uranium news

French nuclear waste being stored in the U.S.?
CleanTech December 5, 2007
“A prominent researcher shared a nuclear secret today that he said not even everyone in the U.S. Department of Energy knows.
Is the U.S., in fact, storing a large amount of nuclear waste produced by France’s nuclear reactors?

That was the suggestion in a keynote today at the ThinkEquity ThinkGreen conference in San Francisco by Dr. Yogi Goswami, former President of the International Solar Energy Society, and prolific author and University of Florida professor.

‘One small bit of information that most people don’t know, even in our Department of Energy: a large majority of the nuclear waste from France is actually shipped to the U.S.,’ Goswami said.
‘“It’s stored in South Carolina. That’s because when initially the French started building nuclear reactors, the U.S. was suspicious of the French, and said ‘hey, you don’t need to keep that nuclear waste over there, we’ll store it for you.’
‘So there’s a contractual relationship that all of that waste comes to the U.S. and is stored in the Savannah River Laboratory, which is the U.S. Department of Energy lab for nuclear waste,’ he said………….………………………….”

Cheney Pursuing Nuclear Ambitions of His Own
Scoop 6 November 2007,
by Jason Leopold – “While Dick Cheney has been talking tough over the years about Iran’s alleged nuclear activities, the vice president has been quietly pursuing nuclear ambitions of his own. For more than two years, Cheney and a relatively unknown administration official, Deputy Energy Secretary Clay Sell, have been regularly visiting the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to ensure agency officials rewrite regulatory policies and bypass public hearings in order to streamline the licensing process for energy companies that have filed applications to build new nuclear power reactors, as well as applications for new nuclear facilities that are expected to be filed by other companies in the months ahead, longtime NRC officials said. …………

……………….The energy corporations Cheney and Sell have been personally lobbying the NRC on behalf of this year have advised the vice president and his staff on energy policy in a way that would boost their companies’ profit margins. These corporations have also donated millions of dollars to President Bush’s and Cheney’s past presidential campaigns. ………………

……………….At a time when public awareness surrounding renewable energy resources, the devastating effects of global warming and the importance of conservation is at an all-time high, the Bush administration has steered tens of billions in taxpayer dollars toward revamping the dormant nuclear power industry, touting it as the only proven technology to combat climate change. Behind the scenes, Cheney and Sell have worked in tandem with the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI)……………..

………Cheney and Sell’s behind-the-scenes efforts have been a boon for the nuclear energy industry – and to Westinghouse Electric, a nuclear reactor designer whose AP1000 reactor unit was certified by the Department of Energy. The company stands to earn tens of billions of dollars in profit through the sale of just a few of its nuclear reactor units. Cheney has said publicly he wants to see dozens scattered across the US. ………

………….NRG Chief Executive David Crane told investors recently that massive federal tax incentives and federal loan guarantees included in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 was the deciding factor in steering the company toward the $6 billion nuclear project…………………….’The whole reason we started down this path was the benefits written into the [Energy Policy Act] of 2005,’ Crane said…………………………..The federal loan program automatically requires taxpayers to cover any defaults on the loans. In a February report to Congress, the Government Accountability Office said failure to properly account for default risks in the loan program was one factor that ‘could result in substantial financial costs to the taxpayer.’

A 2003 Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report said the risk of utilities defaulting on loans for new nuclear plants is ‘very high – well above 50 percent.’………………

…………Perhaps the thorniest issue neither Cheney, Sell, Bodman nor the nuclear energy industry has yet to address is how it plans to dispose of nuclear waste………………………..’In over 50 years of operating experience, the nuclear industry still has not managed to solve the problems of safety, security, and disposal of highly dangerous radioactive waste,’said Jon Block, nuclear energy and climate change project manager for the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).

‘Until that happens, we’re much better off investing in safer, cleaner energy sources such as renewable wind, geothermal, tidal, and solar projects’…………………………….”

Extent of Windscale contamination was covered up New Scientist Rob Edwards 5 Oct 07 - “At the time it was the world’s worst nuclear accident. Now, 50 years after the fire at Windscale in Cumbria, UK, on 10 and 11 October 1957, it has emerged that the resulting radioactive cloud spread contamination over large parts of Europe, much further than previously admitted.

The fire raged in the bomb-making reactor for 17 hours, dumping contamination over a large swathe of England. Across the north-west of the country radioactive milk was poured away for several weeks. Researchers in the UK and Norway have now shown that radioactivity was blown east over Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, and north over Scandinavia

‘The plume extended further east than accepted in previous assessments,’ concludes a study funded by the British nuclear industry (Atmospheric Environment). Monitoring measurements from the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment show that fallout ‘extended farther north over Norway than originally considered’………………………………………”

Nuclear Info Kept From Congress and the Public slashdot kdawson August 21 “On March 6, 2006 an accident occurred at Nuclear Fuel Services in Erwin, Tennessee. According to reports, almost 9 gallons of highly enriched uranium in solution spilled and nearly went into a chain reaction. Before the accident in 2004, the NRC and The Office of Naval Reactors had changed the terms of the company’s license so that any correspondence with Nuclear Fuel Services would be marked ‘official use only.’ From the article: ‘While reviewing the commission’s public Web page in 2004, the Department of Energy’s Office of Naval Reactors found what it considered protected information about Nuclear Fuel Service’s work for the Navy. The commission responded by sealing every document related to Nuclear Fuel Services and BWX Technologies in Lynchburg, Va., the only two companies licensed by the agency to manufacture, possess and store highly enriched uranium.’ The result was that the public and Congress were both left in the dark for 13 months regarding this accident and other issues at the facility.”

(Electric Power Research Institute).EPRI – Exposing the Nuclear/Electricity Industry Dark tower of Secrets OpEdNews.com Sherwood Martinelli 8 August 07 EPRI SECRETS-Nuclear Industry Failing Infrastructure, CRM and Wrongful License Renewals – With the score Nuclear Licensees 48, host communities 0, it seemed obvious that the fix was in and the NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) was intent on bringing forth a Nuclear Renaissance by rubber stamping the License Renewal Applications of every aging, fatigued nuclear reactor in America, against the wishes of the 67 host communities who had agreed to host said reactors for a period of only 40 years

The nuclear industry, NRC/DOE and NEI all needed a way to keep aging and other problems out of the public eye, needed a way to investigate known safety issues, while keeping grassroots environmentalists, opposing attorneys, and even state and local governments from getting their hands on damning documents, documents that would support the oppositions contentions……

Imagine if you will, a impenetrable black tower of Electrical Industry learning and dark sinister secrets, it’s reams of reports and studies off limits to all but the chosen few and the minions that serve them. Those allowed access paying handsomely (rumor has it the fee is $2 million a year) for unfettered corporate access.

Imagine a dark tower of learning so well connected that the DOE funds research meant to protect NRC licensees interest, the studies and reports generated paid for by tax payer dollars, then secreted away, labeled proprietary and security sensitive and not eligible for export. Such an organization exists, and is known as EPRI (Electric Power Research Institute).

the NRC has full and complete access to these documents which outline failures, and presumably has read them, yet time and again the NRC has refused to order even one full and complete ISA (Independent Safety Assessment) of said steam pipe systems at a nuclear reactor. Leaking Butt Welds, thinning walls, and bacteria problems are not the exception in the nuclear industry, but instead the norm,………………..

………We have the power and ability to open the doors to the Dark Tower that is the EPRI library, we can force them to give the public access to the documents paid for fully or partially with tax dollars……………

..Dangerous, aging reactors are being wrongfully relicensed in the name of a Nuclear Renaissance. The documents that prove just how unsafe they are have been hidden behind the corporate veil of EPRI, and we must pierce their veil, gain access to the documents that prove our contentions.“

16 Dirty Secrets About Nuclear Power- Counter Punch 27 June 07 By RUSSELL D. HOFFMAN“1) This is a very long article – so, just a few points have been selected here: -1. Isn’t France almost entirely dependent on nuclear power?Sure, they have something between 70% and 80% nuke-generated electricity (the exact figure depends on who you ask). It’s NOT particularly CHEAP for the French, by the way, and THAT should tell you something.And one more point: AREVA, France’s nuke power company, is even more secretive than our nuke mega-corporations, and their nukes have had serious problems …But more to the point, COULD they have gone with renewables and still achieved their electricity goals (and their rates would now be vastly cheaper)? Certainly!3. Nukes are getting safer all the time, aren’t they? – Actually, they are getting LESS safe The old nuke power plants are rusting, becoming more and more embrittled, and parts that have lasted for 30+ years (and were designed to last only 20) are failing left and right.. The companies all have a “replace on failure” policy for most components, since it would be impossible to guess what’s going to break next. And as for future possible generations of new reactors, they have their own problems INCLUDING unexpectedly rapid embrittlement of the cladding for the radioactive fuel pellets, which could lead to the very catastrophic failures they CLAIM can’t happen. AND the new reactors are no better protected from terrorism than the old ones — a fact of life, but then, so are TSUNAMIS and they are IGNORED, as well (yes, some coastal reactors have sea walls, but they are pitifully small).4) Can’t nuclear power solve the problem of Global Warming? No. First of all, nuclear power doesn’t produce MUCH of our energy mix…..The “20%” figure you might often hear is the percentage of ELECTRICITY nuclear produces, but electricity is a relatively small portion of our total energy usage.Second of all, the global warming problem is (finally) considered IMMINENT. But no workable plan for building new nuclear power plants can possibly contribute more than a small percentage of the needed energy. The plants are too big, the lead time too long, the difficulties of siting them away from population centers and then running high-power lines, all doom the technology even if numerous OTHER important reasons are IGNORED! Third, and most damaging, is that when you take into account: Caring for the nuclear waste afterwards; Caring for cancer victims; The energy needed to mine the uranium; The energy needed to clean up after an accident; All the other costs; Nuclear simply doesn’t produce ANY net energy for the country! Not one watt!8) Doesn’t the nuclear industry protect humans from all its radioactive waste? NO THEY DON’T! Tritium, for instance, is routinely released from ALL operating nuclear power plants. Some kinds of nuke plants release 20 times (or more) more than other types. Is it ALL okay? Not at all. Tritium standards are absurdly lax.10) Don’t some people say that a little radiation might actually be GOOD for you? NO level of radiation is beneficial and all medical radiation is given after a supposedly careful cost-benefit analysis has been done for the patient.14) Why does the industry keep going, if it’s SO bad?The nuclear industry relies on lies and obfuscations to hide its true effect on humanity from curious or prying eyes. ANYONE who begins to understand the truth is immediately labeled an “activist” even if they base every comment they ever make on scientific principles which the pro-nukers cannot and WILL NOT ANSWER. People who are labeled “activists” are soon kicked out of their jobs, so that they can no longer be considered experts who are current in the field. They are ridiculed, and destroyed financially.The “debate” over nuclear power — the one a democratic people SHOULD have had — NEVER HAPPENED…………..What keeps the industry going is government contracts, government subsidies, government insurance, and tax breaks. The government feeds BILLIONS into the industry, financing the ‘”research and development’” of new reactor designs, and the training the commercial reactor operators through the military reactor program. Research reactor institutes are often controlled jointly by the industry and by the government. It’s self-perpetuating.But the biggest break the industry gets is, of course, the fact that if you or your children or loved ones get cancer or leukemia, it COULD be due to anything, NO MATTER HOW CLOSE you live to a reactor, and no matter how many people around you SEEM to be dying as well. To make matters worse, after a meltdown, most people with reactor-caused illnesses will never be paid a red cent by any insurance company, the reactor owners or operators, or any local, state or federal entity.Check your homeowner’s insurance policy if you have one. Reactor accidents are specifically excluded! And you need look no further than the nuclear industry’s under-funded, federally-mandated minimalist insurance policy known as The Price-Anderson Act to KNOW that no citizen will be paid their due if they survive after an accident. You’ll get fractions of a penny on the dollar if you live to collect anything at all. You’ll be called stupid for living so close to a reactor, or paranoid for thinking that accident “X” miles away caused YOUR cancer. “X” could be a little as 11 miles or less!……………………………

…………….“ Don’t buy the nuclear sales pitch – Aspen Daily News Roger Herried – 22 June 07 “……………Moore is not a founder or co-founder of Greenpeace. …………………. Moore and his behavior in the late 1970s wreaked havoc on Greenpeace. Moore has had nothing to do with environmental issues for over 15 years. He’s been using the last 15 years to promote the logging industry and other polluters.The idea that the nuclear industry would hold up such a flagrant example is astounding. One of the real founders of Greenpeace called him a Judas! For anyone with their eyes open, short sales pieces by paid industry spokespeople that have millions of federal pork to spend promoting a plan to get billions more from us, please, if there was ever a time not to trust someone, it is the nuclear industry, during George ‘let’s make a deal on Iraq’s oil’ Bush’s administration.In Feb 1984, Forbes magazine called the nuclear industry the largest financial disaster in U.S. history. The big picture on nuclear power includes the ugly truth that nuclear power and weapons are linked at the hip, and enjoys second to none subsidies that go back over 50 yearsYou wouldn’t know it unless you live in Nevada, that the plan to dump high level waste at Yucca Mountain is facing opposition from both parties there. You wouldn’t know it that when Bush promised not to let Yucca Mountain go ahead unless there was good science that proved its safety. With that promise George Bush won the 2000 election and Nevada’s electoral votes were enough to make the difference in who would be president………………..The nuclear industry wants you to allow the federal government to subsidize private companies to build a new generation of experimental reactors. What will the real cost be? Once they get a hook on your wallet, we all know what a blank check is! The first time around they said it was gonna be too cheap to meter. In 1966, California’s Diablo Canyon was estimated to cost just over $350 million to build two reactors. Twenty years later the construction costs totaled $5.8 billion, with an additional $7 billion in financing costs. The utility got every penny of those costs from the government and ratepayers, plus a profit. The result? California’s rates nearly doubled over a six-year period…………………………..” . .

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