NUKE NEWS: April 27, 2010
Compilation:
1. ESO Uranium, Fission Energy embark on joint venture
2. Sask. Must seize big-idea potential uranium provides
3. Uranium industry hit by price drop, regulation and attitude
4. OVERCOMING THE NUCLEAR THREAT - Harding
5. U.S. resists Euro-nuke removal
6. Five nuclear videos (in English) and Article - from Finland, January 12, 2010 – Dr. Gordon Edwards
7. Nuclear Waste Across Canada: Yellowcake Trail Pt 4 by Anna Tilman
8. Earth Day Greenwashing From the World's Worst Polluter
9. Canada and NATO's New Strategic Concept - Rideau Institute - March 2010
10. 2010 US Spending Priorities: 58% To Military
11. Chernobyl Radiation Killed Nearly One Million People: New Book
12. Ontario Solar Power could match US Nuclear Power
13. Letter: Kurtenbach: George W. Bush and Pro-Life!
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1. ESO Uranium, Fission Energy embark on joint venture
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/
todays-paper/Uranium+Fission+Energy+embar
k+joint+venture/2919071/story.html
By Cassandra Kyle, The Star Phoenix April 17, 2010
ESO Uranium Corp. and Fission Energy Corp. have staked a new target on its Patterson Lake South 50-50 joint-venture project.
The new land stake, which is about 1,004 hectares in size, comes after results of an airborne geophysical survey conducted during the fall of 2009 identified a 900-metre long train of radioactive boulders extending southwards off the site's original 12,500-hectare claim block. The new stake covers this extended area.
The airborne survey also reviewed targets that already identified a corridor of conductors extending from the property's Patterson Corridor onto Purepoint Uranium Group Inc./Cameco Corp. joint-venture claims.
Additional exploratory work is planned for the Patterson Lake South property.
- - -
Hathor Exploration Ltd. says its winter drill program on the Roughrider uranium deposit at the Midwest NorthEast property discovered new uranium mineralization and confirmed the expansion of the Roughrider East deposit.
Highlights from the 77-hole, 26,928-metre program include the discovery of massive uranium mineralization and off-scale radioactivity and confirmation of high-grade uranium mineralization at the Roughrider uranium deposit. The deposit remains open and two drills are at the site in advance of summer drilling.
Terra Ventures Inc. owns a 10 per cent interest in the Midwest NorthEast property.
MORE:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/
todays-paper/Uranium+Fission+Energy+embar
k+joint+venture/2919071/story.html
===================
2. Sask. Must seize big-idea potential uranium provides
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/
Sask+Must+seize+idea+potential+uranium+provides/2946320/story.html
The Star Phoenix April 24, 2010
Americans have become so accustomed to trivialization, marginalization and whining by Canada that they know their largest trading partner for these qualities rather than for efficiency, effectiveness and reliability.
But, according to Colin Robertson, a senior Canadian diplomat with decades of experience dealing with Americans, the U.S. will sit up and listen when this country steps forward with what truly grabs their attention: "Americans like big ideas," he told The StarPhoenix editorial board this week.
Saskatchewan's history of mocking, undercutting or even sabotaging big ideas might be a reason that this province, as a share of its total trade, does less business with Americans than do other provinces on average.
While most provinces ship southward as much as 80 per cent of their exports, Saskatchewan's comparable figure is 60 per cent. While there is no shame in taking a global view of globalization, one can't escape the conclusion that Saskatchewan is losing out by thinking small.
It's particularly evident in how Saskatchewan squanders the potential of its enormous uranium resource.
For generations, Saskatchewan people have known that the way to create significantly more more wealth in the province is to add value to its shipments of raw uranium, which is the base fuel for more than a fifth of the world's nuclear power. For generations, vocal opponents who use first-rate public relations but voodoo science have cowed successive
governments into forgoing that opportunity.
It appeared for a time that Saskatchewan finally had chosen a government with the political clout to push big ideas, but the desire to appease strident nuclear opponents overtook Premier Brad Wall and his Saskatchewan Party.
So, in spite of the recommendations of scientists, industry and review panels, and in spite of opinion polls that showed widespread public support for expanding the uranium industry, the Wall government backed out of every opportunity to do the right thing.
That Mr. Wall squandered his political capital and dropped this file illustrate just how difficult it will be to manage Saskatchewan's economy into the future. Make no mistake that forgoing the opportunity to develop nuclear power generation and waste disposal facilities, relying instead on a now-doubtful federal deal to build a research reactor, has seriously compromised Saskatchewan's future prospects.
Worse yet, Saskatchewan's tepid approach also hurts Canada and the world.
In an op-ed piece recently published by the Globe and Mail, Mr. Robertson suggests Canada should lead an international program to enforce a cradle-to-grave market for uranium, overseen by the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency.
(See: NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION - Take care of uranium from ‘cradle to grave’
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/
take-care-of-uranium-from-cradle-to-grave/article1532139/ Added. Ed)
That would mean that Saskatchewan, which is responsible for 25 per cent of the world's uranium production, should be the repository for 25 per cent of the spent fuel. To bury the nuclear waste from whence the uranium came is technically feasible, has been championed by scientists and even Cameco, is morally and ethically responsible, and fits perfectly with President Barack Obama's promotion of nuclear power generation to reduce carbon emissions as well as his desire to reduce nuclear weapons proliferation.
And it's also good business.
MORE:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/
Sask+Must+seize+idea+potential+uranium+provides/2946320/story.html
====================
3. Uranium industry hit by price drop, regulation and attitude
http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/ ... le/1024040
Published Wednesday April 21, 2010 B1 Reid Southwick Telegraph-Journal
The quest for uranium in the province has taken a nose dive as negative public attitudes and some restrictive regulations have sent exploration firms packing, research and company officials say.
Only two companies have done exploration work in the province over the past couple years, a notable drop from the 10 or so firms that were searching for uranium back in 2007, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
"The Liberal government here put into place a few changes to regulations that ended up, I would say, discouraging exploration," said David Lentz, a researcher with the University of New Brunswick.
Five companies have nearly 3,200 exploration claims in New Brunswick, though three of them are not active, the Department of Natural Resources said.
And the activities of the remaining two, Cornerstone Capital Resources Inc. (TSX-V:CGP) and Quest Uranium Corp. (TSX-V:QUC) have been limited, the department said.
MORE: http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/ ... le/1024040
==================
4. OVERCOMING THE NUCLEAR THREAT - BY Jim Harding
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1689#1689
Published in United Newspapers of Saskatchewan – April 23, 2010
Thankfully the banning of nuclear weapons is back in the news. The global threat from accidental or regional nuclear war is usually relegated to our unconscious, similar to threats from climate change, and it is healthy to have it back in the public eye. This is happening mainly due to US President Obama, who, last April in Prague, spoke of “America’s commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.” There’s some progress, for this April 8th the US and Russia announced a reduction of nuclear warheads and delivery systems, with thorough inspections; and a week later Obama hosted 47 nations at a Nuclear Security Summit. This isn’t going away, for in May there will be the Review Conference for the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and negotiating the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty are on the horizon.
Will Obama’s initiative prove effective in finally removing this scourge from the earth? We can’t answer this without seeing how we got into the mess where 9 nuclear powers have 23,000 weapons and, according to the US State Department, another 50 countries are capable of building them. Certainly the US and Russia can’t credibly appeal to other countries to disarm, or to not develop nuclear weapons, while they have 95% (22,000) of the world’s nuclear weapons. And while their recent Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) agrees to reduce each side’s warheads to 1,550 and delivery systems to 800 by 2017, as a BBC report said, they “can still blow themselves up many times over” They clearly have to make further, massive cuts.
OUR NUCLEAR KARMA
After A-bombing Japan in 1945, nuclear weapons became part of a nuclear threat-deterrence strategy. In 1950 the US threatened the Soviet Union with nuclear attack over its involvement in oil-rich Iran. The US then justified its nuclear build-up as a way to deter the superiority of Soviet conventional forces in Europe. Until the 1960s the US entertained the notion of limited nuclear war, and, after a little sanity returned, we still face the possibility of mutual assured destruction, with the fitting acronym MAD. First-strike policies have not yet been laid to rest.
Sanity has been slow to develop. Mothers protested atmospheric tests after discovering their newborns had radioactive isotopes in their bodies. By the late 1960s the “Ban-the-Bomb” movement helped get a Test Ban Treaty, and soon after, in 1970, the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), now endorsed by 184 countries. The first nuclear arms control agreement came in 1972. After a bigger nuclear arms race in the 1980s, which some believe helped implode the Soviet economy, talk of disarmament began. In 1985 President Reagan and Gorbachev agreed “nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought” and a year later, in Iceland, they almost agreed to abolish nuclear weapons.
While these agreements slowed down proliferation, they did not stop it. Some countries with nuclear weapons - Israel, India and Pakistan - still haven’t signed the NPT. Some countries that have signed have helped other countries get the bomb, e.g. in 1974 Canada helped India. Further, the Harper government is now negotiating nuclear and uranium agreements with this renegade nation. Some countries that signed the NPT - North Korea and Iran - seem committed to model the big powers and develop weapons capacity along with nuclear power. And the politics of fear continues to “fuel” this proliferation, for as Jonathon Schell says in The Nation article “Reaching Zero”, “Pakistan fears India, which fears China, which fears Russia, which fears the United States.” Hopefully Obama’s initiatives can help reverse the chain of fear.
OVERCOMING NUCLEAR INCOHERENCE
After the geopolitical revolutions of 1989-91 and the end of the Cold War many hoped for the dismantling of nuclear arsenals, and redirection of the huge military spending towards human development. But it didn’t happen, mostly because we hadn’t yet changed our thinking. But many of the original “nuclear hawks” have now changed theirs. Before his death past US Defense Secretary Robert McNamara called for the elimination of nuclear weapons from NATO’s strategy. Fog of War, the documentary on him which won an Academy Award, is worth viewing. In 2007, writing in the Wall Street Journal, several retired US officials, including former Secretaries of State, Kissinger and Schultz, called for “a world free of nuclear weapons.”
But this will require us being more coherent about the nuclear threat. “Nuclear strategy” is a complete illusion, even an oxymoron. Strategy has to do with clearly linking tactics to achievable objectives. Due to the inherent ecological destructiveness of nuclear warfare it’s impossible to link it to moral or acceptable political ends. Some military heads understand this better than some heads of state. And the NPT was always intended to go hand in hand with nuclear disarmament. But this hasn’t happened. If the US or other nuclear powers can justify keeping their arsenal as a deterrent, then why not all countries! After the invasion of Iraq on trumped-up claims about WMD’s, many smaller countries may think they have to have nuclear weapons to deter big-power aggression. The leaders of North Korea continue to play on national fears of a US invasion stemming from the Korean War. President Bush was already threatening an invasion of Iran, before things bogged-down militarily in Afghanistan and Iraq. Further, Obama making military threats for non-complianmce with the NPT, when the US is itself in non-compliance, doesn't really help. And it’s still a toss-up what kind of administration will replace Obama.
We must avoid a tipping point in nuclear proliferation. Obama’s initiatives are a start, though the recent Nuclear Security Summit has been advanced narrowly as a way to avert “nuclear terrorism”. Yet, to even do this will require continual nuclear weapon reductions going hand in hand with non-proliferation measures. And it will also require the continual shift toward non-nuclear energy. A normative and ethical shift, which sees nuclear weapons for what they are, a crime against humanity and nature, is urgently required. This is a prerequisite for humanity’s transition to sustainability.
- - -
Jim Harding is a retired professor of environmental and justice studies who lives in the Qu’Appelle Valley.
Past columns and other non-nuclear resources available at http://jimharding.brinkster.net
See also: http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=20
====================
5. U.S. resists Euro-nuke removal
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4545&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed
Posted: 25 Apr 2010 06:39 PM PDT
The United States is reportedly resisting the efforts of several European members of NATO to remove U.S. tactical nuclear weapons from Europe. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told NATO foreign ministers meeting in Estonia last week that the Obama administration is not opposed to cuts in the weapons, but that such cuts should be . . .
MORE:
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4545&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed
====================
6. Five nuclear videos (in English) and Article - from Finland, January 12, 2010 – Dr. Gordon Edwards
From: Gordon Edwards
Sent: Saturday, April 24, 2010 11:46 AM
Here are video excerpts from one of my talks in Finland (at Loviisa, on January 12, 2010) edited down to a total of 45 minutes.
The Finnish translations as well as superfluous phrases have been edited out of these videos. Any feedback on these videos will be welcome.
1/5: Nuclear Power Cannot Solve Climate Change:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqheZZ0pRNw
2/5: Radioactivity from Bomb Fallout and Reactors:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epexkJ5VEnQ
3/5: Atomic Radiation and High-Level Nuclear Waste:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjlFOEtsDRQ
4/5 Reactor Accidents - Meltdowns and Power Excursions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SruTxZJyMkA
5/5: Recycling Nuclear Fuel = Plutonium Reprocessing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6RaQFjjkAo
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Gordon Edwards answers Juhani Hyvärinen in Finland
http://www.lovisamovement.eu/
Par Mikael le lundi 15 février 2010, 23:30 - opinion
Commenting upon prof Gordon Edwards' recent visit to Finland, Fennovoima nuclear technology director Juhani Hyvärinen wrote: "In particular, I was amazed when the professor on several occasions openly asked whether Finland at all investigated fuel disposal. A few minutes of googling, not to mention serious information searching, would have given a reply" (See mr Hyvärinen's blog Ydinreaktioita (Nuclear reactions) 10/2/2010) - MB
Gordon Edwards:
In his blog, Juhani Hyvärinen writes that he was interested to know what I had to say about nuclear power and nuclear wastes when I visited Finland – but he never came to any of my talks, nor did he arrange to meet me, nor did he contact me after I returned to Canada. A meeting would have been easy. I had a friendly and fruitful two-hour meeting with officials at the Fortum plant in Loviisa, for example.
Apparently Mr. Hyvärinen has chosen not to follow the procedure he was taught in high school, which is to check the facts from trustworthy sources before making public pronouncements.
Mr. Hyvärinen is clearly misinformed when he says that I asked many times whether Finland has researched the subject of nuclear waste. I never asked this question even once. I know very well what Finland has announced to the world: that it has a geologic repository at Olkiluoto which is ready to receive nuclear waste and to store it permanently and safely there forever.
But surely Mr. Hyvärinen knows there is no scientific methodology available that allows anyone to prove that if radioactive waste is put in one particular place, that it will stay there for the next million years. Scientists who say such things have abandoned science in favor of an almost religious faith that nature – the great recycler – will never succeed in dispersing this waste back into the environment.
The great nobel-prize-winning physicist from Sweden, Hannes Alfvén, wrote about this very problem in 1972. What he said then is still applicable today: “You cannot claim that a problem is solved just by pointing to all the efforts that have been made to solve it.”
Perhaps Mr. Hyvärinen can explain why the United States of America has tried eight times to locate a geologic repository for high level nuclear wastes, and has failed eight times? Perhaps Mr. Hyvärinen can explain to us why Germany has now admitted that it was mistaken when it selected the Aase salt formation as an acceptable repository for high level waste?
MORE: http://www.lovisamovement.eu/
======================
7. Nuclear Waste Across Canada: Yellowcake Trail Pt 4 by Anna Tilman
http://www.watershedsentinel.ca/content/
nuclear-waste-across-canada-yellowcake-trail-pt-4
by Anna Tilman March/April 2010 Issue of Water Sentinel
Nuclear waste is the Achilles’ heel of the nuclear industry. The wastes created along the yellowcake trail, be it from mining, processing, refining, or use, are a legacy for hundreds of thousands of years. Every single nuclear facility in the world is a waste site, whether it is operating or not.
By the mid 1970s, the neglect of radioactive waste was no longer acceptable to the public. Two main issues were front and centre.
• Spent fuel: At the end of its useful life in a fission reactor, the “spent fuel” contains hundreds of different fission products, many of them not found in nature. It is so radioactive as to be lethal in seconds to anyone near to them.
• Port Hope, Ontario: Radioactive contamination dates back to the 1930s, from refining radium and uranium ores and discarding the waste anywhere and everywhere around town.
So governments established task forces and panels to study these issues and find a solution. But after more than thirty years, the solutions offered are no solutions.
Radioactive waste is an inescapable by-product of nuclear fission in the nuclear power industry. To recycle or re-process this waste leads to even more liquid radioactive waste, and gives access to plutonium, that could be used for nuclear weapons.
Radioactive waste has been dumped in sinks or flushed down toilets, left in dirt ditches or landfills, incorporated into construction materials, and trucked through almost every town or hamlet in the nuclearised world. It is deadly in minuscule quantities. There is no way to eliminate it, and no way to keep it completely contained for a million years.
MORE:
http://www.watershedsentinel.ca/content/
nuclear-waste-across-canada-yellowcake-trail-pt-4
=======================
8. Earth Day Greenwashing From the World's Worst Polluter
http://www.truthout.org/
earth-day-greenwashing-from-worlds-worst-polluter58778
Mickey Z, Truthout: "On Earth Day 2010 (April 22), the US Navy is going to stage a demonstration of its F/A-18 Super Hornet (a.k.a. the Green Hornet), powered by a 50/50 biofuel blend (made from the Camelina sativa plant). Before you attempt processing that nugget, I've got something else you may want to factor in: The USS Makin Island, the 'world's first hybrid fuel warship.'"
MORE: http://www.truthout.org/
earth-day-greenwashing-from-worlds-worst-polluter58778
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9. Canada and NATO's New Strategic Concept - Rideau Institute - March 2010
A brief on Canadian security policy and the development of NATO’s new Strategic Concept, by Steven Staples and Bill Robinson (March 24, 2010)
The Rideau Institute is pleased to contribute the following recommendations to the Canadian government and others interested in Canadian security policy and the development of the new NATO Strategic Concept.
Download the report:
http://www.rideauinstitute.ca/filelibrary/
Canada_and_Natos_New_Strategic_Concept_Mar_2010.pdf
=====================
10. 2010 US Spending Priorities: 58% To Military
25 April, 2010 http://www.countercurrents.org/ananda250410.htm
Recently, Live Science published a chart showing that the US spends about one-fifth of its budget on the military. But this aggregate view hides how Congress prioritizes spending, when you consider what is discretionary and voted upon each year. A more salient view of these figures segregates 'discretionary' spending from 'mandatory' spending. During the severe economic downturn of the past two years, how has Congress prioritized spending?
When it comes to discretionary spending, Congress gives 58% to the military. Here are US budget charts for the years 2009 and 2010, according to the National Priorities Project (NPP):
MORE: http://www.countercurrents.org/ananda250410.htm
==================
11. Chernobyl Radiation Killed Nearly One Million People: New Book
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2010 ... 26-01.html
The Chernobyl nuclear reactor was destroyed by an explosion and fire April 26, 1986.
Environmental News Service, April 26, 2010
[To obtain the book from the New York Academy of Sciences, click here.]
NEW YORK, New York, April 26, 2010 (ENS) - Nearly one million people around the world died from exposure to radiation released by the 1986 nuclear disaster at the Chernobyl reactor, finds a new book from the New York Academy of Sciences published today on the 24th anniversary of the meltdown at the Soviet facility.
The book, "Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment," was compiled by authors Alexey Yablokov of the Center for Russian Environmental Policy in Moscow, and Vassily Nesterenko and Alexey Nesterenko of the Institute of Radiation Safety, in Minsk, Belarus.
The authors examined more than 5,000 published articles and studies, most written in Slavic languages and never before available in English.
The authors said, "For the past 23 years, it has been clear that there is a danger greater than nuclear weapons concealed within nuclear power. Emissions from this one reactor exceeded a hundred-fold the radioactive contamination of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki."
"No citizen of any country can be assured that he or she can be protected from radioactive contamination. One nuclear reactor can pollute half the globe," they said. "Chernobyl fallout covers the entire Northern Hemisphere."
About 550 million Europeans, and 150 to 230 million others in the Northern Hemisphere received notable contamination. Fallout reached the United States and Canada nine days after the disaster.
Their findings are in contrast to estimates by the World Health Organization and the International Atomic Energy Agency that initially said only 31 people had died among the "liquidators," those approximately 830,000 people who were in charge of extinguishing the fire at the Chernobyl reactor and deactivation and cleanup of
the site.
The book finds that by 2005, between 112,000 and 125,000 liquidators had died.
"On this 24th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, we now realize that the consequences were far worse than many researchers had believed," says Janette Sherman, MD, the physician and toxicologist who edited the book.
MORE:
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2010 ... 26-01.html
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
24 Years Later: The Consequences of Chernobyl
http://counterpunch.com/grossman04232010.html
By KARL GROSSMAN April 23 - 25, 2010 Weekend Edition
Monday is the 24th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear plant accident. It comes as the nuclear industry and pro-nuclear government officials in the U.S. and other nations try to “revive” nuclear power. It also follows the just-released publication of a book, the most comprehensive study ever made, on the impacts of the Chernobyl disaster.
Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment has just been published by the New York Academy of Sciences. It is authored by three noted scientists: Russian biologist Dr. Alexey Yablokov, former environmental advisor to the Russian president; Dr. Alexey Nesterenko, a biologist and ecologist in Belarus; and Dr.Vassili Nesterenko, a physicist and at the time of the accident director of the Institute of Nuclear Energy of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. Its editor is Dr. Janette Sherman, a physician and toxicologist long-involved in studying the health impacts of radioactivity.
The book is solidly based—on health data, radiological surveys and scientific reports—some 5,000 in all.
It concludes that based on records now available, some 985,000 people died of cancer caused by the Chernobyl accident. That’s between when the accident occurred in 1986 and 2004.
More deaths, it projects, will follow.
MORE:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/
duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8201846
=====================
12. Ontario Solar Power could match US Nuclear Power
http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/
ontario-solar-power-us-nuclear-power/
April 20th, 2010
Queen’s University Applied Sustainability Research Group located in Kingston, Canada comes out with two studies that claim solar power in southeastern Ontario can be created in abundance. The natural question is how much abundance? The answer is mind-boggling. Southeastern Ontario has the potential to produce almost as much power
as all the nuclear reactors in the United States! Queen’s mechanical engineering professor Joshua Pearce is the first person to find out the astounding possibilities of the region’s solar energy potential. He says, “The number is enormous. Solar can no longer be laughed off as something that can only power your cottage.”
Professor Pearce was surprised by how many gigawatts could be produced.
The researchers from the university in Kingston, Ontario is of the view if they can mount solar panels on the rooftops and on those areas that are economically unproductive they can produce enormous amount of solar power. They have already marked 365,000 hectares of land in southeastern Ontario suitable for solar farms. That amounts to about 7.6 per cent of the 48,000-square-kilometre wedge of land between Toronto, Ottawa and the Quebec-Ontario border.
So many gigawatts of solar power can be produced but Prof Pearce still claims, “We came up with enormous numbers and we were being conservative. There are about 95 gigawatts of potential power just in southeastern Ontario — that shows there is massive potential.” It is needless to say that Professor Pearce specializes in solar photovoltaic materials and applied sustainability.
According to one study, if some of the roof tops in southeastern Ontario were covered with solar panels, they could generate five gigawatts, or about five per cent of all of Ontario’s energy. The study paid attention to the shading and orientation of the roofs. This study will be published in the journal Computers, Environment and Urban Systems.
Professor Pearce further pushes his point, “To put this in perspective, all the coal plants in all of Ontario produce just over six gigawatts. The sun doesn’t always shine, so if you couple solar power with other renewable energy sources such as wind, hydro and biomass, southeastern Ontario could easily cover its own energy needs.”
MORE:
http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/
ontario-solar-power-us-nuclear-power/
=====================
13. Letter: Kurtenbach: George W. Bush and Pro-Life!
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1687#1687
April 19, 2010
To the Editor,
In late October 2009, the Northeast Sun and the Saskatchewan [Sask.] Choose Life News both published a photo with an article featuring the presentation of a Pro-Life Award to former President George W. Bush. He had been invited to speak in Calgary on October 22nd 2009.
I wrote a letter of protest to the Northeast Sun, which published my letter, and another to Sask. Choose Life News, which, to date, has chosen not to publish it, even though I specifically wrote a letter to the editor of Sask.Choose Life News. I received no response.
A few days ago I received their quarterly April issue. It did not include my letter in their "Letters to the Editor" page.
The following is a shortened version of that letter:
"This letter is in response to your October 30th article in the Northeast Sun, showing a photo of George W. Bush being presented The Humanity of the Unborn Child Pro-Life. I most vehemently protest that this former US President should receive this award.
How can Pro-Life justify this award to this man?
Millions of people on this planet, including Americans, consider him a warmonger, a criminal, and one who allowed the torture of prisoners of war, and the arrest and confinement of suspects without the right of "habeas corpus"
My spouse and I have been members of Pro-Life for many years. We are not a pro-abortion family. I have passed my 90th birthday. We have 6 children, 10 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren.
Bush's war, [2003] declared illegal by the UN, flew 1000 sorties [1000 planes] aerial bombing the city of Bagdad for 3 days. In the ensuing 6 years of war, over 1 million Iraqi people were killed, obviously including some unborn babies. Another 2 million people were displaced or fled to Syria and Jordan to avoid the invading US military.
The remaining citizens of Iraq, [including American troops] are subjected to the use of depleted uranium, [DU] that is being used by the US military. It is estimated that over 1000 tonnes of DU tipped artillery shells have been used in Iraq. The dust from the shells pollutes the air, and breathing it is harmful. It is known to cause deformities in babies in the womb.
The wars in the Middle East will probably cost over 1 trillion dollars. Just imagine what could have been done with 1 trillion dollars if peaceful means would have been used to inform and educate both women and men about the tragedy of abortion."
Leo Kurtenbach,
Cudworth, Sask., S0K 1B0
NUKE NEWS
NUKE NEWS: April 27, 2010
by Oscar » Tue Apr 27, 2010 9:31 am
Last edited by Oscar on Mon Jul 12, 2010 12:37 pm, edited 2 times in total.
- Oscar
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NUKE NEWS: May 4, 2010
by Oscar » Tue May 04, 2010 7:14 pm
NUKE NEWS: May 4, 2010
Compilation:
1. Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) and Western Mining Action Network (WMAN) Grassroots Communities Mining Mini-Grant Program
2. GROUND ZERO VIEWS - May 2, 2010
3. OVERCOMING OUR DENIAL ABOUT NUCLEAR BOMBS BY Jim Harding
4. Nuclear Weapon-Free Zones Civil Society Forum
5. No Nukes News - April 30, 2010
6. Details Emerge on Study of Cancer Near US Nuclear Plants
7. CHERNOBYL – Recent Articles
8. Iran foreign minister hopeful for nuclear fuel deal amid Tehran's latest diplomatic push
9. NPPD to extend nuclear refueling interval
10. Beyond Nuclear Bulletin - April 30, 2010 - Top Stories
11. Ceasefire.ca - Recent Articles
12. U.S. Prepares Non-Nuclear "Doomsday" Weapon
13. An Open Letter and Appeal to Bill McKibben and 350.org - Lorna Salzman
=======================
1. Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) and Western Mining Action Network (WMAN) Grassroots Communities Mining Mini-Grant Program
NEXT DEADLINE: JUNE 1, 2010
http://freepeltiernow.blogspot.com/2010/05/
indigenous-environmental-network-ien.html
The goal of the Mining Mini-grants Program is to support and enhance the capacity building efforts of mining-impacted communities in the U.S. and Canada to assure that mining projects do not adversely affect human, cultural, and the ecological health of communities.
The applicant must be a grassroots or indigenous community program with limited funds that have demonstrated the capacity to successfully carry out the project. Individual grants will not exceed $3,000 U.S. and cannot be used for general programmatic or operating expenses.
WMAN/IEN Grassroots Communities Mining Mini-grants program criteria:
Grassroots community-based organizations, and Tribes or Tribal programs in the U.S. and Canada with any budget level may apply. However, if there are more applicants than funds available, priority will be given to organizations with an organizational or mining-specific project budget under $75,000 U.S.
Requests must be project-specific for an immediate need such as legal assistance, organizing and outreach, development of campaign materials, media development, reports, travel, mailings, etc. to be fulfilled within the next four to six months on a specific mining campaign. Funds cannot be used for an organization’s general operating funds, staff salaries, rent or telephone bills.
Priority will be given to projects that build bridges and community across socio-economic and cultural lines.
Applicants who have received funds twice during the previous two grant cycles will be given lower priority than new organizations and programs. This will not apply to “emergency” grants.
Each grant issued will not exceed $3,000.
Funding recipients must submit a brief report detailing how funds were spent within 1 month of the project finishing. Recipients will not be eligible for additional funding until the project has been completed and a project report, or an extension request, is received and accepted by WMAN and IEN.
Click here to download the information and application.
Any questions? We are happy to help. Please contact either Sarah Keeney, WMAN Network Coordinator at (503) 327-8625 ~ sarahekeeney@comcast.net or Simone Senogles, Indigenous Environmental Network, (218) 751-4967 ~ simone@ienearth.org
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2. GROUND ZERO VIEWS - May 2, 2010
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1695#1695
Weberville Area Connection and Earth Alternatives
entwork@hotmail.com
Box 153, North Star, Alberta, T0H 2T0
“The nuclear plant will not be built if the community doesn’t want it”. All three levels of government, Bruce Power and the CNSC (nuclear regulator) have said it repeatedly, yet none of them have defined the community that will make that decision.
We asked our MP Chris Warkentin at our February 13 meeting to define the community that will be considered. Mr. Warkentin responded: “When we first met, when the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) first met with me, you know they ran down all the parameters and they talked about the community, the willingness of the community to host this type of ah …. There’s a whole process in terms of that. I’m certain that they do have that. And I’m sorry I don’t have the technical, you know, their technical description of it, but certainly, they have very solid…The Commission. They have very solid marching orders that they are not allowed a plant to be built in a community that’s not willing”. (meeting was recorded)
At our insistence, Mr. Warkentin agreed to ask the CNSC to define the community, on our behalf. CNSC President Michael Binder wrote: “As I have stated publicly on other occasions, a social licence and accepting host community are integral for any successful licence application, but the CNSC does not determine whether a community is a “willing host community”. - that is for licensees, and municipal and provincial governments to determine”.
MORE:
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1695#1695
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3. OVERCOMING OUR DENIAL ABOUT NUCLEAR BOMBS BY Jim Harding
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1693#1693
Published in United Newspapers of Saskatchewan April 30, 2010
Saskatchewan is among a handful of places on the planet that has played a major role in the proliferation of nuclear bombs. But for the most part, we don’t yet know our history.
The Beaverlodge mine which opened near Uranium City in 1953 provided uranium for the US nuclear arsenal until the late 1960s. It’s estimated that Canadian-supplied uranium fuelled one-third of the US arsenal at the time. In the late 1970s, the Cluff Lake mine, a joint venture of the NDP crown, Saskatchewan Mining and Development Corporation (SMDC) and Cogema, began providing uranium to France even though it hadn’t yet signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and was still doing atmospheric testing. (Cogema is part of the French state consortium, now known as Areva, which is involved in everything from nuclear power to nuclear weapons to nuclear waste reprocessing, and recently sat on the Saskatchewan government-appointed Uranium Development Partnership (UDP).) When uranium exported by Cameco is enriched in Kentucky to fuel US light-water nuclear power plants, it leaves massive depleted uranium (DU). This is then pooled and becomes available to the US for making radiological, DU weapons which have been used in recent wars, especially Iraq, and for making H-Bombs. Meanwhile all this uranium mining in Saskatchewan’s North leaves toxic and radioactive wastes which will endanger watersheds, habitats and environmental health for thousands of years.
Other places have also played a role in nuclear weaponry, including around Elliot Lake, Ontario, where uranium mining has impacted the Serpent River First Nations. But we still seem to know more about the nuclear legacy in other countries. The April 2010 The Walrus carried a potent picture essay, entitled “Dark Element”, about uranium mining near the city of Zhovti Vody. It is sub-titled “A Ukrainian prairie city built in the Soviet era to supply ore for nuclear weapons reckons with the industry’s deadly legacy.” I sometimes wonder if the scarcity of investigative journalism into this deadly legacy within Canada is because the uranium mines are far away from large southern cities, and near First Nations and Métis communities.
MORE:
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1693#1693
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4. Nuclear Weapon-Free Zones Civil Society Forum
http://www.gsinstitute.org/pnnd/events/NWFZ_2010.htm
10:00 – 18:00, Thursday 29 April 2010
United Nations, New York
UN Temporary Building 2nd floor, Conference Room 6
Co-hosted by the Permanent Mission of Chile to the United Nations, Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms, and Mayors for Peace
Nuclear Weapon-Free Zones (NWFZs) are a stepping stone to a nuclear-weapons-free world. They create whole regions where the deployment, use and threat of use of nuclear weapons is prohibited. They provide regional security mechanisms. They help build a global norm against nuclear weapons and confidence in the global abolition of nuclear weapons.
113 countries are part of NWFZs comprising Latin America, the Caribbean, the South Pacific, South East Asia, Africa, Central Asia and Mongolia. Antarctica, the Sea Bed and Outer Space are also NWFZs.
This forum will explore the lessons from the existing NWFZs, the possibility of establishing additional NWFZs, and the role that NWFZs can play in achieving a nuclear-weapons-free world. The forum will report to the 2 nd Conference of States Parties to NWFZs on 30 April and to the 2010 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (3-28 May).
MORE: http://www.gsinstitute.org/pnnd/events/NWFZ_2010.htm
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5. No Nukes News - April 30, 2010
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Chernobyl Radiation Killed Nearly One Million People: New Book
Nearly one million people around the world died from exposure to radiation released by the 1986 nuclear disaster at the Chernobyl reactor, finds a new book from the New York Academy of Sciences published today on the 24th anniversary of the meltdown at the Soviet facility.
The authors examined more than 5,000 published articles and studies, most written in Slavic languages and never before available in English.
The authors said, "For the past 23 years, it has been clear that there is a danger greater than nuclear weapons concealed within nuclear power. Emissions from this one reactor exceeded a hundred-fold the radioactive contamination of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki."
"No citizen of any country can be assured that he or she can be protected from radioactive contamination. One nuclear reactor can pollute half the globe," they said. "Chernobyl fallout covers the entire Northern Hemisphere."
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2010 ... 26-01.html
http://www.alternet.org/health/146619
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120,000+ Say NO to Nuclear Energy in Germany – Massive Protest
A major demonstration – a “chain” of people between three nuclear power plants in Northern part of Germany – took place yesterday … BRINGING OUT approx. 120.000 PEOPLE to demonstrate for a phase-out of nuc energy and a change towards renewable energies.
http://news.google.com/news/
story?ncl=http://www.upi.com/Science_News/Resource-Wars/2010/04/26/120000-Germans-protest-against-nuclear/
UPI-92211272310270/&hl=en
http://www.cane.org.za/nuclear-energy-related/
120000-say-no-to-nuclear-energy-in-germany-massive-protest/
http://www.germanenergyblog.de/?p=2505
The size and scope of the event also demonstrates that the nuclear industry's self-proclaimed "nuclear renaissance" is still largely an artefact of its well-funded PR machine to buy column inches and air time, not a firm demonstration of support among large populations of the planet, including the U.S. and France.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/
Nuclear-Renaissance-Collid-by-Dave-Kraft-100425-193.html
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Over 100,000 rally for climate and clean energy action - Washington, DC
Washington Post downplays this amazing show of support
http://climateprogress.org/2010/04/26/
100000-earth-day-rally-immigration/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+climateprogress%2FlCrX+%28Climate+Progress%29
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Nukes jobs in peril, lobby group says
Ontario and the federal government must come up with a joint strategy to build a next-generation nuclear reactor in Ontario, or risk permanently shrinking the sector, says the head a nuclear industry suppliers’ group.
Jack Gibbons, who heads the Ontario Clean Air Alliance, says that track record should discourage the province from the nuclear option. “Every nuclear project in Ontario’s history has gone over budget,” he said in an interview. “We need to pursue the lower cost options,” he said. Those include increasing energy efficiency; building combined heat and power plants – which take heat vented by natural gas-burning power plants, say, and use it to heat nearby buildings; and water power imports from Quebec.
http://www.thestar.com/business/
article/801187--ontario-nuclear-decision-needed-says-industry-group
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MPP Tabuns Speaks to Negligible Health Impacts of Wind
This past week the Ontario legislature debated a Conservative resolution to put a moratorium on all new wind turbine installations.
The motion was defeated after a very stormy debate. Read this fantastic speech given by NDP MPP Peter Tabuns in response to the resolution. He sites study after study which show no scientific evidence linking turbines with adverse health impacts. He compares the health impacts of coal, oil, gas and renewables, claiming that health impacts of wind are negligible, especially in comparison to the massive health impacts of other forms of electricity generation. And he outlines the benefits of wind technology for the local economy and ecology.
Scroll down to nearly the bottom of the page:
http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/house-proceedings/
house_detail.do?Date=2010-04-28&Parl=39&Sess=2&locale=en#P279_84179.
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Enriched Hypocrisy
Before criticizing Iran's nuke program, Canada should look within
Eight of the world’s most powerful leaders meeting in Huntsville, Ontario, this June will discuss Iran’s nuclear power industry. Concerned over Tehran’s enrichment of uranium, Prime Minister Stephen Harper intends to use Canada’s leadership of the Group of Eight (G8) to push sanctions against the Middle Eastern country. Anti-nuclear activists, citing the prominence and recent growth of Canada's own nuclear industry, are pointing out contradictions in Harper's intentions at the G8.
http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/3313
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Ottawa tells energy firms to start powering down coal-fired plants
Environment Minister Jim Prentice has told Canada’s major electricity producers that they’ll have to gradually retire their coal-fired plants and replace them with cleaner sources of power – a plan that would be a boon to natural gas producers. Under Ottawa’s proposal, power companies would have to close their coal-fired facilities as they reach the end of their commercial life, largely over the next 10 to 15 years.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/
ottawa-wants-coal-fired-power-plants-to-close/article1546314/
Here’s to a coal-free Canada!
Order free Coal or Nuke-Free Ontario leaflets/postcards here: http://cleanairalliance.org/get_involve ... _pamphlets
Sign the Petition to shut down ON’s coal plants today: http://www.cleanairalliance.org/petition
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Three Days That Could Change the World – This Weekend in New York City!
The Dr. Strangeloves in the nuclear weapons establishment certainly have the president's ear. Their influence needs to be countered by an engaged public in the U.S. and around the world.
We have the opportunity to do just that at the upcoming Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference (NPT RevCon), held every five years at the United Nations in New York.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/04/29-1
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Infant Cancer Rates near Nuclear Power Plants
In 2008, a German study reported a 60% increase in solid cancers and a 120% increase in leukemias among children living within 5 kilometers of all German nuclear power stations. After reading the study, the German government stated as,
"The present study confirms that in Germany there is a correlation between the distance of the home from the nearest NPP [nuclear power plant) at the time of diagnosis and the risk of developing cancer (particularly leukemia) before the 5th birthday."
After reviewing more studies with the original German study, the author reasons that radionuclides seem to be causing malformations in fetuses in mothers living near nuclear reactors and that might be the cause of the observed high rates of infant leukemias. He argues that embryos and fetuses are more vulnerable to doses and risks from environmental emissions than formerly thought.
Most propaganda from pro-nuclear people say the average radiation near nuclear power plants are as low as or lower than that of other regions. However, this article argues that even ephemeral spikes of nuclide emissions from nuclear power stations would be very dangerous.
http://energy-ecology.blogspot.com/2010/04/
infant-cancer-rates-near-nuclear-power.html
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Working Together for a World Without Nuclear Weapons – May 5 - Toronto - a dynamic evening of dialogue featuring 50 A-Bombing Survivors & Peace Activists from the Japan Council Against Atomic & Hydrogen Bombs
Wed. May 5
- 5:00 pm Silent Vigil, Toronto Peace Garden
- 5:30 pm Public Meeting, Toronto City Hall Council Chamber
Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen Street West (Queen & Bay)
Welcome Address by Mayor David Miller. With MCs, Setsuko Thurlow, a-bombing survivor, and Phyllis Creighton, Science for Peace. Plus, Anton Wagner (Hiroshima Day Coalition), Bruce Mutch (Veterans Against Nuclear Arms), Dr. Barbara Birkett (Physicians for Global Survival), Shirley Farlinger (Canadian Voice of Women for Peace), Rob Acheson, (Canadian Department of Peace Initiative), Metta Spencer (Peace Magazine). Hear about the tens of thousands of people from around the world who, on the eve of the “Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference” at the United Nations Headquarters, gathered to tell our world leaders, “Never Again”.
Sponsored by www.hiroshimadaycoalition.ca
Details, please contact Helen Chilas, 416-473-8238, h-chilas@rogers.com
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Toronto Bolivia Solidarity would like to invite all friends of Bolivia and of Mother Earth to:
Report Back from the People’s Summit in Cochabamba, Bolivia
World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth
Fri. May 7, at 7 p.m., at the Steelworkers Hall, 25 Cecil St., Toronto
Thousands of Indigenous organizations, scientists, and environmental and political activists from all over the world gathered in Cochabamba Apr. 19-22 to devise strategies against climate change and in defence of the Rights of Mother Earth. The goal was to create a people's global movement to confront the challenges facing Mother Earth and Humanity. The peoples of the world must make a promise to humanity to amend for the failure of the December 2009 Copenhagen climate summit.
Ideas to be discussed will be sustainability, living well instead of living better, and a communitarian way of life in harmony with nature, in opposition to the disrespectful and destructive model of capitalism. As Pablo Solon, ambassador to the UN of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, has said, "We need to change the system not the climate."
For more info: Toronto Bolivia Solidarity, 416 465-5976 torontoboliviasolidarity@gmail.com
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Celebrate MOTHER’S DAY FOR PEACE with Ontario Voice of Women
Saturday May 8th , 9:30 – 3 pm
Friends House, 60 Lowther Ave. (St. George subway), Toronto
Lunch included.
Did you know the first Mother’s Day was declared as a day for peace? Julia Ward-Howe, in 1870, declared….
“Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."
Presenters include: Mitra Saffari on The Democracy Movement in Iran, and Maxine Kaufman Lacusta on her new book “Refusing to be Enemies”
Info/registration www.vowpeace.org
New members welcome.
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Mining (in)justice: at home and abroad - May 7 – 9, University of Toronto
Mining (in)justice: at home and abroad is a conference on the Canadian mining industry (including Tar Sands) set to take place in Toronto on the weekend of May 7-9, 2010. It will feature leaders in movements against Canadian mining companies both within and outside of Canada and provide space for growing our own movements in alliance with communities impacted by this industry.
http://www.solidarityresponse.net/minin ... onference/
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Hot Docs is Here - Toronto
http://www.hotdocs.ca/film/title/
170 documentary films!
April 29 – May 9
Check out the energy/nuke films:
Dreamland With its hydroelectric and geothermal power surplus, Iceland’s clean energy initiatives have ironically attracted heavy industries whose pollution decimates the natural vegetation. A troubling tale of sabotage from the front lines of the green revolution.
Gasland Flammable tap water, mysterious ailments, poisoned land and livestock: Sundance prize-winner Gasland exposes the shocking environmental calamities and cover-ups caused by natural gas drilling, shedding an absurd light on America’s new energy race.
Into Eternity The fascinating scientific minds behind Finland’s massive underground nuclear waste storage facility, where radioactive waste must sit untouched for at least 100,000 years to neutralize its potential danger, are probed in this unique and stylish film.
Tankograd What could possibly thrive in Chelyabinsk, Russia - the world’s most radioactive city? Dance, of course. A world-renowned modern dance company soars above the city’s toxic soil to create an inspiring future in this unique environmental essay.
For the full list of all the docs, go here: http://www.hotdocs.ca/
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Angela Bischoff, Outreach Director
Ontario Clean Air Alliance
Tel: 416 926 1907 x 246
625 Church Street, #402, Toronto, ON M4Y 2G1
angela@cleanairalliance.org
www.ontariosgreenfuture.ca
www.cleanairalliance.org
Our Facebook Group
Sign Our Petition
No Nukes News
Health Power
====================
6. Details Emerge on Study of Cancer Near US Nuclear Plants
http://www.truthout.org/
details-emerge-study-cancer-near-us-nuclear-plants58964
Tuesday 27 April 2010 by: Sue Sturgis | Facing South
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently asked the National Academy of Sciences to study cancer risk for people living near nuclear power plants and other nuclear facilities, and details of that research were discussed at yesterday's meeting of the Academy's Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board.
The research request came in response to "recurrent stakeholder concerns," said Brian Sheron, director of NRC's Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
The study will look at nuclear power plants as well as nuclear fuel facilities. It comes as the Obama administration is encouraging the expansion of commercial nuclear power.
The NRC currently relies on a 1991 study by the National Cancer Institute that found no link between nuclear plants and cancer. However, that study has been criticized for focusing on cancer deaths rather than cancer incidence. At the time the research was conducted, few states collected data on cancer incidence, which is why the NCI focused on mortality.
In addition, the earlier study looked at data on the county level -- an approach that could obscure health problems occurring closer to nuclear facilities. Sheron noted that advances in geographic information systems will allow researchers to pinpoint more relevant populations for study.
Sheron said the research would occur in two phases. The first, set to be completed next summer, would review off-site radiation doses, evaluate cancer mortality and incidence data, pinpoint areas of study and determine how best to conduct the epidemiological research.
MORE: http://www.truthout.org/
details-emerge-study-cancer-near-us-nuclear-plants58964
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7. CHERNOBYL – Recent Articles
WATCH: Study Claims Chernobyl Disaster Killed Nearly 1 Million
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/27/headlines/
study_claims_chernobyl_disaster_killed_nearly_1_million
A new study released on the twenty-fourth anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster says the death toll is far higher than previously thought. In a book published by the New York Academy of Sciences, a Russian author and a Belarusian author say nearly one million people have died from exposure to radiation released by the Chernobyl reactor. According to the book, the disaster’s radioactive emissions may have been 200 times greater than the initial estimate of 50 million curies, and hundreds of times larger than the radioactivity from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The authors based their findings in part on Slavic sources they say have never been available in English.
= = = = = =
Ukraine leader says Chernobyl reactor a threat
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100426/ap_on_re_eu/
eu_chernobyl_anniversary
By ANNA MELNICHUK, Associated Press Writer Anna Melnichuk, Associated Press Writer – Mon Apr 26, 1:41 pm ET
KIEV, Ukraine – Ukraine's president warned Monday on the 24th anniversary of the world's worst atomic accident that the Chernobyl nuclear reactor remains a serious threat to Europe.
The 1986 reactor explosion sent a cloud of radiation over much of Europe and severe health problems persist. President Viktor Yanukovych says around 2 million people have illnesses caused by the radiation, and non-governmental organizations estimate the disaster has caused more than 700,000 early deaths.
The exploded reactor is encased in a deteriorating shell and internationally funded work to replace it is far behind schedule.
Yanukovych said during commemoration ceremonies Monday that the reactor is a threat "not only for Ukraine, but for Europe, Russia and Belarus."
The radiation left swaths of Ukraine and Belarus uninhabitable.
MORE: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100426/ap_on_re_eu/
eu_chernobyl_anniversary
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8. Iran foreign minister hopeful for nuclear fuel deal amid Tehran's latest diplomatic push
http://www.metronews.ca/toronto/world/article/
512834--iran-foreign-minister-hopeful-for-nuclear-fuel-deal-amid-tehran-s-latest-diplomatic-push
NASSER KARIMI, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS April 27, 2010 2:45 p.m.
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's foreign minister on Tuesday expressed optimism Tehran would soon strike a deal with the international community to provide his country with nuclear fuel - the latest in a new Iranian diplomatic push to stave off fresh U.N. sanctions over its controversial nuclear program.
As part of the push, top Iranian officials have been courting some non-permanent Security Council members to pre-empt possible sanctions.
Only permanent Council members could veto proposed sanctions, but strong opposition by non-permanent members could strengthen Iran's case.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki held talks with Bosnian leaders Monday after making little progress in Austria over the weekend. And last week, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Uganda, another non-permanent member of the 15-nation Council.
On Tuesday, Mottaki held talks with visiting Brazilian counterpart Celso Amorim.
"We are hopeful to see a fuel exchange go into operation in the near future," Mottaki said, adding that Brazil, also a non-permanent member, could play a more effective decision-making role in the Council.
The U.S. and its allies fear Iran's nuclear program aims to produce nuclear weapons, and are pushing for tougher sanctions in the Security Council over Tehran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment - a process that can lead to nuclear weapon making.
MORE:
http://www.metronews.ca/toronto/world/article/
512834--iran-foreign-minister-hopeful-for-nuclear-fuel-deal-amid-tehran-s-latest-diplomatic-push
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9. NPPD to extend nuclear refueling interval
http://www.ktiv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12328546
Associated Press - April 17, 2010 11:05 AM ET
COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) - The Nebraska Public Power District believes it can save millions of dollars by extending the refueling schedule at its Cooper Nuclear Station from 18 to 24 months.
NPPD says changing the refueling schedule will help it get more out of Cooper, which already produces about 21 percent of the electricity the utility sells.
MORE: http://www.ktiv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12328546
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10. Beyond Nuclear Bulletin - April 30, 2010 - Top Stories
http://www.beyondnuclear.org/storage/do ... 302010.pdf
Ex-NRC chair should be removed from reactor cancer study board
Background: The National Academy of Sciences held a meeting on April 26 (twenty –four years to the day of the Chernobyl reactor explosion) to decide whether to accept a study charge from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to investigate cancer risks around nuclear facilities. Beyond Nuclear and other groups have identified and communicated significant potential for conflicts of interest.
Our View: The time is long overdue for bona fide and impartial studies investigating health impacts of constant radioactive releases (planned and accidental) from nuclear facilities. Radiation exposure is known to cause not only cancer, but also pose other health risks such as heart disease, and genetic damage. Therefore, in order to form a complete health impact assessment, these other disease risks will need to be investigated. Such health studies will need to be based on solid scientific methodology in order to be accepted by both the public and scientific community. The public must remain vigilant to ensure reliable health studies rather than studies that are de facto designed to protect corporate financial interests.
Toward that goal, Beyond Nuclear has requested that the National Academies of Science (NAS) conduct a review for conflict of interest on Dr. Richard Meserve who currently chairs the NAS Nuclear and Radiation Study Board. This is the board tasked to shape and supervise the new cancer study around US nuclear power facilities. Beyond Nuclear notes that Dr. Meserve also currently serves as Senior to Counsel of DC law firm catering to nuclear industry interests, on the Boards of Directors for two nuclear power companies headquartered in Texas and California, as a member of the Board of Advisors to the French-US nuclear conglomerate looking to construct new reactors in the United States and also recently contributed to a Congressional lobbying effort by the nuclear industry which used a special advertising supplement in the Washington Post asking for increased federal loans for new reactor construction.
Chernobyl reactor explosion impacts greater than claimed
Background: The Chernobyl reactor exploded on April 26, 1986, spewing radiation across the earth. Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment, a newly translated report originally in Russian and published by the New York Academy of sciences, aims that by 2004, 985,000 additional deaths worldwide were caused by this disaster, 212,000 of them within European Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. These numbers contrast greatly with the United Nations’ Chernobyl Forum 2006 estimate of 9000 cancer deaths in the same areas for the period of 90 years after the meltdown. Children have been and continue to be particularly affected with multiple adverse health outcomes. Before Chernobyl exploded, eighty percent of children were considered healthy. After the explosion only twenty percent of children are healthy in some areas.
This report summarizes published data from the many regions contaminated by radioactive fallout, and is based on over 5000 studies, most of which were not available in English or outside of the former Soviet Union. Contact the New York Academy of Sciences to purchase a copy www.nyas.org.
Our view: See Beyond Nuclear’s press release for more detail.
National Grassroots Summit and Forum on Radioactive Waste Policy, Chicago, June 4-6
In January, the Obama Administration's Dept. of Energy announced the creation of its "Blue Ribbon Commission (BRC) on the Future of Nuclear Power in America", ostensibly to "study and recommend" what the U.S. should do about its radioactive waste problems, especially in light of the wise cancellation of the dangerous Yucca Mountain, Nevada dumpsite proposal. Many of us watched or attended the first meeting of the Commission in April -- and are deeply disturbed by what we saw and heard. The panel seems much more devoted to expanding atomic energy than it is to addressing our nation’s unsolved radioactive waste crisis. Risky “illusions of solutions” for radioactive waste, such as reprocessing, also seem high on the Commission’s agenda.
As a response a number of organizations have come together to create a National Grassroots Summit and Forum on Radioactive Waste Policy -- to articulate a national radioactive waste policy for the other 300 million Americans the DOE panel seems intent on ignoring. This event will be held in Chicago from Friday, June 4th to Sunday, June 6th.
We invite you and your organizations to become a part of this creative process. If you cannot personally attend, consider sending another representative from your organization.
Having both an educational and strategic planning component, this Summit and Forum in June will create an activist tool to tell the DOE and Obama Administration what the REAL public wants in terms of radioactive waste disposal; educate ourselves and interested members of the public on radioactive waste options and techniques; and establish a "Peoples Green Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Waste Future" on radioactive waste policy that will monitor and critique the work of the BRC, and develop its own list of recommendations and body of public testimony to be offered to the DOE as guidance in developing national radioactive waste policy.
Beyond Nuclear is a co-sponsor of this event, along with Nuclear Information and Resource Service, Nuclear Energy Information Service of Illinois, and Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force. For more information, contact Beyond Nuclear’s Radioactive Waste Watchdog, Kevin Kamps, at (301) 270-2209 ext. 1, or kevin@beyondnuclear.org.
Beyond Nuclear in the News
Cindy Folkers is quoted in the San Antonio Current pointing out the conflict of interest between the mandates of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the World Health Organization and how it biases any Chernobyl health studies.
Kevin Kamps was interviewed by Beyond Nuclear board of directors member Karl Grossman on Enviro Close-Up about “The Nuclear Relapse.”
Beyond Nuclear’s press release was quoted in the Morris Daily Herald on the NRC/NAS cancer study.
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11. Ceasefire.ca - Recent Articles
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
Byers: Time to resolve Arctic disputes
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4555&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_
campaign=Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 30 Apr 2010 02:01 PM PDT
Earlier this week, Russia and Norway resolved a 40-year dispute over their boundary in the Barents Sea. Canada should follow this positive Russian-Norwegian precedent, says UBC professor Michael Byers, stop its military posturing, and work to resolve the remaining disputes over Canada’s Arctic boundaries (Michael Byers, “It’s time to resolve our Arctic differences,” Globe and [...]
Staples on Canada and NATO
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4561&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_
campaign=Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 01 May 2010 10:38 AM PDT
Rideau Institute president Steven Staples discusses the future of NATO, interview published in the Globe and Mail, Monday, March 22, 2010, p. A4 (no online version): Leaving Afghanistan is the right move for Canada, says the president of the Rideau Institute, as he envisions what NATO’s future should be On Thursday in Ottawa, two of Canada’s leading [...]
Blackwater trained Canadian troops
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4577&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_
campaign=Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 02 May 2010 08:32 PM PDT
The National Post reported last week that the Department of National Defence has paid the notorious Blackwater security company, now called Xe Services, more than $6 million to train Canadian troops (Tom Blackwell, “Blackwater trained our troops,” National Post, 27 April 2010): The department sent a succession of personnel to Blackwater’s Moyock, N.C., training compound [...]
Five thousand one hundred and thirteen
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4590&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_
campaign=Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 03 May 2010 09:37 PM PDT
For the first time, the United States has formally disclosed the current size of its nuclear stockpile–5113 weapons as of 30 September 2009 (Anne Gearan, “U.S. comes clean on size of nuclear stockpile: 5,113,” Associated Press, 3 May 2010). U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton revealed the number, and provided figures for previous years, on the [...]
Cons, Libs talking about new Afghanistan role?
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4585&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_
campaign=Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 03 May 2010 01:29 PM PDT
The federal Liberals and Conservatives are informally discussing Canada’s role in Afghanistan following the scheduled end of the combat mission in Kandahar, the Canadian Press reports (Steev Rennie, “Tories, Grits talking post-2011 role in Afghanistan; combat off the table,” Canadian Press, 2 May 2010): The overtures aren’t formal. People interviewed for this story stressed the [...]
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12. U.S. Prepares Non-Nuclear "Doomsday" Weapon
http://english.pravda.ru/world/americas/
113190-doomsday_weapon-0
Source: Pravda.Ru 27.04.2010
In a recent interview with the newspaper The New York Times, the U.S. president, Barack Obama revealed that his administration gave the green light for the study and development of a new kind of concept of a military attack without the use of nuclear weapons, but with the same destructive power. This concept is called Prompt Global Strike, a system of attack with missiles and "conventional" weapons that can reach any point on earth within an hour.
Political and financial support to the project is not lacking. Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense, told the U.S. broadcaster ABC that the administration has embraced the Prompt Global Strike. This includes the $250 million that Obama has asked from Congress in order to explore this alternative, which combines a military and aerospace technology edge. John McCain, Republican presidential candidate in 2008, has also expressed his support for a program that is both "expensive as essential."
Reservations for the new generation of Trident missiles, originally designed to incorporate the "Prompt Global Strike," meant that many in the Defense Department turned to alternatives. The answer should be a missile project that is called X-51: a weapon that the radars of Beijing and Moscow will not in theory confuse with a nuclear missile.
Using NASA space technology, this is the only non-nuclear weapon capable of reaching speeds of Mach-5 (5793 kilometers per hour) using the brutal effects of hypersonic speed to destroy targets with kinetic force coupled with a "conventional" warhead.
According to the Pentagon, this system will not be operational before 2015 and most likely its development will continue until 2020. According to American military science fiction, this weapon can be launched from a B-52 bomber and is capable of shattering a nuclear Iran or North Korea or to destroy a ship loaded with weapons in the Middle East or even explode the hideout of Bin Laden - who the U.S. gave up on finding long ago.
MORE: http://english.pravda.ru/world/americas/
113190-doomsday_weapon-0
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13. An Open Letter and Appeal to Bill McKibben and 350.org - Lorna Salzman
http://canadianclimateaction.wordpress.com/2010/04/25/
an-open-letter-to-bill-mckibben-in-the-nation-may-3rd/
Dear Bill:
Many environmental activists, including myself, have applauded your work and your writings for years and we know they have had a positive impact on many members of the general public. Most recently, your 350.org organization has helped publicize the climate change issue and thus has led the mass media to an acknowledgement of the impeccable scientific argument justifying this 350 figure: a rapid reduction in atmospheric CO2 from the present 389 parts per million (ppm) back down to 350, the single most effective way available at present to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
But I am troubled by the inexplicable fact that neither you nor 350.org has proposed specific actions, policies or legislation to actually reach that goal. The need for articulating these details is especially urgent, as the U. S. congress continues to not only debate over the goal itself but has, at the urging of special interests such as the coal, nuclear and oil industries and major corporations involved in biofuels and agribusiness, de-fanged the Waxman/Markey energy bill in congress so as to minimize their own responsibilities and maximize their profits. This bill comes uncomfortably close to being a denial of the facts about global warming.
Even some of the major national environmental groups like Natural Resources Defense Council and Environmental Defense Fund have aligned themselves not with the best science or the public interest but with corporations in the coalition called US Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), seeking modern "indulgences", namely carbon permit trading, called cap-and-trade, which will allow the indefinite operation of coal-fueled power plants, the major source of CO2, whose rapid shut-down should be the centerpiece of any sane energy policy. Despite such a carbon market in Europe, energy consumption there continues to rise each year.
MORE:
http://canadianclimateaction.wordpress.com/2010/04/25/
an-open-letter-to-bill-mckibben-in-the-nation-may-3rd/
Lorna Salzman
- - - -
(Salzman is an environmental writer, lecturer and activist who, starting in the early 1970s worked for major national environmental organizations as well as the NYC Dept. of Environmental Protection. She was the Suffolk County Green Party candidate for congress in 2002, and in 2004 she sought the presidential nomination of the U.S. Green Party. Contributions to defray the cost of this ad are welcome; please contact the author at: lsalzman1@verizon.net. Her web site is: www.lornasalzman.com)
Compilation:
1. Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) and Western Mining Action Network (WMAN) Grassroots Communities Mining Mini-Grant Program
2. GROUND ZERO VIEWS - May 2, 2010
3. OVERCOMING OUR DENIAL ABOUT NUCLEAR BOMBS BY Jim Harding
4. Nuclear Weapon-Free Zones Civil Society Forum
5. No Nukes News - April 30, 2010
6. Details Emerge on Study of Cancer Near US Nuclear Plants
7. CHERNOBYL – Recent Articles
8. Iran foreign minister hopeful for nuclear fuel deal amid Tehran's latest diplomatic push
9. NPPD to extend nuclear refueling interval
10. Beyond Nuclear Bulletin - April 30, 2010 - Top Stories
11. Ceasefire.ca - Recent Articles
12. U.S. Prepares Non-Nuclear "Doomsday" Weapon
13. An Open Letter and Appeal to Bill McKibben and 350.org - Lorna Salzman
=======================
1. Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) and Western Mining Action Network (WMAN) Grassroots Communities Mining Mini-Grant Program
NEXT DEADLINE: JUNE 1, 2010
http://freepeltiernow.blogspot.com/2010/05/
indigenous-environmental-network-ien.html
The goal of the Mining Mini-grants Program is to support and enhance the capacity building efforts of mining-impacted communities in the U.S. and Canada to assure that mining projects do not adversely affect human, cultural, and the ecological health of communities.
The applicant must be a grassroots or indigenous community program with limited funds that have demonstrated the capacity to successfully carry out the project. Individual grants will not exceed $3,000 U.S. and cannot be used for general programmatic or operating expenses.
WMAN/IEN Grassroots Communities Mining Mini-grants program criteria:
Grassroots community-based organizations, and Tribes or Tribal programs in the U.S. and Canada with any budget level may apply. However, if there are more applicants than funds available, priority will be given to organizations with an organizational or mining-specific project budget under $75,000 U.S.
Requests must be project-specific for an immediate need such as legal assistance, organizing and outreach, development of campaign materials, media development, reports, travel, mailings, etc. to be fulfilled within the next four to six months on a specific mining campaign. Funds cannot be used for an organization’s general operating funds, staff salaries, rent or telephone bills.
Priority will be given to projects that build bridges and community across socio-economic and cultural lines.
Applicants who have received funds twice during the previous two grant cycles will be given lower priority than new organizations and programs. This will not apply to “emergency” grants.
Each grant issued will not exceed $3,000.
Funding recipients must submit a brief report detailing how funds were spent within 1 month of the project finishing. Recipients will not be eligible for additional funding until the project has been completed and a project report, or an extension request, is received and accepted by WMAN and IEN.
Click here to download the information and application.
Any questions? We are happy to help. Please contact either Sarah Keeney, WMAN Network Coordinator at (503) 327-8625 ~ sarahekeeney@comcast.net or Simone Senogles, Indigenous Environmental Network, (218) 751-4967 ~ simone@ienearth.org
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2. GROUND ZERO VIEWS - May 2, 2010
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1695#1695
Weberville Area Connection and Earth Alternatives
entwork@hotmail.com
Box 153, North Star, Alberta, T0H 2T0
“The nuclear plant will not be built if the community doesn’t want it”. All three levels of government, Bruce Power and the CNSC (nuclear regulator) have said it repeatedly, yet none of them have defined the community that will make that decision.
We asked our MP Chris Warkentin at our February 13 meeting to define the community that will be considered. Mr. Warkentin responded: “When we first met, when the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) first met with me, you know they ran down all the parameters and they talked about the community, the willingness of the community to host this type of ah …. There’s a whole process in terms of that. I’m certain that they do have that. And I’m sorry I don’t have the technical, you know, their technical description of it, but certainly, they have very solid…The Commission. They have very solid marching orders that they are not allowed a plant to be built in a community that’s not willing”. (meeting was recorded)
At our insistence, Mr. Warkentin agreed to ask the CNSC to define the community, on our behalf. CNSC President Michael Binder wrote: “As I have stated publicly on other occasions, a social licence and accepting host community are integral for any successful licence application, but the CNSC does not determine whether a community is a “willing host community”. - that is for licensees, and municipal and provincial governments to determine”.
MORE:
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1695#1695
======================
3. OVERCOMING OUR DENIAL ABOUT NUCLEAR BOMBS BY Jim Harding
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1693#1693
Published in United Newspapers of Saskatchewan April 30, 2010
Saskatchewan is among a handful of places on the planet that has played a major role in the proliferation of nuclear bombs. But for the most part, we don’t yet know our history.
The Beaverlodge mine which opened near Uranium City in 1953 provided uranium for the US nuclear arsenal until the late 1960s. It’s estimated that Canadian-supplied uranium fuelled one-third of the US arsenal at the time. In the late 1970s, the Cluff Lake mine, a joint venture of the NDP crown, Saskatchewan Mining and Development Corporation (SMDC) and Cogema, began providing uranium to France even though it hadn’t yet signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and was still doing atmospheric testing. (Cogema is part of the French state consortium, now known as Areva, which is involved in everything from nuclear power to nuclear weapons to nuclear waste reprocessing, and recently sat on the Saskatchewan government-appointed Uranium Development Partnership (UDP).) When uranium exported by Cameco is enriched in Kentucky to fuel US light-water nuclear power plants, it leaves massive depleted uranium (DU). This is then pooled and becomes available to the US for making radiological, DU weapons which have been used in recent wars, especially Iraq, and for making H-Bombs. Meanwhile all this uranium mining in Saskatchewan’s North leaves toxic and radioactive wastes which will endanger watersheds, habitats and environmental health for thousands of years.
Other places have also played a role in nuclear weaponry, including around Elliot Lake, Ontario, where uranium mining has impacted the Serpent River First Nations. But we still seem to know more about the nuclear legacy in other countries. The April 2010 The Walrus carried a potent picture essay, entitled “Dark Element”, about uranium mining near the city of Zhovti Vody. It is sub-titled “A Ukrainian prairie city built in the Soviet era to supply ore for nuclear weapons reckons with the industry’s deadly legacy.” I sometimes wonder if the scarcity of investigative journalism into this deadly legacy within Canada is because the uranium mines are far away from large southern cities, and near First Nations and Métis communities.
MORE:
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1693#1693
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4. Nuclear Weapon-Free Zones Civil Society Forum
http://www.gsinstitute.org/pnnd/events/NWFZ_2010.htm
10:00 – 18:00, Thursday 29 April 2010
United Nations, New York
UN Temporary Building 2nd floor, Conference Room 6
Co-hosted by the Permanent Mission of Chile to the United Nations, Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms, and Mayors for Peace
Nuclear Weapon-Free Zones (NWFZs) are a stepping stone to a nuclear-weapons-free world. They create whole regions where the deployment, use and threat of use of nuclear weapons is prohibited. They provide regional security mechanisms. They help build a global norm against nuclear weapons and confidence in the global abolition of nuclear weapons.
113 countries are part of NWFZs comprising Latin America, the Caribbean, the South Pacific, South East Asia, Africa, Central Asia and Mongolia. Antarctica, the Sea Bed and Outer Space are also NWFZs.
This forum will explore the lessons from the existing NWFZs, the possibility of establishing additional NWFZs, and the role that NWFZs can play in achieving a nuclear-weapons-free world. The forum will report to the 2 nd Conference of States Parties to NWFZs on 30 April and to the 2010 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (3-28 May).
MORE: http://www.gsinstitute.org/pnnd/events/NWFZ_2010.htm
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5. No Nukes News - April 30, 2010
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Chernobyl Radiation Killed Nearly One Million People: New Book
Nearly one million people around the world died from exposure to radiation released by the 1986 nuclear disaster at the Chernobyl reactor, finds a new book from the New York Academy of Sciences published today on the 24th anniversary of the meltdown at the Soviet facility.
The authors examined more than 5,000 published articles and studies, most written in Slavic languages and never before available in English.
The authors said, "For the past 23 years, it has been clear that there is a danger greater than nuclear weapons concealed within nuclear power. Emissions from this one reactor exceeded a hundred-fold the radioactive contamination of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki."
"No citizen of any country can be assured that he or she can be protected from radioactive contamination. One nuclear reactor can pollute half the globe," they said. "Chernobyl fallout covers the entire Northern Hemisphere."
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2010 ... 26-01.html
http://www.alternet.org/health/146619
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120,000+ Say NO to Nuclear Energy in Germany – Massive Protest
A major demonstration – a “chain” of people between three nuclear power plants in Northern part of Germany – took place yesterday … BRINGING OUT approx. 120.000 PEOPLE to demonstrate for a phase-out of nuc energy and a change towards renewable energies.
http://news.google.com/news/
story?ncl=http://www.upi.com/Science_News/Resource-Wars/2010/04/26/120000-Germans-protest-against-nuclear/
UPI-92211272310270/&hl=en
http://www.cane.org.za/nuclear-energy-related/
120000-say-no-to-nuclear-energy-in-germany-massive-protest/
http://www.germanenergyblog.de/?p=2505
The size and scope of the event also demonstrates that the nuclear industry's self-proclaimed "nuclear renaissance" is still largely an artefact of its well-funded PR machine to buy column inches and air time, not a firm demonstration of support among large populations of the planet, including the U.S. and France.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/
Nuclear-Renaissance-Collid-by-Dave-Kraft-100425-193.html
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Over 100,000 rally for climate and clean energy action - Washington, DC
Washington Post downplays this amazing show of support
http://climateprogress.org/2010/04/26/
100000-earth-day-rally-immigration/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+climateprogress%2FlCrX+%28Climate+Progress%29
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Nukes jobs in peril, lobby group says
Ontario and the federal government must come up with a joint strategy to build a next-generation nuclear reactor in Ontario, or risk permanently shrinking the sector, says the head a nuclear industry suppliers’ group.
Jack Gibbons, who heads the Ontario Clean Air Alliance, says that track record should discourage the province from the nuclear option. “Every nuclear project in Ontario’s history has gone over budget,” he said in an interview. “We need to pursue the lower cost options,” he said. Those include increasing energy efficiency; building combined heat and power plants – which take heat vented by natural gas-burning power plants, say, and use it to heat nearby buildings; and water power imports from Quebec.
http://www.thestar.com/business/
article/801187--ontario-nuclear-decision-needed-says-industry-group
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MPP Tabuns Speaks to Negligible Health Impacts of Wind
This past week the Ontario legislature debated a Conservative resolution to put a moratorium on all new wind turbine installations.
The motion was defeated after a very stormy debate. Read this fantastic speech given by NDP MPP Peter Tabuns in response to the resolution. He sites study after study which show no scientific evidence linking turbines with adverse health impacts. He compares the health impacts of coal, oil, gas and renewables, claiming that health impacts of wind are negligible, especially in comparison to the massive health impacts of other forms of electricity generation. And he outlines the benefits of wind technology for the local economy and ecology.
Scroll down to nearly the bottom of the page:
http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/house-proceedings/
house_detail.do?Date=2010-04-28&Parl=39&Sess=2&locale=en#P279_84179.
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Enriched Hypocrisy
Before criticizing Iran's nuke program, Canada should look within
Eight of the world’s most powerful leaders meeting in Huntsville, Ontario, this June will discuss Iran’s nuclear power industry. Concerned over Tehran’s enrichment of uranium, Prime Minister Stephen Harper intends to use Canada’s leadership of the Group of Eight (G8) to push sanctions against the Middle Eastern country. Anti-nuclear activists, citing the prominence and recent growth of Canada's own nuclear industry, are pointing out contradictions in Harper's intentions at the G8.
http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/3313
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Ottawa tells energy firms to start powering down coal-fired plants
Environment Minister Jim Prentice has told Canada’s major electricity producers that they’ll have to gradually retire their coal-fired plants and replace them with cleaner sources of power – a plan that would be a boon to natural gas producers. Under Ottawa’s proposal, power companies would have to close their coal-fired facilities as they reach the end of their commercial life, largely over the next 10 to 15 years.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/
ottawa-wants-coal-fired-power-plants-to-close/article1546314/
Here’s to a coal-free Canada!
Order free Coal or Nuke-Free Ontario leaflets/postcards here: http://cleanairalliance.org/get_involve ... _pamphlets
Sign the Petition to shut down ON’s coal plants today: http://www.cleanairalliance.org/petition
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Three Days That Could Change the World – This Weekend in New York City!
The Dr. Strangeloves in the nuclear weapons establishment certainly have the president's ear. Their influence needs to be countered by an engaged public in the U.S. and around the world.
We have the opportunity to do just that at the upcoming Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference (NPT RevCon), held every five years at the United Nations in New York.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/04/29-1
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Infant Cancer Rates near Nuclear Power Plants
In 2008, a German study reported a 60% increase in solid cancers and a 120% increase in leukemias among children living within 5 kilometers of all German nuclear power stations. After reading the study, the German government stated as,
"The present study confirms that in Germany there is a correlation between the distance of the home from the nearest NPP [nuclear power plant) at the time of diagnosis and the risk of developing cancer (particularly leukemia) before the 5th birthday."
After reviewing more studies with the original German study, the author reasons that radionuclides seem to be causing malformations in fetuses in mothers living near nuclear reactors and that might be the cause of the observed high rates of infant leukemias. He argues that embryos and fetuses are more vulnerable to doses and risks from environmental emissions than formerly thought.
Most propaganda from pro-nuclear people say the average radiation near nuclear power plants are as low as or lower than that of other regions. However, this article argues that even ephemeral spikes of nuclide emissions from nuclear power stations would be very dangerous.
http://energy-ecology.blogspot.com/2010/04/
infant-cancer-rates-near-nuclear-power.html
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Working Together for a World Without Nuclear Weapons – May 5 - Toronto - a dynamic evening of dialogue featuring 50 A-Bombing Survivors & Peace Activists from the Japan Council Against Atomic & Hydrogen Bombs
Wed. May 5
- 5:00 pm Silent Vigil, Toronto Peace Garden
- 5:30 pm Public Meeting, Toronto City Hall Council Chamber
Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen Street West (Queen & Bay)
Welcome Address by Mayor David Miller. With MCs, Setsuko Thurlow, a-bombing survivor, and Phyllis Creighton, Science for Peace. Plus, Anton Wagner (Hiroshima Day Coalition), Bruce Mutch (Veterans Against Nuclear Arms), Dr. Barbara Birkett (Physicians for Global Survival), Shirley Farlinger (Canadian Voice of Women for Peace), Rob Acheson, (Canadian Department of Peace Initiative), Metta Spencer (Peace Magazine). Hear about the tens of thousands of people from around the world who, on the eve of the “Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference” at the United Nations Headquarters, gathered to tell our world leaders, “Never Again”.
Sponsored by www.hiroshimadaycoalition.ca
Details, please contact Helen Chilas, 416-473-8238, h-chilas@rogers.com
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Toronto Bolivia Solidarity would like to invite all friends of Bolivia and of Mother Earth to:
Report Back from the People’s Summit in Cochabamba, Bolivia
World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth
Fri. May 7, at 7 p.m., at the Steelworkers Hall, 25 Cecil St., Toronto
Thousands of Indigenous organizations, scientists, and environmental and political activists from all over the world gathered in Cochabamba Apr. 19-22 to devise strategies against climate change and in defence of the Rights of Mother Earth. The goal was to create a people's global movement to confront the challenges facing Mother Earth and Humanity. The peoples of the world must make a promise to humanity to amend for the failure of the December 2009 Copenhagen climate summit.
Ideas to be discussed will be sustainability, living well instead of living better, and a communitarian way of life in harmony with nature, in opposition to the disrespectful and destructive model of capitalism. As Pablo Solon, ambassador to the UN of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, has said, "We need to change the system not the climate."
For more info: Toronto Bolivia Solidarity, 416 465-5976 torontoboliviasolidarity@gmail.com
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Celebrate MOTHER’S DAY FOR PEACE with Ontario Voice of Women
Saturday May 8th , 9:30 – 3 pm
Friends House, 60 Lowther Ave. (St. George subway), Toronto
Lunch included.
Did you know the first Mother’s Day was declared as a day for peace? Julia Ward-Howe, in 1870, declared….
“Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."
Presenters include: Mitra Saffari on The Democracy Movement in Iran, and Maxine Kaufman Lacusta on her new book “Refusing to be Enemies”
Info/registration www.vowpeace.org
New members welcome.
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Mining (in)justice: at home and abroad - May 7 – 9, University of Toronto
Mining (in)justice: at home and abroad is a conference on the Canadian mining industry (including Tar Sands) set to take place in Toronto on the weekend of May 7-9, 2010. It will feature leaders in movements against Canadian mining companies both within and outside of Canada and provide space for growing our own movements in alliance with communities impacted by this industry.
http://www.solidarityresponse.net/minin ... onference/
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Hot Docs is Here - Toronto
http://www.hotdocs.ca/film/title/
170 documentary films!
April 29 – May 9
Check out the energy/nuke films:
Dreamland With its hydroelectric and geothermal power surplus, Iceland’s clean energy initiatives have ironically attracted heavy industries whose pollution decimates the natural vegetation. A troubling tale of sabotage from the front lines of the green revolution.
Gasland Flammable tap water, mysterious ailments, poisoned land and livestock: Sundance prize-winner Gasland exposes the shocking environmental calamities and cover-ups caused by natural gas drilling, shedding an absurd light on America’s new energy race.
Into Eternity The fascinating scientific minds behind Finland’s massive underground nuclear waste storage facility, where radioactive waste must sit untouched for at least 100,000 years to neutralize its potential danger, are probed in this unique and stylish film.
Tankograd What could possibly thrive in Chelyabinsk, Russia - the world’s most radioactive city? Dance, of course. A world-renowned modern dance company soars above the city’s toxic soil to create an inspiring future in this unique environmental essay.
For the full list of all the docs, go here: http://www.hotdocs.ca/
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Angela Bischoff, Outreach Director
Ontario Clean Air Alliance
Tel: 416 926 1907 x 246
625 Church Street, #402, Toronto, ON M4Y 2G1
angela@cleanairalliance.org
www.ontariosgreenfuture.ca
www.cleanairalliance.org
Our Facebook Group
Sign Our Petition
No Nukes News
Health Power
====================
6. Details Emerge on Study of Cancer Near US Nuclear Plants
http://www.truthout.org/
details-emerge-study-cancer-near-us-nuclear-plants58964
Tuesday 27 April 2010 by: Sue Sturgis | Facing South
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently asked the National Academy of Sciences to study cancer risk for people living near nuclear power plants and other nuclear facilities, and details of that research were discussed at yesterday's meeting of the Academy's Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board.
The research request came in response to "recurrent stakeholder concerns," said Brian Sheron, director of NRC's Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
The study will look at nuclear power plants as well as nuclear fuel facilities. It comes as the Obama administration is encouraging the expansion of commercial nuclear power.
The NRC currently relies on a 1991 study by the National Cancer Institute that found no link between nuclear plants and cancer. However, that study has been criticized for focusing on cancer deaths rather than cancer incidence. At the time the research was conducted, few states collected data on cancer incidence, which is why the NCI focused on mortality.
In addition, the earlier study looked at data on the county level -- an approach that could obscure health problems occurring closer to nuclear facilities. Sheron noted that advances in geographic information systems will allow researchers to pinpoint more relevant populations for study.
Sheron said the research would occur in two phases. The first, set to be completed next summer, would review off-site radiation doses, evaluate cancer mortality and incidence data, pinpoint areas of study and determine how best to conduct the epidemiological research.
MORE: http://www.truthout.org/
details-emerge-study-cancer-near-us-nuclear-plants58964
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7. CHERNOBYL – Recent Articles
WATCH: Study Claims Chernobyl Disaster Killed Nearly 1 Million
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/27/headlines/
study_claims_chernobyl_disaster_killed_nearly_1_million
A new study released on the twenty-fourth anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster says the death toll is far higher than previously thought. In a book published by the New York Academy of Sciences, a Russian author and a Belarusian author say nearly one million people have died from exposure to radiation released by the Chernobyl reactor. According to the book, the disaster’s radioactive emissions may have been 200 times greater than the initial estimate of 50 million curies, and hundreds of times larger than the radioactivity from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The authors based their findings in part on Slavic sources they say have never been available in English.
= = = = = =
Ukraine leader says Chernobyl reactor a threat
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100426/ap_on_re_eu/
eu_chernobyl_anniversary
By ANNA MELNICHUK, Associated Press Writer Anna Melnichuk, Associated Press Writer – Mon Apr 26, 1:41 pm ET
KIEV, Ukraine – Ukraine's president warned Monday on the 24th anniversary of the world's worst atomic accident that the Chernobyl nuclear reactor remains a serious threat to Europe.
The 1986 reactor explosion sent a cloud of radiation over much of Europe and severe health problems persist. President Viktor Yanukovych says around 2 million people have illnesses caused by the radiation, and non-governmental organizations estimate the disaster has caused more than 700,000 early deaths.
The exploded reactor is encased in a deteriorating shell and internationally funded work to replace it is far behind schedule.
Yanukovych said during commemoration ceremonies Monday that the reactor is a threat "not only for Ukraine, but for Europe, Russia and Belarus."
The radiation left swaths of Ukraine and Belarus uninhabitable.
MORE: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100426/ap_on_re_eu/
eu_chernobyl_anniversary
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8. Iran foreign minister hopeful for nuclear fuel deal amid Tehran's latest diplomatic push
http://www.metronews.ca/toronto/world/article/
512834--iran-foreign-minister-hopeful-for-nuclear-fuel-deal-amid-tehran-s-latest-diplomatic-push
NASSER KARIMI, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS April 27, 2010 2:45 p.m.
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's foreign minister on Tuesday expressed optimism Tehran would soon strike a deal with the international community to provide his country with nuclear fuel - the latest in a new Iranian diplomatic push to stave off fresh U.N. sanctions over its controversial nuclear program.
As part of the push, top Iranian officials have been courting some non-permanent Security Council members to pre-empt possible sanctions.
Only permanent Council members could veto proposed sanctions, but strong opposition by non-permanent members could strengthen Iran's case.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki held talks with Bosnian leaders Monday after making little progress in Austria over the weekend. And last week, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Uganda, another non-permanent member of the 15-nation Council.
On Tuesday, Mottaki held talks with visiting Brazilian counterpart Celso Amorim.
"We are hopeful to see a fuel exchange go into operation in the near future," Mottaki said, adding that Brazil, also a non-permanent member, could play a more effective decision-making role in the Council.
The U.S. and its allies fear Iran's nuclear program aims to produce nuclear weapons, and are pushing for tougher sanctions in the Security Council over Tehran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment - a process that can lead to nuclear weapon making.
MORE:
http://www.metronews.ca/toronto/world/article/
512834--iran-foreign-minister-hopeful-for-nuclear-fuel-deal-amid-tehran-s-latest-diplomatic-push
=====================
9. NPPD to extend nuclear refueling interval
http://www.ktiv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12328546
Associated Press - April 17, 2010 11:05 AM ET
COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) - The Nebraska Public Power District believes it can save millions of dollars by extending the refueling schedule at its Cooper Nuclear Station from 18 to 24 months.
NPPD says changing the refueling schedule will help it get more out of Cooper, which already produces about 21 percent of the electricity the utility sells.
MORE: http://www.ktiv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12328546
======================
10. Beyond Nuclear Bulletin - April 30, 2010 - Top Stories
http://www.beyondnuclear.org/storage/do ... 302010.pdf
Ex-NRC chair should be removed from reactor cancer study board
Background: The National Academy of Sciences held a meeting on April 26 (twenty –four years to the day of the Chernobyl reactor explosion) to decide whether to accept a study charge from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to investigate cancer risks around nuclear facilities. Beyond Nuclear and other groups have identified and communicated significant potential for conflicts of interest.
Our View: The time is long overdue for bona fide and impartial studies investigating health impacts of constant radioactive releases (planned and accidental) from nuclear facilities. Radiation exposure is known to cause not only cancer, but also pose other health risks such as heart disease, and genetic damage. Therefore, in order to form a complete health impact assessment, these other disease risks will need to be investigated. Such health studies will need to be based on solid scientific methodology in order to be accepted by both the public and scientific community. The public must remain vigilant to ensure reliable health studies rather than studies that are de facto designed to protect corporate financial interests.
Toward that goal, Beyond Nuclear has requested that the National Academies of Science (NAS) conduct a review for conflict of interest on Dr. Richard Meserve who currently chairs the NAS Nuclear and Radiation Study Board. This is the board tasked to shape and supervise the new cancer study around US nuclear power facilities. Beyond Nuclear notes that Dr. Meserve also currently serves as Senior to Counsel of DC law firm catering to nuclear industry interests, on the Boards of Directors for two nuclear power companies headquartered in Texas and California, as a member of the Board of Advisors to the French-US nuclear conglomerate looking to construct new reactors in the United States and also recently contributed to a Congressional lobbying effort by the nuclear industry which used a special advertising supplement in the Washington Post asking for increased federal loans for new reactor construction.
Chernobyl reactor explosion impacts greater than claimed
Background: The Chernobyl reactor exploded on April 26, 1986, spewing radiation across the earth. Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment, a newly translated report originally in Russian and published by the New York Academy of sciences, aims that by 2004, 985,000 additional deaths worldwide were caused by this disaster, 212,000 of them within European Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. These numbers contrast greatly with the United Nations’ Chernobyl Forum 2006 estimate of 9000 cancer deaths in the same areas for the period of 90 years after the meltdown. Children have been and continue to be particularly affected with multiple adverse health outcomes. Before Chernobyl exploded, eighty percent of children were considered healthy. After the explosion only twenty percent of children are healthy in some areas.
This report summarizes published data from the many regions contaminated by radioactive fallout, and is based on over 5000 studies, most of which were not available in English or outside of the former Soviet Union. Contact the New York Academy of Sciences to purchase a copy www.nyas.org.
Our view: See Beyond Nuclear’s press release for more detail.
National Grassroots Summit and Forum on Radioactive Waste Policy, Chicago, June 4-6
In January, the Obama Administration's Dept. of Energy announced the creation of its "Blue Ribbon Commission (BRC) on the Future of Nuclear Power in America", ostensibly to "study and recommend" what the U.S. should do about its radioactive waste problems, especially in light of the wise cancellation of the dangerous Yucca Mountain, Nevada dumpsite proposal. Many of us watched or attended the first meeting of the Commission in April -- and are deeply disturbed by what we saw and heard. The panel seems much more devoted to expanding atomic energy than it is to addressing our nation’s unsolved radioactive waste crisis. Risky “illusions of solutions” for radioactive waste, such as reprocessing, also seem high on the Commission’s agenda.
As a response a number of organizations have come together to create a National Grassroots Summit and Forum on Radioactive Waste Policy -- to articulate a national radioactive waste policy for the other 300 million Americans the DOE panel seems intent on ignoring. This event will be held in Chicago from Friday, June 4th to Sunday, June 6th.
We invite you and your organizations to become a part of this creative process. If you cannot personally attend, consider sending another representative from your organization.
Having both an educational and strategic planning component, this Summit and Forum in June will create an activist tool to tell the DOE and Obama Administration what the REAL public wants in terms of radioactive waste disposal; educate ourselves and interested members of the public on radioactive waste options and techniques; and establish a "Peoples Green Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Waste Future" on radioactive waste policy that will monitor and critique the work of the BRC, and develop its own list of recommendations and body of public testimony to be offered to the DOE as guidance in developing national radioactive waste policy.
Beyond Nuclear is a co-sponsor of this event, along with Nuclear Information and Resource Service, Nuclear Energy Information Service of Illinois, and Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force. For more information, contact Beyond Nuclear’s Radioactive Waste Watchdog, Kevin Kamps, at (301) 270-2209 ext. 1, or kevin@beyondnuclear.org.
Beyond Nuclear in the News
Cindy Folkers is quoted in the San Antonio Current pointing out the conflict of interest between the mandates of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the World Health Organization and how it biases any Chernobyl health studies.
Kevin Kamps was interviewed by Beyond Nuclear board of directors member Karl Grossman on Enviro Close-Up about “The Nuclear Relapse.”
Beyond Nuclear’s press release was quoted in the Morris Daily Herald on the NRC/NAS cancer study.
======================
11. Ceasefire.ca - Recent Articles
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
Byers: Time to resolve Arctic disputes
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4555&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_
campaign=Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 30 Apr 2010 02:01 PM PDT
Earlier this week, Russia and Norway resolved a 40-year dispute over their boundary in the Barents Sea. Canada should follow this positive Russian-Norwegian precedent, says UBC professor Michael Byers, stop its military posturing, and work to resolve the remaining disputes over Canada’s Arctic boundaries (Michael Byers, “It’s time to resolve our Arctic differences,” Globe and [...]
Staples on Canada and NATO
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4561&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_
campaign=Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 01 May 2010 10:38 AM PDT
Rideau Institute president Steven Staples discusses the future of NATO, interview published in the Globe and Mail, Monday, March 22, 2010, p. A4 (no online version): Leaving Afghanistan is the right move for Canada, says the president of the Rideau Institute, as he envisions what NATO’s future should be On Thursday in Ottawa, two of Canada’s leading [...]
Blackwater trained Canadian troops
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4577&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_
campaign=Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 02 May 2010 08:32 PM PDT
The National Post reported last week that the Department of National Defence has paid the notorious Blackwater security company, now called Xe Services, more than $6 million to train Canadian troops (Tom Blackwell, “Blackwater trained our troops,” National Post, 27 April 2010): The department sent a succession of personnel to Blackwater’s Moyock, N.C., training compound [...]
Five thousand one hundred and thirteen
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4590&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_
campaign=Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 03 May 2010 09:37 PM PDT
For the first time, the United States has formally disclosed the current size of its nuclear stockpile–5113 weapons as of 30 September 2009 (Anne Gearan, “U.S. comes clean on size of nuclear stockpile: 5,113,” Associated Press, 3 May 2010). U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton revealed the number, and provided figures for previous years, on the [...]
Cons, Libs talking about new Afghanistan role?
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4585&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_
campaign=Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 03 May 2010 01:29 PM PDT
The federal Liberals and Conservatives are informally discussing Canada’s role in Afghanistan following the scheduled end of the combat mission in Kandahar, the Canadian Press reports (Steev Rennie, “Tories, Grits talking post-2011 role in Afghanistan; combat off the table,” Canadian Press, 2 May 2010): The overtures aren’t formal. People interviewed for this story stressed the [...]
========================
12. U.S. Prepares Non-Nuclear "Doomsday" Weapon
http://english.pravda.ru/world/americas/
113190-doomsday_weapon-0
Source: Pravda.Ru 27.04.2010
In a recent interview with the newspaper The New York Times, the U.S. president, Barack Obama revealed that his administration gave the green light for the study and development of a new kind of concept of a military attack without the use of nuclear weapons, but with the same destructive power. This concept is called Prompt Global Strike, a system of attack with missiles and "conventional" weapons that can reach any point on earth within an hour.
Political and financial support to the project is not lacking. Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense, told the U.S. broadcaster ABC that the administration has embraced the Prompt Global Strike. This includes the $250 million that Obama has asked from Congress in order to explore this alternative, which combines a military and aerospace technology edge. John McCain, Republican presidential candidate in 2008, has also expressed his support for a program that is both "expensive as essential."
Reservations for the new generation of Trident missiles, originally designed to incorporate the "Prompt Global Strike," meant that many in the Defense Department turned to alternatives. The answer should be a missile project that is called X-51: a weapon that the radars of Beijing and Moscow will not in theory confuse with a nuclear missile.
Using NASA space technology, this is the only non-nuclear weapon capable of reaching speeds of Mach-5 (5793 kilometers per hour) using the brutal effects of hypersonic speed to destroy targets with kinetic force coupled with a "conventional" warhead.
According to the Pentagon, this system will not be operational before 2015 and most likely its development will continue until 2020. According to American military science fiction, this weapon can be launched from a B-52 bomber and is capable of shattering a nuclear Iran or North Korea or to destroy a ship loaded with weapons in the Middle East or even explode the hideout of Bin Laden - who the U.S. gave up on finding long ago.
MORE: http://english.pravda.ru/world/americas/
113190-doomsday_weapon-0
===================
13. An Open Letter and Appeal to Bill McKibben and 350.org - Lorna Salzman
http://canadianclimateaction.wordpress.com/2010/04/25/
an-open-letter-to-bill-mckibben-in-the-nation-may-3rd/
Dear Bill:
Many environmental activists, including myself, have applauded your work and your writings for years and we know they have had a positive impact on many members of the general public. Most recently, your 350.org organization has helped publicize the climate change issue and thus has led the mass media to an acknowledgement of the impeccable scientific argument justifying this 350 figure: a rapid reduction in atmospheric CO2 from the present 389 parts per million (ppm) back down to 350, the single most effective way available at present to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
But I am troubled by the inexplicable fact that neither you nor 350.org has proposed specific actions, policies or legislation to actually reach that goal. The need for articulating these details is especially urgent, as the U. S. congress continues to not only debate over the goal itself but has, at the urging of special interests such as the coal, nuclear and oil industries and major corporations involved in biofuels and agribusiness, de-fanged the Waxman/Markey energy bill in congress so as to minimize their own responsibilities and maximize their profits. This bill comes uncomfortably close to being a denial of the facts about global warming.
Even some of the major national environmental groups like Natural Resources Defense Council and Environmental Defense Fund have aligned themselves not with the best science or the public interest but with corporations in the coalition called US Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), seeking modern "indulgences", namely carbon permit trading, called cap-and-trade, which will allow the indefinite operation of coal-fueled power plants, the major source of CO2, whose rapid shut-down should be the centerpiece of any sane energy policy. Despite such a carbon market in Europe, energy consumption there continues to rise each year.
MORE:
http://canadianclimateaction.wordpress.com/2010/04/25/
an-open-letter-to-bill-mckibben-in-the-nation-may-3rd/
Lorna Salzman
- - - -
(Salzman is an environmental writer, lecturer and activist who, starting in the early 1970s worked for major national environmental organizations as well as the NYC Dept. of Environmental Protection. She was the Suffolk County Green Party candidate for congress in 2002, and in 2004 she sought the presidential nomination of the U.S. Green Party. Contributions to defray the cost of this ad are welcome; please contact the author at: lsalzman1@verizon.net. Her web site is: www.lornasalzman.com)
Last edited by Oscar on Mon Jul 12, 2010 12:35 pm, edited 2 times in total.
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9887
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
NUKE NEWS: May 14, 2010
by Oscar » Fri May 14, 2010 5:18 pm
[b]NUKE NEWS: May 14, 2010
1. Resolution to Stop Shipment of Radioactive Steam Generators on the Great Lakes
2. Wall, Boyd attend resource investment conference in Saskatoon
3. BOYD CONGRATULATES CAMECO ON PRESTIGIOUS SAFETY AWARDS
4. (SK) Environmental Assessment Branch's First Quarter 2010 Status Report (18 pages)
5. (SK) Political meddling with the Crowns threatens viability
6. Synchrotron gets $15.7M in new funding - University of Saskatchewan – Saskatoon
7. Cannon fires a dud at NPT RevCon
8. Southern Alliance for Clean Energy Wins Lawsuit:
9. Groundbreaking Speech by Ban Ki-moon on Eve of NPT Review
10. WHO to launch study into Fallujah birth defects
11. WATCH: Rachel Maddow: Radioactive Rabbit Poop, Icing on the Cake
12. Obama's Threat to Launch a Nuclear Attack on Iran
13. U.S. reveals size of nuclear arsenal
14. WATCH: Russia to process uranium for Iran? Obama welcomes
15. How Wars Are Born: China versus the U.S. - Beijing Challenges American Expansionism
16. Nuclear Power Nearly as Dangerous as Weapons, Critics Say
17. Canada’s deadly deceit on atomic arms
18. Democracy and depleted uranium
19. More delays plague N.B. nuclear plant - AECL says work to take 'months' longer
20. N.B. premier writes prime minister insisting on help to cover reactor costs
====================
1. Resolution to Stop Shipment of Radioactive Steam Generators on the Great Lakes [/b]
http://www.nirs.org/radwaste/glresradsteamgen.pdf
Dear Friends of the Great Lakes,
Please sign on to the Resolution below and circulate for individual and group sign on. Individuals please respond to KCumbow@greatlakes.net groups please respond to Mkeeganj@comcast.net we would like the first round of sign on by afternoon of April 25th in time for Chernobyl Day press release.
Please however continue to circulate and seek sign on after that date.
This resolution pertains to the plans to ship a total of 32 radioactive steam generators from the Bruce nuclear power complex on Lake Huron onto the Great Lakes, through connecting rivers and out the St. Lawrence Seaway for recycling. These shipments are now scheduled for the fall but could commence sooner.
Please sign on and forward. Thank you
Michael J. Keegan
Coalition for a Nuclear-Free Great Lakes
- - - -
Resolution to Stop Shipment of Radioactive Steam Generators on the Great Lakes
http://www.nirs.org/radwaste/glresradsteamgen.pdf
=================
2. Wall, Boyd attend resource investment conference in Saskatoon; Saskatchewan Party supporting CEO gives insulting keynote presentation
“But socialism’s positive contribution to society stops where the pavement ends because the political and economic philosophy has impeded the growth of Saskatchewan’s natural resource sector, MacNeill said.
Socialism killed private investment in Saskatchewan’s mining and oil and gas industries, he said.
“Socialism is an active enemy of business,” said MacNeill. “It changed our economic landscape forever.”
- - - - -
Wall, Boyd attend resource investment conference in Saskatoon; Saskatchewan Party supporting CEO gives insulting keynote presentation
http://owlsandroosters.blogspot.com/2010/05/
wall-boyd-attend-resource-investment.html
May 10, 2010 by Joe Kuchta
The Saskatchewan Party government has become its own worst enemy. The air of confidence that ushered in the young government just 30 months ago has turned to one of arrogance, contempt and superiority. The end result is the almost regular beating the Wall government takes in the newspaper.
MORE: http://owlsandroosters.blogspot.com/2010/05/
wall-boyd-attend-resource-investment.html
======================
3. BOYD CONGRATULATES CAMECO ON PRESTIGIOUS SAFETY AWARDS
http://www.gov.sk.ca/
news?newsId=3abd3e7c-6854-48d2-ac8b-fbca68aab551
News Release - May 11, 2010
Energy and Resources Minister Bill Boyd today congratulated Cameco Corporation on receiving two major awards for outstanding safety performance last year.
Cameco was honoured with a John T. Ryan safety trophy, the premier award in Canada's mining industry, Monday night at the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) conference in Vancouver. That award plus a special award certificate were for performance at Cameco's McArthur River and Cigar Lake mines.
"Cameco has invested in a well-trained and safety conscious work force and this industry recognition is a testament both to that commitment and to the company's leadership in the mining industry," Boyd said. "These awards also honour the dedication of Cameco's employees, many of whom live and work in northern Saskatchewan."
Cameco received the national John T. Ryan safety trophy for the best safety performance in the metal mine category in 2009 for its McArthur River mine, recording one reportable injury for 756,990 working hours. Cameco's Cigar Lake mine recorded one reportable injury for 717,932 working hours in 2009 and was honoured with the special award certificate.
Cameco has a long history of recognition for safety, with awards in 2000 for its McArthur River and Key Lake mines as well as in 2001 and 1989 for its Rabbit Lake operation. -30-
For more information, contact:
Bob Ellis, Energy and Resources, Regina
Phone: 306-787-1691
Email: robert.ellis@gov.sk.ca
==================
4. (SK) Environmental Assessment Branch's First Quarter 2010 Status Report (18 pages)
http://www.environment.gov.sk.ca/EA2010 ... atusReport
Contains the status of outstanding and new undertakings submitted to Environmental Assessment Branch between January 1 - March 31, 2010.
- - - - -
(Please note current activity in the oil, potash and uranium industries, as well as Northland Power, the privately-owned natural gas power plant at North Battleford. Ed.)
=======================
5. (SK) Political meddling with the Crowns threatens viability
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/
Political+meddling+with+Crowns+threatens+viability/2974704/story.html
THE STAR PHOENIX MAY 1, 2010
Premier Brad Wall's desire for Saskatchewan to become the national leader in small reactor technology for power generation comes against the backdrop of SaskPower confronting a federal call for utilities to close down and replace their coal-fired plants within 10 to 15 years.
For Saskatchewan's Crown-owned utility, which relies on nine generating units located in coal-fired stations at Shand, Boundary Dam and Poplar River for more than half its electricity supply, Environment Minister Jim Prentice's edict no doubt comes as a challenge.
MORE:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/
Political+meddling+with+Crowns+threatens+viability/2974704/story.html
=================
6. Synchrotron gets $15.7M in new funding - University of Saskatchewan - Saskatoon
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Sync ... s+funding/
2974694/story.html
THE STAR PHOENIX MAY 1, 2010
The federal and provincial governments are investing an additional $15.7 million in the Canadian Light Source synchrotron during the next four years to cover the facility's costs of operation.
MORE:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Sync ... s+funding/
2974694/story.html
===================
7. Cannon fires a dud at NPT RevCon
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4605&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 04 May 2010 08:03 PM PDT
“Canada has managed the extraordinary feat of presenting its opening statement to the NPT Review Conference without any substantive reference to ‘disarmament’ – one of the three foundational pillars of the Treaty,” reports arms control expert Ernie Regehr (”Canada’s opening statement at NPT: promoting nonproliferation while ignoring disarmament,” Disarming Conflict blog, 4 May 2010): Actually, the [...]
MORE:
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4605&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
=================
8. Southern Alliance for Clean Energy Wins Lawsuit:
Georgia Public Service Commission Acted Illegally in Approving Georgia Power’s Plan to Build New Nuclear Reactors at Plant Vogtle
http://www.cleanenergy.org/
index.php?/Press-Update.html?form_id=8&item_id=172
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 30, 2010
CONTACT: Andree Duggan, Media Director, 865.235.1448
Atlanta, Ga. – Today, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy won its lawsuit in Fulton County Superior Court that aimed to protect Georgians from unfair utility costs in connection with the proposed construction of two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro, Georgia.
The Court found that the Georgia Public Service Commission acted illegally in violation of Georgia state law. The Commission’s approval last year during the certification process for the proposed new Vogtle reactors is now in jeopardy.
“We applaud the Judge’s decision and continue to find it incredible that the Georgia Public Service Commission would put $14 billion of ratepayer money at risk on this project without properly documenting the factual basis behind this high risk decision,” said Stephen Smith, executive director of Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. “This ruling spotlights the ongoing incestuous relationship between the Commission and Georgia Power and highlights the regulatory breakdown and blatant lack of consumer protection.”
MORE:
http://www.cleanenergy.org/index.php?/
Press-Update.html?form_id=8&item_id=172
======================
9. Groundbreaking Speech by Ban Ki-moon on Eve of NPT Review
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-luce/
ground-breaking-speech-by_b_559917.html
(Transcription of speech by Jim Luce)
Thought Leaders and Global Citizens Posted: May 1, 2010 10:44 PM
In a Huffington Post exclusive, Peace Action organizers of the "Nuclear-Free, Peaceful, Just and Sustainable World" Conference at Riverside Church -- on the Upper West Side of Manhattan -- gave access to the ground breaking, hand-corrected speech of the United Nations Secretary General, the Hon. Ban Ki-moon, minutes after his speech was
concluded on the eve of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference.
In his strong speech, the Secretary General shared his deeply felt passion and personal experiences with the international peace community packed into Riverside Church:
I know how much energy it takes to speak out, to protest, to carry the banner of this most noble human aspiration - world peace. Let me begin by saying how humbling it is to speak to you in this famous place, Riverside Church.
It was here that Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke against the Vietnam War, and Nelson Mandela spoke on his first visit to the United States after being freed from prison. Standing with you, looking at you, I can see what they saw: a sea of committed women and men who come from all corners of the world.
Our shared vision is within reach: a nuclear-free world.
On the eve of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference beginning on Monday, we know the world is watching. Let us heed our call. Disarm now!
MORE:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-luce/
ground-breaking-speech-by_b_559917.html
=======================
10. WHO to launch study into Fallujah birth defects
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=12 ... =351020201
Thu, 01 Apr 2010 07:58:13 GMT
The World Health Organization (WHO) says it will conduct an independent study into the high level of birth defects in the Iraqi city of Fallujah.
Hassan Elbushra, WHO's representative in Iraq, told Sky News that the study will be carried out in different parts of the country to establish the trend of birth defects and to see if anything went unusual in places like Fallujah.
"This is a big study which will be compiled in different parts of Iraq into women's health."
"We believe we can get very good data from different parts of the country and can tell average incidents of birth defects and see if there is anything unusual in places like Fallujah."
Iraqi doctors and local people blame unconventional arms used by the US military in its operations in Fallujah for causing a high level of birth defects among children in the city.
The US military says no official studies have so far confirmed a link between deformities and chemicals used during the war.
After the Iraq invasion, Fallujah was the site of two major battles in 2004.
The United States admitted to using white phosphorus in the second assault, which was carried out in November 2004. There have also been unconfirmed reports that the US used depleted uranium munitions in Fallujah.
MORE:
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=12 ... =351020201
======================
11. WATCH: Rachel Maddow: Radioactive Rabbit Poop, Icing on the Cake
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIK95Cv-SVI
October 17, 2009 — Rachel Maddow investigates the clean-up of Hanford, WA Nuclear Site & radioactive rabbit poop. With Nathan Hodge from wired.com and his book, Family Nuclear Vacation.....
===================
12. Obama's Threat to Launch a Nuclear Attack on Iran
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=18965
By Prof. Rodrigue Tremblay The New American Empire Global Research, May 3, 2010
“This confrontation [between the forces of the Apocalypse and Israel] is willed by God, who wants to use this conflict to erase his people’s enemies before a New Age begins”. U.S. President George W. Bush (in a 2003 conversation with French President Jacques Chirac)
“Preventive war was an invention of [Adolf] Hitler. Frankly, I would not even listen to anyone seriously that came and talked about such a thing.” Dwight D. Eisenhower
“We don’t desire any nuclear proliferation in our region, and our policy is well known regardless of which country has such programs. For us it doesn’t matter whether it is Israel or Iran. I will call on the international community, which is so sensitive toward Iran, to pay attention to Israel, too.” Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's Prime Minister
“Nothing in this Treaty shall be interpreted as affecting the inalienable right of all the Parties to the Treaty to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination.”
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
By now, most everybody knows that the (2003-) Bush-Cheney Iraq War was based on fiction [http://news.antiwar.com/2009/08/10/elbaradei-regrets-not-doing-more-to-stop-iraq-war/] and on deception [http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/03/07/22_lies.html]. There was no such thing as “weapons of mass destruction” in Iraq, the rationale for an illegal attack against that country. And Bush II and his accomplices knew that.
But incredibly, just as the Bush-Cheney administration did in order to launch a war against Iraq in 2003 by (falsely) alleging that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, the Obama-Biden administration, in 2010, is arguing for unilateral sanctions against Iran and even beating the drums of war against Iran, alleging that its program to enrich uranium and operate nuclear power plants is posing an existential threat to Israel, to Europe and to the United States.
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=18965
=====================
13. U.S. reveals size of nuclear arsenal
http://www.reuters.com/article/
idUSTRE64251X20100504?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews
Arshad Mohammed and Phil Stewart WASHINGTON Mon May 3, 2010 8:36pm EDT
(Reuters) - The United States disclosed for the first time on Monday the current size of its nuclear arsenal, lifting the veil on once top-secret numbers in an effort to bolster non-proliferation efforts.
The Pentagon said it had a total of 5,113 warheads in its nuclear stockpile at the end of September, down 84 percent from a peak of 31,225 in 1967. The arsenal stood at 22,217 warheads when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989.
The figure includes warheads that are operationally deployed, kept in active reserve and held in inactive storage. But it does not include "several thousand" warheads that are now retired and awaiting dismantlement, the Pentagon said.
"The United States is showing that it is being increasingly transparent," a senior U.S. defense official told reporters at the Pentagon.
"It's part of our commitment ... to set the stage for strength in non-proliferation and for further arms control."
The official declined to offer the Pentagon's estimate for Russia's arsenal and renewed calls for greater transparency by China, saying there was "little visibility" when it came to Beijing's nuclear program.
The United States is also pushing for a new round of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.
By releasing the data during the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference, analysts said the United States was trying to show it is cutting its arsenal so as to help persuade other states to tighten the global non-proliferation regime.
"It is hugely important for the United States to be able to say, 'Look we are living up to our obligations under the NPT," said Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists.
MORE:
http://www.reuters.com/article/
idUSTRE64251X20100504?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews
Related News
Iran: Punish U.S. for "shameful" nuclear threats
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6423OK20100503
Mon, May 3 2010
Clinton says Iran puts world at nuclear risk
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6425EI20100503
Mon, May 3 2010
U.S. says nuclear arsenal includes 5,113 warheads
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0321831520100503
Mon, May 3 2010
Iran: U.S. should be punished for nuclear "threats"
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6420JG20100503
Mon, May 3 2010
China military paper spells out nuclear arms stance
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63L0PR20100422
Thu, Apr 22 2010
==============================
14. WATCH: Russia to process uranium for Iran? Obama welcomes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_9cI7r0 ... re=related
October 02, 2009 — The nuclear talks in Geneva led to an agreement in principle to process some Iranian enriched uranium in Russia and France. Iran also says it will welcome nuclear inspectors on its territory within days.
The country has agreed to allow the International Atomic Energy agency to supervise its new enrichment plant.
==========================
15. How Wars Are Born: China versus the U.S. - Beijing Challenges American Expansionism
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=18921
By Shamus Cooke Global Research, April 30, 2010
Those of us making the “radical” claim that wars are the result of economic/corporate interests pushed abroad, were recently given a nod of approval from a typically unfriendly source, The New York Times.
The corporate controlled New York Times published a revealing article about how U.S. foreign policy really works, and why. The motive behind the sincerity is that China’s foreign policy was being attacked. However, the article soon made it clear that China’s policy is the same as the U.S.’s : dominating regions that are of “economic (corporate) interest” — raw materials, cheap labor, shipping lanes, markets, etc. — through military buildup.
Dangerously, the article discusses how China’s economic expansion —and the military buildup used to protect it — is coming into conflict with the U.S.overseas militarism. For example:
"The Chinese military is seeking to project naval power well beyond the Chinese coast, from the oil ports of the Middle East to the shipping lanes of the Pacific, where the United States Navy has long reigned as the dominant force, military officials and analysts say."
Why is China expanding militarily?
MORE : www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=18921
- - - - -
See also: "The Black Book of Canadian Foreign Policy" by Yves Engler
http://blackbook.foreignpolicy.ca/
This book could change how you see Canada. Numerous studies have found that Canadians' self-appraisal of their country's foreign policy is more positive than any other country. Most believe Canada's primary role has been as peacekeeper or honest broker in difficult-to-solve disputes. But, contrary to the mythology of Canada as a force for good in the world, The Black Book of Canadian Foreign Policy sheds light on many dark corners of Canadian foreign policy: From troops that joined the British in Sudan in 1885 to gunboat diplomacy in the Caribbean and aspirations of Central American empire, to participation in the UN mission that killed Patrice Lumumba in the Congo, to important support for apartheid South Africa, Zionism and the US war in Vietnam, to helping overthrow Salvador Allende and supporting the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile, to Haiti, Iraq and Afghanistan today
MORE: http://blackbook.foreignpolicy.ca/
=================
16. Nuclear Power Nearly as Dangerous as Weapons, Critics Say
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/05/07-4
by Haider Rizvi Published on Friday, May 7, 2010 by Inter Press Service
UNITED NATIONS - The quest for nuclear disarmament is likely to fail if governments and corporations continue to promote nuclear technologies as a solution to the world's energy needs, say independent experts.
Their warning comes as international talks on the future of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) continue here at U.N. headquarters in New York. The review meeting on the 1970 treaty is due to conclude by the end of this month.
At the meeting, many delegates from countries that do not possess nuclear weapons called for those nations who have them to take speedy actions towards disarmament. Citing the treaty, some also said it was their "inalienable" right to use peaceful nuclear technologies.
Just like the representatives of nuclear weapons states, almost none of the delegates from non-nuclear countries offered any views on the pros and cons of the use of nuclear technologies for so-called "civilian and peaceful purposes".
"I am surprised. It is unfortunate," said David Krieger, president of the U.S.-based Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF), who is closely watching the talks on NPT from the sidelines as he has done in the past. "So many countries seem to be pursuing nuclear energy."
MORE: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/05/07-4
========================
17. Canada’s deadly deceit on atomic arms
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editoria ... n/article/
805701--canada-s-deadly-deceit-on-atomic-arms
May 07, 2010 Paul McKay
With the clandestine nuclear weapons programs of North Korea and Iran drawing deserved condemnation at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review in the United Nations, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has pledged a leadership role for Canada in devising a diplomatic exit strategy from the perils of proliferation.
He should start by ending Canada’s exports of reactors and uranium.
The reason is physics. Every time uranium is fissioned inside a nuclear reactor, the deadly element plutonium is created. Aptly named after the Greek god of the underworld, only a plum-sized sphere weighing eight kilograms is needed to make an efficient atomic bomb.
India used plutonium created in a donated Canadian reactor to make its first bomb in 1974. Pakistan followed suit in 1998, and is now using a Candu knock-off to make plutonium and hydrogen bomb materials.
But the danger is not confined to rogue states. A “dirty” plutonium weapon might require 20 kilograms, but can be delivered by a single-engine Cessna, suicide SUV or backpack bomber on a bicycle.
Moreover, with a half-life of 24,000 years, plutonium is effectively immortal. It is also virtually indestructible.
Laudably, Canada has pledged $1 billion to help secure Cold War plutonium stockpiles. But last year, Saskatchewan uranium exports totalled 7.3 million kilograms. When fissioned in any reactor of any make, model or purpose, this will transmute into some 19,000 kilograms of plutonium, or enough for 2,300 warheads annually. This exported uranium also contains 52,000 kilograms of the bomb ingredient uranium-235, or enough to make 2,600 warheads annually.
During the next decade, if Canadian uranium exports continue at the same pace, enough plutonium and uranium-235 will be dispersed across the planet to potentially make 50,000 atomic bombs — almost double the existing warheads many world leaders and citizens now desperately seek to abolish.
MORE:
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editoria ... n/article/
805701--canada-s-deadly-deceit-on-atomic-arms
======================
18. Democracy and depleted uranium
www.uruknet.info?p=65272
www.globalpost.com/print/5538497
R. B. Stuart April 20, 2010
Soldiers, like my sister, return from Iraq gripped by cancer. The US military says cancer isn't a war wound.
NEW YORK — When my sister, 101st Airborne Army Capt. Chaplain Fran E. Stuart, returned from Iraq, she was forever changed.
Not only had the desert sand, gun blasts and heat penetrated her psyche during her one-year deployment, but a carcinogen had made its way into her body as well. Unbeknown to her, the carcinogen was making a home in my sister's body, along with the Anthrax vaccine, depleted uranium, burn pit smoke and contaminated water dished up at every meal.
In March 2006, when my sister was 41, she was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive, stage-IV dysgerminoma cancer, also called "germ cell" cancer, which is usually only seen in pregnant women and teenage girls. The cancer was advancing quickly, wrapping itself around her internal organs like an octopus and gathering fuel from her central abdomen.
My sister was flown to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington for immediate surgery and further testing, when a volleyball-sized tumor was removed from her abdomen. Fortunately, doctors were able to corral her cancer, but only after 10 months and 35 rounds of exhaustive chemotherapy.
She wasn't the only one undergoing such trauma. While visiting her at Walter Reed, I witnessed many soldiers returning from Iraq with cancer, unknown to the public and unacknowledged by the military. Walter Reed had two floors dedicated solely to the soldiers arriving daily with cancer. Their lives were spared on the battlefield, but the cancer was ravaging their bodies from within.
MORE: www.uruknet.info?p=65272
www.globalpost.com/print/5538497
===================
19. More delays plague N.B. nuclear plant - AECL says work to take 'months' longer
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/breakingnews/
more-delays-plague-nb-nuclear-plant-aecl-says-work-to-take-months-longer-92776679.html
THE CANADIAN PRESS, May 4, 2010
OTTAWA - The head of Canada's flagship nuclear company says the refurbishment of a New Brunswick reactor will take "months" longer than planned.
Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., president Hugh MacDiarmid says work on the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant will not finish by October as planned. MacDiarmid told the Senate finance committee the delay will be "months, not years."
MORE:
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/breakingnews/
more-delays-plague-nb-nuclear-plant-aecl-says-work-to-take-months-longer-92776679.html
=====================
20. N.B. premier writes prime minister insisting on help to cover reactor costs
http://www.metronews.ca/toronto/canada/article/
519534--n-b-premier-writes-prime-minister-insisting-on-help-to-cover-reactor-costs
ST. ANDREWS, N.B. (The Associated Press) - May 5
New Brunswick's premier says he will write the prime minister reinforcing a demand that the federal government cover cost overruns at the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant.
Shawn Graham met with Stephen Harper and Natural Resources Minister Christian Paradis last week in Ottawa.
The refurbishment of the reactor by Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. is almost 18 months behind schedule.
MORE:
http://www.metronews.ca/toronto/canada/article/
519534--n-b-premier-writes-prime-minister-insisting-on-help-to-cover-reactor-costs
1. Resolution to Stop Shipment of Radioactive Steam Generators on the Great Lakes
2. Wall, Boyd attend resource investment conference in Saskatoon
3. BOYD CONGRATULATES CAMECO ON PRESTIGIOUS SAFETY AWARDS
4. (SK) Environmental Assessment Branch's First Quarter 2010 Status Report (18 pages)
5. (SK) Political meddling with the Crowns threatens viability
6. Synchrotron gets $15.7M in new funding - University of Saskatchewan – Saskatoon
7. Cannon fires a dud at NPT RevCon
8. Southern Alliance for Clean Energy Wins Lawsuit:
9. Groundbreaking Speech by Ban Ki-moon on Eve of NPT Review
10. WHO to launch study into Fallujah birth defects
11. WATCH: Rachel Maddow: Radioactive Rabbit Poop, Icing on the Cake
12. Obama's Threat to Launch a Nuclear Attack on Iran
13. U.S. reveals size of nuclear arsenal
14. WATCH: Russia to process uranium for Iran? Obama welcomes
15. How Wars Are Born: China versus the U.S. - Beijing Challenges American Expansionism
16. Nuclear Power Nearly as Dangerous as Weapons, Critics Say
17. Canada’s deadly deceit on atomic arms
18. Democracy and depleted uranium
19. More delays plague N.B. nuclear plant - AECL says work to take 'months' longer
20. N.B. premier writes prime minister insisting on help to cover reactor costs
====================
1. Resolution to Stop Shipment of Radioactive Steam Generators on the Great Lakes [/b]
http://www.nirs.org/radwaste/glresradsteamgen.pdf
Dear Friends of the Great Lakes,
Please sign on to the Resolution below and circulate for individual and group sign on. Individuals please respond to KCumbow@greatlakes.net groups please respond to Mkeeganj@comcast.net we would like the first round of sign on by afternoon of April 25th in time for Chernobyl Day press release.
Please however continue to circulate and seek sign on after that date.
This resolution pertains to the plans to ship a total of 32 radioactive steam generators from the Bruce nuclear power complex on Lake Huron onto the Great Lakes, through connecting rivers and out the St. Lawrence Seaway for recycling. These shipments are now scheduled for the fall but could commence sooner.
Please sign on and forward. Thank you
Michael J. Keegan
Coalition for a Nuclear-Free Great Lakes
- - - -
Resolution to Stop Shipment of Radioactive Steam Generators on the Great Lakes
http://www.nirs.org/radwaste/glresradsteamgen.pdf
=================
2. Wall, Boyd attend resource investment conference in Saskatoon; Saskatchewan Party supporting CEO gives insulting keynote presentation
“But socialism’s positive contribution to society stops where the pavement ends because the political and economic philosophy has impeded the growth of Saskatchewan’s natural resource sector, MacNeill said.
Socialism killed private investment in Saskatchewan’s mining and oil and gas industries, he said.
“Socialism is an active enemy of business,” said MacNeill. “It changed our economic landscape forever.”
- - - - -
Wall, Boyd attend resource investment conference in Saskatoon; Saskatchewan Party supporting CEO gives insulting keynote presentation
http://owlsandroosters.blogspot.com/2010/05/
wall-boyd-attend-resource-investment.html
May 10, 2010 by Joe Kuchta
The Saskatchewan Party government has become its own worst enemy. The air of confidence that ushered in the young government just 30 months ago has turned to one of arrogance, contempt and superiority. The end result is the almost regular beating the Wall government takes in the newspaper.
MORE: http://owlsandroosters.blogspot.com/2010/05/
wall-boyd-attend-resource-investment.html
======================
3. BOYD CONGRATULATES CAMECO ON PRESTIGIOUS SAFETY AWARDS
http://www.gov.sk.ca/
news?newsId=3abd3e7c-6854-48d2-ac8b-fbca68aab551
News Release - May 11, 2010
Energy and Resources Minister Bill Boyd today congratulated Cameco Corporation on receiving two major awards for outstanding safety performance last year.
Cameco was honoured with a John T. Ryan safety trophy, the premier award in Canada's mining industry, Monday night at the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) conference in Vancouver. That award plus a special award certificate were for performance at Cameco's McArthur River and Cigar Lake mines.
"Cameco has invested in a well-trained and safety conscious work force and this industry recognition is a testament both to that commitment and to the company's leadership in the mining industry," Boyd said. "These awards also honour the dedication of Cameco's employees, many of whom live and work in northern Saskatchewan."
Cameco received the national John T. Ryan safety trophy for the best safety performance in the metal mine category in 2009 for its McArthur River mine, recording one reportable injury for 756,990 working hours. Cameco's Cigar Lake mine recorded one reportable injury for 717,932 working hours in 2009 and was honoured with the special award certificate.
Cameco has a long history of recognition for safety, with awards in 2000 for its McArthur River and Key Lake mines as well as in 2001 and 1989 for its Rabbit Lake operation. -30-
For more information, contact:
Bob Ellis, Energy and Resources, Regina
Phone: 306-787-1691
Email: robert.ellis@gov.sk.ca
==================
4. (SK) Environmental Assessment Branch's First Quarter 2010 Status Report (18 pages)
http://www.environment.gov.sk.ca/EA2010 ... atusReport
Contains the status of outstanding and new undertakings submitted to Environmental Assessment Branch between January 1 - March 31, 2010.
- - - - -
(Please note current activity in the oil, potash and uranium industries, as well as Northland Power, the privately-owned natural gas power plant at North Battleford. Ed.)
=======================
5. (SK) Political meddling with the Crowns threatens viability
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/
Political+meddling+with+Crowns+threatens+viability/2974704/story.html
THE STAR PHOENIX MAY 1, 2010
Premier Brad Wall's desire for Saskatchewan to become the national leader in small reactor technology for power generation comes against the backdrop of SaskPower confronting a federal call for utilities to close down and replace their coal-fired plants within 10 to 15 years.
For Saskatchewan's Crown-owned utility, which relies on nine generating units located in coal-fired stations at Shand, Boundary Dam and Poplar River for more than half its electricity supply, Environment Minister Jim Prentice's edict no doubt comes as a challenge.
MORE:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/
Political+meddling+with+Crowns+threatens+viability/2974704/story.html
=================
6. Synchrotron gets $15.7M in new funding - University of Saskatchewan - Saskatoon
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Sync ... s+funding/
2974694/story.html
THE STAR PHOENIX MAY 1, 2010
The federal and provincial governments are investing an additional $15.7 million in the Canadian Light Source synchrotron during the next four years to cover the facility's costs of operation.
MORE:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Sync ... s+funding/
2974694/story.html
===================
7. Cannon fires a dud at NPT RevCon
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4605&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 04 May 2010 08:03 PM PDT
“Canada has managed the extraordinary feat of presenting its opening statement to the NPT Review Conference without any substantive reference to ‘disarmament’ – one of the three foundational pillars of the Treaty,” reports arms control expert Ernie Regehr (”Canada’s opening statement at NPT: promoting nonproliferation while ignoring disarmament,” Disarming Conflict blog, 4 May 2010): Actually, the [...]
MORE:
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4605&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
=================
8. Southern Alliance for Clean Energy Wins Lawsuit:
Georgia Public Service Commission Acted Illegally in Approving Georgia Power’s Plan to Build New Nuclear Reactors at Plant Vogtle
http://www.cleanenergy.org/
index.php?/Press-Update.html?form_id=8&item_id=172
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 30, 2010
CONTACT: Andree Duggan, Media Director, 865.235.1448
Atlanta, Ga. – Today, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy won its lawsuit in Fulton County Superior Court that aimed to protect Georgians from unfair utility costs in connection with the proposed construction of two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro, Georgia.
The Court found that the Georgia Public Service Commission acted illegally in violation of Georgia state law. The Commission’s approval last year during the certification process for the proposed new Vogtle reactors is now in jeopardy.
“We applaud the Judge’s decision and continue to find it incredible that the Georgia Public Service Commission would put $14 billion of ratepayer money at risk on this project without properly documenting the factual basis behind this high risk decision,” said Stephen Smith, executive director of Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. “This ruling spotlights the ongoing incestuous relationship between the Commission and Georgia Power and highlights the regulatory breakdown and blatant lack of consumer protection.”
MORE:
http://www.cleanenergy.org/index.php?/
Press-Update.html?form_id=8&item_id=172
======================
9. Groundbreaking Speech by Ban Ki-moon on Eve of NPT Review
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-luce/
ground-breaking-speech-by_b_559917.html
(Transcription of speech by Jim Luce)
Thought Leaders and Global Citizens Posted: May 1, 2010 10:44 PM
In a Huffington Post exclusive, Peace Action organizers of the "Nuclear-Free, Peaceful, Just and Sustainable World" Conference at Riverside Church -- on the Upper West Side of Manhattan -- gave access to the ground breaking, hand-corrected speech of the United Nations Secretary General, the Hon. Ban Ki-moon, minutes after his speech was
concluded on the eve of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference.
In his strong speech, the Secretary General shared his deeply felt passion and personal experiences with the international peace community packed into Riverside Church:
I know how much energy it takes to speak out, to protest, to carry the banner of this most noble human aspiration - world peace. Let me begin by saying how humbling it is to speak to you in this famous place, Riverside Church.
It was here that Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke against the Vietnam War, and Nelson Mandela spoke on his first visit to the United States after being freed from prison. Standing with you, looking at you, I can see what they saw: a sea of committed women and men who come from all corners of the world.
Our shared vision is within reach: a nuclear-free world.
On the eve of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference beginning on Monday, we know the world is watching. Let us heed our call. Disarm now!
MORE:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-luce/
ground-breaking-speech-by_b_559917.html
=======================
10. WHO to launch study into Fallujah birth defects
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=12 ... =351020201
Thu, 01 Apr 2010 07:58:13 GMT
The World Health Organization (WHO) says it will conduct an independent study into the high level of birth defects in the Iraqi city of Fallujah.
Hassan Elbushra, WHO's representative in Iraq, told Sky News that the study will be carried out in different parts of the country to establish the trend of birth defects and to see if anything went unusual in places like Fallujah.
"This is a big study which will be compiled in different parts of Iraq into women's health."
"We believe we can get very good data from different parts of the country and can tell average incidents of birth defects and see if there is anything unusual in places like Fallujah."
Iraqi doctors and local people blame unconventional arms used by the US military in its operations in Fallujah for causing a high level of birth defects among children in the city.
The US military says no official studies have so far confirmed a link between deformities and chemicals used during the war.
After the Iraq invasion, Fallujah was the site of two major battles in 2004.
The United States admitted to using white phosphorus in the second assault, which was carried out in November 2004. There have also been unconfirmed reports that the US used depleted uranium munitions in Fallujah.
MORE:
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=12 ... =351020201
======================
11. WATCH: Rachel Maddow: Radioactive Rabbit Poop, Icing on the Cake
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIK95Cv-SVI
October 17, 2009 — Rachel Maddow investigates the clean-up of Hanford, WA Nuclear Site & radioactive rabbit poop. With Nathan Hodge from wired.com and his book, Family Nuclear Vacation.....
===================
12. Obama's Threat to Launch a Nuclear Attack on Iran
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=18965
By Prof. Rodrigue Tremblay The New American Empire Global Research, May 3, 2010
“This confrontation [between the forces of the Apocalypse and Israel] is willed by God, who wants to use this conflict to erase his people’s enemies before a New Age begins”. U.S. President George W. Bush (in a 2003 conversation with French President Jacques Chirac)
“Preventive war was an invention of [Adolf] Hitler. Frankly, I would not even listen to anyone seriously that came and talked about such a thing.” Dwight D. Eisenhower
“We don’t desire any nuclear proliferation in our region, and our policy is well known regardless of which country has such programs. For us it doesn’t matter whether it is Israel or Iran. I will call on the international community, which is so sensitive toward Iran, to pay attention to Israel, too.” Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's Prime Minister
“Nothing in this Treaty shall be interpreted as affecting the inalienable right of all the Parties to the Treaty to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination.”
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
By now, most everybody knows that the (2003-) Bush-Cheney Iraq War was based on fiction [http://news.antiwar.com/2009/08/10/elbaradei-regrets-not-doing-more-to-stop-iraq-war/] and on deception [http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/03/07/22_lies.html]. There was no such thing as “weapons of mass destruction” in Iraq, the rationale for an illegal attack against that country. And Bush II and his accomplices knew that.
But incredibly, just as the Bush-Cheney administration did in order to launch a war against Iraq in 2003 by (falsely) alleging that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, the Obama-Biden administration, in 2010, is arguing for unilateral sanctions against Iran and even beating the drums of war against Iran, alleging that its program to enrich uranium and operate nuclear power plants is posing an existential threat to Israel, to Europe and to the United States.
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=18965
=====================
13. U.S. reveals size of nuclear arsenal
http://www.reuters.com/article/
idUSTRE64251X20100504?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews
Arshad Mohammed and Phil Stewart WASHINGTON Mon May 3, 2010 8:36pm EDT
(Reuters) - The United States disclosed for the first time on Monday the current size of its nuclear arsenal, lifting the veil on once top-secret numbers in an effort to bolster non-proliferation efforts.
The Pentagon said it had a total of 5,113 warheads in its nuclear stockpile at the end of September, down 84 percent from a peak of 31,225 in 1967. The arsenal stood at 22,217 warheads when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989.
The figure includes warheads that are operationally deployed, kept in active reserve and held in inactive storage. But it does not include "several thousand" warheads that are now retired and awaiting dismantlement, the Pentagon said.
"The United States is showing that it is being increasingly transparent," a senior U.S. defense official told reporters at the Pentagon.
"It's part of our commitment ... to set the stage for strength in non-proliferation and for further arms control."
The official declined to offer the Pentagon's estimate for Russia's arsenal and renewed calls for greater transparency by China, saying there was "little visibility" when it came to Beijing's nuclear program.
The United States is also pushing for a new round of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.
By releasing the data during the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference, analysts said the United States was trying to show it is cutting its arsenal so as to help persuade other states to tighten the global non-proliferation regime.
"It is hugely important for the United States to be able to say, 'Look we are living up to our obligations under the NPT," said Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists.
MORE:
http://www.reuters.com/article/
idUSTRE64251X20100504?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews
Related News
Iran: Punish U.S. for "shameful" nuclear threats
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6423OK20100503
Mon, May 3 2010
Clinton says Iran puts world at nuclear risk
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6425EI20100503
Mon, May 3 2010
U.S. says nuclear arsenal includes 5,113 warheads
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0321831520100503
Mon, May 3 2010
Iran: U.S. should be punished for nuclear "threats"
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6420JG20100503
Mon, May 3 2010
China military paper spells out nuclear arms stance
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63L0PR20100422
Thu, Apr 22 2010
==============================
14. WATCH: Russia to process uranium for Iran? Obama welcomes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_9cI7r0 ... re=related
October 02, 2009 — The nuclear talks in Geneva led to an agreement in principle to process some Iranian enriched uranium in Russia and France. Iran also says it will welcome nuclear inspectors on its territory within days.
The country has agreed to allow the International Atomic Energy agency to supervise its new enrichment plant.
==========================
15. How Wars Are Born: China versus the U.S. - Beijing Challenges American Expansionism
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=18921
By Shamus Cooke Global Research, April 30, 2010
Those of us making the “radical” claim that wars are the result of economic/corporate interests pushed abroad, were recently given a nod of approval from a typically unfriendly source, The New York Times.
The corporate controlled New York Times published a revealing article about how U.S. foreign policy really works, and why. The motive behind the sincerity is that China’s foreign policy was being attacked. However, the article soon made it clear that China’s policy is the same as the U.S.’s : dominating regions that are of “economic (corporate) interest” — raw materials, cheap labor, shipping lanes, markets, etc. — through military buildup.
Dangerously, the article discusses how China’s economic expansion —and the military buildup used to protect it — is coming into conflict with the U.S.overseas militarism. For example:
"The Chinese military is seeking to project naval power well beyond the Chinese coast, from the oil ports of the Middle East to the shipping lanes of the Pacific, where the United States Navy has long reigned as the dominant force, military officials and analysts say."
Why is China expanding militarily?
MORE : www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=18921
- - - - -
See also: "The Black Book of Canadian Foreign Policy" by Yves Engler
http://blackbook.foreignpolicy.ca/
This book could change how you see Canada. Numerous studies have found that Canadians' self-appraisal of their country's foreign policy is more positive than any other country. Most believe Canada's primary role has been as peacekeeper or honest broker in difficult-to-solve disputes. But, contrary to the mythology of Canada as a force for good in the world, The Black Book of Canadian Foreign Policy sheds light on many dark corners of Canadian foreign policy: From troops that joined the British in Sudan in 1885 to gunboat diplomacy in the Caribbean and aspirations of Central American empire, to participation in the UN mission that killed Patrice Lumumba in the Congo, to important support for apartheid South Africa, Zionism and the US war in Vietnam, to helping overthrow Salvador Allende and supporting the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile, to Haiti, Iraq and Afghanistan today
MORE: http://blackbook.foreignpolicy.ca/
=================
16. Nuclear Power Nearly as Dangerous as Weapons, Critics Say
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/05/07-4
by Haider Rizvi Published on Friday, May 7, 2010 by Inter Press Service
UNITED NATIONS - The quest for nuclear disarmament is likely to fail if governments and corporations continue to promote nuclear technologies as a solution to the world's energy needs, say independent experts.
Their warning comes as international talks on the future of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) continue here at U.N. headquarters in New York. The review meeting on the 1970 treaty is due to conclude by the end of this month.
At the meeting, many delegates from countries that do not possess nuclear weapons called for those nations who have them to take speedy actions towards disarmament. Citing the treaty, some also said it was their "inalienable" right to use peaceful nuclear technologies.
Just like the representatives of nuclear weapons states, almost none of the delegates from non-nuclear countries offered any views on the pros and cons of the use of nuclear technologies for so-called "civilian and peaceful purposes".
"I am surprised. It is unfortunate," said David Krieger, president of the U.S.-based Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF), who is closely watching the talks on NPT from the sidelines as he has done in the past. "So many countries seem to be pursuing nuclear energy."
MORE: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/05/07-4
========================
17. Canada’s deadly deceit on atomic arms
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editoria ... n/article/
805701--canada-s-deadly-deceit-on-atomic-arms
May 07, 2010 Paul McKay
With the clandestine nuclear weapons programs of North Korea and Iran drawing deserved condemnation at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review in the United Nations, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has pledged a leadership role for Canada in devising a diplomatic exit strategy from the perils of proliferation.
He should start by ending Canada’s exports of reactors and uranium.
The reason is physics. Every time uranium is fissioned inside a nuclear reactor, the deadly element plutonium is created. Aptly named after the Greek god of the underworld, only a plum-sized sphere weighing eight kilograms is needed to make an efficient atomic bomb.
India used plutonium created in a donated Canadian reactor to make its first bomb in 1974. Pakistan followed suit in 1998, and is now using a Candu knock-off to make plutonium and hydrogen bomb materials.
But the danger is not confined to rogue states. A “dirty” plutonium weapon might require 20 kilograms, but can be delivered by a single-engine Cessna, suicide SUV or backpack bomber on a bicycle.
Moreover, with a half-life of 24,000 years, plutonium is effectively immortal. It is also virtually indestructible.
Laudably, Canada has pledged $1 billion to help secure Cold War plutonium stockpiles. But last year, Saskatchewan uranium exports totalled 7.3 million kilograms. When fissioned in any reactor of any make, model or purpose, this will transmute into some 19,000 kilograms of plutonium, or enough for 2,300 warheads annually. This exported uranium also contains 52,000 kilograms of the bomb ingredient uranium-235, or enough to make 2,600 warheads annually.
During the next decade, if Canadian uranium exports continue at the same pace, enough plutonium and uranium-235 will be dispersed across the planet to potentially make 50,000 atomic bombs — almost double the existing warheads many world leaders and citizens now desperately seek to abolish.
MORE:
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editoria ... n/article/
805701--canada-s-deadly-deceit-on-atomic-arms
======================
18. Democracy and depleted uranium
www.uruknet.info?p=65272
www.globalpost.com/print/5538497
R. B. Stuart April 20, 2010
Soldiers, like my sister, return from Iraq gripped by cancer. The US military says cancer isn't a war wound.
NEW YORK — When my sister, 101st Airborne Army Capt. Chaplain Fran E. Stuart, returned from Iraq, she was forever changed.
Not only had the desert sand, gun blasts and heat penetrated her psyche during her one-year deployment, but a carcinogen had made its way into her body as well. Unbeknown to her, the carcinogen was making a home in my sister's body, along with the Anthrax vaccine, depleted uranium, burn pit smoke and contaminated water dished up at every meal.
In March 2006, when my sister was 41, she was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive, stage-IV dysgerminoma cancer, also called "germ cell" cancer, which is usually only seen in pregnant women and teenage girls. The cancer was advancing quickly, wrapping itself around her internal organs like an octopus and gathering fuel from her central abdomen.
My sister was flown to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington for immediate surgery and further testing, when a volleyball-sized tumor was removed from her abdomen. Fortunately, doctors were able to corral her cancer, but only after 10 months and 35 rounds of exhaustive chemotherapy.
She wasn't the only one undergoing such trauma. While visiting her at Walter Reed, I witnessed many soldiers returning from Iraq with cancer, unknown to the public and unacknowledged by the military. Walter Reed had two floors dedicated solely to the soldiers arriving daily with cancer. Their lives were spared on the battlefield, but the cancer was ravaging their bodies from within.
MORE: www.uruknet.info?p=65272
www.globalpost.com/print/5538497
===================
19. More delays plague N.B. nuclear plant - AECL says work to take 'months' longer
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/breakingnews/
more-delays-plague-nb-nuclear-plant-aecl-says-work-to-take-months-longer-92776679.html
THE CANADIAN PRESS, May 4, 2010
OTTAWA - The head of Canada's flagship nuclear company says the refurbishment of a New Brunswick reactor will take "months" longer than planned.
Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., president Hugh MacDiarmid says work on the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant will not finish by October as planned. MacDiarmid told the Senate finance committee the delay will be "months, not years."
MORE:
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/breakingnews/
more-delays-plague-nb-nuclear-plant-aecl-says-work-to-take-months-longer-92776679.html
=====================
20. N.B. premier writes prime minister insisting on help to cover reactor costs
http://www.metronews.ca/toronto/canada/article/
519534--n-b-premier-writes-prime-minister-insisting-on-help-to-cover-reactor-costs
ST. ANDREWS, N.B. (The Associated Press) - May 5
New Brunswick's premier says he will write the prime minister reinforcing a demand that the federal government cover cost overruns at the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant.
Shawn Graham met with Stephen Harper and Natural Resources Minister Christian Paradis last week in Ottawa.
The refurbishment of the reactor by Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. is almost 18 months behind schedule.
MORE:
http://www.metronews.ca/toronto/canada/article/
519534--n-b-premier-writes-prime-minister-insisting-on-help-to-cover-reactor-costs
Last edited by Oscar on Mon Jul 12, 2010 12:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9887
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
NUKE NEWS: May 16, 2010
by Oscar » Sun May 16, 2010 4:12 pm
NUKE NEWS: May 16, 2010
Compilation:
1. Action Alert: Send a Message to Your MP!
2. ACTION ALERT: Help us Oppose CANSEC, Canada's Top Weapons Bazaar!
3. Navy faces budget crunch?
4. Another drop in nuclear generation
5. Ottawa likely to unload entire stake in nuclear reactor division CANDU
6. AREVA’S dirty little secret
7. Canada helps track down radioactive item mistakenly discarded in India
8. No Nukes News - May 7, 2010
9. UK nuclear power groups eager to press on
10. India introduces controversial legislation on compensation for nuclear accidents
11. "War without Borders": Obama's "Long War"
12. Climate bill ignores nuclear power's hidden costs on communities and the environment
13. OTHER NEWS:
- Al Jazeera English launches international news channel in Canada
- WATCH: BP Funnels Millions into Lobbying to Influence Regulation and Re-Brand Image
- WATCH: Pump action - activists target BP in Tar Sands protest
- US Senate Begins Oil Spill Cover-Up By Tom Eley
- Socialism Hits the Oil Industry
===========================
1. Action Alert: Send a Message to Your MP!
Stop Bill C-15 at
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=1 ... 311&v=info
The Harper government has tabled legislation (Bill C-15) that would, if passed, artificially cap the liability of a nuclear operator for accidents at $650 million – a miniscule fraction of the likely actual cost of a nuclear disaster.
Bill C-15 is also yet another Harper subsidy to dirty energy. Unlike green energy, the nuclear industry needs a special law to relieve it from paying its own insurance costs. This creates an unfair playing field for green energy and would force Canadians to pay for the nuclear industry’s pollution.
Why is Prime Minister Harper giving the nuclear industry this special legal protection? Because the nuclear industry, the insurance industry and private lendors know another Chernobyl is possible. Otherwise put, the nuclear industry doesn’t have confidence in its reactors. So why should we?
Stop Bill C-15!
Join the facebook group Stop Harper’s Sweetheart Deal for the Nuclear Industry – Stop Bill C-15 at
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=1 ... 311&v=info
Not on facebook? You can E-mail Stephen Cornwell at stephen.d.g.cornwell@gmail.com or Theresa McClenaghan at theresa@cela.ca
Follow the debate at openparliament.ca: http://openparliament.ca/bills/2224/ (the debate is expected to begin in the next few weeks and will be updated here)
Our Members of Parliament need to know that Canadians know what they’re up to. This bill nearly made it through parliament last year before it was killed at prorogation. Let MPs know you are paying attention. Tell them to stop C-15 and raise the limit!
Please find below a sample letter to Members of Parliament and the email addresses of all Members of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources which will examine Bill C-15. Letters are far more effective when you personalize your own!
Please send your letter now…
Dear Member of Parliament,
I have learned that the House of Commons is considering legislation that would limit the liability of nuclear power operators. I am deeply concerned about what this could mean for Canadians.
The proposed limit of $650 million is far below the standards of other major developed countries in Europe and of our neighbours in the United States. Other governments have seen fit to make nuclear power plant operators pay the full costs of the risks they create. Why don’t Canadians deserve the same coverage?
The limit is also far below the costs of any serious accident. Given the potential cost of a nuclear incident, operators will not be held responsible for the full impact of accidents if this limit is imposed. It is unacceptable that victims may not be compensated and taxpayers will be asked to foot the bill.
As a Parliamentarian, it is your job is to protect the best interests of Canadians. That is why we, the people, elect you.
Don’t support Bill C-15. Raise the limit to protect Canadians.
Sincerely,
[your name here]
ADDRESSES OF NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE MEMBERS
All Members of parliament can receive mail (no postage required) at the following physical address
MP NAME
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6
Email addresses for members of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources (which will consider the bill) follow:
Liberal MPs
Geoff Regan ReganG@parl.gc.ca
Alan Tonks TonksA@parl.gc.ca
Navdeep Bains BainsN@parl.gc.ca
Bloc Quebecois MPs
Paule Brunelle BruneP@parl.gc.ca
Claude Guimond GuimoC@parl.gc.ca
Conservative MPs
David Anderson AnderD@parl.gc.ca
Mike Allen AllenM@parl.gc.ca
Cheryl Gallant GallaC@parl.gc.ca
Russ Hiebert HiebeR@parl.gc.ca
Richard Harris HarriR@parlg.ca.ca
Devinder Shory ShoryD@parl.gc.ca
New Democrat MP
Nathan Cullen Cullen@parl.gc.ca
- - -
And please cc: stephen.d.g.cornwell@gmail.com
--
For more info: Stephen Cornwell, SAGE NNPP Darlington Project Coordinator, 416 587 4948, stephen.d.g.cornwell@gmail.com
http://www.gosage.net/Site/index.html
=========================
2. Help us Oppose CANSEC, Canada's Top Weapons Bazaar!
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/OpposeCANSEC.htm
This is a call for help! Please look over the list below to see how you might participate in our campaign to expose and oppose CANSEC.
CANSEC is Canada's largest weapons trade exhibition, and it will be held in Ottawa, June 2-3, 2010. Many thousands of buyers, sellers, users and promoters of the latest military technologies will be rubbing shoulders at this war industry extravaganza. Ottawa's fairgrounds will be bristling with displays set up by hundreds of companies to showcase cutting-edge military hardware used in Iraq, Afghanistan, Gaza, and all-too-many other killing fields.
MORE: http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/OpposeCANSEC.htm
- - - - - -
See Letters to Editor at: http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=932
=========================
3. Navy faces budget crunch?
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4667&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 14 May 2010 11:52 AM PDT
Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Vice-Admiral Dean McFadden, the commander of the Canadian Navy, are contradicting each other on the state of the Navy’s budget (David Pugliese, “Cash-strapped navy being cut to bone, analysts say,” Montreal Gazette, 12 May 2010; see also David Pugliese, “MacKay says no decision made on fleet reductions; Admiral and sailors [...]
======================
4. Another drop in nuclear generation
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/
EE_Another_drop_in_nuclear_generation_0505102.html
Annual generation of nuclear power has continued on a slight downward trend, decreasing 2% last year to 2558 TWh, according to the latest estimates.
05 May 2010,�Researched and written�by World Nuclear News
Another drop in nuclear generation
With some data yet to come in, estimates by the International Atomic Energy Agency see nuclear power last year meeting 13-14% of the world's electricity demand, which continues to increase rapidly in the developing world.
MORE:
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/
EE_Another_drop_in_nuclear_generation_0505102.html
=====================
5. Ottawa likely to unload entire stake in nuclear reactor division CANDU
http://www.calgaryherald.com/technology/
Ottawa+likely+unload+entire+stake+nuclear+reactor+division+Candu/
2983109/story.html
Sale may mark end of reactor's technology
BY ANDREW MAYEDA, CANWEST NEWS SERVICE MAY 4, 2010
The federal government is now expected to sell its entire stake in the Candu reactor division of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., a move that could have profound implications for Canada's nuclear industry and billions of dollars in plant refurbishments across the country.
When the government announced in December it was formally inviting bids for the Candu division, federal officials said Ottawa was open to a range of investment options, including a 100 per cent takeover.
A spokesperson at Natural Resources Canada says that remains the government's official position.
But stakeholders who have been briefed by investment bank Rothschild, which is overseeing the bidding process, have been told the government has now decided to unload its entire stake.
MORE:
http://www.calgaryherald.com/technology/
Ottawa+likely+unload+entire+stake+nuclear+reactor+division+Candu/
2983109/story.html
======================
6. AREVA’S dirty little secret
http://www.greenpeace.org/international ... /features/
AREVAS-dirty-little-secrets060510/
May 6, 2010
In one of the poorest nations in the world, French nuclear giant AREVA is extracting precious—and deadly—natural resources, earning billions for its Fortune 500 corporation while the people pay the price. Our latest report exposes the unsafe everyday living conditions of the people of Niger as AREVA mines precious uranium from their land to fuel their attempts at a new nuclear revolution.
Our latest report exposes the unsafe everyday living conditions of the people of Niger as AREVA mines precious uranium from their land to fuel their attempts at a new nuclear revolution.
AREVA currently has activities in over 100 countries and aggressively pushes nuclear energy in new markets globally. Its PR teams work overtime to convince governments, investors and the general public that nuclear energy is now a safe, clean, and ’green’ technology. While the nuclear industry is trying to have us believe that the waste can be cleaned up, buried under some mountain and forgotten for a few thousand years or that the plants generating energy with deadly waste are safe, they are covering up the deadly effects acquiring the fuel that nuclear energy requires.
MORE: http://www.greenpeace.org/international ... /features/
AREVAS-dirty-little-secrets060510/
====================
7. Canada helps track down radioactive item mistakenly discarded in India
http://www.canada.com/technology/story.html?id=3006652
May 9, 2010
‘India's nuclear power regulator has turned to Canada for help after a tragic incident in which a gamma-ray generator purchased 40 years ago from Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. was mistakenly sold for scrap by the University of Delhi - killing one recycler and leaving at least six others with severe radiation sickness requiring possible bone-marrow transplants. An Indian government panel is already investigating how one of that country's leading universities could have trashed a highly radioactive instrument along with old tables and chairs from a chemistry lab. Following the Feb. 26 sale of the Canadian-made machine to a scrap dealer in Mayapuri - an industrial suburb of Delhi, the Indian capital - the lead housing around its radioactive components was pried opened and 12 of the 16 cobalt-60 rods or "pencils" were removed, some ending up in the shops of metal dealers around the city. Last month, investigators began probing seven unexplained cases of radiation illness in the Delhi area. Local residents were in a panic, and officials initially suspected that the source of the contamination was waste discarded from an area hospital. Then they discovered the link to the University of Delhi's scrapped scientific equipment.
MORE: http://www.canada.com/technology/story.html?id=3006652
======================
8. No Nukes News - May 7, 2010
“On top of the perennial challenges of global poverty and injustice, the two biggest threats facing human civilization in the 21st century are climate change and nuclear war. It would be absurd to respond to one by increasing the risks of the other.” - Dr Mark Diesendorf, author of Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable Energy
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Ottawa likely to unload entire stake in nuclear reactor division CANDU
Sale may mark end of reactor's technology
The federal government is now expected to sell its entire stake in the Candu reactor division of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., a move that could have profound implications for Canada's nuclear industry and billions of dollars in plant refurbishments across the country. "It's quite likely that it would die. I can't imagine a scenario a 100 per cent private Canadian player can compete with the big players in this game," It appears the government has grown weary of bankrolling AECL, which has received $1.74 billion in public funding since 2006.
http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/
Ottawa+likely+unload+entire+stake+Candu/2983109/
story.html#ixzz0n7Ej4zem
----------------------------------------------------------------
Canada's Deadly Deceit on Atomic Arms
With the clandestine nuclear weapons programs of North Korea and Iran drawing deserved condemnation at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review in the United Nations, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has pledged a leadership role for Canada in devising a diplomatic exit strategy from the perils of proliferation.
He should start by ending Canada’s exports of reactors and uranium. The reason is physics. Every time uranium is fissioned inside a nuclear reactor, the deadly element plutonium is created. Aptly named after the Greek god of the underworld, only a plum-sized sphere weighing eight kilograms is needed to make an efficient atomic bomb. Moreover, with a half-life of 24,000 years, plutonium is effectively immortal. It is also virtually indestructible.
… But last year, Saskatchewan uranium exports totalled 7.3 million kilograms. When fissioned in any reactor of any make, model or purpose, this will transmute into some 19,000 kilograms of plutonium, or enough for 2,300 warheads annually. This exported uranium also contains 52,000 kilograms of the bomb ingredient uranium-235, or enough to make 2,600 warheads annually.
No one not blinded by self-interest would knowingly court this calamity, or prescribe nuclear reactors as the alternative to our carbon-imperilled Earth. While reactors do not emit carbon, they produce a different, equally ominous security threat in plutonium and uranium-235, as well as intensely radioactive, latently lethal wastes that will remain a threat to the biosphere for hundreds of centuries.
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editoria ... n/article/
805701--canada-s-deadly-deceit-on-atomic-arms
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The Triple Curse of the Corporate Climate Bill
Legend says curses come in threes. Let's pray that doesn't happen with the unholy trinity of the Corporate Climate Bill. It demands drilling for oil, digging for coal and big money for new nukes. How such a devil's brew could help save the Earth conjures a corporate cynicism beyond the scope of the human mind and soul.
Only one Climate Bill can solve our energy crisis---a Solartopian program for converting the entire economy to renewables, conservation and efficiency. It would fly in the face of the corporate destroyers who are behind the current Climate Bill. But these are technologies that actually work, that pay, that create jobs and prosperity, and that will preserve rather than destroy our sacred Earth.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/05/03-5
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SACE Wins Lawsuit – proposed reactors now in jeopardy
Today, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy won its lawsuit in Fulton County Superior Court that aimed to protect Georgians from unfair utility costs in connection with the proposed construction of two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro, Georgia.
“We applaud the Judge’s decision and continue to find it incredible that the Georgia Public Service Commission would put $14 billion of ratepayer money at risk on this project without properly documenting the factual basis behind this high risk decision. This ruling spotlights the ongoing incestuous relationship between the Commission and Georgia Power and highlights the regulatory breakdown and blatant lack of consumer protection.”
http://www.cleanenergy.org/index.php?/
Press-Update.html?form_id=8&item_id=172
----------------------------------------------------------------
Wind's latest problem: it . . . makes power too cheap
The key thing here is that we are beginning to unveil what I've labeled the dirty secret of wind: utilities don't like wind not because it's not competitive, but because it brings prices down for their existing assets, thus lowering their revenues and their profits.
http://europe.theoildrum.com/node/6418
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The bizarre dance of wind power
"Wind produces zero emissions. Wind is low-impact because it requires no mining or drilling, and you don't need to import any fuel or get it locally." But unlike other clean energy sources such as solar power, electricity from wind has now become competitive in cost with electricity from conventional sources, due largely to advances in turbine design over the last 30 years. According to the AWEA, today wind electricity sells for half the price of nuclear power about the same as electricity from coal, oil and natural gas.
"Anyone who is against clean energy should come take a look at the coal burning power plants in our areas," Reed says. "They require coal mines that can harm our ground water, they produce pollution, and they produce a sludge type waste and many other negative things that are not beneficial to the environment.”
http://www.energybulletin.net/node/18290
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Where’s the power plan?
Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller raised an important question this week with his report on energy conservation: where is Ontario’s 20-year plan for meeting our electricity needs and what are the targets for renewable power and conservation?
To be fair, circumstances have changed since 2008, including the decision to delay the purchase of new nuclear reactors and the introduction of the Green Energy Act, which has altered the ground rules for procurement of renewable power.
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/
804531--where-s-the-power-plan
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Ontario's Solar Industry to Rival US Nuclear Energy Output?
According to two recent studies by Queen's University, solar power production in SE Ontario could potentially yield as much energy as all US nuclear reactors combined.
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea ... t/2010/05/
ontarios-solar-industry-to-rival-us-nuclear-energy-output?cmpid=rss
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Another drop in nuclear generation
Annual generation of nuclear power has continued on a slight downward trend, decreasing 2% last year to 2558 TWh,according to the latest estimates.
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/
EE_Another_drop_in_nuclear_generation_0505102.html
----------------------------------------------------------------
Wind Power Realities – Myths vs. Facts
Harnessing the power of the wind has become one of the fastest growing sources of global electricity generation. As countries strive to develop clean and secure energy systems, more scientists, policy makers and communities are looking to wind power as an important part of the solution.
As new opportunities emerge to develop wind-power generation in communities across Canada, they raise reasonable questions about the social, environmental and economic impacts of large-scale wind power production. This fact sheet aims to help answer those questions, and to distill the realities of wind power from the myths and misconceptions.
http://www.pembina.org/pub/1943
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15,000 March through New York calling for nuclear disarmament now
Speakers called on the NPT (Nuclear Proliferation Treaty) delegates to push for talks to begin on a Nuclear Weapons Convention while others denounced the damage caused by uranium mining, the division of the Korean Peninsula and military spending among many other issues. The Mayor of Hiroshima called on nuclear weapons to be phased out by the year 2020.
http://www.pressenza.com/npermalink/
15x000-march-through-new-york-calling-for-nuclear-disarmament-now
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Nuclear Attack a Ticking Time Bomb, Experts Warn
The major nuclear powers are making efforts to continue the streak of nuclear deterrence. Last month, the U.S. and Russia signed a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) that will reduce their nuclear stockpiles by about 30 percent over the next several years, and President Obama hosted a 47 nation Nuclear Security Summit in Washington. This week, representatives from 189 nations are meeting New York for Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference to deal with the potential spread of nuclear weaponry in the Middle East and other parts of the world.
Various experts estimate the chances of a nuclear detonation in the next 10 years at somewhere between 10 and 30 percent. Hellman, who has been focusing on nuclear deterrence for the past 25 years, said that a baby born today, with an expected lifetime of 80 years, faces a greater than 50-50 chance that a nuclear weapon attack will occur unless the number of weapons and available weapons-grade material is radically reduced.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162- ... 03543.html
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Be a PeakBuster and win big!
Does this warm weather have you daydreaming about cycling through wine country, eating a fabulous meal on the deck of some luxurious country inn, or hitting the links on one of Ontario’s best golf courses? Enter the Ontario Clean Air Alliance's fourth-annual PeakBusters contest and you could be doing more than dreaming. We are giving away two $1,000 luxurious and a dozen $200 gift cards. Click here to enter now!
Being a PeakBuster is easy. If your home has central air conditioning, all you have to do is ensure that you are enrolled in your utility’s peaksaver© program. This will mean that you are doing your part to reduce smog and control climate change by allowing your air conditioner to be automatically controlled for short periods during times of peak electricity demand.
If your home does not have central air conditioning or you live in an apartment or condo, you can still enter by telling us about other energy-saving actions you are taking. Click here to enter.
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Action Alert: Send a Message to Your MP!
The Harper government has tabled legislation (Bill C-15) that would, if passed, artificially cap the liability of a nuclear operator for accidents at $650 million – a miniscule fraction of the likely actual cost of a nuclear disaster.
Bill C-15 is also yet another Harper subsidy to dirty energy. Unlike green energy, the nuclear industry needs a special law to relieve it from paying its own insurance costs. This creates an unfair playing field for green energy and would force Canadians to pay for the nuclear industry’s pollution.
Why is Prime Minister Harper giving the nuclear industry this special legal protection? Because the nuclear industry, the insurance industry and private lendors know another Chernobyl is possible. Otherwise put, the nuclear industry doesn’t have confidence in its reactors. So why should we?
Stop Bill C-15!
Join the facebook group Stop Harper’s Sweetheart Deal for the Nuclear Industry – Stop Bill C-15 at
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=1 ... 311&v=info
Not on facebook? You can E-mail Stephen Cornwell at stephen.d.g.cornwell@gmail.com or Theresa McClenaghan at theresa@cela.ca
Follow the debate at openparliament.ca: http://openparliament.ca/bills/2224/ (the debate is expected to begin in the next few weeks and will be updated here)
Our Members of Parliament need to know that Canadians know what they’re up to. This bill nearly made it through parliament last year before it was killed at prorogation. Let MPs know you are paying attention. Tell them to stop C-15 and raise the limit!
Please find below a sample letter to Members of Parliament and the email addresses of all Members of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources which will examine Bill C-15. Letters are far more effective when you personalize your own! Please send your letter now…
Dear Member of Parliament,
I have learned that the House of Commons is considering legislation that would limit the liability of nuclear power operators. I am deeply concerned about what this could mean for Canadians.
The proposed limit of $650 million is far below the standards of other major developed countries in Europe and of our neighbours in the United States. Other governments have seen fit to make nuclear power plant operators pay the full costs of the risks they create. Why don’t Canadians deserve the same coverage?
The limit is also far below the costs of any serious accident. Given the potential cost of a nuclear incident, operators will not be held responsible for the full impact of accidents if this limit is imposed. It is unacceptable that victims may not be compensated and taxpayers will be asked to foot the bill.
As a Parliamentarian, it is your job is to protect the best interests of Canadians. That is why we, the people, elect you.
Don’t support Bill C-15. Raise the limit to protect Canadians.
Sincerely,
[your name here]
ADDRESSES OF NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE MEMBERS
All Members of parliament can receive mail (no postage required) at the following physical address
MP NAME
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6
Email addresses for members of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources (which will consider the bill) follow:
Liberal MPs
Geoff Regan ReganG@parl.gc.ca
Alan Tonks TonksA@parl.gc.ca
Navdeep Bains BainsN@parl.gc.ca
Bloc Quebecois MPs
Paule Brunelle BruneP@parl.gc.ca
Claude Guimond GuimoC@parl.gc.ca
Conservative MPs
David Anderson AnderD@parl.gc.ca
Mike Allen AllenM@parl.gc.ca
Cheryl Gallant GallaC@parl.gc.ca
Russ Hiebert HiebeR@parl.gc.ca
Richard Harris HarriR@parlg.ca.ca
Devinder Shory ShoryD@parl.gc.ca
New Democrat MP
Nathan Cullen Cullen@parl.gc.ca
- - -
And please cc: stephen.d.g.cornwell@gmail.com
--
For more info: Stephen Cornwell, SAGE NNPP Darlington Project Coordinator, 416 587 4948, stephen.d.g.cornwell@gmail.com
http://www.gosage.net/Site/index.html
----------------------------------------------------------------
Angela Bischoff, Outreach Director
Ontario Clean Air Alliance
Tel: 416 926 1907 x 246
625 Church Street, #402, Toronto, ON M4Y 2G1
angela@cleanairalliance.org
www.ontariosgreenfuture.ca
www.cleanairalliance.org
Our Facebook Group
Sign Our Petition
No Nukes News
Health Power
=========================
9. UK nuclear power groups eager to press on
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8f8d2cfc-5ed9 ... ab49a.html
By Ed Crooks
Published: May 14 2010 02:22 | Last updated: May 14 2010 02:22
Energy companies are determined to press ahead with tens of billions of pounds of investment in new nuclear power stations, in spite of the appointment of the Liberal Democrats’ Chris Huhne as energy secretary, industry executives said on Thursday.
The Lib Dem manifesto committed the party to “reject a new generation of nuclear power stations”, arguing that they would be more expensive than energy-saving measures or renewables such as wind power.
Mr Huhne on Thursday reiterated his sceptical position about new reactors, telling BBC News that they would go ahead only if energy companies were prepared to invest without any new government subsidy, and warning: “No new nuclear power station has been built without new public subsidy for a very long time.”
However, the energy companies looking at making investments of £40bn-plus ($58bn) to build up to 12 new nuclear power stations in Britain said that they were reassured by the details of the coalition agreement.
Vincent de Rivaz, chief executive of the UK arm of EDF, the French energy group that plans to build the first new reactor in Britain for more than 20 years, described Mr Huhne as “a man we can do business with”.
MORE:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8f8d2cfc-5ed9 ... ab49a.html
========================
10. India introduces controversial legislation on compensation for nuclear accidents
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/
2010/05/07/AR2010050705057.html
By Rama Lakshmi Saturday, May 8, 2010
NEW DELHI -- A controversial bill to establish a compensation system for nuclear accidents -- a key step toward allowing American companies to set up reactors in India -- was introduced in Parliament on Friday, as opposition lawmakers accused the government of favoring U.S. and business interests over the rights of the people.
Opponents chanted "shame, shame" as India's minister of science and technology, Prithviraj Chavan, moved the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill in the lower house of Parliament. They then left the chamber in protest.
"We tried our best to bring changes to this bill, but because of the stubborn attitude of this government, we have decided to walk out," said Sushma Swaraj, a member of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party. Other Parliament members called the bill "illegal" and "unconstitutional" and accused the government of acting under U.S. pressure.
The opposition lawmakers said the bill takes away the right of victims to bring compensation claims to court in the event of a nuclear disaster.
The bill seeks to place the burden of damages solely on the nuclear plant operator, not on suppliers of equipment. The legislation has been a subject of heated debate among Indians for months because it revives troubling memories of compensation battles in the aftermath of a poisonous gas leak from the Union Carbide factory in the city of Bhopal in 1984.
The liability legislation is one of the last steps needed to fully activate a landmark civilian nuclear agreement with the United States that will allow American companies to set up reactors in India.
MORE: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/
2010/05/07/AR2010050705057.html
===========================
11. "War without Borders": Obama's "Long War"
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19175
By Michel Chossudovsky Global Research, May 15, 2010
The concept of the "long war" has characterised military doctrine since the end of World War II. The broader objective of global military dominance in support of an imperial project was first formulated under the Truman administration in the late 1940s at the outset of the Cold War.
The 2000 Project for the New American Century (PNAC), which was the backbone of the NeoCon's agenda was predicated on "waging a war without borders". The PNAC's declared objectives was to "fight and decisively win multiple, simultaneous major theater wars" in different regions of the World as well perform the so-called military "constabulary" duties "associated with shaping the security environment in critical regions". Global constabulary implies a Worldwide process of military policing and interventionism. (Project for a New American Century, Rebuilding Americas Defenses.pdf, September 2000)
The diabolical nature of this military project was adopted and implemented from the very outset of the Obama administration. With a new team of military and foreign policy advisers, Obama has been far more effective in fostering military escalation than his predecessor in the White House.
Under the Obama presidency, this global military project has become increasingly pervasive. Military escalation as well as the Worldwide deployment of US military might are an integral part of America's "long war" military doctrine, to which the current administration is firmly committed. The nature of the long war was recently reaffirmed by the Vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps General James Cartwright: "[For the next] “five to 10 years.... the military likely will remain engaged in the same kinds of conflicts it has been fighting since 2001 ... [N]o one I know thinks we’ll be out of” these kinds of conflicts any time soon. There is nothing out there that tells us we won’t be wrapped up in these conflicts for as far as the eye can see.." quoted in John T. Bennett, Cartwright: Expect war for 5-10 more years - MarineCorpsTimes.com, May 14, 2010)
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19175
==========================
12. Climate bill ignores nuclear power's hidden costs on communities and the environment
http://www.earthworksaction.org/PR_UraniumKL.cfm
For Immediate Release: May 14, 2010
Contacts:
Lauren Pagel, Policy Director, 202-887-1872 x207
Cathy Carlson, Policy Advisor, 720-839-7289
Nikos Pastos, Center for Water Advocacy, 907-764-2561
Lilias Jarding, Clean Water Alliance, 605-787-2872
Uranium-impacted communities call on the Nation's leaders to protect our air, water and public health
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 14 -- This week, Senator's Kerry and Lieberman moved the debate forward on ways to meet our Nation's energy needs and address the global problem of climate change. Regrettably, the proposal includes new incentives for nuclear power and erodes safeguards for development of nuclear energy. The impact on communities across the Rocky Mountain region will be immediate and potentially destructive.
The release of the Kerry-Lieberman draft climate change proposal coincides with an outcry from uranium mining experts and impacted community members who traveled to Washington DC this week to educate members of Congress about the hidden costs of nuclear power in the development of uranium in West.
Uranium is highly toxic. When mined, other radioactive decay elements such as radium and thorium are produced. Lung cancer, skin cancer, bone cancer, leukemia, kidney damage and birth defects are all linked to exposure from these radioactive elements.
'Thanks to the contamination it creates, uranium mining endangers the health of mine workers, the public, and ground and surface waters," said Lilias Jarding, PhD, with the Clean Water Alliance in South Dakota.
Uranium was heavily mined in the United States from the 1940's to 1980's to fuel the last big push for nuclear material during the arms race. This boom in uranium mining created a toxic legacy for communities and left behind major environmental damage. The EPA estimates there are at least 4,000 abandoned uranium mines in 14 western states, with most situated in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and Wyoming.
"Indigenous communities throughout the West have suffered disproportionately from uranium development. They pay the real environmental cost of nuclear power: uranium exploration, mining, and toxic waste," said Nikos Pastos with the Center for Water Advocacy in Utah. 'Before any more new uranium mines are permitted, Congress must clean up the ones that still poison our landscape," he continued.
'Better regulation is needed to ensure that the mistakes of the past are not repeated in the present," said Lauren Pagel, Policy Director for EARTHWORKS. 'Uranium mining needs to managed like the other energy sources found on federal lands, with a fair return to the treasury and some discretion to say no to a uranium mine if it poses a threat to water or public health," she continued. -- ENDS --
EARTHWORKS is dedicated to protecting communities and the environment from the destructive impacts of mineral development, in the U.S. and worldwide.
=========================
13. OTHER NEWS:
Al Jazeera English launches international news channel in Canada
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/
Jazeera+English+launches+international+news+channel+Canada/
2984970/story.html
Cable news outlet plans to open bureau in Canada
The Ottawa CitizenMay 4, 2010 1:19 PM
OTTAWA — Al Jazeera English, the 24-hour global news and current affairs channel, began broadcasting in Canada on Tuesday on Bell TV, Rogers and Videotron.
AJE will be available to subscribers of Bell TV on channel 516, Rogers in Ontario on channel 176 and Videotron illico Digital TV on channel 173.
AJE managing director Tony Burman is former editor in chief of CBC News.
"We are extremely pleased that AJE’s groundbreaking news and programming is now available in Canada, one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world," Burman said in a news release. "Over the past year, I have had the opportunity to travel throughout Canada and hear first-hand the great demand for the channel. I believe that our cutting-edge reporting and programming will fill an important void by bringing another voice in international news to this important market. This is an exciting first step in bringing AJE to Canada, and we hope to announce additional carriage deals in the near future."
Additionally, AJE will open a Canadian bureau in June in Toronto. AJE said this would make it the only international news channel with a bureau in Canada.
MORE:
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/
Jazeera+English+launches+international+news+channel+Canada/
2984970/story.html
= = = = = = =
WATCH: BP Funnels Millions into Lobbying to Influence Regulation and Re-Brand Image
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/5/5/
bp_funnels_millions_into_lobbying_to
We speak with Antonia Juhasz, author of The Tyranny of Oil: The World’s Most Powerful Industry – and What We Must Do To Stop It. “The entire oil industry, will continue to use its vast wealth – unequaled by any global industry – to escape regulation, restriction, oversight and enforcement,” Juhasz writes. “BP, now the source of the last two great deadly US oil industry explosions, has shown us that this simply cannot be permitted.” [Includes rush transcript–partial]
Filed under BP Oil Spill
= = = = =
WATCH: Pump action - activists target BP in Tar Sands protest
http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/ne ... te-change/
4584-pump-action-activists-target-bp-in-tar-sands-protest
Monday, 12 April 2010 07:05
On Saturday, 10th April, hundreds of people from London and beyond gathered at the pumps to send a message to BP: you're not going into the tar sands without a fight!
= = = = = =
US Senate Begins Oil Spill Cover-Up By Tom Eley
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19136
Global Research, May 13, 2010 World Socialist Web Site - 2010-05-12
On Tuesday, the US senate began hearings into the Deepwater Horizon disaster, which took the lives of 11 workers in an April 20 explosion and has since poured millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, threatening the region with an environmental and economic catastrophe.
Appearing before the Energy and Natural Resources Committee in the morning and the Environmental and Public Health Committee in the afternoon were executives from the three corporations implicated in the disaster: Lamar McKay, president of the US operations of BP, which owned the oil and the drill site; Steven Newman, president of Transocean, the contractor that owned the rig and employed most of its workers; and Tim Probert, an executive with Halliburton, which contracted for the work of cementing the rig’s wellhead one mile beneath ocean’s surface.
The hearing resembled a falling out among thieves, with multi-millionaire executives—who, until April 20, had collaborated in thwarting basic safety and environmental considerations—each blaming the other for the explosion.
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19136
=================
Socialism Hits the Oil Industry
http://www.energyandcapital.com/articles/
weekend-socialism-hits-the-oil-industry/1149
By Keith Kohl | Sunday, May 16th, 2010
Welcome to the Energy and Capital Weekend Edition — our insights from the week in investing and links to our most-read stories from Energy and Capital and sister publications.
Socialism just hit the oil industry.
And I'm not referring to Venezuelan President Chavez wresting oil fields away from foreign companies...
No. This time, it's hitting much closer to home.
Obama recently took his plan to Congress. In order to pay for the clean-up efforts in the Gulf of Mexico, he's proposing a penny tax on oil companies.
Although a penny tax seems trivial, it's a foot in the door for Obama.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to trivialize the situation in any way. But if I'm not mistaken, BP has already stated they would pay for all legitimate claims. (I'd like to point out that the wording alone makes me cringe.)
If nothing else, we should be promoting more onshore activity — not penalizing them for the offshore spill.
The overnight comeback of North American oil
This $4-a-share driller is the front-runner in a forgotten oil field that’s all of a sudden the hottest energy territory in the Western Hemisphere.
Their new drilling technology is the key -- here’s the proof that two-year gains of 1,239% or more await those who move fast...
- - - SNIP - - -
What are the other consequences of the BP oil spill, you ask?
· For a moment, put aside the amount of money ultimately spent on the cleanup. That figure changes nearly every day and everyone seems to be predicting a different amount. So far, I've heard some analysts call for a $20 billion price tag, while others lowball the amount at $7 billion.
· The Governator's green agenda will inevitably gain from the offshore debacle. In fact senators from California, Oregon, and Washington are already calling for a total ban on new offshore drilling projects along the Pacific coast. But did you honestly think they wouldn't take advantage of the public anti-offshore sentiment to pass their agenda?
· Meanwhile, the onshore oil plays that we can actually remain bullish on are few and far between. Had it not been for the Bakken's success, I daresay the public would truly realize where we stand in regards to peak oil.
MORE: http://www.energyandcapital.com/articles/
weekend-socialism-hits-the-oil-industry/1149
=========================
Compilation:
1. Action Alert: Send a Message to Your MP!
2. ACTION ALERT: Help us Oppose CANSEC, Canada's Top Weapons Bazaar!
3. Navy faces budget crunch?
4. Another drop in nuclear generation
5. Ottawa likely to unload entire stake in nuclear reactor division CANDU
6. AREVA’S dirty little secret
7. Canada helps track down radioactive item mistakenly discarded in India
8. No Nukes News - May 7, 2010
9. UK nuclear power groups eager to press on
10. India introduces controversial legislation on compensation for nuclear accidents
11. "War without Borders": Obama's "Long War"
12. Climate bill ignores nuclear power's hidden costs on communities and the environment
13. OTHER NEWS:
- Al Jazeera English launches international news channel in Canada
- WATCH: BP Funnels Millions into Lobbying to Influence Regulation and Re-Brand Image
- WATCH: Pump action - activists target BP in Tar Sands protest
- US Senate Begins Oil Spill Cover-Up By Tom Eley
- Socialism Hits the Oil Industry
===========================
1. Action Alert: Send a Message to Your MP!
Stop Bill C-15 at
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=1 ... 311&v=info
The Harper government has tabled legislation (Bill C-15) that would, if passed, artificially cap the liability of a nuclear operator for accidents at $650 million – a miniscule fraction of the likely actual cost of a nuclear disaster.
Bill C-15 is also yet another Harper subsidy to dirty energy. Unlike green energy, the nuclear industry needs a special law to relieve it from paying its own insurance costs. This creates an unfair playing field for green energy and would force Canadians to pay for the nuclear industry’s pollution.
Why is Prime Minister Harper giving the nuclear industry this special legal protection? Because the nuclear industry, the insurance industry and private lendors know another Chernobyl is possible. Otherwise put, the nuclear industry doesn’t have confidence in its reactors. So why should we?
Stop Bill C-15!
Join the facebook group Stop Harper’s Sweetheart Deal for the Nuclear Industry – Stop Bill C-15 at
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=1 ... 311&v=info
Not on facebook? You can E-mail Stephen Cornwell at stephen.d.g.cornwell@gmail.com or Theresa McClenaghan at theresa@cela.ca
Follow the debate at openparliament.ca: http://openparliament.ca/bills/2224/ (the debate is expected to begin in the next few weeks and will be updated here)
Our Members of Parliament need to know that Canadians know what they’re up to. This bill nearly made it through parliament last year before it was killed at prorogation. Let MPs know you are paying attention. Tell them to stop C-15 and raise the limit!
Please find below a sample letter to Members of Parliament and the email addresses of all Members of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources which will examine Bill C-15. Letters are far more effective when you personalize your own!
Please send your letter now…
Dear Member of Parliament,
I have learned that the House of Commons is considering legislation that would limit the liability of nuclear power operators. I am deeply concerned about what this could mean for Canadians.
The proposed limit of $650 million is far below the standards of other major developed countries in Europe and of our neighbours in the United States. Other governments have seen fit to make nuclear power plant operators pay the full costs of the risks they create. Why don’t Canadians deserve the same coverage?
The limit is also far below the costs of any serious accident. Given the potential cost of a nuclear incident, operators will not be held responsible for the full impact of accidents if this limit is imposed. It is unacceptable that victims may not be compensated and taxpayers will be asked to foot the bill.
As a Parliamentarian, it is your job is to protect the best interests of Canadians. That is why we, the people, elect you.
Don’t support Bill C-15. Raise the limit to protect Canadians.
Sincerely,
[your name here]
ADDRESSES OF NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE MEMBERS
All Members of parliament can receive mail (no postage required) at the following physical address
MP NAME
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6
Email addresses for members of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources (which will consider the bill) follow:
Liberal MPs
Geoff Regan ReganG@parl.gc.ca
Alan Tonks TonksA@parl.gc.ca
Navdeep Bains BainsN@parl.gc.ca
Bloc Quebecois MPs
Paule Brunelle BruneP@parl.gc.ca
Claude Guimond GuimoC@parl.gc.ca
Conservative MPs
David Anderson AnderD@parl.gc.ca
Mike Allen AllenM@parl.gc.ca
Cheryl Gallant GallaC@parl.gc.ca
Russ Hiebert HiebeR@parl.gc.ca
Richard Harris HarriR@parlg.ca.ca
Devinder Shory ShoryD@parl.gc.ca
New Democrat MP
Nathan Cullen Cullen@parl.gc.ca
- - -
And please cc: stephen.d.g.cornwell@gmail.com
--
For more info: Stephen Cornwell, SAGE NNPP Darlington Project Coordinator, 416 587 4948, stephen.d.g.cornwell@gmail.com
http://www.gosage.net/Site/index.html
=========================
2. Help us Oppose CANSEC, Canada's Top Weapons Bazaar!
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/OpposeCANSEC.htm
This is a call for help! Please look over the list below to see how you might participate in our campaign to expose and oppose CANSEC.
CANSEC is Canada's largest weapons trade exhibition, and it will be held in Ottawa, June 2-3, 2010. Many thousands of buyers, sellers, users and promoters of the latest military technologies will be rubbing shoulders at this war industry extravaganza. Ottawa's fairgrounds will be bristling with displays set up by hundreds of companies to showcase cutting-edge military hardware used in Iraq, Afghanistan, Gaza, and all-too-many other killing fields.
MORE: http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/OpposeCANSEC.htm
- - - - - -
See Letters to Editor at: http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=932
=========================
3. Navy faces budget crunch?
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4667&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 14 May 2010 11:52 AM PDT
Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Vice-Admiral Dean McFadden, the commander of the Canadian Navy, are contradicting each other on the state of the Navy’s budget (David Pugliese, “Cash-strapped navy being cut to bone, analysts say,” Montreal Gazette, 12 May 2010; see also David Pugliese, “MacKay says no decision made on fleet reductions; Admiral and sailors [...]
======================
4. Another drop in nuclear generation
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/
EE_Another_drop_in_nuclear_generation_0505102.html
Annual generation of nuclear power has continued on a slight downward trend, decreasing 2% last year to 2558 TWh, according to the latest estimates.
05 May 2010,�Researched and written�by World Nuclear News
Another drop in nuclear generation
With some data yet to come in, estimates by the International Atomic Energy Agency see nuclear power last year meeting 13-14% of the world's electricity demand, which continues to increase rapidly in the developing world.
MORE:
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/
EE_Another_drop_in_nuclear_generation_0505102.html
=====================
5. Ottawa likely to unload entire stake in nuclear reactor division CANDU
http://www.calgaryherald.com/technology/
Ottawa+likely+unload+entire+stake+nuclear+reactor+division+Candu/
2983109/story.html
Sale may mark end of reactor's technology
BY ANDREW MAYEDA, CANWEST NEWS SERVICE MAY 4, 2010
The federal government is now expected to sell its entire stake in the Candu reactor division of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., a move that could have profound implications for Canada's nuclear industry and billions of dollars in plant refurbishments across the country.
When the government announced in December it was formally inviting bids for the Candu division, federal officials said Ottawa was open to a range of investment options, including a 100 per cent takeover.
A spokesperson at Natural Resources Canada says that remains the government's official position.
But stakeholders who have been briefed by investment bank Rothschild, which is overseeing the bidding process, have been told the government has now decided to unload its entire stake.
MORE:
http://www.calgaryherald.com/technology/
Ottawa+likely+unload+entire+stake+nuclear+reactor+division+Candu/
2983109/story.html
======================
6. AREVA’S dirty little secret
http://www.greenpeace.org/international ... /features/
AREVAS-dirty-little-secrets060510/
May 6, 2010
In one of the poorest nations in the world, French nuclear giant AREVA is extracting precious—and deadly—natural resources, earning billions for its Fortune 500 corporation while the people pay the price. Our latest report exposes the unsafe everyday living conditions of the people of Niger as AREVA mines precious uranium from their land to fuel their attempts at a new nuclear revolution.
Our latest report exposes the unsafe everyday living conditions of the people of Niger as AREVA mines precious uranium from their land to fuel their attempts at a new nuclear revolution.
AREVA currently has activities in over 100 countries and aggressively pushes nuclear energy in new markets globally. Its PR teams work overtime to convince governments, investors and the general public that nuclear energy is now a safe, clean, and ’green’ technology. While the nuclear industry is trying to have us believe that the waste can be cleaned up, buried under some mountain and forgotten for a few thousand years or that the plants generating energy with deadly waste are safe, they are covering up the deadly effects acquiring the fuel that nuclear energy requires.
MORE: http://www.greenpeace.org/international ... /features/
AREVAS-dirty-little-secrets060510/
====================
7. Canada helps track down radioactive item mistakenly discarded in India
http://www.canada.com/technology/story.html?id=3006652
May 9, 2010
‘India's nuclear power regulator has turned to Canada for help after a tragic incident in which a gamma-ray generator purchased 40 years ago from Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. was mistakenly sold for scrap by the University of Delhi - killing one recycler and leaving at least six others with severe radiation sickness requiring possible bone-marrow transplants. An Indian government panel is already investigating how one of that country's leading universities could have trashed a highly radioactive instrument along with old tables and chairs from a chemistry lab. Following the Feb. 26 sale of the Canadian-made machine to a scrap dealer in Mayapuri - an industrial suburb of Delhi, the Indian capital - the lead housing around its radioactive components was pried opened and 12 of the 16 cobalt-60 rods or "pencils" were removed, some ending up in the shops of metal dealers around the city. Last month, investigators began probing seven unexplained cases of radiation illness in the Delhi area. Local residents were in a panic, and officials initially suspected that the source of the contamination was waste discarded from an area hospital. Then they discovered the link to the University of Delhi's scrapped scientific equipment.
MORE: http://www.canada.com/technology/story.html?id=3006652
======================
8. No Nukes News - May 7, 2010
“On top of the perennial challenges of global poverty and injustice, the two biggest threats facing human civilization in the 21st century are climate change and nuclear war. It would be absurd to respond to one by increasing the risks of the other.” - Dr Mark Diesendorf, author of Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable Energy
----------------------------------------------------------------
Ottawa likely to unload entire stake in nuclear reactor division CANDU
Sale may mark end of reactor's technology
The federal government is now expected to sell its entire stake in the Candu reactor division of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., a move that could have profound implications for Canada's nuclear industry and billions of dollars in plant refurbishments across the country. "It's quite likely that it would die. I can't imagine a scenario a 100 per cent private Canadian player can compete with the big players in this game," It appears the government has grown weary of bankrolling AECL, which has received $1.74 billion in public funding since 2006.
http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/
Ottawa+likely+unload+entire+stake+Candu/2983109/
story.html#ixzz0n7Ej4zem
----------------------------------------------------------------
Canada's Deadly Deceit on Atomic Arms
With the clandestine nuclear weapons programs of North Korea and Iran drawing deserved condemnation at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review in the United Nations, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has pledged a leadership role for Canada in devising a diplomatic exit strategy from the perils of proliferation.
He should start by ending Canada’s exports of reactors and uranium. The reason is physics. Every time uranium is fissioned inside a nuclear reactor, the deadly element plutonium is created. Aptly named after the Greek god of the underworld, only a plum-sized sphere weighing eight kilograms is needed to make an efficient atomic bomb. Moreover, with a half-life of 24,000 years, plutonium is effectively immortal. It is also virtually indestructible.
… But last year, Saskatchewan uranium exports totalled 7.3 million kilograms. When fissioned in any reactor of any make, model or purpose, this will transmute into some 19,000 kilograms of plutonium, or enough for 2,300 warheads annually. This exported uranium also contains 52,000 kilograms of the bomb ingredient uranium-235, or enough to make 2,600 warheads annually.
No one not blinded by self-interest would knowingly court this calamity, or prescribe nuclear reactors as the alternative to our carbon-imperilled Earth. While reactors do not emit carbon, they produce a different, equally ominous security threat in plutonium and uranium-235, as well as intensely radioactive, latently lethal wastes that will remain a threat to the biosphere for hundreds of centuries.
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editoria ... n/article/
805701--canada-s-deadly-deceit-on-atomic-arms
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The Triple Curse of the Corporate Climate Bill
Legend says curses come in threes. Let's pray that doesn't happen with the unholy trinity of the Corporate Climate Bill. It demands drilling for oil, digging for coal and big money for new nukes. How such a devil's brew could help save the Earth conjures a corporate cynicism beyond the scope of the human mind and soul.
Only one Climate Bill can solve our energy crisis---a Solartopian program for converting the entire economy to renewables, conservation and efficiency. It would fly in the face of the corporate destroyers who are behind the current Climate Bill. But these are technologies that actually work, that pay, that create jobs and prosperity, and that will preserve rather than destroy our sacred Earth.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/05/03-5
----------------------------------------------------------------
SACE Wins Lawsuit – proposed reactors now in jeopardy
Today, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy won its lawsuit in Fulton County Superior Court that aimed to protect Georgians from unfair utility costs in connection with the proposed construction of two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro, Georgia.
“We applaud the Judge’s decision and continue to find it incredible that the Georgia Public Service Commission would put $14 billion of ratepayer money at risk on this project without properly documenting the factual basis behind this high risk decision. This ruling spotlights the ongoing incestuous relationship between the Commission and Georgia Power and highlights the regulatory breakdown and blatant lack of consumer protection.”
http://www.cleanenergy.org/index.php?/
Press-Update.html?form_id=8&item_id=172
----------------------------------------------------------------
Wind's latest problem: it . . . makes power too cheap
The key thing here is that we are beginning to unveil what I've labeled the dirty secret of wind: utilities don't like wind not because it's not competitive, but because it brings prices down for their existing assets, thus lowering their revenues and their profits.
http://europe.theoildrum.com/node/6418
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The bizarre dance of wind power
"Wind produces zero emissions. Wind is low-impact because it requires no mining or drilling, and you don't need to import any fuel or get it locally." But unlike other clean energy sources such as solar power, electricity from wind has now become competitive in cost with electricity from conventional sources, due largely to advances in turbine design over the last 30 years. According to the AWEA, today wind electricity sells for half the price of nuclear power about the same as electricity from coal, oil and natural gas.
"Anyone who is against clean energy should come take a look at the coal burning power plants in our areas," Reed says. "They require coal mines that can harm our ground water, they produce pollution, and they produce a sludge type waste and many other negative things that are not beneficial to the environment.”
http://www.energybulletin.net/node/18290
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Where’s the power plan?
Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller raised an important question this week with his report on energy conservation: where is Ontario’s 20-year plan for meeting our electricity needs and what are the targets for renewable power and conservation?
To be fair, circumstances have changed since 2008, including the decision to delay the purchase of new nuclear reactors and the introduction of the Green Energy Act, which has altered the ground rules for procurement of renewable power.
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/
804531--where-s-the-power-plan
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Ontario's Solar Industry to Rival US Nuclear Energy Output?
According to two recent studies by Queen's University, solar power production in SE Ontario could potentially yield as much energy as all US nuclear reactors combined.
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea ... t/2010/05/
ontarios-solar-industry-to-rival-us-nuclear-energy-output?cmpid=rss
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Another drop in nuclear generation
Annual generation of nuclear power has continued on a slight downward trend, decreasing 2% last year to 2558 TWh,according to the latest estimates.
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/
EE_Another_drop_in_nuclear_generation_0505102.html
----------------------------------------------------------------
Wind Power Realities – Myths vs. Facts
Harnessing the power of the wind has become one of the fastest growing sources of global electricity generation. As countries strive to develop clean and secure energy systems, more scientists, policy makers and communities are looking to wind power as an important part of the solution.
As new opportunities emerge to develop wind-power generation in communities across Canada, they raise reasonable questions about the social, environmental and economic impacts of large-scale wind power production. This fact sheet aims to help answer those questions, and to distill the realities of wind power from the myths and misconceptions.
http://www.pembina.org/pub/1943
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15,000 March through New York calling for nuclear disarmament now
Speakers called on the NPT (Nuclear Proliferation Treaty) delegates to push for talks to begin on a Nuclear Weapons Convention while others denounced the damage caused by uranium mining, the division of the Korean Peninsula and military spending among many other issues. The Mayor of Hiroshima called on nuclear weapons to be phased out by the year 2020.
http://www.pressenza.com/npermalink/
15x000-march-through-new-york-calling-for-nuclear-disarmament-now
----------------------------------------------------------------
Nuclear Attack a Ticking Time Bomb, Experts Warn
The major nuclear powers are making efforts to continue the streak of nuclear deterrence. Last month, the U.S. and Russia signed a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) that will reduce their nuclear stockpiles by about 30 percent over the next several years, and President Obama hosted a 47 nation Nuclear Security Summit in Washington. This week, representatives from 189 nations are meeting New York for Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference to deal with the potential spread of nuclear weaponry in the Middle East and other parts of the world.
Various experts estimate the chances of a nuclear detonation in the next 10 years at somewhere between 10 and 30 percent. Hellman, who has been focusing on nuclear deterrence for the past 25 years, said that a baby born today, with an expected lifetime of 80 years, faces a greater than 50-50 chance that a nuclear weapon attack will occur unless the number of weapons and available weapons-grade material is radically reduced.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162- ... 03543.html
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Be a PeakBuster and win big!
Does this warm weather have you daydreaming about cycling through wine country, eating a fabulous meal on the deck of some luxurious country inn, or hitting the links on one of Ontario’s best golf courses? Enter the Ontario Clean Air Alliance's fourth-annual PeakBusters contest and you could be doing more than dreaming. We are giving away two $1,000 luxurious and a dozen $200 gift cards. Click here to enter now!
Being a PeakBuster is easy. If your home has central air conditioning, all you have to do is ensure that you are enrolled in your utility’s peaksaver© program. This will mean that you are doing your part to reduce smog and control climate change by allowing your air conditioner to be automatically controlled for short periods during times of peak electricity demand.
If your home does not have central air conditioning or you live in an apartment or condo, you can still enter by telling us about other energy-saving actions you are taking. Click here to enter.
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Action Alert: Send a Message to Your MP!
The Harper government has tabled legislation (Bill C-15) that would, if passed, artificially cap the liability of a nuclear operator for accidents at $650 million – a miniscule fraction of the likely actual cost of a nuclear disaster.
Bill C-15 is also yet another Harper subsidy to dirty energy. Unlike green energy, the nuclear industry needs a special law to relieve it from paying its own insurance costs. This creates an unfair playing field for green energy and would force Canadians to pay for the nuclear industry’s pollution.
Why is Prime Minister Harper giving the nuclear industry this special legal protection? Because the nuclear industry, the insurance industry and private lendors know another Chernobyl is possible. Otherwise put, the nuclear industry doesn’t have confidence in its reactors. So why should we?
Stop Bill C-15!
Join the facebook group Stop Harper’s Sweetheart Deal for the Nuclear Industry – Stop Bill C-15 at
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=1 ... 311&v=info
Not on facebook? You can E-mail Stephen Cornwell at stephen.d.g.cornwell@gmail.com or Theresa McClenaghan at theresa@cela.ca
Follow the debate at openparliament.ca: http://openparliament.ca/bills/2224/ (the debate is expected to begin in the next few weeks and will be updated here)
Our Members of Parliament need to know that Canadians know what they’re up to. This bill nearly made it through parliament last year before it was killed at prorogation. Let MPs know you are paying attention. Tell them to stop C-15 and raise the limit!
Please find below a sample letter to Members of Parliament and the email addresses of all Members of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources which will examine Bill C-15. Letters are far more effective when you personalize your own! Please send your letter now…
Dear Member of Parliament,
I have learned that the House of Commons is considering legislation that would limit the liability of nuclear power operators. I am deeply concerned about what this could mean for Canadians.
The proposed limit of $650 million is far below the standards of other major developed countries in Europe and of our neighbours in the United States. Other governments have seen fit to make nuclear power plant operators pay the full costs of the risks they create. Why don’t Canadians deserve the same coverage?
The limit is also far below the costs of any serious accident. Given the potential cost of a nuclear incident, operators will not be held responsible for the full impact of accidents if this limit is imposed. It is unacceptable that victims may not be compensated and taxpayers will be asked to foot the bill.
As a Parliamentarian, it is your job is to protect the best interests of Canadians. That is why we, the people, elect you.
Don’t support Bill C-15. Raise the limit to protect Canadians.
Sincerely,
[your name here]
ADDRESSES OF NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE MEMBERS
All Members of parliament can receive mail (no postage required) at the following physical address
MP NAME
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6
Email addresses for members of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources (which will consider the bill) follow:
Liberal MPs
Geoff Regan ReganG@parl.gc.ca
Alan Tonks TonksA@parl.gc.ca
Navdeep Bains BainsN@parl.gc.ca
Bloc Quebecois MPs
Paule Brunelle BruneP@parl.gc.ca
Claude Guimond GuimoC@parl.gc.ca
Conservative MPs
David Anderson AnderD@parl.gc.ca
Mike Allen AllenM@parl.gc.ca
Cheryl Gallant GallaC@parl.gc.ca
Russ Hiebert HiebeR@parl.gc.ca
Richard Harris HarriR@parlg.ca.ca
Devinder Shory ShoryD@parl.gc.ca
New Democrat MP
Nathan Cullen Cullen@parl.gc.ca
- - -
And please cc: stephen.d.g.cornwell@gmail.com
--
For more info: Stephen Cornwell, SAGE NNPP Darlington Project Coordinator, 416 587 4948, stephen.d.g.cornwell@gmail.com
http://www.gosage.net/Site/index.html
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Angela Bischoff, Outreach Director
Ontario Clean Air Alliance
Tel: 416 926 1907 x 246
625 Church Street, #402, Toronto, ON M4Y 2G1
angela@cleanairalliance.org
www.ontariosgreenfuture.ca
www.cleanairalliance.org
Our Facebook Group
Sign Our Petition
No Nukes News
Health Power
=========================
9. UK nuclear power groups eager to press on
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8f8d2cfc-5ed9 ... ab49a.html
By Ed Crooks
Published: May 14 2010 02:22 | Last updated: May 14 2010 02:22
Energy companies are determined to press ahead with tens of billions of pounds of investment in new nuclear power stations, in spite of the appointment of the Liberal Democrats’ Chris Huhne as energy secretary, industry executives said on Thursday.
The Lib Dem manifesto committed the party to “reject a new generation of nuclear power stations”, arguing that they would be more expensive than energy-saving measures or renewables such as wind power.
Mr Huhne on Thursday reiterated his sceptical position about new reactors, telling BBC News that they would go ahead only if energy companies were prepared to invest without any new government subsidy, and warning: “No new nuclear power station has been built without new public subsidy for a very long time.”
However, the energy companies looking at making investments of £40bn-plus ($58bn) to build up to 12 new nuclear power stations in Britain said that they were reassured by the details of the coalition agreement.
Vincent de Rivaz, chief executive of the UK arm of EDF, the French energy group that plans to build the first new reactor in Britain for more than 20 years, described Mr Huhne as “a man we can do business with”.
MORE:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8f8d2cfc-5ed9 ... ab49a.html
========================
10. India introduces controversial legislation on compensation for nuclear accidents
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/
2010/05/07/AR2010050705057.html
By Rama Lakshmi Saturday, May 8, 2010
NEW DELHI -- A controversial bill to establish a compensation system for nuclear accidents -- a key step toward allowing American companies to set up reactors in India -- was introduced in Parliament on Friday, as opposition lawmakers accused the government of favoring U.S. and business interests over the rights of the people.
Opponents chanted "shame, shame" as India's minister of science and technology, Prithviraj Chavan, moved the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill in the lower house of Parliament. They then left the chamber in protest.
"We tried our best to bring changes to this bill, but because of the stubborn attitude of this government, we have decided to walk out," said Sushma Swaraj, a member of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party. Other Parliament members called the bill "illegal" and "unconstitutional" and accused the government of acting under U.S. pressure.
The opposition lawmakers said the bill takes away the right of victims to bring compensation claims to court in the event of a nuclear disaster.
The bill seeks to place the burden of damages solely on the nuclear plant operator, not on suppliers of equipment. The legislation has been a subject of heated debate among Indians for months because it revives troubling memories of compensation battles in the aftermath of a poisonous gas leak from the Union Carbide factory in the city of Bhopal in 1984.
The liability legislation is one of the last steps needed to fully activate a landmark civilian nuclear agreement with the United States that will allow American companies to set up reactors in India.
MORE: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/
2010/05/07/AR2010050705057.html
===========================
11. "War without Borders": Obama's "Long War"
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19175
By Michel Chossudovsky Global Research, May 15, 2010
The concept of the "long war" has characterised military doctrine since the end of World War II. The broader objective of global military dominance in support of an imperial project was first formulated under the Truman administration in the late 1940s at the outset of the Cold War.
The 2000 Project for the New American Century (PNAC), which was the backbone of the NeoCon's agenda was predicated on "waging a war without borders". The PNAC's declared objectives was to "fight and decisively win multiple, simultaneous major theater wars" in different regions of the World as well perform the so-called military "constabulary" duties "associated with shaping the security environment in critical regions". Global constabulary implies a Worldwide process of military policing and interventionism. (Project for a New American Century, Rebuilding Americas Defenses.pdf, September 2000)
The diabolical nature of this military project was adopted and implemented from the very outset of the Obama administration. With a new team of military and foreign policy advisers, Obama has been far more effective in fostering military escalation than his predecessor in the White House.
Under the Obama presidency, this global military project has become increasingly pervasive. Military escalation as well as the Worldwide deployment of US military might are an integral part of America's "long war" military doctrine, to which the current administration is firmly committed. The nature of the long war was recently reaffirmed by the Vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps General James Cartwright: "[For the next] “five to 10 years.... the military likely will remain engaged in the same kinds of conflicts it has been fighting since 2001 ... [N]o one I know thinks we’ll be out of” these kinds of conflicts any time soon. There is nothing out there that tells us we won’t be wrapped up in these conflicts for as far as the eye can see.." quoted in John T. Bennett, Cartwright: Expect war for 5-10 more years - MarineCorpsTimes.com, May 14, 2010)
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19175
==========================
12. Climate bill ignores nuclear power's hidden costs on communities and the environment
http://www.earthworksaction.org/PR_UraniumKL.cfm
For Immediate Release: May 14, 2010
Contacts:
Lauren Pagel, Policy Director, 202-887-1872 x207
Cathy Carlson, Policy Advisor, 720-839-7289
Nikos Pastos, Center for Water Advocacy, 907-764-2561
Lilias Jarding, Clean Water Alliance, 605-787-2872
Uranium-impacted communities call on the Nation's leaders to protect our air, water and public health
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 14 -- This week, Senator's Kerry and Lieberman moved the debate forward on ways to meet our Nation's energy needs and address the global problem of climate change. Regrettably, the proposal includes new incentives for nuclear power and erodes safeguards for development of nuclear energy. The impact on communities across the Rocky Mountain region will be immediate and potentially destructive.
The release of the Kerry-Lieberman draft climate change proposal coincides with an outcry from uranium mining experts and impacted community members who traveled to Washington DC this week to educate members of Congress about the hidden costs of nuclear power in the development of uranium in West.
Uranium is highly toxic. When mined, other radioactive decay elements such as radium and thorium are produced. Lung cancer, skin cancer, bone cancer, leukemia, kidney damage and birth defects are all linked to exposure from these radioactive elements.
'Thanks to the contamination it creates, uranium mining endangers the health of mine workers, the public, and ground and surface waters," said Lilias Jarding, PhD, with the Clean Water Alliance in South Dakota.
Uranium was heavily mined in the United States from the 1940's to 1980's to fuel the last big push for nuclear material during the arms race. This boom in uranium mining created a toxic legacy for communities and left behind major environmental damage. The EPA estimates there are at least 4,000 abandoned uranium mines in 14 western states, with most situated in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and Wyoming.
"Indigenous communities throughout the West have suffered disproportionately from uranium development. They pay the real environmental cost of nuclear power: uranium exploration, mining, and toxic waste," said Nikos Pastos with the Center for Water Advocacy in Utah. 'Before any more new uranium mines are permitted, Congress must clean up the ones that still poison our landscape," he continued.
'Better regulation is needed to ensure that the mistakes of the past are not repeated in the present," said Lauren Pagel, Policy Director for EARTHWORKS. 'Uranium mining needs to managed like the other energy sources found on federal lands, with a fair return to the treasury and some discretion to say no to a uranium mine if it poses a threat to water or public health," she continued. -- ENDS --
EARTHWORKS is dedicated to protecting communities and the environment from the destructive impacts of mineral development, in the U.S. and worldwide.
=========================
13. OTHER NEWS:
Al Jazeera English launches international news channel in Canada
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/
Jazeera+English+launches+international+news+channel+Canada/
2984970/story.html
Cable news outlet plans to open bureau in Canada
The Ottawa CitizenMay 4, 2010 1:19 PM
OTTAWA — Al Jazeera English, the 24-hour global news and current affairs channel, began broadcasting in Canada on Tuesday on Bell TV, Rogers and Videotron.
AJE will be available to subscribers of Bell TV on channel 516, Rogers in Ontario on channel 176 and Videotron illico Digital TV on channel 173.
AJE managing director Tony Burman is former editor in chief of CBC News.
"We are extremely pleased that AJE’s groundbreaking news and programming is now available in Canada, one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world," Burman said in a news release. "Over the past year, I have had the opportunity to travel throughout Canada and hear first-hand the great demand for the channel. I believe that our cutting-edge reporting and programming will fill an important void by bringing another voice in international news to this important market. This is an exciting first step in bringing AJE to Canada, and we hope to announce additional carriage deals in the near future."
Additionally, AJE will open a Canadian bureau in June in Toronto. AJE said this would make it the only international news channel with a bureau in Canada.
MORE:
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/
Jazeera+English+launches+international+news+channel+Canada/
2984970/story.html
= = = = = = =
WATCH: BP Funnels Millions into Lobbying to Influence Regulation and Re-Brand Image
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/5/5/
bp_funnels_millions_into_lobbying_to
We speak with Antonia Juhasz, author of The Tyranny of Oil: The World’s Most Powerful Industry – and What We Must Do To Stop It. “The entire oil industry, will continue to use its vast wealth – unequaled by any global industry – to escape regulation, restriction, oversight and enforcement,” Juhasz writes. “BP, now the source of the last two great deadly US oil industry explosions, has shown us that this simply cannot be permitted.” [Includes rush transcript–partial]
Filed under BP Oil Spill
= = = = =
WATCH: Pump action - activists target BP in Tar Sands protest
http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/ne ... te-change/
4584-pump-action-activists-target-bp-in-tar-sands-protest
Monday, 12 April 2010 07:05
On Saturday, 10th April, hundreds of people from London and beyond gathered at the pumps to send a message to BP: you're not going into the tar sands without a fight!
= = = = = =
US Senate Begins Oil Spill Cover-Up By Tom Eley
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19136
Global Research, May 13, 2010 World Socialist Web Site - 2010-05-12
On Tuesday, the US senate began hearings into the Deepwater Horizon disaster, which took the lives of 11 workers in an April 20 explosion and has since poured millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, threatening the region with an environmental and economic catastrophe.
Appearing before the Energy and Natural Resources Committee in the morning and the Environmental and Public Health Committee in the afternoon were executives from the three corporations implicated in the disaster: Lamar McKay, president of the US operations of BP, which owned the oil and the drill site; Steven Newman, president of Transocean, the contractor that owned the rig and employed most of its workers; and Tim Probert, an executive with Halliburton, which contracted for the work of cementing the rig’s wellhead one mile beneath ocean’s surface.
The hearing resembled a falling out among thieves, with multi-millionaire executives—who, until April 20, had collaborated in thwarting basic safety and environmental considerations—each blaming the other for the explosion.
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19136
=================
Socialism Hits the Oil Industry
http://www.energyandcapital.com/articles/
weekend-socialism-hits-the-oil-industry/1149
By Keith Kohl | Sunday, May 16th, 2010
Welcome to the Energy and Capital Weekend Edition — our insights from the week in investing and links to our most-read stories from Energy and Capital and sister publications.
Socialism just hit the oil industry.
And I'm not referring to Venezuelan President Chavez wresting oil fields away from foreign companies...
No. This time, it's hitting much closer to home.
Obama recently took his plan to Congress. In order to pay for the clean-up efforts in the Gulf of Mexico, he's proposing a penny tax on oil companies.
Although a penny tax seems trivial, it's a foot in the door for Obama.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to trivialize the situation in any way. But if I'm not mistaken, BP has already stated they would pay for all legitimate claims. (I'd like to point out that the wording alone makes me cringe.)
If nothing else, we should be promoting more onshore activity — not penalizing them for the offshore spill.
The overnight comeback of North American oil
This $4-a-share driller is the front-runner in a forgotten oil field that’s all of a sudden the hottest energy territory in the Western Hemisphere.
Their new drilling technology is the key -- here’s the proof that two-year gains of 1,239% or more await those who move fast...
- - - SNIP - - -
What are the other consequences of the BP oil spill, you ask?
· For a moment, put aside the amount of money ultimately spent on the cleanup. That figure changes nearly every day and everyone seems to be predicting a different amount. So far, I've heard some analysts call for a $20 billion price tag, while others lowball the amount at $7 billion.
· The Governator's green agenda will inevitably gain from the offshore debacle. In fact senators from California, Oregon, and Washington are already calling for a total ban on new offshore drilling projects along the Pacific coast. But did you honestly think they wouldn't take advantage of the public anti-offshore sentiment to pass their agenda?
· Meanwhile, the onshore oil plays that we can actually remain bullish on are few and far between. Had it not been for the Bakken's success, I daresay the public would truly realize where we stand in regards to peak oil.
MORE: http://www.energyandcapital.com/articles/
weekend-socialism-hits-the-oil-industry/1149
=========================
Last edited by Oscar on Mon Jul 12, 2010 12:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9887
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
NUKE NEWS: May 19, 2010
by Oscar » Wed May 19, 2010 12:29 pm
NUKE NEWS: May 19, 2010
Compilation:
1. Letter: Bray: Why does Harper hate our environment?
2. Firm seeks U.S. approval for mini-nuclear reactors
3. Nuclear test survivors in Calgary renew campaign for compensation from effects of Nevada tests
4. Small steps toward Arctic cooperation – Staples
5. DND: There really is a free lunch! – Staples
6. WATCH: Steven Staples comments on (Canadian) submarines still in pieces on CBC TV
7. No Nukes News - May 14, 2010
8. Greenpeace International Nuclear Reaction Weblog - May 17, 2010
9. West 'concerned' despite Iran deal
10. JOINT DECLARATION BY IRAN, TURKEY AND BRAZIL
11. Uranium mining blocked
12. Bill for Afghan War Could Run into the Trillions By Eli Clifton
======================
1. Letter: Bray: Why does Harper hate our environment?
May 14, 2010
Dear Editor:
Stephen Harper has cynically placed changes that will gut the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act in the budget. M. P.s are forced to pass the budget with this regressive legislation in it or force an election by voting against the budget. Some choice!
These changes will allow the government to avoid doing detailed environmental assessments on large projects by breaking the projects up into smaller pieces. The Supreme Court has recently ruled that breaking the assessment of projects up like this is against the law. No problem to Mr. Law and Order Harper. Approving a project after looking at only a small part of it is like buying a house when you have only inspected the driveway. It makes no sense. Many projects will be exempt from environmental assessments.
These changes will also assign environmental assessment for pipeline and nuclear energy projects- some of the most dangerous to the environment- to the National Energy Board and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, which have little expertise in doing environmental assessments, rather than the experts at the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency. This will inevitably result in bad decisions.
It is undemocratic for the government to gut environmental assessment law through the Budget, without any consultation at all.
A motion was introduced in the House of Commons by an opposition M.P. to split the Budget bill to allow the study of the non-financial aspects of the budget to be dealt with separately. Unfortunately, it was defeated. The Budget bill is now before the Finance Committee.
I urge all citizens to contact all Members of Parliament and urge them to stop this regressive step now.
Saskatchewan should be extra wary of these developments. We have large reserves of low quality carbon- heavy oil, oil shale, tarsands, lignite- and corporations want to develop them at the least possible cost to the corporations. We have a provincial government that has gone soft on nuclear waste and is gutting our provincial environmental regulations. We have the Nuclear Waste Management Organization - a nuclear industry organization - sniffing around Saskatchewan as a possible dump site for Ontario’s nuclear waste.
Bad things happen when good people do nothing. I am not a tree hugger; I just believe we should be trying to get a few more miles out of the human race. Interested?
Mike Bray,
Indian Head, SK
=====================
2. Firm seeks U.S. approval for mini-nuclear reactors
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/technology/
Firm+seeks+approval+mini+nuclear+reactors/3041155/
story.html#ixzz0oIjlQJsp
Refrigerator-sized units could power small factories or remote towns
BLOOMBERG MAY 18, 2010Manufacturers of refrigerator-sized nuclear reactors will seek approval from U.S. authorities within a year to help supply the world's growing electricity demand.
John Deal, chief executive of Hyperion Power Generation Inc., intends to apply for a licence "within a year" for plants that would power a small factory or town too remote for traditional utility-grid connections.
The Santa Fe, N.M.-based company and Japan's Toshiba Corp. are vying for a head start over reactor makers General Electric Co. and Areva SA in downsizing nuclear technology and aim to submit licence applications in the next year to U.S. regulators. They're seeking to tap a market that has generated about $135 billion US in pending orders for large nuclear plants.
"We're building iPhones when the nuclear industry has traditionally built mainframe computers," Deal said.
Hyperion has more than 150 purchase commitments from customers such as mining and telecom companies, provided its technology gets licensed for operation, he said.
MORE: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/technology/
Firm+seeks+approval+mini+nuclear+reactors/3041155/
story.html#ixzz0oIjlQJsp
====================
3. Nuclear test survivors in Calgary renew campaign for compensation from effects of Nevada tests
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/
Nuclear+test+survivors+Calgary+renew+campaign+compensation+
from+effects+Nevada+tests/3036632/story.html
Documentary: Time Bombs shown at Plaza Theatre, to renew push for compensation and awareness
By Jamie Komarnicki, Calgary Herald May 17, 2010
First the ground rumbled, then the trenches caved in.
The soldiers clambered above ground, only to face a raging inferno across the landscape where a nuclear bomb had been set off.
It wasn't enemy warfare, though. It was 1957, and the soldiers -- including 40 Canadians -- were in Nevada on a top secret mission: to serve as "guinea pigs" for a set of nuclear tests by the U.S. government.
"Everything around us was burning, it was like being in the middle of a forest fire," recalled Balzac resident Jim Huntley, who experienced five nuclear blasts during two months in the field.
"Then we had to advance towards the bomb and do our tactics."
For decades, Huntley and other "atomic veterans" have been pressuring the federal government to recognize their experience and compensate them appropriately.
On Sunday, producers of the documentary Time Bombs, which traced the "embarrassing and controversial" saga and tracked down never-before-screened film records of the nuclear tests, showed the film at the Plaza Theatre in Kensington as part of efforts to renew the push for compensation and awareness.
In 2008, the federal government offered a special payment of $24,000 to about 900 soldiers exposed to atomic-bomb test sites.
But many Canadian veterans and their widows said the payment fell short of what was needed considering the high level of exposure, and would like special recognition for the soldiers who faced the most danger in the field.
A class-action lawsuit is underway and Huntley said he hopes it will come before a judge next month.
MORE:
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/
Nuclear+test+survivors+Calgary+
renew+campaign+compensation+from+effects+Nevada+tests/
3036632/story.html
======================
4. Small steps toward Arctic cooperation - Staples
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4681&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 16 May 2010 02:29 PM PDT
The Canadian government took a couple of small but potentially helpful steps towards greater cooperation in the Arctic last week. On Wednesday, Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon called on the United States to work with Canada to resolve the two countries’ border dispute in the Beaufort Sea. And on Friday, Canada and Denmark signed an agreement [...]
===================
5. DND: There really is a free lunch! - Staples
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4688&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 17 May 2010 06:43 PM PDT
In an unusual move, Canada’s top soldier and the Defence Department’s Deputy Minister have given DND staff permission to accept free meals from contractors at this year’s CANSEC arms trade show (David Pugliese, “Changes to DND hospitality rules at military trade show raising eyebrows,” Ottawa Citizen, 11 May 2010). The new rules do not breach [...]
======================
6. WATCH: Steven Staples comments on (Canadian) submarines still in pieces on CBC TV
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4705&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 18 May 2010 09:23 AM PDT
========================
7. No Nukes News - May 14, 2010
Hello OCAA contacts and volunteers…
Got a few hours to spare for the planet?
As you know our most recent campaign is calling for a ramped up coal phase-out in Ontario, specifically by the G-8/20 which is June 25-27. It’s the perfect opportunity for Premier McGuinty to get global and local recognition for the most progressive climate initiative on the continent, and it would show the world that Ontarians do care about the environment!
We’re distributing this leaflet, which includes a postcard to McGuinty: http://www.cleanairalliance.org/files/a ... ut-web.pdf
Can you help us distribute them? Let me know if you can spare some time and I’ll fill you in on how you can help.
- angela@cleanairalliance.org
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Council: Shut Down Coal Now!
Hamilton City council is asking the provincial government to shut down coal-fired electricity plants in Ontario including the massive one in Nanticoke. Councillors were told this week that a sharp drop in electricity demand along with rapidly expanding sustainable energy production means the McGuinty government can accomplish its planned coal phase-out four years early.
http://www.viewmag.com/
13003-Council%3A+Shut+Down+Coal+Now!.htm
Please contact Premier McGuinty and asked him to phase-out coal now (and cc me).
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Coal's Toxic Sludge
Big coal has spent millions of dollars over the past year touting the virtues of what the industry calls "clean coal," but it's no secret that coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel. When you burn it, coal releases monstrous quantities of deadly compounds and gases — and it all has to go somewhere. The worst of the waste — heavy metals like arsenic, cadmium and mercury, all of which are highly toxic — are concentrated in the ash that's left over after coal is burned or in the dirty sludge that's scrubbed from smokestacks. Each year, coal plants in the U.S. churn out nearly 140 million tons of coal ash — more than 900 pounds for every American — generating the country's second-largest stream of industrial waste, surpassed only by mining. If you piled all the coal ash on a single football field, it would create a toxic mountain more than 20 miles high.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/
;kw=[3351,94939]?RS_show_page=0
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The Crisis Comes Ashore
Why the oil spill could change everything.
By Al Gore May 8, 2010
The continuing undersea gusher of oil 50 miles off the shores of Louisiana is not the only source of dangerous uncontrolled pollution spewing into the environment. Worldwide, the amount of man-made CO2 being spilled every three seconds into the thin shell of atmosphere surrounding the planet equals the highest current estimate of the amount of oil spilling from the Macondo well every day. Indeed, the average American coal-fired power generating plant gushes more than three times as much global-warming pollution into the atmosphere each day—and there are over 1,400 of them.
http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/the ... mes-ashore
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In the aftermath of the oil spill disaster, voters overwhelmingly support a comprehensive clean energy bill…. Voters understand the dangers of our dependence on oil. Now, they’re ready to hold Congress accountable.
http://climateprogress.org/2010/05/10/
oil-spill-poll-energy-bill-climate/#more-24783
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Left in the dust
AREVA’s radioactive legacy in the desert towns of Niger.
In one of the poorest countries in the world, ranking last in the Human Development Index of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), where more than 40% of children are underweight for their age, water and access to improved water sources is scarce and almost three quarters of the population are illiterate1, the French nuclear giant AREVA extracts precious—and deadly—natural resources, earning billions for its Fortune 5002 corporation, and leaving little behind but centuries of environmental pollution and health risks for the citizens of Niger.
http://www.greenpeace.org/international ... s/reports/
Left-in-the-dust/
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Nuclear Power Nearly as Dangerous as Weapons, Critics Say
The quest for nuclear disarmament is likely to fail if governments and corporations continue to promote nuclear technologies as a solution to the world's energy needs, say independent experts.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51354
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More delays plague N.B. nuclear plant
New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham was in Ottawa last week to ask the Harper government to help cover the estimated $475 million in cost overruns at Point Lepreau.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/breakingnews/
more-delays-plague-nb-nuclear-plant-aecl-says-work-to-take-months-longer-92776679.html
- - - -
Background:
Originally scheduled to be finished by September 2009, at a fixed price of $1.4 billion, the "refurbished" Point Lepreau nuclear reactor is now not expected to be ready before the end of February 2011. This doubles the total amount of time estimated for the refurbishment, and there is always a likelihood of further delays.
Refurbishment is a mild term for the complete gutting of the reactor core, the removal of thousands of highly radioactive and corroded pipes both inside and outside of the core, and the complete rebuilding of the core and the primary cooling system of the reactor.
Each day of delay costs the utility about a million dollars in replacement power, for an additional $450 million at least. This does not include the added expenses associated with the delays in the reconstruction work itself.
Back in 2002, the New Brunswick Public Utility Board had advised against the reconstruction project on the grounds that the risks and uncertainties for the N.B. taxpayers were too great. - Gordon Edwards.
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Radioactive Steam Generator Shipments Put the Great Lakes and Global Consumer Products at Risk
Upwards of 50 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and groups from a dozen nations, and over 150 individuals throughout and beyond the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway have signed onto a resolution opposing Bruce Power's plan to transport radioactively contaminated equipment through the Great Lakes, along the St. Lawrence River, across the Atlantic Ocean and into the Baltic Sea to Sweden for melting and release into the marketplace.
The original resolution is posted at: http://www.nirs.org/radwaste/glresradsteamgen.pdf
Please sign on as an individual or as a group.
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Impending Environmental Disaster: Uranium Mining Begins Near Grand Canyon
In defiance of legal challenges and a U.S. Government moratorium, Canadian company Denison Mines has started mining uranium on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Uranium is a known cause of cancers, organ damage, miscarriages & birth defects.
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=18116
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Coal mining ravages Appalachia mountains
They're ripping the tops off mountains in West Virginia coal country to feed our insatiable appetite for power. It's cheaper that way. And the trees and the animals and the flooding? It may not be pretty, but we've got all those dishwashers to run
What does this have to do with you? This is where Ontario gets 40 per cent of the fuel powering its coal-fired power plants. Ontario Power Generation is a big buyer from West Virginia, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. Company spokesperson John Earl says 40 per cent of its coal comes from there. The coal is used to stoke burners at its two biggest coal-fired plants, Nanticoke and Lambton.
http://www.thestar.com/article/306165
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We Need a Road Map to a Coal-Free Future
In the wake of the worst coal mining disaster in 40 years, compromise and political machinations this spring have resulted in a regulatory crisis of failure; workplace safety in the mines, including the black lung scandal, has emerged as a national tragedy; toxic coal ash remains uncategorized as hazardous waste; mountaintop removal operations and devastating strip mining in 24 states continue under regulatory plunder, not abolishment; billions of taxpayers’ dollars pour down the black hole of carbon capture and storage boondoggles, increasing coal production; climate legislation hangs in the balance of political games.
Our modern-day Paine, James Hansen at the NASA Goddard Center, has issued a similar clarion call: “Coal is the single greatest threat to civilization and all life on our planet. Our global climate is nearing tipping points.”
Clean energy independence, not coal, will bring more sustainable jobs. Wind, solar, hydropower and turbine manufacturing, along with weatherization, retrofitting appliances and homes, could create jobs. The Appalachian Regional Commission found that “energy-efficiency investments could result in an increase of 77,378 net jobs by 2030″ in the region.
http://www.alternet.org/environment/146763/
we_need_a_road_map_to_a_coalfree_future
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Leachate might contain radioactive contaminants because of past uranium mining in the area
Leachate treatment raises public concerns
http://www.barrysbaythisweek.com/
ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e;=1584171
Test water for radiation, reader urges
http://www.barrysbaythisweek.com/
ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e;=1714629
Leachate from landfill treated in Barry's Bay
http://www.barrysbaythisweek.com/Articl ... e;=1543356
"In a telephone interview on Monday, Manning said that the leachate is not tested for uranium or radioactivity by OCWA because it is not among the required tests."
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Windmill Boom Curbs Electric Power Prices for RWE (renewable wind energy)
Twice this year, the nation’s 21,000 wind turbines pumped out so much power that utilities reduced customer bills for using the surplus electricity. Since the first rebate came with little fanfare at 5 a.m. one October day in 2008, payments have risen as high as 500.02 euros ($665) a megawatt-hour.
Wind’s impact on prices results from its “low marginal costs,” which pushes more expensive technologies including natural gas and coal out of the market, the Poeyry study said. Fossil-fuel burning relies on fuel, which can boost the price of electricity from those sources.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/
news?pid=20601109&sid=aGDZMpv5Y9Vo&pos=13
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Living Downstream
Canadian Premiere of documentary feature film, Living Downstream
Bloor Cinema, Toronto
Tues. May 18, 7:30 p.m.
General admission: $10. Advance tickets available via Brown Paper Tickets (http://ca.brownpapertickets.com/event/109106) and in person from all Book City locations. Remaining tickets available at the box office one hour before the screening.
Co-presentation of Planet in Focus and Women’s Healthy Environments Network
Living Downstream is an eloquent feature-length documentary that charts the life and work of Sandra Steingraber: a biologist, author, cancer survivor and cancer prevention advocate. Like the book on which it is based, Living Downstream documents the growing body of scientific evidence that links human health with the health of our environment.
http://www.livingdownstream.com
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CANSEC is Canada's largest and most important War-Industry Trade Show – held June 2-3 in Ottawa.
Please join the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT) in opposing it this weapons bazaar. Be part of this campaign.
What is CANSEC, and why do we oppose it?
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/CANSEC2010article.htm
"CANSEC: War is Business" (50-page COAT publication. Get the nitty gritty)
http://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/64/64.htm
"Rally for Peace," June 2, 5-7 pm, Ottawa (Our main antiCANSEC event)
Includes a list of speakers, poets and musicians, and links to their websites.
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/Rally.htm
"Peace Bus" from Toronto to Ottawa, June 2: All aboard for the anti-CANSEC rally
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/TOPeaceBus.htm
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Coal Facts:
- In 2009, coal-fired electricity generation in Ontario caused the deaths of 246 people and led to 342 hospital admissions, 406 emergency room visits and almost 123,000 minor illnesses. If we wait till 2014 before shutting down our coal plants, that’ll mean the death of 1000 Ontarians plus hundreds of thousands of asthma attacks.
- Coal-fired power plants are a major contributor to smog, producing a significant percentage of Ontario’s nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide emissions, as well as airborne mercury emissions, lead and arsenic.
- Coal-fired electricity is no longer profitable for Ontario Power Generation (OPG). In 2009, OPG received a $412 million subsidy from electricity consumers to compensate for operating losses at the Nanticoke and Lambton coal-fired power plants.
- In 2009, coal was responsible for only 6.6% of Ontario’s total electricity production. Ontario’s coal-free electricity generation capacity is now 23% higher than the forecast peak demand for the summer of 2010 and this excess coal-free capacity is expected to grow. This means that we don’t need to burn coal to meet our electricity needs!
- We should continue ramping up green energy procurement such as wind, solar, geothermal and hydro imports from Quebec. We should be burning cleaner natural gas rather than dirty coal. And most importantly, we should be reducing demand through aggressive energy conservation and efficiency programs.
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Angela Bischoff, Outreach Director
Ontario Clean Air Alliance
Tel: 416 926 1907 x 246
625 Church Street, #402
Toronto, ON M4Y 2G1
angela@cleanairalliance.org
www.ontariosgreenfuture.ca
www.cleanairalliance.org
Our Facebook Group
Sign Our Petition
No Nukes News
Health Power
========================
8. Greenpeace International Nuclear Reaction Weblog - May 17, 2010
http://www.greenpeace.org/international ... -reaction/
Nuclear power and democracy don’t mix
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/
nuclear-reaction/nuclear-power-and-democracy-dont-mix/blog/11792
Blogpost by jmckeati - May 17, 2010 at 2:23 PM
Remember last week and the German election result that threw into doubt Angel Merkel’s plans to extent the lifetime of the countries nuclear reactors? Her government no longer controls the upper house Bundesrat or Federal Council. So what is a ... Read more >
Nuclear News: Turkey announces deal on Iran nuclear dispute
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/
ALeqM5gfnhU9IISJej2lwxsVuIIR0MOiuA
Blogpost by jmckeati - May 17, 2010 at 2:15 PM
‘ANKARA - Iran has agreed to send its uranium to Turkey for enrichment to resolve the international row over its nuclear programme, the Anatolia news agency reported Monday, citing diplomatic sources... Read more >
Greenpeace finds radioactive hotspots at India’s Mayapuri scrapyard
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/
nuclear-reaction/greenpeace-finds-radioactive-hotspots-at-indi/blog/11781
Blogpost by jmckeati - May 14, 2010 at 2:40 PM
Early this morning, a team of two radiation experts from Greenpeace began a combing operation at the Mayapuri scrap market and discovered that, despite official assurances that that market is free from contamination, there is still radioactive cont... Read more >
Nuclear News: US nuclear power plans hit by waste dispute
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/
66176650-5eaa-11df-af86-00144feab49a.html
Blogpost by jmckeati - May 14, 2010 at 2:25 PM
‘The Obama administration’s efforts to foster a renaissance in nuclear power in the US are coming up against an old dilemma - what to do with the waste. The climate bill before the Senate envisag... Read more >
Open Democracy: United States at the NPT: how far will the 'good guy' go?
http://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/rebecca-johnson/
america-at-npt-how-far-will-good-guy-go
Blogpost by jmckeati - May 13, 2010 at 3:56 PM
Rebecca Johnson rounds up the end of the first week of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference at the United Nations...Unless the role and value assigned to nuclear weapons in deterrence is challenged among the nuclear-armed states..Read more>
===========================
9. West 'concerned' despite Iran deal
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/05/
2010517165252328379.html
May 17, 2010
The White House has said a nuclear fuel swap agreed by Iran, Turkey and Brazil does not go far enough to allay the concerns of the US and its allies about the country's uranium enrichment programme.
The White House said on Monday that the exchange could be a "positive step", but warned that it could still face new sanctions over its "repeated failure" to meet past commitments.
The agreement, brokered by Brazil and Turkey, calls for Iran to ship 1.2 tonnes of low-enriched uranium to Turkey, in exchange for 120kg of highly-enriched nuclear fuel rods for its power plant, according to official media.
Under the deal, signed on Monday, the swap would be carried out under the oversight of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Iran would be allowed to send inspectors to Turkey to monitor the exchange.
But Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said in a statement that the deal did not address some of the principal issues the US has with Iran's nuclear programme, which it says could be a cover for building atomic weapons.
"The United States and international community continue to have serious concerns," he said.
MORE: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/05/
2010517165252328379.html
===========================
10. JOINT DECLARATION BY IRAN, TURKEY AND BRAZIL
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/05/
201051795513637980.html
(17 May 2010)
The following is a declaration agreed by Iran, Turkey and Brazilin Tehran on Monday setting out terms for a nuclear fuel swap.
Having met in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, the undersigned have agreed on the following Declaration:
1) We reaffirm our commitment to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and in accordance with the related articles of the NPT, recall the right of all State Parties, including the Islamic Republic of Iran, to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy (as well as nuclear fuel cycle including enrichment activities) for peaceful purposes without discrimination.
MORE: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/05/
201051795513637980.html
Related Articles:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/05/
201051795513637980.html
=========================
11. Uranium mining blocked
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100515/jsp/nation/
story_12452005.jsp
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, May 14: A national panel of wildlife experts today rejected a proposal from the department of atomic energy for uranium exploration on the Rongcheng plateau in Meghalaya’s South Garo Hills.
The standing committee of the National Board of Wildlife decided to reject the proposal for exploratory drilling in view of the sentiments of the local people and representations from civil society groups, the environment ministry said.
The Rongcheng plateau falls in the Balpakram National Park, home to elephants, black bear, leopards, deer and the red panda, one of the rarest animals in the world.
Several green groups and NGOs have campaigned against a proposal for exploratory drilling, arguing that it would harm the bio-diversity in the park.
========================
12. Bill for Afghan War Could Run into the Trillions By Eli Clifton
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51468
WASHINGTON, May 17, 2010 (IPS) - The U.S. Senate is moving forward with a
59-billion-dollar spending bill, of which 33.5 billion dollars would be
allocated for the war in Afghanistan.
However, some experts here in Washington are raising concerns that the war may be unwinnable and that the money being spent on military operations in Afghanistan could be better spent.
"We're making all of the same mistakes the Soviets made during their time in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989, and they left in defeat having accomplished none of their purposes," Michael Intriligator, a senior fellow at the Milken Institute, said Monday at a half-day conference hosted by the New America Foundation and Economists for Peace and Security.
"I think we're repeating that and it's a history we're condemned to repeat," he said.
Intriligator also argued that the real, long-term cost of the war in
Afghanistan may completely overshadow the current spending bill.
Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard professor Linda
Bilmes estimated that the long-term costs - taking into account the costs of taking care of wounded soldiers and rebuilding the military - of the war in Iraq will ultimately cost three trillion dollars.
Intriligator suggested that a similar calculation for the costs of the war
in Afghanistan would indicate a long-term cost of 1.5 to 2.0 trillion
dollars.
"Why are we putting money into Afghanistan to fight a losing war and
following the Soviet example rather than putting money into [our] local
communities?" he asked.
MORE: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51468
Compilation:
1. Letter: Bray: Why does Harper hate our environment?
2. Firm seeks U.S. approval for mini-nuclear reactors
3. Nuclear test survivors in Calgary renew campaign for compensation from effects of Nevada tests
4. Small steps toward Arctic cooperation – Staples
5. DND: There really is a free lunch! – Staples
6. WATCH: Steven Staples comments on (Canadian) submarines still in pieces on CBC TV
7. No Nukes News - May 14, 2010
8. Greenpeace International Nuclear Reaction Weblog - May 17, 2010
9. West 'concerned' despite Iran deal
10. JOINT DECLARATION BY IRAN, TURKEY AND BRAZIL
11. Uranium mining blocked
12. Bill for Afghan War Could Run into the Trillions By Eli Clifton
======================
1. Letter: Bray: Why does Harper hate our environment?
May 14, 2010
Dear Editor:
Stephen Harper has cynically placed changes that will gut the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act in the budget. M. P.s are forced to pass the budget with this regressive legislation in it or force an election by voting against the budget. Some choice!
These changes will allow the government to avoid doing detailed environmental assessments on large projects by breaking the projects up into smaller pieces. The Supreme Court has recently ruled that breaking the assessment of projects up like this is against the law. No problem to Mr. Law and Order Harper. Approving a project after looking at only a small part of it is like buying a house when you have only inspected the driveway. It makes no sense. Many projects will be exempt from environmental assessments.
These changes will also assign environmental assessment for pipeline and nuclear energy projects- some of the most dangerous to the environment- to the National Energy Board and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, which have little expertise in doing environmental assessments, rather than the experts at the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency. This will inevitably result in bad decisions.
It is undemocratic for the government to gut environmental assessment law through the Budget, without any consultation at all.
A motion was introduced in the House of Commons by an opposition M.P. to split the Budget bill to allow the study of the non-financial aspects of the budget to be dealt with separately. Unfortunately, it was defeated. The Budget bill is now before the Finance Committee.
I urge all citizens to contact all Members of Parliament and urge them to stop this regressive step now.
Saskatchewan should be extra wary of these developments. We have large reserves of low quality carbon- heavy oil, oil shale, tarsands, lignite- and corporations want to develop them at the least possible cost to the corporations. We have a provincial government that has gone soft on nuclear waste and is gutting our provincial environmental regulations. We have the Nuclear Waste Management Organization - a nuclear industry organization - sniffing around Saskatchewan as a possible dump site for Ontario’s nuclear waste.
Bad things happen when good people do nothing. I am not a tree hugger; I just believe we should be trying to get a few more miles out of the human race. Interested?
Mike Bray,
Indian Head, SK
=====================
2. Firm seeks U.S. approval for mini-nuclear reactors
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/technology/
Firm+seeks+approval+mini+nuclear+reactors/3041155/
story.html#ixzz0oIjlQJsp
Refrigerator-sized units could power small factories or remote towns
BLOOMBERG MAY 18, 2010Manufacturers of refrigerator-sized nuclear reactors will seek approval from U.S. authorities within a year to help supply the world's growing electricity demand.
John Deal, chief executive of Hyperion Power Generation Inc., intends to apply for a licence "within a year" for plants that would power a small factory or town too remote for traditional utility-grid connections.
The Santa Fe, N.M.-based company and Japan's Toshiba Corp. are vying for a head start over reactor makers General Electric Co. and Areva SA in downsizing nuclear technology and aim to submit licence applications in the next year to U.S. regulators. They're seeking to tap a market that has generated about $135 billion US in pending orders for large nuclear plants.
"We're building iPhones when the nuclear industry has traditionally built mainframe computers," Deal said.
Hyperion has more than 150 purchase commitments from customers such as mining and telecom companies, provided its technology gets licensed for operation, he said.
MORE: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/technology/
Firm+seeks+approval+mini+nuclear+reactors/3041155/
story.html#ixzz0oIjlQJsp
====================
3. Nuclear test survivors in Calgary renew campaign for compensation from effects of Nevada tests
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/
Nuclear+test+survivors+Calgary+renew+campaign+compensation+
from+effects+Nevada+tests/3036632/story.html
Documentary: Time Bombs shown at Plaza Theatre, to renew push for compensation and awareness
By Jamie Komarnicki, Calgary Herald May 17, 2010
First the ground rumbled, then the trenches caved in.
The soldiers clambered above ground, only to face a raging inferno across the landscape where a nuclear bomb had been set off.
It wasn't enemy warfare, though. It was 1957, and the soldiers -- including 40 Canadians -- were in Nevada on a top secret mission: to serve as "guinea pigs" for a set of nuclear tests by the U.S. government.
"Everything around us was burning, it was like being in the middle of a forest fire," recalled Balzac resident Jim Huntley, who experienced five nuclear blasts during two months in the field.
"Then we had to advance towards the bomb and do our tactics."
For decades, Huntley and other "atomic veterans" have been pressuring the federal government to recognize their experience and compensate them appropriately.
On Sunday, producers of the documentary Time Bombs, which traced the "embarrassing and controversial" saga and tracked down never-before-screened film records of the nuclear tests, showed the film at the Plaza Theatre in Kensington as part of efforts to renew the push for compensation and awareness.
In 2008, the federal government offered a special payment of $24,000 to about 900 soldiers exposed to atomic-bomb test sites.
But many Canadian veterans and their widows said the payment fell short of what was needed considering the high level of exposure, and would like special recognition for the soldiers who faced the most danger in the field.
A class-action lawsuit is underway and Huntley said he hopes it will come before a judge next month.
MORE:
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/
Nuclear+test+survivors+Calgary+
renew+campaign+compensation+from+effects+Nevada+tests/
3036632/story.html
======================
4. Small steps toward Arctic cooperation - Staples
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4681&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 16 May 2010 02:29 PM PDT
The Canadian government took a couple of small but potentially helpful steps towards greater cooperation in the Arctic last week. On Wednesday, Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon called on the United States to work with Canada to resolve the two countries’ border dispute in the Beaufort Sea. And on Friday, Canada and Denmark signed an agreement [...]
===================
5. DND: There really is a free lunch! - Staples
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4688&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 17 May 2010 06:43 PM PDT
In an unusual move, Canada’s top soldier and the Defence Department’s Deputy Minister have given DND staff permission to accept free meals from contractors at this year’s CANSEC arms trade show (David Pugliese, “Changes to DND hospitality rules at military trade show raising eyebrows,” Ottawa Citizen, 11 May 2010). The new rules do not breach [...]
======================
6. WATCH: Steven Staples comments on (Canadian) submarines still in pieces on CBC TV
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4705&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 18 May 2010 09:23 AM PDT
========================
7. No Nukes News - May 14, 2010
Hello OCAA contacts and volunteers…
Got a few hours to spare for the planet?
As you know our most recent campaign is calling for a ramped up coal phase-out in Ontario, specifically by the G-8/20 which is June 25-27. It’s the perfect opportunity for Premier McGuinty to get global and local recognition for the most progressive climate initiative on the continent, and it would show the world that Ontarians do care about the environment!
We’re distributing this leaflet, which includes a postcard to McGuinty: http://www.cleanairalliance.org/files/a ... ut-web.pdf
Can you help us distribute them? Let me know if you can spare some time and I’ll fill you in on how you can help.
- angela@cleanairalliance.org
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Council: Shut Down Coal Now!
Hamilton City council is asking the provincial government to shut down coal-fired electricity plants in Ontario including the massive one in Nanticoke. Councillors were told this week that a sharp drop in electricity demand along with rapidly expanding sustainable energy production means the McGuinty government can accomplish its planned coal phase-out four years early.
http://www.viewmag.com/
13003-Council%3A+Shut+Down+Coal+Now!.htm
Please contact Premier McGuinty and asked him to phase-out coal now (and cc me).
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Coal's Toxic Sludge
Big coal has spent millions of dollars over the past year touting the virtues of what the industry calls "clean coal," but it's no secret that coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel. When you burn it, coal releases monstrous quantities of deadly compounds and gases — and it all has to go somewhere. The worst of the waste — heavy metals like arsenic, cadmium and mercury, all of which are highly toxic — are concentrated in the ash that's left over after coal is burned or in the dirty sludge that's scrubbed from smokestacks. Each year, coal plants in the U.S. churn out nearly 140 million tons of coal ash — more than 900 pounds for every American — generating the country's second-largest stream of industrial waste, surpassed only by mining. If you piled all the coal ash on a single football field, it would create a toxic mountain more than 20 miles high.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/
;kw=[3351,94939]?RS_show_page=0
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The Crisis Comes Ashore
Why the oil spill could change everything.
By Al Gore May 8, 2010
The continuing undersea gusher of oil 50 miles off the shores of Louisiana is not the only source of dangerous uncontrolled pollution spewing into the environment. Worldwide, the amount of man-made CO2 being spilled every three seconds into the thin shell of atmosphere surrounding the planet equals the highest current estimate of the amount of oil spilling from the Macondo well every day. Indeed, the average American coal-fired power generating plant gushes more than three times as much global-warming pollution into the atmosphere each day—and there are over 1,400 of them.
http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/the ... mes-ashore
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In the aftermath of the oil spill disaster, voters overwhelmingly support a comprehensive clean energy bill…. Voters understand the dangers of our dependence on oil. Now, they’re ready to hold Congress accountable.
http://climateprogress.org/2010/05/10/
oil-spill-poll-energy-bill-climate/#more-24783
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Left in the dust
AREVA’s radioactive legacy in the desert towns of Niger.
In one of the poorest countries in the world, ranking last in the Human Development Index of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), where more than 40% of children are underweight for their age, water and access to improved water sources is scarce and almost three quarters of the population are illiterate1, the French nuclear giant AREVA extracts precious—and deadly—natural resources, earning billions for its Fortune 5002 corporation, and leaving little behind but centuries of environmental pollution and health risks for the citizens of Niger.
http://www.greenpeace.org/international ... s/reports/
Left-in-the-dust/
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Nuclear Power Nearly as Dangerous as Weapons, Critics Say
The quest for nuclear disarmament is likely to fail if governments and corporations continue to promote nuclear technologies as a solution to the world's energy needs, say independent experts.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51354
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More delays plague N.B. nuclear plant
New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham was in Ottawa last week to ask the Harper government to help cover the estimated $475 million in cost overruns at Point Lepreau.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/breakingnews/
more-delays-plague-nb-nuclear-plant-aecl-says-work-to-take-months-longer-92776679.html
- - - -
Background:
Originally scheduled to be finished by September 2009, at a fixed price of $1.4 billion, the "refurbished" Point Lepreau nuclear reactor is now not expected to be ready before the end of February 2011. This doubles the total amount of time estimated for the refurbishment, and there is always a likelihood of further delays.
Refurbishment is a mild term for the complete gutting of the reactor core, the removal of thousands of highly radioactive and corroded pipes both inside and outside of the core, and the complete rebuilding of the core and the primary cooling system of the reactor.
Each day of delay costs the utility about a million dollars in replacement power, for an additional $450 million at least. This does not include the added expenses associated with the delays in the reconstruction work itself.
Back in 2002, the New Brunswick Public Utility Board had advised against the reconstruction project on the grounds that the risks and uncertainties for the N.B. taxpayers were too great. - Gordon Edwards.
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Radioactive Steam Generator Shipments Put the Great Lakes and Global Consumer Products at Risk
Upwards of 50 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and groups from a dozen nations, and over 150 individuals throughout and beyond the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway have signed onto a resolution opposing Bruce Power's plan to transport radioactively contaminated equipment through the Great Lakes, along the St. Lawrence River, across the Atlantic Ocean and into the Baltic Sea to Sweden for melting and release into the marketplace.
The original resolution is posted at: http://www.nirs.org/radwaste/glresradsteamgen.pdf
Please sign on as an individual or as a group.
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Impending Environmental Disaster: Uranium Mining Begins Near Grand Canyon
In defiance of legal challenges and a U.S. Government moratorium, Canadian company Denison Mines has started mining uranium on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Uranium is a known cause of cancers, organ damage, miscarriages & birth defects.
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=18116
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Coal mining ravages Appalachia mountains
They're ripping the tops off mountains in West Virginia coal country to feed our insatiable appetite for power. It's cheaper that way. And the trees and the animals and the flooding? It may not be pretty, but we've got all those dishwashers to run
What does this have to do with you? This is where Ontario gets 40 per cent of the fuel powering its coal-fired power plants. Ontario Power Generation is a big buyer from West Virginia, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. Company spokesperson John Earl says 40 per cent of its coal comes from there. The coal is used to stoke burners at its two biggest coal-fired plants, Nanticoke and Lambton.
http://www.thestar.com/article/306165
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We Need a Road Map to a Coal-Free Future
In the wake of the worst coal mining disaster in 40 years, compromise and political machinations this spring have resulted in a regulatory crisis of failure; workplace safety in the mines, including the black lung scandal, has emerged as a national tragedy; toxic coal ash remains uncategorized as hazardous waste; mountaintop removal operations and devastating strip mining in 24 states continue under regulatory plunder, not abolishment; billions of taxpayers’ dollars pour down the black hole of carbon capture and storage boondoggles, increasing coal production; climate legislation hangs in the balance of political games.
Our modern-day Paine, James Hansen at the NASA Goddard Center, has issued a similar clarion call: “Coal is the single greatest threat to civilization and all life on our planet. Our global climate is nearing tipping points.”
Clean energy independence, not coal, will bring more sustainable jobs. Wind, solar, hydropower and turbine manufacturing, along with weatherization, retrofitting appliances and homes, could create jobs. The Appalachian Regional Commission found that “energy-efficiency investments could result in an increase of 77,378 net jobs by 2030″ in the region.
http://www.alternet.org/environment/146763/
we_need_a_road_map_to_a_coalfree_future
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Leachate might contain radioactive contaminants because of past uranium mining in the area
Leachate treatment raises public concerns
http://www.barrysbaythisweek.com/
ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e;=1584171
Test water for radiation, reader urges
http://www.barrysbaythisweek.com/
ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e;=1714629
Leachate from landfill treated in Barry's Bay
http://www.barrysbaythisweek.com/Articl ... e;=1543356
"In a telephone interview on Monday, Manning said that the leachate is not tested for uranium or radioactivity by OCWA because it is not among the required tests."
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Windmill Boom Curbs Electric Power Prices for RWE (renewable wind energy)
Twice this year, the nation’s 21,000 wind turbines pumped out so much power that utilities reduced customer bills for using the surplus electricity. Since the first rebate came with little fanfare at 5 a.m. one October day in 2008, payments have risen as high as 500.02 euros ($665) a megawatt-hour.
Wind’s impact on prices results from its “low marginal costs,” which pushes more expensive technologies including natural gas and coal out of the market, the Poeyry study said. Fossil-fuel burning relies on fuel, which can boost the price of electricity from those sources.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/
news?pid=20601109&sid=aGDZMpv5Y9Vo&pos=13
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Living Downstream
Canadian Premiere of documentary feature film, Living Downstream
Bloor Cinema, Toronto
Tues. May 18, 7:30 p.m.
General admission: $10. Advance tickets available via Brown Paper Tickets (http://ca.brownpapertickets.com/event/109106) and in person from all Book City locations. Remaining tickets available at the box office one hour before the screening.
Co-presentation of Planet in Focus and Women’s Healthy Environments Network
Living Downstream is an eloquent feature-length documentary that charts the life and work of Sandra Steingraber: a biologist, author, cancer survivor and cancer prevention advocate. Like the book on which it is based, Living Downstream documents the growing body of scientific evidence that links human health with the health of our environment.
http://www.livingdownstream.com
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CANSEC is Canada's largest and most important War-Industry Trade Show – held June 2-3 in Ottawa.
Please join the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT) in opposing it this weapons bazaar. Be part of this campaign.
What is CANSEC, and why do we oppose it?
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/CANSEC2010article.htm
"CANSEC: War is Business" (50-page COAT publication. Get the nitty gritty)
http://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/64/64.htm
"Rally for Peace," June 2, 5-7 pm, Ottawa (Our main antiCANSEC event)
Includes a list of speakers, poets and musicians, and links to their websites.
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/Rally.htm
"Peace Bus" from Toronto to Ottawa, June 2: All aboard for the anti-CANSEC rally
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/TOPeaceBus.htm
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Coal Facts:
- In 2009, coal-fired electricity generation in Ontario caused the deaths of 246 people and led to 342 hospital admissions, 406 emergency room visits and almost 123,000 minor illnesses. If we wait till 2014 before shutting down our coal plants, that’ll mean the death of 1000 Ontarians plus hundreds of thousands of asthma attacks.
- Coal-fired power plants are a major contributor to smog, producing a significant percentage of Ontario’s nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide emissions, as well as airborne mercury emissions, lead and arsenic.
- Coal-fired electricity is no longer profitable for Ontario Power Generation (OPG). In 2009, OPG received a $412 million subsidy from electricity consumers to compensate for operating losses at the Nanticoke and Lambton coal-fired power plants.
- In 2009, coal was responsible for only 6.6% of Ontario’s total electricity production. Ontario’s coal-free electricity generation capacity is now 23% higher than the forecast peak demand for the summer of 2010 and this excess coal-free capacity is expected to grow. This means that we don’t need to burn coal to meet our electricity needs!
- We should continue ramping up green energy procurement such as wind, solar, geothermal and hydro imports from Quebec. We should be burning cleaner natural gas rather than dirty coal. And most importantly, we should be reducing demand through aggressive energy conservation and efficiency programs.
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Angela Bischoff, Outreach Director
Ontario Clean Air Alliance
Tel: 416 926 1907 x 246
625 Church Street, #402
Toronto, ON M4Y 2G1
angela@cleanairalliance.org
www.ontariosgreenfuture.ca
www.cleanairalliance.org
Our Facebook Group
Sign Our Petition
No Nukes News
Health Power
========================
8. Greenpeace International Nuclear Reaction Weblog - May 17, 2010
http://www.greenpeace.org/international ... -reaction/
Nuclear power and democracy don’t mix
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/
nuclear-reaction/nuclear-power-and-democracy-dont-mix/blog/11792
Blogpost by jmckeati - May 17, 2010 at 2:23 PM
Remember last week and the German election result that threw into doubt Angel Merkel’s plans to extent the lifetime of the countries nuclear reactors? Her government no longer controls the upper house Bundesrat or Federal Council. So what is a ... Read more >
Nuclear News: Turkey announces deal on Iran nuclear dispute
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/
ALeqM5gfnhU9IISJej2lwxsVuIIR0MOiuA
Blogpost by jmckeati - May 17, 2010 at 2:15 PM
‘ANKARA - Iran has agreed to send its uranium to Turkey for enrichment to resolve the international row over its nuclear programme, the Anatolia news agency reported Monday, citing diplomatic sources... Read more >
Greenpeace finds radioactive hotspots at India’s Mayapuri scrapyard
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/
nuclear-reaction/greenpeace-finds-radioactive-hotspots-at-indi/blog/11781
Blogpost by jmckeati - May 14, 2010 at 2:40 PM
Early this morning, a team of two radiation experts from Greenpeace began a combing operation at the Mayapuri scrap market and discovered that, despite official assurances that that market is free from contamination, there is still radioactive cont... Read more >
Nuclear News: US nuclear power plans hit by waste dispute
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/
66176650-5eaa-11df-af86-00144feab49a.html
Blogpost by jmckeati - May 14, 2010 at 2:25 PM
‘The Obama administration’s efforts to foster a renaissance in nuclear power in the US are coming up against an old dilemma - what to do with the waste. The climate bill before the Senate envisag... Read more >
Open Democracy: United States at the NPT: how far will the 'good guy' go?
http://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/rebecca-johnson/
america-at-npt-how-far-will-good-guy-go
Blogpost by jmckeati - May 13, 2010 at 3:56 PM
Rebecca Johnson rounds up the end of the first week of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference at the United Nations...Unless the role and value assigned to nuclear weapons in deterrence is challenged among the nuclear-armed states..Read more>
===========================
9. West 'concerned' despite Iran deal
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/05/
2010517165252328379.html
May 17, 2010
The White House has said a nuclear fuel swap agreed by Iran, Turkey and Brazil does not go far enough to allay the concerns of the US and its allies about the country's uranium enrichment programme.
The White House said on Monday that the exchange could be a "positive step", but warned that it could still face new sanctions over its "repeated failure" to meet past commitments.
The agreement, brokered by Brazil and Turkey, calls for Iran to ship 1.2 tonnes of low-enriched uranium to Turkey, in exchange for 120kg of highly-enriched nuclear fuel rods for its power plant, according to official media.
Under the deal, signed on Monday, the swap would be carried out under the oversight of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Iran would be allowed to send inspectors to Turkey to monitor the exchange.
But Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said in a statement that the deal did not address some of the principal issues the US has with Iran's nuclear programme, which it says could be a cover for building atomic weapons.
"The United States and international community continue to have serious concerns," he said.
MORE: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/05/
2010517165252328379.html
===========================
10. JOINT DECLARATION BY IRAN, TURKEY AND BRAZIL
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/05/
201051795513637980.html
(17 May 2010)
The following is a declaration agreed by Iran, Turkey and Brazilin Tehran on Monday setting out terms for a nuclear fuel swap.
Having met in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, the undersigned have agreed on the following Declaration:
1) We reaffirm our commitment to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and in accordance with the related articles of the NPT, recall the right of all State Parties, including the Islamic Republic of Iran, to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy (as well as nuclear fuel cycle including enrichment activities) for peaceful purposes without discrimination.
MORE: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/05/
201051795513637980.html
Related Articles:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/05/
201051795513637980.html
=========================
11. Uranium mining blocked
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100515/jsp/nation/
story_12452005.jsp
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, May 14: A national panel of wildlife experts today rejected a proposal from the department of atomic energy for uranium exploration on the Rongcheng plateau in Meghalaya’s South Garo Hills.
The standing committee of the National Board of Wildlife decided to reject the proposal for exploratory drilling in view of the sentiments of the local people and representations from civil society groups, the environment ministry said.
The Rongcheng plateau falls in the Balpakram National Park, home to elephants, black bear, leopards, deer and the red panda, one of the rarest animals in the world.
Several green groups and NGOs have campaigned against a proposal for exploratory drilling, arguing that it would harm the bio-diversity in the park.
========================
12. Bill for Afghan War Could Run into the Trillions By Eli Clifton
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51468
WASHINGTON, May 17, 2010 (IPS) - The U.S. Senate is moving forward with a
59-billion-dollar spending bill, of which 33.5 billion dollars would be
allocated for the war in Afghanistan.
However, some experts here in Washington are raising concerns that the war may be unwinnable and that the money being spent on military operations in Afghanistan could be better spent.
"We're making all of the same mistakes the Soviets made during their time in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989, and they left in defeat having accomplished none of their purposes," Michael Intriligator, a senior fellow at the Milken Institute, said Monday at a half-day conference hosted by the New America Foundation and Economists for Peace and Security.
"I think we're repeating that and it's a history we're condemned to repeat," he said.
Intriligator also argued that the real, long-term cost of the war in
Afghanistan may completely overshadow the current spending bill.
Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard professor Linda
Bilmes estimated that the long-term costs - taking into account the costs of taking care of wounded soldiers and rebuilding the military - of the war in Iraq will ultimately cost three trillion dollars.
Intriligator suggested that a similar calculation for the costs of the war
in Afghanistan would indicate a long-term cost of 1.5 to 2.0 trillion
dollars.
"Why are we putting money into Afghanistan to fight a losing war and
following the Soviet example rather than putting money into [our] local
communities?" he asked.
MORE: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51468
Last edited by Oscar on Mon Jul 12, 2010 12:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9887
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
NUKE NEWS: May 29, 2010
by Oscar » Sat May 29, 2010 11:26 am
NUKE NEWS: May 29, 2010
Compilation:
1. Cameco wants public to comment on impact statement of mine proposal
2. Cmeco's McArthur River mine gets safety award
3. LETTER: Lawrence: Pro-nuke view myopic
4. Yorkton Film Festival – Yorkton, SK May 27 – 30
5. Check out Jim Harding's new blog:
6. DO WE WANT SASKATCHEWAN TO BECOME A NUCLEAR DUMP? By Dr. Jim Harding
7. Cameco examines assets
8. Wall nabs oil, gas deal on China trip
9. BRITISH CONSUL GENERAL VISITS SASKATCHEWAN
10. U.S. and global military spending
11. Two hundred and twenty-five
12. No Nukes News - May 28, 2010
13. U.S. Cyber Command: Waging War In World’s Fifth Battlespace - By Rick Rozoff
14. Beyond Nuclear Bulletin - May 27, 2010
15. Beyond Nuclear Bulletin - May 21, 2010
16. Kyrgyzstan as a Geopolitical Pivot in Great Power Rivalries
17. Russia to spend $1bn on Namibia uranium exploration
18. ACTION ALERT! National Week in Defense of Water and the Environment
===========================
1 Cameco wants public to comment on impact statement of mine proposal
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/todays-paper/
Cameco+wants+public+comment+impact+statement+mine+proposal/
3032775/story.html
THE STAR PHOENIX MAY 15, 2010
- - - -
The deadline for public comments on the document, which incorporates federal and provincial environmental assessment requirements, is June 22. More information can be found at www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca.
- - - - -
The public is being invited to comment on a draft document prepared to assist Cameco Corp. in developing its environmental impact statement for its proposed Millennium uranium mine.
In the draft, called the project-specific guidelines scoping document, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has outlined Cameco's preliminary plan for the site. The document says the company expects to build two shafts to provide ventilation and mine the uranium deposit, which is located 615 to 730 metres below surface.
The papers also say Cameco intends to ship ore and waste from Millennium to the nearby Key Lake mill and tailings facility, which will need modifications to process material from the proposed mine.
A 21-kilometre, two-lane, all-weather road is also in Cameco's plans for the project. The road would be built to provide access to Millennium, intersecting Highway 914 about halfway between its Key Lake and McArthur River operations. The road will require about 10 stream crossings.
MORE: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/todays-paper/
Cameco+wants+public+comment+impact+statement+mine+proposal/
3032775/story.html
===================
2. Cameco's McArthur River mine gets safety award
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/
Cameco+McArthur+River+mine+gets+safety+award/3045327/story.html
THE STAR PHOENIX MAY 19, 2010
Cameco Corp. has been honoured by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) for an outstanding safety performance in 2009.
The Saskatoon-based uranium company's McArthur River mine was presented with one of the institute's highest awards, the John T. Ryan National Safety Trophy, for best safety performance in the metal mine category in 2009. Last year, one reportable injury for 756,990 working hours was recorded at the McArthur site.
A CIM Special Award Certificate, meanwhile, was given to Cameco for its Cigar Lake mine, which recorded one reportable injury for 717,932 working hours in 2009.
"These awards are a reflection of our commitment to safety," said Tim Gitzel, Cameco's president. "We are proud of our employees, who have helped make our mines and facilities among the safest in Canada."
MORE: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/
Cameco+McArthur+River+mine+gets+safety+award/3045327/story.html
==========================
3. LETTER: Lawrence: Pro-nuke view myopic
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/
nuke+view+myopic/3026456/story.html
BY RANDY LAWRENCE, THE STAR PHOENIX MAY 14, 2010
Talk about sour grapes and selective amnesia!
If I had just moved to Saskatchewan, I'd never guess -- from your editorial Sask. must seize big-idea potential uranium provides (SP, April 24) -- that this province last year had a scrupulously fair and open, democratic review of uranium development, and that the well-informed popular response was a resounding "No" to proposed massive government subsidies to the nuclear industry.
It is extremely deceitful and demeaning to all concerned parties to call all this "voodoo science" and claim that somewhere out there is a "silent majority" that actually supports nuclear power, but wasn't given a fair shake. The SP should apologize for yellow journalism.
Never mind senior Canadian diplomat Colin Robertson and his fears about what Barack Obama may think of us; last I heard, Obama was president of another country with its own problems and agenda.
What disturbs me most about your myopic editorial is the notion that "Saskatchewan, which is responsible for 25 per cent of the world's uranium production, should be the repository for 25 per cent of the spent fuel." What?
That's an excellent argument to just shut down the troubled uranium industry here.
Premier Wall's big mistake back in 2008 was to not initiate an unbiased, full public review of Saskatchewan's energy options. Now he's left with (besides conventional oil and gas) renewable energy (OK) and clean coal/carbon re-sequestration.
The latter likely to prove nothing more than an expensive pipeline dream, he might as well campaign in 2011 on biofuels and cold fusion.
Randy Lawrence
Saskatoon
© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix
========================
4. Yorkton Film Festival – Yorkton, SK May 27 - 30
http://www.goldensheafawards.com/defaul ... ge=207&a=n
Nominees: (among others)
WATCH: My Nuclear Neighbour
http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Shows/The_Nature_of_Things/
ID=1410952626
Imagine that one morning you wake up to find out your next-door neighbour may be a nuclear power plant.
There was a time when we thought atomic power would solve all our energy needs. That promise lost its lustre in cost overruns, accidents and cover-ups. Now after decades of fading into the background the nuclear power industry is poised for a comeback. In Canada, and around the world, the nuclear industry is rebranding itself as the only practical solution to global warming.
This is a story of global importance – it’s also a very local story. It’s a tale of two small towns: one in rural Ontario that has been a centre of nuclear power almost as long as there has been nuclear power. The other is in the legendary Peace country of Northern Alberta, where residents woke up one day to hear that Alberta’s first nuclear power facility might be moving in next door.
We travel with Lorraine Jensen and Brenda McSween from their farms in Peace River, Alberta to Kincardine, Ontario searching for answers to questions that are dividing their once harmonious community.
My Nuclear Neighbour is written and produced by Donna and Daniel Zuckerbrot for Reel Time Images.
= = = =
WATCH: Silent Bombs: All for the Motherland – Parts 1-4
http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2009/08/03/
silent-bombs-all-for-the-motherland-part-1/
Warning
This video may contain images depicting the reality and horror of war/violence and should only be viewed by a mature audience.
AlJazeeraEnglish August 02, 2009
Filmmaker Gerald Sperling spent five years making his documentary on the fallout from the Soviet Union's nuclear testing in Kazakhstan.
In the following account, he describes the making of Silent Bombs: All for the Motherland.
- - - - -
Between 1949 and 1989, the Soviet Union exploded 460 nuclear bombs in eastern Kazakhstan. The damage residents suffered as a result of being exposed to high levels of radiation has been passed on and seems to have intensified in the following generations.
====================
5. Check out Jim Harding's new blog:
http://crowsnestecology.wordpress.com/
======================
6. DO WE WANT SASKATCHEWAN TO BECOME A NUCLEAR DUMP? By Dr. Jim Harding
NEW BLOG:
http://crowsnestecology.wordpress.com/2010/05/23/
do-we-want-saskatchewan-to-become-a-nuclear-dump/
Saskatchewan Sustainability Published in United Newspapers of Saskatchewan - May 21, 2010
The Sask Party government can’t make up its mind whether it wants Saskatchewan to become a nuclear waste dump. In March 2009, when the Uranium Development Partnership (UDP) recommended we take nuclear wastes from afar, several Ministers were quick to distance the government from this. But on December 17th, Energy and Resources Minister Bill Boyd reversed this, saying the government is open to considering a geological repository if a “willing community” steps forward. This off-again, on-again approach Is no way to make a decision with such ramifications. The public deserves to get solid background on the matter, and we might ask: why isn’t the mainstream media supplying this so that an informed decision can be made?
MORE:
http://crowsnestecology.wordpress.com/2010/05/23/
do-we-want-saskatchewan-to-become-a-nuclear-dump/
=====================
7. Cameco examines assets
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/ ... es+assets/
3076124/story.html
BY CASSANDRA KYLE, THE STARPHOENIXMAY 27, 2010
Cameco Corp. has the uranium it needs to meet its goal of doubling production of the element by 2018, but that hasn't stopped the company from looking at potential new assets, its CEO said Wednesday.
While there is "no planned acquisition," Jerry Grandey said, a Cameco team of geologists is always on the search for new opportunities, the chief executive explained at the company's annual meeting in Saskatoon.
Under its "Double U" strategy, Cameco plans to increase its uranium production to 40 million pounds annually over the next eight years.
"We built up an asset base of properties, resources and reserves that are indeed spectacular within the nuclear industry," Grandey said about the company's portfolio.
"So (our) 480 million pounds of proven and probable reserves -- at the highest calibre of reserves you can have -- put us in a position where the growth that we want to achieve can all be done with those properties, those assets, that we spent all this time acquiring. But it doesn't mean we don't look."
Like the acquisition Cameco made of the Kintyre uranium property in Australia, spending $346.5 million in 2008 for a 70 per cent interest in the site, Grandey said the uranium giant won't hesitate to move if the right opportunity comes along.
"If we identified and see that in paying the acquisition price we can still add value to Cameco's shareholders, then we go after it aggressively -- but nothing is planned currently," he said.
The company plans to increase its capital spending this year in order to prepare its properties -- in Saskatchewan and overseas -- to bring on more uranium production as part of its Double U strategy. Grandey expects Cameco's capital budget to rise to between $500 million and $600 million in 2010, surpassing 2009's capital expenditures of approximately $400 million.
MORE: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/ ... es+assets/
3076124/story.html
========================
8. Wall nabs oil, gas deal on China trip
QUOTE: "We're hoping our federal government concludes a nuclear co-operation agreement with China so Saskatchewan uranium can be sold in that market," said Wall. "Even though we're the world's largest supplier of uranium, we sell none of it to China because there's no agreement in place. It could represent literally billions of dollars for Saskatchewan's economy."
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/
Wall+nabs+deal+China+trip/3060031/story.html
BY RORY MACLEAN, THE STAR PHOENIX MAY 22, 2010
Wrapping up an Asian trade mission alongside the B.C. and Alberta premiers Friday, Premier Brad Wall will return home with an unexpected agreement with China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC).
"I suggested in the meeting that we should explore some direct investment opportunities, and they literally asked as I was leaving Beijing if we couldn't hatch some sort of agreement," Wall said in a telephone interview from Tokyo, the final stop on the group's journey.
A memorandum of understanding was signed between CNPC and the province of Saskatchewan that will see the state-run company evaluate investments in natural gas, heavy oil and carbon capture projects. The province has had an agreement with CNPC in the past, but that was mostly a technical exchange, said Wall.
"This goes beyond that, to begin to explore investment opportunities in shale gas, in conventional gas and in oilsands, as well as carbon capture and sequestration."
The MOU is no guarantee of investment but, as the only province to have signed an agreement on this excursion, Wall said just getting the attention is a good step.
"What's positive here is that they're very carefully looking at our side of the border," he said. "It's a validation of the importance of our oil and gas resources, and investments begin somewhere -- typically with agreements like this."
Another major talking point when Wall met with officials in Shanghai, Beijing and Tokyo was uranium.
"That was a very hot topic while we were here with everyone we met with," said Wall. "China is undergoing a massive expansion of its nuclear program with literally dozens of reactors that are planned to be built and even more on the horizon, and Japan, they already have a very significant nuclear presence. I think almost one-third of their power is nuclear and they are going to be increasing that."
In Japan, which receives about 28 per cent of its uranium from Saskatchewan, the focus of talks was just on developing existing relationships. The lack of an agreement between China and Canada, however, means Saskatchewan does not yet sell any uranium to the country.
"We're hoping our federal government concludes a nuclear co-operation agreement with China so Saskatchewan uranium can be sold in that market," said Wall. "Even though we're the world's largest supplier of uranium, we sell none of it to China because there's no agreement in place. It could represent literally billions of dollars for Saskatchewan's economy."
MORE: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/
Wall+nabs+deal+China+trip/3060031/story.html
=========================
9. BRITISH CONSUL GENERAL VISITS SASKATCHEWAN
http://www.gov.sk.ca/
news?newsId=6d96dd11-2bd2-4e9d-ae79-e8120df18c00
News Release - May 28, 2010
Provincial Secretary June Draude will meet with British Consul General Toronto, Jonathan Dart also the Director for UK Trade & Investment in Canada while he is in Saskatchewan next week to learn more about trade and investment opportunities. Dart will be in Saskatchewan from May 31 to June 2 and will take part in a program designed to give him an overview of Saskatchewan's strengths in agriculture, mining and energy.
"The Government of Saskatchewan continues to seek new opportunities to foster strong international relationships and to promote Saskatchewan as a valuable trading partner and a great place to invest," Draude said. "We are honoured to host Mr. Dart and have this opportunity to show him what our great province has to offer."
While in Saskatchewan, Dart, accompanied by Henry Long, Investment Officer, UK Trade & Investment will also meet with local Saskatoon industry leaders, STEP, Enterprise Saskatchewan and Mayor Donald Atchison, and tour the Canadian Light Source at the University of Saskatchewan.
Travelling on to Regina, he will meet with the Regina Regional Opportunities Commission, Energy Minister Bill Boyd and Enterprise Minister Ken Cheveldayoff. He will also meet with Lieutentant Governor Dr. Gordon Barnhart and tour Government House.
The Office of the Provincial Secretary works with government, organizations, and communities, to provide opportunities to celebrate and promote the diversity, character and achievements of our province, and to engage diplomats and Consular Corps who visit Saskatchewan as part of government's strategy to strengthen and build regional, national and international relationships.
To learn more about the role of the Provincial Secretary, please visit www.ops.gov.sk.ca. -30-
For more information, contact:
Nicole Fellinger, Office of the Provincial Secretary, Regina
Phone: 306-787-2687
Email: nicole.fellinger@gov.sk.ca
============================
10. U.S. and global military spending
Posted: 26 May 2010 09:53 PM PDT
The U.S. military budget comprises over 44 percent of the entire world’s military spending, reports the Washington-based Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation (Laicie Olson, “U.S. vs. Global Defense Spending,” 21 May 2010). The Center calculates that worldwide military spending totalled US$1.57 trillion in 2008, the latest year for which global numbers are available, and that [...]
MORE:
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4744&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
===============
11. Two hundred and twenty-five
Posted: 27 May 2010 09:37 PM PDT
The United Kingdom became the latest nuclear weapon state to join the movement towards greater nuclear transparency on Wednesday when Foreign Secretary William Hague informed the British House of Commons that the U.K.’s “overall stockpile of nuclear warheads will not exceed 225 warheads” (”Britain Reveals Nuclear Arsenal: 225 Warheads,” New York Times, [...]
MORE:
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4751&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
=====================
12. No Nukes News - May 28, 2010
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At the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference, Greenpeace urges delegations to recognise proliferation risks of nuclear energy expansion
"The military atom and the peaceful atom are identical. The technology to produce nuclear weapons is the same as that used in civil nuclear reactors. Any nation operating a light water reactor will have the means to acquire plutonium within days of operating a secret reprocessing plant."
The proposed ‘solutions’ to tackle proliferation risks are merely excuses to allow for a global expansion of the nuclear energy. Further spread and growth of nuclear energy would lead to dramatic and unacceptable increase of proliferation risks through the growing production of accessible spent nuclear fuel and, hence, nuclear weapons materials such as plutonium, and the uncontrollable spread of (potentially) dual technologies.
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/
nuclear-reaction/the-nuclear-non-proliferation-treaty-review-c/blog/
11820
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Urge Canada to support ratification of the New START Treaty
GlobalZero Canada has started an online petition to Stephen Harper, asking Canada to support the ratification of the new START Treaty (to reduce nuclear weapons).
Read and sign it online:
http://www.globalzerocanada.org/get-inv ... e-petition
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Canada loosens regulations for waste tritium lights
At a time when radioactive tritium from waste tritium lights is showing up in landfill leachate all over the world and regulators in other countries are grappling with how to keep waste tritium lights out of landfills, Canada’s regulators have loosened regulations for disposal of these toxic devices.
Tritium Awareness Project asks “How do these changes enhance the protection of the health and safety of the Canadian public? How do these changes enhance the protection of the environment? If they do not enhance either, then why were these changes made?”
http://www.tapcanada.org/2010/05/canada-loosens-regs/
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Tritium Give-away days
Watch this great Rick Mercer skit (1 minute)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VdLi_2UxnQ
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RePower Alberta is a growing network of concerned groups, communities and individuals committed to building our green energy future for Alberta.
The RePower Alberta campaign is working hard to:
1. See the Province of Alberta pass a Green Energy Strategy;
2. Ensure the Green Energy Strategy is achieved using truly green energy, through investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy;
3. Work with communities throughout the province to implement green energy solutions and green jobs.
www.REPOWERALBERTA.ca
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The Nuclear Power TRAP (Toxic RadioActive Proliferator)
Given the overwhelming downside to everything nuclear, and the upside to efficiency, conservation, and all forms of safe, clean, nontoxic, renewable, sustainable energy, let’s consider weaning ourselves off of toxic radioactive proliferating poison power. Fortunate countries that do not have a nuclear infrastructure — before they get one — can leapfrog right over this toxic trouble to rely on clean, safe, renewable energy that will create more jobs and improve their security.
http://psysr.wordpress.com/2010/05/23/t ... ower-trap/
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Radioactive material must be barred from Great Lakes
Adding radioactive metal derived from nuclear steam generators to our metal supply is not recycling — it is dumping radioactive waste by-products in the form of contaminated goods onto the open market.
http://www.waterkeeper.ca/2010/05/20/
point-of-view-radioactive-material-must-be-barred-from-great-lakes/
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In the Blogosphere
Solar power grows up: Report says the sun can power 25% of world electricity needs by 2050.
http://re.pembina.org/blog/82
Why is Canada trailing the pack in the race to a clean energy future?
http://climate.pembina.org/blog/91
Nuclear News: US nuclear power plans hit by waste dispute
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/
nuclear-reaction/nuclear-news-us-nuclear-power-plans-hit-by-wa/blog/11780
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Poll: Canadians don't support deep-water oil drilling
A majority of Canadians want to stop deep-water oil drilling operations off the country's coasts - at least for now.
http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2 ... 60206.html
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BP spill clouds future of U.S. drilling
Some have likened the spill to the 1979 partial meltdown of a nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island — turning point in U.S. energy policy that has effectively capped expansion of nuclear power for decades.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37389981/ns ... nd_energy/
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Canada must stop subsidies to big oil companies
A leaked memo to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty advised the minister to live up to a G20 commitment to phase out tax breaks to the companies that produce coal, oil and gas. With just four weeks left before the G20 summit in Toronto, it’s time for Minister Flaherty and Prime Minister Harper to commit to a Canadian plan to end tax breaks to fossil fuel
producers.
http://www.climateactionnetwork.ca/e/news/2010/release/
index.php?WEBYEP_DI=34
Phase out subsidies to gas and oil Flaherty urged
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/
Phase%20subsidies%20Flaherty%20urged/3071210/story.html
Leaked government document says Canada should end fossil fuel subsidies
http://climate.pembina.org/blog/92
Head in the (tar)sands
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Head+ ... story.html
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Support growing to ban coal power
With three Ontario cities (Hamilton, Kitchener and Guelph) calling on the provincial government to mothball coal-fired electric power plants, the Ontario Clean Air Alliance is drumming up more support for the notion. “With a long, hot, smoggy summer ahead of us, now is the time to fully eliminate dirty coal use,” the Alliance says in a press release.
Studies have shown death rates from respiratory diseases across Southwestern Ontario are dramatically higher than for Ontario as a whole, between 45 and 50 a year per 100,000 residents.
http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2010 ... 1-lfp.html
Action: Please email Premier McGuinty and ask him to phase out coal now by simply increasing the output of our cleaner natural gas-fired power plants (and please bcc me).
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Switzerland: thousands rally against nuclear power
One of their key points was that Switzerland’s nuclear power plans are preventing the rapid development of alternative energy programmes.
http://nuclear-news.net/2010/05/26/
switzerland-thousands-rally-against-nuclear-power/
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Germany launches push into offshore wind
Offshore construction and maintenance is difficult and costly but the wind blows stronger and steadier, resulting in a greater power yield than on land.
http://www.winddaily.com/reports/
Germany_launches_push_into_offshore_wind_999.html
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Nuclear Cycle – June 5, 2010
SAT JUNE 5 is a global day of action to ABOLISH Nuclear weapons! Join our Cycling Tour of Consulates of Nuclear Weapons States!
Meet at: 1pm - St. George and Bloor (n/e corner)
Enjoy a lovely 5k bike tour through downtown city streets! See which countries have nukes, threatening every itty-bitty speck of life on Earth! Bring your signs and flags! Take pictures of your favourite consulate building! Most of all, join the call to abolish nukes!
For more information write us at info@worldwithoutwars.ca or visit us at www.worldwithoutwars.ca.
http://www.facebook.com/
home.php?#!/event.php?eid=104448689601877&ref=ts,
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Boycott BP
Take the Beyond BP Pledge! Drive a car? Like the occasional fountain drink? Send a clear message to BP by boycotting its gas and retail store products. Don't spend a cent of your hard-earned money to feed the bottom line of a corporation that has a sordid history of negligence, willfully violates environmental regulations, and is spewing thousands and thousands of barrels of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico.
Sign the pledge here: http://www.citizen.org/boycott-bp
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The Joint Review Panel for the Darlington New Nuclear Power Plant Project invites the public to attend a technical session in Ottawa. – June 22, 2010
The session will be held on Tuesday, June 22, 2010 at the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) Public Hearing Room, 14th floor, 280 Slater Street, Ottawa, Ontario, beginning at 8:30 a.m.
More information is available on the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency Web site:
http://www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca/050/document ... ment=43369
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The Big Business of War is Making a Killing!
CANSEC 2010, Canada's Largest Weapons Bazaar returns to Ottawa!
CANSEC is Canada's largest and most important War-Industry Trade Show. It's coming to Ottawa next week. Wherever you may be, please join the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT) in opposing this blatant symbol of Canada's role in the burgeoning international arms trade.
Summary Article: What is CANSEC, and why do we oppose it?
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/CANSEC2010article.htm
"Rally for Peace," June 2, 5-7 pm, Ottawa
Includes a list of speakers, poets and musicians, and links to their websites.
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/Rally.htm
Decorate CANSEC's Fence: Submit graphics/statements online, or bring them yourself.
http://www.facebook.com/
group.php?gid=116566681687834&v=wall&ref=ts
How you can help: Join the opposition to CANSEC, wherever you are!
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/OpposeCANSEC.htm
"Peace Bus" from Toronto to Ottawa, June 2: All aboard for the antiCANSEC rally
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/TOPeaceBus.htm
Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade website (for CANSEC updates and more)
http://coat.ncf.ca
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Angela Bischoff, Outreach Director
Ontario Clean Air Alliance
Tel: 416 926 1907 x 246
625 Church Street, #402, Toronto, ON M4Y 2G1
angela@cleanairalliance.org
www.ontariosgreenfuture.ca
www.cleanairalliance.org
Our Facebook Group
Sign Our Petition
No Nukes News
Health Power
=============================
13. U.S. Cyber Command: Waging War In World’s Fifth Battlespace
By Rick Rozoff
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19360
Global Research, May 27, 2010 Stop NATO - 2010-05-26
On May 21 U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced the activation of the Pentagon’s first computer command. And the world’s first comprehensive, multi-service military cyber operation.
U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM), initially approved on June 23, 2009, attained the status of what the Pentagon calls initial operations capability eleven months afterward. It is to be fully operational later this year.
CYBERCOM is based at Fort Meade, Maryland, which also is home to the National Security Agency (NSA). The head of the NSA and the related Central Security Service is Keith Alexander, U.S. Army lieutenant general on the morning of May 21 but promoted to four-star general before the formal launching of Cyber Command later in the day so as to become its commander.
The U.S. Senate confirmed Alexander for his new position on May 7. In written testimony presented to Congress earlier, he stated that in addition to the defense of computer systems and networks, “the cyber command would be prepared to wage offensive operations as well...” [1] Two days before his confirmation the Associated Press reported that Alexander “said the U.S. is determined to lead the global effort to use computer technology to deter or defeat enemies.” [2] The conjunction “and” would serve the purpose better than “or.”
MORE : www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19360
==========================
14. Beyond Nuclear Bulletin - May 27, 2010
http://www.beyondnuclear.org/storage/documents/
bulletin05272010.pdf
Top Stories
Groups admonish NRC for state preemption threat
Following an NRC not-so-veiled threat to preempt New Jersey's protection of groundwater from tritium, environmental groups ask the federal nuclear safety regulator “to confirm in writing that the NRC recognizes that it is both legal and appropriate for the States to take legal action against licensees when drinking water is under threat”.
Read More: http://www.beyondnuclear.org/nuclear-reactors-whatsnew/
2010/5/27/groups-admonish-nrc-for-threat-to-preempt-states-on-groundwa.html
Chicago radioactive waste gathering confirms expert speakers
The waste gathering is to balance out the industry-laden Obama/Chu Blue Ribbon Commission. Help prevent more radioactive waste generation. Learn more about and register for the Chicago gathering June 4-6.
Read More
http://www.beyondnuclear.org/home/2010/5/27/
june-5th-chicago-grassroots-radioactive-waste-policy-educati.html
“Packing the Nuclear Pork Barrel" by NRDC
Natural Resources Defense Council’s blog “Packing the Nuclear Pork Barrel is the Wrong Approach to Low-Carbon Energy” by Christopher Paine strongly objects to the Kerry-Lieberman “climate” bill.
Read More
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/cpaine/
packing_the_nuclear_pork_barre.html
Nuclear-Free Future Awards
The 2010 Nuclear-Free Future Awards will be presented to heroes and heroines of the Nuclear Age on the evening of Thursday, September 30 in New York City. The event is free and open to the public with tax-deductible contributions welcome.
Read More
http://www.beyondnuclear.org/human-righ ... 2010/5/26/
save-the-date-nuclear-free-future-awards.html
======================
15. Beyond Nuclear Bulletin - May 21, 2010
http://www.beyondnuclear.org/storage/
documents/bulletin05212010.pdf
Take Action!
Stop nuclear subsidies at taxpayer expense! Call Congress and the White House today!
Please Urge President Obama and Speaker Pelosi to support the real solutions to the climate crisis -- renewables and efficiency -- but not at the taxpayer expense of further subsidizing dirty, dangerous, and expensive nuclear power. Contact the White House at (202) 456-1111, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at (202) 225-0100. The Kerry-Lieberman "climate" bill undermines environmental protections and promotes dirty energy industries at taxpayer risk and expense. Now the Obama administration and Democratic House leaders have reportedly agreed to attach $90 million to a pending war spending bill in order to expand the nuclear power loan guarantee fund by $9 billion in exchange politically for solar getting only $1 billion. This would accelerate the construction of three new atomic power plants in Maryland (Calvert Cliffs 3), South Carolina (two reactors at Summer), and Texas (South Texas Project Units 3 and 4). This would squelch the competitive promise of renewables/efficiency, much to the atomic industry's delight.
But nuclear power cannot solve the climate crisis or even its own serious problems, while renewables and efficiency can. In fact, "negawatts" and "micro power" are whipping nuclear power in the free market, and have been for years and even decades, a hopeful trend that is speeding up over time.
Top Stories
Act to Prevent More Radioactive Waste Generation!
The Obama/Chu Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future will hold its second meeting in Washington, D.C. on May 25 and 26. Atomic watchdogs like Beyond Nuclear will attend and testify. In addition, the Chicago grassroots gathering on radioactive waste policy June 4-6 will directly challenge the Blue Ribbon Commission's bias in favor of expanding atomic energy despite the now over 68-year old, unsolved and worsening radioactive waste crisis. Help to prevent more radioactive waste generation: to learn more about and register for the Chicago gathering, go to the NEIS website.
Nuclear industry leader pulls out of radiation health study
Background: In a May 10, 2010 letter, Dr. Richard Meserve recused himself as Chair of the Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board of the National Academies of Sciences (NAS) from all committee activity related to a massive national health study that is taking shape around nuclear power facilities in the United States. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has requested that the NAS conduct a health study around past, present and future nuclear power facilities. As Beyond Nuclear identified in an April 29, 2010 letter requesting that the NAS conduct a conflict-of-interest review, Dr. Meserve currently serves on the Board of Directors for Luminant Corporation which owns the Comanche Peak nuclear power station in Texas and Pacific Gas and Electric which operates the Diablo Canyon reactors in California. Dr. Meserve also serves on an advisory board to UniStar Nuclear Corporation (Constellation Energy and Electricite de France) which has applied to the NRC to build new reactors around the United States.
Our View: The time for a full-scale bona-fide health study on the impacts of radiation exposure to communities downwind and downstream of US nuclear power facilities is long overdue. The responsibilities to assure that this study is fair and independent are immense. Given the growing political promotion of nuclear power currently underway, the study's development, execution and interpretation will no doubt be a tug-of-war. The effort for an independent health study on the impacts from nuclear power facilities raises many of the same questions that have dogged the nuclear industry from the exposure of "down winders" in St. George, Utah to atomic testing fallout, the communities around the Three Mile Island accident, the Massachusetts cancer study around the Pilgrim nuclear power plant and entire countries contaminated by the Chernobyl explosion. One continuing focus among many will to be to monitor how the NAS policy will be applied to the review and vetting of hundreds of potential committee members for final committee selection. The recusal of Dr. Meserve with his obvious"impaired objectivity" is a good first step and welcome sign. However, the task to watchdog this massive government effort in the public interest is only beginning.
Beyond Nuclear aims to educate and activate the public about the connections between nuclear power and nuclear weapons and the need to abandon both to safeguard our future. Beyond Nuclear advocates for an energy future that is sustainable, benign and democratic. Beyond Nuclear staff can be reached at: 301.270.2209. Or view our Web site at: http://www.beyondnuclear.org/
6930 Carroll Avenue Suite 400 | Takoma Park, MD 20912 US
- - - - -
HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE POSTPONES CONSIDERATION OF EMERGENCY BILL, $9 BILLION IN NEW REACTOR LOANS; BUT DON'T LET UP NOW! KEEP THOSE LETTERS POURING IN!
May 28, 2010
Dear Friends,
About 3 pm yesterday, the House Appropriations Committee suddenly postponed its scheduled 5 pm meeting to consider the emergency supplemental funding bill, which right now includes a provision that would allow $9 Billion in new taxpayer loans for nuclear reactor construction.
The meeting has not yet been rescheduled, but will take place after the Memorial Day recess; most likely the week of June 14.
This gives us all more time to act and more time to spread the word. But, of course, it gives the nuclear industry more time to marshal their forces as well--so we can't let up.
We're not sure exactly why the meeting was postponed, but clearly your letters and phone calls have been making a difference. Many Appropriations Committee members apparently didn't even realize the nuclear loans are in this bill. And because of the way they are described--as $90 million for nuclear and $90 million for renewables under the byzantine Congressional budgeting procedures--some members may not have understood that translates into $9 Billion in taxpayer loans for new reactors.
Your efforts are helping get these points across!
You can send a letter to your Representatives here. Thank you to the thousands of you who already have taken action! If you haven't yet, don't wait.
The link to send to your friends, relatives, colleagues, organizational networks and to post on your Facebook pages, blogs, etc. is:
http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/550 ... on/public/
?action_KEY=3179
We would like to run some more ads to reach out to more people. If we can raise $1500 in the next week, we can do so. Can you help here?
Senate Energy Bill Update
A brief update on the Kerry-Lieberman American Power Act: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will be calling in relevant committee chairs (Sens. Kerry, Boxer, Baucus, Lincoln, Bingaman and Rockefeller) for a meeting on June 10 to decide whether and how to push this legislation. While it's intended to be a climate bill, it would also be a $100 Billion or so taxpayer gift to the nuclear power industry!
We hope to have firmer numbers on the actual subsidies in this bill for you in the next week or so, but in the meantime here is a lengthy analysis of the nuclear provisions by Chris Paine of NRDC. The bill would not only give an unprecedented amount of taxpayer money to the nuclear industry, it would also terribly weaken the minimal safety and public participation standards that now exist. If there is one thing we should be learning from the BP oil disaster, it's that big polluting companies need more regulation and oversight, not less. Why on earth would anyone think the nuclear industry is any better, or any more concerned with the public welfare, than the oil industry?
We will keep you posted on when and how you can take more actions on the Kerry-Lieberman proposal (it is not actually a bill yet).
In the meantime, don't forget to contact your Representatives and please help us spread the word. Defeating this $9 Billion proposal will send a very powerful message that there must be no more taxpayer subsidies for nuclear power!
Thanks for all you do,
Michael Mariotte
Executive Director
Nuclear Information and Resource Service
6930 Carroll Avenue, #340, Takoma Park, MD 20912; 301-270-6477; nirsnet@nirs.org; www.nirs.org
nirsnet@nirs.org
www.nirs.org
========================
16. Kyrgyzstan as a Geopolitical Pivot in Great Power Rivalries
Washington, Moscow, Beijing and the Geopolitics of Central Asia
By F. William Engdahl
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19327
Global Research, May 25, 2010
Part I: Kyrgyzstan as a Geopolitical Pivot
The remote Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan is what Britain’s Halford Mackinder might call a geopolitical ‘pivot’—a land that, owing to its geographical characteristics, holds a pivotal position in Great Power rivalries.
Today the tiny remote country is being shaken by what appears to be an extremely well-planned popular uprising to topple US-backed president Kurmanbek Bakiyev. Preliminary analysts suggested that Moscow had more than a passing interest in promoting regime change there and that the events unfolding might be Moscow’s attempt to stage its own ‘reverse’ version of Washington’s ‘Color Revolutions’ -- Georgia’s Rose Revolution of 2003 or Ukraine’s Orange Revolution in 2004, as well as the 2005 Tulip Revolution that brought the pro-US Bakiyev to power. In the midst of this ongoing power shift in Kyrgyzstan, however, who is doing what to whom, is far from clear.
At the very least, what is playing out has huge strategic implications for military security throughout the Eurasian Heartland -- from China to Russia and beyond. It therefore has staggering implications for the future of the United States in Afghanistan and Central Asia and by extension in all Eurasia.
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19327
==========================
17. Russia to spend $1bn on Namibia uranium exploration
http://www.miningweekly.com/article/
russia-to-spend-1bn-on-namibia-uranium-exploration-2010-05-20
By: Reuters 20th May 2010
MOSCOW - Russia is ready to invest $1-billion in uranium exploration in Namibia, Russia's state nuclear firm said on Thursday, as it seeks to compete for projects with global miner Rio Tinto in the African country.
"We're ready to start investing already this year," the head of state corporation Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, told journalists. He said the uranium could be used for the nuclear power plant Russia was building in Turkey.
The comment came as Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba visited Moscow to meet Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Russia and Turkey signed earlier this month a $20-billion project for Moscow to build and own a controlling stake in Turkey's first nuclear power plant.
Medvedev discussed the possibility of investing in uranium explorations in Namibia last year when he visited the country on his trip to promote Moscow's interests in Africa, where it faces competition with China and the West for resources.
MORE: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/
russia-to-spend-1bn-on-namibia-uranium-exploration-2010-05-20
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18. ACTION ALERT! National Week in Defense of Water and the Environment
May 27 was the International Day of Action against Mining and Free Trade and El Salvador. To mark this day, the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) has issued an action alert asking people across North America to phone and fax the CEO of Canadian mining company Pacific Rim!
Pacific Rim is a Canadian mining company whose plans to develop a gold mine in the basin of El Salvador’s largest river, Rio Lempa, were blocked by public opposition and the company’s inability to produce a feasibility study, which led to a government decision against the proposed operations. In response, the Canadian-based company used its subsidiary in Nevada to sue El Salvador under the investment protections in the Central America-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA), proving yet again how trade agreements, and investor-state dispute processes in particular, are used globally to punish governments for protecting water and the environment from industrial and mining activities.
The Council of Canadians has been opposing Pacific Rim’s operations in El Salvador, in solidarity with strong community opposition in that country, since 2008. If Pacific Rim’s plans had gone ahead, the proposed gold mine would have provoked “an unprecedented environmental catastrophe, contaminating the land, the rivers, and the aquifers,” according to a 2008 article in NotiCen.
On May 31, the ICSID (International Center for Settlement of Investments Disputes) will decide whether to let Pacific Rim's case against El Salvador move forward.
“In protest of these proceedings,” writes CISPES in its action, “the Salvadoran anti-mining movement and broad sectors of the social movement are mounting a National Week in Defense of Water and the Environment to defend El Salvador's natural resources, land and communities from the greedy clutches of multinationals like Pacific Rim. Stand in solidarity with these struggles against corporate extortion, neocolonialism and environmental destruction in Latin America today!”
TAKE ACTION!
The CISPES goal is to make 500 calls and send 500 faxes to Pacific Rim today!
Click here to call Pacific Rim and demand that the company drop the lawsuit and leave El Salvador! There is a script on the CISPES website that will help you make your call today.
http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/609 ... on/public/
signup?signup_page_KEY=2143
Click here to send Pacific Rim's President and CEO a fax directly from the CISPES website, where there is a template statement that you can adjust if you wish
http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/609 ... on/public/
?action_KEY=3167
Compilation:
1. Cameco wants public to comment on impact statement of mine proposal
2. Cmeco's McArthur River mine gets safety award
3. LETTER: Lawrence: Pro-nuke view myopic
4. Yorkton Film Festival – Yorkton, SK May 27 – 30
5. Check out Jim Harding's new blog:
6. DO WE WANT SASKATCHEWAN TO BECOME A NUCLEAR DUMP? By Dr. Jim Harding
7. Cameco examines assets
8. Wall nabs oil, gas deal on China trip
9. BRITISH CONSUL GENERAL VISITS SASKATCHEWAN
10. U.S. and global military spending
11. Two hundred and twenty-five
12. No Nukes News - May 28, 2010
13. U.S. Cyber Command: Waging War In World’s Fifth Battlespace - By Rick Rozoff
14. Beyond Nuclear Bulletin - May 27, 2010
15. Beyond Nuclear Bulletin - May 21, 2010
16. Kyrgyzstan as a Geopolitical Pivot in Great Power Rivalries
17. Russia to spend $1bn on Namibia uranium exploration
18. ACTION ALERT! National Week in Defense of Water and the Environment
===========================
1 Cameco wants public to comment on impact statement of mine proposal
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/todays-paper/
Cameco+wants+public+comment+impact+statement+mine+proposal/
3032775/story.html
THE STAR PHOENIX MAY 15, 2010
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The deadline for public comments on the document, which incorporates federal and provincial environmental assessment requirements, is June 22. More information can be found at www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca.
- - - - -
The public is being invited to comment on a draft document prepared to assist Cameco Corp. in developing its environmental impact statement for its proposed Millennium uranium mine.
In the draft, called the project-specific guidelines scoping document, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has outlined Cameco's preliminary plan for the site. The document says the company expects to build two shafts to provide ventilation and mine the uranium deposit, which is located 615 to 730 metres below surface.
The papers also say Cameco intends to ship ore and waste from Millennium to the nearby Key Lake mill and tailings facility, which will need modifications to process material from the proposed mine.
A 21-kilometre, two-lane, all-weather road is also in Cameco's plans for the project. The road would be built to provide access to Millennium, intersecting Highway 914 about halfway between its Key Lake and McArthur River operations. The road will require about 10 stream crossings.
MORE: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/todays-paper/
Cameco+wants+public+comment+impact+statement+mine+proposal/
3032775/story.html
===================
2. Cameco's McArthur River mine gets safety award
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/
Cameco+McArthur+River+mine+gets+safety+award/3045327/story.html
THE STAR PHOENIX MAY 19, 2010
Cameco Corp. has been honoured by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) for an outstanding safety performance in 2009.
The Saskatoon-based uranium company's McArthur River mine was presented with one of the institute's highest awards, the John T. Ryan National Safety Trophy, for best safety performance in the metal mine category in 2009. Last year, one reportable injury for 756,990 working hours was recorded at the McArthur site.
A CIM Special Award Certificate, meanwhile, was given to Cameco for its Cigar Lake mine, which recorded one reportable injury for 717,932 working hours in 2009.
"These awards are a reflection of our commitment to safety," said Tim Gitzel, Cameco's president. "We are proud of our employees, who have helped make our mines and facilities among the safest in Canada."
MORE: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/
Cameco+McArthur+River+mine+gets+safety+award/3045327/story.html
==========================
3. LETTER: Lawrence: Pro-nuke view myopic
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/
nuke+view+myopic/3026456/story.html
BY RANDY LAWRENCE, THE STAR PHOENIX MAY 14, 2010
Talk about sour grapes and selective amnesia!
If I had just moved to Saskatchewan, I'd never guess -- from your editorial Sask. must seize big-idea potential uranium provides (SP, April 24) -- that this province last year had a scrupulously fair and open, democratic review of uranium development, and that the well-informed popular response was a resounding "No" to proposed massive government subsidies to the nuclear industry.
It is extremely deceitful and demeaning to all concerned parties to call all this "voodoo science" and claim that somewhere out there is a "silent majority" that actually supports nuclear power, but wasn't given a fair shake. The SP should apologize for yellow journalism.
Never mind senior Canadian diplomat Colin Robertson and his fears about what Barack Obama may think of us; last I heard, Obama was president of another country with its own problems and agenda.
What disturbs me most about your myopic editorial is the notion that "Saskatchewan, which is responsible for 25 per cent of the world's uranium production, should be the repository for 25 per cent of the spent fuel." What?
That's an excellent argument to just shut down the troubled uranium industry here.
Premier Wall's big mistake back in 2008 was to not initiate an unbiased, full public review of Saskatchewan's energy options. Now he's left with (besides conventional oil and gas) renewable energy (OK) and clean coal/carbon re-sequestration.
The latter likely to prove nothing more than an expensive pipeline dream, he might as well campaign in 2011 on biofuels and cold fusion.
Randy Lawrence
Saskatoon
© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix
========================
4. Yorkton Film Festival – Yorkton, SK May 27 - 30
http://www.goldensheafawards.com/defaul ... ge=207&a=n
Nominees: (among others)
WATCH: My Nuclear Neighbour
http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Shows/The_Nature_of_Things/
ID=1410952626
Imagine that one morning you wake up to find out your next-door neighbour may be a nuclear power plant.
There was a time when we thought atomic power would solve all our energy needs. That promise lost its lustre in cost overruns, accidents and cover-ups. Now after decades of fading into the background the nuclear power industry is poised for a comeback. In Canada, and around the world, the nuclear industry is rebranding itself as the only practical solution to global warming.
This is a story of global importance – it’s also a very local story. It’s a tale of two small towns: one in rural Ontario that has been a centre of nuclear power almost as long as there has been nuclear power. The other is in the legendary Peace country of Northern Alberta, where residents woke up one day to hear that Alberta’s first nuclear power facility might be moving in next door.
We travel with Lorraine Jensen and Brenda McSween from their farms in Peace River, Alberta to Kincardine, Ontario searching for answers to questions that are dividing their once harmonious community.
My Nuclear Neighbour is written and produced by Donna and Daniel Zuckerbrot for Reel Time Images.
= = = =
WATCH: Silent Bombs: All for the Motherland – Parts 1-4
http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2009/08/03/
silent-bombs-all-for-the-motherland-part-1/
Warning
This video may contain images depicting the reality and horror of war/violence and should only be viewed by a mature audience.
AlJazeeraEnglish August 02, 2009
Filmmaker Gerald Sperling spent five years making his documentary on the fallout from the Soviet Union's nuclear testing in Kazakhstan.
In the following account, he describes the making of Silent Bombs: All for the Motherland.
- - - - -
Between 1949 and 1989, the Soviet Union exploded 460 nuclear bombs in eastern Kazakhstan. The damage residents suffered as a result of being exposed to high levels of radiation has been passed on and seems to have intensified in the following generations.
====================
5. Check out Jim Harding's new blog:
http://crowsnestecology.wordpress.com/
======================
6. DO WE WANT SASKATCHEWAN TO BECOME A NUCLEAR DUMP? By Dr. Jim Harding
NEW BLOG:
http://crowsnestecology.wordpress.com/2010/05/23/
do-we-want-saskatchewan-to-become-a-nuclear-dump/
Saskatchewan Sustainability Published in United Newspapers of Saskatchewan - May 21, 2010
The Sask Party government can’t make up its mind whether it wants Saskatchewan to become a nuclear waste dump. In March 2009, when the Uranium Development Partnership (UDP) recommended we take nuclear wastes from afar, several Ministers were quick to distance the government from this. But on December 17th, Energy and Resources Minister Bill Boyd reversed this, saying the government is open to considering a geological repository if a “willing community” steps forward. This off-again, on-again approach Is no way to make a decision with such ramifications. The public deserves to get solid background on the matter, and we might ask: why isn’t the mainstream media supplying this so that an informed decision can be made?
MORE:
http://crowsnestecology.wordpress.com/2010/05/23/
do-we-want-saskatchewan-to-become-a-nuclear-dump/
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7. Cameco examines assets
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/ ... es+assets/
3076124/story.html
BY CASSANDRA KYLE, THE STARPHOENIXMAY 27, 2010
Cameco Corp. has the uranium it needs to meet its goal of doubling production of the element by 2018, but that hasn't stopped the company from looking at potential new assets, its CEO said Wednesday.
While there is "no planned acquisition," Jerry Grandey said, a Cameco team of geologists is always on the search for new opportunities, the chief executive explained at the company's annual meeting in Saskatoon.
Under its "Double U" strategy, Cameco plans to increase its uranium production to 40 million pounds annually over the next eight years.
"We built up an asset base of properties, resources and reserves that are indeed spectacular within the nuclear industry," Grandey said about the company's portfolio.
"So (our) 480 million pounds of proven and probable reserves -- at the highest calibre of reserves you can have -- put us in a position where the growth that we want to achieve can all be done with those properties, those assets, that we spent all this time acquiring. But it doesn't mean we don't look."
Like the acquisition Cameco made of the Kintyre uranium property in Australia, spending $346.5 million in 2008 for a 70 per cent interest in the site, Grandey said the uranium giant won't hesitate to move if the right opportunity comes along.
"If we identified and see that in paying the acquisition price we can still add value to Cameco's shareholders, then we go after it aggressively -- but nothing is planned currently," he said.
The company plans to increase its capital spending this year in order to prepare its properties -- in Saskatchewan and overseas -- to bring on more uranium production as part of its Double U strategy. Grandey expects Cameco's capital budget to rise to between $500 million and $600 million in 2010, surpassing 2009's capital expenditures of approximately $400 million.
MORE: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/ ... es+assets/
3076124/story.html
========================
8. Wall nabs oil, gas deal on China trip
QUOTE: "We're hoping our federal government concludes a nuclear co-operation agreement with China so Saskatchewan uranium can be sold in that market," said Wall. "Even though we're the world's largest supplier of uranium, we sell none of it to China because there's no agreement in place. It could represent literally billions of dollars for Saskatchewan's economy."
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/
Wall+nabs+deal+China+trip/3060031/story.html
BY RORY MACLEAN, THE STAR PHOENIX MAY 22, 2010
Wrapping up an Asian trade mission alongside the B.C. and Alberta premiers Friday, Premier Brad Wall will return home with an unexpected agreement with China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC).
"I suggested in the meeting that we should explore some direct investment opportunities, and they literally asked as I was leaving Beijing if we couldn't hatch some sort of agreement," Wall said in a telephone interview from Tokyo, the final stop on the group's journey.
A memorandum of understanding was signed between CNPC and the province of Saskatchewan that will see the state-run company evaluate investments in natural gas, heavy oil and carbon capture projects. The province has had an agreement with CNPC in the past, but that was mostly a technical exchange, said Wall.
"This goes beyond that, to begin to explore investment opportunities in shale gas, in conventional gas and in oilsands, as well as carbon capture and sequestration."
The MOU is no guarantee of investment but, as the only province to have signed an agreement on this excursion, Wall said just getting the attention is a good step.
"What's positive here is that they're very carefully looking at our side of the border," he said. "It's a validation of the importance of our oil and gas resources, and investments begin somewhere -- typically with agreements like this."
Another major talking point when Wall met with officials in Shanghai, Beijing and Tokyo was uranium.
"That was a very hot topic while we were here with everyone we met with," said Wall. "China is undergoing a massive expansion of its nuclear program with literally dozens of reactors that are planned to be built and even more on the horizon, and Japan, they already have a very significant nuclear presence. I think almost one-third of their power is nuclear and they are going to be increasing that."
In Japan, which receives about 28 per cent of its uranium from Saskatchewan, the focus of talks was just on developing existing relationships. The lack of an agreement between China and Canada, however, means Saskatchewan does not yet sell any uranium to the country.
"We're hoping our federal government concludes a nuclear co-operation agreement with China so Saskatchewan uranium can be sold in that market," said Wall. "Even though we're the world's largest supplier of uranium, we sell none of it to China because there's no agreement in place. It could represent literally billions of dollars for Saskatchewan's economy."
MORE: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/
Wall+nabs+deal+China+trip/3060031/story.html
=========================
9. BRITISH CONSUL GENERAL VISITS SASKATCHEWAN
http://www.gov.sk.ca/
news?newsId=6d96dd11-2bd2-4e9d-ae79-e8120df18c00
News Release - May 28, 2010
Provincial Secretary June Draude will meet with British Consul General Toronto, Jonathan Dart also the Director for UK Trade & Investment in Canada while he is in Saskatchewan next week to learn more about trade and investment opportunities. Dart will be in Saskatchewan from May 31 to June 2 and will take part in a program designed to give him an overview of Saskatchewan's strengths in agriculture, mining and energy.
"The Government of Saskatchewan continues to seek new opportunities to foster strong international relationships and to promote Saskatchewan as a valuable trading partner and a great place to invest," Draude said. "We are honoured to host Mr. Dart and have this opportunity to show him what our great province has to offer."
While in Saskatchewan, Dart, accompanied by Henry Long, Investment Officer, UK Trade & Investment will also meet with local Saskatoon industry leaders, STEP, Enterprise Saskatchewan and Mayor Donald Atchison, and tour the Canadian Light Source at the University of Saskatchewan.
Travelling on to Regina, he will meet with the Regina Regional Opportunities Commission, Energy Minister Bill Boyd and Enterprise Minister Ken Cheveldayoff. He will also meet with Lieutentant Governor Dr. Gordon Barnhart and tour Government House.
The Office of the Provincial Secretary works with government, organizations, and communities, to provide opportunities to celebrate and promote the diversity, character and achievements of our province, and to engage diplomats and Consular Corps who visit Saskatchewan as part of government's strategy to strengthen and build regional, national and international relationships.
To learn more about the role of the Provincial Secretary, please visit www.ops.gov.sk.ca. -30-
For more information, contact:
Nicole Fellinger, Office of the Provincial Secretary, Regina
Phone: 306-787-2687
Email: nicole.fellinger@gov.sk.ca
============================
10. U.S. and global military spending
Posted: 26 May 2010 09:53 PM PDT
The U.S. military budget comprises over 44 percent of the entire world’s military spending, reports the Washington-based Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation (Laicie Olson, “U.S. vs. Global Defense Spending,” 21 May 2010). The Center calculates that worldwide military spending totalled US$1.57 trillion in 2008, the latest year for which global numbers are available, and that [...]
MORE:
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4744&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
===============
11. Two hundred and twenty-five
Posted: 27 May 2010 09:37 PM PDT
The United Kingdom became the latest nuclear weapon state to join the movement towards greater nuclear transparency on Wednesday when Foreign Secretary William Hague informed the British House of Commons that the U.K.’s “overall stockpile of nuclear warheads will not exceed 225 warheads” (”Britain Reveals Nuclear Arsenal: 225 Warheads,” New York Times, [...]
MORE:
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4751&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
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12. No Nukes News - May 28, 2010
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At the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference, Greenpeace urges delegations to recognise proliferation risks of nuclear energy expansion
"The military atom and the peaceful atom are identical. The technology to produce nuclear weapons is the same as that used in civil nuclear reactors. Any nation operating a light water reactor will have the means to acquire plutonium within days of operating a secret reprocessing plant."
The proposed ‘solutions’ to tackle proliferation risks are merely excuses to allow for a global expansion of the nuclear energy. Further spread and growth of nuclear energy would lead to dramatic and unacceptable increase of proliferation risks through the growing production of accessible spent nuclear fuel and, hence, nuclear weapons materials such as plutonium, and the uncontrollable spread of (potentially) dual technologies.
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/
nuclear-reaction/the-nuclear-non-proliferation-treaty-review-c/blog/
11820
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Urge Canada to support ratification of the New START Treaty
GlobalZero Canada has started an online petition to Stephen Harper, asking Canada to support the ratification of the new START Treaty (to reduce nuclear weapons).
Read and sign it online:
http://www.globalzerocanada.org/get-inv ... e-petition
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Canada loosens regulations for waste tritium lights
At a time when radioactive tritium from waste tritium lights is showing up in landfill leachate all over the world and regulators in other countries are grappling with how to keep waste tritium lights out of landfills, Canada’s regulators have loosened regulations for disposal of these toxic devices.
Tritium Awareness Project asks “How do these changes enhance the protection of the health and safety of the Canadian public? How do these changes enhance the protection of the environment? If they do not enhance either, then why were these changes made?”
http://www.tapcanada.org/2010/05/canada-loosens-regs/
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Tritium Give-away days
Watch this great Rick Mercer skit (1 minute)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VdLi_2UxnQ
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RePower Alberta is a growing network of concerned groups, communities and individuals committed to building our green energy future for Alberta.
The RePower Alberta campaign is working hard to:
1. See the Province of Alberta pass a Green Energy Strategy;
2. Ensure the Green Energy Strategy is achieved using truly green energy, through investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy;
3. Work with communities throughout the province to implement green energy solutions and green jobs.
www.REPOWERALBERTA.ca
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The Nuclear Power TRAP (Toxic RadioActive Proliferator)
Given the overwhelming downside to everything nuclear, and the upside to efficiency, conservation, and all forms of safe, clean, nontoxic, renewable, sustainable energy, let’s consider weaning ourselves off of toxic radioactive proliferating poison power. Fortunate countries that do not have a nuclear infrastructure — before they get one — can leapfrog right over this toxic trouble to rely on clean, safe, renewable energy that will create more jobs and improve their security.
http://psysr.wordpress.com/2010/05/23/t ... ower-trap/
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Radioactive material must be barred from Great Lakes
Adding radioactive metal derived from nuclear steam generators to our metal supply is not recycling — it is dumping radioactive waste by-products in the form of contaminated goods onto the open market.
http://www.waterkeeper.ca/2010/05/20/
point-of-view-radioactive-material-must-be-barred-from-great-lakes/
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In the Blogosphere
Solar power grows up: Report says the sun can power 25% of world electricity needs by 2050.
http://re.pembina.org/blog/82
Why is Canada trailing the pack in the race to a clean energy future?
http://climate.pembina.org/blog/91
Nuclear News: US nuclear power plans hit by waste dispute
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/
nuclear-reaction/nuclear-news-us-nuclear-power-plans-hit-by-wa/blog/11780
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Poll: Canadians don't support deep-water oil drilling
A majority of Canadians want to stop deep-water oil drilling operations off the country's coasts - at least for now.
http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2 ... 60206.html
------------------------------
BP spill clouds future of U.S. drilling
Some have likened the spill to the 1979 partial meltdown of a nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island — turning point in U.S. energy policy that has effectively capped expansion of nuclear power for decades.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37389981/ns ... nd_energy/
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Canada must stop subsidies to big oil companies
A leaked memo to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty advised the minister to live up to a G20 commitment to phase out tax breaks to the companies that produce coal, oil and gas. With just four weeks left before the G20 summit in Toronto, it’s time for Minister Flaherty and Prime Minister Harper to commit to a Canadian plan to end tax breaks to fossil fuel
producers.
http://www.climateactionnetwork.ca/e/news/2010/release/
index.php?WEBYEP_DI=34
Phase out subsidies to gas and oil Flaherty urged
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/
Phase%20subsidies%20Flaherty%20urged/3071210/story.html
Leaked government document says Canada should end fossil fuel subsidies
http://climate.pembina.org/blog/92
Head in the (tar)sands
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Head+ ... story.html
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Support growing to ban coal power
With three Ontario cities (Hamilton, Kitchener and Guelph) calling on the provincial government to mothball coal-fired electric power plants, the Ontario Clean Air Alliance is drumming up more support for the notion. “With a long, hot, smoggy summer ahead of us, now is the time to fully eliminate dirty coal use,” the Alliance says in a press release.
Studies have shown death rates from respiratory diseases across Southwestern Ontario are dramatically higher than for Ontario as a whole, between 45 and 50 a year per 100,000 residents.
http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2010 ... 1-lfp.html
Action: Please email Premier McGuinty and ask him to phase out coal now by simply increasing the output of our cleaner natural gas-fired power plants (and please bcc me).
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Switzerland: thousands rally against nuclear power
One of their key points was that Switzerland’s nuclear power plans are preventing the rapid development of alternative energy programmes.
http://nuclear-news.net/2010/05/26/
switzerland-thousands-rally-against-nuclear-power/
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Germany launches push into offshore wind
Offshore construction and maintenance is difficult and costly but the wind blows stronger and steadier, resulting in a greater power yield than on land.
http://www.winddaily.com/reports/
Germany_launches_push_into_offshore_wind_999.html
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Nuclear Cycle – June 5, 2010
SAT JUNE 5 is a global day of action to ABOLISH Nuclear weapons! Join our Cycling Tour of Consulates of Nuclear Weapons States!
Meet at: 1pm - St. George and Bloor (n/e corner)
Enjoy a lovely 5k bike tour through downtown city streets! See which countries have nukes, threatening every itty-bitty speck of life on Earth! Bring your signs and flags! Take pictures of your favourite consulate building! Most of all, join the call to abolish nukes!
For more information write us at info@worldwithoutwars.ca or visit us at www.worldwithoutwars.ca.
http://www.facebook.com/
home.php?#!/event.php?eid=104448689601877&ref=ts,
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Boycott BP
Take the Beyond BP Pledge! Drive a car? Like the occasional fountain drink? Send a clear message to BP by boycotting its gas and retail store products. Don't spend a cent of your hard-earned money to feed the bottom line of a corporation that has a sordid history of negligence, willfully violates environmental regulations, and is spewing thousands and thousands of barrels of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico.
Sign the pledge here: http://www.citizen.org/boycott-bp
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The Joint Review Panel for the Darlington New Nuclear Power Plant Project invites the public to attend a technical session in Ottawa. – June 22, 2010
The session will be held on Tuesday, June 22, 2010 at the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) Public Hearing Room, 14th floor, 280 Slater Street, Ottawa, Ontario, beginning at 8:30 a.m.
More information is available on the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency Web site:
http://www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca/050/document ... ment=43369
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The Big Business of War is Making a Killing!
CANSEC 2010, Canada's Largest Weapons Bazaar returns to Ottawa!
CANSEC is Canada's largest and most important War-Industry Trade Show. It's coming to Ottawa next week. Wherever you may be, please join the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT) in opposing this blatant symbol of Canada's role in the burgeoning international arms trade.
Summary Article: What is CANSEC, and why do we oppose it?
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/CANSEC2010article.htm
"Rally for Peace," June 2, 5-7 pm, Ottawa
Includes a list of speakers, poets and musicians, and links to their websites.
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/Rally.htm
Decorate CANSEC's Fence: Submit graphics/statements online, or bring them yourself.
http://www.facebook.com/
group.php?gid=116566681687834&v=wall&ref=ts
How you can help: Join the opposition to CANSEC, wherever you are!
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/OpposeCANSEC.htm
"Peace Bus" from Toronto to Ottawa, June 2: All aboard for the antiCANSEC rally
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/TOPeaceBus.htm
Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade website (for CANSEC updates and more)
http://coat.ncf.ca
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Angela Bischoff, Outreach Director
Ontario Clean Air Alliance
Tel: 416 926 1907 x 246
625 Church Street, #402, Toronto, ON M4Y 2G1
angela@cleanairalliance.org
www.ontariosgreenfuture.ca
www.cleanairalliance.org
Our Facebook Group
Sign Our Petition
No Nukes News
Health Power
=============================
13. U.S. Cyber Command: Waging War In World’s Fifth Battlespace
By Rick Rozoff
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19360
Global Research, May 27, 2010 Stop NATO - 2010-05-26
On May 21 U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced the activation of the Pentagon’s first computer command. And the world’s first comprehensive, multi-service military cyber operation.
U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM), initially approved on June 23, 2009, attained the status of what the Pentagon calls initial operations capability eleven months afterward. It is to be fully operational later this year.
CYBERCOM is based at Fort Meade, Maryland, which also is home to the National Security Agency (NSA). The head of the NSA and the related Central Security Service is Keith Alexander, U.S. Army lieutenant general on the morning of May 21 but promoted to four-star general before the formal launching of Cyber Command later in the day so as to become its commander.
The U.S. Senate confirmed Alexander for his new position on May 7. In written testimony presented to Congress earlier, he stated that in addition to the defense of computer systems and networks, “the cyber command would be prepared to wage offensive operations as well...” [1] Two days before his confirmation the Associated Press reported that Alexander “said the U.S. is determined to lead the global effort to use computer technology to deter or defeat enemies.” [2] The conjunction “and” would serve the purpose better than “or.”
MORE : www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19360
==========================
14. Beyond Nuclear Bulletin - May 27, 2010
http://www.beyondnuclear.org/storage/documents/
bulletin05272010.pdf
Top Stories
Groups admonish NRC for state preemption threat
Following an NRC not-so-veiled threat to preempt New Jersey's protection of groundwater from tritium, environmental groups ask the federal nuclear safety regulator “to confirm in writing that the NRC recognizes that it is both legal and appropriate for the States to take legal action against licensees when drinking water is under threat”.
Read More: http://www.beyondnuclear.org/nuclear-reactors-whatsnew/
2010/5/27/groups-admonish-nrc-for-threat-to-preempt-states-on-groundwa.html
Chicago radioactive waste gathering confirms expert speakers
The waste gathering is to balance out the industry-laden Obama/Chu Blue Ribbon Commission. Help prevent more radioactive waste generation. Learn more about and register for the Chicago gathering June 4-6.
Read More
http://www.beyondnuclear.org/home/2010/5/27/
june-5th-chicago-grassroots-radioactive-waste-policy-educati.html
“Packing the Nuclear Pork Barrel" by NRDC
Natural Resources Defense Council’s blog “Packing the Nuclear Pork Barrel is the Wrong Approach to Low-Carbon Energy” by Christopher Paine strongly objects to the Kerry-Lieberman “climate” bill.
Read More
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/cpaine/
packing_the_nuclear_pork_barre.html
Nuclear-Free Future Awards
The 2010 Nuclear-Free Future Awards will be presented to heroes and heroines of the Nuclear Age on the evening of Thursday, September 30 in New York City. The event is free and open to the public with tax-deductible contributions welcome.
Read More
http://www.beyondnuclear.org/human-righ ... 2010/5/26/
save-the-date-nuclear-free-future-awards.html
======================
15. Beyond Nuclear Bulletin - May 21, 2010
http://www.beyondnuclear.org/storage/
documents/bulletin05212010.pdf
Take Action!
Stop nuclear subsidies at taxpayer expense! Call Congress and the White House today!
Please Urge President Obama and Speaker Pelosi to support the real solutions to the climate crisis -- renewables and efficiency -- but not at the taxpayer expense of further subsidizing dirty, dangerous, and expensive nuclear power. Contact the White House at (202) 456-1111, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at (202) 225-0100. The Kerry-Lieberman "climate" bill undermines environmental protections and promotes dirty energy industries at taxpayer risk and expense. Now the Obama administration and Democratic House leaders have reportedly agreed to attach $90 million to a pending war spending bill in order to expand the nuclear power loan guarantee fund by $9 billion in exchange politically for solar getting only $1 billion. This would accelerate the construction of three new atomic power plants in Maryland (Calvert Cliffs 3), South Carolina (two reactors at Summer), and Texas (South Texas Project Units 3 and 4). This would squelch the competitive promise of renewables/efficiency, much to the atomic industry's delight.
But nuclear power cannot solve the climate crisis or even its own serious problems, while renewables and efficiency can. In fact, "negawatts" and "micro power" are whipping nuclear power in the free market, and have been for years and even decades, a hopeful trend that is speeding up over time.
Top Stories
Act to Prevent More Radioactive Waste Generation!
The Obama/Chu Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future will hold its second meeting in Washington, D.C. on May 25 and 26. Atomic watchdogs like Beyond Nuclear will attend and testify. In addition, the Chicago grassroots gathering on radioactive waste policy June 4-6 will directly challenge the Blue Ribbon Commission's bias in favor of expanding atomic energy despite the now over 68-year old, unsolved and worsening radioactive waste crisis. Help to prevent more radioactive waste generation: to learn more about and register for the Chicago gathering, go to the NEIS website.
Nuclear industry leader pulls out of radiation health study
Background: In a May 10, 2010 letter, Dr. Richard Meserve recused himself as Chair of the Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board of the National Academies of Sciences (NAS) from all committee activity related to a massive national health study that is taking shape around nuclear power facilities in the United States. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has requested that the NAS conduct a health study around past, present and future nuclear power facilities. As Beyond Nuclear identified in an April 29, 2010 letter requesting that the NAS conduct a conflict-of-interest review, Dr. Meserve currently serves on the Board of Directors for Luminant Corporation which owns the Comanche Peak nuclear power station in Texas and Pacific Gas and Electric which operates the Diablo Canyon reactors in California. Dr. Meserve also serves on an advisory board to UniStar Nuclear Corporation (Constellation Energy and Electricite de France) which has applied to the NRC to build new reactors around the United States.
Our View: The time for a full-scale bona-fide health study on the impacts of radiation exposure to communities downwind and downstream of US nuclear power facilities is long overdue. The responsibilities to assure that this study is fair and independent are immense. Given the growing political promotion of nuclear power currently underway, the study's development, execution and interpretation will no doubt be a tug-of-war. The effort for an independent health study on the impacts from nuclear power facilities raises many of the same questions that have dogged the nuclear industry from the exposure of "down winders" in St. George, Utah to atomic testing fallout, the communities around the Three Mile Island accident, the Massachusetts cancer study around the Pilgrim nuclear power plant and entire countries contaminated by the Chernobyl explosion. One continuing focus among many will to be to monitor how the NAS policy will be applied to the review and vetting of hundreds of potential committee members for final committee selection. The recusal of Dr. Meserve with his obvious"impaired objectivity" is a good first step and welcome sign. However, the task to watchdog this massive government effort in the public interest is only beginning.
Beyond Nuclear aims to educate and activate the public about the connections between nuclear power and nuclear weapons and the need to abandon both to safeguard our future. Beyond Nuclear advocates for an energy future that is sustainable, benign and democratic. Beyond Nuclear staff can be reached at: 301.270.2209. Or view our Web site at: http://www.beyondnuclear.org/
6930 Carroll Avenue Suite 400 | Takoma Park, MD 20912 US
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HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE POSTPONES CONSIDERATION OF EMERGENCY BILL, $9 BILLION IN NEW REACTOR LOANS; BUT DON'T LET UP NOW! KEEP THOSE LETTERS POURING IN!
May 28, 2010
Dear Friends,
About 3 pm yesterday, the House Appropriations Committee suddenly postponed its scheduled 5 pm meeting to consider the emergency supplemental funding bill, which right now includes a provision that would allow $9 Billion in new taxpayer loans for nuclear reactor construction.
The meeting has not yet been rescheduled, but will take place after the Memorial Day recess; most likely the week of June 14.
This gives us all more time to act and more time to spread the word. But, of course, it gives the nuclear industry more time to marshal their forces as well--so we can't let up.
We're not sure exactly why the meeting was postponed, but clearly your letters and phone calls have been making a difference. Many Appropriations Committee members apparently didn't even realize the nuclear loans are in this bill. And because of the way they are described--as $90 million for nuclear and $90 million for renewables under the byzantine Congressional budgeting procedures--some members may not have understood that translates into $9 Billion in taxpayer loans for new reactors.
Your efforts are helping get these points across!
You can send a letter to your Representatives here. Thank you to the thousands of you who already have taken action! If you haven't yet, don't wait.
The link to send to your friends, relatives, colleagues, organizational networks and to post on your Facebook pages, blogs, etc. is:
http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/550 ... on/public/
?action_KEY=3179
We would like to run some more ads to reach out to more people. If we can raise $1500 in the next week, we can do so. Can you help here?
Senate Energy Bill Update
A brief update on the Kerry-Lieberman American Power Act: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will be calling in relevant committee chairs (Sens. Kerry, Boxer, Baucus, Lincoln, Bingaman and Rockefeller) for a meeting on June 10 to decide whether and how to push this legislation. While it's intended to be a climate bill, it would also be a $100 Billion or so taxpayer gift to the nuclear power industry!
We hope to have firmer numbers on the actual subsidies in this bill for you in the next week or so, but in the meantime here is a lengthy analysis of the nuclear provisions by Chris Paine of NRDC. The bill would not only give an unprecedented amount of taxpayer money to the nuclear industry, it would also terribly weaken the minimal safety and public participation standards that now exist. If there is one thing we should be learning from the BP oil disaster, it's that big polluting companies need more regulation and oversight, not less. Why on earth would anyone think the nuclear industry is any better, or any more concerned with the public welfare, than the oil industry?
We will keep you posted on when and how you can take more actions on the Kerry-Lieberman proposal (it is not actually a bill yet).
In the meantime, don't forget to contact your Representatives and please help us spread the word. Defeating this $9 Billion proposal will send a very powerful message that there must be no more taxpayer subsidies for nuclear power!
Thanks for all you do,
Michael Mariotte
Executive Director
Nuclear Information and Resource Service
6930 Carroll Avenue, #340, Takoma Park, MD 20912; 301-270-6477; nirsnet@nirs.org; www.nirs.org
nirsnet@nirs.org
www.nirs.org
========================
16. Kyrgyzstan as a Geopolitical Pivot in Great Power Rivalries
Washington, Moscow, Beijing and the Geopolitics of Central Asia
By F. William Engdahl
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19327
Global Research, May 25, 2010
Part I: Kyrgyzstan as a Geopolitical Pivot
The remote Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan is what Britain’s Halford Mackinder might call a geopolitical ‘pivot’—a land that, owing to its geographical characteristics, holds a pivotal position in Great Power rivalries.
Today the tiny remote country is being shaken by what appears to be an extremely well-planned popular uprising to topple US-backed president Kurmanbek Bakiyev. Preliminary analysts suggested that Moscow had more than a passing interest in promoting regime change there and that the events unfolding might be Moscow’s attempt to stage its own ‘reverse’ version of Washington’s ‘Color Revolutions’ -- Georgia’s Rose Revolution of 2003 or Ukraine’s Orange Revolution in 2004, as well as the 2005 Tulip Revolution that brought the pro-US Bakiyev to power. In the midst of this ongoing power shift in Kyrgyzstan, however, who is doing what to whom, is far from clear.
At the very least, what is playing out has huge strategic implications for military security throughout the Eurasian Heartland -- from China to Russia and beyond. It therefore has staggering implications for the future of the United States in Afghanistan and Central Asia and by extension in all Eurasia.
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19327
==========================
17. Russia to spend $1bn on Namibia uranium exploration
http://www.miningweekly.com/article/
russia-to-spend-1bn-on-namibia-uranium-exploration-2010-05-20
By: Reuters 20th May 2010
MOSCOW - Russia is ready to invest $1-billion in uranium exploration in Namibia, Russia's state nuclear firm said on Thursday, as it seeks to compete for projects with global miner Rio Tinto in the African country.
"We're ready to start investing already this year," the head of state corporation Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, told journalists. He said the uranium could be used for the nuclear power plant Russia was building in Turkey.
The comment came as Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba visited Moscow to meet Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Russia and Turkey signed earlier this month a $20-billion project for Moscow to build and own a controlling stake in Turkey's first nuclear power plant.
Medvedev discussed the possibility of investing in uranium explorations in Namibia last year when he visited the country on his trip to promote Moscow's interests in Africa, where it faces competition with China and the West for resources.
MORE: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/
russia-to-spend-1bn-on-namibia-uranium-exploration-2010-05-20
============================
18. ACTION ALERT! National Week in Defense of Water and the Environment
May 27 was the International Day of Action against Mining and Free Trade and El Salvador. To mark this day, the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) has issued an action alert asking people across North America to phone and fax the CEO of Canadian mining company Pacific Rim!
Pacific Rim is a Canadian mining company whose plans to develop a gold mine in the basin of El Salvador’s largest river, Rio Lempa, were blocked by public opposition and the company’s inability to produce a feasibility study, which led to a government decision against the proposed operations. In response, the Canadian-based company used its subsidiary in Nevada to sue El Salvador under the investment protections in the Central America-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA), proving yet again how trade agreements, and investor-state dispute processes in particular, are used globally to punish governments for protecting water and the environment from industrial and mining activities.
The Council of Canadians has been opposing Pacific Rim’s operations in El Salvador, in solidarity with strong community opposition in that country, since 2008. If Pacific Rim’s plans had gone ahead, the proposed gold mine would have provoked “an unprecedented environmental catastrophe, contaminating the land, the rivers, and the aquifers,” according to a 2008 article in NotiCen.
On May 31, the ICSID (International Center for Settlement of Investments Disputes) will decide whether to let Pacific Rim's case against El Salvador move forward.
“In protest of these proceedings,” writes CISPES in its action, “the Salvadoran anti-mining movement and broad sectors of the social movement are mounting a National Week in Defense of Water and the Environment to defend El Salvador's natural resources, land and communities from the greedy clutches of multinationals like Pacific Rim. Stand in solidarity with these struggles against corporate extortion, neocolonialism and environmental destruction in Latin America today!”
TAKE ACTION!
The CISPES goal is to make 500 calls and send 500 faxes to Pacific Rim today!
Click here to call Pacific Rim and demand that the company drop the lawsuit and leave El Salvador! There is a script on the CISPES website that will help you make your call today.
http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/609 ... on/public/
signup?signup_page_KEY=2143
Click here to send Pacific Rim's President and CEO a fax directly from the CISPES website, where there is a template statement that you can adjust if you wish
http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/609 ... on/public/
?action_KEY=3167
Last edited by Oscar on Mon Jul 12, 2010 12:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9887
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
NUKE NEWS: June 4, 2010
by Oscar » Fri Jun 04, 2010 6:03 pm
NUKE NEWS: June 4, 2010
1. Canada’s Arms Show – Ottawa – June 2-4, 2010
2. A CLOSE LOOK AT A PRONUCLEAR “ENVIRONMENTALIST”
3. Union bans workers from uranium mines - ABC News, June 1, 2010
4. Keep Lake Baikal alive
5. Cameco eyes double play
6. Cameco Corp. reports net earnings of $142M in first quarter
7. "Towards a sustainable front-end of Nuclear Energy Systems"
8. Energy hot topic for Sask. Grits
9. Interim exemptions from the Packaging and Transport of Nuclear Substances Regulations
10. New nuclear plants could be more hazardous [financially]
11. Depleted uranium is destroying life
12. Nuclear-power officials vow to mine uranium "the right way"
13. MINING WEEK CELEBRATES INVESTMENT, ECONOMIC GROWTH
14. Radioactive Fish Near Vt. Nuke Plant Deemed Common
15. Ceasefire Articles
16. "Operation Justified Vengeance": Israeli Strike on Freedom Flotilla to Gaza is Part of a Broader Military Agenda
17. A Nuclear Gamble on the Not-So-Distant Horizon
18. No Nukes News - June 3, 2010
19. Beyond Nuclear Bulletin June 3, 2010
20. Land of riches given over to Kakadu
21. Country`s future lies in renewable energy
========================
1. Canada’s Arms Show – Ottawa – June 2-4, 2010
City of Ottawa Profiting from the Arms Industry
Posted: 02 Jun 2010 06:36 AM PDT
Send your letter to Ottawa mayoral candidates: Commit to end CANSEC Today Canada’s largest arms show opens in Ottawa. CANSEC has grown tremendously over the last few years because of the war in Afghanistan and steep increases in military spending. But it has also grown with the help of Ottawa City Council, which rejected a 20-year ban [...]
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4804&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
- - - - - -
Petition: Commit to end the CANSEC arms show
Posted: 01 Jun 2010 01:34 PM PDT
The City of Ottawa overturned a 20-year ban on arms shows at city-owned facilities. Now it has been revealed that the city is pocketing nearly $113,000 from CANSEC, Canada's largest arms show. Urge Ottawa mayoral candidates to reject CANSEC, and to stop profiting from the arms industry.
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4782&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
- - - - - -
WATCH: Inside CANSEC and Canada’s arms industry (2003)
Posted: 01 Jun 2010 06:53 PM PDT
A video produced in 2003 using footage from CANSEC, the Abbotsford Airshow and Airshow Canada, and the companies themselves. Polaris Institute.
MORE:
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4796&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
- - - - - -
Learn more about CANSEC and join the campaign to oppose it.
CANSEC is Canada's largest and most important War-Industry Trade Show. It's coming to Ottawa next week. Wherever you may be, please join the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT) in opposing this blatant symbol of Canada's role in the burgeoning international arms trade.
For more info, see the list of weblinks at the end of this email to learn more about CANSEC and how you can help COAT to expose and oppose it!
- - - - - -
Here is an annotated list of weblinks about CANSEC and how you can help expose and oppose it:
Summary Article: What is CANSEC, and why do we oppose it?
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/CANSEC2010article.htm
"CANSEC: War is Business" (50-page COAT publication. Get the nitty gritty)
http://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/64/64.htm
"Rally for Peace," June 2, 5-7 pm, Ottawa
Includes a list of speakers, poets and musicians, and links to their websites.
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/Rally.htm
Spread the word about COAT's "Rally for Peace"
Fliers: http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/fliers/fliers.htm
Posters: http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/Posters.htm
Other antiCANSEC events: What to do in Ottawa on June 2, 2010
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/June2events.htm
Decorate CANSEC's Fence: Submit graphics/statements online, or bring them yourself.
http://www.facebook.com/
group.php?gid=116566681687834&v=wall&ref=ts
How you can help: Join the opposition to CANSEC, wherever you are!
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/OpposeCANSEC.htm
CANSEC 2010 Exhibitors: Links to info about 275 exhibitors and their websites.
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/CANSEC2010Exhibitors.htm
"Peace Bus" from Toronto to Ottawa, June 2: All aboard for the antiCANSEC rally
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/TOPeaceBus.htm
Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade website (for CANSEC updates and more)
http://coat.ncf.ca
Support COAT: Donate, subscribe, order "CANSEC: War is Business"
http://coat.ncf.ca/support_us/support_us.htm
===================
2. A CLOSE LOOK AT A PRONUCLEAR “ENVIRONMENTALIST”
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1727#1727
By Jim Harding
Saskatchewan Sustainability Published in the United Newspapers of Saskatchewan June 4, 2010
It’s important to know “both sides” of the nuclear waste controversy now that Saskatchewan is being targeted as a nuclear dump. Even if you are skeptical of industry claims that a nuclear waste solution “is in the works”, and see this as a ploy to get more nuclear power plants approved, there’s lots to learn about the nuclear worldview.
Bruno Comby of the French-based “Environmentalist for Nuclear Energy” argues that “nuclear waste has undeniable environmental benefits”. Comby lists three benefits: its “small amount”, it not being “disposed of in the biosphere” and it being “almost totally confined.” He claims that “reprocessed radioactive waste” can be decreased “to the natural level of radioactivity of the original ore after only 5,000 years”, and that “safe, simply and efficient solutions exist to make nuclear waste inert” and to isolate it “from the biosphere until it is no longer toxic”. Finally he claims that a naturally-occurring nuclear reaction 2 billion years ago at Okla, Gabon shows that “waste, after being left unconfined…has not migrated more than three meters.” He concludes the nuclear waste issue is “technically and ecologically solved by a combination of reprocessing technology, vitrification and deep geological disposal.”
This is quite a mouthful. If it’s this “pat” then why, nearly 70 years after the first atom was split, are governments struggling with what to do with nuclear wastes? Comby’s argument is constructed to make real problems disappear. Notice his phrase “after only 5,000 years”, as though it would be acceptable to continue to create high-level wastes threatening environmental health for 50 generations. (It’s actually many more generations when you consider that plutonium has a half-life of 26,000 years.) He claims that because it takes a smaller quantity of uranium than oil to produce the same amount of energy, nuclear wastes are less problematic. But he completely ignores the build-up of long-lived radioactive uranium tailings, which are part of the nuclear waste stream; there are already more than 200 million tons of such tailings in Canada. Comby trivializes the toxicity of spent fuel, claiming that once plutonium is “reprocessed and recycled” as fuel for new reactors the remaining waste “is totally isolated from the environment”. Furthermore, Comby completely ignores the increased dangers of proliferation from plutonium becoming more available.
MORE:
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1727#1727
=====================
3. Union bans workers from uranium mines
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/01/
2915071.htm?section=j...
ABC News, June 1, 2010.
The Electrical Trades Union (ETU) in Queensland and the Northern Territory is banning its members from working on uranium mines or within the nuclear energy industry.
ETU secretary Peter Simpson says corporate interests and political leaders are trying to bribe workers with the promise of high wages while denying the health risks of uranium mining.
"We have got a world renowned expert on the subject, we have got several other experts in Australia that have gone out and done the research on this stuff," he said.
"Whilst the industry will tell you that it is all fine and that gamma radiation is not an issue, they don't tell you about the hidden dangers that are associated with this product.
"We have done the research. We believe it is unsafe for our members to work in those areas."
He says a DVD has been sent to all members outlining the dangers and the reasons why the union is taking this stance.
"We need to draw a line in the sand," he said.
"It is not just the nuclear power stations, it's the actual mining and exporting of uranium that we have got a major issue with.
"But at the end of the day we think it is a dangerous substance and our safety council has banned it accordingly."
The ETU says it expects other major unions to join the ban.
MORE:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/01/
2915071.htm?section=j...
=====================
4. Keep Lake Baikal alive
http://www.greenpeace.org/international ... ics/water/
what-you-can-do/Lake-Baikal/Keep-lake-Baikal-alive/?intext
Nuclear waste exports to Russia are ending after a full generation of campaigning! French nuclear company AREVA will no longer use Russia as a garbage can for its nuclear waste.
We've been opposing these shipments since 1984, when an accident at sea revealed that the radioactive exports had been taking place in near-secret for more than a decade. Following the most recent wave of opposition the shipments will end - another example that public pressure works!
Russia may no longer be the final destination of AREVA waste - but your support is still needed to help protect its largest fresh water lake - Lake Baikal.
A pulp and paper mill has received authorisation from the Russian government to dump toxic waste there.
As a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Lake Baikal is entitled to international protection - let's ask the head of UNESCO to step up and defend Lake Baikal.
We only need around 5000 more signatures on the petition, please consider sharing it: Tweet in support of Lake Baikal.
Share the petition on Facebook.
Thank you for acting to save Lake Baikal!
All of us,
Greenpeace International
http://www.greenpeace.org
Facebook
Twitter
==========================
5. Cameco eyes double play
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/ ... uble+play/
2988131/story.html
Uranium miner aims to double output by 2018
BY CASSANDRA KYLE, THE STARPHOENIX MAY 5, 2010
Cameco Corp.'s properties in Saskatchewan will play a key role in helping the company reach its goal of doubling uranium production in eight years time, Cameco's CEO said Tuesday upon the release of its first-quarter earnings.
An expansion of its flagship McArthur River mine, the development of the Millennium project, extending the life of its Rabbit Lake mine and, of course, bringing the twice-flooded Cigar Lake mine into production will work to push the company's uranium production to 40 million pounds by 2018, Jerry Grandey said.
Of the Athabasca Basin properties, Grandey explained that the Cigar Lake site -- the world's second-largest high-grade uranium deposit -- will provide the most significant uranium tonnage to the company's 2018 goal. The mine is expected to contribute 2.1 million pounds of uranium when it reaches its anticipated production date in mid-2013,
ramping up to 18 million pounds annually by 2017.
"We are focused on advancing these and other projects for the simple reason that Cameco wants to be ready to supply the growing market for nuclear fuel," Grandey said during a conference call with investors and media.
He says Cameco is always looking at "alternatives that could improve Cigar Lake's timeline to commercial operation."
The company's uranium properties in Australia, Kazakhstan and the United States are also key to meeting the company's 2018 production goal, Grandey added.
"Cameco's plan to double our uranium production by 2018 is the right strategy targeted for delivery at the right time," he said.
MORE:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/ ... uble+play/
2988131/story.html
====================
6. Cameco Corp. reports net earnings of $142M in first quarter
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/
Cameco+Corp+reports+earnings+142M+first+quarter/
2984908/story.html
BY CASSANDRA KYLE, THE STAR PHOENIX MAY 4, 2010
Despite a drop in uranium revenue, Cameco Corp. saw its net earnings for the first quarter rise by $60 million over last year.
The Saskatoon-based uranium producer reported Tuesday net earnings of $142 million, or 36 cents per share, for the quarter, up from $82 million, or 22 cents per share, during the same period last year. Cameco attributes the rise to a $31 million gain in the quarter on its financial instruments compared to a loss of $24 million in the first quarter 2009.
“We are continuing to advance our outstanding portfolio of uranium assets through sound financial management and through continued commitment to operational excellence,” stated Jerry Grandey, Cameco’s president and CEO.
MORE: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/
Cameco+Corp+reports+earnings+142M+first+quarter/
2984908/story.html
======================
7. "Towards a sustainable front-end of Nuclear Energy Systems"
http://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/re ... 11111/6182
The European Union / Commission has published a 33-page booklet basically discussing the feasibility of "sustainable" uranium mining, and comparing with other "energy systems".
This report discusses some fundamental sustainability aspects of nuclear energy systems. Sustainability is used here in a broad sense, encompassing economic as well as environmental aspects. As all raw materials, uranium as resource is available in limited quantities only, although it is by no means scarce in terms of abundance in the earth¿s crust. What can be called a resource is determined by the energy investment that is required to recover it. On one hand this is a simple economic consideration, but on the other hand any energy expenditure has environmental impacts associated with it, including the emission of greenhouse gases. An additional aspect is the relationship between energy investment and net energy gain that may become unfavourable as deeper resources and more refractive uranium mineralisation will have to be exploited. The report outlines the data needs for a more quantitative and long-term strategic assessment of the availability of uranium as fuel in nuclear energy systems.
======================
8. Energy hot topic for Sask. Grits
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technolog ... ask+Grits/
3007757/story.html
Annual convention held in Saskatoon
By Rory MacLean, The StarPhoenix May 10, 2010
The topics of aboriginal development and energy policy dominated the annual Saskatchewan Liberal party policy convention held Saturday in Saskatoon.
Policies on renewable energy sources generated much discussion, with party Leader Ryan Bater favouring a feed-in tariff to promote small, renewable energy producers.
"What that basically means is that we'd open up our power grid and provide universal access to small-scale producers of renewable energy, whether it be wind or biomass or solar, and provide a premium set price for that to make the economics viable for the individual producer."
MORE: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technolog ... ask+Grits/
3007757/story.html
===========================
9. Interim exemptions from the Packaging and Transport of Nuclear Substances Regulations
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/read ... bulletins/
view_bulletin.cfm?bulletin_id=215
Information Bulletin 10-11 May 31, 2010
In February 2010, the Commission Tribunal approved interim exemptions from the Packaging and Transport of Nuclear Substances Regulations (PTNS Regulations).
The exemptions apply to check sources and radiation devices containing less than 10 times the exemption quantity of a radioactive nuclear substance, following the sale to the end user. Radiation devices containing more than 1 time the exemption quantity of radioactive nuclear substances are required to be certified by the CNSC for use in Canada and this requirement will continue to be in effect.
Manufacturers and distributors are not exempted from compliance with PTNS Regulations with respect to the packaging and transport, since they may transport large quantities of check sources or radiation devices in one shipment.
MORE:
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/read ... bulletins/
view_bulletin.cfm?bulletin_id=215
======================
10. New nuclear plants could be more hazardous [financially]
Report questions waste disposal
http://www.windsorstar.com/technology/
nuclear+plants+could+more+dangerous/3091548/story.html
Mike De Souza, Canwest News Service, Ottawa
The Windsor Star, Mon May 31 2010, Page: B1 / FRONT
The latest generation of proposed multibillion dollar Canadian nuclear plants could be up to 158 times more hazardous than their predecessors, opening the door to massive cost overruns and possibly forcing taxpayers to pick up the tab, warns a report released today.
The report, The Hazards of Generation III Reactor Fuel Wastes, says the risk is primarily due to uncertainty about what will happen to radioactive uranium fuel after it is used.
"Canada's present generation of nuclear plants was built with no prior plan as to how to manage the radioactive wastes it would produce," said the report, prepared by independent consulting firm, Radioactive Waste Management Associates. "Canada is arguably on the cusp of repeating this mistake."
The New York-based firm was created in 1989 and consists of expert scientists and engineers who have regularly advised local governments in North America on waste management. The report, authored by Marvin Resnikoff, Jackie Travers, and Ekaterina Alexandrova was sponsored by Greenpeace Canada.
It concludes that the waste from the next generation plants that use enriched uranium fuel would be two to 158 times more radioactive than waste from existing Canadian reactors that use natural uranium fuel.
MORE:
http://www.windsorstar.com/technology/
nuclear+plants+could+more+dangerous/3091548/story.html
=======================
11. Depleted uranium is destroying life
http://jamesfetzer.blogspot.com/2010/04/
depleted-uranium-is-destroying-life-by.html
THURSDAY, 15 APRIL 2010 00:02 JERRY MAZZA
I have long heard sound-bites or seen passages about depleted uranium that sounded more than dire. But given my own cognitive dissonance, and the fact that I was writing about many other dire topics at the time, I filed depleted uranium in my cranium for future investigation, which, given the human aversion to bad news, could have been never.
But never was over in an exchange of emails about nuclear missiles in Israel's arsenal. I received some startling nuclear information from San Francisco Bay View writer, Bob Nichols. It was an illumination long-time coming.
I started at the end of Bob's article to find out who he was. His credits read "Bob Nichols is a Project Censored Award winning writer and a San Francisco Bay View correspondent. A former bomb maker in a U.S. government factory in rural Oklahoma, he reports on the two nuclear weapons labs in the Bay Area. He can be reached at duweapons@gmail.com." His credentials were impressive and so was the article he sent, which I hope you read, PTSD, infertility and other consequences of war.
MORE:
http://jamesfetzer.blogspot.com/2010/04/
depleted-uranium-is-destroying-life-by.html
=================
12. Nuclear-power officials vow to mine uranium "the right way"
http://www.denverpost.com/commented/
ci_15170096?source=commented-
By Bruce Finley The Denver Post Posted: 05/27/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT
Uranium-mining leaders and federal regulators poised to fuel a resurgent nuclear power industry gathered in Denver on Wednesday, vowing to do a better job of protecting the environment but drawing demonstrators nonetheless.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials indicated they're expecting applications for uranium projects at 25 sites by 2013, along with applications to establish 28 new nuclear power plants.
The United States now imports 95 percent of the uranium used at existing nuclear power plants, said Katie Sweeney, general counsel for the National Mining Association, which is running the conference in Denver. Foreign suppliers include Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan and Russia.
"Do we want to rely on ourselves? Or do we want to rely on foreign sources?" Sweeney said. The smartest course, she said, is for domestic uranium producers to "do it right. Mine uranium the right way. It can be done."
MORE: http://www.denverpost.com/commented/
ci_15170096?source=commented-
- - - - -
NAVAJO NATION PRESIDENT SIGNS BILL BANNING URANIUM MINING AND MILLING - 2005
http://sric.org/uranium/index.html
In the late 1970s, Navajo uranium miners and their families asked for help to show that their lung diseases had been caused by their work in underground uranium mines in the 1940s-1960s. SRIC staff responded with medical and scientific data, in-community education strategies, and legislative support. As a result, Congress adopted legislation in 1990 to compensate former miners and their survivors. Ten years later, with SRIC's on going technical support to advocacy groups, the law was amended to cover virtually all uranium miners who worked before 1971.
MORE: http://sric.org/uranium/index.html
- - - -
NAVAJO NATION PRESIDENT SIGNS BILL BANNING URANIUM MINING AND MILLING
Crownpoint, N.M., April 29, 2005. Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley, Jr., today signed what is believed to be the first Native American tribal law banning uranium mining and milling. With dozens of community members and dignitaries looking on, Shirley signed the Diné Natural Resources Protection Act (DNRPA) of 2005, which was passed by the Navajo Nation Council by a vote of 63-19 on April 19
PRESS RELEASE:
http://sric.org/uranium/
Navajo%20pres.%20signs%20uranium%20ban,%20for%20April%2030.pdf
========================
13. MINING WEEK CELEBRATES INVESTMENT, ECONOMIC GROWTH
http://www.gov.sk.ca/
news?newsId=24b7d752-5a7a-471b-8fb3-5afd25e783c8
News Release - May 31, 2010
Saskatchewan's mining industry touches practically everyone in the province, and its major impact on our economy is being recognized during Mining Week in Saskatchewan, May 30 to June 5.
This year's theme of Mining: Investing in Saskatchewan's Growth recognizes both the industry as a driving force and the contribution it's expected to make to our future. The week is also a celebration of the more than 30,500 people employed directly and indirectly in mining and in jobs induced by mining activities.
MORE: http://www.gov.sk.ca/
news?newsId=24b7d752-5a7a-471b-8fb3-5afd25e783c8
=============================
14. Radioactive Fish Near Vt. Nuke Plant Deemed Common
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/06/02-3
Published on Wednesday, June 2, 2010 by Associated Press by Dave Gram
MONTPELIER, Vt. - When a fish taken from the Connecticut River recently tested positive for radioactive strontium-90, suspicion focused on the nearby Vermont Yankee nuclear plant as the likely source.
Operators of the troubled 38-year-old nuclear plant on the banks of the river, where work is under way to clean up leaking radioactive tritium, revealed this month that it also found soil contaminated with strontium-90, an isotope linked to bone cancer and leukemia.
Three days later, officials said a fish caught four miles upstream from the reactor in February had tested positive for strontium-90 in its bones. State officials say they don't believe the contamination came from Vermont Yankee.
MORE: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/06/02-3
========================
15. Ceasefire Articles:
And the big fool said to push on
Posted: 03 Jun 2010 09:13 PM PDT
More talk of retaining a Canadian military role in Afghanistan following the scheduled end of the Kandahar mission in 2012 (Matthew Fisher, “Canada could fill training role in Afghanistan post-2011, MPs say,” Canwest News Service, 3 June 2010): Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae has provided the strongest indication yet that a deal may be [...]
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4816&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
- - - - - -
$1,000,000,000,000 and counting
Posted: 30 May 2010 02:25 PM PDT
According to the National Priorities Project, the total direct cost to the United States of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq surpassed one trillion dollars on Sunday, May 30th. Estimates of the direct and indirect costs of the wars, including future health care for wounded soldiers, interest payments on debt, and other factors, already run into [...]
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4765&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
- - - - -
CF-18 replacement to cost $9 billion or more
Posted: 30 May 2010 02:22 PM PDT
The government is expected to give the go-ahead to a project to replace Canada’s CF-18 fighter-bombers with a new generation of aircraft later this year (David Pugliese, “$9B pricetag likely for Canada’s next-generation fighter aircraft,” CanWest News Service, 29 May 2010). The U.S. F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is considered the aircraft most likely to be procured, [...]
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4765&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
======================
16. "Operation Justified Vengeance": Israeli Strike on Freedom Flotilla to Gaza is Part of a Broader Military Agenda
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19447
By Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research, May 31, 2010War Criminal Prime Minister Netanyahu, who directly ordered the strike on the international flotilla to Gaza, was on an official visit to Canada at the time of the Israeli attack.
The strike constitutes an act of piracy in violation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Netanyahu's actions, which have resulted in more than 10 deaths and up to 60 injured, constitute a criminal act committed in international waters. (BBC News - Deaths as Israeli forces storm Gaza aid ship).
In a cruel irony, Netanyahu, in a recent statement, committed himself to peace with Palestine: "We want to move as speedily as possible to direct talks because the kind of problem that we have with the Palestinians can be resolved in peace and can be arranged only if we sit down together".
Several prominent personalities as well as several Global Research authors and partners were on board the ships.
- - - - SNIP - - - -
It should be understood that the raid on the Flotilla also coincided with NATO-Israel war games directed against Iran. According to the Sunday Times "three German-built Israeli submarines equipped with nuclear cruise missiles are to be deployed in the Gulf near the Iranian coastline." (Israel Deploys Three Nuclear Cruise Missile-Armed Subs Along Iranian Coastline). The report tacitly presents Israel as the victim rather than the perpetrator of military threat:
"Israel’s business and defence centre, remains the most threatened city in the world, said one expert. “There are more missiles per square foot targeting Tel Aviv than any other city,” he said.
MORE : www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19447
=======================
17. A Nuclear Gamble on the Not-So-Distant Horizon
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/06/04-8
by Paul Gunter and Linda Gunter Published on Friday, June 4, 2010 by CommonDreams.org
Much like Captain Renault in Casablanca, the White House is suddenly shocked, shocked to find that oil rigs can explode, destroying ecosystems and livelihoods. The Obama administration has backed away from its offshore oil expansion policy in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe as the long-term environmental and economical consequences unfold in the Gulf States. Headlines are clamoring for the criminal investigations of BP, TransOcean, Halliburton and ultimately, the federal regulator, Mineral Management Services (MMS). Rather paradoxically, President Obama is using the oil spill to call for more nuclear power.
MORE: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/06/04-8
===========================
18. No Nukes News - June 3, 2010
“By ignoring the increased costs to future generations for managing radioactive waste, governments are subsidizing nuclear power today, undermining green power and preventing the development of cleaner and cheaper green energy” - Shawn-Patrick Stensil, Greenpeace
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Let Green Power Grow: Stop New Reactors at Darlington
When: Sunday, June 13th – 12 – 4. Meeting begins at 1. Lunch served at noon.
What: Information and Organizing meeting to stop approval of the new Darlington reactors.
Where: Toronto Free Space Gallery, 1277 Bloor St West (Landsdown Subway)
Why: Learn about environmental impacts of new reactors at Darlington and find ways to stop them.
This is to invite you or a representative from your organization to attend an information and organizing meeting on the federal review now underway of the McGuinty government’s proposal to build new reactors at the Darlington site east of Toronto. These proposed new reactors are the biggest threat to building a renewable and sustainable energy system in Ontario. While the McGuinty government has taken some steps to develop green energy, its plan to build new reactors at Darlington will effectively stop the growth of green energy. To build an Ontario built on 100% green power, we must stop the approval of the Darlington reactors. This is why we need your help.
An alliance of environmental organizations, including Northwatch, Greenpeace, Safe and Green Energy (SAGE), has been working to stop Harper government’s free pass for Dalton McGuinty’s reactors. Join us. The session will present the environmental threats posed by new reactors at Darlington and allow for a discussion on how groups can get involved and help stop the approval of the Darlington reactors.
If you plan to attend, please RSVP by Thursday June 10 at: shawn.patrick.stensil@greenpeace.org
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New nuclear plants could be more dangerous; Report also questions waste disposal
The latest generation of proposed multibillion dollar Canadian nuclear plants could be up to 158 times more hazardous than their predecessors, opening the door to massive cost overruns and possibly forcing taxpayers to pick up the tab, warns a report released today.
The report, The Hazards of Generation III Reactor Fuel Wastes, says the risk is primarily due to uncertainty about what will happen to radioactive uranium fuel after it is used.
http://www.windsorstar.com/technology/
nuclear+plants+could+more+dangerous/3091548/story.html
---
Impacts of dangerous new radioactive waste unassessed: Greenpeace report
The isolation period for waste from new generation reactors will increase to 2.3 million years from one million years before radioactivity approaches that of natural uranium;
http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/recent/
Impacts-of-dangerous-new-radioactive-waste-unassessed-Greenpeace-report/
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Iran on the brink of a nuclear bomb
In the last few months, Iran has advanced to the brink of having a nuclear weapon. It has accumulated at least two tons of enriched uranium - enough to make two nuclear bombs, according to a U.N. report released Monday. Though the uranium is meant to be used for power generation and a medical reactor, it's a short step from there to bomb-grade fuel.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/front_page/
20100601_Iran_on_the_brink_of_a_nuclear_bomb.html#axzz0piwrjXJ2
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Chris Huhne warns of £4bn black hole in nuclear power budget
Energy secretary blames predecessors for avoiding tough decisions in 'classic example of short-termism'
Britain is facing a £4bn black hole in unavoidable nuclear decommissioning and waste costs. The revelation will also hand further ammunition to those who say a new generation of nuclear power stations in Britain will end up being more expensive than the industry claims.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/jun/01/
chris-huhne-black-hole-nuclear-power-budget
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Nuclear Power Remains the biggest white elephant in the world
The outcome of this horrendous expense is likely to be the final death knell for any plans for new nuclear power stations, which the coalition has agreed can only go ahead if they are built with no public subsidy and clear plans for their full costs over their whole lifetime. It is simply not possible for any private company to provide such guarantees, even the French government-subsidised EDF, which is the main outfit proposing this at the moment.
http://andycrick.blogspot.com/2010/06/
nuclear-power-remains-biggest-white.html
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Environmental Commissioner of Ontario Releases Second Annual Greenhouse Gas Progress Report
The Ontario government will need to expand its climate change policy agenda if it hopes to have any chance of reaching its short- and medium-term GHG reduction targets.
Recognizing that the transportation sector is the largest single producer of GHG emissions in Ontario, the report calls for a serious and comprehensive assessment of how road pricing can assist in reducing GHGs and making public transit a more attractive option.
Further, the ECO stresses the need to put a clear and transparent price on carbon to influence the energy choices consumers make in the marketplace. By putting a price on carbon, consumers become more aware of the significant costs to society, and the broader environment, of carbon-based pollution. The ECO supports the government's current efforts to develop a cap-and-trade system as one method to bring about this price discovery. The report recommends, however, that the government "keep all its policy options open" by engaging in a dialogue with the public on other mechanisms that could be used. These may include, for example, a revenue neutral carbon tax or levy.
The report documents the environmental, social and economic benefits that other jurisdictions around the world have gained through road pricing. The report notes that the transportation sector is responsible for fully one-third of Ontario's GHGs and a similar portion of the province's fossil fuel use. Road pricing options could lead the way in not only reducing gridlock, congestion and GHG pollution but in also providing a much-needed revenue stream to fund increased public transit.
http://www.eco.on.ca/eng/
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Shut down Ontario coal plants now, says Clean Air Alliance
Angela Bischoff says the province doesn’t need to be burning coal. “We have so much excess electrical capacity online that we don’t need to be burning coal any more,” says Bischoff, Outreach Director, Ontario Clean Air Alliance.
7 minute audio recording
http://rabble.ca/podcasts/shows/john-bonnar-audio-blog/
2010/05/shut-down-ontario-coal-plants-now-says-clean-air-allia
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How to Rid Reactors of Uranium Risk
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty talks grapple with legacy of highly enriched uranium (HEU)
What's happening with medical reactors?
Less progress has been made in converting the targets used for medical radioisotope production to LEU (low enriched uranium), although South Africa is converting one. Other countries, including Argentina and Australia, are already using LEU for this purpose. I think that the companies who produce radioisotopes are inclined to convert, but they are concerned about costs and the effect on the price of their products. A 2009 report by the US National Academies, however, found that there was no technical obstacle to converting, and that it would cause at most a 10% increase in the cost of medical imaging.
What should happen next?
We need to move on from debating whether it is economically or technically viable to convert HEU reactors and targets, and push ahead with doing it. The non-proliferation stakes are too high to do otherwise.
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100525/full/
465408a.html?s=news_rss
Background:
Canada's production of medical isotopes depends on the use highly-enriched, weapons-grade uranium (HEU) -- the same material that was used as a nuclear explosive in the Hiroshima bomb.
Anyone obtaining the necessary amount of HEU (a few kilograms) can make a very powerful atomic bomb using surprisingly simple technology. Thus the availability of this material is a matter of international concern (that's why the grave concern over Iran's uranium enrichment program, for example).
Other countries -- Australia, Argentina, and South Africa -- are using low-enriched, non-weapons-usable uranium (LEU) for isotope production. Canada must be pressured to follow suit.
In April 2010, President Obama convened a nuclear security summit in Washington DC to "lock down" all weapons-grade uranium (HEU) around the world, and to prevent the further use of this material in future. At that summit, Canadian Prime Minister Steven Harper pledged to return to the US some of the highly-enriched uranium currently stored at Chalk River.
But what Canada intends to return is only the used HEU -- the irradiated targets, which are intensely radioactive -- not the "fresh" HEU targets, which are a much greater proliferation risk than the used targets (because they are much less radioactive, and therefore much easier to steal, handle and transport).
You can write to Prime Minister Steven Harper, Office of the Prime Minister, 80 Wellington Street, Ottawa, K1A 0A2, expressing your views on this subject.
It is time for Canada to completely eliminate the use of HEU, thereby setting an example to the rest of the world.
- Gordon Edwards.
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Stephen Colbert's Nuclear Attack
1 minute video -
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/53f727b716/
stephen-colbert-s-nuclear-attack
Nuclear Power Plant Demolition
After spending nearly a $100 Million and three years to build this 450 foot tall Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower, it only took 10 seconds to demolish.
1 minute video -
http://www.break.com/index/nuclear-powe ... ition.html
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Canada's tar sands: a dangerous solution to offshore oil
The Gulf of Mexico disaster could trigger a wider environmental catastrophe if the US's search for new petrol sources points it back in the direction of Alberta.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/may/11/
alberta-california-tar-sands-oil
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Nigeria's agony dwarfs the Gulf oil spill. The US and Europe ignore it
The Deepwater Horizon disaster caused headlines around the world, yet the people who live in the Niger delta have had to live with environmental catastrophes for decades
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/30/
oil-spills-nigeria-niger-delta-shell
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G8/G20 Poll
A new Nanos Research poll finds that Canadians think that global warming should be the top priority (both first and second choices) at the G8/G20. The poll also finds that Canadians think that Canada’s place in the world is weaker on climate change than any other issue covered.
http://www.nanosresearch.com/library/po ... 0-T423.pdf
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Energy answer: Blowing in the wind?
MIT researchers say wind power can make sense for utility companies, starting now
A key insight of the study is that wind’s apparent drawbacks as a power source — it only blows intermittently, and in many places blows harder at night than during the day — could actually be used to the advantage of power companies, with one condition. If power grids were equipped with large storage batteries that are commercially available right now, placed near urban areas, they could accumulate energy via wind power during off-peak night hours, then discharge the saved power during peak afternoon hours (when people have their air-conditioning on during the summer, for instance).
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2010/wind ... -0525.html
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City of Ottawa Profiting from the Arms Industry
The City of Ottawa overturned a 20-year ban on arms shows at city-owned facilities. Now it has been revealed that the city is pocketing nearly $113,000 from CANSEC, Canada's largest arms show. Urge Ottawa mayoral candidates to reject CANSEC, and to stop profiting from the arms industry.
Join with residents of Ottawa in sending letters of protest to the Mayor of Ottawa and the other two leading candidates in this year’s mayoral election. Urge them to reject any future application by CANSEC, ensuring that their arms show will not be held on city property ever again.
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Nuclear Cycle
Sat. June 5 is a global day of action to ABOLISH Nuclear weapons! Join our Cycling Tour of Consulates of Nuclear Weapons States!
Meet at: 1pm - St. George and Bloor (n/e corner), Toronto
Enjoy a lovely 5k bike tour through downtown city streets! See which countries have nukes, threatening every itty-bitty speck of life on Earth! Bring your signs and flags! Take pictures of your favourite consulate building! Most of all, join the call to abolish nukes!
For more information write us at info@worldwithoutwars.ca or visit us at www.worldwithoutwars.ca.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/
event.php?eid=104448689601877&ref=ts,
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Toronto vs. the G20
Community action for global justice
Saturday, June 5, 10:30am - 6pm
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 252 Bloor Street West, Toronto
It’s a good impulse to feel contempt for the G20. It’s a better impulse to want to talk about it. Join student and community activists to learn about the G20 and current social and environmental justice campaigns in Toronto, and get involved. Free citywide teach-in. Lunch included!
Full program here: http://g20.torontomobilize.org/torontoVSG20.
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G8/G20 happenings in Toronto
The 2010 People’s Summit: Building a Movement for a Just World
June 18th-20th, 2010
Ryerson University, The University of Toronto, and other locations around Toronto
The 2010 People’s Summit is civil society’s alternative “counter Summit” to the G8 and G20 Summits. Together we will create a space where diverse local and international movements can democratically organize to advocate and educate for global justice. Over 100 groups, organizers, and activists from around Canada and the world will offer workshops, skillshares, panels, plenaries, strategy sessions, art, performance, and plenty more. We’ll tackle major social and environmental justice issues in five thematic streams – Global Justice; the Environment and Climate Change; Human Rights and Civil Liberties; Economic Justice; and Building the Movement. There will also be engaging child and youth programming and childcare available, so bring your kids!
Registration, program, accommodations, billeting, posters and more can be found here: http://peoplessummit2010.ca/section/2
.....
Week of Action June 21-27
And after the People’s Summit, the Toronto Community Mobilization Network is coordinating a Week of Action from June 21st to 27th. For full details of actions and events planned that week, please visit www.g20.torontomobilize.org.
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Angela Bischoff, Outreach Director
Ontario Clean Air Alliance
Tel: 416 926 1907 x 246
625 Church Street, #402
Toronto, ON M4Y 2G1
angela@cleanairalliance.org
www.ontariosgreenfuture.ca
www.cleanairalliance.org
Our Facebook Group
Sign Our Petition
No Nukes News
Health Power
========================
19. Beyond Nuclear Bulletin June 3, 2010
http://www.beyondnuclear.org/bulletin/
Beyond Nuclear, 6930 Carroll Avenue #400, Takoma Park, MD 20912
Take Action
Oppose nuclear power subsidies in House war funding and Senate energy-climate bills
The U.S. House Appropriations Committee has inappropriately attached $9 billion in nuclear power loan guarantees onto an emergency supplemental war funding and disaster relief bill, and the U.S. Senate is poised to begin considering the Kerry-Lieberman “American Power Act’s” massive nuclear power subsidies as well. Calls to your U.S. Congress Members are urgently needed!
Read more.
http://www.beyondnuclear.org/home/2010/6/3/
urge-your-us-senators-and-representative-to-oppose-nuclear-p.html
Top Stories
Katz to keynote Chicago waste forum
Deb Katz of CAN and Arjun Makhijani of IEER to keynote. Musical entertainment provided by folk singer/songwriter Victor McManemy. Take part in this grassroots effort to counteract the unbalanced Obama/Chu Blue Ribbon Commission. The forum runs from June 4th to June 6th.
Read More
http://www.beyondnuclear.org/home/2010/5/27/
cans-deb-katz-and-ieers-arjun-makhijani-to-keynote-june-5th.html
The French Nuclear Medusa
After exposé, France will cease uranium export to Russia
After a television documentary exposé in late 2009 and a government investigation, Areva will cease exporting uranium to Russia possibly as early as July 2010. France had been shipping reprocessed uranium fuel to Russia where, a television documentary showed, much of it was stored outside in containers visible from the air.
Read More
http://beyondnuclear.squarespace.com/storage/documents/
Medusa_June3_2010.pdf
=======================
20. Land of riches given over to Kakadu
http://www.theage.com.au/national/
land-of-riches-given-over-to-kakadu-20100528-wlkk.html
LINDSAY MURDOCH, The Age, 29 May 2010
Djok Clan leader Jeffrey Lee, the sole custodian of the area known as Koongarra, has generously donated his ancestral lands to the nation to become part of Kakadu National Park, despite containing sizable reserves of Uranium.
KAKADU - THE World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park will be expanded to include thousands of hectares of ecologically sensitive land that has uranium worth billions of dollars.
Aboriginal traditional owner Jeffrey Lee has offered the land to the federal government so it can become part of Kakadu, where he works as a ranger.
Mr Lee, the sole member of the Djok clan and senior custodian of the land known as Koongarra, could have become one of Australia's richest men if he had allowed the French energy giant Areva to extract 14,000 tonnes of uranium from its mineral lease in the area.
Mr Lee is an extremely shy and humble man who shuns publicity. "I'm not interested in money. I've got a job. I can buy tucker; I can go fishing and hunting. That's all that matters to me," he told The Age in a rare interview in 2007.
MORE: http://www.theage.com.au/national/
land-of-riches-given-over-to-kakadu-20100528-wlkk.html
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21. Country`s future lies in renewable energy
http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/index.php?l=16592
By Editor 12th May 2010
Recent geological surveys have provided evidence that Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique have huge potential for geothermal energy, which could reduce heavy reliance on hydropower and fossil fuel in the three countries and the eastern and southern African region as a whole.
According to an assessment by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Global Environment Facility, there is 4,000 Megawatts (MW) of electricity ready for harvesting along the Rift Valley.
Experts say like other renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and hydro, geothermal offers significant potential in terms of climate change mitigation.
They say it is 100 per cent indigenous, environmentally friendly, and a technology that has been under-utilised for too long.
MORE: http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/index.php?l=16592
==========================
22. Mythbusters
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/read ... /index.cfm
Nuclear is a subject that has generated its fair share of myths throughout the years. An important part of the CNSC’s mandate is providing factual information that helps people understand nuclear science and its effects on people.
This section aims to dispel some of the most common misconceptions about nuclear technology and its applications in areas such as:
Nuclear Power Plants
Uranium and Waste
Industrial and Medical Applications
General
The CNSC does not promote the use of nuclear technologies or materials – rather, it regulates their use to protect the health, safety and security of Canadians as well as the environment. The CNSC respects Canada's international commitments on the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
MORE: http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/read ... /index.cfm
1. Canada’s Arms Show – Ottawa – June 2-4, 2010
2. A CLOSE LOOK AT A PRONUCLEAR “ENVIRONMENTALIST”
3. Union bans workers from uranium mines - ABC News, June 1, 2010
4. Keep Lake Baikal alive
5. Cameco eyes double play
6. Cameco Corp. reports net earnings of $142M in first quarter
7. "Towards a sustainable front-end of Nuclear Energy Systems"
8. Energy hot topic for Sask. Grits
9. Interim exemptions from the Packaging and Transport of Nuclear Substances Regulations
10. New nuclear plants could be more hazardous [financially]
11. Depleted uranium is destroying life
12. Nuclear-power officials vow to mine uranium "the right way"
13. MINING WEEK CELEBRATES INVESTMENT, ECONOMIC GROWTH
14. Radioactive Fish Near Vt. Nuke Plant Deemed Common
15. Ceasefire Articles
16. "Operation Justified Vengeance": Israeli Strike on Freedom Flotilla to Gaza is Part of a Broader Military Agenda
17. A Nuclear Gamble on the Not-So-Distant Horizon
18. No Nukes News - June 3, 2010
19. Beyond Nuclear Bulletin June 3, 2010
20. Land of riches given over to Kakadu
21. Country`s future lies in renewable energy
========================
1. Canada’s Arms Show – Ottawa – June 2-4, 2010
City of Ottawa Profiting from the Arms Industry
Posted: 02 Jun 2010 06:36 AM PDT
Send your letter to Ottawa mayoral candidates: Commit to end CANSEC Today Canada’s largest arms show opens in Ottawa. CANSEC has grown tremendously over the last few years because of the war in Afghanistan and steep increases in military spending. But it has also grown with the help of Ottawa City Council, which rejected a 20-year ban [...]
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4804&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
- - - - - -
Petition: Commit to end the CANSEC arms show
Posted: 01 Jun 2010 01:34 PM PDT
The City of Ottawa overturned a 20-year ban on arms shows at city-owned facilities. Now it has been revealed that the city is pocketing nearly $113,000 from CANSEC, Canada's largest arms show. Urge Ottawa mayoral candidates to reject CANSEC, and to stop profiting from the arms industry.
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4782&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
- - - - - -
WATCH: Inside CANSEC and Canada’s arms industry (2003)
Posted: 01 Jun 2010 06:53 PM PDT
A video produced in 2003 using footage from CANSEC, the Abbotsford Airshow and Airshow Canada, and the companies themselves. Polaris Institute.
MORE:
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4796&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
- - - - - -
Learn more about CANSEC and join the campaign to oppose it.
CANSEC is Canada's largest and most important War-Industry Trade Show. It's coming to Ottawa next week. Wherever you may be, please join the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT) in opposing this blatant symbol of Canada's role in the burgeoning international arms trade.
For more info, see the list of weblinks at the end of this email to learn more about CANSEC and how you can help COAT to expose and oppose it!
- - - - - -
Here is an annotated list of weblinks about CANSEC and how you can help expose and oppose it:
Summary Article: What is CANSEC, and why do we oppose it?
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/CANSEC2010article.htm
"CANSEC: War is Business" (50-page COAT publication. Get the nitty gritty)
http://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/64/64.htm
"Rally for Peace," June 2, 5-7 pm, Ottawa
Includes a list of speakers, poets and musicians, and links to their websites.
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/Rally.htm
Spread the word about COAT's "Rally for Peace"
Fliers: http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/fliers/fliers.htm
Posters: http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/Posters.htm
Other antiCANSEC events: What to do in Ottawa on June 2, 2010
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/June2events.htm
Decorate CANSEC's Fence: Submit graphics/statements online, or bring them yourself.
http://www.facebook.com/
group.php?gid=116566681687834&v=wall&ref=ts
How you can help: Join the opposition to CANSEC, wherever you are!
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/OpposeCANSEC.htm
CANSEC 2010 Exhibitors: Links to info about 275 exhibitors and their websites.
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/CANSEC2010Exhibitors.htm
"Peace Bus" from Toronto to Ottawa, June 2: All aboard for the antiCANSEC rally
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/TOPeaceBus.htm
Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade website (for CANSEC updates and more)
http://coat.ncf.ca
Support COAT: Donate, subscribe, order "CANSEC: War is Business"
http://coat.ncf.ca/support_us/support_us.htm
===================
2. A CLOSE LOOK AT A PRONUCLEAR “ENVIRONMENTALIST”
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1727#1727
By Jim Harding
Saskatchewan Sustainability Published in the United Newspapers of Saskatchewan June 4, 2010
It’s important to know “both sides” of the nuclear waste controversy now that Saskatchewan is being targeted as a nuclear dump. Even if you are skeptical of industry claims that a nuclear waste solution “is in the works”, and see this as a ploy to get more nuclear power plants approved, there’s lots to learn about the nuclear worldview.
Bruno Comby of the French-based “Environmentalist for Nuclear Energy” argues that “nuclear waste has undeniable environmental benefits”. Comby lists three benefits: its “small amount”, it not being “disposed of in the biosphere” and it being “almost totally confined.” He claims that “reprocessed radioactive waste” can be decreased “to the natural level of radioactivity of the original ore after only 5,000 years”, and that “safe, simply and efficient solutions exist to make nuclear waste inert” and to isolate it “from the biosphere until it is no longer toxic”. Finally he claims that a naturally-occurring nuclear reaction 2 billion years ago at Okla, Gabon shows that “waste, after being left unconfined…has not migrated more than three meters.” He concludes the nuclear waste issue is “technically and ecologically solved by a combination of reprocessing technology, vitrification and deep geological disposal.”
This is quite a mouthful. If it’s this “pat” then why, nearly 70 years after the first atom was split, are governments struggling with what to do with nuclear wastes? Comby’s argument is constructed to make real problems disappear. Notice his phrase “after only 5,000 years”, as though it would be acceptable to continue to create high-level wastes threatening environmental health for 50 generations. (It’s actually many more generations when you consider that plutonium has a half-life of 26,000 years.) He claims that because it takes a smaller quantity of uranium than oil to produce the same amount of energy, nuclear wastes are less problematic. But he completely ignores the build-up of long-lived radioactive uranium tailings, which are part of the nuclear waste stream; there are already more than 200 million tons of such tailings in Canada. Comby trivializes the toxicity of spent fuel, claiming that once plutonium is “reprocessed and recycled” as fuel for new reactors the remaining waste “is totally isolated from the environment”. Furthermore, Comby completely ignores the increased dangers of proliferation from plutonium becoming more available.
MORE:
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1727#1727
=====================
3. Union bans workers from uranium mines
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/01/
2915071.htm?section=j...
ABC News, June 1, 2010.
The Electrical Trades Union (ETU) in Queensland and the Northern Territory is banning its members from working on uranium mines or within the nuclear energy industry.
ETU secretary Peter Simpson says corporate interests and political leaders are trying to bribe workers with the promise of high wages while denying the health risks of uranium mining.
"We have got a world renowned expert on the subject, we have got several other experts in Australia that have gone out and done the research on this stuff," he said.
"Whilst the industry will tell you that it is all fine and that gamma radiation is not an issue, they don't tell you about the hidden dangers that are associated with this product.
"We have done the research. We believe it is unsafe for our members to work in those areas."
He says a DVD has been sent to all members outlining the dangers and the reasons why the union is taking this stance.
"We need to draw a line in the sand," he said.
"It is not just the nuclear power stations, it's the actual mining and exporting of uranium that we have got a major issue with.
"But at the end of the day we think it is a dangerous substance and our safety council has banned it accordingly."
The ETU says it expects other major unions to join the ban.
MORE:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/01/
2915071.htm?section=j...
=====================
4. Keep Lake Baikal alive
http://www.greenpeace.org/international ... ics/water/
what-you-can-do/Lake-Baikal/Keep-lake-Baikal-alive/?intext
Nuclear waste exports to Russia are ending after a full generation of campaigning! French nuclear company AREVA will no longer use Russia as a garbage can for its nuclear waste.
We've been opposing these shipments since 1984, when an accident at sea revealed that the radioactive exports had been taking place in near-secret for more than a decade. Following the most recent wave of opposition the shipments will end - another example that public pressure works!
Russia may no longer be the final destination of AREVA waste - but your support is still needed to help protect its largest fresh water lake - Lake Baikal.
A pulp and paper mill has received authorisation from the Russian government to dump toxic waste there.
As a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Lake Baikal is entitled to international protection - let's ask the head of UNESCO to step up and defend Lake Baikal.
We only need around 5000 more signatures on the petition, please consider sharing it: Tweet in support of Lake Baikal.
Share the petition on Facebook.
Thank you for acting to save Lake Baikal!
All of us,
Greenpeace International
http://www.greenpeace.org
==========================
5. Cameco eyes double play
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/ ... uble+play/
2988131/story.html
Uranium miner aims to double output by 2018
BY CASSANDRA KYLE, THE STARPHOENIX MAY 5, 2010
Cameco Corp.'s properties in Saskatchewan will play a key role in helping the company reach its goal of doubling uranium production in eight years time, Cameco's CEO said Tuesday upon the release of its first-quarter earnings.
An expansion of its flagship McArthur River mine, the development of the Millennium project, extending the life of its Rabbit Lake mine and, of course, bringing the twice-flooded Cigar Lake mine into production will work to push the company's uranium production to 40 million pounds by 2018, Jerry Grandey said.
Of the Athabasca Basin properties, Grandey explained that the Cigar Lake site -- the world's second-largest high-grade uranium deposit -- will provide the most significant uranium tonnage to the company's 2018 goal. The mine is expected to contribute 2.1 million pounds of uranium when it reaches its anticipated production date in mid-2013,
ramping up to 18 million pounds annually by 2017.
"We are focused on advancing these and other projects for the simple reason that Cameco wants to be ready to supply the growing market for nuclear fuel," Grandey said during a conference call with investors and media.
He says Cameco is always looking at "alternatives that could improve Cigar Lake's timeline to commercial operation."
The company's uranium properties in Australia, Kazakhstan and the United States are also key to meeting the company's 2018 production goal, Grandey added.
"Cameco's plan to double our uranium production by 2018 is the right strategy targeted for delivery at the right time," he said.
MORE:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/ ... uble+play/
2988131/story.html
====================
6. Cameco Corp. reports net earnings of $142M in first quarter
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/
Cameco+Corp+reports+earnings+142M+first+quarter/
2984908/story.html
BY CASSANDRA KYLE, THE STAR PHOENIX MAY 4, 2010
Despite a drop in uranium revenue, Cameco Corp. saw its net earnings for the first quarter rise by $60 million over last year.
The Saskatoon-based uranium producer reported Tuesday net earnings of $142 million, or 36 cents per share, for the quarter, up from $82 million, or 22 cents per share, during the same period last year. Cameco attributes the rise to a $31 million gain in the quarter on its financial instruments compared to a loss of $24 million in the first quarter 2009.
“We are continuing to advance our outstanding portfolio of uranium assets through sound financial management and through continued commitment to operational excellence,” stated Jerry Grandey, Cameco’s president and CEO.
MORE: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/
Cameco+Corp+reports+earnings+142M+first+quarter/
2984908/story.html
======================
7. "Towards a sustainable front-end of Nuclear Energy Systems"
http://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/re ... 11111/6182
The European Union / Commission has published a 33-page booklet basically discussing the feasibility of "sustainable" uranium mining, and comparing with other "energy systems".
This report discusses some fundamental sustainability aspects of nuclear energy systems. Sustainability is used here in a broad sense, encompassing economic as well as environmental aspects. As all raw materials, uranium as resource is available in limited quantities only, although it is by no means scarce in terms of abundance in the earth¿s crust. What can be called a resource is determined by the energy investment that is required to recover it. On one hand this is a simple economic consideration, but on the other hand any energy expenditure has environmental impacts associated with it, including the emission of greenhouse gases. An additional aspect is the relationship between energy investment and net energy gain that may become unfavourable as deeper resources and more refractive uranium mineralisation will have to be exploited. The report outlines the data needs for a more quantitative and long-term strategic assessment of the availability of uranium as fuel in nuclear energy systems.
======================
8. Energy hot topic for Sask. Grits
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technolog ... ask+Grits/
3007757/story.html
Annual convention held in Saskatoon
By Rory MacLean, The StarPhoenix May 10, 2010
The topics of aboriginal development and energy policy dominated the annual Saskatchewan Liberal party policy convention held Saturday in Saskatoon.
Policies on renewable energy sources generated much discussion, with party Leader Ryan Bater favouring a feed-in tariff to promote small, renewable energy producers.
"What that basically means is that we'd open up our power grid and provide universal access to small-scale producers of renewable energy, whether it be wind or biomass or solar, and provide a premium set price for that to make the economics viable for the individual producer."
MORE: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technolog ... ask+Grits/
3007757/story.html
===========================
9. Interim exemptions from the Packaging and Transport of Nuclear Substances Regulations
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/read ... bulletins/
view_bulletin.cfm?bulletin_id=215
Information Bulletin 10-11 May 31, 2010
In February 2010, the Commission Tribunal approved interim exemptions from the Packaging and Transport of Nuclear Substances Regulations (PTNS Regulations).
The exemptions apply to check sources and radiation devices containing less than 10 times the exemption quantity of a radioactive nuclear substance, following the sale to the end user. Radiation devices containing more than 1 time the exemption quantity of radioactive nuclear substances are required to be certified by the CNSC for use in Canada and this requirement will continue to be in effect.
Manufacturers and distributors are not exempted from compliance with PTNS Regulations with respect to the packaging and transport, since they may transport large quantities of check sources or radiation devices in one shipment.
MORE:
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/read ... bulletins/
view_bulletin.cfm?bulletin_id=215
======================
10. New nuclear plants could be more hazardous [financially]
Report questions waste disposal
http://www.windsorstar.com/technology/
nuclear+plants+could+more+dangerous/3091548/story.html
Mike De Souza, Canwest News Service, Ottawa
The Windsor Star, Mon May 31 2010, Page: B1 / FRONT
The latest generation of proposed multibillion dollar Canadian nuclear plants could be up to 158 times more hazardous than their predecessors, opening the door to massive cost overruns and possibly forcing taxpayers to pick up the tab, warns a report released today.
The report, The Hazards of Generation III Reactor Fuel Wastes, says the risk is primarily due to uncertainty about what will happen to radioactive uranium fuel after it is used.
"Canada's present generation of nuclear plants was built with no prior plan as to how to manage the radioactive wastes it would produce," said the report, prepared by independent consulting firm, Radioactive Waste Management Associates. "Canada is arguably on the cusp of repeating this mistake."
The New York-based firm was created in 1989 and consists of expert scientists and engineers who have regularly advised local governments in North America on waste management. The report, authored by Marvin Resnikoff, Jackie Travers, and Ekaterina Alexandrova was sponsored by Greenpeace Canada.
It concludes that the waste from the next generation plants that use enriched uranium fuel would be two to 158 times more radioactive than waste from existing Canadian reactors that use natural uranium fuel.
MORE:
http://www.windsorstar.com/technology/
nuclear+plants+could+more+dangerous/3091548/story.html
=======================
11. Depleted uranium is destroying life
http://jamesfetzer.blogspot.com/2010/04/
depleted-uranium-is-destroying-life-by.html
THURSDAY, 15 APRIL 2010 00:02 JERRY MAZZA
I have long heard sound-bites or seen passages about depleted uranium that sounded more than dire. But given my own cognitive dissonance, and the fact that I was writing about many other dire topics at the time, I filed depleted uranium in my cranium for future investigation, which, given the human aversion to bad news, could have been never.
But never was over in an exchange of emails about nuclear missiles in Israel's arsenal. I received some startling nuclear information from San Francisco Bay View writer, Bob Nichols. It was an illumination long-time coming.
I started at the end of Bob's article to find out who he was. His credits read "Bob Nichols is a Project Censored Award winning writer and a San Francisco Bay View correspondent. A former bomb maker in a U.S. government factory in rural Oklahoma, he reports on the two nuclear weapons labs in the Bay Area. He can be reached at duweapons@gmail.com." His credentials were impressive and so was the article he sent, which I hope you read, PTSD, infertility and other consequences of war.
MORE:
http://jamesfetzer.blogspot.com/2010/04/
depleted-uranium-is-destroying-life-by.html
=================
12. Nuclear-power officials vow to mine uranium "the right way"
http://www.denverpost.com/commented/
ci_15170096?source=commented-
By Bruce Finley The Denver Post Posted: 05/27/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT
Uranium-mining leaders and federal regulators poised to fuel a resurgent nuclear power industry gathered in Denver on Wednesday, vowing to do a better job of protecting the environment but drawing demonstrators nonetheless.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials indicated they're expecting applications for uranium projects at 25 sites by 2013, along with applications to establish 28 new nuclear power plants.
The United States now imports 95 percent of the uranium used at existing nuclear power plants, said Katie Sweeney, general counsel for the National Mining Association, which is running the conference in Denver. Foreign suppliers include Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan and Russia.
"Do we want to rely on ourselves? Or do we want to rely on foreign sources?" Sweeney said. The smartest course, she said, is for domestic uranium producers to "do it right. Mine uranium the right way. It can be done."
MORE: http://www.denverpost.com/commented/
ci_15170096?source=commented-
- - - - -
NAVAJO NATION PRESIDENT SIGNS BILL BANNING URANIUM MINING AND MILLING - 2005
http://sric.org/uranium/index.html
In the late 1970s, Navajo uranium miners and their families asked for help to show that their lung diseases had been caused by their work in underground uranium mines in the 1940s-1960s. SRIC staff responded with medical and scientific data, in-community education strategies, and legislative support. As a result, Congress adopted legislation in 1990 to compensate former miners and their survivors. Ten years later, with SRIC's on going technical support to advocacy groups, the law was amended to cover virtually all uranium miners who worked before 1971.
MORE: http://sric.org/uranium/index.html
- - - -
NAVAJO NATION PRESIDENT SIGNS BILL BANNING URANIUM MINING AND MILLING
Crownpoint, N.M., April 29, 2005. Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley, Jr., today signed what is believed to be the first Native American tribal law banning uranium mining and milling. With dozens of community members and dignitaries looking on, Shirley signed the Diné Natural Resources Protection Act (DNRPA) of 2005, which was passed by the Navajo Nation Council by a vote of 63-19 on April 19
PRESS RELEASE:
http://sric.org/uranium/
Navajo%20pres.%20signs%20uranium%20ban,%20for%20April%2030.pdf
========================
13. MINING WEEK CELEBRATES INVESTMENT, ECONOMIC GROWTH
http://www.gov.sk.ca/
news?newsId=24b7d752-5a7a-471b-8fb3-5afd25e783c8
News Release - May 31, 2010
Saskatchewan's mining industry touches practically everyone in the province, and its major impact on our economy is being recognized during Mining Week in Saskatchewan, May 30 to June 5.
This year's theme of Mining: Investing in Saskatchewan's Growth recognizes both the industry as a driving force and the contribution it's expected to make to our future. The week is also a celebration of the more than 30,500 people employed directly and indirectly in mining and in jobs induced by mining activities.
MORE: http://www.gov.sk.ca/
news?newsId=24b7d752-5a7a-471b-8fb3-5afd25e783c8
=============================
14. Radioactive Fish Near Vt. Nuke Plant Deemed Common
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/06/02-3
Published on Wednesday, June 2, 2010 by Associated Press by Dave Gram
MONTPELIER, Vt. - When a fish taken from the Connecticut River recently tested positive for radioactive strontium-90, suspicion focused on the nearby Vermont Yankee nuclear plant as the likely source.
Operators of the troubled 38-year-old nuclear plant on the banks of the river, where work is under way to clean up leaking radioactive tritium, revealed this month that it also found soil contaminated with strontium-90, an isotope linked to bone cancer and leukemia.
Three days later, officials said a fish caught four miles upstream from the reactor in February had tested positive for strontium-90 in its bones. State officials say they don't believe the contamination came from Vermont Yankee.
MORE: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/06/02-3
========================
15. Ceasefire Articles:
And the big fool said to push on
Posted: 03 Jun 2010 09:13 PM PDT
More talk of retaining a Canadian military role in Afghanistan following the scheduled end of the Kandahar mission in 2012 (Matthew Fisher, “Canada could fill training role in Afghanistan post-2011, MPs say,” Canwest News Service, 3 June 2010): Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae has provided the strongest indication yet that a deal may be [...]
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4816&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
- - - - - -
$1,000,000,000,000 and counting
Posted: 30 May 2010 02:25 PM PDT
According to the National Priorities Project, the total direct cost to the United States of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq surpassed one trillion dollars on Sunday, May 30th. Estimates of the direct and indirect costs of the wars, including future health care for wounded soldiers, interest payments on debt, and other factors, already run into [...]
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4765&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
- - - - -
CF-18 replacement to cost $9 billion or more
Posted: 30 May 2010 02:22 PM PDT
The government is expected to give the go-ahead to a project to replace Canada’s CF-18 fighter-bombers with a new generation of aircraft later this year (David Pugliese, “$9B pricetag likely for Canada’s next-generation fighter aircraft,” CanWest News Service, 29 May 2010). The U.S. F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is considered the aircraft most likely to be procured, [...]
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4765&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
======================
16. "Operation Justified Vengeance": Israeli Strike on Freedom Flotilla to Gaza is Part of a Broader Military Agenda
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19447
By Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research, May 31, 2010War Criminal Prime Minister Netanyahu, who directly ordered the strike on the international flotilla to Gaza, was on an official visit to Canada at the time of the Israeli attack.
The strike constitutes an act of piracy in violation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Netanyahu's actions, which have resulted in more than 10 deaths and up to 60 injured, constitute a criminal act committed in international waters. (BBC News - Deaths as Israeli forces storm Gaza aid ship).
In a cruel irony, Netanyahu, in a recent statement, committed himself to peace with Palestine: "We want to move as speedily as possible to direct talks because the kind of problem that we have with the Palestinians can be resolved in peace and can be arranged only if we sit down together".
Several prominent personalities as well as several Global Research authors and partners were on board the ships.
- - - - SNIP - - - -
It should be understood that the raid on the Flotilla also coincided with NATO-Israel war games directed against Iran. According to the Sunday Times "three German-built Israeli submarines equipped with nuclear cruise missiles are to be deployed in the Gulf near the Iranian coastline." (Israel Deploys Three Nuclear Cruise Missile-Armed Subs Along Iranian Coastline). The report tacitly presents Israel as the victim rather than the perpetrator of military threat:
"Israel’s business and defence centre, remains the most threatened city in the world, said one expert. “There are more missiles per square foot targeting Tel Aviv than any other city,” he said.
MORE : www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19447
=======================
17. A Nuclear Gamble on the Not-So-Distant Horizon
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/06/04-8
by Paul Gunter and Linda Gunter Published on Friday, June 4, 2010 by CommonDreams.org
Much like Captain Renault in Casablanca, the White House is suddenly shocked, shocked to find that oil rigs can explode, destroying ecosystems and livelihoods. The Obama administration has backed away from its offshore oil expansion policy in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe as the long-term environmental and economical consequences unfold in the Gulf States. Headlines are clamoring for the criminal investigations of BP, TransOcean, Halliburton and ultimately, the federal regulator, Mineral Management Services (MMS). Rather paradoxically, President Obama is using the oil spill to call for more nuclear power.
MORE: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/06/04-8
===========================
18. No Nukes News - June 3, 2010
“By ignoring the increased costs to future generations for managing radioactive waste, governments are subsidizing nuclear power today, undermining green power and preventing the development of cleaner and cheaper green energy” - Shawn-Patrick Stensil, Greenpeace
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Let Green Power Grow: Stop New Reactors at Darlington
When: Sunday, June 13th – 12 – 4. Meeting begins at 1. Lunch served at noon.
What: Information and Organizing meeting to stop approval of the new Darlington reactors.
Where: Toronto Free Space Gallery, 1277 Bloor St West (Landsdown Subway)
Why: Learn about environmental impacts of new reactors at Darlington and find ways to stop them.
This is to invite you or a representative from your organization to attend an information and organizing meeting on the federal review now underway of the McGuinty government’s proposal to build new reactors at the Darlington site east of Toronto. These proposed new reactors are the biggest threat to building a renewable and sustainable energy system in Ontario. While the McGuinty government has taken some steps to develop green energy, its plan to build new reactors at Darlington will effectively stop the growth of green energy. To build an Ontario built on 100% green power, we must stop the approval of the Darlington reactors. This is why we need your help.
An alliance of environmental organizations, including Northwatch, Greenpeace, Safe and Green Energy (SAGE), has been working to stop Harper government’s free pass for Dalton McGuinty’s reactors. Join us. The session will present the environmental threats posed by new reactors at Darlington and allow for a discussion on how groups can get involved and help stop the approval of the Darlington reactors.
If you plan to attend, please RSVP by Thursday June 10 at: shawn.patrick.stensil@greenpeace.org
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New nuclear plants could be more dangerous; Report also questions waste disposal
The latest generation of proposed multibillion dollar Canadian nuclear plants could be up to 158 times more hazardous than their predecessors, opening the door to massive cost overruns and possibly forcing taxpayers to pick up the tab, warns a report released today.
The report, The Hazards of Generation III Reactor Fuel Wastes, says the risk is primarily due to uncertainty about what will happen to radioactive uranium fuel after it is used.
http://www.windsorstar.com/technology/
nuclear+plants+could+more+dangerous/3091548/story.html
---
Impacts of dangerous new radioactive waste unassessed: Greenpeace report
The isolation period for waste from new generation reactors will increase to 2.3 million years from one million years before radioactivity approaches that of natural uranium;
http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/recent/
Impacts-of-dangerous-new-radioactive-waste-unassessed-Greenpeace-report/
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Iran on the brink of a nuclear bomb
In the last few months, Iran has advanced to the brink of having a nuclear weapon. It has accumulated at least two tons of enriched uranium - enough to make two nuclear bombs, according to a U.N. report released Monday. Though the uranium is meant to be used for power generation and a medical reactor, it's a short step from there to bomb-grade fuel.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/front_page/
20100601_Iran_on_the_brink_of_a_nuclear_bomb.html#axzz0piwrjXJ2
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Chris Huhne warns of £4bn black hole in nuclear power budget
Energy secretary blames predecessors for avoiding tough decisions in 'classic example of short-termism'
Britain is facing a £4bn black hole in unavoidable nuclear decommissioning and waste costs. The revelation will also hand further ammunition to those who say a new generation of nuclear power stations in Britain will end up being more expensive than the industry claims.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/jun/01/
chris-huhne-black-hole-nuclear-power-budget
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Nuclear Power Remains the biggest white elephant in the world
The outcome of this horrendous expense is likely to be the final death knell for any plans for new nuclear power stations, which the coalition has agreed can only go ahead if they are built with no public subsidy and clear plans for their full costs over their whole lifetime. It is simply not possible for any private company to provide such guarantees, even the French government-subsidised EDF, which is the main outfit proposing this at the moment.
http://andycrick.blogspot.com/2010/06/
nuclear-power-remains-biggest-white.html
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Environmental Commissioner of Ontario Releases Second Annual Greenhouse Gas Progress Report
The Ontario government will need to expand its climate change policy agenda if it hopes to have any chance of reaching its short- and medium-term GHG reduction targets.
Recognizing that the transportation sector is the largest single producer of GHG emissions in Ontario, the report calls for a serious and comprehensive assessment of how road pricing can assist in reducing GHGs and making public transit a more attractive option.
Further, the ECO stresses the need to put a clear and transparent price on carbon to influence the energy choices consumers make in the marketplace. By putting a price on carbon, consumers become more aware of the significant costs to society, and the broader environment, of carbon-based pollution. The ECO supports the government's current efforts to develop a cap-and-trade system as one method to bring about this price discovery. The report recommends, however, that the government "keep all its policy options open" by engaging in a dialogue with the public on other mechanisms that could be used. These may include, for example, a revenue neutral carbon tax or levy.
The report documents the environmental, social and economic benefits that other jurisdictions around the world have gained through road pricing. The report notes that the transportation sector is responsible for fully one-third of Ontario's GHGs and a similar portion of the province's fossil fuel use. Road pricing options could lead the way in not only reducing gridlock, congestion and GHG pollution but in also providing a much-needed revenue stream to fund increased public transit.
http://www.eco.on.ca/eng/
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Shut down Ontario coal plants now, says Clean Air Alliance
Angela Bischoff says the province doesn’t need to be burning coal. “We have so much excess electrical capacity online that we don’t need to be burning coal any more,” says Bischoff, Outreach Director, Ontario Clean Air Alliance.
7 minute audio recording
http://rabble.ca/podcasts/shows/john-bonnar-audio-blog/
2010/05/shut-down-ontario-coal-plants-now-says-clean-air-allia
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How to Rid Reactors of Uranium Risk
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty talks grapple with legacy of highly enriched uranium (HEU)
What's happening with medical reactors?
Less progress has been made in converting the targets used for medical radioisotope production to LEU (low enriched uranium), although South Africa is converting one. Other countries, including Argentina and Australia, are already using LEU for this purpose. I think that the companies who produce radioisotopes are inclined to convert, but they are concerned about costs and the effect on the price of their products. A 2009 report by the US National Academies, however, found that there was no technical obstacle to converting, and that it would cause at most a 10% increase in the cost of medical imaging.
What should happen next?
We need to move on from debating whether it is economically or technically viable to convert HEU reactors and targets, and push ahead with doing it. The non-proliferation stakes are too high to do otherwise.
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100525/full/
465408a.html?s=news_rss
Background:
Canada's production of medical isotopes depends on the use highly-enriched, weapons-grade uranium (HEU) -- the same material that was used as a nuclear explosive in the Hiroshima bomb.
Anyone obtaining the necessary amount of HEU (a few kilograms) can make a very powerful atomic bomb using surprisingly simple technology. Thus the availability of this material is a matter of international concern (that's why the grave concern over Iran's uranium enrichment program, for example).
Other countries -- Australia, Argentina, and South Africa -- are using low-enriched, non-weapons-usable uranium (LEU) for isotope production. Canada must be pressured to follow suit.
In April 2010, President Obama convened a nuclear security summit in Washington DC to "lock down" all weapons-grade uranium (HEU) around the world, and to prevent the further use of this material in future. At that summit, Canadian Prime Minister Steven Harper pledged to return to the US some of the highly-enriched uranium currently stored at Chalk River.
But what Canada intends to return is only the used HEU -- the irradiated targets, which are intensely radioactive -- not the "fresh" HEU targets, which are a much greater proliferation risk than the used targets (because they are much less radioactive, and therefore much easier to steal, handle and transport).
You can write to Prime Minister Steven Harper, Office of the Prime Minister, 80 Wellington Street, Ottawa, K1A 0A2, expressing your views on this subject.
It is time for Canada to completely eliminate the use of HEU, thereby setting an example to the rest of the world.
- Gordon Edwards.
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Stephen Colbert's Nuclear Attack
1 minute video -
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/53f727b716/
stephen-colbert-s-nuclear-attack
Nuclear Power Plant Demolition
After spending nearly a $100 Million and three years to build this 450 foot tall Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower, it only took 10 seconds to demolish.
1 minute video -
http://www.break.com/index/nuclear-powe ... ition.html
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Canada's tar sands: a dangerous solution to offshore oil
The Gulf of Mexico disaster could trigger a wider environmental catastrophe if the US's search for new petrol sources points it back in the direction of Alberta.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/may/11/
alberta-california-tar-sands-oil
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Nigeria's agony dwarfs the Gulf oil spill. The US and Europe ignore it
The Deepwater Horizon disaster caused headlines around the world, yet the people who live in the Niger delta have had to live with environmental catastrophes for decades
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/30/
oil-spills-nigeria-niger-delta-shell
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G8/G20 Poll
A new Nanos Research poll finds that Canadians think that global warming should be the top priority (both first and second choices) at the G8/G20. The poll also finds that Canadians think that Canada’s place in the world is weaker on climate change than any other issue covered.
http://www.nanosresearch.com/library/po ... 0-T423.pdf
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Energy answer: Blowing in the wind?
MIT researchers say wind power can make sense for utility companies, starting now
A key insight of the study is that wind’s apparent drawbacks as a power source — it only blows intermittently, and in many places blows harder at night than during the day — could actually be used to the advantage of power companies, with one condition. If power grids were equipped with large storage batteries that are commercially available right now, placed near urban areas, they could accumulate energy via wind power during off-peak night hours, then discharge the saved power during peak afternoon hours (when people have their air-conditioning on during the summer, for instance).
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2010/wind ... -0525.html
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City of Ottawa Profiting from the Arms Industry
The City of Ottawa overturned a 20-year ban on arms shows at city-owned facilities. Now it has been revealed that the city is pocketing nearly $113,000 from CANSEC, Canada's largest arms show. Urge Ottawa mayoral candidates to reject CANSEC, and to stop profiting from the arms industry.
Join with residents of Ottawa in sending letters of protest to the Mayor of Ottawa and the other two leading candidates in this year’s mayoral election. Urge them to reject any future application by CANSEC, ensuring that their arms show will not be held on city property ever again.
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Nuclear Cycle
Sat. June 5 is a global day of action to ABOLISH Nuclear weapons! Join our Cycling Tour of Consulates of Nuclear Weapons States!
Meet at: 1pm - St. George and Bloor (n/e corner), Toronto
Enjoy a lovely 5k bike tour through downtown city streets! See which countries have nukes, threatening every itty-bitty speck of life on Earth! Bring your signs and flags! Take pictures of your favourite consulate building! Most of all, join the call to abolish nukes!
For more information write us at info@worldwithoutwars.ca or visit us at www.worldwithoutwars.ca.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/
event.php?eid=104448689601877&ref=ts,
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Toronto vs. the G20
Community action for global justice
Saturday, June 5, 10:30am - 6pm
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 252 Bloor Street West, Toronto
It’s a good impulse to feel contempt for the G20. It’s a better impulse to want to talk about it. Join student and community activists to learn about the G20 and current social and environmental justice campaigns in Toronto, and get involved. Free citywide teach-in. Lunch included!
Full program here: http://g20.torontomobilize.org/torontoVSG20.
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G8/G20 happenings in Toronto
The 2010 People’s Summit: Building a Movement for a Just World
June 18th-20th, 2010
Ryerson University, The University of Toronto, and other locations around Toronto
The 2010 People’s Summit is civil society’s alternative “counter Summit” to the G8 and G20 Summits. Together we will create a space where diverse local and international movements can democratically organize to advocate and educate for global justice. Over 100 groups, organizers, and activists from around Canada and the world will offer workshops, skillshares, panels, plenaries, strategy sessions, art, performance, and plenty more. We’ll tackle major social and environmental justice issues in five thematic streams – Global Justice; the Environment and Climate Change; Human Rights and Civil Liberties; Economic Justice; and Building the Movement. There will also be engaging child and youth programming and childcare available, so bring your kids!
Registration, program, accommodations, billeting, posters and more can be found here: http://peoplessummit2010.ca/section/2
.....
Week of Action June 21-27
And after the People’s Summit, the Toronto Community Mobilization Network is coordinating a Week of Action from June 21st to 27th. For full details of actions and events planned that week, please visit www.g20.torontomobilize.org.
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Angela Bischoff, Outreach Director
Ontario Clean Air Alliance
Tel: 416 926 1907 x 246
625 Church Street, #402
Toronto, ON M4Y 2G1
angela@cleanairalliance.org
www.ontariosgreenfuture.ca
www.cleanairalliance.org
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========================
19. Beyond Nuclear Bulletin June 3, 2010
http://www.beyondnuclear.org/bulletin/
Beyond Nuclear, 6930 Carroll Avenue #400, Takoma Park, MD 20912
Take Action
Oppose nuclear power subsidies in House war funding and Senate energy-climate bills
The U.S. House Appropriations Committee has inappropriately attached $9 billion in nuclear power loan guarantees onto an emergency supplemental war funding and disaster relief bill, and the U.S. Senate is poised to begin considering the Kerry-Lieberman “American Power Act’s” massive nuclear power subsidies as well. Calls to your U.S. Congress Members are urgently needed!
Read more.
http://www.beyondnuclear.org/home/2010/6/3/
urge-your-us-senators-and-representative-to-oppose-nuclear-p.html
Top Stories
Katz to keynote Chicago waste forum
Deb Katz of CAN and Arjun Makhijani of IEER to keynote. Musical entertainment provided by folk singer/songwriter Victor McManemy. Take part in this grassroots effort to counteract the unbalanced Obama/Chu Blue Ribbon Commission. The forum runs from June 4th to June 6th.
Read More
http://www.beyondnuclear.org/home/2010/5/27/
cans-deb-katz-and-ieers-arjun-makhijani-to-keynote-june-5th.html
The French Nuclear Medusa
After exposé, France will cease uranium export to Russia
After a television documentary exposé in late 2009 and a government investigation, Areva will cease exporting uranium to Russia possibly as early as July 2010. France had been shipping reprocessed uranium fuel to Russia where, a television documentary showed, much of it was stored outside in containers visible from the air.
Read More
http://beyondnuclear.squarespace.com/storage/documents/
Medusa_June3_2010.pdf
=======================
20. Land of riches given over to Kakadu
http://www.theage.com.au/national/
land-of-riches-given-over-to-kakadu-20100528-wlkk.html
LINDSAY MURDOCH, The Age, 29 May 2010
Djok Clan leader Jeffrey Lee, the sole custodian of the area known as Koongarra, has generously donated his ancestral lands to the nation to become part of Kakadu National Park, despite containing sizable reserves of Uranium.
KAKADU - THE World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park will be expanded to include thousands of hectares of ecologically sensitive land that has uranium worth billions of dollars.
Aboriginal traditional owner Jeffrey Lee has offered the land to the federal government so it can become part of Kakadu, where he works as a ranger.
Mr Lee, the sole member of the Djok clan and senior custodian of the land known as Koongarra, could have become one of Australia's richest men if he had allowed the French energy giant Areva to extract 14,000 tonnes of uranium from its mineral lease in the area.
Mr Lee is an extremely shy and humble man who shuns publicity. "I'm not interested in money. I've got a job. I can buy tucker; I can go fishing and hunting. That's all that matters to me," he told The Age in a rare interview in 2007.
MORE: http://www.theage.com.au/national/
land-of-riches-given-over-to-kakadu-20100528-wlkk.html
=====================
21. Country`s future lies in renewable energy
http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/index.php?l=16592
By Editor 12th May 2010
Recent geological surveys have provided evidence that Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique have huge potential for geothermal energy, which could reduce heavy reliance on hydropower and fossil fuel in the three countries and the eastern and southern African region as a whole.
According to an assessment by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Global Environment Facility, there is 4,000 Megawatts (MW) of electricity ready for harvesting along the Rift Valley.
Experts say like other renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and hydro, geothermal offers significant potential in terms of climate change mitigation.
They say it is 100 per cent indigenous, environmentally friendly, and a technology that has been under-utilised for too long.
MORE: http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/index.php?l=16592
==========================
22. Mythbusters
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/read ... /index.cfm
Nuclear is a subject that has generated its fair share of myths throughout the years. An important part of the CNSC’s mandate is providing factual information that helps people understand nuclear science and its effects on people.
This section aims to dispel some of the most common misconceptions about nuclear technology and its applications in areas such as:
Nuclear Power Plants
Uranium and Waste
Industrial and Medical Applications
General
The CNSC does not promote the use of nuclear technologies or materials – rather, it regulates their use to protect the health, safety and security of Canadians as well as the environment. The CNSC respects Canada's international commitments on the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
MORE: http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/read ... /index.cfm
Last edited by Oscar on Mon Jul 12, 2010 12:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9887
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
NUKE NEWS: June 12, 2010
by Oscar » Sat Jun 12, 2010 10:57 am
NUKE NEWS: June 12, 2010
Compilation:
1. ICUCEC’s Annual General Meeting - Saskatoon - June 22 - 7:15 pm
2. Canadian lawyers, academics call for nuclear disarmament
3. Canadians: Humanitarian role or stay home
4. Where have all the Blue Berets gone?
5. TVO’s The Agenda - After Afghanistan: Peacekeepers or War makers?
6. Joint Strike Fighter purchase could cost $16 billion – 3 articles
7. Canada ranked 14th in world in peacefulness
8. Spill forces fossil fuels rethinking/Video: Reinventing Fire
9. Nukes story misleading
10. Chris Huhne warns of £4bn black hole in nuclear power budget
11. Nuclear talks with Iran, etc…Robert Gates interview – June 10, 2010
12. The US-NATO "Arc of War" Stretches From Afghanistan to the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus
13. Comment: What's wrong with this picture? Cameco CEO speaks at Saskatoon's National Philanthropy Day celebration!
==========================
1. ICUCEC’s Annual General Meeting - Saskatoon - June 22 - 7:15 pm
St. Joseph’s Hall, 1006 Broadway (SW door)
You are cordially invited to ICUCEC’s Annual General Meeting. Most of our board members have been on the board for many years - and we need help and/or a break. Our numbers are dwindling because of deaths, old age and fatigue. We need new and enthusiastic members to help ICUCEC do the important work we have been doing for so many years. Being a member of the board is interesting, rewarding and fun. We meet about once a month. Please think about joining us.
ICUCEC has a solid reputation for being a thorn in the side of the uranium mining and nuclear power industries. We have accomplished BIG things. See you at the meeting.
====================
2. Canadian lawyers, academics call for nuclear disarmament
Posted: 09 May 2010 09:13 PM PDT
Two recent statements organized by the Canadian Network to Abolish Nuclear Weapons: Legal Experts and Lawyers Call for Abolition We… call on the Government of Canada: 1) to find early and prominent opportunities to publicly reaffirm Canada’s commitment to a world without nuclear weapons; 2) to encourage a new NATO Strategic Concept that commits NATO to policies that both [...]
http://www.ceasefire.ca/?p=4649
==========================
3. Canadians: Humanitarian role or stay home
Posted: 23 May 2010 09:48 PM PDT
According to a Leger Marketing poll conducted for the QMI Agency, Canadians are divided on where they would like the Canadian Forces to go after Afghanistan, with many choosing humanitarian missions and 32% saying they should stay in Canada (Laura Payton, “One third of Canadians want troops home after Afghanistan,” Winnipeg Sun, 19 May 2010). The [...]
http://www.ceasefire.ca/?p=4710
=================
4. Where have all the Blue Berets gone?
Posted: 05 May 2010 01:24 PM PDT
A recent discussion on the future role of Canada’s military forces demonstrated once again that some of Canada’s most well known defence and foreign policy experts don’t know what they’re talking about when it comes to UN peacekeeping. Four years ago, David Bercuson, Director of the DND-funded Centre for Military and Strategic Studies, claimed in [...]
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4614&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
======================
5. TVO’s The Agenda - After Afghanistan: Peacekeepers or War makers?
Posted: 05 May 2010 06:50 PM PDT
TVO's The Agenda - After Afghanistan: Peacekeepers or War makers? Recorded Thursday, April 29 2010. Canada's military role After Afghanistan. Live from the Munk School of Global Affairs.
http://www.tvo.org/TVO/WebObjects/TVO.w ... 2746289001
======================
6. Joint Strike Fighter purchase could cost $16 billion - 3 articles
Posted: 11 Jun 2010 01:22 PM PDT
The Globe and Mail is reporting that the estimated full cost of the government’s plan to buy 65 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters is $16 billion (Daniel Leblanc, “Harper bending to U.S. on sole-source fighter purchase, documents reveal,” Globe and Mail, 11 June 2010): Officials at National Defence and Public Works refused Thursday to discuss [...]
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4859&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
- - - - - -
LISTEN: Interview with Radio Canada International on Joint Strike Fighters
Posted: 11 Jun 2010 10:18 AM PDT
Steven Staples on Radio Canada International -
The Link by rideauinstitute
http://www.ceasefire.ca/?p=4851
- - - - - - -
DND wants to skip competition, buy Joint Strike Fighter
Posted: 07 Jun 2010 02:43 PM PDT
Le Devoir reports that the Department of National Defence wants to skip a competition to choose a replacement for the CF-18 Hornet and quickly sign a deal to buy the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (Alec Castonguay, “Avions de chasse: l’armée a fait son choix,” Le Devoir, 7 June 2010). According to the newspaper, DND [...]
http://www.ceasefire.ca/?p=4827
===================
7. Canada ranked 14th in world in peacefulness
Posted: 10 Jun 2010 09:22 PM PDT
New Zealand was the country most at peace last year according to the annual Global Peace Index (GPI) produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace. Canada ranks 14th on the index’s assessment of 149 countries, while the United States ranks 85th, roughly on par with Angola, and Iraq ranks last: New Zealand is ranked [...]
http://www.ceasefire.ca/?p=4843
========================
8. Spill forces fossil fuels rethinking/Video: Reinventing Fire
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/
Spill+forces+fossil+fuels+rethinking/3125513/story.html
Is it possible to energize our civilization without fear? Fear of oil spills and oil wars, fear of nuclear meltdowns and nuclear waste, fear of global warming and polluted air and water?
It is, according to Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), among the world's most respected authorities on alternative energy strategies. In a new video available at www.rmi.org/rmi/ReinventingFire#video , Lovins makes the case that a richer, fairer, cooler, safer world is now possible because saving and replacing fossil fuels works better -- and costs less -- than buying and burning them.
Events such as the U.S. Gulf Coast oil spill -- the Three Mile Island of deepwater drilling -- expose the true costs and dangers of fossil fuel. Supposedly, we use oil as a fuel because it is cheaper and easier to use -- and more profitable -- than alternatives such as wind, solar or conservation. But that assumption changes when drilling for deep-water oil goes awry and it costs the oil producer billions to deal with the mess.
Switching to alternative energy may not be a choice but a necessity. As author Jeff Rubin points out, U.S. President Barack Obama's moratorium on offshore oil drilling is a potential game changer.
MORE: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/
Spill+forces+fossil+fuels+rethinking/3125513/story.html
- - - - - - --
WATCH: Reinventing Fire - Amory Lovins
http://www.rmi.org/rmi/ReinventingFire#video
=======================
9. Nukes story misleading
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/
todays-paper/Nukes+story+misleading/3105310/story.html
THE STAR PHOENIX JUNE 3, 2010
Vincent Tume
Member, Society of Professional Engineers & Associates
The article, New nuclear plants vastly more dangerous: report (SP, May 31), that discusses Generation III reactor fuel wastes contains a great deal of misleading and irrelevant information.
It is well know that spent fuel from reactors that use enriched fuel, as opposed to reactors that don't (traditional Canadian Candu reactors) is more radioactive. However, it's important to recognize that there is much less of it on a unit electricity basis.
These two factors approximately balance one another -- a fact that has been known for decades.
The comparison of how many Lake Ontarios it would take to safely dilute radioactive spent fuel would be relevant only if one decides to dump the spent fuel into Lake Ontario. Leaving aside that spent fuel is a hard ceramic, the intention is to eventually deposit the spent fuel into deep geological repositories to keep it out of the food chain.
MORE: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/
todays-paper/Nukes+story+misleading/3105310/story.html
=============================
10. Chris Huhne warns of £4bn black hole in nuclear power budget
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/jun/01/
chris-huhne-black-hole-nuclear-power-budget
Energy secretary blames predecessors for avoiding tough decisions in 'classic example of short-termism'
Patrick Wintour, political editor guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 1 June 2010 21.33 BST
Britain is facing a £4bn black hole in unavoidable nuclear decommissioning and waste costs, Chris Huhne, the energy and climate change secretary disclosed tonight.
The decommissioning costs over the next four years revealed by officials to Huhne are so serious that he has already flagged the crisis up to the cabinet.
The revelation places an unexpected burden on his department's £3bn annual budget ahead of difficult spending negotiations this summer. "As you can imagine, this is a fairly existential problem. The costs are such that my department is not so much the department of energy and climate change, as the department of nuclear legacy and bits of other things," Huhne told the
Guardian.
The additional costs derive from slowly rising expenditure on nuclear decommissioning, and falling income due to the closure of ageing power plants, Huhne said.
Huhne disclosed that in current financial year the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's budget is expected to be in balance. From 2011-12, the deficit suddenly rises to £850m, in 2012-13 the gap increases further to £950m and then to £1.1bn in the two subsequent years.
The black hole is equivalent to wiping out one-sixth of the overall cuts in public spending identified by the Treasury with such fanfare last week.
MORE: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/jun/01/
chris-huhne-black-hole-nuclear-power-budget
=============
11. Nuclear talks with Iran, etc…Robert Gates interview – June 10, 2010
http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes ... rtheworld/
2010/06/201061091243602584.html
Watch part two
Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, told Al Jazeera's David Frost that a new round of economic sanctions is meant to spur nuclear talks with Iran; that the US is committed to beginning a drawdown of its troops in Afghanistan in July 2011; and that the US wants an investigation of Israel's deadly flotilla raid that is "credible in the international arena."
He also offered his thoughts on recent tensions on the Korean Peninsula, and the scheduled withdrawal of tens of thousands of US troops from Iraq.
A full transcript of Gates' remarks is below.
- - - - SNIP- - - -
Frost: Tell me as you look at the world today as compared with when you joined the CIA in 1966, is the world today as you see it more dangerous than in the Cold War or is it safer?
Gates: I actually think it is more dangerous. During the Cold War the threat was always there of a nuclear cataclysm but except for two or three periods during the decades of the Cold War that threat was actually quite remote.
Both sides had rational governments, made rational decisions and so the day to day threat while potentially cataclysmic was at the same time remote. The problem now is two-fold it seems to me.
MORE: http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes ... rtheworld/
2010/06/201061091243602584.html
===================
12. The US-NATO "Arc of War" Stretches From Afghanistan to the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus By Rick Rozoff
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19624
Global Research, June 9, 2010 Stop NATO - 2010-06-08
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates arrived in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on June 6, meeting with President Ilham Aliyev on that day and on the following with Defense Minister Colonel General Safar Abiyev.
Gates was the first cabinet-level American official to visit the strategically positioned nation – located in the South Caucasus with Russia to its north, Iran to its south and the Caspian Sea to its east – in five years and the first U.S. defense chief to visit since Donald Rumsfeld did in 2005.
When Gates’ predecessor was last in Azerbaijan his mission centered on “the transportation of Caspian oil and the security of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline” as the chief element of U.S. trans-Eurasian oil and natural gas plans “which [are] directly connected with Mr Rumsfeld’s department” [1] to bring Caspian Sea hydrocarbons into Europe while bypassing Russia and Iran, both of which adjoin Azerbaijan.
Rumsfeld’s visit of five years ago also focused on a related initiative, the Caspian Guard project the Pentagon launched in 2003. “Guaranteeing security to the pipeline... will be the prime goal of the Caspian Guard. The Caspian Guard will represent a network of police detachments and special military units in the Caspian region.” [2]
At the time Rumsfeld’s Defense Department planned to allot over $100 million for the Caspian Guard to operate at both ends of the inland sea – Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan – and to be based in Stuttgart, Germany where the Pentagon’s new Africa Command is now based. In fact U.S. European Command was simultaneously elaborating plans for the Caspian Guard and a complementary Gulf of Guinea Guard in oil-rich western Africa to secure control over the 21st century’s main new sources of energy supplies. [3]
Gates arrived in Azerbaijan the day after the ninth annual Asian security summit organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore and before his attendance at the NATO defense chiefs meeting in Brussels on the 10th and 11th.
He had intended to visit Beijing following the conference in Singapore, but his overtures in that direction were rebuffed by the Chinese government, presumably because of Washington’s confirmation this January of plans to complete a $6.5 billion arms transaction with Taiwan, one whose latest installment includes 200 Patriot Advanced Capability-3 anti-ballistic missiles.
That Baku replaced Beijing on the Pentagon chief’s way to the NATO meeting indicates the importance that the comparatively small nation – with a population of under nine million while China’s is over 1.3 billion – has in American global geostrategic plans
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19624
======================
13. COMMENT: What's wrong with this picture?
National Philanthropy Day Bill – 2010 - Statements & Hansard
http://www.liberalsenateforum.ca/
In-The-Senate/Statement/9419_National-Philanthropy-Day-Bill
Hon. Terry M. Mercer:
Honourable senators, it is a pleasure to be the sponsor of Bill S-203, An Act respecting a National Philanthropy Day.
As the sponsor, I must say that this is not the first time honourable senators have seen it. Previous versions included Bill S-217, Bill S-210, Bill S-204 and Bill S-46, all introduced in the Senate since October of 2004 by our good friend and former colleague, Senator Jerry Grafstein. He and I have worked on this file for many years, and so it is an honour for me to continue that great effort. It is a worthwhile effort.
National Philanthropy Day occurs annually on November 15. It is a special day that pays tribute to the thousands of volunteers across Canada who contribute to our way of life. More than 50,000 people at over 125 events across North America participate in celebrations each year. In Canada, National Philanthropy Day events are held in every province.
MORE: http://www.liberalsenateforum.ca/
In-The-Senate/Statement/9419_National-Philanthropy-Day-Bill
- - - - - - PLUS - - - -
Re: 10th Annual National Philanthropy Day Luncheon Celebration - Saskatoon
Monday, November 15, 2010
11:30-1:30, @ TCU Place, Saskatoon
Gerald Grandey, CEO, Cameco has agreed to deliver the keynote address at the upcoming National Philanthropy Day celebration in Saskatoon.
- - - - - The Insult! - - - -
Cameco has its sticky corporate fingers everywhere: donates to hospitals, schools & other public institutions…looks like all that PR work is paying off!
Inviting Mr. Grandey, CEO of Cameco (a corporation responsible for supplying the world with its deadliest material, eg. leaving radioactive tailings in Saskatchewan’s north for thousands/millions of years) to share an event with such organizations as UNICEF, Alzheimer’s Society and cultural groups is another insult to the inhabitants of this Planet!
Elaine Hughes,
Archerwill, SK
Premier Wall's "Saudi Arabia" of uraniumSpeech in Calgary on January 21, 2008 – Page 7
http://www.gov.sk.ca/adx/aspx/
adxGetMedia.aspx?mediaId=414&PN=Shared
Compilation:
1. ICUCEC’s Annual General Meeting - Saskatoon - June 22 - 7:15 pm
2. Canadian lawyers, academics call for nuclear disarmament
3. Canadians: Humanitarian role or stay home
4. Where have all the Blue Berets gone?
5. TVO’s The Agenda - After Afghanistan: Peacekeepers or War makers?
6. Joint Strike Fighter purchase could cost $16 billion – 3 articles
7. Canada ranked 14th in world in peacefulness
8. Spill forces fossil fuels rethinking/Video: Reinventing Fire
9. Nukes story misleading
10. Chris Huhne warns of £4bn black hole in nuclear power budget
11. Nuclear talks with Iran, etc…Robert Gates interview – June 10, 2010
12. The US-NATO "Arc of War" Stretches From Afghanistan to the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus
13. Comment: What's wrong with this picture? Cameco CEO speaks at Saskatoon's National Philanthropy Day celebration!
==========================
1. ICUCEC’s Annual General Meeting - Saskatoon - June 22 - 7:15 pm
St. Joseph’s Hall, 1006 Broadway (SW door)
You are cordially invited to ICUCEC’s Annual General Meeting. Most of our board members have been on the board for many years - and we need help and/or a break. Our numbers are dwindling because of deaths, old age and fatigue. We need new and enthusiastic members to help ICUCEC do the important work we have been doing for so many years. Being a member of the board is interesting, rewarding and fun. We meet about once a month. Please think about joining us.
ICUCEC has a solid reputation for being a thorn in the side of the uranium mining and nuclear power industries. We have accomplished BIG things. See you at the meeting.
====================
2. Canadian lawyers, academics call for nuclear disarmament
Posted: 09 May 2010 09:13 PM PDT
Two recent statements organized by the Canadian Network to Abolish Nuclear Weapons: Legal Experts and Lawyers Call for Abolition We… call on the Government of Canada: 1) to find early and prominent opportunities to publicly reaffirm Canada’s commitment to a world without nuclear weapons; 2) to encourage a new NATO Strategic Concept that commits NATO to policies that both [...]
http://www.ceasefire.ca/?p=4649
==========================
3. Canadians: Humanitarian role or stay home
Posted: 23 May 2010 09:48 PM PDT
According to a Leger Marketing poll conducted for the QMI Agency, Canadians are divided on where they would like the Canadian Forces to go after Afghanistan, with many choosing humanitarian missions and 32% saying they should stay in Canada (Laura Payton, “One third of Canadians want troops home after Afghanistan,” Winnipeg Sun, 19 May 2010). The [...]
http://www.ceasefire.ca/?p=4710
=================
4. Where have all the Blue Berets gone?
Posted: 05 May 2010 01:24 PM PDT
A recent discussion on the future role of Canada’s military forces demonstrated once again that some of Canada’s most well known defence and foreign policy experts don’t know what they’re talking about when it comes to UN peacekeeping. Four years ago, David Bercuson, Director of the DND-funded Centre for Military and Strategic Studies, claimed in [...]
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4614&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
======================
5. TVO’s The Agenda - After Afghanistan: Peacekeepers or War makers?
Posted: 05 May 2010 06:50 PM PDT
TVO's The Agenda - After Afghanistan: Peacekeepers or War makers? Recorded Thursday, April 29 2010. Canada's military role After Afghanistan. Live from the Munk School of Global Affairs.
http://www.tvo.org/TVO/WebObjects/TVO.w ... 2746289001
======================
6. Joint Strike Fighter purchase could cost $16 billion - 3 articles
Posted: 11 Jun 2010 01:22 PM PDT
The Globe and Mail is reporting that the estimated full cost of the government’s plan to buy 65 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters is $16 billion (Daniel Leblanc, “Harper bending to U.S. on sole-source fighter purchase, documents reveal,” Globe and Mail, 11 June 2010): Officials at National Defence and Public Works refused Thursday to discuss [...]
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4859&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
- - - - - -
LISTEN: Interview with Radio Canada International on Joint Strike Fighters
Posted: 11 Jun 2010 10:18 AM PDT
Steven Staples on Radio Canada International -
The Link by rideauinstitute
http://www.ceasefire.ca/?p=4851
- - - - - - -
DND wants to skip competition, buy Joint Strike Fighter
Posted: 07 Jun 2010 02:43 PM PDT
Le Devoir reports that the Department of National Defence wants to skip a competition to choose a replacement for the CF-18 Hornet and quickly sign a deal to buy the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (Alec Castonguay, “Avions de chasse: l’armée a fait son choix,” Le Devoir, 7 June 2010). According to the newspaper, DND [...]
http://www.ceasefire.ca/?p=4827
===================
7. Canada ranked 14th in world in peacefulness
Posted: 10 Jun 2010 09:22 PM PDT
New Zealand was the country most at peace last year according to the annual Global Peace Index (GPI) produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace. Canada ranks 14th on the index’s assessment of 149 countries, while the United States ranks 85th, roughly on par with Angola, and Iraq ranks last: New Zealand is ranked [...]
http://www.ceasefire.ca/?p=4843
========================
8. Spill forces fossil fuels rethinking/Video: Reinventing Fire
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/
Spill+forces+fossil+fuels+rethinking/3125513/story.html
Is it possible to energize our civilization without fear? Fear of oil spills and oil wars, fear of nuclear meltdowns and nuclear waste, fear of global warming and polluted air and water?
It is, according to Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), among the world's most respected authorities on alternative energy strategies. In a new video available at www.rmi.org/rmi/ReinventingFire#video , Lovins makes the case that a richer, fairer, cooler, safer world is now possible because saving and replacing fossil fuels works better -- and costs less -- than buying and burning them.
Events such as the U.S. Gulf Coast oil spill -- the Three Mile Island of deepwater drilling -- expose the true costs and dangers of fossil fuel. Supposedly, we use oil as a fuel because it is cheaper and easier to use -- and more profitable -- than alternatives such as wind, solar or conservation. But that assumption changes when drilling for deep-water oil goes awry and it costs the oil producer billions to deal with the mess.
Switching to alternative energy may not be a choice but a necessity. As author Jeff Rubin points out, U.S. President Barack Obama's moratorium on offshore oil drilling is a potential game changer.
MORE: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/
Spill+forces+fossil+fuels+rethinking/3125513/story.html
- - - - - - --
WATCH: Reinventing Fire - Amory Lovins
http://www.rmi.org/rmi/ReinventingFire#video
=======================
9. Nukes story misleading
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/
todays-paper/Nukes+story+misleading/3105310/story.html
THE STAR PHOENIX JUNE 3, 2010
Vincent Tume
Member, Society of Professional Engineers & Associates
The article, New nuclear plants vastly more dangerous: report (SP, May 31), that discusses Generation III reactor fuel wastes contains a great deal of misleading and irrelevant information.
It is well know that spent fuel from reactors that use enriched fuel, as opposed to reactors that don't (traditional Canadian Candu reactors) is more radioactive. However, it's important to recognize that there is much less of it on a unit electricity basis.
These two factors approximately balance one another -- a fact that has been known for decades.
The comparison of how many Lake Ontarios it would take to safely dilute radioactive spent fuel would be relevant only if one decides to dump the spent fuel into Lake Ontario. Leaving aside that spent fuel is a hard ceramic, the intention is to eventually deposit the spent fuel into deep geological repositories to keep it out of the food chain.
MORE: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/
todays-paper/Nukes+story+misleading/3105310/story.html
=============================
10. Chris Huhne warns of £4bn black hole in nuclear power budget
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/jun/01/
chris-huhne-black-hole-nuclear-power-budget
Energy secretary blames predecessors for avoiding tough decisions in 'classic example of short-termism'
Patrick Wintour, political editor guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 1 June 2010 21.33 BST
Britain is facing a £4bn black hole in unavoidable nuclear decommissioning and waste costs, Chris Huhne, the energy and climate change secretary disclosed tonight.
The decommissioning costs over the next four years revealed by officials to Huhne are so serious that he has already flagged the crisis up to the cabinet.
The revelation places an unexpected burden on his department's £3bn annual budget ahead of difficult spending negotiations this summer. "As you can imagine, this is a fairly existential problem. The costs are such that my department is not so much the department of energy and climate change, as the department of nuclear legacy and bits of other things," Huhne told the
Guardian.
The additional costs derive from slowly rising expenditure on nuclear decommissioning, and falling income due to the closure of ageing power plants, Huhne said.
Huhne disclosed that in current financial year the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's budget is expected to be in balance. From 2011-12, the deficit suddenly rises to £850m, in 2012-13 the gap increases further to £950m and then to £1.1bn in the two subsequent years.
The black hole is equivalent to wiping out one-sixth of the overall cuts in public spending identified by the Treasury with such fanfare last week.
MORE: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/jun/01/
chris-huhne-black-hole-nuclear-power-budget
=============
11. Nuclear talks with Iran, etc…Robert Gates interview – June 10, 2010
http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes ... rtheworld/
2010/06/201061091243602584.html
Watch part two
Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, told Al Jazeera's David Frost that a new round of economic sanctions is meant to spur nuclear talks with Iran; that the US is committed to beginning a drawdown of its troops in Afghanistan in July 2011; and that the US wants an investigation of Israel's deadly flotilla raid that is "credible in the international arena."
He also offered his thoughts on recent tensions on the Korean Peninsula, and the scheduled withdrawal of tens of thousands of US troops from Iraq.
A full transcript of Gates' remarks is below.
- - - - SNIP- - - -
Frost: Tell me as you look at the world today as compared with when you joined the CIA in 1966, is the world today as you see it more dangerous than in the Cold War or is it safer?
Gates: I actually think it is more dangerous. During the Cold War the threat was always there of a nuclear cataclysm but except for two or three periods during the decades of the Cold War that threat was actually quite remote.
Both sides had rational governments, made rational decisions and so the day to day threat while potentially cataclysmic was at the same time remote. The problem now is two-fold it seems to me.
MORE: http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes ... rtheworld/
2010/06/201061091243602584.html
===================
12. The US-NATO "Arc of War" Stretches From Afghanistan to the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus By Rick Rozoff
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19624
Global Research, June 9, 2010 Stop NATO - 2010-06-08
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates arrived in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on June 6, meeting with President Ilham Aliyev on that day and on the following with Defense Minister Colonel General Safar Abiyev.
Gates was the first cabinet-level American official to visit the strategically positioned nation – located in the South Caucasus with Russia to its north, Iran to its south and the Caspian Sea to its east – in five years and the first U.S. defense chief to visit since Donald Rumsfeld did in 2005.
When Gates’ predecessor was last in Azerbaijan his mission centered on “the transportation of Caspian oil and the security of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline” as the chief element of U.S. trans-Eurasian oil and natural gas plans “which [are] directly connected with Mr Rumsfeld’s department” [1] to bring Caspian Sea hydrocarbons into Europe while bypassing Russia and Iran, both of which adjoin Azerbaijan.
Rumsfeld’s visit of five years ago also focused on a related initiative, the Caspian Guard project the Pentagon launched in 2003. “Guaranteeing security to the pipeline... will be the prime goal of the Caspian Guard. The Caspian Guard will represent a network of police detachments and special military units in the Caspian region.” [2]
At the time Rumsfeld’s Defense Department planned to allot over $100 million for the Caspian Guard to operate at both ends of the inland sea – Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan – and to be based in Stuttgart, Germany where the Pentagon’s new Africa Command is now based. In fact U.S. European Command was simultaneously elaborating plans for the Caspian Guard and a complementary Gulf of Guinea Guard in oil-rich western Africa to secure control over the 21st century’s main new sources of energy supplies. [3]
Gates arrived in Azerbaijan the day after the ninth annual Asian security summit organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore and before his attendance at the NATO defense chiefs meeting in Brussels on the 10th and 11th.
He had intended to visit Beijing following the conference in Singapore, but his overtures in that direction were rebuffed by the Chinese government, presumably because of Washington’s confirmation this January of plans to complete a $6.5 billion arms transaction with Taiwan, one whose latest installment includes 200 Patriot Advanced Capability-3 anti-ballistic missiles.
That Baku replaced Beijing on the Pentagon chief’s way to the NATO meeting indicates the importance that the comparatively small nation – with a population of under nine million while China’s is over 1.3 billion – has in American global geostrategic plans
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19624
======================
13. COMMENT: What's wrong with this picture?
National Philanthropy Day Bill – 2010 - Statements & Hansard
http://www.liberalsenateforum.ca/
In-The-Senate/Statement/9419_National-Philanthropy-Day-Bill
Hon. Terry M. Mercer:
Honourable senators, it is a pleasure to be the sponsor of Bill S-203, An Act respecting a National Philanthropy Day.
As the sponsor, I must say that this is not the first time honourable senators have seen it. Previous versions included Bill S-217, Bill S-210, Bill S-204 and Bill S-46, all introduced in the Senate since October of 2004 by our good friend and former colleague, Senator Jerry Grafstein. He and I have worked on this file for many years, and so it is an honour for me to continue that great effort. It is a worthwhile effort.
National Philanthropy Day occurs annually on November 15. It is a special day that pays tribute to the thousands of volunteers across Canada who contribute to our way of life. More than 50,000 people at over 125 events across North America participate in celebrations each year. In Canada, National Philanthropy Day events are held in every province.
MORE: http://www.liberalsenateforum.ca/
In-The-Senate/Statement/9419_National-Philanthropy-Day-Bill
- - - - - - PLUS - - - -
Re: 10th Annual National Philanthropy Day Luncheon Celebration - Saskatoon
Monday, November 15, 2010
11:30-1:30, @ TCU Place, Saskatoon
Gerald Grandey, CEO, Cameco has agreed to deliver the keynote address at the upcoming National Philanthropy Day celebration in Saskatoon.
- - - - - The Insult! - - - -
Cameco has its sticky corporate fingers everywhere: donates to hospitals, schools & other public institutions…looks like all that PR work is paying off!
Inviting Mr. Grandey, CEO of Cameco (a corporation responsible for supplying the world with its deadliest material, eg. leaving radioactive tailings in Saskatchewan’s north for thousands/millions of years) to share an event with such organizations as UNICEF, Alzheimer’s Society and cultural groups is another insult to the inhabitants of this Planet!
Elaine Hughes,
Archerwill, SK
Premier Wall's "Saudi Arabia" of uraniumSpeech in Calgary on January 21, 2008 – Page 7
http://www.gov.sk.ca/adx/aspx/
adxGetMedia.aspx?mediaId=414&PN=Shared
Last edited by Oscar on Mon Jul 12, 2010 12:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9887
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
NUKE NEWS: June 17, 2010
by Oscar » Thu Jun 17, 2010 12:09 pm
NUKE NEWS: June 17, 2010
1. ICUCEC’s Annual General Meeting – Saskatoon - June 22nd
2. ACTION: Sign Petition: Rid the world of nuclear weapons
3. CONSULTATION: "DIS-10-01 Management of Uranium Mine Waste Rock and Mill Tailings" by July 14.10
4. NRC Conference June 23-24 On Spent Fuel Storage And Transportation Licensing
5. 'Uranium is the new asbestos': union ban on nuclear work
6. HARPER TO TALK NUKES AT G8 SUMMIT
7. Search for Canadian nuclear waste site/Graphics
8. Athabasca Basin uranium project keeps growing
9. Fuel hazard lasts longer
10. Underground nuclear storage facility in the works in Canada
11. World Nuclear Association: nuclear sector needs to grow up to succeed
12. WATCH: "Radiate" a powerful spoken word poem, now on YouTube.
13. Progress Report: Nuclear Plants under Construction
14. No Nukes News - June 11, 2010
15. Nuclear Power Headline News from Power-Gen Worldwide
16. UN "Green Light" for a Pre-emptive US-Israel Attack on Iran?
17. Canada should stay in Afghanistan: Ignatieff
18. Happy talk watch: Afghan insurgency losing momentum
19. New Navy mascot needs name
20. The U.S. War Addiction: Funding Enemies to Maintain Trillion Dollar Racket
21. Stealth Superpower: How Turkey Is Chasing China in Bid to Become the Next Big Thing
22. FAA under pressure to open US skies to drones
= = = = = = = =
1. ICUCEC’s Annual General Meeting – Saskatoon - June 22nd
St. Joseph’s Hall, 1006 Broadway (SW door) - June 22nd, 7:15 pm
You are cordially invited to ICUCEC’s Annual General Meeting. Most of our board members have been on the board for many years - and we need help and/or a break. Our numbers are dwindling because of deaths, old age and fatigue. We need new and enthusiastic members to help ICUCEC do the important work we have been doing for so many years. Being a member of the board is interesting, rewarding and fun. We meet about once a month. Please think about joining us.
ICUCEC has a solid reputation for being a thorn in the side of the uranium mining and nuclear power industries. We have accomplished BIG things. See you at the meeting.
================
2. ACTION: Sign Petition: Rid the world of nuclear weapons
http://www.ceasefire.ca/?p=4471
There are still more than 23,000 nuclear weapons in the world. It's time to finally achieve a nuclear weapon-free world. Now is the time to act.
Urge Prime Minister Harper, the political party leaders and your Member of Parliament to support a new international treaty banning nuclear weapons.
===================
3. CONSULTATION: "DIS-10-01 Management of Uranium Mine Waste Rock and Mill Tailings" by July 14.10
A second consultation period is now open for stakeholders to provide feedback BY JULY 14 on the comments received about Discussion Paper "DIS-10-01 Management of Uranium Mine Waste Rock and Mill Tailings". The CNSC will prepare a report that will summarize the feedback we heard. It will be made available to the public once all comments have been reviewed.
For more information:
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/read ... bulletins/
view_bulletin.cfm?bulletin_id=216
=====================
4. NRC Conference June 23-24 On Spent Fuel Storage And Transportation Licensing
Process - Auditorium in Two White Flint North, 11545 Rockville Pike, (Rockville, Md.,) from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-colle ... 0-099.html
Nuclear Regulatory Commission To Hold Conference June 23-24 On Spent Fuel Storage And Transportation Licensing Process
The conference will be sponsored by the Division of Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation (SFST), which is part of NRC’s Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS). It will be held in the agency’s Auditorium in Two White Flint North, 11545 Rockville Pike, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day - Source NRC
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a public conference June 23-24 at its agency headquarters in Rockville, Md., on the licensing process for spent nuclear fuel storage and transportation.
The conference will be sponsored by the Division of Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation (SFST), which is part of NRC’s Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS). It will be held in the agency’s Auditorium in Two White Flint North, 11545 Rockville Pike, ( Rockville, Md., ) from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.
“This conference is part of the agency’s continuous effort to improve the process for licensing and certifying spent fuel storage facilities and the safe transportation of radioactive material,” said NMSS Director Catherine Haney.
Topics to be discussed at the conference include updates on regulations, standard review plans and interim staff guidance, as well as an open discussion on how to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the licensing process.
More information on the conference, including a public meeting notice and online registration, is available on the NRC Web site at this address:
http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/conference-symposia/
2010-lic-process-conf.html
====================
5. 'Uranium is the new asbestos': union ban on nuclear work
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/
uranium-is-the-new-asbestos-union-ban-on-nuclear-work-20100531-wonk.html
May 31, 2010
The Electrical Trades Union has banned its members from working in uranium mines, nuclear power stations or any other part of the nuclear fuel cycle.
The union says uranium is the new asbestos in the workplace.
The ban will apply to ETU members in Queensland and the Northern Territory and breaching it could lead to expulsion, said ETU state secretary Peter Simpson.
"We are sending a clear message to the industry and the wider community that vested interests in the uranium and nuclear industries are trying to hoodwink us about this dangerous product and industry," Mr Simpson said in a statement.
"Corporate interests, and their political supporters in the Labor and Coalition parties, are also trying to buy working families off with high wages, while denying the true short-term and long-term health risks of such jobs."
The union will launch a video in Brisbane tonight, warning of the dangers of the nuclear industry.
The ETU expects other unions to follow its lead and join its campaign aginst the uranium and nuclear industries.
Australia has about 20 per cent of the world's known uranium deposits and the largest known deposits of high-grade uranium ore.
===================
6. HARPER TO TALK NUKES AT G8 SUMMIT
HTTP://WWW.CALGARYHERALD.COM/NEWS/
HARPER+TALK+NUKES+SUMMIT/
2784634/STORY.HTML#IXZZ0KEO4CX8X
BY JULIET O'NEILL, CANWEST NEWS SERVICEAPRIL 9, 2010 5:02 PM
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper will invite countries at a Washington nuclear summit next week to join a G8 global partnership program to clean up nuclear sites around the world and prevent nuclear material from falling into terrorist hands.
A Canadian official said at a background briefing Friday that the program, in which 23 countries now participate, is a "super tool" to help implement the key goal of the summit hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama.
The program was launched by the Group of Eight industrialized countries at their summit in 2002 in Kananaskis, Alta., and is on the agenda when Harper hosts the G8 in Muskoka, Ont., in late June.
Canada has spent about $640 million of $1 billion over 10 years the then-Liberal government committed to the program in 2002.
About $20 billion has been committed to the program by participants and G8 foreign ministers are reviewing the results for prime ministers and presidents in time for the Muskoka summit.
Much of the Canadian money so far has been spent in Russia on projects ranging from decommissioning nuclear-powered submarines and neutralizing submarine reactors to upgrading protection at nuclear facilities and providing safe transport of nuclear material.
"All the countries around the table are of the view that securing nuclear material in Russia and the countries of the former Soviet Union is very, very, very, very relevant to global stability, not only to Russian-U.S. strategic stability but to the global stability," the official said.
He said Harper would have a chance to stress the importance and usefulness of the program on the second day of the Monday-Tuesday nuclear summit to which 47 countries are sending high-level representatives.
"We will invite countries to be in touch with Canada and enter into discussions as to the kind of assistance, financial and otherwise that we can provide," the official said.
He said the summit is aimed at strengthening existing agreements and programs, not creating new ones. "This is a matter of momentum."
MORE:
HTTP://WWW.CALGARYHERALD.COM/NEWS/
HARPER+TALK+NUKES+SUMMIT/2784634/STORY.HTML#IXZZ0KEO4CX8X
====================
7. Search for Canadian nuclear waste site/Graphics
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/WR_Se ... 06101.html
04 June 2010
DIAGRAM:
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/uploadedImages/wnn/Images/
HLW_storage_Canadaian_plan_(NWMO).jpg
Canada has begun a process to select a permanent storage site for its high-level radioactive wastes.
As determined by federal government in 2007, the plan is to dispose of used nuclear fuel from the country's nuclear power plants in a deep geological repository. This is to be located in an "informed and willing community" and the search for this has now begun.
The body responsible for the job is the Nuclear Waste Management Organisation (NWMO), which began a nationwide dialogue on the topic of long-term waste management last year with the aim of including people's input in the design of the siting process.
Key to this 'Adaptive Phase Management' process is that communities are in constant conversation with the NWMO and can withdraw from the process at any time. With most of Canada geologically suitable for underground waste storage, the most important thing for NWMO is to build confidence that the program is being carried out fairly and the end result will be safe.
The facility itself will be about 500 metres underground within a large block of solid rock. The highly radioactive bundles of used Candu fuel will be placed in a metal basket within a 4 metre copper canister. These will be regularly spaced underneath a network of tunnels in the rock and packed into place with bentonite clay. In time all the facility's tunnels would be sealed with clay, but the possibility of re-opening and removing the fuel would remain as a key long-term safety feature. It it this ability that leads to language describing storage in a repository rather than disposal.
Depending on the site's geology, the network of tunnels could span an area of about 2.5 kilometres by 1.5 kilometres (375 ha). The NWMO would need rights to the entire area but only about 100 ha would be taken up by surface buildings and the rest could be used in collaboration with locals.
Immediate benefits for local people would include increased employment, higher incomes and an overall boost to the economy. The NWMO said, "In most cases, the project could be a catalyst for dramatic improvements in community well-being and sustainability for the long-term. The infusion of new employment and associated business activity could provide the basis for major investments in people (e.g. education and training), infrastructure, and other community assets deemed of value to a host community and region."
MORE:
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/
WR_Search_for_Canadian_nuclear_waste_site_0406101.html
=========================
8. Athabasca Basin uranium project keeps growing
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/
todays-paper/Athabasca+Basin+uranium+project+keeps+growing/
3160277/story.html
UEX Corp. says the 58B area of its Shea Creek project in the Athabasca Basin continues to expand.
- - -
Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. said Tuesday it plans to prioritize drill targets at its Turnor Lake project by conducting fieldwork using techniques to directly detect uranium deposits.
- - -
Pitchstone Exploration Ltd. said this week summer exploration activities are underway on its sites, with drilling having already commenced on the Wolverine uranium property.
- - - - -
MORE: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/
todays-paper/Athabasca+Basin+uranium+project+keeps+growing/
3160277/
story.html
- - - -
Related Topics
UEX Corporation
- - - -
Athabasca Basin
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/
topic.html?t=Regions&q=Athabasca+Basin
- - - -
Shea Creek
UEX Corp. says the 58B area of its Shea Creek project in the Athabasca Basin continues to expand.
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/
topic.html?t=Person&q=Shea+Creek
- - - -
UEX set to drill at rich deposit
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/dril ... t/3081366/
story.html
UEX Corp. announced this week its Shea Creek joint-venture project is the largest undeveloped uranium resource in the Athabasca Basin.
============================
9. Fuel hazard lasts longer
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/opinion/F ... ts+longer/
3129924/story.html#ixzz0qMeVZCH4
By Marvin Resnikoff, The StarPhoenix June 9, 2010
Re: Nukes story misleading (SP, June 3). Our report for Greenpeace Canada makes an important point that reactor fuel wastes from Generation III reactors are more dangerous than waste from Candu reactors, even on a unit electricity basis.
- - - -SNIP - - - -
But, we encourage Nuclear Waste Management Organization to do an environmental assessment for Generation III fuel, not to sell a repository to a local community under false pretenses.
A waste repository is far more hazardous, for millions of years, than uranium deposits at Cigar Lake. Besides, nuclear fuel is thermally hotter, adding another dimension to the waste disposal issue.
Marvin Resnikoff
Member, Health Physics Society
=====================
10. Underground nuclear storage facility in the works in Canada
http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/ ... ledisplay/
3382906538/articles/powergenworldwide/nuclear/waste-and-decommissioning/2010/06/Nuclear-storage-Canada.html
4 June 2010
Canada is making plans to build a facility to permanently store the country‚s nuclear waste.
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) (http://www.nwmo.ca/home) is working to have communities give input on the design of the site, which will be in a deep geological repository. The facility is expected to be about 500 metres (1,640 feet) underground within a large block of solid rock. The bundles of used Candu (http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/ ... ogies.html) fuel will be placed in a metal basket within a 4-metre (13-foot) copper canister. The baskets will be regularly spaced underneath a network of tunnels in the rock and packed with bentonite clay.
Read more nuclear waste and decommissioning news
http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/nuclear-power/
waste-management-and-decommissioning.html
- - - - - -
Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) Articles
http://www.nwmo.ca/home
Implementing APM
http://www.nwmo.ca/implementing_apm
The Government of Canada has selected the NWMO recommendation of Adaptive Phased Management for the long-term care of used nuclear fuel. The NWMO will implement the approach. Our ongoing activities are reported here.
Implementation Plan 2010 to 2014
http://www.nwmo.ca/implementationplan
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is responsible for the long-term care of Canada’s used nuclear fuel. Implementing Adaptive Phased Management 2010 to 2014: http://www.nwmo.ca/uploads_managed/MediaFiles/
1448_implementingadaptivephasedmana.pdf ) describes our five-year work program.
OPG's Deep Geologic Repository Project For Low & Intermediate Level Waste/Graphics
http://www.nwmo.ca/dgr
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), on behalf of Ontario Power Generation (OPG), is seeking regulatory approval for construction of a proposed Deep Geologic Repository (DGR) for the long-term management of OPG’s low and intermediate level radioactive waste on lands adjacent to OPG’s Western Waste Management Facility (WWMF) on the Bruce nuclear site in the Municipality of Kincardine.
=========================
11. World Nuclear Association: nuclear sector needs to grow up to succeed
http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/ ... ledisplay/
7803401071/articles/powergenworldwide/nuclear/reactors/2010/06/world-nuclear_association.html
9 June 2010 - The nuclear industry is immature and needs to consolidate if it is to have a long-term future in the European power sector, said the World Nuclear Association on Wednesday. Speaking on Wednesday at Nuclear Power Europe’s panel discussion, ‘The Viability of Nuclear Power: Politics, Economics and the Environment’, Steve Kidd, director of Strategy and Research of the World Nuclear Association, said the nuclear industry had to go the way of the airliner industry, which has very few vendors, if nuclear reactors are to be a competitive source of low carbon power generation. “Nuclear power has got a cost problem. Only Boeing and Airbus are making planes,” said Kidd. “And the nuclear power industry has to go the same way by having a small number of reactor vendors. The cost of nuclear plants will come down only through serious production of reactors, like Westinghouse is doing with its AP1000 in China.” The panel discussion also covered topics such as climate change, carbon markets, subsidies, nuclear proliferation and waste. Jan Haverkamp, EU policy campaigner for Greenpeace, argued that it was immoral to create new nuclear waste by building new plant when no technological solution had been developed for dealing with existing waste, calling geological disposal of nuclear waste “a gamble”. Stephen Tindale, co-founder of Climate Answers and former head of Greenpeace UK, countered by arguing that it was more immoral to burn fossil fuel than generate nuclear power. “Unlike fossil fuels, where the waste products are released into the environment, nuclear waste is contained,” he said. Kidd said the next generation of nuclear power reactors (Generation IV) would consume much of the existing legacy, leaving the volume of nuclear waste greatly reduced. “But we need to build more Generation III reactors first,” he said. “A commercially successful industry will mean more investment and therefore the development of the next generation of reactors. The nuclear renaissance will solve the nuclear waste problem.”
MORE:
http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/ ... ledisplay/
7803401071/articles/powergenworldwide/nuclear/reactors/2010/06/world-nuclear_association.html
===================
12. WATCH: "Radiate" a powerful spoken word poem, now on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4xWW57ZT4A
At the Uranium Citizens' Inquiry, a very talented young lady presented a poem she wrote to embolden the protest over the uranium prospecting proposed on native territory.
The Uranium Citizens’ Inquiry: www.uraniumcitizensinquiry.com and The Coalition Against Mining Uranium, which spawned the actions that lead to the inquiry, are both in the credits following Maya's poem.
She did one for the 2nd edition launch of
"Life, Money and Illusion; Living on Earth as if we want to stay" at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKQQIPp7EZk
======================
13. Progress Report: Nuclear Plants under Construction
http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/ ... ledisplay/
0974022722/articles/powergenworldwide/nuclear/reactors/2010/06/
progress-report__nuclear.html
9 June 2010 - This fascinating session in the Nuclear Power Europe conference on Tuesday updated delegates on the progress of new Generation III+ reactors currently under construction.
Monica Frogheri of Ansaldo Nucleare shared details of the AP1000 plant in China, a project that is being undertaken by Ansaldo Nucleasre in partnership with Westinghouse.
Monica reported that as a result of the well planned out approach taken by both organisations the construction project is currently on schedule. The first two units will be operational in May 2013 and 2014 following 12 months of evaluation and 50 months of construction.
In sharp contrast to the apparent smooth running of the AP1000 project, David Emond deputy project director for Areva discussed the ongoing challenges faced by the seemingly ill-fated Olkiluoto project in Finland. Despite over 24 million man hours being spent on the project to date, the project is now four years behind schedule.
MORE:
http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/ ... ledisplay/
0974022722/articles/powergenworldwide/nuclear/reactors/2010/06/
progress-report__nuclear.html
====================
14. No Nukes News - June 11, 2010
----------------------------------------------------------------
Greetings anti-nuke, anti-coal and green energy friends.
Can you help distribute these leaflets with postcards to prominent politicians? Their free! Just send me your mailing address and how many you’d like and I’ll mail them out pronto:
We Can Stop Burning Coal TODAY: http://www.cleanairalliance.org/files/active/0/CoalPhaseOut-web.pdf
No Need for COSTLY NUKES:
http://ontariosgreenfuture.ca/CostlyNukes_12_09.pdf
Give them to friends, pop them in your work colleagues mail slots, or drop them off in your neighbours’ mailboxes. Help us get the word out that we CAN transition away from coal and nukes to clean, green energy – now! Thanks!
-angela@cleanairalliance.org
----------------------------------------------------------------
Nuclear Power and Public Health
The full story on the health effects of nuclear energy
The public health implications for a resurgence of nuclear power appear to have taken a subordinate position to the economic and global warming arguments that the industry has advanced to justify its expansion. The purpose of this essay therefore is several-fold: to review the scientific evidence for public health impacts of nuclear power, to assess occupational hazards faced by nuclear industry workers involved in the nuclear fuel cycle, to assess the evidence for nuclear reactor safety and critically challenge the underlying assumptions which may be less than adequate. It will also examine the public health risks of spent fuel from nuclear power reactors. The common thread linking these safety issues is the risk posed to public health by ionising radiation and in particular the cancer risk.
http://evatt.org.au/publications/papers/234.html
----------------------------------------------------------------
Media watchdog finds CANDU reactor ads “inaccurate” and “unsupported”
Have you ever looked at advertisements for nuclear power and wondered how organizations such as the Power Workers’ Union can call nuclear reactors “emission free”? The problem is, it just isn’t accurate to say that nuclear power is “emission free”. Nuclear reactors emit all kinds of foul things into the environment, and industry and government know it. In fact, CANDU reactors at nuclear plants such as the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station emit many different contaminants: 2-propenoic acid, ammonia, aromatic hydrocarbon resin, benzene, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrazine, morpholine, nitrogen oxides, phosphoric acid, quarterly ammonium compounds, sulphur dioxide, suspended particulate matter, total hydrocarbons, as well as tritium.
Advertising Standards Canada has just posted a decision to its website declaring that it is inaccurate and unsupportable to call CANDU reactors “emission free”.
http://www.waterkeeper.ca/2010/06/09/
media-watchdog-finds-candu-reactor-ads-inaccurate-and-unsupported/
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A Nuclear Gamble on the Not-So-Distant Horizon
Much like Captain Renault in Casablanca, the White House is suddenly shocked, shocked to find that oil rigs can explode, destroying ecosystems and livelihoods. The Obama administration has backed away from its offshore oil expansion policy in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe as the long-term environmental and economic consequences unfold in the Gulf States. Rather paradoxically, President Obama is using the oil spill to call for more nuclear power.
Yet, with the exception of a handful of insightful political cartoonists, the potential for an equally catastrophic accident in the nuclear sector has not been drawn. As with the MMS debacle, the NRC is gambling with inevitable disaster with the same spin of the wheel of misfortune and with potentially even higher stakes.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/06/04-8
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Union plan to starve uranium industry of labour
A major union expects others to join its campaign to "starve" Australia's uranium industry of workers.
The Electrical Trades Union has banned its members from working on uranium mines, nuclear power stations or any other part of the nuclear fuel cycle. The ETU says other unions have expressed strong support for the campaign against uranium, which it has labelled the "new asbestos" of the workplace.
"We're sick of hearing about nuclear power as the panacea of global warming, we're sick of people sweeping safety issues under the carpet," ETU secretary Peter Simpson said on Tuesday.
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-business/
union-plan-to-starve-industry-of-labour-20100601-wts3.html
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Our plan to stop the oil: 95% renewables by 2050
Want a way to stop the corruption and pollution that the fossil fuel industry is wreaking on our planet? We've seen a better future, and here's our plan to get there: the Energy [R]evolution.
Greenpeace teamed up with more than 30 scientists and engineers from universities, institutes and the renewable energy industry to create our Energy [R]evolution Scenario. Using only existing technologies, it charts a course by which we can get from where we are now, to where we need to be: decreasing CO2 emissions after 2015; 95% renewable electricity by 2050; a phase out of nuclear power; 12 million jobs by 2030, with a third more jobs in the global power supply sector than in a business as usual scenario.
http://www.greenpeace.org/international ... /features/
Our-plan-to-stop-the-oil-95-renewables-by-2050/
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Weaning the world off oil - Can we really kick the habit?- an interview with Tom Rand
Solar plants as big as coal plants can produce power 24 hours a day. Untapped resources like enhanced geothermal can power our entire civilization by themselves. It turns out that the amount of (renewable) energy available is absolutely stupendous and that the technology we have can mitigate the transfer of this energy.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/06/08/
f-qa-environment--oil-tom-rand.html#ixzz0qXrBrcSA
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Activists take aim at coal-fired power plants
Ontario continues to put health and lives at risk by failing to lower emission limits at its coal-fired electrical plants, environmentalists and health officials said Monday.
"The most appalling part there is enough capacity without the coal plants. It's hugely frustrating. It's creating a huge amount of smog and greenhouse gases. Closing the plants now would be an enormous improvement for human health."
http://www.windsorstar.com/technology/
Activist+take+coal+fired+power+plants/3124473/story.html
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McGuinty OKs 17% increase in dirty coal-fired electricity generation
The McGuinty Government has issued a shareholder directive giving Ontario Power Generation permission to increase the output of its dirty coal-fired power plants by 17%, in each year from 2011 to 2014 inclusive, relative to its actual level of coal-fired electricity generation in 2009.
Despite the fact that Ontario can achieve a virtually 100% coal phase-out today by simply ramping up the output of its newer and cleaner natural gas-fired power plants, Premier McGuinty’s actions could lead to up to 1,148 needless deaths and up to 575,000 needless asthma attacks according to his Government’s own statistics.
To add insult to injury, Ontario’s coal-fired power plants are no longer profitable. In 2009 the Ontario Electricity Financial Corporation (an agency of the Government of Ontario) gave Ontario Power Generation $412 million to subsidize the financial losses of its Nanticoke and Lambton coal-fired power plants.
Premier McGuinty’s decision to permit Ontario Power Generation to increase the output of its dirty coal-fired power plants by 17% is a cynical betrayal of the public trust. To save lives, reduce asthma attacks and to help prevent dangerous climate change, Premier McGuinty should direct Ontario Power Generation to put its coal-fired power plants on standby reserve and only operate them if they are absolutely necessary to keep the lights on.
The Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario, the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, the Cities of Hamilton, Kitchener and Guelph and the Toronto Board of Health are also calling for the Government of Ontario to direct Ontario Power Generation to put its dirty coal plants on standby reserve and only operate them if they are absolutely needed to keep the lights on.
Premier McGuinty’s decision to betray his 2003 election promise to phase-out coal as soon as possible is testimony to the immense political power of Ontario Power Generation and the Power Workers’ Union.
Please contact Premier McGuinty and ask him to phase-out our dirty coal plants now.
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Waterloo Region embraces the power of the sun
Local politicians are mounting solar panels on 37 more roofs, to help promote solar energy and earn provincial cash.
http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/725178
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Green schools program money well spent
It’s well established that energy-efficiency retrofits offer the biggest emissions-reduction bang for the scarce public buck. Energy savings of between 15 per cent and 30 per cent can be achieved with proven and widely available technologies. That being the case, why not just loan the money to schools and other public institutions, and then have these institutions pay back that loan – and maybe 2 or 3 per cent interest – from the energy savings that result? What you end up with is a revolving fund, which is essentially the gift that keeps on giving.
http://www.thestar.com/printarticle/819404
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Woe, Canada!
Everybody knows that Canada has walked away from its Kyoto targets, but you may not have heard yet just how fast they’re sprinting in the other direction.
In recent weeks, a chorus of leaders – including UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the EU’s Jose Manuel Barroso, and Mexican President Felipe Calderon – have pointedly called on Canada to step up its effort on climate, both at home and during the G8/G20 meetings it will host later this month.
http://www.climateactionnetwork.ca/e/news/latest/
index.php?WEBYEP_DI=3
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OPG and Moose Cree start new hydro development
Ontario Power Generation and the Moose Cree First Nation have kicked off construction on Northern Ontario’s biggest hydro project in 40 years.
The Lower Mattagami project will nearly double the output of four existing hydro stations on the river, which flows into James Bay.
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/
821340--opg-and-moose-cree-start-new-hydro-development
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Success! COAT's antiCANSEC weapons bazaar campaign
This year's campaign against CANSEC -- spirited by the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT) -- was a lot of work, but it was well worth it! We raised public awareness, strengthened our community of opposition to Canada's war-industry, and held a festive peace rally with 300 people outside this country's largest weapons bazaar.
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/Success.htm
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Let Green Power Grow: Stop New Reactors at Darlington
When: Sunday, June 13th – 12 – 4. Meeting begins at 1. Lunch served at noon.
What: Information and Organizing meeting to stop approval of the new Darlington reactors.
Where: Toronto Free Space Gallery, 1277 Bloor St West (Landsdown Subway), Toronto
Why: Learn about environmental impacts of new reactors at Darlington and find ways to stop them.
This is to invite you or a representative from your organization to attend an information and organizing meeting on the federal review now underway of the McGuinty government’s proposal to build new reactors at the Darlington site east of Toronto. These proposed new reactors are the biggest threat to building a renewable and sustainable energy system in Ontario. While the McGuinty government has taken some steps to develop green energy, its plan to build new reactors at Darlington will effectively stop the growth of green energy. To build an Ontario built on 100% green power, we must stop the approval of the Darlington reactors. This is why we need your help.
An alliance of environmental organizations, including Northwatch, Greenpeace, Safe and Green Energy (SAGE), has been working to stop Harper government’s free pass for Dalton McGuinty’s reactors. Join us. The session will present the environmental threats posed by new reactors at Darlington and allow for a discussion on how groups can get involved and help stop the approval of the Darlington reactors.
RSVP: shawn.patrick.stensil@greenpeace.org
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Peak Oil - The Road Ahead for Canadians
Speaker: the Rt. Hon. Ed Schreyer - former Premier of Manitoba, former Governor General of Canada, and current head of ASPO Canada (Assoc. for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas)
Tues. June 15, 7 p.m.at Toronto City Hall Committee Room #2
Organized by Post Carbon Toronto
For more info: info@meetup.com
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G8/G20 happenings in Toronto
The 2010 People’s Summit: Building a Movement for a Just World
Fri. – Sun. June 18th-20th, Toronto
The 2010 People’s Summit is civil society’s alternative “counter Summit” to the G8 and G20 Summits. Together we will create a space where diverse local and international movements can democratically organize to advocate and educate for global justice. Over 100 groups, organizers, and activists from around Canada and the world will offer workshops, skillshares, panels, plenaries, strategy sessions, art, performance, and plenty more.
Registration, program, accommodations, billeting, posters and more can be found here: http://peoplessummit2010.ca/section/2
.....
Week of Action June 21-27
And after the People’s Summit, the Toronto Community Mobilization Network is coordinating a Week of Action from June 21st to 27th. For full details of actions and events planned that week, please visit www.g20.torontomobilize.org.
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Angela Bischoff, Outreach Director
Ontario Clean Air Alliance
Tel: 416 926 1907 x 246
625 Church Street, #402, Toronto, ON M4Y 2G1
angela@cleanairalliance.org
www.ontariosgreenfuture.ca
www.cleanairalliance.org
Our Facebook Group
Sign Our Petition
No Nukes News
Health Power
===================
15. Nuclear Power Headline News from Power-Gen Worldwide
http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/ ... power.html
Westinghouse, DOE team up on nuclear reactors hub (Jun 16, 2010)
http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/ ... ledisplay/
1006638298/articles/powergenworldwide/nuclear/reactors/2010/06/
Westinghouse-DOE-reactors-hub.html
Westinghouse Electric Co. will spearhead industrial applications for one of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Energy Innovation Hubs.
China nuclear power reactors to get Invensys control system (Jun 15, 2010)
http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/ ... ledisplay/
5059719394/articles/powergenworldwide/nuclear/o-and-m/2010/06/China-control-system.html
Invensys Operations Management, a provider of technology systems, software solutions and consulting services to the manufacturing and infrastructure operations industries, has signed a second long-term agreement with China Nuclear Power Engineering Co.
New round of funding for novel nuclear startup (Jun 15, 2010)
http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/ ... ledisplay/
4716497005/articles/powergenworldwide/nuclear/reactors/2010/06/
new-round_of_funding.html
TerraPower, a nuclear energy start-up backed by Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, has raised $35m in a new round of funding to aid the development of a reactor fueled by nuclear waste, reports Reuters.
Korean reactor design project receives cash injection (Jun 14, 2010)
http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/ ... ledisplay/
7460166742/articles/powergenworldwide/nuclear/reactors/2010/06/
korean-reactor_design.html
South Korea's drive to develop small- and medium-sized nuclear power reactors based on its own technology has received a boost with the announcement that a consortium led by state-owned Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) has agreed to invest in it.
Leak found and fixed at Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant (Jun 10, 2010)
http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/ ... ledisplay/
7293056683/articles/powergenworldwide/nuclear/o-and-m/2010/06/
Entergy-leak-found.html
Plant officials at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant said a leak was quickly fixed June 8 and no radioactive elements were released into the environment, according to the Rutland Herald.
MORE Nuclear Power Headline News:http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/nuclear-power/
more-nuclear-power-headline-news.html
==================
16. UN "Green Light" for a Pre-emptive US-Israel Attack on Iran?
Security Council Resolution Transforms Iran into a "Sitting Duck"
By Michel Chossudovsky
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19670
Global Research, June 11, 2010
"A sitting duck is a defenceless victim, an easy target, vulnerable to attack"
What this latest resolution suggests is that Washington and its NATO allies not only control the UN Security Council, they ultimately also call the shots on foreign policy in Moscow and Beijing.
This Security Council resolution should dispel the myth of competing super powers. Both China and Russia are an appendage of the New World Order.
As far as international diplomacy is concerned, both China and Russia are "Paper Tigers", with no teeth. "'Paper Tiger' [纸老虎 (zhǐ lǎohǔ)], meaning something that seems as threatening as a tiger, but is really harmless."
Both China and Russia are the victims of their own failed decisions within the United Nations Security Council.
An attack on Iran would immediately lead to military escalation. Syria and Lebanon would also be targeted. The entire Middle East Central Asian region would flare up, a situation which could potentially evolve towards a World War III scenario.
In a very real sense, the US-NATO-Israel military adventure threatens the future of humanity.
The UN Security Council voted on June 9 the imposition of a fourth round of sweeping sanctions against The Islamic Republic of Iran, which include an expanded arms embargo as well "tougher financial controls".
In a bitter irony, this resolution was passed within days of the United Nations Security Council's outright refusal to adopt a motion condemning Israel for its attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in international waters.
It also followed the holding of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) conference in Washington under UN auspices, which called for the establishment, in its final resolution, of a nuclear free Middle East as well as the dismantling of Israel's nuclear weapons arsenal. Israel is considered to be the World's sixth nuclear power, with, according to Jane Defense, between 100 and 300 nuclear warheads. ( Analysts: Israel viewed as world's 6th nuclear power, Israel News, Ynetnews, April 10, 2010). Iran in contrast has no known nuclear weapons capabilities.
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19670
=======================
17. Canada should stay in Afghanistan: Ignatieff
Posted: 15 Jun 2010 02:10 PM PDT
Canadian military personnel should remain in Afghanistan as military and police trainers following the 2011 end of the Kandahar mission, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has declared (Joan Bryden, “Ignatieff: Canadian trainers should stay in Afghanistan,” Globe and Mail, 15 June 2010). The new Liberal position, which was floated two weeks ago by Bob Rae, was announced [...]
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4872&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
======================
18. Happy talk watch: Afghan insurgency losing momentum
Posted: 16 Jun 2010 08:28 AM PDT
“We are heading in the right direction in Afghanistan,” U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michèle Flournoy told the Senate Armed Services Committee on 15 June. “We are regaining the initiative and the insurgency is beginning to lose momentum.” (Jared Allen & Roxana Tiron, “After setbacks, Hoyer hints Dems’ support for Afghanistan is slipping,” The [...]
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4882&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
========================
19. New Navy mascot needs name
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4864&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 12 Jun 2010 01:45 PM PDT
The Canadian Navy is said to face serious recruiting, morale, and (according to its commander, although not the Minister of National Defence) budgetary problems. And what better way to respond than to create a new furry mascot for the embattled element? Officially, the Navy describes the new “recruit” as “a communication tool developed to help our [...]
=======================
20. The U.S. War Addiction: Funding Enemies to Maintain Trillion Dollar Racket
Four ways to see the true drivers of current wars around the world.
http://www.alternet.org/story/147217/
the_u.s._war_addiction%3A_funding_enemies_to_maintain_trillion_dollar_racket
David DeGraw / DavidDeGraw.org
===============================
21. Stealth Superpower: How Turkey Is Chasing China in Bid to Become the Next Big Thing
Turkey has ambitions beyond the Middle East and the means to get there.
By John Feffer / Tomdispatch.com
http://www.alternet.org/story/147203/
stealth_superpower%3A_how_turkey_is_chasing_china_in_bid_to_become_the_next_big_thing
===================
22. FAA under pressure to open US skies to drones
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/
ALeqM5goHrP2F5SLeblCHTGaOeiFWage-AD9GAULR02
The FAA has been asked to issue flying rights for a range of pilotless planes to carry out civilian and law-enforcement functions. 14 Jun 2010
Unmanned aircraft have proved their usefulness and reliability in the war zones of Afghanistan and Iraq. Now the pressure's on to allow them in the skies over the United States. The Federal Aviation Administration has been asked to issue flying rights for a range of pilotless planes to carry out civilian and law-enforcement functions but has been hesitant to act. Homeland Security wants to expand their use along the borders of Mexico and Canada, and along coastlines...
MORE:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/
ALeqM5goHrP2F5SLeblCHTGaOeiFWage-AD9GAULR02
1. ICUCEC’s Annual General Meeting – Saskatoon - June 22nd
2. ACTION: Sign Petition: Rid the world of nuclear weapons
3. CONSULTATION: "DIS-10-01 Management of Uranium Mine Waste Rock and Mill Tailings" by July 14.10
4. NRC Conference June 23-24 On Spent Fuel Storage And Transportation Licensing
5. 'Uranium is the new asbestos': union ban on nuclear work
6. HARPER TO TALK NUKES AT G8 SUMMIT
7. Search for Canadian nuclear waste site/Graphics
8. Athabasca Basin uranium project keeps growing
9. Fuel hazard lasts longer
10. Underground nuclear storage facility in the works in Canada
11. World Nuclear Association: nuclear sector needs to grow up to succeed
12. WATCH: "Radiate" a powerful spoken word poem, now on YouTube.
13. Progress Report: Nuclear Plants under Construction
14. No Nukes News - June 11, 2010
15. Nuclear Power Headline News from Power-Gen Worldwide
16. UN "Green Light" for a Pre-emptive US-Israel Attack on Iran?
17. Canada should stay in Afghanistan: Ignatieff
18. Happy talk watch: Afghan insurgency losing momentum
19. New Navy mascot needs name
20. The U.S. War Addiction: Funding Enemies to Maintain Trillion Dollar Racket
21. Stealth Superpower: How Turkey Is Chasing China in Bid to Become the Next Big Thing
22. FAA under pressure to open US skies to drones
= = = = = = = =
1. ICUCEC’s Annual General Meeting – Saskatoon - June 22nd
St. Joseph’s Hall, 1006 Broadway (SW door) - June 22nd, 7:15 pm
You are cordially invited to ICUCEC’s Annual General Meeting. Most of our board members have been on the board for many years - and we need help and/or a break. Our numbers are dwindling because of deaths, old age and fatigue. We need new and enthusiastic members to help ICUCEC do the important work we have been doing for so many years. Being a member of the board is interesting, rewarding and fun. We meet about once a month. Please think about joining us.
ICUCEC has a solid reputation for being a thorn in the side of the uranium mining and nuclear power industries. We have accomplished BIG things. See you at the meeting.
================
2. ACTION: Sign Petition: Rid the world of nuclear weapons
http://www.ceasefire.ca/?p=4471
There are still more than 23,000 nuclear weapons in the world. It's time to finally achieve a nuclear weapon-free world. Now is the time to act.
Urge Prime Minister Harper, the political party leaders and your Member of Parliament to support a new international treaty banning nuclear weapons.
===================
3. CONSULTATION: "DIS-10-01 Management of Uranium Mine Waste Rock and Mill Tailings" by July 14.10
A second consultation period is now open for stakeholders to provide feedback BY JULY 14 on the comments received about Discussion Paper "DIS-10-01 Management of Uranium Mine Waste Rock and Mill Tailings". The CNSC will prepare a report that will summarize the feedback we heard. It will be made available to the public once all comments have been reviewed.
For more information:
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/read ... bulletins/
view_bulletin.cfm?bulletin_id=216
=====================
4. NRC Conference June 23-24 On Spent Fuel Storage And Transportation Licensing
Process - Auditorium in Two White Flint North, 11545 Rockville Pike, (Rockville, Md.,) from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-colle ... 0-099.html
Nuclear Regulatory Commission To Hold Conference June 23-24 On Spent Fuel Storage And Transportation Licensing Process
The conference will be sponsored by the Division of Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation (SFST), which is part of NRC’s Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS). It will be held in the agency’s Auditorium in Two White Flint North, 11545 Rockville Pike, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day - Source NRC
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a public conference June 23-24 at its agency headquarters in Rockville, Md., on the licensing process for spent nuclear fuel storage and transportation.
The conference will be sponsored by the Division of Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation (SFST), which is part of NRC’s Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS). It will be held in the agency’s Auditorium in Two White Flint North, 11545 Rockville Pike, ( Rockville, Md., ) from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.
“This conference is part of the agency’s continuous effort to improve the process for licensing and certifying spent fuel storage facilities and the safe transportation of radioactive material,” said NMSS Director Catherine Haney.
Topics to be discussed at the conference include updates on regulations, standard review plans and interim staff guidance, as well as an open discussion on how to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the licensing process.
More information on the conference, including a public meeting notice and online registration, is available on the NRC Web site at this address:
http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/conference-symposia/
2010-lic-process-conf.html
====================
5. 'Uranium is the new asbestos': union ban on nuclear work
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/
uranium-is-the-new-asbestos-union-ban-on-nuclear-work-20100531-wonk.html
May 31, 2010
The Electrical Trades Union has banned its members from working in uranium mines, nuclear power stations or any other part of the nuclear fuel cycle.
The union says uranium is the new asbestos in the workplace.
The ban will apply to ETU members in Queensland and the Northern Territory and breaching it could lead to expulsion, said ETU state secretary Peter Simpson.
"We are sending a clear message to the industry and the wider community that vested interests in the uranium and nuclear industries are trying to hoodwink us about this dangerous product and industry," Mr Simpson said in a statement.
"Corporate interests, and their political supporters in the Labor and Coalition parties, are also trying to buy working families off with high wages, while denying the true short-term and long-term health risks of such jobs."
The union will launch a video in Brisbane tonight, warning of the dangers of the nuclear industry.
The ETU expects other unions to follow its lead and join its campaign aginst the uranium and nuclear industries.
Australia has about 20 per cent of the world's known uranium deposits and the largest known deposits of high-grade uranium ore.
===================
6. HARPER TO TALK NUKES AT G8 SUMMIT
HTTP://WWW.CALGARYHERALD.COM/NEWS/
HARPER+TALK+NUKES+SUMMIT/
2784634/STORY.HTML#IXZZ0KEO4CX8X
BY JULIET O'NEILL, CANWEST NEWS SERVICEAPRIL 9, 2010 5:02 PM
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper will invite countries at a Washington nuclear summit next week to join a G8 global partnership program to clean up nuclear sites around the world and prevent nuclear material from falling into terrorist hands.
A Canadian official said at a background briefing Friday that the program, in which 23 countries now participate, is a "super tool" to help implement the key goal of the summit hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama.
The program was launched by the Group of Eight industrialized countries at their summit in 2002 in Kananaskis, Alta., and is on the agenda when Harper hosts the G8 in Muskoka, Ont., in late June.
Canada has spent about $640 million of $1 billion over 10 years the then-Liberal government committed to the program in 2002.
About $20 billion has been committed to the program by participants and G8 foreign ministers are reviewing the results for prime ministers and presidents in time for the Muskoka summit.
Much of the Canadian money so far has been spent in Russia on projects ranging from decommissioning nuclear-powered submarines and neutralizing submarine reactors to upgrading protection at nuclear facilities and providing safe transport of nuclear material.
"All the countries around the table are of the view that securing nuclear material in Russia and the countries of the former Soviet Union is very, very, very, very relevant to global stability, not only to Russian-U.S. strategic stability but to the global stability," the official said.
He said Harper would have a chance to stress the importance and usefulness of the program on the second day of the Monday-Tuesday nuclear summit to which 47 countries are sending high-level representatives.
"We will invite countries to be in touch with Canada and enter into discussions as to the kind of assistance, financial and otherwise that we can provide," the official said.
He said the summit is aimed at strengthening existing agreements and programs, not creating new ones. "This is a matter of momentum."
MORE:
HTTP://WWW.CALGARYHERALD.COM/NEWS/
HARPER+TALK+NUKES+SUMMIT/2784634/STORY.HTML#IXZZ0KEO4CX8X
====================
7. Search for Canadian nuclear waste site/Graphics
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/WR_Se ... 06101.html
04 June 2010
DIAGRAM:
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/uploadedImages/wnn/Images/
HLW_storage_Canadaian_plan_(NWMO).jpg
Canada has begun a process to select a permanent storage site for its high-level radioactive wastes.
As determined by federal government in 2007, the plan is to dispose of used nuclear fuel from the country's nuclear power plants in a deep geological repository. This is to be located in an "informed and willing community" and the search for this has now begun.
The body responsible for the job is the Nuclear Waste Management Organisation (NWMO), which began a nationwide dialogue on the topic of long-term waste management last year with the aim of including people's input in the design of the siting process.
Key to this 'Adaptive Phase Management' process is that communities are in constant conversation with the NWMO and can withdraw from the process at any time. With most of Canada geologically suitable for underground waste storage, the most important thing for NWMO is to build confidence that the program is being carried out fairly and the end result will be safe.
The facility itself will be about 500 metres underground within a large block of solid rock. The highly radioactive bundles of used Candu fuel will be placed in a metal basket within a 4 metre copper canister. These will be regularly spaced underneath a network of tunnels in the rock and packed into place with bentonite clay. In time all the facility's tunnels would be sealed with clay, but the possibility of re-opening and removing the fuel would remain as a key long-term safety feature. It it this ability that leads to language describing storage in a repository rather than disposal.
Depending on the site's geology, the network of tunnels could span an area of about 2.5 kilometres by 1.5 kilometres (375 ha). The NWMO would need rights to the entire area but only about 100 ha would be taken up by surface buildings and the rest could be used in collaboration with locals.
Immediate benefits for local people would include increased employment, higher incomes and an overall boost to the economy. The NWMO said, "In most cases, the project could be a catalyst for dramatic improvements in community well-being and sustainability for the long-term. The infusion of new employment and associated business activity could provide the basis for major investments in people (e.g. education and training), infrastructure, and other community assets deemed of value to a host community and region."
MORE:
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/
WR_Search_for_Canadian_nuclear_waste_site_0406101.html
=========================
8. Athabasca Basin uranium project keeps growing
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/
todays-paper/Athabasca+Basin+uranium+project+keeps+growing/
3160277/story.html
UEX Corp. says the 58B area of its Shea Creek project in the Athabasca Basin continues to expand.
- - -
Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. said Tuesday it plans to prioritize drill targets at its Turnor Lake project by conducting fieldwork using techniques to directly detect uranium deposits.
- - -
Pitchstone Exploration Ltd. said this week summer exploration activities are underway on its sites, with drilling having already commenced on the Wolverine uranium property.
- - - - -
MORE: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/
todays-paper/Athabasca+Basin+uranium+project+keeps+growing/
3160277/
story.html
- - - -
Related Topics
UEX Corporation
- - - -
Athabasca Basin
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/
topic.html?t=Regions&q=Athabasca+Basin
- - - -
Shea Creek
UEX Corp. says the 58B area of its Shea Creek project in the Athabasca Basin continues to expand.
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/
topic.html?t=Person&q=Shea+Creek
- - - -
UEX set to drill at rich deposit
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/dril ... t/3081366/
story.html
UEX Corp. announced this week its Shea Creek joint-venture project is the largest undeveloped uranium resource in the Athabasca Basin.
============================
9. Fuel hazard lasts longer
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/opinion/F ... ts+longer/
3129924/story.html#ixzz0qMeVZCH4
By Marvin Resnikoff, The StarPhoenix June 9, 2010
Re: Nukes story misleading (SP, June 3). Our report for Greenpeace Canada makes an important point that reactor fuel wastes from Generation III reactors are more dangerous than waste from Candu reactors, even on a unit electricity basis.
- - - -SNIP - - - -
But, we encourage Nuclear Waste Management Organization to do an environmental assessment for Generation III fuel, not to sell a repository to a local community under false pretenses.
A waste repository is far more hazardous, for millions of years, than uranium deposits at Cigar Lake. Besides, nuclear fuel is thermally hotter, adding another dimension to the waste disposal issue.
Marvin Resnikoff
Member, Health Physics Society
=====================
10. Underground nuclear storage facility in the works in Canada
http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/ ... ledisplay/
3382906538/articles/powergenworldwide/nuclear/waste-and-decommissioning/2010/06/Nuclear-storage-Canada.html
4 June 2010
Canada is making plans to build a facility to permanently store the country‚s nuclear waste.
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) (http://www.nwmo.ca/home) is working to have communities give input on the design of the site, which will be in a deep geological repository. The facility is expected to be about 500 metres (1,640 feet) underground within a large block of solid rock. The bundles of used Candu (http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/ ... ogies.html) fuel will be placed in a metal basket within a 4-metre (13-foot) copper canister. The baskets will be regularly spaced underneath a network of tunnels in the rock and packed with bentonite clay.
Read more nuclear waste and decommissioning news
http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/nuclear-power/
waste-management-and-decommissioning.html
- - - - - -
Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) Articles
http://www.nwmo.ca/home
Implementing APM
http://www.nwmo.ca/implementing_apm
The Government of Canada has selected the NWMO recommendation of Adaptive Phased Management for the long-term care of used nuclear fuel. The NWMO will implement the approach. Our ongoing activities are reported here.
Implementation Plan 2010 to 2014
http://www.nwmo.ca/implementationplan
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is responsible for the long-term care of Canada’s used nuclear fuel. Implementing Adaptive Phased Management 2010 to 2014: http://www.nwmo.ca/uploads_managed/MediaFiles/
1448_implementingadaptivephasedmana.pdf ) describes our five-year work program.
OPG's Deep Geologic Repository Project For Low & Intermediate Level Waste/Graphics
http://www.nwmo.ca/dgr
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), on behalf of Ontario Power Generation (OPG), is seeking regulatory approval for construction of a proposed Deep Geologic Repository (DGR) for the long-term management of OPG’s low and intermediate level radioactive waste on lands adjacent to OPG’s Western Waste Management Facility (WWMF) on the Bruce nuclear site in the Municipality of Kincardine.
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11. World Nuclear Association: nuclear sector needs to grow up to succeed
http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/ ... ledisplay/
7803401071/articles/powergenworldwide/nuclear/reactors/2010/06/world-nuclear_association.html
9 June 2010 - The nuclear industry is immature and needs to consolidate if it is to have a long-term future in the European power sector, said the World Nuclear Association on Wednesday. Speaking on Wednesday at Nuclear Power Europe’s panel discussion, ‘The Viability of Nuclear Power: Politics, Economics and the Environment’, Steve Kidd, director of Strategy and Research of the World Nuclear Association, said the nuclear industry had to go the way of the airliner industry, which has very few vendors, if nuclear reactors are to be a competitive source of low carbon power generation. “Nuclear power has got a cost problem. Only Boeing and Airbus are making planes,” said Kidd. “And the nuclear power industry has to go the same way by having a small number of reactor vendors. The cost of nuclear plants will come down only through serious production of reactors, like Westinghouse is doing with its AP1000 in China.” The panel discussion also covered topics such as climate change, carbon markets, subsidies, nuclear proliferation and waste. Jan Haverkamp, EU policy campaigner for Greenpeace, argued that it was immoral to create new nuclear waste by building new plant when no technological solution had been developed for dealing with existing waste, calling geological disposal of nuclear waste “a gamble”. Stephen Tindale, co-founder of Climate Answers and former head of Greenpeace UK, countered by arguing that it was more immoral to burn fossil fuel than generate nuclear power. “Unlike fossil fuels, where the waste products are released into the environment, nuclear waste is contained,” he said. Kidd said the next generation of nuclear power reactors (Generation IV) would consume much of the existing legacy, leaving the volume of nuclear waste greatly reduced. “But we need to build more Generation III reactors first,” he said. “A commercially successful industry will mean more investment and therefore the development of the next generation of reactors. The nuclear renaissance will solve the nuclear waste problem.”
MORE:
http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/ ... ledisplay/
7803401071/articles/powergenworldwide/nuclear/reactors/2010/06/world-nuclear_association.html
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12. WATCH: "Radiate" a powerful spoken word poem, now on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4xWW57ZT4A
At the Uranium Citizens' Inquiry, a very talented young lady presented a poem she wrote to embolden the protest over the uranium prospecting proposed on native territory.
The Uranium Citizens’ Inquiry: www.uraniumcitizensinquiry.com and The Coalition Against Mining Uranium, which spawned the actions that lead to the inquiry, are both in the credits following Maya's poem.
She did one for the 2nd edition launch of
"Life, Money and Illusion; Living on Earth as if we want to stay" at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKQQIPp7EZk
======================
13. Progress Report: Nuclear Plants under Construction
http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/ ... ledisplay/
0974022722/articles/powergenworldwide/nuclear/reactors/2010/06/
progress-report__nuclear.html
9 June 2010 - This fascinating session in the Nuclear Power Europe conference on Tuesday updated delegates on the progress of new Generation III+ reactors currently under construction.
Monica Frogheri of Ansaldo Nucleare shared details of the AP1000 plant in China, a project that is being undertaken by Ansaldo Nucleasre in partnership with Westinghouse.
Monica reported that as a result of the well planned out approach taken by both organisations the construction project is currently on schedule. The first two units will be operational in May 2013 and 2014 following 12 months of evaluation and 50 months of construction.
In sharp contrast to the apparent smooth running of the AP1000 project, David Emond deputy project director for Areva discussed the ongoing challenges faced by the seemingly ill-fated Olkiluoto project in Finland. Despite over 24 million man hours being spent on the project to date, the project is now four years behind schedule.
MORE:
http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/ ... ledisplay/
0974022722/articles/powergenworldwide/nuclear/reactors/2010/06/
progress-report__nuclear.html
====================
14. No Nukes News - June 11, 2010
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Greetings anti-nuke, anti-coal and green energy friends.
Can you help distribute these leaflets with postcards to prominent politicians? Their free! Just send me your mailing address and how many you’d like and I’ll mail them out pronto:
We Can Stop Burning Coal TODAY: http://www.cleanairalliance.org/files/active/0/CoalPhaseOut-web.pdf
No Need for COSTLY NUKES:
http://ontariosgreenfuture.ca/CostlyNukes_12_09.pdf
Give them to friends, pop them in your work colleagues mail slots, or drop them off in your neighbours’ mailboxes. Help us get the word out that we CAN transition away from coal and nukes to clean, green energy – now! Thanks!
-angela@cleanairalliance.org
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Nuclear Power and Public Health
The full story on the health effects of nuclear energy
The public health implications for a resurgence of nuclear power appear to have taken a subordinate position to the economic and global warming arguments that the industry has advanced to justify its expansion. The purpose of this essay therefore is several-fold: to review the scientific evidence for public health impacts of nuclear power, to assess occupational hazards faced by nuclear industry workers involved in the nuclear fuel cycle, to assess the evidence for nuclear reactor safety and critically challenge the underlying assumptions which may be less than adequate. It will also examine the public health risks of spent fuel from nuclear power reactors. The common thread linking these safety issues is the risk posed to public health by ionising radiation and in particular the cancer risk.
http://evatt.org.au/publications/papers/234.html
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Media watchdog finds CANDU reactor ads “inaccurate” and “unsupported”
Have you ever looked at advertisements for nuclear power and wondered how organizations such as the Power Workers’ Union can call nuclear reactors “emission free”? The problem is, it just isn’t accurate to say that nuclear power is “emission free”. Nuclear reactors emit all kinds of foul things into the environment, and industry and government know it. In fact, CANDU reactors at nuclear plants such as the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station emit many different contaminants: 2-propenoic acid, ammonia, aromatic hydrocarbon resin, benzene, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrazine, morpholine, nitrogen oxides, phosphoric acid, quarterly ammonium compounds, sulphur dioxide, suspended particulate matter, total hydrocarbons, as well as tritium.
Advertising Standards Canada has just posted a decision to its website declaring that it is inaccurate and unsupportable to call CANDU reactors “emission free”.
http://www.waterkeeper.ca/2010/06/09/
media-watchdog-finds-candu-reactor-ads-inaccurate-and-unsupported/
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A Nuclear Gamble on the Not-So-Distant Horizon
Much like Captain Renault in Casablanca, the White House is suddenly shocked, shocked to find that oil rigs can explode, destroying ecosystems and livelihoods. The Obama administration has backed away from its offshore oil expansion policy in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe as the long-term environmental and economic consequences unfold in the Gulf States. Rather paradoxically, President Obama is using the oil spill to call for more nuclear power.
Yet, with the exception of a handful of insightful political cartoonists, the potential for an equally catastrophic accident in the nuclear sector has not been drawn. As with the MMS debacle, the NRC is gambling with inevitable disaster with the same spin of the wheel of misfortune and with potentially even higher stakes.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/06/04-8
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Union plan to starve uranium industry of labour
A major union expects others to join its campaign to "starve" Australia's uranium industry of workers.
The Electrical Trades Union has banned its members from working on uranium mines, nuclear power stations or any other part of the nuclear fuel cycle. The ETU says other unions have expressed strong support for the campaign against uranium, which it has labelled the "new asbestos" of the workplace.
"We're sick of hearing about nuclear power as the panacea of global warming, we're sick of people sweeping safety issues under the carpet," ETU secretary Peter Simpson said on Tuesday.
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-business/
union-plan-to-starve-industry-of-labour-20100601-wts3.html
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Our plan to stop the oil: 95% renewables by 2050
Want a way to stop the corruption and pollution that the fossil fuel industry is wreaking on our planet? We've seen a better future, and here's our plan to get there: the Energy [R]evolution.
Greenpeace teamed up with more than 30 scientists and engineers from universities, institutes and the renewable energy industry to create our Energy [R]evolution Scenario. Using only existing technologies, it charts a course by which we can get from where we are now, to where we need to be: decreasing CO2 emissions after 2015; 95% renewable electricity by 2050; a phase out of nuclear power; 12 million jobs by 2030, with a third more jobs in the global power supply sector than in a business as usual scenario.
http://www.greenpeace.org/international ... /features/
Our-plan-to-stop-the-oil-95-renewables-by-2050/
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Weaning the world off oil - Can we really kick the habit?- an interview with Tom Rand
Solar plants as big as coal plants can produce power 24 hours a day. Untapped resources like enhanced geothermal can power our entire civilization by themselves. It turns out that the amount of (renewable) energy available is absolutely stupendous and that the technology we have can mitigate the transfer of this energy.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/06/08/
f-qa-environment--oil-tom-rand.html#ixzz0qXrBrcSA
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Activists take aim at coal-fired power plants
Ontario continues to put health and lives at risk by failing to lower emission limits at its coal-fired electrical plants, environmentalists and health officials said Monday.
"The most appalling part there is enough capacity without the coal plants. It's hugely frustrating. It's creating a huge amount of smog and greenhouse gases. Closing the plants now would be an enormous improvement for human health."
http://www.windsorstar.com/technology/
Activist+take+coal+fired+power+plants/3124473/story.html
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McGuinty OKs 17% increase in dirty coal-fired electricity generation
The McGuinty Government has issued a shareholder directive giving Ontario Power Generation permission to increase the output of its dirty coal-fired power plants by 17%, in each year from 2011 to 2014 inclusive, relative to its actual level of coal-fired electricity generation in 2009.
Despite the fact that Ontario can achieve a virtually 100% coal phase-out today by simply ramping up the output of its newer and cleaner natural gas-fired power plants, Premier McGuinty’s actions could lead to up to 1,148 needless deaths and up to 575,000 needless asthma attacks according to his Government’s own statistics.
To add insult to injury, Ontario’s coal-fired power plants are no longer profitable. In 2009 the Ontario Electricity Financial Corporation (an agency of the Government of Ontario) gave Ontario Power Generation $412 million to subsidize the financial losses of its Nanticoke and Lambton coal-fired power plants.
Premier McGuinty’s decision to permit Ontario Power Generation to increase the output of its dirty coal-fired power plants by 17% is a cynical betrayal of the public trust. To save lives, reduce asthma attacks and to help prevent dangerous climate change, Premier McGuinty should direct Ontario Power Generation to put its coal-fired power plants on standby reserve and only operate them if they are absolutely necessary to keep the lights on.
The Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario, the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, the Cities of Hamilton, Kitchener and Guelph and the Toronto Board of Health are also calling for the Government of Ontario to direct Ontario Power Generation to put its dirty coal plants on standby reserve and only operate them if they are absolutely needed to keep the lights on.
Premier McGuinty’s decision to betray his 2003 election promise to phase-out coal as soon as possible is testimony to the immense political power of Ontario Power Generation and the Power Workers’ Union.
Please contact Premier McGuinty and ask him to phase-out our dirty coal plants now.
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Waterloo Region embraces the power of the sun
Local politicians are mounting solar panels on 37 more roofs, to help promote solar energy and earn provincial cash.
http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/725178
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Green schools program money well spent
It’s well established that energy-efficiency retrofits offer the biggest emissions-reduction bang for the scarce public buck. Energy savings of between 15 per cent and 30 per cent can be achieved with proven and widely available technologies. That being the case, why not just loan the money to schools and other public institutions, and then have these institutions pay back that loan – and maybe 2 or 3 per cent interest – from the energy savings that result? What you end up with is a revolving fund, which is essentially the gift that keeps on giving.
http://www.thestar.com/printarticle/819404
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Woe, Canada!
Everybody knows that Canada has walked away from its Kyoto targets, but you may not have heard yet just how fast they’re sprinting in the other direction.
In recent weeks, a chorus of leaders – including UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the EU’s Jose Manuel Barroso, and Mexican President Felipe Calderon – have pointedly called on Canada to step up its effort on climate, both at home and during the G8/G20 meetings it will host later this month.
http://www.climateactionnetwork.ca/e/news/latest/
index.php?WEBYEP_DI=3
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OPG and Moose Cree start new hydro development
Ontario Power Generation and the Moose Cree First Nation have kicked off construction on Northern Ontario’s biggest hydro project in 40 years.
The Lower Mattagami project will nearly double the output of four existing hydro stations on the river, which flows into James Bay.
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/
821340--opg-and-moose-cree-start-new-hydro-development
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Success! COAT's antiCANSEC weapons bazaar campaign
This year's campaign against CANSEC -- spirited by the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT) -- was a lot of work, but it was well worth it! We raised public awareness, strengthened our community of opposition to Canada's war-industry, and held a festive peace rally with 300 people outside this country's largest weapons bazaar.
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/Success.htm
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Let Green Power Grow: Stop New Reactors at Darlington
When: Sunday, June 13th – 12 – 4. Meeting begins at 1. Lunch served at noon.
What: Information and Organizing meeting to stop approval of the new Darlington reactors.
Where: Toronto Free Space Gallery, 1277 Bloor St West (Landsdown Subway), Toronto
Why: Learn about environmental impacts of new reactors at Darlington and find ways to stop them.
This is to invite you or a representative from your organization to attend an information and organizing meeting on the federal review now underway of the McGuinty government’s proposal to build new reactors at the Darlington site east of Toronto. These proposed new reactors are the biggest threat to building a renewable and sustainable energy system in Ontario. While the McGuinty government has taken some steps to develop green energy, its plan to build new reactors at Darlington will effectively stop the growth of green energy. To build an Ontario built on 100% green power, we must stop the approval of the Darlington reactors. This is why we need your help.
An alliance of environmental organizations, including Northwatch, Greenpeace, Safe and Green Energy (SAGE), has been working to stop Harper government’s free pass for Dalton McGuinty’s reactors. Join us. The session will present the environmental threats posed by new reactors at Darlington and allow for a discussion on how groups can get involved and help stop the approval of the Darlington reactors.
RSVP: shawn.patrick.stensil@greenpeace.org
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Peak Oil - The Road Ahead for Canadians
Speaker: the Rt. Hon. Ed Schreyer - former Premier of Manitoba, former Governor General of Canada, and current head of ASPO Canada (Assoc. for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas)
Tues. June 15, 7 p.m.at Toronto City Hall Committee Room #2
Organized by Post Carbon Toronto
For more info: info@meetup.com
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G8/G20 happenings in Toronto
The 2010 People’s Summit: Building a Movement for a Just World
Fri. – Sun. June 18th-20th, Toronto
The 2010 People’s Summit is civil society’s alternative “counter Summit” to the G8 and G20 Summits. Together we will create a space where diverse local and international movements can democratically organize to advocate and educate for global justice. Over 100 groups, organizers, and activists from around Canada and the world will offer workshops, skillshares, panels, plenaries, strategy sessions, art, performance, and plenty more.
Registration, program, accommodations, billeting, posters and more can be found here: http://peoplessummit2010.ca/section/2
.....
Week of Action June 21-27
And after the People’s Summit, the Toronto Community Mobilization Network is coordinating a Week of Action from June 21st to 27th. For full details of actions and events planned that week, please visit www.g20.torontomobilize.org.
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Angela Bischoff, Outreach Director
Ontario Clean Air Alliance
Tel: 416 926 1907 x 246
625 Church Street, #402, Toronto, ON M4Y 2G1
angela@cleanairalliance.org
www.ontariosgreenfuture.ca
www.cleanairalliance.org
Our Facebook Group
Sign Our Petition
No Nukes News
Health Power
===================
15. Nuclear Power Headline News from Power-Gen Worldwide
http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/ ... power.html
Westinghouse, DOE team up on nuclear reactors hub (Jun 16, 2010)
http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/ ... ledisplay/
1006638298/articles/powergenworldwide/nuclear/reactors/2010/06/
Westinghouse-DOE-reactors-hub.html
Westinghouse Electric Co. will spearhead industrial applications for one of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Energy Innovation Hubs.
China nuclear power reactors to get Invensys control system (Jun 15, 2010)
http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/ ... ledisplay/
5059719394/articles/powergenworldwide/nuclear/o-and-m/2010/06/China-control-system.html
Invensys Operations Management, a provider of technology systems, software solutions and consulting services to the manufacturing and infrastructure operations industries, has signed a second long-term agreement with China Nuclear Power Engineering Co.
New round of funding for novel nuclear startup (Jun 15, 2010)
http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/ ... ledisplay/
4716497005/articles/powergenworldwide/nuclear/reactors/2010/06/
new-round_of_funding.html
TerraPower, a nuclear energy start-up backed by Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, has raised $35m in a new round of funding to aid the development of a reactor fueled by nuclear waste, reports Reuters.
Korean reactor design project receives cash injection (Jun 14, 2010)
http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/ ... ledisplay/
7460166742/articles/powergenworldwide/nuclear/reactors/2010/06/
korean-reactor_design.html
South Korea's drive to develop small- and medium-sized nuclear power reactors based on its own technology has received a boost with the announcement that a consortium led by state-owned Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) has agreed to invest in it.
Leak found and fixed at Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant (Jun 10, 2010)
http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/ ... ledisplay/
7293056683/articles/powergenworldwide/nuclear/o-and-m/2010/06/
Entergy-leak-found.html
Plant officials at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant said a leak was quickly fixed June 8 and no radioactive elements were released into the environment, according to the Rutland Herald.
MORE Nuclear Power Headline News:http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/nuclear-power/
more-nuclear-power-headline-news.html
==================
16. UN "Green Light" for a Pre-emptive US-Israel Attack on Iran?
Security Council Resolution Transforms Iran into a "Sitting Duck"
By Michel Chossudovsky
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19670
Global Research, June 11, 2010
"A sitting duck is a defenceless victim, an easy target, vulnerable to attack"
What this latest resolution suggests is that Washington and its NATO allies not only control the UN Security Council, they ultimately also call the shots on foreign policy in Moscow and Beijing.
This Security Council resolution should dispel the myth of competing super powers. Both China and Russia are an appendage of the New World Order.
As far as international diplomacy is concerned, both China and Russia are "Paper Tigers", with no teeth. "'Paper Tiger' [纸老虎 (zhǐ lǎohǔ)], meaning something that seems as threatening as a tiger, but is really harmless."
Both China and Russia are the victims of their own failed decisions within the United Nations Security Council.
An attack on Iran would immediately lead to military escalation. Syria and Lebanon would also be targeted. The entire Middle East Central Asian region would flare up, a situation which could potentially evolve towards a World War III scenario.
In a very real sense, the US-NATO-Israel military adventure threatens the future of humanity.
The UN Security Council voted on June 9 the imposition of a fourth round of sweeping sanctions against The Islamic Republic of Iran, which include an expanded arms embargo as well "tougher financial controls".
In a bitter irony, this resolution was passed within days of the United Nations Security Council's outright refusal to adopt a motion condemning Israel for its attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in international waters.
It also followed the holding of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) conference in Washington under UN auspices, which called for the establishment, in its final resolution, of a nuclear free Middle East as well as the dismantling of Israel's nuclear weapons arsenal. Israel is considered to be the World's sixth nuclear power, with, according to Jane Defense, between 100 and 300 nuclear warheads. ( Analysts: Israel viewed as world's 6th nuclear power, Israel News, Ynetnews, April 10, 2010). Iran in contrast has no known nuclear weapons capabilities.
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19670
=======================
17. Canada should stay in Afghanistan: Ignatieff
Posted: 15 Jun 2010 02:10 PM PDT
Canadian military personnel should remain in Afghanistan as military and police trainers following the 2011 end of the Kandahar mission, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has declared (Joan Bryden, “Ignatieff: Canadian trainers should stay in Afghanistan,” Globe and Mail, 15 June 2010). The new Liberal position, which was floated two weeks ago by Bob Rae, was announced [...]
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4872&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
======================
18. Happy talk watch: Afghan insurgency losing momentum
Posted: 16 Jun 2010 08:28 AM PDT
“We are heading in the right direction in Afghanistan,” U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michèle Flournoy told the Senate Armed Services Committee on 15 June. “We are regaining the initiative and the insurgency is beginning to lose momentum.” (Jared Allen & Roxana Tiron, “After setbacks, Hoyer hints Dems’ support for Afghanistan is slipping,” The [...]
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4882&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
========================
19. New Navy mascot needs name
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4864&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 12 Jun 2010 01:45 PM PDT
The Canadian Navy is said to face serious recruiting, morale, and (according to its commander, although not the Minister of National Defence) budgetary problems. And what better way to respond than to create a new furry mascot for the embattled element? Officially, the Navy describes the new “recruit” as “a communication tool developed to help our [...]
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20. The U.S. War Addiction: Funding Enemies to Maintain Trillion Dollar Racket
Four ways to see the true drivers of current wars around the world.
http://www.alternet.org/story/147217/
the_u.s._war_addiction%3A_funding_enemies_to_maintain_trillion_dollar_racket
David DeGraw / DavidDeGraw.org
===============================
21. Stealth Superpower: How Turkey Is Chasing China in Bid to Become the Next Big Thing
Turkey has ambitions beyond the Middle East and the means to get there.
By John Feffer / Tomdispatch.com
http://www.alternet.org/story/147203/
stealth_superpower%3A_how_turkey_is_chasing_china_in_bid_to_become_the_next_big_thing
===================
22. FAA under pressure to open US skies to drones
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/
ALeqM5goHrP2F5SLeblCHTGaOeiFWage-AD9GAULR02
The FAA has been asked to issue flying rights for a range of pilotless planes to carry out civilian and law-enforcement functions. 14 Jun 2010
Unmanned aircraft have proved their usefulness and reliability in the war zones of Afghanistan and Iraq. Now the pressure's on to allow them in the skies over the United States. The Federal Aviation Administration has been asked to issue flying rights for a range of pilotless planes to carry out civilian and law-enforcement functions but has been hesitant to act. Homeland Security wants to expand their use along the borders of Mexico and Canada, and along coastlines...
MORE:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/
ALeqM5goHrP2F5SLeblCHTGaOeiFWage-AD9GAULR02
Last edited by Oscar on Mon Jul 12, 2010 12:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9887
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
NUKE NEWS: June 24, 2010
by Oscar » Thu Jun 24, 2010 7:00 pm
NUKE NEWS: June 24, 2010
1. Revised Nuclear Liability Act Reintroduced With Inadequate Cap on Liability After Accidents (scroll down to article)
2. Status of federal budget bill – Bowman
3. AECL requests hearing to restart leaky isotope reactor at Chalk River
4. Billions of New Nuke Giveaways in Kerry-Lieberman Bill Exposed
5. CAN WE TRUST THE NUCLEAR REGULATORS? – Dr. Jim Harding
6. Radioactive Surprise: Desert Oasis Water Traced Back to Nuclear Test Site
7. Global Nuclear Energy Partnership revived under a new name
8. Problems with Nuclear Power Highlighted by Gulf Disaster?
9. No Nukes News - June 18, 2010
10. 'Uranium making Punjab kids retarded'
11. Review of radiation accidents since WWII
12. WATCH: How The World Nuked Itself Over 2,000 Times/Map
13. Renewable Energy Clear Winner on Climate Change – CAPE
14. Cancer Prevention is in our Power By Farrah Khan – CAPE
15. NEWS: Liberal MP introduces Bill on Schedule 2
16. Stay in Afghanistan: Senate committee
17. America’s “Other War” exceeds Vietnam conflict in length
18. Help stop “a summer of bloodshed”
19. Jobs for the boys: Blackwater Firm Gets $120M U.S. Gov't Contract
20. The War on Afghanistan is a Profit driven "Resource War"
21. Showdown in the Red Sea: U.S. Sends 11 Warships to Confront Iran
22. (SK) NEW ENTERPRISE REGIONS CELEBRATED/Comment
= = = = = = = = =
1. Revised Nuclear Liability Act Reintroduced With Inadequate Cap on Liability After Accidents (scroll down to article)
http://www.cela.ca/bulletin/June-18-2010
QUOTE: CELA is strongly opposed to any special legal protection to limit liability costs to the nuclear industry in the event of a nuclear accident and urges the public to write their MPs and oppose Bill C-15.
Revised Nuclear Liability Act Reintroduced With Inadequate Cap on Liability After Accidents; Comparable Situation for Offshore Oil Drilling? National Energy Board Public Review Announced into Arctic Safety and Environmental Offshore Drilling Requirements
CELA Bulletin 79: 18-June-2010
http://www.cela.ca/bulletin/June-18-2010
The federal government has also reintroduced legislation ( Bill C -15)
(http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/LEGISINFO/
index.asp?List=ls&Query=6989&Session=23&Language=e )
that would, if passed, artificially cap the liability of a nuclear operator for accidents at $650 million – an increase in the current paltry limit of $75 million but still a miniscule fraction of the likely actual cost of a nuclear disaster. In the event of a nuclear accident, Canadian victims would receive significantly less industry compensation than citizens in the US, Germany or Sweden. Bill C-15 is a subsidy to dirty energy. Unlike green energy, the nuclear industry needs a special law to relieve it from paying its own insurance costs creating an unfair playing field for green energy and forcing Canadians to pay for the nuclear industry’s pollution.
ACTION!!! CELA is strongly opposed to any special legal protection to limit liability costs to the nuclear industry in the event of a nuclear accident and urges the public to write their MPs and oppose Bill C-15.
Members of Parliament at:
http://webinfo.parl.gc.ca/MembersOfParliament/
MainMPsCompleteList.aspx?TimePeriod=Current&Language=E
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In light of the oil drilling disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, CELA also looked at what the responsibility of the Canadian oil industry would be for a major disaster in our marine waters. In several pieces of legislation Canada has imposed a cap on liability for oil and gas exploration, drilling, and shipping in Canada's marine waters, whereby third parties such as tourism operators, fishers and others would have a collective limit on the liability they could claim against the industry. The cap ranges from 25 million to 45 million dollars, depending upon which marine waters in Canada the oil spill might happen. This liability limit is far from adequate. The comparable limit in the United States for oil and gas spills is $75 million which they are now considering raising to $10 billion. Moreover, the initial allocation by BP for the disaster in the Gulf is $20 billion with President Obama insisting that this amount is not a cap. In the meantime the US provision of insurance for a nuclear accident is approximately 11 billion dollars available for such third party claimants harmed by an accident.
In Canada, both the oil and gas and the nuclear industries have been encouraged to develop based on extreme liability protections that are not available in other areas of activity and that leave those industries and their investors free of meaningful responsibility for large scale damage to ordinary Canadians in the event of catastrophic accidents. CELA is therefore gratified to note that the National Energy Board announced on May 11, 2010 a Public Review of Arctic Safety and Environmental Offshore Drilling Requirements. A June 10, 2010 announcement includes more details about preliminary scope of the review (including financing issues) and sets a registration deadline of July 16th.
More info:
http://www.neb-one.gc.ca/clf-nsi/rthnb/ ... 4-eng.html
On-line collection: Nuclear Phase-out. C-15 Facebook page.
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FACEBOOK:
Stop Harper's Sweetheart Deal for the Nuclear Industry - Stop Bill C-15
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=1 ... 311&v=info
Category: Organizations - Non-Profit Organizations
The Harper government has tabled legislation (Bill C-15) that would, if passed, artificially cap the liability of a nuclear operator for accidents at $650 million – a miniscule fraction of the likely actual cost of a nuclear disaster.
Bill C-15 shows that Harper believes that Canadians are worth less than citizens from other western countries. In the event of an accident, Canadian victims of a nuclear accident would receive significantly less industry... (read more)
Privacy Type: Open: All content is public.
For more information:
Theresa McClenaghan, Executive Director (416-960-2284 ext 219, theresa@cela.ca)
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2. Status of federal budget bill - Bowman
From: Laura Bowman
Sent: Monday, June 21, 2010 9:13 AM
Subject: status of federal budget bill
Hello everyone,
So the word on the street is that the Senate finance committee failed to split bill C-9 into separate bills to send them back to the house of commons. This would have meant that the CEAA and nuclear issues could have been dealt with separately from the budget implementation provisions, which are matters of confidence.
Senator Murray Lowell campaigned fairly hard to split the bill, but it did not work. The Senate has yet to finally pass this Bill, but at this point we can expect to see the CEAA amendments brought into force at a yet to be determined date.
The bad news? Continued narrow scoping of future nuclear projects and less federal oversight from other departments, now made lawful. The good news? participant funding to participate in CNSC processes.
The status of the Bill can be viewed here:
http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/LEGISINFO/
index.asp?Language=E&Chamber=N&StartList=A&EndList=Z&Session=23&Type=
0&Scope=I&query=6969&List=stat
Laura Bowman
Staff Lawyer
Environmental Law Centre
#800, 10025-106th Street
Edmonton, AB T5J 1G4
Tel: (780) 424-5099
Fax: (780) 424-5133
Toll Free: 1-800-661-4238
E-mail: lbowman@elc.ab.ca
Website: www.elc.ab.ca
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/environmentallawcentre
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3. AECL requests hearing to restart leaky isotope reactor at Chalk River
From: Gordon Edwards
Sent: Tuesday, June 22, 2010 11:12 PM
Background: Read the following article carefully.
In it, CNSC shows that its first priority is getting nuclear facilities approved and back in operation quickly, for the sake of the business interests involved -- not protecting the public and the environment, as the CNSC legal mandate dictates. Health and safety are not just given a lower priority, they are hardly even considered in any serious manner.
AECL has had more than a year to make repairs to the geriatric NRU reactor, but public concerns over its radioactive emissions and nuclear waste production will be given scant attention.
Nor does the CNSC show any inclination to tackle the question of whether Chalk River should be continuing to use weapons-grade uranium. President Obama's Washington summit in April 2010 aimed at
eliminating the transport and use of such high-security weapons-grade material for any civilian purposes, but the CNSC seems to be oblivious to the global threat posed by such traffic.
To top it all off, there is no indication that CNSC will be considering the cancers caused by the use of medical isotopes, nor the long-term environmental impact of such use.
For example, about 40 million diagnoses use technetium-99m, worldwide, per year. The average radiation dose received by the patient during one of these diagnoses is about 3 millisieverts. According to the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), exposure to ionizing radiation causes about 5 excess cancers per 100 sieverts of exposure. Simple arithmetic shows that the use of technetium-99m causes about 6000 cancers, world-wide, every year. Do medical doctors know this fact? Do their patients know? Does the CNSC do anything to inform them? Do they care?
As for environmental impacts, these are cumulative.
Although technetium-99m has a half-life of only 6 hours, it then turns into technetium-99 which has a half-life of 212 thousand years!! So all the technetium 99m that is used by doctors for diagnosis ends up in the environment as a radioactive pollutant with an effective lifetime ten times greater than that of plutonium-239.
(Incidentally, technetium-99 is one of the most significant and problematic components of high-level nuclear waste for the first million years or so of its long-term storage.)
Gordon Edwards.
--------------------------
Technical Note:
The "m" in technetium-99m stands for the word "metastable". This metastable isotope emits a gamma ray, which provides a decent picture on X-ray film for doctors to use.
But once that gamma ray has been given off, what is left is an isotope called "technetium-99" which emits only a non-penetrating beta particle, which is invisible to the X-ray film. Thus the doctors see the patient's insides lighting up like a Christmas tree when the technetium-99m is injected, and then going dark again when the
gamma radiation dies down. This creates the false impression that there is no radioactive material left in the body, but there is! The technetium-99 goes undetected and ends up in the environment via bodily excretions, where it remains for hundreds of thousands of years.
Reporters, and some professionals in the nuclear field who should know better, often mistakenly refer to "technetium-99" as a medical isotope -- which it is not. They do not appreciate the significance of the "m" in technetium-99m.
G.E.
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AECL requests hearing to restart leaky isotope reactor
The Canadian Press, Saturday Jun. 12, 2010
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/s ... /20100612/
aecl-nuclear-100612/20100612?hub=Canada
OTTAWA — Canada's nuclear watchdog is fast-tracking a request for a hearing to consider reopening the country's aging medical isotope-producing reactor. Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. made a request Friday for a formal hearing in hopes of restarting medical isotope production at the Ontario plant by mid-summer.
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has not yet scheduled a hearing, which is expected to take one day, but it said the date would be announced quickly and normal hearing rules will be tossed aside to deal with what it calls a priority case. "Returning the NRU to service as safely and as quickly as possible to support the production of medical isotopes for Canadian patients and healthcare practitioners is a priority, and the Commission is aware of the importance of the NRU facility to Canadians and nuclear medicine patients around the globe," the regulator said in a statement.
"The Commission will vary the CNSC Rules of Procedures so that AECL's request will be dealt with in a fair and expeditious manner." Speeding up the process will mean the public will have little time to respond to documents filed by AECL to the regulator.
If the application is successful, the Chalk River plant could be up and running by the end of July. Resuming the production of isotopes vital in diagnostic tests for cancer and other ailments, however, will be a slow process. It could take nearly two weeks from reactor startup to begin production of the Technetium-99 (Tc-99) [should be technetium-99m (Tc-99m) (GE)] isotopes, said an AECL spokesman.
MORE:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/s ... /20100612/
aecl-nuclear-100612/20100612?hub=Canada
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4. Billions of New Nuke Giveaways in Kerry-Lieberman Bill Exposed
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/06/17-7
Published on Thursday, June 17, 2010 by Friends of the Earth
Earth Track Analysis Finds That Just Two of the Subsidies Add Another $1.3 Billion to $3 Billion in Tax Breaks Per Reactor - Statement by Friends of the Earth (FOE)
The nuclear industry could end up facing no risk under massive tax break subsidies in the Kerry-Lieberman climate bill, according to an important new analysis conducted for Friends of the Earth by the research organization Earth Track. These tax breaks totaling $9.7 billion to $57.3 billion (depending on the type and number of reactors) would come on top of the Kerry-Lieberman measure’s lucrative $35.5 billion addition to the more than $22.5 billion in loan guarantees already slated for nuclear power.
Friends of the Earth President Erich Pica said: “Doling out an additional $1.3-$3 billion in tax breaks per new reactor means the industry would be at the table playing almost entirely with taxpayer money. Industry will have little to lose when a reactor goes belly up. While taxpayers are bankrolling the industry’s nuclear gamble they would share in none of the reactor’s financial returns. In fact, all taxpayers will receive if the reactors are built is responsibility for disposing of the waste. By contrast, investors stand to make billions with no risk should their reactor gambit goes belly up and enter bankruptcy.”
MORE: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/06/17-7
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5. CAN WE TRUST THE NUCLEAR REGULATORS? – Dr. Jim Harding
----- Original Message -----
From: Elaine Hughes
To: SK Premier Wall
Cc: Sask Environmental Society ; Saskatchewan Eco-Network ; SK Green - Leader - Larissa Shasko ; SK Liberal - Leader - Ryan Bater ; SK Party Caucus ; SK NDP Caucus ; Sask. Wildlife Fed. ; Sierra Club - Can.; Breitkreuz, G. MP
Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 10:27 AM
Subject: HARDING: UNOS - June 18.10: CAN WE TRUST THE NUCLEAR REGULATORS?
....of continuing 'special' interest not only to Saskatchewan residents but everyone on this Planet!!!
Elaine Hughes
Archerwill, SK
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CAN WE TRUST THE NUCLEAR REGULATORS? BY Jim Harding
Published in the United Newspapers of Saskatchewan June 18, 2010
Posted at: http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/
viewtopic.php?p=1741#1741
The nuclear industry has long tried to justify its expansion by promising that a solution to nuclear wastes is in the works. The panacea, we are now told, will be geological disposal. But the public has become more skeptical of a “permanent” solution on a planet that recycles elements in perpetuity. And now that Nevada’s Yucca waste repository has been cancelled, after being mired in bad science and mismanagement, geological storage has again become “wishful thinking”. Nuclear blind faith is hard to alter, however, for the Bush administration promised financial backing for 21 new reactors even though the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) hadn’t committed to any date for a nuclear repository. The U.S. public will pay dearly for the continuing lack of foresight.
MORE: http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/
viewtopic.php?p=1741#1741
See new blog at top of http://jimharding.brinkster.net
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6. Radioactive Surprise: Desert Oasis Water Traced Back to Nuclear Test Site
http://www.alternet.org/story/147164/
By Jaymi Heimbuch, TreeHugger
Posted on June 11, 2010, Printed on June 19, 2010
In the middle of the dessert near Death Valley, Nevada is a water source that bubbles up 100,000 gallons of water per minute. The oasis is home to 24 species that are found no where else on earth, including an incredibly endangered Devil's Hole pupfish that numbers only around 120. Until now, the source of that water has been a mystery. But geologists from Brigham Young University have succeeded in tracing the path of the water in Ash Meadows, showing that it travels along a fault line that connects the source to...gulp...a nuclear test site.
According to LiveScience, the new research shows that Gravity Fault, the fault line acting as a conduit for the water, links the Ash Meadow oasis to its source at the Nevada Test Site - a location where the US government testing nuclear bombs for four decades, including below-ground nuclear tests that contaminated the water.
MORE: http://www.alternet.org/story/147164/
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7. Global Nuclear Energy Partnership revived under a new name
http://nuclear-news.net/2010/06/19/
global-nuclear-energy-partnership-revived-under-a-new-name/
June 19, 2010 - Posted by Christina MacPherson
Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Steering Group Members Approve Transformation to the International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation Department of Energy
- U.S. Department of Energy , 18 June 2010,
The Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Steering Group met in Accra, Ghana on June 16-17, 2010 and approved unanimously several transformative changes to reflect global developments that have occurred since the Partnership was established in 2007. The transformation includes a new name – the International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation and the establishment of a new Statement of Mission.
Participants in this new International Framework agreed that this transformation was necessary to provide a broader scope with wider international participation to more effectively explore the most important issues underlying the use and expansion of nuclear energy worldwide.
The Steering Group addressed follow-up actions to the International Framework’s Executive Committee Meeting that occurred in Beijing on October 23, 2009, including ways to further enhance its activities, such as exchanges of views on approaches to assurances of fuel supply and cradle-to-grave nuclear fuel management. Jordan formally announced that it will host the next meeting of the International Framework’s Executive Committee in the fall of 2010.
The International Framework’s expert-based working groups on infrastructure development and reliable nuclear fuel services provided reports on progress made to date as well as planned near-term activities. The Reliable Nuclear Fuel Services Working Group outgoing Chair from the United States reported on work regarding approaches for selecting back-end fuel cycle options, lessons learned and resource requirements, and introduced the incoming Chair from France. The Infrastructure Development Working Group, currently co-chaired by the United Kingdom and the United States, reported on its progress regarding human resource development, effective radioactive management strategies, small modular reactors, financing options, engagement with specialist organizations and identifying infrastructure requirements for an international nuclear fuel services framework.
This was the International Framework’s first meeting in Africa, and included representatives from the following countries and organizations: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Republic of Korea, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Romania, Russian Federation, Senegal, Slovak Republic, Spain, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, the Generation IV International Forum and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
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8. Problems with Nuclear Power Highlighted by Gulf Disaster?
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/06/18-3
Published on Friday, June 18, 2010 by CommonDreams.org
by Ritt Goldstein
Nobody's perfect, and so mistakes do happen. But while I doubt if any of us could conceive of the tragedy coming with a reported 35,000 to 60,000 barrels of oil daily entering The Gulf, are we any more capable of conceiving what might come with a nuclear disaster? While optimism is important, it's sometimes a trap - just ask BP.
Before we are ‘sold' into a wholehearted embrace of the ‘clean, safe, and reliable' energy that gave us the Chernobyl Disaster [1], perhaps we might want to consider why so many of us are so sure ‘the unthinkable' can never occur...at least until it does.
We humans are an interesting species, our achievements demonstrating that we are capable of virtually incalculable greatness. Unfortunately, our catastrophes - such as that ostensibly ‘one in a million' chance oil debacle in The Gulf - demonstrate that we have our downsides too. Of course, sometimes even I happen to have that ever so rare occasion when, dare I say it, even I actually make an error; though, I reassure myself that this just means I'm only human. But that's precisely it - 'human error [2]' can be a problem.
I recently read an opinion piece titled "Recipes for Ruin, in the Gulf or on Wall Street". The author, an academic from the University of Chicago, indeed making a good point about our society's capability for estimating the capacity we have for grave miscalculation, not to mention its consequences. Pointing to The Gulf Debacle and Wall Street's financial crisis, he noted our track record for foreseeing disaster could be better.
The Professor seemed to feel that we have been, and yet remain, unduly optimistic. He also noted that "we do not live in an ideal world", and then (simultaneously offering that he felt compelled to utilize a genteel term) strongly observed that "stuff happens". And indeed it does.
MORE: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/06/18-3
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9. No Nukes News - June 18, 2010
“Studies have shown increases in cancer around nuclear facilities and uranium mines. Radiation mutates genes which can cause genetic damage across generations.” - Beyond Nuclear
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Darlington Nuclear Newbuild - Public Consultation
You are invited to attend and/or make a presentation at Safe And Green Energy’s (SAGE) Public Consultation on the proposed Nuclear Newbuild at the Darlington Nuclear Plant. Your opinions, concerns and arguments about this newbuild nuclear project will be considered for SAGE’s submission to the project’s Environmental Assessment.
The Public Consultations are being held: Tuesday June 29th, 11am-2pm, Wednesday June 30th, 6pm-9pm at Peterborough Public Library, 345 Aylmer St., Peterborough, Ontario
Submissions are being accepted in writing, or as a presentation that does not exceed 10 minutes. Those interested in observing the proceedings are also welcome. Light refreshments will be provided. Those choosing to make a personal presentation must register by June 25 to Steve Cornwell at Stephen.d.g.cornwell@gmail.com or call (416) 587-4948 for submission details and to schedule your presentation.
http://oen.ca/
index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=243&cntnt01dateformat=
%25b%20%25d%2C%20%25Y&cntnt01returnid=75
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Waterkeeper submits Interrogatories to the Joint Review Panel for the Darlington New Nuclear Power Plant Project
Lake Ontario Waterkeeper has submitted a list of 34 suggested Interrogatories, or technical questions, for Ontario Power Generation (OPG) with regard to the proposed Darlington New Nuclear Power Plant Project.
The Darlington New Nuclear project represents a long-term commitment to nuclear power generation along the shores of Lake Ontario. For decades, nuclear power plants and fuel manufacturers have dotted the Lake Ontario shoreline. They have been responsible for massive fish kills and groundwater contamination. Their industrial footprint has contributed to the overall decline of Lake Ontario, which now has the worst coastal wetland health on the Great Lakes. With an estimated cost of close to $20-billion and a multi-year licencing process, the proposed Darlington New Nuclear project will be a major commitment for Ontarians. Its environmental, economic, and cultural impacts will alter the Lake Ontario community for generations to come.
http://www.waterkeeper.ca/2010/06/15/
waterkeeper-submits-interrogatories-to-the-joint-review-panel-for-the-darlington-new-nuclear-power-plant-project/
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NWMO Targets Aboriginal Communities
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) was authorized to find a location for a deep geologic repository for high level nuclear waste in 2002. Among other activities, the NWMO has been carrying out a campaign to “educate” potential Aboriginal communities across the country about the advantages of hosting a deep geologic repository. Don’t Aboriginal leaders face enough difficulties with high levels of poverty, diabetes, cancers, infant mortality, suicide and undrinkable water without compounding their problems by increasing their exposures to radioactive toxins?
http://iicph.org/nwmo-targets-aboriginal-communities
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The Maple Leaf in the OECD
Canada’s cold climate no excuse for poor environmental record – and we generate the most nuke waste
Canada has the second worst environmental record of OECD countries, ranking 24th out of 25 countries, according to a new study released by Simon Fraser University and the David Suzuki Foundation. But we’re dead last when it comes to nuclear waste: Canada is the largest generator of nuclear wastes in the OECD, with a per capita rate over seven times the OECD average.
You can download the study and backgrounder here: http://www.davidsuzuki.org/publications/
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Apocalypse Now and Next: From Gulf Spill to Nuke Disaster
We just ignited a disaster beyond our technical control. Why are we on the brink of doing it again?
Like Deepwater Horizon and Fermi, these new nukes could ignite disasters beyond our technological control---and our worst nightmares. Like BP, their builders would enjoy financial liability limits dwarfed by damage they could do. After 50 years, this industry can't get private financing, can't get private liability insurance and has no solution for its wastes. The Gulf gusher bears the simple lesson that technologies that require liability limits will rapidly exceed them, and must not be deployed. No US nuclear utility has sufficient capital resources to cover the damages from a reactor disaster, which is one reason taxpayers are targeted as the ultimate underwriters.
By all accounts, despite the horrors of the Gulf, the administration still wants legislation that will expand deepwater drilling and atomic technologies that are simply beyond our control but that fund apparently unstoppable dividends for corporations like BP.
http://www.alternet.org/environment/147162
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WATCH: BP Coffee Spill - 3 minute video - Prepare to split a gut (with 1 expletive!)
http://www.maniacworld.com/BP-Coffee-Spill.html
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Feds seeking oil cleanup crews as thousands of spills flow in Canada annually
Environment Canada estimates that a dozen oil spills — of about 4,000 litres each — are reported every day in the country. That's more than 17.5 million litres of oil a year that flow into Canada's marine ecosystems.
The Canadian Coast Guard couldn't immediately provide statistics on oil spills, but its website says 150 to 200 incidents are reported each year in Quebec. In the Maritimes and Newfoundland and Labrador, an average of 200 oil spills are reported annually in each region, the agency says. Canada's Pacific region had 209 incidents in 2007, a number that could climb if Enbridge Inc.'s proposed petroleum pipeline to the B.C. coast from Alberta is constructed.
http://iphone.metronews.ca/toronto/cana ... cle/547806
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Swedish police arrest 50 activists after Greenpeace protest at nuclear plant
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/
ALeqM5h1x0sbDWqMkl7Gz425Xt91GpaUWA
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Energy Minister collides with nuclear history; it seems Brad Duguid can do little more than preside over the industry's decline in Ontario
By most accounts, Brad Duguid is more committed to nuclear power than his predecessor as Ontario's energy minister. But, because of circumstances that mostly predate his time on the job, Mr. Duguid may wind up presiding over the continued decline of the nuclear industry in his province. That industry revolves around Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., the troubled Crown corporation that the federal government is desperately trying to unload.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/
ontarios-energy-chief-collides-with-a-troubled-nuclear-history/article1601768/
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WATCH: Dark Water
Uranium mining is scarring the landscape, harming the planet and posing dire health consequences in communities throughout the Southwest of the United States.
6 min. trailor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=640Gef94dVE
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Who wants nuclear power? Not Wales, or Scotland…they want renewables
The Welsh Assembly Government’s new Energy Policy Statement ‘A Low Carbon Revolution’, sets out an approach to accelerating the transition to a low carbon energy economy in Wales, focusing on efficiency measures and the use of indigenous renewable forms of energy such as marine, wind, solar and biomass. It claims that by 2025 around 40% of electricity in Wales could come from marine sources and a third from wind.
http://environmentalresearchweb.org/blog/2010/06/
who-wants-nuclear-power-part-1.html
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Lloyd's: ditch oil, invest in renewable energy
Continued reliance on oil is risky and expensive for business, say the authors of a new report from Lloyd's global risk assessment department, 360 Risk Insight, and UK think tank Chatham House. The way forward for businesses, the report says, is renewable energy - but the chaos and uncertainty following the Copenhagen climate summit has stifled investment.
http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/short ... e/2010/06/
lloyds-ditch-reliance-on-oil-i.html
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United Church Calls for Ban on Nuclear Wastes
The United Church, Saskatchewan’s largest religious organization, has entered the debate on nuclear wastes. Its annual conference May 28th in Moose Jaw passed a resolution “prohibiting the transport or storage of high level nuclear waste across Saskatchewan”. This comes when the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is looking for a “willing community” to take nuclear wastes; which seems orchestrated, as last year the government-appointed Uranium Development Partnership (UDP) recommended the same thing.
http://oen.ca/
index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=235&cntnt01dateformat=
%25b%20%25d%2C%20%25Y&cntnt01returnid=75
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The Good Jobs for All Coalition is asking Toronto Hydro to help green our electricity grid, put solar panels on public buildings, and create jobs for youth, new immigrants, and people of colour.
http://goodjobsforall.ca/?p=1159
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Support grows for Australian unions who have banned members from working in the nuclear industry
Largely unreported in the British press, the Victorian branch of the ETU has given its full support to the Queensland and the Northern Territories branches' decision to ban members from working in uranium mines, nuclear power plants or any part of the nuclear fuel cycle.
The Electrical Trades Union (ETU) says other unions have expressed strong support for the campaign against uranium, which it has labelled the “new asbestos” of the workplace.
Dr Caldicott said Australia’s uranium export industry meant the nation was “selling cancer and we’re selling nuclear weapons.”
http://www.getnoticedonline.co.uk/news/general-news/
radiation-free-lakeland-backs-aussie-unions-nuclear-stance.html
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Limited funds for Nunavut uranium proposal, groups say
Groups that want a say in the environmental review of a proposed uranium mine in Nunavut say they aren't getting enough federal funding to properly review the proposal.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2010/06/10/
nunavut-uranium-intervener-funding.html
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Support energy labelling of Ontario homes.
Click here to send a message asking the government to fulfill its commitment to energy efficiency and implement home energy labelling as soon as possible.
http://homeenergylabelling.blogspot.com/
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The 2010 People’s Summit: Building a Movement for a Just World
Fri. – Sun. June 18th-20th, Toronto
Over a hundred workshops, skill shares, film screenings, panels and lectures on global issues, the environment, human rights, economic justice, and building the movement.
www.peoplessummit2010.ca | All events are accessible | Translation may be available by request | Childcare and kids programming all weekend | Register Now! | FREE
Workshops of note:
· Keeping the lights on in the climate century (Sat. 3 - 4:25 p.m) VIC 209
o Ontario Clean Air Alliance
What are the lowest cost and cleanest options to keeping our lights on and our computers charged? Jack Gibbons of OCAA will address the end of coal and the true costs of nuclear energy, while Shawn-Patrick Stensil of Greenpeace will address proposed nuke plans and the renewable energy revolution.
· Our Nuclear Future (Sun. 1 – 3 p.m.) SCC Thomas
o Ontario Clean Air Alliance
What is the connection between nuclear power and nuclear weapons – can we have one without the other? What is Canada’s role in global weapons proliferation? Will nuclear technology save or doom us? Paul McKay, author of Atomic Accomplice, will address proliferation issues, while Dave Martin of Greenpeace will address nuke generation and waste issues.
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Bridging the Gulf – From Oil Spills to Clean Energy
Hear a first-hand account of the U.S. Gulf oil spill and how this can be a turning point.
7-9 pm, June 21 Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen Street West, Toronto
Speakers:
- Jerome Ringo: Long time community advocate from the U.S. Gulf who has been directly involved in the response to the Gulf oil spill, former oil worker, past
chairman of the National Wildlife Federation and the Apollo Alliance.
- Rick Smith: Executive Director, Environmental Defence
- Music provided by Louisiana-inspired Loco Zydeco
Free. Cash bar. Snacks provided.
Information » 416-323-9521 info@environmentaldefence.ca
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Etobicoke Area Solar Fair
Monday June 21, 6 - 9 pm
6 - 9 PM at the Fairfield Seniors Centre, 60 Lothian Ave (located 4 blocks south of Bloor West and 2 blocks east of Islington).
This event is a great place to bring your questions and get them answered by solar experts who have installed hundreds of systems across the GTA.
This event is cohosted by Our Power and the Live Green Toronto Animators for Toronto West
For more info: ken@ourpower.ca
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H2Oil and Gasland
Reel Solutions - 2010 Peoples Summit Documentary Film Series
Tuesday June 22
Toronto Underground Cinema, 186 Spadina Ave., Toronto
- 5 pm - H2Oil 81 min. H2Oil follows a voyage of discovery, heartbreak and politicization in the stories of those attempting to defend water in Alberta against tar sands expansion.
- 7 pm - Gasland 90 min. When filmmaker Josh Fox discovers that Natural Gas drilling is coming to his area, he sets off on a 24 state journey to uncover the deep and shocking consequences of the United States' natural gas drilling boom.
Suggested donation of $8/screening but nobody will be turned away for lack of funds.
Sponsored by SmartChange.ca and the 2010 Peoples Summit
Check out the other screenings for the week here: http://peoplessummit2010.ca/section/8
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Launch: Canada’s Climate Change Calendar
You are cordially invited to join Climate Action Network -Réseau action climat Canada to celebrate the launch of:
Canada’s Climate Change Calendar
Wed. June 23, 5:30-7:00 pm
Hotshot Gallery, 181 Augusta Avenue in Kensington Market, Toronto
Canada’s Climate Change Calendar is an online resource that documents the impacts of climate change on more than 170 countries around the world, and profiles their stories, struggles, and solutions. As world leaders prepare to arrive in Toronto for the G8 and G20, this reception will celebrate the launch of the consultative version of the website, as well as the release of a report on Canada’s disproportionate contribution to the growing climate crisis.
Climate Action Network Canada is a nation-wide coalition of more than 60 environmental, faith, labour, development, aboriginal, health, and youth organizations committed to making action on climate change a reality. http://www.climateactionnetwork.ca/e/
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Toxic Tour: Call for Environmental Justice! Take the Toxic Tour of Toronto
Wednesday, June 23, 11:00 am
Alexandra Park (Dundas and Bathurst), Toronto
On June 23rd in response to the Toronto Community Mobilization Network's call for a day of action on environmental justice, organizers in the city will be guiding a tour through Toronto to expose the institutions most responsible for the environmental and social impacts of Canada's extractive industries both at home and abroad. Canada is home to 75% of the world's mining and exploration companies, making it a global leader in this industry. Canada's place within the G8 nations is largely due to the exploitation of Indigenous peoples, their lands and rural poor for mining, tar sands and oil/gas exploitation.
We encourage folks coming to dress up and challenge those in power with costumes, floats and fancied up bicycles. We will be working on several floats in lead up but encourage all to dress up for our action. Ideas for costumes: Executives with blood on their hands (fake blood provided) , corporate zombies, people covered in Tar Sands bitumen (mud provided) and any other ideas you have.
For more information or to endorse the event, please contact: toxictourTO@gmail.com Facebook event
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People's Assembly on Climate Justice: Moving Forward from Cochabamba
Wednesday June 23, 7 pm
Ryerson Student Campus Centre, 55 Gould Street, Room SCC115, Toronto
Many of us in the climate justice movement gained inspiration from the successful cross-pollination of a variety of movements during the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in Cochabamba, Bolivia this past April. In the lead up to the G20, the Toronto Community Mobilization Network has begun to build and nurture what we hope will become strong, ongoing connections between multiple local struggles and organizers.
Contact: peoplesassembly.toronto@gmail.com, (647) 869-6496 Facebook event
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Shout Out for Global Justice
Please join the Council of Canadians to challenge the G20 and demand trade, water and climate justice!
Friday June 25th, 7:00 p.m. Doors at 6:00.
Massey Hall, Toronto
Tickets: $14 for Council of Canadians members,
$20 for non-members (incl. 1 year membership).
Get your tickets fast! General admission.
Featuring: Maude Barlow, Amy Goodman, Naomi Klein, Dr. Vandana Shiva, Clayton Thomas-Mueller and more.
www.canadians.org
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G8/20 Toronto Community Mobilization
Themed Days of Resistance: Build-Up (June 21 – 24)
Days of Action (June 25 – 27)
Check out this portal http://g20.torontomobilize.org/
for all the news and events related to G8/20 protests and actions.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Angela Bischoff, Outreach Director
Ontario Clean Air Alliance
Tel: 416 926 1907 x 246
625 Church Street, #402, Toronto, ON M4Y 2G1
angela@cleanairalliance.org
www.ontariosgreenfuture.ca
www.cleanairalliance.org
Our Facebook Group
Sign Our Petition
No Nukes News
Health Power
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10. 'Uranium making Punjab kids retarded'
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/
Uranium-making-Punjab-kids-retarded/articleshow/6045103.cms
Times of India June 14, 2010
BATHINDA: Confirming Punjab’s worst fear and The Times of India reports, a resounding document from Germany’s Microtrace Mineral Lab has revealed that hair samples of 80% of 149 neurologically disabled children, mainly from southern Malwa region, have high levels of uranium.
The report from a world-renowned laboratory also establishes the presence of dangerous heavy metals in water, questioning high use of chemicals to support state’s green revolution.
Presence of the radioactive element has strengthened doubts that depleted uranium (DU) used by American tanks in Iraq and Afghanistan travelled through air, reaching not just the region but Delhi as well. TOI was the first to report the suspected presence of uranium traces in the hair of kids undergoing treatment at Baba Farid Centre for Special Children.
MORE:
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/
Uranium-making-Punjab-kids-retarded/articleshow/6045103.cms
Testing Lab -Fast Results - Environmental, Materials, Asbestos Microbiology, Forensic, Air Quality : www.EMSL.com
Particle Size Imaging - High Resoluton Analysis Full Service cGMP Contract Lab : www.particletechlabs.com
= = = = =
11. Review of radiation accidents since WWII
http://iopscience.iop.org/0952-4746/29/3/R01/pdf/
0952-4746_29_3_R01.pdf
From: Gordon Edwards Sent: Friday, June 18, 2010 11:42 AM
The September 2009 issue of Journal of Radiological Protection includes a very interesting review article by Jean-Claude Nénot on radiation accidents over the last 60 years.
The review chronicles accidental overexposures of persons from military, industrial and medical radiation accidents since the 2nd World War.
- - - -
Radiation accidents over the last 60 years
http://iopscience.iop.org/0952-4746/29/3/R01/pdf/
0952-4746_29_3_R01.pdf
Jean-Claude Nénot, Paris, France
E-mail: jcnenot@free.fr
Received 26 February 2009, accepted for publication 23 June 2009
Published 18 August 2009
Online at stacks.iop.org/JRP/29/301
Abstract:
Since the end of the Second World War, industrial and medical uses of radiation have been considerably increasing. Accidental overexposures of persons, in either the occupational or public field, have caused deaths and severe injuries and complications.
The rate of severe accidents seems to increase with time, especially those involving the public; in addition, accidents are often not immediately recognised, which means that the real number of events remains unknown.
Human factors, as well as the lack of elementary rules in the domains of radiological safety and protection, such as inadequate training, play a major role in the occurrence of the accidents which have been reported in the industrial, medical and military arenas.
MORE: http://iopscience.iop.org/0952-4746/29/3/R01/pdf/
0952-4746_29_3_R01.pdf
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12. WATCH: How The World Nuked Itself Over 2,000 Times/Map
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/
how-world-nuked-itself-over-2000-times
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/20/2010 09:12 -0500
Who needs a wartime nuclear exchange when you have peaceful countries nuking the gamma rays out of their own sovereign territories -- now that the environmental theme is rather popular, the following video by Isao Hashimoto shows all the nuclear "tests" conducted by the world in the period between 1945 and 1998.
Based on public data, the world's peaceful countries have already nuked themselves at least 2,054 times, with the US nuking the state of Nevada and its immediate neighbors about one thousand times. And keep in mind -- the fallout does not just miraculously "disappear."
From a discussion on advanced fallout maps:
'Civilized countries' -- that now form what we dub the 'nuclear club' -- conducted over 2,000 nuclear blasts on the Earth, and these entities -- the executioners of her slow death-- vigorously deny any irreversible, incurable damage.
If you're looking for fallout maps, you won't find any such map here or anywhere that will satisfy your whim or sophisticated inquiry. Why? Because the executioners, to their best of their satisfactions, don't want you to see them. What you can and will see -- if you seek it -- are bits and pieces of the destruction: a high reading of radioactivity in
wheat or milk here, of air over there, a trajectory map here, and a rare truthful analysis there.
Put them together and you have what would happen in a small-but-non-mutually-destructive nuclear war (that we erringly refer simply to as the Cold War): the radioactive fallout circling -- for eons -- around the Earth and within her biosphere as a consequence of our historic, 'peaceful' tit-for-tat nuclear testing exchange is no different than the fallout in the event of an actual nuclear exchange had 400 or so atomic and hydrogen bombs fell only in remote regions of land and sea on the globe.
How would your life be different if you were taught in school a small nuclear war already took place? How would that change the way you see your life and your health? Or your country or the world?
Full must-watch clip:
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/
how-world-nuked-itself-over-2000-times
See Map after video.
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13. Renewable Energy Clear Winner on Climate Change - CAPE
By Dr. Warren Bell and Gideon Forman
Reproduced with Permission from the CAPE Newsletter summer/fall 2010
Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment
www.cape.ca
http://www.cape.ca/permalinked/capenews ... nglish.pdf
EVERYONE KNOWS COAL IS A MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR TO CLIMATE
change. Energy expert Jeff Rubin says it’s “the most carbon-intensive fuel out there, emitting twice as much carbon per unit of energy as natural gas and about 20 percent more than oil.” At the height of their operations, Ontario’s coal plants emitted the greenhouse gas equivalent of almost seven million cars.
But less well-known is the fact our climate is also threatened by nuclear power. The nuclear industry claims it is “emissions-free” but this is not true if we look – as we must – at the full nuclear cycle, which entails production of uranium.When the latter is included, atomic energy is seen to be a large producer of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas.
Dr. Helen Caldicott, the renowned physician and public health advocate, writes: “Nuclear power is not ‘clean and green’, as the industry claims, because large amounts of traditional fossil fuels are required to mine and refine the uranium needed to run nuclear power reactors, to construct the massive concrete reactor buildings, and to transport and store the toxic radioactive waste created by the nuclear process.”
In fact, Dr. Caldicott argues that as the world runs out of high-grade uranium ores the nuclear industry will become even more fossil-fuel intensive: “Within ten to twenty years, nuclear reactors will produce no net energy because of the massive amounts of fossil fuel that will be necessary to mine and to enrich the remaining poor grades of uranium.”
Some may argue, of course, that even renewable energy technologies, such as wind, require fossil fuel for their construction. After all, wind turbines are produced in factories that consume oil or gas, directly or indirectly. But even taking this into account, wind power inflicts far less climate damage than nuclear does. A study published recently in Scientific American (November, 2009) states: “Nuclear power results in up to 25 times more carbon emissions than wind energy, when reactor construction and uranium refining and transport are considered.”
The verdict: a society that’s serious about tackling climate change will phase-out fossil and nuclear fuels and instead embrace renewables.
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14. Cancer Prevention is in our Power By Farrah Khan - CAPE
http://www.cape.ca/permalinked/capenews ... nglish.pdf
Reproduced with Permission from the CAPE Newsletter summer/fall 2010
Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment
www.cape.ca
IT’S HARD TO FIND SOMEONE IN THIS COUNTRY WHO ISN’T connected to cancer either through personal diagnosis, or that of a close friend or relative. Recent statistics from the Canadian Cancer Society show that “Cancer is the leading cause of premature death in Canada,” and, “approximately one in four Canadians will die of Cancer.”
Because of its prevalence, we begin to question the causes of cancer and wonder if there is more we can do to prevent its occurrence. We know now that popular s sources of power, namely coal and nuclear energy, are contributing factors to cancer. But there’s good news – renewable energy sources offer a solution.
In a 2009 position paper authored by Dr. Cathy Vakil and Dr. Linda Harvey, scientific data about the nuclear energy lifecycle and its relation to human health is thoroughly reviewed. According to this paper, health studies from Canada and around the world show an increase in leukemia cases, lung cancer, thyroid cancer, breast cancer and other serious illnesses, with both people who work in and live near nuclear facilities. Chemicals of concern include radon, the second leading cause of lung cancer (after smoking), and tritium, a carcinogen and mutagen. With our heavy water CANDU reactors, Canada releases large quantities of tritium but our use of nuclear energy continues, despite this health risk.
Coal is another cancer culprit, emitting the carcinogens chromium and arsenic. Ontario’s Nanticoke coal-fired plant is the largest coal plant in North America and contributes to increased incidence of illness, including severe respiratory problems. According to the Ontario Clean Air Alliance, nearly 250 people die each year as a result of illnesses related to Ontario’s coal plants. Most are in agreement that we need to find healthier sources to meet our electricity needs.
Renewable energy sources – including wind power, solar photovoltaic, low-impact hydro and geothermal – are free from polluting emissions and cancer-causing chemicals. Though there are some energy costs with initial production and set-up, these renewable energy technologies are much safer than coal and nuclear. While there are unavoidable dangers with using coal (toxic chemicals released into the atmosphere) and nuclear (uranium extraction and toxic waste disposal), there is nothing inherently harmful about setting up a windmill, or a few solar panels, to produce energy.
Sure, some individuals may disagree with a field of solar panels on an aesthetic level. Others may get annoyed with the sounds from a local wind farm. However, with the province of Ontario’s regulation, which demands a minimum 550 metre set-back for
the installation of wind turbines, these annoyances can generally be avoided. In time, renewable energy devices will become a welcomed part of our landscape, just as we’ve
become accustomed to seeing telephone poles along our roads and transmission lines in country fields.
Cancer prevention is in our power. It’s in the kind of power we choose to light and heat our homes; play our stereos and recharge our cell phones. In fact, the choice of embracing renewable technology is a must if we’re serious about fighting cancer.
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15. NEWS: Liberal MP introduces Bill on Schedule 2
http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=3959#more-3959
Thursday, June 17th, 2010
A media release issued today by Francis Scarpaleggia, Member of Parliament for Lac-Saint-Louis and Chair of the National Liberal Water Caucus, highlights that he has, “introduced a private member’s bill to prohibit Canada’s lakes from being used as low-cost disposal sites for tailings waste from mining operations.”
MORE: http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=3959#more-3959
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16. Stay in Afghanistan: Senate committee
QUOTE: “The fact that Wallin and her colleagues heard testimony only from supporters of the war–13 current or former members of the Canadian Forces, the Defence Minister, a former Canadian ambassador to Afghanistan, a board member of the DND-funded Conference of Defence Associations, a representative of the pro-intervention Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee, and the Afghan ambassador to Canada–makes this apparent unanimity about as surprising as the outcome of the last presidential election in Afghanistan, of course.”
- - - - -
Stay in Afghanistan: Senate committee
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4937&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 23 Jun 2010 01:02 PM PDT
The Senate Standing Committee on National Security and Defence has recommended that Canada remain in Afghanistan following the scheduled end of the mission in Kandahar (”Senate committee endorses continued military training mission in Afghanistan,” Canadian Press, 22 June 2010). The committee, chaired by Conservative Senator Pamela Wallin and composed entirely of Conservative and Liberal Senators (there [...]
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4937&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
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17. America’s “Other War” exceeds Vietnam conflict in length
Posted: 21 Jun 2010 09:45 PM PDT
The war in Afghanistan, dubbed America’s “Other War”, is now the longest war in U.S. history, “surpassing the conflict in Vietnam. 103 months passed between passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and the withdrawal of the last American combat forces from Vietnam. As of [June 7th], the Afghanistan war is 104 months old.”
MORE: http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4905&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
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18. Help stop “a summer of bloodshed”
http://www.ceasefire.ca/?p=4922
Posted: 21 Jun 2010 08:17 PM PDT
Dear Ceasefire.ca supporters - This is an urgent alert to inform you of new developments in Afghanistan, and to ask for your help to avert more innocent civilian casualties. Your action is required. This could be our most important campaign since our founding in 2003. We are asking our 20,000 supporters to support our media and lobbying campaign
MORE: http://www.ceasefire.ca/?p=4922
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19. Jobs for the boys: Blackwater Firm Gets $120M U.S. Gov't Contract
The State Department has awarded a part of what was formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide a contract worth more than $120 million for providing security services in Afghanistan.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31727_162-2 ... 91695.html
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20. "The War is Worth Waging": Afghanistan's Vast Reserves of Minerals and Natural Gas - The War on Afghanistan is a Profit driven "Resource War" By Michel Chossudovsky
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19769
Global Research, June 17, 2010
The 2001 bombing and invasion of Afghanistan has been presented to World public opinion as a "Just War", a war directed against the Taliban and Al Qaeda, a war to eliminate "Islamic terrorism" and instate Western style democracy.
The economic dimensions of the "Global War on Terrorism" (GWOT) are rarely mentioned. The post 9/11 "counter-terrorism campaign" has served to obfuscate the real objectives of the US-NATO war.
The war on Afghanistan is part of a profit driven agenda: a war of economic conquest and plunder, "a resource war".
While Afghanistan is acknowledged as a strategic hub in Central Asia, bordering on the former Soviet Union, China and Iran, at the crossroads of pipeline routes and major oil and gas reserves, its huge mineral wealth as well as its untapped natural gas reserves have remained, until June 2010, totally unknown to the American public.
According to a joint report by the Pentagon, the US Geological Survey (USGS) and USAID, Afghanistan is now said to possess "previously unknown" and untapped mineral reserves, estimated authoritatively to be of the order of one trillion dollars (New York Times, U.S. Identifies Vast Mineral Riches in Afghanistan - NYTimes.com, June 14, 2010, See also BBC, 14 June 2010).
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19769
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21. Showdown in the Red Sea: U.S. Sends 11 Warships to Confront Iran
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19825
By Washington's Blog Washington's Blog - 2010-06-20
Global Research, June 21, 2010
Israel National News is reporting :
Egypt allowed at least one Israeli and 11 American warships to pass through the Suez Canal as an Iranian flotilla flotilla approaches Gaza.
What should we make of the fact that 11 U.S. warships and an Israeli warship are sailing up the Suez Canal on their way to the Red Sea?
This is - on the surface - a face-off over Iran's support for relief ships trying to sail into Gaza. Specifically, Iran has said it will have Iranian military ships escort the flotilla providing humanitarian goods to Gaza to make sure it arrives safely. On the other hand, the U.S. has backed Israel's blockade of Gaza.
Tensions are obviously high between the U.S. and Israel, on the one hand, and Iran on the other. The U.S. and Israel have talked for years of bombing Iran's nuclear sites.
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19825
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22. (SK) NEW ENTERPRISE REGIONS CELEBRATED/Comment
http://www.gov.sk.ca/
news?newsId=28604122-6fc8-48e3-beaf-a7756128b524
News Release - June 18, 2010
The Government of Saskatchewan celebrated the launch of three new Enterprise Regions (ERs) in northern Saskatchewan today. For the past several months, community and business minded people from throughout the north have been working with the Government of Saskatchewan to establish these new entities to capitalize on growth opportunities in northern Saskatchewan.
MORE: http://www.gov.sk.ca/
news?newsId=28604122-6fc8-48e3-beaf-a7756128b524
(COMMENT: among other resources, this probably indicates increased uranium mining (Cameco) and tarsands extraction (Oilsands Quest). Ed.)
1. Revised Nuclear Liability Act Reintroduced With Inadequate Cap on Liability After Accidents (scroll down to article)
2. Status of federal budget bill – Bowman
3. AECL requests hearing to restart leaky isotope reactor at Chalk River
4. Billions of New Nuke Giveaways in Kerry-Lieberman Bill Exposed
5. CAN WE TRUST THE NUCLEAR REGULATORS? – Dr. Jim Harding
6. Radioactive Surprise: Desert Oasis Water Traced Back to Nuclear Test Site
7. Global Nuclear Energy Partnership revived under a new name
8. Problems with Nuclear Power Highlighted by Gulf Disaster?
9. No Nukes News - June 18, 2010
10. 'Uranium making Punjab kids retarded'
11. Review of radiation accidents since WWII
12. WATCH: How The World Nuked Itself Over 2,000 Times/Map
13. Renewable Energy Clear Winner on Climate Change – CAPE
14. Cancer Prevention is in our Power By Farrah Khan – CAPE
15. NEWS: Liberal MP introduces Bill on Schedule 2
16. Stay in Afghanistan: Senate committee
17. America’s “Other War” exceeds Vietnam conflict in length
18. Help stop “a summer of bloodshed”
19. Jobs for the boys: Blackwater Firm Gets $120M U.S. Gov't Contract
20. The War on Afghanistan is a Profit driven "Resource War"
21. Showdown in the Red Sea: U.S. Sends 11 Warships to Confront Iran
22. (SK) NEW ENTERPRISE REGIONS CELEBRATED/Comment
= = = = = = = = =
1. Revised Nuclear Liability Act Reintroduced With Inadequate Cap on Liability After Accidents (scroll down to article)
http://www.cela.ca/bulletin/June-18-2010
QUOTE: CELA is strongly opposed to any special legal protection to limit liability costs to the nuclear industry in the event of a nuclear accident and urges the public to write their MPs and oppose Bill C-15.
Revised Nuclear Liability Act Reintroduced With Inadequate Cap on Liability After Accidents; Comparable Situation for Offshore Oil Drilling? National Energy Board Public Review Announced into Arctic Safety and Environmental Offshore Drilling Requirements
CELA Bulletin 79: 18-June-2010
http://www.cela.ca/bulletin/June-18-2010
The federal government has also reintroduced legislation ( Bill C -15)
(http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/LEGISINFO/
index.asp?List=ls&Query=6989&Session=23&Language=e )
that would, if passed, artificially cap the liability of a nuclear operator for accidents at $650 million – an increase in the current paltry limit of $75 million but still a miniscule fraction of the likely actual cost of a nuclear disaster. In the event of a nuclear accident, Canadian victims would receive significantly less industry compensation than citizens in the US, Germany or Sweden. Bill C-15 is a subsidy to dirty energy. Unlike green energy, the nuclear industry needs a special law to relieve it from paying its own insurance costs creating an unfair playing field for green energy and forcing Canadians to pay for the nuclear industry’s pollution.
ACTION!!! CELA is strongly opposed to any special legal protection to limit liability costs to the nuclear industry in the event of a nuclear accident and urges the public to write their MPs and oppose Bill C-15.
Members of Parliament at:
http://webinfo.parl.gc.ca/MembersOfParliament/
MainMPsCompleteList.aspx?TimePeriod=Current&Language=E
- - - -
In light of the oil drilling disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, CELA also looked at what the responsibility of the Canadian oil industry would be for a major disaster in our marine waters. In several pieces of legislation Canada has imposed a cap on liability for oil and gas exploration, drilling, and shipping in Canada's marine waters, whereby third parties such as tourism operators, fishers and others would have a collective limit on the liability they could claim against the industry. The cap ranges from 25 million to 45 million dollars, depending upon which marine waters in Canada the oil spill might happen. This liability limit is far from adequate. The comparable limit in the United States for oil and gas spills is $75 million which they are now considering raising to $10 billion. Moreover, the initial allocation by BP for the disaster in the Gulf is $20 billion with President Obama insisting that this amount is not a cap. In the meantime the US provision of insurance for a nuclear accident is approximately 11 billion dollars available for such third party claimants harmed by an accident.
In Canada, both the oil and gas and the nuclear industries have been encouraged to develop based on extreme liability protections that are not available in other areas of activity and that leave those industries and their investors free of meaningful responsibility for large scale damage to ordinary Canadians in the event of catastrophic accidents. CELA is therefore gratified to note that the National Energy Board announced on May 11, 2010 a Public Review of Arctic Safety and Environmental Offshore Drilling Requirements. A June 10, 2010 announcement includes more details about preliminary scope of the review (including financing issues) and sets a registration deadline of July 16th.
More info:
http://www.neb-one.gc.ca/clf-nsi/rthnb/ ... 4-eng.html
On-line collection: Nuclear Phase-out. C-15 Facebook page.
- - - - -
FACEBOOK:
Stop Harper's Sweetheart Deal for the Nuclear Industry - Stop Bill C-15
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=1 ... 311&v=info
Category: Organizations - Non-Profit Organizations
The Harper government has tabled legislation (Bill C-15) that would, if passed, artificially cap the liability of a nuclear operator for accidents at $650 million – a miniscule fraction of the likely actual cost of a nuclear disaster.
Bill C-15 shows that Harper believes that Canadians are worth less than citizens from other western countries. In the event of an accident, Canadian victims of a nuclear accident would receive significantly less industry... (read more)
Privacy Type: Open: All content is public.
For more information:
Theresa McClenaghan, Executive Director (416-960-2284 ext 219, theresa@cela.ca)
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2. Status of federal budget bill - Bowman
From: Laura Bowman
Sent: Monday, June 21, 2010 9:13 AM
Subject: status of federal budget bill
Hello everyone,
So the word on the street is that the Senate finance committee failed to split bill C-9 into separate bills to send them back to the house of commons. This would have meant that the CEAA and nuclear issues could have been dealt with separately from the budget implementation provisions, which are matters of confidence.
Senator Murray Lowell campaigned fairly hard to split the bill, but it did not work. The Senate has yet to finally pass this Bill, but at this point we can expect to see the CEAA amendments brought into force at a yet to be determined date.
The bad news? Continued narrow scoping of future nuclear projects and less federal oversight from other departments, now made lawful. The good news? participant funding to participate in CNSC processes.
The status of the Bill can be viewed here:
http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/LEGISINFO/
index.asp?Language=E&Chamber=N&StartList=A&EndList=Z&Session=23&Type=
0&Scope=I&query=6969&List=stat
Laura Bowman
Staff Lawyer
Environmental Law Centre
#800, 10025-106th Street
Edmonton, AB T5J 1G4
Tel: (780) 424-5099
Fax: (780) 424-5133
Toll Free: 1-800-661-4238
E-mail: lbowman@elc.ab.ca
Website: www.elc.ab.ca
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/environmentallawcentre
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3. AECL requests hearing to restart leaky isotope reactor at Chalk River
From: Gordon Edwards
Sent: Tuesday, June 22, 2010 11:12 PM
Background: Read the following article carefully.
In it, CNSC shows that its first priority is getting nuclear facilities approved and back in operation quickly, for the sake of the business interests involved -- not protecting the public and the environment, as the CNSC legal mandate dictates. Health and safety are not just given a lower priority, they are hardly even considered in any serious manner.
AECL has had more than a year to make repairs to the geriatric NRU reactor, but public concerns over its radioactive emissions and nuclear waste production will be given scant attention.
Nor does the CNSC show any inclination to tackle the question of whether Chalk River should be continuing to use weapons-grade uranium. President Obama's Washington summit in April 2010 aimed at
eliminating the transport and use of such high-security weapons-grade material for any civilian purposes, but the CNSC seems to be oblivious to the global threat posed by such traffic.
To top it all off, there is no indication that CNSC will be considering the cancers caused by the use of medical isotopes, nor the long-term environmental impact of such use.
For example, about 40 million diagnoses use technetium-99m, worldwide, per year. The average radiation dose received by the patient during one of these diagnoses is about 3 millisieverts. According to the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), exposure to ionizing radiation causes about 5 excess cancers per 100 sieverts of exposure. Simple arithmetic shows that the use of technetium-99m causes about 6000 cancers, world-wide, every year. Do medical doctors know this fact? Do their patients know? Does the CNSC do anything to inform them? Do they care?
As for environmental impacts, these are cumulative.
Although technetium-99m has a half-life of only 6 hours, it then turns into technetium-99 which has a half-life of 212 thousand years!! So all the technetium 99m that is used by doctors for diagnosis ends up in the environment as a radioactive pollutant with an effective lifetime ten times greater than that of plutonium-239.
(Incidentally, technetium-99 is one of the most significant and problematic components of high-level nuclear waste for the first million years or so of its long-term storage.)
Gordon Edwards.
--------------------------
Technical Note:
The "m" in technetium-99m stands for the word "metastable". This metastable isotope emits a gamma ray, which provides a decent picture on X-ray film for doctors to use.
But once that gamma ray has been given off, what is left is an isotope called "technetium-99" which emits only a non-penetrating beta particle, which is invisible to the X-ray film. Thus the doctors see the patient's insides lighting up like a Christmas tree when the technetium-99m is injected, and then going dark again when the
gamma radiation dies down. This creates the false impression that there is no radioactive material left in the body, but there is! The technetium-99 goes undetected and ends up in the environment via bodily excretions, where it remains for hundreds of thousands of years.
Reporters, and some professionals in the nuclear field who should know better, often mistakenly refer to "technetium-99" as a medical isotope -- which it is not. They do not appreciate the significance of the "m" in technetium-99m.
G.E.
--------------------------
AECL requests hearing to restart leaky isotope reactor
The Canadian Press, Saturday Jun. 12, 2010
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/s ... /20100612/
aecl-nuclear-100612/20100612?hub=Canada
OTTAWA — Canada's nuclear watchdog is fast-tracking a request for a hearing to consider reopening the country's aging medical isotope-producing reactor. Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. made a request Friday for a formal hearing in hopes of restarting medical isotope production at the Ontario plant by mid-summer.
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has not yet scheduled a hearing, which is expected to take one day, but it said the date would be announced quickly and normal hearing rules will be tossed aside to deal with what it calls a priority case. "Returning the NRU to service as safely and as quickly as possible to support the production of medical isotopes for Canadian patients and healthcare practitioners is a priority, and the Commission is aware of the importance of the NRU facility to Canadians and nuclear medicine patients around the globe," the regulator said in a statement.
"The Commission will vary the CNSC Rules of Procedures so that AECL's request will be dealt with in a fair and expeditious manner." Speeding up the process will mean the public will have little time to respond to documents filed by AECL to the regulator.
If the application is successful, the Chalk River plant could be up and running by the end of July. Resuming the production of isotopes vital in diagnostic tests for cancer and other ailments, however, will be a slow process. It could take nearly two weeks from reactor startup to begin production of the Technetium-99 (Tc-99) [should be technetium-99m (Tc-99m) (GE)] isotopes, said an AECL spokesman.
MORE:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/s ... /20100612/
aecl-nuclear-100612/20100612?hub=Canada
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4. Billions of New Nuke Giveaways in Kerry-Lieberman Bill Exposed
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/06/17-7
Published on Thursday, June 17, 2010 by Friends of the Earth
Earth Track Analysis Finds That Just Two of the Subsidies Add Another $1.3 Billion to $3 Billion in Tax Breaks Per Reactor - Statement by Friends of the Earth (FOE)
The nuclear industry could end up facing no risk under massive tax break subsidies in the Kerry-Lieberman climate bill, according to an important new analysis conducted for Friends of the Earth by the research organization Earth Track. These tax breaks totaling $9.7 billion to $57.3 billion (depending on the type and number of reactors) would come on top of the Kerry-Lieberman measure’s lucrative $35.5 billion addition to the more than $22.5 billion in loan guarantees already slated for nuclear power.
Friends of the Earth President Erich Pica said: “Doling out an additional $1.3-$3 billion in tax breaks per new reactor means the industry would be at the table playing almost entirely with taxpayer money. Industry will have little to lose when a reactor goes belly up. While taxpayers are bankrolling the industry’s nuclear gamble they would share in none of the reactor’s financial returns. In fact, all taxpayers will receive if the reactors are built is responsibility for disposing of the waste. By contrast, investors stand to make billions with no risk should their reactor gambit goes belly up and enter bankruptcy.”
MORE: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/06/17-7
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5. CAN WE TRUST THE NUCLEAR REGULATORS? – Dr. Jim Harding
----- Original Message -----
From: Elaine Hughes
To: SK Premier Wall
Cc: Sask Environmental Society ; Saskatchewan Eco-Network ; SK Green - Leader - Larissa Shasko ; SK Liberal - Leader - Ryan Bater ; SK Party Caucus ; SK NDP Caucus ; Sask. Wildlife Fed. ; Sierra Club - Can.; Breitkreuz, G. MP
Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 10:27 AM
Subject: HARDING: UNOS - June 18.10: CAN WE TRUST THE NUCLEAR REGULATORS?
....of continuing 'special' interest not only to Saskatchewan residents but everyone on this Planet!!!
Elaine Hughes
Archerwill, SK
- - - - - -
CAN WE TRUST THE NUCLEAR REGULATORS? BY Jim Harding
Published in the United Newspapers of Saskatchewan June 18, 2010
Posted at: http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/
viewtopic.php?p=1741#1741
The nuclear industry has long tried to justify its expansion by promising that a solution to nuclear wastes is in the works. The panacea, we are now told, will be geological disposal. But the public has become more skeptical of a “permanent” solution on a planet that recycles elements in perpetuity. And now that Nevada’s Yucca waste repository has been cancelled, after being mired in bad science and mismanagement, geological storage has again become “wishful thinking”. Nuclear blind faith is hard to alter, however, for the Bush administration promised financial backing for 21 new reactors even though the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) hadn’t committed to any date for a nuclear repository. The U.S. public will pay dearly for the continuing lack of foresight.
MORE: http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/
viewtopic.php?p=1741#1741
See new blog at top of http://jimharding.brinkster.net
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6. Radioactive Surprise: Desert Oasis Water Traced Back to Nuclear Test Site
http://www.alternet.org/story/147164/
By Jaymi Heimbuch, TreeHugger
Posted on June 11, 2010, Printed on June 19, 2010
In the middle of the dessert near Death Valley, Nevada is a water source that bubbles up 100,000 gallons of water per minute. The oasis is home to 24 species that are found no where else on earth, including an incredibly endangered Devil's Hole pupfish that numbers only around 120. Until now, the source of that water has been a mystery. But geologists from Brigham Young University have succeeded in tracing the path of the water in Ash Meadows, showing that it travels along a fault line that connects the source to...gulp...a nuclear test site.
According to LiveScience, the new research shows that Gravity Fault, the fault line acting as a conduit for the water, links the Ash Meadow oasis to its source at the Nevada Test Site - a location where the US government testing nuclear bombs for four decades, including below-ground nuclear tests that contaminated the water.
MORE: http://www.alternet.org/story/147164/
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7. Global Nuclear Energy Partnership revived under a new name
http://nuclear-news.net/2010/06/19/
global-nuclear-energy-partnership-revived-under-a-new-name/
June 19, 2010 - Posted by Christina MacPherson
Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Steering Group Members Approve Transformation to the International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation Department of Energy
- U.S. Department of Energy , 18 June 2010,
The Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Steering Group met in Accra, Ghana on June 16-17, 2010 and approved unanimously several transformative changes to reflect global developments that have occurred since the Partnership was established in 2007. The transformation includes a new name – the International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation and the establishment of a new Statement of Mission.
Participants in this new International Framework agreed that this transformation was necessary to provide a broader scope with wider international participation to more effectively explore the most important issues underlying the use and expansion of nuclear energy worldwide.
The Steering Group addressed follow-up actions to the International Framework’s Executive Committee Meeting that occurred in Beijing on October 23, 2009, including ways to further enhance its activities, such as exchanges of views on approaches to assurances of fuel supply and cradle-to-grave nuclear fuel management. Jordan formally announced that it will host the next meeting of the International Framework’s Executive Committee in the fall of 2010.
The International Framework’s expert-based working groups on infrastructure development and reliable nuclear fuel services provided reports on progress made to date as well as planned near-term activities. The Reliable Nuclear Fuel Services Working Group outgoing Chair from the United States reported on work regarding approaches for selecting back-end fuel cycle options, lessons learned and resource requirements, and introduced the incoming Chair from France. The Infrastructure Development Working Group, currently co-chaired by the United Kingdom and the United States, reported on its progress regarding human resource development, effective radioactive management strategies, small modular reactors, financing options, engagement with specialist organizations and identifying infrastructure requirements for an international nuclear fuel services framework.
This was the International Framework’s first meeting in Africa, and included representatives from the following countries and organizations: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Republic of Korea, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Romania, Russian Federation, Senegal, Slovak Republic, Spain, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, the Generation IV International Forum and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
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8. Problems with Nuclear Power Highlighted by Gulf Disaster?
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/06/18-3
Published on Friday, June 18, 2010 by CommonDreams.org
by Ritt Goldstein
Nobody's perfect, and so mistakes do happen. But while I doubt if any of us could conceive of the tragedy coming with a reported 35,000 to 60,000 barrels of oil daily entering The Gulf, are we any more capable of conceiving what might come with a nuclear disaster? While optimism is important, it's sometimes a trap - just ask BP.
Before we are ‘sold' into a wholehearted embrace of the ‘clean, safe, and reliable' energy that gave us the Chernobyl Disaster [1], perhaps we might want to consider why so many of us are so sure ‘the unthinkable' can never occur...at least until it does.
We humans are an interesting species, our achievements demonstrating that we are capable of virtually incalculable greatness. Unfortunately, our catastrophes - such as that ostensibly ‘one in a million' chance oil debacle in The Gulf - demonstrate that we have our downsides too. Of course, sometimes even I happen to have that ever so rare occasion when, dare I say it, even I actually make an error; though, I reassure myself that this just means I'm only human. But that's precisely it - 'human error [2]' can be a problem.
I recently read an opinion piece titled "Recipes for Ruin, in the Gulf or on Wall Street". The author, an academic from the University of Chicago, indeed making a good point about our society's capability for estimating the capacity we have for grave miscalculation, not to mention its consequences. Pointing to The Gulf Debacle and Wall Street's financial crisis, he noted our track record for foreseeing disaster could be better.
The Professor seemed to feel that we have been, and yet remain, unduly optimistic. He also noted that "we do not live in an ideal world", and then (simultaneously offering that he felt compelled to utilize a genteel term) strongly observed that "stuff happens". And indeed it does.
MORE: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/06/18-3
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9. No Nukes News - June 18, 2010
“Studies have shown increases in cancer around nuclear facilities and uranium mines. Radiation mutates genes which can cause genetic damage across generations.” - Beyond Nuclear
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Darlington Nuclear Newbuild - Public Consultation
You are invited to attend and/or make a presentation at Safe And Green Energy’s (SAGE) Public Consultation on the proposed Nuclear Newbuild at the Darlington Nuclear Plant. Your opinions, concerns and arguments about this newbuild nuclear project will be considered for SAGE’s submission to the project’s Environmental Assessment.
The Public Consultations are being held: Tuesday June 29th, 11am-2pm, Wednesday June 30th, 6pm-9pm at Peterborough Public Library, 345 Aylmer St., Peterborough, Ontario
Submissions are being accepted in writing, or as a presentation that does not exceed 10 minutes. Those interested in observing the proceedings are also welcome. Light refreshments will be provided. Those choosing to make a personal presentation must register by June 25 to Steve Cornwell at Stephen.d.g.cornwell@gmail.com or call (416) 587-4948 for submission details and to schedule your presentation.
http://oen.ca/
index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=243&cntnt01dateformat=
%25b%20%25d%2C%20%25Y&cntnt01returnid=75
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Waterkeeper submits Interrogatories to the Joint Review Panel for the Darlington New Nuclear Power Plant Project
Lake Ontario Waterkeeper has submitted a list of 34 suggested Interrogatories, or technical questions, for Ontario Power Generation (OPG) with regard to the proposed Darlington New Nuclear Power Plant Project.
The Darlington New Nuclear project represents a long-term commitment to nuclear power generation along the shores of Lake Ontario. For decades, nuclear power plants and fuel manufacturers have dotted the Lake Ontario shoreline. They have been responsible for massive fish kills and groundwater contamination. Their industrial footprint has contributed to the overall decline of Lake Ontario, which now has the worst coastal wetland health on the Great Lakes. With an estimated cost of close to $20-billion and a multi-year licencing process, the proposed Darlington New Nuclear project will be a major commitment for Ontarians. Its environmental, economic, and cultural impacts will alter the Lake Ontario community for generations to come.
http://www.waterkeeper.ca/2010/06/15/
waterkeeper-submits-interrogatories-to-the-joint-review-panel-for-the-darlington-new-nuclear-power-plant-project/
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NWMO Targets Aboriginal Communities
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) was authorized to find a location for a deep geologic repository for high level nuclear waste in 2002. Among other activities, the NWMO has been carrying out a campaign to “educate” potential Aboriginal communities across the country about the advantages of hosting a deep geologic repository. Don’t Aboriginal leaders face enough difficulties with high levels of poverty, diabetes, cancers, infant mortality, suicide and undrinkable water without compounding their problems by increasing their exposures to radioactive toxins?
http://iicph.org/nwmo-targets-aboriginal-communities
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The Maple Leaf in the OECD
Canada’s cold climate no excuse for poor environmental record – and we generate the most nuke waste
Canada has the second worst environmental record of OECD countries, ranking 24th out of 25 countries, according to a new study released by Simon Fraser University and the David Suzuki Foundation. But we’re dead last when it comes to nuclear waste: Canada is the largest generator of nuclear wastes in the OECD, with a per capita rate over seven times the OECD average.
You can download the study and backgrounder here: http://www.davidsuzuki.org/publications/
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Apocalypse Now and Next: From Gulf Spill to Nuke Disaster
We just ignited a disaster beyond our technical control. Why are we on the brink of doing it again?
Like Deepwater Horizon and Fermi, these new nukes could ignite disasters beyond our technological control---and our worst nightmares. Like BP, their builders would enjoy financial liability limits dwarfed by damage they could do. After 50 years, this industry can't get private financing, can't get private liability insurance and has no solution for its wastes. The Gulf gusher bears the simple lesson that technologies that require liability limits will rapidly exceed them, and must not be deployed. No US nuclear utility has sufficient capital resources to cover the damages from a reactor disaster, which is one reason taxpayers are targeted as the ultimate underwriters.
By all accounts, despite the horrors of the Gulf, the administration still wants legislation that will expand deepwater drilling and atomic technologies that are simply beyond our control but that fund apparently unstoppable dividends for corporations like BP.
http://www.alternet.org/environment/147162
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WATCH: BP Coffee Spill - 3 minute video - Prepare to split a gut (with 1 expletive!)
http://www.maniacworld.com/BP-Coffee-Spill.html
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Feds seeking oil cleanup crews as thousands of spills flow in Canada annually
Environment Canada estimates that a dozen oil spills — of about 4,000 litres each — are reported every day in the country. That's more than 17.5 million litres of oil a year that flow into Canada's marine ecosystems.
The Canadian Coast Guard couldn't immediately provide statistics on oil spills, but its website says 150 to 200 incidents are reported each year in Quebec. In the Maritimes and Newfoundland and Labrador, an average of 200 oil spills are reported annually in each region, the agency says. Canada's Pacific region had 209 incidents in 2007, a number that could climb if Enbridge Inc.'s proposed petroleum pipeline to the B.C. coast from Alberta is constructed.
http://iphone.metronews.ca/toronto/cana ... cle/547806
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Swedish police arrest 50 activists after Greenpeace protest at nuclear plant
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/
ALeqM5h1x0sbDWqMkl7Gz425Xt91GpaUWA
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Energy Minister collides with nuclear history; it seems Brad Duguid can do little more than preside over the industry's decline in Ontario
By most accounts, Brad Duguid is more committed to nuclear power than his predecessor as Ontario's energy minister. But, because of circumstances that mostly predate his time on the job, Mr. Duguid may wind up presiding over the continued decline of the nuclear industry in his province. That industry revolves around Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., the troubled Crown corporation that the federal government is desperately trying to unload.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/
ontarios-energy-chief-collides-with-a-troubled-nuclear-history/article1601768/
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WATCH: Dark Water
Uranium mining is scarring the landscape, harming the planet and posing dire health consequences in communities throughout the Southwest of the United States.
6 min. trailor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=640Gef94dVE
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Who wants nuclear power? Not Wales, or Scotland…they want renewables
The Welsh Assembly Government’s new Energy Policy Statement ‘A Low Carbon Revolution’, sets out an approach to accelerating the transition to a low carbon energy economy in Wales, focusing on efficiency measures and the use of indigenous renewable forms of energy such as marine, wind, solar and biomass. It claims that by 2025 around 40% of electricity in Wales could come from marine sources and a third from wind.
http://environmentalresearchweb.org/blog/2010/06/
who-wants-nuclear-power-part-1.html
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Lloyd's: ditch oil, invest in renewable energy
Continued reliance on oil is risky and expensive for business, say the authors of a new report from Lloyd's global risk assessment department, 360 Risk Insight, and UK think tank Chatham House. The way forward for businesses, the report says, is renewable energy - but the chaos and uncertainty following the Copenhagen climate summit has stifled investment.
http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/short ... e/2010/06/
lloyds-ditch-reliance-on-oil-i.html
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United Church Calls for Ban on Nuclear Wastes
The United Church, Saskatchewan’s largest religious organization, has entered the debate on nuclear wastes. Its annual conference May 28th in Moose Jaw passed a resolution “prohibiting the transport or storage of high level nuclear waste across Saskatchewan”. This comes when the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is looking for a “willing community” to take nuclear wastes; which seems orchestrated, as last year the government-appointed Uranium Development Partnership (UDP) recommended the same thing.
http://oen.ca/
index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=235&cntnt01dateformat=
%25b%20%25d%2C%20%25Y&cntnt01returnid=75
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The Good Jobs for All Coalition is asking Toronto Hydro to help green our electricity grid, put solar panels on public buildings, and create jobs for youth, new immigrants, and people of colour.
http://goodjobsforall.ca/?p=1159
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Support grows for Australian unions who have banned members from working in the nuclear industry
Largely unreported in the British press, the Victorian branch of the ETU has given its full support to the Queensland and the Northern Territories branches' decision to ban members from working in uranium mines, nuclear power plants or any part of the nuclear fuel cycle.
The Electrical Trades Union (ETU) says other unions have expressed strong support for the campaign against uranium, which it has labelled the “new asbestos” of the workplace.
Dr Caldicott said Australia’s uranium export industry meant the nation was “selling cancer and we’re selling nuclear weapons.”
http://www.getnoticedonline.co.uk/news/general-news/
radiation-free-lakeland-backs-aussie-unions-nuclear-stance.html
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Limited funds for Nunavut uranium proposal, groups say
Groups that want a say in the environmental review of a proposed uranium mine in Nunavut say they aren't getting enough federal funding to properly review the proposal.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2010/06/10/
nunavut-uranium-intervener-funding.html
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Support energy labelling of Ontario homes.
Click here to send a message asking the government to fulfill its commitment to energy efficiency and implement home energy labelling as soon as possible.
http://homeenergylabelling.blogspot.com/
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The 2010 People’s Summit: Building a Movement for a Just World
Fri. – Sun. June 18th-20th, Toronto
Over a hundred workshops, skill shares, film screenings, panels and lectures on global issues, the environment, human rights, economic justice, and building the movement.
www.peoplessummit2010.ca | All events are accessible | Translation may be available by request | Childcare and kids programming all weekend | Register Now! | FREE
Workshops of note:
· Keeping the lights on in the climate century (Sat. 3 - 4:25 p.m) VIC 209
o Ontario Clean Air Alliance
What are the lowest cost and cleanest options to keeping our lights on and our computers charged? Jack Gibbons of OCAA will address the end of coal and the true costs of nuclear energy, while Shawn-Patrick Stensil of Greenpeace will address proposed nuke plans and the renewable energy revolution.
· Our Nuclear Future (Sun. 1 – 3 p.m.) SCC Thomas
o Ontario Clean Air Alliance
What is the connection between nuclear power and nuclear weapons – can we have one without the other? What is Canada’s role in global weapons proliferation? Will nuclear technology save or doom us? Paul McKay, author of Atomic Accomplice, will address proliferation issues, while Dave Martin of Greenpeace will address nuke generation and waste issues.
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Bridging the Gulf – From Oil Spills to Clean Energy
Hear a first-hand account of the U.S. Gulf oil spill and how this can be a turning point.
7-9 pm, June 21 Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen Street West, Toronto
Speakers:
- Jerome Ringo: Long time community advocate from the U.S. Gulf who has been directly involved in the response to the Gulf oil spill, former oil worker, past
chairman of the National Wildlife Federation and the Apollo Alliance.
- Rick Smith: Executive Director, Environmental Defence
- Music provided by Louisiana-inspired Loco Zydeco
Free. Cash bar. Snacks provided.
Information » 416-323-9521 info@environmentaldefence.ca
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Etobicoke Area Solar Fair
Monday June 21, 6 - 9 pm
6 - 9 PM at the Fairfield Seniors Centre, 60 Lothian Ave (located 4 blocks south of Bloor West and 2 blocks east of Islington).
This event is a great place to bring your questions and get them answered by solar experts who have installed hundreds of systems across the GTA.
This event is cohosted by Our Power and the Live Green Toronto Animators for Toronto West
For more info: ken@ourpower.ca
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H2Oil and Gasland
Reel Solutions - 2010 Peoples Summit Documentary Film Series
Tuesday June 22
Toronto Underground Cinema, 186 Spadina Ave., Toronto
- 5 pm - H2Oil 81 min. H2Oil follows a voyage of discovery, heartbreak and politicization in the stories of those attempting to defend water in Alberta against tar sands expansion.
- 7 pm - Gasland 90 min. When filmmaker Josh Fox discovers that Natural Gas drilling is coming to his area, he sets off on a 24 state journey to uncover the deep and shocking consequences of the United States' natural gas drilling boom.
Suggested donation of $8/screening but nobody will be turned away for lack of funds.
Sponsored by SmartChange.ca and the 2010 Peoples Summit
Check out the other screenings for the week here: http://peoplessummit2010.ca/section/8
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Launch: Canada’s Climate Change Calendar
You are cordially invited to join Climate Action Network -Réseau action climat Canada to celebrate the launch of:
Canada’s Climate Change Calendar
Wed. June 23, 5:30-7:00 pm
Hotshot Gallery, 181 Augusta Avenue in Kensington Market, Toronto
Canada’s Climate Change Calendar is an online resource that documents the impacts of climate change on more than 170 countries around the world, and profiles their stories, struggles, and solutions. As world leaders prepare to arrive in Toronto for the G8 and G20, this reception will celebrate the launch of the consultative version of the website, as well as the release of a report on Canada’s disproportionate contribution to the growing climate crisis.
Climate Action Network Canada is a nation-wide coalition of more than 60 environmental, faith, labour, development, aboriginal, health, and youth organizations committed to making action on climate change a reality. http://www.climateactionnetwork.ca/e/
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Toxic Tour: Call for Environmental Justice! Take the Toxic Tour of Toronto
Wednesday, June 23, 11:00 am
Alexandra Park (Dundas and Bathurst), Toronto
On June 23rd in response to the Toronto Community Mobilization Network's call for a day of action on environmental justice, organizers in the city will be guiding a tour through Toronto to expose the institutions most responsible for the environmental and social impacts of Canada's extractive industries both at home and abroad. Canada is home to 75% of the world's mining and exploration companies, making it a global leader in this industry. Canada's place within the G8 nations is largely due to the exploitation of Indigenous peoples, their lands and rural poor for mining, tar sands and oil/gas exploitation.
We encourage folks coming to dress up and challenge those in power with costumes, floats and fancied up bicycles. We will be working on several floats in lead up but encourage all to dress up for our action. Ideas for costumes: Executives with blood on their hands (fake blood provided) , corporate zombies, people covered in Tar Sands bitumen (mud provided) and any other ideas you have.
For more information or to endorse the event, please contact: toxictourTO@gmail.com Facebook event
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People's Assembly on Climate Justice: Moving Forward from Cochabamba
Wednesday June 23, 7 pm
Ryerson Student Campus Centre, 55 Gould Street, Room SCC115, Toronto
Many of us in the climate justice movement gained inspiration from the successful cross-pollination of a variety of movements during the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in Cochabamba, Bolivia this past April. In the lead up to the G20, the Toronto Community Mobilization Network has begun to build and nurture what we hope will become strong, ongoing connections between multiple local struggles and organizers.
Contact: peoplesassembly.toronto@gmail.com, (647) 869-6496 Facebook event
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Shout Out for Global Justice
Please join the Council of Canadians to challenge the G20 and demand trade, water and climate justice!
Friday June 25th, 7:00 p.m. Doors at 6:00.
Massey Hall, Toronto
Tickets: $14 for Council of Canadians members,
$20 for non-members (incl. 1 year membership).
Get your tickets fast! General admission.
Featuring: Maude Barlow, Amy Goodman, Naomi Klein, Dr. Vandana Shiva, Clayton Thomas-Mueller and more.
www.canadians.org
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G8/20 Toronto Community Mobilization
Themed Days of Resistance: Build-Up (June 21 – 24)
Days of Action (June 25 – 27)
Check out this portal http://g20.torontomobilize.org/
for all the news and events related to G8/20 protests and actions.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Angela Bischoff, Outreach Director
Ontario Clean Air Alliance
Tel: 416 926 1907 x 246
625 Church Street, #402, Toronto, ON M4Y 2G1
angela@cleanairalliance.org
www.ontariosgreenfuture.ca
www.cleanairalliance.org
Our Facebook Group
Sign Our Petition
No Nukes News
Health Power
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10. 'Uranium making Punjab kids retarded'
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/
Uranium-making-Punjab-kids-retarded/articleshow/6045103.cms
Times of India June 14, 2010
BATHINDA: Confirming Punjab’s worst fear and The Times of India reports, a resounding document from Germany’s Microtrace Mineral Lab has revealed that hair samples of 80% of 149 neurologically disabled children, mainly from southern Malwa region, have high levels of uranium.
The report from a world-renowned laboratory also establishes the presence of dangerous heavy metals in water, questioning high use of chemicals to support state’s green revolution.
Presence of the radioactive element has strengthened doubts that depleted uranium (DU) used by American tanks in Iraq and Afghanistan travelled through air, reaching not just the region but Delhi as well. TOI was the first to report the suspected presence of uranium traces in the hair of kids undergoing treatment at Baba Farid Centre for Special Children.
MORE:
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/
Uranium-making-Punjab-kids-retarded/articleshow/6045103.cms
Testing Lab -Fast Results - Environmental, Materials, Asbestos Microbiology, Forensic, Air Quality : www.EMSL.com
Particle Size Imaging - High Resoluton Analysis Full Service cGMP Contract Lab : www.particletechlabs.com
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11. Review of radiation accidents since WWII
http://iopscience.iop.org/0952-4746/29/3/R01/pdf/
0952-4746_29_3_R01.pdf
From: Gordon Edwards Sent: Friday, June 18, 2010 11:42 AM
The September 2009 issue of Journal of Radiological Protection includes a very interesting review article by Jean-Claude Nénot on radiation accidents over the last 60 years.
The review chronicles accidental overexposures of persons from military, industrial and medical radiation accidents since the 2nd World War.
- - - -
Radiation accidents over the last 60 years
http://iopscience.iop.org/0952-4746/29/3/R01/pdf/
0952-4746_29_3_R01.pdf
Jean-Claude Nénot, Paris, France
E-mail: jcnenot@free.fr
Received 26 February 2009, accepted for publication 23 June 2009
Published 18 August 2009
Online at stacks.iop.org/JRP/29/301
Abstract:
Since the end of the Second World War, industrial and medical uses of radiation have been considerably increasing. Accidental overexposures of persons, in either the occupational or public field, have caused deaths and severe injuries and complications.
The rate of severe accidents seems to increase with time, especially those involving the public; in addition, accidents are often not immediately recognised, which means that the real number of events remains unknown.
Human factors, as well as the lack of elementary rules in the domains of radiological safety and protection, such as inadequate training, play a major role in the occurrence of the accidents which have been reported in the industrial, medical and military arenas.
MORE: http://iopscience.iop.org/0952-4746/29/3/R01/pdf/
0952-4746_29_3_R01.pdf
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12. WATCH: How The World Nuked Itself Over 2,000 Times/Map
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/
how-world-nuked-itself-over-2000-times
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/20/2010 09:12 -0500
Who needs a wartime nuclear exchange when you have peaceful countries nuking the gamma rays out of their own sovereign territories -- now that the environmental theme is rather popular, the following video by Isao Hashimoto shows all the nuclear "tests" conducted by the world in the period between 1945 and 1998.
Based on public data, the world's peaceful countries have already nuked themselves at least 2,054 times, with the US nuking the state of Nevada and its immediate neighbors about one thousand times. And keep in mind -- the fallout does not just miraculously "disappear."
From a discussion on advanced fallout maps:
'Civilized countries' -- that now form what we dub the 'nuclear club' -- conducted over 2,000 nuclear blasts on the Earth, and these entities -- the executioners of her slow death-- vigorously deny any irreversible, incurable damage.
If you're looking for fallout maps, you won't find any such map here or anywhere that will satisfy your whim or sophisticated inquiry. Why? Because the executioners, to their best of their satisfactions, don't want you to see them. What you can and will see -- if you seek it -- are bits and pieces of the destruction: a high reading of radioactivity in
wheat or milk here, of air over there, a trajectory map here, and a rare truthful analysis there.
Put them together and you have what would happen in a small-but-non-mutually-destructive nuclear war (that we erringly refer simply to as the Cold War): the radioactive fallout circling -- for eons -- around the Earth and within her biosphere as a consequence of our historic, 'peaceful' tit-for-tat nuclear testing exchange is no different than the fallout in the event of an actual nuclear exchange had 400 or so atomic and hydrogen bombs fell only in remote regions of land and sea on the globe.
How would your life be different if you were taught in school a small nuclear war already took place? How would that change the way you see your life and your health? Or your country or the world?
Full must-watch clip:
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/
how-world-nuked-itself-over-2000-times
See Map after video.
= = = = = =
13. Renewable Energy Clear Winner on Climate Change - CAPE
By Dr. Warren Bell and Gideon Forman
Reproduced with Permission from the CAPE Newsletter summer/fall 2010
Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment
www.cape.ca
http://www.cape.ca/permalinked/capenews ... nglish.pdf
EVERYONE KNOWS COAL IS A MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR TO CLIMATE
change. Energy expert Jeff Rubin says it’s “the most carbon-intensive fuel out there, emitting twice as much carbon per unit of energy as natural gas and about 20 percent more than oil.” At the height of their operations, Ontario’s coal plants emitted the greenhouse gas equivalent of almost seven million cars.
But less well-known is the fact our climate is also threatened by nuclear power. The nuclear industry claims it is “emissions-free” but this is not true if we look – as we must – at the full nuclear cycle, which entails production of uranium.When the latter is included, atomic energy is seen to be a large producer of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas.
Dr. Helen Caldicott, the renowned physician and public health advocate, writes: “Nuclear power is not ‘clean and green’, as the industry claims, because large amounts of traditional fossil fuels are required to mine and refine the uranium needed to run nuclear power reactors, to construct the massive concrete reactor buildings, and to transport and store the toxic radioactive waste created by the nuclear process.”
In fact, Dr. Caldicott argues that as the world runs out of high-grade uranium ores the nuclear industry will become even more fossil-fuel intensive: “Within ten to twenty years, nuclear reactors will produce no net energy because of the massive amounts of fossil fuel that will be necessary to mine and to enrich the remaining poor grades of uranium.”
Some may argue, of course, that even renewable energy technologies, such as wind, require fossil fuel for their construction. After all, wind turbines are produced in factories that consume oil or gas, directly or indirectly. But even taking this into account, wind power inflicts far less climate damage than nuclear does. A study published recently in Scientific American (November, 2009) states: “Nuclear power results in up to 25 times more carbon emissions than wind energy, when reactor construction and uranium refining and transport are considered.”
The verdict: a society that’s serious about tackling climate change will phase-out fossil and nuclear fuels and instead embrace renewables.
= = = = =
14. Cancer Prevention is in our Power By Farrah Khan - CAPE
http://www.cape.ca/permalinked/capenews ... nglish.pdf
Reproduced with Permission from the CAPE Newsletter summer/fall 2010
Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment
www.cape.ca
IT’S HARD TO FIND SOMEONE IN THIS COUNTRY WHO ISN’T connected to cancer either through personal diagnosis, or that of a close friend or relative. Recent statistics from the Canadian Cancer Society show that “Cancer is the leading cause of premature death in Canada,” and, “approximately one in four Canadians will die of Cancer.”
Because of its prevalence, we begin to question the causes of cancer and wonder if there is more we can do to prevent its occurrence. We know now that popular s sources of power, namely coal and nuclear energy, are contributing factors to cancer. But there’s good news – renewable energy sources offer a solution.
In a 2009 position paper authored by Dr. Cathy Vakil and Dr. Linda Harvey, scientific data about the nuclear energy lifecycle and its relation to human health is thoroughly reviewed. According to this paper, health studies from Canada and around the world show an increase in leukemia cases, lung cancer, thyroid cancer, breast cancer and other serious illnesses, with both people who work in and live near nuclear facilities. Chemicals of concern include radon, the second leading cause of lung cancer (after smoking), and tritium, a carcinogen and mutagen. With our heavy water CANDU reactors, Canada releases large quantities of tritium but our use of nuclear energy continues, despite this health risk.
Coal is another cancer culprit, emitting the carcinogens chromium and arsenic. Ontario’s Nanticoke coal-fired plant is the largest coal plant in North America and contributes to increased incidence of illness, including severe respiratory problems. According to the Ontario Clean Air Alliance, nearly 250 people die each year as a result of illnesses related to Ontario’s coal plants. Most are in agreement that we need to find healthier sources to meet our electricity needs.
Renewable energy sources – including wind power, solar photovoltaic, low-impact hydro and geothermal – are free from polluting emissions and cancer-causing chemicals. Though there are some energy costs with initial production and set-up, these renewable energy technologies are much safer than coal and nuclear. While there are unavoidable dangers with using coal (toxic chemicals released into the atmosphere) and nuclear (uranium extraction and toxic waste disposal), there is nothing inherently harmful about setting up a windmill, or a few solar panels, to produce energy.
Sure, some individuals may disagree with a field of solar panels on an aesthetic level. Others may get annoyed with the sounds from a local wind farm. However, with the province of Ontario’s regulation, which demands a minimum 550 metre set-back for
the installation of wind turbines, these annoyances can generally be avoided. In time, renewable energy devices will become a welcomed part of our landscape, just as we’ve
become accustomed to seeing telephone poles along our roads and transmission lines in country fields.
Cancer prevention is in our power. It’s in the kind of power we choose to light and heat our homes; play our stereos and recharge our cell phones. In fact, the choice of embracing renewable technology is a must if we’re serious about fighting cancer.
= = = = = = =
15. NEWS: Liberal MP introduces Bill on Schedule 2
http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=3959#more-3959
Thursday, June 17th, 2010
A media release issued today by Francis Scarpaleggia, Member of Parliament for Lac-Saint-Louis and Chair of the National Liberal Water Caucus, highlights that he has, “introduced a private member’s bill to prohibit Canada’s lakes from being used as low-cost disposal sites for tailings waste from mining operations.”
MORE: http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=3959#more-3959
= = = = =
16. Stay in Afghanistan: Senate committee
QUOTE: “The fact that Wallin and her colleagues heard testimony only from supporters of the war–13 current or former members of the Canadian Forces, the Defence Minister, a former Canadian ambassador to Afghanistan, a board member of the DND-funded Conference of Defence Associations, a representative of the pro-intervention Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee, and the Afghan ambassador to Canada–makes this apparent unanimity about as surprising as the outcome of the last presidential election in Afghanistan, of course.”
- - - - -
Stay in Afghanistan: Senate committee
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4937&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 23 Jun 2010 01:02 PM PDT
The Senate Standing Committee on National Security and Defence has recommended that Canada remain in Afghanistan following the scheduled end of the mission in Kandahar (”Senate committee endorses continued military training mission in Afghanistan,” Canadian Press, 22 June 2010). The committee, chaired by Conservative Senator Pamela Wallin and composed entirely of Conservative and Liberal Senators (there [...]
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4937&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
= = = = = =
17. America’s “Other War” exceeds Vietnam conflict in length
Posted: 21 Jun 2010 09:45 PM PDT
The war in Afghanistan, dubbed America’s “Other War”, is now the longest war in U.S. history, “surpassing the conflict in Vietnam. 103 months passed between passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and the withdrawal of the last American combat forces from Vietnam. As of [June 7th], the Afghanistan war is 104 months old.”
MORE: http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4905&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
= = = = = =
18. Help stop “a summer of bloodshed”
http://www.ceasefire.ca/?p=4922
Posted: 21 Jun 2010 08:17 PM PDT
Dear Ceasefire.ca supporters - This is an urgent alert to inform you of new developments in Afghanistan, and to ask for your help to avert more innocent civilian casualties. Your action is required. This could be our most important campaign since our founding in 2003. We are asking our 20,000 supporters to support our media and lobbying campaign
MORE: http://www.ceasefire.ca/?p=4922
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19. Jobs for the boys: Blackwater Firm Gets $120M U.S. Gov't Contract
The State Department has awarded a part of what was formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide a contract worth more than $120 million for providing security services in Afghanistan.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31727_162-2 ... 91695.html
= = = = =
20. "The War is Worth Waging": Afghanistan's Vast Reserves of Minerals and Natural Gas - The War on Afghanistan is a Profit driven "Resource War" By Michel Chossudovsky
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19769
Global Research, June 17, 2010
The 2001 bombing and invasion of Afghanistan has been presented to World public opinion as a "Just War", a war directed against the Taliban and Al Qaeda, a war to eliminate "Islamic terrorism" and instate Western style democracy.
The economic dimensions of the "Global War on Terrorism" (GWOT) are rarely mentioned. The post 9/11 "counter-terrorism campaign" has served to obfuscate the real objectives of the US-NATO war.
The war on Afghanistan is part of a profit driven agenda: a war of economic conquest and plunder, "a resource war".
While Afghanistan is acknowledged as a strategic hub in Central Asia, bordering on the former Soviet Union, China and Iran, at the crossroads of pipeline routes and major oil and gas reserves, its huge mineral wealth as well as its untapped natural gas reserves have remained, until June 2010, totally unknown to the American public.
According to a joint report by the Pentagon, the US Geological Survey (USGS) and USAID, Afghanistan is now said to possess "previously unknown" and untapped mineral reserves, estimated authoritatively to be of the order of one trillion dollars (New York Times, U.S. Identifies Vast Mineral Riches in Afghanistan - NYTimes.com, June 14, 2010, See also BBC, 14 June 2010).
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19769
= = = = = = =
21. Showdown in the Red Sea: U.S. Sends 11 Warships to Confront Iran
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19825
By Washington's Blog Washington's Blog - 2010-06-20
Global Research, June 21, 2010
Israel National News is reporting :
Egypt allowed at least one Israeli and 11 American warships to pass through the Suez Canal as an Iranian flotilla flotilla approaches Gaza.
What should we make of the fact that 11 U.S. warships and an Israeli warship are sailing up the Suez Canal on their way to the Red Sea?
This is - on the surface - a face-off over Iran's support for relief ships trying to sail into Gaza. Specifically, Iran has said it will have Iranian military ships escort the flotilla providing humanitarian goods to Gaza to make sure it arrives safely. On the other hand, the U.S. has backed Israel's blockade of Gaza.
Tensions are obviously high between the U.S. and Israel, on the one hand, and Iran on the other. The U.S. and Israel have talked for years of bombing Iran's nuclear sites.
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19825
= = = = = = =
22. (SK) NEW ENTERPRISE REGIONS CELEBRATED/Comment
http://www.gov.sk.ca/
news?newsId=28604122-6fc8-48e3-beaf-a7756128b524
News Release - June 18, 2010
The Government of Saskatchewan celebrated the launch of three new Enterprise Regions (ERs) in northern Saskatchewan today. For the past several months, community and business minded people from throughout the north have been working with the Government of Saskatchewan to establish these new entities to capitalize on growth opportunities in northern Saskatchewan.
MORE: http://www.gov.sk.ca/
news?newsId=28604122-6fc8-48e3-beaf-a7756128b524
(COMMENT: among other resources, this probably indicates increased uranium mining (Cameco) and tarsands extraction (Oilsands Quest). Ed.)
Last edited by Oscar on Mon Jul 12, 2010 12:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9887
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
NUKE NEWS: June 29, 2010
by Oscar » Tue Jun 29, 2010 11:07 am
NUKE NEWS: June 29, 2010
1. Subject: Update to Information Bulletin 10-12: New comment on Discussion Paper DIS-10-01 'Management of Uranium Mine Waste Rock and Mill Tailings' posted for feedback – Please provide your feedback no later than July 14, 2010.
2. Saskatchewan, Quebec can produce medical isotopes without nuclear reactors or uranium!
3. Harper says nuclear co-operation deal marks new era in Canada-India relations
4. CNSC: Follow-Up to Ottawa Earthquake
5. Radon is invisible, deadly
6. No Nukes News - June 25, 2010 - Pass this onto a friend! – a
7. Sweden backs nuclear reactors
8. French nuke wine gets new name
9. Iran postpones nuclear talks
10. Former CIA spy: War with Iran is imminent
11. Survey: 77% say “peace and nuclear disarmament” very important issues for G8/G20 summits
12. Mother of Canadian soldier to Harper, G20: 'Withdraw from Afghanistan now'
13. Did 9/11 Justify the War in Afghanistan?
14. The Land Where Theories of Warfare Go to Die
15. Four Possible BP-Style Extreme Energy Nightmares to Come The disaster in the Gulf is no anomaly. It's an arrow pointing toward future disasters.
16. Dealing with spills - By Dianne Saxe
17. The Mysterious Death of Dr David Kelly: Damning New Evidence Points to a Cover-up by Tony Blair's Government
18. Through the Wormhole: The Secret State's Mad Scheme to Control the Internet
19. (AB) Wildrose leader tears into Tories: 'We've had enough'
==================
1. Subject: Update to Information Bulletin 10-12: New comment on Discussion Paper DIS-10-01 'Management of Uranium Mine Waste Rock and Mill Tailings' posted for feedback – Please provide your feedback no later than July 14, 2010.
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/read ... bulletins/
view_bulletin.cfm?bulletin_id=220
Information Bulletin 10-14 June 29, 2010
Listed below is additional feedback received by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) from the Newfoundland and Labrador Chamber of Mineral Resources during the first round of consultation for Discussion Paper DIS-10-01 'Management of Uranium Mine Waste Rock and Mill Tailings'. This feedback was inadvertently omitted when Information Bulletin 10-12 was issued at the start of the second round of consultation.
With agreement from the Newfoundland and Labrador Chamber of Mineral Resources, their comments are being posted for the remainder of the second consultation period, which remains open until July 14, 2010.
View Information Bulletin 10-12 for more information about the second round of consultation for Discussion Paper DIS-10-01 'Management of Uranium Mine Waste Rock and Mill Tailings'.
To read more about the first round of consultation, which ended on May 25, 2010, view Information Bulletin 10-03 and the 'Support Document for Management of Uranium Mine Waste Rock and Mill Tailings'.
The CNSC will prepare a report that will summarize the feedback we heard, to be made available to the public once all comments have been reviewed. Please monitor the CNSC Web site for further details.
How to participate
To provide feedback on the comments received:
Email: consultation@cnsc-ccsn.gc.ca
Mail:
Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
Regulatory Framework Division
P.O. Box 1046, Station B
280 Slater Street
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
K1P 5S9
Fax: 613-995-5086
Please provide your feedback no later than July 14, 2010. Note that any comments submitted, including names and affiliations, are intended to be made public.
View additional comments received on Discussion Paper DIS-10-01 'Management of Uranium Mine Waste Rock and Mill Tailings'
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/read ... bulletins/
view_bulletin.cfm?bulletin_id=220
========================
2. Saskatchewan, Quebec can produce medical isotopes without nuclear reactors or uranium!
From: Gordon Edwards
Sent: Monday, June 28, 2010 10:30 AM
Subject: Saskatchewan, Quebec can produce medical isotopes without nuclear reactors or uranium!
Background:
It is increasingly clear that the production of medical isotopes for nuclear medicine does not require nuclear reactors or uranium.
See http://ccnr.org/isotope_shortage.html
The medical isotope most commonly used for diagnostic purposes is technetium-99m. There are an estimated 40 million uses around the world each year.
The current method for producing this isotope is to bombard a "target" of highly enriched uranium with neutrons. This is currently done in very old research reactors which do not produce electricity.
The neutrons cause the uranium atoms to fission, or split, creating hundreds of "fission products". The fission products are the broken pieces of the original uranium atoms.
See http://ccnr.org/hlw_chart.html
One of these fission products is molybdenum-99, which is the source of technetium-99m (the molybdenum-99 atoms rapidly undergo radio-active disintegration, turning into technetium-99m atoms).
But this process has many dangerous features to it:
(1) The forced operation of these geriatric nuclear reactors for isotope production poses risks of serious reactor accidents.
(2) The production of molybdenum-99 by fissioning uranium atoms continually adds to the legacy of high-level radioactive waste.
(3) The use of highly enriched uranium (weapons-grade uranium) poses serious risks of nuclear weapons proliferation to criminal or terrorist organizations through theft of the material (this was the main theme of US President Obama's Nuclear Security Summit held in April 2010 in Washington DC).
Researchers in Quebec at the University of Sherbrooke have announced that they have demonstrated the production of technetium-99m for medical purposes using a cyclotron, which does not require a nuclear reactor or uranium, and therefore eliminates entirely all three of the dangerous features itemized above. (See article number 2, below.)
Now the CLS people in Saskatchewan have announced that they can achieve the same objective using a linear accelerator. (See article.)
In British Columbia, the TRIUMF laboratory at the University of BC has announced the construction of a powerful accelerator over the next four years that can fission a target of non-weapons-grade uranium to produce technetium-99m, without the need for a nuclear reactor or highly-enriched uranium. Since the TRIUMF approach still involves the fissioning of uranium, there would still be high-level radioactive waste produced, but the two other dangerous features mentioned above would be eliminated.
Gordon Edwards.
- - - - -
CLS may produce medical isotopes
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/health/pr ... +isotopes/
3204429/story.html
By Jeremy Warren, of The Star Phoenix June 26, 2010
The Canadian Light Source thinks it can help solve the medical isotope shortage in Canada without using a nuclear reactor or weapons-grade uranium.
The CLS, home of Canada's national synchrotron research centre, is proposing to use a linear accelerator to produce medical isotopes, which are used for diagnosis and treatment in nuclear medicine.
Natural Resources Canada has asked for proposals from institutions that can produce medical isotopes without a nuclear reactor and CLS officials are putting together a bid for $10 million of the $35-million pot of research funding available from Ottawa.
CLS officials are confident in the technology, but they have to prove that it can work as a business, said CLS deputy director and director of accelerators Mark de Jong.
"(Ottawa) wants some view of how these isotopes will be made commercially," de Jong said Friday afternoon. "Is it a business that makes sense? A lot of that is not clear right now."
When Ottawa's National Research Universal reactor in Chalk River was shut down for repairs last year, the halt in operations created a worldwide medical isotope shortage.
Now, the federal government, which plans to sell reactor operator Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, wants to privatize isotope production and create a secure supply for Canada.
Ottawa has turned to research institutions like CLS and the B.C.-based TRIUMF cyclotron to end the shortage, at least in Canada.
CLS proposes to use a linear accelerator, which measures four metres long, to create molybdenum-99, de Jong said.
The linear accelerator would shoot a concentrated beam of electrons at a stack of coin-sized disks made of molybdenum-100 and the reaction would knock out one neutron to leave moly-99.
Moly-99 decays in a 66-hour period to create technetium-99, the isotope used for nuclear medicine. CLS thinks it can make enough isotopes for 20 to 30 per cent of Canada's requirements.
There's no fission in the process and, unlike reactors, there's no issues with radioactive waste, de Jong said.
MORE: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/health/pr ... +isotopes/
3204429/story.html
=================
3. Harper says nuclear co-operation deal marks new era in Canada-India relations
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/headline_news/
article.jsp?content=b3790596
By: Mike Blanchfield, The Canadian Press 27/06/2010 10:40 PM
TORONTO - Stephen Harper says he believes India’s Cold War duplicity has been consigned to history and that the Asian economic powerhouse won’t use Canadian uranium to build nuclear bombs.
The prime minister offered that assurance as he gave India its much coveted civilian nuclear co-operation deal with Canada on Sunday, ending decades of chill over its acquisition of a nuclear bomb using Canadian nuclear reactor technology a generation ago.
Harper and visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced the deal that would allow for uranium exports to India, and technological exchanges that could be worth billions to the Canadian nuclear industry.
Harper said the deal represented a new era in Canadian-Indian relations.
“We cannot live as a country in the 1970s. We are living in very different realities today,” Harper said.
The issue has been a source of friction between the two countries since India used Canadian nuclear reactor technology to build a nuclear bomb.
Canada sold one of its reactors to India, which subsequently used the technology to develop a nuclear arms program in the early 1970s, despite official promises to the contrary.
India is a country of growing importance, the prime minister said, as he sounded an upbeat note on moving Canada closer to one of the world’s fastest growing economies.
“It shares with us not just key values, it shares with us key interests in the world and faces the same threats that we do," Harper added.
“We want to make sure as India develops its nuclear industry, that we are there and we are part of it because we have an important part to play and important opportunities.”
The deal calls for India to conform to safeguards of the UN watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Singh pledged India would play by the rules this time.
MORE:
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/headline_news/
article.jsp?content=b3790596
- - - - - -
Imminent Canada-India nuclear pact heightens tensions
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/asia-pacific/
imminent-canada-india-nuclear-pact-heightens-tensions/article1617240/
Impending deal could be worth billions for Canadian industry, but it has already become a source of concern in Pakistan
by Graeme Smith The Globe and Mail June 25, 2010
An imminent deal that would open the door for Canadian exports of uranium to India, could add to nuclear tensions in South Asia, some experts say.
The impending agreement made front-page news this week in India, amid speculation Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Canada for the G20 summit will allow him to sign a long-awaited nuclear co-operation pact.
The deal could be worth billions for Canadian industry and would formally end the mistrust that followed India’s nuclear test in 1974, when it became apparent that India had misused a Canadian research reactor to obtain weapons-grade plutonium.
Some experts on nuclear technology say the new deal could repeat history, however, with Canada unwittingly adding to the nuclear tensions in the region by easing India’s shortage of uranium.
“They’re not going to say this is for weapons, but they’re unlikely to rule it out,” said M.V. Ramana, a researcher at Princeton University.
Any such civil nuclear deal would include safeguards to prevent the exported uranium from being used for military purposes, Mr. Ramana said, but Canada’s supply would leave India free to use more, or all, of its own domestic uranium for weapons. The country is believed to produce about 300 to 450 metric tonnes annually, which Mr. Ramana estimated would be enough to make at least 60 Hiroshima-sized bombs.
The supply of uranium isn’t the only factor limiting the size of India’s nuclear stockpiles, but observers say any shift in production capacity could affect the military balance. The Federation of American Scientists estimates India’s arsenal at 60 to 80 warheads, and Pakistan’s at 70 to 90; their bitter rivalry is widely regarded as the world's most dangerous nuclear standoff.
- - - - SNIP - - - -
Dr. Ganguly brushed off concerns that a greater supply of uranium might allow India to build its nuclear arsenal.
“Those days are gone,” he said. “We’re not so stupid.”
==============================
4. CNSC: Follow-Up to Ottawa Earthquake
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/read ... bulletins/
view_bulletin.cfm?bulletin_id=219
Information Bulletin 0-13 June 23, 2010
The earthquake that occurred in parts of southern Ontario and as far as Ottawa and Montreal this afternoon was felt at the Darlington, Pickering and Gentilly-2 nuclear power plants, as well as at Chalk River Laboratories.
Licensees have confirmed that their operations have not been affected by the earthquake. There is no indication nor anticipation of any impact for the stations. As per procedures, licensees are completing a thorough review of station systems to confirm.
CNSC staff, both on site and in Ottawa, continue to monitor licensees' actions.
- - - - -
5.0 Val-des-Bois quake rattles Ottawa, eastern North America
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/
Bois+quake+rattles+Ottawa+eastern+North+America/3191688/
story.html?cid=megadrop_story
By Andrew Duffy , The Ottawa Citizen June 24, 2010
Send your stories to hottips@thecitizen.canwest.com
OTTAWA — Books and bottles rattled off shelves; bricks came loose from some buildings; downtown highrises were evacuated; and several Ottawa schools were examined for structural concerns.
But other than some limited property damage — and a few minor injuries — Ottawa escaped relatively unscathed Wednesday from what scientists describe as a “moderate” earthquake, centred in nearby Val-des-Bois, Que.
The quake did unnerve the nation’s capital and could be felt across much of eastern North America, from Montreal to Chicago, Illinois.
The quake struck at 1:41 p.m. with a magnitude of 5.0 and lasted between 20 and 30 seconds, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
It was centred an estimated 20 kilometres underground.
“This kind of earthquake is a rare event, but it’s not unexpected in this area,” said research scientist Jim Hunter, of the Geological Survey of Canada.
Wednesday’s quake was the third largest to strike the region during the past century. “This was quite a dandy,” Hunter said.
MORE: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/
Bois+quake+rattles+Ottawa+eastern+North+America/3191688/
story.html?cid=megadrop_story
=========================
5. Radon is invisible, deadly
http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/
Radon%20invisible%20deadly/3204991/story.html
By ANDRE FAUTEUX, Freelance June 26, 2010
"If Health Canada had widely publicized the dangers of radon before 2007, I might not have developed an incurable lung cancer,’’ says Marie Bédard of Quebec City.
Marie Bedard never smoked in her life. So she was doubly shocked to be diagnosed with incurable lung cancer in the fall of 2007.
Two years later, Bedard read an article about radon in Touring magazine, published by CAA-Quebec. Radon is a colourless, odourless and radioactive gas that can seep into buildings, she learned, and has been recognized by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a direct cause of lung cancer since 1988.
It's the second cause of the disease after smoking, and the first among non-smokers who have been exposed to high concentrations for several years. Radon levels are highest in the lower floors of buildings, and particularly in basements.
"Nobody had ever put me on that track," the 54-year-old accountant, said in a telephone interview. "If Health Canada had widely publicized the dangers of radon before 2007, I might not have developed an incurable lung cancer," said Bedard, the mother of a 17-year-old daughter. Bedard says she believes her cancer was caused by exposure to radon.
When a test she ordered last winter showed the Quebec City bungalow where she has lived since 1985 was accumulating huge concentrations of radon, she quickly had the problem fixed. But it was too little, too late.
Radon is one of the principal naturally-occurring causes of cancer; others include arsenic and mould. It is produced by the decay of uranium present in soil, water and rock, and contributes more than half of the natural radiation dose received by most people, according to the Canadian Nuclear Association. Like man-made ionizing radiation (X-rays and nuclear power), radon causes repeated and cumulative genetic damage by removing or adding electric charges (ions) to our cells. Lung cancer is the only known health risk of radon exposure.
MORE:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/
Radon%20invisible%20deadly/3204991/story.html
=================
6. No Nukes News - June 25, 2010 - Pass this onto a friend!
Let’s show the world at the G20 Summit that we are taking action on climate change!
----------------------------------------------------------------
AECL requests hearing to restart leaky isotope reactor
Canada's nuclear watchdog is fast-tracking a request for a hearing to consider reopening the country's aging medical isotope-producing reactor. Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. made a request Friday for a formal hearing in hopes of restarting medical isotope production at the Ontario plant by mid-summer.
"The Commission will vary the CNSC Rules of Procedures so that AECL's request will be dealt with in a fair and expeditious manner." Speeding up the process will mean the public will have little time to respond to documents filed by AECL to the regulator.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/s ... /20100612/
aecl-nuclear-100612/20100612?hub=Canada
Background:
CNSC shows that its first priority is getting nuclear facilities approved and back in operation quickly, for the sake of the business interests involved -- not protecting the public and the environment, as the CNSC legal mandate dictates. Health and safety are not just given a lower priority, they are hardly even considered in any serious manner.
AECL has had more than a year to make repairs to the geriatric NRU reactor, but public concerns over its radioactive emissions and nuclear waste production will be given scant attention.
Nor does the CNSC show any inclination to tackle the question of whether Chalk River should be continuing to use weapons-grade uranium. President Obama's Washington summit in April 2010 aimed at eliminating the transport and use of such high-security weapons-grade material for any civilian purposes, but the CNSC seems to be oblivious to the global threat posed by such traffic.
To top it all off, there is no indication that CNSC will be considering the cancers caused by the use of medical isotopes, nor the long-term environmental impact of such use.- (Dr.) Gordon Edwards, Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility (CCNR) http://www.ccnr.org/
----------------------------------------------------------------
Public Hearing on Chalk River
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) will host a one-day public hearing to consider Atomic Energy of Canada¹s (AECL) application for the restart of the National Research Universal (NRU) Reactor located at the Chalk River Laboratories (CRL) site in Chalk River, Ontario.
Hearing: Mon. June 28, 9 a.m.
Place: CNSC Public Hearing Room, 14th floor, 280 Slater Street, Ottawa, Ontario
The public hearing will be webcasted live on the Internet via the CNSC Web site and archived for a period of 90 days.
The public is invited to comment on AECL’s request. Requests to intervene must be filed with the Secretary of the Commission by June 23, 2010 directly on-line at
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/comm ... ervention/
index.cfm
Find out more:
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/commission/pdf/
Notice-2010-H-07-AECL-NRU-Restart-Revision1-Edocs3562071-e.pdf
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Canada is falling behind on true green innovation
“The unfortunate truth is that, today, Canada has virtually no national strategy on renewable energy; no plans for high-speed rail lines in development; no national smart-grid plans of any consequences; no greenhouse gas emissions reductions goals of any meaning; and no energy efficiency goals,”
http://www.thestar.com/business/cleanbreak/article/
824436--hamilton-canada-is-falling-behind-on-true-green-innovation
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Management of Uranium Mine Waste Rock and Mill Tailings
Provide your feedback on comments received: Discussion Paper DIS-10-01 before July 14, 2010
http://oen.ca/
index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=255&cntnt01dateformat=%25b%20%25d%2C%20%25Y&cntnt01returnid=75
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Atomic Café
Not a moment too soon, THE ATOMIC CAFE is back to provide us with a much-needed release of comic energy. A dark comedy in the truest sense, this timeless classic took the nation by storm when it first debuted in 1982. The film recounts a defining period of 20th century history and serves as a chilling and often hilarious reminder of cold-war era paranoia in the United States--artfully presented through a collage of newsreel footage, government archives, military training films, and fifties music. Profoundly shocking and perversely topical, THE ATOMIC CAFE craftily captures a panicked nation, offering a fascinating and witty account of life during the atomic age and resulting cold war, when fall-out shelters, duck-and-cover drills, and government propaganda were all a part of our social consciousness. Regarded by critics as a nuclear Reefer Madness and likened to Stanley Kubricks Dr. Strangelove, this profoundly shocking and highly amusing film is a stunner, a gripping account of an unforgettable era and an indisputable must-see for all Americans.
You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOUtZOqgSG8
Google Video
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 766604475#
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Anti-Nuke Fact Sheets Galore – Everything you wanted to know about nukes but were afraid to ask
Nukes and Climate Change
Radioactive Waste
Radiation
Alternatives
And much more!
http://www.nirs.org/factsheets/fctsht.htm
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How The World Nuked Itself Over 2,000 Times
Who needs a wartime nuclear exchange when you have peaceful countries nuking the gamma rays out of their own sovereign territories? The following video shows all the nuclear "tests" conducted by the world in the period between 1945 and 1998. Based on public data, the world's peaceful countries have already nuked themselves at least 2,054 times, with the US nuking the state of Nevada and its immediate neighbors about one thousand times. And keep in mind -- the fallout does not just miraculously "disappear."
Watch clip: http://www.zerohedge.com/article/
how-world-nuked-itself-over-2000-times
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Safe and Green Energy Peterborough (SAGE) is holding a…Public Consultation on the proposed New Nuclear Build at the Darlington Plant
… at the Peterborough Public Library on Tuesday June 29th from 11am to 2pm and Wednesday June 30th from 6pm to 9pm.
As part of SAGE's mandate as an intervening group in the New Build's Environmental Assessment, the group is inviting individuals and groups to present their findings and concerns around the environmental, economic, and social impacts of OPG's proposed New Nuclear Build at Darlington. SAGE will be selecting and compiling the presentations to be submitted in the Proposed New Nuclear Build's Environmental Assessment.
Backgrounder: Safe And Green Energy (SAGE) Peterborough is comprised of a group of concerned Ontario citizens who peacefully oppose the renewed focus on nuclear energy and the mining of uranium in Ontario, and is an advocate for safe and renewable energy sources. SAGE members share a concern for the environment, the future of humanity, social equity, and the responsible management of public funds. SAGE activities focus on exposing the drawbacks and costs of nuclear energy in the light of renewable energy options. SAGE also recognizes the short and long-term hazards of uranium mining as major pitfalls within any nuclear energy strategy. SAGE networks with other anti-nuclear and environmental groups across Ontario and Canada. SAGE is an Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG) working group. SAGE recently received funding to submit a report to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) on the proposed Darlington Nuclear New Build.
Background on the Proposed New Nuclear Build at Darlington Nuclear Plant: On September 21st, 2006, OPG applied for the license to build up to four new nuclear reactors at the Darlington Nuclear Power Plant. On November 22nd, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission informed OPG that the project would require an Environmental Assessment (EA) in order to receive a license to build. As part of this EA, OPG is required to produce an Environmental Impact Statement that meets all of the requirements laid out in the Guidelines for the Preparation of the Environmental Impact Statement. This measure is to ensure that OPG is aware of and prepared to mitigate the environmental and social impacts of the proposed Nuclear Newbuild at the Darlington Nuclear Power Plant. This Public Consultation is a part of SAGE Peterborough’s participation in the EA process.
For more information please contact:
Roy Brady (705) 745 2446 rbrady1@cogeco.ca -
John Etches (705) 748 2219 etchesjohn@yahoo.ca -
Stephen Cornwell (416) 587 4948 stephen.d.g.cornwell@gmail.com
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Ten Reasons to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
http://www.wagingpeace.org/menu/issues/nuclear-weapons/
10-reasons-abolish-nw.htm
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Climate change poses economic threat - By Wangari Maathai
The current upheaval caused by the economic recession pales in comparison to the potential impacts of climate change, which, if unabated, threatens to bring more disasters, famine, disease, resource scarcity, human displacement and migrations and economic instability than ever before.
Too often such conflicts are labelled as inter-ethnic or religious, ignoring the fact that climate change, environmental degradation and the pursuit of fossil fuels is the root cause of so much conflict in the world today.
Droughts in Kenya, wildfires in California and melting glaciers in our mountains are further indications that we are on the tipping point of a catastrophe scientists have long been predicting. No country or community is immune from climate change, but the greatest tragedy is that those who are most affected and who are least able to adapt and mitigate against climate change, are least responsible. While leaders of the world’s richest countries bear the greatest responsibility for rising global temperatures, it is those already living on the edge of poverty who will feel the impacts most acutely.
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinin/article/
827726--climate-change-poses-economic-threat
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We really can live without tar sands, but don't tell the oil patch
The scariest thing for the oil industry right now is not the front page pictures of dying, oil-covered birds in the Gulf of Mexico, or pictures of dead, oil covered ducks in the Alberta tar sands. The most frightening spectre for them is a surging renewable energy industry united with environmentalists to destroy the myth of oil's necessity.
Yet that is precisely what happened last week, when Greenpeace and the European Renewable Energy Council released their 'Energy [R]evolution' blueprint for cutting carbon emissions while achieving economic growth. The simple solution is to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy and energy efficiency. The study was developed in conjunction with specialists from the German Aerospace Centre and more than 30 scientists and engineers from universities, institutes and the renewable energy industry around the world. It demonstrated that in a world taking serious action on climate change, there is no need for unconventional oil from the tar sands.
http://hilltimes.com/page/printpage/oilpatch-06-21-2010
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Canada to Phase In New Emission Rules for Coal Plants
Canadian Environment Minister Jim Prentice announced the country will phase in greenhouse-gas emissions standards for coal-powered energy facilities to give the industry time to adopt cleaner technologies.
The government will mandate that traditional coal-fired plants either meet new standards that will be announced next year, or close once they reach the end of their "economic life," Prentice said today in Ottawa. Thirty-three of Canada's 51 coal-burning units will reach the end of their economic life by 2025, he said.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... a/2010/06/
22/bloomberg1376-L4GXQL6LUTXG01-30MJRM6FO58VJKEEFHKND21BAJ.DTL
Canada to phase out older coal-fired power plants
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2320360820100623
Climate Action Network response to federal Gov’t’s announcement for regulating coal fired power plants
When it comes to regulations, this government has been making a series of empty promises for over three years, meanwhile coal plants continue to be built and emissions continue to rise. It appears that these new proposed regulations are actually a step back from unmet promises made three years ago. We need a coal free Canada. This means phasing out existing coal plants, prohibiting the construction of new plants and instead making meaningful investments in renewable energy and energy conservation.
http://www.climateactionnetwork.ca/e/news/2010/release/
index.php?WEBYEP_DI=43
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Wind called crucial to replacing coal in Ontario
One Port Burwell farmer says he’s ‘thrilled’ to be part of the wind turbine movement
Despite pockets of resistance across Ontario, wind is here to stay, and growing, said Robert Hornung, president of Canwea. Wind generates about 12,000 megawatts of power now, another 500 is coming online this year with 1,500 in the near future. Ontario’s standards for turbines, including setbacks from residential homes, are the most rigorous in North America and the world.
As for those protesters, turbines have been generating electricity safely for decades in other countries — it now accounts for about 13% of all Spain’s power — and Hornung believes opposition is based on “misinformation.”
http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2010 ... 02711.html
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2 in 3 Canadians want G8/G20 summiteers to discuss fossil fuel fix: Poll
Two of three Canadians want the Harper government to show leadership at the G8 and G20 summits and announce plans to eliminate subsidies for the fossil fuel industry, according to results of a poll released on Friday.
It also found that 78 per cent of respondents wanted Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government to use the summits "to signal that Canada wants to be a leader in the global fight against climate change."
In a separate question, 65 per cent of respondents said they opposed the Harper government's strategy of waiting for the U.S. and other nations "to develop their plans for climate change before it implements further measures to address climate change."
http://tcktcktck.org/stories/fresh-air-center-bonn/
2-3-canadians-want-g8g20-summiteers-discuss-fossil-fuel-fix-poll
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Fossil fuel subsidies are a sticky problem
The world's addiction to oil and other fossil fuels is enabled by the subsidies many governments provide to make them so cheap.
Some details have already started to leak out, and the scale of subsidization worldwide is massive. The IEA came out with its own announcement that public spending on consumption subsidies – payments made to make coal, oil and gas more affordable to consumers – was $556-billion (U.S.) in 2008, a $215-billion increase from 2007.
The IEA estimates that phasing out the subsidies in the next 10 years could cut global energy demand by 6 per cent, and reduce carbon emissions equal to 30 per cent of the reduction needed to keep global temperatures from rising by 2 degrees.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opi ... ditorials/
fossil-fuel-subsidies-are-a-sticky-problem/article1611006/
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Natural Gas and Sustainable Energy Initiative
The Worldwatch Institute has launched an initiative designed to explore and communicate the potential of natural gas, renewable energy, and energy efficiency to work together to build a low-carbon economy. The project provides a forum to examine potential environmental, social, and political obstacles that must be addressed if natural gas is to accelerate, rather than delay, a low-carbon energy transformation. Read the report here: http://www.worldwatch.org/node/6421
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A New Generation of Natural Gas Drilling Is Endangering Communities From the Rockies to New York
Filmmaker Josh Fox talks about 'Gasland' and his quest to understand the risks posed by today's natural gas industry.
The film's stunning footage shows the consequences of fracking on the communities where it takes place: the huge pits and pools of used toxic fracking fluid, left to spill on the ground and evaporate into the atmosphere; darkened and foul-smelling air and water; sick vegetation, animals and people; and dramatic gas explosions and fires, including tap water that bursts into flames.
http://www.alternet.org/water/147298?page=1
Get all your G8/20 news from:
Toronto Community Mobilization Network:
http://g20.torontomobilize.org/
Rabble: http://rabble.ca/
G20 Alt Media Centre http://2010.mediacoop.ca/
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Angela Bischoff, Outreach Director
Ontario Clean Air Alliance
Tel: 416 926 1907 x 246
625 Church Street, #402, Toronto, ON M4Y 2G1
angela@cleanairalliance.org
www.ontariosgreenfuture.ca
www.cleanairalliance.org
Our Facebook Group
Sign Our Petition
No Nukes News
Health Power
======================
7. Sweden backs nuclear reactors
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/
Sweden+backs+nuclear+reactors/3169629/story.html
REUTERS JUNE 18, 2010
Sweden's parliament voided a 30-year-old ban on building new nuclear reactors on Thursday after a debate pitting the country's need for low-carbon energy sources against environmental concerns over atomic energy.
The new legislation will allow construction of new reactors at existing plants from Jan. 1 next year to replace the 10 aging reactors that still produce roughly 40 per cent of the Nordic country's electricity.
The vote was passed with a majority of two with 174 voting for the bill and 172 against. Three legislators were absent.
MORE:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/
Sweden+backs+nuclear+reactors/3169629/story.html
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8. French nuke wine gets new name
http://www.news24.com/World/News/
French-nuke-wine-gets-new-name-20100609
2010-06-09 20:03
Lyon - A French wine that shared its name with a nearby problem-plagued nuclear power plant on Wednesday won the right to change its designation.
The Tricastin wines of southern France will now be known as the Grignan-Les Adhemar, according to a ruling from the powerful Inao agency tasked with regulating French agricultural products.
The decision capped a two-year campaign by wine producers to change the wine's official designation after a series of minor accidents at the Tricastin nuclear plant made headlines in 2008.
"I am relieved and very satisfied," commented the president of the Coteaux du Tricastin wine producers Henri Bour.
"The wine producers needed to get rid of this image that unfairly stuck to them. The ball and chain has been removed," he said.
"We can now turn over a new leaf."
MORE: http://www.news24.com/World/News/
French-nuke-wine-gets-new-name-20100609
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9. Iran postpones nuclear talks
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/06/
2010628124311454616.html
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, has said that talks over his country's nuclear programme will be postponed until late August.
The current talks involve Tehran and the so-called "P5+1" countries - the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany.
Ahmadinejad also called for new negotiating partners and said more countries should be involved.
Speaking at a news conference on Monday, the president said the negotiators should be asked whether they support Israel's right to nuclear weapons.
"They should declare their opinion about the nuclear bombs of the Zionist regime," he said.
"[And] they should declare what they are seeking through talks with Iran. Do they want to befriend us or do they seek enmity?"
Ahmadinejad did not specify which other countries should be involved.
He described the delay as "punishment" for a new round of economic sanctions against Iran approved earlier this month.
John Large, an independent nuclear consultant, said the delayed talks would worry western governments, especially following Iran's recent decision to bar two International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors from entering the country.
(http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/06/
201062173015266179.html)
MORE:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/06/
2010628124311454616.html
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10. Former CIA spy: War with Iran is imminent
http://www.thedailycrux.com/content/5065/Iran
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 From Forbes:
Last week, Iran's opposition leaders Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi canceled anti-government demonstrations timed to commemorate the anniversary of last year's disputed presidential election.
Secretary of the State Hillary Clinton called the cancellation "regrettable," but missed the larger point. The reform these two men offer is not what the majority of Iranians want: They want an end to the current Islamic regime.
MORE: http://www.thedailycrux.com/content/5065/Iran
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11. Survey: 77% say “peace and nuclear disarmament” very important issues for G8/G20 summits
Posted: 25 Jun 2010 12:14 PM PDT
When asked to rate the importance of ten issues, respondents overwhelmingly focused on the environment. "The right to clean water" (91%) and "global warming" (86%) were chosen most often as "very important" topics for leaders to discuss, followed closely by "food security and hunger" (85%) and "global peace and nuclear disarmament" (77%).
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4968&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
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12. Mother of Canadian soldier to Harper, G20: 'Withdraw from Afghanistan now'
http://www.rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/derrick/2010/06/
mother-canadian-soldier-harper-g20-withdraw-afghanistan-now
By Derrick O'Keefe | June 26, 2010
There will be extra significance to the anti-war feeder rally and march today, taking place at 12:30pm in the lead-up to the 'Putting People First' rally and the rest of the Day of Action against the G20. Among those raising their voices against Canada's role in Afghanistan will be a local military mom. Here's the release we have put out from the Canadian Peace Alliance:
Josie Forcadilla, the mother of a Canadian soldier recently deployed to Afghanistan, will join a G20 anti-war rally, making her first-ever public comments against the war. The Canadian Peace Alliance is holding a press conference at 11:30am Saturday outside the U.S. Consulate at 360 University Avenue, featuring Forcadilla and other opponents of the war.
“Considering the number of deaths, not to mention the injured and those who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, it is time for the Harper government to withdraw unconditionally all Canadian Forces personnel in Afghanistan," says Forcadilla.
MORE: http://www.rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/derrick/2010/06/
mother-canadian-soldier-harper-g20-withdraw-afghanistan-now
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13. Did 9/11 Justify the War in Afghanistan?
Using the McChrystal Moment to Raise a Forbidden Question
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19891
By Prof. David Ray Griffin
Global Research, June 25, 2010
There are many questions to ask about the war in Afghanistan. One that has been widely asked is whether it will turn out to be “Obama’s Vietnam.” This question implies another: Is this war winnable, or is it destined to be a quagmire, like Vietnam? These questions are motivated in part by the widespread agreement that the Afghan government, under Hamid Karzai, is at least as corrupt and incompetent as the government the United States tried to prop up in South Vietnam for 20 years.1
Although there are many similarities between these two wars, there is also a big difference: This time, there is no draft. If there were a draft, so that college students and their friends back home were being sent to Afghanistan, there would be huge demonstrations against this war on campuses all across this country. If the sons and daughters of wealthy and middle-class parents were coming home in boxes, or with permanent injuries or post-traumatic stress syndrome, this war would have surely been stopped long ago. People have often asked: Did we learn any of the “lessons of Vietnam”? The US government learned one: If you’re going to fight unpopular wars, don’t have a draft – hire mercenaries!
There are many other questions that have been, and should be, asked about this war, but in this essay, I focus on only one: Did the 9/11 attacks justify the war in Afghanistan?
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19891
===========================
14. The Land Where Theories of Warfare Go to Die
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/06/28-0
The Land Where Theories of Warfare Go to Die Obama, Petraeus, and the Cult of COIN in Afghanistan
by Robert Dreyfuss Published on Monday, June 28, 2010 by TomDispatch.com
Less than a year ago, General David Petraeus saluted smartly and pledged his loyal support for President Obama's decision to start withdrawing U.S. forces from Afghanistan in July 2011. In December, when Obama decided (for the second time in 2009) to add tens of thousands of additional American forces to the war, he also slapped an 18-month deadline on the military to turn the situation around and begin handing security over to the bedraggled Afghan National Army and police. Speaking to the nation from West Point [1], Obama said that he'd ordered American forces to start withdrawing from Afghanistan at that time.
Here's the exchange, between Obama, Petraeus, and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as reported by Jonathan Alter in his new book, The Promise: President Obama, Year One [2]:
MORE: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/06/28-0
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15. Four Possible BP-Style Extreme Energy Nightmares to Come The disaster in the Gulf is no anomaly. It's an arrow pointing toward future disasters.
June 22, 2010 / By Michael T. Klare
http://www.alternet.org/story/147293/
four_possible_bp-style_extreme_energy_nightmares_to_come_?page=entire
On June 15th, in their testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the chief executives of America's leading oil companies argued that BP's Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico was an aberration -- something that would not have occurred with proper corporate oversight and will not happen again once proper safeguards are put in place. This is fallacious, if not an outright lie. The Deep Horizon explosion was the inevitable result of a relentless effort to extract oil from ever deeper and more hazardous locations. In fact, as long as the industry continues its relentless, reckless pursuit of "extreme energy" -- oil, natural gas, coal, and uranium obtained from geologically, environmentally, and politically unsafe areas -- more such calamities are
destined to occur.
At the onset of the modern industrial era, basic fuels were easy to obtain from large, near-at-hand energy deposits in relatively safe and friendly locations. The rise of the automobile and the spread of suburbia, for example, were made possible by the availability of cheap and abundant oil from large reservoirs in California, Texas, and Oklahoma, and from the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico. But these and equivalent deposits of coal, gas, and uranium have been depleted. This means the survival of our
energy-centric civilization increasingly relies on supplies obtained from risky locations -- deep underground, far at sea, north of the Arctic circle, in complex geological formations, or in unsafe political environments. That guarantees the equivalent of two, three, four, or more Gulf-oil-spill-style disasters in our energy future.
MORE:
http://www.alternet.org/story/147293/
four_possible_bp-style_extreme_energy_nightmares_to_come_?page=entire
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16. Dealing with spills - By Dianne Saxe
The Lawyers Weekly - June 18 2010 issue
http://www.lawyersweekly.ca/index.php?s ... cleid=1191
Excerpt from article
"There is one area, however, in which the legal system makes a clear, simple and unique contribution to making things worse. We encourage investors, insurers, and other financial players to take ultra high risks by capping their exposure to third-party damages. Canada’s Nuclear Liability Act, for example, limits the liability of the nuclear industry for a Chernobyl-style accident to the relatively tiny amount of $75 million. (A bill to increase the cap to $650 million received first reading in April, again.)
Offshore drilling benefits from a similar, enormous, hidden subsidy. The American Oil Pollution Act limits liability to $75 million. Congress now proposes to retroactively change this to $10 billion although BP has undertaken to pay full compensation. Canada has even lower caps. For example, the Canada-Nova Scotia Oil and Gas Spills and Debris Liability Regulations, under the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation Act, put a $30 million cap on third-party liability. If an accident happens, the general taxpayer, the natural environment and nearby communities will bear any extra costs. Thus, profits are privatized while the public bears the risk.
Would removing the caps help reduce the frequency and severity of spills? It might. It would certainly give all the financial players a much greater incentive to take every possible precaution, and perhaps to invest instead in alternative sources of energy. Without such hidden subsidies, would oil look so cheap?"
MORE:
http://www.lawyersweekly.ca/index.php?s ... cleid=1191
======================
17. The Mysterious Death of Dr David Kelly: Damning New Evidence Points to a Cover-up by Tony Blair's Government
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19930
By Miles Goslett and Stephen Frost Global Research, June 27, 2010
The official story of Dr David Kelly is that he took his own life in an Oxfordshire wood by overdosing on painkillers and cutting his left wrist with a pruning knife.
He was said to be devastated after being unmasked as the source of the BBC’s claim that the Government had ‘sexed up’ the case for war in Iraq.
A subsequent official inquiry led by Lord Hutton into the circumstances leading to the death came to the unequivocal conclusion that Kelly committed suicide.
Yet suspicions of foul play still hang heavy over the death of the weapons expert whose body was found seven years ago next month in one of the most notorious episodes of Tony Blair’s premiership
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19930
=====================
18. Through the Wormhole: The Secret State's Mad Scheme to Control the Internet
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19934
By Tom Burghardt Global Research, June 27, 2010
Antifascist Calling...
Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz once famously wrote that "war is the continuation of politics by other means." A century later, radical French philosopher Michel Foucault turned Clausewitz on his head and declared that "politics is the continuation of war by other means."
In our topsy-turvy world where truth and lies coexist equally and sociopathic business elites reign supreme, it would hardly be a stretch to theorize that cyber war is the continuation of parapolitical crime by other means.
Through the Wormhole
In Speed and Politics, cultural theorist Paul Virilio argued that "history progresses at the speed of its weapons systems." With electronic communications now blanketing the globe, it was only a matter of time before our political masters, (temporarily) outflanked by the subversive uses to which new media lend themselves, would deploy what Virilio called the "integral accident" (9/11 being one of many examples) and gin-up entirely new categories of threats, "Cyber Pearl Harbor" comes to mind, from which of course, they would "save us."
That the revolving door connecting the military and the corporations who service war making is a highly-profitable redoubt for those involved, has been analyzed here at great length. With new moves to tighten the screws on the immediate horizon, and as "Change" reveals itself for what it always was, an Orwellian exercise in public diplomacy, hitting the "kill switch" serves as an apt descriptor for the new, repressive growth sector that links technophilic fantasies of "net-centric" warfare to the burgeoning "homeland security" market.
Back in March, Wired investigative journalist Ryan Singel wrote that the "biggest threat to the open internet" isn't "Chinese hackers" or "greedy ISPs" but corporatist warriors like former Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell.
Having retreated to his old haunt as a senior vice president with the ultra-spooky firm Booz Allen Hamilton (a post he held for a decade before joining the Bush administration), McConnell stands to make millions as Booz Allen's parent company, the secretive private equity powerhouse, The Carlyle Group, plans to take the firm public and sell some $300 million worth of shares, The Wall Street Journal reported last week.
"With its deep ties to the defense establishment" the Journal notes, "Booz Allen has become embedded in a range of military operations such as planning war games and intelligence initiatives." That Carlyle Group investors have made out like proverbial bandits during the endless "War on Terror" goes without saying. With "relatively low debt levels for a leveraged buyout," the investment "has been a successful one for Carlyle, which has benefited from the U.S. government's increasing reliance on outsourcing in defense."
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19934
=======================
19. (AB) Wildrose leader tears into Tories: 'We've had enough'
QUOTE: “Much will depend on the more than 40 policy resolutions party members vote on today. Some of the more controversial items include resolutions guaranteeing Albertans a right to bear arms, establishing a provincial police force and supporting nuclear power development.”
- - - -
(AB) Wildrose leader tears into Tories: 'We've had enough'
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/
Wildrose+leader+tears+into+Tories+enough/3202872/story.html#ixzz0sABvhang
Smith tells convention to prepare for battle; time for tougher conservative policies
By Archie McLean, edmontonjournal.com June 26, 2010
RED DEER — Alberta needs a return to harder-edged conservative policies, including tighter spending rules, Europeanstyle mixed health care and leaner regulations for business, Wildrose Alliance Party Leader Danielle Smith said Friday.
Smith told roughly 800 raucous supporters at her party's annual convention that the provincial Progressive Conservative party has become arrogant, unprincipled and insufficiently right wing after almost 40 years in power.
"We've had enough of socialists and liberals masquerading as conservatives, we've had enough of central planners making all the decisions from the legislature," Smith said. "We've had enough of a government that doesn't listen to Albertans, doesn't reflect our values and doesn't even seem to care."
Smith was unrelenting in her criticism of the Tories. She told party members to prepare for battle against a governing party that will do anything to hold on to power.
The weekend gathering is the Wildrose Alliance's first since last fall when Paul Hinman won a Calgary byelection and Smith was elected leader.
After a flurry of initial media attention, Smith has adopted a lower profile, attending golf tournaments, barbecues and other smallish events across the province.
Opinion polls in the fall showed the party challenging the Tories for top spot among voters. The party has settled into a second place among decided voters, behind the Conservatives but ahead of the Opposition Liberals.
Wildrose Alliance is counting on this convention to introduce themselves to voters uneasy with the Conservatives but unclear about them.
Smith called it the Wildrose "coming-out party."
Much will depend on the more than 40 policy resolutions party members vote on today.
Some of the more controversial items include resolutions guaranteeing Albertans a right to bear arms, establishing a provincial police force and supporting nuclear power development.
MORE:
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/
Wildrose+leader+tears+into+Tories+enough/3202872/story.html#ixzz0sABvhang
1. Subject: Update to Information Bulletin 10-12: New comment on Discussion Paper DIS-10-01 'Management of Uranium Mine Waste Rock and Mill Tailings' posted for feedback – Please provide your feedback no later than July 14, 2010.
2. Saskatchewan, Quebec can produce medical isotopes without nuclear reactors or uranium!
3. Harper says nuclear co-operation deal marks new era in Canada-India relations
4. CNSC: Follow-Up to Ottawa Earthquake
5. Radon is invisible, deadly
6. No Nukes News - June 25, 2010 - Pass this onto a friend! – a
7. Sweden backs nuclear reactors
8. French nuke wine gets new name
9. Iran postpones nuclear talks
10. Former CIA spy: War with Iran is imminent
11. Survey: 77% say “peace and nuclear disarmament” very important issues for G8/G20 summits
12. Mother of Canadian soldier to Harper, G20: 'Withdraw from Afghanistan now'
13. Did 9/11 Justify the War in Afghanistan?
14. The Land Where Theories of Warfare Go to Die
15. Four Possible BP-Style Extreme Energy Nightmares to Come The disaster in the Gulf is no anomaly. It's an arrow pointing toward future disasters.
16. Dealing with spills - By Dianne Saxe
17. The Mysterious Death of Dr David Kelly: Damning New Evidence Points to a Cover-up by Tony Blair's Government
18. Through the Wormhole: The Secret State's Mad Scheme to Control the Internet
19. (AB) Wildrose leader tears into Tories: 'We've had enough'
==================
1. Subject: Update to Information Bulletin 10-12: New comment on Discussion Paper DIS-10-01 'Management of Uranium Mine Waste Rock and Mill Tailings' posted for feedback – Please provide your feedback no later than July 14, 2010.
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/read ... bulletins/
view_bulletin.cfm?bulletin_id=220
Information Bulletin 10-14 June 29, 2010
Listed below is additional feedback received by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) from the Newfoundland and Labrador Chamber of Mineral Resources during the first round of consultation for Discussion Paper DIS-10-01 'Management of Uranium Mine Waste Rock and Mill Tailings'. This feedback was inadvertently omitted when Information Bulletin 10-12 was issued at the start of the second round of consultation.
With agreement from the Newfoundland and Labrador Chamber of Mineral Resources, their comments are being posted for the remainder of the second consultation period, which remains open until July 14, 2010.
View Information Bulletin 10-12 for more information about the second round of consultation for Discussion Paper DIS-10-01 'Management of Uranium Mine Waste Rock and Mill Tailings'.
To read more about the first round of consultation, which ended on May 25, 2010, view Information Bulletin 10-03 and the 'Support Document for Management of Uranium Mine Waste Rock and Mill Tailings'.
The CNSC will prepare a report that will summarize the feedback we heard, to be made available to the public once all comments have been reviewed. Please monitor the CNSC Web site for further details.
How to participate
To provide feedback on the comments received:
Email: consultation@cnsc-ccsn.gc.ca
Mail:
Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
Regulatory Framework Division
P.O. Box 1046, Station B
280 Slater Street
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
K1P 5S9
Fax: 613-995-5086
Please provide your feedback no later than July 14, 2010. Note that any comments submitted, including names and affiliations, are intended to be made public.
View additional comments received on Discussion Paper DIS-10-01 'Management of Uranium Mine Waste Rock and Mill Tailings'
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/read ... bulletins/
view_bulletin.cfm?bulletin_id=220
========================
2. Saskatchewan, Quebec can produce medical isotopes without nuclear reactors or uranium!
From: Gordon Edwards
Sent: Monday, June 28, 2010 10:30 AM
Subject: Saskatchewan, Quebec can produce medical isotopes without nuclear reactors or uranium!
Background:
It is increasingly clear that the production of medical isotopes for nuclear medicine does not require nuclear reactors or uranium.
See http://ccnr.org/isotope_shortage.html
The medical isotope most commonly used for diagnostic purposes is technetium-99m. There are an estimated 40 million uses around the world each year.
The current method for producing this isotope is to bombard a "target" of highly enriched uranium with neutrons. This is currently done in very old research reactors which do not produce electricity.
The neutrons cause the uranium atoms to fission, or split, creating hundreds of "fission products". The fission products are the broken pieces of the original uranium atoms.
See http://ccnr.org/hlw_chart.html
One of these fission products is molybdenum-99, which is the source of technetium-99m (the molybdenum-99 atoms rapidly undergo radio-active disintegration, turning into technetium-99m atoms).
But this process has many dangerous features to it:
(1) The forced operation of these geriatric nuclear reactors for isotope production poses risks of serious reactor accidents.
(2) The production of molybdenum-99 by fissioning uranium atoms continually adds to the legacy of high-level radioactive waste.
(3) The use of highly enriched uranium (weapons-grade uranium) poses serious risks of nuclear weapons proliferation to criminal or terrorist organizations through theft of the material (this was the main theme of US President Obama's Nuclear Security Summit held in April 2010 in Washington DC).
Researchers in Quebec at the University of Sherbrooke have announced that they have demonstrated the production of technetium-99m for medical purposes using a cyclotron, which does not require a nuclear reactor or uranium, and therefore eliminates entirely all three of the dangerous features itemized above. (See article number 2, below.)
Now the CLS people in Saskatchewan have announced that they can achieve the same objective using a linear accelerator. (See article.)
In British Columbia, the TRIUMF laboratory at the University of BC has announced the construction of a powerful accelerator over the next four years that can fission a target of non-weapons-grade uranium to produce technetium-99m, without the need for a nuclear reactor or highly-enriched uranium. Since the TRIUMF approach still involves the fissioning of uranium, there would still be high-level radioactive waste produced, but the two other dangerous features mentioned above would be eliminated.
Gordon Edwards.
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CLS may produce medical isotopes
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/health/pr ... +isotopes/
3204429/story.html
By Jeremy Warren, of The Star Phoenix June 26, 2010
The Canadian Light Source thinks it can help solve the medical isotope shortage in Canada without using a nuclear reactor or weapons-grade uranium.
The CLS, home of Canada's national synchrotron research centre, is proposing to use a linear accelerator to produce medical isotopes, which are used for diagnosis and treatment in nuclear medicine.
Natural Resources Canada has asked for proposals from institutions that can produce medical isotopes without a nuclear reactor and CLS officials are putting together a bid for $10 million of the $35-million pot of research funding available from Ottawa.
CLS officials are confident in the technology, but they have to prove that it can work as a business, said CLS deputy director and director of accelerators Mark de Jong.
"(Ottawa) wants some view of how these isotopes will be made commercially," de Jong said Friday afternoon. "Is it a business that makes sense? A lot of that is not clear right now."
When Ottawa's National Research Universal reactor in Chalk River was shut down for repairs last year, the halt in operations created a worldwide medical isotope shortage.
Now, the federal government, which plans to sell reactor operator Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, wants to privatize isotope production and create a secure supply for Canada.
Ottawa has turned to research institutions like CLS and the B.C.-based TRIUMF cyclotron to end the shortage, at least in Canada.
CLS proposes to use a linear accelerator, which measures four metres long, to create molybdenum-99, de Jong said.
The linear accelerator would shoot a concentrated beam of electrons at a stack of coin-sized disks made of molybdenum-100 and the reaction would knock out one neutron to leave moly-99.
Moly-99 decays in a 66-hour period to create technetium-99, the isotope used for nuclear medicine. CLS thinks it can make enough isotopes for 20 to 30 per cent of Canada's requirements.
There's no fission in the process and, unlike reactors, there's no issues with radioactive waste, de Jong said.
MORE: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/health/pr ... +isotopes/
3204429/story.html
=================
3. Harper says nuclear co-operation deal marks new era in Canada-India relations
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/headline_news/
article.jsp?content=b3790596
By: Mike Blanchfield, The Canadian Press 27/06/2010 10:40 PM
TORONTO - Stephen Harper says he believes India’s Cold War duplicity has been consigned to history and that the Asian economic powerhouse won’t use Canadian uranium to build nuclear bombs.
The prime minister offered that assurance as he gave India its much coveted civilian nuclear co-operation deal with Canada on Sunday, ending decades of chill over its acquisition of a nuclear bomb using Canadian nuclear reactor technology a generation ago.
Harper and visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced the deal that would allow for uranium exports to India, and technological exchanges that could be worth billions to the Canadian nuclear industry.
Harper said the deal represented a new era in Canadian-Indian relations.
“We cannot live as a country in the 1970s. We are living in very different realities today,” Harper said.
The issue has been a source of friction between the two countries since India used Canadian nuclear reactor technology to build a nuclear bomb.
Canada sold one of its reactors to India, which subsequently used the technology to develop a nuclear arms program in the early 1970s, despite official promises to the contrary.
India is a country of growing importance, the prime minister said, as he sounded an upbeat note on moving Canada closer to one of the world’s fastest growing economies.
“It shares with us not just key values, it shares with us key interests in the world and faces the same threats that we do," Harper added.
“We want to make sure as India develops its nuclear industry, that we are there and we are part of it because we have an important part to play and important opportunities.”
The deal calls for India to conform to safeguards of the UN watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Singh pledged India would play by the rules this time.
MORE:
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/headline_news/
article.jsp?content=b3790596
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Imminent Canada-India nuclear pact heightens tensions
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/asia-pacific/
imminent-canada-india-nuclear-pact-heightens-tensions/article1617240/
Impending deal could be worth billions for Canadian industry, but it has already become a source of concern in Pakistan
by Graeme Smith The Globe and Mail June 25, 2010
An imminent deal that would open the door for Canadian exports of uranium to India, could add to nuclear tensions in South Asia, some experts say.
The impending agreement made front-page news this week in India, amid speculation Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Canada for the G20 summit will allow him to sign a long-awaited nuclear co-operation pact.
The deal could be worth billions for Canadian industry and would formally end the mistrust that followed India’s nuclear test in 1974, when it became apparent that India had misused a Canadian research reactor to obtain weapons-grade plutonium.
Some experts on nuclear technology say the new deal could repeat history, however, with Canada unwittingly adding to the nuclear tensions in the region by easing India’s shortage of uranium.
“They’re not going to say this is for weapons, but they’re unlikely to rule it out,” said M.V. Ramana, a researcher at Princeton University.
Any such civil nuclear deal would include safeguards to prevent the exported uranium from being used for military purposes, Mr. Ramana said, but Canada’s supply would leave India free to use more, or all, of its own domestic uranium for weapons. The country is believed to produce about 300 to 450 metric tonnes annually, which Mr. Ramana estimated would be enough to make at least 60 Hiroshima-sized bombs.
The supply of uranium isn’t the only factor limiting the size of India’s nuclear stockpiles, but observers say any shift in production capacity could affect the military balance. The Federation of American Scientists estimates India’s arsenal at 60 to 80 warheads, and Pakistan’s at 70 to 90; their bitter rivalry is widely regarded as the world's most dangerous nuclear standoff.
- - - - SNIP - - - -
Dr. Ganguly brushed off concerns that a greater supply of uranium might allow India to build its nuclear arsenal.
“Those days are gone,” he said. “We’re not so stupid.”
==============================
4. CNSC: Follow-Up to Ottawa Earthquake
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/read ... bulletins/
view_bulletin.cfm?bulletin_id=219
Information Bulletin 0-13 June 23, 2010
The earthquake that occurred in parts of southern Ontario and as far as Ottawa and Montreal this afternoon was felt at the Darlington, Pickering and Gentilly-2 nuclear power plants, as well as at Chalk River Laboratories.
Licensees have confirmed that their operations have not been affected by the earthquake. There is no indication nor anticipation of any impact for the stations. As per procedures, licensees are completing a thorough review of station systems to confirm.
CNSC staff, both on site and in Ottawa, continue to monitor licensees' actions.
- - - - -
5.0 Val-des-Bois quake rattles Ottawa, eastern North America
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/
Bois+quake+rattles+Ottawa+eastern+North+America/3191688/
story.html?cid=megadrop_story
By Andrew Duffy , The Ottawa Citizen June 24, 2010
Send your stories to hottips@thecitizen.canwest.com
OTTAWA — Books and bottles rattled off shelves; bricks came loose from some buildings; downtown highrises were evacuated; and several Ottawa schools were examined for structural concerns.
But other than some limited property damage — and a few minor injuries — Ottawa escaped relatively unscathed Wednesday from what scientists describe as a “moderate” earthquake, centred in nearby Val-des-Bois, Que.
The quake did unnerve the nation’s capital and could be felt across much of eastern North America, from Montreal to Chicago, Illinois.
The quake struck at 1:41 p.m. with a magnitude of 5.0 and lasted between 20 and 30 seconds, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
It was centred an estimated 20 kilometres underground.
“This kind of earthquake is a rare event, but it’s not unexpected in this area,” said research scientist Jim Hunter, of the Geological Survey of Canada.
Wednesday’s quake was the third largest to strike the region during the past century. “This was quite a dandy,” Hunter said.
MORE: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/
Bois+quake+rattles+Ottawa+eastern+North+America/3191688/
story.html?cid=megadrop_story
=========================
5. Radon is invisible, deadly
http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/
Radon%20invisible%20deadly/3204991/story.html
By ANDRE FAUTEUX, Freelance June 26, 2010
"If Health Canada had widely publicized the dangers of radon before 2007, I might not have developed an incurable lung cancer,’’ says Marie Bédard of Quebec City.
Marie Bedard never smoked in her life. So she was doubly shocked to be diagnosed with incurable lung cancer in the fall of 2007.
Two years later, Bedard read an article about radon in Touring magazine, published by CAA-Quebec. Radon is a colourless, odourless and radioactive gas that can seep into buildings, she learned, and has been recognized by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a direct cause of lung cancer since 1988.
It's the second cause of the disease after smoking, and the first among non-smokers who have been exposed to high concentrations for several years. Radon levels are highest in the lower floors of buildings, and particularly in basements.
"Nobody had ever put me on that track," the 54-year-old accountant, said in a telephone interview. "If Health Canada had widely publicized the dangers of radon before 2007, I might not have developed an incurable lung cancer," said Bedard, the mother of a 17-year-old daughter. Bedard says she believes her cancer was caused by exposure to radon.
When a test she ordered last winter showed the Quebec City bungalow where she has lived since 1985 was accumulating huge concentrations of radon, she quickly had the problem fixed. But it was too little, too late.
Radon is one of the principal naturally-occurring causes of cancer; others include arsenic and mould. It is produced by the decay of uranium present in soil, water and rock, and contributes more than half of the natural radiation dose received by most people, according to the Canadian Nuclear Association. Like man-made ionizing radiation (X-rays and nuclear power), radon causes repeated and cumulative genetic damage by removing or adding electric charges (ions) to our cells. Lung cancer is the only known health risk of radon exposure.
MORE:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/
Radon%20invisible%20deadly/3204991/story.html
=================
6. No Nukes News - June 25, 2010 - Pass this onto a friend!
Let’s show the world at the G20 Summit that we are taking action on climate change!
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AECL requests hearing to restart leaky isotope reactor
Canada's nuclear watchdog is fast-tracking a request for a hearing to consider reopening the country's aging medical isotope-producing reactor. Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. made a request Friday for a formal hearing in hopes of restarting medical isotope production at the Ontario plant by mid-summer.
"The Commission will vary the CNSC Rules of Procedures so that AECL's request will be dealt with in a fair and expeditious manner." Speeding up the process will mean the public will have little time to respond to documents filed by AECL to the regulator.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/s ... /20100612/
aecl-nuclear-100612/20100612?hub=Canada
Background:
CNSC shows that its first priority is getting nuclear facilities approved and back in operation quickly, for the sake of the business interests involved -- not protecting the public and the environment, as the CNSC legal mandate dictates. Health and safety are not just given a lower priority, they are hardly even considered in any serious manner.
AECL has had more than a year to make repairs to the geriatric NRU reactor, but public concerns over its radioactive emissions and nuclear waste production will be given scant attention.
Nor does the CNSC show any inclination to tackle the question of whether Chalk River should be continuing to use weapons-grade uranium. President Obama's Washington summit in April 2010 aimed at eliminating the transport and use of such high-security weapons-grade material for any civilian purposes, but the CNSC seems to be oblivious to the global threat posed by such traffic.
To top it all off, there is no indication that CNSC will be considering the cancers caused by the use of medical isotopes, nor the long-term environmental impact of such use.- (Dr.) Gordon Edwards, Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility (CCNR) http://www.ccnr.org/
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Public Hearing on Chalk River
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) will host a one-day public hearing to consider Atomic Energy of Canada¹s (AECL) application for the restart of the National Research Universal (NRU) Reactor located at the Chalk River Laboratories (CRL) site in Chalk River, Ontario.
Hearing: Mon. June 28, 9 a.m.
Place: CNSC Public Hearing Room, 14th floor, 280 Slater Street, Ottawa, Ontario
The public hearing will be webcasted live on the Internet via the CNSC Web site and archived for a period of 90 days.
The public is invited to comment on AECL’s request. Requests to intervene must be filed with the Secretary of the Commission by June 23, 2010 directly on-line at
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/comm ... ervention/
index.cfm
Find out more:
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/commission/pdf/
Notice-2010-H-07-AECL-NRU-Restart-Revision1-Edocs3562071-e.pdf
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Canada is falling behind on true green innovation
“The unfortunate truth is that, today, Canada has virtually no national strategy on renewable energy; no plans for high-speed rail lines in development; no national smart-grid plans of any consequences; no greenhouse gas emissions reductions goals of any meaning; and no energy efficiency goals,”
http://www.thestar.com/business/cleanbreak/article/
824436--hamilton-canada-is-falling-behind-on-true-green-innovation
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Management of Uranium Mine Waste Rock and Mill Tailings
Provide your feedback on comments received: Discussion Paper DIS-10-01 before July 14, 2010
http://oen.ca/
index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=255&cntnt01dateformat=%25b%20%25d%2C%20%25Y&cntnt01returnid=75
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Atomic Café
Not a moment too soon, THE ATOMIC CAFE is back to provide us with a much-needed release of comic energy. A dark comedy in the truest sense, this timeless classic took the nation by storm when it first debuted in 1982. The film recounts a defining period of 20th century history and serves as a chilling and often hilarious reminder of cold-war era paranoia in the United States--artfully presented through a collage of newsreel footage, government archives, military training films, and fifties music. Profoundly shocking and perversely topical, THE ATOMIC CAFE craftily captures a panicked nation, offering a fascinating and witty account of life during the atomic age and resulting cold war, when fall-out shelters, duck-and-cover drills, and government propaganda were all a part of our social consciousness. Regarded by critics as a nuclear Reefer Madness and likened to Stanley Kubricks Dr. Strangelove, this profoundly shocking and highly amusing film is a stunner, a gripping account of an unforgettable era and an indisputable must-see for all Americans.
You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOUtZOqgSG8
Google Video
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 766604475#
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Anti-Nuke Fact Sheets Galore – Everything you wanted to know about nukes but were afraid to ask
Nukes and Climate Change
Radioactive Waste
Radiation
Alternatives
And much more!
http://www.nirs.org/factsheets/fctsht.htm
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How The World Nuked Itself Over 2,000 Times
Who needs a wartime nuclear exchange when you have peaceful countries nuking the gamma rays out of their own sovereign territories? The following video shows all the nuclear "tests" conducted by the world in the period between 1945 and 1998. Based on public data, the world's peaceful countries have already nuked themselves at least 2,054 times, with the US nuking the state of Nevada and its immediate neighbors about one thousand times. And keep in mind -- the fallout does not just miraculously "disappear."
Watch clip: http://www.zerohedge.com/article/
how-world-nuked-itself-over-2000-times
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Safe and Green Energy Peterborough (SAGE) is holding a…Public Consultation on the proposed New Nuclear Build at the Darlington Plant
… at the Peterborough Public Library on Tuesday June 29th from 11am to 2pm and Wednesday June 30th from 6pm to 9pm.
As part of SAGE's mandate as an intervening group in the New Build's Environmental Assessment, the group is inviting individuals and groups to present their findings and concerns around the environmental, economic, and social impacts of OPG's proposed New Nuclear Build at Darlington. SAGE will be selecting and compiling the presentations to be submitted in the Proposed New Nuclear Build's Environmental Assessment.
Backgrounder: Safe And Green Energy (SAGE) Peterborough is comprised of a group of concerned Ontario citizens who peacefully oppose the renewed focus on nuclear energy and the mining of uranium in Ontario, and is an advocate for safe and renewable energy sources. SAGE members share a concern for the environment, the future of humanity, social equity, and the responsible management of public funds. SAGE activities focus on exposing the drawbacks and costs of nuclear energy in the light of renewable energy options. SAGE also recognizes the short and long-term hazards of uranium mining as major pitfalls within any nuclear energy strategy. SAGE networks with other anti-nuclear and environmental groups across Ontario and Canada. SAGE is an Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG) working group. SAGE recently received funding to submit a report to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) on the proposed Darlington Nuclear New Build.
Background on the Proposed New Nuclear Build at Darlington Nuclear Plant: On September 21st, 2006, OPG applied for the license to build up to four new nuclear reactors at the Darlington Nuclear Power Plant. On November 22nd, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission informed OPG that the project would require an Environmental Assessment (EA) in order to receive a license to build. As part of this EA, OPG is required to produce an Environmental Impact Statement that meets all of the requirements laid out in the Guidelines for the Preparation of the Environmental Impact Statement. This measure is to ensure that OPG is aware of and prepared to mitigate the environmental and social impacts of the proposed Nuclear Newbuild at the Darlington Nuclear Power Plant. This Public Consultation is a part of SAGE Peterborough’s participation in the EA process.
For more information please contact:
Roy Brady (705) 745 2446 rbrady1@cogeco.ca -
John Etches (705) 748 2219 etchesjohn@yahoo.ca -
Stephen Cornwell (416) 587 4948 stephen.d.g.cornwell@gmail.com
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Ten Reasons to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
http://www.wagingpeace.org/menu/issues/nuclear-weapons/
10-reasons-abolish-nw.htm
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Climate change poses economic threat - By Wangari Maathai
The current upheaval caused by the economic recession pales in comparison to the potential impacts of climate change, which, if unabated, threatens to bring more disasters, famine, disease, resource scarcity, human displacement and migrations and economic instability than ever before.
Too often such conflicts are labelled as inter-ethnic or religious, ignoring the fact that climate change, environmental degradation and the pursuit of fossil fuels is the root cause of so much conflict in the world today.
Droughts in Kenya, wildfires in California and melting glaciers in our mountains are further indications that we are on the tipping point of a catastrophe scientists have long been predicting. No country or community is immune from climate change, but the greatest tragedy is that those who are most affected and who are least able to adapt and mitigate against climate change, are least responsible. While leaders of the world’s richest countries bear the greatest responsibility for rising global temperatures, it is those already living on the edge of poverty who will feel the impacts most acutely.
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinin/article/
827726--climate-change-poses-economic-threat
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We really can live without tar sands, but don't tell the oil patch
The scariest thing for the oil industry right now is not the front page pictures of dying, oil-covered birds in the Gulf of Mexico, or pictures of dead, oil covered ducks in the Alberta tar sands. The most frightening spectre for them is a surging renewable energy industry united with environmentalists to destroy the myth of oil's necessity.
Yet that is precisely what happened last week, when Greenpeace and the European Renewable Energy Council released their 'Energy [R]evolution' blueprint for cutting carbon emissions while achieving economic growth. The simple solution is to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy and energy efficiency. The study was developed in conjunction with specialists from the German Aerospace Centre and more than 30 scientists and engineers from universities, institutes and the renewable energy industry around the world. It demonstrated that in a world taking serious action on climate change, there is no need for unconventional oil from the tar sands.
http://hilltimes.com/page/printpage/oilpatch-06-21-2010
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Canada to Phase In New Emission Rules for Coal Plants
Canadian Environment Minister Jim Prentice announced the country will phase in greenhouse-gas emissions standards for coal-powered energy facilities to give the industry time to adopt cleaner technologies.
The government will mandate that traditional coal-fired plants either meet new standards that will be announced next year, or close once they reach the end of their "economic life," Prentice said today in Ottawa. Thirty-three of Canada's 51 coal-burning units will reach the end of their economic life by 2025, he said.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... a/2010/06/
22/bloomberg1376-L4GXQL6LUTXG01-30MJRM6FO58VJKEEFHKND21BAJ.DTL
Canada to phase out older coal-fired power plants
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2320360820100623
Climate Action Network response to federal Gov’t’s announcement for regulating coal fired power plants
When it comes to regulations, this government has been making a series of empty promises for over three years, meanwhile coal plants continue to be built and emissions continue to rise. It appears that these new proposed regulations are actually a step back from unmet promises made three years ago. We need a coal free Canada. This means phasing out existing coal plants, prohibiting the construction of new plants and instead making meaningful investments in renewable energy and energy conservation.
http://www.climateactionnetwork.ca/e/news/2010/release/
index.php?WEBYEP_DI=43
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Wind called crucial to replacing coal in Ontario
One Port Burwell farmer says he’s ‘thrilled’ to be part of the wind turbine movement
Despite pockets of resistance across Ontario, wind is here to stay, and growing, said Robert Hornung, president of Canwea. Wind generates about 12,000 megawatts of power now, another 500 is coming online this year with 1,500 in the near future. Ontario’s standards for turbines, including setbacks from residential homes, are the most rigorous in North America and the world.
As for those protesters, turbines have been generating electricity safely for decades in other countries — it now accounts for about 13% of all Spain’s power — and Hornung believes opposition is based on “misinformation.”
http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2010 ... 02711.html
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2 in 3 Canadians want G8/G20 summiteers to discuss fossil fuel fix: Poll
Two of three Canadians want the Harper government to show leadership at the G8 and G20 summits and announce plans to eliminate subsidies for the fossil fuel industry, according to results of a poll released on Friday.
It also found that 78 per cent of respondents wanted Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government to use the summits "to signal that Canada wants to be a leader in the global fight against climate change."
In a separate question, 65 per cent of respondents said they opposed the Harper government's strategy of waiting for the U.S. and other nations "to develop their plans for climate change before it implements further measures to address climate change."
http://tcktcktck.org/stories/fresh-air-center-bonn/
2-3-canadians-want-g8g20-summiteers-discuss-fossil-fuel-fix-poll
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Fossil fuel subsidies are a sticky problem
The world's addiction to oil and other fossil fuels is enabled by the subsidies many governments provide to make them so cheap.
Some details have already started to leak out, and the scale of subsidization worldwide is massive. The IEA came out with its own announcement that public spending on consumption subsidies – payments made to make coal, oil and gas more affordable to consumers – was $556-billion (U.S.) in 2008, a $215-billion increase from 2007.
The IEA estimates that phasing out the subsidies in the next 10 years could cut global energy demand by 6 per cent, and reduce carbon emissions equal to 30 per cent of the reduction needed to keep global temperatures from rising by 2 degrees.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opi ... ditorials/
fossil-fuel-subsidies-are-a-sticky-problem/article1611006/
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Natural Gas and Sustainable Energy Initiative
The Worldwatch Institute has launched an initiative designed to explore and communicate the potential of natural gas, renewable energy, and energy efficiency to work together to build a low-carbon economy. The project provides a forum to examine potential environmental, social, and political obstacles that must be addressed if natural gas is to accelerate, rather than delay, a low-carbon energy transformation. Read the report here: http://www.worldwatch.org/node/6421
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A New Generation of Natural Gas Drilling Is Endangering Communities From the Rockies to New York
Filmmaker Josh Fox talks about 'Gasland' and his quest to understand the risks posed by today's natural gas industry.
The film's stunning footage shows the consequences of fracking on the communities where it takes place: the huge pits and pools of used toxic fracking fluid, left to spill on the ground and evaporate into the atmosphere; darkened and foul-smelling air and water; sick vegetation, animals and people; and dramatic gas explosions and fires, including tap water that bursts into flames.
http://www.alternet.org/water/147298?page=1
Get all your G8/20 news from:
Toronto Community Mobilization Network:
http://g20.torontomobilize.org/
Rabble: http://rabble.ca/
G20 Alt Media Centre http://2010.mediacoop.ca/
----------------------------------------------------------------
Angela Bischoff, Outreach Director
Ontario Clean Air Alliance
Tel: 416 926 1907 x 246
625 Church Street, #402, Toronto, ON M4Y 2G1
angela@cleanairalliance.org
www.ontariosgreenfuture.ca
www.cleanairalliance.org
Our Facebook Group
Sign Our Petition
No Nukes News
Health Power
======================
7. Sweden backs nuclear reactors
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/
Sweden+backs+nuclear+reactors/3169629/story.html
REUTERS JUNE 18, 2010
Sweden's parliament voided a 30-year-old ban on building new nuclear reactors on Thursday after a debate pitting the country's need for low-carbon energy sources against environmental concerns over atomic energy.
The new legislation will allow construction of new reactors at existing plants from Jan. 1 next year to replace the 10 aging reactors that still produce roughly 40 per cent of the Nordic country's electricity.
The vote was passed with a majority of two with 174 voting for the bill and 172 against. Three legislators were absent.
MORE:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/
Sweden+backs+nuclear+reactors/3169629/story.html
=====================
8. French nuke wine gets new name
http://www.news24.com/World/News/
French-nuke-wine-gets-new-name-20100609
2010-06-09 20:03
Lyon - A French wine that shared its name with a nearby problem-plagued nuclear power plant on Wednesday won the right to change its designation.
The Tricastin wines of southern France will now be known as the Grignan-Les Adhemar, according to a ruling from the powerful Inao agency tasked with regulating French agricultural products.
The decision capped a two-year campaign by wine producers to change the wine's official designation after a series of minor accidents at the Tricastin nuclear plant made headlines in 2008.
"I am relieved and very satisfied," commented the president of the Coteaux du Tricastin wine producers Henri Bour.
"The wine producers needed to get rid of this image that unfairly stuck to them. The ball and chain has been removed," he said.
"We can now turn over a new leaf."
MORE: http://www.news24.com/World/News/
French-nuke-wine-gets-new-name-20100609
========================
9. Iran postpones nuclear talks
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/06/
2010628124311454616.html
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, has said that talks over his country's nuclear programme will be postponed until late August.
The current talks involve Tehran and the so-called "P5+1" countries - the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany.
Ahmadinejad also called for new negotiating partners and said more countries should be involved.
Speaking at a news conference on Monday, the president said the negotiators should be asked whether they support Israel's right to nuclear weapons.
"They should declare their opinion about the nuclear bombs of the Zionist regime," he said.
"[And] they should declare what they are seeking through talks with Iran. Do they want to befriend us or do they seek enmity?"
Ahmadinejad did not specify which other countries should be involved.
He described the delay as "punishment" for a new round of economic sanctions against Iran approved earlier this month.
John Large, an independent nuclear consultant, said the delayed talks would worry western governments, especially following Iran's recent decision to bar two International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors from entering the country.
(http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/06/
201062173015266179.html)
MORE:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/06/
2010628124311454616.html
========================
10. Former CIA spy: War with Iran is imminent
http://www.thedailycrux.com/content/5065/Iran
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 From Forbes:
Last week, Iran's opposition leaders Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi canceled anti-government demonstrations timed to commemorate the anniversary of last year's disputed presidential election.
Secretary of the State Hillary Clinton called the cancellation "regrettable," but missed the larger point. The reform these two men offer is not what the majority of Iranians want: They want an end to the current Islamic regime.
MORE: http://www.thedailycrux.com/content/5065/Iran
==========================
11. Survey: 77% say “peace and nuclear disarmament” very important issues for G8/G20 summits
Posted: 25 Jun 2010 12:14 PM PDT
When asked to rate the importance of ten issues, respondents overwhelmingly focused on the environment. "The right to clean water" (91%) and "global warming" (86%) were chosen most often as "very important" topics for leaders to discuss, followed closely by "food security and hunger" (85%) and "global peace and nuclear disarmament" (77%).
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4968&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
======================
12. Mother of Canadian soldier to Harper, G20: 'Withdraw from Afghanistan now'
http://www.rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/derrick/2010/06/
mother-canadian-soldier-harper-g20-withdraw-afghanistan-now
By Derrick O'Keefe | June 26, 2010
There will be extra significance to the anti-war feeder rally and march today, taking place at 12:30pm in the lead-up to the 'Putting People First' rally and the rest of the Day of Action against the G20. Among those raising their voices against Canada's role in Afghanistan will be a local military mom. Here's the release we have put out from the Canadian Peace Alliance:
Josie Forcadilla, the mother of a Canadian soldier recently deployed to Afghanistan, will join a G20 anti-war rally, making her first-ever public comments against the war. The Canadian Peace Alliance is holding a press conference at 11:30am Saturday outside the U.S. Consulate at 360 University Avenue, featuring Forcadilla and other opponents of the war.
“Considering the number of deaths, not to mention the injured and those who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, it is time for the Harper government to withdraw unconditionally all Canadian Forces personnel in Afghanistan," says Forcadilla.
MORE: http://www.rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/derrick/2010/06/
mother-canadian-soldier-harper-g20-withdraw-afghanistan-now
====================
13. Did 9/11 Justify the War in Afghanistan?
Using the McChrystal Moment to Raise a Forbidden Question
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19891
By Prof. David Ray Griffin
Global Research, June 25, 2010
There are many questions to ask about the war in Afghanistan. One that has been widely asked is whether it will turn out to be “Obama’s Vietnam.” This question implies another: Is this war winnable, or is it destined to be a quagmire, like Vietnam? These questions are motivated in part by the widespread agreement that the Afghan government, under Hamid Karzai, is at least as corrupt and incompetent as the government the United States tried to prop up in South Vietnam for 20 years.1
Although there are many similarities between these two wars, there is also a big difference: This time, there is no draft. If there were a draft, so that college students and their friends back home were being sent to Afghanistan, there would be huge demonstrations against this war on campuses all across this country. If the sons and daughters of wealthy and middle-class parents were coming home in boxes, or with permanent injuries or post-traumatic stress syndrome, this war would have surely been stopped long ago. People have often asked: Did we learn any of the “lessons of Vietnam”? The US government learned one: If you’re going to fight unpopular wars, don’t have a draft – hire mercenaries!
There are many other questions that have been, and should be, asked about this war, but in this essay, I focus on only one: Did the 9/11 attacks justify the war in Afghanistan?
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19891
===========================
14. The Land Where Theories of Warfare Go to Die
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/06/28-0
The Land Where Theories of Warfare Go to Die Obama, Petraeus, and the Cult of COIN in Afghanistan
by Robert Dreyfuss Published on Monday, June 28, 2010 by TomDispatch.com
Less than a year ago, General David Petraeus saluted smartly and pledged his loyal support for President Obama's decision to start withdrawing U.S. forces from Afghanistan in July 2011. In December, when Obama decided (for the second time in 2009) to add tens of thousands of additional American forces to the war, he also slapped an 18-month deadline on the military to turn the situation around and begin handing security over to the bedraggled Afghan National Army and police. Speaking to the nation from West Point [1], Obama said that he'd ordered American forces to start withdrawing from Afghanistan at that time.
Here's the exchange, between Obama, Petraeus, and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as reported by Jonathan Alter in his new book, The Promise: President Obama, Year One [2]:
MORE: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/06/28-0
======================
15. Four Possible BP-Style Extreme Energy Nightmares to Come The disaster in the Gulf is no anomaly. It's an arrow pointing toward future disasters.
June 22, 2010 / By Michael T. Klare
http://www.alternet.org/story/147293/
four_possible_bp-style_extreme_energy_nightmares_to_come_?page=entire
On June 15th, in their testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the chief executives of America's leading oil companies argued that BP's Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico was an aberration -- something that would not have occurred with proper corporate oversight and will not happen again once proper safeguards are put in place. This is fallacious, if not an outright lie. The Deep Horizon explosion was the inevitable result of a relentless effort to extract oil from ever deeper and more hazardous locations. In fact, as long as the industry continues its relentless, reckless pursuit of "extreme energy" -- oil, natural gas, coal, and uranium obtained from geologically, environmentally, and politically unsafe areas -- more such calamities are
destined to occur.
At the onset of the modern industrial era, basic fuels were easy to obtain from large, near-at-hand energy deposits in relatively safe and friendly locations. The rise of the automobile and the spread of suburbia, for example, were made possible by the availability of cheap and abundant oil from large reservoirs in California, Texas, and Oklahoma, and from the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico. But these and equivalent deposits of coal, gas, and uranium have been depleted. This means the survival of our
energy-centric civilization increasingly relies on supplies obtained from risky locations -- deep underground, far at sea, north of the Arctic circle, in complex geological formations, or in unsafe political environments. That guarantees the equivalent of two, three, four, or more Gulf-oil-spill-style disasters in our energy future.
MORE:
http://www.alternet.org/story/147293/
four_possible_bp-style_extreme_energy_nightmares_to_come_?page=entire
=======================
16. Dealing with spills - By Dianne Saxe
The Lawyers Weekly - June 18 2010 issue
http://www.lawyersweekly.ca/index.php?s ... cleid=1191
Excerpt from article
"There is one area, however, in which the legal system makes a clear, simple and unique contribution to making things worse. We encourage investors, insurers, and other financial players to take ultra high risks by capping their exposure to third-party damages. Canada’s Nuclear Liability Act, for example, limits the liability of the nuclear industry for a Chernobyl-style accident to the relatively tiny amount of $75 million. (A bill to increase the cap to $650 million received first reading in April, again.)
Offshore drilling benefits from a similar, enormous, hidden subsidy. The American Oil Pollution Act limits liability to $75 million. Congress now proposes to retroactively change this to $10 billion although BP has undertaken to pay full compensation. Canada has even lower caps. For example, the Canada-Nova Scotia Oil and Gas Spills and Debris Liability Regulations, under the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation Act, put a $30 million cap on third-party liability. If an accident happens, the general taxpayer, the natural environment and nearby communities will bear any extra costs. Thus, profits are privatized while the public bears the risk.
Would removing the caps help reduce the frequency and severity of spills? It might. It would certainly give all the financial players a much greater incentive to take every possible precaution, and perhaps to invest instead in alternative sources of energy. Without such hidden subsidies, would oil look so cheap?"
MORE:
http://www.lawyersweekly.ca/index.php?s ... cleid=1191
======================
17. The Mysterious Death of Dr David Kelly: Damning New Evidence Points to a Cover-up by Tony Blair's Government
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19930
By Miles Goslett and Stephen Frost Global Research, June 27, 2010
The official story of Dr David Kelly is that he took his own life in an Oxfordshire wood by overdosing on painkillers and cutting his left wrist with a pruning knife.
He was said to be devastated after being unmasked as the source of the BBC’s claim that the Government had ‘sexed up’ the case for war in Iraq.
A subsequent official inquiry led by Lord Hutton into the circumstances leading to the death came to the unequivocal conclusion that Kelly committed suicide.
Yet suspicions of foul play still hang heavy over the death of the weapons expert whose body was found seven years ago next month in one of the most notorious episodes of Tony Blair’s premiership
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19930
=====================
18. Through the Wormhole: The Secret State's Mad Scheme to Control the Internet
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19934
By Tom Burghardt Global Research, June 27, 2010
Antifascist Calling...
Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz once famously wrote that "war is the continuation of politics by other means." A century later, radical French philosopher Michel Foucault turned Clausewitz on his head and declared that "politics is the continuation of war by other means."
In our topsy-turvy world where truth and lies coexist equally and sociopathic business elites reign supreme, it would hardly be a stretch to theorize that cyber war is the continuation of parapolitical crime by other means.
Through the Wormhole
In Speed and Politics, cultural theorist Paul Virilio argued that "history progresses at the speed of its weapons systems." With electronic communications now blanketing the globe, it was only a matter of time before our political masters, (temporarily) outflanked by the subversive uses to which new media lend themselves, would deploy what Virilio called the "integral accident" (9/11 being one of many examples) and gin-up entirely new categories of threats, "Cyber Pearl Harbor" comes to mind, from which of course, they would "save us."
That the revolving door connecting the military and the corporations who service war making is a highly-profitable redoubt for those involved, has been analyzed here at great length. With new moves to tighten the screws on the immediate horizon, and as "Change" reveals itself for what it always was, an Orwellian exercise in public diplomacy, hitting the "kill switch" serves as an apt descriptor for the new, repressive growth sector that links technophilic fantasies of "net-centric" warfare to the burgeoning "homeland security" market.
Back in March, Wired investigative journalist Ryan Singel wrote that the "biggest threat to the open internet" isn't "Chinese hackers" or "greedy ISPs" but corporatist warriors like former Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell.
Having retreated to his old haunt as a senior vice president with the ultra-spooky firm Booz Allen Hamilton (a post he held for a decade before joining the Bush administration), McConnell stands to make millions as Booz Allen's parent company, the secretive private equity powerhouse, The Carlyle Group, plans to take the firm public and sell some $300 million worth of shares, The Wall Street Journal reported last week.
"With its deep ties to the defense establishment" the Journal notes, "Booz Allen has become embedded in a range of military operations such as planning war games and intelligence initiatives." That Carlyle Group investors have made out like proverbial bandits during the endless "War on Terror" goes without saying. With "relatively low debt levels for a leveraged buyout," the investment "has been a successful one for Carlyle, which has benefited from the U.S. government's increasing reliance on outsourcing in defense."
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19934
=======================
19. (AB) Wildrose leader tears into Tories: 'We've had enough'
QUOTE: “Much will depend on the more than 40 policy resolutions party members vote on today. Some of the more controversial items include resolutions guaranteeing Albertans a right to bear arms, establishing a provincial police force and supporting nuclear power development.”
- - - -
(AB) Wildrose leader tears into Tories: 'We've had enough'
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/
Wildrose+leader+tears+into+Tories+enough/3202872/story.html#ixzz0sABvhang
Smith tells convention to prepare for battle; time for tougher conservative policies
By Archie McLean, edmontonjournal.com June 26, 2010
RED DEER — Alberta needs a return to harder-edged conservative policies, including tighter spending rules, Europeanstyle mixed health care and leaner regulations for business, Wildrose Alliance Party Leader Danielle Smith said Friday.
Smith told roughly 800 raucous supporters at her party's annual convention that the provincial Progressive Conservative party has become arrogant, unprincipled and insufficiently right wing after almost 40 years in power.
"We've had enough of socialists and liberals masquerading as conservatives, we've had enough of central planners making all the decisions from the legislature," Smith said. "We've had enough of a government that doesn't listen to Albertans, doesn't reflect our values and doesn't even seem to care."
Smith was unrelenting in her criticism of the Tories. She told party members to prepare for battle against a governing party that will do anything to hold on to power.
The weekend gathering is the Wildrose Alliance's first since last fall when Paul Hinman won a Calgary byelection and Smith was elected leader.
After a flurry of initial media attention, Smith has adopted a lower profile, attending golf tournaments, barbecues and other smallish events across the province.
Opinion polls in the fall showed the party challenging the Tories for top spot among voters. The party has settled into a second place among decided voters, behind the Conservatives but ahead of the Opposition Liberals.
Wildrose Alliance is counting on this convention to introduce themselves to voters uneasy with the Conservatives but unclear about them.
Smith called it the Wildrose "coming-out party."
Much will depend on the more than 40 policy resolutions party members vote on today.
Some of the more controversial items include resolutions guaranteeing Albertans a right to bear arms, establishing a provincial police force and supporting nuclear power development.
MORE:
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/
Wildrose+leader+tears+into+Tories+enough/3202872/story.html#ixzz0sABvhang
Last edited by Oscar on Mon Jul 12, 2010 12:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9887
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NUKE NEWS: July 6, 2010
by Oscar » Tue Jul 06, 2010 9:24 am
NUKE NEWS: July 6, 2010
1. Beyond Nuclear - ACTNOW!
2. Wind-turbine power is far healthier than coal or nuclear
3. Radiation exposure at Ontario nuclear plant prompts industry-wide investigation
4. Lockheed Martin donates $3.5M to SIIT
5. Harper shift puts Sask. at G20 table
6. Cameco cracks Chinese market
7. Cameco sees great potential in partnership with China
8. Canada sells out on nuclear trade with India
9. SASKATCHEWAN ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIETY OPPOSES PLANNED SALES OF URANIUM TO INDIA
10. Canadian nuclear plant rehab goes awry
11. WILL AN “ECOLOGY GOSPEL” EMERGE FROM THE HARPER PURGATORY? By Dr. Jim Harding
12. Tough choice: BP or nuclear power
13. The Upcoming Nuclear Peril: Worse Than the BP Oil Disaster
14. Nuke Industry Bullies Students, Demands Lunch Money
15. WATCH: A Very Scary Light Show: Exploding H-Bombs In Space
16. WATCH: Afghanistan War:--The British Empire "Great Game" -- is now a "Grand Chessboard"
17. US seeks more info from China on its N-deal with Pak
18. No nuclear energy revival in the EU
19. Nukes News - July 4, 2010
20. Rethinking Iran-Contra: A Much Darker Story?
21. 4,037 cities demand the elimination of nuclear weapons
22. Is your city one? 88 Canadian cities are members of Mayors for Peace.
===============================
1. Beyond Nuclear - ACTNOW!
PETITION: http://www.beyondnuclear.org/actnow/
Dear Friends in the U.S. and around the world. Apologies for the "blast email" but this is an urgent appeal.
TAKE ACTION!
We cannot afford to wait for a nuclear accident as bad – or worse – than the oil disaster unfolding in the Gulf. That’s why Beyond Nuclear has launched our new ActNow! campaign this week. If you are U.S. based, please ActNow! by calling the White House (202-456-1111) and Congress (202-224-3121) and ask our leaders to: Block all funding for new nuclear facilities and uranium mines! Phase out existing reactors! Conduct a full investigation of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission! Everyone, please sign our online petition that will be delivered to the White House and every House and Senate office on September 7. And forward the link to your friends and colleagues. Our voices must be heard, urgently and quickly.
Lax oil industry oversight is destroying the Gulf. Lax nuclear industry oversight could cost countless lives today, threaten human health for generations, and leave vast areas of our country uninhabitable indefinitely. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission - like MMS - cedes safety oversight to the industry it is supposed to regulate. We cannot allow NRC to gamble with lives, livelihoods and the safety of our country by allowing a "nuclear BP." Let's prevent it rather than try to fix it later. Please join us. Be a part of ActNow!Thank you.
Please call and sign today. And please make a donation so our work can move fast, and successfully. Later could be too late. Thank you!
The Beyond Nuclear team.
--
Linda Gunter is the media and development director for Beyond Nuclear. She also specializes in researching nuclear France. She can be reached at 301.270.2209 ext. 2 or 301.455.5655. Beyond Nuclear is a 501(c)(3) non profit at 6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 400, Takoma Park, MD 20912. www.beyondnuclear.org
======================
2. Wind-turbine power is far healthier than coal or nuclear
http://www.thespec.com/Opinions/article/800272
July 02, 2010 Gideon Forman The Hamilton Spectator (Jul 2, 2010)
Gideon Forman is executive director of Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (cape.ca).
If we take seriously the protection of human health, we have to phase out coal- and nuclear-powered electricity.
Coal kills hundreds of Ontarians and triggers more than 100,000 illnesses (e.g., asthma attacks) annually. It is also the most climate-destructive fuel around, emitting twice as much carbon as natural gas does. Whether the issue is respiratory disease or global warming, coal is a catastrophe.
But nuclear is extremely unhealthy as well. A scientific review by the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment found all functioning reactors release radioactive materials on a routine basis. A 2008 German government study showed children (younger than five) living within five kilometres of a nuclear plant are at elevated risk for leukemia. And Scientific American recently reported nukes harm the climate: "Nuclear power results in up to 25 times more carbon emissions than wind energy, when reactor construction and uranium refining and transport are considered."
But to phase out conventional power we need to use less energy and switch over to renewables, including wind turbines.
- - - - SNIP - - - -
The verdict: wind turbines are not perfect. They need to be carefully sited and allow for appropriate setbacks. But the current science -- from Ontario's top doctor -- suggests they do not threaten human health. Unlike coal, they are not destroying our climate and killing hundreds of Canadians every year. Unlike nuclear, they are not associated with cancer -- nor do they condemn the next 1,000 generations to the menace of radioactive waste.
=====================
3. Radiation exposure at Ontario nuclear plant prompts industry-wide investigation
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario/
radiation-exposure-at-ontario-nuclear-plant-prompts-industry-wide-investigation/article1623607/
Regulator questions safety at privately owned Bruce reactor where 195 workers put at risk
Karen Howlett From Wednesday's Globe and Mail Published on Tuesday, Jun. 29, 2010 8:12PM EDT Last updated on Tuesday, Jun. 29, 2010 8:20PM EDT
Emerging details of accidental radiation exposure at an Ontario nuclear power plant have triggered an order to investigate the possibility of similar incidents across the country, while raising doubts about safety at Canada’s only privately owned operator.
Last Nov. 26, a routine air sample taken at Bruce Power's No. 1 reactor on Lake Huron near Owen Sound detected elevated levels of radiation. The incident is one of the most serious safety breaches at a Canadian reactor in recent memory and poses troubling questions about why Bruce executives assumed – mistakenly, it turns out – that they could send workers in to upgrade a laid-up reactor without exposing them to cancer-causing alpha radiation.
The extent of the radiation problem will not be known until Bruce receives test results for all 195 workers considered most at risk of exposure. At a Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission hearing on Monday, Bruce officials revealed that two workers received a dose exceeding the allowable limit of 25 millisieverts a year under its operating licence. However, they stressed that no one received a dose above the regulatory limit, which allows nuclear employees to receive up to 50 millisieverts of radiation a year on the job, the equivalent of 500 chest X-rays.
Nevertheless, the discovery of radiation has shaken the regulator as well as workers at Bruce.
“I'm disturbed by what I'm hearing,” CNSC commissioner Alan Graham said Monday. “I'm wondering, what else is out there that we're not looking at.”
MORE:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario/
radiation-exposure-at-ontario-nuclear-plant-prompts-industry-wide-investigation/article1623607/
=======================
4. Lockheed Martin donates $3.5M to SIIT
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/
Lockheed+Martin+donates+SIIT/3204419/story.html
The Star Phoenix June 26, 2010
Aerospace giant Lockheed Martin is donating a $3.5-million "training package" to the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technology (SIIT).
The donation, announced at the school's main campus in downtown Saskatoon Friday morning, includes a package of training materials for the school's Aviation Maintenance and Engineering (AME) faculty.
The announcement follows other previously announced partnerships between the company and SIIT. It was made at the school's Saskatoon campus by company and school officials, as well as Saskatoon Blackstrap MP and Minister of
State for Western Economic Diversification Lynne Yelich, Saskatchewan Advanced Education, Employment and Labour Minister Rob Norris and Saskatchewan Minister of First Nations and Metis Relations Bill Hutchinson.
The company will supply the training materials and the two-year course to become a "certified aircraft maintenance engineer" will be taught by SIIT instructors.
MORE:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/
Lockheed+Martin+donates+SIIT/3204419/story.html
========================
5. Harper shift puts Sask. at G20 table
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/
Harper+shift+puts+Sask+table/3204442/story.html
The Star Phoenix June 26, 2010
They may be gathering in the cottage country of Northern Ontario and the newly constructed fortress in Toronto, but there will unquestionably be a little bit of Saskatchewan at the world leaders' meetings this weekend.
And we owe a steady but undeniable shift in philosophy on behalf of Prime Minister Stephen Harper for the honour.
As has oft been observed, Mr. Harper came to office with little interest in global affairs and a deep mistrust of Communist China.
He spent his time in opposition criticizing the Chretien government for kowtowing to the Asian giant during Team Canada visits and his first few years as prime minister trying to embarrass China over its human rights record.
Slowly, however, the Harper government came around. That switch was accelerated by the role China played in the most recent global economic crisis. Canada's ability to dodge the worst of the recession was due in part to its greater reliance on China as a market for its raw resources.
And that market was front and centre when Chinese President Hu Jintao came calling Thursday with some 200 business associates ready to scope out the Canadian market.
And, while Saskatchewan may not have been named in their brief dispatch, its industries were. The two leaders committed to increasing trade between the nations and to open the door for greater trade in energy -- particularly clean energy -- and beef.
As if to drive the point home, Cameco, the Saskatoon-based uranium giant, announced one sales deal and an agreement work on another with two Chinese energy companies, both of which are in the midst of aggressive expansions in their nuclear power production capacities.
The Chinese deals, by the way, were not alone in marking a mark on Cameco.
The Globe and Mail also reported another deal is in the works with India.
MORE:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/
Harper+shift+puts+Sask+table/3204442/story.html
======================
6. Cameco cracks Chinese market
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/
Cameco+cracks+Chinese+market/3198488/story.html
Uranium supply agreement signed with power utility
By Cassandra Kyle, The Star Phoenix June 25, 2010
Cameco Corp. has signed agreements regarding the supply of uranium with two Chinese companies.
The Saskatoon company said Thursday it will supply the China Nuclear Energy Industry Corp. (CNEIC), a wholly owned subsidiary of China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC), with approximately 23 million pounds of uranium concentrate
under a long-term agreement through 2020.
"This is Cameco's first long-term uranium supply agreement with a major Chinese nuclear utility," said company CEO Jerry Grandey.
"This agreement indicates clearly that we intend to be very active in the world's fastest growing uranium market."
CNNC is currently China's largest nuclear generator, operating seven reactors with 5,100 megawatts of capacity. The company also has 10 reactors totalling 9,100 megawatts of capacity under construction.
By 2020, CNNC expects to be one of the world's leading nuclear power companies.
MORE:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/
Cameco+cracks+Chinese+market/3198488/story.html
========================
7. Cameco sees great potential in partnership with China
http://www.nationalpost.com/
Cameco+sees+great+potential+partnership+with+China/
3203778/story.html
Peter Koven, Financial Post - Saturday, Jun. 26, 2010
TORONTO - This is the partnership Cameco Corp.' s investors have been waiting for.
After a couple of years of talks, the Saskatoon-based uranium giant has finally formed a working partnership with China, a country that is on the cusp of becoming a massive player in the nuclear business.
Cameco unveiled on Thursday landmark agreements to supply uranium to two major Chinese state-owned nuclear companies: China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC) and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co. Ltd. (CGNPC).
The CNNC deal covers a massive 23 million pounds of uranium through 2020, a much bigger and longer-lasting contract than China has signed with other uranium companies. And while the details of the CGNPC agreement still need to be negotiated, it also includes plans for the two companies to work together to develop uranium resources.
For Cameco chief executive Jerry Grandey, this is just the start of the China strategy.
"This is what I would describe as the initial step of co-operation. Given their expansion plans, I would expect there to be other contracts to follow in the coming years," he said in an interview yesterday.
While shareholders have waited impatiently for these deals to be struck, Mr. Grandey said the negotiation process with China was very smooth. The two sides needed time to build a relationship, and the Chinese needed to see Cameco's operations for themselves.
MORE:
http://www.nationalpost.com/
Cameco+sees+great+potential+partnership+with+China/3203778/
story.html
====================
8. Canada sells out on nuclear trade with India
http://www.ceasefire.ca/?p=4977&utm_sou ... _campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 29 Jun 2010 11:34 AM PDT
“If civilian nuclear cooperation is to be a primary fixture and symbol of the cordialization of Indo-Canadian relations,” writes CIGI Fellow Ernie Regehr, “it should be built on the most robust of nonproliferation conditions.” (Ernie Regehr, “The Canada-India civilian nuclear cooperation deal,” Disarming Conflict blog, 29 June 2010) Unfortunately, the deal that Canadian Prime Minister [...]
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9. SASKATCHEWAN ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIETY OPPOSES PLANNED SALES OF URANIUM TO INDIA
Saskatchewan Environmental Society MEDIA RELEASE For Immediate Release
Saskatoon, June 29, 2010 -- Prime Minister Harper has made a serious error by entering into a formal agreement by which Canada will reopen uranium exports to India.
“The agreement will pave the way for uranium mining companies in Saskatchewan to export uranium to India, but it will do so at a very high cost - the further unraveling of the United Nations Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,” Saskatchewan Environmental Society Board Member Ann Coxworth said today.
“India refuses to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty, yet Canada and Saskatchewan will now sell uranium to them anyway. It’s a disturbing situation that highlights the inadequacy of international controls over trade in nuclear materials,” Coxworth said.
The Non-Proliferation Treaty has been the foundation for civilian trade in uranium over the past forty years. Canada has long claimed that it is only selling uranium to countries that fulfilled the obligations of the treaty, thus reducing the risk that Canadian uranium would be used for atomic weapons purposes.
“Now Canada is not only prepared to sell to a non-signatory, but to a country that has already used Canadian uranium to explode an atomic weapon,” Coxworth observed.
“There is a good reason for India’s unwillingness to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty. They do not want to subject themselves to full United Nations inspection and they want to continue to expand their nuclear weapons arsenal. By opening the door to uranium sales to India, Canada and Saskatchewan risk becoming part of the fueling of an atomic weapons race between India and Pakistan.” -30-
For more information contact:
Ann Coxworth, Board member and Research advisor, phone 665-1915 or 343-9281, email: annc@environmentalsociety.ca, website: www.environmentalsociety.ca
Rochelle Nault
Administrator | Saskatchewan Environmental Society
t. 306.665.1915 | f. 306.665.2128 | 203 Idylwyld Drive South Saskatoon SK S7M 1L6
Live sustainable lives, build a sustainable future online at www.environmentalsociety.ca
======================
10. Canadian nuclear plant rehab goes awry
http://web1.globalpost.com/dispatch/can ... lear-power
Refit was supposed to show how to keep old plants operating.
by Colin Woodard, July 5, 2010
POINT LEPREAU, N.B., Canada - The guardhouses stand at the end of a tree-lined road in this rural, forested province, and their occupants aren't welcoming visitors.
Beyond the gates, an effort to refurbish Atlantic Canada's only nuclear power plant isn't going well. The 25-year-old reactor at Point Lepreau was supposed to be refreshed, refitted and running full-tilt last September after a $1 billion repair. Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., the crown corporation that built the reactor, was to have demonstrated the efficacy of refurbishing nuclear reactors that would otherwise have to be retired.
Today, nobody knows when the plant will be back online, except that it won't be any earlier than 2011. The company's engineers are currently trying to figure out how to restore seals on critical components inside the reactor vessel of the provincially owned plant, 40 miles east of Lubec, Maine. CEO Hugh MacDiarmid has admitted that they had 'overly optimistic scheduling assumptions' and 'inadequate planning and preparation' at Lepreau.
MORE:
http://web1.globalpost.com/dispatch/can ... lear-power
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11. WILL AN “ECOLOGY GOSPEL” EMERGE FROM THE HARPER PURGATORY?
By Jim Harding http://jimharding.brinkster.net
Saskatchewan Sustainability
Published in United Newspapers of Saskatchewan June 25, 2010
Sustainability challenges us to change our ways but also to change how we understand ourselves as a species within the biosphere. This is a big shift in mind-set, for the dominant industrial society evolved without any fundamental grasp of its cumulative ecological impacts, and it’s only been since the 1970s that “environmental impacts” have been added into the political-economic mix. That’s only 40 years ago and we are still in the infancy of learning to live sustainably. After centuries of colonialism and exploitation there however remains well-funded resistance to the necessary shift. In Canada we see this most clearly with Harper’s minority government.
As the pressure to protect the environment has grown, corporations and supporting governments have countered with neo-liberal policies of free trade, deregulation and privatization. While this helped spur on profitable global corporate markets, it dislocated millions of people from their local economies, increased urban squalor and civil strife. Deregulation also set the stage for the recent financial meltdown and larger scale ecological disasters such as in the Gulf of Mexico. Collusion between government and corporations in the name of unfettered economic growth has consistently undermined proactive measures to address the global ecological crisis. The most compelling example is the undercutting of policies to reduce the carbon emissions that are increasing extreme and erratic weather events. Recent flooding in the normally semi-arid Maple Creek and Medicine Hat areas may be a sign of things to come.
MORE:
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1760#1760
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12. Tough choice: BP or nuclear power
http://money.ca.msn.com/investing/michael-brush/
article.aspx?cp-documentid=24741878
By Michael Brush, June 30, 2010
The oil disaster in the Gulf and concerns over global warming could spur greater interest in building nuke plants. That means new options for investors to explore.
Nuclear energy has been rising on America's agenda for years because of growing concerns about the environmental damage and national-security risk from using too much fossil fuel.
But the massive BP (BP.N) oil spill has made nuclear power look even more attractive -- a potential environmental silver lining from the Gulf of Mexico disaster.
MORE:
http://money.ca.msn.com/investing/michael-brush/
article.aspx?cp-documentid=24741878
======================
13. The Upcoming Nuclear Peril: Worse Than the BP Oil Disaster
http://www.truth-out.org/
the-upcoming-nuclear-peril-worse-than-bp-oil-disaster60959
Thursday 01 July 2010
by: World Business Academy, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed
How many crises will it take? The recent destruction wrought by Big Finance and Big Oil will pale in comparison to the destruction wrought by Big Nuclear if we do not use the Gulf disaster as an opportunity to end our dangerous addiction to dirty fuels and to reject the illusion that any industry will "regulate" itself.
The nuclear industry has captured our government and governments around the globe. One single nuclear mistake, whether it be an accident or a security breach, could leave a 10,000-year path of destruction. Even while functioning properly and in accordance with the law, nuclear power plants produce cancer-causing poisons, which enter the bodies of humans at toxic levels.
Today we face a nuclear peril unlike anything we have ever known. We are approaching a tipping point in the global spread of nuclear technology because of a largely out-of-sight, worldwide free-for-all among nuclear power companies and their allied national governments to expand their share of the fast-growing international nuclear energy market. Unless we begin to confront the mounting dangers, we have little chance of keeping nuclear materials out of the hands of terrorists and carcinogenic toxins out of our bodies.
MORE:
http://www.truth-out.org/
the-upcoming-nuclear-peril-worse-than-bp-oil-disaster60959
=====================
14. Nuke Industry Bullies Students, Demands Lunch Money
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2010/07/01-6
House Democrats choose pre-emptive bailout for nuclear industry over preventing teacher layoffs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 1, 2010 3:30 PM
CONTACT: Friends of the Earth [1]
Ben Schreiber, bschreiber@foe.org, 202-222-0752
Scott Baumgartner, sbaumgartner@foe.org, 202-222-0751
WASHINGTON - July 1 - This week, the House of Representatives is expected to vote on supplemental appropriations for the war in Afghanistan and several domestic programs. The domestic program funding preserves $9 billion in loan guarantees [2] for nuclear reactors, while cutting $13 billion in funds to prevent teacher layoffs.
Friends of the Earth's climate and energy tax analyst, Ben Schreiber, had the following response:
"This week Congress will vote on whether to take teachers away from students so that they can give nuclear reactors a $9 billion pre-emptive bailout. We continue to be shocked that Congress brazenly puts the interests of corporations above the needs of regular Americans, including teachers and children. This is further proof our political system has been corrupted by corporate influence and special interests.
"President Obama shoulders the blame for this latest push for a government bailout of the nuclear industry. Despite the recent tragedies we've suffered involving two of the three dangerous pillars of the energy plan that the President touted in his State of the Union address (oil and coal), he is still supporting efforts to hand billions of taxpayer dollars to the third pillar, nuclear reactors. Though we are fortunate to not have experienced a significant nuclear disaster in this country in decades, we continue down a path that tries our luck and puts the public at risk.
"New reactors cannot be built without massive preemptive government bailouts. It is telling that the handouts are destined to go to reactors in Majority Leader Steny Hoyer's and Democratic Whip James Clyburn's districts as well as to a reactor in South Texas. These are government handouts for the well-connected that come at the expense of regular Americans and their children." ###
Friends of the Earth [1] is the U.S. voice of the world's largest grassroots environmental network, with member groups in 77 countries. Since 1969, Friends of the Earth has fought to create a more healthy, just world.
======================
15. WATCH: A Very Scary Light Show: Exploding H-Bombs In Space
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/
story.php?storyId=128170775&ft=1&f=1026
by Robert Krulwich July 1, 2010
Since we're coming up on the Fourth of July, and towns everywhere are preparing their better-than-ever fireworks spectaculars, we would like to offer this humbling bit of history. Back in the summer of 1962, the U.S. blew up a hydrogen bomb in outer space, some 250 miles above the Pacific Ocean. It was a weapons test, but one that created a man-made light show that has never been equaled — and hopefully never will. Here it is:
WATCH
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/
story.php?storyId=128170775&ft=1&f=1026
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16. WATCH: Afghanistan War:--The British Empire "Great Game" -- is now a "Grand Chessboard"
The Afghan war and the 'Grand Chessboard' Pt.1
http://www.therealnews.com/t2/
index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=4695
Zbigniew Brzezinski on Afghanistan and the American strategy for Eurasia and the world. January 13, 2010
The Afghan war and the 'Grand Chessboard' Pt2
http://www.therealnews.com/t2/
index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=4716
Brzezinski: Six months before Soviet invasion, we financed the Mujahideen. January 15, 2010
Zbigniew Brzezinski on Iran - Pt 3
http://www.therealnews.com/t2/
index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=4715
Zbigniew Brzezinski: An Israeli attack on Iran would be a disaster. January 17, 2010
====================
17. US seeks more info from China on its N-deal with Pak
http://www.pakistannews24.com/
us-seeks-more-info-from-china-on-its-n-deal-with-pak/
Posted by admin on Jun 29th, 2010 // Posted: Tue Jun 29 2010
Apparently not satisfied with the Chinese clarifications on its nuclear deal with Pakistan, the US today said it has sought more information from Beijing about the supply of two more atomic power plants to Islamabad.
“We as a first step are looking for more information from China as to what it is potentially proposing,” State Department spokesman P J Crowley told reporters.
He was responding to a question on last week’s meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in New Zealand, wherein China informed the group about its decision to supply two additional nuclear power plants to Pakistan.
“We did raise the issue during last week’s Nuclear Suppliers Group. We continue to seek information from China regarding its future plans,” Crowley said.
MORE:
http://www.pakistannews24.com/
us-seeks-more-info-from-china-on-its-n-deal-with-pak/
===========================
18. No nuclear energy revival in the EU
http://www.bellona.org/news/news_2010/no_eu_nuclear
Veronica Webster, April 15-2010, Bellona Part of: Nuclear energy
BRUSSELS – A hearing on the risk of a nuclear renaissance in the EU was held at the European Parliament on April 7th. It discussed three projects for new units at existing nuclear power plants that are under planning or construction in Europe.
While one project was withdrawn, one was caught in legal entanglements and a third was facing massive cost overruns and delays.
The hearing was co-sponsored by German Member of the European Parliament Rebecca Harms from the Greens, and Finnish Member of the European Parliament Sirpa Pietikainen from the centre-right group EPP, in co-operation with green NGO Friends of the Earth Europe.
Three case studies were examined. The nuclear power plant units Mochovce 3 and 4 in Slovakia were permitted in the 1980s under the socialist regime and were partly built before the project was stopped after the economic changes of the early 1990s. The project has recently been revived, but it is still based on a reactor-design from the early 1970s, and offers, for instance, insufficient protection against plane crashes.
MORE: http://www.bellona.org/news/news_2010/no_eu_nuclear
====================
19. No Nukes News - July 4, 2010
"UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It's not." -- Dr. Seuss, The Lorax
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Radiation exposure triggers industry-wide probe; Regulator asks all of Canada's nuclear-power generators to investigate after as many as 195 workers at Ontario plant are put at risk
Emerging details of accidental radiation exposure at an Ontario nuclear power plant have triggered an order to investigate the possibility of similar incidents across the country, while raising doubts about safety at Canada's only privately owned operator…
In an internal newsletter obtained by The Globe and Mail, Bruce Power chief executive officer Duncan Hawthorne expresses concerns that cost overruns and delays could hinder the company's ability to win additional refurbishment projects from the Ontario government. The $4.25-billion price tag for upgrading the two units is $1.5-billion higher than the original estimate, and the project is more than a year behind schedule.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario/
radiation-exposure-at-ontario-nuclear-plant-prompts-industry-wide-investigation/article1623607/
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Saskatchewan, Quebec can produce medical isotopes without nuclear reactors or uranium!
It is increasingly clear that the production of medical isotopes for nuclear medicine does not require nuclear reactors or uranium.
http://ccnr.org/isotope_shortage.html .
CLS may produce medical isotopes
The Canadian Light Source thinks it can help solve the medical isotope shortage
in Canada without using a nuclear reactor or weapons-grade uranium.
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/health/pr ... +isotopes/
3204429/story.html
A Complementary Solution for Production of Medical Isotopes - Researchers from Sherbrooke succeed in producing technetium 99m with a cyclotron
http://www.advancedcyclotron.com/news/
complementary-solution-production-medical-isotopes-researchers-sherbrooke-succeed-producing-tec
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Chalk River reactor to restart in July
Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. says it estimates that the National Research Universal reactor will resume medical isotope production by the end of July. The NRU reactor in Chalk River, Ont., has been off-line for more than a year for repair of a radioactive water leak.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/07/01/
aecl-chalk-river-isotopes-july.html#ixzz0sRka1mdM
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Wind-turbine power is far healthier than coal or nuclear
If we take seriously the protection of human health, we have to phase out coal- and nuclear-powered electricity.
The verdict: wind turbines are not perfect. They need to be carefully sited and allow for appropriate setbacks. But the current science -- from Ontario's top doctor -- suggests they do not threaten human health. Unlike coal, they are not destroying our climate and killing hundreds of Canadians every year. Unlike nuclear, they are not associated with cancer -- nor do they condemn the next 1,000 generations to the menace of radioactive waste.
http://www.thespec.com/Opinions/article/800272
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Water Scarcity: Nuclear Power's Achilles' Heel
Water scarcity has widespread implications for our nation. As a recent New York Times (Global Edition) article notes, water scarcity is increasingly a major constraint for the production of electricity. But what, in particular, does this mean for the nation's fleet of nuclear power plants?
Generating electricity with nuclear power is extremely water intensive, which is why nuclear plants are typically built on the shores of rivers, lakes and oceans. Many plants rely on submerged intake pipes to draw water -- hundreds of millions to a few billion gallons per day -- for use in cooling and condensing steam after it has turned the plants' turbines.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kyle-rabin/
water-scarcity-nuclear-po_b_628294.html
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Imminent Canada-India nuclear pact heightens tensions
Impending deal could be worth billions for Canadian industry, but it has already become a source of concern in Pakistan
An imminent deal that would open the door for Canadian exports of uranium to India, could add to nuclear tensions in South Asia, some experts say.
The deal could be worth billions for Canadian industry and would formally end the mistrust that followed India’s nuclear test in 1974, when it became apparent that India had misused a Canadian research reactor to obtain weapons-grade plutonium.
Some experts on nuclear technology say the new deal could repeat history, however, with Canada unwittingly adding to the nuclear tensions in the region by easing India’s shortage of uranium.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/asia-pacific/
imminent-canada-india-nuclear-pact-heightens-tensions/article1617240/
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4,037 cities demand the elimination of nuclear weapons
Mayors for Peace proudly announced today that 4,037 member cities in 144 countries and regions have joined the campaign to eliminate nuclear weapons by 2020.
http://www.mayorsforpeace.org/english/index.html
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Why Nunavut needs a public inquiry into uranium mining
A position statement from Nunavummiut Makitagunarningit
Nunavut is in danger of being on the receiving end of one of the biggest snow jobs in its history. The uranium industry has come to town, and the elected leaders of our public government may be willing to let bureaucrats in Nunavut and Ottawa decide whether or not its arrival is in our public interest.
Some other jurisdictions in Canada have concluded that it is not in their best interest. In British Columbia, Nova Scotia and the City of Ottawa, elected leaders and citizens have debated the wisdom of uranium mining and nuclear power. They have decided that the risks outweigh the rewards, and they have banned uranium exploration and mining in their jurisdictions. Similarly, the new government in Greenland banned uranium mining in the country as one of its first acts upon taking office last November.
Contrary to the messaging coming from the heads of land claims organizations and some senior government officials, Nunavummiut Makitagunarningit believes that a uranium industry in Nunavut would pose serious risks to the environment, to public health and safety, and to Inuit traditions and practices.
For whatever reasons, the elected leaders of our public government have not been willing or able to publicly acknowledge those risks - or examine whether Nunavut is ready to deal with them.
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/
why_nunavut_needs_a_public_inquiry_into_uranium_mining/
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No nuclear energy revival in the EU
A hearing on the risk of a nuclear renaissance in the EU was held at the European Parliament on April 7th. It discussed three projects for new units at existing nuclear power plants that are under planning or construction in Europe. While one project was withdrawn, one was caught in legal entanglements and a third was facing massive cost overruns and delays.
http://www.bellona.org/news/news_2010/no_eu_nuclear
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$1-billion deal in wind; Three mega wind farm projects reinforce the region's reputation and boost manufacturing
A $1.1-billion wind farm development slated for Southwestern Ontario would be the largest of its type in the province and cement the region's reputation as a wind energy centre.
Next Era Energy, North America's largest energy company, is proposing to build three wind farm projects in Lambton and Huron counties. Combined, they'd dwarf other farms -- adding up to 300 wind turbines to the landscape and generating 490 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 144,000 homes.
http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2010 ... 61346.html
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G8/20 – Not-to-miss speakers – Wow!
On June 25, an incredible line-up of speakers assembled at Massey Hall, Toronto, all critiquing the G8/20. Vandana Shiva spoke about the nuclear deal with India.
Naomi Klein, Vandana Shiva, John Hilary, Pablo Solon, Maude Barlow, Clayton-Thomas Muller, Amy Goodman…
Rabble.tv posted them all – catch them here:
http://www.livestream.com/rabbletv/
video?clipId=flv_b3f2fd15-3e4e-463d-b3fb-751779d13a3c&utm_source=lslibrary&utm_medium=ui-thumb
Also, catch Naomi Klein in a 15 min. video interview with Amy Goodman of Democracy Now:
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/6/28/
naomi_klein_the_real_crime_scene
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Environmental Groups Frustrated with Climate Change and Energy Outcomes of the Muskoka G8
After having stalled climate action in Canada over the last 4 years, the Harper government has successfully stalled it at the G8 level.
http://www.publicvalues.ca/ViewArticle.cfm?Ref=00712
Clean Energy Hoovered out of G20 Final Communique
http://www.publicvalues.ca/ViewArticle.cfm?Ref=00718
Toronto G20 communiqué: Leading Environmental Groups respond to the climate change and energy aspects
http://www.climateactionnetwork.ca/e/news/2010/release/
index.php?WEBYEP_DI=46
Leaked G20 documents: Canada won't cut extra subsidies for fossil fuels
http://climate.pembina.org/blog/98
G8 / G20 Briefing Document: A Climate Change Agenda for Canada
Greenpeace, Canada outlines how to deal with fossil fuel subsidies, carbon capture and storage subsidies, climate finance, and the climate gap
http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/Global/canada/report/
2010/6/g20/A_Climate_Change_Agenda_for_Canada.pdf
Sigh the petition for an Independent Review of G20 Security Measures
http://www.amnesty.ca/iwriteforjustice/
take_action.php?actionid=449&type=Internal
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Angela Bischoff, Outreach Director
Ontario Clean Air Alliance
Tel: 416 926 1907 x 246
625 Church Street, #402, Toronto, ON M4Y 2G1
angela@cleanairalliance.org
www.ontariosgreenfuture.ca
www.cleanairalliance.org
Our Facebook Group
Sign Our Petition
No Nukes News
Health Power
=======================
20. Rethinking Iran-Contra: A Much Darker Story?
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19992
The Iran-Contra/ October Surprise was the missing link in a larger American political narrative By Robert Parry Global Research, July 1, 2010
Consortiumnews The conventional view of the Iran-Contra scandal is that it covered the period 1985-86, when President Ronald Reagan became concerned about the fate of American hostages in Lebanon and agreed to secretly sell weapons to Iran’s Islamist government to gain its help in freeing the captives.
Supposedly, the scheme went awry when White House aide Oliver North and other participants got carried away, including North’s decision to divert profits from the arms sales to another one of Reagan’s priorities, the Nicaraguan contra rebels whose CIA assistance had been cut off by Congress.
The Iran-Contra scandal was exposed in fall of 1986 after the shooting down of a North supply plane over Nicaragua and revelations in Lebanon of Reagan’s arms sales to Iran. A White House staff shake-up, including North’s firing, and some wrist-slaps from Congress for Reagan’s alleged inattention to details resolved the scandal, at least that was how Official Washington saw it.
The few dissenters who wouldn’t accept that tidy conclusion – such as Iran-Contra special prosecutor Lawrence Walsh – were mocked and marginalized by the news media, including the Washington Post (which ran an article concluding that Walsh’s consistency in pursuing the scandal was “so un-Washington” and that he would depart as “a perceived loser”).
But an accumulating body of evidence suggests that the traditional view of Iran-Contra was mistaken, that this conventional understanding of the scandal was like starting a novel in the middle and assuming you’re reading the opening chapter.
Indeed, it now appears clear that the Iran-Contra Affair began five years earlier in 1980, with what has often been treated as a separate controversy, called the October Surprise case, dealing with alleged contacts between Reagan’s presidential campaign and Iran.
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19992
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21. 4,037 cities demand the elimination of nuclear weapons
http://www.2020visioncampaign.org/pages/539/
4037_cities_demand_the_elimination_of_nuclear_weapons
Hiroshima, July 1st 2010 - Mayors for Peace proudly announced today that 4,037 member cities in 144 countries and regions have joined the campaign to eliminate nuclear weapons by 2020. Mayors for Peace is a network of local governments headquartered in the City of Hiroshima. Dr. Tadatoshi Akiba, the Mayor of Hiroshima and President of Mayors for Peace spearheads an international campaign for nuclear weapon states to stop considering cities as targets for weapons of mass destruction.
In June 72 new members were welcomed. The previous months we see systematic growth of membership as a result of coordinated efforts in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Greece, Italy, Japan, Spain, Sweden and the USA, while a new effort was developed in Ethiopia last month. You can find the detailed list of the 72 new members if you click here.
http://www.mayorsforpeace.org/data/pdf/ ... 007_en.pdf
=======================
22. Is your city one? 88 Canadian cities are members of Mayors for Peace.
Find out: http://www.mayorsforpeace.org/english/m ... thamerica/
canada.html
- - - - -
WHAT IS Mayors for Peace
http://www.mayorsforpeace.org/data/pdf/ ... 020_en.pdf
Hiroshima and Nagasaki have consistently sought to persuade the world that nuclear weapons are inhumane, continually calling for their total abolition. In 1982, the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki etablished “Mayors for Peace” to ensure that the atomic tragedy is never repeated anywhere on earth. The Conference was registered as a NGO in Special Consultative
- - - - -
Hiroshima Conference for the Total Abolition of Nuclear Weapons by 2020 – July 27-29, 2010
http://www.mayorsforpeace.org/data/mail ... gram_E.pdf
(June 2, 2010)
The City of Hiroshima and Mayors for Peace will hold the Hiroshima Conference for the Total Abolition of Nuclear Weapons by 2020 from July 27 to July 29. We will discuss what we should do for the total abolition of nuclear weapons after the 2010 NPT Review Conference has concluded.
1. Beyond Nuclear - ACTNOW!
2. Wind-turbine power is far healthier than coal or nuclear
3. Radiation exposure at Ontario nuclear plant prompts industry-wide investigation
4. Lockheed Martin donates $3.5M to SIIT
5. Harper shift puts Sask. at G20 table
6. Cameco cracks Chinese market
7. Cameco sees great potential in partnership with China
8. Canada sells out on nuclear trade with India
9. SASKATCHEWAN ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIETY OPPOSES PLANNED SALES OF URANIUM TO INDIA
10. Canadian nuclear plant rehab goes awry
11. WILL AN “ECOLOGY GOSPEL” EMERGE FROM THE HARPER PURGATORY? By Dr. Jim Harding
12. Tough choice: BP or nuclear power
13. The Upcoming Nuclear Peril: Worse Than the BP Oil Disaster
14. Nuke Industry Bullies Students, Demands Lunch Money
15. WATCH: A Very Scary Light Show: Exploding H-Bombs In Space
16. WATCH: Afghanistan War:--The British Empire "Great Game" -- is now a "Grand Chessboard"
17. US seeks more info from China on its N-deal with Pak
18. No nuclear energy revival in the EU
19. Nukes News - July 4, 2010
20. Rethinking Iran-Contra: A Much Darker Story?
21. 4,037 cities demand the elimination of nuclear weapons
22. Is your city one? 88 Canadian cities are members of Mayors for Peace.
===============================
1. Beyond Nuclear - ACTNOW!
PETITION: http://www.beyondnuclear.org/actnow/
Dear Friends in the U.S. and around the world. Apologies for the "blast email" but this is an urgent appeal.
TAKE ACTION!
We cannot afford to wait for a nuclear accident as bad – or worse – than the oil disaster unfolding in the Gulf. That’s why Beyond Nuclear has launched our new ActNow! campaign this week. If you are U.S. based, please ActNow! by calling the White House (202-456-1111) and Congress (202-224-3121) and ask our leaders to: Block all funding for new nuclear facilities and uranium mines! Phase out existing reactors! Conduct a full investigation of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission! Everyone, please sign our online petition that will be delivered to the White House and every House and Senate office on September 7. And forward the link to your friends and colleagues. Our voices must be heard, urgently and quickly.
Lax oil industry oversight is destroying the Gulf. Lax nuclear industry oversight could cost countless lives today, threaten human health for generations, and leave vast areas of our country uninhabitable indefinitely. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission - like MMS - cedes safety oversight to the industry it is supposed to regulate. We cannot allow NRC to gamble with lives, livelihoods and the safety of our country by allowing a "nuclear BP." Let's prevent it rather than try to fix it later. Please join us. Be a part of ActNow!Thank you.
Please call and sign today. And please make a donation so our work can move fast, and successfully. Later could be too late. Thank you!
The Beyond Nuclear team.
--
Linda Gunter is the media and development director for Beyond Nuclear. She also specializes in researching nuclear France. She can be reached at 301.270.2209 ext. 2 or 301.455.5655. Beyond Nuclear is a 501(c)(3) non profit at 6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 400, Takoma Park, MD 20912. www.beyondnuclear.org
======================
2. Wind-turbine power is far healthier than coal or nuclear
http://www.thespec.com/Opinions/article/800272
July 02, 2010 Gideon Forman The Hamilton Spectator (Jul 2, 2010)
Gideon Forman is executive director of Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (cape.ca).
If we take seriously the protection of human health, we have to phase out coal- and nuclear-powered electricity.
Coal kills hundreds of Ontarians and triggers more than 100,000 illnesses (e.g., asthma attacks) annually. It is also the most climate-destructive fuel around, emitting twice as much carbon as natural gas does. Whether the issue is respiratory disease or global warming, coal is a catastrophe.
But nuclear is extremely unhealthy as well. A scientific review by the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment found all functioning reactors release radioactive materials on a routine basis. A 2008 German government study showed children (younger than five) living within five kilometres of a nuclear plant are at elevated risk for leukemia. And Scientific American recently reported nukes harm the climate: "Nuclear power results in up to 25 times more carbon emissions than wind energy, when reactor construction and uranium refining and transport are considered."
But to phase out conventional power we need to use less energy and switch over to renewables, including wind turbines.
- - - - SNIP - - - -
The verdict: wind turbines are not perfect. They need to be carefully sited and allow for appropriate setbacks. But the current science -- from Ontario's top doctor -- suggests they do not threaten human health. Unlike coal, they are not destroying our climate and killing hundreds of Canadians every year. Unlike nuclear, they are not associated with cancer -- nor do they condemn the next 1,000 generations to the menace of radioactive waste.
=====================
3. Radiation exposure at Ontario nuclear plant prompts industry-wide investigation
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario/
radiation-exposure-at-ontario-nuclear-plant-prompts-industry-wide-investigation/article1623607/
Regulator questions safety at privately owned Bruce reactor where 195 workers put at risk
Karen Howlett From Wednesday's Globe and Mail Published on Tuesday, Jun. 29, 2010 8:12PM EDT Last updated on Tuesday, Jun. 29, 2010 8:20PM EDT
Emerging details of accidental radiation exposure at an Ontario nuclear power plant have triggered an order to investigate the possibility of similar incidents across the country, while raising doubts about safety at Canada’s only privately owned operator.
Last Nov. 26, a routine air sample taken at Bruce Power's No. 1 reactor on Lake Huron near Owen Sound detected elevated levels of radiation. The incident is one of the most serious safety breaches at a Canadian reactor in recent memory and poses troubling questions about why Bruce executives assumed – mistakenly, it turns out – that they could send workers in to upgrade a laid-up reactor without exposing them to cancer-causing alpha radiation.
The extent of the radiation problem will not be known until Bruce receives test results for all 195 workers considered most at risk of exposure. At a Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission hearing on Monday, Bruce officials revealed that two workers received a dose exceeding the allowable limit of 25 millisieverts a year under its operating licence. However, they stressed that no one received a dose above the regulatory limit, which allows nuclear employees to receive up to 50 millisieverts of radiation a year on the job, the equivalent of 500 chest X-rays.
Nevertheless, the discovery of radiation has shaken the regulator as well as workers at Bruce.
“I'm disturbed by what I'm hearing,” CNSC commissioner Alan Graham said Monday. “I'm wondering, what else is out there that we're not looking at.”
MORE:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario/
radiation-exposure-at-ontario-nuclear-plant-prompts-industry-wide-investigation/article1623607/
=======================
4. Lockheed Martin donates $3.5M to SIIT
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/
Lockheed+Martin+donates+SIIT/3204419/story.html
The Star Phoenix June 26, 2010
Aerospace giant Lockheed Martin is donating a $3.5-million "training package" to the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technology (SIIT).
The donation, announced at the school's main campus in downtown Saskatoon Friday morning, includes a package of training materials for the school's Aviation Maintenance and Engineering (AME) faculty.
The announcement follows other previously announced partnerships between the company and SIIT. It was made at the school's Saskatoon campus by company and school officials, as well as Saskatoon Blackstrap MP and Minister of
State for Western Economic Diversification Lynne Yelich, Saskatchewan Advanced Education, Employment and Labour Minister Rob Norris and Saskatchewan Minister of First Nations and Metis Relations Bill Hutchinson.
The company will supply the training materials and the two-year course to become a "certified aircraft maintenance engineer" will be taught by SIIT instructors.
MORE:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/
Lockheed+Martin+donates+SIIT/3204419/story.html
========================
5. Harper shift puts Sask. at G20 table
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/
Harper+shift+puts+Sask+table/3204442/story.html
The Star Phoenix June 26, 2010
They may be gathering in the cottage country of Northern Ontario and the newly constructed fortress in Toronto, but there will unquestionably be a little bit of Saskatchewan at the world leaders' meetings this weekend.
And we owe a steady but undeniable shift in philosophy on behalf of Prime Minister Stephen Harper for the honour.
As has oft been observed, Mr. Harper came to office with little interest in global affairs and a deep mistrust of Communist China.
He spent his time in opposition criticizing the Chretien government for kowtowing to the Asian giant during Team Canada visits and his first few years as prime minister trying to embarrass China over its human rights record.
Slowly, however, the Harper government came around. That switch was accelerated by the role China played in the most recent global economic crisis. Canada's ability to dodge the worst of the recession was due in part to its greater reliance on China as a market for its raw resources.
And that market was front and centre when Chinese President Hu Jintao came calling Thursday with some 200 business associates ready to scope out the Canadian market.
And, while Saskatchewan may not have been named in their brief dispatch, its industries were. The two leaders committed to increasing trade between the nations and to open the door for greater trade in energy -- particularly clean energy -- and beef.
As if to drive the point home, Cameco, the Saskatoon-based uranium giant, announced one sales deal and an agreement work on another with two Chinese energy companies, both of which are in the midst of aggressive expansions in their nuclear power production capacities.
The Chinese deals, by the way, were not alone in marking a mark on Cameco.
The Globe and Mail also reported another deal is in the works with India.
MORE:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/
Harper+shift+puts+Sask+table/3204442/story.html
======================
6. Cameco cracks Chinese market
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/
Cameco+cracks+Chinese+market/3198488/story.html
Uranium supply agreement signed with power utility
By Cassandra Kyle, The Star Phoenix June 25, 2010
Cameco Corp. has signed agreements regarding the supply of uranium with two Chinese companies.
The Saskatoon company said Thursday it will supply the China Nuclear Energy Industry Corp. (CNEIC), a wholly owned subsidiary of China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC), with approximately 23 million pounds of uranium concentrate
under a long-term agreement through 2020.
"This is Cameco's first long-term uranium supply agreement with a major Chinese nuclear utility," said company CEO Jerry Grandey.
"This agreement indicates clearly that we intend to be very active in the world's fastest growing uranium market."
CNNC is currently China's largest nuclear generator, operating seven reactors with 5,100 megawatts of capacity. The company also has 10 reactors totalling 9,100 megawatts of capacity under construction.
By 2020, CNNC expects to be one of the world's leading nuclear power companies.
MORE:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/
Cameco+cracks+Chinese+market/3198488/story.html
========================
7. Cameco sees great potential in partnership with China
http://www.nationalpost.com/
Cameco+sees+great+potential+partnership+with+China/
3203778/story.html
Peter Koven, Financial Post - Saturday, Jun. 26, 2010
TORONTO - This is the partnership Cameco Corp.' s investors have been waiting for.
After a couple of years of talks, the Saskatoon-based uranium giant has finally formed a working partnership with China, a country that is on the cusp of becoming a massive player in the nuclear business.
Cameco unveiled on Thursday landmark agreements to supply uranium to two major Chinese state-owned nuclear companies: China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC) and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co. Ltd. (CGNPC).
The CNNC deal covers a massive 23 million pounds of uranium through 2020, a much bigger and longer-lasting contract than China has signed with other uranium companies. And while the details of the CGNPC agreement still need to be negotiated, it also includes plans for the two companies to work together to develop uranium resources.
For Cameco chief executive Jerry Grandey, this is just the start of the China strategy.
"This is what I would describe as the initial step of co-operation. Given their expansion plans, I would expect there to be other contracts to follow in the coming years," he said in an interview yesterday.
While shareholders have waited impatiently for these deals to be struck, Mr. Grandey said the negotiation process with China was very smooth. The two sides needed time to build a relationship, and the Chinese needed to see Cameco's operations for themselves.
MORE:
http://www.nationalpost.com/
Cameco+sees+great+potential+partnership+with+China/3203778/
story.html
====================
8. Canada sells out on nuclear trade with India
http://www.ceasefire.ca/?p=4977&utm_sou ... _campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 29 Jun 2010 11:34 AM PDT
“If civilian nuclear cooperation is to be a primary fixture and symbol of the cordialization of Indo-Canadian relations,” writes CIGI Fellow Ernie Regehr, “it should be built on the most robust of nonproliferation conditions.” (Ernie Regehr, “The Canada-India civilian nuclear cooperation deal,” Disarming Conflict blog, 29 June 2010) Unfortunately, the deal that Canadian Prime Minister [...]
=======================
9. SASKATCHEWAN ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIETY OPPOSES PLANNED SALES OF URANIUM TO INDIA
Saskatchewan Environmental Society MEDIA RELEASE For Immediate Release
Saskatoon, June 29, 2010 -- Prime Minister Harper has made a serious error by entering into a formal agreement by which Canada will reopen uranium exports to India.
“The agreement will pave the way for uranium mining companies in Saskatchewan to export uranium to India, but it will do so at a very high cost - the further unraveling of the United Nations Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,” Saskatchewan Environmental Society Board Member Ann Coxworth said today.
“India refuses to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty, yet Canada and Saskatchewan will now sell uranium to them anyway. It’s a disturbing situation that highlights the inadequacy of international controls over trade in nuclear materials,” Coxworth said.
The Non-Proliferation Treaty has been the foundation for civilian trade in uranium over the past forty years. Canada has long claimed that it is only selling uranium to countries that fulfilled the obligations of the treaty, thus reducing the risk that Canadian uranium would be used for atomic weapons purposes.
“Now Canada is not only prepared to sell to a non-signatory, but to a country that has already used Canadian uranium to explode an atomic weapon,” Coxworth observed.
“There is a good reason for India’s unwillingness to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty. They do not want to subject themselves to full United Nations inspection and they want to continue to expand their nuclear weapons arsenal. By opening the door to uranium sales to India, Canada and Saskatchewan risk becoming part of the fueling of an atomic weapons race between India and Pakistan.” -30-
For more information contact:
Ann Coxworth, Board member and Research advisor, phone 665-1915 or 343-9281, email: annc@environmentalsociety.ca, website: www.environmentalsociety.ca
Rochelle Nault
Administrator | Saskatchewan Environmental Society
t. 306.665.1915 | f. 306.665.2128 | 203 Idylwyld Drive South Saskatoon SK S7M 1L6
Live sustainable lives, build a sustainable future online at www.environmentalsociety.ca
======================
10. Canadian nuclear plant rehab goes awry
http://web1.globalpost.com/dispatch/can ... lear-power
Refit was supposed to show how to keep old plants operating.
by Colin Woodard, July 5, 2010
POINT LEPREAU, N.B., Canada - The guardhouses stand at the end of a tree-lined road in this rural, forested province, and their occupants aren't welcoming visitors.
Beyond the gates, an effort to refurbish Atlantic Canada's only nuclear power plant isn't going well. The 25-year-old reactor at Point Lepreau was supposed to be refreshed, refitted and running full-tilt last September after a $1 billion repair. Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., the crown corporation that built the reactor, was to have demonstrated the efficacy of refurbishing nuclear reactors that would otherwise have to be retired.
Today, nobody knows when the plant will be back online, except that it won't be any earlier than 2011. The company's engineers are currently trying to figure out how to restore seals on critical components inside the reactor vessel of the provincially owned plant, 40 miles east of Lubec, Maine. CEO Hugh MacDiarmid has admitted that they had 'overly optimistic scheduling assumptions' and 'inadequate planning and preparation' at Lepreau.
MORE:
http://web1.globalpost.com/dispatch/can ... lear-power
==========================
11. WILL AN “ECOLOGY GOSPEL” EMERGE FROM THE HARPER PURGATORY?
By Jim Harding http://jimharding.brinkster.net
Saskatchewan Sustainability
Published in United Newspapers of Saskatchewan June 25, 2010
Sustainability challenges us to change our ways but also to change how we understand ourselves as a species within the biosphere. This is a big shift in mind-set, for the dominant industrial society evolved without any fundamental grasp of its cumulative ecological impacts, and it’s only been since the 1970s that “environmental impacts” have been added into the political-economic mix. That’s only 40 years ago and we are still in the infancy of learning to live sustainably. After centuries of colonialism and exploitation there however remains well-funded resistance to the necessary shift. In Canada we see this most clearly with Harper’s minority government.
As the pressure to protect the environment has grown, corporations and supporting governments have countered with neo-liberal policies of free trade, deregulation and privatization. While this helped spur on profitable global corporate markets, it dislocated millions of people from their local economies, increased urban squalor and civil strife. Deregulation also set the stage for the recent financial meltdown and larger scale ecological disasters such as in the Gulf of Mexico. Collusion between government and corporations in the name of unfettered economic growth has consistently undermined proactive measures to address the global ecological crisis. The most compelling example is the undercutting of policies to reduce the carbon emissions that are increasing extreme and erratic weather events. Recent flooding in the normally semi-arid Maple Creek and Medicine Hat areas may be a sign of things to come.
MORE:
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1760#1760
==============================
12. Tough choice: BP or nuclear power
http://money.ca.msn.com/investing/michael-brush/
article.aspx?cp-documentid=24741878
By Michael Brush, June 30, 2010
The oil disaster in the Gulf and concerns over global warming could spur greater interest in building nuke plants. That means new options for investors to explore.
Nuclear energy has been rising on America's agenda for years because of growing concerns about the environmental damage and national-security risk from using too much fossil fuel.
But the massive BP (BP.N) oil spill has made nuclear power look even more attractive -- a potential environmental silver lining from the Gulf of Mexico disaster.
MORE:
http://money.ca.msn.com/investing/michael-brush/
article.aspx?cp-documentid=24741878
======================
13. The Upcoming Nuclear Peril: Worse Than the BP Oil Disaster
http://www.truth-out.org/
the-upcoming-nuclear-peril-worse-than-bp-oil-disaster60959
Thursday 01 July 2010
by: World Business Academy, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed
How many crises will it take? The recent destruction wrought by Big Finance and Big Oil will pale in comparison to the destruction wrought by Big Nuclear if we do not use the Gulf disaster as an opportunity to end our dangerous addiction to dirty fuels and to reject the illusion that any industry will "regulate" itself.
The nuclear industry has captured our government and governments around the globe. One single nuclear mistake, whether it be an accident or a security breach, could leave a 10,000-year path of destruction. Even while functioning properly and in accordance with the law, nuclear power plants produce cancer-causing poisons, which enter the bodies of humans at toxic levels.
Today we face a nuclear peril unlike anything we have ever known. We are approaching a tipping point in the global spread of nuclear technology because of a largely out-of-sight, worldwide free-for-all among nuclear power companies and their allied national governments to expand their share of the fast-growing international nuclear energy market. Unless we begin to confront the mounting dangers, we have little chance of keeping nuclear materials out of the hands of terrorists and carcinogenic toxins out of our bodies.
MORE:
http://www.truth-out.org/
the-upcoming-nuclear-peril-worse-than-bp-oil-disaster60959
=====================
14. Nuke Industry Bullies Students, Demands Lunch Money
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2010/07/01-6
House Democrats choose pre-emptive bailout for nuclear industry over preventing teacher layoffs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 1, 2010 3:30 PM
CONTACT: Friends of the Earth [1]
Ben Schreiber, bschreiber@foe.org, 202-222-0752
Scott Baumgartner, sbaumgartner@foe.org, 202-222-0751
WASHINGTON - July 1 - This week, the House of Representatives is expected to vote on supplemental appropriations for the war in Afghanistan and several domestic programs. The domestic program funding preserves $9 billion in loan guarantees [2] for nuclear reactors, while cutting $13 billion in funds to prevent teacher layoffs.
Friends of the Earth's climate and energy tax analyst, Ben Schreiber, had the following response:
"This week Congress will vote on whether to take teachers away from students so that they can give nuclear reactors a $9 billion pre-emptive bailout. We continue to be shocked that Congress brazenly puts the interests of corporations above the needs of regular Americans, including teachers and children. This is further proof our political system has been corrupted by corporate influence and special interests.
"President Obama shoulders the blame for this latest push for a government bailout of the nuclear industry. Despite the recent tragedies we've suffered involving two of the three dangerous pillars of the energy plan that the President touted in his State of the Union address (oil and coal), he is still supporting efforts to hand billions of taxpayer dollars to the third pillar, nuclear reactors. Though we are fortunate to not have experienced a significant nuclear disaster in this country in decades, we continue down a path that tries our luck and puts the public at risk.
"New reactors cannot be built without massive preemptive government bailouts. It is telling that the handouts are destined to go to reactors in Majority Leader Steny Hoyer's and Democratic Whip James Clyburn's districts as well as to a reactor in South Texas. These are government handouts for the well-connected that come at the expense of regular Americans and their children." ###
Friends of the Earth [1] is the U.S. voice of the world's largest grassroots environmental network, with member groups in 77 countries. Since 1969, Friends of the Earth has fought to create a more healthy, just world.
======================
15. WATCH: A Very Scary Light Show: Exploding H-Bombs In Space
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/
story.php?storyId=128170775&ft=1&f=1026
by Robert Krulwich July 1, 2010
Since we're coming up on the Fourth of July, and towns everywhere are preparing their better-than-ever fireworks spectaculars, we would like to offer this humbling bit of history. Back in the summer of 1962, the U.S. blew up a hydrogen bomb in outer space, some 250 miles above the Pacific Ocean. It was a weapons test, but one that created a man-made light show that has never been equaled — and hopefully never will. Here it is:
WATCH
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/
story.php?storyId=128170775&ft=1&f=1026
=======================
16. WATCH: Afghanistan War:--The British Empire "Great Game" -- is now a "Grand Chessboard"
The Afghan war and the 'Grand Chessboard' Pt.1
http://www.therealnews.com/t2/
index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=4695
Zbigniew Brzezinski on Afghanistan and the American strategy for Eurasia and the world. January 13, 2010
The Afghan war and the 'Grand Chessboard' Pt2
http://www.therealnews.com/t2/
index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=4716
Brzezinski: Six months before Soviet invasion, we financed the Mujahideen. January 15, 2010
Zbigniew Brzezinski on Iran - Pt 3
http://www.therealnews.com/t2/
index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=4715
Zbigniew Brzezinski: An Israeli attack on Iran would be a disaster. January 17, 2010
====================
17. US seeks more info from China on its N-deal with Pak
http://www.pakistannews24.com/
us-seeks-more-info-from-china-on-its-n-deal-with-pak/
Posted by admin on Jun 29th, 2010 // Posted: Tue Jun 29 2010
Apparently not satisfied with the Chinese clarifications on its nuclear deal with Pakistan, the US today said it has sought more information from Beijing about the supply of two more atomic power plants to Islamabad.
“We as a first step are looking for more information from China as to what it is potentially proposing,” State Department spokesman P J Crowley told reporters.
He was responding to a question on last week’s meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in New Zealand, wherein China informed the group about its decision to supply two additional nuclear power plants to Pakistan.
“We did raise the issue during last week’s Nuclear Suppliers Group. We continue to seek information from China regarding its future plans,” Crowley said.
MORE:
http://www.pakistannews24.com/
us-seeks-more-info-from-china-on-its-n-deal-with-pak/
===========================
18. No nuclear energy revival in the EU
http://www.bellona.org/news/news_2010/no_eu_nuclear
Veronica Webster, April 15-2010, Bellona Part of: Nuclear energy
BRUSSELS – A hearing on the risk of a nuclear renaissance in the EU was held at the European Parliament on April 7th. It discussed three projects for new units at existing nuclear power plants that are under planning or construction in Europe.
While one project was withdrawn, one was caught in legal entanglements and a third was facing massive cost overruns and delays.
The hearing was co-sponsored by German Member of the European Parliament Rebecca Harms from the Greens, and Finnish Member of the European Parliament Sirpa Pietikainen from the centre-right group EPP, in co-operation with green NGO Friends of the Earth Europe.
Three case studies were examined. The nuclear power plant units Mochovce 3 and 4 in Slovakia were permitted in the 1980s under the socialist regime and were partly built before the project was stopped after the economic changes of the early 1990s. The project has recently been revived, but it is still based on a reactor-design from the early 1970s, and offers, for instance, insufficient protection against plane crashes.
MORE: http://www.bellona.org/news/news_2010/no_eu_nuclear
====================
19. No Nukes News - July 4, 2010
"UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It's not." -- Dr. Seuss, The Lorax
---------------------------------------------------------------
Radiation exposure triggers industry-wide probe; Regulator asks all of Canada's nuclear-power generators to investigate after as many as 195 workers at Ontario plant are put at risk
Emerging details of accidental radiation exposure at an Ontario nuclear power plant have triggered an order to investigate the possibility of similar incidents across the country, while raising doubts about safety at Canada's only privately owned operator…
In an internal newsletter obtained by The Globe and Mail, Bruce Power chief executive officer Duncan Hawthorne expresses concerns that cost overruns and delays could hinder the company's ability to win additional refurbishment projects from the Ontario government. The $4.25-billion price tag for upgrading the two units is $1.5-billion higher than the original estimate, and the project is more than a year behind schedule.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario/
radiation-exposure-at-ontario-nuclear-plant-prompts-industry-wide-investigation/article1623607/
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Saskatchewan, Quebec can produce medical isotopes without nuclear reactors or uranium!
It is increasingly clear that the production of medical isotopes for nuclear medicine does not require nuclear reactors or uranium.
http://ccnr.org/isotope_shortage.html .
CLS may produce medical isotopes
The Canadian Light Source thinks it can help solve the medical isotope shortage
in Canada without using a nuclear reactor or weapons-grade uranium.
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/health/pr ... +isotopes/
3204429/story.html
A Complementary Solution for Production of Medical Isotopes - Researchers from Sherbrooke succeed in producing technetium 99m with a cyclotron
http://www.advancedcyclotron.com/news/
complementary-solution-production-medical-isotopes-researchers-sherbrooke-succeed-producing-tec
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Chalk River reactor to restart in July
Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. says it estimates that the National Research Universal reactor will resume medical isotope production by the end of July. The NRU reactor in Chalk River, Ont., has been off-line for more than a year for repair of a radioactive water leak.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/07/01/
aecl-chalk-river-isotopes-july.html#ixzz0sRka1mdM
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Wind-turbine power is far healthier than coal or nuclear
If we take seriously the protection of human health, we have to phase out coal- and nuclear-powered electricity.
The verdict: wind turbines are not perfect. They need to be carefully sited and allow for appropriate setbacks. But the current science -- from Ontario's top doctor -- suggests they do not threaten human health. Unlike coal, they are not destroying our climate and killing hundreds of Canadians every year. Unlike nuclear, they are not associated with cancer -- nor do they condemn the next 1,000 generations to the menace of radioactive waste.
http://www.thespec.com/Opinions/article/800272
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Water Scarcity: Nuclear Power's Achilles' Heel
Water scarcity has widespread implications for our nation. As a recent New York Times (Global Edition) article notes, water scarcity is increasingly a major constraint for the production of electricity. But what, in particular, does this mean for the nation's fleet of nuclear power plants?
Generating electricity with nuclear power is extremely water intensive, which is why nuclear plants are typically built on the shores of rivers, lakes and oceans. Many plants rely on submerged intake pipes to draw water -- hundreds of millions to a few billion gallons per day -- for use in cooling and condensing steam after it has turned the plants' turbines.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kyle-rabin/
water-scarcity-nuclear-po_b_628294.html
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Imminent Canada-India nuclear pact heightens tensions
Impending deal could be worth billions for Canadian industry, but it has already become a source of concern in Pakistan
An imminent deal that would open the door for Canadian exports of uranium to India, could add to nuclear tensions in South Asia, some experts say.
The deal could be worth billions for Canadian industry and would formally end the mistrust that followed India’s nuclear test in 1974, when it became apparent that India had misused a Canadian research reactor to obtain weapons-grade plutonium.
Some experts on nuclear technology say the new deal could repeat history, however, with Canada unwittingly adding to the nuclear tensions in the region by easing India’s shortage of uranium.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/asia-pacific/
imminent-canada-india-nuclear-pact-heightens-tensions/article1617240/
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4,037 cities demand the elimination of nuclear weapons
Mayors for Peace proudly announced today that 4,037 member cities in 144 countries and regions have joined the campaign to eliminate nuclear weapons by 2020.
http://www.mayorsforpeace.org/english/index.html
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Why Nunavut needs a public inquiry into uranium mining
A position statement from Nunavummiut Makitagunarningit
Nunavut is in danger of being on the receiving end of one of the biggest snow jobs in its history. The uranium industry has come to town, and the elected leaders of our public government may be willing to let bureaucrats in Nunavut and Ottawa decide whether or not its arrival is in our public interest.
Some other jurisdictions in Canada have concluded that it is not in their best interest. In British Columbia, Nova Scotia and the City of Ottawa, elected leaders and citizens have debated the wisdom of uranium mining and nuclear power. They have decided that the risks outweigh the rewards, and they have banned uranium exploration and mining in their jurisdictions. Similarly, the new government in Greenland banned uranium mining in the country as one of its first acts upon taking office last November.
Contrary to the messaging coming from the heads of land claims organizations and some senior government officials, Nunavummiut Makitagunarningit believes that a uranium industry in Nunavut would pose serious risks to the environment, to public health and safety, and to Inuit traditions and practices.
For whatever reasons, the elected leaders of our public government have not been willing or able to publicly acknowledge those risks - or examine whether Nunavut is ready to deal with them.
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/
why_nunavut_needs_a_public_inquiry_into_uranium_mining/
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No nuclear energy revival in the EU
A hearing on the risk of a nuclear renaissance in the EU was held at the European Parliament on April 7th. It discussed three projects for new units at existing nuclear power plants that are under planning or construction in Europe. While one project was withdrawn, one was caught in legal entanglements and a third was facing massive cost overruns and delays.
http://www.bellona.org/news/news_2010/no_eu_nuclear
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$1-billion deal in wind; Three mega wind farm projects reinforce the region's reputation and boost manufacturing
A $1.1-billion wind farm development slated for Southwestern Ontario would be the largest of its type in the province and cement the region's reputation as a wind energy centre.
Next Era Energy, North America's largest energy company, is proposing to build three wind farm projects in Lambton and Huron counties. Combined, they'd dwarf other farms -- adding up to 300 wind turbines to the landscape and generating 490 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 144,000 homes.
http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2010 ... 61346.html
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G8/20 – Not-to-miss speakers – Wow!
On June 25, an incredible line-up of speakers assembled at Massey Hall, Toronto, all critiquing the G8/20. Vandana Shiva spoke about the nuclear deal with India.
Naomi Klein, Vandana Shiva, John Hilary, Pablo Solon, Maude Barlow, Clayton-Thomas Muller, Amy Goodman…
Rabble.tv posted them all – catch them here:
http://www.livestream.com/rabbletv/
video?clipId=flv_b3f2fd15-3e4e-463d-b3fb-751779d13a3c&utm_source=lslibrary&utm_medium=ui-thumb
Also, catch Naomi Klein in a 15 min. video interview with Amy Goodman of Democracy Now:
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/6/28/
naomi_klein_the_real_crime_scene
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Environmental Groups Frustrated with Climate Change and Energy Outcomes of the Muskoka G8
After having stalled climate action in Canada over the last 4 years, the Harper government has successfully stalled it at the G8 level.
http://www.publicvalues.ca/ViewArticle.cfm?Ref=00712
Clean Energy Hoovered out of G20 Final Communique
http://www.publicvalues.ca/ViewArticle.cfm?Ref=00718
Toronto G20 communiqué: Leading Environmental Groups respond to the climate change and energy aspects
http://www.climateactionnetwork.ca/e/news/2010/release/
index.php?WEBYEP_DI=46
Leaked G20 documents: Canada won't cut extra subsidies for fossil fuels
http://climate.pembina.org/blog/98
G8 / G20 Briefing Document: A Climate Change Agenda for Canada
Greenpeace, Canada outlines how to deal with fossil fuel subsidies, carbon capture and storage subsidies, climate finance, and the climate gap
http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/Global/canada/report/
2010/6/g20/A_Climate_Change_Agenda_for_Canada.pdf
Sigh the petition for an Independent Review of G20 Security Measures
http://www.amnesty.ca/iwriteforjustice/
take_action.php?actionid=449&type=Internal
----------------------------------------------------------------
Angela Bischoff, Outreach Director
Ontario Clean Air Alliance
Tel: 416 926 1907 x 246
625 Church Street, #402, Toronto, ON M4Y 2G1
angela@cleanairalliance.org
www.ontariosgreenfuture.ca
www.cleanairalliance.org
Our Facebook Group
Sign Our Petition
No Nukes News
Health Power
=======================
20. Rethinking Iran-Contra: A Much Darker Story?
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19992
The Iran-Contra/ October Surprise was the missing link in a larger American political narrative By Robert Parry Global Research, July 1, 2010
Consortiumnews The conventional view of the Iran-Contra scandal is that it covered the period 1985-86, when President Ronald Reagan became concerned about the fate of American hostages in Lebanon and agreed to secretly sell weapons to Iran’s Islamist government to gain its help in freeing the captives.
Supposedly, the scheme went awry when White House aide Oliver North and other participants got carried away, including North’s decision to divert profits from the arms sales to another one of Reagan’s priorities, the Nicaraguan contra rebels whose CIA assistance had been cut off by Congress.
The Iran-Contra scandal was exposed in fall of 1986 after the shooting down of a North supply plane over Nicaragua and revelations in Lebanon of Reagan’s arms sales to Iran. A White House staff shake-up, including North’s firing, and some wrist-slaps from Congress for Reagan’s alleged inattention to details resolved the scandal, at least that was how Official Washington saw it.
The few dissenters who wouldn’t accept that tidy conclusion – such as Iran-Contra special prosecutor Lawrence Walsh – were mocked and marginalized by the news media, including the Washington Post (which ran an article concluding that Walsh’s consistency in pursuing the scandal was “so un-Washington” and that he would depart as “a perceived loser”).
But an accumulating body of evidence suggests that the traditional view of Iran-Contra was mistaken, that this conventional understanding of the scandal was like starting a novel in the middle and assuming you’re reading the opening chapter.
Indeed, it now appears clear that the Iran-Contra Affair began five years earlier in 1980, with what has often been treated as a separate controversy, called the October Surprise case, dealing with alleged contacts between Reagan’s presidential campaign and Iran.
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19992
=======================
21. 4,037 cities demand the elimination of nuclear weapons
http://www.2020visioncampaign.org/pages/539/
4037_cities_demand_the_elimination_of_nuclear_weapons
Hiroshima, July 1st 2010 - Mayors for Peace proudly announced today that 4,037 member cities in 144 countries and regions have joined the campaign to eliminate nuclear weapons by 2020. Mayors for Peace is a network of local governments headquartered in the City of Hiroshima. Dr. Tadatoshi Akiba, the Mayor of Hiroshima and President of Mayors for Peace spearheads an international campaign for nuclear weapon states to stop considering cities as targets for weapons of mass destruction.
In June 72 new members were welcomed. The previous months we see systematic growth of membership as a result of coordinated efforts in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Greece, Italy, Japan, Spain, Sweden and the USA, while a new effort was developed in Ethiopia last month. You can find the detailed list of the 72 new members if you click here.
http://www.mayorsforpeace.org/data/pdf/ ... 007_en.pdf
=======================
22. Is your city one? 88 Canadian cities are members of Mayors for Peace.
Find out: http://www.mayorsforpeace.org/english/m ... thamerica/
canada.html
- - - - -
WHAT IS Mayors for Peace
http://www.mayorsforpeace.org/data/pdf/ ... 020_en.pdf
Hiroshima and Nagasaki have consistently sought to persuade the world that nuclear weapons are inhumane, continually calling for their total abolition. In 1982, the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki etablished “Mayors for Peace” to ensure that the atomic tragedy is never repeated anywhere on earth. The Conference was registered as a NGO in Special Consultative
- - - - -
Hiroshima Conference for the Total Abolition of Nuclear Weapons by 2020 – July 27-29, 2010
http://www.mayorsforpeace.org/data/mail ... gram_E.pdf
(June 2, 2010)
The City of Hiroshima and Mayors for Peace will hold the Hiroshima Conference for the Total Abolition of Nuclear Weapons by 2020 from July 27 to July 29. We will discuss what we should do for the total abolition of nuclear weapons after the 2010 NPT Review Conference has concluded.
Last edited by Oscar on Mon Jul 12, 2010 12:00 pm, edited 2 times in total.
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9887
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
NUKE NEWS: July 9, 2010
by Oscar » Fri Jul 09, 2010 3:37 pm
NUKE NEWS: July 9, 2010
1. SASKATCHEWAN’S FIRST SOLAR TOUR
2. EVENT: Think Outside the Bomb Camp - New Mexico
3. Media watchdog finds CANDU reactor ads “inaccurate” and “unsupported”
4. Licence renewal applications for GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc.: Notice of public hearings
5. CNSC Staff Review Procedures for new nuclear power plant applications - Now available
6. Transcript of the July 5 public hearing regarding the restart of the NRU
7. Isotope reactor awaits restart decision
8. Lockheed Martin Donates CA$3.5 Million Training Package to Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies
9. Worry grows over Sask. uranium exports
10. Cameco welcomes nuclear deal
11. Imminent Canada-India nuclear pact heightens tensions
12. Nuclear plant balks at regulator request to test all employees for radiation
13. Cameco cracks Chinese market
14. Cameco sees great potential in partnership with China
15. CONSUL GENERAL OF CHINA MAKES LAST VISIT TO SASKATCHEWAN
16. Finnish delays headache for French nuclear firm
17. Finland Opts for Additional Reactors
=========================
1. SASKATCHEWAN’S FIRST SOLAR TOUR
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1762#1762
BY Jim Harding - Saskatchewan Sustainability
Published in United Newspapers of Saskatchewan July 3, 2010
I joined forty others on the province’s first solar tour held June 19th to highlight the summer solstice, the longest day of sunlight. The tour was organized by the environmental advocacy group Clean Green Regina in concert with other groups. We travelled on a Regina transit bus rented for the occasion and saw eight residential, business or institutional applications of solar energy. Eleven other locations could not be visited because of the shortage of time. We saw rooftop thermal panels heating water; we saw photovoltaic (PV) panels and wind-turbines producing electricity. (Wind is solar energy as it’s created by the shifting of temperature.) We learned more about solar technology and how electricity is measured: 1 kilowatt (kW) equals 1,000 watts and 1 kilowatt-hour (kWh) is 1000 watts produced for an hour.
We went to see the 3.5 kW (3,500 watt) capacity wind turbine installed on a building at the University of Regina, but found that it isn’t yet operating. It’s a 2.5 meter high vertical axis turbine, meaning it turns vertically like an egg-beater, not like a propeller. It’s taken the university quite a while to incorporate multi-disciplinary knowledge into its energy research, having been involved in fossil fuel and uranium research for decades. The potential for solar has been literally over the academic’s heads all along. Rooftops, like classrooms and labs, can serve multiple purposes and with a little foresight every roof at the U of R could be used to gather thermal energy to heat water, and for PV panels to produce electricity. Roofs can also be used for on-roof greeneries and gardening, which is happening in many urban downtowns.
Institutions are however, slow to change. We saw evidence of institutional lag when we visited the Science Centre to see the 2.8 kW of PV panels installed in 2000 by Sask Power “for research purposes”. The Crown Corporation concluded “Results showed that the cost savings realized from the solar system cannot effectively offset the capital costs of installation”, continuing “As a result, this technology is better suited to niche applications where connection to the grid is uneconomical or when passive solar enhancement is desired.” These conclusions are antiquated. Solar panels are now tested and rated globally under Standard Testing Conditions (STC). Not only has their efficiency increased but the cost has dropped sharply. Since I priced PV panels for our place three years ago the price has dropped 50% and is now competitive with small wind turbines.
MORE:
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1762#1762
=======================
2. EVENT: Think Outside the Bomb Camp - New Mexico
LESS THAN A MONTH TILL CAMP! WILL YOU BE THERE?
JOIN US IN NEW MEXICO FOR DISARMAMENT SUMMER ENCAMPMENT
July 30 - August 9, 2010 Chimayo, NM - (505) 351 1908
www.thinkoutsidethebomb.org
Think Outside the Bomb, the largest youth led nuclear disarmament network in the US, is less than a month away from the Disarmament Summer encampment in Chimayo, NM. This is an amazing event--sign up and join us! If you cannot join us, please take the time and forward this to a few friends you think might want to join!
Disarmament Summer is a cross-cultural alliance of youth working together to re-ignite hope from below and build a grassroots consensus-based creative nonviolent direct action movement. In partnership with the Tribal Environmental Watch Alliance, TEWA Women United, the Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment, Products of Atzlan youth group, and the Southwest Indigenous Uranium Forum, we are committed to collective liberation, a sustainable future, and an end to the cycle of nuclear violence - from extraction, to processing, to weapons / power and waste.
The infrastructure for the permaculture camp is being build now! Things are moving, people are registering, the action for August 6th is coming together-- the question now is-- Will you be there?
Don't miss the opportunity to network, share experience, information, strategies, and learn organizing skills through hands on involvement in the permaculture systems and in planning a series of nonviolent direct actions focused on Los Alamos National Laboratory, the expansion of the nuclear weapons complex and the uranium mining needed to support this industry
We are the new generation demanding an end to the cycle of violence that has devastated communities here in the US and across the world and we don't want it to happen again! We will show that a more promising future is possible! JOIN US!
GET SIGNED UP! REGISTER FOR CAMP!
We are working hard to make this camp a reality. But we still need your support.
Donors who give by check or credit card will receive a receipt of confirmation note that they can use for tax purposes. We can send a similar receipt to cash donors only if you record the amount of gift and donors address. You can also give online at www.thinkoutsidethebomb.org
Or to make a tax-deductable donation please make checks out to Alliance of Community Trainers, and put TOTB in the memo field. Mail to P.O. Box 1286, Austin TX 78767.
If you are not interested in a tax- deduction you can make the check out to Think Outside the Bomb and mail to us directly at:
Disarmament Summer
c/o Think Outside the Bomb
P.O. Box 508, Chimayo, NM 87522
For more information please contact:
Outreach - Jonathan Williams
jwilliams@peace-action.org
Finance - Erin Placey
eplacey@gmail.com
Encampment - Steve Stormoen
andseedlings@gmail.com
Media
Liz Woodruff
lwoodruff@snakeriveralliance.org
New Mexico specific - The Crew!
(505) 351 1908
Still more information @ www.thinkoutsidethebomb.org
======================
3. Media watchdog finds CANDU reactor ads “inaccurate” and “unsupported”
http://www.waterkeeper.ca/2010/06/09/
media-watchdog-finds-candu-reactor-ads-inaccurate-and-unsupported/
Krystyn Tully, Waterkeeper.ca Weekly July 9, 2010
Have you ever looked at advertisements for nuclear power and wondered how organizations such as the Power Workers¹ Union can call nuclear reactors ³emission free²? We see similar phrases all the time in print media, <http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.02/nuclear.html> on the web <http://www.cna.ca/>, and in statements by elected officials. The problem is, it just isn¹t accurate to say that nuclear power is ³emission free². Nuclear reactors emit all kinds of foul things into the environment, and industry and government know it.
Advertising Standards Canada has just posted a decision to its website declaring that it is inaccurate and unsupportable to call CANDU reactors ³emission free².
Earlier this year, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper staff and a group of law students from Queen¹s University filed a complaint about this with Advertising Standards Canada. The national not-for-profit body self-regulates the advertising industry in Canada. If an ad is misleading, deceptive, or makes claims that are unsupportable, Advertising Standards Canada can request that the advertiser remove the ad.
We complained about a specific Power Workers¹ Union ad that ran in The Globe and Mail. The ad labels CANDU reactors ³emission free². We provided supporting documentation that shows CANDU reactors at nuclear plants such as the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station emit many different contaminants: 2-propenoic acid, ammonia, aromatic hydrocarbon resin, benzene, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrazine, morpholine, nitrogen oxides, phosphoric acid, quarterly ammonium compounds, sulphur dioxide, suspended particulate matter, total hydrocarbons, as well as tritium.
Advertising Standards Canada has just posted a decision to its website declaring that it is inaccurate and unsupportable to call CANDU reactors ³emission free². In its commentary, Advertising Standards Canada states emphatically: ³Š it is misleading Š for an advertiser to categorically promise one thing when, by its own admission, it can only deliver something that is significantly less.²
The Union is now expected to remove all ads containing the ³emission free² statement and to qualify any future claims. Any other spokespeople or advertisers or politicians who liked to make the same claim should look for other, more accurate language as well.
This is a huge victory for everyone who is tired of reading false claims about ³emission free² nuclear power. Before this, we could only grit our teeth over the morning newspaper and long for the days when the Ontario Energy Board or the Environmental Assessment Board would have silenced the spin doctors.
Unfortunately, those independent decision-making processes are being side-stepped: The Ontario Energy Board hearing for Ontario¹s energy plan is on hold indefinitely. That same plan was exempted from environmental assessment. Likewise, a provincial assessment for the Darlington Nuclear Power Plant just is not happening no word of explanation or justification.
Those hearings were the one place that industry had to prove its claims, where scientists and experts could be questioned and tested until the best possible conclusions emerged.
Without these hearings, our only source of information about energy policy seems to come from paid advertisements, press releases, and editorials. We can¹t ask advertisers questions, and we can¹t test their claims. That means truth in advertising is more important today than ever before. Advertising Standards Canada¹s decision is good for public policy, good for the advertising industry, and good for the environment.
Further Reading
Advertising Standards Canada decision
<http://www.adstandards.com/en/standards/
adComplaintsreportscurrent.asp>
Power Workers¹ Union Ad from the Globe and Mail
<http://www.waterkeeper.ca/documents/ASC-PWU-Ad.pdf>
LOW Complaint
<http://www.waterkeeper.ca/documents/ASC-PWU.pdf>
LOW Complaint: Exhibits
<http://www.waterkeeper.ca/documents/ASC-PWU-Exhibits.pdf>
over 7 MB
Special thanks to Pro Bono Students Canada and the team of student volunteers who worked on the complaint:
Patrick Stratton, Ali Pawson, Martha Monterrosa, and Steve Ronan.
=======================
4. Licence renewal applications for GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc.: Notice of public hearings
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) will hold two separate two-day public hearings on applications by GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. (GE Hitachi), Toronto, Ontario for the renewal of the operating licences for two nuclear fuel fabrication facilities.
The facilities are located in Toronto and Peterborough, Ontario. GE Hitachi is requesting a ten-year licence term for both facilities.
Hearing Day One: September 22, 2010
Place: CNSC Public Hearing Room, 14th floor, 280 Slater Street, Ottawa, Ontario
Time: as set by the agenda published prior to the hearing date
Hearing Day Two: December 8, 2010
Place: CNSC Public Hearing Room, 14th floor, 280 Slater Street, Ottawa, Ontario
Time: as set by the agenda published prior to the hearing date
Find out more:
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/commission/pdf/
2010-09-22-Notice-2010-H-08-GE-e-Edocs3572323.pdf
Consult the CNSC Web site for updates and hearing documents:
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/commission/hearings/
documents_browse/index.cfm
============================
5. CNSC Staff Review Procedures for new nuclear power plant applications - Now available
The CNSC is developing a suite of Staff Review Procedures (SRPs) to support the assessment of Environmental Impact Statements (EISs), and licence applications for new nuclear facilities.
Staff Review Procedures (SRPs) are internal working documents used by CNSC staff. Each SRP covers a topic and provides instructions to CNSC staff on the conduct of an assessment.
Find out more: http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/lice ... werplants/
newapplicants/staff_review_procedures/index.cfm
Consult the complete list of CNSC Staff Review Procedures:
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/lice ... werplants/
newapplicants/staff_review_procedures/cnsc_staff_review_
procedures_list.cfm
For all the latest CNSC news, visit the CNSC's homepage at http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/
=========================
6. Transcript of the July 5 public hearing regarding the restart of the NRU
Read the transcript of the July 5 public hearing (PDF format):
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/fr/commission/pdf/
2010-07-05-Transcript-HearingAECL-NRU.pdf
Consult other July 5 public hearing documents:
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/commission/hearings/
documents_browse/date.cfm?dt=5-Jul-2010
==========================
7. Isotope reactor awaits restart decision
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/07/07/
aecl-medical-isotope-reactor-chalk-river.html?ref=rss
Last Updated: Wednesday, July 7, 2010 | 11:52 AM ET CBC News
Officials with the nuclear reactor that has been shut down for more than a year, causing a medical isotope shortage, are expected to learn Wednesday whether operations will resume.
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission was expected to decide by 2:30 p.m. ET whether to approve the "return-to-service" strategy for the National Research Universal reactor in Chalk River.
If the strategy is approved, the reactor operated by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited could begin making medical isotopes again by the end of the month.
The reactor has been shut down since May 2009. That was when inspections uncovered a heavy-water leak and corrosion at the base of the reactor vessel.
The resulting prolonged shutdown led to a worldwide shortage of radioactive isotopes, which are used for medical imaging.
At a hearing on Monday, AECL president and CEO Hugh McDiarmid said he and his colleagues are now confident the reactor is ready to resume safe operation following months of complicated repairs and testing.
MORE: http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/07/07/
aecl-medical-isotope-reactor-chalk-river.html?ref=rss
============================
8. Lockheed Martin Donates CA$3.5 Million Training Package to Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies
http://www.lockheedmartin.com/news/press_releases/
2010/062510_LMCA_TrainingPackage.html
SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN, June 25th, 2010 -- Lockheed Martin announced a CA$3.5 million donation of a package of training materials to the school’s Aviation Maintenance and Engineering (AME) faculty.
The announcement, which builds on its relationship with the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies, was made at the school’s Saskatoon campus in partnership with the Honourable Lynne Yelich, Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification.
Lockheed Martin last month donated CA$100,000 to support the AME program and announced at that time the continued collaboration with faculty administration to develop and implement courseware and instructor’s materials for training in more than three-dozen engineering disciplines including systems engineering, quality assurance, logistics and interface engineering management. The advanced modules are similar to those used internally by the corporation and are based on decades of lessons learned in aerospace and systems engineering on major, complex programs.
“We believe this program will enable post-secondary students to enhance their knowledge and skills in the advanced technology area of aircraft engineering and sustainment,” said Tom Digan, president of Lockheed Martin Canada. “Leveraging lessons-learned from decades of work on complex engineering programs, the courseware will build upon the student’s existing curriculum and help ensure that the Canadian aviation industry has the skill force for the future.
MORE: http://www.lockheedmartin.com/news/press_releases/
2010/062510_LMCA_TrainingPackage.html
Media Contact: Michael Barton, 613-862-6686; e-mail, Michael.Barton@lmco.com
For additional information, visit our website: http://www.lockheedmartin.com
==========================
9. Worry grows over Sask. uranium exports
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/story/2010/06/29/
sk-coxworth-uranium-krahn-deal.html
Last Updated: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 | 8:24 PM CST CBC News
Fears that Saskatchewan uranium may be used in weapons have been triggered by a newly signed export agreement with India.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper signed a nuclear co-operation agreement on Sunday with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was in Toronto for the G20 summit. It allows for uranium exports to India and technological exchanges that could be worth billions to Canada's nuclear industry.
Ann Coxworth, of the Saskatchewan Environmental Society, said she fears the federal deal could make it possible for Saskatchewan's uranium to end up in weapons.
"We need to very seriously consider whether exporting uranium around the world is the kind of business that we should be in," said Coxworth.
But Lyle Krahn, spokesman for Saskatoon-based uranium producer Cameco, said the agreement is a growth opportunity for his company, which is working to secure overseas uranium markets in places like China and India.
"We feel that aligns nicely with our plan to double uranium production by 2018," said Krahn.
Coxworth said the environmental society is working to raise public awareness in hopes of stopping the India deal.
Deal ends chill
The deal ends decades of chill over India's acquisition of a nuclear bomb.
Harper said he believed India's Cold War duplicity has been consigned to history and that it won't use Canadian uranium to build nuclear weapons.
MORE: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/story/2010/06/29/
sk-coxworth-uranium-krahn-deal.html
=========================
10. Cameco welcomes nuclear deal
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/
Cameco+welcomes+nuclear+deal/3213900/story.html
Agreement will open doors to Indian market
BY CASSANDRA KYLE, THE STAR PHOENIX JUNE 29, 2010 8:51 AM
The signing of a nuclear co-operation agreement between Canada and India over the weekend is good news for Cameco Corp., a company spokesperson said Monday.
"It's very encouraging to see both countries are proceeding with this and we're excited about the possibilities it raises," Lyle Krahn said in an interview.
At the close of the G20 conference in Toronto, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signed a civilian nuclear co-operation deal Sunday. The agreement confines the deal to civilian uses only and safeguards against nuclear proliferation.
The deal, which still has to be ratified by Parliament, will allow Canadian companies to import and export controlled nuclear materials, equipment and technology to and from India.
"A nuclear co-operation agreement with India will allow us to look into potential business opportunities in the growing marketplace for uranium," Krahn said.
MORE: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/
Cameco+welcomes+nuclear+deal/3213900/story.html
=======================
11. Imminent Canada-India nuclear pact heightens tensions
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/asia-pacific/
imminent-canada-india-nuclear-pact-heightens-tensions/article1617240/
An imminent deal that would open the door for Canadian exports of uranium to India, could add to nuclear tensions in South Asia, some experts say.
The impending agreement made front-page news this week in India, amid speculation Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Canada for the G20 summit will allow him to sign a long-awaited nuclear co-operation pact.
The deal could be worth billions for Canadian industry and would formally end the mistrust that followed India’s nuclear test in 1974, when it became apparent that India had misused a Canadian research reactor to obtain weapons-grade plutonium.
Some experts on nuclear technology say the new deal could repeat history, however, with Canada unwittingly adding to the nuclear tensions in the region by easing India’s shortage of uranium.
“They’re not going to say this is for weapons, but they’re unlikely to rule it out,” said M.V. Ramana, a researcher at Princeton University.
MORE:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/asia-pacific/
imminent-canada-india-nuclear-pact-heightens-tensions/article1617240/
=========================
12. Nuclear plant balks at regulator request to test all employees for radiation
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario/
nuclear-plant-balks-at-regulator-request-to-test-all-employees-for-radiation/article1614843/
Federal regulators at the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission have asked the operator of an Ontario power plant to test hundreds of its workers by this Friday for exposure to cancer-causing alpha radiation, but the company is balking at the request.
MORE:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario/
nuclear-plant-balks-at-regulator-request-to-test-all-employees-for-radiation/article1614843/
=====================
13. Cameco cracks Chinese marketUranium supply agreement signed with power utility
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/
Cameco+cracks+Chinese+market/3198488/story.html
By Cassandra Kyle, The Star Phoenix June 25, 2010
Cameco Corp. has signed agreements regarding the supply of uranium with two Chinese companies.
The Saskatoon company said Thursday it will supply the China Nuclear Energy Industry Corp. (CNEIC), a wholly owned subsidiary of China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC), with approximately 23 million pounds of uranium concentrate under a long-term agreement through 2020.
"This is Cameco's first long-term uranium supply agreement with a major Chinese nuclear utility," said company CEO Jerry Grandey.
"This agreement indicates clearly that we intend to be very active in the world's fastest growing uranium market."
CNNC is currently China's largest nuclear generator, operating seven reactors with 5,100 megawatts of capacity. The company also has 10 reactors totalling 9,100 megawatts of capacity under construction.
By 2020, CNNC expects to be one of the world's leading nuclear power companies.
MORE:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/
Cameco+cracks+Chinese+market/3198488/story.html
===========================
14. Cameco sees great potential in partnership with China
http://www.nationalpost.com/
Cameco+sees+great+potential+partnership+with+China/3203778/
story.html
Peter Koven, Financial Post - Saturday, Jun. 26, 2010
TORONTO - This is the partnership Cameco Corp.'s investors have been waiting for.
After a couple of years of talks, the Saskatoon-based uranium giant has finally formed a working partnership with China, a country that is on the cusp of becoming a massive player in the nuclear business.
Cameco unveiled on Thursday landmark agreements to supply uranium to two major Chinese state-owned nuclear companies: China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC) and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co. Ltd. (CGNPC).
The CNNC deal covers a massive 23 million pounds of uranium through 2020, a much bigger and longer-lasting contract than China has signed with other uranium companies. And while the details of the CGNPC agreement still need to be negotiated, it also includes plans for the two companies to work together to develop uranium resources.
For Cameco chief executive Jerry Grandey, this is just the start of the China strategy.
"This is what I would describe as the initial step of co-operation. Given their expansion plans, I would expect there to be other contracts to follow in the coming years," he said in an interview yesterday.
While shareholders have waited impatiently for these deals to be struck, Mr. Grandey said the negotiation process with China was very smooth. The two sides needed time to build a relationship, and the Chinese needed to see Cameco's operations for themselves.
For Cameco, the effort was worth it: In the uranium business, China represents the holy grail. While many countries are looking to ramp up production of emission-free nuclear power right now, China's plans are the most ambitious by far.
According to the World Nuclear Association, China has 23 nuclear reactors under construction (more than double any other country) and another 34 planned (more than double every country except India).
All of these new reactors are expected to increase China's nuclear power capacity from the current level of nine gigawatts to at least 70 gigawatts by 2020 and 120 to 160 gigawatts or more by 2030.
"I don't think there's much doubt that they can stay on that schedule," Mr. Grandey said. (emphasis added)
If China produces 70 gigawatts in 2020, he said that would require about 35 million pounds of uranium.
MORE:
http://www.nationalpost.com/
Cameco+sees+great+potential+partnership+with+China/3203778/
story.html
========================
15. CONSUL GENERAL OF CHINA MAKES LAST VISIT TO SASKATCHEWAN
http://www.gov.sk.ca/
news?newsId=c13f9d04-ffd6-4179-8c9e-ca55c3e53cd1
News Release - July 8, 2010
Provincial Secretary Donna Harpauer will meet with the Consul General of China in Calgary Xinjian Wu during his farewell visit to Saskatchewan this week.
"Saskatchewan has benefited from our relationship with China and Mr. Wu's work in our country," Harpauer said. "Since he began in his role as Consul General, we have experienced an increase in immigration, investment and two-way trade from China."
Wu will meet with the Chinese community in Saskatoon for a private farewell and then with the Chinese community in Regina. Along with the Provincial Secretary, he will attend meetings with the Deputy Premier, the Minister of Advanced Education, Employment and Immigration, and officials from Enterprise Saskatchewan.
Wu has completed his three and a half year tenure as Consul General. His last visit to Saskatchewan was to Regina in December 2009.
"It has been nearly 50 years since our province signed its first trade agreement with China," Harpauer said. "We hope the message that Mr. Wu takes back to China is one of continued cooperation that will foster this long tradition of trade and investment."
The Provincial Secretary and the Protocol Office work with government, organizations, and communities, to provide opportunities to celebrate and promote the diversity, character and achievements of our province and to engage diplomats and Consular Corps who visit Saskatchewan as part of government's strategy to strengthen and build regional, national and international relationships.
To learn more about the role of the Office of the Provincial Secretary, please visit www.ops.gov.sk.ca. -30-
For more information, contact:
Nicole Fellinger
Office of the Provincial Secretary
Regina
Phone: 306-787-2687
Email: nicole.fellinger@gov.sk.ca
========================
16. Finnish delays headache for French nuclear firm
http://www.swedishwire.com/nordic/
5169-finnish-delays-headache-for-french-nuclear-firm
Nordic - Published Monday, 28 June 2010 15:45 | Author: AFP / The Swedish Wire
PARIS (AFP) - Standard & Poor's said on Monday it had lowered its rating on French nuclear group Areva by two notches because of delays to the construction of a reactor in Finland.
The agency downgraded Areva to BBB+/A-2 from A/A-1, citing the company's announcement of an additional provision of 400 million euros (493 million dollars) for the Finnish European Pressurised Reactor project.
But it added that its outlook on Areva was "stable," reflecting its view that Areva would likely be able to carry out an disposal program and capital increase, "thus strengthening its balance sheet."
Areva is a world leader in the construction of nuclear power facilities and a major corporate name in France.
The company earlier this month announced a fresh six-month delay to the Finnish project, with the plant not expected to be operational before the end of 2012.
The Olkiluoto reactor was initially to enter service in mid-2009.
MORE:
http://www.swedishwire.com/nordic/
5169-finnish-delays-headache-for-french-nuclear-firm
Related articles:
• Sweden approves new nuclear plants
http://www.swedishwire.com/nordic/
5027-sweden-approves-new-nuclear-plant-
• Most Finns oppose new nuclear reactors
http://www.swedishwire.com/nordic/
3628-most-finns-oppose-new-nuclear-reactors
• Finnish firm in squabble over nuclear plant
http://www.swedishwire.com/nordic/
866-finnish-firm-squabble-over-nuclear-plant-
=======================
17. Finland Opts for Additional Reactors
http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/nuclear/
finland-opts-for-additional-reactors
From IEEE: BLOG POSTED BY: Bill Sweet // Fri, July 02, 2010
Finland’s parliament has voted to build two new nuclear reactors, to join the four already in operation and two under construction. When all are running, they will be producing around half the country’s electricity. Parliament’s decision shows that there’s still a strong long-term case to be made for nuclear and is especially significant because Finland is one of those Nordic countries known for technological excellence and visionary perspectives.
Another such country, Sweden, announced several weeks ago that it would build new reactors to replace those now running when they are decommissioned. It was a major development when Sweden decided last year to revoke its planned nuclear phaseout. Sweden is sticking with nuclear, even though the director general of its nuclear agency concedes that the industry “has not been able to reduce costs with increased experience,” contrary to widely held expectations.
The decisions by Sweden and Finland will surely have an impact in Germany, whose leader, physicist Angela Merkel, would dearly like to negotiate an “exit from the nuclear exit” that the country adopted when influence of the Green Party was at its peak. But that debate also will be influenced by a countervailing trend, prompted by the Gulf disaster and memories of Chernobyl and Bhopal.
1. SASKATCHEWAN’S FIRST SOLAR TOUR
2. EVENT: Think Outside the Bomb Camp - New Mexico
3. Media watchdog finds CANDU reactor ads “inaccurate” and “unsupported”
4. Licence renewal applications for GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc.: Notice of public hearings
5. CNSC Staff Review Procedures for new nuclear power plant applications - Now available
6. Transcript of the July 5 public hearing regarding the restart of the NRU
7. Isotope reactor awaits restart decision
8. Lockheed Martin Donates CA$3.5 Million Training Package to Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies
9. Worry grows over Sask. uranium exports
10. Cameco welcomes nuclear deal
11. Imminent Canada-India nuclear pact heightens tensions
12. Nuclear plant balks at regulator request to test all employees for radiation
13. Cameco cracks Chinese market
14. Cameco sees great potential in partnership with China
15. CONSUL GENERAL OF CHINA MAKES LAST VISIT TO SASKATCHEWAN
16. Finnish delays headache for French nuclear firm
17. Finland Opts for Additional Reactors
=========================
1. SASKATCHEWAN’S FIRST SOLAR TOUR
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1762#1762
BY Jim Harding - Saskatchewan Sustainability
Published in United Newspapers of Saskatchewan July 3, 2010
I joined forty others on the province’s first solar tour held June 19th to highlight the summer solstice, the longest day of sunlight. The tour was organized by the environmental advocacy group Clean Green Regina in concert with other groups. We travelled on a Regina transit bus rented for the occasion and saw eight residential, business or institutional applications of solar energy. Eleven other locations could not be visited because of the shortage of time. We saw rooftop thermal panels heating water; we saw photovoltaic (PV) panels and wind-turbines producing electricity. (Wind is solar energy as it’s created by the shifting of temperature.) We learned more about solar technology and how electricity is measured: 1 kilowatt (kW) equals 1,000 watts and 1 kilowatt-hour (kWh) is 1000 watts produced for an hour.
We went to see the 3.5 kW (3,500 watt) capacity wind turbine installed on a building at the University of Regina, but found that it isn’t yet operating. It’s a 2.5 meter high vertical axis turbine, meaning it turns vertically like an egg-beater, not like a propeller. It’s taken the university quite a while to incorporate multi-disciplinary knowledge into its energy research, having been involved in fossil fuel and uranium research for decades. The potential for solar has been literally over the academic’s heads all along. Rooftops, like classrooms and labs, can serve multiple purposes and with a little foresight every roof at the U of R could be used to gather thermal energy to heat water, and for PV panels to produce electricity. Roofs can also be used for on-roof greeneries and gardening, which is happening in many urban downtowns.
Institutions are however, slow to change. We saw evidence of institutional lag when we visited the Science Centre to see the 2.8 kW of PV panels installed in 2000 by Sask Power “for research purposes”. The Crown Corporation concluded “Results showed that the cost savings realized from the solar system cannot effectively offset the capital costs of installation”, continuing “As a result, this technology is better suited to niche applications where connection to the grid is uneconomical or when passive solar enhancement is desired.” These conclusions are antiquated. Solar panels are now tested and rated globally under Standard Testing Conditions (STC). Not only has their efficiency increased but the cost has dropped sharply. Since I priced PV panels for our place three years ago the price has dropped 50% and is now competitive with small wind turbines.
MORE:
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1762#1762
=======================
2. EVENT: Think Outside the Bomb Camp - New Mexico
LESS THAN A MONTH TILL CAMP! WILL YOU BE THERE?
JOIN US IN NEW MEXICO FOR DISARMAMENT SUMMER ENCAMPMENT
July 30 - August 9, 2010 Chimayo, NM - (505) 351 1908
www.thinkoutsidethebomb.org
Think Outside the Bomb, the largest youth led nuclear disarmament network in the US, is less than a month away from the Disarmament Summer encampment in Chimayo, NM. This is an amazing event--sign up and join us! If you cannot join us, please take the time and forward this to a few friends you think might want to join!
Disarmament Summer is a cross-cultural alliance of youth working together to re-ignite hope from below and build a grassroots consensus-based creative nonviolent direct action movement. In partnership with the Tribal Environmental Watch Alliance, TEWA Women United, the Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment, Products of Atzlan youth group, and the Southwest Indigenous Uranium Forum, we are committed to collective liberation, a sustainable future, and an end to the cycle of nuclear violence - from extraction, to processing, to weapons / power and waste.
The infrastructure for the permaculture camp is being build now! Things are moving, people are registering, the action for August 6th is coming together-- the question now is-- Will you be there?
Don't miss the opportunity to network, share experience, information, strategies, and learn organizing skills through hands on involvement in the permaculture systems and in planning a series of nonviolent direct actions focused on Los Alamos National Laboratory, the expansion of the nuclear weapons complex and the uranium mining needed to support this industry
We are the new generation demanding an end to the cycle of violence that has devastated communities here in the US and across the world and we don't want it to happen again! We will show that a more promising future is possible! JOIN US!
GET SIGNED UP! REGISTER FOR CAMP!
We are working hard to make this camp a reality. But we still need your support.
Donors who give by check or credit card will receive a receipt of confirmation note that they can use for tax purposes. We can send a similar receipt to cash donors only if you record the amount of gift and donors address. You can also give online at www.thinkoutsidethebomb.org
Or to make a tax-deductable donation please make checks out to Alliance of Community Trainers, and put TOTB in the memo field. Mail to P.O. Box 1286, Austin TX 78767.
If you are not interested in a tax- deduction you can make the check out to Think Outside the Bomb and mail to us directly at:
Disarmament Summer
c/o Think Outside the Bomb
P.O. Box 508, Chimayo, NM 87522
For more information please contact:
Outreach - Jonathan Williams
jwilliams@peace-action.org
Finance - Erin Placey
eplacey@gmail.com
Encampment - Steve Stormoen
andseedlings@gmail.com
Media
Liz Woodruff
lwoodruff@snakeriveralliance.org
New Mexico specific - The Crew!
(505) 351 1908
Still more information @ www.thinkoutsidethebomb.org
======================
3. Media watchdog finds CANDU reactor ads “inaccurate” and “unsupported”
http://www.waterkeeper.ca/2010/06/09/
media-watchdog-finds-candu-reactor-ads-inaccurate-and-unsupported/
Krystyn Tully, Waterkeeper.ca Weekly July 9, 2010
Have you ever looked at advertisements for nuclear power and wondered how organizations such as the Power Workers¹ Union can call nuclear reactors ³emission free²? We see similar phrases all the time in print media, <http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.02/nuclear.html> on the web <http://www.cna.ca/>, and in statements by elected officials. The problem is, it just isn¹t accurate to say that nuclear power is ³emission free². Nuclear reactors emit all kinds of foul things into the environment, and industry and government know it.
Advertising Standards Canada has just posted a decision to its website declaring that it is inaccurate and unsupportable to call CANDU reactors ³emission free².
Earlier this year, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper staff and a group of law students from Queen¹s University filed a complaint about this with Advertising Standards Canada. The national not-for-profit body self-regulates the advertising industry in Canada. If an ad is misleading, deceptive, or makes claims that are unsupportable, Advertising Standards Canada can request that the advertiser remove the ad.
We complained about a specific Power Workers¹ Union ad that ran in The Globe and Mail. The ad labels CANDU reactors ³emission free². We provided supporting documentation that shows CANDU reactors at nuclear plants such as the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station emit many different contaminants: 2-propenoic acid, ammonia, aromatic hydrocarbon resin, benzene, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrazine, morpholine, nitrogen oxides, phosphoric acid, quarterly ammonium compounds, sulphur dioxide, suspended particulate matter, total hydrocarbons, as well as tritium.
Advertising Standards Canada has just posted a decision to its website declaring that it is inaccurate and unsupportable to call CANDU reactors ³emission free². In its commentary, Advertising Standards Canada states emphatically: ³Š it is misleading Š for an advertiser to categorically promise one thing when, by its own admission, it can only deliver something that is significantly less.²
The Union is now expected to remove all ads containing the ³emission free² statement and to qualify any future claims. Any other spokespeople or advertisers or politicians who liked to make the same claim should look for other, more accurate language as well.
This is a huge victory for everyone who is tired of reading false claims about ³emission free² nuclear power. Before this, we could only grit our teeth over the morning newspaper and long for the days when the Ontario Energy Board or the Environmental Assessment Board would have silenced the spin doctors.
Unfortunately, those independent decision-making processes are being side-stepped: The Ontario Energy Board hearing for Ontario¹s energy plan is on hold indefinitely. That same plan was exempted from environmental assessment. Likewise, a provincial assessment for the Darlington Nuclear Power Plant just is not happening no word of explanation or justification.
Those hearings were the one place that industry had to prove its claims, where scientists and experts could be questioned and tested until the best possible conclusions emerged.
Without these hearings, our only source of information about energy policy seems to come from paid advertisements, press releases, and editorials. We can¹t ask advertisers questions, and we can¹t test their claims. That means truth in advertising is more important today than ever before. Advertising Standards Canada¹s decision is good for public policy, good for the advertising industry, and good for the environment.
Further Reading
Advertising Standards Canada decision
<http://www.adstandards.com/en/standards/
adComplaintsreportscurrent.asp>
Power Workers¹ Union Ad from the Globe and Mail
<http://www.waterkeeper.ca/documents/ASC-PWU-Ad.pdf>
LOW Complaint
<http://www.waterkeeper.ca/documents/ASC-PWU.pdf>
LOW Complaint: Exhibits
<http://www.waterkeeper.ca/documents/ASC-PWU-Exhibits.pdf>
over 7 MB
Special thanks to Pro Bono Students Canada and the team of student volunteers who worked on the complaint:
Patrick Stratton, Ali Pawson, Martha Monterrosa, and Steve Ronan.
=======================
4. Licence renewal applications for GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc.: Notice of public hearings
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) will hold two separate two-day public hearings on applications by GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. (GE Hitachi), Toronto, Ontario for the renewal of the operating licences for two nuclear fuel fabrication facilities.
The facilities are located in Toronto and Peterborough, Ontario. GE Hitachi is requesting a ten-year licence term for both facilities.
Hearing Day One: September 22, 2010
Place: CNSC Public Hearing Room, 14th floor, 280 Slater Street, Ottawa, Ontario
Time: as set by the agenda published prior to the hearing date
Hearing Day Two: December 8, 2010
Place: CNSC Public Hearing Room, 14th floor, 280 Slater Street, Ottawa, Ontario
Time: as set by the agenda published prior to the hearing date
Find out more:
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/commission/pdf/
2010-09-22-Notice-2010-H-08-GE-e-Edocs3572323.pdf
Consult the CNSC Web site for updates and hearing documents:
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/commission/hearings/
documents_browse/index.cfm
============================
5. CNSC Staff Review Procedures for new nuclear power plant applications - Now available
The CNSC is developing a suite of Staff Review Procedures (SRPs) to support the assessment of Environmental Impact Statements (EISs), and licence applications for new nuclear facilities.
Staff Review Procedures (SRPs) are internal working documents used by CNSC staff. Each SRP covers a topic and provides instructions to CNSC staff on the conduct of an assessment.
Find out more: http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/lice ... werplants/
newapplicants/staff_review_procedures/index.cfm
Consult the complete list of CNSC Staff Review Procedures:
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/lice ... werplants/
newapplicants/staff_review_procedures/cnsc_staff_review_
procedures_list.cfm
For all the latest CNSC news, visit the CNSC's homepage at http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/
=========================
6. Transcript of the July 5 public hearing regarding the restart of the NRU
Read the transcript of the July 5 public hearing (PDF format):
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/fr/commission/pdf/
2010-07-05-Transcript-HearingAECL-NRU.pdf
Consult other July 5 public hearing documents:
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/commission/hearings/
documents_browse/date.cfm?dt=5-Jul-2010
==========================
7. Isotope reactor awaits restart decision
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/07/07/
aecl-medical-isotope-reactor-chalk-river.html?ref=rss
Last Updated: Wednesday, July 7, 2010 | 11:52 AM ET CBC News
Officials with the nuclear reactor that has been shut down for more than a year, causing a medical isotope shortage, are expected to learn Wednesday whether operations will resume.
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission was expected to decide by 2:30 p.m. ET whether to approve the "return-to-service" strategy for the National Research Universal reactor in Chalk River.
If the strategy is approved, the reactor operated by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited could begin making medical isotopes again by the end of the month.
The reactor has been shut down since May 2009. That was when inspections uncovered a heavy-water leak and corrosion at the base of the reactor vessel.
The resulting prolonged shutdown led to a worldwide shortage of radioactive isotopes, which are used for medical imaging.
At a hearing on Monday, AECL president and CEO Hugh McDiarmid said he and his colleagues are now confident the reactor is ready to resume safe operation following months of complicated repairs and testing.
MORE: http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/07/07/
aecl-medical-isotope-reactor-chalk-river.html?ref=rss
============================
8. Lockheed Martin Donates CA$3.5 Million Training Package to Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies
http://www.lockheedmartin.com/news/press_releases/
2010/062510_LMCA_TrainingPackage.html
SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN, June 25th, 2010 -- Lockheed Martin announced a CA$3.5 million donation of a package of training materials to the school’s Aviation Maintenance and Engineering (AME) faculty.
The announcement, which builds on its relationship with the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies, was made at the school’s Saskatoon campus in partnership with the Honourable Lynne Yelich, Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification.
Lockheed Martin last month donated CA$100,000 to support the AME program and announced at that time the continued collaboration with faculty administration to develop and implement courseware and instructor’s materials for training in more than three-dozen engineering disciplines including systems engineering, quality assurance, logistics and interface engineering management. The advanced modules are similar to those used internally by the corporation and are based on decades of lessons learned in aerospace and systems engineering on major, complex programs.
“We believe this program will enable post-secondary students to enhance their knowledge and skills in the advanced technology area of aircraft engineering and sustainment,” said Tom Digan, president of Lockheed Martin Canada. “Leveraging lessons-learned from decades of work on complex engineering programs, the courseware will build upon the student’s existing curriculum and help ensure that the Canadian aviation industry has the skill force for the future.
MORE: http://www.lockheedmartin.com/news/press_releases/
2010/062510_LMCA_TrainingPackage.html
Media Contact: Michael Barton, 613-862-6686; e-mail, Michael.Barton@lmco.com
For additional information, visit our website: http://www.lockheedmartin.com
==========================
9. Worry grows over Sask. uranium exports
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/story/2010/06/29/
sk-coxworth-uranium-krahn-deal.html
Last Updated: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 | 8:24 PM CST CBC News
Fears that Saskatchewan uranium may be used in weapons have been triggered by a newly signed export agreement with India.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper signed a nuclear co-operation agreement on Sunday with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was in Toronto for the G20 summit. It allows for uranium exports to India and technological exchanges that could be worth billions to Canada's nuclear industry.
Ann Coxworth, of the Saskatchewan Environmental Society, said she fears the federal deal could make it possible for Saskatchewan's uranium to end up in weapons.
"We need to very seriously consider whether exporting uranium around the world is the kind of business that we should be in," said Coxworth.
But Lyle Krahn, spokesman for Saskatoon-based uranium producer Cameco, said the agreement is a growth opportunity for his company, which is working to secure overseas uranium markets in places like China and India.
"We feel that aligns nicely with our plan to double uranium production by 2018," said Krahn.
Coxworth said the environmental society is working to raise public awareness in hopes of stopping the India deal.
Deal ends chill
The deal ends decades of chill over India's acquisition of a nuclear bomb.
Harper said he believed India's Cold War duplicity has been consigned to history and that it won't use Canadian uranium to build nuclear weapons.
MORE: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/story/2010/06/29/
sk-coxworth-uranium-krahn-deal.html
=========================
10. Cameco welcomes nuclear deal
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/
Cameco+welcomes+nuclear+deal/3213900/story.html
Agreement will open doors to Indian market
BY CASSANDRA KYLE, THE STAR PHOENIX JUNE 29, 2010 8:51 AM
The signing of a nuclear co-operation agreement between Canada and India over the weekend is good news for Cameco Corp., a company spokesperson said Monday.
"It's very encouraging to see both countries are proceeding with this and we're excited about the possibilities it raises," Lyle Krahn said in an interview.
At the close of the G20 conference in Toronto, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signed a civilian nuclear co-operation deal Sunday. The agreement confines the deal to civilian uses only and safeguards against nuclear proliferation.
The deal, which still has to be ratified by Parliament, will allow Canadian companies to import and export controlled nuclear materials, equipment and technology to and from India.
"A nuclear co-operation agreement with India will allow us to look into potential business opportunities in the growing marketplace for uranium," Krahn said.
MORE: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/
Cameco+welcomes+nuclear+deal/3213900/story.html
=======================
11. Imminent Canada-India nuclear pact heightens tensions
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/asia-pacific/
imminent-canada-india-nuclear-pact-heightens-tensions/article1617240/
An imminent deal that would open the door for Canadian exports of uranium to India, could add to nuclear tensions in South Asia, some experts say.
The impending agreement made front-page news this week in India, amid speculation Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Canada for the G20 summit will allow him to sign a long-awaited nuclear co-operation pact.
The deal could be worth billions for Canadian industry and would formally end the mistrust that followed India’s nuclear test in 1974, when it became apparent that India had misused a Canadian research reactor to obtain weapons-grade plutonium.
Some experts on nuclear technology say the new deal could repeat history, however, with Canada unwittingly adding to the nuclear tensions in the region by easing India’s shortage of uranium.
“They’re not going to say this is for weapons, but they’re unlikely to rule it out,” said M.V. Ramana, a researcher at Princeton University.
MORE:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/asia-pacific/
imminent-canada-india-nuclear-pact-heightens-tensions/article1617240/
=========================
12. Nuclear plant balks at regulator request to test all employees for radiation
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario/
nuclear-plant-balks-at-regulator-request-to-test-all-employees-for-radiation/article1614843/
Federal regulators at the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission have asked the operator of an Ontario power plant to test hundreds of its workers by this Friday for exposure to cancer-causing alpha radiation, but the company is balking at the request.
MORE:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario/
nuclear-plant-balks-at-regulator-request-to-test-all-employees-for-radiation/article1614843/
=====================
13. Cameco cracks Chinese marketUranium supply agreement signed with power utility
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/
Cameco+cracks+Chinese+market/3198488/story.html
By Cassandra Kyle, The Star Phoenix June 25, 2010
Cameco Corp. has signed agreements regarding the supply of uranium with two Chinese companies.
The Saskatoon company said Thursday it will supply the China Nuclear Energy Industry Corp. (CNEIC), a wholly owned subsidiary of China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC), with approximately 23 million pounds of uranium concentrate under a long-term agreement through 2020.
"This is Cameco's first long-term uranium supply agreement with a major Chinese nuclear utility," said company CEO Jerry Grandey.
"This agreement indicates clearly that we intend to be very active in the world's fastest growing uranium market."
CNNC is currently China's largest nuclear generator, operating seven reactors with 5,100 megawatts of capacity. The company also has 10 reactors totalling 9,100 megawatts of capacity under construction.
By 2020, CNNC expects to be one of the world's leading nuclear power companies.
MORE:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/
Cameco+cracks+Chinese+market/3198488/story.html
===========================
14. Cameco sees great potential in partnership with China
http://www.nationalpost.com/
Cameco+sees+great+potential+partnership+with+China/3203778/
story.html
Peter Koven, Financial Post - Saturday, Jun. 26, 2010
TORONTO - This is the partnership Cameco Corp.'s investors have been waiting for.
After a couple of years of talks, the Saskatoon-based uranium giant has finally formed a working partnership with China, a country that is on the cusp of becoming a massive player in the nuclear business.
Cameco unveiled on Thursday landmark agreements to supply uranium to two major Chinese state-owned nuclear companies: China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC) and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co. Ltd. (CGNPC).
The CNNC deal covers a massive 23 million pounds of uranium through 2020, a much bigger and longer-lasting contract than China has signed with other uranium companies. And while the details of the CGNPC agreement still need to be negotiated, it also includes plans for the two companies to work together to develop uranium resources.
For Cameco chief executive Jerry Grandey, this is just the start of the China strategy.
"This is what I would describe as the initial step of co-operation. Given their expansion plans, I would expect there to be other contracts to follow in the coming years," he said in an interview yesterday.
While shareholders have waited impatiently for these deals to be struck, Mr. Grandey said the negotiation process with China was very smooth. The two sides needed time to build a relationship, and the Chinese needed to see Cameco's operations for themselves.
For Cameco, the effort was worth it: In the uranium business, China represents the holy grail. While many countries are looking to ramp up production of emission-free nuclear power right now, China's plans are the most ambitious by far.
According to the World Nuclear Association, China has 23 nuclear reactors under construction (more than double any other country) and another 34 planned (more than double every country except India).
All of these new reactors are expected to increase China's nuclear power capacity from the current level of nine gigawatts to at least 70 gigawatts by 2020 and 120 to 160 gigawatts or more by 2030.
"I don't think there's much doubt that they can stay on that schedule," Mr. Grandey said. (emphasis added)
If China produces 70 gigawatts in 2020, he said that would require about 35 million pounds of uranium.
MORE:
http://www.nationalpost.com/
Cameco+sees+great+potential+partnership+with+China/3203778/
story.html
========================
15. CONSUL GENERAL OF CHINA MAKES LAST VISIT TO SASKATCHEWAN
http://www.gov.sk.ca/
news?newsId=c13f9d04-ffd6-4179-8c9e-ca55c3e53cd1
News Release - July 8, 2010
Provincial Secretary Donna Harpauer will meet with the Consul General of China in Calgary Xinjian Wu during his farewell visit to Saskatchewan this week.
"Saskatchewan has benefited from our relationship with China and Mr. Wu's work in our country," Harpauer said. "Since he began in his role as Consul General, we have experienced an increase in immigration, investment and two-way trade from China."
Wu will meet with the Chinese community in Saskatoon for a private farewell and then with the Chinese community in Regina. Along with the Provincial Secretary, he will attend meetings with the Deputy Premier, the Minister of Advanced Education, Employment and Immigration, and officials from Enterprise Saskatchewan.
Wu has completed his three and a half year tenure as Consul General. His last visit to Saskatchewan was to Regina in December 2009.
"It has been nearly 50 years since our province signed its first trade agreement with China," Harpauer said. "We hope the message that Mr. Wu takes back to China is one of continued cooperation that will foster this long tradition of trade and investment."
The Provincial Secretary and the Protocol Office work with government, organizations, and communities, to provide opportunities to celebrate and promote the diversity, character and achievements of our province and to engage diplomats and Consular Corps who visit Saskatchewan as part of government's strategy to strengthen and build regional, national and international relationships.
To learn more about the role of the Office of the Provincial Secretary, please visit www.ops.gov.sk.ca. -30-
For more information, contact:
Nicole Fellinger
Office of the Provincial Secretary
Regina
Phone: 306-787-2687
Email: nicole.fellinger@gov.sk.ca
========================
16. Finnish delays headache for French nuclear firm
http://www.swedishwire.com/nordic/
5169-finnish-delays-headache-for-french-nuclear-firm
Nordic - Published Monday, 28 June 2010 15:45 | Author: AFP / The Swedish Wire
PARIS (AFP) - Standard & Poor's said on Monday it had lowered its rating on French nuclear group Areva by two notches because of delays to the construction of a reactor in Finland.
The agency downgraded Areva to BBB+/A-2 from A/A-1, citing the company's announcement of an additional provision of 400 million euros (493 million dollars) for the Finnish European Pressurised Reactor project.
But it added that its outlook on Areva was "stable," reflecting its view that Areva would likely be able to carry out an disposal program and capital increase, "thus strengthening its balance sheet."
Areva is a world leader in the construction of nuclear power facilities and a major corporate name in France.
The company earlier this month announced a fresh six-month delay to the Finnish project, with the plant not expected to be operational before the end of 2012.
The Olkiluoto reactor was initially to enter service in mid-2009.
MORE:
http://www.swedishwire.com/nordic/
5169-finnish-delays-headache-for-french-nuclear-firm
Related articles:
• Sweden approves new nuclear plants
http://www.swedishwire.com/nordic/
5027-sweden-approves-new-nuclear-plant-
• Most Finns oppose new nuclear reactors
http://www.swedishwire.com/nordic/
3628-most-finns-oppose-new-nuclear-reactors
• Finnish firm in squabble over nuclear plant
http://www.swedishwire.com/nordic/
866-finnish-firm-squabble-over-nuclear-plant-
=======================
17. Finland Opts for Additional Reactors
http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/nuclear/
finland-opts-for-additional-reactors
From IEEE: BLOG POSTED BY: Bill Sweet // Fri, July 02, 2010
Finland’s parliament has voted to build two new nuclear reactors, to join the four already in operation and two under construction. When all are running, they will be producing around half the country’s electricity. Parliament’s decision shows that there’s still a strong long-term case to be made for nuclear and is especially significant because Finland is one of those Nordic countries known for technological excellence and visionary perspectives.
Another such country, Sweden, announced several weeks ago that it would build new reactors to replace those now running when they are decommissioned. It was a major development when Sweden decided last year to revoke its planned nuclear phaseout. Sweden is sticking with nuclear, even though the director general of its nuclear agency concedes that the industry “has not been able to reduce costs with increased experience,” contrary to widely held expectations.
The decisions by Sweden and Finland will surely have an impact in Germany, whose leader, physicist Angela Merkel, would dearly like to negotiate an “exit from the nuclear exit” that the country adopted when influence of the Green Party was at its peak. But that debate also will be influenced by a countervailing trend, prompted by the Gulf disaster and memories of Chernobyl and Bhopal.
Last edited by Oscar on Mon Jul 12, 2010 11:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
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NUKE NEWS: July 12, 2010
by Oscar » Mon Jul 12, 2010 11:30 am
NUKE NEWS: July 12, 2010
1. THE SOLAR REVOLUTION: INDIVIDUALS DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE by Jim Harding
2. COMMENT: Rempel: Canada Courts Calamity with India Nuclear Deal
3. New Brunswick throws a wrench into AECL sale plans
4. Critics slam proposal to ship nuclear waste through Lake Ontario
5. Corruption increases in Afghanistan
6. Petraeus to tweak Afghan strategy: More civilian casualties ahead?
7. The Drums of War? Pentagon Provokes New Crisis With China
8. Legitimacy of Pak-China Nuclear Deal
9. China outflanks US in Pakistan
10. Diversity of Tactics and Democracy – 2002
11. US-Russian Relations: Wooing the West
12. No Nukes News - July 9, 2010
13. The Siege against Gaza: America's Ongoing Support of Israeli Military and Intelligence Operations
====================
1. THE SOLAR REVOLUTION: INDIVIDUALS DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE BY Jim Harding
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=956
Saskatchewan Sustainability Published in United Newspapers of Saskatchewan (R-Town News) July 9, 2010
Institutions are beginning to use solar thermal panels for heating water and photovoltaic (PV) panels and wind turbines for producing electricity. But it is home owners and small businesses who are leading the way into solar energy in Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan’s first solar tour held in Regina June 19th showed that individuals are making a difference in our quest for a sustainable society. We visited the home of Bill Walton, one pioneer in renewable energy in Saskatchewan. Six years ago Bill installed a 2.4 kW (2,400-watt) PV system on his roof, which is the largest such residential system in Regina. He also has a 500-watt vertical axis wind turbine in his back yard. This hybrid system is tied into the grid with a battery backup. Walton is a big fan of solar-powered street lights and along with Dave Calvert operates the solar installing company, Green Power Solutions.
We also visited the home of David Orban, the main organizer of the Solar Tour, who installed a 240-watt PV system eight years ago and a 500-watt wind turbine two years ago. This hybrid system, put in before Sask Power allowed net-metering, uses batteries for storage. Orban has paid particular attention to conservation and uses about 200 kWh per month, or about one-third of the average Saskatchewan household, and his hybrid system provides about half of his electricity. Orban notes that appliances that use DC (direct current) rather than AC (alternating current) use less electricity and are now available at competitive prices.
There were nine other Regina residences that we didn’t have time to visit. Most use solar thermal panels for heating water, including one place that heats a swimming pool this way. There were a few other hybrid systems using small wind turbines and PV panels for electricity.
MORE: http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=956
=====================
2. COMMENT: Rempel: Canada Courts Calamity with India Nuclear Deal (see article below)
From: Jacob Rempel <jacob.rempel@gmail.com>
Date: 9 July 2010 22:17
Subject: Canada Courts Calamity with India Nuclear Deal, by Paul McKay, STRAIGHTGOODS
To: all Liberal MPs, NDP MPs, and to Gilles Duceppe, MP, Leader Bloc Quebecois ---
NO ONE IN THE LIBERAL PARTY OR THE NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY HAS EVER GIVEN A MEANINGFUL REPLY TO ALL THE WELL ARTICULATED WELL-RESEARCHED CRITICISMS OF THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY -- the SERIOUS DANGER IN EVERY STAGE OF URANIUM PRODUCTION AND USE -- FROM MINING TO TRANSPORTATION TO POWER PLANTS TO BOMB PRODUCTION TO WASTE DISPOSAL TO USE OF "NON-DEPLETED URANIUM WASTE" IN MUNITIONS FOR BOMBING BOSNIA, KOSOVO, IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN, RADIATION OF MANY OF THOUSAND OF FARMS, FISHERIES, SOLDIERS, CIVILIANS, MEN, PREGNANT WOMEN, FETUSES, AND MEDICAL TREATMENT PERSONNEL. IT'S LIKE A THOUSAND CHERNOBYLS IN SLOW MOTION PROLIFERATION AROUND THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT, ALL IN THE INTERESTS OF A CERTAIN INDUSTRIAL SECTOR OF INVESTORS.
Mr. Duceppe, I hope you can call all of them to account in this most serous matter.
Jacob Rempel, Vancouver
= = = = = =
Canada Courts Calamity with India Nuclear Deal
(Not to mention India and the world. JR)
Paul McKay Straightgoods.ca July 2, 2010
(Not yet posted to straightgoods.ca)
Ten days before Canada inked a nuclear sales pact with India at the G20 summit, the Indian government invited global investors to help finance its $70 billion plan to develop 20,000 megawatts of solar power plants in that sun-rich country by 2022.
That followed an official Indian government estimate that its long windy coastlines and interior deserts can host nearly 50,000 MW of wind generation.
When built, this 70,000 MW of new green power would roughly triple the total electricity produced in all of Ontario by all power plants of all kinds, and generate as much peak power as 140 Pickering-sized nuclear plants. This would help offset India's rocketing greenhouse gas emissions, and dove-tail with its pressing need to quickly build de-centralized power plants on a fragile, far-flung grid system.
All this could be ramped up before a single new Candu reactor could be designed and built there. India's new green mission has been hailed by investors, developers, environmentalists, and Indian citizens.
MORE:
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1766#1766
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3. New Brunswick throws a wrench into AECL sale plans
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/
new-brunswick-throws-a-wrench-into-aecl-sale-plans/article1633588/
Decision to purchase a French reactor undermines Crown corporation’s already shaky reputation
Shawn McCarthy Global Energy Reporter,
From Friday's Globe and Mail, Published on Thursday, Jul. 08, 2010
New Brunswick has cast a pall over Ottawa’s effort to sell off Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., announcing that it has dropped AECL’s proposal to build a new reactor and is turning instead to the Crown corporation’s arch-rival, France’s Areva Group.
The New Brunswick decision, made public on Thursday, is the second major setback for AECL in the past year. Last summer, the Ontario government postponed indefinitely the purchase of the corporation’s next-generation Candu reactor, which is still in development.
The Harper government is trying to sell AECL, and the bidding process, managed by New York merchant bank N.M. Rothschild & Sons closed on June 30. Industry insiders say there were multiple bidders, including Montreal-based engineering giant SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. and Westinghouse Electric Co. LLC, a unit of Toshiba Corp.
Areva had indicated during the Ontario competition that it would consider seeking a stake in Canada’s flagship nuclear company, but its interest has cooled, and sources said on Thursday that the French multinational has dropped out.
It remains uncertain whether the would-be buyers are willing to pay a price that Ottawa would find acceptable, including the assumption of AECL’s liabilities. And the announcement from New Brunswick undermines confidence in the company, although AECL’s call for private financing of new reactors had made it a long shot.
MORE: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/
new-brunswick-throws-a-wrench-into-aecl-sale-plans/article1633588/
======================
4. Critics slam proposal to ship nuclear waste through Lake Ontario
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/
834724--critics-slam-proposal-to-ship-nuclear-waste-through-lake-ontario
Brett Popplewell, Staff Reporter, Published Jul 11 2010
The Bruce Nuclear Generating Station plans to ship 1,760 tonnes of radiation-laced steel through Lake Ontario; a precedent-setting project that has officials worried on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border.
On April 1, Bruce Power asked the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Canada’s nuclear regulator, for a licence to ship low-level radioactive generators from its power plant on Lake Huron to Sweden, where 90 per cent of the metals inside the generators are to be cleansed and resold.
The remaining materials that are too radioactive to be recycled will then return to the Bruce plant to be contained for the rest of their radioactive lives.
But the planned journey, which would have 16 decommissioned steam generators travel through the Great Lakes, down the St. Lawrence River and then to Sweden this fall, has municipal officials concerned because they haven’t been given the chance to vet the proposal. If approved, this would be the first time a licence has been issued by the commission to ship nuclear waste through the Great Lakes.
“My frustration for years has been the lack of respect for the Great Lakes. We treat it like a toilet bowl,” said Mike Bradley, mayor of Sarnia. “We don’t give it respect and don’t treat it like there needs to be public engagement.
"The impression that I have is that this is a rubber stamp process. I think it's unfolding in a manner that is disrespectful to the public process."
- - - - SNIP - - -
Gordon Edwards, president of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, a watchdog group, says each generator contains thousands of small tubes through which the primary coolant flows. Those tubes have the same type of contamination
that all the other pipes in the primary cooling system have, fission products that emit beta and gamma radiation and transuranic elements such as plutonium, which emit alpha radiation.
“They are harmless inside the steam generator, but once outside in the environment they are very dangerous and remain so for a very long time,” says Edwards.
The plan is to have the generators trucked in September from the Bruce plant to Owen Sound, where they will be loaded onto an ocean-going ship and sailed over three of the five Great Lakes passing by Toronto, Sarnia, Windsor, Detroit, St. Catharines, Montreal and Quebec City.
Once the radioactive waste is boarded onto the ship, Bruce Power says it assumes no responsibility for the safety or integrity of the generators or for any possible cleanup in the event of an accident during transport. That, Elston says, is the responsibility of Studsvik, the Swedish company that will recycle the material once it arrives in Sweden.
Johan Hahnel, a spokesperson for Studsvik, says his company will make sure all necessary authorities approve of the transport and that the personnel handling the equipment will be able to ensure full security of the radioactive waste.
Garry Linsey, director of maritime services for the division of the Canadian Coast Guard that oversees cleanups of hazardous materials on the Great Lakes, said in an interview Friday that he was unaware of the planned shipment.
Elston says Bruce Power, which is paying Studsvik roughly about $1 million per shipped generator, deserves some credit for the plan because it will reduce the company’s environmental footprint by ridding it and Canada of the nuclear waste.
“When people get it right there should be an ability of the citizens of this country to be informed that it is being done well that it’s being done right and, you know, you should get some accolades for reducing the environmental footprint,” he says.
====================
5. Corruption increases in Afghanistan
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=5029&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 09 Jul 2010 01:29 PM PDT
A recent report from Integrity Watch Afghanistan has found that corruption is steadily on the rise in Afghanistan. National Corruption Survey 2010 reports that the Afghan population paid twice as much in bribes in 2009 as it did in 2006: today bribery represents “a burden of 1 billion USD on the Afghan GDP.” The massive, widespread [...]
=======================
6. Petraeus to tweak Afghan strategy: More civilian casualties ahead?
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=5012&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 09 Jul 2010 12:48 PM PDT
On July 5th, U.S. Senator John McCain told reporters that the new U.S. Commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, will probably tweak the current U.S strategy in Afghanistan. After meetings with Petraeus and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, McCain said that “General Petraeus is reviewing the entire rules of engagement and probably there will be some tweaking. [...]
====================
7. The Drums of War? Pentagon Provokes New Crisis With China
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=20087
By Rick Rozoff Global Research, July 10, 2010 Stop NATO
Three news features appearing earlier this week highlight tensions between the United States and the People's Republic of China that, at least in relation to the language used to describe them, would have seemed unimaginable even a few months ago and are evocative more of the Korean War era than of any time since the entente cordiale initiated by the Richard Nixon-Mao Zedong meeting in Beijing in 1972.
To indicate the seriousness of the matter, the stories are from Global Times, a daily newspaper published in conjunction with the People's Daily, official press organ of the ruling Communist Party of China, and Time, preeminent American weekly news magazine. Both accounts use as their point of departure and source of key information a July 4 report in Hong Kong's major English-language daily.
On July 6 writer Li Jing penned a news article for Global Times called "US subs reach Asian ports: report," which detailed the following recent developments:
"Three of the largest submarines of the US Seventh Fleet surfaced in Asia-Pacific ports last week, the South China Morning Post reported Monday [July 5]. The appearance of the USS Michigan in Pusan, South Korea, the USS Ohio in Subic Bay, the Philippines, and the USS Florida in the strategic Indian Ocean outpost of Diego Garcia was a show of force not seen since the end of the Cold War, the paper said, adding that the position of those three ports looks like a siege of China." [1]
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=20087
====================
8. Legitimacy of Pak-China Nuclear Deal
http://www.markthetruth.com/current-affairs/
577-legitimacy-of-pak-china-nuclear-deal.html
Wednesday, 07 July 2010 16:38 Sajjad Shaukat
While rejecting US objections, China has once again clarified that it will supply two nuclear reactors to Pakistan under the old nuclear deal.As regards the legitimacy of Pak-China nuclear deal, Qin Gang, the spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry has already made it clear, saying: “the nuclear cooperation between the two countries is for peaceful purposes and is totally in consistent with its international obligations and safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA).” On the other side, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit also said, “Pakistan’s civilian nuclear deal with China is in accordance with the international norms and is strictly in line with the principles set out by the International Atomic Energy Agency. To a question about the Indian prime minister’s statement that Pakistan would have to clarify the position regarding the Pak-China nuclear cooperation, he elaborated, “Pak-China cooperation in the civilian nuclear technology sector is not a sudden development, as both countries had been running the programme successfully for the last many years and any demand of clarification in this regard is unjustified.”
Without any logic, America also objects that Pak-China nuclear deal will violate “the guidelines of the 46-country Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), which bars nuclear commerce between Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) members like China and non-member states like Pakistan.”
The fact of the matter is that Pak-China Nuclear deal was concluded in 1986 when Beijing was neither the member of NSG nor it had signed the NPT. China signed the NPT in 1992 and became the member of NSG in 2004. By 2004, almost 90 percent progress had already been made on the deal between Pakistan and China. Hence, neither of the two is applicable to this deal.
It is notable that the Indo-US nuclear deal of 2005 which was finalized in 2008, provides the precedent, and in fact, has opened the door for any similar sort of nuclear deal in the future. Indeed, after setting precedent by themselves, both India and the US have no legal and moral grounds to challenge the legality of the Pak-China nuclear deal.
MORE: http://www.markthetruth.com/current-affairs/
577-legitimacy-of-pak-china-nuclear-deal.html
=========================
9. China outflanks US in Pakistan
http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/07/
2010710104340883774.html
By Evan Hill July 12, 2010
Asif Ali Zardari, the president of Pakistan, has concluded his fifth visit to China since he came to power in 2008.
Amid much mutual backslapping and loud calls from the Pakistani president for more Chinese investment in his country's ravenous energy sector, Zardari and Hu Jintao, his Chinese counterpart, have stayed almost silent on the biggest of their shared concerns.
Neither side was expected to trumpet their blockbuster civilian nuclear agreement, which could knock another hole in the developing world's non-proliferation regime and lead Islamabad farther down the road away from Washington and towards Beijing.
The deal for China to design, build and finance two new nuclear reactors at an estimated cost of nearly $2bn has been out in the open for more than a year, but it is technically forbidden under international rules.
MORE: http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/07/
2010710104340883774.html
=====================
10. Diversity of Tactics and Democracy - 2002
http://www.trainingforchange.org/diversity_of_tactics
By George Lakey Clamor magazine March-April02
Excerpt:
Last fall while working with activists in Europe I had the chance to hang out more with young people from Otpor, the resistance movement that brought down dictator Slobadan Milosevic in Serbia in October00. These Otpor activists were ages 19-23, typical ages in the movement that catalyzed the downfall of Milosevic (pronounced "Milosevitch"). They taught people twice their age some powerful lessons about how to overthrow a dictatorship, including how to keep going despite years of arrests and beatings.
Some of the young people who started Otpor in 1999 had already been doing direct action in 1996 in the student pro-democracy movement. There they learned a hard fact: as the demonstrations grew the government paid infiltrators to pretend to be activists and do property destruction and street fighting.
The government's tactic was brilliant because it scared away the potentially hundreds of thousands who were getting ready to join the movement, and gave back to government the moral high ground.
Refusing to be discouraged, those who made a fresh start in 1999 made a critical decision: in order to win, Otpor would establish a policy of nonviolence. The stakes were too high, they reasoned, to have the luxury of everyone doing their thing. Milosovic was desperate, and surrounded with thugs who had no scruples. Only a policy of nonviolence could avoid the mistakes of 1996.
MORE: http://www.trainingforchange.org/diversity_of_tactics
=====================
11. US-Russian Relations: Wooing the West
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=20045
By Eric Walberg Global Research, July 7, 2010
The Russian leader has re-enacted the famous American goodwill tour of his predecessor a half century ago, but faces the same Cold War scheming. Will his attempts to befriend Europe have more success?
The past two years have witnessed a much more pliable Russia, retreating from the fiery rhetoric of Putin concerning NATO, the war in Afghanistan and America’s targetting of Iran. Russian President Dmitri Medvedev has turned Russian foreign policy around, playing to US. He signed the new START treaty, agreed to transit war materiel to Afghanistan, and supports US-sponsored sanctions against Iran. To crown his charm offensive, he made a photo-op visit to the US last month to meet not only his “reset” friend in the White House, but business leaders such as Apple CEO Steve Jobs in Silicon Valley, much like his predecessor Nikita Khrushchev rubbed shoulders with American farmers a half century ago.
At the same time, Russia is pursuing a less spectacular tack, one which is perhaps more important in the long term, to win over Europe. This process began under ex-president Vladimir Putin and is now gathering momentum. Integration into Europe is the name of the game. The proposed new European security treaty unveiled last year was a serious offer. The new EU-Russia Political and Security Committee, chaired jointly by EU High Representative Catherine Ashton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, announced that Trans-Dniestr may soon see the withdrawal of Russian troops, there since 1991, to be replaced by a joint European-Russian peacekeeping contingent. The European Parliament last month approved a resolution for visa-free travel with Russia. As the US flounders in Afghanistan, the accommodation with Europe becomes a reality.
So it is important to see the current Russian wooing of America as part of a two-track policy: to get Europe to continue to improve relations, it is necessary to keep the prickly Americans onside. Top on the agenda is ratification of START, now being debated in both US and Russian legislatures. Both Medvedev and United States Barack Obama have staked their careers on getting the treaty ratified. Medvedev’s recent trip was intended to show his unthreatening boyish demeanour, to lavish praise on US high tech, and disarm Cold Warriors in the Senate who threaten to derail the treaty. His allies even include Henry Kissinger who praised the treaty. Medvedev warned if it is not ratified simultaneously, the two countries would revert to some kind of Soviet past, when Russia was “cheated” by US non-ratification
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=20045
======================
12. No Nukes News - July 9, 2010
"AECL is a dead man walking. The Harper government is right to sell it and stop the drain on the public purse." - Shawn-Patrick Stensil, Greenpeace
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New Brunswick throws a wrench into AECL sale plans
New Brunswick has cast a pall over Ottawa's effort to sell off Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., announcing that it has dropped AECL's proposal to build a new reactor and is turning instead to the Crown corporation's arch-rival, France's Areva Group. "I get the impression there's not a heck of a lot of interest" in buying control of AECL, said Bryne Purchase, a former deputy minister of energy in Ontario and now a professor of energy policy at Queen's University.
AECL is also behind schedule and over budget in refurbishing the province's Point Lepreau reactor. Mr. Keir said the company will have a tough time selling new reactors until it can demonstrate that it can better manage retooling projects. And he said investors will be wary given the track record of overruns at Point Lepreau and another refurbishment project at Bruce Power in Ontario, the cancellation of the Maple research reactors, and problems at AECL's facility in Chalk River, Ont.
Greenpeace researcher Shawn-Patrick Stensil said the Areva agreement is unlikely to get off the ground because the French vendor will have to line up private financing, which has proven nearly impossible in industrialized economies, and compete with low-cost hydro from Quebec in New England markets.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/
new-brunswick-throws-a-wrench-into-aecl-sale-plans/article1633588/?cmpid=rss1
Areva deal on 2nd N.B. reactor expected
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/ ... 010/07/08/
nb-areva-nuclear-announcement-530.html
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Chalk River reactor can restart
A nuclear reactor in Chalk River, Ont., where medical isotopes are made has received the green light to restart operations after being shut down for more than a year. That means the reactor could begin making medical isotopes again by the end of the month. The reactor has been shut down since May 2009. That was when inspections uncovered a heavy-water leak and corrosion at the base of the reactor vessel.
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/07/07/
aecl-medical-isotope-reactor-chalk-river.html
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Pickering nuclear plant ordered to quit killing fish
Millions of adults, eggs and larvae perish when sucked into intakes or shocked by cold water
Close to one million fish and 62 million fish eggs and larvae die each year when they’re sucked into the water intake channel in Lake Ontario, which the plant uses to cool steam condensers.
A 610-metre barrier net it has strung in front of the channel is insufficient because it’s removed in winter and “does nothing about thermal pollution and nothing about larvae and eggs,” says Mark Mattson, president of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, a grassroots charity working to protect the health of the lake. Mattson calls the plant’s cooling system the worst of available technologies. “It sucks in clean water along with fish, eggs and larvae, then spits it back at close to hot-tub temperatures.”
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/
832748--pickering-nuclear-plant-ordered-to-quit-killing-fish
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Canadian nuclear plant rehab goes awry
Refit was supposed to show how to keep old plants operating
An effort to refurbish Atlantic Canada’s only nuclear power plant isn’t going well. Today, nobody knows when the plant will be back online, except that it won’t be any earlier than 2011. The fallout has been considerable for New Brunswick, Atomic Energy of Canada and the Canadian nuclear industry generally, raising concerns about the wisdom of refurbishing the Candu-6 reactors.
“AECL is terribly behind, terribly over budget, and terribly cash-flow negative on their refurbishment projects,” said Toronto-based energy consultant Tom Adams. “The federal government keeps writing big checks for AECL and they’re not happy about it.”
New Brunswick’s 750,000 citizens are on the hook for a replacement power bill estimated at $800 million — twice what was originally expected — and have been told by their government that electricity rates will have to go up by an additional 3 percent as a result.
http://web1.globalpost.com/dispatch/can ... lear-power
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Worry grows over Sask. uranium exports
Fears that Saskatchewan uranium may be used in weapons have been triggered by a newly signed export agreement with India.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper signed a nuclear co-operation agreement on Sunday with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was in Toronto for the G20 summit. It allows for uranium exports to India and technological exchanges that could be worth billions to Canada's nuclear industry.
Ann Coxworth, of the Saskatchewan Environmental Society, said she fears the federal deal could make it possible for Saskatchewan's uranium to end up in weapons. "We need to very seriously consider whether exporting uranium around the world is the kind of business that we should be in," said Coxworth.
The deal ends decades of chill over India's acquisition of a nuclear bomb. Harper said he believed India's Cold War duplicity has been consigned to history and that it won't use Canadian uranium to build nuclear weapons. Canada stopped nuclear co-operation with India in 1974 after the government used plutonium from a Canadian reactor to build an atomic bomb. Singh pledged India will play by the rules this time.*
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/story/
2010/06/29/sk-coxworth-uranium-krahn-deal.html
*Note: Then why won’t India sign the NPT (Non Proliferation Treaty)?
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Feds maintain fossil fuel incentives despite phase-out pledge
The Harper government has protected several incentive and subsidy programs for fossil fuels, despite making a G20 pledge to phase them out, according to a leaked document from last month's conference in Toronto.
The annex, which circulated at the summit, lists and summarizes several measures by other countries to eliminate taxpayer support for the industries that are blamed for producing emissions that trap heat in the atmosphere and contribute to global warming. But Canada's submission only included previously announced measures, including a decision made in 1987. Canada said it was still analyzing its options.
Environmental groups have estimated that Canada is spending about $2 billion annually on fossil fuel subsidies while, around the world, the International Energy Agency estimates that countries spent $557 billion on subsidies for fossil fuel companies in 2008
http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/
Feds+maintain+fossil+fuel+incentives+despite+phase+pledge/3238173/
story.html#ixzz0su4gDCiy
Finance officials can't say why Flaherty dismissed advice
http://communities.canada.com/shareit/b ... s/archive/
2010/07/06/finance-officials-can-t-say-why-flaherty-dismissed-advicef.aspx
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Deepwater oil exploration too risky
The regulator supervising Newfoundland and Labrador's offshore oil industry has approved new exploration in deep waters. The new exploration areas, though, have depths ranging from 1,000 metres to 2,000 metres. The Hibernia platform, by contrast, is just 80 metres above the ocean floor.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/
2010/07/08/deepwater-exploration-cnlopb-flemish-708.html
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Federal MPs cancel oilsands pollution probe, destroy report
Federal politicians from the government and opposition benches have mysteriously cancelled an 18-month investigation into oil sands pollution in water and opted to destroy draft copies of their report.
http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/
Federal+cancel+oilsands+pollution+probe+destroy+report/3244286/
story.html
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It’s time to talk carbon taxes
Canadians, if they’re truly interested in the country’s long-term prosperity and global competitiveness, have to start banging the pots and beating the drums on the issue of carbon pricing. Putting a price on carbon will force us to use our resources more efficiently and will drive the technology innovations that help get us there.
http://www.thestar.com/article/
830737--hamilton-it-s-time-to-talk-carbon-taxes
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Liberals' solar subsidy cut sparks fears of losing seats
Premier Dalton McGuinty is taking heat over a drastic cut in the subsidy for farmers who generate solar power, which some Liberals fear could cause an eclipse of the party’s rural seats.
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/
833851--liberals-solar-subsidy-cut-sparks-fears-of-losing-seats
Don’t let the OPA kill the Micro-Fit Solar program in Ontario The OPA recently announced a reduction in the promised feed-in tariff for ground mounted microFIT projects This proposed change will have a devastating impact on business, economy, environment, employment and confidence in the OPA and the FIT program in general.
http://www.greenandcleandirect.com/
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Around 40 % of the EU's required electricity could be generated using building-mounted solar panels by 2020
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/
2265318/solar-industry-roofs-generate
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Germany backs $103 billion in budget cuts – includes levy on nuke powerplants
Germany’s plan includes a financial-transaction tax on banks of about 2 billion euros per year and a 2.3 billion-euro annual levy on nuclear-power plants as part of what Merkel calls an “unprecedented” round of budget cuts.
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/
833003--germany-backs-103-billion-in-budget-cuts
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Write a Letter re: radiation exposure
Are you an OMERS pensioner? Kate is, and wrote to the OMERS president and board asking that her pension money be taken out of nuclear investments.
OMERS is a part-owner of Bruce Nuclear, where workers have been exposed to high levels of radiation.
“Nuclear is the technology of the last century. This century's technology is renewable energy sources.”
Write OMERS at: board@omers.com
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Ontario proposes pushing wind turbines 5 km from shore
New rules may scupper Lake Ontario wind farm
Offshore wind turbines should not be closer than 5 kilometres from the shoreline, Ontario’s environment ministry has proposed. If approved, the guideline would appear to pose problems for Toronto Hydro’s proposed wind development off the Scarborough Bluffs. Toronto Hydro wants to erect up to 60 turbines in Lake Ontario on a reef that runs two to four kilometers offshore, from the east end of Toronto to Ajax.
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/
828726--ontario-proposes-pushing-wind-turbines-5-km-from-shore
“We look forward to hearing from the public and industry on the protective rules we are proposing.” Environment Minister Jon Gerretson said in a press release.
If you think 5 km offshore is unreasonable, and if you’d like to see the Scarborough windfarm proceed, please write:
Energy Minister Brad Duguid
Environment Minister Jon Gerretson
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Coal tar is seeping into the Otonabee River, causing provincial and federal agencies to ask the city to deal with contamination underneath the Simcoe St. courthouse and neighbouring properties, a city report shows.
City council, sitting as committee of the whole Monday, will consider pulling $500,000 from a reserve fund to study the coal tar contamination and develop and action plan for remediation. The cost to deal with the contamination could be much higher.
http://www.waterkeeper.ca/2010/06/29/
coal-tar-study-would-cost-500000-peterborough-examiner-ontario-ca/
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Social Transformation through NonViolence
Monday July 12TH – 7 pm – Nonviolent Action from the US Civil Rights movement to Palestine – with Shir Hever of the Alternative Information Centre, on the Free Gaza flotilla, and documentary footage and interviews from ‘A Force More Powerful’ on strategy and training behind the lunch counter sit-ins
Monday July 19TH – 7 pm – Empowering activists and building a mass movement through nonviolence – with Dave Martin of Greenpeace, Angela Bischoff of Greenspiration, and Lyn Adamson of PeaceWorks. What will it take for nonviolent social transformation? What are the methods and strategies?
Monday July 26TH – 7 pm – Healing and Nonviolence - Decolonizing the Heart – the link to peacebuilding with Murray Kelly, D M, Carrie Lester and Victoria Freeman: Sharing personal stories of moments of truth faced by settlers and indigenous communities in working toward decolonizing self and other.
All evenings at Friends House, 60 Lowther Ave.,1 block east of St. George, 2 blocks north of Bloor, Toronto (St. George subway station)
Donation $8 (sliding scale)
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Angela Bischoff, Outreach Director
Ontario Clean Air Alliance
Tel: 416 926 1907 x 246
625 Church Street, #402, Toronto, ON M4Y 2G1
angela@cleanairalliance.org
www.ontariosgreenfuture.ca
www.cleanairalliance.org
Our Facebook Group
Sign Our Petition
No Nukes News
Health Power
========================
13. The Siege against Gaza: America's Ongoing Support of Israeli Military and Intelligence Operations By Prof. Michel Chossudovsky
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=20086
Global Research, July 10, 2010 Perdana Global Peace Organization
EXCERPT:
The attack on the Freedom Flotilla, might appear as a separate and distinct humanitarian issue, unrelated to US-Israeli war plans. But from the standpoint of both Tel Aviv and Washington, it was part of the broader military agenda. It was intended to create conditions favoring an atmosphere of confrontation and escalation in the Middle East war theater; "All the signs are that Israel has been stepping up its provocations to engineer a casus belli for a war against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Tel Aviv sees as unfinished business its inconclusive wars: the first in Lebanon in 2006, and the second in Gaza in 2008-09." (Jean Shaoul Washington Comes to the Aid of Israel over Gaza Convoy Massacre, Global Research, June 4, 2010)
Following Israel's illegal assault in international waters, Netanyahu stated emphatically "Israel will continue to exercise its right to self defence. We will not allow the establishment of an Iranian port in Gaza," suggesting that the Gaza blockade was part of the pre-emptive war agenda directed against Iran, Syria and Lebanon. (Israeli forces board Gaza aid ship the Rachel Corrie - Telegraph, June 5, 2010, emphasis added).
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=20086
1. THE SOLAR REVOLUTION: INDIVIDUALS DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE by Jim Harding
2. COMMENT: Rempel: Canada Courts Calamity with India Nuclear Deal
3. New Brunswick throws a wrench into AECL sale plans
4. Critics slam proposal to ship nuclear waste through Lake Ontario
5. Corruption increases in Afghanistan
6. Petraeus to tweak Afghan strategy: More civilian casualties ahead?
7. The Drums of War? Pentagon Provokes New Crisis With China
8. Legitimacy of Pak-China Nuclear Deal
9. China outflanks US in Pakistan
10. Diversity of Tactics and Democracy – 2002
11. US-Russian Relations: Wooing the West
12. No Nukes News - July 9, 2010
13. The Siege against Gaza: America's Ongoing Support of Israeli Military and Intelligence Operations
====================
1. THE SOLAR REVOLUTION: INDIVIDUALS DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE BY Jim Harding
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=956
Saskatchewan Sustainability Published in United Newspapers of Saskatchewan (R-Town News) July 9, 2010
Institutions are beginning to use solar thermal panels for heating water and photovoltaic (PV) panels and wind turbines for producing electricity. But it is home owners and small businesses who are leading the way into solar energy in Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan’s first solar tour held in Regina June 19th showed that individuals are making a difference in our quest for a sustainable society. We visited the home of Bill Walton, one pioneer in renewable energy in Saskatchewan. Six years ago Bill installed a 2.4 kW (2,400-watt) PV system on his roof, which is the largest such residential system in Regina. He also has a 500-watt vertical axis wind turbine in his back yard. This hybrid system is tied into the grid with a battery backup. Walton is a big fan of solar-powered street lights and along with Dave Calvert operates the solar installing company, Green Power Solutions.
We also visited the home of David Orban, the main organizer of the Solar Tour, who installed a 240-watt PV system eight years ago and a 500-watt wind turbine two years ago. This hybrid system, put in before Sask Power allowed net-metering, uses batteries for storage. Orban has paid particular attention to conservation and uses about 200 kWh per month, or about one-third of the average Saskatchewan household, and his hybrid system provides about half of his electricity. Orban notes that appliances that use DC (direct current) rather than AC (alternating current) use less electricity and are now available at competitive prices.
There were nine other Regina residences that we didn’t have time to visit. Most use solar thermal panels for heating water, including one place that heats a swimming pool this way. There were a few other hybrid systems using small wind turbines and PV panels for electricity.
MORE: http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=956
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2. COMMENT: Rempel: Canada Courts Calamity with India Nuclear Deal (see article below)
From: Jacob Rempel <jacob.rempel@gmail.com>
Date: 9 July 2010 22:17
Subject: Canada Courts Calamity with India Nuclear Deal, by Paul McKay, STRAIGHTGOODS
To: all Liberal MPs, NDP MPs, and to Gilles Duceppe, MP, Leader Bloc Quebecois ---
NO ONE IN THE LIBERAL PARTY OR THE NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY HAS EVER GIVEN A MEANINGFUL REPLY TO ALL THE WELL ARTICULATED WELL-RESEARCHED CRITICISMS OF THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY -- the SERIOUS DANGER IN EVERY STAGE OF URANIUM PRODUCTION AND USE -- FROM MINING TO TRANSPORTATION TO POWER PLANTS TO BOMB PRODUCTION TO WASTE DISPOSAL TO USE OF "NON-DEPLETED URANIUM WASTE" IN MUNITIONS FOR BOMBING BOSNIA, KOSOVO, IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN, RADIATION OF MANY OF THOUSAND OF FARMS, FISHERIES, SOLDIERS, CIVILIANS, MEN, PREGNANT WOMEN, FETUSES, AND MEDICAL TREATMENT PERSONNEL. IT'S LIKE A THOUSAND CHERNOBYLS IN SLOW MOTION PROLIFERATION AROUND THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT, ALL IN THE INTERESTS OF A CERTAIN INDUSTRIAL SECTOR OF INVESTORS.
Mr. Duceppe, I hope you can call all of them to account in this most serous matter.
Jacob Rempel, Vancouver
= = = = = =
Canada Courts Calamity with India Nuclear Deal
(Not to mention India and the world. JR)
Paul McKay Straightgoods.ca July 2, 2010
(Not yet posted to straightgoods.ca)
Ten days before Canada inked a nuclear sales pact with India at the G20 summit, the Indian government invited global investors to help finance its $70 billion plan to develop 20,000 megawatts of solar power plants in that sun-rich country by 2022.
That followed an official Indian government estimate that its long windy coastlines and interior deserts can host nearly 50,000 MW of wind generation.
When built, this 70,000 MW of new green power would roughly triple the total electricity produced in all of Ontario by all power plants of all kinds, and generate as much peak power as 140 Pickering-sized nuclear plants. This would help offset India's rocketing greenhouse gas emissions, and dove-tail with its pressing need to quickly build de-centralized power plants on a fragile, far-flung grid system.
All this could be ramped up before a single new Candu reactor could be designed and built there. India's new green mission has been hailed by investors, developers, environmentalists, and Indian citizens.
MORE:
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1766#1766
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3. New Brunswick throws a wrench into AECL sale plans
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/
new-brunswick-throws-a-wrench-into-aecl-sale-plans/article1633588/
Decision to purchase a French reactor undermines Crown corporation’s already shaky reputation
Shawn McCarthy Global Energy Reporter,
From Friday's Globe and Mail, Published on Thursday, Jul. 08, 2010
New Brunswick has cast a pall over Ottawa’s effort to sell off Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., announcing that it has dropped AECL’s proposal to build a new reactor and is turning instead to the Crown corporation’s arch-rival, France’s Areva Group.
The New Brunswick decision, made public on Thursday, is the second major setback for AECL in the past year. Last summer, the Ontario government postponed indefinitely the purchase of the corporation’s next-generation Candu reactor, which is still in development.
The Harper government is trying to sell AECL, and the bidding process, managed by New York merchant bank N.M. Rothschild & Sons closed on June 30. Industry insiders say there were multiple bidders, including Montreal-based engineering giant SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. and Westinghouse Electric Co. LLC, a unit of Toshiba Corp.
Areva had indicated during the Ontario competition that it would consider seeking a stake in Canada’s flagship nuclear company, but its interest has cooled, and sources said on Thursday that the French multinational has dropped out.
It remains uncertain whether the would-be buyers are willing to pay a price that Ottawa would find acceptable, including the assumption of AECL’s liabilities. And the announcement from New Brunswick undermines confidence in the company, although AECL’s call for private financing of new reactors had made it a long shot.
MORE: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/
new-brunswick-throws-a-wrench-into-aecl-sale-plans/article1633588/
======================
4. Critics slam proposal to ship nuclear waste through Lake Ontario
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/
834724--critics-slam-proposal-to-ship-nuclear-waste-through-lake-ontario
Brett Popplewell, Staff Reporter, Published Jul 11 2010
The Bruce Nuclear Generating Station plans to ship 1,760 tonnes of radiation-laced steel through Lake Ontario; a precedent-setting project that has officials worried on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border.
On April 1, Bruce Power asked the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Canada’s nuclear regulator, for a licence to ship low-level radioactive generators from its power plant on Lake Huron to Sweden, where 90 per cent of the metals inside the generators are to be cleansed and resold.
The remaining materials that are too radioactive to be recycled will then return to the Bruce plant to be contained for the rest of their radioactive lives.
But the planned journey, which would have 16 decommissioned steam generators travel through the Great Lakes, down the St. Lawrence River and then to Sweden this fall, has municipal officials concerned because they haven’t been given the chance to vet the proposal. If approved, this would be the first time a licence has been issued by the commission to ship nuclear waste through the Great Lakes.
“My frustration for years has been the lack of respect for the Great Lakes. We treat it like a toilet bowl,” said Mike Bradley, mayor of Sarnia. “We don’t give it respect and don’t treat it like there needs to be public engagement.
"The impression that I have is that this is a rubber stamp process. I think it's unfolding in a manner that is disrespectful to the public process."
- - - - SNIP - - -
Gordon Edwards, president of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, a watchdog group, says each generator contains thousands of small tubes through which the primary coolant flows. Those tubes have the same type of contamination
that all the other pipes in the primary cooling system have, fission products that emit beta and gamma radiation and transuranic elements such as plutonium, which emit alpha radiation.
“They are harmless inside the steam generator, but once outside in the environment they are very dangerous and remain so for a very long time,” says Edwards.
The plan is to have the generators trucked in September from the Bruce plant to Owen Sound, where they will be loaded onto an ocean-going ship and sailed over three of the five Great Lakes passing by Toronto, Sarnia, Windsor, Detroit, St. Catharines, Montreal and Quebec City.
Once the radioactive waste is boarded onto the ship, Bruce Power says it assumes no responsibility for the safety or integrity of the generators or for any possible cleanup in the event of an accident during transport. That, Elston says, is the responsibility of Studsvik, the Swedish company that will recycle the material once it arrives in Sweden.
Johan Hahnel, a spokesperson for Studsvik, says his company will make sure all necessary authorities approve of the transport and that the personnel handling the equipment will be able to ensure full security of the radioactive waste.
Garry Linsey, director of maritime services for the division of the Canadian Coast Guard that oversees cleanups of hazardous materials on the Great Lakes, said in an interview Friday that he was unaware of the planned shipment.
Elston says Bruce Power, which is paying Studsvik roughly about $1 million per shipped generator, deserves some credit for the plan because it will reduce the company’s environmental footprint by ridding it and Canada of the nuclear waste.
“When people get it right there should be an ability of the citizens of this country to be informed that it is being done well that it’s being done right and, you know, you should get some accolades for reducing the environmental footprint,” he says.
====================
5. Corruption increases in Afghanistan
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=5029&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 09 Jul 2010 01:29 PM PDT
A recent report from Integrity Watch Afghanistan has found that corruption is steadily on the rise in Afghanistan. National Corruption Survey 2010 reports that the Afghan population paid twice as much in bribes in 2009 as it did in 2006: today bribery represents “a burden of 1 billion USD on the Afghan GDP.” The massive, widespread [...]
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6. Petraeus to tweak Afghan strategy: More civilian casualties ahead?
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=5012&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 09 Jul 2010 12:48 PM PDT
On July 5th, U.S. Senator John McCain told reporters that the new U.S. Commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, will probably tweak the current U.S strategy in Afghanistan. After meetings with Petraeus and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, McCain said that “General Petraeus is reviewing the entire rules of engagement and probably there will be some tweaking. [...]
====================
7. The Drums of War? Pentagon Provokes New Crisis With China
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=20087
By Rick Rozoff Global Research, July 10, 2010 Stop NATO
Three news features appearing earlier this week highlight tensions between the United States and the People's Republic of China that, at least in relation to the language used to describe them, would have seemed unimaginable even a few months ago and are evocative more of the Korean War era than of any time since the entente cordiale initiated by the Richard Nixon-Mao Zedong meeting in Beijing in 1972.
To indicate the seriousness of the matter, the stories are from Global Times, a daily newspaper published in conjunction with the People's Daily, official press organ of the ruling Communist Party of China, and Time, preeminent American weekly news magazine. Both accounts use as their point of departure and source of key information a July 4 report in Hong Kong's major English-language daily.
On July 6 writer Li Jing penned a news article for Global Times called "US subs reach Asian ports: report," which detailed the following recent developments:
"Three of the largest submarines of the US Seventh Fleet surfaced in Asia-Pacific ports last week, the South China Morning Post reported Monday [July 5]. The appearance of the USS Michigan in Pusan, South Korea, the USS Ohio in Subic Bay, the Philippines, and the USS Florida in the strategic Indian Ocean outpost of Diego Garcia was a show of force not seen since the end of the Cold War, the paper said, adding that the position of those three ports looks like a siege of China." [1]
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=20087
====================
8. Legitimacy of Pak-China Nuclear Deal
http://www.markthetruth.com/current-affairs/
577-legitimacy-of-pak-china-nuclear-deal.html
Wednesday, 07 July 2010 16:38 Sajjad Shaukat
While rejecting US objections, China has once again clarified that it will supply two nuclear reactors to Pakistan under the old nuclear deal.As regards the legitimacy of Pak-China nuclear deal, Qin Gang, the spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry has already made it clear, saying: “the nuclear cooperation between the two countries is for peaceful purposes and is totally in consistent with its international obligations and safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA).” On the other side, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit also said, “Pakistan’s civilian nuclear deal with China is in accordance with the international norms and is strictly in line with the principles set out by the International Atomic Energy Agency. To a question about the Indian prime minister’s statement that Pakistan would have to clarify the position regarding the Pak-China nuclear cooperation, he elaborated, “Pak-China cooperation in the civilian nuclear technology sector is not a sudden development, as both countries had been running the programme successfully for the last many years and any demand of clarification in this regard is unjustified.”
Without any logic, America also objects that Pak-China nuclear deal will violate “the guidelines of the 46-country Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), which bars nuclear commerce between Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) members like China and non-member states like Pakistan.”
The fact of the matter is that Pak-China Nuclear deal was concluded in 1986 when Beijing was neither the member of NSG nor it had signed the NPT. China signed the NPT in 1992 and became the member of NSG in 2004. By 2004, almost 90 percent progress had already been made on the deal between Pakistan and China. Hence, neither of the two is applicable to this deal.
It is notable that the Indo-US nuclear deal of 2005 which was finalized in 2008, provides the precedent, and in fact, has opened the door for any similar sort of nuclear deal in the future. Indeed, after setting precedent by themselves, both India and the US have no legal and moral grounds to challenge the legality of the Pak-China nuclear deal.
MORE: http://www.markthetruth.com/current-affairs/
577-legitimacy-of-pak-china-nuclear-deal.html
=========================
9. China outflanks US in Pakistan
http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/07/
2010710104340883774.html
By Evan Hill July 12, 2010
Asif Ali Zardari, the president of Pakistan, has concluded his fifth visit to China since he came to power in 2008.
Amid much mutual backslapping and loud calls from the Pakistani president for more Chinese investment in his country's ravenous energy sector, Zardari and Hu Jintao, his Chinese counterpart, have stayed almost silent on the biggest of their shared concerns.
Neither side was expected to trumpet their blockbuster civilian nuclear agreement, which could knock another hole in the developing world's non-proliferation regime and lead Islamabad farther down the road away from Washington and towards Beijing.
The deal for China to design, build and finance two new nuclear reactors at an estimated cost of nearly $2bn has been out in the open for more than a year, but it is technically forbidden under international rules.
MORE: http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/07/
2010710104340883774.html
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10. Diversity of Tactics and Democracy - 2002
http://www.trainingforchange.org/diversity_of_tactics
By George Lakey Clamor magazine March-April02
Excerpt:
Last fall while working with activists in Europe I had the chance to hang out more with young people from Otpor, the resistance movement that brought down dictator Slobadan Milosevic in Serbia in October00. These Otpor activists were ages 19-23, typical ages in the movement that catalyzed the downfall of Milosevic (pronounced "Milosevitch"). They taught people twice their age some powerful lessons about how to overthrow a dictatorship, including how to keep going despite years of arrests and beatings.
Some of the young people who started Otpor in 1999 had already been doing direct action in 1996 in the student pro-democracy movement. There they learned a hard fact: as the demonstrations grew the government paid infiltrators to pretend to be activists and do property destruction and street fighting.
The government's tactic was brilliant because it scared away the potentially hundreds of thousands who were getting ready to join the movement, and gave back to government the moral high ground.
Refusing to be discouraged, those who made a fresh start in 1999 made a critical decision: in order to win, Otpor would establish a policy of nonviolence. The stakes were too high, they reasoned, to have the luxury of everyone doing their thing. Milosovic was desperate, and surrounded with thugs who had no scruples. Only a policy of nonviolence could avoid the mistakes of 1996.
MORE: http://www.trainingforchange.org/diversity_of_tactics
=====================
11. US-Russian Relations: Wooing the West
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=20045
By Eric Walberg Global Research, July 7, 2010
The Russian leader has re-enacted the famous American goodwill tour of his predecessor a half century ago, but faces the same Cold War scheming. Will his attempts to befriend Europe have more success?
The past two years have witnessed a much more pliable Russia, retreating from the fiery rhetoric of Putin concerning NATO, the war in Afghanistan and America’s targetting of Iran. Russian President Dmitri Medvedev has turned Russian foreign policy around, playing to US. He signed the new START treaty, agreed to transit war materiel to Afghanistan, and supports US-sponsored sanctions against Iran. To crown his charm offensive, he made a photo-op visit to the US last month to meet not only his “reset” friend in the White House, but business leaders such as Apple CEO Steve Jobs in Silicon Valley, much like his predecessor Nikita Khrushchev rubbed shoulders with American farmers a half century ago.
At the same time, Russia is pursuing a less spectacular tack, one which is perhaps more important in the long term, to win over Europe. This process began under ex-president Vladimir Putin and is now gathering momentum. Integration into Europe is the name of the game. The proposed new European security treaty unveiled last year was a serious offer. The new EU-Russia Political and Security Committee, chaired jointly by EU High Representative Catherine Ashton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, announced that Trans-Dniestr may soon see the withdrawal of Russian troops, there since 1991, to be replaced by a joint European-Russian peacekeeping contingent. The European Parliament last month approved a resolution for visa-free travel with Russia. As the US flounders in Afghanistan, the accommodation with Europe becomes a reality.
So it is important to see the current Russian wooing of America as part of a two-track policy: to get Europe to continue to improve relations, it is necessary to keep the prickly Americans onside. Top on the agenda is ratification of START, now being debated in both US and Russian legislatures. Both Medvedev and United States Barack Obama have staked their careers on getting the treaty ratified. Medvedev’s recent trip was intended to show his unthreatening boyish demeanour, to lavish praise on US high tech, and disarm Cold Warriors in the Senate who threaten to derail the treaty. His allies even include Henry Kissinger who praised the treaty. Medvedev warned if it is not ratified simultaneously, the two countries would revert to some kind of Soviet past, when Russia was “cheated” by US non-ratification
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=20045
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12. No Nukes News - July 9, 2010
"AECL is a dead man walking. The Harper government is right to sell it and stop the drain on the public purse." - Shawn-Patrick Stensil, Greenpeace
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New Brunswick throws a wrench into AECL sale plans
New Brunswick has cast a pall over Ottawa's effort to sell off Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., announcing that it has dropped AECL's proposal to build a new reactor and is turning instead to the Crown corporation's arch-rival, France's Areva Group. "I get the impression there's not a heck of a lot of interest" in buying control of AECL, said Bryne Purchase, a former deputy minister of energy in Ontario and now a professor of energy policy at Queen's University.
AECL is also behind schedule and over budget in refurbishing the province's Point Lepreau reactor. Mr. Keir said the company will have a tough time selling new reactors until it can demonstrate that it can better manage retooling projects. And he said investors will be wary given the track record of overruns at Point Lepreau and another refurbishment project at Bruce Power in Ontario, the cancellation of the Maple research reactors, and problems at AECL's facility in Chalk River, Ont.
Greenpeace researcher Shawn-Patrick Stensil said the Areva agreement is unlikely to get off the ground because the French vendor will have to line up private financing, which has proven nearly impossible in industrialized economies, and compete with low-cost hydro from Quebec in New England markets.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/
new-brunswick-throws-a-wrench-into-aecl-sale-plans/article1633588/?cmpid=rss1
Areva deal on 2nd N.B. reactor expected
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/ ... 010/07/08/
nb-areva-nuclear-announcement-530.html
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Chalk River reactor can restart
A nuclear reactor in Chalk River, Ont., where medical isotopes are made has received the green light to restart operations after being shut down for more than a year. That means the reactor could begin making medical isotopes again by the end of the month. The reactor has been shut down since May 2009. That was when inspections uncovered a heavy-water leak and corrosion at the base of the reactor vessel.
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/07/07/
aecl-medical-isotope-reactor-chalk-river.html
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Pickering nuclear plant ordered to quit killing fish
Millions of adults, eggs and larvae perish when sucked into intakes or shocked by cold water
Close to one million fish and 62 million fish eggs and larvae die each year when they’re sucked into the water intake channel in Lake Ontario, which the plant uses to cool steam condensers.
A 610-metre barrier net it has strung in front of the channel is insufficient because it’s removed in winter and “does nothing about thermal pollution and nothing about larvae and eggs,” says Mark Mattson, president of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, a grassroots charity working to protect the health of the lake. Mattson calls the plant’s cooling system the worst of available technologies. “It sucks in clean water along with fish, eggs and larvae, then spits it back at close to hot-tub temperatures.”
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/
832748--pickering-nuclear-plant-ordered-to-quit-killing-fish
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Canadian nuclear plant rehab goes awry
Refit was supposed to show how to keep old plants operating
An effort to refurbish Atlantic Canada’s only nuclear power plant isn’t going well. Today, nobody knows when the plant will be back online, except that it won’t be any earlier than 2011. The fallout has been considerable for New Brunswick, Atomic Energy of Canada and the Canadian nuclear industry generally, raising concerns about the wisdom of refurbishing the Candu-6 reactors.
“AECL is terribly behind, terribly over budget, and terribly cash-flow negative on their refurbishment projects,” said Toronto-based energy consultant Tom Adams. “The federal government keeps writing big checks for AECL and they’re not happy about it.”
New Brunswick’s 750,000 citizens are on the hook for a replacement power bill estimated at $800 million — twice what was originally expected — and have been told by their government that electricity rates will have to go up by an additional 3 percent as a result.
http://web1.globalpost.com/dispatch/can ... lear-power
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Worry grows over Sask. uranium exports
Fears that Saskatchewan uranium may be used in weapons have been triggered by a newly signed export agreement with India.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper signed a nuclear co-operation agreement on Sunday with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was in Toronto for the G20 summit. It allows for uranium exports to India and technological exchanges that could be worth billions to Canada's nuclear industry.
Ann Coxworth, of the Saskatchewan Environmental Society, said she fears the federal deal could make it possible for Saskatchewan's uranium to end up in weapons. "We need to very seriously consider whether exporting uranium around the world is the kind of business that we should be in," said Coxworth.
The deal ends decades of chill over India's acquisition of a nuclear bomb. Harper said he believed India's Cold War duplicity has been consigned to history and that it won't use Canadian uranium to build nuclear weapons. Canada stopped nuclear co-operation with India in 1974 after the government used plutonium from a Canadian reactor to build an atomic bomb. Singh pledged India will play by the rules this time.*
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/story/
2010/06/29/sk-coxworth-uranium-krahn-deal.html
*Note: Then why won’t India sign the NPT (Non Proliferation Treaty)?
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Feds maintain fossil fuel incentives despite phase-out pledge
The Harper government has protected several incentive and subsidy programs for fossil fuels, despite making a G20 pledge to phase them out, according to a leaked document from last month's conference in Toronto.
The annex, which circulated at the summit, lists and summarizes several measures by other countries to eliminate taxpayer support for the industries that are blamed for producing emissions that trap heat in the atmosphere and contribute to global warming. But Canada's submission only included previously announced measures, including a decision made in 1987. Canada said it was still analyzing its options.
Environmental groups have estimated that Canada is spending about $2 billion annually on fossil fuel subsidies while, around the world, the International Energy Agency estimates that countries spent $557 billion on subsidies for fossil fuel companies in 2008
http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/
Feds+maintain+fossil+fuel+incentives+despite+phase+pledge/3238173/
story.html#ixzz0su4gDCiy
Finance officials can't say why Flaherty dismissed advice
http://communities.canada.com/shareit/b ... s/archive/
2010/07/06/finance-officials-can-t-say-why-flaherty-dismissed-advicef.aspx
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Deepwater oil exploration too risky
The regulator supervising Newfoundland and Labrador's offshore oil industry has approved new exploration in deep waters. The new exploration areas, though, have depths ranging from 1,000 metres to 2,000 metres. The Hibernia platform, by contrast, is just 80 metres above the ocean floor.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/
2010/07/08/deepwater-exploration-cnlopb-flemish-708.html
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Federal MPs cancel oilsands pollution probe, destroy report
Federal politicians from the government and opposition benches have mysteriously cancelled an 18-month investigation into oil sands pollution in water and opted to destroy draft copies of their report.
http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/
Federal+cancel+oilsands+pollution+probe+destroy+report/3244286/
story.html
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It’s time to talk carbon taxes
Canadians, if they’re truly interested in the country’s long-term prosperity and global competitiveness, have to start banging the pots and beating the drums on the issue of carbon pricing. Putting a price on carbon will force us to use our resources more efficiently and will drive the technology innovations that help get us there.
http://www.thestar.com/article/
830737--hamilton-it-s-time-to-talk-carbon-taxes
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Liberals' solar subsidy cut sparks fears of losing seats
Premier Dalton McGuinty is taking heat over a drastic cut in the subsidy for farmers who generate solar power, which some Liberals fear could cause an eclipse of the party’s rural seats.
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/
833851--liberals-solar-subsidy-cut-sparks-fears-of-losing-seats
Don’t let the OPA kill the Micro-Fit Solar program in Ontario The OPA recently announced a reduction in the promised feed-in tariff for ground mounted microFIT projects This proposed change will have a devastating impact on business, economy, environment, employment and confidence in the OPA and the FIT program in general.
http://www.greenandcleandirect.com/
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Around 40 % of the EU's required electricity could be generated using building-mounted solar panels by 2020
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/
2265318/solar-industry-roofs-generate
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Germany backs $103 billion in budget cuts – includes levy on nuke powerplants
Germany’s plan includes a financial-transaction tax on banks of about 2 billion euros per year and a 2.3 billion-euro annual levy on nuclear-power plants as part of what Merkel calls an “unprecedented” round of budget cuts.
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/
833003--germany-backs-103-billion-in-budget-cuts
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Write a Letter re: radiation exposure
Are you an OMERS pensioner? Kate is, and wrote to the OMERS president and board asking that her pension money be taken out of nuclear investments.
OMERS is a part-owner of Bruce Nuclear, where workers have been exposed to high levels of radiation.
“Nuclear is the technology of the last century. This century's technology is renewable energy sources.”
Write OMERS at: board@omers.com
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Ontario proposes pushing wind turbines 5 km from shore
New rules may scupper Lake Ontario wind farm
Offshore wind turbines should not be closer than 5 kilometres from the shoreline, Ontario’s environment ministry has proposed. If approved, the guideline would appear to pose problems for Toronto Hydro’s proposed wind development off the Scarborough Bluffs. Toronto Hydro wants to erect up to 60 turbines in Lake Ontario on a reef that runs two to four kilometers offshore, from the east end of Toronto to Ajax.
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/
828726--ontario-proposes-pushing-wind-turbines-5-km-from-shore
“We look forward to hearing from the public and industry on the protective rules we are proposing.” Environment Minister Jon Gerretson said in a press release.
If you think 5 km offshore is unreasonable, and if you’d like to see the Scarborough windfarm proceed, please write:
Energy Minister Brad Duguid
Environment Minister Jon Gerretson
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Coal tar is seeping into the Otonabee River, causing provincial and federal agencies to ask the city to deal with contamination underneath the Simcoe St. courthouse and neighbouring properties, a city report shows.
City council, sitting as committee of the whole Monday, will consider pulling $500,000 from a reserve fund to study the coal tar contamination and develop and action plan for remediation. The cost to deal with the contamination could be much higher.
http://www.waterkeeper.ca/2010/06/29/
coal-tar-study-would-cost-500000-peterborough-examiner-ontario-ca/
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Social Transformation through NonViolence
Monday July 12TH – 7 pm – Nonviolent Action from the US Civil Rights movement to Palestine – with Shir Hever of the Alternative Information Centre, on the Free Gaza flotilla, and documentary footage and interviews from ‘A Force More Powerful’ on strategy and training behind the lunch counter sit-ins
Monday July 19TH – 7 pm – Empowering activists and building a mass movement through nonviolence – with Dave Martin of Greenpeace, Angela Bischoff of Greenspiration, and Lyn Adamson of PeaceWorks. What will it take for nonviolent social transformation? What are the methods and strategies?
Monday July 26TH – 7 pm – Healing and Nonviolence - Decolonizing the Heart – the link to peacebuilding with Murray Kelly, D M, Carrie Lester and Victoria Freeman: Sharing personal stories of moments of truth faced by settlers and indigenous communities in working toward decolonizing self and other.
All evenings at Friends House, 60 Lowther Ave.,1 block east of St. George, 2 blocks north of Bloor, Toronto (St. George subway station)
Donation $8 (sliding scale)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Angela Bischoff, Outreach Director
Ontario Clean Air Alliance
Tel: 416 926 1907 x 246
625 Church Street, #402, Toronto, ON M4Y 2G1
angela@cleanairalliance.org
www.ontariosgreenfuture.ca
www.cleanairalliance.org
Our Facebook Group
Sign Our Petition
No Nukes News
Health Power
========================
13. The Siege against Gaza: America's Ongoing Support of Israeli Military and Intelligence Operations By Prof. Michel Chossudovsky
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=20086
Global Research, July 10, 2010 Perdana Global Peace Organization
EXCERPT:
The attack on the Freedom Flotilla, might appear as a separate and distinct humanitarian issue, unrelated to US-Israeli war plans. But from the standpoint of both Tel Aviv and Washington, it was part of the broader military agenda. It was intended to create conditions favoring an atmosphere of confrontation and escalation in the Middle East war theater; "All the signs are that Israel has been stepping up its provocations to engineer a casus belli for a war against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Tel Aviv sees as unfinished business its inconclusive wars: the first in Lebanon in 2006, and the second in Gaza in 2008-09." (Jean Shaoul Washington Comes to the Aid of Israel over Gaza Convoy Massacre, Global Research, June 4, 2010)
Following Israel's illegal assault in international waters, Netanyahu stated emphatically "Israel will continue to exercise its right to self defence. We will not allow the establishment of an Iranian port in Gaza," suggesting that the Gaza blockade was part of the pre-emptive war agenda directed against Iran, Syria and Lebanon. (Israeli forces board Gaza aid ship the Rachel Corrie - Telegraph, June 5, 2010, emphasis added).
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=20086
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9887
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
NUKE NEWS: July 17, 2010
by Oscar » Sat Jul 17, 2010 10:13 am
NUKE NEWS: July 17, 2010
1. Conservation and cooperation a winning formula
2. WATCH: Cartoon: Little Green Man + Comment
3. Waste Shipment through Great Lakes – various articles
4. LISTEN: Gordon Edwards on Radio Canada International re: Chalk River isotope production
5. The risks of tritium on health could be underestimated
6. How about a few Uranium Spills??
7. Dam failure of decantation pond at Comurhex uranium conversion plant, Malvési (Aude, France) (Photos) - 2006
8. U.S. Plutonium Waste Underestimated, Says Researcher
9. Tribes: Nuclear waste can't be stored at Hanford
10. LISTEN: Debate: Does the world need nuclear energy?
11. COMMENT: Rempel: ….as bad or worse although in silent, slower motion
12. WATCH: Even The Troops Are Waking Up
13. Ceasefire.ca Speaks out Against Tory “Flying Cadillacs” Deal
14. Action Alert: Stop the Attack on Kandahar
15. "Thank you Ceasefire.ca supporters"
16. Children continue to suffer as the war in Afghanistan drags on
17. The Disappearing Intellectual in the Age of Economic Darwinism
18. The Source of Wars
=======================
1. Conservation and cooperation a winning formula
http://www.cleanairalliance.org/node/856
Submitted by OCAA on Fri, 07/16/2010 - 11:07. July 16, 2010
By working together, Ontario and Quebec can reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of their electricity systems while also keeping rates in check for businesses and consumers.
The Ontario Clean Air Alliance and Quebec environmental leader Equiterre today released a report that demonstrates that a key to this approach is a greater emphasis on electricity conservation in Quebec. With the highest electricity consumption per person in the world, now is the time for a new approach in Quebec that uses deeper and stronger conservation efforts to free up existing hydro power for export to Ontario and the U.S. Northeast.
Ontario and Quebec are ideal electricity partners: Quebec’s power demand peaks in winter while Ontario demand peaks in summer when air conditioners are running full out. Ontario can send Quebec power from its wind turbines in winter, while Quebec can send Ontario hydro power in spring and summer. This saves Quebec from having to pursue costly new mega-dams and Ontario from having to build more expensive natural gas peaking plants.
The result is less pressure on electricity rates and our environment.
Read the full report, Higher Profits and Lower Bills: A New Electricity Strategy for Hydro Quebec, at:
http://www.cleanairalliance.org/files/a ... nglish.pdf
Thank you.
Angela Bischoff, Outreach Director
Ontario Clean Air Alliance
402-625 Church St, Toronto M4Y 2G1
Phone: 416-926-1907 ext. 246
angela@cleanairalliance.org
Clean Air Alliance
Ontario’s Green Future
No Nukes News
Health Power
P.S. Interested in volunteering for the Ontario Clean Air Alliance? Please contact me at Angela@cleanairalliance.org.
=====================
2. WATCH: Cartoon: Little Green Man + Comment
From: "Ace Hoffman" <rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2010 6:19 PM
Subject: "Nuclear Power is the solution" (a statement by Ace Hoffman July 15th, 2010)
July 15th, 2010
Dear Readers.
The following statement was left at Mark Fiore's web site:
http://www.markfiore.com/political-cartoons/
watch-bp-oil-spill-gulf-environment-animated-video-mark-fiore-animation-political-cartoons#comment-6453
-------------------------------------------------------------
Nuclear power is the solution. Except for the accidents, not just meltdowns but spent fuel fires, transportation accidents, terrorism threats... And except for the daily deadly releases, the eternal waste storage problem, proliferation issues, costs, lengthy construction time, a history of lying and cover-ups (look at the (reluctantly admitted) tritium leaks at about 30% of our reactors), foreign-made parts (look at the capacitor problems the have plagued the computer industry, and realize how many of our nukes are running on shoddy parts), over-complexity (look at the oscillating power-runaway issues identified by outside experts but ignored by industry "experts"), plus it's not distributed small-scale power, so when a nuke goes down, hundreds of thousands of people lose power... plus grid-power backup issues (the big Northeast blackout of 2003 was largely due to all the nukes having to shut down when they lost offsite power), the water-use issues (billions of gallons a day are polluted by each nuke, millions of gallons are churned to steam each day; France had to shut down a swarm of nukes due to lack of water a few summers ago). They aren't very efficient even under the best of circumstances, requiring thousands of workers where wind turbines can run virtually autonomously, as can hydro, solar, etc... Also, all our current nukes are old and decrepit, embrittled and rusted, and the plans don't match the reactors anymore, they've been modified so many times and the original designers are long-gone. Fission products kill.
See my book, which can be downloaded free from my web site: www.acehoffman.org
-------------------------------------------------------------
The above statement was originally left at
http://www.markfiore.com/political-cartoons/
watch-bp-oil-spill-gulf-environment-animated-video-mark-fiore-animation-political-cartoons
It currently appears as the top item (a few small typos have been fixed in this version).
-------------------------------------------------------------
Please distribute this document to others and ask that they do the same.... Please do not alter the title or the contents in any way, other than to add any additional comments below if desired. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
Ace Hoffman
Carlsbad, CA
www.acehoffman.org
======================
3. Waste Shipment through Great Lakes – various articles
Waste shipments irk mayors
http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2010 ... 14461.html
[London Free Press]
GREAT LAKES: Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley is trying to drum up opposition from around the lakes to veto plans to ship radioactive waste by boat from Owen Sound to Sweden
by CHIP MARTIN The London Free Press, July 15, 2010
Anxious to prevent the shipment of radioactive waste on the Great Lakes and past his city, Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley is seeking support from other mayors around the lakes.
Bradley said Wednesday he has contacted the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative group, a bi-national coalition of municipal leaders, to join the fight against a precedent-setting bid by Bruce Power.
MORE: http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2010 ... 14461.html
[London Free Press]
- - - - - -
Radioactive cargo to pass by Windsor
http://www.windsorstar.com/technology/
Radioactive+cargo+pass+Windsor/3268475/story.html#ixzz0taGi2R1V
BY BRIAN CROSS, THE WINDSOR STAR JULY 12, 2010
WINDSOR, Ont. — A plan to ship 16 school bus-sized radioactive steam generators out of Canada via the Great Lakes — and past Windsor — is being attacked as a threat to our drinking water and health.
“Worst-case scenario is this stuff breaks containment and gets spread throughout the Great Lakes basin,” Derek Coronado, co-ordinator of the Windsor-based Citizens Environment Alliance said of the plan to send the decommissioned generators from the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station near Kincardine on Lake Huron to Sweden for recycling.
MORE:
http://www.windsorstar.com/technology/
Radioactive+cargo+pass+Windsor/3268475/story.html#ixzz0taGi2R1V
- - - - - -
Mayor concerned about nuclear steam generators
http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/Articl ... ?e=2665034
Bruce Power officials at council tonight
By Denis Langlois, Owen Sound Sun Times, July 12 2010
A plan by nuclear generator Bruce Power to ship 16 radioactive steam generators out of Owen Sound Harbour to Sweden has run into opposition by the city's mayor.
Ruth Lovell Stanners said storing the school bus-sized, decommissioned generators, considered intermediate-level nuclear waste, next to the harbour and then shipping them on the Great Lakes poses too much of a public health and safety risk to ignore.
"What happens if one of these happens to slip into the harbour?," she said Monday in an interview. "We happen to have a water treatment plant just down the way."
Bruce Power officials are scheduled to speak to city council Monday night on the company's plan to ship the 100-tonne steel tubes to a recycling facility across the Atlantic Ocean. About 90% of the generator's metal will be melted down for reuse, while the rest will be shipped back to Canada and stored as low-level nuclear waste at Ontario Power Generation. Lovell Stanners said Bruce Power has already secured approvals from the federal government, which owns Owen Sound's harbour, to store the generators on its land and ship them out of its port.
Owen Sound only has a say as to whether or not the city's roads can handle the 100-tonne shipments, she said.
An application for a licence to ship the steam generators is now before the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, due to the cargo's size and level of radioactivity. If approved, it would be the first time a licence has been issued to ship nuclear waste across the Great Lakes.
Bruce Power has told Owen Sound officials that it plans to store the steam generators at the harbour for five weeks until a ship arrives this autumn.
City officials have been told that once the radioactive waste is put onto the ship,it is no longer Bruce Power's responsibility, but that of the Swedish company.
MORE:
http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/Articl ... ?e=2665034
============================
4. LISTEN: Gordon Edwards on Radio Canada International re: Chalk River isotope production
From: Gordon Edwards
Sent: Monday, July 12, 2010 1:00 PM
Subject: Gordon Edwards on Radio Canada International re: Chalk River isotope production
I was recently interviewed on Radio Canada International about the restart of the NRU reactor. The interview touches on safety, tritium emissions, the Maple fiasco, and nuclear proliferation questions in relation to the continued use of weapons-grade uranium to produce medical isotopes, even though other alternatives exist.
Gordon Edwards.
MORE: http://ccnr.org/GE_RCI_2010.mp3
=======================
5. The risks of tritium on health could be underestimated
http://www.lemonde.fr/depeches/2010/07/08/
les-risques-du-tritium-sur-la-sante-pourraient-etre-sous-evalues_3244_108_42929232.html
Paris, France, AFN story carried in Le Monde web pages, July 8, 2010
(Translation into English provided by Ian Fairlie.)
The risks of tritium -- the radioactive form of hydrogen -- could be undervalued because it could be bound into the DNA of cells, according to experts who participated in a White Paper published on Thursday (July 8) by the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) . In France, the overall impact of tritium releases is low however: ASN officials emphasized at the outset of the press conference: the average annual dose is a thousand times smaller than the threshold limit of 1 mSv, a unit which measures its radioactive effects in the human body.
Tritium is a radioactive element considered "slightly toxic" if one takes into account the average energy deposited in a body, said Dr Patrick Smeesters of the Belgian Federal Agency for Nuclear Control who chaired various "thinking groups” created at the initiative of the ASN in 2009. But tritium may be combined with certain cellular components, even DNA, said the expert noting reports of tritium measurements made in the UK, including Sellafield, which has a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant.
MORE:
http://www.lemonde.fr/depeches/2010/07/08/
les-risques-du-tritium-sur-la-sante-pourraient-etre-sous-evalues_3244_108_42929232.html
=========================
6. How about a few Uranium Spills??
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=957
Cleanup Of Uranium Contaminated Soils - 2001-2004 (Map)
http://www.mmm.ca/projects/Prodetail.as ... le=Cleanup Of Uranium Contaminated Soils
MMM was retained by the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Office of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. to provide Project Management services during the cleanup of some 12,000 m3 of uranium contaminated soils at a site in Fort McMurray, Alberta. The property had become contaminated as a result of its use as a staging and barge-to-rail transfer point during the shipment of uranium ore and ore concentrates from Port Radium, NWT to Port Hope, Ontario for refining. Ore shipment occurred from the 1930s to the 1960s and resulted in contamination of a number of locations along the route.
The affected site is located on the bank of the Clearwater River. The project involved the planning, design, and implementation of the physical works required to excavate the contaminated soil, transfer it to an existing long-term management facility, expand the management facility as necessary to accommodate the additional inventory, and restore and reinstate both affected work sites. Important elements in the planning and design activities were public consultation in the community and an environmental assessment of the physical works to identify the likely environmental effects of the project.
As Project Manager, MMM was responsible for overall co-ordination of the project, including ensuring that it met the goals and objectives, was technically sound, and completed on time and within budget. This required close consultation with a local Working Group established to assist in project planning, regulatory agencies including the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and Natural Resources Canada, the local municipality, and the owner of the site, CN Rail. MMM also provided the technical review of all design and planning materials developed for the project.
The assignment was initiated in 2001 and remedial activities carried out during 2002-2003. The project was completed and closure documentation assembled in early 2004.
- - - - -
MMM Group - Overview
http://www.mmm.ca/aboutus/overview.htm
The founding corporation of MMM Group Limited was established in 1952 and incorporated in 1957 as Marshall Macklin Monaghan Limited. Renamed MMM Group in 2007, the firm’s head office is in Thornhill, Ontario. A truly Canadian company, MMM Group has offices in Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. In addition, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, MMM has more than 25 offices in the USA, U.K., Australia, New Zealand and the Caribbean. Together these offices provide responsive and innovative consulting engineering, planning, project management, environmental management, landscape design, surveying and commissioning services to private sector owners, architects, contractors, investors and government clients across Canada and internationally.
MORE: http://www.mmm.ca/aboutus/overview.htm
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Four uranium spills you may not have heard about
http://this.org/magazine/2009/05/27/fou ... um-spills/
By Elaisha Stokes May 27, 2009:
Energy, Environment, First Nations, Health, May-June 2009
Proponents argue that nuclear power is greener since it produces lower carbon emissions. But mining and refining the uranium that fuels reactors produces many toxic byproducts, including arsenic, thorium-230, and radioactive waste. Uranium is scarce too, which means that to produce one kilogram of uranium, you have to dig up and process one tonne of uranium ore, and more than 99 percent of that material ends up as radioactive waste. These “tailings” often end up in man-made ponds — but seldom stay there.
Unlike oil spills, which produce sensational images of oil-covered ducks, uranium tailings spills are under-reported and quietly insidious. Here are some of the stories you might have missed:
Elliott Lake, Canada mine allowed uranium tailings to spill into McCabe Lake and contaminate the water source.
Contamination: Two million litres of tailings entered McCabe Lake.
Effects: Tailing spills had devastated 90 kilometres of the Serpent River by the late 1970s. The Serpent River First Nations indigenous territory is thoroughly contaminated with radioactive waste.
Punishment or resolution: The Atomic Energy Control Board of Canada charged Rio Algom with one count of failure to provide proper training for employees, and one count of failure to prevent a spill. The mine has been decommissioned.
MORE: http://this.org/magazine/2009/05/27/fou ... um-spills/
========================
7. Dam failure of decantation pond at Comurhex uranium conversion plant, Malvési (Aude, France) (Photos) - 2006
http://www.wise-uranium.org/mdafma.html
(last updated 26 Jun 2006)
On March 20, 2004, a dam failure at a decantation and evaporation pond of the Malvési conversion plant released approx. 30,000 cubic metres of liquid and slurries. The liquid contained high concentrations of nitrate and led to elevated nitrate concentrations of up to 170 mg/L in the canal of Tauran for several weeks, while uranium concentrations remained unchanged. The dam failure is believed to be caused by an "abnormal presence of water" due to heavy rain in summer 2003.
MORE SPILLS: http://www.wise-uranium.org/mdafma.html
===========================
8. U.S. Plutonium Waste Underestimated, Says Researcher
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/07/13-6
by Annette Cary Published on Tuesday, July 13, 2010 by The News Tribune
The United States has about three times more waste plutonium than the last official government estimate released 14 years ago, said Robert Alvarez, senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies.
Hanford has been responsible for about a third of the waste, and much of it remains there, according to Alvarez's calculations.
The last official estimate of plutonium waste nationwide was 3.7 tons. But Alvarez said a better preliminary estimate is about nearly 14 tons, with about 4.4 tons at Hanford, which produced plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons program.
"I was very surprised at the inventory of plutonium waste at Hanford," he said.
He plans to publish his findings, which are based on a review of government reports and data, in Science and Global Security, a peer-reviewed journal published by Princeton University. Alvarez was a senior policy adviser at the Department of Energy during the Clinton administration.
Plutonium waste at Hanford includes plutonium mixed in the 53 million gallons of waste held in underground tanks. The worst of that waste will be treated at the $12.3 billion vitrification plant now under construction.
It also includes suspected plutonium-contaminated waste that temporarily was buried in central Hanford starting in 1970 until DOE had a national repository for the waste. Congress ordered that such waste, called transuranic waste, be disposed of a national repository starting that year.
Enough waste to fill 72,000 55-gallon drums temporarily was buried and about two-thirds of it has been dug up. Waste that proves contaminated with plutonium at high enough levels to be classified as transuranic is being shipped to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, the nation's repository for transuranic waste.
Alvarez estimates the stored or buried transuranic waste that has been or will be sent to New Mexico accounts for about half of Hanford's plutonium waste.
But Hanford also has plutonium-contaminated waste buried before 1970 and plutonium-contaminated liquids that were discharged into the soils in central Hanford.
"A lot of this is going to be hard to retrieve," Alvarez said.
MORE: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/07/13-6
========================
9. Tribes: Nuclear waste can't be stored at Hanford
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100715/ap_on_re_us/
us_hanford_yucca_mountain_2
By SHANNON DININNY, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jul 14, 2010
RICHLAND, Wash. — The Hanford nuclear reservation is already the most contaminated U.S. nuclear site, and federal efforts to find a permanent place for all of the nation's radioactive waste shouldn't impede plans to clean it up, people from various backgrounds told a federal commission Wednesday.
MORE: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100715/
ap_on_re_us/us_hanford_yucca_mountain_2
====================
10. LISTEN: Debate: Does the world need nuclear energy?
http://www.ted.com/talks/
debate_does_the_world_need_nuclear_energy.html
About this talk
Nuclear power: the energy crisis has even die-hard environmentalists reconsidering it. In this first-ever TED debate, Stewart Brand and Mark Z. Jacobson square off over the pros and cons. A discussion that'll make you think -- and might even change your mind.
About Stewart Brand
Since the counterculture Sixties, Stewart Brand has been a critical thinker and innovator who helped lay the foundations of our internetworked world. Full bio and more links
About Mark Z. Jacobson
At Stanford, Mark Z. Jacobson uses numerical models to study the effects of energy systems and vehicles on climate and air pollution, and to analyze renewable energy resources.
Full bio and more links on website
=========================
11. COMMENT: Rempel: …as bad or worse although in silent, slower motion
From: Jacob Rempel
Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 2010 6:48 PM
Dear friends in politics and activist groups"---
The first book in our venerated scriptures explains that man was put in this earthly Garden of Eden to dress it and keep it (Genesis, Chapter 2, Verse 15). Instead, we kill each other to seize hegemonic power to exploit its bounty and to destroy it.
And the government of Canada?
Even as this happens, Canada buys more fighter planes to bomb victims of imperial greed for oil and power, and maybe also bomb rebels in free trading Colombia if they oppose our visiting corporations?
( New planes? They are not for self-defence, nor are they for humanitarian peace making, so what could they possibly be used for? )
About oil pollution of the Gulf of Mexico, read below -- Our Canadian uranium industry and tar sands exploitation is as bad or worse although in silent, slower motion.... for now less obvious and well known.
--Jacob Rempel, Vancouver
- - - - -
Pictures and Video.
Click to view and to hear what the video makers were experiencing as they flew over the flood of oil.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.inf ... e25926.htm
- - - - - -
Also look at ----
A detailed computer modeling study released today indicates that oil from the massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico might soon extend along thousands of miles of the Atlantic coast and open ocean as early as this summer. The modeling results are captured in a series of dramatic animations produced by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and collaborators.
The full article with graphics can be seen and read at
http://www2.ucar.edu/news/
ocean-currents-likely-to-carry-oil-spill-along-atlantic-coast
- - - - -
We Who Advocate Peace By Camillo Mac Bica July 11, 2010
http://www.truth-out.org/we-who-advocate-peace61208
They wage preemptive war, occupy and bomb sovereign nations, utilize video-game technology and robotics to murder and then dehumanize hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children as collateral damage. We who advocate peace and justice say that such acts of war and occupation are illegal, immoral and a barbaric and paranoid response to contrived evil . . . and they say we are unpatriotic, treasonous, and unsupportive of the troops.
They chose to avoid military service themselves or had “other priorities” when their Country called, but yet cavalierly send our children, not theirs, to kill and to die in their war for oil and empire. We who advocate peace and justice say that if the threat is real and the peril immanent and grave, then our chickenhawk leaders and their privileged children should be the first to go. Only then will we follow . . . and they say we are unpatriotic, treasonous, and unsupportive of the troops.
They continue to use the fear of terrorism, prey upon the anxiety and distress of the American people post 9/11to “justify” continuing, even escalating, their wars and occupations, and to deny fundamental human liberties guaranteed by the Constitution. We who advocate peace and justice say that the exploitation of a vulnerable citizenry, and the disregard and abuse of basic human rights is Un-American, uncivilized, and a clear violation of the very values they allege to be championing and defending . . . and they say we are unpatriotic, treasonous, and unsupportive of the troops.
MORE: http://www.truth-out.org/we-who-advocate-peace61208
See also: "Information Clearing House"
=======================
12. WATCH: Even The Troops Are Waking Up
A video of stark, heart-wrenching truth. Wars are a Racket that can continue only when those who serve in the military agree to be the pawns that fight them for the elite plotters who profit from them..
http://www.davidicke.com/articles/media ... pearances/
36265-even-the-troops-are-waking-up-a-fantastic-video
==========================
13. Ceasefire.ca Speaks out Against Tory “Flying Cadillacs” Deal
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=5088&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 16 Jul 2010 01:35 PM PDT
Quoted in the Canadian Press, Staples argued that, "These are ‘Flying Cadillacs’ that are not needed for the defence of Canada, and are unaffordable. The government should wait until national finances are in better shape, and use resources for other priorities, such as fixed wing search and rescue.”
MORE:…..
===========================
14. Action Alert: Stop the Attack on Kandahar
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=5083&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 15 Jul 2010 01:49 PM PDT
Send your letter to Stephen Harper and all party leaders Dear Ceasefire.ca supporters, Your help is needed. Civilians are paying a heavy price in Afghanistan as thousands of U.S. Marines, leading Afghan and Canadian troops, prepare to attack Kandahar and surrounding areas. Please send your letter to Stephen Harper and all party leaders, calling on them to urge [...]
==========================
15. "Thank you Ceasefire.ca supporters"
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=5065&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
==========================
16. Children continue to suffer as the war in Afghanistan drags on
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4890&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 22 Jun 2010 08:54 AM PDT
“Aerial attacks, land mines and forced suicide bombings are only a few of the devastating consequences of the war in Afghanistan increasingly affecting the country’s children,” says a new report conducted by Watchlist, a non-governmental organization that examines the status of children in war-torn areas (”Afghan war taking a toll on children: report,” CBC News, [...]
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17. The Disappearing Intellectual in the Age of Economic Darwinism
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... &aid=20112
By Henry A. Giroux Global Research, July 13, 2010
Truthout, Op-Ed - 2010-07-12
We live at a time that might be appropriately called the age of the disappearing intellectual, a disappearance that marks with disgrace a particularly dangerous period in American history. While there are plenty of talking heads spewing lies, insults and nonsense in the various media, it would be wrong to suggest that these right-wing populist are intellectuals. They are neither knowledgeable nor self-reflective, but largely ideological hacks catering to the worst impulses in American society. Some obvious examples would include John Stossel calling for the repeal of that "section of the 1964 Civil Rights Act that bans discrimination in public places."[1] And, of course, there are the more famous corporate-owned talking heads such as Glenn Beck, Charles Krauthammer, Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh, all of whom trade in reactionary world views, ignorance, ideological travesties and outlandish misrepresentations - all the while wrapping themselves in the populist creed of speaking for everyday Americans.
MORE: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... &aid=20112
===========================
18. The Source of Wars
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=20130
"Today, everything hangs by a thread".... An incident could set in motion an all out nuclear war
By Fidel Castro Ruz Global Research, July 15, 2010
Cuba Debate - 2010-07-11 http://www.cubadebate.cu/
On July 4, I said that neither the United States nor Iran would give in: “one, prevented by the pride of the powerful, and the other because it has the capacity and the will to fight oppression, as we have seen so many times before in the history of mankind.”
In nearly every war, one party wishes to avoid it and, sometimes, the two parties do. This time it will happen although one of the parties does not wish it. That was the case of the two World Wars of 1914 and 1939, only 25 years one from the other.
The carnage was awful in both wars, which would not have erupted had it not been for previous miscalculations. Both defended imperialist interests and believed they could accomplish their goals without the exceedingly high price finally paid.
In the case in question, one of the parties involved advocates absolutely fair national interests. The other pursues illegitimate and coarse material interests.
An analysis of every war fought throughout the recorded history of our species shows that one of the parties has pursued such goals.
It’s absolutely wrong to entertain the illusion that this time such goals will be attained without the most dreadful of all wars.
In one of the best articles ran by the Global Research website, signed by Rick Rozoff,
( http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... &aid=18595 )
the author offers plenty of indisputable arguments, which every well-informed person should be aware of, about the intentions of the United States.
According to the author, the United States believes that “... you can win if the adversary knows that it is vulnerable to a sudden and undetectable, appalling and devastating strike that it has no possibility to respond to or to defend from.”
“... a country with the aspiration of continuing as the only one in history with full military predominance all over the Earth, in the air, the sea and in space.”
“A country that keeps and expands military bases and troops as well as fighting-groups of aircraft carriers and strategic bombers on practically every latitude and longitude, and which does so on a record war budget after World War II amounting to 708 billion dollars next year.”
It was also "...the first country to develop and use nuclear weapons...”
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=20130
1. Conservation and cooperation a winning formula
2. WATCH: Cartoon: Little Green Man + Comment
3. Waste Shipment through Great Lakes – various articles
4. LISTEN: Gordon Edwards on Radio Canada International re: Chalk River isotope production
5. The risks of tritium on health could be underestimated
6. How about a few Uranium Spills??
7. Dam failure of decantation pond at Comurhex uranium conversion plant, Malvési (Aude, France) (Photos) - 2006
8. U.S. Plutonium Waste Underestimated, Says Researcher
9. Tribes: Nuclear waste can't be stored at Hanford
10. LISTEN: Debate: Does the world need nuclear energy?
11. COMMENT: Rempel: ….as bad or worse although in silent, slower motion
12. WATCH: Even The Troops Are Waking Up
13. Ceasefire.ca Speaks out Against Tory “Flying Cadillacs” Deal
14. Action Alert: Stop the Attack on Kandahar
15. "Thank you Ceasefire.ca supporters"
16. Children continue to suffer as the war in Afghanistan drags on
17. The Disappearing Intellectual in the Age of Economic Darwinism
18. The Source of Wars
=======================
1. Conservation and cooperation a winning formula
http://www.cleanairalliance.org/node/856
Submitted by OCAA on Fri, 07/16/2010 - 11:07. July 16, 2010
By working together, Ontario and Quebec can reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of their electricity systems while also keeping rates in check for businesses and consumers.
The Ontario Clean Air Alliance and Quebec environmental leader Equiterre today released a report that demonstrates that a key to this approach is a greater emphasis on electricity conservation in Quebec. With the highest electricity consumption per person in the world, now is the time for a new approach in Quebec that uses deeper and stronger conservation efforts to free up existing hydro power for export to Ontario and the U.S. Northeast.
Ontario and Quebec are ideal electricity partners: Quebec’s power demand peaks in winter while Ontario demand peaks in summer when air conditioners are running full out. Ontario can send Quebec power from its wind turbines in winter, while Quebec can send Ontario hydro power in spring and summer. This saves Quebec from having to pursue costly new mega-dams and Ontario from having to build more expensive natural gas peaking plants.
The result is less pressure on electricity rates and our environment.
Read the full report, Higher Profits and Lower Bills: A New Electricity Strategy for Hydro Quebec, at:
http://www.cleanairalliance.org/files/a ... nglish.pdf
Thank you.
Angela Bischoff, Outreach Director
Ontario Clean Air Alliance
402-625 Church St, Toronto M4Y 2G1
Phone: 416-926-1907 ext. 246
angela@cleanairalliance.org
Clean Air Alliance
Ontario’s Green Future
No Nukes News
Health Power
P.S. Interested in volunteering for the Ontario Clean Air Alliance? Please contact me at Angela@cleanairalliance.org.
=====================
2. WATCH: Cartoon: Little Green Man + Comment
From: "Ace Hoffman" <rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2010 6:19 PM
Subject: "Nuclear Power is the solution" (a statement by Ace Hoffman July 15th, 2010)
July 15th, 2010
Dear Readers.
The following statement was left at Mark Fiore's web site:
http://www.markfiore.com/political-cartoons/
watch-bp-oil-spill-gulf-environment-animated-video-mark-fiore-animation-political-cartoons#comment-6453
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Nuclear power is the solution. Except for the accidents, not just meltdowns but spent fuel fires, transportation accidents, terrorism threats... And except for the daily deadly releases, the eternal waste storage problem, proliferation issues, costs, lengthy construction time, a history of lying and cover-ups (look at the (reluctantly admitted) tritium leaks at about 30% of our reactors), foreign-made parts (look at the capacitor problems the have plagued the computer industry, and realize how many of our nukes are running on shoddy parts), over-complexity (look at the oscillating power-runaway issues identified by outside experts but ignored by industry "experts"), plus it's not distributed small-scale power, so when a nuke goes down, hundreds of thousands of people lose power... plus grid-power backup issues (the big Northeast blackout of 2003 was largely due to all the nukes having to shut down when they lost offsite power), the water-use issues (billions of gallons a day are polluted by each nuke, millions of gallons are churned to steam each day; France had to shut down a swarm of nukes due to lack of water a few summers ago). They aren't very efficient even under the best of circumstances, requiring thousands of workers where wind turbines can run virtually autonomously, as can hydro, solar, etc... Also, all our current nukes are old and decrepit, embrittled and rusted, and the plans don't match the reactors anymore, they've been modified so many times and the original designers are long-gone. Fission products kill.
See my book, which can be downloaded free from my web site: www.acehoffman.org
-------------------------------------------------------------
The above statement was originally left at
http://www.markfiore.com/political-cartoons/
watch-bp-oil-spill-gulf-environment-animated-video-mark-fiore-animation-political-cartoons
It currently appears as the top item (a few small typos have been fixed in this version).
-------------------------------------------------------------
Please distribute this document to others and ask that they do the same.... Please do not alter the title or the contents in any way, other than to add any additional comments below if desired. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
Ace Hoffman
Carlsbad, CA
www.acehoffman.org
======================
3. Waste Shipment through Great Lakes – various articles
Waste shipments irk mayors
http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2010 ... 14461.html
[London Free Press]
GREAT LAKES: Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley is trying to drum up opposition from around the lakes to veto plans to ship radioactive waste by boat from Owen Sound to Sweden
by CHIP MARTIN The London Free Press, July 15, 2010
Anxious to prevent the shipment of radioactive waste on the Great Lakes and past his city, Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley is seeking support from other mayors around the lakes.
Bradley said Wednesday he has contacted the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative group, a bi-national coalition of municipal leaders, to join the fight against a precedent-setting bid by Bruce Power.
MORE: http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2010 ... 14461.html
[London Free Press]
- - - - - -
Radioactive cargo to pass by Windsor
http://www.windsorstar.com/technology/
Radioactive+cargo+pass+Windsor/3268475/story.html#ixzz0taGi2R1V
BY BRIAN CROSS, THE WINDSOR STAR JULY 12, 2010
WINDSOR, Ont. — A plan to ship 16 school bus-sized radioactive steam generators out of Canada via the Great Lakes — and past Windsor — is being attacked as a threat to our drinking water and health.
“Worst-case scenario is this stuff breaks containment and gets spread throughout the Great Lakes basin,” Derek Coronado, co-ordinator of the Windsor-based Citizens Environment Alliance said of the plan to send the decommissioned generators from the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station near Kincardine on Lake Huron to Sweden for recycling.
MORE:
http://www.windsorstar.com/technology/
Radioactive+cargo+pass+Windsor/3268475/story.html#ixzz0taGi2R1V
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Mayor concerned about nuclear steam generators
http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/Articl ... ?e=2665034
Bruce Power officials at council tonight
By Denis Langlois, Owen Sound Sun Times, July 12 2010
A plan by nuclear generator Bruce Power to ship 16 radioactive steam generators out of Owen Sound Harbour to Sweden has run into opposition by the city's mayor.
Ruth Lovell Stanners said storing the school bus-sized, decommissioned generators, considered intermediate-level nuclear waste, next to the harbour and then shipping them on the Great Lakes poses too much of a public health and safety risk to ignore.
"What happens if one of these happens to slip into the harbour?," she said Monday in an interview. "We happen to have a water treatment plant just down the way."
Bruce Power officials are scheduled to speak to city council Monday night on the company's plan to ship the 100-tonne steel tubes to a recycling facility across the Atlantic Ocean. About 90% of the generator's metal will be melted down for reuse, while the rest will be shipped back to Canada and stored as low-level nuclear waste at Ontario Power Generation. Lovell Stanners said Bruce Power has already secured approvals from the federal government, which owns Owen Sound's harbour, to store the generators on its land and ship them out of its port.
Owen Sound only has a say as to whether or not the city's roads can handle the 100-tonne shipments, she said.
An application for a licence to ship the steam generators is now before the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, due to the cargo's size and level of radioactivity. If approved, it would be the first time a licence has been issued to ship nuclear waste across the Great Lakes.
Bruce Power has told Owen Sound officials that it plans to store the steam generators at the harbour for five weeks until a ship arrives this autumn.
City officials have been told that once the radioactive waste is put onto the ship,it is no longer Bruce Power's responsibility, but that of the Swedish company.
MORE:
http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/Articl ... ?e=2665034
============================
4. LISTEN: Gordon Edwards on Radio Canada International re: Chalk River isotope production
From: Gordon Edwards
Sent: Monday, July 12, 2010 1:00 PM
Subject: Gordon Edwards on Radio Canada International re: Chalk River isotope production
I was recently interviewed on Radio Canada International about the restart of the NRU reactor. The interview touches on safety, tritium emissions, the Maple fiasco, and nuclear proliferation questions in relation to the continued use of weapons-grade uranium to produce medical isotopes, even though other alternatives exist.
Gordon Edwards.
MORE: http://ccnr.org/GE_RCI_2010.mp3
=======================
5. The risks of tritium on health could be underestimated
http://www.lemonde.fr/depeches/2010/07/08/
les-risques-du-tritium-sur-la-sante-pourraient-etre-sous-evalues_3244_108_42929232.html
Paris, France, AFN story carried in Le Monde web pages, July 8, 2010
(Translation into English provided by Ian Fairlie.)
The risks of tritium -- the radioactive form of hydrogen -- could be undervalued because it could be bound into the DNA of cells, according to experts who participated in a White Paper published on Thursday (July 8) by the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) . In France, the overall impact of tritium releases is low however: ASN officials emphasized at the outset of the press conference: the average annual dose is a thousand times smaller than the threshold limit of 1 mSv, a unit which measures its radioactive effects in the human body.
Tritium is a radioactive element considered "slightly toxic" if one takes into account the average energy deposited in a body, said Dr Patrick Smeesters of the Belgian Federal Agency for Nuclear Control who chaired various "thinking groups” created at the initiative of the ASN in 2009. But tritium may be combined with certain cellular components, even DNA, said the expert noting reports of tritium measurements made in the UK, including Sellafield, which has a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant.
MORE:
http://www.lemonde.fr/depeches/2010/07/08/
les-risques-du-tritium-sur-la-sante-pourraient-etre-sous-evalues_3244_108_42929232.html
=========================
6. How about a few Uranium Spills??
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=957
Cleanup Of Uranium Contaminated Soils - 2001-2004 (Map)
http://www.mmm.ca/projects/Prodetail.as ... le=Cleanup Of Uranium Contaminated Soils
MMM was retained by the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Office of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. to provide Project Management services during the cleanup of some 12,000 m3 of uranium contaminated soils at a site in Fort McMurray, Alberta. The property had become contaminated as a result of its use as a staging and barge-to-rail transfer point during the shipment of uranium ore and ore concentrates from Port Radium, NWT to Port Hope, Ontario for refining. Ore shipment occurred from the 1930s to the 1960s and resulted in contamination of a number of locations along the route.
The affected site is located on the bank of the Clearwater River. The project involved the planning, design, and implementation of the physical works required to excavate the contaminated soil, transfer it to an existing long-term management facility, expand the management facility as necessary to accommodate the additional inventory, and restore and reinstate both affected work sites. Important elements in the planning and design activities were public consultation in the community and an environmental assessment of the physical works to identify the likely environmental effects of the project.
As Project Manager, MMM was responsible for overall co-ordination of the project, including ensuring that it met the goals and objectives, was technically sound, and completed on time and within budget. This required close consultation with a local Working Group established to assist in project planning, regulatory agencies including the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and Natural Resources Canada, the local municipality, and the owner of the site, CN Rail. MMM also provided the technical review of all design and planning materials developed for the project.
The assignment was initiated in 2001 and remedial activities carried out during 2002-2003. The project was completed and closure documentation assembled in early 2004.
- - - - -
MMM Group - Overview
http://www.mmm.ca/aboutus/overview.htm
The founding corporation of MMM Group Limited was established in 1952 and incorporated in 1957 as Marshall Macklin Monaghan Limited. Renamed MMM Group in 2007, the firm’s head office is in Thornhill, Ontario. A truly Canadian company, MMM Group has offices in Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. In addition, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, MMM has more than 25 offices in the USA, U.K., Australia, New Zealand and the Caribbean. Together these offices provide responsive and innovative consulting engineering, planning, project management, environmental management, landscape design, surveying and commissioning services to private sector owners, architects, contractors, investors and government clients across Canada and internationally.
MORE: http://www.mmm.ca/aboutus/overview.htm
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Four uranium spills you may not have heard about
http://this.org/magazine/2009/05/27/fou ... um-spills/
By Elaisha Stokes May 27, 2009:
Energy, Environment, First Nations, Health, May-June 2009
Proponents argue that nuclear power is greener since it produces lower carbon emissions. But mining and refining the uranium that fuels reactors produces many toxic byproducts, including arsenic, thorium-230, and radioactive waste. Uranium is scarce too, which means that to produce one kilogram of uranium, you have to dig up and process one tonne of uranium ore, and more than 99 percent of that material ends up as radioactive waste. These “tailings” often end up in man-made ponds — but seldom stay there.
Unlike oil spills, which produce sensational images of oil-covered ducks, uranium tailings spills are under-reported and quietly insidious. Here are some of the stories you might have missed:
Elliott Lake, Canada mine allowed uranium tailings to spill into McCabe Lake and contaminate the water source.
Contamination: Two million litres of tailings entered McCabe Lake.
Effects: Tailing spills had devastated 90 kilometres of the Serpent River by the late 1970s. The Serpent River First Nations indigenous territory is thoroughly contaminated with radioactive waste.
Punishment or resolution: The Atomic Energy Control Board of Canada charged Rio Algom with one count of failure to provide proper training for employees, and one count of failure to prevent a spill. The mine has been decommissioned.
MORE: http://this.org/magazine/2009/05/27/fou ... um-spills/
========================
7. Dam failure of decantation pond at Comurhex uranium conversion plant, Malvési (Aude, France) (Photos) - 2006
http://www.wise-uranium.org/mdafma.html
(last updated 26 Jun 2006)
On March 20, 2004, a dam failure at a decantation and evaporation pond of the Malvési conversion plant released approx. 30,000 cubic metres of liquid and slurries. The liquid contained high concentrations of nitrate and led to elevated nitrate concentrations of up to 170 mg/L in the canal of Tauran for several weeks, while uranium concentrations remained unchanged. The dam failure is believed to be caused by an "abnormal presence of water" due to heavy rain in summer 2003.
MORE SPILLS: http://www.wise-uranium.org/mdafma.html
===========================
8. U.S. Plutonium Waste Underestimated, Says Researcher
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/07/13-6
by Annette Cary Published on Tuesday, July 13, 2010 by The News Tribune
The United States has about three times more waste plutonium than the last official government estimate released 14 years ago, said Robert Alvarez, senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies.
Hanford has been responsible for about a third of the waste, and much of it remains there, according to Alvarez's calculations.
The last official estimate of plutonium waste nationwide was 3.7 tons. But Alvarez said a better preliminary estimate is about nearly 14 tons, with about 4.4 tons at Hanford, which produced plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons program.
"I was very surprised at the inventory of plutonium waste at Hanford," he said.
He plans to publish his findings, which are based on a review of government reports and data, in Science and Global Security, a peer-reviewed journal published by Princeton University. Alvarez was a senior policy adviser at the Department of Energy during the Clinton administration.
Plutonium waste at Hanford includes plutonium mixed in the 53 million gallons of waste held in underground tanks. The worst of that waste will be treated at the $12.3 billion vitrification plant now under construction.
It also includes suspected plutonium-contaminated waste that temporarily was buried in central Hanford starting in 1970 until DOE had a national repository for the waste. Congress ordered that such waste, called transuranic waste, be disposed of a national repository starting that year.
Enough waste to fill 72,000 55-gallon drums temporarily was buried and about two-thirds of it has been dug up. Waste that proves contaminated with plutonium at high enough levels to be classified as transuranic is being shipped to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, the nation's repository for transuranic waste.
Alvarez estimates the stored or buried transuranic waste that has been or will be sent to New Mexico accounts for about half of Hanford's plutonium waste.
But Hanford also has plutonium-contaminated waste buried before 1970 and plutonium-contaminated liquids that were discharged into the soils in central Hanford.
"A lot of this is going to be hard to retrieve," Alvarez said.
MORE: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/07/13-6
========================
9. Tribes: Nuclear waste can't be stored at Hanford
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100715/ap_on_re_us/
us_hanford_yucca_mountain_2
By SHANNON DININNY, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jul 14, 2010
RICHLAND, Wash. — The Hanford nuclear reservation is already the most contaminated U.S. nuclear site, and federal efforts to find a permanent place for all of the nation's radioactive waste shouldn't impede plans to clean it up, people from various backgrounds told a federal commission Wednesday.
MORE: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100715/
ap_on_re_us/us_hanford_yucca_mountain_2
====================
10. LISTEN: Debate: Does the world need nuclear energy?
http://www.ted.com/talks/
debate_does_the_world_need_nuclear_energy.html
About this talk
Nuclear power: the energy crisis has even die-hard environmentalists reconsidering it. In this first-ever TED debate, Stewart Brand and Mark Z. Jacobson square off over the pros and cons. A discussion that'll make you think -- and might even change your mind.
About Stewart Brand
Since the counterculture Sixties, Stewart Brand has been a critical thinker and innovator who helped lay the foundations of our internetworked world. Full bio and more links
About Mark Z. Jacobson
At Stanford, Mark Z. Jacobson uses numerical models to study the effects of energy systems and vehicles on climate and air pollution, and to analyze renewable energy resources.
Full bio and more links on website
=========================
11. COMMENT: Rempel: …as bad or worse although in silent, slower motion
From: Jacob Rempel
Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 2010 6:48 PM
Dear friends in politics and activist groups"---
The first book in our venerated scriptures explains that man was put in this earthly Garden of Eden to dress it and keep it (Genesis, Chapter 2, Verse 15). Instead, we kill each other to seize hegemonic power to exploit its bounty and to destroy it.
And the government of Canada?
Even as this happens, Canada buys more fighter planes to bomb victims of imperial greed for oil and power, and maybe also bomb rebels in free trading Colombia if they oppose our visiting corporations?
( New planes? They are not for self-defence, nor are they for humanitarian peace making, so what could they possibly be used for? )
About oil pollution of the Gulf of Mexico, read below -- Our Canadian uranium industry and tar sands exploitation is as bad or worse although in silent, slower motion.... for now less obvious and well known.
--Jacob Rempel, Vancouver
- - - - -
Pictures and Video.
Click to view and to hear what the video makers were experiencing as they flew over the flood of oil.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.inf ... e25926.htm
- - - - - -
Also look at ----
A detailed computer modeling study released today indicates that oil from the massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico might soon extend along thousands of miles of the Atlantic coast and open ocean as early as this summer. The modeling results are captured in a series of dramatic animations produced by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and collaborators.
The full article with graphics can be seen and read at
http://www2.ucar.edu/news/
ocean-currents-likely-to-carry-oil-spill-along-atlantic-coast
- - - - -
We Who Advocate Peace By Camillo Mac Bica July 11, 2010
http://www.truth-out.org/we-who-advocate-peace61208
They wage preemptive war, occupy and bomb sovereign nations, utilize video-game technology and robotics to murder and then dehumanize hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children as collateral damage. We who advocate peace and justice say that such acts of war and occupation are illegal, immoral and a barbaric and paranoid response to contrived evil . . . and they say we are unpatriotic, treasonous, and unsupportive of the troops.
They chose to avoid military service themselves or had “other priorities” when their Country called, but yet cavalierly send our children, not theirs, to kill and to die in their war for oil and empire. We who advocate peace and justice say that if the threat is real and the peril immanent and grave, then our chickenhawk leaders and their privileged children should be the first to go. Only then will we follow . . . and they say we are unpatriotic, treasonous, and unsupportive of the troops.
They continue to use the fear of terrorism, prey upon the anxiety and distress of the American people post 9/11to “justify” continuing, even escalating, their wars and occupations, and to deny fundamental human liberties guaranteed by the Constitution. We who advocate peace and justice say that the exploitation of a vulnerable citizenry, and the disregard and abuse of basic human rights is Un-American, uncivilized, and a clear violation of the very values they allege to be championing and defending . . . and they say we are unpatriotic, treasonous, and unsupportive of the troops.
MORE: http://www.truth-out.org/we-who-advocate-peace61208
See also: "Information Clearing House"
=======================
12. WATCH: Even The Troops Are Waking Up
A video of stark, heart-wrenching truth. Wars are a Racket that can continue only when those who serve in the military agree to be the pawns that fight them for the elite plotters who profit from them..
http://www.davidicke.com/articles/media ... pearances/
36265-even-the-troops-are-waking-up-a-fantastic-video
==========================
13. Ceasefire.ca Speaks out Against Tory “Flying Cadillacs” Deal
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=5088&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 16 Jul 2010 01:35 PM PDT
Quoted in the Canadian Press, Staples argued that, "These are ‘Flying Cadillacs’ that are not needed for the defence of Canada, and are unaffordable. The government should wait until national finances are in better shape, and use resources for other priorities, such as fixed wing search and rescue.”
MORE:…..
===========================
14. Action Alert: Stop the Attack on Kandahar
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=5083&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 15 Jul 2010 01:49 PM PDT
Send your letter to Stephen Harper and all party leaders Dear Ceasefire.ca supporters, Your help is needed. Civilians are paying a heavy price in Afghanistan as thousands of U.S. Marines, leading Afghan and Canadian troops, prepare to attack Kandahar and surrounding areas. Please send your letter to Stephen Harper and all party leaders, calling on them to urge [...]
==========================
15. "Thank you Ceasefire.ca supporters"
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=5065&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
==========================
16. Children continue to suffer as the war in Afghanistan drags on
http://www.ceasefire.ca/
?p=4890&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29
Posted: 22 Jun 2010 08:54 AM PDT
“Aerial attacks, land mines and forced suicide bombings are only a few of the devastating consequences of the war in Afghanistan increasingly affecting the country’s children,” says a new report conducted by Watchlist, a non-governmental organization that examines the status of children in war-torn areas (”Afghan war taking a toll on children: report,” CBC News, [...]
===========================
17. The Disappearing Intellectual in the Age of Economic Darwinism
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... &aid=20112
By Henry A. Giroux Global Research, July 13, 2010
Truthout, Op-Ed - 2010-07-12
We live at a time that might be appropriately called the age of the disappearing intellectual, a disappearance that marks with disgrace a particularly dangerous period in American history. While there are plenty of talking heads spewing lies, insults and nonsense in the various media, it would be wrong to suggest that these right-wing populist are intellectuals. They are neither knowledgeable nor self-reflective, but largely ideological hacks catering to the worst impulses in American society. Some obvious examples would include John Stossel calling for the repeal of that "section of the 1964 Civil Rights Act that bans discrimination in public places."[1] And, of course, there are the more famous corporate-owned talking heads such as Glenn Beck, Charles Krauthammer, Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh, all of whom trade in reactionary world views, ignorance, ideological travesties and outlandish misrepresentations - all the while wrapping themselves in the populist creed of speaking for everyday Americans.
MORE: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... &aid=20112
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18. The Source of Wars
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=20130
"Today, everything hangs by a thread".... An incident could set in motion an all out nuclear war
By Fidel Castro Ruz Global Research, July 15, 2010
Cuba Debate - 2010-07-11 http://www.cubadebate.cu/
On July 4, I said that neither the United States nor Iran would give in: “one, prevented by the pride of the powerful, and the other because it has the capacity and the will to fight oppression, as we have seen so many times before in the history of mankind.”
In nearly every war, one party wishes to avoid it and, sometimes, the two parties do. This time it will happen although one of the parties does not wish it. That was the case of the two World Wars of 1914 and 1939, only 25 years one from the other.
The carnage was awful in both wars, which would not have erupted had it not been for previous miscalculations. Both defended imperialist interests and believed they could accomplish their goals without the exceedingly high price finally paid.
In the case in question, one of the parties involved advocates absolutely fair national interests. The other pursues illegitimate and coarse material interests.
An analysis of every war fought throughout the recorded history of our species shows that one of the parties has pursued such goals.
It’s absolutely wrong to entertain the illusion that this time such goals will be attained without the most dreadful of all wars.
In one of the best articles ran by the Global Research website, signed by Rick Rozoff,
( http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... &aid=18595 )
the author offers plenty of indisputable arguments, which every well-informed person should be aware of, about the intentions of the United States.
According to the author, the United States believes that “... you can win if the adversary knows that it is vulnerable to a sudden and undetectable, appalling and devastating strike that it has no possibility to respond to or to defend from.”
“... a country with the aspiration of continuing as the only one in history with full military predominance all over the Earth, in the air, the sea and in space.”
“A country that keeps and expands military bases and troops as well as fighting-groups of aircraft carriers and strategic bombers on practically every latitude and longitude, and which does so on a record war budget after World War II amounting to 708 billion dollars next year.”
It was also "...the first country to develop and use nuclear weapons...”
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=20130
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