Yucca scientists not charged.
(June 9, 2006) Federal prosecutors have decided not to charge several scientists accused of falsifying documents relating to the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site. The U.S. Attorney's office in Nevada discovered a series of emails dating from 1998 to 2000 suggesting that government hydrologists had falsified dates and other documentation as part of their review of technical data before the Department of Energy sought a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The DOE is said to be re-creating the technical work done and checking some 14 million emails. Senator Reid from Nevada said, "The science that DOE claims is supporting Yucca Mountain is sloppy, and in some cases it's actually false".
The Salt Lake Tribune, April 26 2006
Finnish plant behind schedule.
(June 9, 2006) The experimental EPR nuclear power plant under construction in Finland has already fallen nine months behind schedule - the project started just a year ago. The delays have been caused by safety concerns over the quality of concrete used for the base of the reactor. It was discovered that too much water had been used in the cement mix, making the concrete too porous, and some steel forgings were also found to be of poor quality.
The Guardian, April 24 2006
Turkey selects site.
(June 9, 2006) The Black Sea province of Sinop has been chosen as the site for the construction of the country's first nuclear power plants. Within the next three to four years, Turkey plans to build a small pilot reactor of around 100 megawatts. Eventually three power plants with a total capacity of 5,000 MW will be built. Previous attempts to build a nuclear plant in Turkey have been thwarted due to strong opposition and costs.
Reuters, April 13 2006
Leak at Rokkasho.
(June 9, 2006) Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd broke news of a radioactive water leakage at the Rokkasho nuclear reprocessing plant where the latest round of trail operations started on March 31. Some 40 litres of water containing plutonium and uranium leaked inside a concrete-lined cell when a worker apparently made a mistake in a remote-controlled process. The JNFL spokesperson said that no radiation was released. The operator had signed safety agreements with Aomori Prefecture and the village of Rokkasho before the train run was allowed to begin.
Reuters, April 13 2006
China-Australia uranium deal.
(June 9, 2006) Australia has signed a bilateral safeguards agreement (Nuclear Transfer Agreement) with China to enable the export of uranium to that country. A nuclear technology agreement was signed at the same time.
WNA Weekly Digest, April 7 2006
Canadian nuclear cooperation.
(June 9, 2006) Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL) has joined forces with four other nuclear technology and engineering companies (Babcock & Wilcox Canada, General Electric Canada, Hitachi Canada and SNC-Lavalin Nuclear) to offer fixed-price nuclear power plants on a turnkey basis. The plants will be the 700 MWe Candu 6 and eventually the new 1200 MWe ACR-1000.
WNA Weekly Digest, March 31 2006
Head of Arab League pushes nukes.
(June 9, 2006) The Egyptian head of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, has urged Arab nations to work toward joining the nuclear club by developing nuclear energy as soon as possible. Moussa's comments came at the League's summit meeting aimed at tackling the crises of Iraq and the Palestinian peace process. As yet, no Arab country is thought to have a significant nuclear energy program and most have shown no interest in taking this route.
AP, March 28 2006
UN finds against U.S.
(June 9, 2006) The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has found the U.S. guilty of violating the human rights of the Western Shoshone peoples. Western Shoshone ancestral lands - from the south of Snake River, Idaho, across central and eastern Nevada and west through Death Valley in California - host the Nevada Test Site and the proposed Yucca Mountain waste dump site. The UN Committee has urged the U.S. to freeze all plans to privatise Western Shoshone lands and resources, desist from all activities on the ancestral lands that its owners have not been consulted on and to stop all harassment of the people. The U.S. must respond to the Committee's concerns by July 15.
CCNS News Update, March 24 2006
Fire at Japanese plant.
(June 9, 2006) On March 22, a fire occurred at the Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture in western Japan. The fire broke out in a waste disposal unit between the No 3 and No 4 reactors. Officials with the plant's operator Kansai Electric Power Co. said that no radiation was released. Two workers were treated for smoke inhalation.
EFN Newsletter, March 23 2006
Mexico plans new capacity.
(June 9, 2006) Mexico's Federal Electricity Commission is to spend US$150 million on uprating both 675 MWe reactors at the Laguna Verde plant, which currently provides 5% of the country's electricity. The Commission is also planning to build a new US$4 billion nuclear power plant by 2020.
WNA Weekly Digest, March 24 2006
New Japanese reactor opens and closes.
(June 9, 2006) The second unit at Hokuriku Electric's Shika nuclear power plant in Ishikawa, northern Japan started commercial operation on March 15 after initially being connected to the grid in July 2005. But less than two weeks later, a panel of Kanazawa City judges ruled that the 1358 MWe advanced boiling water reactor, the country's second largest, should close because there is a danger of radiation being released following an earthquake. The judges decided that inadequate precautions had been taken and that those [precautions] were also based on out-of-date science. Chief judge Kenichi Ido said, "An earthquake larger than what the electricity company had anticipated could occur, resulting in a nuclear accident and exposing residents to radiation." The plant is situated near the Ochigata fault line and a research committee appointed by the Japanese government has warned that several quakes could occur simultaneously and trigger one reaching 7.6 on the Richter scale, which would severely shake the plant. This is yet another blow to the Japanese nuclear industry which has struggled to improve its image with the public following accidents that have resulted in the deaths of seven workers in as many years, injuries to hundreds of workers and several falsification scandals.
Times Online & BBC News, March 24 2006; Reuters, March 10 2006
Groundwater contaminated by Indian Point, U.S.
(June 9, 2006) High levels of radioactive material - almost three times the level permitted in drinking water - were found in groundwater near the Hudson River beneath the Indian Point nuclear complex. The strontium-90 reached the Hudson but contaminated groundwater did not enter drinking supplies according to the spokesperson for Entergy Nuclear Northeast. Indian Point is about 30 miles north of Manhattan. The contaminated water was first discovered in August 2005. Several wells were dug in efforts to locate the leak and the nuclear complex was found to be the source. In high doses strontium can cause cancer - tritium, another carcinogen, was also found in samples taken. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has announced an investigation into tritium releases from Indian Point and other plants.
AP, March 21 2006
Earthlife Africa appeal denied.
(June 9, 2006) An application to the South African High Court made by Earthlife (ELA) for leave to appeal an earlier judgement has been denied. The environmental group was seeking access to board meeting minutes pertaining to Eskom's PBMR developments under the Access to Information Act. ELA was also ordered to pay all court costs.
ELA press release, March 20 2006
Indian group urges end to construction.
(June 9, 2006) Following an earthquake in the Kanyakumari district in the south of India on March 19, The People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy and local citizen groups have called for the halt of construction work at the Koodankulam nuclear power plant in the nearby district of Tirunelveti. India's Department of Atomic Energy is building two 1,000 MW nuclear power plants using Russian technology at Koodankulam and has announced plans for four more. This despite the fact that the project sits in an earthquake zone and no environmental impact assessments have ever being done - or if they have, the results have never been publicly released. PMANE wants the government to stop the build and start a public debate about the safety of the project.
PMANE press release, March 20 2006
U.S. firm sued over nuclear spills.
(June 9, 2006) A federal lawsuit involving 14,000 residents has been filed charging Exelon Corp. with failing to maintain a pipeline that spilled tritium-laced waste from its Braidwood nuclear plant in Illinois. Exelon has admitted several leaks, two leaks of three million gallons in 1998 and 2000, but has said that, although ground water beyond the plant boundary was contaminated, there is no significant risk posed to local water wells. Exposure to tritium can increase risk of cancer, birth defects and genetic damage - tritium is a by-product of nuclear generation and can enter the body through ingestion, absorption or inhalation. Given that the first spillage from the plant occurred in 1996, Exelon has been accused of perpetrating a cover up - the disclosures came only after the company was pressured to test for contamination by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Public records from 2001 and 2002 show that Exelon officials opposed public discussion of tritium, the release of documents about tritium spills, legislation to mandate groundwater monitoring at nuclear plants and permit reviews.
The Tribune, March 19 2006; Reuters, March 15 2006
G8 to push new nukes.
(June 9, 2006) A draft of the "G8 Communique on Energy Security" due to be released on July 16 at the G8 Summit to be held in St. Petersburg, Russia from July 15-17 calls for a huge new global expansion of nuclear power. It also urges trillions of dollars of new investment to escalate oil, gas and coal production globally. One sentence reads, "We believe that development of nuclear energy would promote global energy security…" another, "We intend to make additional join efforts to ensure non-discriminatory access to this energy source." [Cue the swift resolution of the Iran 'crisis'…] U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman after a G8 energy ministers meeting in March said, "We are hopeful of a very substantial rebirth for the global nuclear industry." The push for new nuclear is reportedly headed by the U.S. and Russia but Germany for one in known to be against the plan.
Reclaim the Commons alert, March 17 2006
New reactor for Lithuania.
(June 9, 2006) An agreement was signed between power companies from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to conduct a feasibility study for a new nuclear reactor to be built at the existing Ignalina site in Lithuania - the Soviet-era unit at the site is due to close by 2009. The cost of the new reactor is estimated at 2-3 billion Euros and should to be completed by 2015. The move comes after Baltic prime ministers announced plans to increase independence from Russian energy, integrate energy markets by 2009 and connect the Baltic energy networks with other European countries.
WNA Weekly Digest, March 10 2006
French nuke deal with Libya.
(June 9, 2006) France and Libya signed a cooperation agreement on 'peaceful' uses of nuclear energy on March 15 - Tripoli said the deal would allow it to generate nuclear power to desalinate seawater. Libya will need to continue cooperating with the IAEA as a condition of the agreement. The country renounced its nuclear weapons programme in December 2003.
Reuters, March 16, 2006; The Financial Times, March 7 2006
UK Commission rejects new nuclear.
(June 9, 2006) The British government's watchdog on sustainable development issues, the Sustainable Development Commission, has said that the UK does not need to build a new generation of nuclear plants to meet future electricity needs. The government advisory group said that more renewable sources and greater energy efficiency were more favourable options than replacing old nuclear plants.
Reuters, March 7 2006
EP committee rejects Euratom funding.
(June 9, 2006) The European Parliament Environment Committee has voted to oppose public finding for Euratom nuclear fission and fusion research in support of a proposal from the Greens to limit nuclear research to radiation protection, waste and safety. Satu Hassi, vice chair of the committee said, "We have to prioritise technology that can have an immediate impact on protecting our climate and cutting emissions, namely energy efficiency and renewables."
The Greens/EFA in the European Parliament press release, February 23 2006
Fines for U.S. plutonium leaks.
(June 9, 2006) A federal jury has ruled that two Department of Energy contractors allowed plutonium from the now defunct Rocky Flats weapons plant to contaminate neighbouring land. Dow Chemical and the former Rockwell International were negligent in their actions and exposed thousands of property owners to plutonium, increasing their risk of health problems. The suite was filed 16 years ago on behalf of 13,000 people. Jurors awarded the plaintiffs US$553.9 million in damages - the government will also face an estimated US$58 million in legal fees. It is thought that state and federal laws will eventually limit the payout to US$352 million - DOE and the companies are to appeal.
AP, February 16 2006