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Legacy of the Chernobyl disaster | Environment | The Guardian
Exposure to radiation in an incident like the 1986 Chernobyl disaster ruins the health of several generations of people, not just those who lived in the vicinity at the time.
"The effects of Chernobyl on human health will continue for many years to come in the form of anything from an abnormal limb to an extremely severe cancer," explained Dr Tony Nicholson, the vice-president of the Royal College of Radiologists and dean of its clinical radiology faculty.
Radiation damages men's sperm and women's eggs, meaning their children can be born with congenital defects such as a serious heart condition or brain abnormality. "Some of these defects will be fatal, others will require surgery to correct them and all will severely affect the child's quality of life," said Nicholson. Women exposed to radiation also have a much higher chance of miscarriage.
Nuclear industry accused of hijacking clean energy forum | Business | The Guardian
The nuclear power industry has been accused of trying to muscle in on plans to establish a global body to represent the renewable energy industry at a key meeting in Egypt tomorrow.
France – a major user and exporter of nuclear technologies – is accused by critics of trying to win the top job inside the renewable organisation so it can move the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) towards being a promoter of "low-carbon" technologies – including atomic power.
The talks in Sharm el-Sheikh are already threatening to become a major standoff between Germany and the United Arab Emirates over which country should win the right to have the headquarters of Irena based in its country.
Nuclear nations rush to lock in uranium deals | Reuters
A global shift toward nuclear power is prompting countries to rush to lock in long-term access to tight supplies of uranium, and China and India look to be the next players to get in on the action.
A tie-up between Rosatom, the Russian state-owned producer, Rosatom and Canada-based miner Uranium One announced this week is just the latest in a series of moves on the part of Asian and European countries to lock in uranium supply to fuel construction of dozens of new reactors over the next decade.
BBC NEWS | Military spending sets new record
Global military spending rose 4% in 2008 to a record $1,464bn (£914bn) - up 45% since 1999, according to the Stockholm-based peace institute Sipri.
In contrast with civilian aerospace and airlines, the defence industry remains healthy.
"The global financial crisis has yet to have an impact on major arms companies' revenues, profits and order backlogs," Sipri said.
Peace-keeping operations - which also benefit defence firms - rose 11%.
Missions were launched in trouble spots such as Darfur and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
"Another record was set, with the total of international peace operation personnel reaching 187,586," said Sipri, or Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Boeing $30.5bn
BAE Systems $29.9bn
Lockheed Martin $29.4bn
Northrop Grumman$24.6bn
General Dynamics $21.5bn
Raytheon $19.5bn
EADS (West Europe) $13.1bn
L-3 Communications $11.2bn
Finmeccanica $9.9bn
Thales $9.4bn
Source: Sipri
Fifty nations want nuclear plants | The Daily Telegraph
MORE than 50 nations are in talks with the UN atomic watchdog to build nuclear power plants, a twofold increase over the last four years, a top agency official said.
"The IAEA is talking with 50-60 countries about the construction of nuclear power plants," Hans-Holger Rogner, head of planning and economic studies at the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in the German newsletter VDI Nachrichten published overnight.
BBC NEWS | Special Reports | Global map of nuclear arsenals
All numbers are estimates because exact numbers are top secret.
• Strategic nuclear warheads are designed to target cities, missile locations and military headquarters as part of a strategic plan.
Hanford News : What world governments offer to victims of nuclear tests
A look at where some leading nuclear powers stand on offering compensation to victims of nuclear tests.
UNITED STATES: The U.S. is the only nation that currently compensates nuclear test victims. Since the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act was enacted in 1990, more than $1.38 billion in compensation has been approved. It goes to people who took part in the tests, notably at the Nevada Test Site, and to anyone exposed to the radiation.
FRANCE: The French government offered Tuesday to compensate victims for the first time. A draft bill to be submitted to parliament soon would allow payments to people who suffered health problems related to the tests. The payouts would be available to victims' descendants and would include Algerians, whose country was part of France when the French started nuclear testing in the Sahara in 1960. Victims say the eligibility requirements are too narrow.
BRITAIN: No formal British government compensation program exists. Nearly 1,000 veterans of Christmas Island nuclear tests in the 1950s are seeking to sue the Ministry of Defense for negligence. They say they suffered health problems and were warned of potential dangers only after the experiments.
RUSSIA: Decades afterward, Russia offered compensation to veterans who were part of the 1954 Totsk test, in which a Hiroshima-yield bomb was set off and then soldiers were sent in to test how fighting would proceed in a post-blast environment. Anti-nuclear groups say there has been no blanket government compensation for other tests. There was no compensation to civilians sickened by the Totsk test.
CHINA: China's nuclear program is highly secretive, as are its atomic tests in remote deserts in a Central Asian border province. Anti-nuclear activists say there is no known government program for compensating victims.
'Keep out nuclear ships': Sci-Tech: News24
Cape Town - An anti-nuclear group has urged the South African government to make sure that two vessels carrying what is reportedly the biggest ever shipment of plutonium stay out of its waters.
"What we don't want is an accident at sea where we as a country have to carry the consequences," said Mike Kantey, chairman of the Coalition Against Nuclear Energy, on Tuesday.
The heavily armed Pacific Pintail and the Pacific Heron left Barrow-in-Furness in the north-west of England last week.
They will collect their freight - a load of MOX nuclear fuel containing what environmentalists say are 1800kg of plutonium - at Cherbourg in France, then head for Japan.
The present and future of nuclear safety / ISN
he upcoming anniversaries of the two worst nuclear accidents in history present an opportune time to examine the state of nuclear safety, writes Jason Vaughn for Diplomatic Courier.
On 28 March 1979, the worst ever accident at an American nuclear power station took place at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania. This coming 28 March will be the 30th anniversary of that event, when a partial meltdown of a reactor there resulted in a “very small off-site release of radioactivity,” according to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Further, according to the USNRC, there were no casualties, either injurious or fatal, from that event. As life on earth is exposed to a relative amount of radiation throughout time regardless, reports generally show that exposure of radiation to humans never rose above minor “acceptable” levels.
Pope against nuke for power - INQUIRER.net
It appears the pope and another ranking Vatican official were misquoted on the use of nuclear energy by a local politician.
Pope Benedict XVI supports the use of nuclear energy but only for improving the medical field and helping the poor but not for generating electricity, Balanga Bishop Socrates Villegas said Tuesday.
Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability News: ENN -
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the first multinational agency focused solely on spreading clean energy across the globe, officially launched this week.
The expectations are that the agency will help governments and private industry to expand renewable energy installments throughout the industrialized world, where investments are already on the rise, while also assist the developing world acquire the expertise to establish its own clean energy industries.
Nevada: What's News
Nevada GOP Comic
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- Europe: Midloothian Today - Scots join nuclear power debate
- Europe: Bloomberg - Italy Should Restart Nuclear Power Program, Enel Report Says - Adam L. Freeman
- Middle East: Washington Post - EU ministers duck Iran nuclear issue for now - Paul Taylor
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David Thorpe: The effects of uranium mining are disastrous. To minimise the risks, the nuclear supply chain needs independent auditing | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
The increased sourcing of raw uranium that will arise from nuclear new build is an ethical and environmental nightmare currently being ignored by the government.
The World Nuclear Association (WNA), the trade body for companies that make up 90% of the industry, admits that in "emerging uranium producing countries" there is frequently no adequate environmental health and safety legislation, let alone monitoring. It is considerately proposing a Charter of Ethics containing principles of uranium stewardship for its members to follow. But this is a self-policing voluntary arrangement. Similarly, the International Atomic Energy Agency's safety guide to the Management of Radioactive Waste from the Mining and Milling of Ores (pdf) are not legally binding on operators.
What Next for "Atoms for Food" Partnership?
For decades, the IAEA and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have spearheaded the development and application of nuclear techniques in food and agriculture, teaming up to contribute to the world´s goals for food security in valuable ways. Today the successful "Atoms for Food" partnership stands in the balance.
Report calls for international arrangement for spent nuclear fuel
Assurances on disposition of spent nuclear fuel could be more important than guarantees of fresh fuel in convincing new nuclear countries to rely on international supply arrangements rather than pursuing their own uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing programs, according to a study released Tuesday by the US and Russian national science academies. For several years, there have discussions about establishing an international system so that countries starting or considering nuclear programs do not also embark on enrichment and reprocessing programs, since this could give countries the capability to produce material -- high-enriched uranium and plutonium, respectively -- that can be used in nuclear weapons.
Anti-nuclear terrorism group launched - UPI.com
A new international effort to prevent nuclear materials from falling into terrorists' hands has been launched in Austria, officials say.
The World Institute for Nuclear Security will work alongside the International Atomic Energy Agency in seeking to improve world nuclear security and preventing nuclear terrorism, The Daily Telegraph reported Tuesday.
2008 world nuclear industry status report | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Hype over the future of nuclear power is rampant, but the facts tell a different story. The percentage of nuclear-generated electricity in the overall global energy mix is decreasing. In this three-part series Mycle Schneider, a French independent nuclear analyst, explores the difficulties facing nuclear power throughout the world and in Western Europe and Asia in particular.
US ready to help finance global nuclear power expansion: Bush
The US is prepared to help other countries develop nuclear energy, including by "assisting with the necessary financing," President Bush told the International Atomic Energy Agency's General Conference in Vienna Monday. Bush's message was delivered as part of more extensive remarks by US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, who also said, "We must make the development of a global commercial nuclear infrastructure a priority." Bodman also called on other IAEA member states to establish an international fuel bank that would begin operations by the end of the year. The fuel bank's goal would be to provide an incentive to countries with new nuclear power programs to refrain from pursuing indigenous uranium enrichment programs.
A World Wide Web of Electricity - A Compelling Global Strategy for Peace and Sustainable Development - Global Energy Network Institute - GENI is the highest priority objective of the World Game (R. Buckminster Fuller)
The GENI Initiative focuses on linking renewable energy resources around the world using international electricity transmission.
Uranium-Action-Day - Europe's Nuclear Heritage: 10-20-08
On September 20th 2008 the Uranium Action Day is announced. One year after the big Uranium Conference in Germany it is planned to do activities in many places in different countries to refer to the bad consequences of uranium mining and the dangers of transport of such material.
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Uranium-Action-Day
From Europe's Nuclear Heritage
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On September 20th 2008 the Uranium Action Day is announced. One year after the big Uranium Conference in Germany it is planned to do activities in many places in different countries to refer to the bad consequences of uranium mining and the dangers of transport of such material.
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