DU is not dangerous, although this official stance is belied by the warnings it has given to its troops (though not to civilians in battle zones), to stay well clear of tanks and other equipment destroyed by U.S. tanks, which used DU weapons as the ordnance of choice in both the Gulf War and the current Iraq War.
Read the complete post at or click Title:
http://blog.buzzflash.com/lindorff/284
Bill to ban the importation of foreign nuclear waste into Utah takes small step forward
Comment: We have enough nuke waste and we should take on overseas junk!
By Brock Vergakis, AP
October 27th, 2009
Bill to ban foreign nuke waste makes small advance
SALT LAKE CITY — A bill designed to keep foreign countries from disposing their nuclear waste in the United States is taking a small but significant step toward getting a U.S. House committee vote for the first time.
On Thursday, the Radioactive Import Deterrence Act will undergo a process known as markup, where members of a House subcommittee will debate and recommend changes to the bill before it advances.
The bill to ban the importation of low-level radioactive waste was drafted in response to a Utah company’s plan to import up to 20,000 tons of low-level radioactive waste from Italy’s shuttered nuclear power program through the ports of Charleston, S.C., or New Orleans. After processing in Tennessee, about 1,600 tons would be disposed of in EnergySolutions Inc.’s facility in the western Utah desert.
Read the complete post at or click Title:
http://blog.taragana.com/n/bill-to-ban-the-importation-of-foreign-nuclear-waste-into-utah-takes-small-step-forward-208667/
By Brock Vergakis, AP
October 27th, 2009
Bill to ban foreign nuke waste makes small advance
SALT LAKE CITY — A bill designed to keep foreign countries from disposing their nuclear waste in the United States is taking a small but significant step toward getting a U.S. House committee vote for the first time.
On Thursday, the Radioactive Import Deterrence Act will undergo a process known as markup, where members of a House subcommittee will debate and recommend changes to the bill before it advances.
The bill to ban the importation of low-level radioactive waste was drafted in response to a Utah company’s plan to import up to 20,000 tons of low-level radioactive waste from Italy’s shuttered nuclear power program through the ports of Charleston, S.C., or New Orleans. After processing in Tennessee, about 1,600 tons would be disposed of in EnergySolutions Inc.’s facility in the western Utah desert.
Read the complete post at or click Title:
http://blog.taragana.com/n/bill-to-ban-the-importation-of-foreign-nuclear-waste-into-utah-takes-small-step-forward-208667/
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Radioactive tritium found off nuclear test site for first time
Comment: People who make bombs to kill people and use the excuse, let us bomb Japan and save a million of our people from war. The government brought the military people home and exposes them to Nuke Bombs! Logic, heck no, how many of our family members have died from these mad scientists! In addition, our government is still killing our families with depleted uranium in the Gulf War! Now nuke water is still killing people! No to Nuke Power! By Mary Manning
Tue, Oct 20, 2009 (3:01 p.m.)
Scientists have found radioactive tritium from nuclear tests in Nevada contaminating groundwater off the Nevada Test Site for the first time.
However, state and federal studies indicated the contaminated groundwater would leave the nuclear site within 50 years.
A groundwater sample taken in a new well drilled on Air Force land contained tritium at about 12,500 picocuries per liter, below the federal Environmental Protection Agency Safe Drinking Water Act limit of 20,000 picocuries per liter. A picocurrie is a measure of radiation in liquid.
The Energy Department predicted in February that groundwater contamination would leave the Test Site boundary near Pahute Mesa, in the northwest corner of the sprawling site about 85 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
The nearest public water source to the new government test well, completed Oct. 12, is 14 miles away!
Click to Read Whole Story: http://m.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/oct/20/radioactive-tritium-found-nuclear-test-site-first-/
Finnish TVO set for long row with Areva, Siemens
by Staff Writers
Helsinki (AFP) Oct 20, 2009
Finnish utility TVO said Tuesday it expected a lengthy dispute with France's Areva and Germany's Siemens over cost over-runs and delays in their construction of a Finnish nuclear reactor.
The plant being built in Olkiluoto, western Finland, was originally scheduled to start operating this year, but the project has fallen more than three years behind its original schedule, prompting a bitter fight between the three companies.
In a financial report for January-September published on Monday, TVO said it had demanded that Areva and Siemens pay compensation of around 1.4 billion euros (2.1 billion dollars) for the delays.
Meanwhile Areva and Siemens have asked for around one billion euros from TVO, arguing that the project has encountered "more rigorous security requirements" than initially foreseen.
Last week TVO said the new reactor's start date could be delayed beyond June 2012 and said it had asked for a new timetable from Areva and Siemens.
The Finnish firm posted in the first nine months of this year a loss of 30.4 million euros on turnover of 226 million euros.
Read whole article:
http://www.nuclearpowerdaily.com/reports/Finnish_TVO_set_for_long_row_with_Areva_Siemens_999.html
Helsinki (AFP) Oct 20, 2009
Finnish utility TVO said Tuesday it expected a lengthy dispute with France's Areva and Germany's Siemens over cost over-runs and delays in their construction of a Finnish nuclear reactor.
The plant being built in Olkiluoto, western Finland, was originally scheduled to start operating this year, but the project has fallen more than three years behind its original schedule, prompting a bitter fight between the three companies.
In a financial report for January-September published on Monday, TVO said it had demanded that Areva and Siemens pay compensation of around 1.4 billion euros (2.1 billion dollars) for the delays.
Meanwhile Areva and Siemens have asked for around one billion euros from TVO, arguing that the project has encountered "more rigorous security requirements" than initially foreseen.
Last week TVO said the new reactor's start date could be delayed beyond June 2012 and said it had asked for a new timetable from Areva and Siemens.
The Finnish firm posted in the first nine months of this year a loss of 30.4 million euros on turnover of 226 million euros.
Read whole article:
http://www.nuclearpowerdaily.com/reports/Finnish_TVO_set_for_long_row_with_Areva_Siemens_999.html
Obama's Radioactive Regulator
Why did the White House pick a cheerleader for nuclear energy to oversee the industry?
—By Kate Sheppard
Oct 20, 2009
—By Kate Sheppard
Oct 20, 2009
Should a booster of nuclear power with undisclosed business connections to nuclear energy firms be allowed to regulate the industry? By nominating William Magwood to serve on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, President Barack Obama is doing just that.
Magwood served as the head of the Office of Nuclear Energy within the Department of Energy from 1998 to 2005, and in that capacity was the US government's senior nuclear technology official. But both before and after his time in government, he has worked as an enthusiastic advocate for nuclear interests in the private sector—including for at least one company likely to have business before the NRC in the near future. Good-government groups say that this background should preclude him from serving as a regulator for an agency whose stated mission is to "regulate the nation's civilian use of byproduct, source, and special nuclear materials to ensure adequate protection of public health and safety, to promote the common defense and security, and to protect the environment."
"William Magwood has devoted his career to promoting nuclear power," said Kevin Kamps, radioactive waste watchdog at Beyond Nuclear. "The NRC is supposed to be a safety regulator. They're not supposed to advocate for expansion."
Click below to read whole article:
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/10/obamas-radioactive-regulator
Magwood served as the head of the Office of Nuclear Energy within the Department of Energy from 1998 to 2005, and in that capacity was the US government's senior nuclear technology official. But both before and after his time in government, he has worked as an enthusiastic advocate for nuclear interests in the private sector—including for at least one company likely to have business before the NRC in the near future. Good-government groups say that this background should preclude him from serving as a regulator for an agency whose stated mission is to "regulate the nation's civilian use of byproduct, source, and special nuclear materials to ensure adequate protection of public health and safety, to promote the common defense and security, and to protect the environment."
"William Magwood has devoted his career to promoting nuclear power," said Kevin Kamps, radioactive waste watchdog at Beyond Nuclear. "The NRC is supposed to be a safety regulator. They're not supposed to advocate for expansion."
Click below to read whole article:
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/10/obamas-radioactive-regulator
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Radioactive Rabbit Poop Part Of Hanford Nuclear Reservation Cleanup (VIDEO)
Check out Rachel Maddow's segment below for more information on this operation, and the radioactive rabbits:
First Posted: 10-19-09 09:01 AM Updated: 10-19-09 10:40 AM
The Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington state produced most of the plutonium our nation used during the atomic bomb through the 1980s. This production also led to massive amounts of toxic waste.
The area is the focus of the largest environmental cleanup operation in the country right now, and that includes scrubbing all the rabbit feces because it is radioactive.
Jackrabbits have taken quite a liking to the nuclear sludge, which contains a radioactive salt that they can't get enough of. According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: jackrabbits routinely burrowed into those sites. They found the salt, liked it, and licked it. Then, they pooped it, leaving slightly radioactive scat all over the ground.
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/19/radioactive-rabbit-poop-p_n_325716.html
First Posted: 10-19-09 09:01 AM Updated: 10-19-09 10:40 AM
The Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington state produced most of the plutonium our nation used during the atomic bomb through the 1980s. This production also led to massive amounts of toxic waste.
The area is the focus of the largest environmental cleanup operation in the country right now, and that includes scrubbing all the rabbit feces because it is radioactive.
Jackrabbits have taken quite a liking to the nuclear sludge, which contains a radioactive salt that they can't get enough of. According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: jackrabbits routinely burrowed into those sites. They found the salt, liked it, and licked it. Then, they pooped it, leaving slightly radioactive scat all over the ground.
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/19/radioactive-rabbit-poop-p_n_325716.html
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