New Anti-Nuclear Movement Gathering Strength
The New Anti-Nuclear Movement, THE HUFFINGTON POST, Frida Berrigan:, 16 April 2010, “……… At the end of April, people will be coming to New York City from all over the world to participate in and monitor the UN Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference. They will gather at the “For a Nuclear Free, Peaceful, Just and Sustainable World” conference at Riverside Church in Manhattan on April 30 and May 1. Continue reading
Israeli soldiers made infertile by depleted uranium
Experts say the dramatic drop in Israel’s sperm count could eliminate their ability to reproduce.
Israel’s Declining Sperm Quality Tied to Depleted Uranium Exposure, Atlantic Free Press, by Tim King, 16 April 2010 Israel’s population is facing a dire threat: a drastic depopulation, from the use of weapons that leave behind Depleted Uranium (DU). Continue reading
Can we trust nuclear scientists to tell the truth about nuclear technology?
Yes, it’s all very exciting. Obama’s Nuclear Security Summit has made some moves in the direction of nuclear security.
And, yes, it’s a blow to uranium mining shares, now that old weapons fuel is going to be turned into low enriched uranium, and sold cheaply as fuel for nuclear reactors.
BUT – what an opportunity for nuclear scientists, like say ANSTO, to spruik their wares – in recycling, reprocessing technology! And now we’re gonna need some gee-whiz answer to highly radioactive wastes – like say ANSTO ‘s Synroc. (Never mind that all countries decided over 30 years ago that it really wouldn’t work)
ANSTO hoping to get into a lucrative nuclear waste disposal business
Australia ‘to lead in N-waste treatment’April 15, 2010 – New Internationalist Australia is poised to lead the world in providing technology to clean up dangerous nuclear waste, the head of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) has announced in the US. Continue reading
Earthquake danger to Nuclear plants, and fuel transport
Quake rattles Chilean-U.S. uranium move , SANTIAGO, Chile, April 14 (UPI) – A Chilean-U.S. nuclear waste disposal arrangement was nearly derailed, with dangerous consequences for North and South America, when a magnitude-8.8 earthquake struck Chile Feb. 27, interfering with deliveries of radioactive waste to U.S. processing plants. Chilean reports on the narrowly missed mishap involving the weapons-grade uranium, published by The Santiago Times, weren’t immediately commented upon by industrial sources and officials……
Chile doesn’t produce nuclear power but has a research reactor and the uranium usually is stored at the reactor site and a military base.
The quake caused widespread concern in Chilean and American nuclear communities. A U.S. team sent to Chile was especially keen to ensure the volatile material didn’t set off a chain reaction while in transit. Quake rattles Chilean-U.S. uranium move – UPI.com
Pakistan back in the nuclear sales business
Pakistan Offers Global Nuclear Fuel Services Again, Planet Ark: 15-Apr-10 , Louis Charbonneau Pakistan, the country of the disgraced nuclear scientist who provided Iran, Libya and North Korea with uranium enrichment technology, is once again offering its atomic fuel services to the world. Continue reading
Uranium shares threatened by Nuclear Security Summit decisions
Nuclear Summit Changes Uranium Outlook ninemsn 14/04/2010 By Rudi Filapek-Vandyck US President Obama’s success in convincing world leaders the best way forward is through the conversion of hundreds of thousands of tons of weapons-usable nuclear fuel into non-military fuel for power stations might be good news for world peace, but probably not so for investors in uranium companies.
This week’s nuclear summit in Washington has ended with a general pledge by participants from all over the globe to convert hundreds of thousands of tons of weapons-usable nuclear fuel by 2014, plus an intention to set a 2012 summit in South Korea to measure progress.This inevitably means the supply-outlook has dramatically changed for the sector this week. Nuclear Summit Changes Uranium Outlook
graph from Purchasing 14 April, Uranium prices are stuck in a slump – 2010-04-14 18:23:54 | Purchasing
Defence Minister says Australia Backs Nuclear Summit Security Plan
“We converted from highly enriched uranium to low-enriched uranium based technologies for research reactor fuel and radioisotope production.
Australia backs US nuclear meet outcome, Sydney Morning Herald, April 14, 2010 Defence Minister John Faulkner, who has been attending a nuclear security summit hosted by US President Barack Obama, says Australia welcomes the call to secure all vulnerable nuclear material within four years……. Continue reading
UK pledges disarmament while upgrading nuclear weapons
It is shameful that both main political parties, far from phasing out our our so-called deterrent, insist on upgrading a weapons system that is as anachronistic as it is unaffordable.
The world unites against nuclear danger: so why is Gordon Brown upgrading Trident? Telegraph UK By Mary Riddell World April 14th, 2010 “…….While Mr Netanyahu is a prime obstacle to global security, Britain cannot claim nearly as much credit as it would like. Gordon Brown, who is pledged, like Obama, to creating a nuclear free world, is going an odd way about it. Continue reading
Continued downward spiral in uranium prices hits ERA shares
Uranium production falls at Ranger mine, Sydney Morning Herald, BARRY FITZGERALDApril 14, 2010 SHARES in Rio Tinto’s listed uranium subsidiary, Energy Resources of Australia (ERA), have suffered a beating on the back of the company’s sharply lower production effort at the Ranger uranium mine in the Northern Territory. Market sentiment towards the stock was not helped by a downbeat assessment of the likelihood that uranium prices would pull out out of a spiral,.…ERA shares dropped $1.17 or 5.9 per cent to close at $18.52. Its forecast of near-term moves in the uranium price rubbed off on other uranium stocks, with Paladin Energy shares falling 3.45 per cent……. there had been no progress in ERA’s plan to develop the $20 billion Jabiluka uranium deposit near Ranger.ERA has undertaken not to develop the deposit without the consent of the traditional owners. Uranium production falls at Ranger mine
Yes, why isn’t Rudd at the Nuclear Summit?
Not much Australian media coverage of the Nuclear Summit either. Not a word on ABC Television last night.
Could it be that Rudd’s corporate backers, like BHP Billiton, are not very keen on Obama’s plan to get old nuclear weapons turned into fuel for commercial nuclear reactors? Perhaps Rudd would rather not be seen to be joining in undermining the uranium mining industry?
Obama, Rudd, speak on nuclear security
Listen:
- Windows Media
Australia’s PM won’t be at world nuclear summit Radio Australia,April 9, 2010 Presenter: Linda Mottram
Speakers: Barack Obama, U-S President; Kevin Rudd, Australia’s Prime Minister; Rory Medcalf, director, International Security Program, Lowy Institute for International Policy
Radio Australia:Connect Asia:Story:Australia’s PM won’t be at world nuclear summit
Why is Australia so quiet about the Nuclear Summit?
It would appear to be irresponsible for Australia not to be represented at leadership level when the full security implications of the nuclear fuel cycle are being debated
Australia’s PM won’t be at world nuclear summit Radio Australia,April 9, 2010 “……… Still, some say it’s crucial that Mr Rudd goes to Washinton next week. Continue reading
Rudd conspicuously absent at Nuclear Summit
Faulkner dismisses any suggestion Rudd’s absence means Australia is not taking the issue seriously
Bombs away, The Age, by Daniel Flitton, April 13, 2010……there is also the remote prospect that terrorists might improvise a nuclear device themselves, either a crude atomic weapon or a ”dirty bomb”, spreading radioactive material with conventional explosives. Continue reading
Megatons to Megawatts will turn old nuclear weapons into fuel for commercial nuclear power!
turns highly enriched uranium into lightly enriched uranium.
Nuclear twist sees Russian warheads warming US homes Herald Sun AFP , April 13, 2010, IN A strange twist of Cold War enmity on the melt, uranium from what once were Russian nuclear warheads is used to heat and light American homes, thanks to the Megatons to Megawatts Program – a successful example of nuclear non-proliferation. Continue reading
1 This month
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
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