NUKE NEWS: June 11.08
1. A nuclear reaction
2. Darlington has edge to host new nuclear plant
3. nuclear power cost overruns
4. Clean and Safe Energy Coalition
===========================
1. A nuclear reaction
QUOTE: "We should all get behind renewable energy in order to avoid the dangers and expense of an expanding nuclear industry. But there’s something else we can do: use less energy. Conservation means we could avoid having to build expensive power plants, and we’d also have cleaner air and some real solutions to global warming. Many people have already switched to more energy-efficient appliances, as well as finding other ways to reduce energy consumption. All of those small things add up to make a big difference. People really do have the power."
Take David Suzuki’s Nature Challenge and learn more at www.davidsuzuki.org.
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1. A nuclear reaction
http://www.bclocalnews.com/kootenay_roc ... 31429.html
June 10, 2008
One could be forgiven for thinking we’ve overcome the problems associated with nuclear power. Everywhere you turn, nuclear is being touted as a “green” energy source and a solution to global warming. Our prime minister recently sang the benefits of both nuclear power and uranium mining in a speech to a business crowd in London, England. “As the largest producer of uranium, we can contribute to the renaissance of nuclear energy, a no-emissions source that will be expanding here in Britain and around the world,” Stephen Harper said.
If only it were so easy. Those of us old enough to remember Chernobyl and Three Mile Island also remember a time of concern about nuclear waste, nuclear-weapons proliferation, accidents at nuclear power plants, pollution from uranium mining…
Have those problems gone away? Has science found a way to deal with them? Unfortunately, the answer is no – and those aren’t the only problems. Nuclear power is also expensive and heavily subsidized by taxpayers’ money, and it isn’t even totally emissions-free. Although nuclear energy’s ability to provide large-scale continuous power makes it tempting, we have better ways to deal with our energy needs.
MORE:
http://www.bclocalnews.com/kootenay_roc ... 31429.html
==============================
2. Darlington has edge to host new nuclear plant
http://www.thestar.com:80/News/Ontario/article/440620
June 10, 2008 04:24 PM THE CANADIAN PRESS
The limited electricity transmission capacity from Lake Huron to the Toronto area is giving the Durham Region community of Darlington the edge over Kincardine when it comes to selecting a host community for a new Ontario nuclear plant, Energy Minister Gerry Phillips said today.
The Liberal government plans to build Ontario's first new nuclear reactors in 15 years at the same sites as existing nuclear stations as part of a 20-year, $60-billion electricity supply plan. The two new reactors are expected to cost about $26 billion in total.
The province will decide by the end of this month whether the first reactor will be built at Darlington and run by government-owned Ontario Power Generation, or at the privately owned Bruce Nuclear Plant near Kincardine.
MORE:
http://www.thestar.com:80/News/Ontario/article/440620
==================================
3. Nuclear power cost overruns
Tennessee: New nuclear plants get more expensive
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2008 ... expensive/
Chattanooga Times Free Press - Chattanooga,TN,USA
Critics of nuclear power wonder if the industry is still beset with the cost overruns that stalled any new US nuclear reactors from being started in the ...
MORE............
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USEC (USU): Ben Graham's Value Play in Uranium
http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/06/2 ... n-uranium/
istockAnalyst.com - Salem,OR,USA
"Unfortunately, rising prices for everything from materials to labor have led to cost overruns, and the budgeted $2.3 billion plant is now projected to cost ...
MORE.........
==============================================
4. Clean and Safe Energy Coalition
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?ti ... _Coalition
The Clean and Safe Energy Coaltion (CASEnergy) is a public relations campaign for new reactors launched in 2006, funded by the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) industry group, and headed by former Bush Environmental Protection Agency administrator Christine Todd Whitman and former Greenpeace activist Patrick Moore (who left that group in 1986). [1] CASEnergy was launched on April 24, 2006.[1] On its website, the PR firm Hill & Knowlton boasted that the group is "a national grassroots organization that advocates the benefits of nuclear energy. The CASEnergy Coalition is a Hill & Knowlton campaign run out of the Washington, DC office."[2]
NUKE NEWS
NUKE NEWS: June 14.08
by Oscar » Wed Apr 21, 2010 7:59 am
NUKE NEWS: June 14.08
1. Uranium: It’s worse than you think.
2. LIPA explores new uses for Shoreham nuclear plant site
3. DOE considers selling scrap from uranium sites.
=====
1. Uranium: It’s worse than you think.
http://www.hcn.org/issues/371/17709
When people think of Durango, Colo., they usually think of the scenery, or the tourist attractions, or the disproportionate number of healthy, spandex-clad bicyclists, runners and raft guides. Rarely do they think of cancer. High Country News. 14 June 2008.
===============================
2. LIPA explores new uses for Shoreham nuclear plant site
http://www.topix.com/forum/city/shoreha ... SOB15E6F09
The Shoreham plant, the $6-billion white elephant that has sat idle since its decommissioning in 1994 amid growing controversy over nuclear power, could again generate electricity. New York Newsday, New York. 14 June 2008.
=====================================
3. DOE considers selling scrap from uranium sites.
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1A1-D919GPA00.html
The U.S. Department of Energy has revived a plan to salvage millions of dollars from radioactive scrap culled from old uranium enrichment operations in Tennessee and Kentucky. Associated Press. 14 June 2008.
=================================
At least 3 dead in Japanese quake.
A 7.2-magnitude earthquake ripped across mountains and rice fields in northern Japan on Saturday, killing at least three people as it sheared off hillsides, jolted buildings and shook nuclear power plants. At least seven people were missing. Associated Press. 14 June 2008.
=========================
S.Africa gives nuclear a nod to help power crisis.
South Africa's cabinet has approved the country's nuclear policy, enabling the controversial technology to play a greater role in alleviating a critical power shortage, a senior government spokesman said on Thursday. Reuters. 14 June 2008.
====================================
Is nuclear power viable?
Nuclear power was the energy of Tomorrowland — in the 1950s it was going to make electricity too cheap to meter — until it came to a standstill over the past couple decades. It's now poised to make a dramatic comeback. At least, that's what many politicians and the media say. Time Magazine. 14 June 2008.
==============================
U.S. eyes plans for 34 nuclear power plants.
http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story.asp ... 71042B4%7D
As the U.S. moves into its most critical time of the year for electricity, the nuclear power industry is ramping up efforts to build as many as 34 new plants. MarketWatch
=====================================
This nuclear agenda is losing power
guardian.co.uk - UK
The plant vendor offered a fixed price contract so the cost overrun will be borne by them – not a risk any vendor will lightly take again. ...
================================
Nuclear waste burial plan may smooth building of new plants
guardian.co.uk - UK
The meeting follows weeks of bad news for the industry, including shut-downs, cost over-runs and falling profits. But government insiders said the 'star ...
See all stories on this topic
1. Uranium: It’s worse than you think.
2. LIPA explores new uses for Shoreham nuclear plant site
3. DOE considers selling scrap from uranium sites.
=====
1. Uranium: It’s worse than you think.
http://www.hcn.org/issues/371/17709
When people think of Durango, Colo., they usually think of the scenery, or the tourist attractions, or the disproportionate number of healthy, spandex-clad bicyclists, runners and raft guides. Rarely do they think of cancer. High Country News. 14 June 2008.
===============================
2. LIPA explores new uses for Shoreham nuclear plant site
http://www.topix.com/forum/city/shoreha ... SOB15E6F09
The Shoreham plant, the $6-billion white elephant that has sat idle since its decommissioning in 1994 amid growing controversy over nuclear power, could again generate electricity. New York Newsday, New York. 14 June 2008.
=====================================
3. DOE considers selling scrap from uranium sites.
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1A1-D919GPA00.html
The U.S. Department of Energy has revived a plan to salvage millions of dollars from radioactive scrap culled from old uranium enrichment operations in Tennessee and Kentucky. Associated Press. 14 June 2008.
=================================
At least 3 dead in Japanese quake.
A 7.2-magnitude earthquake ripped across mountains and rice fields in northern Japan on Saturday, killing at least three people as it sheared off hillsides, jolted buildings and shook nuclear power plants. At least seven people were missing. Associated Press. 14 June 2008.
=========================
S.Africa gives nuclear a nod to help power crisis.
South Africa's cabinet has approved the country's nuclear policy, enabling the controversial technology to play a greater role in alleviating a critical power shortage, a senior government spokesman said on Thursday. Reuters. 14 June 2008.
====================================
Is nuclear power viable?
Nuclear power was the energy of Tomorrowland — in the 1950s it was going to make electricity too cheap to meter — until it came to a standstill over the past couple decades. It's now poised to make a dramatic comeback. At least, that's what many politicians and the media say. Time Magazine. 14 June 2008.
==============================
U.S. eyes plans for 34 nuclear power plants.
http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story.asp ... 71042B4%7D
As the U.S. moves into its most critical time of the year for electricity, the nuclear power industry is ramping up efforts to build as many as 34 new plants. MarketWatch
=====================================
This nuclear agenda is losing power
guardian.co.uk - UK
The plant vendor offered a fixed price contract so the cost overrun will be borne by them – not a risk any vendor will lightly take again. ...
================================
Nuclear waste burial plan may smooth building of new plants
guardian.co.uk - UK
The meeting follows weeks of bad news for the industry, including shut-downs, cost over-runs and falling profits. But government insiders said the 'star ...
See all stories on this topic
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9887
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
NUKE NEWS: Jan. 03.10
by Oscar » Wed Apr 21, 2010 8:05 am
NUKE NEWS: Jan. 03.10
Compilation:
1. WATCH: “Uranium”
2. The University Needs Some Soul-Searching about Sustainability
3. Tritium on Tap: Keep Radioactive Tritium out of our drinking water – 2009
4. BOOK: ATOMIC ACCOMPLICE: HOW CANADA DEALS IN DEADLY DECEIT
5. Lithuania shutting down Soviet-built reactor
6. Concern as China clamps down on rare earth exports
7. Response to Ibbitson: Russow - For Canada, 2006-2009 were very bad years – Jan.03.10
8. Petition & Tweet | Invoke Article V and Remove Harper for Negligence
9. VIEW: A federal election on April 12, says Spector
=================
1. WATCH: “Uranium”
http://www.nfb.ca/film/Uranium/
Magnus Isacsson, (http://www.socialdoc.net/isacsson/index.html)
1990, 47 min 59 s
From the director:
“This controversial film exposes the ethical and environmental problems which surround the practice of uranium mining in Canada. The film delivers some hard-hitting and little known facts about the detrimental impact of uranium mining on the environment as well as on the health of those employed in the industry.
Toxic, radioactive waste is a severely detrimental by-product of uranium mining, which has been proven to cause profound, long-term environmental damage. The same radioactive waste puts the miners at extreme risk for developing cancer.
Finally, because most of the mining to date has been conducted on land historically used by Canada's Native populations, uranium mining violates the traditional economic and spiritual lives of many aboriginal peoples. Given what we know about uranium mining, the film questions the validity of its continued practice.”
You can download the accompanying study guide (9.6MB) here:
http://www.onf.ca/sg/100099.pdf
or view it on-line at the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility:
http://www.ccnr.org/nfb_uranium_0.html
- - - - - -
Reviews for “Uranium”
"This is a horrifying story that should outrage every thoughtful Canadian as powerless victims are once again paying the price of mega-technology and short-term economic gain."--- Dr. David Suzuki
"A powerful, persuasive indictment of despicable, cavalier mining activities on native soil everyone owes it to themselves and their children to see this film."--- John Griffin -- The Montreal Gazette
"This excellent film has come about 20 years too late."--- Penny Sanger -- Peace and Environment News
"One of the most powerful recent films that I have ever seen." --- Dr. Helen Caldicott -- Environmentalist
"Thought-provoking and shocking, Uranium raises the moral issue of Canada's responsibility as producer of uranium."--- Martin Siberok -- The Montreal Mirror
"A harpoon against pollution."--- Marc-André Joanisse -- Le Droit, Ottawa
"Uranium deserves a long half-life. It's definitely a must-see for native and white audiences, whether they support the industry, or oppose it."--- Bruce Spence -- The Carillon, Regina
"Charged [with] hard data, emotions, some dramatic and breathtaking photography."--- Alberta Native News --
"Uranium has been attacked by the Canadian uranium industry as sensational and biased. But as an extraordinary account of how greed and chauvinism have triumphed over the collective wisdom of Canada's native population, Uranium should be compulsory viewing for all advocates of nuclear power." -- Moving Pictures Bulletin
_______________
Recognition for “Uranium”
Honorable Mention - Category: Nuclear Issues - Itinerant – American Film and Video Festival May 28 to 31 1992, Chicago - USA
Golden Sheaf Award - Category: Best Documentary over 30 minutes - Golden Sheaf Awards /Short Film and Video Festival - May 29 to June 2 1991, Yorkton - Canada
Chris Certificate - Category: Information/Education - High School International Film and Video Festival - September 13 to 15 1991, Columbus - USA
Blue Ribbon Award - Category: Industrial and Technical - Itinerant - American Film and Video Festival - April 19 to 22 1991, New York – USA
2. The University Needs Some Soul-Searching about Sustainability
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1493#1493
By Jim Harding Saskatchewan Sustainability Published in R-Town News on Dec. 24.09
Can we learn about the challenge sustainability presents our universities, from the roles professors play in public policy? On November 26th Uranium Development Partnership (UDP) member, physics Professor Mathie lectured as if he was presenting “the basic science going on in these discussions”. This wasn’t really true. Whether discussing radiation, fission, power generation, nuclear wastes or nuclear medicine, Mathie selected knowledge to give backing to his support for the nuclear industry. He did what philosophers of science call post-hoc rationalization, creating an intellectual foundation for opinions already held. This gets us in serious trouble. Mathie ruling out the cost of energy didn’t really dodge the “economic bullet”, as shown by Minister Boyd’s December 17th announcement that nuclear is too costly and inappropriate for our grid. And not seriously talking about environmental health doesn’t make us safer, for we don’t live in a make-believe world.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
Discussing the build-up of nuclear wastes, Professor Mathie argued “it’s not because there’s no solution or no research.” Leave it to the expert, right? Yet the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is all industry-based with industry-appointed experts. And the federal review (1991-98) concluded Canadian’s don’t support deep geological storage, which the UDP and NWMO continue to promote. No mention that deep geological research has been stopped in Ontario and that both Quebec and Ontario ban nuclear wastes; or that centralized storage allowing future reprocessing of spent fuel makes plutonium more available for weapons. Or that President Obama just reaffirmed the US ban on reprocessing, a ban supported by the US Academy of Scientists, including its physicists.
Mathie lectured about “risks in life”. He reiterated that nearly one-half of us will get cancer and one-quarter of us will die from it. But this wasn’t a wake-up call to better understand how these risks accumulated to bring cancer from the 8th to 2nd cause of death. No, his risk philosophy was to get us to believe that there were relatively few additional risks from the nuclear industry when compared to overall cancer. Sounds reassuring, but this greatly oversimplifies the science of epidemiology and how health policy research should be done. The smoking industry obscured its major role in lung cancer by financing studies that compared lung cancer among smokers with average cancer rates. Differences were found but they weren’t statistical enough, industry claimed, so they stalled public health intervention. This was fallacious because the average rates already included lung cancers among smokers. You need to compare the lung cancer rate of non-smokers to smokers, which showed cigarettes are the primary cause of lung cancer.
Mathie doesn’t stand alone in his balancing act. The Chair of the UDP, Professor Florizone, also a physicist, wrote a piece for the Nov. 19th Star Phoenix entitled “Nuclear industry offers challenges and opportunities”. He wasn’t identified as the Financial VP of the University of Saskatchewan, which would be a major beneficiary if the UDP’s proposals go ahead. Rather, Florizone is identified as a “policy fellow at the John-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy”. Interestingly, the UDP that Florizone chaired said “Partnering with the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School …would help create relevant policy research and promote public discussion of nuclear-related issues” (p. 80-81). It all seems very incestuous. This School has already sponsored Florizone but to my knowledge hasn’t invited anyone outside the orbit of the nuclear industry. The UDP fully admits that “A close working relationship exists between Saskatchewan’s universities and industry”, and they want more. But there’s a cost, including for the quality of the education that the university provides. Blatant conflicts of interest such as we see with Professor Florizone will naturally increase with concentration of power.
Florizone’s opinion piece claims that “the nuclear option is cost competitive”, but then lists “capital costs” as one of the nuclear industry’s “challenges”. Yet he doesn’t mention that AECL’s recent proposal to the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) was three times the figure of $4.000 kW capacity he uses. (The UDP used $3,850.) How can an academic sworn to a version of the Hippocratic Oath say this with a straight face? As a Star Phoenix letter to the editor said, it is surprising “that a nuclear physicist working in finance should have taken so long to come to an awareness of this serious problem.”
INNOVATION SASKATCHEWAN
Has either the government or the universities learned anything from this debacle? Perhaps the recent announcement about university involvement in Innovation Saskatchewan provides a hint. Minister Boyd announced the board would include two Deans from the universities, which might seem all right, except they are both from engineering. The board includes the Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Mining Association (SMA) and CEO of the Calgary-based drilling company Total Energy Services Ltd. It sounds like the government wants academics to help industry expand uranium mining, oil and gas and perhaps tarsands in Saskatchewan. Apparently, here we go again!
What’s wrong with this picture? A narrow, instrumental relationship between the university and industry can never serve the greater public interest. Not only will the independence of the university be questioned but so, too, will the credibility of its education. The university has a higher purpose than colluding with government and industry to expand unsustainable economic growth, so it’s probably time to start asking fundamental questions about knowledge. For centuries we’ve tried to understand ourselves and the world by breaking things down and taking them apart. While we’ve learned a lot of analytical knowledge from this, when we look at the effects of our narrow-minded applications (e.g. climate change) we soon realize we haven’t become wiser. Sustainability challenges us to be wiser; to put the pieces back together and to finally realize that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Applying a compartmentalized view of the world may be of short-term value to industry but industry’s bottom line is not sustainability. If we are going to learn to do better, the university will have to help. It has some soul-searching to do while it still has a soul to save.
~ ~~ ~
Jim Harding is a retired professor of environmental and justice studies. His website is http://jimharding.brinkster.net
====================
3. Tritium on Tap: Keep Radioactive Tritium out of our drinking water – 2009
http://www.sierraclub.ca/national/docum ... on-tap.pdf
By Mike Buckthought - Sierra Club Canada - Copyright © 2009
Acknowledgements - We would like to thank Barbara Winter for her generous support of this project. Without her support, this publication would not have been possible.
Special thanks to staff at the University of Waterloo for testing water samples for tritium; and the City of Ottawa for sharing data for levels of tritium in Ottawa's drinking water.
Design & writing by Mike Buckthought. November 20, 2009 | Rev. 0.55
Sierra Club Canada, National Office 412-1 Nicholas Street Ottawa, ON K1N 7B7
Tel: (613) 241-4611 Fax: (613) 241-2292 www.sierraclub.ca
Executive summary
Canada’s nuclear reactors release massive quantities of radioactive pollution on a daily basis. Tritium gets into our air, lakes and rivers in the form of radioactive water. It contaminates our food and drinking water, and it is easily absorbed into our body.
Tritium pollution causes cancer and birth defects.
Tritium pollution causes cancer and birth defects. Tritium replaces ordinary non-radioactive hydrogen and travels throughout the body, going wherever water goes. It becomes part of our DNA – and that's where it does its damage, from close range.
Tritium decays within our body, ejecting high velocity beta particles that can break the chemical bonds of our DNA. Te result can be cancer or birth defects. A developing fetus is particularly susceptible to damage from exposure to radiation. There are higher rates of childhood leukemia near nuclear plants in Canada, Germany and the United States – the result of chronic exposure to radioactive pollution from reactors.
No safe level of exposure to radiation
New research has shown that the nuclear industry has greatly underestimated the risks of exposure to tritium and other radioactive pollutants from nuclear reactors. There is no safe level of exposure to radiation – even background levels of radiation cause cancer. Our drinking water standards need to be revised to take into account this new information, and protect people from chronic exposure to radioactive tritium.
Tritium in our drinking water
Sierra Club Canada tested Ottawa's drinking water following an incident at the NRU reactor operated by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL). We found elevated levels of tritium in the drinking water, with implications for our health. There have been frequent leaks of radioactive water from the NRU reactor at Chalk River. AECL collects the radioactive water and dumps it into the Ottawa River. From December 2008 to February 2009, AECL deliberately released 30 trillion becquerels of tritium into the river.
During the spring and summer of 2009, AECL collected large quantities of radioactive water from the leaking reactor. We believe AECL is about to release the radioactive water into the Ottawa River. Te practice of deliberately releasing tritium must be stopped immediately.
Radioactive waste flows into the Ottawa River
Chalk River Laboratories is Canada's leading nuclear research facility, but it has a long history of nuclear accidents. This report details some of the problems of radioactive waste that is now contaminating the groundwater and the Ottawa River. Radioactive plumes of tritium and strontium-90 contaminate the groundwater below the NRU reactor. The tritium flows into the Ottawa River, contaminating the drinking water of people living in Ottawa and other communities downstream from Chalk River.
Growing problems from glow-in-the-dark exit signs
Two of the largest sources of tritium pollution are SRB Technologies and Shield Source, manufacturers of radioactive glow-in-the-dark signs. Massive quantities of tritium pollute the communities of Pembroke and Peterborough, Ontario. Te signs are made with tritium waste removed from Ontario's nuclear plants. Tritium from SRB Technologies and Shield Source contaminates vegetables grown in local gardens. Tritium also contaminates wells and groundwater, threatening drinking water supplies. The manufacturers dump radioactive tritium into the sewer systems of Pembroke and Peterborough, contaminating the municipal infrastructure with radioactive waste. The SRB Technologies plant is another active source of contamination of the Ottawa River.
Ending radioactive pollution
The nuclear industry would like us to believe that nuclear power is a clean alternative to fossil fuels – but that is simply not true. Radioactive pollution from Canada's nuclear reactors contaminates rivers, lakes and groundwater. Radioactive water also contaminates fruits and vegetables grown near nuclear plants. Canada's nuclear power plants released 6.6 quadrillion becquerels of tritium oxide in 2008, and emissions have been rising steadily. With widespread radioactive pollution of our water and the atmosphere, we need more stringent standards for emissions of tritium and other pollutants. We need to keep radioactive water out of the environment and our drinking water. Nuclear power is not a pollution-free source of energy. There are safer, more economical alternatives. Over the long term, we need to phase out nuclear power and ban the use of radioactive glow-in-the-dark signs. We can make the transition to renewable energy, and create tens of thousands of green jobs. We need to take a precautionary approach. Stopping radioactive pollution at its source will help prevent childhood leukemia and lower cancer rates.
===========================
4. BOOK: ATOMIC ACCOMPLICE: HOW CANADA DEALS IN DEADLY DECEIT
http://peaceworkband.ca/?page_id=246
A New Book by Paul McKay; Foreword by David Suzuki 2009
A new book by award-winning investigative journalist Paul McKay exposes Canada’s continuing role in abetting atomic arms proliferation. It was released just as Stephen Harper’s international trade minister Stockwell Day arrived in India seeking new CANDU reactor sales, and Saskatchewan’s Cameco Corp. established a uranium sales office there.
India used a Canadian reactor to produce plutonium for its first atomic bomb in 1974, and has since built an atomic and hydrogen bomb arsenal. India has refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, a comprehensive test ban protocol, or commit to atomic arms reductions. Canada cut off all nuclear assistance to India after the 1974 blast, yet reversed that policy recently to facilitate reactor and uranium sales.
In late September, India officially announced that it will begin exporting “breeder” reactors, cloned from the CANDU design, which will dramatically increase the production and global flows of plutonium.
“While most world leaders are seeking an exit strategy from the atomic arms race, Canada is underwriting an encore,” says McKay. “It is still selling essentially unsafeguardable reactors, increasing global flows of uranium, and even undermining the NPT by courting countries like India which flaunt non-proliferation efforts.”
“Using potential sales contracts as bait, India has cleverly negotiated a ’see-no-evil’ arrangement which allows it to pick and choose which nuclear reactors and fuels are declared peaceful or military,” says McKay. “This is exactly what North Korea and Iran are emulating. Our Parliament would be in an uproar if we sought CANDU or uranium sales to them.”
“Instead of upholding the atomic embargo against India, as Australia has, Ottawa is rewarding its past betrayal with increased nuclear business. That’s the worst message to send to other rogue states.”
Atomic Accomplice carefully traces the genesis of the CANDU reactor back to the World War Two Manhattan Project, showing that it was initially designed as a prolific plutonium producer and that this technical ‘DNA’ — which India exploited in 1974 - has been embedded in all CANDU exports to date. A typical CANDU, like those sold to Argentina, South Korea or China, produces about 400 kilograms of plutonium annually for decades. It takes less than 10 kilograms to make an atomic weapon.
Atomic Accomplice also calculates the proliferation peril posed by Canada’s current annual uranium exports of 7.3 million kilograms. Due to laws of physics, these annual exports embed 52,000 kilograms of uranium-235, and 19,000 kilograms of plutonium. This is enough to make about 5,000 atomic warheads each year.
The final chapters in the book expose the flaws of nuclear advocates who claim that Canadian reactor and uranium exports are a vital measure to combat catastrophic climate change, and can solve energy and poverty problems in developing countries. It documents how actual energy output from global investments in diverse renewable projects has recently outpaced those of new nuclear plants, and that the advent of commercial hydrogen-storage hybrid technologies can deliver more power, faster, and at lower cost than nuclear.
“By continuing to bankroll reactor and uranium exports, Canada is courting calamity in two ways: by increasing the potential for atomic proliferation, and by diverting precious support for safer, more sensible and sustainable energy alternatives.”
MORE: ADVANCE PRAISE FOR “ATOMIC ACCOMPLICE”
“This meticulously researched book makes it clear why non-proliferation treaties and international inspection agencies are failing to prevent the increase in nations with nuclear arms, many using Canadian uranium and Canadian nuclear technology.”
` David Suzuki, Scientist and broadcaster
“Far from our image of a “boy scout” nation working to promote a more peaceful world, McKay uncovers a side of Canadian public policy driven by greed, secrecy, deceit and a willingness to put global safety at risk for the sake of commercial opportunity.”
` Peter Prebble, Former Saskatchewan Cabinet Minister, MLA
“This is an impeccably detailed account of Canada’s role in arming the world with nuclear technologies and fuels, from the first moments of the arms race to today’s rogue states and their bitter rivalries.”
` Bilbo Poynter, Executive Director, Canadian Centre for Investigative Reporting
“Atomic Accomplice is informed by in-depth research, fired by passionate conviction, and peppered with journalistic one-liners. A thorough and fair-minded primer on the politics of nuclear technology versus renewable alternatives, it is a powerful page turner.”
` Maxine Ruvinsky, Chair, School of Journalism, Thompson Rivers University, Author of “Investigative Reporting in Canada”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Paul McKay has won Canada’s top journalism awards for investigative, magazine and business writing. The author of five books, he is also a past winner of the Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy, and a Pierre Berton writer-in-residence. He has written for the Ottawa Citizen, Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, Harrowsmith, Maclean’s Magazine, and CBC television and radio documentaries. Web: www.paulmckay.com
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Canada's dirty nuclear secret
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-o ... ommentary/
canadas-dirty-nuclear-secret/article1416520/
NEIL REYNOLDS reynolds.globe@gmail.com
Published on Friday, Jan. 01, 2010 12:00AM EST Last updated on Friday, Jan. 01, 2010 1:17AM EST
Paul McKay is an environmental journalist who has won Canada's highest awards for business writing and investigative reporting. In his distinguished career, he has written for newspapers (The Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, the Ottawa Citizen), magazines (Harrowsmith, Maclean's) and the CBC (television and radio documentaries).
He has published five books. With Atomic Accomplice: How Canada Deals in Deadly Deceit, Mr. McKay documents the official secrecy that has protected Canada's nuclear industry from public scrutiny for two generations - and demonstrates why Canadian environmentalists have much more to worry about than global warming.
It is a damning and alarming indictment - and thoroughly bipartisan, too. Written from years of accumulated research, Mr. McKay spares neither the left nor the right. The CCF's Tommy Douglas, the socialist premier from uranium-rich Saskatchewan, lobbied hard in the 1950s for federal subsidies to bankroll uranium mines. More recently, the NDP's Lorne Calvert, as Saskatchewan premier, championed the sale of uranium to China - only one in the list of dictatorships courted by Canada as prospective clients for this country's government-sustained nuclear industry.
Beyond doubt, this industry has survived solely through overt and covert government manipulation of the marketplace; in the case of Liberal prime minister Pierre Trudeau, for example, through a shameful price-fixing conspiracy that inflated the price of uranium more than fivefold. Federal subsidies to the industry - so far - exceed $30-billion. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has trebled support for the industry, committing a further $1.7-billion in the past three years.
MORE:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-o ... ommentary/
canadas-dirty-nuclear-secret/article1416520/
=====================
5. Lithuania shutting down Soviet-built reactor
http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/744567
December 31, 2009
VILNIUS–Lithuania has begun shutting down a Soviet-build nuclear reactor as part of its agreement with the European Union.
The Ignalina nuclear plant in the town of Visaginas is scheduled to cease producing electricity at one hour before midnight Thursday.
Many Europeans feel that the Chornobyl-type reactor is unsafe since one exploded near the city of Chornobyl on April 26, 1986, casting a radioactive cloud over Europe. However, plant and Lithuanian officials claim the Ignalina unit could function safely for another 20 years.
MORE: http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/744567
==========================
6. Concern as China clamps down on rare earth exports
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... oncern-as-
china-clamps-down-on-rare-earth-exports-1855387.html
By Cahal Milmo Saturday, 2 January 2010
Neodymium is one of 17 metals crucial to green technology. There’s only one snag – China produces 97% of the world’s supply. And they’re not selling
- - - - -
Britain and other Western countries risk running out of supplies of certain highly sought-after rare metals that are vital to a host of green technologies, amid growing evidence that China, which has a monopoly on global production, is set to choke off exports of valuable compounds.
Failure to secure alternative long-term sources of rare earth elements (REEs) would affect the manufacturing and development of low-carbon technology, which relies on the unique properties of the 17 metals to mass-produce eco-friendly innovations such as wind turbines and low-energy lightbulbs.
China, whose mines account for 97 per cent of global supplies, is trying to ensure that all raw REE materials are processed within its borders. During the past seven years it has reduced by 40 per cent the amount of rare earths available for export.
Industry sources have told The Independent that China could halt shipments of at least two metals as early as next year, and that by 2012 it is likely to be producing only enough REE ore to satisfy its own booming domestic demand, creating a potential crisis as Western countries rush to find alternative supplies, and companies open new mines in locations from South Africa to Greenland to satisfy international demand.
Amid claims that Beijing is using its rare earths monopoly as a tool of foreign policy, the British Department of Business, Industry and Skills said it was "monitoring" the supply of REEs to ensure China was observing international trade rules.
MORE:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... oncern-as-
china-clamps-down-on-rare-earth-exports-1855387.html
=========================
7. Response to Ibbitson: Russow - For Canada, 2006-2009 were very bad years
Jan.03.10
http://www.pej.org/html/modules.php?op= ... 7904&mode=
thread&order=0&thold=0
PEJnews Joan Russow Global Compliance Research Project
Response to article, by John Ibbitson and Gloria Galloway, in the Globe and Mail: “For Harper, 2009 was a very good year” http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/pol ... or-harper-
2009-was-a-very-good-year/article1416260/
Bad years for Canada, because Harper has misused the role of the Governor General whom he could replace at any time, has evaded investigations by Committees such as the Parliamentary Committee on Ethics and Access to Information and the special Commons Committee on Afghanistan, has created a situation where Canada has increasingly become an international Pariah.
Yet for some reason citizen’s in a recent CPAC Nanos poll still appear to believe that Harper is trustworthy. The question arises, are Canadian citizens functioning in an ethical vacuum or are they unaware of the provisions in the Constitution that perpetuate concentrated power within the Office of the Prime Minister, and of how Harper has “with a little bit of help from his friends” circumvented accountability. Perhaps CPAC could conduct a new poll?
www.PEJ.org <http://www.PEJ.org>
Draft Poll about knowledge of functioning of the Constitution, and about abuse of power
1. Do you know that the Governor General is appointed by the Prime Minister ?
2. Do you know that the Prime Minister can at any time request that the Queen appoint a new Governor General?
3. Are you familiar with Article V of the Governor Genera'ls Letters Patent which reads
"AND WE DO FURTHER AUTHORIZE AND EMPOWER OUR GOVERNOR GENERAL, SO FAR AS WE LAWFULLY MAY, UPON SUFFICIENT CAUSE TO HIM APPEARING, TO REMOVE FROM HIS OFFICE, OR TO SUSPEND FROM THE EXERCISE OF THE SAME, ANY PERSON EXERCISING ANY OFFICE WITHIN CANADA, UNDER OR BY VIRTUE OF ANY COMMISSION OR WARRANT GRANTED, OR WHICH MAY BE GRANTED, BY US IN OUR NAME OR UNDER OUR AUTHORITY" ?
MORE:
http://www.pej.org/html/modules.php?op= ... 7904&mode=
thread&order=0&thold=0
============================
8. Petition & Tweet | Invoke Article V and Remove Harper for Negligence
From: Council of Canadians | London
Sent: Thursday, December 31, 2009 5:23 PM
How long will Canadians be prepared for the sake of avoiding an election to allow an unethical government which has engaged in fraudulent practices, and evasive techniques, and unscrupulous actions, govern. How much longer will a compliant Governor General support such practices, techniques and action? The Governor General erred twice in dissolving and proroguing Parliament, (under Article VI) of her Letters Patent. Now she must correctly use her residual powers under Article V – to remove Harper from office.
SIGN PETITION:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/invoke-article-v-and-
remove-harper-for-negligence
SEND DIRECT MESSAGE (TWEET) to Michaëlle Jean - Governor General of Canada: http://act.ly/1ks
= = = = =
Tommy Douglas on Fascism: “Once more let me remind you what fascism is. It need not wear a brown shirt or a green shirt it may even wear a dress shirt. Fascism begins the moment a ruling class, fearing the people may use their political democracy to gain economic democracy, begins to destroy political democracy in order to retain its power of exploitation and special privilege.
============================
9. VIEW: A federal election on April 12, says Spector
From: <bpatterson@canadians.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 02, 2010 8:00 AM
Welcome to 2010.
There is increasing speculation on the likelihood of a federal election either this spring or fall.
Globe and Mail columnist Norman Spector writes in his blog today the various reasons why it will be this spring - specifically, Monday April 12 - and not in the fall.
Spector writes, "The Throne Speech will be read by the Governor-General on Wednesday March 3rd and the budget will be tabled by finance minister Flaherty the next day; both will situate Canada on the path to gradual economic recovery and stress the need for a firm hand on the tiller, and on the till. With these documents on the public record, Mr. Harper could then cross the street to Rideau Hall to request a vote on (Monday) April 12th, explaining to voters that Canada needs a single set of safe hands on the wheel (namely, his!) to deal with the next phase of the economic recovery through gradual expenditure restraint and no tax increases."
He adds, "Waiting until the fall would... give Michael Ignatieff more time to recover from his disastrous 2009. On the other hand, dropping a quick writ in the spring - a page straight out of the Jean Chrétien playbook - would throw a spanner in the Liberals’ thinkers conference, planned for Montréal from March 26 to 28."
It should be noted that columnist John Ibbitson also says a spring election is possible, and veteran broadcaster Don Newman writes in his CBC column, "get ready for a spring election."
Newman even suggests, "By their own internal logic, Conservatives think gold medals by the men's and women's hockey teams in particular will translate into that kind of feel-good moment that will lead to a majority government. ...Maybe they are right. For no logical reason, Harper's image and approval ratings were enhanced when he surprised everyone by playing the piano and singing a Beatles song on the stage of the National Arts Centre a few months ago."
Time will tell if the writ is dropped on March 5 and we go to the polls on April 12, but we will need to be prepared for this possibility.
For Norman Spector's full list of reasons for a spring election, please go to
www.theglobeandmail.com or
http://m.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/spector-vision/mark-
april-13th-in-your-new-2010-calendar-as-election-day/
article1416553/?service=mobile.
Don Newman's comments can be read at:
www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/12/31/f-vp-newman.html.
Brent Patterson
The Council of Canadians
www.canadians.org/campaignblog
Compilation:
1. WATCH: “Uranium”
2. The University Needs Some Soul-Searching about Sustainability
3. Tritium on Tap: Keep Radioactive Tritium out of our drinking water – 2009
4. BOOK: ATOMIC ACCOMPLICE: HOW CANADA DEALS IN DEADLY DECEIT
5. Lithuania shutting down Soviet-built reactor
6. Concern as China clamps down on rare earth exports
7. Response to Ibbitson: Russow - For Canada, 2006-2009 were very bad years – Jan.03.10
8. Petition & Tweet | Invoke Article V and Remove Harper for Negligence
9. VIEW: A federal election on April 12, says Spector
=================
1. WATCH: “Uranium”
http://www.nfb.ca/film/Uranium/
Magnus Isacsson, (http://www.socialdoc.net/isacsson/index.html)
1990, 47 min 59 s
From the director:
“This controversial film exposes the ethical and environmental problems which surround the practice of uranium mining in Canada. The film delivers some hard-hitting and little known facts about the detrimental impact of uranium mining on the environment as well as on the health of those employed in the industry.
Toxic, radioactive waste is a severely detrimental by-product of uranium mining, which has been proven to cause profound, long-term environmental damage. The same radioactive waste puts the miners at extreme risk for developing cancer.
Finally, because most of the mining to date has been conducted on land historically used by Canada's Native populations, uranium mining violates the traditional economic and spiritual lives of many aboriginal peoples. Given what we know about uranium mining, the film questions the validity of its continued practice.”
You can download the accompanying study guide (9.6MB) here:
http://www.onf.ca/sg/100099.pdf
or view it on-line at the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility:
http://www.ccnr.org/nfb_uranium_0.html
- - - - - -
Reviews for “Uranium”
"This is a horrifying story that should outrage every thoughtful Canadian as powerless victims are once again paying the price of mega-technology and short-term economic gain."--- Dr. David Suzuki
"A powerful, persuasive indictment of despicable, cavalier mining activities on native soil everyone owes it to themselves and their children to see this film."--- John Griffin -- The Montreal Gazette
"This excellent film has come about 20 years too late."--- Penny Sanger -- Peace and Environment News
"One of the most powerful recent films that I have ever seen." --- Dr. Helen Caldicott -- Environmentalist
"Thought-provoking and shocking, Uranium raises the moral issue of Canada's responsibility as producer of uranium."--- Martin Siberok -- The Montreal Mirror
"A harpoon against pollution."--- Marc-André Joanisse -- Le Droit, Ottawa
"Uranium deserves a long half-life. It's definitely a must-see for native and white audiences, whether they support the industry, or oppose it."--- Bruce Spence -- The Carillon, Regina
"Charged [with] hard data, emotions, some dramatic and breathtaking photography."--- Alberta Native News --
"Uranium has been attacked by the Canadian uranium industry as sensational and biased. But as an extraordinary account of how greed and chauvinism have triumphed over the collective wisdom of Canada's native population, Uranium should be compulsory viewing for all advocates of nuclear power." -- Moving Pictures Bulletin
_______________
Recognition for “Uranium”
Honorable Mention - Category: Nuclear Issues - Itinerant – American Film and Video Festival May 28 to 31 1992, Chicago - USA
Golden Sheaf Award - Category: Best Documentary over 30 minutes - Golden Sheaf Awards /Short Film and Video Festival - May 29 to June 2 1991, Yorkton - Canada
Chris Certificate - Category: Information/Education - High School International Film and Video Festival - September 13 to 15 1991, Columbus - USA
Blue Ribbon Award - Category: Industrial and Technical - Itinerant - American Film and Video Festival - April 19 to 22 1991, New York – USA
2. The University Needs Some Soul-Searching about Sustainability
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1493#1493
By Jim Harding Saskatchewan Sustainability Published in R-Town News on Dec. 24.09
Can we learn about the challenge sustainability presents our universities, from the roles professors play in public policy? On November 26th Uranium Development Partnership (UDP) member, physics Professor Mathie lectured as if he was presenting “the basic science going on in these discussions”. This wasn’t really true. Whether discussing radiation, fission, power generation, nuclear wastes or nuclear medicine, Mathie selected knowledge to give backing to his support for the nuclear industry. He did what philosophers of science call post-hoc rationalization, creating an intellectual foundation for opinions already held. This gets us in serious trouble. Mathie ruling out the cost of energy didn’t really dodge the “economic bullet”, as shown by Minister Boyd’s December 17th announcement that nuclear is too costly and inappropriate for our grid. And not seriously talking about environmental health doesn’t make us safer, for we don’t live in a make-believe world.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
Discussing the build-up of nuclear wastes, Professor Mathie argued “it’s not because there’s no solution or no research.” Leave it to the expert, right? Yet the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is all industry-based with industry-appointed experts. And the federal review (1991-98) concluded Canadian’s don’t support deep geological storage, which the UDP and NWMO continue to promote. No mention that deep geological research has been stopped in Ontario and that both Quebec and Ontario ban nuclear wastes; or that centralized storage allowing future reprocessing of spent fuel makes plutonium more available for weapons. Or that President Obama just reaffirmed the US ban on reprocessing, a ban supported by the US Academy of Scientists, including its physicists.
Mathie lectured about “risks in life”. He reiterated that nearly one-half of us will get cancer and one-quarter of us will die from it. But this wasn’t a wake-up call to better understand how these risks accumulated to bring cancer from the 8th to 2nd cause of death. No, his risk philosophy was to get us to believe that there were relatively few additional risks from the nuclear industry when compared to overall cancer. Sounds reassuring, but this greatly oversimplifies the science of epidemiology and how health policy research should be done. The smoking industry obscured its major role in lung cancer by financing studies that compared lung cancer among smokers with average cancer rates. Differences were found but they weren’t statistical enough, industry claimed, so they stalled public health intervention. This was fallacious because the average rates already included lung cancers among smokers. You need to compare the lung cancer rate of non-smokers to smokers, which showed cigarettes are the primary cause of lung cancer.
Mathie doesn’t stand alone in his balancing act. The Chair of the UDP, Professor Florizone, also a physicist, wrote a piece for the Nov. 19th Star Phoenix entitled “Nuclear industry offers challenges and opportunities”. He wasn’t identified as the Financial VP of the University of Saskatchewan, which would be a major beneficiary if the UDP’s proposals go ahead. Rather, Florizone is identified as a “policy fellow at the John-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy”. Interestingly, the UDP that Florizone chaired said “Partnering with the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School …would help create relevant policy research and promote public discussion of nuclear-related issues” (p. 80-81). It all seems very incestuous. This School has already sponsored Florizone but to my knowledge hasn’t invited anyone outside the orbit of the nuclear industry. The UDP fully admits that “A close working relationship exists between Saskatchewan’s universities and industry”, and they want more. But there’s a cost, including for the quality of the education that the university provides. Blatant conflicts of interest such as we see with Professor Florizone will naturally increase with concentration of power.
Florizone’s opinion piece claims that “the nuclear option is cost competitive”, but then lists “capital costs” as one of the nuclear industry’s “challenges”. Yet he doesn’t mention that AECL’s recent proposal to the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) was three times the figure of $4.000 kW capacity he uses. (The UDP used $3,850.) How can an academic sworn to a version of the Hippocratic Oath say this with a straight face? As a Star Phoenix letter to the editor said, it is surprising “that a nuclear physicist working in finance should have taken so long to come to an awareness of this serious problem.”
INNOVATION SASKATCHEWAN
Has either the government or the universities learned anything from this debacle? Perhaps the recent announcement about university involvement in Innovation Saskatchewan provides a hint. Minister Boyd announced the board would include two Deans from the universities, which might seem all right, except they are both from engineering. The board includes the Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Mining Association (SMA) and CEO of the Calgary-based drilling company Total Energy Services Ltd. It sounds like the government wants academics to help industry expand uranium mining, oil and gas and perhaps tarsands in Saskatchewan. Apparently, here we go again!
What’s wrong with this picture? A narrow, instrumental relationship between the university and industry can never serve the greater public interest. Not only will the independence of the university be questioned but so, too, will the credibility of its education. The university has a higher purpose than colluding with government and industry to expand unsustainable economic growth, so it’s probably time to start asking fundamental questions about knowledge. For centuries we’ve tried to understand ourselves and the world by breaking things down and taking them apart. While we’ve learned a lot of analytical knowledge from this, when we look at the effects of our narrow-minded applications (e.g. climate change) we soon realize we haven’t become wiser. Sustainability challenges us to be wiser; to put the pieces back together and to finally realize that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Applying a compartmentalized view of the world may be of short-term value to industry but industry’s bottom line is not sustainability. If we are going to learn to do better, the university will have to help. It has some soul-searching to do while it still has a soul to save.
~ ~~ ~
Jim Harding is a retired professor of environmental and justice studies. His website is http://jimharding.brinkster.net
====================
3. Tritium on Tap: Keep Radioactive Tritium out of our drinking water – 2009
http://www.sierraclub.ca/national/docum ... on-tap.pdf
By Mike Buckthought - Sierra Club Canada - Copyright © 2009
Acknowledgements - We would like to thank Barbara Winter for her generous support of this project. Without her support, this publication would not have been possible.
Special thanks to staff at the University of Waterloo for testing water samples for tritium; and the City of Ottawa for sharing data for levels of tritium in Ottawa's drinking water.
Design & writing by Mike Buckthought. November 20, 2009 | Rev. 0.55
Sierra Club Canada, National Office 412-1 Nicholas Street Ottawa, ON K1N 7B7
Tel: (613) 241-4611 Fax: (613) 241-2292 www.sierraclub.ca
Executive summary
Canada’s nuclear reactors release massive quantities of radioactive pollution on a daily basis. Tritium gets into our air, lakes and rivers in the form of radioactive water. It contaminates our food and drinking water, and it is easily absorbed into our body.
Tritium pollution causes cancer and birth defects.
Tritium pollution causes cancer and birth defects. Tritium replaces ordinary non-radioactive hydrogen and travels throughout the body, going wherever water goes. It becomes part of our DNA – and that's where it does its damage, from close range.
Tritium decays within our body, ejecting high velocity beta particles that can break the chemical bonds of our DNA. Te result can be cancer or birth defects. A developing fetus is particularly susceptible to damage from exposure to radiation. There are higher rates of childhood leukemia near nuclear plants in Canada, Germany and the United States – the result of chronic exposure to radioactive pollution from reactors.
No safe level of exposure to radiation
New research has shown that the nuclear industry has greatly underestimated the risks of exposure to tritium and other radioactive pollutants from nuclear reactors. There is no safe level of exposure to radiation – even background levels of radiation cause cancer. Our drinking water standards need to be revised to take into account this new information, and protect people from chronic exposure to radioactive tritium.
Tritium in our drinking water
Sierra Club Canada tested Ottawa's drinking water following an incident at the NRU reactor operated by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL). We found elevated levels of tritium in the drinking water, with implications for our health. There have been frequent leaks of radioactive water from the NRU reactor at Chalk River. AECL collects the radioactive water and dumps it into the Ottawa River. From December 2008 to February 2009, AECL deliberately released 30 trillion becquerels of tritium into the river.
During the spring and summer of 2009, AECL collected large quantities of radioactive water from the leaking reactor. We believe AECL is about to release the radioactive water into the Ottawa River. Te practice of deliberately releasing tritium must be stopped immediately.
Radioactive waste flows into the Ottawa River
Chalk River Laboratories is Canada's leading nuclear research facility, but it has a long history of nuclear accidents. This report details some of the problems of radioactive waste that is now contaminating the groundwater and the Ottawa River. Radioactive plumes of tritium and strontium-90 contaminate the groundwater below the NRU reactor. The tritium flows into the Ottawa River, contaminating the drinking water of people living in Ottawa and other communities downstream from Chalk River.
Growing problems from glow-in-the-dark exit signs
Two of the largest sources of tritium pollution are SRB Technologies and Shield Source, manufacturers of radioactive glow-in-the-dark signs. Massive quantities of tritium pollute the communities of Pembroke and Peterborough, Ontario. Te signs are made with tritium waste removed from Ontario's nuclear plants. Tritium from SRB Technologies and Shield Source contaminates vegetables grown in local gardens. Tritium also contaminates wells and groundwater, threatening drinking water supplies. The manufacturers dump radioactive tritium into the sewer systems of Pembroke and Peterborough, contaminating the municipal infrastructure with radioactive waste. The SRB Technologies plant is another active source of contamination of the Ottawa River.
Ending radioactive pollution
The nuclear industry would like us to believe that nuclear power is a clean alternative to fossil fuels – but that is simply not true. Radioactive pollution from Canada's nuclear reactors contaminates rivers, lakes and groundwater. Radioactive water also contaminates fruits and vegetables grown near nuclear plants. Canada's nuclear power plants released 6.6 quadrillion becquerels of tritium oxide in 2008, and emissions have been rising steadily. With widespread radioactive pollution of our water and the atmosphere, we need more stringent standards for emissions of tritium and other pollutants. We need to keep radioactive water out of the environment and our drinking water. Nuclear power is not a pollution-free source of energy. There are safer, more economical alternatives. Over the long term, we need to phase out nuclear power and ban the use of radioactive glow-in-the-dark signs. We can make the transition to renewable energy, and create tens of thousands of green jobs. We need to take a precautionary approach. Stopping radioactive pollution at its source will help prevent childhood leukemia and lower cancer rates.
===========================
4. BOOK: ATOMIC ACCOMPLICE: HOW CANADA DEALS IN DEADLY DECEIT
http://peaceworkband.ca/?page_id=246
A New Book by Paul McKay; Foreword by David Suzuki 2009
A new book by award-winning investigative journalist Paul McKay exposes Canada’s continuing role in abetting atomic arms proliferation. It was released just as Stephen Harper’s international trade minister Stockwell Day arrived in India seeking new CANDU reactor sales, and Saskatchewan’s Cameco Corp. established a uranium sales office there.
India used a Canadian reactor to produce plutonium for its first atomic bomb in 1974, and has since built an atomic and hydrogen bomb arsenal. India has refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, a comprehensive test ban protocol, or commit to atomic arms reductions. Canada cut off all nuclear assistance to India after the 1974 blast, yet reversed that policy recently to facilitate reactor and uranium sales.
In late September, India officially announced that it will begin exporting “breeder” reactors, cloned from the CANDU design, which will dramatically increase the production and global flows of plutonium.
“While most world leaders are seeking an exit strategy from the atomic arms race, Canada is underwriting an encore,” says McKay. “It is still selling essentially unsafeguardable reactors, increasing global flows of uranium, and even undermining the NPT by courting countries like India which flaunt non-proliferation efforts.”
“Using potential sales contracts as bait, India has cleverly negotiated a ’see-no-evil’ arrangement which allows it to pick and choose which nuclear reactors and fuels are declared peaceful or military,” says McKay. “This is exactly what North Korea and Iran are emulating. Our Parliament would be in an uproar if we sought CANDU or uranium sales to them.”
“Instead of upholding the atomic embargo against India, as Australia has, Ottawa is rewarding its past betrayal with increased nuclear business. That’s the worst message to send to other rogue states.”
Atomic Accomplice carefully traces the genesis of the CANDU reactor back to the World War Two Manhattan Project, showing that it was initially designed as a prolific plutonium producer and that this technical ‘DNA’ — which India exploited in 1974 - has been embedded in all CANDU exports to date. A typical CANDU, like those sold to Argentina, South Korea or China, produces about 400 kilograms of plutonium annually for decades. It takes less than 10 kilograms to make an atomic weapon.
Atomic Accomplice also calculates the proliferation peril posed by Canada’s current annual uranium exports of 7.3 million kilograms. Due to laws of physics, these annual exports embed 52,000 kilograms of uranium-235, and 19,000 kilograms of plutonium. This is enough to make about 5,000 atomic warheads each year.
The final chapters in the book expose the flaws of nuclear advocates who claim that Canadian reactor and uranium exports are a vital measure to combat catastrophic climate change, and can solve energy and poverty problems in developing countries. It documents how actual energy output from global investments in diverse renewable projects has recently outpaced those of new nuclear plants, and that the advent of commercial hydrogen-storage hybrid technologies can deliver more power, faster, and at lower cost than nuclear.
“By continuing to bankroll reactor and uranium exports, Canada is courting calamity in two ways: by increasing the potential for atomic proliferation, and by diverting precious support for safer, more sensible and sustainable energy alternatives.”
MORE: ADVANCE PRAISE FOR “ATOMIC ACCOMPLICE”
“This meticulously researched book makes it clear why non-proliferation treaties and international inspection agencies are failing to prevent the increase in nations with nuclear arms, many using Canadian uranium and Canadian nuclear technology.”
` David Suzuki, Scientist and broadcaster
“Far from our image of a “boy scout” nation working to promote a more peaceful world, McKay uncovers a side of Canadian public policy driven by greed, secrecy, deceit and a willingness to put global safety at risk for the sake of commercial opportunity.”
` Peter Prebble, Former Saskatchewan Cabinet Minister, MLA
“This is an impeccably detailed account of Canada’s role in arming the world with nuclear technologies and fuels, from the first moments of the arms race to today’s rogue states and their bitter rivalries.”
` Bilbo Poynter, Executive Director, Canadian Centre for Investigative Reporting
“Atomic Accomplice is informed by in-depth research, fired by passionate conviction, and peppered with journalistic one-liners. A thorough and fair-minded primer on the politics of nuclear technology versus renewable alternatives, it is a powerful page turner.”
` Maxine Ruvinsky, Chair, School of Journalism, Thompson Rivers University, Author of “Investigative Reporting in Canada”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Paul McKay has won Canada’s top journalism awards for investigative, magazine and business writing. The author of five books, he is also a past winner of the Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy, and a Pierre Berton writer-in-residence. He has written for the Ottawa Citizen, Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, Harrowsmith, Maclean’s Magazine, and CBC television and radio documentaries. Web: www.paulmckay.com
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Canada's dirty nuclear secret
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-o ... ommentary/
canadas-dirty-nuclear-secret/article1416520/
NEIL REYNOLDS reynolds.globe@gmail.com
Published on Friday, Jan. 01, 2010 12:00AM EST Last updated on Friday, Jan. 01, 2010 1:17AM EST
Paul McKay is an environmental journalist who has won Canada's highest awards for business writing and investigative reporting. In his distinguished career, he has written for newspapers (The Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, the Ottawa Citizen), magazines (Harrowsmith, Maclean's) and the CBC (television and radio documentaries).
He has published five books. With Atomic Accomplice: How Canada Deals in Deadly Deceit, Mr. McKay documents the official secrecy that has protected Canada's nuclear industry from public scrutiny for two generations - and demonstrates why Canadian environmentalists have much more to worry about than global warming.
It is a damning and alarming indictment - and thoroughly bipartisan, too. Written from years of accumulated research, Mr. McKay spares neither the left nor the right. The CCF's Tommy Douglas, the socialist premier from uranium-rich Saskatchewan, lobbied hard in the 1950s for federal subsidies to bankroll uranium mines. More recently, the NDP's Lorne Calvert, as Saskatchewan premier, championed the sale of uranium to China - only one in the list of dictatorships courted by Canada as prospective clients for this country's government-sustained nuclear industry.
Beyond doubt, this industry has survived solely through overt and covert government manipulation of the marketplace; in the case of Liberal prime minister Pierre Trudeau, for example, through a shameful price-fixing conspiracy that inflated the price of uranium more than fivefold. Federal subsidies to the industry - so far - exceed $30-billion. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has trebled support for the industry, committing a further $1.7-billion in the past three years.
MORE:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-o ... ommentary/
canadas-dirty-nuclear-secret/article1416520/
=====================
5. Lithuania shutting down Soviet-built reactor
http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/744567
December 31, 2009
VILNIUS–Lithuania has begun shutting down a Soviet-build nuclear reactor as part of its agreement with the European Union.
The Ignalina nuclear plant in the town of Visaginas is scheduled to cease producing electricity at one hour before midnight Thursday.
Many Europeans feel that the Chornobyl-type reactor is unsafe since one exploded near the city of Chornobyl on April 26, 1986, casting a radioactive cloud over Europe. However, plant and Lithuanian officials claim the Ignalina unit could function safely for another 20 years.
MORE: http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/744567
==========================
6. Concern as China clamps down on rare earth exports
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... oncern-as-
china-clamps-down-on-rare-earth-exports-1855387.html
By Cahal Milmo Saturday, 2 January 2010
Neodymium is one of 17 metals crucial to green technology. There’s only one snag – China produces 97% of the world’s supply. And they’re not selling
- - - - -
Britain and other Western countries risk running out of supplies of certain highly sought-after rare metals that are vital to a host of green technologies, amid growing evidence that China, which has a monopoly on global production, is set to choke off exports of valuable compounds.
Failure to secure alternative long-term sources of rare earth elements (REEs) would affect the manufacturing and development of low-carbon technology, which relies on the unique properties of the 17 metals to mass-produce eco-friendly innovations such as wind turbines and low-energy lightbulbs.
China, whose mines account for 97 per cent of global supplies, is trying to ensure that all raw REE materials are processed within its borders. During the past seven years it has reduced by 40 per cent the amount of rare earths available for export.
Industry sources have told The Independent that China could halt shipments of at least two metals as early as next year, and that by 2012 it is likely to be producing only enough REE ore to satisfy its own booming domestic demand, creating a potential crisis as Western countries rush to find alternative supplies, and companies open new mines in locations from South Africa to Greenland to satisfy international demand.
Amid claims that Beijing is using its rare earths monopoly as a tool of foreign policy, the British Department of Business, Industry and Skills said it was "monitoring" the supply of REEs to ensure China was observing international trade rules.
MORE:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... oncern-as-
china-clamps-down-on-rare-earth-exports-1855387.html
=========================
7. Response to Ibbitson: Russow - For Canada, 2006-2009 were very bad years
Jan.03.10
http://www.pej.org/html/modules.php?op= ... 7904&mode=
thread&order=0&thold=0
PEJnews Joan Russow Global Compliance Research Project
Response to article, by John Ibbitson and Gloria Galloway, in the Globe and Mail: “For Harper, 2009 was a very good year” http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/pol ... or-harper-
2009-was-a-very-good-year/article1416260/
Bad years for Canada, because Harper has misused the role of the Governor General whom he could replace at any time, has evaded investigations by Committees such as the Parliamentary Committee on Ethics and Access to Information and the special Commons Committee on Afghanistan, has created a situation where Canada has increasingly become an international Pariah.
Yet for some reason citizen’s in a recent CPAC Nanos poll still appear to believe that Harper is trustworthy. The question arises, are Canadian citizens functioning in an ethical vacuum or are they unaware of the provisions in the Constitution that perpetuate concentrated power within the Office of the Prime Minister, and of how Harper has “with a little bit of help from his friends” circumvented accountability. Perhaps CPAC could conduct a new poll?
www.PEJ.org <http://www.PEJ.org>
Draft Poll about knowledge of functioning of the Constitution, and about abuse of power
1. Do you know that the Governor General is appointed by the Prime Minister ?
2. Do you know that the Prime Minister can at any time request that the Queen appoint a new Governor General?
3. Are you familiar with Article V of the Governor Genera'ls Letters Patent which reads
"AND WE DO FURTHER AUTHORIZE AND EMPOWER OUR GOVERNOR GENERAL, SO FAR AS WE LAWFULLY MAY, UPON SUFFICIENT CAUSE TO HIM APPEARING, TO REMOVE FROM HIS OFFICE, OR TO SUSPEND FROM THE EXERCISE OF THE SAME, ANY PERSON EXERCISING ANY OFFICE WITHIN CANADA, UNDER OR BY VIRTUE OF ANY COMMISSION OR WARRANT GRANTED, OR WHICH MAY BE GRANTED, BY US IN OUR NAME OR UNDER OUR AUTHORITY" ?
MORE:
http://www.pej.org/html/modules.php?op= ... 7904&mode=
thread&order=0&thold=0
============================
8. Petition & Tweet | Invoke Article V and Remove Harper for Negligence
From: Council of Canadians | London
Sent: Thursday, December 31, 2009 5:23 PM
How long will Canadians be prepared for the sake of avoiding an election to allow an unethical government which has engaged in fraudulent practices, and evasive techniques, and unscrupulous actions, govern. How much longer will a compliant Governor General support such practices, techniques and action? The Governor General erred twice in dissolving and proroguing Parliament, (under Article VI) of her Letters Patent. Now she must correctly use her residual powers under Article V – to remove Harper from office.
SIGN PETITION:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/invoke-article-v-and-
remove-harper-for-negligence
SEND DIRECT MESSAGE (TWEET) to Michaëlle Jean - Governor General of Canada: http://act.ly/1ks
= = = = =
Tommy Douglas on Fascism: “Once more let me remind you what fascism is. It need not wear a brown shirt or a green shirt it may even wear a dress shirt. Fascism begins the moment a ruling class, fearing the people may use their political democracy to gain economic democracy, begins to destroy political democracy in order to retain its power of exploitation and special privilege.
============================
9. VIEW: A federal election on April 12, says Spector
From: <bpatterson@canadians.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 02, 2010 8:00 AM
Welcome to 2010.
There is increasing speculation on the likelihood of a federal election either this spring or fall.
Globe and Mail columnist Norman Spector writes in his blog today the various reasons why it will be this spring - specifically, Monday April 12 - and not in the fall.
Spector writes, "The Throne Speech will be read by the Governor-General on Wednesday March 3rd and the budget will be tabled by finance minister Flaherty the next day; both will situate Canada on the path to gradual economic recovery and stress the need for a firm hand on the tiller, and on the till. With these documents on the public record, Mr. Harper could then cross the street to Rideau Hall to request a vote on (Monday) April 12th, explaining to voters that Canada needs a single set of safe hands on the wheel (namely, his!) to deal with the next phase of the economic recovery through gradual expenditure restraint and no tax increases."
He adds, "Waiting until the fall would... give Michael Ignatieff more time to recover from his disastrous 2009. On the other hand, dropping a quick writ in the spring - a page straight out of the Jean Chrétien playbook - would throw a spanner in the Liberals’ thinkers conference, planned for Montréal from March 26 to 28."
It should be noted that columnist John Ibbitson also says a spring election is possible, and veteran broadcaster Don Newman writes in his CBC column, "get ready for a spring election."
Newman even suggests, "By their own internal logic, Conservatives think gold medals by the men's and women's hockey teams in particular will translate into that kind of feel-good moment that will lead to a majority government. ...Maybe they are right. For no logical reason, Harper's image and approval ratings were enhanced when he surprised everyone by playing the piano and singing a Beatles song on the stage of the National Arts Centre a few months ago."
Time will tell if the writ is dropped on March 5 and we go to the polls on April 12, but we will need to be prepared for this possibility.
For Norman Spector's full list of reasons for a spring election, please go to
www.theglobeandmail.com or
http://m.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/spector-vision/mark-
april-13th-in-your-new-2010-calendar-as-election-day/
article1416553/?service=mobile.
Don Newman's comments can be read at:
www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/12/31/f-vp-newman.html.
Brent Patterson
The Council of Canadians
www.canadians.org/campaignblog
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9887
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
NUKE NEWS: Jan. 05.10
by Oscar » Wed Apr 21, 2010 8:07 am
NUKE NEWS: Jan. 05.10
Compilation:
1. INFO MEETING: Feb. 8 – Edmonton: Nuclear Power in Alberta and what this means for rural Alberta, the Agricultural Sector and the Local Food economy
2. Clarification: Uranium in Nunavut
3. AREVA confirms Greenpeace’s alarming radiation findings in Niger
4. DEADLINE: Feb. 01 - WMAN/IEN Grassroots Communities Mini-Grant Program
5. After Copenhagen: A New Year’s Resolution Worth Making – Harding
6. Now Available: NIRS Nuclear Power: The Critical Question
7. MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!: 'Harper has hurt Canada's reputation', says Barlow
8. VIEW: 'We must support a Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth', say Solón and Cullinan
9. Why Ecological Revolution? - John Bellamy Foster
10. 132 political scientists call for action on the democratic deficit
==================================
1. INFO MEETING: Feb. 8 – Edmonton: Nuclear Power in Alberta and what this means for rural Alberta, the Agricultural Sector and the Local Food economy
http://d.yimg.com/kq/groups/5764187/77950939/
name/Feb%208%20Invitation.doc
Informational Meeting - impacts nuclear power will have on agriculture, rural Alberta and the availability of local, healthy food
February 8th, 2010 from 9am - 4 pm
Legion Hall, 10425 Kingsway Ave, EDMONTON
To all Concerned Food Consumers and Food Producers:
In light of the fact that Alberta is being courted by the nuclear industry to build a nuclear power plant in our province, the Government of Alberta has the responsibility to ensure that any new development in the province is in the best interest of Albertans.
Over the past 2.5 years the nuclear industry has been busy with a massive propaganda campaign which promotes the benefits of nuclear power while neglecting to include information which may not be in their best interest. Many Albertans have done extensive research regarding the implications of nuclear power in Alberta and have found that there are many questions left to be answered on this controversial issue.
In the event that a nuclear power plant was introduced in Alberta, there would be significant effects to all Agricultural producers, consumers and rural Alberta in general. There would be issues dealing with water, land use, organic certification, surface rights, export markets and local food production. A large nuclear reactor may also affect the potential for implementation of renewable energy technologies in Alberta.
This issue affects all communities in Alberta not just a few. If one nuclear power plant is built in Alberta, then the possibility of additional plants becomes a reality; in addition to the actual power plant, the possibility of becoming home to radioactive waste also becomes a reality for all communities in Alberta. As a result of the potential impacts to rural Alberta, it is imperative that there be a more extensive exchange of information along with good, open and honest discussions about how we can get some questions answered. We also need to explore alternative energy options and ways we can work together for the good of all Albertans
The Alberta Organic Producers Association together with the National Farmers Union invite you to attend an informational meeting on February 8th, 2010 from 9am - 4 pm at the legion hall in Edmonton at 10425 Kingsway Ave, to engage in discussion about the impacts nuclear power will have on agriculture, rural Alberta and the availability of local, healthy food.
There will be a $20 registration fee to assist with the costs of promoting & hosting this event. (Includes lunch)
Please reply to Mandy Melnyk at " mailto:mandsmarie@hotmail.com " or 780-532-0013 by January 31st or Donna Pope@780-663-3693 or " mailto:popeorganicfarm@yahoo.ca "
Sincerely,
The Alberta Organic Producers Association and the National Farmers Union
=======================
2. Clarification: Uranium in Nunavut
From: Gordon Edwards
Sent: Sunday, January 03, 2010 10:45 PM
I recently e-mailed an editorial published in the Nunatsiaq News, entitled "Nunavut's Radioactive Issue", commenting on a new independent group of citizens set up to share information and promote debate on the subject of uranium exploration and mining in Nunavut.
The editorial stated that the group, called Nunavummiut Makitagunarningit, "appears to be an Arctic subsidiary of Mining Watch Canada, a well-known non-governmental organization based in Ottawa."
I have checked into this allegation, and I am confident that the Nunavut organization is in no way shape or form a subsidiary of Mining Watch Canada. One wonders what kind of fact-checking was done by the Nunatsiaq News before printing such a statement.
The editorial also questioned the motives of the group, saying "their ultimate goal, clearly, is not to spread 'information' but to stop the development of uranium projects in Nunavut."
I have been assured by the Nunavut group that its goal is exactly what it has declared it to be: to promote public education on uranium issues through frank discussion.
If such a frank discussion has the effect of stopping the development of uranium projects in Nunavut, that can only mean that the current approval of uranium developments is based on widespread ignorance of the real issues. Informed decisions require frank discussions.
It is perhaps an indication of how unhealthy and polarized the uranium issue has become in Nunavut that one of the few publications available to the population cannot accept a local group of concerned citizens for what it is.
Gordon Edwards,
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
ORIGINAL E-MAIL: Editorial: Nunavut’s Radioactive Issue
From: Gordon Edwards
Sent: Thursday, December 31, 2009 2:24 AM
From Wikipedia:
"Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999 via the Nunavut Act [5] and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, [6] though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993.
"The creation of Nunavut – meaning "our land" in Inuktitut (the Inuit language) – resulted in the first major change to Canada's map since the incorporation of the new province of Newfoundland in 1949.
"Nunavut comprises a major portion of Northern Canada, and most of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, making it the fourth-largest country subdivision in the world."
Following a two-day public forum on uranium issues at Baker Lake in June 2007, the Nunavut Planning Commission gave the go-ahead for uranium exploration in Nunavut.
Recently, a new NGO has been created in Nunavut to provide a much-needed forum for informed debate among the Inuit on the issues surrounding uranium mining.
See http://www.ccnr.org/Baker_Lake_summary.pdf
GE
= = = = = = =
Nunavut’s radioactive issue
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/
7547_nunavuts_radioactive_issue/
Editorial, Nunatsiaq News, December 28, 2009
If the Nunavut land claims agreement actually worked the way its starry-eyed backers promised it would work nearly 20 years ago, there would be no need in Nunavut for a independent lobby group to scrutinize uranium exploration and mining.
But the public institutions and Inuit organizations set up to make the Nunavut land claims agreement work have so far failed in the performance of one of the land claim agreement’s primary tasks.
That task is to encourage the sustainable development of non-renewable resources: a form of economic development that serves human needs while, at the same time, ensuring the environmental damage caused by such development is kept to a minimum.
Because of a long series of foolish blunders, most committed within the past 10 years or so, no reasonable person can now claim that the environmental protection system laid out within the land claims agreement is capable of inspiring public confidence.
So it’s no surprise that this past November, a small group of Nunavut residents formed an independent pressure group called Nunavummiut Makitagunarningit.
This group’s stated objectives include the promotion of things that the Nunavut land claim agreement is supposed to provide for: community consultation, the protection of various imputed rights and the dissemination of information.
MORE:
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/
7547_nunavuts_radioactive_issue/
========================
3. AREVA confirms Greenpeace’s alarming radiation findings in Niger
http://weblog.greenpeace.org/nuclear-re ... s_ala.html
Greenpeace response
Tuesday January 5, 2010, following Greenpeace’s report of radioactive hotspots in the uranium mining city Akokan in Niger, AREVA has confirmed that the radioactivity in the streets of Akokan was unacceptably high. Under pressure from civil society the French nuclear company has taken action to clean up the spots indicated by Greenpeace. [1]
“Areva’s reaction supports our call for a comprehensive, transparent and independent environmental assessment of the area,” said Dr. Rianne Teule of Greenpeace International. “We are glad that the streets of Akokan have been partly cleaned up, but remain very concerned that other problems cannot be ruled out without a comprehensive study. Decades of uranium mining have created radioactive dangers to the
people of Akokan, a typical example of environmental and health threats posed by the nuclear industry.”
A Greenpeace team visited AREVA’s two uranium mines in Niger at the beginning of November 2009. [2] During this visit Greenpeace identified dangerous levels of radiation in the streets of Akokan, at one location up to 500 times higher than the normal background levels. [3] AREVA had earlier declared the streets safe. A comprehensive report on Greenpeace’s findings will be published in early 2010.
Contacts
Dr. Rianne Teule, Nuclear Campaigner, Greenpeace International
+31(0)650640961 rianne.teule@greenpeace.org
Notes
[1] See page 8 of
http://www.nigerdiaspora.net/journaux/s ... -12-09.pdf and
http://nigerdiaspora.info/index.php?option=
com_content&view=article&id=
3852:rapport-de-greenpeace-areva-niger-reagit&catid=37:ecolo
[2] The visit was prepared in collaboration with the French scientific laboratory CRIIRAD and ROTAB, a network of NGOs in Niger.
[3] Greenpeace briefing: ‘Uranium mines in Niger, radioactivity in the streets of Akokan’, November 2009. Available at
http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/
international/press/reports/briefing-radioactivity-in-ak.pdf
======================
4. DEADLINE: Feb. 01 - WMAN/IEN Grassroots Communities Mini-Grant Program
http://www.ienearth.org/docs/
Grassroots_Communities_MiniGrant_Description_and_Application.doc
NEXT DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 1, 2010
Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) and Western Mining Action Network (WMAN) Grassroots Communities Mining Mini-Grant Program
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.
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.
===========================
5. After Copenhagen: A New Year’s Resolution Worth Making - Harding
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=692
By Jim Harding
Saskatchewan Sustainability Published in R-Town News on Dec. 31.09
Was Copenhagen a predictable failure? Does it still present us with an opportunity to create a comprehensive, binding agreement that will redirect our development path away from the catastrophic, irreversible climate change brought on by the carbon-economy? It depends on what we now do, especially in the build-up to meetings in Mexico in 2010. And in the aftermath of Copenhagen, nowhere is there more need for “doing” than in Canada and Saskatchewan.
Copenhagen was an unprecedented gathering in the history of the human race. The process of weaning ourselves from the carbon-economy started when 172 countries met in Rio in 1992, and continued on with the Kyoto Accord in 1998. In Copenhagen 193 countries and 131 national leaders assembled to try to enact collective foresight. As Mexico’s President Calderon put it, this is “the only world we have”; then he asked if “we as a species are capable of meeting the challenge of climate change.” Contrast this with our Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, who initially refused to attend Copenhagen, and then reversed his position after President Obama announced his plan to go.
With two years of planning we might have expected the two-week Copenhagen meeting to iron out a substantive, enforceable treaty to replace the Kyoto Accord that expires in two years. But in the end, geo-politics trumped the stalled UN-led inter-governmental process, as President Obama held private meetings with China and other emerging carbon-economies to work out an Accord that ended up being begrudgingly accepted by the larger meeting. This may partly be a good thing as China and the US, just two of the 193 countries present, account for one-half of the globe’s greenhouse gases (GHGs), and neither backed the Kyoto Accord.
HUGE DISCREPANCIES
However, the discrepancy between the stated goals and actual pledges is enormous. There was agreement in principle to keep temperatures from rising 2 degrees C and to have global GHG emissions reduced by 2020. But there’s no binding mechanism, and if you look at the totally voluntary individual country commitments they simply don’t add up to achieving these goals. The Accord also includes a $30 billion fund to help developing countries convert to low-carbon technology, and a commitment to find $100 billion a year for this by 2020. This is far short of what the UN says will be required. Contrast this approach with the hundreds of billions of dollars so quickly found to bail out the banks during last year’s financial crisis.
This won’t be reassuring to the people of the Maldives whose island-home will surely sink below rising sea levels as glaciers worldwide continue to melt at rates exceeding the “worst case” scenarios of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The Maldives and other vulnerable countries pressed for keeping global temperature from rising above 1.5 degrees C, while the EU, the only region that will meeting its Kyoto targets, pushed for greater reductions of GHGs. The latest science seems to support them.
Canada’s contradictions are the worst on the planet. A fossil fuel defender and climate change sceptic at any cost, Harper abandoned Canada’s Kyoto commitment to reduce GHGs by 6% below 1990 levels by 2020. Noticeably hiding behind Environment Minister Jim Prentice at Copenhagen, Harper restated his goal of a 20% reduction from 2006 levels by 2020. This would allow a massive rise over 1990 levels, which is totally incompatible with the goals of the Copenhagen Accord, which Harper accepted.
CANADA’S UNTENABLE POSITION
The Globe and Mail’s Dec. 19th editorial highlighted Harper’s totally untenable position saying, “Canada’s unwillingness to do any work whatsoever was on full display at Copenhagen”, continuing, “The federal government seems unaware of the damage done to its reputation at Copenhagen.” It emphasized that “among developed countries Canada stood alone in its apparent apathy.”
This affects us all. Canada got the “Fossil of the Year” award from global environmental groups and some people have called for the expulsion of Canada from the Commonwealth, drawing an analogy with the expulsion of South Africa’s past apartheid regime. They say Canada is to climate change what South Africa was to systemic racism.
Saskatchewan’s Environment Minister Nancy Heppner was positive about the Copenhagen Accord without seeming to gather the huge discrepancy between the stated objectives and voluntary commitments. Saskatchewan has the exact same position as Harper’s government, committing only to a 20% reduction of GHGs from 2006 levels by 2020, amounting to a huge increase over 1990 levels. Meanwhile we have the highest per capita GHG emissions in all of Canada and, at 72 tonnes per person, we are 20 times the global average. Whether it is denial or short-term economic self-interest or a combination of these, we are now one of the environmental “bad guys”. The failings of our current political leadership are a challenge for our democracy to become more vibrant and bring Canada back to responsible behaviour within the international community. Copenhagen’s “failure” demands bottom-up democracy here, now.
One way to explain the discrepancy at Copenhagen is that scientists are saying one thing while politicians and taxpayers are saying something else; this is too simple. In our eagerness to play our role in averting irreversible climate disaster, the Canadian public is far ahead of the Harper and Wall governments. Over the last year we have strenuously debated nuclear power and, to its credit, the Saskatchewan government has now announced it will follow a non-nuclear energy policy. As we approach 2010 perhaps we can make a collective commitment to quickly steer our province to renewable energy and a sustainable economy, which will reduce our emissions and get us back on track with the human species. This is a New Year’s resolution worth making.
===========================
6. Now Available: NIRS Nuclear Power: The Critical Question
A Message from Michael Mariotte, Executive Director, NIRS (Nuclear Information and Research Service). http://www.nirs.org
Happy 2010!
To kick off this new year, we are pleased to present you with a very special issue of The Nuclear Monitor (issue # 700/701). Produced in cooperation with our friends at WISE (World Information Service on Energy) and WECF (Women in Europe for a Common Future), this 40-page booklet is titled Nuclear Power: The Critical Question.
First hand reports from the frontlines of the nuclear fuel chain.
We expect to have a very limited supply of hardcopies of this booklet; if you are interested in one, let us know. In addition, if you are interested in bulk copies, contact us and we can see about reprinting it.
Note that the cover and main body of the booklet are listed separately.
http://ccnr.org/WECF_6_final.pdf (1.28 MB)
http://ccnr.org/WECF_Cover_6.pdf (365 KB)
From all of us at Nuclear Information and Resource Service.
Michael Mariotte.
============================
7. MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!: 'Harper has hurt Canada's reputation', says Barlow
From: "Carleen Pickard" <cpickard@canadians.org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 05, 2010 8:45 AM
Please take action now, log into the Globe and Mail site and comment on Maude's opinion editorial which appears in the Globe and Mail today (also below):
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/
ashamed-to-wear-the-maple-leaf/article1418706/
Thanks, Carleen
Carleen Pickard
Director of Organizing/Council of Canadians
#700 - 170 Laurier Ave W Ottawa, ON K1P 5V5
t. 613.233.4487 x 223/1.800.387.7177
c. 613.301.8346
~ ~ ~ ~
VIEW: 'Harper has hurt Canada's reputation', says Barlow
From: bpatterson@canadians.org
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 2010 12:10:19
In an op-ed published in today's Globe and Mail, (Ashamed to wear the Maple Leaf:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/
ashamed-to-wear-the-maple-leaf/article1418706/)
Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow writes: As a new year and a new decade begin, it is time to accept an unpleasant reality: Canada's international reputation as a progressive middle power is gone. Instead, our country is increasingly seen as a human-rights-denying eco-outlaw that has lost its way and its special status as a standard bearer for a better world.
This change is largely the doing of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the ideology that has motivated him and his mentors for decades.
Let's start with the fact that while Canadians were resting over the holiday, Mr. Harper prorogued Parliament, thus cancelling the committee hearings into his government's handling of the Afghan detainee affair.
This move allowed the Prime Minister to duck allegations that Canadian troops turned over innocent civilians for torture at the hands of Afghan authorities as well as his government's shameful treatment of Canadian diplomat Richard Colvin, whose testimony before a House of Commons committee in November blew the issue into an international story and embarrassed Mr. Harper on the eve of his important first trip to China.
There are growing calls in Canada and internationally for an investigation into whether Canada has violated the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court by knowingly turning over civilians to torture, calls that the government hopes will get lost in the post-Olympic euphoria when Parliament resumes.
Proroguing Parliament also puts time and distance between the Prime Minister and his shameful performance at the December summit on climate change held in Copenhagen, where Canada was held up as an example of the worst practices. Not only is Canada among the top 10 greenhouse-gas emitters in the world, but it is the only country to ratify and then abandon the Kyoto Protocol, announcing weeks before the talks that it would be a failure.
MORE:
http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/opini ... ice=mobile
Brent Patterson
The Council of Canadians
www.canadians.org/campaignblog
===========================
8. VIEW: 'We must support a Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth', say Solón and Cullinan
From: <bpatterson@canadians.org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 05, 2010 7:40 AM
Pablo Solón, the Bolivian ambassador to the United Nations, and Cormac Cullinan, an environmental lawyer, write in the Huffington Post that, "For Bolivia, December marked an important and historic step forward in climate change politics."
They continue, "We are of course not referring to Brokenhagen, where we saw the worst of intransigent, undemocratic and cynical tactics from the world's largest emitters of carbon dioxide. The interesting action happened in a completely unreported event in New York when on 22 December, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution which put the issue of Mother Earth rights as an item on the UN agenda."
They write that an agreement in Copenhagen would have been flawed because, "the UN climate change framework does not deal with the root causes of climate change and the wider problem of environmental exploitation. ...The underlying cause is the belief that humans are separate from, and superior to, nature and that more is better."
"Bolivia's proposal for Rights for Mother Earth is therefore about tackling these fundamental underlying issues."
"On 22 April 2009 President Evo Morales Ayma of Bolivia called on the General Assembly of the United Nations to develop a Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth. ...The recent UN General Assembly resolution approved in December now calls on all countries and the Secretary General to share their experiences and perspectives on how to create 'harmony with nature.' In Bolivia, we hope to take this proposal forward in a People's Assembly on climate change that we are organizing on Mother Earth Day, 22 April 2010."
"If legal systems recognized the rights of other-than-human beings (e.g. mountains, rivers, forests and animals), courts and tribunals could deal with the fundamental issues of environmental contamination rather than being bogged down in the technical details of permitted pollutants and emissions."
"For example, a rights-based approach could evaluate whether the rights of humans to clear tropical forests for beef ranching should trump the right of species in those forests to continue to exist."
Their full commentary can be read at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pablo-eri ... 06547.html.
Additionally, to see an interview with Angelica Navarro, Bolivia’s chief climate negotiator at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen, who further discusses the rights of Mother Earth, go to http://bit.ly/6M52u4.
Brent Patterson
The Council of Canadians
www.canadians.org/campaignblog
==========================
9. Why Ecological Revolution? - John Bellamy Foster
http://monthlyreview.org/100101foster.php
03 Janeiro 2010
It is now universally recognized within science that humanity is confronting the prospect — if we do not soon change course — of a planetary ecological collapse. Not only is the global ecological crisis becoming more and more severe, with the time in which to address it fast running out, but the dominant environmental strategies are also forms of denial, demonstrably doomed to fail, judging by their own limited objectives. This tragic failure, I will argue, can be attributed to the refusal of the powers that be to address the roots of the ecological problem in capitalist production and the resulting necessity of ecological and social revolution.
The term “crisis,” attached to the global ecological problem, although unavoidable, is somewhat misleading, given its dominant economic associations. Since 2008, we have been living through a world economic crisis — the worst economic downturn since the 1930s. This has been a source of untold suffering for hundreds of millions, indeed billions, of people. But insofar as it is related to the business cycle and not to long-term factors, expectations are that it is temporary and will end, to be followed by a period of economic recovery and growth — until the advent of the next crisis. Capitalism is, in this sense, a crisis-ridden, cyclical economic system. Even if we were to go further, to conclude that the present crisis of accumulation is part of a long-term economic stagnation of the system — that is, a slowdown of the trend-rate of growth beyond the mere business cycle — we would still see this as a partial, historically limited calamity, raising, at most, the question of the future of the present system of production.1 (http://monthlyreview.org/100101foster.php#fn269)
When we speak today of the world ecological crisis, however, we are referring to something that could turn out to be final, i.e., there is a high probability, if we do not quickly change course, of a terminal crisis — a death of the whole anthropocene, the period of human dominance of the planet. Human actions are generating environmental changes that threaten the extermination of most species on the planet, along with civilization, and conceivably our own species as well.
MORE: http://monthlyreview.org/100101foster.php
==========================
10. 132 political scientists call for action on the democratic deficit
http://www.fairvote.ca/en/fvc-news/
132-political-scientists-call-for-action-on-democratic-deficit
Jan 5, 2010
As the controversy over the proroguing of Parliament continues, Fair Vote Canada announced today that 132 Canadian political scientists from 36 universities and colleges have co-signed a statement calling for federal electoral reform within the next five years.
Among the 132 political scientists signing the statement are 10 professors emerti, the President-elect of the Canadian Political Science Association (CPSA), six former presidents of CPSA, the current Secretary General of the International Political Science Association (IPSA) and a former Secretary General of IPSA.
“In recent days, editorial writers and political commentators have focused on the key role of the House of Commons – and opposition parties in particular – which is to hold the government to account,” said Bronwen Bruch, President of Fair Vote Canada, a national citizens’ campaign for electoral reform. “While we join those condemning the inappropriate shut-down of the Parliament, an even bigger obstacle to democratically accountable government is our antiquated voting system that creates an unrepresentative and unstable House of Commons. First-past-the-post usually creates either “majority” governments that the majority voted against, or unstable minority governments where any party nearing 40 per cent in the polls has incentive to pull the plug in hope of winning an undeserved majority of seats.”
The political scientists’ statement says:
Canada is now faced with a significant democracy deficit, illustrated by unstable short-sighted minority governments, superficial partisan posturing, steadily declining voter turnout and, most disturbing, an increasing majority of younger Canadians who see little value in voting or engaging in electoral politics.
As political scientists at Canadian universities and colleges across the country, we believe Canada can no longer afford to ignore the urgent need for electoral reform. We need an inclusive and functioning representative democracy based on a fair and proportional voting system.
We call on the Prime Minister and leaders of all parliamentary parties to set aside partisan interests and together support a substantive program to engage Canadians in a national discussion on: 1) fair voting principles – voter equality, proportional results and the formation of governments whose policies reflect the majority of voters, and 2) the various types of fair voting systems based on those principles.
We call on the government to engage experts, consult widely with citizens, and implement a Canadian version of a more proportional and fair voting system within the next five years.
The complete list of signers is available here.
MORE: http://www.fairvote.ca/en/fvc-news/
132-political-scientists-call-for-action-on-democratic-deficit
Compilation:
1. INFO MEETING: Feb. 8 – Edmonton: Nuclear Power in Alberta and what this means for rural Alberta, the Agricultural Sector and the Local Food economy
2. Clarification: Uranium in Nunavut
3. AREVA confirms Greenpeace’s alarming radiation findings in Niger
4. DEADLINE: Feb. 01 - WMAN/IEN Grassroots Communities Mini-Grant Program
5. After Copenhagen: A New Year’s Resolution Worth Making – Harding
6. Now Available: NIRS Nuclear Power: The Critical Question
7. MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!: 'Harper has hurt Canada's reputation', says Barlow
8. VIEW: 'We must support a Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth', say Solón and Cullinan
9. Why Ecological Revolution? - John Bellamy Foster
10. 132 political scientists call for action on the democratic deficit
==================================
1. INFO MEETING: Feb. 8 – Edmonton: Nuclear Power in Alberta and what this means for rural Alberta, the Agricultural Sector and the Local Food economy
http://d.yimg.com/kq/groups/5764187/77950939/
name/Feb%208%20Invitation.doc
Informational Meeting - impacts nuclear power will have on agriculture, rural Alberta and the availability of local, healthy food
February 8th, 2010 from 9am - 4 pm
Legion Hall, 10425 Kingsway Ave, EDMONTON
To all Concerned Food Consumers and Food Producers:
In light of the fact that Alberta is being courted by the nuclear industry to build a nuclear power plant in our province, the Government of Alberta has the responsibility to ensure that any new development in the province is in the best interest of Albertans.
Over the past 2.5 years the nuclear industry has been busy with a massive propaganda campaign which promotes the benefits of nuclear power while neglecting to include information which may not be in their best interest. Many Albertans have done extensive research regarding the implications of nuclear power in Alberta and have found that there are many questions left to be answered on this controversial issue.
In the event that a nuclear power plant was introduced in Alberta, there would be significant effects to all Agricultural producers, consumers and rural Alberta in general. There would be issues dealing with water, land use, organic certification, surface rights, export markets and local food production. A large nuclear reactor may also affect the potential for implementation of renewable energy technologies in Alberta.
This issue affects all communities in Alberta not just a few. If one nuclear power plant is built in Alberta, then the possibility of additional plants becomes a reality; in addition to the actual power plant, the possibility of becoming home to radioactive waste also becomes a reality for all communities in Alberta. As a result of the potential impacts to rural Alberta, it is imperative that there be a more extensive exchange of information along with good, open and honest discussions about how we can get some questions answered. We also need to explore alternative energy options and ways we can work together for the good of all Albertans
The Alberta Organic Producers Association together with the National Farmers Union invite you to attend an informational meeting on February 8th, 2010 from 9am - 4 pm at the legion hall in Edmonton at 10425 Kingsway Ave, to engage in discussion about the impacts nuclear power will have on agriculture, rural Alberta and the availability of local, healthy food.
There will be a $20 registration fee to assist with the costs of promoting & hosting this event. (Includes lunch)
Please reply to Mandy Melnyk at " mailto:mandsmarie@hotmail.com " or 780-532-0013 by January 31st or Donna Pope@780-663-3693 or " mailto:popeorganicfarm@yahoo.ca "
Sincerely,
The Alberta Organic Producers Association and the National Farmers Union
=======================
2. Clarification: Uranium in Nunavut
From: Gordon Edwards
Sent: Sunday, January 03, 2010 10:45 PM
I recently e-mailed an editorial published in the Nunatsiaq News, entitled "Nunavut's Radioactive Issue", commenting on a new independent group of citizens set up to share information and promote debate on the subject of uranium exploration and mining in Nunavut.
The editorial stated that the group, called Nunavummiut Makitagunarningit, "appears to be an Arctic subsidiary of Mining Watch Canada, a well-known non-governmental organization based in Ottawa."
I have checked into this allegation, and I am confident that the Nunavut organization is in no way shape or form a subsidiary of Mining Watch Canada. One wonders what kind of fact-checking was done by the Nunatsiaq News before printing such a statement.
The editorial also questioned the motives of the group, saying "their ultimate goal, clearly, is not to spread 'information' but to stop the development of uranium projects in Nunavut."
I have been assured by the Nunavut group that its goal is exactly what it has declared it to be: to promote public education on uranium issues through frank discussion.
If such a frank discussion has the effect of stopping the development of uranium projects in Nunavut, that can only mean that the current approval of uranium developments is based on widespread ignorance of the real issues. Informed decisions require frank discussions.
It is perhaps an indication of how unhealthy and polarized the uranium issue has become in Nunavut that one of the few publications available to the population cannot accept a local group of concerned citizens for what it is.
Gordon Edwards,
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
ORIGINAL E-MAIL: Editorial: Nunavut’s Radioactive Issue
From: Gordon Edwards
Sent: Thursday, December 31, 2009 2:24 AM
From Wikipedia:
"Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999 via the Nunavut Act [5] and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, [6] though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993.
"The creation of Nunavut – meaning "our land" in Inuktitut (the Inuit language) – resulted in the first major change to Canada's map since the incorporation of the new province of Newfoundland in 1949.
"Nunavut comprises a major portion of Northern Canada, and most of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, making it the fourth-largest country subdivision in the world."
Following a two-day public forum on uranium issues at Baker Lake in June 2007, the Nunavut Planning Commission gave the go-ahead for uranium exploration in Nunavut.
Recently, a new NGO has been created in Nunavut to provide a much-needed forum for informed debate among the Inuit on the issues surrounding uranium mining.
See http://www.ccnr.org/Baker_Lake_summary.pdf
GE
= = = = = = =
Nunavut’s radioactive issue
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/
7547_nunavuts_radioactive_issue/
Editorial, Nunatsiaq News, December 28, 2009
If the Nunavut land claims agreement actually worked the way its starry-eyed backers promised it would work nearly 20 years ago, there would be no need in Nunavut for a independent lobby group to scrutinize uranium exploration and mining.
But the public institutions and Inuit organizations set up to make the Nunavut land claims agreement work have so far failed in the performance of one of the land claim agreement’s primary tasks.
That task is to encourage the sustainable development of non-renewable resources: a form of economic development that serves human needs while, at the same time, ensuring the environmental damage caused by such development is kept to a minimum.
Because of a long series of foolish blunders, most committed within the past 10 years or so, no reasonable person can now claim that the environmental protection system laid out within the land claims agreement is capable of inspiring public confidence.
So it’s no surprise that this past November, a small group of Nunavut residents formed an independent pressure group called Nunavummiut Makitagunarningit.
This group’s stated objectives include the promotion of things that the Nunavut land claim agreement is supposed to provide for: community consultation, the protection of various imputed rights and the dissemination of information.
MORE:
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/
7547_nunavuts_radioactive_issue/
========================
3. AREVA confirms Greenpeace’s alarming radiation findings in Niger
http://weblog.greenpeace.org/nuclear-re ... s_ala.html
Greenpeace response
Tuesday January 5, 2010, following Greenpeace’s report of radioactive hotspots in the uranium mining city Akokan in Niger, AREVA has confirmed that the radioactivity in the streets of Akokan was unacceptably high. Under pressure from civil society the French nuclear company has taken action to clean up the spots indicated by Greenpeace. [1]
“Areva’s reaction supports our call for a comprehensive, transparent and independent environmental assessment of the area,” said Dr. Rianne Teule of Greenpeace International. “We are glad that the streets of Akokan have been partly cleaned up, but remain very concerned that other problems cannot be ruled out without a comprehensive study. Decades of uranium mining have created radioactive dangers to the
people of Akokan, a typical example of environmental and health threats posed by the nuclear industry.”
A Greenpeace team visited AREVA’s two uranium mines in Niger at the beginning of November 2009. [2] During this visit Greenpeace identified dangerous levels of radiation in the streets of Akokan, at one location up to 500 times higher than the normal background levels. [3] AREVA had earlier declared the streets safe. A comprehensive report on Greenpeace’s findings will be published in early 2010.
Contacts
Dr. Rianne Teule, Nuclear Campaigner, Greenpeace International
+31(0)650640961 rianne.teule@greenpeace.org
Notes
[1] See page 8 of
http://www.nigerdiaspora.net/journaux/s ... -12-09.pdf and
http://nigerdiaspora.info/index.php?option=
com_content&view=article&id=
3852:rapport-de-greenpeace-areva-niger-reagit&catid=37:ecolo
[2] The visit was prepared in collaboration with the French scientific laboratory CRIIRAD and ROTAB, a network of NGOs in Niger.
[3] Greenpeace briefing: ‘Uranium mines in Niger, radioactivity in the streets of Akokan’, November 2009. Available at
http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/
international/press/reports/briefing-radioactivity-in-ak.pdf
======================
4. DEADLINE: Feb. 01 - WMAN/IEN Grassroots Communities Mini-Grant Program
http://www.ienearth.org/docs/
Grassroots_Communities_MiniGrant_Description_and_Application.doc
NEXT DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 1, 2010
Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) and Western Mining Action Network (WMAN) Grassroots Communities Mining Mini-Grant Program
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.
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.
===========================
5. After Copenhagen: A New Year’s Resolution Worth Making - Harding
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=692
By Jim Harding
Saskatchewan Sustainability Published in R-Town News on Dec. 31.09
Was Copenhagen a predictable failure? Does it still present us with an opportunity to create a comprehensive, binding agreement that will redirect our development path away from the catastrophic, irreversible climate change brought on by the carbon-economy? It depends on what we now do, especially in the build-up to meetings in Mexico in 2010. And in the aftermath of Copenhagen, nowhere is there more need for “doing” than in Canada and Saskatchewan.
Copenhagen was an unprecedented gathering in the history of the human race. The process of weaning ourselves from the carbon-economy started when 172 countries met in Rio in 1992, and continued on with the Kyoto Accord in 1998. In Copenhagen 193 countries and 131 national leaders assembled to try to enact collective foresight. As Mexico’s President Calderon put it, this is “the only world we have”; then he asked if “we as a species are capable of meeting the challenge of climate change.” Contrast this with our Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, who initially refused to attend Copenhagen, and then reversed his position after President Obama announced his plan to go.
With two years of planning we might have expected the two-week Copenhagen meeting to iron out a substantive, enforceable treaty to replace the Kyoto Accord that expires in two years. But in the end, geo-politics trumped the stalled UN-led inter-governmental process, as President Obama held private meetings with China and other emerging carbon-economies to work out an Accord that ended up being begrudgingly accepted by the larger meeting. This may partly be a good thing as China and the US, just two of the 193 countries present, account for one-half of the globe’s greenhouse gases (GHGs), and neither backed the Kyoto Accord.
HUGE DISCREPANCIES
However, the discrepancy between the stated goals and actual pledges is enormous. There was agreement in principle to keep temperatures from rising 2 degrees C and to have global GHG emissions reduced by 2020. But there’s no binding mechanism, and if you look at the totally voluntary individual country commitments they simply don’t add up to achieving these goals. The Accord also includes a $30 billion fund to help developing countries convert to low-carbon technology, and a commitment to find $100 billion a year for this by 2020. This is far short of what the UN says will be required. Contrast this approach with the hundreds of billions of dollars so quickly found to bail out the banks during last year’s financial crisis.
This won’t be reassuring to the people of the Maldives whose island-home will surely sink below rising sea levels as glaciers worldwide continue to melt at rates exceeding the “worst case” scenarios of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The Maldives and other vulnerable countries pressed for keeping global temperature from rising above 1.5 degrees C, while the EU, the only region that will meeting its Kyoto targets, pushed for greater reductions of GHGs. The latest science seems to support them.
Canada’s contradictions are the worst on the planet. A fossil fuel defender and climate change sceptic at any cost, Harper abandoned Canada’s Kyoto commitment to reduce GHGs by 6% below 1990 levels by 2020. Noticeably hiding behind Environment Minister Jim Prentice at Copenhagen, Harper restated his goal of a 20% reduction from 2006 levels by 2020. This would allow a massive rise over 1990 levels, which is totally incompatible with the goals of the Copenhagen Accord, which Harper accepted.
CANADA’S UNTENABLE POSITION
The Globe and Mail’s Dec. 19th editorial highlighted Harper’s totally untenable position saying, “Canada’s unwillingness to do any work whatsoever was on full display at Copenhagen”, continuing, “The federal government seems unaware of the damage done to its reputation at Copenhagen.” It emphasized that “among developed countries Canada stood alone in its apparent apathy.”
This affects us all. Canada got the “Fossil of the Year” award from global environmental groups and some people have called for the expulsion of Canada from the Commonwealth, drawing an analogy with the expulsion of South Africa’s past apartheid regime. They say Canada is to climate change what South Africa was to systemic racism.
Saskatchewan’s Environment Minister Nancy Heppner was positive about the Copenhagen Accord without seeming to gather the huge discrepancy between the stated objectives and voluntary commitments. Saskatchewan has the exact same position as Harper’s government, committing only to a 20% reduction of GHGs from 2006 levels by 2020, amounting to a huge increase over 1990 levels. Meanwhile we have the highest per capita GHG emissions in all of Canada and, at 72 tonnes per person, we are 20 times the global average. Whether it is denial or short-term economic self-interest or a combination of these, we are now one of the environmental “bad guys”. The failings of our current political leadership are a challenge for our democracy to become more vibrant and bring Canada back to responsible behaviour within the international community. Copenhagen’s “failure” demands bottom-up democracy here, now.
One way to explain the discrepancy at Copenhagen is that scientists are saying one thing while politicians and taxpayers are saying something else; this is too simple. In our eagerness to play our role in averting irreversible climate disaster, the Canadian public is far ahead of the Harper and Wall governments. Over the last year we have strenuously debated nuclear power and, to its credit, the Saskatchewan government has now announced it will follow a non-nuclear energy policy. As we approach 2010 perhaps we can make a collective commitment to quickly steer our province to renewable energy and a sustainable economy, which will reduce our emissions and get us back on track with the human species. This is a New Year’s resolution worth making.
===========================
6. Now Available: NIRS Nuclear Power: The Critical Question
A Message from Michael Mariotte, Executive Director, NIRS (Nuclear Information and Research Service). http://www.nirs.org
Happy 2010!
To kick off this new year, we are pleased to present you with a very special issue of The Nuclear Monitor (issue # 700/701). Produced in cooperation with our friends at WISE (World Information Service on Energy) and WECF (Women in Europe for a Common Future), this 40-page booklet is titled Nuclear Power: The Critical Question.
First hand reports from the frontlines of the nuclear fuel chain.
We expect to have a very limited supply of hardcopies of this booklet; if you are interested in one, let us know. In addition, if you are interested in bulk copies, contact us and we can see about reprinting it.
Note that the cover and main body of the booklet are listed separately.
http://ccnr.org/WECF_6_final.pdf (1.28 MB)
http://ccnr.org/WECF_Cover_6.pdf (365 KB)
From all of us at Nuclear Information and Resource Service.
Michael Mariotte.
============================
7. MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!: 'Harper has hurt Canada's reputation', says Barlow
From: "Carleen Pickard" <cpickard@canadians.org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 05, 2010 8:45 AM
Please take action now, log into the Globe and Mail site and comment on Maude's opinion editorial which appears in the Globe and Mail today (also below):
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/
ashamed-to-wear-the-maple-leaf/article1418706/
Thanks, Carleen
Carleen Pickard
Director of Organizing/Council of Canadians
#700 - 170 Laurier Ave W Ottawa, ON K1P 5V5
t. 613.233.4487 x 223/1.800.387.7177
c. 613.301.8346
~ ~ ~ ~
VIEW: 'Harper has hurt Canada's reputation', says Barlow
From: bpatterson@canadians.org
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 2010 12:10:19
In an op-ed published in today's Globe and Mail, (Ashamed to wear the Maple Leaf:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/
ashamed-to-wear-the-maple-leaf/article1418706/)
Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow writes: As a new year and a new decade begin, it is time to accept an unpleasant reality: Canada's international reputation as a progressive middle power is gone. Instead, our country is increasingly seen as a human-rights-denying eco-outlaw that has lost its way and its special status as a standard bearer for a better world.
This change is largely the doing of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the ideology that has motivated him and his mentors for decades.
Let's start with the fact that while Canadians were resting over the holiday, Mr. Harper prorogued Parliament, thus cancelling the committee hearings into his government's handling of the Afghan detainee affair.
This move allowed the Prime Minister to duck allegations that Canadian troops turned over innocent civilians for torture at the hands of Afghan authorities as well as his government's shameful treatment of Canadian diplomat Richard Colvin, whose testimony before a House of Commons committee in November blew the issue into an international story and embarrassed Mr. Harper on the eve of his important first trip to China.
There are growing calls in Canada and internationally for an investigation into whether Canada has violated the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court by knowingly turning over civilians to torture, calls that the government hopes will get lost in the post-Olympic euphoria when Parliament resumes.
Proroguing Parliament also puts time and distance between the Prime Minister and his shameful performance at the December summit on climate change held in Copenhagen, where Canada was held up as an example of the worst practices. Not only is Canada among the top 10 greenhouse-gas emitters in the world, but it is the only country to ratify and then abandon the Kyoto Protocol, announcing weeks before the talks that it would be a failure.
MORE:
http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/opini ... ice=mobile
Brent Patterson
The Council of Canadians
www.canadians.org/campaignblog
===========================
8. VIEW: 'We must support a Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth', say Solón and Cullinan
From: <bpatterson@canadians.org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 05, 2010 7:40 AM
Pablo Solón, the Bolivian ambassador to the United Nations, and Cormac Cullinan, an environmental lawyer, write in the Huffington Post that, "For Bolivia, December marked an important and historic step forward in climate change politics."
They continue, "We are of course not referring to Brokenhagen, where we saw the worst of intransigent, undemocratic and cynical tactics from the world's largest emitters of carbon dioxide. The interesting action happened in a completely unreported event in New York when on 22 December, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution which put the issue of Mother Earth rights as an item on the UN agenda."
They write that an agreement in Copenhagen would have been flawed because, "the UN climate change framework does not deal with the root causes of climate change and the wider problem of environmental exploitation. ...The underlying cause is the belief that humans are separate from, and superior to, nature and that more is better."
"Bolivia's proposal for Rights for Mother Earth is therefore about tackling these fundamental underlying issues."
"On 22 April 2009 President Evo Morales Ayma of Bolivia called on the General Assembly of the United Nations to develop a Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth. ...The recent UN General Assembly resolution approved in December now calls on all countries and the Secretary General to share their experiences and perspectives on how to create 'harmony with nature.' In Bolivia, we hope to take this proposal forward in a People's Assembly on climate change that we are organizing on Mother Earth Day, 22 April 2010."
"If legal systems recognized the rights of other-than-human beings (e.g. mountains, rivers, forests and animals), courts and tribunals could deal with the fundamental issues of environmental contamination rather than being bogged down in the technical details of permitted pollutants and emissions."
"For example, a rights-based approach could evaluate whether the rights of humans to clear tropical forests for beef ranching should trump the right of species in those forests to continue to exist."
Their full commentary can be read at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pablo-eri ... 06547.html.
Additionally, to see an interview with Angelica Navarro, Bolivia’s chief climate negotiator at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen, who further discusses the rights of Mother Earth, go to http://bit.ly/6M52u4.
Brent Patterson
The Council of Canadians
www.canadians.org/campaignblog
==========================
9. Why Ecological Revolution? - John Bellamy Foster
http://monthlyreview.org/100101foster.php
03 Janeiro 2010
It is now universally recognized within science that humanity is confronting the prospect — if we do not soon change course — of a planetary ecological collapse. Not only is the global ecological crisis becoming more and more severe, with the time in which to address it fast running out, but the dominant environmental strategies are also forms of denial, demonstrably doomed to fail, judging by their own limited objectives. This tragic failure, I will argue, can be attributed to the refusal of the powers that be to address the roots of the ecological problem in capitalist production and the resulting necessity of ecological and social revolution.
The term “crisis,” attached to the global ecological problem, although unavoidable, is somewhat misleading, given its dominant economic associations. Since 2008, we have been living through a world economic crisis — the worst economic downturn since the 1930s. This has been a source of untold suffering for hundreds of millions, indeed billions, of people. But insofar as it is related to the business cycle and not to long-term factors, expectations are that it is temporary and will end, to be followed by a period of economic recovery and growth — until the advent of the next crisis. Capitalism is, in this sense, a crisis-ridden, cyclical economic system. Even if we were to go further, to conclude that the present crisis of accumulation is part of a long-term economic stagnation of the system — that is, a slowdown of the trend-rate of growth beyond the mere business cycle — we would still see this as a partial, historically limited calamity, raising, at most, the question of the future of the present system of production.1 (http://monthlyreview.org/100101foster.php#fn269)
When we speak today of the world ecological crisis, however, we are referring to something that could turn out to be final, i.e., there is a high probability, if we do not quickly change course, of a terminal crisis — a death of the whole anthropocene, the period of human dominance of the planet. Human actions are generating environmental changes that threaten the extermination of most species on the planet, along with civilization, and conceivably our own species as well.
MORE: http://monthlyreview.org/100101foster.php
==========================
10. 132 political scientists call for action on the democratic deficit
http://www.fairvote.ca/en/fvc-news/
132-political-scientists-call-for-action-on-democratic-deficit
Jan 5, 2010
As the controversy over the proroguing of Parliament continues, Fair Vote Canada announced today that 132 Canadian political scientists from 36 universities and colleges have co-signed a statement calling for federal electoral reform within the next five years.
Among the 132 political scientists signing the statement are 10 professors emerti, the President-elect of the Canadian Political Science Association (CPSA), six former presidents of CPSA, the current Secretary General of the International Political Science Association (IPSA) and a former Secretary General of IPSA.
“In recent days, editorial writers and political commentators have focused on the key role of the House of Commons – and opposition parties in particular – which is to hold the government to account,” said Bronwen Bruch, President of Fair Vote Canada, a national citizens’ campaign for electoral reform. “While we join those condemning the inappropriate shut-down of the Parliament, an even bigger obstacle to democratically accountable government is our antiquated voting system that creates an unrepresentative and unstable House of Commons. First-past-the-post usually creates either “majority” governments that the majority voted against, or unstable minority governments where any party nearing 40 per cent in the polls has incentive to pull the plug in hope of winning an undeserved majority of seats.”
The political scientists’ statement says:
Canada is now faced with a significant democracy deficit, illustrated by unstable short-sighted minority governments, superficial partisan posturing, steadily declining voter turnout and, most disturbing, an increasing majority of younger Canadians who see little value in voting or engaging in electoral politics.
As political scientists at Canadian universities and colleges across the country, we believe Canada can no longer afford to ignore the urgent need for electoral reform. We need an inclusive and functioning representative democracy based on a fair and proportional voting system.
We call on the Prime Minister and leaders of all parliamentary parties to set aside partisan interests and together support a substantive program to engage Canadians in a national discussion on: 1) fair voting principles – voter equality, proportional results and the formation of governments whose policies reflect the majority of voters, and 2) the various types of fair voting systems based on those principles.
We call on the government to engage experts, consult widely with citizens, and implement a Canadian version of a more proportional and fair voting system within the next five years.
The complete list of signers is available here.
MORE: http://www.fairvote.ca/en/fvc-news/
132-political-scientists-call-for-action-on-democratic-deficit
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9887
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
NUKE NEWS: Jan. 06.10
by Oscar » Wed Apr 21, 2010 8:08 am
NUKE NEWS: Jan. 06.10
Compilation:
1. Nine out of Ten are Opposed to Uranium Exploration in the Area of Sept-Iles
2. MiningWatch Canada Newsletter 27: Winter 2009-2010
3. Prorogation's silver lining - What died on the order paper
4. "Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament"
5. REVIEW: Avatar Pulls the Political Trigger
6. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) National Update
7. The International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health
8. Job Postings: CPAWS-SK Executive Director
9. LETTER: Shane: “The Economy”
10. The Sasquatch News – Dec. 2009/Jan. 2010 Issue Now Online!
===============================
1. Nine out of Ten are Opposed to Uranium Exploration in the Area of Sept-Iles
http://nordest.canoe.ca/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?
contentid=124005&id=1267&classif=Derni%E8re+heure
NICOLAS DUPONT, Actualité – January 4, 2010
(with rapid and unauthorized translations by G. Edwards)
Nine out of ten residents of Sept-Iles are opposed to uranium exploration in the area of the municipality. Those are the results of an opinion poll commissioned by the City.
The City of Sept-Iles today disclosed the results of the survey conducted by Léger Marketing which asked town residents their views about uranium exploration and mining. The results show that all respondents were aware of the uranium exploration project at Lake Kachiwiss.
The rate of disapproval was 91 percent. Of this number, 11 percent were somewhat opposed and 80 percent were totally opposed. The 9 percent who favoured the project gave economic reasons for their approval. Among the opponents, 79 percent were most concerned about negative health effects and 33 percent were more concerned about negative impacts on the environment.
“Now that the results have been tabulated” said the Mayor of Sept-Iles, Serge Lévesque, “Minister [of Natural Resources] Simard has everything he needs to take a decision. We have sent him these results. He has stated that there will be no project if the citizens of Sept-Iles do not want it. He now knows what the people want.”
MORE:
http://nordest.canoe.ca/webapp/sitepage ... E8re+heure
====================
Uranium: Sept-Iles Says No
http://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/est-quebec/
2010/01/04/009-uranium_sondage_sept_iles.shtml
Radio-Canada, January 4 2010
(with rapid and unauthorized translations by G. Edwards)
An opinion poll conducted by Léger Marketing for the City of Sept-Iles shows that 91 percent of its citizens are opposed to the development of the uranium deposits at Lake Kachiwiss. Those opposed are particularly concerned about harmful effects on their health and on the environment.
These unequivocal results will be very helpful to the municipality, according to Sept-Iles Mayor Serge Lévesque. “I believe these results confer an extra degree of credibility. If the Minister [of Natural Resources] wants to use them, he’s more than welcome to do so. The threats that this project could pose to health and to the environment has apparently trumped the potential economic benefits, which were largely unknown anyway. So people have chosen the safest path. And that’s quite understandable. It’s entirely legitimate,” he maintained.
Consequently, the City is sticking with its demand for a permanent prohibition – a position supported by 87 percent of the 1002 respondents. Nearly a third of them would prefer, however, to have a temporary moratorium, until new scientific studies have been carried out.
The margin of error in this poll is about 3.1 percent. The results have already been communicated to the Government of Quebec.
MORE:
http://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/est-quebec/
2010/01/04/009-uranium_sondage_sept_iles.shtml
=============================
2. MiningWatch Canada Newsletter 27: Winter 2009-2010
http://www.miningwatch.ca/en/newsletter ... -2009-2010
REMINDER: In addition to this more-or-less quarterly newsletter, MiningWatch Canada also offers direct e-mail subscription news and alerts:
- Sign up for daily news about mining activities in Canada and/or affecting Canadian communities, aboriginal peoples, and mineworkers at http://www.miningwatch.ca/subscribe2news
- Sign up for periodic news releases, alerts, and urgent actions at http://www.miningwatch.ca/subscribe2alerts
SHAMELESS PLEA: we can only keep doing this because people support our work with words,
action, -- and donations.
Please visit http://www.miningwatch.ca/en/donate to find out how you can contribute.
This publication can also be
- requested in a printed version,
- viewed as on-line articles with graphics and hyperlinks at
http://www.miningwatch.ca/en/newsletter ... -2009-2010,
and/or
- downloaded as a PDF file (422 kb) at
http://www.miningwatch.ca/sites/miningwatch.ca/files/
MWC_newsletter_27.pdf
Contents:
* Editorial Note: Apologies for the Hiatus
* MiningWatch Celebrates Ten Years of Making the Connections
* MiningWatch Intervenes in Federal Environmental Assessment of Controversial Prosperity Project
* Quebec Coalition Celebrates First Anniversary
* Ontario's New Mining Act Leaves Gaping Holes
* MiningWatch to Examine Quebec Uranium Project
* Bill C-300 - Private Members Bill Promotes Industry and Government Accountability
* The Government's New "CSR Counsellor" for the Extractive Sector
* The Cordillera del Condor - Ecuador and Peru Turn On Their Own Peoples
* Peru Declares War on Indigenous Peoples
* New Mining Law in Ecuador Challenged by Indigenous Peoples and Peasant Farmers
* Focus on Mining Giant Vale at World Social Forum
Jamie Kneen jamie@miningwatch.ca
Communications & Outreach Coordinator
MiningWatch Canada
http://www.miningwatch.ca
=====================================
3. Prorogation's silver lining - What died on the order paper
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 – By Stuart Trew
I think we can all agree that on measure, Harper’s prorogation of Parliament was vicious, cynical and anti-democratic. But maybe those who resolve to think more positively this year can find some comfort in what lousy laws fell off the order paper (and the private member’s bill that did not). In the first category are bills C-23 (the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement), C-46 and C-47 (lawful access aka RCMP Internet snooping), and C-60 (Shiprider). Surviving prorogation is Liberal MP John McKay’s Bill C-300, An Act respecting Corporate Accountability for the Activities of Mining, Oil or Gas in Developing Countries, or “the best chance we have as Canadians to assure that Canadian extractive companies follow human rights and environmental best practices when they operate overseas,” according to MiningWatch Canada.
C-23: The Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement
The Harper government has been unable to pass this FTA despite heroic efforts by Liberal Trade Critic Scott Brison to uncritically support it, and the disreputable Uribe government, in the House of Commons, in public, and behind the scenes among more skeptical Liberal colleagues. Before prorogation, Bill C-23 was stuck in second reading debate on NDP and Bloc motions that would remove the FTA from the House of Commons “because the government concluded this agreement while the Standing Committee on International Trade (CIIT) was considering the matter, thereby demonstrating its disrespect for democratic institutions.” Their work was complemented by a unified and still growing civil society opposition to free trade with Colombia. Ironically, Harper’s “disrespect for democratic institutions,” which is shared by the Uribe government, has sent C-23 back to first reading and we have a real opportunity to keep it out of the House until a proper Human Rights Impact Assessment can be carried out, as suggested by the CIIT in June 2008. The Honourable member from Kings-Hants must realize it’s the only democratic thing to do.
C-46 and C-47: Lawful Access Legislation
Taken together, these two security bills will obligate Internet service providers (ISPs) to build intercept capabilities onto their networks and make it much easier for police to require ISPs to disclose or preserve communications from a specific user, even without a warrant. Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan is playing the child pornography card to guarantee all-party support for the new measures but privacy groups, and the privacy commissioner, warn they may be excessive and even unnecessary.
“Though isolated anecdotes abound, and extreme incidents are generally referred to, no systematic case has yet been made that demonstrates a need to circumvent the current legal regime for judicial authorization to obtain personal information,” wrote Federal Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart in a letter to MPs last October. “Before all else, law enforcement and national security authorities need to explain how the current provisions on judicial warrants do not meet their needs.”
Stoddart also referred to the “downward movement from reasonable grounds to believe to reasonable grounds to suspect” in police production orders for personal online information, or “to no threshold of evidence at all” for subscriber data access. “In the case of Bill C-47, there is not even a requirement for the commission of a crime to justify access to personal information without a warrant. The onus lies with proponents of the legislation to demonstrate the need for lowered thresholds to obtain personal information.”
Various forms of this legislation have come and gone through Parliament, often sent back to square one during prorogation for elections or otherwise. It will be fiercely opposed when it is re-introduced after March.
C-60: Keeping Canadians Safe (Protecting Borders Act)
I’ve said all I can say about this security law that will deputize U.S. Homeland Security officers operating in shared waterways (and in pursuit on adjacent land) during designated border operations. As with bills C-46 and C-47, there appears to be no legitimate need to grant U.S. police extraordinary powers to detain, question or arrest on Canadian territory. The effort seems purely aimed at appeasing U.S. concerns about Canadian security practices and is another step towards a perimeter approach to ’securing’ North America as a whole. The Shiprider project, as it’s called, is already in effect on the Great Lakes and shared waters off the coast of B.C., although with C-60 off the order paper there is no legislative backing for the arrangement. U.S. police forces will be patrolling Canadian waterways on RCMP ships during the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Considering that the Shiprider arrangement grants these officers full policing powers “in every part of Canada” during designated operations, is there a possibility of deployment as far north as Whistler? Perhaps in this case, prorogation is a net loss because it denies Parliament the chance to debate the Shiprider project, which has been in development since 2005 — an outcome of the anti-democratic Security and Prosperity Partnership dialogue between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.
Bill C-300: Corporate Accountability for Mining and Resource Companies
There have been recently several high-profile cases of violence against anti-mining activists in Mexico and El Salvador related to Canadian mining operations in those countries. For instance, on November 27, Abarca Roblero, an activist against mining in Chicomuselo, Chiapas, was murdered after suffering threats, prison and violence due to his opposition to the mining activities of Calgary-based Blackfire Exploration. A month later, Dora Alicia Sorto Recinos, a 32-year-old farmer and active member of the Environmental Committee of Cabanas (CAC), a citizen group in opposition to Canadian mining company Pacific Rim’s proposed El Dorado gold mine, was shot and killed on her way home from doing laundry in a nearby river. The company is currently suing the government of El Salvador under the Central American Free Trade Agreement’s investor rights chapter due to delays in approving the El Dorado mine.
According to MiningWatch Canada, C-300:
- Would regulate the relationship between Canadian government agencies (Export Development Canada, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and the Canadian Pension Plan) and Canadian extractive companies operating in developing countries.
- Would create eligibility criteria (”guidelines that articulate corporate accountability standards”) for political and financial support that is provided to Canadian extractive companies by Export Development Canada, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and the Canadian Pension Plan.
- Would require that “guidelines that articulate corporate accountability standards” include the International Finance Corporation Performance Standards, related guidance notes, and Environmental Health and Safety General Guidelines; the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights; “human rights provisions that ensure corporations operate in a manner that is consistent with international human rights standards; and any other standard consistent with international human rights standards.”
- Would create a complaints mechanism where complaints are filed with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. If accepted, the complaint would lead to an investigation of a company’s compliance with the guidelines and a public report on findings within eight months of receipt of the complaint. A company may become ineligible for government support for as long as it is out of compliance with the guidelines.
Rather than dying on the order paper like the other bills mentioned here, according to the office of Liberal MP John McKay, who introduced the private members bill:
Bill C-300 will survive the prorogation of Parliament and retain the same bill number in the new session. It luckily escapes the fate of a number of other pieces of crucial legislation which died when Mr. Harper prorogued parliament. One impact prorogation will have on C-300 is that the Bill will return to the beginning of its current stage, in this case the committee stage. This means that members will have an additional 60 sitting days to consider the bill. Committee members do have the option though to use the testimony and evidence from the previous session rather repeating the process of hearing witnesses.
You can write to your MP supporting C-300 by using MiningWatch’s action alert.
So there you go — a little bit (a very little bit) of sunshine under the rain of Harper’s despotic reign. Here’s to a brand new year and a brand new start on some bad ‘old laws.
Stuart Trew
Council of Canadians
===========================
4. "Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament"
If you're on Facebook, you've no doubt seen the main group (there are a few smaller ones) called "Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament" which is here:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=260348091419
The group, which now has about 65,000 members is encouraging rallies in cities across the country on Saturday, January 23 to encourage parliamentarians to return to the House on January 25, as they had been scheduled to do prior to prorogation. So far the Liberals have said their MPs and Senators will return to work on the 25th as a symbolic gesture (Brent's blog on the issue is here:
http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=2618).
There are now subgroups (some of which don't have much information) in a number of cities in the Prairies, which can be found here:
Winnipeg, MB
http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref= ... 5343198311
Saskatoon, SK
http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref= ... 4977381210
Regina, SK
http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref= ... 3266656648
Calgary, AB
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=233912789510
Edmonton, AB
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=236454117347
===========================
5. REVIEW: Avatar Pulls the Political Trigger
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-carmichael/
iavatar-ipulls-the-politi_b_411936.html
Michael Carmichael Senior political consultant, historian, author and broadcaster.
Posted: January 5, 2010 Bloggers' Index
Avatar is a popular and commercial phenomenon soon to break through the most cherished barrier in Hollywood to become the top-grossing movie of all time. In doing so, Avatar's creator, James Cameron, will only be besting himself - for his earlier blockbuster, Titanic, currently occupies the sacred top box office slot.
But, this box office banter is perfectly trivial - isn't it?
The real question should surely be: Is Avatar more than a mere box office phenomenon? The simple answer is, "Yes, it is much more than a commercial phenomenon - Avatar is political dynamite."
While Hollywood regularly produces fine films with progressive themes, few of them ascend to box office nirvana. Here are a few cases in point: Milk; In the Valley of Elah; An Inconvenient Truth; Syriana, "W.", Good Night and Good Luck, Religulous and Rendition. All made their riveting political points then vanished into the yawning chasm of artistic achievement wrapped in the well-worn shroud of commercial obscurity.
While Avatar is being hailed as a breakthrough to new levels of filmic techno-sophistication - its 3D and special effects are wrapped around a scintillating story line that is driven by thermonuclear political intensity. Avatar is a hyper-political film from its gripping beginning to its illuminating end.
In a nutshell, Avatar's political message is: The American Military-Industrial Complex will utterly destroy the known universe. Avatar depicts a war in heaven - on a mythological planet named "Pandora" - where the cosmic box is opened to reveal that the evil demons set loose to destroy humanity are - us - the US of A. The evil Usses are, indeed, Us.
A brief recapitulation for anyone who has not yet seen the film: The US Military-Industrial Complex is hell-bent to colonize and mine Pandora for its rare extra-terrestrial element, Unobtainium, a mineral with anti-gravitational properties that will resolve the terminal decline of Earth and permit the colonization of more planets for the aggressive exploitation of the universe in pursuit of energy to fuel an endless cycle of extraction and consumption.
The characters of Avatar are archetypes. The protagonist is a paraplegic ex-Marine named Jake Sully who became paralyzed from the waist down like the heroic Ron Kovacs in some future US military intervention. Sully is proselytized into a high-level research program on a far-flung planet that will liberate him from his paralysis with occasional interludes as the mind of an avatar - a native of Pandora, a humanoid people, the Na'vi. On the distant planet, Jake Sully meets the lead scientist of the Avatar project, Dr. Grace Augustine, and her dual nemeses, Parker Selfridge, the corporate bureaucrat driving the mission to mine Unobtainium, and Miles Quaritch - the US military commander of the Pandora invasion.
Upon his formal implantation into his 10-foot tall blue-skinned Na'vi avatar, Jake Sully immediately falls into the vortex of the rapidly spiraling plot. Lost on Pandora and facing grave dangers, Jake meets his savior, Neytiry, the princess royal of the Omaticaya clan. Inevitably and against the will of the princess, Jake Sully is swept deeply into the Pandoran culture. This development pleases his immediate supervisor, Grace Augustine, and his ultimate commander, Miles Quaritch - but Jake's conversion to Pandoran Na'vi ultimately sets off apocalyptic repercussions that will threaten the existence of his mother planet, Earth.
The story is driven by the conflict in Jake's mind. Torn between his commitment to his human DNA and his longing for restorative surgery to regain the use of his body, Jake finds liberation as a Na'vi warrior who dives deeply into the indigenous aboriginal culture of animism and the unadulterated exaltation of Nature. The Omaticaya dwell in a veritable paradise of a planet-girdling rainforest where trees provide the skeletal infrastructure for their naturalistic civilization.
The clash of civilizations results in a Gotterdammerung of the terrestrials. Miles Quaritch is the last surviving American soldier
in the decisive battle, and Neytirry slays him with two arrows shot straight into his heart.
The final sequence depicts the forlorn retreat of the remnant of the American forces including Parker Selfridge (presaging a sequel) followed by the final excavation of the mind of Jake Sully and its permanent implantation into his avatar - his Na'vi body.
After the release of Avatar, the American right suffered a massive attack of apoplexy. While many right wing critics have panned the film as flawed for its sacrilegious message as the triumph of Animists and Druids over Christian Soldiers, Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist, declaims Avatar as a plot to install world government via the "phoney" environmental crisis. While Avatar is grist for the right-wing mill, it is honey to the ears of the progressive trend.
On New Year's Eve while vacationing with his family on Oahu, President Obama and his family were privileged with a private
screening of Avatar. The paparazzi will now be placed on alert for the presence of Zoe Saldana who played Neytirry on the White House guest list.
Avatar is powerful art. The finest movies, films and cinema are transformational. They reveal something deep about ourselves. Avatar pulls the political trigger and transforms each of us - one by one - in our multitudes. Let's look forward to the sequel sometime in say - December, 2011 on the eve of the Mayan Apocalypse of 2012 - and the next presidential election. Oh yes, for its excellence, innovation and artistic originality - Avatar should sweep the Oscars, but right-wing knives are already out and operating on its anti-American godlessness.
Follow Michael Carmichael on Twitter:
www.twitter.com/alchemistoxford
=====================
6. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) National Update
January 06, 2010
Dear Friends and Members,
Happy New Year!
The Centre started off the new year with the release of Hugh Mackenzie's latest report on executive compensation. The total average compensation for Canada's 100 highest paid CEOs was $7,352,895 in 2008—a stark contrast from the total average Canadian income of $42,305. They pocketed what takes Canadians earning an average income an entire year to make by 1:01 pm January 4—the first working day of the year.
Click here to read more and download the full report.
Click here to use our CEO pay calculator to find out how quickly a top CEO will earn your salary.
Also, as we get closer to the 2010 Winter Olympics, many people have questions about how the games will affect not only British Columbia, but Canada as a whole. The CCPA has been publishing studies and commentary about the 2010 Olympics since 2003. We've compiled a list of our Olympics-related publications to help Canadians learn more about the economic and social impact of the upcoming Winter Games.
All the best,
Bruce Campbell, Executive Director
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
410-75 Albert Street, Ottawa, ON K1P 5E7
tel: 613-563-1341 fax: 613-233-1458
email: info@policyalternatives.ca
http://www.policyalternatives.ca
================================
7. The International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health
The International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health has just published its latest issue at www.ijoeh.com.
We invite you to review the Table of Contents here and then visit our web site to review articles and items of interest.
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Assessing Agreement of Self-reported and Observed Physical Exposures of the Upper Extremity - Ann Marie Dale, Jaime Strickland, Bethany Gardner, Juergen Symanzik, Bradley Allen Evanoff
Why Don’t Pesticide Applicators Protect Themselves? Exploring the Use of Personal Protective Equipment among Colombian Smallholders - Giuseppe Feola, Claudia R. Binder
Double Standards and the International Trade of Pesticides: The Brazilian Case - Marcelo Firpo Porto, Bruno Milanez, Wagner Lopes Soares, Armando Meyer
Epidemiological Surveillance of Informal Workers’ Health in Two Cities in Southeastern Brazil: The Experience of the TRAPP-TRAPPURA Projects -
Heleno Rodrigues Correa-Filho, Luciana Cugliari, Aidê A. Coelho dos Santos Gaspar, José Fernando Loureiro, Carlos Eduardo Siqueira
Lower Respiratory Symptoms among Residents Living Near the World Trade Center, Two and Four Years after 9/11 - Shao Lin, Rena Jones, Joan Reibman, Dale Morse, Syni-An Hwang
Hospital Workers’ Awareness of Health and Environmental Impacts of Poor Clinical Waste Disposal in the Northwest Region of Cameroon -
Peter Ikome Kuwoh Mochungong, Gabriel Gulis, Morten Sodemann
Associations of Fertility and Pregnancy Outcomes with Leather Tannery Work in Mongolia: A Pilot Study - Leslie Erin Greene, Anne M. Riederer, Michele Marcus, Oyuntogos Lkhasuren
Rubberwood Dust and Lung Function among Thai Furniture Factory Workers - Anamai Thetkathuek, Tanongsak Yingratanasuk, Paul A. Demers, Phayong Thepaksorn, Sastri Saowakhontha, Matthew C. Kiefer
Temporal and Demographic Patterns of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Incidence in Pennsylvania - Yueh-Ying Han, Gregg E. Dinse, Devra L. Davis
BOOK REVIEW
Environmental Unions: Labor and the Superfund, by Craig Slatin - Bill Jirles
COMMENTARY
Libby Trial Ends But Asbestos Hazards Remain in Buildings - Perry Gottesfeld
Inadequate Toxicity Tests of Food Additive Acesulfame - Myra Karstadt
NIOSH HEALTH HAZARD EVALUATION ABSTRACTS
New Reports from the NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluation Program
LETTERS
Basic Occupational Health Service and Stakeholders’ Participation - Yonghua He, Youxin Liang, Xiaorong Wang
Chronic Pleuritic Pain and the Inhalation of Taconite Fibers - Albert Miller
“Swine Abattoir Workers Exposed to Aerosolized Porcine Brains”: Will We Ever Learn? - Morris Greenberg
Thank you for your readership,
Susanna Rankin Bohme, Ph.D.
Deputy Editor
International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health
8 North Main St., Suite 404
Attleboro, MA 02703
508-226-5091x12
=============================
8. Job Postings: CPAWS-SK Executive Director
The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) is seeking an Executive Director for its Saskatchewan Chapter.
CPAWS is dedicated to protecting wild ecosystems and to promoting awareness and understanding of ecological principles within those ecosystems. CPAWS works both cooperatively in multi-stakeholder processes and with individuals to achieve these goals.
As the Executive Director, the successful candidate will be responsible for the overall leadership of CPAWS Saskatchewan (CPAWS-SK). Reporting to the Board of Directors, the Executive Director will:
Generate and carry out projects and campaign activities as approved by the CPAWS-SK Board of Directors.
Engage with governments, First Nations, local communities, progressive industries and other environmental organizations on a regular basis to negotiate “wins” for conservation.
Develop and implement fundraising strategies that will secure funds to finance CPAWS-SK campaign activities and CPAWS-SK overhead expenses.
Oversee Chapter budgeting.
Oversee liaison activities with CPAWS National.
Manage the day – to – day operations of CPAWS-SK.
Assist with the planning, preparation and execution of board meetings.
Qualifications:
The successful candidate will demonstrate adequate education, experience and skills to successfully perform the duties of the chapter Executive Director.
The successful candidate will possess:
Demonstrated experience in a leadership capacity
Undergraduate Degree in a related discipline or equivalent experience
Personnel, budget, time, and project management expertise
Fundraising, communications, and marketing savvy
Public speaking and presentation skills
Substantial knowledge of environmental issues both provincially and nationally
Computer skills
Ability to travel
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
Verifiable record of successfully completed projects
Ability to build and maintain partnerships with governmental agencies and non-governmental agencies
Ability to work out of a home office
The following experience would be considered an asset:
Experience working with First Nations communities in northern Saskatchewan
A demonstrated understanding of the forestry and/or energy sectors
This is a half-time (20 hours / week) position, with the possibility to evolve into a full time position depending on funding availability, offering an excellent opportunity to give wilderness a voice in the Saskatchewan landscape at a time of economic growth and political change. If you are interested in and passionate about contributing to the conservation of our environment, please submit your resume and cover letter (indicate your salary expectation in the cover letter) to info@cpaws-sask.org on or before January 7, 2010. Those candidates selected for further screening will be contacted in January 2010. For more information on CPAWS, go to www.cpaws.org .
===========================
9. LETTER: Shane: “The Economy”
From: Shane in Wpg
To: To. Star
Sent: Wednesday, January 06, 2010 1:21 PM
Subject: "The economy"
The Editor, Toronto Star
Dear sir:
It is not difficult to be distrustful of the Federal government, especially with Harper's recent insults to democracy and the intelligence of Canadians. However, his responses to criticism seem to go virtually unchallenged. Harper continuously uses the words "the economy" with very little critical argument from his critics. We all know Harper includes the Tar Sands and all the industries dependent on it; the Military-Industrial; industries that provide technologies and munitions to the wars around the globe; the Nuclear Power industry and the uninhibited proliferation of technologies that contribute directly to the spread of military nuclear capabilities around the globe; and of course our international mining and resource industries that perpetrate human rights abuse, and pollute, desecrate, and abuse the environment overseas - in his concept of "the economy".
But what the Canadian public hears is 'My Job'.
It is time the media started using specific industries and specific examples when Harper uses his euphemisms and co-opted terminologies to justify his policies.
For example, I'm quite sure the workers in the Nuclear Industry would sleep happier if their jobs were shifted to developing green technologies that would not threaten our existence on this planet. Imagine if the Federal Government had invested as much money into the development of LED technologies as it has put into the nuclear industry..... We would be saving more electricity today than our nuclear reactors produce. We would need far less electricity than we are already producing.
Harper is not interested in the future of Canada or Canadian industry. He is interested in protecting the interests of his backers, the majority of which are part of the established resource-energy-military industries. So when he uses the words 'the economy', he is speaking with forked tongue. On the one hand, he is cynically threatening Canadians with their jobs, while on the other he is covertly supporting the industries that will eventually destroy the planet...and even his obscenely rich elitist friends.
But I reiterate: Until the media exposes this fraud for what it is, the public will continue to be cowed into subservience.
Shane Nestruck
381 Arnold Ave.
Winnipeg, MB
204-510-8828
shanedn@mts.net
'The Carbon Economy' is a false god!'
============================
10. The Sasquatch News – Dec. 2009/Jan. 2010 Issue Now Online!
http://sasquatchnews.com/
Much like the mythical sasquatch, the public-interest role of the media in Saskatchewan has been driven into the wilds. We only catch glimpses of it now and then; people barely know what it looks like anymore or how much our democracy suffers without it. An intrepid few, though, believe that public-interest journalism still thrives in the wilds, and that it can be returned to the towns and cities of this province for the benefit of all. Join us in our hunt for the elusive sasquatch of independent journalism!
The Sasquatch is a non-profit, independent Saskatchewan newspaper that covers issues and current events with a commitment to promoting the public interest and fostering democratic debate.
Published by the folks who bring you Briarpatch Magazine, The Sasquatch aims to expand the range of debate on important issues facing Saskatchewan. By enhancing local news coverage across the province, we hope to help create a democratic forum where Saskatchewan residents feel both empowered and inspired to bring about progressive social and environmental change.
The Sasquatch publishes online and in print, with print editions coming out every 6 weeks.
As a grassroots, volunteer-driven effort, The Sasquatch thrives on your support. Please consider subscribing, donating or submitting content.
Resume browsing.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Sasquatch News - Dec. 2009/Jan. 2010
This time The Sasquatch is full to the brim with too much of everything: too much red tape restricting our access to information; an overwhelming prairie cherry surplus; an oversupply of hogs; politicians who are obsessed with job creation; and too much carbon in the air.
So sit back, read and enjoy. Then pick up your pen or open your email and let us know what you think.
And don’t forget to join us in the social networking world — we’ve got Facebook and Twitter to help keep you up to date.
To subscribe or order a copy of this issue, call 1-866-431-5777 or visit our secure online shop.
Compilation:
1. Nine out of Ten are Opposed to Uranium Exploration in the Area of Sept-Iles
2. MiningWatch Canada Newsletter 27: Winter 2009-2010
3. Prorogation's silver lining - What died on the order paper
4. "Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament"
5. REVIEW: Avatar Pulls the Political Trigger
6. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) National Update
7. The International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health
8. Job Postings: CPAWS-SK Executive Director
9. LETTER: Shane: “The Economy”
10. The Sasquatch News – Dec. 2009/Jan. 2010 Issue Now Online!
===============================
1. Nine out of Ten are Opposed to Uranium Exploration in the Area of Sept-Iles
http://nordest.canoe.ca/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?
contentid=124005&id=1267&classif=Derni%E8re+heure
NICOLAS DUPONT, Actualité – January 4, 2010
(with rapid and unauthorized translations by G. Edwards)
Nine out of ten residents of Sept-Iles are opposed to uranium exploration in the area of the municipality. Those are the results of an opinion poll commissioned by the City.
The City of Sept-Iles today disclosed the results of the survey conducted by Léger Marketing which asked town residents their views about uranium exploration and mining. The results show that all respondents were aware of the uranium exploration project at Lake Kachiwiss.
The rate of disapproval was 91 percent. Of this number, 11 percent were somewhat opposed and 80 percent were totally opposed. The 9 percent who favoured the project gave economic reasons for their approval. Among the opponents, 79 percent were most concerned about negative health effects and 33 percent were more concerned about negative impacts on the environment.
“Now that the results have been tabulated” said the Mayor of Sept-Iles, Serge Lévesque, “Minister [of Natural Resources] Simard has everything he needs to take a decision. We have sent him these results. He has stated that there will be no project if the citizens of Sept-Iles do not want it. He now knows what the people want.”
MORE:
http://nordest.canoe.ca/webapp/sitepage ... E8re+heure
====================
Uranium: Sept-Iles Says No
http://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/est-quebec/
2010/01/04/009-uranium_sondage_sept_iles.shtml
Radio-Canada, January 4 2010
(with rapid and unauthorized translations by G. Edwards)
An opinion poll conducted by Léger Marketing for the City of Sept-Iles shows that 91 percent of its citizens are opposed to the development of the uranium deposits at Lake Kachiwiss. Those opposed are particularly concerned about harmful effects on their health and on the environment.
These unequivocal results will be very helpful to the municipality, according to Sept-Iles Mayor Serge Lévesque. “I believe these results confer an extra degree of credibility. If the Minister [of Natural Resources] wants to use them, he’s more than welcome to do so. The threats that this project could pose to health and to the environment has apparently trumped the potential economic benefits, which were largely unknown anyway. So people have chosen the safest path. And that’s quite understandable. It’s entirely legitimate,” he maintained.
Consequently, the City is sticking with its demand for a permanent prohibition – a position supported by 87 percent of the 1002 respondents. Nearly a third of them would prefer, however, to have a temporary moratorium, until new scientific studies have been carried out.
The margin of error in this poll is about 3.1 percent. The results have already been communicated to the Government of Quebec.
MORE:
http://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/est-quebec/
2010/01/04/009-uranium_sondage_sept_iles.shtml
=============================
2. MiningWatch Canada Newsletter 27: Winter 2009-2010
http://www.miningwatch.ca/en/newsletter ... -2009-2010
REMINDER: In addition to this more-or-less quarterly newsletter, MiningWatch Canada also offers direct e-mail subscription news and alerts:
- Sign up for daily news about mining activities in Canada and/or affecting Canadian communities, aboriginal peoples, and mineworkers at http://www.miningwatch.ca/subscribe2news
- Sign up for periodic news releases, alerts, and urgent actions at http://www.miningwatch.ca/subscribe2alerts
SHAMELESS PLEA: we can only keep doing this because people support our work with words,
action, -- and donations.
Please visit http://www.miningwatch.ca/en/donate to find out how you can contribute.
This publication can also be
- requested in a printed version,
- viewed as on-line articles with graphics and hyperlinks at
http://www.miningwatch.ca/en/newsletter ... -2009-2010,
and/or
- downloaded as a PDF file (422 kb) at
http://www.miningwatch.ca/sites/miningwatch.ca/files/
MWC_newsletter_27.pdf
Contents:
* Editorial Note: Apologies for the Hiatus
* MiningWatch Celebrates Ten Years of Making the Connections
* MiningWatch Intervenes in Federal Environmental Assessment of Controversial Prosperity Project
* Quebec Coalition Celebrates First Anniversary
* Ontario's New Mining Act Leaves Gaping Holes
* MiningWatch to Examine Quebec Uranium Project
* Bill C-300 - Private Members Bill Promotes Industry and Government Accountability
* The Government's New "CSR Counsellor" for the Extractive Sector
* The Cordillera del Condor - Ecuador and Peru Turn On Their Own Peoples
* Peru Declares War on Indigenous Peoples
* New Mining Law in Ecuador Challenged by Indigenous Peoples and Peasant Farmers
* Focus on Mining Giant Vale at World Social Forum
Jamie Kneen jamie@miningwatch.ca
Communications & Outreach Coordinator
MiningWatch Canada
http://www.miningwatch.ca
=====================================
3. Prorogation's silver lining - What died on the order paper
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 – By Stuart Trew
I think we can all agree that on measure, Harper’s prorogation of Parliament was vicious, cynical and anti-democratic. But maybe those who resolve to think more positively this year can find some comfort in what lousy laws fell off the order paper (and the private member’s bill that did not). In the first category are bills C-23 (the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement), C-46 and C-47 (lawful access aka RCMP Internet snooping), and C-60 (Shiprider). Surviving prorogation is Liberal MP John McKay’s Bill C-300, An Act respecting Corporate Accountability for the Activities of Mining, Oil or Gas in Developing Countries, or “the best chance we have as Canadians to assure that Canadian extractive companies follow human rights and environmental best practices when they operate overseas,” according to MiningWatch Canada.
C-23: The Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement
The Harper government has been unable to pass this FTA despite heroic efforts by Liberal Trade Critic Scott Brison to uncritically support it, and the disreputable Uribe government, in the House of Commons, in public, and behind the scenes among more skeptical Liberal colleagues. Before prorogation, Bill C-23 was stuck in second reading debate on NDP and Bloc motions that would remove the FTA from the House of Commons “because the government concluded this agreement while the Standing Committee on International Trade (CIIT) was considering the matter, thereby demonstrating its disrespect for democratic institutions.” Their work was complemented by a unified and still growing civil society opposition to free trade with Colombia. Ironically, Harper’s “disrespect for democratic institutions,” which is shared by the Uribe government, has sent C-23 back to first reading and we have a real opportunity to keep it out of the House until a proper Human Rights Impact Assessment can be carried out, as suggested by the CIIT in June 2008. The Honourable member from Kings-Hants must realize it’s the only democratic thing to do.
C-46 and C-47: Lawful Access Legislation
Taken together, these two security bills will obligate Internet service providers (ISPs) to build intercept capabilities onto their networks and make it much easier for police to require ISPs to disclose or preserve communications from a specific user, even without a warrant. Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan is playing the child pornography card to guarantee all-party support for the new measures but privacy groups, and the privacy commissioner, warn they may be excessive and even unnecessary.
“Though isolated anecdotes abound, and extreme incidents are generally referred to, no systematic case has yet been made that demonstrates a need to circumvent the current legal regime for judicial authorization to obtain personal information,” wrote Federal Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart in a letter to MPs last October. “Before all else, law enforcement and national security authorities need to explain how the current provisions on judicial warrants do not meet their needs.”
Stoddart also referred to the “downward movement from reasonable grounds to believe to reasonable grounds to suspect” in police production orders for personal online information, or “to no threshold of evidence at all” for subscriber data access. “In the case of Bill C-47, there is not even a requirement for the commission of a crime to justify access to personal information without a warrant. The onus lies with proponents of the legislation to demonstrate the need for lowered thresholds to obtain personal information.”
Various forms of this legislation have come and gone through Parliament, often sent back to square one during prorogation for elections or otherwise. It will be fiercely opposed when it is re-introduced after March.
C-60: Keeping Canadians Safe (Protecting Borders Act)
I’ve said all I can say about this security law that will deputize U.S. Homeland Security officers operating in shared waterways (and in pursuit on adjacent land) during designated border operations. As with bills C-46 and C-47, there appears to be no legitimate need to grant U.S. police extraordinary powers to detain, question or arrest on Canadian territory. The effort seems purely aimed at appeasing U.S. concerns about Canadian security practices and is another step towards a perimeter approach to ’securing’ North America as a whole. The Shiprider project, as it’s called, is already in effect on the Great Lakes and shared waters off the coast of B.C., although with C-60 off the order paper there is no legislative backing for the arrangement. U.S. police forces will be patrolling Canadian waterways on RCMP ships during the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Considering that the Shiprider arrangement grants these officers full policing powers “in every part of Canada” during designated operations, is there a possibility of deployment as far north as Whistler? Perhaps in this case, prorogation is a net loss because it denies Parliament the chance to debate the Shiprider project, which has been in development since 2005 — an outcome of the anti-democratic Security and Prosperity Partnership dialogue between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.
Bill C-300: Corporate Accountability for Mining and Resource Companies
There have been recently several high-profile cases of violence against anti-mining activists in Mexico and El Salvador related to Canadian mining operations in those countries. For instance, on November 27, Abarca Roblero, an activist against mining in Chicomuselo, Chiapas, was murdered after suffering threats, prison and violence due to his opposition to the mining activities of Calgary-based Blackfire Exploration. A month later, Dora Alicia Sorto Recinos, a 32-year-old farmer and active member of the Environmental Committee of Cabanas (CAC), a citizen group in opposition to Canadian mining company Pacific Rim’s proposed El Dorado gold mine, was shot and killed on her way home from doing laundry in a nearby river. The company is currently suing the government of El Salvador under the Central American Free Trade Agreement’s investor rights chapter due to delays in approving the El Dorado mine.
According to MiningWatch Canada, C-300:
- Would regulate the relationship between Canadian government agencies (Export Development Canada, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and the Canadian Pension Plan) and Canadian extractive companies operating in developing countries.
- Would create eligibility criteria (”guidelines that articulate corporate accountability standards”) for political and financial support that is provided to Canadian extractive companies by Export Development Canada, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and the Canadian Pension Plan.
- Would require that “guidelines that articulate corporate accountability standards” include the International Finance Corporation Performance Standards, related guidance notes, and Environmental Health and Safety General Guidelines; the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights; “human rights provisions that ensure corporations operate in a manner that is consistent with international human rights standards; and any other standard consistent with international human rights standards.”
- Would create a complaints mechanism where complaints are filed with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. If accepted, the complaint would lead to an investigation of a company’s compliance with the guidelines and a public report on findings within eight months of receipt of the complaint. A company may become ineligible for government support for as long as it is out of compliance with the guidelines.
Rather than dying on the order paper like the other bills mentioned here, according to the office of Liberal MP John McKay, who introduced the private members bill:
Bill C-300 will survive the prorogation of Parliament and retain the same bill number in the new session. It luckily escapes the fate of a number of other pieces of crucial legislation which died when Mr. Harper prorogued parliament. One impact prorogation will have on C-300 is that the Bill will return to the beginning of its current stage, in this case the committee stage. This means that members will have an additional 60 sitting days to consider the bill. Committee members do have the option though to use the testimony and evidence from the previous session rather repeating the process of hearing witnesses.
You can write to your MP supporting C-300 by using MiningWatch’s action alert.
So there you go — a little bit (a very little bit) of sunshine under the rain of Harper’s despotic reign. Here’s to a brand new year and a brand new start on some bad ‘old laws.
Stuart Trew
Council of Canadians
===========================
4. "Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament"
If you're on Facebook, you've no doubt seen the main group (there are a few smaller ones) called "Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament" which is here:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=260348091419
The group, which now has about 65,000 members is encouraging rallies in cities across the country on Saturday, January 23 to encourage parliamentarians to return to the House on January 25, as they had been scheduled to do prior to prorogation. So far the Liberals have said their MPs and Senators will return to work on the 25th as a symbolic gesture (Brent's blog on the issue is here:
http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=2618).
There are now subgroups (some of which don't have much information) in a number of cities in the Prairies, which can be found here:
Winnipeg, MB
http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref= ... 5343198311
Saskatoon, SK
http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref= ... 4977381210
Regina, SK
http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref= ... 3266656648
Calgary, AB
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=233912789510
Edmonton, AB
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=236454117347
===========================
5. REVIEW: Avatar Pulls the Political Trigger
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-carmichael/
iavatar-ipulls-the-politi_b_411936.html
Michael Carmichael Senior political consultant, historian, author and broadcaster.
Posted: January 5, 2010 Bloggers' Index
Avatar is a popular and commercial phenomenon soon to break through the most cherished barrier in Hollywood to become the top-grossing movie of all time. In doing so, Avatar's creator, James Cameron, will only be besting himself - for his earlier blockbuster, Titanic, currently occupies the sacred top box office slot.
But, this box office banter is perfectly trivial - isn't it?
The real question should surely be: Is Avatar more than a mere box office phenomenon? The simple answer is, "Yes, it is much more than a commercial phenomenon - Avatar is political dynamite."
While Hollywood regularly produces fine films with progressive themes, few of them ascend to box office nirvana. Here are a few cases in point: Milk; In the Valley of Elah; An Inconvenient Truth; Syriana, "W.", Good Night and Good Luck, Religulous and Rendition. All made their riveting political points then vanished into the yawning chasm of artistic achievement wrapped in the well-worn shroud of commercial obscurity.
While Avatar is being hailed as a breakthrough to new levels of filmic techno-sophistication - its 3D and special effects are wrapped around a scintillating story line that is driven by thermonuclear political intensity. Avatar is a hyper-political film from its gripping beginning to its illuminating end.
In a nutshell, Avatar's political message is: The American Military-Industrial Complex will utterly destroy the known universe. Avatar depicts a war in heaven - on a mythological planet named "Pandora" - where the cosmic box is opened to reveal that the evil demons set loose to destroy humanity are - us - the US of A. The evil Usses are, indeed, Us.
A brief recapitulation for anyone who has not yet seen the film: The US Military-Industrial Complex is hell-bent to colonize and mine Pandora for its rare extra-terrestrial element, Unobtainium, a mineral with anti-gravitational properties that will resolve the terminal decline of Earth and permit the colonization of more planets for the aggressive exploitation of the universe in pursuit of energy to fuel an endless cycle of extraction and consumption.
The characters of Avatar are archetypes. The protagonist is a paraplegic ex-Marine named Jake Sully who became paralyzed from the waist down like the heroic Ron Kovacs in some future US military intervention. Sully is proselytized into a high-level research program on a far-flung planet that will liberate him from his paralysis with occasional interludes as the mind of an avatar - a native of Pandora, a humanoid people, the Na'vi. On the distant planet, Jake Sully meets the lead scientist of the Avatar project, Dr. Grace Augustine, and her dual nemeses, Parker Selfridge, the corporate bureaucrat driving the mission to mine Unobtainium, and Miles Quaritch - the US military commander of the Pandora invasion.
Upon his formal implantation into his 10-foot tall blue-skinned Na'vi avatar, Jake Sully immediately falls into the vortex of the rapidly spiraling plot. Lost on Pandora and facing grave dangers, Jake meets his savior, Neytiry, the princess royal of the Omaticaya clan. Inevitably and against the will of the princess, Jake Sully is swept deeply into the Pandoran culture. This development pleases his immediate supervisor, Grace Augustine, and his ultimate commander, Miles Quaritch - but Jake's conversion to Pandoran Na'vi ultimately sets off apocalyptic repercussions that will threaten the existence of his mother planet, Earth.
The story is driven by the conflict in Jake's mind. Torn between his commitment to his human DNA and his longing for restorative surgery to regain the use of his body, Jake finds liberation as a Na'vi warrior who dives deeply into the indigenous aboriginal culture of animism and the unadulterated exaltation of Nature. The Omaticaya dwell in a veritable paradise of a planet-girdling rainforest where trees provide the skeletal infrastructure for their naturalistic civilization.
The clash of civilizations results in a Gotterdammerung of the terrestrials. Miles Quaritch is the last surviving American soldier
in the decisive battle, and Neytirry slays him with two arrows shot straight into his heart.
The final sequence depicts the forlorn retreat of the remnant of the American forces including Parker Selfridge (presaging a sequel) followed by the final excavation of the mind of Jake Sully and its permanent implantation into his avatar - his Na'vi body.
After the release of Avatar, the American right suffered a massive attack of apoplexy. While many right wing critics have panned the film as flawed for its sacrilegious message as the triumph of Animists and Druids over Christian Soldiers, Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist, declaims Avatar as a plot to install world government via the "phoney" environmental crisis. While Avatar is grist for the right-wing mill, it is honey to the ears of the progressive trend.
On New Year's Eve while vacationing with his family on Oahu, President Obama and his family were privileged with a private
screening of Avatar. The paparazzi will now be placed on alert for the presence of Zoe Saldana who played Neytirry on the White House guest list.
Avatar is powerful art. The finest movies, films and cinema are transformational. They reveal something deep about ourselves. Avatar pulls the political trigger and transforms each of us - one by one - in our multitudes. Let's look forward to the sequel sometime in say - December, 2011 on the eve of the Mayan Apocalypse of 2012 - and the next presidential election. Oh yes, for its excellence, innovation and artistic originality - Avatar should sweep the Oscars, but right-wing knives are already out and operating on its anti-American godlessness.
Follow Michael Carmichael on Twitter:
www.twitter.com/alchemistoxford
=====================
6. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) National Update
January 06, 2010
Dear Friends and Members,
Happy New Year!
The Centre started off the new year with the release of Hugh Mackenzie's latest report on executive compensation. The total average compensation for Canada's 100 highest paid CEOs was $7,352,895 in 2008—a stark contrast from the total average Canadian income of $42,305. They pocketed what takes Canadians earning an average income an entire year to make by 1:01 pm January 4—the first working day of the year.
Click here to read more and download the full report.
Click here to use our CEO pay calculator to find out how quickly a top CEO will earn your salary.
Also, as we get closer to the 2010 Winter Olympics, many people have questions about how the games will affect not only British Columbia, but Canada as a whole. The CCPA has been publishing studies and commentary about the 2010 Olympics since 2003. We've compiled a list of our Olympics-related publications to help Canadians learn more about the economic and social impact of the upcoming Winter Games.
All the best,
Bruce Campbell, Executive Director
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
410-75 Albert Street, Ottawa, ON K1P 5E7
tel: 613-563-1341 fax: 613-233-1458
email: info@policyalternatives.ca
http://www.policyalternatives.ca
================================
7. The International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health
The International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health has just published its latest issue at www.ijoeh.com.
We invite you to review the Table of Contents here and then visit our web site to review articles and items of interest.
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Assessing Agreement of Self-reported and Observed Physical Exposures of the Upper Extremity - Ann Marie Dale, Jaime Strickland, Bethany Gardner, Juergen Symanzik, Bradley Allen Evanoff
Why Don’t Pesticide Applicators Protect Themselves? Exploring the Use of Personal Protective Equipment among Colombian Smallholders - Giuseppe Feola, Claudia R. Binder
Double Standards and the International Trade of Pesticides: The Brazilian Case - Marcelo Firpo Porto, Bruno Milanez, Wagner Lopes Soares, Armando Meyer
Epidemiological Surveillance of Informal Workers’ Health in Two Cities in Southeastern Brazil: The Experience of the TRAPP-TRAPPURA Projects -
Heleno Rodrigues Correa-Filho, Luciana Cugliari, Aidê A. Coelho dos Santos Gaspar, José Fernando Loureiro, Carlos Eduardo Siqueira
Lower Respiratory Symptoms among Residents Living Near the World Trade Center, Two and Four Years after 9/11 - Shao Lin, Rena Jones, Joan Reibman, Dale Morse, Syni-An Hwang
Hospital Workers’ Awareness of Health and Environmental Impacts of Poor Clinical Waste Disposal in the Northwest Region of Cameroon -
Peter Ikome Kuwoh Mochungong, Gabriel Gulis, Morten Sodemann
Associations of Fertility and Pregnancy Outcomes with Leather Tannery Work in Mongolia: A Pilot Study - Leslie Erin Greene, Anne M. Riederer, Michele Marcus, Oyuntogos Lkhasuren
Rubberwood Dust and Lung Function among Thai Furniture Factory Workers - Anamai Thetkathuek, Tanongsak Yingratanasuk, Paul A. Demers, Phayong Thepaksorn, Sastri Saowakhontha, Matthew C. Kiefer
Temporal and Demographic Patterns of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Incidence in Pennsylvania - Yueh-Ying Han, Gregg E. Dinse, Devra L. Davis
BOOK REVIEW
Environmental Unions: Labor and the Superfund, by Craig Slatin - Bill Jirles
COMMENTARY
Libby Trial Ends But Asbestos Hazards Remain in Buildings - Perry Gottesfeld
Inadequate Toxicity Tests of Food Additive Acesulfame - Myra Karstadt
NIOSH HEALTH HAZARD EVALUATION ABSTRACTS
New Reports from the NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluation Program
LETTERS
Basic Occupational Health Service and Stakeholders’ Participation - Yonghua He, Youxin Liang, Xiaorong Wang
Chronic Pleuritic Pain and the Inhalation of Taconite Fibers - Albert Miller
“Swine Abattoir Workers Exposed to Aerosolized Porcine Brains”: Will We Ever Learn? - Morris Greenberg
Thank you for your readership,
Susanna Rankin Bohme, Ph.D.
Deputy Editor
International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health
8 North Main St., Suite 404
Attleboro, MA 02703
508-226-5091x12
=============================
8. Job Postings: CPAWS-SK Executive Director
The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) is seeking an Executive Director for its Saskatchewan Chapter.
CPAWS is dedicated to protecting wild ecosystems and to promoting awareness and understanding of ecological principles within those ecosystems. CPAWS works both cooperatively in multi-stakeholder processes and with individuals to achieve these goals.
As the Executive Director, the successful candidate will be responsible for the overall leadership of CPAWS Saskatchewan (CPAWS-SK). Reporting to the Board of Directors, the Executive Director will:
Generate and carry out projects and campaign activities as approved by the CPAWS-SK Board of Directors.
Engage with governments, First Nations, local communities, progressive industries and other environmental organizations on a regular basis to negotiate “wins” for conservation.
Develop and implement fundraising strategies that will secure funds to finance CPAWS-SK campaign activities and CPAWS-SK overhead expenses.
Oversee Chapter budgeting.
Oversee liaison activities with CPAWS National.
Manage the day – to – day operations of CPAWS-SK.
Assist with the planning, preparation and execution of board meetings.
Qualifications:
The successful candidate will demonstrate adequate education, experience and skills to successfully perform the duties of the chapter Executive Director.
The successful candidate will possess:
Demonstrated experience in a leadership capacity
Undergraduate Degree in a related discipline or equivalent experience
Personnel, budget, time, and project management expertise
Fundraising, communications, and marketing savvy
Public speaking and presentation skills
Substantial knowledge of environmental issues both provincially and nationally
Computer skills
Ability to travel
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
Verifiable record of successfully completed projects
Ability to build and maintain partnerships with governmental agencies and non-governmental agencies
Ability to work out of a home office
The following experience would be considered an asset:
Experience working with First Nations communities in northern Saskatchewan
A demonstrated understanding of the forestry and/or energy sectors
This is a half-time (20 hours / week) position, with the possibility to evolve into a full time position depending on funding availability, offering an excellent opportunity to give wilderness a voice in the Saskatchewan landscape at a time of economic growth and political change. If you are interested in and passionate about contributing to the conservation of our environment, please submit your resume and cover letter (indicate your salary expectation in the cover letter) to info@cpaws-sask.org on or before January 7, 2010. Those candidates selected for further screening will be contacted in January 2010. For more information on CPAWS, go to www.cpaws.org .
===========================
9. LETTER: Shane: “The Economy”
From: Shane in Wpg
To: To. Star
Sent: Wednesday, January 06, 2010 1:21 PM
Subject: "The economy"
The Editor, Toronto Star
Dear sir:
It is not difficult to be distrustful of the Federal government, especially with Harper's recent insults to democracy and the intelligence of Canadians. However, his responses to criticism seem to go virtually unchallenged. Harper continuously uses the words "the economy" with very little critical argument from his critics. We all know Harper includes the Tar Sands and all the industries dependent on it; the Military-Industrial; industries that provide technologies and munitions to the wars around the globe; the Nuclear Power industry and the uninhibited proliferation of technologies that contribute directly to the spread of military nuclear capabilities around the globe; and of course our international mining and resource industries that perpetrate human rights abuse, and pollute, desecrate, and abuse the environment overseas - in his concept of "the economy".
But what the Canadian public hears is 'My Job'.
It is time the media started using specific industries and specific examples when Harper uses his euphemisms and co-opted terminologies to justify his policies.
For example, I'm quite sure the workers in the Nuclear Industry would sleep happier if their jobs were shifted to developing green technologies that would not threaten our existence on this planet. Imagine if the Federal Government had invested as much money into the development of LED technologies as it has put into the nuclear industry..... We would be saving more electricity today than our nuclear reactors produce. We would need far less electricity than we are already producing.
Harper is not interested in the future of Canada or Canadian industry. He is interested in protecting the interests of his backers, the majority of which are part of the established resource-energy-military industries. So when he uses the words 'the economy', he is speaking with forked tongue. On the one hand, he is cynically threatening Canadians with their jobs, while on the other he is covertly supporting the industries that will eventually destroy the planet...and even his obscenely rich elitist friends.
But I reiterate: Until the media exposes this fraud for what it is, the public will continue to be cowed into subservience.
Shane Nestruck
381 Arnold Ave.
Winnipeg, MB
204-510-8828
shanedn@mts.net
'The Carbon Economy' is a false god!'
============================
10. The Sasquatch News – Dec. 2009/Jan. 2010 Issue Now Online!
http://sasquatchnews.com/
Much like the mythical sasquatch, the public-interest role of the media in Saskatchewan has been driven into the wilds. We only catch glimpses of it now and then; people barely know what it looks like anymore or how much our democracy suffers without it. An intrepid few, though, believe that public-interest journalism still thrives in the wilds, and that it can be returned to the towns and cities of this province for the benefit of all. Join us in our hunt for the elusive sasquatch of independent journalism!
The Sasquatch is a non-profit, independent Saskatchewan newspaper that covers issues and current events with a commitment to promoting the public interest and fostering democratic debate.
Published by the folks who bring you Briarpatch Magazine, The Sasquatch aims to expand the range of debate on important issues facing Saskatchewan. By enhancing local news coverage across the province, we hope to help create a democratic forum where Saskatchewan residents feel both empowered and inspired to bring about progressive social and environmental change.
The Sasquatch publishes online and in print, with print editions coming out every 6 weeks.
As a grassroots, volunteer-driven effort, The Sasquatch thrives on your support. Please consider subscribing, donating or submitting content.
Resume browsing.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Sasquatch News - Dec. 2009/Jan. 2010
This time The Sasquatch is full to the brim with too much of everything: too much red tape restricting our access to information; an overwhelming prairie cherry surplus; an oversupply of hogs; politicians who are obsessed with job creation; and too much carbon in the air.
So sit back, read and enjoy. Then pick up your pen or open your email and let us know what you think.
And don’t forget to join us in the social networking world — we’ve got Facebook and Twitter to help keep you up to date.
To subscribe or order a copy of this issue, call 1-866-431-5777 or visit our secure online shop.
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9887
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
NUKE NEWS: Jan. 09.10
by Oscar » Wed Apr 21, 2010 8:09 am
NUKE NEWS: Jan. 09.10
Compilation:
1. PROVINCE AWAITS FIRST NATIONS AND MÉTIS CONSULTATION POLICIES
2. WATCH: Poison bullets: Depleted Uranium factor covered-up?
3. AECL readies for restart of Chalk River's ailing reactor
4. New problem with Lepreau refurbishment
5. Elizabeth May: Executing the Green master plan
6. Time to join the democracy movement
7. Days of Snow Days – Mercer
8. Fixing Nafta´s flaws
====================================
1. PROVINCE AWAITS FIRST NATIONS AND MÉTIS CONSULTATION POLICIES
http://www.gov.sk.ca/news?newsId=fe03d523-5580-
49da-9f44-43e1dfdc0b94
News Release - January 8, 2010
The province will release the new Consultation Policy Framework (CPF) after the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) and the Métis Nation - Saskatchewan (MNS) release their consultation position papers in March of 2010.
"We want to build our relationships with First Nations and Métis people so the right thing to do is to wait until they release their own consultation policies," First Nations and Métis Relations Minister Bill Hutchinson said. "We make First Nations and Métis our priority."
In the meantime, consultation activity will continue to be governed by the Government of Saskatchewan Interim Guide for Consultation with First Nations and Métis People.
First Nations and Métis Relations officials continue their planning for a dialogue process that will focus on issues that fall outside the CPF including traditional use and territory mapping, consultation capacity, dispute resolution, economic benefit sharing and environmental stewardship.
Through this dialogue, officials from First Nations, Métis, industry and government will explore mechanisms that will create better participation in the economy for Aboriginal people. -30-
For more information, contact:
Shelley Fayant, First Nations and Métis Relations
Regina, Phone: 306-798-4071
Email: Shelley.Fayant@gov.sk.ca
================================
2. WATCH: Poison bullets: Depleted Uranium factor covered-up?
http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2010/01/05/
poison-bullets-depleted-uranium-factor-covered-up/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+DandelionSalad+%28Dandelion+Salad%29
Posted on January 5, 2010 by dandelionsalad
http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/
RussiaToday January 05, 2010
Many American and British soldiers who have returned from Iraq are complaining about Depleted Uranium-related illnesses. They accuse both the Pentagon and the UK Ministry of Defense of covering up the problem.
Poison Bullets follows doctors and experts as they voice their opposing views in the DU controversy and travels to the US, Great Britain, Jordan, Iraq and Spain, where we meet many of those who are victims of both DU-related diseases and the indifference of government officials.
from the archives:
Dennis Kyne: Depleted Uranium (DU) and Very Sick Soldiers and the Cover-Up
The medical and economic costs of nuclear power by Dr Helen Caldicott
Nuclear Madness – Interview with Dr. Helen Caldicott (must see video)
Depleted Uranium
Filed under: Dandelion Salad Posts News Politics and-or Videos 2, Dandelion Salad Videos, Death-destruction, Depleted Uranium, Health, Iraq on Dandelion Salad, Military, Politics, Soldiers - Troops, Veterans, War, War Crimes
==============================
3. AECL readies for restart of Chalk River's ailing reactor
From: Gordon Edwards
Sent: Thursday, January 07, 2010 1:19 AM
Background:
There are only two nuclear materials which can be used as a (primary) nuclear explosive in an atomic bomb. They are:
(1) highly enriched uranium (HEU, which was used in the Hiroshima bomb);
(2) plutonium (which was used in the Nagasaki bomb).
Of these two, the one that is by far the EASIEST to fabricate into a bomb is HEU. In fact a Hiroshima-type bomb made from highly enriched uranium is so simple and so sure-fire that it
doesn't have to be tested at all. The first time a uranium bomb was exploded, was when it was dropped on the City of Hiroshima. No testing was needed. There was no doubt of the outcome....
The reason why the world is in a tizzy over Iran and its uranium enrichment program is that this technology can be used to make HEU and thus provide an avenue to the fabrication of atomic bombs.
For many years now, the US and other nations have been trying to eliminate all traffic in HEU because of the severe proliferation risk it poses (any criminal or terrorist organization acquiring enough HEU -- about 50 kg -- could make a very powerful atomic bomb -- small enough to be carried in the trunk of an automobile).
Thus the US has been forcing all research reactors in North America to convert from HEU to low enriched uranium (LEU) which cannot be used as an explosive.
However, Chalk River insists on continuing to demand HEU for the production of medical isotopes, even though these isotopes can be produced using low-enriched uranium (Argentina does so for
example) and even though AECL promised years ago to work towards the elimination of HEU as an ingredient in their isotope production program.
Canada is setting a very bad example for the rest of the world in allowing AECL to continue to import, stockpile and use highly enriched uranium. After all if AECL can do it, why can't any other research agency in the world do it too? The world will not long tolerate a double standard like this.
The Canadian government should crack the whip and order AECL to convert to the use of low enriched uranium, starting now.
Gordon Edwards.
=================
AECL readies for restart of Chalk River's ailing reactor
Nuclear agency seeks enriched uranium used to make isotopes
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/
AECL+readies+restart+Chalk+River+ailing+reactor/
2409976/story.html
By Ian MacLeod, The Ottawa Citizen January 6, 2010
In a sign of confidence that repairs to the crippled Chalk River nuclear reactor are succeeding, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. is asking the United States for a fresh supply of highly enriched uranium to make medical isotopes.
The Crown corporation applied to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Dec. 19 for 16.3 kilograms of enriched uranium-235 (HEU) for medical isotope production once the NRU reactor is fixed, according to a commission document obtained by the Citizen.
Citing national security, AECL will not discuss specifics about its orders and inventory of the bomb-grade HEU. But requests usually require a lead-time of at least a year before the HEU is shipped from Oak Ridge, Tennessee, typically by a heavily armed transport convoy. That's followed by more time fabricating the raw HEU into "targets" to be irradiated inside the reactor.
"We don't want to be in a position where we have to shut the reactor down because we don't have material. We're trying to plan ahead here because of the lead times required," said Dale Coffin, AECL spokesman. "As long as we're in the business of producing medical isotopes, we still need the raw material."
The NRU has been out of service since May and isn't expect to operate again until repairs are completed to its leaky containment vessel, forecast for the end of March. As the world's largest producer of medical isotopes for treating cancer, cardiac problems and bone disease, it has been responsible for one-third of the global supply, 80 per cent of Canada's needs and half of the U.S.'s.
AECL's new HEU order comes as Canada is reportedly considering making nuclear non-proliferation and the materials to produce radiological weapons the leading agenda items for June's Group of Eight gathering of industrialized nations in Huntsville, Ont.
AECL says the raw HEU it uses cannot be easily fashioned into a "dirty bomb," but the general "loose nukes" theme for the G-8 is causing some to question Canada's political sincerity as it continuing to use bomb-grade HEU rather than develop reactors that use far less dangerous low-enriched uranium (LEU) as targets.
MORE:
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/
AECL+readies+restart+Chalk+River+ailing+reactor/
2409976/story.html
====================================
4. New problem with Lepreau refurbishment
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/
2010/01/06/nb-lepreau-refurb-problems.html
CBC News, Wednesday, January 6, 2010
The refurbishment of Point Lepreau, which is already about 16 months behind schedule, has run into a new problem involving the nuclear reactor's calandria tubes, officials have confirmed.
As of Wednesday afternoon, only "eight or nine" of the 380 new tubes had been installed, said Dale Coffin, spokesman for the Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL), the federal Crown corporation in charge of refurbishing the plant.
The work started nearly three weeks ago and only about five weeks have been set aside for this phase of the project.
The problem is that two of the calandria tubes did not fit properly, said Coffin. The tubes contain pressure tubes, which in turn hold the uranium fuel bundles.
Installation came to a brief halt when the first one didn't fit, he said. The workers then took four days off around Christmas and ran into problems again when the second tube installed didn't fit properly.
The engineers have since decided to skip over that problem tube and come back to it later to keep the job moving, said Coffin. "Installations are ongoing."
New tubes first major step
The calandria tubes, which are about seven metres in length and 13 centimetres in diameter, penetrate the reactor face front to back in big circular rows. All of the nuclear activity of the reactor occurs inside them.
Inserting the new tubes is the first major step in rebuilding the Lepreau reactor, which was shut down in March of 2008 for what was supposed to be an 18-month renovation.
In September, New Brunswick Energy Minister Jack Keir and Premier Shawn Graham expressed alarm at Lepreau's slipping schedule, with completion now slated for late 2010.
MORE: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/
2010/01/06/nb-lepreau-refurb-problems.html
==========================
5. Elizabeth May: Executing the Green master plan
http://www.rabble.ca/news/2010/01/eliza ... -interview
By Murray Dobbin | January 8, 2010
I had the opportunity recently to talk to Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party of Canada about her party, its policies, its electoral chances and its place on the political landscape in Canada. As always, Ms. May was articulate, enthusiastic and pretty straight forward about the challenges she faces. When she took over the leadership in August 2006, the Greens had high hopes from the high-energy former head of the Sierra Club.
Her ability to attract media interest, her personal commitment to the environment, her personal appeal, all seemed to hold great promise. But it hasn't been that simple. Powerful conservative forces still operate within the party creating tensions. Without a presence in the House of Commons you really are off the bus -- the media and the other parties ignore you because you aren't part of the daily calculations preceding question period.
In the next election, the party and May are determined to spend big to get her a seat. It's their number one priority. But it is still a long shot -- money can't buy you love, or necessarily, votes. Here's what Elizabeth May had to say:
Murray Dobbin: What has to happen to ensure that the Conservatives do not get a majority in the next election?
Elizabeth May: The solutions lie in some fundamental changes because we are a multi-party society in a two-party voting system. We either have to move to a system of proportional representation or we have to
change our attitude towards minority governments and decide we are going to make them work. I still feel that the aborted coalition was a very hopeful thing even to just have had it floated on the political stage. I regret Ignatieff's decision not to follow through with what had been set out as a workable modus operandi between the Liberals and the NDP to avoid Stephen Harper continuing his government.
MORE: http://www.rabble.ca/news/2010/01/eliza ... -interview
==========================
6. Time to join the democracy movement
http://murraydobbin.ca/2010/01/07/time- ... dium=email
Posted: 07 Jan 2010 12:12 PM PST
Stephen Harper is the classic political gambler – he takes chances where others would hold back. It often pays off (like proroguing Parliament in December 2008 to stave off certain defeat by the opposition coalition). But his arrogance often leads to spectacularly bad judgement – such as his attack on culture before the last election which lost him the seats in Quebec that might have given him a majority.
I recently suggested that Canadians may have become too cynical about politics to care about arcane notions such as prorogation. I was wrong. Canadians care enough about democracy to spend the time thinking about what their dictatorial prime minister has done. And they are pissed. There are many signs, as Judy Rebick points out in her recent rabble article, including a rapidly growing petition (now over 80,000 names) and planned nation-wide demonstrations for January 23rd.
The latest Ekos poll shows Harper at just over 33% – the furthest he has been from majority territory in six months.
============================
7. Days of Snow Days - Mercer
http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/
2010/1/5/22-Days-of-Snow-Days
RickMercer.com Posted At : January 5, 2010 5:35 PM
There's a very good reason why the word prorogue doesn't come up that often in our society. Why would it? The word has absolutely no resonance with anyone in Canada because the notion that you can shut
down anything for months at a time is a total fantasy. That's the thing about life; it's relentless. If you are an adult, and live in the real world, proroguing isn't on the agenda in much the same way levitating isn't. God knows I love the idea of proroguing. Everyone in Canada has lay in bed and prayed for the elusive snow day. The idea that while you slept the heavens opened up and dumped so much snow on the ground that the front door can't open and the school bus just can't come. We all remember snow days and that glorious feeling that the deadlines, the tests, the irritating people, the routine and the responsibilities could be avoided for one entire magnificent day with no consequences whatsoever. And if you didn't do your homework, or you were heading into what you knew was going to be a world of hurt, a snow day meant you dodged the bullet.
But snow days happen to children. If you are an adult it doesn't matter how much snow falls you still have to get to work and you still have to shovel the walk. Snow days don't apply to adults unless you happen to be the prime minister of Canada, who with one phone call has the ability to give every member of parliament two months off.
We elect these men and women to travel to Ottawa and represent us in the House of Commons. Well forget that notion. That is old fashioned and democratic. Welcome to Canada 2010 - we embark on a brand new decade as a country that has taxation without representation.
It is ironic that while our parliament has been suspended we are a nation at war. On New Year's Eve we greeted the news that five Canadians were killed in a single day with sadness but not surprise. We are at war because ostensibly we are helping bring democracy to Afghanistan. How the mission is progressing is open for debate but this much is certain - at present there is a parliament in Afghanistan that it is very much open for business. Canada has no such institution.
MORE: http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/
2010/1/5/22-Days-of-Snow-Days
====================================
8. Fixing Nafta´s flaws
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/
2010/jan/07/us-trade-nafta-development
US trade agreements should let nations set their own priorities, rather than be undermined by private companies By Kevin Gallagher <http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/kevingallagher> and Timothy Wise
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/timothywise>
Guardian.co.uk Thursday 7 January 2010 22.00 GMT
In a welcome move President Obama´s US trade representative, Ron Kirk, has made a new year´s resolution to craft "a new kind of trade agreement for the 21st century." Those were the words he used in his letter to congressional leaders
<http://www.ustr.gov/about-us/press-office/press-releases/2009/december/ trans-pacific-partnership-announcement> notifying them of the administration´s intent to negotiate the Trans-Pacific partnership agreement
<http://www.ustr.gov/about-us/press-office/fact-sheets/2009/december/tpp -statements-and-actions-date> (TPP),
a proposed eight-country trade deal with countries as diverse as New
Zealand <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/newzealand> ,
Chile and Vietnam <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/vietnam> .
The trade pact would be the largest US endeavour since the North American Free Trade Agreement
<http://www.nafta-sec-alena.org/en/view.aspx?x=343>
(Nafta) was signed between Canada
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/canada> ,
Mexico <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/mexico> and the US. Kirk is yet to unveil many specifics, but a 21st century trade agreement that brings growth, stability, and prosperity to the US and its trading partners will have to abandon the out-dated Nafta-model.
This month is the 16th anniversary of Nafta coming into force, so the agreement is now old enough to be tried as an adult. In the US, the agreement is blamed for job losses, for adding downward pressure on
wages, particularly in manufacturing, and for contributing to a large US trade deficit. In Canada, critics point to job losses, the declining competitiveness of the manufacturing sector, and the constraints Nafta has put on Canada to deploy adequate policies for public welfare.
MORE:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/
cifamerica/2010/jan/07/us-trade-nafta-development
Compilation:
1. PROVINCE AWAITS FIRST NATIONS AND MÉTIS CONSULTATION POLICIES
2. WATCH: Poison bullets: Depleted Uranium factor covered-up?
3. AECL readies for restart of Chalk River's ailing reactor
4. New problem with Lepreau refurbishment
5. Elizabeth May: Executing the Green master plan
6. Time to join the democracy movement
7. Days of Snow Days – Mercer
8. Fixing Nafta´s flaws
====================================
1. PROVINCE AWAITS FIRST NATIONS AND MÉTIS CONSULTATION POLICIES
http://www.gov.sk.ca/news?newsId=fe03d523-5580-
49da-9f44-43e1dfdc0b94
News Release - January 8, 2010
The province will release the new Consultation Policy Framework (CPF) after the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) and the Métis Nation - Saskatchewan (MNS) release their consultation position papers in March of 2010.
"We want to build our relationships with First Nations and Métis people so the right thing to do is to wait until they release their own consultation policies," First Nations and Métis Relations Minister Bill Hutchinson said. "We make First Nations and Métis our priority."
In the meantime, consultation activity will continue to be governed by the Government of Saskatchewan Interim Guide for Consultation with First Nations and Métis People.
First Nations and Métis Relations officials continue their planning for a dialogue process that will focus on issues that fall outside the CPF including traditional use and territory mapping, consultation capacity, dispute resolution, economic benefit sharing and environmental stewardship.
Through this dialogue, officials from First Nations, Métis, industry and government will explore mechanisms that will create better participation in the economy for Aboriginal people. -30-
For more information, contact:
Shelley Fayant, First Nations and Métis Relations
Regina, Phone: 306-798-4071
Email: Shelley.Fayant@gov.sk.ca
================================
2. WATCH: Poison bullets: Depleted Uranium factor covered-up?
http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2010/01/05/
poison-bullets-depleted-uranium-factor-covered-up/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Feed%3A+DandelionSalad+%28Dandelion+Salad%29
Posted on January 5, 2010 by dandelionsalad
http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/
RussiaToday January 05, 2010
Many American and British soldiers who have returned from Iraq are complaining about Depleted Uranium-related illnesses. They accuse both the Pentagon and the UK Ministry of Defense of covering up the problem.
Poison Bullets follows doctors and experts as they voice their opposing views in the DU controversy and travels to the US, Great Britain, Jordan, Iraq and Spain, where we meet many of those who are victims of both DU-related diseases and the indifference of government officials.
from the archives:
Dennis Kyne: Depleted Uranium (DU) and Very Sick Soldiers and the Cover-Up
The medical and economic costs of nuclear power by Dr Helen Caldicott
Nuclear Madness – Interview with Dr. Helen Caldicott (must see video)
Depleted Uranium
Filed under: Dandelion Salad Posts News Politics and-or Videos 2, Dandelion Salad Videos, Death-destruction, Depleted Uranium, Health, Iraq on Dandelion Salad, Military, Politics, Soldiers - Troops, Veterans, War, War Crimes
==============================
3. AECL readies for restart of Chalk River's ailing reactor
From: Gordon Edwards
Sent: Thursday, January 07, 2010 1:19 AM
Background:
There are only two nuclear materials which can be used as a (primary) nuclear explosive in an atomic bomb. They are:
(1) highly enriched uranium (HEU, which was used in the Hiroshima bomb);
(2) plutonium (which was used in the Nagasaki bomb).
Of these two, the one that is by far the EASIEST to fabricate into a bomb is HEU. In fact a Hiroshima-type bomb made from highly enriched uranium is so simple and so sure-fire that it
doesn't have to be tested at all. The first time a uranium bomb was exploded, was when it was dropped on the City of Hiroshima. No testing was needed. There was no doubt of the outcome....
The reason why the world is in a tizzy over Iran and its uranium enrichment program is that this technology can be used to make HEU and thus provide an avenue to the fabrication of atomic bombs.
For many years now, the US and other nations have been trying to eliminate all traffic in HEU because of the severe proliferation risk it poses (any criminal or terrorist organization acquiring enough HEU -- about 50 kg -- could make a very powerful atomic bomb -- small enough to be carried in the trunk of an automobile).
Thus the US has been forcing all research reactors in North America to convert from HEU to low enriched uranium (LEU) which cannot be used as an explosive.
However, Chalk River insists on continuing to demand HEU for the production of medical isotopes, even though these isotopes can be produced using low-enriched uranium (Argentina does so for
example) and even though AECL promised years ago to work towards the elimination of HEU as an ingredient in their isotope production program.
Canada is setting a very bad example for the rest of the world in allowing AECL to continue to import, stockpile and use highly enriched uranium. After all if AECL can do it, why can't any other research agency in the world do it too? The world will not long tolerate a double standard like this.
The Canadian government should crack the whip and order AECL to convert to the use of low enriched uranium, starting now.
Gordon Edwards.
=================
AECL readies for restart of Chalk River's ailing reactor
Nuclear agency seeks enriched uranium used to make isotopes
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/
AECL+readies+restart+Chalk+River+ailing+reactor/
2409976/story.html
By Ian MacLeod, The Ottawa Citizen January 6, 2010
In a sign of confidence that repairs to the crippled Chalk River nuclear reactor are succeeding, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. is asking the United States for a fresh supply of highly enriched uranium to make medical isotopes.
The Crown corporation applied to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Dec. 19 for 16.3 kilograms of enriched uranium-235 (HEU) for medical isotope production once the NRU reactor is fixed, according to a commission document obtained by the Citizen.
Citing national security, AECL will not discuss specifics about its orders and inventory of the bomb-grade HEU. But requests usually require a lead-time of at least a year before the HEU is shipped from Oak Ridge, Tennessee, typically by a heavily armed transport convoy. That's followed by more time fabricating the raw HEU into "targets" to be irradiated inside the reactor.
"We don't want to be in a position where we have to shut the reactor down because we don't have material. We're trying to plan ahead here because of the lead times required," said Dale Coffin, AECL spokesman. "As long as we're in the business of producing medical isotopes, we still need the raw material."
The NRU has been out of service since May and isn't expect to operate again until repairs are completed to its leaky containment vessel, forecast for the end of March. As the world's largest producer of medical isotopes for treating cancer, cardiac problems and bone disease, it has been responsible for one-third of the global supply, 80 per cent of Canada's needs and half of the U.S.'s.
AECL's new HEU order comes as Canada is reportedly considering making nuclear non-proliferation and the materials to produce radiological weapons the leading agenda items for June's Group of Eight gathering of industrialized nations in Huntsville, Ont.
AECL says the raw HEU it uses cannot be easily fashioned into a "dirty bomb," but the general "loose nukes" theme for the G-8 is causing some to question Canada's political sincerity as it continuing to use bomb-grade HEU rather than develop reactors that use far less dangerous low-enriched uranium (LEU) as targets.
MORE:
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/
AECL+readies+restart+Chalk+River+ailing+reactor/
2409976/story.html
====================================
4. New problem with Lepreau refurbishment
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/
2010/01/06/nb-lepreau-refurb-problems.html
CBC News, Wednesday, January 6, 2010
The refurbishment of Point Lepreau, which is already about 16 months behind schedule, has run into a new problem involving the nuclear reactor's calandria tubes, officials have confirmed.
As of Wednesday afternoon, only "eight or nine" of the 380 new tubes had been installed, said Dale Coffin, spokesman for the Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL), the federal Crown corporation in charge of refurbishing the plant.
The work started nearly three weeks ago and only about five weeks have been set aside for this phase of the project.
The problem is that two of the calandria tubes did not fit properly, said Coffin. The tubes contain pressure tubes, which in turn hold the uranium fuel bundles.
Installation came to a brief halt when the first one didn't fit, he said. The workers then took four days off around Christmas and ran into problems again when the second tube installed didn't fit properly.
The engineers have since decided to skip over that problem tube and come back to it later to keep the job moving, said Coffin. "Installations are ongoing."
New tubes first major step
The calandria tubes, which are about seven metres in length and 13 centimetres in diameter, penetrate the reactor face front to back in big circular rows. All of the nuclear activity of the reactor occurs inside them.
Inserting the new tubes is the first major step in rebuilding the Lepreau reactor, which was shut down in March of 2008 for what was supposed to be an 18-month renovation.
In September, New Brunswick Energy Minister Jack Keir and Premier Shawn Graham expressed alarm at Lepreau's slipping schedule, with completion now slated for late 2010.
MORE: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/
2010/01/06/nb-lepreau-refurb-problems.html
==========================
5. Elizabeth May: Executing the Green master plan
http://www.rabble.ca/news/2010/01/eliza ... -interview
By Murray Dobbin | January 8, 2010
I had the opportunity recently to talk to Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party of Canada about her party, its policies, its electoral chances and its place on the political landscape in Canada. As always, Ms. May was articulate, enthusiastic and pretty straight forward about the challenges she faces. When she took over the leadership in August 2006, the Greens had high hopes from the high-energy former head of the Sierra Club.
Her ability to attract media interest, her personal commitment to the environment, her personal appeal, all seemed to hold great promise. But it hasn't been that simple. Powerful conservative forces still operate within the party creating tensions. Without a presence in the House of Commons you really are off the bus -- the media and the other parties ignore you because you aren't part of the daily calculations preceding question period.
In the next election, the party and May are determined to spend big to get her a seat. It's their number one priority. But it is still a long shot -- money can't buy you love, or necessarily, votes. Here's what Elizabeth May had to say:
Murray Dobbin: What has to happen to ensure that the Conservatives do not get a majority in the next election?
Elizabeth May: The solutions lie in some fundamental changes because we are a multi-party society in a two-party voting system. We either have to move to a system of proportional representation or we have to
change our attitude towards minority governments and decide we are going to make them work. I still feel that the aborted coalition was a very hopeful thing even to just have had it floated on the political stage. I regret Ignatieff's decision not to follow through with what had been set out as a workable modus operandi between the Liberals and the NDP to avoid Stephen Harper continuing his government.
MORE: http://www.rabble.ca/news/2010/01/eliza ... -interview
==========================
6. Time to join the democracy movement
http://murraydobbin.ca/2010/01/07/time- ... dium=email
Posted: 07 Jan 2010 12:12 PM PST
Stephen Harper is the classic political gambler – he takes chances where others would hold back. It often pays off (like proroguing Parliament in December 2008 to stave off certain defeat by the opposition coalition). But his arrogance often leads to spectacularly bad judgement – such as his attack on culture before the last election which lost him the seats in Quebec that might have given him a majority.
I recently suggested that Canadians may have become too cynical about politics to care about arcane notions such as prorogation. I was wrong. Canadians care enough about democracy to spend the time thinking about what their dictatorial prime minister has done. And they are pissed. There are many signs, as Judy Rebick points out in her recent rabble article, including a rapidly growing petition (now over 80,000 names) and planned nation-wide demonstrations for January 23rd.
The latest Ekos poll shows Harper at just over 33% – the furthest he has been from majority territory in six months.
============================
7. Days of Snow Days - Mercer
http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/
2010/1/5/22-Days-of-Snow-Days
RickMercer.com Posted At : January 5, 2010 5:35 PM
There's a very good reason why the word prorogue doesn't come up that often in our society. Why would it? The word has absolutely no resonance with anyone in Canada because the notion that you can shut
down anything for months at a time is a total fantasy. That's the thing about life; it's relentless. If you are an adult, and live in the real world, proroguing isn't on the agenda in much the same way levitating isn't. God knows I love the idea of proroguing. Everyone in Canada has lay in bed and prayed for the elusive snow day. The idea that while you slept the heavens opened up and dumped so much snow on the ground that the front door can't open and the school bus just can't come. We all remember snow days and that glorious feeling that the deadlines, the tests, the irritating people, the routine and the responsibilities could be avoided for one entire magnificent day with no consequences whatsoever. And if you didn't do your homework, or you were heading into what you knew was going to be a world of hurt, a snow day meant you dodged the bullet.
But snow days happen to children. If you are an adult it doesn't matter how much snow falls you still have to get to work and you still have to shovel the walk. Snow days don't apply to adults unless you happen to be the prime minister of Canada, who with one phone call has the ability to give every member of parliament two months off.
We elect these men and women to travel to Ottawa and represent us in the House of Commons. Well forget that notion. That is old fashioned and democratic. Welcome to Canada 2010 - we embark on a brand new decade as a country that has taxation without representation.
It is ironic that while our parliament has been suspended we are a nation at war. On New Year's Eve we greeted the news that five Canadians were killed in a single day with sadness but not surprise. We are at war because ostensibly we are helping bring democracy to Afghanistan. How the mission is progressing is open for debate but this much is certain - at present there is a parliament in Afghanistan that it is very much open for business. Canada has no such institution.
MORE: http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/
2010/1/5/22-Days-of-Snow-Days
====================================
8. Fixing Nafta´s flaws
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/
2010/jan/07/us-trade-nafta-development
US trade agreements should let nations set their own priorities, rather than be undermined by private companies By Kevin Gallagher <http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/kevingallagher> and Timothy Wise
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/timothywise>
Guardian.co.uk Thursday 7 January 2010 22.00 GMT
In a welcome move President Obama´s US trade representative, Ron Kirk, has made a new year´s resolution to craft "a new kind of trade agreement for the 21st century." Those were the words he used in his letter to congressional leaders
<http://www.ustr.gov/about-us/press-office/press-releases/2009/december/ trans-pacific-partnership-announcement> notifying them of the administration´s intent to negotiate the Trans-Pacific partnership agreement
<http://www.ustr.gov/about-us/press-office/fact-sheets/2009/december/tpp -statements-and-actions-date> (TPP),
a proposed eight-country trade deal with countries as diverse as New
Zealand <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/newzealand> ,
Chile and Vietnam <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/vietnam> .
The trade pact would be the largest US endeavour since the North American Free Trade Agreement
<http://www.nafta-sec-alena.org/en/view.aspx?x=343>
(Nafta) was signed between Canada
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/canada> ,
Mexico <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/mexico> and the US. Kirk is yet to unveil many specifics, but a 21st century trade agreement that brings growth, stability, and prosperity to the US and its trading partners will have to abandon the out-dated Nafta-model.
This month is the 16th anniversary of Nafta coming into force, so the agreement is now old enough to be tried as an adult. In the US, the agreement is blamed for job losses, for adding downward pressure on
wages, particularly in manufacturing, and for contributing to a large US trade deficit. In Canada, critics point to job losses, the declining competitiveness of the manufacturing sector, and the constraints Nafta has put on Canada to deploy adequate policies for public welfare.
MORE:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/
cifamerica/2010/jan/07/us-trade-nafta-development
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9887
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
NUKE NEWS: Jan. 11.10
by Oscar » Wed Apr 21, 2010 8:10 am
NUKE NEWS: Jan. 11.10
Compilation:
1. The Alberta Government Attacks Freedom of Speech - January 11, 2010
2. Are Alternative Sources of Energy Available? By Jim Harding
3. No Nukes News - Jan. 8, 2010
4. Saskatchewan Environmental Society – Job Postings
5. Indigenous Environmental Network Online News - January 11, 2010
6. Cerberus Capital: Literally Blood-Sucking the Poor to Make Their Billions
7. U.S. WAR SPENDING EXCEEDS ALL STATE GOVERNMENT OUTLAYS
8. US Congress approves $680 billion defense budget
9. The Military-Industrial Complex is Ruining the Economy
10. GBU-57A/B (….in a world gone mad. Editor)
11. Liberty, turned on its side...
==========================
1. The Alberta Government Attacks Freedom of Speech - January 11, 2010
Posted at: http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/
viewtopic.php?p=1524#1524
The illegal removal of the “No To Nuclear” (NTN) sign on the Dixonville store by Alberta Transportation contractors on December 16 signaled the Province’s intention to trample on our right to free speech. Alberta Transportation issued work orders and sent letters to remove the NTN signs on the same day that Energy Minister Mel Knight announced he would welcome nuclear into Alberta.
The Alberta Government is trying to silence opposition to the proposed nuclear project. They are using our tax dollars to prevent us from speaking out against a project that 85% of the community’s residents are opposed to.
A short recap of Mel Knight’s handling of the nuclear issue is in order before I present the evidence showing Alberta Transportation has targeted anti-nuclear groups.
Provincial Corruption
CORRUPT: immoral or dishonest, especially as shown by the exploitation of a position of power or trust; extremely immoral or depraved.
Energy Minister Mel Knight has been CORRUPT in his handling of the nuclear file since the 2008 provincial election when he repeatedly said: “We are neither proponents nor opponents of nuclear power”.
We found out three weeks after the election that he was not telling the truth when he announced that the Alberta Research Council and the Idaho National Nuclear Laboratory (INNL) signed an agreement to develop nuclear technology for Alberta. There were pictures of Alberta officials visiting INNL facilities on their website earlier in 2007.
Expert Nuclear Panel Report
In May 2008, Mel Knight announced the formation of an “Expert Nuclear Panel” to investigate whether nuclear energy is appropriate for Alberta. The panel was set up to help the province answer questions on environmental, health, safety and waste management issues surrounding nuclear energy.
The report released by Mel Knight in March 2009 did not answer any of these questions. Instead, the report was little more than a nuclear industry advertisement on behalf of nuclear reactors and the merits of reprocessing spent nuclear fuel. Considering its purported mandate, the Expert Nuclear Panel Report is fraudulent, incomplete and biased.
There were no environmental experts, medical doctors, nuclear opponents or health experts on the panel. The four-man panel did include a Director of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited and their report was based on information supplied by the INNL. Even by Mel Knight's dubious standards, this report is a slap in the face of democracy and the people he was elected to serve.
Provincial Consultation
Shortly after the Expert Nuclear Panel Report was released, Mel Knight announced the format for the provincial consultation. The centerpiece was a workbook and survey for Albertans to fill out. Mel Knight gave Albertans 35 days to educate themselves on nuclear issues before filling in the survey.
Thirty five days was not enough time to learn a subject of this magnitude especially when you consider Albertans had 75 days to comment on license plates and 60 days on parks. To add insult to injury, Mel Knight set the 35-day period during spring planting which essentially prevented the entire rural community from educating themselves and participating. There were no public meetings that allowed the press to be present and there were zero opportunities for Albertans to ask questions about nuclear power.
Still, 3600 Albertans took the time to educate themselves on nuclear issues in order to complete the extensive questionnaire. This survey showed 55% opposed nuclear energy, 28% supported it and 17% wanted it explored on a case by case basis. These were not the results Mel Knight wanted so he decreed that the results of this survey were not "statistically valid".
Instead, he commissioned a random telephone survey of 1024 people who knew virtually nothing about nuclear energy. 45% of respondents wanted nuclear explored on a case-by-case basis, 28% were against it and 19% supported it. It is this telephone survey that Mel Knight is using to justify Albertans’ support for nuclear power. He dismissed the opinions of 3600 well-informed people in favour 1024 uninformed ones.
Nuclear Subsidies
Mel Knight's vow that no public dollars would be invested in any nuclear project is pure nonsense. Taxpayers are required to pay for the cost of transmission lines from Peace River to Edmonton if the nuclear reactors are built. There is no other reason to build this line. The construction and operation of the nuclear reactors will double the size of Peace River. Taxpayers will be on the hook for the infrastructure that has to be built. This in itself would be several billion dollars. Paying for power lines and infrastructure are both direct subsidies to Bruce Power.
Mel Knight’s Announcement
On December 14, 2009, Mel Knight announced that he would let the nuclear project proceed. As previously stated, the basis for his approval was the opinions of 1024 uninformed people (to the exclusion of 3600 well-informed residents). This is the epitome of a “Democratic Deficit”.
The timing of Mel Knight’s announcement left people scratching their head. Premier Stelmach was quoted in a Globe and Mail article on December 11, 2009 saying: “I would like to have the (nuclear) issue concluded by the end of January”. (Katherine O’Neill) Was there no communication between the Premier and Mel Knight or did they change their minds on the date of the announcement over the weekend?
Mel Knight followed the example of other cowardly government officials by making the announcement the week before Christmas when few people are paying attention. The same rationale led them to issuing the order to remove our signs on the day of his announcement. This was further confirmation of Mel Knight’s disregard for the well-being and rights of Albertans in his support of large corporations.
Back To The Signs
The store owners were appalled and called in the RCMP. The RCMP confirmed that no one was allowed to remove a sign on private property, regardless of what it said. The RCMP contacted La Prairie Group; the Alberta Transportation contractor.
According to La Prairie employee, Brad Woods, the whole thing was a misunderstanding. “The misunderstanding was that we had picked up (an anti-nuclear) sign off of the main alignment highway on 35 north. The government boundary went past the inside of the farmer's fence, and we had a work order to pick that sign up, and we misunderstood that we were supposed to pick up the rest of the signs also. (Michelle Higgins, Peace River Gazette, Jan. 5, 2010)
There is no issue at all with La Prairie Group as it was an honest mistake. They apologized to the owners and replaced the sign at their expense.
Alberta Transportation Order
The work order that Mr. Walls misinterpreted came from Alberta Transportation on December 14, 2009; the same day Mel Knight made his announcement. It ordered the removal of the NTN signs on public property. Alberta Transportation would not let Peace River Gazette reporter Michelle Higgins see the work order. (We are preparing A FOIP request for the work order and other pertinent documents.)
Alberta Transportation is legally allowed to remove signs on public property if there is no permit and with this, we have no issue. However, we are very upset and concerned that only NTN signs were targeted. All the “other” non-conforming signs on public property were left in place.
Alberta Transportation Letters
Property owners with NTN signs on their property started receiving letters from Alberta Transportation a few days after Mel Knight’s announcement. The letters, which included an 8.5” X 11” colour picture of the offending sign, asked owners to remove or relocate the offending signs. A few people complied with the letter out of fear of repercussions.
Theresa Van Oort (MD 22 CAO) was copied on the letter sent to people with signs. Ms. Van Oort has her “paw prints” on every aspect of trying to force the nuclear project down our throats. As a protégé of Kelly Bunn, she supplied Mr. Bunn with the letter of support from MD 22 for the nuclear project in 2007. She’s prevented residents from speaking to MD 22 Council on nuclear issues and now she seems to have her paws on the curtailment of our right to free speech. Did Alberta Transportation initiate this attack on the rights of anti-nuclear residents at her urging? Another FOIP?
Visit to Alberta Transportation
On January 6, 2010, five of us went to Alberta Transportation’s offices and met with Gerard Gravel. He was unable to answer many of our questions and some of the information he provided contradicted the evidence we’ve been gathering. This is not to impugn Mr. Gravel, as he may not be aware of the actions of his superiors.
He told us that La Prairie Group was ordered to remove all signs on public property but a La Prairie employee told us (on condition of anonymity) that they were only ordered to take down NTN signs. Indeed, only the anti-nuclear signs were removed. The real estate and other commercial signs were left where they were.
Mr. Gravel told us that letters were sent out to owners of all signs on private property that had no permits. We pointed out to him that this was not true as one farmer with two commercial signs on the same fence-line beside a NTN sign only received a letter about his NTN sign. None of them had permits.
One farmer spotted them measuring the distance the signs were from the centre of the road. As he continued driving, he noticed there were footprints in the snow going to every NTN sign but to no other sign at all, including signs we know aren’t permitted. We went out and took pictures of the tracks to the NTN signs and the undisturbed snow to all other signs.
Mr. Gravel told us the order to prepare the letters was only given recently, though he wouldn’t specify a date. This is not true as some of the pictures of the offending signs were taken in September when the leaves were just starting to turn. Others were taken since the snow and cold came in early December.
We asked Mr. Gravel what the cost of permitting the signs would be. He replied that our signs were deemed improper and that they would not issue a permit for them. He said our signs were on a controversial topic. We asked him who made that decision. He replied that his boss, Mr. Gish had. He would not tell us how much the permit would be due to our signs being improper.
When asked why No Hunting signs were allowed and our NTN signs were not, Mr. Gravel responded that some people don’t want guns shot on their property. We countered by saying we didn’t want radioactive emissions from the nuclear reactors landing on our property.
We asked Mr. Gravel what the repercussions would be if owners didn’t comply with the letters from Alberta Transportation. He evaded answering until the fourth time we asked. Finally, he told us a second letter would be sent out if we didn’t comply. If the second letter wasn’t complied with, they would seek a Ministerial Decree to have the signs removed. He would not give us time-lines on these events.
We also pointed out that the letters referred to our messages as: “the sign containing advertising for NO TO NUCLEAR”. This is not an advertisement, it is our opinion. It is not up to Mr. Gish at Alberta Transportation to decide what we are allowed to think.
Mr. Gish claims that’s it’s just coincidental that signs were removed and letters sent out right after Mel Knight’s announcement. Yah right! I suppose that it was also coincidence a similar letter was sent to remove the anti-nuclear van parked in Weberville the next business day after we made an unscheduled visit to MLA Oberle’s office in November.
Town of Manning
The Town of Manning got into the act by issuing an order to the Manning Bottle Depot to remove their NTN signs. Instead of complying, the owners formally changed the name of their business to the “No To Nuclear Bottle Depot”.
The Town of Manning sent them a notice that they would have to pay a development fee for their signs. After checking with other local businesses, we realized the Town was targeting them as no one else we spoke to had to pay a development fee on their signs.
What Did it Cost?
What did it cost Albertans for this attack on our freedom of speech? How much money was spent driving around MD 22 taking pictures of signs? What did it cost to send another crew out to measure the signs and take them down? What did it cost for staff to prepare and send out the letters? More than the cost of snacks for mental-health patients?
What Are We Going To Do?
This attack on our right to freedom of speech was the shot in the arm that anti-nuclear forces needed. People on both sides of the nuclear debate are appalled at the conduct of the provincial government. If Mel Knight thinks this will slow us down, he’s delusional. Our response to this government’s corrupt attempt to silence us will be evident very shortly. We will not let the Province give our children’s future to Bruce Power.
Pat McNamara
Weberville Area Connection & Earth Alternatives
These two groups are made up of the farmers living closest to the proposed reactor site and throughout the Municipal District of Northern Lights. We are the people who will be most affected by the nuclear reactors, but we are fighting on behalf of all Albertans who are opposed to nuclear power.
We’ve spent thousands of hours of our personal time and thousand of dollars of our money to stop this senseless project.
We could use your help.
Donations to help us fight the nuclear project and the provincial government can be sent to: Earth Alternatives, Box 153 North Star, AB, T0H 2T0 Thank You
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2. Are Alternative Sources of Energy Available? By Jim Harding
Saskatchewan Sustainability Published in R-Town News on Jan. 08, 2010
Saskatchewan people are becoming more informed about energy, as we should. Having twenty times (20 X) the global, per capita, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions challenges us to quickly convert to sustainable energy. Over the last year we’ve had a controversy over the “nuclear option” and the provincial government has now recognized that nuclear power is too costly and inappropriate for our needs. With the nuclear option hopefully put to rest we must seriously explore alternative energy. The Standing Committee on the Crowns is still looking at our energy options, but some of its members are understandably predisposed to conventional systems, such as coal and biofuels. It will take us a while to stop assuming that energy must come from large thermal plants that generate electricity, or large refineries that produce fuels.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
The needed transition to sustainable energy requires democratizing the process of creating energy policy. Public consultations on the Uranium Development Partnership (UDP) report were a good start, but the broader citizenry and electorate needs to become more engaged. And enhanced citizen involvement requires more knowledge about energy terminology and concepts.
We all know the term “watt” because we use low wattage incandescent light bulbs in our homes. And we are all learning about energy efficiency because we know that compact fluorescent bulbs can provide as much light while using only about 25% of the electricity. Such moves toward energy efficiency are already our main and cheapest source of new electricity.
We rightly focus on the huge carbon footprint of the gas we use in our cars and trucks; but the related waste of energy has received less attention. Less than 20% of the energy in a litre of gasoline is actually used to move our vehicles; the rest is released as waste heat. Think of the inefficiency! If transportation was “fueled” by electricity from sustainable sources, about 80% of the energy would be used to move our vehicles. Far more “bang” for the buck. Energy efficiency is a win-win: reducing GHGs while creating more energy productivity.
Projections by the fossil fuel and nuclear industries about future energy demand intentionally downplay energy efficiency. However, on a global scale the savings would be staggering. To show this we need some terms based on “watts”. A kilowatt (KW) is a thousand watts, which is how we measure the electricity in our homes. A megawatt (MW) is a million watts, which is how we measure the capacity of our grid, which in Saskatchewan is around 3,600 MW. A billion watts is a gigawatt (GW), which is how countries can measure their capacity, and a trillion watts is a terawatt (TW), which is how we measure global capacity. These terms can all be used for measuring output, for example kilowatt hours (kWh), which is one thousand watts for an hour.
When demand is highest we call it “peak load”. Globally, peak demand is now around 12.5 TW, and conventional forecasters are saying that by 2030 it will rise to around 16.9 TW. The feature article in the November 2009 Scientific American however, disputes this, saying that with efficiencies from shifting to renewables, peak demand in 2030 could be 11.5 TW, which is lower than today. We see these energy savings with compact fluorescent lighting and electric cars, but the process has hardly begun.
RENEWABLE POTENTIAL
Corporations that profit from inefficient, polluting, non-renewables like coal, oil or uranium want to postpone our conversion to sustainable energy as long as possible. One tactic used to obscure self-interest is to downplay the potential of renewables. What does the Scientific American feature say about this? It concludes that globally there is around 1,700 TW of wind energy and that 40-85 TW of this is harvestable with today’s technology. It concludes there is 6,500 TW of solar energy, and that 580 TW of this is presently harvestable. Currently we only get .02 TW from wind and .008 TW from solar.
There’s clearly no shortage of renewable energy, but what might a sustainable energy plan look like? The Scientific American feature suggests we could get 51% of future energy from wind, 40% from solar and 9% from water power, which translates into 5.8 TW from wind, 4.6 TW from solar energy and 1.1 TW from water to meet projected demand by 2030. To accomplish this would require 3.8 million 5-MW wind turbines; 89,000 300-MW solar plants and millions of photovoltaic (PV) rooftop installations; 5,350 100- MW geothermal plants and several hundred thousand small tidal turbines and wave converters along with 900 1,300-MW hydro plants.
Supporters of the energy status quo find fault with renewables wherever they can, but their motives aren’t always pure. Certainly wind turbines must be better located out of the paths of migrating birds and bats. But the impacts of renewables must be judged in comparison to today’s energy impacts: 3.8 million wind turbines may sound like a lot, until you realize that 73 million cars and trucks are produced globally each year. At present these vehicles are highly inefficient while spewing masses of gases into the atmosphere. Were vehicles powered with electricity from renewables, they would neither waste vast energy nor pollute the biosphere.
Land use required by renewables is also exaggerated. Comparatively speaking, all these wind turbines could be placed in 50 square miles, the size of Manhattan. This Scientific American scenario has 30% of the PV electricity coming from existing buildings, and the rest of the solar energy requiring less than one-third of 1% of the earth’s land mass. Seventy percent of the hydro installations within this plan are already in place, and additional hydro could come from low impact run-of-the-river turbines.
If we continue along the business-as-usual approach, GHGs and other environmental health hazards will increase. Without a major shift to wind, water and solar we would see 13,000 huge new coal plants or the equivalent in nuclear plants by 2030. The impact of these technologies through toxic mining, watershed contamination, climate change and radioactive wastes would be astronomical. Choices need to be made!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jim Harding is a retired professor of environmental and justice studies.
Past columns and other non-nuclear resources are posted at http://jimharding.brinkster.net
Also Posted at:
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1525#1525
==============================
3. No Nukes News - Jan. 8, 2010 - www.cleanairalliance.org
Here’s to a non-nuclear and sustainable 2010! -angela
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Jump on board!
A provincial by-election has been called for Feb. 4 in Toronto-Centre. The Ontario Clean Air Alliance is calling for a ramped-up coal phase-out by June, 2010. We’ll be surveying all the candidates, and distributing leaflets with their responses to constituents in the riding at subway stations etc. If you’re up for helping, let me know.
Also, we’ve distributed leaflets http://ontariosgreenfuture.ca/CostlyNukes_12_09.pdf to about 80% of the homes in Iggy’s riding (Etobicoke-Lakeshore).
If you’re up for helping complete this task, let me know.
Thanks for all your support!
-a
--------------------------------
- - - -SNIP - - - - - (articles previously included in the NUKE NEWS. Editor)
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New Jersey nuclear plant shut down because of ice in Delaware River
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/
new_jersey_nuclear_plant_shut.html
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Brazilian mayor seeks shutdown of nuclear power plant after floods
http://www.star-telegram.com/279/story/1865830.html
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Nuclear power declining, not reviving, in USA
In upstate New York, the Unistar Nuclear Energy front group asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to delay its application to build a reactor at Oswego, near Syracuse. Meanwhile, in Texas, the San Antonio city council’s deliberations over building two new reactors has disintegrated into recriminations, resignations and firings over a multi-billion-dollar price jump in projected cost estimates, a furor that could doom reactor construction there as well. And in Vermont, Entergy has threatened to shut its Yankee reactor if the legislature does not approve a complex maneuver that would allow its owners to escape certain financial liabilities.
Throughout the US, while the corporate media hypes a “renaissance” of new nukes, facts on the ground say the opposite is happening. The longer that trend continues, the more likely we are to win a world powered by the Solartopian technologies that really work, including wind, solar, geothermal, sustainable bio-fuels, increased efficiency/conservation, and more.
http://antinuclear.net/2009/12/24/
nuclear-power-declining-not-reviving-in-usa/
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The Answer Ain't Nuclear
"C" for Chernobyl: site of the worst nuclear accident in history nearly a quarter of a century ago. That wretched city inadvertently became the perfect Frankenstein laboratory for studying the long-term behavior of radiation in the wild.
Despite the passage of 23 years, normalcy is not returning to Chernobyl nearly as fast as predicted. Specifically, the cesium 137 in Chernobyl's soils isn’t decaying as fast as its 30-year half-life.
And so the idea that Ukraine could repopulate the Chernobyl dead zone in "only" 180 to 320 years is proving pure fantasy.
http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2009 ... nt-nuclear
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Exposing Canada's War Industry Profiteers
The Canadian Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT) has just published a 50-page report called "CANSEC: War is Business."
Order a copy or subscribe here: http://coat.ncf.ca/
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To kick off this new year, we are pleased to present you with a very special issue of The Nuclear Monitor (issue # 700/701). Produced in cooperation with our friends at WISE (World Information Service on Energy) and WECF (Women in Europe for a Common Future), this 40-page booklet is titled:
Nuclear Power: The Critical Question
First hand reports from the frontlines of the nuclear fuel chain.
Download it here: http://ccnr.org/WECF_6_final.pdf (1.28 MB)
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Paris to compensate nuclear victims
France's parliament has passed a law to compensate victims of nuclear tests in Algeria and the South Pacific.
After decades of complaints by people suffering from radiation-related illnesses, France's senate on Tuesday removed the final legislative hurdle and approved paying off victims of its atomic testing.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/
2009/12/2009122313244723672.html
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US Intelligence Found Iran Nuke Document Was Forged
U.S. intelligence has concluded that the document published recently by the Times of London, which purportedly describes an Iranian plan to do experiments on what the newspaper described as a "neutron initiator" for an atomic weapon, is a fabrication, according to a former Central Intelligence Agency official.
The story of the purported Iranian document prompted a new round of expressions of U.S. and European support for tougher sanctions against Iran and reminders of Israel's threats to attack Iranian nuclear programme targets if diplomacy fails.
http://www.truthout.org/topstories/122809vh4
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Pakistan Police: Detained Americans Had Maps Of Area Where Nuclear Power Plant Located
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/12/26/
ap/asia/main6024195.shtml
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The Nuclear Reaction Awards 2009: The Honest, We’re Not Making This Up Award
As the year comes to its close we’d like to recognise those who have helped make the nuclear industry the over-subsidised and under-scrutinised joke it is today.
http://weblog.greenpeace.org/nuclear-re ... _20_8.html
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Utah Supreme Court Puts Kibosh on Coal Plant
http://cleantechnica.com/2009/12/05/
utah-surpreme-court-puts-kibosh-on-coal-plant/#more-4127
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Wind power production remains larger than nuclear in Spain
Wind energy produced 54% of electricity demand on 30 December. Yesterday, wind power and hydro provided 60% of electricity consumption in Spain.
http://www.evwind.es/noticias.php?id_not=3172
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$100M announced for solar energy project in the Sault
Financing and land acquisitions are in place to move forward with the $100-million first phase of a 20-megawatt solar energy project in Sault Ste. Marie. Once built, it will provide power for up to 8,000 homes.
http://www.northernontariobusiness.com/ ... lt614.aspx
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2 weeks left to invest in one of ON’s first new Community Power projects under the Green Energy Act
Thanks to a world-class Green Energy Act and feed-in tariff programs, homeowners, businesses and communities all across the province are now hard at work building green energy projects in their own backyards. One such pioneering project that has recently received media coverage is an initiative of the Neighbourhood Unitarian Universalist Congregation to install a 20 kW solar array on the roof of its Toronto church.
The Congregation is offering the public the chance to invest in its grid-tied photovoltaic array by purchasing debentures in increments of $1000 that will pay 5% interest annually for 20 years. Already, more than half of the 110 debentures have been sold but there is still time to invest. The deadline to buy a debenture is January 20th - only two weeks away!
For more information about the terms and conditions, please visit the Congregation’s website at http://www.nuuc.ca/solarpanels.htm or contact Rick Salay, chair of the Congregation’s greening committee, at rsalay@sympatico.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
==========================
4. Saskatchewan Environmental Society – Job Postings(2)
(1) JOB POSTING
Part-time Financial Manager
Saskatchewan Environmental Society
Location: Saskatoon, SK Canada
Position Title: Financial Manager
Duration: 15 hours/week (permanent)
Start date: immediately (January 2010)
The Saskatchewan Environmental Society is a non-profit, registered charity, which is seeking an individual to be responsible for the following activities:
Primary activities include:
maintaining financial accounts, monitoring budgets and providing financial reporting for the organization and all of its projects
supervising the issuance of charitable receipts
accounts payable
invoicing and accounts receivable
investment administration
banking activities: deposits and reconciliation
monthly and annual financial statement preparation
payroll; WCB reconciliation
reporting the financial status of the organization to the Treasurer
assisting the Treasurer and the auditor in the preparation of the annual financial statement and the annual charitable return
attending organization’s Annual General Meeting and when possible the monthly Board of Directors meetings
telephone and photocopier bill allocations
The ideal candidate will be proficient in Simply Accounting; have a keen attention to detail; and will be able to work in the SES office at least 7 hours/week, with additional work done either in the office or from home. Experience working with charitable organizations is a definite asset.
Resumes should be sent to: allysonb@environmentalsociety.ca by January 20, 2010.
Saskatchewan Environmental Society
Box 1372 Saskatoon SK S7K 3N9
Phone: (306)665-1915
website: www.environmentalsociety.ca
(2) JOB POSTING
Pesticide Reduction Coordinator
Saskatchewan Environmental Society
Location: Saskatoon, SK Canada
Position Title: Pesticide Reduction Coordinator
Duration: one year (with possibility for extension)
Start date: February 2010 (with potential for extension); 18 hrs/week; $18/hr
The Saskatchewan Environmental Society is a non-profit, registered charity whose mandate is to work towards a world in which all needs can be met in sustainable ways. Sustainability will require healthy ecosystems, healthy livelihoods and healthy human communities. We work with, and on behalf of, communities, organizations, businesses and policy makers to encourage informed decision-making that moves us towards sustainability. We undertake research, and use education, community outreach, consultation opportunities and demonstration projects to provide the people of Saskatchewan the information and tools they need to make and to support these informed decisions
The SES has been active in Saskatchewan since 1970. SES’s current action areas include: sustainable energy & climate solutions, water protection, resource conservation, biodiversity preservation, and reduction of toxics.
SES is seeking an individual to carry out its initiatives on our Saskatoon pesticide reduction project.
Primary activities will include:
Manage and carry out the fifth year of our Pesticide Reduction household survey
Organize presentations to community groups and display opportunities regarding pesticide reduction
Build partnerships in the community regarding pesticide reduction
Volunteer management and training
Train and manage summer students
Keep track of progress and results for funding reporting requirements
Fundraising for & marketing of the SES pesticide reduction project
Desirable qualifications and skills:
Work or volunteer experience in a non-profit setting
Project Management skills
Demonstrated ability to organize community-wide outreach and education programs
Demonstrated skills in leadership, decision-making and an excellent team player
Competence in working independently and being creative and flexible in approaching different situations and challenges that may arise
Excellent verbal and written communication, presentation, interpersonal, computer literacy (spreadsheet and word processing), and time management skills
Post secondary education in a relevant field (environment, education, ecology, biology, etc.)
General understanding and commitment to environment and social change resulting in environmental benefit
Internet research skills
To apply: e-mail resumes to: allysonb@environmentalsociety.ca by January 25, 2010. No late resumes will be accepted.
Saskatchewan Environmental Society
Box 1372 Saskatoon SK S7K 3N9
Phone: (306)665-1915
website: www.environmentalsociety.ca
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5. Indigenous Environmental Network Online News - January 11, 2010
The Indigenous Environmental Network • PO Box 485 • Bemidji, MN 56619
http://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/emai ... 1410148821
News Extras: Peabody's Coal-Mining Permit Whithdrawn ~ WMAN/IEN Grant Application ~ Energy Resource Development Tribal Internship Program
IN THIS ISSUE
>> WMAN/IEN Grassroots Communities Mini-Grant Program--Deadline February 1, 2010
>> Everyone's Downstream III: From the Front Lines to the Finish Lines--Races to the bottom
>> Energy Resource Development Tribal Internship Program
>> CARBON TRADING -- HOW IT WORKS AND WHY IT FAILS
>> GET INVOLVED: PARTICIPATE IN BUILDING THE RED ROAD TO DETROIT!
>> Energy Department, NRC Back Nuclear, Ignore Industry’s Dirty Little Secrets
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6. Cerberus Capital: Literally Blood-Sucking the Poor to Make Their Billions
http://www.alternet.org/story/145044/
By Mark Ames, AlterNet Posted on January 9, 2010, Printed on January 9, 2010
Wall Street vampires. Lately, a lot of Americans, including myself, have used the bloodsucking monsters as a metaphor to describe the Wall Street billionaires who rule us, and who are ruining us. Like so many awful stories of the past few years, it turns out that these Wall Street vampire-billionaires really exist, literally. Like all vampires, they live in remote castles, and they feed themselves by luring poor, desperate humans into their dens, hooking them into blood-pumping machines and sucking out their plasma for mind-boggling profits.
Cerberus Capital, one of Wall Street’s most notoriously ruthless leveraged-buyout firms (or “private equity firms” in PC-speak), recently made a $1.8 billion killing on its human plasma investment, a company called Talecris. Talecris was purchased for a mere $82.5 million just four years earlier, meaning Cerberus made 23 times its investment on human plasma. This was accomplished by the most savage, heartless means possible: by paying peanuts to impoverished human plasma donors, who increasingly come from Mexican border towns to blood-pumping stations set up on the American side, jacking up the price of plasma by restricting supply (a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission accused Cerberus Plasma Holdings of “operat[ing] as an oligopoly”), and then selling the refined products to the most desperately ill—patients suffering from hemophilia, severe burns, multiple sclerosis and autoimmune deficiencies. The products cost so much—one, IVIG (intravenous immunoglobulin) cost twice the price of gold as of last summer—that American health insurance companies have been dropping or denying their policyholders in increasing numbers, endangering untold numbers of people.
Tomas Asher, chairman of a company that trades in plasma, described the business this way: "It's like selling hog bellies or wheat or beef. It gets sold all over."
MORE: http://www.alternet.org/story/145044/
Read more of Mark Ames at eXiledonline.com. He is the author of Going Postal: Rage, Murder, and Rebellion: From Reagan's Workplaces to Clinton's Columbine and Beyond.
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7. U.S. WAR SPENDING EXCEEDS ALL STATE GOVERNMENT OUTLAYS
http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/news/1 ... tlays.html
Friday, 25 December 2009 by Sherwood Ross
The U.S. spends more for war annually than all state governments combined spend for the health, education, welfare, and safety of 308 million Americans.
Joseph Henchman, director of state projects for the Tax Foundation of Washington, D.C., says the states collected a total of $781 billion in taxes in 2008.
For a rough comparison, according to Wikipedia data, the total budget for defense in fiscal year 2010 will be at least $880 billion and could possibly top $1 trillion. That’s more than all the state governments collect.
Henchman says all American local governments combined (cities, counties, etc.) collect about $500 billion in taxes. Add that to total state tax take and you get over $1.3 trillion. This means Uncle Sam’s Pentagon is sopping up nearly as much money as all state, county, city, and other governmental units spend to run the country.
If the Pentagon figure of $1 trillion is somewhat less than all other taxing authorities, keep in mind the FBI, the various intelligence agencies, the VA, the National Institutes of Health (biological warfare) are also spending on war-related activities.
A question that describes the above and answers itself is: In what area can the Federal government operate where states and cities cannot tread? The answer is: foreign affairs---raising armies, fighting wars, conducting diplomacy, etc. And so Uncle Sam keeps enlarging this area. His emphasis is not on diplomacy, either.
For every buck spent by the State Department, which gets some $50 billion a year, the Pentagon spends $20. As for the Peace Corps, its budget is a paltry $375 million---hardly enough to keep the Pentagon elephant in peanuts.
Nobel Prize economist Joseph Stiglitz and finance authority Linda Bilmes write in their “The Three Trillion Dollar War”(W.W. Norton), “defense spending has been growing as a percentage of discretionary funding (money that is not required to be spent on entitlements like Social Security), from 48 percent in 2000 to 51 percent today. That means that our defense needs are gobbling up a larger share of taxpayers’ money than ever before.”
And they add, “The Pentagon’s budget has increased by more than $600 billion, cumulatively, since we invaded Iraq.” With its 1,000 bases in the U.S. and another 800 bases globally, the U.S. truly has become a “Warfare State.” Today, military-related products account for about one-fourth of total U.S. GDP. This includes 10,000 nuclear weapons. Indeed, the U.S. has lavished $5.5 trillion just on nukes over the past 70 years.
MORE:
http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/news/1 ... tlays.html
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8. US Congress approves $680 billion defense budget
http://www.apakistannews.com/us-congres ... get-143527
Friday, October 23, 2009 at 12:30 pm under World Breaking news
The US Senate voted 68-29 in favor of a 680-billion-dollar defense budget for fiscal year 2010, which sailed through the House of Representatives by a 281-146 margin on October 8 and will now go to President Barack Obama. The new restrictions imposed on Pakistan include efforts to track where US military hardware sent to Pakistan ends up, as well as a warning that US aid to Pakistan must not upset the balance of power in the region.
MORE:
http://www.apakistannews.com/us-congres ... get-143527
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9. The Military-Industrial Complex is Ruining the Economy
By Washington's Blog
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=16887
Global Research, January 10, 2010 Washington's Blog - 2010-01-09
Everyone knows that the too big to fails and their dishonest and footsy-playing regulators and politicians are largely responsible for trashing the economy.
But the military-industrial complex shares much of the blame.
Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz says that the Iraq war will cost $3-5 trillion dollars.
Sure, experts say that the Iraq war has increased the threat of terrorism. See this, this, this, this, this, this and this. And we launched the Iraq war based on the false linkage of Saddam and 9/11, and knowingly false claims that Saddam had WMDs. And top British officials, former CIA director George Tenet, former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and many others say that the Iraq war was planned before 9/11. But this essay is about dollars and cents.
America is also spending a pretty penny in Afghanistan. The U.S. admits there are only a small handful of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. As ABC notes:
U.S. intelligence officials have concluded there are only about 100 al Qaeda fighters in the entire country.
With 100,000 troops in Afghanistan at an estimated yearly cost of $30 billion, it means that for every one al Qaeda fighter, the U.S. will commit 1,000 troops and $300 million a year.
Sure, the government apparently planned the Afghanistan war before 9/11 (see this and this). And the Taliban offered to turn over Bin Laden (see this and this). And we could have easily killed Bin Laden in 2001 and again in 2007, but chose not to, even though that would have saved the U.S. hundreds of billions of dollars in costs in prosecuting the Afghanistan war. But this essay is about dollars and cents.
Increasing the Debt Burden of a Nation Sinking In Debt
All of the spending on unnecessary wars adds up.
The U.S. is adding trillions to its debt burden to finance its multiple wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, etc.
Two top American economists - Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff - show that the more indebted a country is, with a government debt/GDP ratio of 0.9, and external debt/GDP of 0.6 being critical thresholds, the more GDP growth drops materially
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=16887
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10. GBU-57A/B (. . . . in a world gone mad. Editor)
http://images.google.com/images?q=GBU-57A/
B&rls=com.microsoft:en-ca:IE-Address&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7RNWE_en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=y7FLS_aKE9KnlAef6eCJDQ&sa=X&oi=image_
result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CCEQsAQwAw
The Pentagon is accelerating by three years its plans for a super bunker buster, the GBU-57A/B or Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), a powerful new bomb aimed squarely at the underground nuclear facilities of Iran and North Korea . The gargantuan bomb is longer than 11 persons standing shoulder-to-shoulder or more than 20 feet base to nose and weighs over 15 tons (31,862 pounds). Some 18 percent of its total weight is comprised of explosives.
The GBU-57A/B MOP is so immense it can only be carried by either a B-52 or a B-2A Stealth bomber. The weapons explosive power is 10 times greater than its predecessor, the BLU-109. Moreover, the GBU-57A/B MOP is one third heavier than the MOAB dubbed the Mother of All Bombs.
This super buster all started with a break-through by the Raytheon Company when it developed and tested a new conventional warhead technology to defeat hardened and deeply buried bunkers. The new technology, called Tandem Warhead System, consists of a shaped-charge precursor warhead combined with a follow- through penetrator explosive charge.
MORE:
http://images.google.com/images?q=GBU-57A/
B&rls=com.microsoft:en-ca:IE-Address&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7RNWE_en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=y7FLS_aKE9KnlAef6eCJDQ&sa=X&oi=image_
result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CCEQsAQwAw
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11. Liberty, turned on its side...
From: "Ace Hoffman" <rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com>
Subject: Liberty, turned on its side...
January 10th, 2010
Dear Readers,
A few days ago I received an anonymous letter in a Southern California Edison company envelope. It concerned the behavior of a manager in the control and electrical design engineering department at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS).
The letter alleged "Ethical Misconduct" and was apparently sent to San Onofre's Chief Nuclear Officer and Senior Vice President, Ross Ridenoure, on Christmas Day, 2009. The letter also described a "fear of retaliation" simply for complaining.
Rightly or wrongly, the industry previously considered the pair of reactors at San Onofre to be among the best-operated in the world. The workers took pride in their "culture of safety."
Now, San Onofre is near the bottom in the industry's own self-ranking, and is under special scrutiny by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
And despite that scrutiny -- or perhaps in part because of it -- things are actually getting worse at the site. Extra inspections and mass firings have served only to increase the desire of the plant workers to hide their mistakes.
But what are they covering up?
Fire inspections that aren't actually being done. Emergency generator tests that aren't being carried out. Regulations that are being purposefully violated without anyone checking to see if anyone authorized the "over-ride." Dangerous ramifications that aren't being considered before projects are started. Safety lock-outs that aren't being applied to heavy machinery while people are working on it. Areas under lifts that are not roped off. Damaged cables that aren't being replaced until after a failure occurs. High-radiation operations that aren't properly staffed. (At San Onofre, "ALARA" stands for "Always Let Another Run Ahead.")
These are just the things we've eventually heard about. Undoubtedly there are many more problems.
The anonymous letter described an incident where a manager, Mr. Rak, deleted a survey from one of his employees' email, thus preventing the employee from returning a possibly-unfavorable evaluation of the manager. The survey was being conducted to fulfill NRC requirements to show that the plant was addressing their "culture of cover-up."
Certainly one of the easiest ways to introduce a statistical bias into a survey's results is: Don't let people take part in the survey if they might not answer questions the way you'd like. And this apparently happened over what the employee described as a "minor altercation." What about when things go really bad? What cover-ups occur then?
As it turns out, the answer to that question at San Onofre is also known, because of what's happened to people like Rick Busnardo: Employees who try to break through the "culture of cover-up" are denied access to email (they must put all their complaints in hand-written notes). They are also prevented from talking to their own supervisors -- sometimes for months at a time. And they -- or the departments they supervise -- are issued "Stop Work Orders" (SWOs) for no reason.
Furthermore, the official wording of any complaints that do get into the system are based on the upper-level manager's idea of how the complaint should be worded, NOT the wording of the actual complainant. So if a line manager writes that one of his employees knowingly and intentionally violated procedures, executive management can instead -- without any facts to back up their version -- describe the incident by saying that the line manager was unable to properly supervise his employees.
In the past year, I've seen or met, or received letters, phone calls, or emails, from about half a dozen San Onofre whistleblowers. This level of activity is astounding and unprecedented.
It's very hard for an outsider to know what's really happening at the plant. Secrecy is firmly embedded in the culture of nuclear energy, regardless of whether there's also a "culture of safety" at the same time. It can -- and should -- be argued that the two cultures are incompatible, and ONLY in a culture of openness can there be any hope of a culture of safety.
While recognition of the "culture of cover-up" by the NRC and San Onofre employees is new, the culture itself is not new. For example, in Spring, 2001, San Onofre employees dropped an 80,000 lb crane they were hoisting. The NRC put a slew of lawyers on the phone with me, trying -- unsuccessfully -- to get me to reveal the name of the employee who told me about the incident! The openness the NRC wants does NOT extend to the public.
Later, when I complained about numerous instances of the P.R. spokesperson for the plant lying to the media and to the public, I was told by the NRC that statements made by the public affairs officer of an NRC-licensed facility are not "regulated activities" and their veracity will NOT be investigated.
But the media will report what these P.R. spokespeople say as if they are speaking the gospel, in part because the NRC won't correct even the most blatant lies.
Nuclear power is not cheap, it's not carbon-free, and it's not safe. The waste problem is intractable. A meltdown, which can contaminate an area the size of Pennsylvania, can occur at any moment, at any plant.
Huge amounts of money are spent in back-door ways to keep nuclear power plants operating. Huge amounts of water and other natural resources are wasted every day, and huge amounts of coal and oil are burned to mine and mill the fuel that is used in nuclear power plants. Just look at the clean-up bills for our weapons sites, such as Hanford, Washington, to get an idea of what the real clean-up costs for nuclear power plants (which create even MORE waste than our military programs) will be.
Over the past four decades, San Onofre has created millions of pounds of deadly radioactive waste. These are poisons whose dangers are not diminished by baking, burning, cooling, compressing, decompressing, mixing, shocking, shaking, liquefying, gasifying, or solidifying. Poisons which physically destroy any container you put them in. (Containers which would be destroyed anyway, collapsing to dust or rusting away over the eons during which nuclear waste must be stored.)
There is no reason to keep San Onofre open any longer, and many good reasons to shut it down forever -- including the 500 NEW pounds of high-level nuclear waste it creates every day it remains operational.
Safer alternatives exist, which can provide enough jobs for every skilled and honest worker currently employed at the plant.
Ace Hoffman
Carlsbad, CA
The author has been writing about nuclear issues for several decades and is the author of THE CODE KILLERS, an expose of the nuclear industry, available as a free download from the author's web site. He is also an educational software developer.
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© Ace Hoffman
www.acehoffman.org
PO Box 1936, Carlsbad, CA 92018
(760) 720-7261
rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com
www.animatedsoftware.com
Compilation:
1. The Alberta Government Attacks Freedom of Speech - January 11, 2010
2. Are Alternative Sources of Energy Available? By Jim Harding
3. No Nukes News - Jan. 8, 2010
4. Saskatchewan Environmental Society – Job Postings
5. Indigenous Environmental Network Online News - January 11, 2010
6. Cerberus Capital: Literally Blood-Sucking the Poor to Make Their Billions
7. U.S. WAR SPENDING EXCEEDS ALL STATE GOVERNMENT OUTLAYS
8. US Congress approves $680 billion defense budget
9. The Military-Industrial Complex is Ruining the Economy
10. GBU-57A/B (….in a world gone mad. Editor)
11. Liberty, turned on its side...
==========================
1. The Alberta Government Attacks Freedom of Speech - January 11, 2010
Posted at: http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/
viewtopic.php?p=1524#1524
The illegal removal of the “No To Nuclear” (NTN) sign on the Dixonville store by Alberta Transportation contractors on December 16 signaled the Province’s intention to trample on our right to free speech. Alberta Transportation issued work orders and sent letters to remove the NTN signs on the same day that Energy Minister Mel Knight announced he would welcome nuclear into Alberta.
The Alberta Government is trying to silence opposition to the proposed nuclear project. They are using our tax dollars to prevent us from speaking out against a project that 85% of the community’s residents are opposed to.
A short recap of Mel Knight’s handling of the nuclear issue is in order before I present the evidence showing Alberta Transportation has targeted anti-nuclear groups.
Provincial Corruption
CORRUPT: immoral or dishonest, especially as shown by the exploitation of a position of power or trust; extremely immoral or depraved.
Energy Minister Mel Knight has been CORRUPT in his handling of the nuclear file since the 2008 provincial election when he repeatedly said: “We are neither proponents nor opponents of nuclear power”.
We found out three weeks after the election that he was not telling the truth when he announced that the Alberta Research Council and the Idaho National Nuclear Laboratory (INNL) signed an agreement to develop nuclear technology for Alberta. There were pictures of Alberta officials visiting INNL facilities on their website earlier in 2007.
Expert Nuclear Panel Report
In May 2008, Mel Knight announced the formation of an “Expert Nuclear Panel” to investigate whether nuclear energy is appropriate for Alberta. The panel was set up to help the province answer questions on environmental, health, safety and waste management issues surrounding nuclear energy.
The report released by Mel Knight in March 2009 did not answer any of these questions. Instead, the report was little more than a nuclear industry advertisement on behalf of nuclear reactors and the merits of reprocessing spent nuclear fuel. Considering its purported mandate, the Expert Nuclear Panel Report is fraudulent, incomplete and biased.
There were no environmental experts, medical doctors, nuclear opponents or health experts on the panel. The four-man panel did include a Director of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited and their report was based on information supplied by the INNL. Even by Mel Knight's dubious standards, this report is a slap in the face of democracy and the people he was elected to serve.
Provincial Consultation
Shortly after the Expert Nuclear Panel Report was released, Mel Knight announced the format for the provincial consultation. The centerpiece was a workbook and survey for Albertans to fill out. Mel Knight gave Albertans 35 days to educate themselves on nuclear issues before filling in the survey.
Thirty five days was not enough time to learn a subject of this magnitude especially when you consider Albertans had 75 days to comment on license plates and 60 days on parks. To add insult to injury, Mel Knight set the 35-day period during spring planting which essentially prevented the entire rural community from educating themselves and participating. There were no public meetings that allowed the press to be present and there were zero opportunities for Albertans to ask questions about nuclear power.
Still, 3600 Albertans took the time to educate themselves on nuclear issues in order to complete the extensive questionnaire. This survey showed 55% opposed nuclear energy, 28% supported it and 17% wanted it explored on a case by case basis. These were not the results Mel Knight wanted so he decreed that the results of this survey were not "statistically valid".
Instead, he commissioned a random telephone survey of 1024 people who knew virtually nothing about nuclear energy. 45% of respondents wanted nuclear explored on a case-by-case basis, 28% were against it and 19% supported it. It is this telephone survey that Mel Knight is using to justify Albertans’ support for nuclear power. He dismissed the opinions of 3600 well-informed people in favour 1024 uninformed ones.
Nuclear Subsidies
Mel Knight's vow that no public dollars would be invested in any nuclear project is pure nonsense. Taxpayers are required to pay for the cost of transmission lines from Peace River to Edmonton if the nuclear reactors are built. There is no other reason to build this line. The construction and operation of the nuclear reactors will double the size of Peace River. Taxpayers will be on the hook for the infrastructure that has to be built. This in itself would be several billion dollars. Paying for power lines and infrastructure are both direct subsidies to Bruce Power.
Mel Knight’s Announcement
On December 14, 2009, Mel Knight announced that he would let the nuclear project proceed. As previously stated, the basis for his approval was the opinions of 1024 uninformed people (to the exclusion of 3600 well-informed residents). This is the epitome of a “Democratic Deficit”.
The timing of Mel Knight’s announcement left people scratching their head. Premier Stelmach was quoted in a Globe and Mail article on December 11, 2009 saying: “I would like to have the (nuclear) issue concluded by the end of January”. (Katherine O’Neill) Was there no communication between the Premier and Mel Knight or did they change their minds on the date of the announcement over the weekend?
Mel Knight followed the example of other cowardly government officials by making the announcement the week before Christmas when few people are paying attention. The same rationale led them to issuing the order to remove our signs on the day of his announcement. This was further confirmation of Mel Knight’s disregard for the well-being and rights of Albertans in his support of large corporations.
Back To The Signs
The store owners were appalled and called in the RCMP. The RCMP confirmed that no one was allowed to remove a sign on private property, regardless of what it said. The RCMP contacted La Prairie Group; the Alberta Transportation contractor.
According to La Prairie employee, Brad Woods, the whole thing was a misunderstanding. “The misunderstanding was that we had picked up (an anti-nuclear) sign off of the main alignment highway on 35 north. The government boundary went past the inside of the farmer's fence, and we had a work order to pick that sign up, and we misunderstood that we were supposed to pick up the rest of the signs also. (Michelle Higgins, Peace River Gazette, Jan. 5, 2010)
There is no issue at all with La Prairie Group as it was an honest mistake. They apologized to the owners and replaced the sign at their expense.
Alberta Transportation Order
The work order that Mr. Walls misinterpreted came from Alberta Transportation on December 14, 2009; the same day Mel Knight made his announcement. It ordered the removal of the NTN signs on public property. Alberta Transportation would not let Peace River Gazette reporter Michelle Higgins see the work order. (We are preparing A FOIP request for the work order and other pertinent documents.)
Alberta Transportation is legally allowed to remove signs on public property if there is no permit and with this, we have no issue. However, we are very upset and concerned that only NTN signs were targeted. All the “other” non-conforming signs on public property were left in place.
Alberta Transportation Letters
Property owners with NTN signs on their property started receiving letters from Alberta Transportation a few days after Mel Knight’s announcement. The letters, which included an 8.5” X 11” colour picture of the offending sign, asked owners to remove or relocate the offending signs. A few people complied with the letter out of fear of repercussions.
Theresa Van Oort (MD 22 CAO) was copied on the letter sent to people with signs. Ms. Van Oort has her “paw prints” on every aspect of trying to force the nuclear project down our throats. As a protégé of Kelly Bunn, she supplied Mr. Bunn with the letter of support from MD 22 for the nuclear project in 2007. She’s prevented residents from speaking to MD 22 Council on nuclear issues and now she seems to have her paws on the curtailment of our right to free speech. Did Alberta Transportation initiate this attack on the rights of anti-nuclear residents at her urging? Another FOIP?
Visit to Alberta Transportation
On January 6, 2010, five of us went to Alberta Transportation’s offices and met with Gerard Gravel. He was unable to answer many of our questions and some of the information he provided contradicted the evidence we’ve been gathering. This is not to impugn Mr. Gravel, as he may not be aware of the actions of his superiors.
He told us that La Prairie Group was ordered to remove all signs on public property but a La Prairie employee told us (on condition of anonymity) that they were only ordered to take down NTN signs. Indeed, only the anti-nuclear signs were removed. The real estate and other commercial signs were left where they were.
Mr. Gravel told us that letters were sent out to owners of all signs on private property that had no permits. We pointed out to him that this was not true as one farmer with two commercial signs on the same fence-line beside a NTN sign only received a letter about his NTN sign. None of them had permits.
One farmer spotted them measuring the distance the signs were from the centre of the road. As he continued driving, he noticed there were footprints in the snow going to every NTN sign but to no other sign at all, including signs we know aren’t permitted. We went out and took pictures of the tracks to the NTN signs and the undisturbed snow to all other signs.
Mr. Gravel told us the order to prepare the letters was only given recently, though he wouldn’t specify a date. This is not true as some of the pictures of the offending signs were taken in September when the leaves were just starting to turn. Others were taken since the snow and cold came in early December.
We asked Mr. Gravel what the cost of permitting the signs would be. He replied that our signs were deemed improper and that they would not issue a permit for them. He said our signs were on a controversial topic. We asked him who made that decision. He replied that his boss, Mr. Gish had. He would not tell us how much the permit would be due to our signs being improper.
When asked why No Hunting signs were allowed and our NTN signs were not, Mr. Gravel responded that some people don’t want guns shot on their property. We countered by saying we didn’t want radioactive emissions from the nuclear reactors landing on our property.
We asked Mr. Gravel what the repercussions would be if owners didn’t comply with the letters from Alberta Transportation. He evaded answering until the fourth time we asked. Finally, he told us a second letter would be sent out if we didn’t comply. If the second letter wasn’t complied with, they would seek a Ministerial Decree to have the signs removed. He would not give us time-lines on these events.
We also pointed out that the letters referred to our messages as: “the sign containing advertising for NO TO NUCLEAR”. This is not an advertisement, it is our opinion. It is not up to Mr. Gish at Alberta Transportation to decide what we are allowed to think.
Mr. Gish claims that’s it’s just coincidental that signs were removed and letters sent out right after Mel Knight’s announcement. Yah right! I suppose that it was also coincidence a similar letter was sent to remove the anti-nuclear van parked in Weberville the next business day after we made an unscheduled visit to MLA Oberle’s office in November.
Town of Manning
The Town of Manning got into the act by issuing an order to the Manning Bottle Depot to remove their NTN signs. Instead of complying, the owners formally changed the name of their business to the “No To Nuclear Bottle Depot”.
The Town of Manning sent them a notice that they would have to pay a development fee for their signs. After checking with other local businesses, we realized the Town was targeting them as no one else we spoke to had to pay a development fee on their signs.
What Did it Cost?
What did it cost Albertans for this attack on our freedom of speech? How much money was spent driving around MD 22 taking pictures of signs? What did it cost to send another crew out to measure the signs and take them down? What did it cost for staff to prepare and send out the letters? More than the cost of snacks for mental-health patients?
What Are We Going To Do?
This attack on our right to freedom of speech was the shot in the arm that anti-nuclear forces needed. People on both sides of the nuclear debate are appalled at the conduct of the provincial government. If Mel Knight thinks this will slow us down, he’s delusional. Our response to this government’s corrupt attempt to silence us will be evident very shortly. We will not let the Province give our children’s future to Bruce Power.
Pat McNamara
Weberville Area Connection & Earth Alternatives
These two groups are made up of the farmers living closest to the proposed reactor site and throughout the Municipal District of Northern Lights. We are the people who will be most affected by the nuclear reactors, but we are fighting on behalf of all Albertans who are opposed to nuclear power.
We’ve spent thousands of hours of our personal time and thousand of dollars of our money to stop this senseless project.
We could use your help.
Donations to help us fight the nuclear project and the provincial government can be sent to: Earth Alternatives, Box 153 North Star, AB, T0H 2T0 Thank You
=====================================
2. Are Alternative Sources of Energy Available? By Jim Harding
Saskatchewan Sustainability Published in R-Town News on Jan. 08, 2010
Saskatchewan people are becoming more informed about energy, as we should. Having twenty times (20 X) the global, per capita, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions challenges us to quickly convert to sustainable energy. Over the last year we’ve had a controversy over the “nuclear option” and the provincial government has now recognized that nuclear power is too costly and inappropriate for our needs. With the nuclear option hopefully put to rest we must seriously explore alternative energy. The Standing Committee on the Crowns is still looking at our energy options, but some of its members are understandably predisposed to conventional systems, such as coal and biofuels. It will take us a while to stop assuming that energy must come from large thermal plants that generate electricity, or large refineries that produce fuels.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
The needed transition to sustainable energy requires democratizing the process of creating energy policy. Public consultations on the Uranium Development Partnership (UDP) report were a good start, but the broader citizenry and electorate needs to become more engaged. And enhanced citizen involvement requires more knowledge about energy terminology and concepts.
We all know the term “watt” because we use low wattage incandescent light bulbs in our homes. And we are all learning about energy efficiency because we know that compact fluorescent bulbs can provide as much light while using only about 25% of the electricity. Such moves toward energy efficiency are already our main and cheapest source of new electricity.
We rightly focus on the huge carbon footprint of the gas we use in our cars and trucks; but the related waste of energy has received less attention. Less than 20% of the energy in a litre of gasoline is actually used to move our vehicles; the rest is released as waste heat. Think of the inefficiency! If transportation was “fueled” by electricity from sustainable sources, about 80% of the energy would be used to move our vehicles. Far more “bang” for the buck. Energy efficiency is a win-win: reducing GHGs while creating more energy productivity.
Projections by the fossil fuel and nuclear industries about future energy demand intentionally downplay energy efficiency. However, on a global scale the savings would be staggering. To show this we need some terms based on “watts”. A kilowatt (KW) is a thousand watts, which is how we measure the electricity in our homes. A megawatt (MW) is a million watts, which is how we measure the capacity of our grid, which in Saskatchewan is around 3,600 MW. A billion watts is a gigawatt (GW), which is how countries can measure their capacity, and a trillion watts is a terawatt (TW), which is how we measure global capacity. These terms can all be used for measuring output, for example kilowatt hours (kWh), which is one thousand watts for an hour.
When demand is highest we call it “peak load”. Globally, peak demand is now around 12.5 TW, and conventional forecasters are saying that by 2030 it will rise to around 16.9 TW. The feature article in the November 2009 Scientific American however, disputes this, saying that with efficiencies from shifting to renewables, peak demand in 2030 could be 11.5 TW, which is lower than today. We see these energy savings with compact fluorescent lighting and electric cars, but the process has hardly begun.
RENEWABLE POTENTIAL
Corporations that profit from inefficient, polluting, non-renewables like coal, oil or uranium want to postpone our conversion to sustainable energy as long as possible. One tactic used to obscure self-interest is to downplay the potential of renewables. What does the Scientific American feature say about this? It concludes that globally there is around 1,700 TW of wind energy and that 40-85 TW of this is harvestable with today’s technology. It concludes there is 6,500 TW of solar energy, and that 580 TW of this is presently harvestable. Currently we only get .02 TW from wind and .008 TW from solar.
There’s clearly no shortage of renewable energy, but what might a sustainable energy plan look like? The Scientific American feature suggests we could get 51% of future energy from wind, 40% from solar and 9% from water power, which translates into 5.8 TW from wind, 4.6 TW from solar energy and 1.1 TW from water to meet projected demand by 2030. To accomplish this would require 3.8 million 5-MW wind turbines; 89,000 300-MW solar plants and millions of photovoltaic (PV) rooftop installations; 5,350 100- MW geothermal plants and several hundred thousand small tidal turbines and wave converters along with 900 1,300-MW hydro plants.
Supporters of the energy status quo find fault with renewables wherever they can, but their motives aren’t always pure. Certainly wind turbines must be better located out of the paths of migrating birds and bats. But the impacts of renewables must be judged in comparison to today’s energy impacts: 3.8 million wind turbines may sound like a lot, until you realize that 73 million cars and trucks are produced globally each year. At present these vehicles are highly inefficient while spewing masses of gases into the atmosphere. Were vehicles powered with electricity from renewables, they would neither waste vast energy nor pollute the biosphere.
Land use required by renewables is also exaggerated. Comparatively speaking, all these wind turbines could be placed in 50 square miles, the size of Manhattan. This Scientific American scenario has 30% of the PV electricity coming from existing buildings, and the rest of the solar energy requiring less than one-third of 1% of the earth’s land mass. Seventy percent of the hydro installations within this plan are already in place, and additional hydro could come from low impact run-of-the-river turbines.
If we continue along the business-as-usual approach, GHGs and other environmental health hazards will increase. Without a major shift to wind, water and solar we would see 13,000 huge new coal plants or the equivalent in nuclear plants by 2030. The impact of these technologies through toxic mining, watershed contamination, climate change and radioactive wastes would be astronomical. Choices need to be made!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jim Harding is a retired professor of environmental and justice studies.
Past columns and other non-nuclear resources are posted at http://jimharding.brinkster.net
Also Posted at:
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1525#1525
==============================
3. No Nukes News - Jan. 8, 2010 - www.cleanairalliance.org
Here’s to a non-nuclear and sustainable 2010! -angela
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Jump on board!
A provincial by-election has been called for Feb. 4 in Toronto-Centre. The Ontario Clean Air Alliance is calling for a ramped-up coal phase-out by June, 2010. We’ll be surveying all the candidates, and distributing leaflets with their responses to constituents in the riding at subway stations etc. If you’re up for helping, let me know.
Also, we’ve distributed leaflets http://ontariosgreenfuture.ca/CostlyNukes_12_09.pdf to about 80% of the homes in Iggy’s riding (Etobicoke-Lakeshore).
If you’re up for helping complete this task, let me know.
Thanks for all your support!
-a
--------------------------------
- - - -SNIP - - - - - (articles previously included in the NUKE NEWS. Editor)
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New Jersey nuclear plant shut down because of ice in Delaware River
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/
new_jersey_nuclear_plant_shut.html
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Brazilian mayor seeks shutdown of nuclear power plant after floods
http://www.star-telegram.com/279/story/1865830.html
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Nuclear power declining, not reviving, in USA
In upstate New York, the Unistar Nuclear Energy front group asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to delay its application to build a reactor at Oswego, near Syracuse. Meanwhile, in Texas, the San Antonio city council’s deliberations over building two new reactors has disintegrated into recriminations, resignations and firings over a multi-billion-dollar price jump in projected cost estimates, a furor that could doom reactor construction there as well. And in Vermont, Entergy has threatened to shut its Yankee reactor if the legislature does not approve a complex maneuver that would allow its owners to escape certain financial liabilities.
Throughout the US, while the corporate media hypes a “renaissance” of new nukes, facts on the ground say the opposite is happening. The longer that trend continues, the more likely we are to win a world powered by the Solartopian technologies that really work, including wind, solar, geothermal, sustainable bio-fuels, increased efficiency/conservation, and more.
http://antinuclear.net/2009/12/24/
nuclear-power-declining-not-reviving-in-usa/
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The Answer Ain't Nuclear
"C" for Chernobyl: site of the worst nuclear accident in history nearly a quarter of a century ago. That wretched city inadvertently became the perfect Frankenstein laboratory for studying the long-term behavior of radiation in the wild.
Despite the passage of 23 years, normalcy is not returning to Chernobyl nearly as fast as predicted. Specifically, the cesium 137 in Chernobyl's soils isn’t decaying as fast as its 30-year half-life.
And so the idea that Ukraine could repopulate the Chernobyl dead zone in "only" 180 to 320 years is proving pure fantasy.
http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2009 ... nt-nuclear
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Exposing Canada's War Industry Profiteers
The Canadian Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT) has just published a 50-page report called "CANSEC: War is Business."
Order a copy or subscribe here: http://coat.ncf.ca/
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To kick off this new year, we are pleased to present you with a very special issue of The Nuclear Monitor (issue # 700/701). Produced in cooperation with our friends at WISE (World Information Service on Energy) and WECF (Women in Europe for a Common Future), this 40-page booklet is titled:
Nuclear Power: The Critical Question
First hand reports from the frontlines of the nuclear fuel chain.
Download it here: http://ccnr.org/WECF_6_final.pdf (1.28 MB)
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Paris to compensate nuclear victims
France's parliament has passed a law to compensate victims of nuclear tests in Algeria and the South Pacific.
After decades of complaints by people suffering from radiation-related illnesses, France's senate on Tuesday removed the final legislative hurdle and approved paying off victims of its atomic testing.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/
2009/12/2009122313244723672.html
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US Intelligence Found Iran Nuke Document Was Forged
U.S. intelligence has concluded that the document published recently by the Times of London, which purportedly describes an Iranian plan to do experiments on what the newspaper described as a "neutron initiator" for an atomic weapon, is a fabrication, according to a former Central Intelligence Agency official.
The story of the purported Iranian document prompted a new round of expressions of U.S. and European support for tougher sanctions against Iran and reminders of Israel's threats to attack Iranian nuclear programme targets if diplomacy fails.
http://www.truthout.org/topstories/122809vh4
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Pakistan Police: Detained Americans Had Maps Of Area Where Nuclear Power Plant Located
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/12/26/
ap/asia/main6024195.shtml
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The Nuclear Reaction Awards 2009: The Honest, We’re Not Making This Up Award
As the year comes to its close we’d like to recognise those who have helped make the nuclear industry the over-subsidised and under-scrutinised joke it is today.
http://weblog.greenpeace.org/nuclear-re ... _20_8.html
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Utah Supreme Court Puts Kibosh on Coal Plant
http://cleantechnica.com/2009/12/05/
utah-surpreme-court-puts-kibosh-on-coal-plant/#more-4127
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Wind power production remains larger than nuclear in Spain
Wind energy produced 54% of electricity demand on 30 December. Yesterday, wind power and hydro provided 60% of electricity consumption in Spain.
http://www.evwind.es/noticias.php?id_not=3172
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$100M announced for solar energy project in the Sault
Financing and land acquisitions are in place to move forward with the $100-million first phase of a 20-megawatt solar energy project in Sault Ste. Marie. Once built, it will provide power for up to 8,000 homes.
http://www.northernontariobusiness.com/ ... lt614.aspx
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2 weeks left to invest in one of ON’s first new Community Power projects under the Green Energy Act
Thanks to a world-class Green Energy Act and feed-in tariff programs, homeowners, businesses and communities all across the province are now hard at work building green energy projects in their own backyards. One such pioneering project that has recently received media coverage is an initiative of the Neighbourhood Unitarian Universalist Congregation to install a 20 kW solar array on the roof of its Toronto church.
The Congregation is offering the public the chance to invest in its grid-tied photovoltaic array by purchasing debentures in increments of $1000 that will pay 5% interest annually for 20 years. Already, more than half of the 110 debentures have been sold but there is still time to invest. The deadline to buy a debenture is January 20th - only two weeks away!
For more information about the terms and conditions, please visit the Congregation’s website at http://www.nuuc.ca/solarpanels.htm or contact Rick Salay, chair of the Congregation’s greening committee, at rsalay@sympatico.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
==========================
4. Saskatchewan Environmental Society – Job Postings(2)
(1) JOB POSTING
Part-time Financial Manager
Saskatchewan Environmental Society
Location: Saskatoon, SK Canada
Position Title: Financial Manager
Duration: 15 hours/week (permanent)
Start date: immediately (January 2010)
The Saskatchewan Environmental Society is a non-profit, registered charity, which is seeking an individual to be responsible for the following activities:
Primary activities include:
maintaining financial accounts, monitoring budgets and providing financial reporting for the organization and all of its projects
supervising the issuance of charitable receipts
accounts payable
invoicing and accounts receivable
investment administration
banking activities: deposits and reconciliation
monthly and annual financial statement preparation
payroll; WCB reconciliation
reporting the financial status of the organization to the Treasurer
assisting the Treasurer and the auditor in the preparation of the annual financial statement and the annual charitable return
attending organization’s Annual General Meeting and when possible the monthly Board of Directors meetings
telephone and photocopier bill allocations
The ideal candidate will be proficient in Simply Accounting; have a keen attention to detail; and will be able to work in the SES office at least 7 hours/week, with additional work done either in the office or from home. Experience working with charitable organizations is a definite asset.
Resumes should be sent to: allysonb@environmentalsociety.ca by January 20, 2010.
Saskatchewan Environmental Society
Box 1372 Saskatoon SK S7K 3N9
Phone: (306)665-1915
website: www.environmentalsociety.ca
(2) JOB POSTING
Pesticide Reduction Coordinator
Saskatchewan Environmental Society
Location: Saskatoon, SK Canada
Position Title: Pesticide Reduction Coordinator
Duration: one year (with possibility for extension)
Start date: February 2010 (with potential for extension); 18 hrs/week; $18/hr
The Saskatchewan Environmental Society is a non-profit, registered charity whose mandate is to work towards a world in which all needs can be met in sustainable ways. Sustainability will require healthy ecosystems, healthy livelihoods and healthy human communities. We work with, and on behalf of, communities, organizations, businesses and policy makers to encourage informed decision-making that moves us towards sustainability. We undertake research, and use education, community outreach, consultation opportunities and demonstration projects to provide the people of Saskatchewan the information and tools they need to make and to support these informed decisions
The SES has been active in Saskatchewan since 1970. SES’s current action areas include: sustainable energy & climate solutions, water protection, resource conservation, biodiversity preservation, and reduction of toxics.
SES is seeking an individual to carry out its initiatives on our Saskatoon pesticide reduction project.
Primary activities will include:
Manage and carry out the fifth year of our Pesticide Reduction household survey
Organize presentations to community groups and display opportunities regarding pesticide reduction
Build partnerships in the community regarding pesticide reduction
Volunteer management and training
Train and manage summer students
Keep track of progress and results for funding reporting requirements
Fundraising for & marketing of the SES pesticide reduction project
Desirable qualifications and skills:
Work or volunteer experience in a non-profit setting
Project Management skills
Demonstrated ability to organize community-wide outreach and education programs
Demonstrated skills in leadership, decision-making and an excellent team player
Competence in working independently and being creative and flexible in approaching different situations and challenges that may arise
Excellent verbal and written communication, presentation, interpersonal, computer literacy (spreadsheet and word processing), and time management skills
Post secondary education in a relevant field (environment, education, ecology, biology, etc.)
General understanding and commitment to environment and social change resulting in environmental benefit
Internet research skills
To apply: e-mail resumes to: allysonb@environmentalsociety.ca by January 25, 2010. No late resumes will be accepted.
Saskatchewan Environmental Society
Box 1372 Saskatoon SK S7K 3N9
Phone: (306)665-1915
website: www.environmentalsociety.ca
====================================
5. Indigenous Environmental Network Online News - January 11, 2010
The Indigenous Environmental Network • PO Box 485 • Bemidji, MN 56619
http://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/emai ... 1410148821
News Extras: Peabody's Coal-Mining Permit Whithdrawn ~ WMAN/IEN Grant Application ~ Energy Resource Development Tribal Internship Program
IN THIS ISSUE
>> WMAN/IEN Grassroots Communities Mini-Grant Program--Deadline February 1, 2010
>> Everyone's Downstream III: From the Front Lines to the Finish Lines--Races to the bottom
>> Energy Resource Development Tribal Internship Program
>> CARBON TRADING -- HOW IT WORKS AND WHY IT FAILS
>> GET INVOLVED: PARTICIPATE IN BUILDING THE RED ROAD TO DETROIT!
>> Energy Department, NRC Back Nuclear, Ignore Industry’s Dirty Little Secrets
============================
6. Cerberus Capital: Literally Blood-Sucking the Poor to Make Their Billions
http://www.alternet.org/story/145044/
By Mark Ames, AlterNet Posted on January 9, 2010, Printed on January 9, 2010
Wall Street vampires. Lately, a lot of Americans, including myself, have used the bloodsucking monsters as a metaphor to describe the Wall Street billionaires who rule us, and who are ruining us. Like so many awful stories of the past few years, it turns out that these Wall Street vampire-billionaires really exist, literally. Like all vampires, they live in remote castles, and they feed themselves by luring poor, desperate humans into their dens, hooking them into blood-pumping machines and sucking out their plasma for mind-boggling profits.
Cerberus Capital, one of Wall Street’s most notoriously ruthless leveraged-buyout firms (or “private equity firms” in PC-speak), recently made a $1.8 billion killing on its human plasma investment, a company called Talecris. Talecris was purchased for a mere $82.5 million just four years earlier, meaning Cerberus made 23 times its investment on human plasma. This was accomplished by the most savage, heartless means possible: by paying peanuts to impoverished human plasma donors, who increasingly come from Mexican border towns to blood-pumping stations set up on the American side, jacking up the price of plasma by restricting supply (a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission accused Cerberus Plasma Holdings of “operat[ing] as an oligopoly”), and then selling the refined products to the most desperately ill—patients suffering from hemophilia, severe burns, multiple sclerosis and autoimmune deficiencies. The products cost so much—one, IVIG (intravenous immunoglobulin) cost twice the price of gold as of last summer—that American health insurance companies have been dropping or denying their policyholders in increasing numbers, endangering untold numbers of people.
Tomas Asher, chairman of a company that trades in plasma, described the business this way: "It's like selling hog bellies or wheat or beef. It gets sold all over."
MORE: http://www.alternet.org/story/145044/
Read more of Mark Ames at eXiledonline.com. He is the author of Going Postal: Rage, Murder, and Rebellion: From Reagan's Workplaces to Clinton's Columbine and Beyond.
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7. U.S. WAR SPENDING EXCEEDS ALL STATE GOVERNMENT OUTLAYS
http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/news/1 ... tlays.html
Friday, 25 December 2009 by Sherwood Ross
The U.S. spends more for war annually than all state governments combined spend for the health, education, welfare, and safety of 308 million Americans.
Joseph Henchman, director of state projects for the Tax Foundation of Washington, D.C., says the states collected a total of $781 billion in taxes in 2008.
For a rough comparison, according to Wikipedia data, the total budget for defense in fiscal year 2010 will be at least $880 billion and could possibly top $1 trillion. That’s more than all the state governments collect.
Henchman says all American local governments combined (cities, counties, etc.) collect about $500 billion in taxes. Add that to total state tax take and you get over $1.3 trillion. This means Uncle Sam’s Pentagon is sopping up nearly as much money as all state, county, city, and other governmental units spend to run the country.
If the Pentagon figure of $1 trillion is somewhat less than all other taxing authorities, keep in mind the FBI, the various intelligence agencies, the VA, the National Institutes of Health (biological warfare) are also spending on war-related activities.
A question that describes the above and answers itself is: In what area can the Federal government operate where states and cities cannot tread? The answer is: foreign affairs---raising armies, fighting wars, conducting diplomacy, etc. And so Uncle Sam keeps enlarging this area. His emphasis is not on diplomacy, either.
For every buck spent by the State Department, which gets some $50 billion a year, the Pentagon spends $20. As for the Peace Corps, its budget is a paltry $375 million---hardly enough to keep the Pentagon elephant in peanuts.
Nobel Prize economist Joseph Stiglitz and finance authority Linda Bilmes write in their “The Three Trillion Dollar War”(W.W. Norton), “defense spending has been growing as a percentage of discretionary funding (money that is not required to be spent on entitlements like Social Security), from 48 percent in 2000 to 51 percent today. That means that our defense needs are gobbling up a larger share of taxpayers’ money than ever before.”
And they add, “The Pentagon’s budget has increased by more than $600 billion, cumulatively, since we invaded Iraq.” With its 1,000 bases in the U.S. and another 800 bases globally, the U.S. truly has become a “Warfare State.” Today, military-related products account for about one-fourth of total U.S. GDP. This includes 10,000 nuclear weapons. Indeed, the U.S. has lavished $5.5 trillion just on nukes over the past 70 years.
MORE:
http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/news/1 ... tlays.html
=================================
8. US Congress approves $680 billion defense budget
http://www.apakistannews.com/us-congres ... get-143527
Friday, October 23, 2009 at 12:30 pm under World Breaking news
The US Senate voted 68-29 in favor of a 680-billion-dollar defense budget for fiscal year 2010, which sailed through the House of Representatives by a 281-146 margin on October 8 and will now go to President Barack Obama. The new restrictions imposed on Pakistan include efforts to track where US military hardware sent to Pakistan ends up, as well as a warning that US aid to Pakistan must not upset the balance of power in the region.
MORE:
http://www.apakistannews.com/us-congres ... get-143527
==================================
9. The Military-Industrial Complex is Ruining the Economy
By Washington's Blog
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=16887
Global Research, January 10, 2010 Washington's Blog - 2010-01-09
Everyone knows that the too big to fails and their dishonest and footsy-playing regulators and politicians are largely responsible for trashing the economy.
But the military-industrial complex shares much of the blame.
Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz says that the Iraq war will cost $3-5 trillion dollars.
Sure, experts say that the Iraq war has increased the threat of terrorism. See this, this, this, this, this, this and this. And we launched the Iraq war based on the false linkage of Saddam and 9/11, and knowingly false claims that Saddam had WMDs. And top British officials, former CIA director George Tenet, former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and many others say that the Iraq war was planned before 9/11. But this essay is about dollars and cents.
America is also spending a pretty penny in Afghanistan. The U.S. admits there are only a small handful of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. As ABC notes:
U.S. intelligence officials have concluded there are only about 100 al Qaeda fighters in the entire country.
With 100,000 troops in Afghanistan at an estimated yearly cost of $30 billion, it means that for every one al Qaeda fighter, the U.S. will commit 1,000 troops and $300 million a year.
Sure, the government apparently planned the Afghanistan war before 9/11 (see this and this). And the Taliban offered to turn over Bin Laden (see this and this). And we could have easily killed Bin Laden in 2001 and again in 2007, but chose not to, even though that would have saved the U.S. hundreds of billions of dollars in costs in prosecuting the Afghanistan war. But this essay is about dollars and cents.
Increasing the Debt Burden of a Nation Sinking In Debt
All of the spending on unnecessary wars adds up.
The U.S. is adding trillions to its debt burden to finance its multiple wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, etc.
Two top American economists - Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff - show that the more indebted a country is, with a government debt/GDP ratio of 0.9, and external debt/GDP of 0.6 being critical thresholds, the more GDP growth drops materially
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=16887
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10. GBU-57A/B (. . . . in a world gone mad. Editor)
http://images.google.com/images?q=GBU-57A/
B&rls=com.microsoft:en-ca:IE-Address&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7RNWE_en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=y7FLS_aKE9KnlAef6eCJDQ&sa=X&oi=image_
result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CCEQsAQwAw
The Pentagon is accelerating by three years its plans for a super bunker buster, the GBU-57A/B or Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), a powerful new bomb aimed squarely at the underground nuclear facilities of Iran and North Korea . The gargantuan bomb is longer than 11 persons standing shoulder-to-shoulder or more than 20 feet base to nose and weighs over 15 tons (31,862 pounds). Some 18 percent of its total weight is comprised of explosives.
The GBU-57A/B MOP is so immense it can only be carried by either a B-52 or a B-2A Stealth bomber. The weapons explosive power is 10 times greater than its predecessor, the BLU-109. Moreover, the GBU-57A/B MOP is one third heavier than the MOAB dubbed the Mother of All Bombs.
This super buster all started with a break-through by the Raytheon Company when it developed and tested a new conventional warhead technology to defeat hardened and deeply buried bunkers. The new technology, called Tandem Warhead System, consists of a shaped-charge precursor warhead combined with a follow- through penetrator explosive charge.
MORE:
http://images.google.com/images?q=GBU-57A/
B&rls=com.microsoft:en-ca:IE-Address&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7RNWE_en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=y7FLS_aKE9KnlAef6eCJDQ&sa=X&oi=image_
result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CCEQsAQwAw
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11. Liberty, turned on its side...
From: "Ace Hoffman" <rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com>
Subject: Liberty, turned on its side...
January 10th, 2010
Dear Readers,
A few days ago I received an anonymous letter in a Southern California Edison company envelope. It concerned the behavior of a manager in the control and electrical design engineering department at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS).
The letter alleged "Ethical Misconduct" and was apparently sent to San Onofre's Chief Nuclear Officer and Senior Vice President, Ross Ridenoure, on Christmas Day, 2009. The letter also described a "fear of retaliation" simply for complaining.
Rightly or wrongly, the industry previously considered the pair of reactors at San Onofre to be among the best-operated in the world. The workers took pride in their "culture of safety."
Now, San Onofre is near the bottom in the industry's own self-ranking, and is under special scrutiny by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
And despite that scrutiny -- or perhaps in part because of it -- things are actually getting worse at the site. Extra inspections and mass firings have served only to increase the desire of the plant workers to hide their mistakes.
But what are they covering up?
Fire inspections that aren't actually being done. Emergency generator tests that aren't being carried out. Regulations that are being purposefully violated without anyone checking to see if anyone authorized the "over-ride." Dangerous ramifications that aren't being considered before projects are started. Safety lock-outs that aren't being applied to heavy machinery while people are working on it. Areas under lifts that are not roped off. Damaged cables that aren't being replaced until after a failure occurs. High-radiation operations that aren't properly staffed. (At San Onofre, "ALARA" stands for "Always Let Another Run Ahead.")
These are just the things we've eventually heard about. Undoubtedly there are many more problems.
The anonymous letter described an incident where a manager, Mr. Rak, deleted a survey from one of his employees' email, thus preventing the employee from returning a possibly-unfavorable evaluation of the manager. The survey was being conducted to fulfill NRC requirements to show that the plant was addressing their "culture of cover-up."
Certainly one of the easiest ways to introduce a statistical bias into a survey's results is: Don't let people take part in the survey if they might not answer questions the way you'd like. And this apparently happened over what the employee described as a "minor altercation." What about when things go really bad? What cover-ups occur then?
As it turns out, the answer to that question at San Onofre is also known, because of what's happened to people like Rick Busnardo: Employees who try to break through the "culture of cover-up" are denied access to email (they must put all their complaints in hand-written notes). They are also prevented from talking to their own supervisors -- sometimes for months at a time. And they -- or the departments they supervise -- are issued "Stop Work Orders" (SWOs) for no reason.
Furthermore, the official wording of any complaints that do get into the system are based on the upper-level manager's idea of how the complaint should be worded, NOT the wording of the actual complainant. So if a line manager writes that one of his employees knowingly and intentionally violated procedures, executive management can instead -- without any facts to back up their version -- describe the incident by saying that the line manager was unable to properly supervise his employees.
In the past year, I've seen or met, or received letters, phone calls, or emails, from about half a dozen San Onofre whistleblowers. This level of activity is astounding and unprecedented.
It's very hard for an outsider to know what's really happening at the plant. Secrecy is firmly embedded in the culture of nuclear energy, regardless of whether there's also a "culture of safety" at the same time. It can -- and should -- be argued that the two cultures are incompatible, and ONLY in a culture of openness can there be any hope of a culture of safety.
While recognition of the "culture of cover-up" by the NRC and San Onofre employees is new, the culture itself is not new. For example, in Spring, 2001, San Onofre employees dropped an 80,000 lb crane they were hoisting. The NRC put a slew of lawyers on the phone with me, trying -- unsuccessfully -- to get me to reveal the name of the employee who told me about the incident! The openness the NRC wants does NOT extend to the public.
Later, when I complained about numerous instances of the P.R. spokesperson for the plant lying to the media and to the public, I was told by the NRC that statements made by the public affairs officer of an NRC-licensed facility are not "regulated activities" and their veracity will NOT be investigated.
But the media will report what these P.R. spokespeople say as if they are speaking the gospel, in part because the NRC won't correct even the most blatant lies.
Nuclear power is not cheap, it's not carbon-free, and it's not safe. The waste problem is intractable. A meltdown, which can contaminate an area the size of Pennsylvania, can occur at any moment, at any plant.
Huge amounts of money are spent in back-door ways to keep nuclear power plants operating. Huge amounts of water and other natural resources are wasted every day, and huge amounts of coal and oil are burned to mine and mill the fuel that is used in nuclear power plants. Just look at the clean-up bills for our weapons sites, such as Hanford, Washington, to get an idea of what the real clean-up costs for nuclear power plants (which create even MORE waste than our military programs) will be.
Over the past four decades, San Onofre has created millions of pounds of deadly radioactive waste. These are poisons whose dangers are not diminished by baking, burning, cooling, compressing, decompressing, mixing, shocking, shaking, liquefying, gasifying, or solidifying. Poisons which physically destroy any container you put them in. (Containers which would be destroyed anyway, collapsing to dust or rusting away over the eons during which nuclear waste must be stored.)
There is no reason to keep San Onofre open any longer, and many good reasons to shut it down forever -- including the 500 NEW pounds of high-level nuclear waste it creates every day it remains operational.
Safer alternatives exist, which can provide enough jobs for every skilled and honest worker currently employed at the plant.
Ace Hoffman
Carlsbad, CA
The author has been writing about nuclear issues for several decades and is the author of THE CODE KILLERS, an expose of the nuclear industry, available as a free download from the author's web site. He is also an educational software developer.
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© Ace Hoffman
www.acehoffman.org
PO Box 1936, Carlsbad, CA 92018
(760) 720-7261
rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com
www.animatedsoftware.com
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9887
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
NUKE NEWS: Jan. 17.10
by Oscar » Wed Apr 21, 2010 8:11 am
NUKE NEWS: Jan. 17.10
Compilation:
1. The Standing Committee on Crown and Central Agencies Inquiry into Saskatchewan’s Growing Energy Needs – Dates, Times and Locations – start Jan. 18
2. AECL's fork in the road
3. NB Power sale in doubt, new deal expected next week
4. Letter: Dealing with nuclear waste – Shelstad - December 22, 2009
5. Nuclear scientist killed by bomb in Iran
6. No Nukes News - Jan. 16, 2010 - Clean Air Alliance
7. Yucca haunts admin's lagging efforts on nuclear waste study panel.
8. Costs of managing nuclear risk slows construction of new power stations.
9. Against the Prorogation of Parliament
10. Join Together Alberta
11. Earth Day Canada Environmental Scholarship Opportunity
=============================
1. The Standing Committee on Crown and Central Agencies Inquiry into Saskatchewan’s Growing Energy Needs – Dates, Times and Locations
The Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan’s all party committee, the Standing Committee on Crown and Central Agencies will conduct additional public meetings in January, 2010. These meetings are in addition to the meetings that were in held in October 2009 in Regina, Saskatoon and La Ronge.
The Committee, which includes both the Government and Opposition Members, will be holding public hearings and requests that presentations and submissions address the following question: "How should the Government best meet the growing energy needs of the province, in a manner that is safe, reliable, and environmentally-sustainable, while meeting any current and expected Federal Environmental Standards and Regulations, and maintaining a focus on affordability for Saskatchewan residents"?
The Committee will conduct additional hearings in 2010 in the following communities:
The times are listed below however they are subject to change.
The best way to keep in touch is via our website www.legassembly.sk.ca/committees.
The agendas have been set but they are likely to change as we get closer to each location.
Lloydminster
January 18, 2010
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m (MST)
Prince Albert
January 19, 2010
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m and 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Saskatoon
January 20, 2010
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m and 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Saskatoon
January 21, 2010
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m
Yorkton
January 22, 2010
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m and 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Estevan
January 25, 2010
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m and 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Regina
January 27, 2010
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m and 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Regina
January 28, 2010
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m and 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Regina
January 29, 2010
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m and 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Stacey Ursulescu
Committee Researcher
Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly
sursulescu@legassembly.sk.ca
phone: (306) 787-7327
fax: (306) 798-9650
==============================
2. AECL's fork in the road
http://www.cbc.ca/politics/insidepoliti ... nts-submit
January 15, 2010 2:32 PM By Susan Lunn
It's a new year for the troubled crown agency, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited.
And its future will likely be determined in 2010.
The government is looking for investors for the Candu reactor division.
It's also deciding the future of the research side of AECL, which makes medical isotopes in Chalk River.
The national research universal reactor, or the NRU, has been shut down since last May. Staff have been working non-stop to clean the outer wall, and close the pin-sized holes where the water was leaking out.
According to an update this week, repairs are scheduled to be finished next month. But once again, the company is pushing back the start up date, now suggesting it may be mid-April before it is turned back on.
And now, AECL is facing another long simmering issue: the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant in New Brunswick.
Jack Keir is New Brunswick's energy minister. For months he's been frustrated that AECL's refurbishment of the plant at Point Lepreau is months behind schedule, which means the province has spent millions on replacement power. So his government is considering suing Ottawa.
"The issue, very clearly for me, is simple. And that is: New Brunswickers right now are paying for AECL to get up a learning curve so they can do a refurbishment in Romania, in Korea, in Argentina cheaper than they can do it a Point Lepreau. Why should New Brunswickers pay for that?," he asked.
MORE:
http://www.cbc.ca/politics/insidepoliti ... nts-submit
===============================
3. NB Power sale in doubt, new deal expected next week
From: <bpatterson@canadians.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 16, 2010 7:39 AM
The Globe and Mail reports that, "The New Brunswick government is in negotiations with Quebec to revise a controversial deal to sell its power utility to Hydro-Quebec in order to retain an ownership stake for New Brunswickers, sources say."
"Premier Shawn Graham has faced an outpouring of public and political outrage over a tentative deal signed last October, in which the giant Quebec power company would take over New Brunswick Power in exchange for taking on its debt and cutting or freezing power rates for customers in the Atlantic province."
"Progressive Conservative Leader David Alward said he believes Mr. Graham’s government is ready to walk away from the troublesome memorandum of understanding, but sources say the province is trying to renegotiate some of the most controversial aspects of it, including the total transfer of ownership."
"Mr. Alward said Mr. Graham is now seriously backpedalling on the agreement and is expected to table a new and dramatically different deal as early as next week."
THE COUNCIL OF CANADIANS Campaign highlights of our work on this issue include:
October 24, 2009
NEWS: Council of Canadians says NB Power should remain public: The Daily Gleaner reports that, “The Council of Canadians says New Brunswickers should object to any effort to privatize their utility and sell it off, in whole or in part.”
http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=2083
November 3, 2009
NEWS: Council of Canadians raises concerns about the export focus of NB Power sale:
The Halifax Chronicle-Herald article notes, “Andrea Harden Donahue, Council of Canadians energy campaigner in Ottawa, said the deal between NB Power and Hydro-Quebec is based on a business model to sell exports into the northeastern U.S., which is demanding more supplies of renewable energy.”
http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=2144
November 8, 2009
ACTION ALERT: Raise questions about the sale of NB Power:
The approach by the provincial government thus far for public engagement on such a monumental decision has been lacking. There remain a number of unanswered questions about the sale and insufficient plans for consulting with residents of New Brunswick. In particular, the Council of Canadians is concerned about the sale’s impact on the capacity to expand in-province local renewable energy sources, as well as the lack of clarity for a fair worker transition plan and the rights of future workers, and the precedent being set in affirming an export-oriented energy vision.
http://www.canadians.org/action/2009/08-Dec-09.html
December 8, 2009
OPEN LETTER
The Council of Canadians sends an open letter to the premier and party leaders "to express serious concerns with the plan to sell the assets of NB Power and certain subsidiaries of NB Power."
http://www.canadians.org/energy/documents/
Letter-NB-power-sale-1209.pdf.
We'll keep you posted as this develops.
Brent Patterson
The Council of Canadians
www.canadians.org/campaignblog
===============================================
4. Letter: Dealing with nuclear waste – Shelstad - December 22, 2009
http://www.canada.com/news/Dealing+with+nuclear+waste/
2368993/story.html
By Tom Shelstad, The Leader-Post
Recently, columnist Murray Mandryk, in writing about a nuclear waste facility for this province, suggested that because we have been responsible for digging up uranium since 1953, we are hypocritical in not dealing with the end waste.
I should like to point out that, for decades, we were assured that our democracy was under threat and we needed nuclear weapons for self-defense. Mining uranium seemed the right thing to do at the time. Were we mislead or misinformed?
In the days of Tommy Douglas (and ever since), we were always assured by the nuclear industry not to worry. A safe, long-term method of waste storage would be established.
Six decades later, we are still waiting for that method to appear. Were we mislead or misinformed? Who then are the hypocrites?
If you look at any other industry, the end user is the chief beneficiary and is responsible for the end waste.
MORE: http://www.canada.com/news/Dealing+with+nuclear+waste/
2368993/story.html
=============================
5. Nuclear scientist killed by bomb in Iran
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/
middle_east/article6984619.ece
January 12, 2010
A prominent Iranian nuclear scientist was killed by a bomb in Tehran this morning, triggering a furious controversy over who was responsible.
The regime blamed the death of Massoud Ali-Mohammadi on opposition “mercenaries” financed by Western and Israeli intelligence agencies seeking to derail Iran’s nuclear programme.
The state-controlled media called Dr Ali-Mohammadi a staunch supporter of the Islamic Republic, but opposition websites claimed he may have been killed because he was a convert to the so-called Green movement.
An extreme fringe group called the Monarchical Society claimed responsibility on its website, but there was no obvious reason why it would have targeted Dr Ali-Mohammadi and it was impossible to say whether the claim was authentic.
It is conceivable that the regime had Dr Ali-Mohammadi killed, to discredit the opposition, to prevent him leaking nuclear secrets or as a warning to other nuclear scientists.
Dr Ali-Mohammadi, 50, died when a remote-controlled bomb exploded outside his home in the smart Qeytarieh district of northern Tehran, according to Iran’s state media. Some reports said the bomb was attached to a motorbike, others that it was concealed in a rubbish bin.
Within hours the Iranian Foreign Ministry claimed that preliminary investigations had uncovered “signs of evil by the triangle of the Zionist regime, America and their mercenaries in Iran in this terrorist incident”.
MORE:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/
middle_east/article6984619.ece
= = = = =
US denies role in Iran murder
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/
2010/01/20101121414688718.html
The US has dismissed an accusation by Iran that it was behind the murder of an Iranian nuclear physics professor, who was killed in a bomb blast.
Mark Toner, a US state department spokesman, on Tuesday called the allegation "absurd", hours after Massoud Mohammadi, a professor at Tehran University, was killed in the north of Tehran, the capital.
Iranian media reported that a bomb strapped to a motorcycle was triggered by remote control outside Mohammadi's home, killing him.
Iran's foreign ministry had said that US and Israeli "mercenaries" were behind the attack.
Earlier, the Iranian state-run Press TV reported: "The explosion took place near the professor's home in Qeytariyeh neighbourhood, in northern Tehran".
'Terrorist act'
It said Mohammadi was a "staunch supporter" of Iran's 1979 revolution and that he was "assassinated in a terrorist act by counter-revolutionary elements".The broadcaster said police and security officials have launched an investigation.
Iranian media reports described Mohammadi as a nuclear energy professor, citing Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Tehran prosecutor.
"Massoud Ali-Mohammadi was a professor in the nuclear field and there has so far been no arrests of those behind this incident," the Fars News Agency reported.
Al Jazeera's Alireza Ronaghi, reporting from Tehran, said Mohammadi might have had links to Iran's disputed nuclear programme.
"Authorities who decided to remain unnamed tell me that Mohammadi had some connections with Iran's nuclear programme and this [the murder] could be related," he said.
He said it was unclear who might have been behind the bombing.
"Anyone who is connected to Iran's nuclear programme could be an easy target for [foreign] intelligence services.
"Iran tries to protect its nuclear scientists very well but sometimes things get out of hand, and incidents like this happen."
'Zionist agents'
Baqer Moin, an Iranian author and journalist in London, said Iranian media have accused "Zionist agents" as being behind the blast.
MORE:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/
2010/01/20101121414688718.html
==============================
6. No Nukes News - Jan. 16, 2010 - Clean Air Alliance
http://www.cleanairalliance.org/
--------------------------------------------------------------
You CAN help
If you can spare a few hours to help blitz Iggy’s riding (Etobicoke-Lakeshore), let me know – we’re about 85% complete! This is what we’re distributing door-to-door: http://ontariosgreenfuture.ca/CostlyNukes_12_09.pdf
And if you haven’t already sent a form-email to Harper and the other federal leaders expressing your opposition to federal subsidies for nuclear power, please do so now – it’ll just take you 1 minute and you’ll feel great:
http://ontariosgreenfuture.ca/send_a_message.php
Thanks…
-angela@cleanairalliance.org
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N.B. premier threatens to sue Ottawa over Point Lepreau reactor
Graham wants feds to cover cost overruns of stalled refurbishment. "We want to continue dialoguing with the government of Canada, which is an extension of AECL. This is a government of Canada responsibility," Graham said.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/
2010/01/11/nb-graham-aecl-lepreau-225.html
New Brunswick move threatens sale of AECL
New Brunswick has dealt another blow to Ottawa's attempt to sell troubled Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., threatening to launch a messy lawsuit over delays to AECL's refurbishment of the Point Lepreau nuclear station unless Ottawa agrees to cover the province's related costs.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/
new-brunswick-move-threatens-aecl-sale/article1427658/
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Bruce Power Shuts Unit 4 at Nuclear-Power Reactor
Bruce Power LP, Canada’s only closely held nuclear-plant operator, shut 770-megawatt Unit 4 at its power station in Ontario last night.
The unit tripped offline after 11 p.m. during safety system tests and will be off for a “short duration.” Power won’t be restored today to Unit 4 or Unit 3, which has been idled for valve maintenance since Jan. 7.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=
20601082&sid=aobVvruhylRM
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Nuclear Energy Prospects Dim, Experts Say
A combination of financing setbacks and waning of public demand is likely to put U.S. nuclear energy plans on hold, experts said Wednesday.
- Rising Costs
- Financing Pinch
- Safety Concerns
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/27668/
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OPG bilking taxpayers again for shortfall
According to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission's (CNSC) Commission Members Document CMD09-M54, OPG is reporting a significant shortfall in their funding liability to decommission their nuclear facilities like reactors and waste management sites.
After being caught several years ago by the provincial auditor of using those special funds for capital projects, those funds then were set aside in a special trust account that was proposed to grow through contributions and investment income to an estimated 26 Billion dollars to cover those liabilities.
OPG tried to speed up the growth of that fund through high-risk investments and got caught in the stock market crash in 2008. Even in 2009 the loss amounted to $785 million and is projected to lead to a shortfall of one and a quarter Billion dollars by next year.
The solution?
Go to the government and ask for a handout of taxpayers' money, a cool one and a half Billion as a guarantee that the money is going to be there when needed.
The existing Provincial Guarantee of $760 million was supposed to expire at the end of this year as ' it was projected that the value of the funds would exceed the decommissioning liability at that time and that the Provincial Guarantee would no longer be required.' (Page 1 of CMD09-M54).
Now then OPG needs almost twice the amount and taxpayers who almost all are ratepayers, too, will be bilked twice - that is unless OPG is luckier in their investment portfolio than before.
Want to make a bet??
S. (Ziggy) Kleinau,
Citizens For Renewable Energy (CFRE)
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Check out the Physicians for Social Responsibility nuke website:
Nuclear bailout
http://www.psr.org/nuclear-bailout/
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If you haven’t seen it yet, you MUST watch this classic NFB documentary from 1990:
Uranium
This documentary looks at the hazards of uranium mining in Canada. Toxic and radioactive waste pose environmental threats while the traditional economic and spiritual lives of the Aboriginal people who occupy this land have been violated. Given our limited knowledge of the associated risks, this film questions the validity of continuing the mining operations.
http://www.nfb.ca/film/Uranium/
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The scary side of nuclear energy revealed
Scary disasters, frightening incidents and bad economics combine to form a frightening image of the nuclear energy industry.
http://green.blorge.com/2010/01/the-scary-side-of-
nuclear-energy-revealed/
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Wind Power in Ontario Generates a New Record in 2009 while Coal drops to lowest in 45 years
Wind generation in Ontario rose by more than 60 per cent over the previous year, up to 2.3 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2009. At the same time, output from Ontario’s coal-fired plants dropped to 9.8 TWh, the lowest output in 45 years.
http://www.ieso.ca/imoweb/media/md_news ... ewsID=5019
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Obama unveils $2.3 billion for clean energy jobs
President Obama unveiled a program Friday that will provide $2.3 billion in tax credits for the clean energy manufacturing sector, a move aimed at creating 17,000 jobs.
The credit is focused on U.S. manufacturing of clean energy technologies such as solar and wind. Obama has said he wants to double the amount of renewable energy the United States uses over the next three years.
In addition to the federal funding, private firms are investing $5.4 billion, which will create 41,000 more jobs, the White House said.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/01/08/news/economy/
green_manufacturing_jobs/index.htm
----------------------------------------------
Weatherization heats up in 2010
Five billion dollars was included in the economic stimulus legislation for the US Weatherization Assistance Program, the federal program started in 1976 to help low-income families. And more recently the president has proposed a “cash for caulkers” incentive program for homeowners. The Department of Energy estimates that for every dollar invested, weatherization returns $1.65 in energy-related benefits and $1.07 in other benefits like reducing pollution and unemployment.
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2009/12/21/
weatherization-heats-up-in-2010/
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Solar Power Is Now an Option for Even the Most Cash-Strapped Suburbanites
Residential solar leases offer a no-money-down, low-monthly plan that makes solar electricity cheaper than the stuff we get by wire -- and you don't have to buy the panels.
"Go solar for $0 down. Now you can afford to go solar without the high initial cost of installing a system. Instead of buying the equipment, you simply lease it."
http://www.alternet.org/environment/145205
http://www.thestar.com/Business/CleanBr ... cle/748956
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Conservation working in Ont. says WWF; others say it's due to loss of industry
Demand for electricity is dropping in Ontario because people are getting the message that conservation works - and not just because the bottom dropped out of the economy, the World Wildlife Fund says.
``Energy conservation is never going to be sexy,'' Keith Stewart, climate change co-ordinator for the WWF, said. ``But it's the thing that's going to save us the most money and that's best for the environment.''
Stewart pointed to a report released in late December by the Independent Electricity System Operator, which predicted Ontario will only need 23,000 MW of electrical generation in 2018, 8,000 MW less than a predicted 31,000 MW in 2004 - a significant drop that could mean the province doesn't need to build expensive nuclear power plants any time soon.
http://www.northernnews.ca/ArticleDispl ... ?e=2262307
------------------------------------------------------------------
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
_______________________________________________
To be added or removed from the No Nukes News Mailing list, please click <a href="http://list.web.net/lists/listinfo/no_nukes_news">here</a>
=============================
7. Yucca haunts admin's lagging efforts on nuclear waste study panel.
While the President's budget proposal is expected to sound a death knell for the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, the administration has so far failed to launch the commission it promised almost a year ago to decide on a disposal alternative. Greenwire
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/01/11/11greenwire-
yucca-haunts-admins-lagging-efforts-on-nuclear-24943.html
================================
8. Costs of managing nuclear risk slows construction of new power stations.
Would a reassessment of the risks posed by radiation actually cut the costs and boost the nuclear production of low-carbon electricity which the government says is essential to tackle global warming? The short answer is doubtful. London Guardian, United Kingdom.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/11/
nuclear-radiation-risks
==================================
9. Against the Prorogation of Parliament
http://www.noprorogation-nonprorogation.ca/
As Canadian university professors dedicated to educating students about democratic institutions, we are deeply concerned by Prime Minister Stephen Harper´s decision to use his power to prorogue Parliament for a second year in a row in circumstances that allow him to evade democratic accountability. The Prime Minister is not only making cavalier use of the discretionary powers entrusted to him in our Parliamentary system, but in so doing he is undermining our system of democratic government.
It has been noted by many observers that the Prime Minister did nothing technically wrong by requesting that Parliament be prorogued and in fixing the date for a Throne Speech after the Vancouver Olympics.
The Prime Minister does have the sole responsibility to request prorogation from the Governor-General (although the custom is to request it in person, out of respect for the office of the Queen´s representative, and that was not done in this case). But it is highly unusual - and improper - to request it in circumstances like these.
What, precisely, did the Prime Minister do wrong in proroguing Parliament?
Our parliamentary and constitutional institutions are grounded not just in explicit rules but also in the spirit of those rules.Think of the idea of a "loyal opposition" so central to our practice of responsible government. The role of the opposition parties is to hold the government to a high standard of justification. The opposition parties can neglect their responsibilities by being servile and pliant. They can also misuse their powers for narrowly partisan purposes.
We expect them to avoid both these pitfalls. We expect them to be vigorous. And, while an element of partisanship is inevitable in democratic systems of government, we expect that it will be moderated
by public-spiritedness and a shared concern for the country´s common good. If it isn´t, then the opposition has failed to do its job.What is true of opposition parties is true in spades of the office of the Prime Minister, given the very great powers that are concentrated there in our system of responsible government. We expect that the Prime Minister will do his part to ensure that this system works, and
that MPs can fulfill the role we elect them to do. Part of what that means is to exercise self-restraint, and not use the powers that he possesses to shut down the mechanisms of accountability to Parliament
and the Canadian people.
The use of the ability to prorogue by the present Prime Minister clearly displays no such self-restraint. It was nakedly partisan when it was invoked to save his government from defeat in a confidence
motion in December 2008, and it is nakedly partisan now, when it is being used to short-circuit the work of the Parliamentary Committee looking into the Afghan detainees question and evade Parliament´s
request that the government turn over documents pertaining to that question.
The normal way in which a government secures a break in a parliamentary session is through adjournment. That permits the institutions of government to continue. Committees can do their work.
Legislation that is in the system can be picked up and advanced once the adjournment is over. In prorogation, all the business of Parliament ceases. Any laws that are in process, with the exception
of private members´ bills, have to be introduced again, at the very first step of the process.
The government´s post-election legislative agenda is nowhere near having been fulfilled. The Prime Minister cannot, therefore, credibly invoke the purpose that the power to prorogue properly serves, which
is to provide the government with space outside the cut and thrust of Parliamentary sessions in which to submit a new legislative agenda to Parliament.
Given the short-term, tactical, and partisan purposes served by prorogation, and given the absence of any plausible public purpose served by it, we conclude that the Prime Minister has violated the trust of Parliament and of the Canadian people. We emphasize moreover that the violation of this trust strikes at the heart of our system of government, which relies upon the use of discretionary powers for the public good rather than merely for partisan purposes. How do we make sure it serves the public good? By requiring our governments to face Parliament and justify their actions, in the face of vigorous
questioning.
The Prime Minister´s actions risk setting a precedent that weakens an important condition of democratic government - the ability of the people, acting through their elected representatives, to hold the government accountable for its actions.
Cosignataires - Cosigners:
http://www.noprorogation-nonprorogation.ca/
- - - - - - -
Find a Rally Near You! For Locations of rallies, scroll down on this page:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=260348091419
= = = = =
Fight Harper's Shutdown of Parliament!
MORE INFO: http://www.canadians.org/
Many Canadians are absolutely disgusted by Stephen Harper's shutdown of Parliament for the next two months.
They realize it's just another one of his tricks to evade criticism of his government's record and to try to 'change the channel' since his government's handling of the Afghan torture issue and its inaction on climate change have received a lot of negative press.
Stephen Harper thinks he can behave like a dictator and that Canadians will just roll over and take it. He thinks he can ignore our Parliamentary institutions and undermine our democracy.
Let's stop him before he does any more damage. Don't let Harper get away with shutting down Parliament.
Please visit this cool Facebook website organized to fight back against Harper's dictatorial action: Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=260348091419
It's a great site that calls on us to contact our Members of Parliament and ask them to go back to Parliament despite Harper's shutdown of it, and to fight for our democracy by showing Harper's shutdown for what it is: an intolerable attack on our democracy. If you're not a Facebook user, don't let that stop you: contact your MP and ask him/her to get back to work and fight Harper's shutdown of Parliament. Together, we can stop him from ruining our democracy!
MORE INFO: http://www.canadians.org/
========================================
10. Join Together Alberta
http://www.jointogetheralberta.org/
Last Updated: January 15, 2010
The Join Together Alberta campaign was conceived and launched jointly by a number of Alberta unions and union groups in cooperation with various community and advocacy groups.
All of the participating organizations share deep concerns about the impacts that deep cuts to public services will have on individuals, families and communities within Alberta.
They also share a belief that best way forward for Alberta is to embrace a high-road approach to our future — one that focuses on smart investments in people, communities and the economy — as opposed to a low-road approach —one that focuses on cutting spending and leaving individuals, families and communities to increasingly fend for themselves.
The organizations currently supporting the Join Together,Alberta campaign are listed below. As the campaign progresses, more groups and organization will be asked to add their names to the list of supporters. Individual Albertans are also part of this campaign, showing their support for the campaign and its goals.
=================================
11. Earth Day Canada Environmental Scholarship Opportunity
Earth Day Canada has launched the 2010 Toyota Earth Day Scholarship Program. Twenty $5,000 scholarships will be awarded to students across Canada who have distinguished themselves through environmental community service, extracurricular and volunteer activities, and academic excellence. One exceptional student will also be presented with the Toyota Earth Day Scholarship National Award and a Panasonic notebook computer.
The deadline to apply is February 28, 2010. Application material and information is available online at http://www.earthday.ca/scholarship.
For program information, please contact Jo Anne Tacorda at 416 599-1991 ext. 109.
Compilation:
1. The Standing Committee on Crown and Central Agencies Inquiry into Saskatchewan’s Growing Energy Needs – Dates, Times and Locations – start Jan. 18
2. AECL's fork in the road
3. NB Power sale in doubt, new deal expected next week
4. Letter: Dealing with nuclear waste – Shelstad - December 22, 2009
5. Nuclear scientist killed by bomb in Iran
6. No Nukes News - Jan. 16, 2010 - Clean Air Alliance
7. Yucca haunts admin's lagging efforts on nuclear waste study panel.
8. Costs of managing nuclear risk slows construction of new power stations.
9. Against the Prorogation of Parliament
10. Join Together Alberta
11. Earth Day Canada Environmental Scholarship Opportunity
=============================
1. The Standing Committee on Crown and Central Agencies Inquiry into Saskatchewan’s Growing Energy Needs – Dates, Times and Locations
The Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan’s all party committee, the Standing Committee on Crown and Central Agencies will conduct additional public meetings in January, 2010. These meetings are in addition to the meetings that were in held in October 2009 in Regina, Saskatoon and La Ronge.
The Committee, which includes both the Government and Opposition Members, will be holding public hearings and requests that presentations and submissions address the following question: "How should the Government best meet the growing energy needs of the province, in a manner that is safe, reliable, and environmentally-sustainable, while meeting any current and expected Federal Environmental Standards and Regulations, and maintaining a focus on affordability for Saskatchewan residents"?
The Committee will conduct additional hearings in 2010 in the following communities:
The times are listed below however they are subject to change.
The best way to keep in touch is via our website www.legassembly.sk.ca/committees.
The agendas have been set but they are likely to change as we get closer to each location.
Lloydminster
January 18, 2010
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m (MST)
Prince Albert
January 19, 2010
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m and 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Saskatoon
January 20, 2010
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m and 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Saskatoon
January 21, 2010
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m
Yorkton
January 22, 2010
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m and 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Estevan
January 25, 2010
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m and 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Regina
January 27, 2010
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m and 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Regina
January 28, 2010
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m and 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Regina
January 29, 2010
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m and 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Stacey Ursulescu
Committee Researcher
Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly
sursulescu@legassembly.sk.ca
phone: (306) 787-7327
fax: (306) 798-9650
==============================
2. AECL's fork in the road
http://www.cbc.ca/politics/insidepoliti ... nts-submit
January 15, 2010 2:32 PM By Susan Lunn
It's a new year for the troubled crown agency, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited.
And its future will likely be determined in 2010.
The government is looking for investors for the Candu reactor division.
It's also deciding the future of the research side of AECL, which makes medical isotopes in Chalk River.
The national research universal reactor, or the NRU, has been shut down since last May. Staff have been working non-stop to clean the outer wall, and close the pin-sized holes where the water was leaking out.
According to an update this week, repairs are scheduled to be finished next month. But once again, the company is pushing back the start up date, now suggesting it may be mid-April before it is turned back on.
And now, AECL is facing another long simmering issue: the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant in New Brunswick.
Jack Keir is New Brunswick's energy minister. For months he's been frustrated that AECL's refurbishment of the plant at Point Lepreau is months behind schedule, which means the province has spent millions on replacement power. So his government is considering suing Ottawa.
"The issue, very clearly for me, is simple. And that is: New Brunswickers right now are paying for AECL to get up a learning curve so they can do a refurbishment in Romania, in Korea, in Argentina cheaper than they can do it a Point Lepreau. Why should New Brunswickers pay for that?," he asked.
MORE:
http://www.cbc.ca/politics/insidepoliti ... nts-submit
===============================
3. NB Power sale in doubt, new deal expected next week
From: <bpatterson@canadians.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 16, 2010 7:39 AM
The Globe and Mail reports that, "The New Brunswick government is in negotiations with Quebec to revise a controversial deal to sell its power utility to Hydro-Quebec in order to retain an ownership stake for New Brunswickers, sources say."
"Premier Shawn Graham has faced an outpouring of public and political outrage over a tentative deal signed last October, in which the giant Quebec power company would take over New Brunswick Power in exchange for taking on its debt and cutting or freezing power rates for customers in the Atlantic province."
"Progressive Conservative Leader David Alward said he believes Mr. Graham’s government is ready to walk away from the troublesome memorandum of understanding, but sources say the province is trying to renegotiate some of the most controversial aspects of it, including the total transfer of ownership."
"Mr. Alward said Mr. Graham is now seriously backpedalling on the agreement and is expected to table a new and dramatically different deal as early as next week."
THE COUNCIL OF CANADIANS Campaign highlights of our work on this issue include:
October 24, 2009
NEWS: Council of Canadians says NB Power should remain public: The Daily Gleaner reports that, “The Council of Canadians says New Brunswickers should object to any effort to privatize their utility and sell it off, in whole or in part.”
http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=2083
November 3, 2009
NEWS: Council of Canadians raises concerns about the export focus of NB Power sale:
The Halifax Chronicle-Herald article notes, “Andrea Harden Donahue, Council of Canadians energy campaigner in Ottawa, said the deal between NB Power and Hydro-Quebec is based on a business model to sell exports into the northeastern U.S., which is demanding more supplies of renewable energy.”
http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=2144
November 8, 2009
ACTION ALERT: Raise questions about the sale of NB Power:
The approach by the provincial government thus far for public engagement on such a monumental decision has been lacking. There remain a number of unanswered questions about the sale and insufficient plans for consulting with residents of New Brunswick. In particular, the Council of Canadians is concerned about the sale’s impact on the capacity to expand in-province local renewable energy sources, as well as the lack of clarity for a fair worker transition plan and the rights of future workers, and the precedent being set in affirming an export-oriented energy vision.
http://www.canadians.org/action/2009/08-Dec-09.html
December 8, 2009
OPEN LETTER
The Council of Canadians sends an open letter to the premier and party leaders "to express serious concerns with the plan to sell the assets of NB Power and certain subsidiaries of NB Power."
http://www.canadians.org/energy/documents/
Letter-NB-power-sale-1209.pdf.
We'll keep you posted as this develops.
Brent Patterson
The Council of Canadians
www.canadians.org/campaignblog
===============================================
4. Letter: Dealing with nuclear waste – Shelstad - December 22, 2009
http://www.canada.com/news/Dealing+with+nuclear+waste/
2368993/story.html
By Tom Shelstad, The Leader-Post
Recently, columnist Murray Mandryk, in writing about a nuclear waste facility for this province, suggested that because we have been responsible for digging up uranium since 1953, we are hypocritical in not dealing with the end waste.
I should like to point out that, for decades, we were assured that our democracy was under threat and we needed nuclear weapons for self-defense. Mining uranium seemed the right thing to do at the time. Were we mislead or misinformed?
In the days of Tommy Douglas (and ever since), we were always assured by the nuclear industry not to worry. A safe, long-term method of waste storage would be established.
Six decades later, we are still waiting for that method to appear. Were we mislead or misinformed? Who then are the hypocrites?
If you look at any other industry, the end user is the chief beneficiary and is responsible for the end waste.
MORE: http://www.canada.com/news/Dealing+with+nuclear+waste/
2368993/story.html
=============================
5. Nuclear scientist killed by bomb in Iran
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/
middle_east/article6984619.ece
January 12, 2010
A prominent Iranian nuclear scientist was killed by a bomb in Tehran this morning, triggering a furious controversy over who was responsible.
The regime blamed the death of Massoud Ali-Mohammadi on opposition “mercenaries” financed by Western and Israeli intelligence agencies seeking to derail Iran’s nuclear programme.
The state-controlled media called Dr Ali-Mohammadi a staunch supporter of the Islamic Republic, but opposition websites claimed he may have been killed because he was a convert to the so-called Green movement.
An extreme fringe group called the Monarchical Society claimed responsibility on its website, but there was no obvious reason why it would have targeted Dr Ali-Mohammadi and it was impossible to say whether the claim was authentic.
It is conceivable that the regime had Dr Ali-Mohammadi killed, to discredit the opposition, to prevent him leaking nuclear secrets or as a warning to other nuclear scientists.
Dr Ali-Mohammadi, 50, died when a remote-controlled bomb exploded outside his home in the smart Qeytarieh district of northern Tehran, according to Iran’s state media. Some reports said the bomb was attached to a motorbike, others that it was concealed in a rubbish bin.
Within hours the Iranian Foreign Ministry claimed that preliminary investigations had uncovered “signs of evil by the triangle of the Zionist regime, America and their mercenaries in Iran in this terrorist incident”.
MORE:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/
middle_east/article6984619.ece
= = = = =
US denies role in Iran murder
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/
2010/01/20101121414688718.html
The US has dismissed an accusation by Iran that it was behind the murder of an Iranian nuclear physics professor, who was killed in a bomb blast.
Mark Toner, a US state department spokesman, on Tuesday called the allegation "absurd", hours after Massoud Mohammadi, a professor at Tehran University, was killed in the north of Tehran, the capital.
Iranian media reported that a bomb strapped to a motorcycle was triggered by remote control outside Mohammadi's home, killing him.
Iran's foreign ministry had said that US and Israeli "mercenaries" were behind the attack.
Earlier, the Iranian state-run Press TV reported: "The explosion took place near the professor's home in Qeytariyeh neighbourhood, in northern Tehran".
'Terrorist act'
It said Mohammadi was a "staunch supporter" of Iran's 1979 revolution and that he was "assassinated in a terrorist act by counter-revolutionary elements".The broadcaster said police and security officials have launched an investigation.
Iranian media reports described Mohammadi as a nuclear energy professor, citing Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Tehran prosecutor.
"Massoud Ali-Mohammadi was a professor in the nuclear field and there has so far been no arrests of those behind this incident," the Fars News Agency reported.
Al Jazeera's Alireza Ronaghi, reporting from Tehran, said Mohammadi might have had links to Iran's disputed nuclear programme.
"Authorities who decided to remain unnamed tell me that Mohammadi had some connections with Iran's nuclear programme and this [the murder] could be related," he said.
He said it was unclear who might have been behind the bombing.
"Anyone who is connected to Iran's nuclear programme could be an easy target for [foreign] intelligence services.
"Iran tries to protect its nuclear scientists very well but sometimes things get out of hand, and incidents like this happen."
'Zionist agents'
Baqer Moin, an Iranian author and journalist in London, said Iranian media have accused "Zionist agents" as being behind the blast.
MORE:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/
2010/01/20101121414688718.html
==============================
6. No Nukes News - Jan. 16, 2010 - Clean Air Alliance
http://www.cleanairalliance.org/
--------------------------------------------------------------
You CAN help
If you can spare a few hours to help blitz Iggy’s riding (Etobicoke-Lakeshore), let me know – we’re about 85% complete! This is what we’re distributing door-to-door: http://ontariosgreenfuture.ca/CostlyNukes_12_09.pdf
And if you haven’t already sent a form-email to Harper and the other federal leaders expressing your opposition to federal subsidies for nuclear power, please do so now – it’ll just take you 1 minute and you’ll feel great:
http://ontariosgreenfuture.ca/send_a_message.php
Thanks…
-angela@cleanairalliance.org
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N.B. premier threatens to sue Ottawa over Point Lepreau reactor
Graham wants feds to cover cost overruns of stalled refurbishment. "We want to continue dialoguing with the government of Canada, which is an extension of AECL. This is a government of Canada responsibility," Graham said.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/
2010/01/11/nb-graham-aecl-lepreau-225.html
New Brunswick move threatens sale of AECL
New Brunswick has dealt another blow to Ottawa's attempt to sell troubled Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., threatening to launch a messy lawsuit over delays to AECL's refurbishment of the Point Lepreau nuclear station unless Ottawa agrees to cover the province's related costs.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/
new-brunswick-move-threatens-aecl-sale/article1427658/
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Bruce Power Shuts Unit 4 at Nuclear-Power Reactor
Bruce Power LP, Canada’s only closely held nuclear-plant operator, shut 770-megawatt Unit 4 at its power station in Ontario last night.
The unit tripped offline after 11 p.m. during safety system tests and will be off for a “short duration.” Power won’t be restored today to Unit 4 or Unit 3, which has been idled for valve maintenance since Jan. 7.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=
20601082&sid=aobVvruhylRM
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Nuclear Energy Prospects Dim, Experts Say
A combination of financing setbacks and waning of public demand is likely to put U.S. nuclear energy plans on hold, experts said Wednesday.
- Rising Costs
- Financing Pinch
- Safety Concerns
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/27668/
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OPG bilking taxpayers again for shortfall
According to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission's (CNSC) Commission Members Document CMD09-M54, OPG is reporting a significant shortfall in their funding liability to decommission their nuclear facilities like reactors and waste management sites.
After being caught several years ago by the provincial auditor of using those special funds for capital projects, those funds then were set aside in a special trust account that was proposed to grow through contributions and investment income to an estimated 26 Billion dollars to cover those liabilities.
OPG tried to speed up the growth of that fund through high-risk investments and got caught in the stock market crash in 2008. Even in 2009 the loss amounted to $785 million and is projected to lead to a shortfall of one and a quarter Billion dollars by next year.
The solution?
Go to the government and ask for a handout of taxpayers' money, a cool one and a half Billion as a guarantee that the money is going to be there when needed.
The existing Provincial Guarantee of $760 million was supposed to expire at the end of this year as ' it was projected that the value of the funds would exceed the decommissioning liability at that time and that the Provincial Guarantee would no longer be required.' (Page 1 of CMD09-M54).
Now then OPG needs almost twice the amount and taxpayers who almost all are ratepayers, too, will be bilked twice - that is unless OPG is luckier in their investment portfolio than before.
Want to make a bet??
S. (Ziggy) Kleinau,
Citizens For Renewable Energy (CFRE)
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Check out the Physicians for Social Responsibility nuke website:
Nuclear bailout
http://www.psr.org/nuclear-bailout/
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If you haven’t seen it yet, you MUST watch this classic NFB documentary from 1990:
Uranium
This documentary looks at the hazards of uranium mining in Canada. Toxic and radioactive waste pose environmental threats while the traditional economic and spiritual lives of the Aboriginal people who occupy this land have been violated. Given our limited knowledge of the associated risks, this film questions the validity of continuing the mining operations.
http://www.nfb.ca/film/Uranium/
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The scary side of nuclear energy revealed
Scary disasters, frightening incidents and bad economics combine to form a frightening image of the nuclear energy industry.
http://green.blorge.com/2010/01/the-scary-side-of-
nuclear-energy-revealed/
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Wind Power in Ontario Generates a New Record in 2009 while Coal drops to lowest in 45 years
Wind generation in Ontario rose by more than 60 per cent over the previous year, up to 2.3 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2009. At the same time, output from Ontario’s coal-fired plants dropped to 9.8 TWh, the lowest output in 45 years.
http://www.ieso.ca/imoweb/media/md_news ... ewsID=5019
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Obama unveils $2.3 billion for clean energy jobs
President Obama unveiled a program Friday that will provide $2.3 billion in tax credits for the clean energy manufacturing sector, a move aimed at creating 17,000 jobs.
The credit is focused on U.S. manufacturing of clean energy technologies such as solar and wind. Obama has said he wants to double the amount of renewable energy the United States uses over the next three years.
In addition to the federal funding, private firms are investing $5.4 billion, which will create 41,000 more jobs, the White House said.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/01/08/news/economy/
green_manufacturing_jobs/index.htm
----------------------------------------------
Weatherization heats up in 2010
Five billion dollars was included in the economic stimulus legislation for the US Weatherization Assistance Program, the federal program started in 1976 to help low-income families. And more recently the president has proposed a “cash for caulkers” incentive program for homeowners. The Department of Energy estimates that for every dollar invested, weatherization returns $1.65 in energy-related benefits and $1.07 in other benefits like reducing pollution and unemployment.
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2009/12/21/
weatherization-heats-up-in-2010/
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Solar Power Is Now an Option for Even the Most Cash-Strapped Suburbanites
Residential solar leases offer a no-money-down, low-monthly plan that makes solar electricity cheaper than the stuff we get by wire -- and you don't have to buy the panels.
"Go solar for $0 down. Now you can afford to go solar without the high initial cost of installing a system. Instead of buying the equipment, you simply lease it."
http://www.alternet.org/environment/145205
http://www.thestar.com/Business/CleanBr ... cle/748956
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Conservation working in Ont. says WWF; others say it's due to loss of industry
Demand for electricity is dropping in Ontario because people are getting the message that conservation works - and not just because the bottom dropped out of the economy, the World Wildlife Fund says.
``Energy conservation is never going to be sexy,'' Keith Stewart, climate change co-ordinator for the WWF, said. ``But it's the thing that's going to save us the most money and that's best for the environment.''
Stewart pointed to a report released in late December by the Independent Electricity System Operator, which predicted Ontario will only need 23,000 MW of electrical generation in 2018, 8,000 MW less than a predicted 31,000 MW in 2004 - a significant drop that could mean the province doesn't need to build expensive nuclear power plants any time soon.
http://www.northernnews.ca/ArticleDispl ... ?e=2262307
------------------------------------------------------------------
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
_______________________________________________
To be added or removed from the No Nukes News Mailing list, please click <a href="http://list.web.net/lists/listinfo/no_nukes_news">here</a>
=============================
7. Yucca haunts admin's lagging efforts on nuclear waste study panel.
While the President's budget proposal is expected to sound a death knell for the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, the administration has so far failed to launch the commission it promised almost a year ago to decide on a disposal alternative. Greenwire
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/01/11/11greenwire-
yucca-haunts-admins-lagging-efforts-on-nuclear-24943.html
================================
8. Costs of managing nuclear risk slows construction of new power stations.
Would a reassessment of the risks posed by radiation actually cut the costs and boost the nuclear production of low-carbon electricity which the government says is essential to tackle global warming? The short answer is doubtful. London Guardian, United Kingdom.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/11/
nuclear-radiation-risks
==================================
9. Against the Prorogation of Parliament
http://www.noprorogation-nonprorogation.ca/
As Canadian university professors dedicated to educating students about democratic institutions, we are deeply concerned by Prime Minister Stephen Harper´s decision to use his power to prorogue Parliament for a second year in a row in circumstances that allow him to evade democratic accountability. The Prime Minister is not only making cavalier use of the discretionary powers entrusted to him in our Parliamentary system, but in so doing he is undermining our system of democratic government.
It has been noted by many observers that the Prime Minister did nothing technically wrong by requesting that Parliament be prorogued and in fixing the date for a Throne Speech after the Vancouver Olympics.
The Prime Minister does have the sole responsibility to request prorogation from the Governor-General (although the custom is to request it in person, out of respect for the office of the Queen´s representative, and that was not done in this case). But it is highly unusual - and improper - to request it in circumstances like these.
What, precisely, did the Prime Minister do wrong in proroguing Parliament?
Our parliamentary and constitutional institutions are grounded not just in explicit rules but also in the spirit of those rules.Think of the idea of a "loyal opposition" so central to our practice of responsible government. The role of the opposition parties is to hold the government to a high standard of justification. The opposition parties can neglect their responsibilities by being servile and pliant. They can also misuse their powers for narrowly partisan purposes.
We expect them to avoid both these pitfalls. We expect them to be vigorous. And, while an element of partisanship is inevitable in democratic systems of government, we expect that it will be moderated
by public-spiritedness and a shared concern for the country´s common good. If it isn´t, then the opposition has failed to do its job.What is true of opposition parties is true in spades of the office of the Prime Minister, given the very great powers that are concentrated there in our system of responsible government. We expect that the Prime Minister will do his part to ensure that this system works, and
that MPs can fulfill the role we elect them to do. Part of what that means is to exercise self-restraint, and not use the powers that he possesses to shut down the mechanisms of accountability to Parliament
and the Canadian people.
The use of the ability to prorogue by the present Prime Minister clearly displays no such self-restraint. It was nakedly partisan when it was invoked to save his government from defeat in a confidence
motion in December 2008, and it is nakedly partisan now, when it is being used to short-circuit the work of the Parliamentary Committee looking into the Afghan detainees question and evade Parliament´s
request that the government turn over documents pertaining to that question.
The normal way in which a government secures a break in a parliamentary session is through adjournment. That permits the institutions of government to continue. Committees can do their work.
Legislation that is in the system can be picked up and advanced once the adjournment is over. In prorogation, all the business of Parliament ceases. Any laws that are in process, with the exception
of private members´ bills, have to be introduced again, at the very first step of the process.
The government´s post-election legislative agenda is nowhere near having been fulfilled. The Prime Minister cannot, therefore, credibly invoke the purpose that the power to prorogue properly serves, which
is to provide the government with space outside the cut and thrust of Parliamentary sessions in which to submit a new legislative agenda to Parliament.
Given the short-term, tactical, and partisan purposes served by prorogation, and given the absence of any plausible public purpose served by it, we conclude that the Prime Minister has violated the trust of Parliament and of the Canadian people. We emphasize moreover that the violation of this trust strikes at the heart of our system of government, which relies upon the use of discretionary powers for the public good rather than merely for partisan purposes. How do we make sure it serves the public good? By requiring our governments to face Parliament and justify their actions, in the face of vigorous
questioning.
The Prime Minister´s actions risk setting a precedent that weakens an important condition of democratic government - the ability of the people, acting through their elected representatives, to hold the government accountable for its actions.
Cosignataires - Cosigners:
http://www.noprorogation-nonprorogation.ca/
- - - - - - -
Find a Rally Near You! For Locations of rallies, scroll down on this page:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=260348091419
= = = = =
Fight Harper's Shutdown of Parliament!
MORE INFO: http://www.canadians.org/
Many Canadians are absolutely disgusted by Stephen Harper's shutdown of Parliament for the next two months.
They realize it's just another one of his tricks to evade criticism of his government's record and to try to 'change the channel' since his government's handling of the Afghan torture issue and its inaction on climate change have received a lot of negative press.
Stephen Harper thinks he can behave like a dictator and that Canadians will just roll over and take it. He thinks he can ignore our Parliamentary institutions and undermine our democracy.
Let's stop him before he does any more damage. Don't let Harper get away with shutting down Parliament.
Please visit this cool Facebook website organized to fight back against Harper's dictatorial action: Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=260348091419
It's a great site that calls on us to contact our Members of Parliament and ask them to go back to Parliament despite Harper's shutdown of it, and to fight for our democracy by showing Harper's shutdown for what it is: an intolerable attack on our democracy. If you're not a Facebook user, don't let that stop you: contact your MP and ask him/her to get back to work and fight Harper's shutdown of Parliament. Together, we can stop him from ruining our democracy!
MORE INFO: http://www.canadians.org/
========================================
10. Join Together Alberta
http://www.jointogetheralberta.org/
Last Updated: January 15, 2010
The Join Together Alberta campaign was conceived and launched jointly by a number of Alberta unions and union groups in cooperation with various community and advocacy groups.
All of the participating organizations share deep concerns about the impacts that deep cuts to public services will have on individuals, families and communities within Alberta.
They also share a belief that best way forward for Alberta is to embrace a high-road approach to our future — one that focuses on smart investments in people, communities and the economy — as opposed to a low-road approach —one that focuses on cutting spending and leaving individuals, families and communities to increasingly fend for themselves.
The organizations currently supporting the Join Together,Alberta campaign are listed below. As the campaign progresses, more groups and organization will be asked to add their names to the list of supporters. Individual Albertans are also part of this campaign, showing their support for the campaign and its goals.
=================================
11. Earth Day Canada Environmental Scholarship Opportunity
Earth Day Canada has launched the 2010 Toyota Earth Day Scholarship Program. Twenty $5,000 scholarships will be awarded to students across Canada who have distinguished themselves through environmental community service, extracurricular and volunteer activities, and academic excellence. One exceptional student will also be presented with the Toyota Earth Day Scholarship National Award and a Panasonic notebook computer.
The deadline to apply is February 28, 2010. Application material and information is available online at http://www.earthday.ca/scholarship.
For program information, please contact Jo Anne Tacorda at 416 599-1991 ext. 109.
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9887
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
NUKE NEWS: Jan. 15.10
by Oscar » Wed Apr 21, 2010 8:13 am
NUKE NEWS: Jan. 15.10
Compilation:
1. Council supporter P.K. Page passes away
2. Cancer Spreading In Iraq due to Depleted Uranium Weapons
3. The Curse of Gorleben - Germany's Endless Search for a Nuclear Waste Dump
4. Nuclear waste plan for East Lothian
5. Nuclear waste proposals revealed
6. WHAT CHALLENGES FACE RENEWABLE ENERGY? - Jim Harding
7. Hunters lock down Texas nuke plant
==========================
1. Council supporter P.K. Page passes away
From: <bpatterson@canadians.org>
Sent: Friday, January 15, 2010 7:06 AM
Poet, novelist and painter P.K. Page died yesterday at the age of 93 at her home in Victoria.
Page, a member of the Council of Canadians, once described us as “the one organization that fights for this country.”
The Spring 2006 issue of Canadian Perspectives reported that, "P.K. Page might be one of the only writers in Canada to win a major literary award – and promptly ask to have it revoked."
"The Governor General Award-winning poet (had been) presented with the Terasen Lifetime Achievement Award for an Outstanding Literary Career in British Columbia. But when Page heard that Terasen had been sold to Texas-based Kinder Morgan, Inc., she asked to have her name removed from a plaque on the Writer’s Walk at the Vancouver Public Library."
"Prior to the sale of Terasen, Page had written to the government urging them not to sell the Canadian-owned utility. 'I said that if the deal went through I would ask that my name be removed from the plaque,' said Page. 'Well, the deal went through.' Page then donated the prize money to the Council of Canadians (which had campaigned against the sale of Terasen)."
It has been reported that Page would want to be remembered for her poem 'Planet Earth'. In part, that poem reads:
"It has to be loved the way a laundress loves her linens,
the way she moves her hands caressing the fine muslins knowing their warp and woof,
like a lover coaxing, or a mother praising.
The rivers and little streams with their hidden cresses and pale-coloured pebbles and their fool's gold must be washed and starched or shined into brightness,
the sheets of lake water smoothed with the hand and the foam of the oceans pressed into neatness."
You can read the full poem at http://nexus.typepad.com/nexus/2003/09/ ... th_by.html.
To read more about the life of Patricia Kathleen Page, go to http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2010 ... ge-pk.html.
The Canadian Perspectives article can be read at http://www.canadians.org/publications/C ... g06_16.pdf.
Brent Patterson
The Council of Canadians
www.canadians.org/campaignblog
=======================================
2. Cancer Spreading In Iraq due to Depleted Uranium Weapons
http://dailycensored.com/2010/01/10/
cancer-spreading-in-iraq-due-to-depleted-uranium-weapons/
The Daily Censored January 11, 2010
Cancer is spreading like wildfire in Iraq. Thousands of infants are being born with deformities. Doctors say they are struggling to cope with the rise of cancer and birth defects, especially in cities subjected to heavy American and British bombardment.
Dr Ahmad Hardan, who served as a special scientific adviser to the World Health Organization, the United Nations and the Iraqi Ministry of Health, says that there is scientific evidence linking depleted uranium to cancer and birth defects. He told Al Jazeera English [3], "Children with congenital anomalies are subjected to karyotyping and chromosomal studies with complete genetic back-grounding and clinical assessment. Family and obstetrical histories are taken too. These international studies have produced ample evidence to show that depleted uranium has disastrous consequences."
Iraqi doctors say cancer cases increased after both the 1991 war and the 2003 invasion. Abdulhaq Al-Ani, author of "Uranium in Iraq" told Al Jazeera English [4] that the incubation period for depleted uranium is five to six years, which is consistent with the spike in cancer rates in 1996-1997 and 2008-2009.
Not everyone is ready to draw a direct correlation between allied bombing of these areas and tumors, and the Pentagon has been skeptical of any attempts to link the two. But Iraqi doctors and some Western scholars say the massive quantities of depleted uranium used in U.S. and British bombs, and the sharp increase in cancer rates are not unconnected.
MORE:
http://dailycensored.com/2010/01/10/
cancer-spreading-in-iraq-due-to-depleted-uranium-weapons/
===============================
3. The Curse of Gorleben - Germany's Endless Search for a Nuclear Waste Dump
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/
0,1518,672147,00.html
By SPIEGEL Staff January 15, 2010
Germany has been looking for a permanent storage site for its nuclear waste for over 30 years. The history of the Gorleben salt dome, a potential nuclear repository, is one full of deception and political maneuvering. And if opponents to the plans have their way, the search might even have to start again from scratch.
The ride down into the Gorleben salt dome takes less than two minutes. When the elevator stops at 840 meters (2,755 feet) below ground, the folding gates open onto a scene that looks like it could be in a modern art museum.
A sculpture made of old soft drink cans and other scrap metal welcomes visitors as they step out of the elevator. The artwork is meant to symbolize society's unresolved waste disposal problem.
"Trash People" is the name of the work, a creation by the Cologne-based conceptual artist HA Schult. Of the army of similar scrap metal sculptures he installed a few years ago in the site, which is earmarked as a possible permanent repository for radioactive waste, one remains today as a warning, next to an information panel describing Schult's "happening," called "Quiet
Days in Gorleben."
The force behind the subversive artworks was Green Party politician Jürgen Trittin, who was German environment minister under former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's coalition government of the center-left Social Democrats and Green Party. But the art is not the only legacy of the SPD-Green Party era.
What is more significant is the research moratorium that the former administration imposed on Gorleben in 2000, putting a stop to research into whether the salt dome was suitable for use as a storage site for nuclear waste.
The drilling machines have been idle since then, and life only returns to the site, which is located in the Wendland region of the northern state of Lower Saxony, when groups of visitors arrive. They are driven through the seemingly endless tunnels in a Mercedes SUV. Anyone who is so inclined can lick the grayish-white salt from the walls. It is apparently of the highest quality.
MORE: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/
0,1518,672147,00.html
Part 2: Politicians Vs. Geologists
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/
0,1518,672147-2,00.html
Part 3: Sounding the Alarm
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/
0,1518,672147-3,00.html
Part 4: Bowing to Pressure from the South
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/
0,1518,672147-4,00.html
= = = = = = =
RELATED SPIEGEL ONLINE LINKS
Radioactive Waste: German Company Sent Nuclear Material for Open-Air Storage in Siberia (10/19/2009)
Nuclear Renaissance Stalls: Problems Plague Launch of 'Safer' Next-Generation Reactors (10/15/2009)
Experts Sound Warning: German Nuclear Comeback Spells Bad News for Wind Power (10/13/2009)
Atomic Talks: Merkel's New Coalition Agrees to Extend Nuclear Reactor Lifetimes (10/09/2009)
The World From Berlin: German Nuclear Scandal is 'Hair-Raising and Unforgivable' (09/10/2009)
SPIEGEL 360: Our Full Coverage of Energy and Natural Resources
====================================
4. Nuclear waste plan for East Lothian
http://news.scotsman.com/politics/
Nuclear-waste-plan-forEast.5988464.jp
16 January 2010
NUCLEAR waste could be stored permanently at sites across Scotland, including East Lothian, if proposals by the Scottish Government are approved.
A new consultation document on the future of radioactive waste management sets out the case for "near surface, near site" storage.
The government said no specific locations were being identified at this stage but Scotland's current nuclear sites are at located at Torness, Rosyth, Hunterston, Chapelcross and Dounreay.
MORE: http://news.scotsman.com/politics/
Nuclear-waste-plan-forEast.5988464.jp
===================================
5. Nuclear waste proposals revealed
http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Articl ... z0cyX4Bons
Dounreay could become Scottish dumping ground
By Tim Pauling Published: 16/01/2010
Dounreay looks set to become a nuclear waste dump under plans revealed by the Scottish Government.
A consultation to find ways to manage the country’s radioactive waste was launched yesterday.
It aims to ensure the “treatment, storage and disposal” of the waste is carried out in a way that offers maximum protection to the people and the environment.
While the UK Government favours one deep burial site for all high-level and intermediate-level radioactive waste, with Sellafield the most likely location, Scottish ministers favour surface storage or shallow burial.
No sites have been earmarked yet, but the SNP policy would mean materials staying at one of the two decommissioned nuclear plants at Dounreay in Caithness, and Chapelcross in Dumfries and Galloway, and the two working power plants at Torness, East Lothian, and Hunterston, North Ayrshire.
Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said: “The consultation supports our commitment to near-surface, near-site facilities, allowing waste to be monitorable and retrievable with minimal need for transportation over long distances.
“Having an out-of-sight, out-of-mind policy is losing support.”
MORE:
http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Articl ... z0cyX4Bons
=======================================
6. WHAT CHALLENGES FACE RENEWABLE ENERGY? - Jim Harding
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1532#1532
By Jim Harding
Saskatchewan Sustainability Published in R-Town News Jan. 15.10
The feature in the November 2009 Scientific American shows plenty of renewable energy for future uses. But what are the challenges to conversion and are they manageable? Renewables must be scrutinized with the same criteria used for other energy options. While renewable “fuels” - from wind, sun and water - are inexhaustible and free, what about the availability of other required materials? And how do renewables stack up to non-renewables insofar as reliability? What about the comparative costs? Finally, how will the economy and government policies impact conversion?
REACHING PEAK PRODUCTION
A point is inevitable when nature’s non-renewable resources and cost-impediments create “peak production”, after which there is steadily declining supplies. An argument rages as to whether we’ve already passed “peak oil” or “peak gas”, and, of course innovation in the technology of extraction plays a role; e.g. natural gas is now being accessed in shale by drilling horizontally. Today’s shortfall of uranium supply, shown by the failure to get the high-grade Cigar Lake mine into production and dependency on weapons-grade uranium to meet demand, even without a nuclear renaissance, suggests we’ve passed “peak uranium”. While there are centuries of coal supply, this is the most carbon-intensive non-renewable and the search for “clean coal” dramatically increases costs. Compared to low-cost, low-carbon renewables, spending billions on carbon-storage for high-carbon fuels looks more and more like chasing our tails.
But what about other materials required for renewables? The steel and cement used in wind power is abundant, and in contrast to a nuclear power plant, all of this is recoverable to recycle, which reduces future energy demand. Lower cost neodymium used for wind turbine gearboxes is concentrated in China, but this metal is not in short supply, and research on gearless turbines is quickly advancing. Some photovoltaic (PV) cells presently rely on materials such as tellurium and indium, which have limited supply, but these and alternative materials can be recycled, which could become the most reliable future supply. The lithium used in batteries and platinum used in fuel cells are rare-earth metals, with more than one-half of the lithium in Latin America. Rising prices and shortages are possible, but again, recycling could alter this, showing how an integrated approach to convert to sustainability is required. The throw-away economy, which builds in planned obsolescence for short-term profit, has probably run its course. Regulations to ensure fuel cells and batteries are built for recycling must be part of the sustainable policy package. Compared to unsolved and some think unsolvable carbon or nuclear waste storage problems, these challenges of renewables seem like a cake-walk.
RELIABILITY OF RENEWABLES
Intermittent supply is often mentioned as the Achilles Heel of renewables. It may surprise some readers that the downtime of coal plants runs over 12% per year compared to only 5% for wind turbines at sea and less than 2% for those on land. PV systems are also down less than 2%. And when a coal or nuclear plant goes down a huge source (e.g. 1,000 MW) of energy is removed from the grid. Maintenance of renewable technology makes the public less vulnerable because it involves taking a small amount of overcall capacity out of service at a time (e.g. a 5 MW wind turbine).The shift to renewables requires a change in mind-set; a “smart grid” requires organizing energy production around various sources. Geothermal and tidal energy can provide base power and hydro can provide back-up for wind, which produces more at night, and help meet peak loads. Solar, which produces more in the day, is a great complement to wind. And so on.
Demand-side management (DSM) is already being used by utilities to better match demand with supply and lower peak loads and capital costs. This thinking has to be expanded so that diverse energy sources are coordinated. Wind farms interconnected across wind zones can provide a reliable “base” supply. More available wind at night can be used to “refuel” vehicles to be run off electricity the next day, which shows how renewable energy can be stored cost-effectively.
COMPARATIVE COSTING
Using annualized costs for capital, land, operations, maintenance, storage and transmission, wind, hydro and geothermal are already less than 7 cents kWh, which is cheaper than conventional power. By 2020 wind, wave and hydro are expected to be down to 4 cents kWh. Wind is already equal to or less than new coal and gas plants. Concentrated (thermal) solar and PV are still more costly but are expected to be competitive (8-10 cents kWh) within a decade. Mass produced electric cars will be able to provide transportation that is competitive with gasoline, the price of which will continue to rise after “peak oil”. The hybrid vehicle is the coming transition.
But pricing models are still distorted, and can be manipulated to support powerful energy companies and government policies that support them. First, they externalize many actual costs to today’s taxpayers, and to future generations who won’t benefit at all. If the costs of climate change are added into fossil fuel costs, the industries would quickly collapse. The same is true for the nuclear industry if all future waste costs, including for uranium tailings, are included. When all environmental health costs, including the impact on the quantity and quality of water, are included, renewables consistently come out on top. Second, direct and hidden subsidies must be fully accounted for. Without these we would never have gotten into such over-dependency on unsustainable energy. The tarsands and nuclear power, but not lower-cost wind, got subsidies in Harper’s stimulus package. Meanwhile many governments, including our own, still refuse to establish a feed-in tariff to pay a fair price to farmers, small businesses, First Nations, towns and individuals willing to produce electricity for the public grid.
This shows how a more comprehensive and realistic economics comes with the shift to renewables.
Jim Harding is a retired professor of environmental and justice studies.
His website: http://jimharding.brinkster.netwebsite
================================
7. Hunters lock down Texas nuke plant
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Hunters+lock+
down+Texas+nuke+plant/2449320/story.html
<>Agence France-PresseJanuary 16, 2010 8:00 AM
A pair of fowl hunters sparked a brief lockdown of a Texas nuclear weapons plant on Friday.
The sheriff's office got a call from an employee of B&W Pantex who saw two men getting out a vehicle dressed in camouflage and carrying guns near the plant.
The men were soon found in a nearby field setting up goose decoys and a blind.
MORE:
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Hunters+lock+
down+Texas+nuke+plant/2449320/story.html
Compilation:
1. Council supporter P.K. Page passes away
2. Cancer Spreading In Iraq due to Depleted Uranium Weapons
3. The Curse of Gorleben - Germany's Endless Search for a Nuclear Waste Dump
4. Nuclear waste plan for East Lothian
5. Nuclear waste proposals revealed
6. WHAT CHALLENGES FACE RENEWABLE ENERGY? - Jim Harding
7. Hunters lock down Texas nuke plant
==========================
1. Council supporter P.K. Page passes away
From: <bpatterson@canadians.org>
Sent: Friday, January 15, 2010 7:06 AM
Poet, novelist and painter P.K. Page died yesterday at the age of 93 at her home in Victoria.
Page, a member of the Council of Canadians, once described us as “the one organization that fights for this country.”
The Spring 2006 issue of Canadian Perspectives reported that, "P.K. Page might be one of the only writers in Canada to win a major literary award – and promptly ask to have it revoked."
"The Governor General Award-winning poet (had been) presented with the Terasen Lifetime Achievement Award for an Outstanding Literary Career in British Columbia. But when Page heard that Terasen had been sold to Texas-based Kinder Morgan, Inc., she asked to have her name removed from a plaque on the Writer’s Walk at the Vancouver Public Library."
"Prior to the sale of Terasen, Page had written to the government urging them not to sell the Canadian-owned utility. 'I said that if the deal went through I would ask that my name be removed from the plaque,' said Page. 'Well, the deal went through.' Page then donated the prize money to the Council of Canadians (which had campaigned against the sale of Terasen)."
It has been reported that Page would want to be remembered for her poem 'Planet Earth'. In part, that poem reads:
"It has to be loved the way a laundress loves her linens,
the way she moves her hands caressing the fine muslins knowing their warp and woof,
like a lover coaxing, or a mother praising.
The rivers and little streams with their hidden cresses and pale-coloured pebbles and their fool's gold must be washed and starched or shined into brightness,
the sheets of lake water smoothed with the hand and the foam of the oceans pressed into neatness."
You can read the full poem at http://nexus.typepad.com/nexus/2003/09/ ... th_by.html.
To read more about the life of Patricia Kathleen Page, go to http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2010 ... ge-pk.html.
The Canadian Perspectives article can be read at http://www.canadians.org/publications/C ... g06_16.pdf.
Brent Patterson
The Council of Canadians
www.canadians.org/campaignblog
=======================================
2. Cancer Spreading In Iraq due to Depleted Uranium Weapons
http://dailycensored.com/2010/01/10/
cancer-spreading-in-iraq-due-to-depleted-uranium-weapons/
The Daily Censored January 11, 2010
Cancer is spreading like wildfire in Iraq. Thousands of infants are being born with deformities. Doctors say they are struggling to cope with the rise of cancer and birth defects, especially in cities subjected to heavy American and British bombardment.
Dr Ahmad Hardan, who served as a special scientific adviser to the World Health Organization, the United Nations and the Iraqi Ministry of Health, says that there is scientific evidence linking depleted uranium to cancer and birth defects. He told Al Jazeera English [3], "Children with congenital anomalies are subjected to karyotyping and chromosomal studies with complete genetic back-grounding and clinical assessment. Family and obstetrical histories are taken too. These international studies have produced ample evidence to show that depleted uranium has disastrous consequences."
Iraqi doctors say cancer cases increased after both the 1991 war and the 2003 invasion. Abdulhaq Al-Ani, author of "Uranium in Iraq" told Al Jazeera English [4] that the incubation period for depleted uranium is five to six years, which is consistent with the spike in cancer rates in 1996-1997 and 2008-2009.
Not everyone is ready to draw a direct correlation between allied bombing of these areas and tumors, and the Pentagon has been skeptical of any attempts to link the two. But Iraqi doctors and some Western scholars say the massive quantities of depleted uranium used in U.S. and British bombs, and the sharp increase in cancer rates are not unconnected.
MORE:
http://dailycensored.com/2010/01/10/
cancer-spreading-in-iraq-due-to-depleted-uranium-weapons/
===============================
3. The Curse of Gorleben - Germany's Endless Search for a Nuclear Waste Dump
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/
0,1518,672147,00.html
By SPIEGEL Staff January 15, 2010
Germany has been looking for a permanent storage site for its nuclear waste for over 30 years. The history of the Gorleben salt dome, a potential nuclear repository, is one full of deception and political maneuvering. And if opponents to the plans have their way, the search might even have to start again from scratch.
The ride down into the Gorleben salt dome takes less than two minutes. When the elevator stops at 840 meters (2,755 feet) below ground, the folding gates open onto a scene that looks like it could be in a modern art museum.
A sculpture made of old soft drink cans and other scrap metal welcomes visitors as they step out of the elevator. The artwork is meant to symbolize society's unresolved waste disposal problem.
"Trash People" is the name of the work, a creation by the Cologne-based conceptual artist HA Schult. Of the army of similar scrap metal sculptures he installed a few years ago in the site, which is earmarked as a possible permanent repository for radioactive waste, one remains today as a warning, next to an information panel describing Schult's "happening," called "Quiet
Days in Gorleben."
The force behind the subversive artworks was Green Party politician Jürgen Trittin, who was German environment minister under former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's coalition government of the center-left Social Democrats and Green Party. But the art is not the only legacy of the SPD-Green Party era.
What is more significant is the research moratorium that the former administration imposed on Gorleben in 2000, putting a stop to research into whether the salt dome was suitable for use as a storage site for nuclear waste.
The drilling machines have been idle since then, and life only returns to the site, which is located in the Wendland region of the northern state of Lower Saxony, when groups of visitors arrive. They are driven through the seemingly endless tunnels in a Mercedes SUV. Anyone who is so inclined can lick the grayish-white salt from the walls. It is apparently of the highest quality.
MORE: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/
0,1518,672147,00.html
Part 2: Politicians Vs. Geologists
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/
0,1518,672147-2,00.html
Part 3: Sounding the Alarm
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/
0,1518,672147-3,00.html
Part 4: Bowing to Pressure from the South
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/
0,1518,672147-4,00.html
= = = = = = =
RELATED SPIEGEL ONLINE LINKS
Radioactive Waste: German Company Sent Nuclear Material for Open-Air Storage in Siberia (10/19/2009)
Nuclear Renaissance Stalls: Problems Plague Launch of 'Safer' Next-Generation Reactors (10/15/2009)
Experts Sound Warning: German Nuclear Comeback Spells Bad News for Wind Power (10/13/2009)
Atomic Talks: Merkel's New Coalition Agrees to Extend Nuclear Reactor Lifetimes (10/09/2009)
The World From Berlin: German Nuclear Scandal is 'Hair-Raising and Unforgivable' (09/10/2009)
SPIEGEL 360: Our Full Coverage of Energy and Natural Resources
====================================
4. Nuclear waste plan for East Lothian
http://news.scotsman.com/politics/
Nuclear-waste-plan-forEast.5988464.jp
16 January 2010
NUCLEAR waste could be stored permanently at sites across Scotland, including East Lothian, if proposals by the Scottish Government are approved.
A new consultation document on the future of radioactive waste management sets out the case for "near surface, near site" storage.
The government said no specific locations were being identified at this stage but Scotland's current nuclear sites are at located at Torness, Rosyth, Hunterston, Chapelcross and Dounreay.
MORE: http://news.scotsman.com/politics/
Nuclear-waste-plan-forEast.5988464.jp
===================================
5. Nuclear waste proposals revealed
http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Articl ... z0cyX4Bons
Dounreay could become Scottish dumping ground
By Tim Pauling Published: 16/01/2010
Dounreay looks set to become a nuclear waste dump under plans revealed by the Scottish Government.
A consultation to find ways to manage the country’s radioactive waste was launched yesterday.
It aims to ensure the “treatment, storage and disposal” of the waste is carried out in a way that offers maximum protection to the people and the environment.
While the UK Government favours one deep burial site for all high-level and intermediate-level radioactive waste, with Sellafield the most likely location, Scottish ministers favour surface storage or shallow burial.
No sites have been earmarked yet, but the SNP policy would mean materials staying at one of the two decommissioned nuclear plants at Dounreay in Caithness, and Chapelcross in Dumfries and Galloway, and the two working power plants at Torness, East Lothian, and Hunterston, North Ayrshire.
Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said: “The consultation supports our commitment to near-surface, near-site facilities, allowing waste to be monitorable and retrievable with minimal need for transportation over long distances.
“Having an out-of-sight, out-of-mind policy is losing support.”
MORE:
http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Articl ... z0cyX4Bons
=======================================
6. WHAT CHALLENGES FACE RENEWABLE ENERGY? - Jim Harding
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1532#1532
By Jim Harding
Saskatchewan Sustainability Published in R-Town News Jan. 15.10
The feature in the November 2009 Scientific American shows plenty of renewable energy for future uses. But what are the challenges to conversion and are they manageable? Renewables must be scrutinized with the same criteria used for other energy options. While renewable “fuels” - from wind, sun and water - are inexhaustible and free, what about the availability of other required materials? And how do renewables stack up to non-renewables insofar as reliability? What about the comparative costs? Finally, how will the economy and government policies impact conversion?
REACHING PEAK PRODUCTION
A point is inevitable when nature’s non-renewable resources and cost-impediments create “peak production”, after which there is steadily declining supplies. An argument rages as to whether we’ve already passed “peak oil” or “peak gas”, and, of course innovation in the technology of extraction plays a role; e.g. natural gas is now being accessed in shale by drilling horizontally. Today’s shortfall of uranium supply, shown by the failure to get the high-grade Cigar Lake mine into production and dependency on weapons-grade uranium to meet demand, even without a nuclear renaissance, suggests we’ve passed “peak uranium”. While there are centuries of coal supply, this is the most carbon-intensive non-renewable and the search for “clean coal” dramatically increases costs. Compared to low-cost, low-carbon renewables, spending billions on carbon-storage for high-carbon fuels looks more and more like chasing our tails.
But what about other materials required for renewables? The steel and cement used in wind power is abundant, and in contrast to a nuclear power plant, all of this is recoverable to recycle, which reduces future energy demand. Lower cost neodymium used for wind turbine gearboxes is concentrated in China, but this metal is not in short supply, and research on gearless turbines is quickly advancing. Some photovoltaic (PV) cells presently rely on materials such as tellurium and indium, which have limited supply, but these and alternative materials can be recycled, which could become the most reliable future supply. The lithium used in batteries and platinum used in fuel cells are rare-earth metals, with more than one-half of the lithium in Latin America. Rising prices and shortages are possible, but again, recycling could alter this, showing how an integrated approach to convert to sustainability is required. The throw-away economy, which builds in planned obsolescence for short-term profit, has probably run its course. Regulations to ensure fuel cells and batteries are built for recycling must be part of the sustainable policy package. Compared to unsolved and some think unsolvable carbon or nuclear waste storage problems, these challenges of renewables seem like a cake-walk.
RELIABILITY OF RENEWABLES
Intermittent supply is often mentioned as the Achilles Heel of renewables. It may surprise some readers that the downtime of coal plants runs over 12% per year compared to only 5% for wind turbines at sea and less than 2% for those on land. PV systems are also down less than 2%. And when a coal or nuclear plant goes down a huge source (e.g. 1,000 MW) of energy is removed from the grid. Maintenance of renewable technology makes the public less vulnerable because it involves taking a small amount of overcall capacity out of service at a time (e.g. a 5 MW wind turbine).The shift to renewables requires a change in mind-set; a “smart grid” requires organizing energy production around various sources. Geothermal and tidal energy can provide base power and hydro can provide back-up for wind, which produces more at night, and help meet peak loads. Solar, which produces more in the day, is a great complement to wind. And so on.
Demand-side management (DSM) is already being used by utilities to better match demand with supply and lower peak loads and capital costs. This thinking has to be expanded so that diverse energy sources are coordinated. Wind farms interconnected across wind zones can provide a reliable “base” supply. More available wind at night can be used to “refuel” vehicles to be run off electricity the next day, which shows how renewable energy can be stored cost-effectively.
COMPARATIVE COSTING
Using annualized costs for capital, land, operations, maintenance, storage and transmission, wind, hydro and geothermal are already less than 7 cents kWh, which is cheaper than conventional power. By 2020 wind, wave and hydro are expected to be down to 4 cents kWh. Wind is already equal to or less than new coal and gas plants. Concentrated (thermal) solar and PV are still more costly but are expected to be competitive (8-10 cents kWh) within a decade. Mass produced electric cars will be able to provide transportation that is competitive with gasoline, the price of which will continue to rise after “peak oil”. The hybrid vehicle is the coming transition.
But pricing models are still distorted, and can be manipulated to support powerful energy companies and government policies that support them. First, they externalize many actual costs to today’s taxpayers, and to future generations who won’t benefit at all. If the costs of climate change are added into fossil fuel costs, the industries would quickly collapse. The same is true for the nuclear industry if all future waste costs, including for uranium tailings, are included. When all environmental health costs, including the impact on the quantity and quality of water, are included, renewables consistently come out on top. Second, direct and hidden subsidies must be fully accounted for. Without these we would never have gotten into such over-dependency on unsustainable energy. The tarsands and nuclear power, but not lower-cost wind, got subsidies in Harper’s stimulus package. Meanwhile many governments, including our own, still refuse to establish a feed-in tariff to pay a fair price to farmers, small businesses, First Nations, towns and individuals willing to produce electricity for the public grid.
This shows how a more comprehensive and realistic economics comes with the shift to renewables.
Jim Harding is a retired professor of environmental and justice studies.
His website: http://jimharding.brinkster.netwebsite
================================
7. Hunters lock down Texas nuke plant
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Hunters+lock+
down+Texas+nuke+plant/2449320/story.html
<>Agence France-PresseJanuary 16, 2010 8:00 AM
A pair of fowl hunters sparked a brief lockdown of a Texas nuclear weapons plant on Friday.
The sheriff's office got a call from an employee of B&W Pantex who saw two men getting out a vehicle dressed in camouflage and carrying guns near the plant.
The men were soon found in a nearby field setting up goose decoys and a blind.
MORE:
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Hunters+lock+
down+Texas+nuke+plant/2449320/story.html
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9887
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
NUKE NEWS: Jan. 17.10
by Oscar » Wed Apr 21, 2010 8:14 am
NUKE NEWS: Jan. 17.10
Compilation:
1. The Standing Committee on Crown and Central Agencies Inquiry into Saskatchewan’s Growing Energy Needs – Dates, Times and Locations – start Jan. 18
2. AECL's fork in the road
3. NB Power sale in doubt, new deal expected next week
4. Letter: Dealing with nuclear waste – Shelstad - December 22, 2009
5. Nuclear scientist killed by bomb in Iran
6. No Nukes News - Jan. 16, 2010 - Clean Air Alliance
7. Yucca haunts admin's lagging efforts on nuclear waste study panel.
8. Costs of managing nuclear risk slows construction of new power stations.
9. Against the Prorogation of Parliament
10. Join Together Alberta
11. Earth Day Canada Environmental Scholarship Opportunity
===========================================
1. The Standing Committee on Crown and Central Agencies Inquiry into Saskatchewan’s Growing Energy Needs – Dates, Times and Locations
The Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan’s all party committee, the Standing Committee on Crown and Central Agencies will conduct additional public meetings in January, 2010. These meetings are in addition to the meetings that were in held in October 2009 in Regina, Saskatoon and La Ronge.
The Committee, which includes both the Government and Opposition Members, will be holding public hearings and requests that presentations and submissions address the following question: "How should the Government best meet the growing energy needs of the province, in a manner that is safe, reliable, and environmentally-sustainable, while meeting any current and expected Federal Environmental Standards and Regulations, and maintaining a focus on affordability for Saskatchewan residents"?
The Committee will conduct additional hearings in 2010 in the following communities:
The times are listed below however they are subject to change.
The best way to keep in touch is via our website www.legassembly.sk.ca/committees.
The agendas have been set but they are likely to change as we get closer to each location.
Lloydminster
January 18, 2010 Time: 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m (MST)
Prince Albert
January 19, 2010 Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m and 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Saskatoon
January 20, 2010 Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m and 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Saskatoon
January 21, 2010 Time: 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m
Yorkton
January 22, 2010 Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m and 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Estevan
January 25, 2010 Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m and 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Regina
January 27, 2010
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m and 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Regina
January 28, 2010
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m and 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Regina
January 29, 2010
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m and 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Stacey Ursulescu
Committee Researcher
Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly
sursulescu@legassembly.sk.ca
phone: (306) 787-7327
fax: (306) 798-9650
=======================
2. AECL's fork in the road
http://www.cbc.ca/politics/insidepoliti ... nts-submit
January 15, 2010 2:32 PM By Susan Lunn
It's a new year for the troubled crown agency, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited.
And its future will likely be determined in 2010.
The government is looking for investors for the Candu reactor division.
It's also deciding the future of the research side of AECL, which makes medical isotopes in Chalk River.
The national research universal reactor, or the NRU, has been shut down since last May. Staff have been working non-stop to clean the outer wall, and close the pin-sized holes where the water was leaking out.
According to an update this week, repairs are scheduled to be finished next month. But once again, the company is pushing back the start up date, now suggesting it may be mid-April before it is turned back on.
And now, AECL is facing another long simmering issue: the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant in New Brunswick.
Jack Keir is New Brunswick's energy minister. For months he's been frustrated that AECL's refurbishment of the plant at Point Lepreau is months behind schedule, which means the province has spent millions on replacement power. So his government is considering suing Ottawa.
"The issue, very clearly for me, is simple. And that is: New Brunswickers right now are paying for AECL to get up a learning curve so they can do a refurbishment in Romania, in Korea, in Argentina cheaper than they can do it a Point Lepreau. Why should New Brunswickers pay for that?," he asked.
MORE:
http://www.cbc.ca/politics/insidepolitics/2010/01/
aecls-fork-in-the-road.html#socialcomments-submit
========================
3. NB Power sale in doubt, new deal expected next week
From: <bpatterson@canadians.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 16, 2010 7:39 AM
The Globe and Mail reports that, "The New Brunswick government is in negotiations with Quebec to revise a controversial deal to sell its power utility to Hydro-Quebec in order to retain an ownership stake for New Brunswickers, sources say."
"Premier Shawn Graham has faced an outpouring of public and political outrage over a tentative deal signed last October, in which the giant Quebec power company would take over New Brunswick Power in exchange for taking on its debt and cutting or freezing power rates for customers in the Atlantic province."
"Progressive Conservative Leader David Alward said he believes Mr. Graham’s government is ready to walk away from the troublesome memorandum of understanding, but sources say the province is trying to renegotiate some of the most controversial aspects of it, including the total transfer of ownership."
"Mr. Alward said Mr. Graham is now seriously backpedalling on the agreement and is expected to table a new and dramatically different deal as early as next week."
THE COUNCIL OF CANADIANS Campaign highlights of our work on this issue include:
October 24, 2009
NEWS: Council of Canadians says NB Power should remain public: The Daily Gleaner reports that, “The Council of Canadians says New Brunswickers should object to any effort to privatize their utility and sell it off, in whole or in part.”
http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=2083
November 3, 2009
NEWS: Council of Canadians raises concerns about the export focus of NB Power sale:
The Halifax Chronicle-Herald article notes, “Andrea Harden Donahue, Council of Canadians energy campaigner in Ottawa, said the deal between NB Power and Hydro-Quebec is based on a business model to sell exports into the northeastern U.S., which is demanding more supplies of renewable energy.”
http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=2144
November 8, 2009
ACTION ALERT: Raise questions about the sale of NB Power:
The approach by the provincial government thus far for public engagement on such a monumental decision has been lacking. There remain a number of unanswered questions about the sale and insufficient plans for consulting with residents of New Brunswick. In particular, the Council of Canadians is concerned about the sale’s impact on the capacity to expand in-province local renewable energy sources, as well as the lack of clarity for a fair worker transition plan and the rights of future workers, and the precedent being set in affirming an export-oriented energy vision.
http://www.canadians.org/action/2009/08-Dec-09.html
December 8, 2009
OPEN LETTER
The Council of Canadians sends an open letter to the premier and party leaders "to express serious concerns with the plan to sell the assets of NB Power and certain subsidiaries of NB Power."
http://www.canadians.org/energy/documents/
Letter-NB-power-sale-1209.pdf.
We'll keep you posted as this develops.
Brent Patterson
The Council of Canadians
www.canadians.org/campaignblog
=============================
4. Letter: Dealing with nuclear waste – Shelstad - December 22, 2009
http://www.canada.com/news/
Dealing+with+nuclear+waste/2368993/story.html
By Tom Shelstad, The Leader-Post
Recently, columnist Murray Mandryk, in writing about a nuclear waste facility for this province, suggested that because we have been responsible for digging up uranium since 1953, we are hypocritical in not dealing with the end waste.
I should like to point out that, for decades, we were assured that our democracy was under threat and we needed nuclear weapons for self-defense. Mining uranium seemed the right thing to do at the time. Were we mislead or misinformed?
In the days of Tommy Douglas (and ever since), we were always assured by the nuclear industry not to worry. A safe, long-term method of waste storage would be established.
Six decades later, we are still waiting for that method to appear. Were we mislead or misinformed? Who then are the hypocrites?
If you look at any other industry, the end user is the chief beneficiary and is responsible for the end waste.
MORE: http://www.canada.com/news/
Dealing+with+nuclear+waste/2368993/story.html
========================
5. Nuclear scientist killed by bomb in Iran
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/
middle_east/article6984619.ece
January 12, 2010
A prominent Iranian nuclear scientist was killed by a bomb in Tehran this morning, triggering a furious controversy over who was responsible.
The regime blamed the death of Massoud Ali-Mohammadi on opposition “mercenaries” financed by Western and Israeli intelligence agencies seeking to derail Iran’s nuclear programme.
The state-controlled media called Dr Ali-Mohammadi a staunch supporter of the Islamic Republic, but opposition websites claimed he may have been killed because he was a convert to the so-called Green movement.
An extreme fringe group called the Monarchical Society claimed responsibility on its website, but there was no obvious reason why it would have targeted Dr Ali-Mohammadi and it was impossible to say whether the claim was authentic.
It is conceivable that the regime had Dr Ali-Mohammadi killed, to discredit the opposition, to prevent him leaking nuclear secrets or as a warning to other nuclear scientists.
Dr Ali-Mohammadi, 50, died when a remote-controlled bomb exploded outside his home in the smart Qeytarieh district of northern Tehran, according to Iran’s state media. Some reports said the bomb was attached to a motorbike, others that it was concealed in a rubbish bin.
Within hours the Iranian Foreign Ministry claimed that preliminary investigations had uncovered “signs of evil by the triangle of the Zionist regime, America and their mercenaries in Iran in this terrorist incident”.
MORE:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/
middle_east/article6984619.ece
= = = = =
US denies role in Iran murder
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/
middleeast/2010/01/20101121414688718.html
The US has dismissed an accusation by Iran that it was behind the murder of an Iranian nuclear physics professor, who was killed in a bomb blast.
Mark Toner, a US state department spokesman, on Tuesday called the allegation "absurd", hours after Massoud Mohammadi, a professor at Tehran University, was killed in the north of Tehran, the capital.
Iranian media reported that a bomb strapped to a motorcycle was triggered by remote control outside Mohammadi's home, killing him.
Iran's foreign ministry had said that US and Israeli "mercenaries" were behind the attack.
Earlier, the Iranian state-run Press TV reported: "The explosion took place near the professor's home in Qeytariyeh neighbourhood, in northern Tehran".
'Terrorist act'
It said Mohammadi was a "staunch supporter" of Iran's 1979 revolution and that he was "assassinated in a terrorist act by counter-revolutionary elements".The broadcaster said police and security officials have launched an investigation.
Iranian media reports described Mohammadi as a nuclear energy professor, citing Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Tehran prosecutor.
"Massoud Ali-Mohammadi was a professor in the nuclear field and there has so far been no arrests of those behind this incident," the Fars News Agency reported.
Al Jazeera's Alireza Ronaghi, reporting from Tehran, said Mohammadi might have had links to Iran's disputed nuclear programme.
"Authorities who decided to remain unnamed tell me that Mohammadi had some connections with Iran's nuclear programme and this [the murder] could be related," he said.
He said it was unclear who might have been behind the bombing.
"Anyone who is connected to Iran's nuclear programme could be an easy target for [foreign] intelligence services.
"Iran tries to protect its nuclear scientists very well but sometimes things get out of hand, and incidents like this happen."
'Zionist agents'
Baqer Moin, an Iranian author and journalist in London, said Iranian media have accused "Zionist agents" as being behind the blast.
MORE:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/
middleeast/2010/01/20101121414688718.html
===========================
6. No Nukes News - Jan. 16, 2010 - Clean Air Alliance
http://www.cleanairalliance.org/
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You CAN help
If you can spare a few hours to help blitz Iggy’s riding (Etobicoke-Lakeshore), let me know – we’re about 85% complete! This is what we’re distributing door-to-door: http://ontariosgreenfuture.ca/CostlyNukes_12_09.pdf
And if you haven’t already sent a form-email to Harper and the other federal leaders expressing your opposition to federal subsidies for nuclear power, please do so now – it’ll just take you 1 minute and you’ll feel great:
http://ontariosgreenfuture.ca/send_a_message.php
Thanks…
-angela@cleanairalliance.org
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N.B. premier threatens to sue Ottawa over Point Lepreau reactor
Graham wants feds to cover cost overruns of stalled refurbishment. "We want to continue dialoguing with the government of Canada, which is an extension of AECL. This is a government of Canada responsibility," Graham said.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/
story/2010/01/11/nb-graham-aecl-lepreau-225.html
New Brunswick move threatens sale of AECL
New Brunswick has dealt another blow to Ottawa's attempt to sell troubled Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., threatening to launch a messy lawsuit over delays to AECL's refurbishment of the Point Lepreau nuclear station unless Ottawa agrees to cover the province's related costs.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/
new-brunswick-move-threatens-aecl-sale/article1427658/
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Bruce Power Shuts Unit 4 at Nuclear-Power Reactor
Bruce Power LP, Canada’s only closely held nuclear-plant operator, shut 770-megawatt Unit 4 at its power station in Ontario last night.
The unit tripped offline after 11 p.m. during safety system tests and will be off for a “short duration.” Power won’t be restored today to Unit 4 or Unit 3, which has been idled for valve maintenance since Jan. 7.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?
pid=20601082&sid=aobVvruhylRM
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Nuclear Energy Prospects Dim, Experts Say
A combination of financing setbacks and waning of public demand is likely to put U.S. nuclear energy plans on hold, experts said Wednesday.
- Rising Costs
- Financing Pinch
- Safety Concerns
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/27668/
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OPG bilking taxpayers again for shortfall
According to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission's (CNSC) Commission Members Document CMD09-M54, OPG is reporting a significant shortfall in their funding liability to decommission their nuclear facilities like reactors and waste management sites.
After being caught several years ago by the provincial auditor of using those special funds for capital projects, those funds then were set aside in a special trust account that was proposed to grow through contributions and investment income to an estimated 26 Billion dollars to cover those liabilities.
OPG tried to speed up the growth of that fund through high-risk investments and got caught in the stock market crash in 2008. Even in 2009 the loss amounted to $785 million and is projected to lead to a shortfall of one and a quarter Billion dollars by next year.
The solution?
Go to the government and ask for a handout of taxpayers' money, a cool one and a half Billion as a guarantee that the money is going to be there when needed.
The existing Provincial Guarantee of $760 million was supposed to expire at the end of this year as ' it was projected that the value of the funds would exceed the decommissioning liability at that time and that the Provincial Guarantee would no longer be required.' (Page 1 of CMD09-M54).
Now then OPG needs almost twice the amount and taxpayers who almost all are ratepayers, too, will be bilked twice - that is unless OPG is luckier in their investment portfolio than before.
Want to make a bet??
S. (Ziggy) Kleinau,
Citizens For Renewable Energy (CFRE)
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Check out the Physicians for Social Responsibility nuke website:
Nuclear bailout http://www.psr.org/nuclear-bailout/
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If you haven’t seen it yet, you MUST watch this classic NFB documentary from 1990:
Uranium
This documentary looks at the hazards of uranium mining in Canada. Toxic and radioactive waste pose environmental threats while the traditional economic and spiritual lives of the Aboriginal people who occupy this land have been violated. Given our limited knowledge of the associated risks, this film questions the validity of continuing the mining operations.
http://www.nfb.ca/film/Uranium/
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The scary side of nuclear energy revealed
Scary disasters, frightening incidents and bad economics combine to form a frightening image of the nuclear energy industry.
http://green.blorge.com/2010/01/
the-scary-side-of-nuclear-energy-revealed/
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Wind Power in Ontario Generates a New Record in 2009 while Coal drops to lowest in 45 years
Wind generation in Ontario rose by more than 60 per cent over the previous year, up to 2.3 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2009. At the same time, output from Ontario’s coal-fired plants dropped to 9.8 TWh, the lowest output in 45 years.
http://www.ieso.ca/imoweb/media/
md_newsitem.asp?newsID=5019
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Obama unveils $2.3 billion for clean energy jobs
President Obama unveiled a program Friday that will provide $2.3 billion in tax credits for the clean energy manufacturing sector, a move aimed at creating 17,000 jobs.
The credit is focused on U.S. manufacturing of clean energy technologies such as solar and wind. Obama has said he wants to double the amount of renewable energy the United States uses over the next three years.
In addition to the federal funding, private firms are investing $5.4 billion, which will create 41,000 more jobs, the White House said.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/01/08/news/economy/
green_manufacturing_jobs/index.htm
Weatherization heats up in 2010
Five billion dollars was included in the economic stimulus legislation for the US Weatherization Assistance Program, the federal program started in 1976 to help low-income families. And more recently the president has proposed a “cash for caulkers” incentive program for homeowners. The Department of Energy estimates that for every dollar invested, weatherization returns $1.65 in energy-related benefits and $1.07 in other benefits like reducing pollution and unemployment.
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2009/12/21/
weatherization-heats-up-in-2010/
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Solar Power Is Now an Option for Even the Most Cash-Strapped Suburbanites
Residential solar leases offer a no-money-down, low-monthly plan that makes solar electricity cheaper than the stuff we get by wire -- and you don't have to buy the panels.
"Go solar for $0 down. Now you can afford to go solar without the high initial cost of installing a system. Instead of buying the equipment, you simply lease it."
http://www.alternet.org/environment/145205
http://www.thestar.com/Business/CleanBr ... cle/748956
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Conservation working in Ont. says WWF; others say it's due to loss of industry
Demand for electricity is dropping in Ontario because people are getting the message that conservation works - and not just because the bottom dropped out of the economy, the World Wildlife Fund says.
``Energy conservation is never going to be sexy,'' Keith Stewart, climate change co-ordinator for the WWF, said. ``But it's the thing that's going to save us the most money and that's best for the environment.''
Stewart pointed to a report released in late December by the Independent Electricity System Operator, which predicted Ontario will only need 23,000 MW of electrical generation in 2018, 8,000 MW less than a predicted 31,000 MW in 2004 - a significant drop that could mean the province doesn't need to build expensive nuclear power plants any time soon.
http://www.northernnews.ca/ArticleDispl ... ?e=2262307
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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
==========================
7. Yucca haunts admin's lagging efforts on nuclear waste study panel.
While the President's budget proposal is expected to sound a death knell for the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, the administration has so far failed to launch the commission it promised almost a year ago to decide on a disposal alternative. Greenwire
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/01/11/11
greenwire-yucca-haunts-admins-lagging-efforts-on-nuclear-24943.html
=========================
8. Costs of managing nuclear risk slows construction of new power stations.
Would a reassessment of the risks posed by radiation actually cut the costs and boost the nuclear production of low-carbon electricity which the government says is essential to tackle global warming? The short answer is doubtful. London Guardian, United Kingdom.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/11/
nuclear-radiation-risks
=============================
9. Against the Prorogation of Parliament
http://www.noprorogation-nonprorogation.ca/
As Canadian university professors dedicated to educating students about democratic institutions, we are deeply concerned by Prime Minister Stephen Harper´s decision to use his power to prorogue Parliament for a second year in a row in circumstances that allow him to evade democratic accountability. The Prime Minister is not only making cavalier use of the discretionary powers entrusted to him in our Parliamentary system, but in so doing he is undermining our system of democratic government.
It has been noted by many observers that the Prime Minister did nothing technically wrong by requesting that Parliament be prorogued and in fixing the date for a Throne Speech after the Vancouver Olympics.
The Prime Minister does have the sole responsibility to request prorogation from the Governor-General (although the custom is to request it in person, out of respect for the office of the Queen´s representative, and that was not done in this case). But it is highly unusual - and improper - to request it in circumstances like these.
What, precisely, did the Prime Minister do wrong in proroguing Parliament?
Our parliamentary and constitutional institutions are grounded not just in explicit rules but also in the spirit of those rules.Think of the idea of a "loyal opposition" so central to our practice of responsible government. The role of the opposition parties is to hold the government to a high standard of justification. The opposition parties can neglect their responsibilities by being servile and pliant. They can also misuse their powers for narrowly partisan purposes.
We expect them to avoid both these pitfalls. We expect them to be vigorous. And, while an element of partisanship is inevitable in democratic systems of government, we expect that it will be moderated
by public-spiritedness and a shared concern for the country´s common good. If it isn´t, then the opposition has failed to do its job.What is true of opposition parties is true in spades of the office of the Prime Minister, given the very great powers that are concentrated there in our system of responsible government. We expect that the Prime Minister will do his part to ensure that this system works, and
that MPs can fulfill the role we elect them to do. Part of what that means is to exercise self-restraint, and not use the powers that he possesses to shut down the mechanisms of accountability to Parliament
and the Canadian people.
The use of the ability to prorogue by the present Prime Minister clearly displays no such self-restraint. It was nakedly partisan when it was invoked to save his government from defeat in a confidence
motion in December 2008, and it is nakedly partisan now, when it is being used to short-circuit the work of the Parliamentary Committee looking into the Afghan detainees question and evade Parliament´s
request that the government turn over documents pertaining to that question.
The normal way in which a government secures a break in a parliamentary session is through adjournment. That permits the institutions of government to continue. Committees can do their work.
Legislation that is in the system can be picked up and advanced once the adjournment is over. In prorogation, all the business of Parliament ceases. Any laws that are in process, with the exception
of private members´ bills, have to be introduced again, at the very first step of the process.
The government´s post-election legislative agenda is nowhere near having been fulfilled. The Prime Minister cannot, therefore, credibly invoke the purpose that the power to prorogue properly serves, which
is to provide the government with space outside the cut and thrust of Parliamentary sessions in which to submit a new legislative agenda to Parliament.
Given the short-term, tactical, and partisan purposes served by prorogation, and given the absence of any plausible public purpose served by it, we conclude that the Prime Minister has violated the trust of Parliament and of the Canadian people. We emphasize moreover that the violation of this trust strikes at the heart of our system of government, which relies upon the use of discretionary powers for the public good rather than merely for partisan purposes. How do we make sure it serves the public good? By requiring our governments to face Parliament and justify their actions, in the face of vigorous
questioning.
The Prime Minister´s actions risk setting a precedent that weakens an important condition of democratic government - the ability of the people, acting through their elected representatives, to hold the government accountable for its actions.
Cosignataires - Cosigners:
http://www.noprorogation-nonprorogation.ca/
- - - - - - -
Find a Rally Near You! For Locations of rallies, scroll down on this page:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=260348091419
= = = = =
Fight Harper's Shutdown of Parliament!
MORE INFO: http://www.canadians.org/
Many Canadians are absolutely disgusted by Stephen Harper's shutdown of Parliament for the next two months.
They realize it's just another one of his tricks to evade criticism of his government's record and to try to 'change the channel' since his government's handling of the Afghan torture issue and its inaction on climate change have received a lot of negative press.
Stephen Harper thinks he can behave like a dictator and that Canadians will just roll over and take it. He thinks he can ignore our Parliamentary institutions and undermine our democracy.
Let's stop him before he does any more damage. Don't let Harper get away with shutting down Parliament.
Please visit this cool Facebook website organized to fight back against Harper's dictatorial action: Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=260348091419
It's a great site that calls on us to contact our Members of Parliament and ask them to go back to Parliament despite Harper's shutdown of it, and to fight for our democracy by showing Harper's shutdown for what it is: an intolerable attack on our democracy. If you're not a Facebook user, don't let that stop you: contact your MP and ask him/her to get back to work and fight Harper's shutdown of Parliament. Together, we can stop him from ruining our democracy!
MORE INFO: http://www.canadians.org/
========================================
10. Join Together Alberta
http://www.jointogetheralberta.org/
Last Updated: January 15, 2010
The Join Together Alberta campaign was conceived and launched jointly by a number of Alberta unions and union groups in cooperation with various community and advocacy groups.
All of the participating organizations share deep concerns about the impacts that deep cuts to public services will have on individuals, families and communities within Alberta.
They also share a belief that best way forward for Alberta is to embrace a high-road approach to our future — one that focuses on smart investments in people, communities and the economy — as opposed to a low-road approach —one that focuses on cutting spending and leaving individuals, families and communities to increasingly fend for themselves.
The organizations currently supporting the Join Together,Alberta campaign are listed below. As the campaign progresses, more groups and organization will be asked to add their names to the list of supporters. Individual Albertans are also part of this campaign, showing their support for the campaign and its goals.
==================
11. Earth Day Canada Environmental Scholarship Opportunity
Earth Day Canada has launched the 2010 Toyota Earth Day Scholarship Program. Twenty $5,000 scholarships will be awarded to students across Canada who have distinguished themselves through environmental community service, extracurricular and volunteer activities, and academic excellence. One exceptional student will also be presented with the Toyota Earth Day Scholarship National Award and a Panasonic notebook computer.
The deadline to apply is February 28, 2010. Application material and information is available online at http://www.earthday.ca/scholarship. For program information, please contact Jo Anne Tacorda at 416 599-1991 ext. 109.
Compilation:
1. The Standing Committee on Crown and Central Agencies Inquiry into Saskatchewan’s Growing Energy Needs – Dates, Times and Locations – start Jan. 18
2. AECL's fork in the road
3. NB Power sale in doubt, new deal expected next week
4. Letter: Dealing with nuclear waste – Shelstad - December 22, 2009
5. Nuclear scientist killed by bomb in Iran
6. No Nukes News - Jan. 16, 2010 - Clean Air Alliance
7. Yucca haunts admin's lagging efforts on nuclear waste study panel.
8. Costs of managing nuclear risk slows construction of new power stations.
9. Against the Prorogation of Parliament
10. Join Together Alberta
11. Earth Day Canada Environmental Scholarship Opportunity
===========================================
1. The Standing Committee on Crown and Central Agencies Inquiry into Saskatchewan’s Growing Energy Needs – Dates, Times and Locations
The Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan’s all party committee, the Standing Committee on Crown and Central Agencies will conduct additional public meetings in January, 2010. These meetings are in addition to the meetings that were in held in October 2009 in Regina, Saskatoon and La Ronge.
The Committee, which includes both the Government and Opposition Members, will be holding public hearings and requests that presentations and submissions address the following question: "How should the Government best meet the growing energy needs of the province, in a manner that is safe, reliable, and environmentally-sustainable, while meeting any current and expected Federal Environmental Standards and Regulations, and maintaining a focus on affordability for Saskatchewan residents"?
The Committee will conduct additional hearings in 2010 in the following communities:
The times are listed below however they are subject to change.
The best way to keep in touch is via our website www.legassembly.sk.ca/committees.
The agendas have been set but they are likely to change as we get closer to each location.
Lloydminster
January 18, 2010 Time: 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m (MST)
Prince Albert
January 19, 2010 Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m and 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Saskatoon
January 20, 2010 Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m and 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Saskatoon
January 21, 2010 Time: 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m
Yorkton
January 22, 2010 Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m and 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Estevan
January 25, 2010 Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m and 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Regina
January 27, 2010
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m and 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Regina
January 28, 2010
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m and 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Regina
January 29, 2010
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m and 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Stacey Ursulescu
Committee Researcher
Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly
sursulescu@legassembly.sk.ca
phone: (306) 787-7327
fax: (306) 798-9650
=======================
2. AECL's fork in the road
http://www.cbc.ca/politics/insidepoliti ... nts-submit
January 15, 2010 2:32 PM By Susan Lunn
It's a new year for the troubled crown agency, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited.
And its future will likely be determined in 2010.
The government is looking for investors for the Candu reactor division.
It's also deciding the future of the research side of AECL, which makes medical isotopes in Chalk River.
The national research universal reactor, or the NRU, has been shut down since last May. Staff have been working non-stop to clean the outer wall, and close the pin-sized holes where the water was leaking out.
According to an update this week, repairs are scheduled to be finished next month. But once again, the company is pushing back the start up date, now suggesting it may be mid-April before it is turned back on.
And now, AECL is facing another long simmering issue: the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant in New Brunswick.
Jack Keir is New Brunswick's energy minister. For months he's been frustrated that AECL's refurbishment of the plant at Point Lepreau is months behind schedule, which means the province has spent millions on replacement power. So his government is considering suing Ottawa.
"The issue, very clearly for me, is simple. And that is: New Brunswickers right now are paying for AECL to get up a learning curve so they can do a refurbishment in Romania, in Korea, in Argentina cheaper than they can do it a Point Lepreau. Why should New Brunswickers pay for that?," he asked.
MORE:
http://www.cbc.ca/politics/insidepolitics/2010/01/
aecls-fork-in-the-road.html#socialcomments-submit
========================
3. NB Power sale in doubt, new deal expected next week
From: <bpatterson@canadians.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 16, 2010 7:39 AM
The Globe and Mail reports that, "The New Brunswick government is in negotiations with Quebec to revise a controversial deal to sell its power utility to Hydro-Quebec in order to retain an ownership stake for New Brunswickers, sources say."
"Premier Shawn Graham has faced an outpouring of public and political outrage over a tentative deal signed last October, in which the giant Quebec power company would take over New Brunswick Power in exchange for taking on its debt and cutting or freezing power rates for customers in the Atlantic province."
"Progressive Conservative Leader David Alward said he believes Mr. Graham’s government is ready to walk away from the troublesome memorandum of understanding, but sources say the province is trying to renegotiate some of the most controversial aspects of it, including the total transfer of ownership."
"Mr. Alward said Mr. Graham is now seriously backpedalling on the agreement and is expected to table a new and dramatically different deal as early as next week."
THE COUNCIL OF CANADIANS Campaign highlights of our work on this issue include:
October 24, 2009
NEWS: Council of Canadians says NB Power should remain public: The Daily Gleaner reports that, “The Council of Canadians says New Brunswickers should object to any effort to privatize their utility and sell it off, in whole or in part.”
http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=2083
November 3, 2009
NEWS: Council of Canadians raises concerns about the export focus of NB Power sale:
The Halifax Chronicle-Herald article notes, “Andrea Harden Donahue, Council of Canadians energy campaigner in Ottawa, said the deal between NB Power and Hydro-Quebec is based on a business model to sell exports into the northeastern U.S., which is demanding more supplies of renewable energy.”
http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=2144
November 8, 2009
ACTION ALERT: Raise questions about the sale of NB Power:
The approach by the provincial government thus far for public engagement on such a monumental decision has been lacking. There remain a number of unanswered questions about the sale and insufficient plans for consulting with residents of New Brunswick. In particular, the Council of Canadians is concerned about the sale’s impact on the capacity to expand in-province local renewable energy sources, as well as the lack of clarity for a fair worker transition plan and the rights of future workers, and the precedent being set in affirming an export-oriented energy vision.
http://www.canadians.org/action/2009/08-Dec-09.html
December 8, 2009
OPEN LETTER
The Council of Canadians sends an open letter to the premier and party leaders "to express serious concerns with the plan to sell the assets of NB Power and certain subsidiaries of NB Power."
http://www.canadians.org/energy/documents/
Letter-NB-power-sale-1209.pdf.
We'll keep you posted as this develops.
Brent Patterson
The Council of Canadians
www.canadians.org/campaignblog
=============================
4. Letter: Dealing with nuclear waste – Shelstad - December 22, 2009
http://www.canada.com/news/
Dealing+with+nuclear+waste/2368993/story.html
By Tom Shelstad, The Leader-Post
Recently, columnist Murray Mandryk, in writing about a nuclear waste facility for this province, suggested that because we have been responsible for digging up uranium since 1953, we are hypocritical in not dealing with the end waste.
I should like to point out that, for decades, we were assured that our democracy was under threat and we needed nuclear weapons for self-defense. Mining uranium seemed the right thing to do at the time. Were we mislead or misinformed?
In the days of Tommy Douglas (and ever since), we were always assured by the nuclear industry not to worry. A safe, long-term method of waste storage would be established.
Six decades later, we are still waiting for that method to appear. Were we mislead or misinformed? Who then are the hypocrites?
If you look at any other industry, the end user is the chief beneficiary and is responsible for the end waste.
MORE: http://www.canada.com/news/
Dealing+with+nuclear+waste/2368993/story.html
========================
5. Nuclear scientist killed by bomb in Iran
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/
middle_east/article6984619.ece
January 12, 2010
A prominent Iranian nuclear scientist was killed by a bomb in Tehran this morning, triggering a furious controversy over who was responsible.
The regime blamed the death of Massoud Ali-Mohammadi on opposition “mercenaries” financed by Western and Israeli intelligence agencies seeking to derail Iran’s nuclear programme.
The state-controlled media called Dr Ali-Mohammadi a staunch supporter of the Islamic Republic, but opposition websites claimed he may have been killed because he was a convert to the so-called Green movement.
An extreme fringe group called the Monarchical Society claimed responsibility on its website, but there was no obvious reason why it would have targeted Dr Ali-Mohammadi and it was impossible to say whether the claim was authentic.
It is conceivable that the regime had Dr Ali-Mohammadi killed, to discredit the opposition, to prevent him leaking nuclear secrets or as a warning to other nuclear scientists.
Dr Ali-Mohammadi, 50, died when a remote-controlled bomb exploded outside his home in the smart Qeytarieh district of northern Tehran, according to Iran’s state media. Some reports said the bomb was attached to a motorbike, others that it was concealed in a rubbish bin.
Within hours the Iranian Foreign Ministry claimed that preliminary investigations had uncovered “signs of evil by the triangle of the Zionist regime, America and their mercenaries in Iran in this terrorist incident”.
MORE:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/
middle_east/article6984619.ece
= = = = =
US denies role in Iran murder
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/
middleeast/2010/01/20101121414688718.html
The US has dismissed an accusation by Iran that it was behind the murder of an Iranian nuclear physics professor, who was killed in a bomb blast.
Mark Toner, a US state department spokesman, on Tuesday called the allegation "absurd", hours after Massoud Mohammadi, a professor at Tehran University, was killed in the north of Tehran, the capital.
Iranian media reported that a bomb strapped to a motorcycle was triggered by remote control outside Mohammadi's home, killing him.
Iran's foreign ministry had said that US and Israeli "mercenaries" were behind the attack.
Earlier, the Iranian state-run Press TV reported: "The explosion took place near the professor's home in Qeytariyeh neighbourhood, in northern Tehran".
'Terrorist act'
It said Mohammadi was a "staunch supporter" of Iran's 1979 revolution and that he was "assassinated in a terrorist act by counter-revolutionary elements".The broadcaster said police and security officials have launched an investigation.
Iranian media reports described Mohammadi as a nuclear energy professor, citing Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Tehran prosecutor.
"Massoud Ali-Mohammadi was a professor in the nuclear field and there has so far been no arrests of those behind this incident," the Fars News Agency reported.
Al Jazeera's Alireza Ronaghi, reporting from Tehran, said Mohammadi might have had links to Iran's disputed nuclear programme.
"Authorities who decided to remain unnamed tell me that Mohammadi had some connections with Iran's nuclear programme and this [the murder] could be related," he said.
He said it was unclear who might have been behind the bombing.
"Anyone who is connected to Iran's nuclear programme could be an easy target for [foreign] intelligence services.
"Iran tries to protect its nuclear scientists very well but sometimes things get out of hand, and incidents like this happen."
'Zionist agents'
Baqer Moin, an Iranian author and journalist in London, said Iranian media have accused "Zionist agents" as being behind the blast.
MORE:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/
middleeast/2010/01/20101121414688718.html
===========================
6. No Nukes News - Jan. 16, 2010 - Clean Air Alliance
http://www.cleanairalliance.org/
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You CAN help
If you can spare a few hours to help blitz Iggy’s riding (Etobicoke-Lakeshore), let me know – we’re about 85% complete! This is what we’re distributing door-to-door: http://ontariosgreenfuture.ca/CostlyNukes_12_09.pdf
And if you haven’t already sent a form-email to Harper and the other federal leaders expressing your opposition to federal subsidies for nuclear power, please do so now – it’ll just take you 1 minute and you’ll feel great:
http://ontariosgreenfuture.ca/send_a_message.php
Thanks…
-angela@cleanairalliance.org
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N.B. premier threatens to sue Ottawa over Point Lepreau reactor
Graham wants feds to cover cost overruns of stalled refurbishment. "We want to continue dialoguing with the government of Canada, which is an extension of AECL. This is a government of Canada responsibility," Graham said.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/
story/2010/01/11/nb-graham-aecl-lepreau-225.html
New Brunswick move threatens sale of AECL
New Brunswick has dealt another blow to Ottawa's attempt to sell troubled Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., threatening to launch a messy lawsuit over delays to AECL's refurbishment of the Point Lepreau nuclear station unless Ottawa agrees to cover the province's related costs.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/
new-brunswick-move-threatens-aecl-sale/article1427658/
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Bruce Power Shuts Unit 4 at Nuclear-Power Reactor
Bruce Power LP, Canada’s only closely held nuclear-plant operator, shut 770-megawatt Unit 4 at its power station in Ontario last night.
The unit tripped offline after 11 p.m. during safety system tests and will be off for a “short duration.” Power won’t be restored today to Unit 4 or Unit 3, which has been idled for valve maintenance since Jan. 7.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?
pid=20601082&sid=aobVvruhylRM
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Nuclear Energy Prospects Dim, Experts Say
A combination of financing setbacks and waning of public demand is likely to put U.S. nuclear energy plans on hold, experts said Wednesday.
- Rising Costs
- Financing Pinch
- Safety Concerns
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/27668/
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OPG bilking taxpayers again for shortfall
According to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission's (CNSC) Commission Members Document CMD09-M54, OPG is reporting a significant shortfall in their funding liability to decommission their nuclear facilities like reactors and waste management sites.
After being caught several years ago by the provincial auditor of using those special funds for capital projects, those funds then were set aside in a special trust account that was proposed to grow through contributions and investment income to an estimated 26 Billion dollars to cover those liabilities.
OPG tried to speed up the growth of that fund through high-risk investments and got caught in the stock market crash in 2008. Even in 2009 the loss amounted to $785 million and is projected to lead to a shortfall of one and a quarter Billion dollars by next year.
The solution?
Go to the government and ask for a handout of taxpayers' money, a cool one and a half Billion as a guarantee that the money is going to be there when needed.
The existing Provincial Guarantee of $760 million was supposed to expire at the end of this year as ' it was projected that the value of the funds would exceed the decommissioning liability at that time and that the Provincial Guarantee would no longer be required.' (Page 1 of CMD09-M54).
Now then OPG needs almost twice the amount and taxpayers who almost all are ratepayers, too, will be bilked twice - that is unless OPG is luckier in their investment portfolio than before.
Want to make a bet??
S. (Ziggy) Kleinau,
Citizens For Renewable Energy (CFRE)
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Check out the Physicians for Social Responsibility nuke website:
Nuclear bailout http://www.psr.org/nuclear-bailout/
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If you haven’t seen it yet, you MUST watch this classic NFB documentary from 1990:
Uranium
This documentary looks at the hazards of uranium mining in Canada. Toxic and radioactive waste pose environmental threats while the traditional economic and spiritual lives of the Aboriginal people who occupy this land have been violated. Given our limited knowledge of the associated risks, this film questions the validity of continuing the mining operations.
http://www.nfb.ca/film/Uranium/
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The scary side of nuclear energy revealed
Scary disasters, frightening incidents and bad economics combine to form a frightening image of the nuclear energy industry.
http://green.blorge.com/2010/01/
the-scary-side-of-nuclear-energy-revealed/
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Wind Power in Ontario Generates a New Record in 2009 while Coal drops to lowest in 45 years
Wind generation in Ontario rose by more than 60 per cent over the previous year, up to 2.3 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2009. At the same time, output from Ontario’s coal-fired plants dropped to 9.8 TWh, the lowest output in 45 years.
http://www.ieso.ca/imoweb/media/
md_newsitem.asp?newsID=5019
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Obama unveils $2.3 billion for clean energy jobs
President Obama unveiled a program Friday that will provide $2.3 billion in tax credits for the clean energy manufacturing sector, a move aimed at creating 17,000 jobs.
The credit is focused on U.S. manufacturing of clean energy technologies such as solar and wind. Obama has said he wants to double the amount of renewable energy the United States uses over the next three years.
In addition to the federal funding, private firms are investing $5.4 billion, which will create 41,000 more jobs, the White House said.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/01/08/news/economy/
green_manufacturing_jobs/index.htm
Weatherization heats up in 2010
Five billion dollars was included in the economic stimulus legislation for the US Weatherization Assistance Program, the federal program started in 1976 to help low-income families. And more recently the president has proposed a “cash for caulkers” incentive program for homeowners. The Department of Energy estimates that for every dollar invested, weatherization returns $1.65 in energy-related benefits and $1.07 in other benefits like reducing pollution and unemployment.
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2009/12/21/
weatherization-heats-up-in-2010/
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Solar Power Is Now an Option for Even the Most Cash-Strapped Suburbanites
Residential solar leases offer a no-money-down, low-monthly plan that makes solar electricity cheaper than the stuff we get by wire -- and you don't have to buy the panels.
"Go solar for $0 down. Now you can afford to go solar without the high initial cost of installing a system. Instead of buying the equipment, you simply lease it."
http://www.alternet.org/environment/145205
http://www.thestar.com/Business/CleanBr ... cle/748956
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Conservation working in Ont. says WWF; others say it's due to loss of industry
Demand for electricity is dropping in Ontario because people are getting the message that conservation works - and not just because the bottom dropped out of the economy, the World Wildlife Fund says.
``Energy conservation is never going to be sexy,'' Keith Stewart, climate change co-ordinator for the WWF, said. ``But it's the thing that's going to save us the most money and that's best for the environment.''
Stewart pointed to a report released in late December by the Independent Electricity System Operator, which predicted Ontario will only need 23,000 MW of electrical generation in 2018, 8,000 MW less than a predicted 31,000 MW in 2004 - a significant drop that could mean the province doesn't need to build expensive nuclear power plants any time soon.
http://www.northernnews.ca/ArticleDispl ... ?e=2262307
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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
==========================
7. Yucca haunts admin's lagging efforts on nuclear waste study panel.
While the President's budget proposal is expected to sound a death knell for the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, the administration has so far failed to launch the commission it promised almost a year ago to decide on a disposal alternative. Greenwire
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/01/11/11
greenwire-yucca-haunts-admins-lagging-efforts-on-nuclear-24943.html
=========================
8. Costs of managing nuclear risk slows construction of new power stations.
Would a reassessment of the risks posed by radiation actually cut the costs and boost the nuclear production of low-carbon electricity which the government says is essential to tackle global warming? The short answer is doubtful. London Guardian, United Kingdom.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/11/
nuclear-radiation-risks
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9. Against the Prorogation of Parliament
http://www.noprorogation-nonprorogation.ca/
As Canadian university professors dedicated to educating students about democratic institutions, we are deeply concerned by Prime Minister Stephen Harper´s decision to use his power to prorogue Parliament for a second year in a row in circumstances that allow him to evade democratic accountability. The Prime Minister is not only making cavalier use of the discretionary powers entrusted to him in our Parliamentary system, but in so doing he is undermining our system of democratic government.
It has been noted by many observers that the Prime Minister did nothing technically wrong by requesting that Parliament be prorogued and in fixing the date for a Throne Speech after the Vancouver Olympics.
The Prime Minister does have the sole responsibility to request prorogation from the Governor-General (although the custom is to request it in person, out of respect for the office of the Queen´s representative, and that was not done in this case). But it is highly unusual - and improper - to request it in circumstances like these.
What, precisely, did the Prime Minister do wrong in proroguing Parliament?
Our parliamentary and constitutional institutions are grounded not just in explicit rules but also in the spirit of those rules.Think of the idea of a "loyal opposition" so central to our practice of responsible government. The role of the opposition parties is to hold the government to a high standard of justification. The opposition parties can neglect their responsibilities by being servile and pliant. They can also misuse their powers for narrowly partisan purposes.
We expect them to avoid both these pitfalls. We expect them to be vigorous. And, while an element of partisanship is inevitable in democratic systems of government, we expect that it will be moderated
by public-spiritedness and a shared concern for the country´s common good. If it isn´t, then the opposition has failed to do its job.What is true of opposition parties is true in spades of the office of the Prime Minister, given the very great powers that are concentrated there in our system of responsible government. We expect that the Prime Minister will do his part to ensure that this system works, and
that MPs can fulfill the role we elect them to do. Part of what that means is to exercise self-restraint, and not use the powers that he possesses to shut down the mechanisms of accountability to Parliament
and the Canadian people.
The use of the ability to prorogue by the present Prime Minister clearly displays no such self-restraint. It was nakedly partisan when it was invoked to save his government from defeat in a confidence
motion in December 2008, and it is nakedly partisan now, when it is being used to short-circuit the work of the Parliamentary Committee looking into the Afghan detainees question and evade Parliament´s
request that the government turn over documents pertaining to that question.
The normal way in which a government secures a break in a parliamentary session is through adjournment. That permits the institutions of government to continue. Committees can do their work.
Legislation that is in the system can be picked up and advanced once the adjournment is over. In prorogation, all the business of Parliament ceases. Any laws that are in process, with the exception
of private members´ bills, have to be introduced again, at the very first step of the process.
The government´s post-election legislative agenda is nowhere near having been fulfilled. The Prime Minister cannot, therefore, credibly invoke the purpose that the power to prorogue properly serves, which
is to provide the government with space outside the cut and thrust of Parliamentary sessions in which to submit a new legislative agenda to Parliament.
Given the short-term, tactical, and partisan purposes served by prorogation, and given the absence of any plausible public purpose served by it, we conclude that the Prime Minister has violated the trust of Parliament and of the Canadian people. We emphasize moreover that the violation of this trust strikes at the heart of our system of government, which relies upon the use of discretionary powers for the public good rather than merely for partisan purposes. How do we make sure it serves the public good? By requiring our governments to face Parliament and justify their actions, in the face of vigorous
questioning.
The Prime Minister´s actions risk setting a precedent that weakens an important condition of democratic government - the ability of the people, acting through their elected representatives, to hold the government accountable for its actions.
Cosignataires - Cosigners:
http://www.noprorogation-nonprorogation.ca/
- - - - - - -
Find a Rally Near You! For Locations of rallies, scroll down on this page:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=260348091419
= = = = =
Fight Harper's Shutdown of Parliament!
MORE INFO: http://www.canadians.org/
Many Canadians are absolutely disgusted by Stephen Harper's shutdown of Parliament for the next two months.
They realize it's just another one of his tricks to evade criticism of his government's record and to try to 'change the channel' since his government's handling of the Afghan torture issue and its inaction on climate change have received a lot of negative press.
Stephen Harper thinks he can behave like a dictator and that Canadians will just roll over and take it. He thinks he can ignore our Parliamentary institutions and undermine our democracy.
Let's stop him before he does any more damage. Don't let Harper get away with shutting down Parliament.
Please visit this cool Facebook website organized to fight back against Harper's dictatorial action: Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=260348091419
It's a great site that calls on us to contact our Members of Parliament and ask them to go back to Parliament despite Harper's shutdown of it, and to fight for our democracy by showing Harper's shutdown for what it is: an intolerable attack on our democracy. If you're not a Facebook user, don't let that stop you: contact your MP and ask him/her to get back to work and fight Harper's shutdown of Parliament. Together, we can stop him from ruining our democracy!
MORE INFO: http://www.canadians.org/
========================================
10. Join Together Alberta
http://www.jointogetheralberta.org/
Last Updated: January 15, 2010
The Join Together Alberta campaign was conceived and launched jointly by a number of Alberta unions and union groups in cooperation with various community and advocacy groups.
All of the participating organizations share deep concerns about the impacts that deep cuts to public services will have on individuals, families and communities within Alberta.
They also share a belief that best way forward for Alberta is to embrace a high-road approach to our future — one that focuses on smart investments in people, communities and the economy — as opposed to a low-road approach —one that focuses on cutting spending and leaving individuals, families and communities to increasingly fend for themselves.
The organizations currently supporting the Join Together,Alberta campaign are listed below. As the campaign progresses, more groups and organization will be asked to add their names to the list of supporters. Individual Albertans are also part of this campaign, showing their support for the campaign and its goals.
==================
11. Earth Day Canada Environmental Scholarship Opportunity
Earth Day Canada has launched the 2010 Toyota Earth Day Scholarship Program. Twenty $5,000 scholarships will be awarded to students across Canada who have distinguished themselves through environmental community service, extracurricular and volunteer activities, and academic excellence. One exceptional student will also be presented with the Toyota Earth Day Scholarship National Award and a Panasonic notebook computer.
The deadline to apply is February 28, 2010. Application material and information is available online at http://www.earthday.ca/scholarship. For program information, please contact Jo Anne Tacorda at 416 599-1991 ext. 109.
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9887
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
NUKE NEWS: Jan. 19.10
by Oscar » Wed Apr 21, 2010 8:15 am
NUKE NEWS: Jan. 19.10
Compilation:
1. Council supporter P.K. Page passes away
2. Cancer Spreading In Iraq due to Depleted Uranium Weapons
3. The Curse of Gorleben - Germany's Endless Search for a Nuclear Waste Dump
4. Nuclear waste plan for East Lothian
5. Nuclear waste proposals revealed
6. WHAT CHALLENGES FACE RENEWABLE ENERGY? - Jim Harding
7. Hunters lock down Texas nuke plant
========================
1. Council supporter P.K. Page passes away
From: <bpatterson@canadians.org>
Sent: Friday, January 15, 2010 7:06 AM
Poet, novelist and painter P.K. Page died yesterday at the age of 93 at her home in Victoria.
Page, a member of the Council of Canadians, once described us as “the one organization that fights for this country.”
The Spring 2006 issue of Canadian Perspectives reported that, "P.K. Page might be one of the only writers in Canada to win a major literary award – and promptly ask to have it revoked."
"The Governor General Award-winning poet (had been) presented with the Terasen Lifetime Achievement Award for an Outstanding Literary Career in British Columbia. But when Page heard that Terasen had been sold to Texas-based Kinder Morgan, Inc., she asked to have her name removed from a plaque on the Writer’s Walk at the Vancouver Public Library."
"Prior to the sale of Terasen, Page had written to the government urging them not to sell the Canadian-owned utility. 'I said that if the deal went through I would ask that my name be removed from the plaque,' said Page. 'Well, the deal went through.' Page then donated the prize money to the Council of Canadians (which had campaigned against the sale of Terasen)."
It has been reported that Page would want to be remembered for her poem 'Planet Earth'. In part, that poem reads:
"It has to be loved the way a laundress loves her linens,
the way she moves her hands caressing the fine muslins knowing their warp and woof,
like a lover coaxing, or a mother praising.
The rivers and little streams with their hidden cresses and pale-coloured pebbles and their fool's gold must be washed and starched or shined into brightness,
the sheets of lake water smoothed with the hand and the foam of the oceans pressed into neatness."
You can read the full poem at http://nexus.typepad.com/nexus/2003/09/ ... th_by.html.
To read more about the life of Patricia Kathleen Page, go to http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2010 ... ge-pk.html.
The Canadian Perspectives article can be read at http://www.canadians.org/publications/CP/2006/
spring/CP_Spring06_16.pdf.
Brent Patterson
The Council of Canadians
www.canadians.org/campaignblog
===========================
2. Cancer Spreading In Iraq due to Depleted Uranium Weapons
http://dailycensored.com/2010/01/10/
cancer-spreading-in-iraq-due-to-depleted-uranium-weapons/
The Daily Censored January 11, 2010
Cancer is spreading like wildfire in Iraq. Thousands of infants are being born with deformities. Doctors say they are struggling to cope with the rise of cancer and birth defects, especially in cities subjected to heavy American and British bombardment.
Dr Ahmad Hardan, who served as a special scientific adviser to the World Health Organization, the United Nations and the Iraqi Ministry of Health, says that there is scientific evidence linking depleted uranium to cancer and birth defects. He told Al Jazeera English [3], "Children with congenital anomalies are subjected to karyotyping and chromosomal studies with complete genetic back-grounding and clinical assessment. Family and obstetrical histories are taken too. These international studies have produced ample evidence to show that depleted uranium has disastrous consequences."
Iraqi doctors say cancer cases increased after both the 1991 war and the 2003 invasion. Abdulhaq Al-Ani, author of "Uranium in Iraq" told Al Jazeera English [4] that the incubation period for depleted uranium is five to six years, which is consistent with the spike in cancer rates in 1996-1997 and 2008-2009.
Not everyone is ready to draw a direct correlation between allied bombing of these areas and tumors, and the Pentagon has been skeptical of any attempts to link the two. But Iraqi doctors and some Western scholars say the massive quantities of depleted uranium used in U.S. and British bombs, and the sharp increase in cancer rates are not unconnected.
MORE:
http://dailycensored.com/2010/01/10/
cancer-spreading-in-iraq-due-to-depleted-uranium-weapons/
========================
3. The Curse of Gorleben - Germany's Endless Search for a Nuclear Waste Dump
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/
0,1518,672147,00.html
By SPIEGEL Staff January 15, 2010
Germany has been looking for a permanent storage site for its nuclear waste for over 30 years. The history of the Gorleben salt dome, a potential nuclear repository, is one full of deception and political maneuvering. And if opponents to the plans have their way, the search might even have to start again from scratch.
The ride down into the Gorleben salt dome takes less than two minutes. When the elevator stops at 840 meters (2,755 feet) below ground, the folding gates open onto a scene that looks like it could be in a modern art museum.
A sculpture made of old soft drink cans and other scrap metal welcomes visitors as they step out of the elevator. The artwork is meant to symbolize society's unresolved waste disposal problem.
"Trash People" is the name of the work, a creation by the Cologne-based conceptual artist HA Schult. Of the army of similar scrap metal sculptures he installed a few years ago in the site, which is earmarked as a possible permanent repository for radioactive waste, one remains today as a warning, next to an information panel describing Schult's "happening," called "Quiet
Days in Gorleben."
The force behind the subversive artworks was Green Party politician Jürgen Trittin, who was German environment minister under former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's coalition government of the center-left Social Democrats and Green Party. But the art is not the only legacy of the SPD-Green Party era.
What is more significant is the research moratorium that the former administration imposed on Gorleben in 2000, putting a stop to research into whether the salt dome was suitable for use as a storage site for nuclear waste.
The drilling machines have been idle since then, and life only returns to the site, which is located in the Wendland region of the northern state of Lower Saxony, when groups of visitors arrive. They are driven through the seemingly endless tunnels in a Mercedes SUV. Anyone who is so inclined can lick the grayish-white salt from the walls. It is apparently of the highest quality.
MORE: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/
0,1518,672147,00.html
Part 2: Politicians Vs. Geologists
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/
0,1518,672147-2,00.html
Part 3: Sounding the Alarm
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/
0,1518,672147-3,00.html
Part 4: Bowing to Pressure from the South
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/
0,1518,672147-4,00.html
~ ~ ~ ~
RELATED SPIEGEL ONLINE LINKS
Radioactive Waste: German Company Sent Nuclear Material for Open-Air Storage in Siberia (10/19/2009)
Nuclear Renaissance Stalls: Problems Plague Launch of 'Safer' Next-Generation Reactors (10/15/2009)
Experts Sound Warning: German Nuclear Comeback Spells Bad News for Wind Power (10/13/2009)
Atomic Talks: Merkel's New Coalition Agrees to Extend Nuclear Reactor Lifetimes (10/09/2009)
The World From Berlin: German Nuclear Scandal is 'Hair-Raising and Unforgivable' (09/10/2009)
SPIEGEL 360: Our Full Coverage of Energy and Natural Resources
=======================
4. Nuclear waste plan for East Lothian
http://news.scotsman.com/politics/
Nuclear-waste-plan-forEast.5988464.jp
16 January 2010
NUCLEAR waste could be stored permanently at sites across Scotland, including East Lothian, if proposals by the Scottish Government are approved.
A new consultation document on the future of radioactive waste management sets out the case for "near surface, near site" storage.
The government said no specific locations were being identified at this stage but Scotland's current nuclear sites are at located at Torness, Rosyth, Hunterston, Chapelcross and Dounreay.
MORE: http://news.scotsman.com/politics/
Nuclear-waste-plan-forEast.5988464.jp
========================
5. Nuclear waste proposals revealed
http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Articl ... z0cyX4Bons
Dounreay could become Scottish dumping ground
By Tim Pauling Published: 16/01/2010
Dounreay looks set to become a nuclear waste dump under plans revealed by the Scottish Government.
A consultation to find ways to manage the country’s radioactive waste was launched yesterday.
It aims to ensure the “treatment, storage and disposal” of the waste is carried out in a way that offers maximum protection to the people and the environment.
While the UK Government favours one deep burial site for all high-level and intermediate-level radioactive waste, with Sellafield the most likely location, Scottish ministers favour surface storage or shallow burial.
No sites have been earmarked yet, but the SNP policy would mean materials staying at one of the two decommissioned nuclear plants at Dounreay in Caithness, and Chapelcross in Dumfries and Galloway, and the two working power plants at Torness, East Lothian, and Hunterston, North Ayrshire.
Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said: “The consultation supports our commitment to near-surface, near-site facilities, allowing waste to be monitorable and retrievable with minimal need for transportation over long distances.
“Having an out-of-sight, out-of-mind policy is losing support.”
MORE:
http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Articl ... z0cyX4Bons
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6. WHAT CHALLENGES FACE RENEWABLE ENERGY? - Jim Harding
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1532#1532
By Jim Harding
Saskatchewan Sustainability Published in R-Town News Jan. 15.10
The feature in the November 2009 Scientific American shows plenty of renewable energy for future uses. But what are the challenges to conversion and are they manageable? Renewables must be scrutinized with the same criteria used for other energy options. While renewable “fuels” - from wind, sun and water - are inexhaustible and free, what about the availability of other required materials? And how do renewables stack up to non-renewables insofar as reliability? What about the comparative costs? Finally, how will the economy and government policies impact conversion?
REACHING PEAK PRODUCTION
A point is inevitable when nature’s non-renewable resources and cost-impediments create “peak production”, after which there is steadily declining supplies. An argument rages as to whether we’ve already passed “peak oil” or “peak gas”, and, of course innovation in the technology of extraction plays a role; e.g. natural gas is now being accessed in shale by drilling horizontally. Today’s shortfall of uranium supply, shown by the failure to get the high-grade Cigar Lake mine into production and dependency on weapons-grade uranium to meet demand, even without a nuclear renaissance, suggests we’ve passed “peak uranium”. While there are centuries of coal supply, this is the most carbon-intensive non-renewable and the search for “clean coal” dramatically increases costs. Compared to low-cost, low-carbon renewables, spending billions on carbon-storage for high-carbon fuels looks more and more like chasing our tails.
But what about other materials required for renewables? The steel and cement used in wind power is abundant, and in contrast to a nuclear power plant, all of this is recoverable to recycle, which reduces future energy demand. Lower cost neodymium used for wind turbine gearboxes is concentrated in China, but this metal is not in short supply, and research on gearless turbines is quickly advancing. Some photovoltaic (PV) cells presently rely on materials such as tellurium and indium, which have limited supply, but these and alternative materials can be recycled, which could become the most reliable future supply. The lithium used in batteries and platinum used in fuel cells are rare-earth metals, with more than one-half of the lithium in Latin America. Rising prices and shortages are possible, but again, recycling could alter this, showing how an integrated approach to convert to sustainability is required. The throw-away economy, which builds in planned obsolescence for short-term profit, has probably run its course. Regulations to ensure fuel cells and batteries are built for recycling must be part of the sustainable policy package. Compared to unsolved and some think unsolvable carbon or nuclear waste storage problems, these challenges of renewables seem like a cake-walk.
RELIABILITY OF RENEWABLES
Intermittent supply is often mentioned as the Achilles Heel of renewables. It may surprise some readers that the downtime of coal plants runs over 12% per year compared to only 5% for wind turbines at sea and less than 2% for those on land. PV systems are also down less than 2%. And when a coal or nuclear plant goes down a huge source (e.g. 1,000 MW) of energy is removed from the grid. Maintenance of renewable technology makes the public less vulnerable because it involves taking a small amount of overcall capacity out of service at a time (e.g. a 5 MW wind turbine).The shift to renewables requires a change in mind-set; a “smart grid” requires organizing energy production around various sources. Geothermal and tidal energy can provide base power and hydro can provide back-up for wind, which produces more at night, and help meet peak loads. Solar, which produces more in the day, is a great complement to wind. And so on.
Demand-side management (DSM) is already being used by utilities to better match demand with supply and lower peak loads and capital costs. This thinking has to be expanded so that diverse energy sources are coordinated. Wind farms interconnected across wind zones can provide a reliable “base” supply. More available wind at night can be used to “refuel” vehicles to be run off electricity the next day, which shows how renewable energy can be stored cost-effectively.
COMPARATIVE COSTING
Using annualized costs for capital, land, operations, maintenance, storage and transmission, wind, hydro and geothermal are already less than 7 cents kWh, which is cheaper than conventional power. By 2020 wind, wave and hydro are expected to be down to 4 cents kWh. Wind is already equal to or less than new coal and gas plants. Concentrated (thermal) solar and PV are still more costly but are expected to be competitive (8-10 cents kWh) within a decade. Mass produced electric cars will be able to provide transportation that is competitive with gasoline, the price of which will continue to rise after “peak oil”. The hybrid vehicle is the coming transition.
But pricing models are still distorted, and can be manipulated to support powerful energy companies and government policies that support them. First, they externalize many actual costs to today’s taxpayers, and to future generations who won’t benefit at all. If the costs of climate change are added into fossil fuel costs, the industries would quickly collapse. The same is true for the nuclear industry if all future waste costs, including for uranium tailings, are included. When all environmental health costs, including the impact on the quantity and quality of water, are included, renewables consistently come out on top. Second, direct and hidden subsidies must be fully accounted for. Without these we would never have gotten into such over-dependency on unsustainable energy. The tarsands and nuclear power, but not lower-cost wind, got subsidies in Harper’s stimulus package. Meanwhile many governments, including our own, still refuse to establish a feed-in tariff to pay a fair price to farmers, small businesses, First Nations, towns and individuals willing to produce electricity for the public grid.
This shows how a more comprehensive and realistic economics comes with the shift to renewables.
Jim Harding is a retired professor of environmental and justice studies.
His website: http://jimharding.brinkster.netwebsite
======================
7. Hunters lock down Texas nuke plant
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/
Hunters+lock+down+Texas+nuke+plant/2449320/story.html
<>Agence France-PresseJanuary 16, 2010 8:00 AM
A pair of fowl hunters sparked a brief lockdown of a Texas nuclear weapons plant on Friday.
The sheriff's office got a call from an employee of B&W Pantex who saw two men getting out a vehicle dressed in camouflage and carrying guns near the plant.
The men were soon found in a nearby field setting up goose decoys and a blind.
MORE:
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/
Hunters+lock+down+Texas+nuke+plant/2449320/story.html
Compilation:
1. Council supporter P.K. Page passes away
2. Cancer Spreading In Iraq due to Depleted Uranium Weapons
3. The Curse of Gorleben - Germany's Endless Search for a Nuclear Waste Dump
4. Nuclear waste plan for East Lothian
5. Nuclear waste proposals revealed
6. WHAT CHALLENGES FACE RENEWABLE ENERGY? - Jim Harding
7. Hunters lock down Texas nuke plant
========================
1. Council supporter P.K. Page passes away
From: <bpatterson@canadians.org>
Sent: Friday, January 15, 2010 7:06 AM
Poet, novelist and painter P.K. Page died yesterday at the age of 93 at her home in Victoria.
Page, a member of the Council of Canadians, once described us as “the one organization that fights for this country.”
The Spring 2006 issue of Canadian Perspectives reported that, "P.K. Page might be one of the only writers in Canada to win a major literary award – and promptly ask to have it revoked."
"The Governor General Award-winning poet (had been) presented with the Terasen Lifetime Achievement Award for an Outstanding Literary Career in British Columbia. But when Page heard that Terasen had been sold to Texas-based Kinder Morgan, Inc., she asked to have her name removed from a plaque on the Writer’s Walk at the Vancouver Public Library."
"Prior to the sale of Terasen, Page had written to the government urging them not to sell the Canadian-owned utility. 'I said that if the deal went through I would ask that my name be removed from the plaque,' said Page. 'Well, the deal went through.' Page then donated the prize money to the Council of Canadians (which had campaigned against the sale of Terasen)."
It has been reported that Page would want to be remembered for her poem 'Planet Earth'. In part, that poem reads:
"It has to be loved the way a laundress loves her linens,
the way she moves her hands caressing the fine muslins knowing their warp and woof,
like a lover coaxing, or a mother praising.
The rivers and little streams with their hidden cresses and pale-coloured pebbles and their fool's gold must be washed and starched or shined into brightness,
the sheets of lake water smoothed with the hand and the foam of the oceans pressed into neatness."
You can read the full poem at http://nexus.typepad.com/nexus/2003/09/ ... th_by.html.
To read more about the life of Patricia Kathleen Page, go to http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2010 ... ge-pk.html.
The Canadian Perspectives article can be read at http://www.canadians.org/publications/CP/2006/
spring/CP_Spring06_16.pdf.
Brent Patterson
The Council of Canadians
www.canadians.org/campaignblog
===========================
2. Cancer Spreading In Iraq due to Depleted Uranium Weapons
http://dailycensored.com/2010/01/10/
cancer-spreading-in-iraq-due-to-depleted-uranium-weapons/
The Daily Censored January 11, 2010
Cancer is spreading like wildfire in Iraq. Thousands of infants are being born with deformities. Doctors say they are struggling to cope with the rise of cancer and birth defects, especially in cities subjected to heavy American and British bombardment.
Dr Ahmad Hardan, who served as a special scientific adviser to the World Health Organization, the United Nations and the Iraqi Ministry of Health, says that there is scientific evidence linking depleted uranium to cancer and birth defects. He told Al Jazeera English [3], "Children with congenital anomalies are subjected to karyotyping and chromosomal studies with complete genetic back-grounding and clinical assessment. Family and obstetrical histories are taken too. These international studies have produced ample evidence to show that depleted uranium has disastrous consequences."
Iraqi doctors say cancer cases increased after both the 1991 war and the 2003 invasion. Abdulhaq Al-Ani, author of "Uranium in Iraq" told Al Jazeera English [4] that the incubation period for depleted uranium is five to six years, which is consistent with the spike in cancer rates in 1996-1997 and 2008-2009.
Not everyone is ready to draw a direct correlation between allied bombing of these areas and tumors, and the Pentagon has been skeptical of any attempts to link the two. But Iraqi doctors and some Western scholars say the massive quantities of depleted uranium used in U.S. and British bombs, and the sharp increase in cancer rates are not unconnected.
MORE:
http://dailycensored.com/2010/01/10/
cancer-spreading-in-iraq-due-to-depleted-uranium-weapons/
========================
3. The Curse of Gorleben - Germany's Endless Search for a Nuclear Waste Dump
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/
0,1518,672147,00.html
By SPIEGEL Staff January 15, 2010
Germany has been looking for a permanent storage site for its nuclear waste for over 30 years. The history of the Gorleben salt dome, a potential nuclear repository, is one full of deception and political maneuvering. And if opponents to the plans have their way, the search might even have to start again from scratch.
The ride down into the Gorleben salt dome takes less than two minutes. When the elevator stops at 840 meters (2,755 feet) below ground, the folding gates open onto a scene that looks like it could be in a modern art museum.
A sculpture made of old soft drink cans and other scrap metal welcomes visitors as they step out of the elevator. The artwork is meant to symbolize society's unresolved waste disposal problem.
"Trash People" is the name of the work, a creation by the Cologne-based conceptual artist HA Schult. Of the army of similar scrap metal sculptures he installed a few years ago in the site, which is earmarked as a possible permanent repository for radioactive waste, one remains today as a warning, next to an information panel describing Schult's "happening," called "Quiet
Days in Gorleben."
The force behind the subversive artworks was Green Party politician Jürgen Trittin, who was German environment minister under former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's coalition government of the center-left Social Democrats and Green Party. But the art is not the only legacy of the SPD-Green Party era.
What is more significant is the research moratorium that the former administration imposed on Gorleben in 2000, putting a stop to research into whether the salt dome was suitable for use as a storage site for nuclear waste.
The drilling machines have been idle since then, and life only returns to the site, which is located in the Wendland region of the northern state of Lower Saxony, when groups of visitors arrive. They are driven through the seemingly endless tunnels in a Mercedes SUV. Anyone who is so inclined can lick the grayish-white salt from the walls. It is apparently of the highest quality.
MORE: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/
0,1518,672147,00.html
Part 2: Politicians Vs. Geologists
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/
0,1518,672147-2,00.html
Part 3: Sounding the Alarm
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/
0,1518,672147-3,00.html
Part 4: Bowing to Pressure from the South
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/
0,1518,672147-4,00.html
~ ~ ~ ~
RELATED SPIEGEL ONLINE LINKS
Radioactive Waste: German Company Sent Nuclear Material for Open-Air Storage in Siberia (10/19/2009)
Nuclear Renaissance Stalls: Problems Plague Launch of 'Safer' Next-Generation Reactors (10/15/2009)
Experts Sound Warning: German Nuclear Comeback Spells Bad News for Wind Power (10/13/2009)
Atomic Talks: Merkel's New Coalition Agrees to Extend Nuclear Reactor Lifetimes (10/09/2009)
The World From Berlin: German Nuclear Scandal is 'Hair-Raising and Unforgivable' (09/10/2009)
SPIEGEL 360: Our Full Coverage of Energy and Natural Resources
=======================
4. Nuclear waste plan for East Lothian
http://news.scotsman.com/politics/
Nuclear-waste-plan-forEast.5988464.jp
16 January 2010
NUCLEAR waste could be stored permanently at sites across Scotland, including East Lothian, if proposals by the Scottish Government are approved.
A new consultation document on the future of radioactive waste management sets out the case for "near surface, near site" storage.
The government said no specific locations were being identified at this stage but Scotland's current nuclear sites are at located at Torness, Rosyth, Hunterston, Chapelcross and Dounreay.
MORE: http://news.scotsman.com/politics/
Nuclear-waste-plan-forEast.5988464.jp
========================
5. Nuclear waste proposals revealed
http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Articl ... z0cyX4Bons
Dounreay could become Scottish dumping ground
By Tim Pauling Published: 16/01/2010
Dounreay looks set to become a nuclear waste dump under plans revealed by the Scottish Government.
A consultation to find ways to manage the country’s radioactive waste was launched yesterday.
It aims to ensure the “treatment, storage and disposal” of the waste is carried out in a way that offers maximum protection to the people and the environment.
While the UK Government favours one deep burial site for all high-level and intermediate-level radioactive waste, with Sellafield the most likely location, Scottish ministers favour surface storage or shallow burial.
No sites have been earmarked yet, but the SNP policy would mean materials staying at one of the two decommissioned nuclear plants at Dounreay in Caithness, and Chapelcross in Dumfries and Galloway, and the two working power plants at Torness, East Lothian, and Hunterston, North Ayrshire.
Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said: “The consultation supports our commitment to near-surface, near-site facilities, allowing waste to be monitorable and retrievable with minimal need for transportation over long distances.
“Having an out-of-sight, out-of-mind policy is losing support.”
MORE:
http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Articl ... z0cyX4Bons
=============================
6. WHAT CHALLENGES FACE RENEWABLE ENERGY? - Jim Harding
http://forum.stopthehogs.com/phpBB2/vie ... =1532#1532
By Jim Harding
Saskatchewan Sustainability Published in R-Town News Jan. 15.10
The feature in the November 2009 Scientific American shows plenty of renewable energy for future uses. But what are the challenges to conversion and are they manageable? Renewables must be scrutinized with the same criteria used for other energy options. While renewable “fuels” - from wind, sun and water - are inexhaustible and free, what about the availability of other required materials? And how do renewables stack up to non-renewables insofar as reliability? What about the comparative costs? Finally, how will the economy and government policies impact conversion?
REACHING PEAK PRODUCTION
A point is inevitable when nature’s non-renewable resources and cost-impediments create “peak production”, after which there is steadily declining supplies. An argument rages as to whether we’ve already passed “peak oil” or “peak gas”, and, of course innovation in the technology of extraction plays a role; e.g. natural gas is now being accessed in shale by drilling horizontally. Today’s shortfall of uranium supply, shown by the failure to get the high-grade Cigar Lake mine into production and dependency on weapons-grade uranium to meet demand, even without a nuclear renaissance, suggests we’ve passed “peak uranium”. While there are centuries of coal supply, this is the most carbon-intensive non-renewable and the search for “clean coal” dramatically increases costs. Compared to low-cost, low-carbon renewables, spending billions on carbon-storage for high-carbon fuels looks more and more like chasing our tails.
But what about other materials required for renewables? The steel and cement used in wind power is abundant, and in contrast to a nuclear power plant, all of this is recoverable to recycle, which reduces future energy demand. Lower cost neodymium used for wind turbine gearboxes is concentrated in China, but this metal is not in short supply, and research on gearless turbines is quickly advancing. Some photovoltaic (PV) cells presently rely on materials such as tellurium and indium, which have limited supply, but these and alternative materials can be recycled, which could become the most reliable future supply. The lithium used in batteries and platinum used in fuel cells are rare-earth metals, with more than one-half of the lithium in Latin America. Rising prices and shortages are possible, but again, recycling could alter this, showing how an integrated approach to convert to sustainability is required. The throw-away economy, which builds in planned obsolescence for short-term profit, has probably run its course. Regulations to ensure fuel cells and batteries are built for recycling must be part of the sustainable policy package. Compared to unsolved and some think unsolvable carbon or nuclear waste storage problems, these challenges of renewables seem like a cake-walk.
RELIABILITY OF RENEWABLES
Intermittent supply is often mentioned as the Achilles Heel of renewables. It may surprise some readers that the downtime of coal plants runs over 12% per year compared to only 5% for wind turbines at sea and less than 2% for those on land. PV systems are also down less than 2%. And when a coal or nuclear plant goes down a huge source (e.g. 1,000 MW) of energy is removed from the grid. Maintenance of renewable technology makes the public less vulnerable because it involves taking a small amount of overcall capacity out of service at a time (e.g. a 5 MW wind turbine).The shift to renewables requires a change in mind-set; a “smart grid” requires organizing energy production around various sources. Geothermal and tidal energy can provide base power and hydro can provide back-up for wind, which produces more at night, and help meet peak loads. Solar, which produces more in the day, is a great complement to wind. And so on.
Demand-side management (DSM) is already being used by utilities to better match demand with supply and lower peak loads and capital costs. This thinking has to be expanded so that diverse energy sources are coordinated. Wind farms interconnected across wind zones can provide a reliable “base” supply. More available wind at night can be used to “refuel” vehicles to be run off electricity the next day, which shows how renewable energy can be stored cost-effectively.
COMPARATIVE COSTING
Using annualized costs for capital, land, operations, maintenance, storage and transmission, wind, hydro and geothermal are already less than 7 cents kWh, which is cheaper than conventional power. By 2020 wind, wave and hydro are expected to be down to 4 cents kWh. Wind is already equal to or less than new coal and gas plants. Concentrated (thermal) solar and PV are still more costly but are expected to be competitive (8-10 cents kWh) within a decade. Mass produced electric cars will be able to provide transportation that is competitive with gasoline, the price of which will continue to rise after “peak oil”. The hybrid vehicle is the coming transition.
But pricing models are still distorted, and can be manipulated to support powerful energy companies and government policies that support them. First, they externalize many actual costs to today’s taxpayers, and to future generations who won’t benefit at all. If the costs of climate change are added into fossil fuel costs, the industries would quickly collapse. The same is true for the nuclear industry if all future waste costs, including for uranium tailings, are included. When all environmental health costs, including the impact on the quantity and quality of water, are included, renewables consistently come out on top. Second, direct and hidden subsidies must be fully accounted for. Without these we would never have gotten into such over-dependency on unsustainable energy. The tarsands and nuclear power, but not lower-cost wind, got subsidies in Harper’s stimulus package. Meanwhile many governments, including our own, still refuse to establish a feed-in tariff to pay a fair price to farmers, small businesses, First Nations, towns and individuals willing to produce electricity for the public grid.
This shows how a more comprehensive and realistic economics comes with the shift to renewables.
Jim Harding is a retired professor of environmental and justice studies.
His website: http://jimharding.brinkster.netwebsite
======================
7. Hunters lock down Texas nuke plant
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/
Hunters+lock+down+Texas+nuke+plant/2449320/story.html
<>Agence France-PresseJanuary 16, 2010 8:00 AM
A pair of fowl hunters sparked a brief lockdown of a Texas nuclear weapons plant on Friday.
The sheriff's office got a call from an employee of B&W Pantex who saw two men getting out a vehicle dressed in camouflage and carrying guns near the plant.
The men were soon found in a nearby field setting up goose decoys and a blind.
MORE:
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/
Hunters+lock+down+Texas+nuke+plant/2449320/story.html
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9887
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
NUKE NEWS (1): Jan. 26.10
by Oscar » Wed Apr 21, 2010 8:16 am
NUKE NEWS (1): Jan. 26.10
Compilation:
1. Permaculture Haiti - Please spread the word!
2. SPEAKER: Richard Littlemore, co-author of Climate Change Cover-Up – Regina – Feb. 03
3. PETITION: Alberta - Citizens for Responsible Development: Please pass to Alberta contacts
4. WATCH: Nuclear Debate Alberta – Jan. 25
5. Letter: Government going after anti-nuclear signs in the Peace Country
6. Letter: Report short on facts
7. Cameco Nears Start of Flooded Mine
8. U of S hopes to produce medical isotopes
9. First Nation fined for fuel spill
10. Workers await rad test results
11. N.B. premier threatens to sue Ottawa over Point Lepreau reactor
12. GE Hitachi's PRISM Reactor - Under The Hood With Duncan Williams
13. Beyond Nuclear Bulletin - January 21, 2010
14. Nuclear ‘Renaissance’ or ‘Retreat’ - France is not the Example
=========================
1. Permaculture Haiti
John Calvert here, freelance web designer and webmaster for the International Permaculture Conference.
I have just launched PermacultureHaiti.org to serve as a portal for permaculture in Haiti, in urgent response to the earthquake catastrophe. Thanks to Wes Roe for helping make this happen.
This website is a community effort - please check out the site, participate, send articles/news/info, make suggestions, volunteer or donate. You can begin by subscribing to the email list.
The site is set up for blogging. Other features that are very possible and quick to set up are: forums, photo galleries, chat, and social networking. Fund raising by online donation is also very possible, especially if we get an umbrella non-profit involved.
Please spread the word!
http://www.PermacultureHaiti.org
best, John Calvert
==============================
2. SPEAKER: Richard Littlemore, co-author of Climate Change Cover-Up – Regina – Feb. 03
Climate change deniers have had free rein in Saskatchewan for too long, creating doubt about climate change. Find out more about the climate change denial industry. The who, how and why- Richard Littlemore connects all the dots.
Richard Littlemore, co-author of Climate Change Cover-Up, will be speaking in Regina.
We are honoured to have him here.
WHERE: Salem Ethiopian Restaurant 2115 Broad St., Regina, SK.
WHEN: Wednesday Feb.3/2010
TIME: 7-9 PM
COST: Free Event
Food and drink, as well as a buffet will be available for purchase
Sponsored by Clean Green Regina and Regina Public Interest Research Group
Richard Littlemore spent 20 years as writer and editor at some of Canada¹s most influential papers. (Ottawa Citizen, Vancouver Sun) He then moved to a freelance career as an award winning magazine writer, consultant and speech writer. He wrote the David Suzuki Foundation¹s first information package on global warming. Richard is lead writer and editor of the climate change blog DeSmogBlog.com as well as strategist and senior writer at James Hoggan and Associates.
========================
3. PETITION: Alberta - Citizens for Responsible Development: Please pass to Alberta contacts
From: jessica ernst
Sent: Monday, January 25, 2010 8:00 PM
Subject: Help us please
Please distribute
I am circulating this on behalf of Citizens for Responsible Development who are fighting to protect their homes and health from encroaching industrial development. Please take some time, read the call out below and sign the petition - http://www.gopetition.com/online/33545.html
Help Us Protect the Health and Farmland of Our Communities!
If you live in Alberta please help us and sign the petition below.
We are a group of farmers and residents living in and around Fort Saskatchewan which has been designated “the Industrial Heartland Area.”
Our group is called Citizens for Responsible Development. We are working to reduce the pollution to our air, water, and soil caused by tarsands upgraders and to protect the health of our families, natural areas, and some of the most fertile farmland in the entire country.
TOTAL E&P Canada has recently applied to the Energy Resources and Conservation Board to construct another upgrader for our area. This will be the 5th upgrader in our community.
We are participating in the hearing process to negate or reduce the impacts of industry on our families, our farms, and the communities in the region and to prevent TOTAL’s upgrader from adding more pollution to the air, water, and soils of our already saturated region, but we need your help.
We believe this is much more than a local issue – the emissions, water use, and soil acidification will carry far beyond the borders of the project land. Our rights to a reasonable quality of life and our ability to protect our family and our farmlands are being compromised and we do not believe this is in the public interest.
Please support us in our efforts to protect our families and our farmland by signing the petition - http://www.gopetition.com/online/33545.html
===========================
4. WATCH: Nuclear Debate Alberta – Jan. 25
Did you miss the Jan. 25 debate about a proposed nuclear power plant in Peace River?
Nuclear Power Plant
Watch a lively debate about the proposed Nuclear Power Plant in Peace River. What is the provincial government’s position? What do Albertans think? Who will benefit? Who will pay the cost of the nuclear power plant?
CLICK HERE to watch the discussion about a proposed nuclear power plant in Peace River.
The guests are: Murray Elston/Vice-President of Corporate Affairs, Bruce Power; and former President of the Canadian Nuclear Association, Adele Boucher Rymhs, President, Coalition for a Nuclear Free Alberta, Harrie Vredenburg, Professor of Strategy, and Suncor Energy Chair in Competitive Strategy & Sustainable Development, Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary; and Member of the Alberta Minister of Energy’s Alberta Nuclear Power Expert Panel
==========================
5. Letter: Government going after anti-nuclear signs in the Peace Country
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/technology/
Government+going+after+anti+nuclear+signs+
Peace+Country/2481252/story.html
Edmonton Journal January 25, 2010
Re: "Anti-nuke protesters occupy gov't office," The Journal, Jan. 22.
Property owners in the Peace River area have received letters from Alberta Transportation ordering them to remove "No to nuclear" signs from their property, and some were actually taken by crews. Other similar-sized "non-conforming" signs are being ignored.
No matter how you feel about nuclear power, people should be alarmed at this blatant attack on free speech.
If it was really a safety issue, as is claimed in the letters, all signs, including real estate, no hunting, crop signs, auctions, for sale, etc., would be included. They're not. This is a purely selective decision.
One land owner has three signs on his property. Two are business related and without permits, but he received a letter instructing him to remove only the "No to nuclear" sign, even though the others are larger and more detailed. Why would the government take such obvious measures to protect the nuclear industry?
The people who put up these signs have been hard-working, honest taxpayers their whole lives. Many are senior citizens. One is a Second World War veteran who fought fascism overseas and now, in his final years, is appalled to see it show its ugly face here at home and is compelled to defend his country once more. Except his time the threat is from within.
People are responding to this threat to democracy by putting up more and larger signs. Some of them read "Yes to free speech."
A little barefoot guy, by the name of Gandhi, wearing nothing but a sheet, evicted the British from India through non-violent protest and civil disobedience.
We can rid ourselves of a unwelcome industry and embarrass the government using the same methods. Ask yourself: What kind of a world do you want for yourself and your children? Do you want to live in fearful obedience, or would you rather have residents decide what happens here? The choice is clear.
Brent Reese, North Star
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
===========================
6. Letter: Report short on facts
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/technology/
Report+short+facts/2481253/story.html
Edmonton Journal January 25, 2010
From a quick read of the report, "Nuclear Energy in Alberta: What You Need to Know," it appears that the real dangers of nuclear reactors are not addressed.
Rather, the methods for governments and industry to communicate to convince residents, are the emphasis.
There is not a serious expert on nuclear energy dangers on this committee.
This appears to be an attempt to diminish the appearance of dangers and costs and to convince Albertans that we should trust something that is not what it is presented as being.
I will be reading the report more thoroughly in hopes of finding more serious critiques of the realities of nuclear reactors.
Janet E. Smith, Edmonton
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
========================
7. Cameco Nears Start of Flooded Mine
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/
cameco-nears-restart-of-flooded-mine/article1441766/
BRENDA BOUW. Globe and Mail, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2010
Cameco Corp. says it's on track to restart development of its flood ravaged Cigar Lake mine as early as this spring and remains focused on doubling its production by 2018, while sticking close to its uranium core.
Saskatoon, Sask.-based Cameco has struggled with the Cigar Lake project as a result of two floods in the past three years, leading to long delays in production.
The company recently sold its stake in Centerra Gold Inc. and is using some of the proceeds to finish developing the mine located in northern Saskatchewan.
Chief financial officer Kim Goheen said much of the water has been pumped out of the mine and the focus is on refurbishing the main shaft.
"We're very cautious but very optimistic things are working out," Mr. Goheen told an investment conference in Whistler, B.C., yesterday. He said refurbishment of the mine is about three-quarters complete. Mr. Goheen said a return to development work is expected to start some time between April and October of this year.
The mine was originally set to begin production in 2007. That was gradually pushed back to 2011, which is the most recent company estimate. Mr. Goheen said yesterday that Cameco will put out new production and cost estimates at the end of the first quarter. Some analysts are now expecting production to begin around 2013.
Cameco's last cost estimate for its share of capital costs was about $508-million in March, 2007, according to a company spokesman.
Cameco is the mine operator and has a 50-per-cent stake in the project. French nuclear giant Areva Group owns a 37-per-cent stake, Idemitsu Canada Resources Ltd. holds 8 per cent and Tepco Recources Inc. has 5 per cent.
The company plans to update those costs and production timing at the end of the first quarter.
Once up and running, Cigar Lake is expected to produce 18 million pounds of uranium annually, half of it belonging to Cameco. Mr. Goheen said the company is also making uranium its sole focus, in particular after selling its stake in Centerra for proceeds of about $871-million late last year.
"The focus in the company right now front and centre is moving from 20 to 40 million pounds [of production]," Mr. Goheen said.
He said the production target doesn't rely on new acquisitions, but that the company is always looking for new opportunities to grow.
"You will not see Cameco invest in power plants as some sort of minority partner ... that is so far off track ... No widgets or shopping malls or anything goofy is on the table."
However, Mr. Goheen said investment in fuel management or fuel supply is an option.
MORE: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/
cameco-nears-restart-of-flooded-mine/article1441766/
==========================
8. U of S hopes to produce medical isotopes
http://sasquatchnews.com/u-of-s-hopes-t ... -isotopes/
by Brett Dolter THE SASQUATCH February 2010 (Vol II No. 1)
The provincial government announced Dec. 17 that it would not go ahead with a large-scale nuclear reactor in the province due to uncertainty about costs. But, in the same announcement, Energy and Resources Minister Bill Boyd expressed continued support for other uranium projects in the province including mining and exploration, finding a repository site for nuclear waste, and development of a nuclear research reactor proposed to produce medical isotopes at the University of Saskatchewan.
Research reactor proposed
In May 2009 the National Research Universal (NRU) nuclear reactor in Chalk River, Ontario, was shut down due to a heavy water leak. This shutdown contributed to a global shortage of medical isotopes – the radioactive elements used to diagnose and treat cancer. Prior to the shutdown, the Chalk River reactor produced about 30 per cent of the world’s medical isotope supply.
To help solve the shortage, the federal government issued a call for proposals for projects to produce medical isotopes. The province of Saskatchewan answered the call and submitted a proposal to build a research reactor at the University of Saskatchewan that would produce medical isotopes and be used for nuclear research. The facility, called the Canadian Neutron Source, would cost $500-750 million to build and $45-70 million per year to operate.
To advise the federal government on the most viable options for securing a steady supply of medical isotopes, the Expert Review Panel on Medical Isotope Production was established in June 2009. The panel assessed several different technologies – both nuclear and non-nuclear – used in the production of medical isotopes. In a report released Dec. 3, 2009, the panel recommended that the federal government work quickly and aggressively to develop a new multi-purpose nuclear research reactor to replace the Chalk River reactor. The proposal submitted by the University of Saskatchewan is one of a handful of proposals that may be considered if the government follows the panel’s recommendation. At the time of writing, Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt has yet to comment on the report.
(NOTE: As of January 19, federal Minister of Natural Resources is Christian Paradis. Ed.)
Alternatives to fission
Critics of Saskatchewan’s proposal point out that medical isotopes can be produced without nuclear fission. According to provincial Green Party leader Larissa Shasko, the nuclear reactor technology is “too expensive, too dangerous, and is not needed.”
“There are safer alternatives,” she says, cautioning against the health and environmental risks involved with developing nuclear power.
Indeed, the University of Winnipeg has submitted a proposal to produce medical isotopes without the use of a nuclear reactor within three years, at a fraction of the cost projected in the proposed University of Saskatchewan research reactor. At a cost of $35 million, the University of Winnipeg proposes to produce medical isotopes using an existing particle accelerator.
A particle accelerator uses electricity to make electrons travel at incredibly high speeds. The beams created by these high-speed electrons can be used to produce medical isotopes. Some medical isotopes produced with a particle accelerator must be used in conjunction with a special type of scanner called a PET (positron emission tomography) scanner – a tube-shaped machine that senses the radiation from isotopes within a patient’s body and uses the information to create three-dimensional images. According to Dr. Dale Dewar, executive director of Physicians for Global Survival, “PET scanning produces better images than conventional radioisotope use.”
But the isotopes used by PET scanners decay relatively quickly. This requires particle accelerators to be located close to the medical facilities that will use the isotopes they produce.
The Expert Review Panel on Medical Isotope Production supports exploring options for a particular type of particle accelerator, called a cyclotron, as a viable source of medical isotopes. But the Panel cautions that “the cyclotron option would necessarily have to co-exist with and rely upon other supply options… to satisfy demand in smaller, more remote locations.”
The short half-life of cyclotron-produced isotopes make this technology “suitable only for large centres and surrounding hospitals,” says the report.
But this wouldn’t be different than the current situation. Dewar points out that “rural communities don’t have access to medical procedures using isotopes at present.”
MORE:
http://sasquatchnews.com/u-of-s-hopes-t ... -isotopes/
======================
9. First Nation fined for fuel spill
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/toda ... story.html
By Betty Ann Adam, The Star Phoenix January 23, 2010
A northern Saskatchewan First Nation was ordered on Thursday to pay $50,600 in fines and environmental fees for a fuel spill into Wollaston Lake in June 2006.
"Five thousand litres of diesel fuel. . . . That may be the largest spill in Saskatchewan," Crown prosecutor Inez Cardinal said in an interview Friday.
"It's fortunate that it didn't get into the water system, because it was so close to the water intake for the community," she said.
The Hatchet Lake Denesuline First Nation pleaded guilty in November to two charges under the federal Fisheries Act, one under the Migratory Birds Convention Act and two charges under the Environmental Management and Protection Act.
The band was ordered to pay fines totalling $40,600 and to contribute $10,000 to the federal environmental damages fund.
"They were lucky Saskatchewan Environment spill control took action," Cardinal said.
Officials obtained absorbent booms from a mining company and protected the water intake. Some fuel evaporated, some was pulled down into the water by waves and some moved to the shore, she said.
No one found any dead fish or wildlife associated with the spill, Cardinal said.
The band owned the fuel and the former local Co-op owned the tanks it was stored in. The tanks were in a locked compound when a 12-year-old boy used a bolt cutter to get through a chained locked gate and broke a valve on a hose he directed toward the lake.
MORE:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/toda ... story.html
===========================
10. Workers await rad test results
From: Gordon Edwards
Sent: Monday, January 25, 2010 7:17 PM
Background:
Alpha radiation, once inhaled or ingested, can remain in the body for a long time and can cause serious problems many years later.
See http://ccnr.org/paulson_legacy.html
Gordon Edwards
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Workers await rad test results
http://www.kincardinenews.com/ArticleDi ... ?e=2276997
The Toronto Sun, Sat Jan 23 2010 Byline: BY JONATHAN JENKINS
At least 19 workers at Bruce Power are awaiting test results after they were exposed to alpha radiation last November.
"These are precautionary measures," Bruce Power spokesman Steve Cannon said.
"There's no indication of overexposure and we're just doing everything we can to make sure the health and safety of the workers is protected," Cannon said. "We'll take every precaution, we'll go overboard on precautions, to make sure that happens."
Problems were first detected Nov. 26 as crews on the shutdown Bruce A Unit 1 worked on replacing feeder tubes in preparation for a planned restart in 2011.
Two days later, a similar result from random air sampling was discovered and the area was tented off and ventilated with HEPA (High efficiency particulate absorbing) filters. Cannon said samples were sent for testing and the results came back Dec. 21.
"Alpha emitters were confirmed to be present at levels which warranted additional follow-up," a report Bruce filed with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission on Jan. 7 states.
MORE:
http://www.kincardinenews.com/ArticleDi ... ?e=2276997
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Alpha Radiation Contamination at the Bruce A Unit 1 Nuclear Reactor
From: Gordon Edwards
Sent: Monday, January 25, 2010 7:05 PM
Background:
Alpha radiation is a non-penetrating form of radiation which is harmless outside the body, but which is at least 20 times more harmful (per unit of energy deposited) than penetrating gamma radiation, once it is inside the body and in contact with living cells.
See http://ccnr.org/alpha_in_lung.html
In the context of a nuclear power reactor, airborne alpha contamination implies the presence of transuranic elements such as plutonium, americium, curium, neptunium, etc., all of which are long-lived and highly radiotoxic. Once inhaled, or absorbed through the gut, these radioactive elements can
remain lodged in the body for protracted periods of time, constantly irradiating the sensitive cells.
Although there are regulatory limits on the amount of these alpha-emitting materials allowed in the body, there is no such thing as a safe dose, as even small exposures are capable of causing cancer or other diseases.
Gordon Edwards.
===================
Bruce A Unit 1 Alpha Contamination - Information from the CNSC website
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/mediacentre/updates/
bruce_power_alpha_contamination_jan21_2010.cfm
On January 7, 2010, Bruce Power informed the CNSC of the discovery of alpha contamination in Bruce A Unit 1.
Bruce A Unit 1 is currently shut down for refurbishment. Workers were grinding feeder tubes and a routine airborne survey detected alpha contamination within the work area.
Alpha contamination can be hazardous if particulates are inhaled or ingested, which may have been the case here.
Preliminary monitoring of all potentially affected workers indicated no overexposures.
Bruce Power conservatively reported the situation to CNSC since the preliminary monitoring indicated that an action level may have been exceeded.
Bruce Power has arranged for more sensitive testing to be done by a third-party firm, the results of which are expected in early February.
The contamination in question was fully contained within Unit 1 and there is no risk to the public or the environment.
A report on the incident will be made to the Commission Tribunal at its February meeting.
For more information, consult the S-99 Preliminary Report on the Bruce Power Web site (PDF).
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/mediacentre/updates/
bruce_power_alpha_contamination_jan21_2010.cfm
======================
11. N.B. premier threatens to sue Ottawa over Point Lepreau reactor
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/ ... u-225.html
Graham wants feds to cover cost overruns of stalled refurbishment
Last Updated: Tuesday, January 12, 2010 | 12:37 PM AT CBC News
N.B. Premier Shawn Graham is again threatening to take legal action against the federal government if it doesn't cover the cost overruns of the $1.4-billion refurbishment of the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant.
Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. has already announced the project is 16 months behind schedule and that the nuclear reactor, Atlantic Canada's only one, is not expected to come back on line until February 2011.
CBC News reported last week that the Point Lepreau reactor is again running into problems, this time with the installation of the calandria tubes. The tubes contain smaller pressure tubes that hold the uranium bundles that fuel the reactor.
An AECL spokesman said the problem won't further delay the project because enough of a buffer was built into the new timeline to account for any additional problems.
However, Graham told reporters on Monday that AECL is not living up to its contract and that could result in a court fight.
"We want to continue dialoguing with the government of Canada, which is an extension of AECL. This is a government of Canada responsibility," Graham said.
"But I've been very clear if we can not come to an end result that benefits the ratepayers of New Brunswick, then we will commence legal action, and we feel strongly that we have a solid case to stand on."
MORE:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/ ... 010/01/11/
nb-graham-aecl-lepreau-225.html
==========================
12. GE Hitachi's PRISM Reactor - Under The Hood With Duncan Williams
http://nuclearstreet.com/blogs/nuclear_ ... s/archive/
2010/01/20/under-the-hood-with-duncan-williams-ge-hitachi-prism-reactor-01201.aspx
GE Hitachi - PRISM Reactor - By Duncan Williams -
One of the most vexing issues facing the nuclear power industry today is what to do with the spent nuclear fuel after it has been used in a nuclear reactor. Currently, used fuel is safely stored in pools of water or in dry casks at the nuclear plant site. But as for a long-term solution, there is no consensus as to disposing of, or permanently storing, the spent nuclear fuel.
To this end, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, a joint venture between General Electric and Hitachi, is researching a reactor design which would use recycled spent nuclear fuel instead of creating new fuel. This design is not new, as it was originally developed in Idaho at the Argonne National Laboratory back in the 1980s and 1990s. GE Hitachi calls the design the Power Reactor Innovative Small Module (PRISM), which is a key component to a new fuel cycle in which spent nuclear fuel is reused instead of being stored.
The PRISM reactor would use recycled nuclear fuel from a reprocessing facility known as the Advanced Recycling Center (ARC). The ARC would be located at the PRISM reactor site, and would likely use a patented electrometallurgical process in order to separate and isolate the uranium from the spent nuclear fuel.
This process is described in U.S. Patent No. 7,638,026, issued on December 29, 2009, and assigned to the Department of Energy.
MORE: http://nuclearstreet.com/blogs/nuclear_ ... s/archive/
2010/01/20/under-the-hood-with-duncan-williams-ge-hitachi-prism-reactor-01201.aspx
==========================
13. Beyond Nuclear Bulletin - January 21, 2010
Top Stories
“The Hidden and Not-So-Hidden Costs of Entergy’s Vermont Yankee”
Background: Despite assuring the State of Vermont for more than a year that it had no buried pipes carrying radioactivity, Entergy Nuclear’s Vermont Yankee reactor has revealed it is leaking radioactive tritium, almost certainly from underground pipes that it now admits do exist. In fact, Vermont Yankee has even announced the discovery of “highly radioactive water,” 50 times more radioactive than would be allowed in drinking water by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Nuclear expert Arnie Gundersen has made clear that Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee has indeed lied about the existence of buried pipes over the course of many months.
Our View: Entergy Nuclear has betrayed the trust of the lawmakers, regulators, and citizens of Vermont. Simultaneous with its revelation of radioactivity leaks on site, Vermont Yankee spokespeople engaged in a predictable campaign to downplay the health and safety risks of tritium. However, tritium can impact the human body right down to the DNA level, and can cross the placenta from mother to fragile fetus. At such intimate levels, tritium can and does damage human health, leading to cancer, genetic damage, birth defects, and other maladies. The National Academy of Science has reported consistently over the decades that any exposure to radioactivity, no matter how low the dose, still carries a health risk. As reactors age – and Vermont Yankee is nearly 40 years old – its systems, structures and components degrade, worsening tritium leaks from buried piping. Vermont Yankee’s license should not be extended 20 additional years.
What You Can Do: If you live outside Vermont, contact Vermont’s Governor, Jim Douglas, and let him know that the safety, security, health and environmental risks of Vermont Yankee could carry with them radioactive stigma effects, impacting Vermont’s tourism industry and agricultural products. If you live inside Vermont, contact your legislators and urge that they vote against the 20 year license extension at Vermont Yankee when the issue comes up for legislative action in the next few months.
Beyond Nuclear on the Road
The grassroots Vermont Yankee Decommissioning Alliance (VYDA) has invited Beyond Nuclear staff persons Paul Gunter and Kevin Kamps to tour the Green Mountain State from Jan. 26-28, to present testimony at the Vermont State Legislature, and to speak at public forums, including one co-sponsored by the Vermont and New Hampshire chapters of the Sierra Club. While Paul will address buried pipes and tritium leaks, and Kevin the “back end” of the uranium fuel chain (radioactive waste), they will be joined by Serpent River First Nation anti-uranium mining activist Lorraine Rekmans from Ontario, who will address the “front end” of the nuclear fuel chain (uranium mining and milling) and its environmental justice impacts on Native Americans. This Uranium Fuel Cycle speaking tour kicks off VYDA’s “The Hidden and Not-So-Hidden Costs of Entergy’s Vermont Yankee” speakers series. Please spread the word, and attend if you can!
The French Nuclear Medusa
French nuclear giants square off in squabble
The two French nuclear giants – Areva and Électricté de France – both almost entirely government-owned, have been squaring off in a new row that is undermining confidence in both companies worldwide. EDF, the electricity group that runs 58 reactors in France, claims that Areva has ceased transportation of irradiated fuels at EDF reactor sites to the Areva reprocessing plant on the Normandy coast. EDF also claims that Areva has blocked the import of uranium, needed to fuel the country’s nuclear power plants. The two companies are apparently at loggerheads over a new one billion dollar Areva contract with EDF to process irradiated fuel. Areva has denied that it has stopped uranium supplies but admits blocking transportation and treatment of irradiated fuel. According to a report in The Times (UK), “Their squabble has been cited as one of the factors behind France’s failure to secure a $42 billion contract to build reactors in Abu Dhabi, a contract that went to South Korea instead as reported in last week’s Medusa. EDF is a partner with Constellation Energy of the U.S. in a plan to build a third (French) reactor at the Calvert Cliffs, MD nuclear power plant site already home to two reactors.
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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
=======================
14. Nuclear ‘Renaissance’ or ‘Retreat’ - France is not the Example
http://www.reviewmessenger.com/index.ph ... om_content
&view=article&id=4082:nuclear-renaissance-or-retreat-france-is-
not-the-example&catid=19:guest-opinion
Gunter is co-founder of Beyond Nuclear and specializes in researching the French nuclear sector. She is also the media and development director for Beyond Nuclear http://www.beyondnuclear.org/ (lots of great links here)
Written by LINDA GUNTER January 21, 2010
It is perhaps no accident that the nuclear power industry chose a French word ‘renaissance’ to promote its alleged comeback. Attached to this misapplied moniker are a series of fallacious suggestions that nuclear energy is ‘clean’, ‘safe’ and even ‘renewable’. And, in keeping with its French flavor, a key argument in the industry’s propaganda arsenal is that the U.S. should follow the ‘successful’ example of the French nuclear program.
France serves as a convenient sound bite for politicians and others advocating a nuclear revival (hypocritically evoked by many of the same people who insisted on ‘Freedom Fries’ at the start of the Iraq War). A failure to challenge this facile falsehood has cemented the myth of a French nuclear Utopia in the minds of the public. It masks a very different reality.
France gets 80 percent of its electricity from nuclear power. However, this alone does not constitute a success. Rather, it results in the production of an enormous amount of radioactive waste that, as is the case for all other nuclear countries, has nowhere to go.
France has no operating geological repository for nuclear waste. To date, therefore, it has resorted to reprocessing, a highly contaminating chemical process that separates uranium and plutonium while releasing large quantities of liquid and aerial radioactivity into the environment. These wastes have rendered the seabed near the French La Hague reprocessing center on the Normandy coast equivalent to radioactive waste. Liquid radioactive contamination from La Hague has been found in the Arctic Circle, while radioactive gases such as krypton 85 have been tracked around the world.
However, contrary to myth, reprocessed French waste is not ‘recycled.’ The hottest waste, about 4 percent of the total, is stored at La Hague, along with about 81 tonnes of separated and proliferation-friendly plutonium (1 percent of the total). The remaining 95 percent, mostly uranium, is stored at another nuclear center, Pierrelatte, in southern France. Rather than ‘recycled’, this waste is simply transferred from La Hague operator, Areva, to the French electricity utility, Électicité de France (EDF). France does not have the technology to re-enrich this uranium but some of it is exported to Russia which does.
Nuclear energy has not gained France energy independence. France imports all uranium used in its 58 reactors having abandoned the last of its 210 uranium mines in 2001. These latter also produced a large waste stream, including tailings (radioactive rocks and soils) that have been used to pave children¹s playgrounds and public parking lots.
Today, French uranium is imported largely from Niger where Areva which, despite its corporate appearance, is 90 percent government-owned has mined for 40 years. Its legacy in one of the poorest countries on the planet is one of depleted and contaminated water, wide dispersal of radioactive dust and discarded radioactive metals that have been sold in local markets and used in homes.
Nor can nuclear meet all French electricity needs. France imports coal-powered electricity from Germany at peak times, because of its heavy use of electric home-heating. During heat waves and droughts, the French have been forced to power down or close more than a third of their nuclear plants, which rely on water sources such as rivers and lakes for cooling.
None of this has deterred Areva or EDF from driving aggressively into new nuclear markets, especially the U.S., where Aerva is promoting its huge Evolutionary Power Reactor (EPR), with seven targeted at six U.S. sites.
MORE:
http://www.reviewmessenger.com/index.ph ... om_content
&view=article&id=4082:nuclear-renaissance-or-retreat-france-is-
not-the-example&catid=19:guest-opinion
Compilation:
1. Permaculture Haiti - Please spread the word!
2. SPEAKER: Richard Littlemore, co-author of Climate Change Cover-Up – Regina – Feb. 03
3. PETITION: Alberta - Citizens for Responsible Development: Please pass to Alberta contacts
4. WATCH: Nuclear Debate Alberta – Jan. 25
5. Letter: Government going after anti-nuclear signs in the Peace Country
6. Letter: Report short on facts
7. Cameco Nears Start of Flooded Mine
8. U of S hopes to produce medical isotopes
9. First Nation fined for fuel spill
10. Workers await rad test results
11. N.B. premier threatens to sue Ottawa over Point Lepreau reactor
12. GE Hitachi's PRISM Reactor - Under The Hood With Duncan Williams
13. Beyond Nuclear Bulletin - January 21, 2010
14. Nuclear ‘Renaissance’ or ‘Retreat’ - France is not the Example
=========================
1. Permaculture Haiti
John Calvert here, freelance web designer and webmaster for the International Permaculture Conference.
I have just launched PermacultureHaiti.org to serve as a portal for permaculture in Haiti, in urgent response to the earthquake catastrophe. Thanks to Wes Roe for helping make this happen.
This website is a community effort - please check out the site, participate, send articles/news/info, make suggestions, volunteer or donate. You can begin by subscribing to the email list.
The site is set up for blogging. Other features that are very possible and quick to set up are: forums, photo galleries, chat, and social networking. Fund raising by online donation is also very possible, especially if we get an umbrella non-profit involved.
Please spread the word!
http://www.PermacultureHaiti.org
best, John Calvert
==============================
2. SPEAKER: Richard Littlemore, co-author of Climate Change Cover-Up – Regina – Feb. 03
Climate change deniers have had free rein in Saskatchewan for too long, creating doubt about climate change. Find out more about the climate change denial industry. The who, how and why- Richard Littlemore connects all the dots.
Richard Littlemore, co-author of Climate Change Cover-Up, will be speaking in Regina.
We are honoured to have him here.
WHERE: Salem Ethiopian Restaurant 2115 Broad St., Regina, SK.
WHEN: Wednesday Feb.3/2010
TIME: 7-9 PM
COST: Free Event
Food and drink, as well as a buffet will be available for purchase
Sponsored by Clean Green Regina and Regina Public Interest Research Group
Richard Littlemore spent 20 years as writer and editor at some of Canada¹s most influential papers. (Ottawa Citizen, Vancouver Sun) He then moved to a freelance career as an award winning magazine writer, consultant and speech writer. He wrote the David Suzuki Foundation¹s first information package on global warming. Richard is lead writer and editor of the climate change blog DeSmogBlog.com as well as strategist and senior writer at James Hoggan and Associates.
========================
3. PETITION: Alberta - Citizens for Responsible Development: Please pass to Alberta contacts
From: jessica ernst
Sent: Monday, January 25, 2010 8:00 PM
Subject: Help us please
Please distribute
I am circulating this on behalf of Citizens for Responsible Development who are fighting to protect their homes and health from encroaching industrial development. Please take some time, read the call out below and sign the petition - http://www.gopetition.com/online/33545.html
Help Us Protect the Health and Farmland of Our Communities!
If you live in Alberta please help us and sign the petition below.
We are a group of farmers and residents living in and around Fort Saskatchewan which has been designated “the Industrial Heartland Area.”
Our group is called Citizens for Responsible Development. We are working to reduce the pollution to our air, water, and soil caused by tarsands upgraders and to protect the health of our families, natural areas, and some of the most fertile farmland in the entire country.
TOTAL E&P Canada has recently applied to the Energy Resources and Conservation Board to construct another upgrader for our area. This will be the 5th upgrader in our community.
We are participating in the hearing process to negate or reduce the impacts of industry on our families, our farms, and the communities in the region and to prevent TOTAL’s upgrader from adding more pollution to the air, water, and soils of our already saturated region, but we need your help.
We believe this is much more than a local issue – the emissions, water use, and soil acidification will carry far beyond the borders of the project land. Our rights to a reasonable quality of life and our ability to protect our family and our farmlands are being compromised and we do not believe this is in the public interest.
Please support us in our efforts to protect our families and our farmland by signing the petition - http://www.gopetition.com/online/33545.html
===========================
4. WATCH: Nuclear Debate Alberta – Jan. 25
Did you miss the Jan. 25 debate about a proposed nuclear power plant in Peace River?
Nuclear Power Plant
Watch a lively debate about the proposed Nuclear Power Plant in Peace River. What is the provincial government’s position? What do Albertans think? Who will benefit? Who will pay the cost of the nuclear power plant?
CLICK HERE to watch the discussion about a proposed nuclear power plant in Peace River.
The guests are: Murray Elston/Vice-President of Corporate Affairs, Bruce Power; and former President of the Canadian Nuclear Association, Adele Boucher Rymhs, President, Coalition for a Nuclear Free Alberta, Harrie Vredenburg, Professor of Strategy, and Suncor Energy Chair in Competitive Strategy & Sustainable Development, Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary; and Member of the Alberta Minister of Energy’s Alberta Nuclear Power Expert Panel
==========================
5. Letter: Government going after anti-nuclear signs in the Peace Country
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/technology/
Government+going+after+anti+nuclear+signs+
Peace+Country/2481252/story.html
Edmonton Journal January 25, 2010
Re: "Anti-nuke protesters occupy gov't office," The Journal, Jan. 22.
Property owners in the Peace River area have received letters from Alberta Transportation ordering them to remove "No to nuclear" signs from their property, and some were actually taken by crews. Other similar-sized "non-conforming" signs are being ignored.
No matter how you feel about nuclear power, people should be alarmed at this blatant attack on free speech.
If it was really a safety issue, as is claimed in the letters, all signs, including real estate, no hunting, crop signs, auctions, for sale, etc., would be included. They're not. This is a purely selective decision.
One land owner has three signs on his property. Two are business related and without permits, but he received a letter instructing him to remove only the "No to nuclear" sign, even though the others are larger and more detailed. Why would the government take such obvious measures to protect the nuclear industry?
The people who put up these signs have been hard-working, honest taxpayers their whole lives. Many are senior citizens. One is a Second World War veteran who fought fascism overseas and now, in his final years, is appalled to see it show its ugly face here at home and is compelled to defend his country once more. Except his time the threat is from within.
People are responding to this threat to democracy by putting up more and larger signs. Some of them read "Yes to free speech."
A little barefoot guy, by the name of Gandhi, wearing nothing but a sheet, evicted the British from India through non-violent protest and civil disobedience.
We can rid ourselves of a unwelcome industry and embarrass the government using the same methods. Ask yourself: What kind of a world do you want for yourself and your children? Do you want to live in fearful obedience, or would you rather have residents decide what happens here? The choice is clear.
Brent Reese, North Star
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
===========================
6. Letter: Report short on facts
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/technology/
Report+short+facts/2481253/story.html
Edmonton Journal January 25, 2010
From a quick read of the report, "Nuclear Energy in Alberta: What You Need to Know," it appears that the real dangers of nuclear reactors are not addressed.
Rather, the methods for governments and industry to communicate to convince residents, are the emphasis.
There is not a serious expert on nuclear energy dangers on this committee.
This appears to be an attempt to diminish the appearance of dangers and costs and to convince Albertans that we should trust something that is not what it is presented as being.
I will be reading the report more thoroughly in hopes of finding more serious critiques of the realities of nuclear reactors.
Janet E. Smith, Edmonton
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
========================
7. Cameco Nears Start of Flooded Mine
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/
cameco-nears-restart-of-flooded-mine/article1441766/
BRENDA BOUW. Globe and Mail, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2010
Cameco Corp. says it's on track to restart development of its flood ravaged Cigar Lake mine as early as this spring and remains focused on doubling its production by 2018, while sticking close to its uranium core.
Saskatoon, Sask.-based Cameco has struggled with the Cigar Lake project as a result of two floods in the past three years, leading to long delays in production.
The company recently sold its stake in Centerra Gold Inc. and is using some of the proceeds to finish developing the mine located in northern Saskatchewan.
Chief financial officer Kim Goheen said much of the water has been pumped out of the mine and the focus is on refurbishing the main shaft.
"We're very cautious but very optimistic things are working out," Mr. Goheen told an investment conference in Whistler, B.C., yesterday. He said refurbishment of the mine is about three-quarters complete. Mr. Goheen said a return to development work is expected to start some time between April and October of this year.
The mine was originally set to begin production in 2007. That was gradually pushed back to 2011, which is the most recent company estimate. Mr. Goheen said yesterday that Cameco will put out new production and cost estimates at the end of the first quarter. Some analysts are now expecting production to begin around 2013.
Cameco's last cost estimate for its share of capital costs was about $508-million in March, 2007, according to a company spokesman.
Cameco is the mine operator and has a 50-per-cent stake in the project. French nuclear giant Areva Group owns a 37-per-cent stake, Idemitsu Canada Resources Ltd. holds 8 per cent and Tepco Recources Inc. has 5 per cent.
The company plans to update those costs and production timing at the end of the first quarter.
Once up and running, Cigar Lake is expected to produce 18 million pounds of uranium annually, half of it belonging to Cameco. Mr. Goheen said the company is also making uranium its sole focus, in particular after selling its stake in Centerra for proceeds of about $871-million late last year.
"The focus in the company right now front and centre is moving from 20 to 40 million pounds [of production]," Mr. Goheen said.
He said the production target doesn't rely on new acquisitions, but that the company is always looking for new opportunities to grow.
"You will not see Cameco invest in power plants as some sort of minority partner ... that is so far off track ... No widgets or shopping malls or anything goofy is on the table."
However, Mr. Goheen said investment in fuel management or fuel supply is an option.
MORE: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/
cameco-nears-restart-of-flooded-mine/article1441766/
==========================
8. U of S hopes to produce medical isotopes
http://sasquatchnews.com/u-of-s-hopes-t ... -isotopes/
by Brett Dolter THE SASQUATCH February 2010 (Vol II No. 1)
The provincial government announced Dec. 17 that it would not go ahead with a large-scale nuclear reactor in the province due to uncertainty about costs. But, in the same announcement, Energy and Resources Minister Bill Boyd expressed continued support for other uranium projects in the province including mining and exploration, finding a repository site for nuclear waste, and development of a nuclear research reactor proposed to produce medical isotopes at the University of Saskatchewan.
Research reactor proposed
In May 2009 the National Research Universal (NRU) nuclear reactor in Chalk River, Ontario, was shut down due to a heavy water leak. This shutdown contributed to a global shortage of medical isotopes – the radioactive elements used to diagnose and treat cancer. Prior to the shutdown, the Chalk River reactor produced about 30 per cent of the world’s medical isotope supply.
To help solve the shortage, the federal government issued a call for proposals for projects to produce medical isotopes. The province of Saskatchewan answered the call and submitted a proposal to build a research reactor at the University of Saskatchewan that would produce medical isotopes and be used for nuclear research. The facility, called the Canadian Neutron Source, would cost $500-750 million to build and $45-70 million per year to operate.
To advise the federal government on the most viable options for securing a steady supply of medical isotopes, the Expert Review Panel on Medical Isotope Production was established in June 2009. The panel assessed several different technologies – both nuclear and non-nuclear – used in the production of medical isotopes. In a report released Dec. 3, 2009, the panel recommended that the federal government work quickly and aggressively to develop a new multi-purpose nuclear research reactor to replace the Chalk River reactor. The proposal submitted by the University of Saskatchewan is one of a handful of proposals that may be considered if the government follows the panel’s recommendation. At the time of writing, Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt has yet to comment on the report.
(NOTE: As of January 19, federal Minister of Natural Resources is Christian Paradis. Ed.)
Alternatives to fission
Critics of Saskatchewan’s proposal point out that medical isotopes can be produced without nuclear fission. According to provincial Green Party leader Larissa Shasko, the nuclear reactor technology is “too expensive, too dangerous, and is not needed.”
“There are safer alternatives,” she says, cautioning against the health and environmental risks involved with developing nuclear power.
Indeed, the University of Winnipeg has submitted a proposal to produce medical isotopes without the use of a nuclear reactor within three years, at a fraction of the cost projected in the proposed University of Saskatchewan research reactor. At a cost of $35 million, the University of Winnipeg proposes to produce medical isotopes using an existing particle accelerator.
A particle accelerator uses electricity to make electrons travel at incredibly high speeds. The beams created by these high-speed electrons can be used to produce medical isotopes. Some medical isotopes produced with a particle accelerator must be used in conjunction with a special type of scanner called a PET (positron emission tomography) scanner – a tube-shaped machine that senses the radiation from isotopes within a patient’s body and uses the information to create three-dimensional images. According to Dr. Dale Dewar, executive director of Physicians for Global Survival, “PET scanning produces better images than conventional radioisotope use.”
But the isotopes used by PET scanners decay relatively quickly. This requires particle accelerators to be located close to the medical facilities that will use the isotopes they produce.
The Expert Review Panel on Medical Isotope Production supports exploring options for a particular type of particle accelerator, called a cyclotron, as a viable source of medical isotopes. But the Panel cautions that “the cyclotron option would necessarily have to co-exist with and rely upon other supply options… to satisfy demand in smaller, more remote locations.”
The short half-life of cyclotron-produced isotopes make this technology “suitable only for large centres and surrounding hospitals,” says the report.
But this wouldn’t be different than the current situation. Dewar points out that “rural communities don’t have access to medical procedures using isotopes at present.”
MORE:
http://sasquatchnews.com/u-of-s-hopes-t ... -isotopes/
======================
9. First Nation fined for fuel spill
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/toda ... story.html
By Betty Ann Adam, The Star Phoenix January 23, 2010
A northern Saskatchewan First Nation was ordered on Thursday to pay $50,600 in fines and environmental fees for a fuel spill into Wollaston Lake in June 2006.
"Five thousand litres of diesel fuel. . . . That may be the largest spill in Saskatchewan," Crown prosecutor Inez Cardinal said in an interview Friday.
"It's fortunate that it didn't get into the water system, because it was so close to the water intake for the community," she said.
The Hatchet Lake Denesuline First Nation pleaded guilty in November to two charges under the federal Fisheries Act, one under the Migratory Birds Convention Act and two charges under the Environmental Management and Protection Act.
The band was ordered to pay fines totalling $40,600 and to contribute $10,000 to the federal environmental damages fund.
"They were lucky Saskatchewan Environment spill control took action," Cardinal said.
Officials obtained absorbent booms from a mining company and protected the water intake. Some fuel evaporated, some was pulled down into the water by waves and some moved to the shore, she said.
No one found any dead fish or wildlife associated with the spill, Cardinal said.
The band owned the fuel and the former local Co-op owned the tanks it was stored in. The tanks were in a locked compound when a 12-year-old boy used a bolt cutter to get through a chained locked gate and broke a valve on a hose he directed toward the lake.
MORE:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/toda ... story.html
===========================
10. Workers await rad test results
From: Gordon Edwards
Sent: Monday, January 25, 2010 7:17 PM
Background:
Alpha radiation, once inhaled or ingested, can remain in the body for a long time and can cause serious problems many years later.
See http://ccnr.org/paulson_legacy.html
Gordon Edwards
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Workers await rad test results
http://www.kincardinenews.com/ArticleDi ... ?e=2276997
The Toronto Sun, Sat Jan 23 2010 Byline: BY JONATHAN JENKINS
At least 19 workers at Bruce Power are awaiting test results after they were exposed to alpha radiation last November.
"These are precautionary measures," Bruce Power spokesman Steve Cannon said.
"There's no indication of overexposure and we're just doing everything we can to make sure the health and safety of the workers is protected," Cannon said. "We'll take every precaution, we'll go overboard on precautions, to make sure that happens."
Problems were first detected Nov. 26 as crews on the shutdown Bruce A Unit 1 worked on replacing feeder tubes in preparation for a planned restart in 2011.
Two days later, a similar result from random air sampling was discovered and the area was tented off and ventilated with HEPA (High efficiency particulate absorbing) filters. Cannon said samples were sent for testing and the results came back Dec. 21.
"Alpha emitters were confirmed to be present at levels which warranted additional follow-up," a report Bruce filed with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission on Jan. 7 states.
MORE:
http://www.kincardinenews.com/ArticleDi ... ?e=2276997
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Alpha Radiation Contamination at the Bruce A Unit 1 Nuclear Reactor
From: Gordon Edwards
Sent: Monday, January 25, 2010 7:05 PM
Background:
Alpha radiation is a non-penetrating form of radiation which is harmless outside the body, but which is at least 20 times more harmful (per unit of energy deposited) than penetrating gamma radiation, once it is inside the body and in contact with living cells.
See http://ccnr.org/alpha_in_lung.html
In the context of a nuclear power reactor, airborne alpha contamination implies the presence of transuranic elements such as plutonium, americium, curium, neptunium, etc., all of which are long-lived and highly radiotoxic. Once inhaled, or absorbed through the gut, these radioactive elements can
remain lodged in the body for protracted periods of time, constantly irradiating the sensitive cells.
Although there are regulatory limits on the amount of these alpha-emitting materials allowed in the body, there is no such thing as a safe dose, as even small exposures are capable of causing cancer or other diseases.
Gordon Edwards.
===================
Bruce A Unit 1 Alpha Contamination - Information from the CNSC website
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/mediacentre/updates/
bruce_power_alpha_contamination_jan21_2010.cfm
On January 7, 2010, Bruce Power informed the CNSC of the discovery of alpha contamination in Bruce A Unit 1.
Bruce A Unit 1 is currently shut down for refurbishment. Workers were grinding feeder tubes and a routine airborne survey detected alpha contamination within the work area.
Alpha contamination can be hazardous if particulates are inhaled or ingested, which may have been the case here.
Preliminary monitoring of all potentially affected workers indicated no overexposures.
Bruce Power conservatively reported the situation to CNSC since the preliminary monitoring indicated that an action level may have been exceeded.
Bruce Power has arranged for more sensitive testing to be done by a third-party firm, the results of which are expected in early February.
The contamination in question was fully contained within Unit 1 and there is no risk to the public or the environment.
A report on the incident will be made to the Commission Tribunal at its February meeting.
For more information, consult the S-99 Preliminary Report on the Bruce Power Web site (PDF).
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/mediacentre/updates/
bruce_power_alpha_contamination_jan21_2010.cfm
======================
11. N.B. premier threatens to sue Ottawa over Point Lepreau reactor
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/ ... u-225.html
Graham wants feds to cover cost overruns of stalled refurbishment
Last Updated: Tuesday, January 12, 2010 | 12:37 PM AT CBC News
N.B. Premier Shawn Graham is again threatening to take legal action against the federal government if it doesn't cover the cost overruns of the $1.4-billion refurbishment of the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant.
Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. has already announced the project is 16 months behind schedule and that the nuclear reactor, Atlantic Canada's only one, is not expected to come back on line until February 2011.
CBC News reported last week that the Point Lepreau reactor is again running into problems, this time with the installation of the calandria tubes. The tubes contain smaller pressure tubes that hold the uranium bundles that fuel the reactor.
An AECL spokesman said the problem won't further delay the project because enough of a buffer was built into the new timeline to account for any additional problems.
However, Graham told reporters on Monday that AECL is not living up to its contract and that could result in a court fight.
"We want to continue dialoguing with the government of Canada, which is an extension of AECL. This is a government of Canada responsibility," Graham said.
"But I've been very clear if we can not come to an end result that benefits the ratepayers of New Brunswick, then we will commence legal action, and we feel strongly that we have a solid case to stand on."
MORE:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/ ... 010/01/11/
nb-graham-aecl-lepreau-225.html
==========================
12. GE Hitachi's PRISM Reactor - Under The Hood With Duncan Williams
http://nuclearstreet.com/blogs/nuclear_ ... s/archive/
2010/01/20/under-the-hood-with-duncan-williams-ge-hitachi-prism-reactor-01201.aspx
GE Hitachi - PRISM Reactor - By Duncan Williams -
One of the most vexing issues facing the nuclear power industry today is what to do with the spent nuclear fuel after it has been used in a nuclear reactor. Currently, used fuel is safely stored in pools of water or in dry casks at the nuclear plant site. But as for a long-term solution, there is no consensus as to disposing of, or permanently storing, the spent nuclear fuel.
To this end, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, a joint venture between General Electric and Hitachi, is researching a reactor design which would use recycled spent nuclear fuel instead of creating new fuel. This design is not new, as it was originally developed in Idaho at the Argonne National Laboratory back in the 1980s and 1990s. GE Hitachi calls the design the Power Reactor Innovative Small Module (PRISM), which is a key component to a new fuel cycle in which spent nuclear fuel is reused instead of being stored.
The PRISM reactor would use recycled nuclear fuel from a reprocessing facility known as the Advanced Recycling Center (ARC). The ARC would be located at the PRISM reactor site, and would likely use a patented electrometallurgical process in order to separate and isolate the uranium from the spent nuclear fuel.
This process is described in U.S. Patent No. 7,638,026, issued on December 29, 2009, and assigned to the Department of Energy.
MORE: http://nuclearstreet.com/blogs/nuclear_ ... s/archive/
2010/01/20/under-the-hood-with-duncan-williams-ge-hitachi-prism-reactor-01201.aspx
==========================
13. Beyond Nuclear Bulletin - January 21, 2010
Top Stories
“The Hidden and Not-So-Hidden Costs of Entergy’s Vermont Yankee”
Background: Despite assuring the State of Vermont for more than a year that it had no buried pipes carrying radioactivity, Entergy Nuclear’s Vermont Yankee reactor has revealed it is leaking radioactive tritium, almost certainly from underground pipes that it now admits do exist. In fact, Vermont Yankee has even announced the discovery of “highly radioactive water,” 50 times more radioactive than would be allowed in drinking water by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Nuclear expert Arnie Gundersen has made clear that Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee has indeed lied about the existence of buried pipes over the course of many months.
Our View: Entergy Nuclear has betrayed the trust of the lawmakers, regulators, and citizens of Vermont. Simultaneous with its revelation of radioactivity leaks on site, Vermont Yankee spokespeople engaged in a predictable campaign to downplay the health and safety risks of tritium. However, tritium can impact the human body right down to the DNA level, and can cross the placenta from mother to fragile fetus. At such intimate levels, tritium can and does damage human health, leading to cancer, genetic damage, birth defects, and other maladies. The National Academy of Science has reported consistently over the decades that any exposure to radioactivity, no matter how low the dose, still carries a health risk. As reactors age – and Vermont Yankee is nearly 40 years old – its systems, structures and components degrade, worsening tritium leaks from buried piping. Vermont Yankee’s license should not be extended 20 additional years.
What You Can Do: If you live outside Vermont, contact Vermont’s Governor, Jim Douglas, and let him know that the safety, security, health and environmental risks of Vermont Yankee could carry with them radioactive stigma effects, impacting Vermont’s tourism industry and agricultural products. If you live inside Vermont, contact your legislators and urge that they vote against the 20 year license extension at Vermont Yankee when the issue comes up for legislative action in the next few months.
Beyond Nuclear on the Road
The grassroots Vermont Yankee Decommissioning Alliance (VYDA) has invited Beyond Nuclear staff persons Paul Gunter and Kevin Kamps to tour the Green Mountain State from Jan. 26-28, to present testimony at the Vermont State Legislature, and to speak at public forums, including one co-sponsored by the Vermont and New Hampshire chapters of the Sierra Club. While Paul will address buried pipes and tritium leaks, and Kevin the “back end” of the uranium fuel chain (radioactive waste), they will be joined by Serpent River First Nation anti-uranium mining activist Lorraine Rekmans from Ontario, who will address the “front end” of the nuclear fuel chain (uranium mining and milling) and its environmental justice impacts on Native Americans. This Uranium Fuel Cycle speaking tour kicks off VYDA’s “The Hidden and Not-So-Hidden Costs of Entergy’s Vermont Yankee” speakers series. Please spread the word, and attend if you can!
The French Nuclear Medusa
French nuclear giants square off in squabble
The two French nuclear giants – Areva and Électricté de France – both almost entirely government-owned, have been squaring off in a new row that is undermining confidence in both companies worldwide. EDF, the electricity group that runs 58 reactors in France, claims that Areva has ceased transportation of irradiated fuels at EDF reactor sites to the Areva reprocessing plant on the Normandy coast. EDF also claims that Areva has blocked the import of uranium, needed to fuel the country’s nuclear power plants. The two companies are apparently at loggerheads over a new one billion dollar Areva contract with EDF to process irradiated fuel. Areva has denied that it has stopped uranium supplies but admits blocking transportation and treatment of irradiated fuel. According to a report in The Times (UK), “Their squabble has been cited as one of the factors behind France’s failure to secure a $42 billion contract to build reactors in Abu Dhabi, a contract that went to South Korea instead as reported in last week’s Medusa. EDF is a partner with Constellation Energy of the U.S. in a plan to build a third (French) reactor at the Calvert Cliffs, MD nuclear power plant site already home to two reactors.
Become a “fan” of Beyond Nuclear on Facebook
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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
=======================
14. Nuclear ‘Renaissance’ or ‘Retreat’ - France is not the Example
http://www.reviewmessenger.com/index.ph ... om_content
&view=article&id=4082:nuclear-renaissance-or-retreat-france-is-
not-the-example&catid=19:guest-opinion
Gunter is co-founder of Beyond Nuclear and specializes in researching the French nuclear sector. She is also the media and development director for Beyond Nuclear http://www.beyondnuclear.org/ (lots of great links here)
Written by LINDA GUNTER January 21, 2010
It is perhaps no accident that the nuclear power industry chose a French word ‘renaissance’ to promote its alleged comeback. Attached to this misapplied moniker are a series of fallacious suggestions that nuclear energy is ‘clean’, ‘safe’ and even ‘renewable’. And, in keeping with its French flavor, a key argument in the industry’s propaganda arsenal is that the U.S. should follow the ‘successful’ example of the French nuclear program.
France serves as a convenient sound bite for politicians and others advocating a nuclear revival (hypocritically evoked by many of the same people who insisted on ‘Freedom Fries’ at the start of the Iraq War). A failure to challenge this facile falsehood has cemented the myth of a French nuclear Utopia in the minds of the public. It masks a very different reality.
France gets 80 percent of its electricity from nuclear power. However, this alone does not constitute a success. Rather, it results in the production of an enormous amount of radioactive waste that, as is the case for all other nuclear countries, has nowhere to go.
France has no operating geological repository for nuclear waste. To date, therefore, it has resorted to reprocessing, a highly contaminating chemical process that separates uranium and plutonium while releasing large quantities of liquid and aerial radioactivity into the environment. These wastes have rendered the seabed near the French La Hague reprocessing center on the Normandy coast equivalent to radioactive waste. Liquid radioactive contamination from La Hague has been found in the Arctic Circle, while radioactive gases such as krypton 85 have been tracked around the world.
However, contrary to myth, reprocessed French waste is not ‘recycled.’ The hottest waste, about 4 percent of the total, is stored at La Hague, along with about 81 tonnes of separated and proliferation-friendly plutonium (1 percent of the total). The remaining 95 percent, mostly uranium, is stored at another nuclear center, Pierrelatte, in southern France. Rather than ‘recycled’, this waste is simply transferred from La Hague operator, Areva, to the French electricity utility, Électicité de France (EDF). France does not have the technology to re-enrich this uranium but some of it is exported to Russia which does.
Nuclear energy has not gained France energy independence. France imports all uranium used in its 58 reactors having abandoned the last of its 210 uranium mines in 2001. These latter also produced a large waste stream, including tailings (radioactive rocks and soils) that have been used to pave children¹s playgrounds and public parking lots.
Today, French uranium is imported largely from Niger where Areva which, despite its corporate appearance, is 90 percent government-owned has mined for 40 years. Its legacy in one of the poorest countries on the planet is one of depleted and contaminated water, wide dispersal of radioactive dust and discarded radioactive metals that have been sold in local markets and used in homes.
Nor can nuclear meet all French electricity needs. France imports coal-powered electricity from Germany at peak times, because of its heavy use of electric home-heating. During heat waves and droughts, the French have been forced to power down or close more than a third of their nuclear plants, which rely on water sources such as rivers and lakes for cooling.
None of this has deterred Areva or EDF from driving aggressively into new nuclear markets, especially the U.S., where Aerva is promoting its huge Evolutionary Power Reactor (EPR), with seven targeted at six U.S. sites.
MORE:
http://www.reviewmessenger.com/index.ph ... om_content
&view=article&id=4082:nuclear-renaissance-or-retreat-france-is-
not-the-example&catid=19:guest-opinion
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9887
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
NUKE NEWS (2): Jan. 26.10
by Oscar » Wed Apr 21, 2010 8:18 am
NUKE NEWS (2): Jan. 26.10
Compilation:
1. Tories ignoring environmental assessment panel: member
2. Nuclear debate full of grey areas
3. Strange day at Alberta Transportation
4. Radioactive Water from Nuclear Plant contaminates Ottawa River
5. Nuclear Power Regaining Favor Amid Recession, Climate Concerns
6. No Nukes News - Jan. 22, 2010
7. WATCH: Petropolis: Aerial Perspectives on the Alberta Tar Sands – Jan. 27
8. CLIMATE JUSTICE NOW – Speakers: Jan. 28 - Toronto
9. Germany to remove nuclear waste from Asse facility
10. Nuclear Power: "The ball gets rolling in Sweden" [World Nuclear News]
11. Iraq littered with high levels of nuclear and dioxin contamination, study finds
12. Glacier Meltdown: Another Scientific Scandal Involving the IPCC Climate Research Group
13. Harper´s free trade talks with Europe another attack on democracy
14. Nova Scotia groups caution Dexter government on Canada-European Union trade negotiations
15. Editorial: Brian Leslie: The ultimate conspiracy - not just `conspiracy theory´
16. Compilation of Articles: Crisis and Despair in Haiti
===========================
1. Tories ignoring environmental assessment panel: member
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/Tories+ignoring+
environmental+assessment+panel+member/2403349/story.html
By Mike De Souza, Canwest News Service January 4, 2010
A federal panel that advises the government on the environmental impact of new economic development has been left on the sidelines for nearly two years, Canwest News Service has learned. Throughout this time, sweeping changes to regulations have been passed, effectively exempting thousands of projects from mandatory evaluations.
"We haven't had any notice that the minister has dissolved the committee, but it's kind of awkward to have a committee that doesn't meet," said Gary Schneider, who sits on the panel.
Schneider, the co-chair of the Environmental Coalition of Prince Edward Island, said the last meeting of the Regulatory Advisory Committee was in the spring of 2008.
But, he said, no consultations were held with the panel in 2009, as the government introduced a series of exemptions for new infrastructure projects.
More than 90 per cent of thousands of new projects receiving funding from the Harper government will proceed without a federal environmental assessment, Canwest News Service reported in November. Although the projects may still be subject to provincial assessments, the government said the exemptions and the lack of federal assessments is the result of the need to kick-start projects.
The government argued that extensive consultations and duplicate evaluations would "slow projects and threaten Canada's economic recovery."
- - - - SNIP - - - -
A spokesperson for the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency said she could not comment on why the committee has not met since 2008. But she suggested they would be brought together again soon as part of a required review by Parliament in 2010 of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.
Two environmental groups, Ecojustice and the Sierra Club of Canada, have challenged the changes from last spring, which were introduced through regulations, without legislation in Parliament. They have suggested the government used the economic slowdown as an excuse to eliminate environmental protection legislation.
© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix
========================
2. Nuclear debate full of grey areas
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/technology/
Nuclear+debate+full+grey+areas/2467249/story.html
Prof believes public expects to be told complicated truth
By Elise Stolte, Edmonton Journal January 21, 2010
Nuclear experts trying to reassure residents risks from nuclear power are minimal are missing the point, says a university social scientist.
As experts mount education campaigns, pull out charts and try to win on the strength of their data, people turn away, unable to believe they're getting a full answer, said Debra Davidson, a sociologist in the department of rural economics at the University of Alberta.
The only way government and industry leaders are going to win people back is by admitting the debate is not black and white, she said.
"I know that's a fine political line to walk on."
Proponents worry if they come out and say "accidents are possible" they will create fear and no one will to accept their product. "What I would say as a social scientist is exactly the opposite. If you want to alleviate the concerns of members of the public than acknowledge the concerns. They're already scared. They're more likely to be afraid of people who say, that will never happen."
Davidson is the lead author on a report released this week trying to bring a new perspectives between the extremes. She worked with a group of economists, sociologists and an English PhD candidate from the University of Alberta and The King's University College and will be co-hosting a followup forum at the University of Alberta on Jan. 31. Ontario-based Bruce Power is considering building a 4,000 megawatt nuclear power plant north of Peace River, the first in Alberta, and an environmental assessment is expected later this year.
Davidson said the other element that is missing from Alberta's nuclear debate is that there are risks on all sides.
MORE:
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/technology/
Nuclear+debate+full+grey+areas/2467249/story.html
"People are more willing to accept a decision if they feel they have been given a fair hearing."
estolte@thejournal.canwest.com
NUCLEAR POWER DISCUSSION
Join the authors, policy-makers and others to discuss the prospects for nuclear power development in Alberta When: Jan. 31; 1:00-4:30 p.m. Where: Myer Horowitz Theatre, University of Alberta For a link to the report visit edmontonjournal.com/extras
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
=======================
3. Strange day at Alberta Transportation
PRESS RELEASE - January 21, 2010
On Thursday Jan 21, Pat MacNamara and myself along with five other people went into Alberta Transportation’s office in Peace River to get some answers to questions we asked two weeks ago. We went in at about 10:30AM and arranged to meet with Bill Gish, who sent out the order to remove the “No To Nuclear” signs and signed the letters instructing land owners to remove their signs from private property.
The meeting did not go well. Mr Gish would not answer any of our questions relating to the sign removal and within just a few minutes ordered us off the premises and threatened to call the R.C.M.P. We called his bluff, refused to leave, and took over the reception area, called the media, and spent the day there talking to reporters, playing cards and visiting.
At 2:00 PM, Mr. Gish entered the room all smiles and friendly, offered us coffee and donuts courtesy of the deputy minister. Sure enough, 20 minutes later a couple of guys arrive with a large box of Tim Hortons coffee and two boxes of donuts.
So we gathered that Gish’s superiors told him NOT to call the R.C.M.P, at least not in a public fashion. The department has apparently suffered enough embarrassment. We left at about 3:30 after assuring them that we will keep coming back until we find out who ordered the attack on free speech.
Gish is in a difficult position. If he squeals on whoever ordered the sign removal, it wouldn’t be a very shrewd move, career wise. If he takes responsibility for the work order, he has some explaining to do as to why only our signs were targeted. The Grimshaw newspaper Mile Zero News has initiated F.O.I.P to try to get a copy of the work order relating to the sign removal, because they continue to refuse to release it to the press. We figure it’s either Oberle our new solicitor general or Transportation Minister Ouellette who issued the order. This issue continues to blow up in their face. I’m sure they wish they’d left our little signs alone.
People in Weberville next to the proposed site have erected a giant wall of signs in response to the actions of this corrupt government. For color photos of the monument to free speech email entwork@hotmail.com I guarantee you'll be amused.
I encourage everyone to spread this message around.
Brent Reese Earth Alternatives. 780 836 3796 bgreese@telus.net
==========================
4. Radioactive Water from Nuclear Plant contaminates Ottawa River
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... &aid=17104
Global Research, January 20, 2010
Harper government allows 7,000 litres of potentially carcinogenic waste water to be dumped in major Canadian waterway
The Stephen Harper's government lack of social responsibility on environmental matters has once again surfaced through an immediate public health threat.
A radioactive spill has occurred at the aging Chalk River nuclear reactor west of the nation's capital after the facility was recently cranked up to double its normal output of medical isotopes, used in diagnosing and treating cancer, Sun Media has learned.
The Conservative Party handling of this public health threat is grounds in itself to out them through a non-confidence motion.. The reactor is supplying up to 70% of the world's medical isotopes, and a shutdown could leave millions of cancer and heart patients in Canada and around the globe without critical treatments.
But the radioactive spill and another ongoing leak at the reactor are bound to spark renewed controversy over the safety of the nuclear facility built in 1958.
An internal report to federal nuclear regulators shows radioactive tritium was released into the air during the incident at the Chalk River reactor on Dec. 5.
Atomic Energy of Canada officials running the 51-year-old apparently defective reactor reported they managed to contain another 800 litres of contaminated water now being stored in special drums.
The report alleges there was no threat to the health of workers at the reactor, and officials say the tritium released into the air posed no significant danger to the surrounding environment.
Nonetheless, after a brief shutdown, the reactor has continued to operate at full power, even though Chalk River officials admit they don't know what caused the leak, and say it could happen again.
Documents indicate officials at Atomic Energy took four days to report the spill to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.
Even then, the spill proved to be five times larger than what the officials initially reported.
They didn't go out of their way to inform the public, either.
A press release about the brief shutdown of the reactor in December made no mention of a spill, only "unanticipated technical challenges."
Radioactive water leak in the human drinking supply of water
MORE: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... &aid=17104
=============================
5. Nuclear Power Regaining Favor Amid Recession, Climate Concerns
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/01/24-4
Published on Sunday, January 24, 2010 by The Real News Network
Industries want the government to co-sign for more than $40 billion in loans
by Judy Pasternak, Investigative Reporting Workshop
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration may soon guarantee as much as $18.5 billion in loans to build nuclear reactors to generate electricity, and Congress is considering whether to add billions more to support an expansion of nuclear power.
These actions come after an extensive, decade-long campaign in which companies and unions related to the industry have spent more than $600 million on lobbying and nearly $63 million on campaign contributions, according to an analysis by the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University.
Nuclear power generates about 20 percent of America's electricity, but many existing reactors are aging. No new plant has been authorized since the 1979 incident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, when small amounts of radiation were released and authorities feared for days that a huge surge might escape.
That's in part because it can cost as much as $8 billion to build a nuclear plant, and in part because the problems of nuclear waste and safety remain unsolved.
But the problem of global warming remains unsolved, too, and as the nation struggles to rebound from a deep recession, building new nuclear reactors increasingly looks to some like a big jobs program. The industry, capitalizing on both developments, argues that nuclear energy must be part of any effort to curb heat-trapping carbon emissions.
Its longtime foes - environmentalists, some labor unions, Democrats - increasingly agree.
"This is nuclear's year," said House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., who in recent years has become one of the industry's champions on Capitol Hill.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, has pledged that the climate bill that's making its way through Congress will include new government help for the nuclear industry. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina says he would provide a much-sought Republican vote for the bill if its energy provisions include help for the nuclear industry.
Some Republicans, who have historically have friendlier to nuclear power, are pushing a plan to build 100 reactors over the next 20 years. The industry considers the forthcoming $18.5 billion in guarantees a down payment on a more ambitious expansion.
Electric utilities want more than $100 billion in guarantees for construction that's expected to cost $200 billion. Those guarantees are considered crucial to some companies' nuclear plans.
MORE: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/01/24-4
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6. No Nukes News - Jan. 22, 2010
The only safe nuke is 150 million kilometres away! - Vic Yanda
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Nuclear power losing in importance world-wide
The world-wide renaissance of nuclear power that has so often been predicted will not take place in the next few decades. Nuclear energy will be on the decline till the year 2030, and will continue to decline in importance globally. This is the conclusion of the Swiss “Prognos” institute based in Basel.
http://www.wieninternational.at/en/node/16702
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McGuinty heralds Samsung green energy deal
Premier Dalton McGuinty has signed a landmark agreement with a South Korean consortium that will see $7 billion invested in Ontario to create 16,000 new jobs over six years.
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/
753816--mcguinty-heralds-samsung-green-energy-deal
http://www.rechargenews.com/energy/wind ... 193520.ece
http://dcnonl.com/article/id37193
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Shocker: We don't pay enough for electricity
Consumers in Ontario and across the country should pay a higher price for electricity, especially in peak periods, to reflect its environmental cost and the cost of new generating facilities.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/
shocker-we-dont-pay-enough-for-electricity/article1434557/
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Down the Yellowcake Road
From exploration to fuel production, this website related the contamination, water consumption, waste generation, costs to the American taxpayer through government subsidies, health impacts, and the CO2 emissions that are caused by the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle.
Also, watch the fantastic 10-minute documentary.
http://www.downtheyellowcakeroad.org/
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Florida Power and Light Billion-Dollar Rate Hike Denied
The Florida Public Service Commission (PUC) denied Florida Power and Light (FPL) Company's $1.27 billion rate-hike request, granting instead a minuscule $75.5 million in a decision that could be the death knell for not only two proposed nuclear reactors in Florida, but several elsewhere in the U.S.
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/janu ... _nukes.php
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On Eve Of Nuclear Renaissance, Florida Nuke Project Gets Postponed
Can you really call something a renaissance if it consists of one or two projects, paid for by the government?
http://blogs.forbes.com/energysource/2010/01/18/
on-eve-of-nuclear-renaissance-florida-nuke-project-gets-postponed/
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Lesson in how not to go nuclear
In 2005, Finland broke ground on the world’s most advanced reactor, a 1,600-megawatt plant built by Areva of France and the German firm Siemens. The nuclear industry hoped it would be an example of a new generation of plants that were cheap and efficient and could be built faster than older models.
Four and a half years later, the project is running at least three years late, costs have doubled and both sides are locked in an ugly legal battle that spilled out in public several times last year.
http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll ... 69960/1005
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Chernobyl Nuclear Accident: Figures for Deaths and Cancers Still in Dispute
Doctors at hospitals in Belarus and Ukraine are seeing highly unusual rates of cancers, mutations and blood diseases in their young patients. An assessment by the Russian academy of sciences says there have been 60,000 deaths so far in Russia and an estimated 140,000 in Ukraine and Belarus - far higher than the ludicrous but "official" figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which claim only 56 people have died as a direct result of the radiation released by the Chernobyl explosion and that only about 4,000 will die from it eventually.
http://www.beyondnuclear.org/storage/Ch ... an2010.pdf
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Report links cancer "epidemic" to nuclear power
Calling the incidence rate of thyroid cancer in eastern Pennsylvania an "epidemic," a nuclear power watchdog group is placing the blame squarely on the shoulders of the nuclear power industry.
http://www.whptv.com/news/local/story/
Report-links-cancer-epidemic-to-nuclear-power/KkxZWpacOkub8bbm7akjzQ.cspx
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Nuclear ‘Renaissance’ or ‘Retreat’? France is not the Example
It is perhaps no accident that the nuclear power industry chose a French word – “renaissance” – to promote its alleged comeback. A failure to challenge this facile falsehood has cemented the myth of a French nuclear Utopia in the minds of the public. It masks a very different reality.
http://www.reviewmessenger.com/index.ph ... om_content
&view=article&id=4082:nuclear-renaissance-or-retreat-france-is-
not-the-example&catid=19:guest-opinion
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Pulling the plug or counting the cash
The German government has the upper hand as it meets with heads of major energy companies in Berlin. Should the government close Germany's aging nuclear plants, or collect money from the companies to keep them running?
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5154213,00.html
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Rick Mercer: Tritium Giveaway Days
This 1-minute comedy act was from June, 2009 after a tritium spill at Chalk River nuclear station. In Dec. ’09 we had another tritium spill.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuiFplYlLCg
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Nuclear-News
The latest news on the uranium/nuclear industry
http://nuclear-news.net/
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The Solar Industry Gains Ground
At a time of economic pain and planetary peril, a renewable global powerhouse takes shape. Just when we need it most.
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/131 ... rnova.html
=========================
7. WATCH: Petropolis: Aerial Perspectives on the Alberta Tar Sands
Shot primarily from a helicopter, Peter Mettler's visionary flimmaking offers an unparalleled view of the world's largest industrial, capital and energy project. This bird's eye view offers a staggering and unique perspective on how some of the world's dirtiest oil is produced—and how much we're willing to sacrifice in the pursuit of unsustainable and destructive energy sources. From the poisoning of downstream First Nations communities and the total assimilation of wildlife habitats, to the contamination of critical waterways and the clear cutting of the Boreal Forest, the tar sands have become the poster child of where our global addiction to dirty fuels has taken us. "Petropolis: Aerial Perspectives on the Alberta Tar Sands" seeks to expose the true nature of this fiercely destructive project by taking the viewer deep into the oily belly of the beast.
Royal Theatre (608 College St.), Toronto
Friday Jan. 22nd to Wed. Jan. 27th, 7:00pm
Also Sunday Jan. 24th - 4:30pm
Ticket price is $10. Students and seniors $8.
In conjunction with the screenings there will be a Q+A with a host of speakers, including film-maker Peter Mettler and Greenpeace Canada's Executive Director, Bruce Cox.
Find out more about the film: http://www.petropolis-film.com/#
========================
8. CLIMATE JUSTICE NOW – Speakers: Jan. 28 - Toronto
Toronto Report-back from UN Climate Change Talks in Copenhagen
Thursday, January 28, 7pm
United Steelworkers Hall, 25 Cecil Street (south of College, east of Spadina)
Join us as we hear from participants from different delegations as they discuss the negotiations and the "Copenhagen Accord", the 100,000-strong demonstration, the shameful role of the Canadian Government which won the "Fossil of the Day" award ten times through out the conference and what needs to be done to combat climate change!
Speakers include:
CLAYTON THOMAS MULLER Tar sands organizer, Indigenous Environmental Network
CAROLYN EGAN President, Steelworker Toronto Area Council
DAVE MARTIN Energy coordinator, Greenpeace Canada
KIMIA GHOMESHI Member, Canadian Youth Delegation
(Moderator) BRETT RHYNO Organizer, Toronto Climate Campaign
FREE! ALL WELCOME!
TORONTO CLIMATE CAMPAIGN
web: www.torontoclimatecampaign.org
e-mail: info@torontoclimatecampaign.org
------------------------------------------------------------------
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. Germany to remove nuclear waste from Asse facility
The storage area, a former subterranean salt mine research operation, has been found unstable
By Sarah Wolfe, 25 Jan 2010
http://www.energydigital.com/MarketSector/Utilities/
Germany-to-remove-nuclear-waste-from-Asse-facility_41341.aspx
Germany has a “major scientific and technological challenge” on its hands, according to the nation’s Federal Office for Radiation Protection. The government has ordered the Schacht Asse II
radioactive waste disposal facility to remove thousands of barrels after a salt dome was determined to be unstable.
Roughly 126,000 barrels filled with low-level radioactive waste including contaminated clothes, paper and equipment will be brought to the surface for alternative storage, according to World Nuclear
News. Rather than storing these contents in highly-secured landfills, Asse began putting the barrels down in tunnels and caverns from past salt mining research activity in the 1960s and 70s. Since then, the salt mine network has become unstable and allowed in groundwater. Further investigation of several other levels with waste vaults will be carried out in the near future and appropriate action taken.
Learn more at:
World Nuclear News
(Edited by Gabe Perna)
------------------------------------------------------
Germany's waste removal decision
World Nuclear News, 18 January 2010
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/WR_Ge ... 01101.html
Thousands of barrels are to be removed from Germany's Asse radioactive waste disposal
facility, a salt dome which has proven unstable.
The decision has come from the country's Federal Office for Radiation Protection (Bundesamt für Strahlenshutz, BfS), which described the job as a "major scientific and technological challenge".
Some 126,000 barrels are to be removed to the surface for alternative storage. They mostly contain low-level radioactive waste such as lightly contaminated clothes, paper and equipment. In most countries these are disposed of permanently in purpose-built landfills, carefully lined to protect surrounding land. Asse, by contrast, is within a network of tunnels and caverns left by salt mining research operations.
It was decided to use Asse in the 1960s and 1970s but this is seen as a licensing failure: The complex is in the upper portions of the salt, which are now unstable and increasingly allowing the ingress of groundwater. Ultimately this would be expected to erode waste canisters and allow contamination of groundwater.
To address this, the BfS considered three options: Filling the complex with concrete to provide a stable matrix Moving wastes to a stable area deeper in the salt mass Removing the wastes for interim storage on the surface
The BfS said that an argument against the first option was that it could not be shown to satisfy long-term safety requirements. Meanwhile, the second option relies on the identification of a deep
area of salt stable enough to satisfy German law. It would also be an especially long-lasting and challenging project.
Both of the latter options require every canister to be checked and possibly repackaged using a new underground process line.
While deciding on removal to the surface, the BfS warned that none of its options were optimal and all were uncertain. It noted that unpredictability of the salt and degradation of the packages could
potentially prove to be too great a danger to workers. However, long-term security was its priority and the BfS would proceed with removal. It concluded that it will soon present a plan to open the waste vaults and investigate the exact condition of the barrels.
Researched and written by World Nuclear News
=======================
10. Nuclear Power: "The ball gets rolling in Sweden" [World Nuclear News]
From: Gordon Edwards
Sent: Monday, January 25, 2010 11:27 PM
Background:
Sweden has had (and still has) a nuclear phase out law since 1980. However, the current government wishes to repeal the phase out and renew the building of nuclear reactors. As the following article indicates, any new reactors would be intended primarily for the export of electricity. The new legislative initiative will be presented to the Swedish Parliament in March 2010.
This article is from World Nuclear News, an industry publication.
Gordon Edwards.
====================
Nuclear Power: The ball gets rolling in Sweden
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/The_b ... 10012.html
Reporting by Daniel Westlén for World Nuclear News 25 January 2010
New nuclear is on the Swedish agenda with moves towards revised legislation and regulatory support for new build applications.
Hans Blix told a seminar he was 'absolutely convinced' of the need for new reactors.
A meeting in Stockholm on 21 January, organised by the power utility research organisation, Elforsk, heard from a range of players in the new environment for Swedish atomic energy.
Regulatory law expert Ingvar Persson has been tasked with reviewing nuclear legislation, and in particular, suggesting new language to permit the construction of new reactors -- banned since a 1980 referendum. He is also reviewing the status of nuclear liability in Sweden, with the likely result of unlimited liability for plant owners in the event of an accident. The government is expected to propose its legal changes on 22 March with the aim of bringing the new legislation into force by 1 July.
Parallel work is underway at the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (Strålsäkerhetsmyndigheten, SSM), which this month began working on a proposal for a licensing process for new reactors. SSM head Fredrik Hassel said the system could be ready for government approval by February 2011 with spring 2013 as the earliest possible time to begin reviewing an application. He warned that this required
financial investment from the government as well as the recruitment of about 60 more staff.
The moves come after last year's turnaround on nuclear policy in the name of climate change. 'The climate issue is now in focus,' wrote the coalition government in February 2009, 'and nuclear power will thus remain an important part of Swedish electricity production for the forseeable future.' That policy statement, after concessions from the Centre Party, heralded the beginning of the end of phase-out conditions.
Hans Blix, former director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, spoke at the seminar. 'We do need new reactors in Sweden,' he said, 'I am absolutely convinced of that.' Blix noted the financial gain France has experienced by exporting huge volumes of power to neighbours that had taken anti-nuclear stances -- Belgium, Germany, Italy and Spain. He said Sweden could also become a regional power exporter, bringing income while helping to reduce emissions in Germany and Denmark.
Sweden already uses nuclear power from ten reactors for over 40% of electricity, with an even larger proportion coming from large hydro and only a small amount from fossil fuels. While new reactors were banned Swedish operators concentrated on improving the perfomance and longevity of existing ones with the result that new units may result in surplus of power.
A new unit at Oskarshamn would be one possible new-build project and the region's mayor, Peter Wretlund, welcomed the idea. However, Lennart Fredenberg of Oskarshamn owner EOn remained very cautious. He said that new build would be only one option to eventually replace Oskarshamn 1, which began operation in 1972 and is Sweden's oldest reactor. However, Swedish reactors are allowed to continue operating as long as they are within safety requirements and it is EOn's policy to continuously modernise its reactors until no longer economically viable. In the meantime EOn's focus in Scandinavian new build remains the Fennovoima's project, which has progressed to the point of applying to the government for a decision in principle.
========================
11. Iraq littered with high levels of nuclear and dioxin contamination, study finds
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/22/
iraq-nuclear-contaminated-sites
* Greater rates of cancer and birth defects near sites
* Depleted uranium among poisons revealed in report
By Martin Chulov in Baghdad, The Guardian (London), January 22, 2010
More than 40 sites across Iraq are contaminated with high levels or radiation and dioxins, with three decades of war and neglect having left environmental ruin in large parts of the country, an official Iraqi study has found.
Areas in and near Iraq's largest towns and cities, including Najaf, Basra and Falluja, account for around 25% of the contaminated sites, which appear to coincide with communities that have seen increased rates of cancer and birth defects over the past five years. The joint study by the environment, health and science ministries found that scrap metal yards in and around Baghdad and Basra contain high levels of ionising radiation, which is thought to be a legacy of depleted uranium used in munitions during the first Gulf war and since the 2003 invasion.
The environment minister, Narmin Othman, said high levels of dioxins on agricultural lands in southern Iraq, in particular, were increasingly thought to be a key factor in a general decline in the health of people living in the poorest parts of the country.
"If we look at Basra, there are some heavily polluted areas there and there are many factors contributing to it," she told the Guardian. "First, it has been a battlefield for two wars, the Gulf war and the Iran-Iraq war, where many kinds of bombs were used. Also, oil pipelines were bombed and most of the contamination settled in and around Basra.
"The soil has ended up in people's lungs and has been on food that people have eaten. Dioxins have been very high in those areas. All of this has caused systemic problems on a very large scale for both ecology and overall health."
Government study groups have recently focused on the war-ravaged city of Falluja, west of Baghdad, where the unstable security situation had kept scientists away ever since fierce fighting between militants and US forces in 2004.
"We have only found one area so far in Falluja," Othman said. "But there are other areas that we will try to explore soon with international help."
MORE:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/22/
iraq-nuclear-contaminated-sites
==========================
12. Glacier Meltdown: Another Scientific Scandal Involving the IPCC Climate Research Group
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=17155
By F. William Engdahl Global Research, January 23, 2010
Only days after the failed Copenhagen Global Warming Summit, yet a new scandal over the scientific accuracy of the UN IPCC 2007 climate report has emerged. Following the major data-manipulation scandals from the UN-tied research center at Britain's East Anglia University late 2009, the picture emerges of one of the most massive scientific frauds of recent history.
Senior members of the UN climate project, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have been forced to admit a major error in the 2007 IPCC UN report that triggered the recent global campaign for urgent measures to reduce “manmade emissions” of CO2. The IPCC's 2007 report stated, “glaciers in the Himalayas are receding faster than in any other part of the world.” Given that this is the world's highest mountain range and meltdown implies a massive flooding of India, China and the entire Asian region, it was a major scare “selling point” for the IPCC agenda. As well, the statement on the glacier melt in the 2007 IPCC report contains other serious errors such as the statement that “Its total area will likely shrink from the present 500,000 to 100,000 square kilometers by the year 2035." There are only 33,000 square kilometers of glaciers in the Himalayas. And a table in the report says that between 1845 and 1965, the Pindari Glacier shrank by 2,840 meters. Then comes a math mistake: It says that's a rate of 135.2 meters a year, when it really is only 23.5 meters a year. Now scientists around the world are scouring the entire IPCC report for indications of similar lack of scientific rigor.
It emerges that the basis of the stark IPCC glacier meltdown statement of 2007 was not even a scientific study of melting data. Rather it was a reference to a newspaper article cited by a pro-global warming ecological advocacy group, WWF.
The original source of the IPCC statement, it turns out, appeared in a 1999 report in the British magazine, New Scientist that was cited in passing by WWF. The New Scientist author, Fred Pierce, wrote then, “The inclusion of this statement has angered many glaciologists, who regard it as unjustified. Vijay Raina, a leading Indian glaciologist, wrote in a paper published by the Indian Government in November that there is no sign of "abnormal" retreat in Himalayan glaciers. India's environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, accused the IPCC of being "alarmist." The IPCC's chairman, Rajendra Pachauri, has hit back, denouncing the Indian government report as "voodoo science" lacking peer review. He adds that "we have a very clear idea of what is happening" in the Himalayas.” [1][1]
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=17155
=========================
13. Harper´s free trade talks with Europe another attack on democracy
http://www.canadians.org/media/trade/20 ... an-10.html
MEDIA RELEASE For Immediate Release January 22, 2010
Harper´s free trade talks with Europe another attack on democracy, say environmental, labour and social justice groups
As a second round of Canada-European Union free trade talks wraps up in Brussels, Belgium today, Canadian civil society organizations are demanding full transparency from the Harper government, and a halt to negotiations while countrywide public consultations can be held. The scope of the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) jeopardizes public services, sustainability, social policy and local democracy, say the organizations, which include the Council of Canadians, Canadian Auto Workers union, Sierra Club Canada, Canadian Union of Postal Workers, Canadian Union of Public Employees and National Union of Public and General Employees.
ORGANIZATIONAL STATEMENTS
"Harper is trampling on democracy yet again with a new round of secret trade talks in Europe. People around the world are demanding tougher climate and health protections, not an expansion of discredited laissez-faire capitalism," says Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians.
"We´ve seen firsthand how NAFTA has destroyed jobs, depressed working conditions and rendered governments nearly powerless to corporate interests. Canadians can´t afford to go down that path again," says CAW National President Ken Lewenza.
"We simply cannot afford another trade agreement that gives investors legal mechanisms to challenge environmental laws and bylaws, particularly at the provincial and municipal levels where European companies are hoping to further constrain policy space," says Janet Eaton, Sierra Club Canada's environment and trade campaigner.
"The European Union has made clear it wants access to procurement and services within provincial jurisdiction. This means our public services like water and health are at risk in these talks. We need the Canadian government to stand up and make clear it is not willing to trade away public services," says Paul Moist, national president, Canadian Union of Public Employees.
"The EU, which is poised to fully deregulate all post offices between 2011 and 2013, has identified postal services as one of its priority sectors, but our government has yet to tell us what position it will be taking on postal issues. The public has a right to know what the Conservatives intend to do with our post office," says Denis Lemelin, national president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.
"This proposed agreement would prevent Canada from developing any new public services, would threaten existing public services, and would prevent governments from using taxpayer´s money to develop local economies. Public sector unions both here and in Europe have common concerns about these secretive talks, with their potentially major implications," says Larry Brown, secretary-treasurer with the National Union of Public and General Employees.
BACKGROUNDERS
Open For Business: Privatization, not higher standards, the main goal of Canada-EU free trade talks - Council of Canadians fact sheet A Critical Assessment of the Proposed Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Between the European Union and Canada - A joint position of the European Federation of Public Service Unions and the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the National Union of Public and General Employees and the Public Service Alliance of Canada
PRESS CONTACTS
Dylan Penner, Council of Canadians: 613-795-8685,
Angelo DiCaro, Canadian Auto Workers union: 416.495.3754; Angelo.DiCaro@caw.ca
Michael Bernard, Sierra Club Canada: 613.302.9933; michaelb@sierraclub.ca
Canadian Union of Public Employees (Media Relations): 613-852-1494
Katherine Steinhoff, Canadian Union of Postal Workers: 613-236-7230 (ext. 7918); ksteinhoff@cupw-sttp.org
Len Bush, National Union of Public and General Employees:
613-228-9800; lbush@nupge.ca
=====================
14. Nova Scotia groups caution Dexter government on Canada-European Union trade negotiations
http://www.canadians.org/media/trade/20 ... an-10.html
MEDIA RELEASE January 21, 2010
A coalition of Nova Scotia social justice, labour and environmental groups is cautioning the Dexter government against supporting a proposed Canada-European Union free trade agreement. Federal and provincial trade negotiators are wrapping up a second round of negotiations in Brussels, Belgium this week toward a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). The groups are asking the Dexter government to be open with Nova Scotians about what is being demanded of the province. They want Premier Dexter to establish a mechanism for receiving public input to assess the broader societal impacts of free trade with Europe.
"We have serious concerns about the scope and process of the proposed free trade agreement with Europe," says Angela Giles, regional organizer with the Council of Canadians and member of the Nova Scotia
Trading Options coalition. "Specifically, we're worried about the impact of a one-size-fits-all free trade model on local communities, and the new powers European corporations will have to influence local policy. After hearing about it from the Council of Canadians, Inverness County Council was concerned enough to request a draft EU agreement from the Department of Foreign Affairs."
One especially controversial area is local government procurement - public spending on local and provincial programs and priorities. European trade negotiators want to make it nearly impossible for Nova Scotia and its municipalities to give priority to local companies when spending public funds on goods or services, including public services. Applying EU procurement rules to municipalities could also outlaw sustainable or ethical spending policies that are considered trade-distorting.
"Increasingly our municipalities are including social or even sustainable development criteria in public contracts; this must never be negotiated away in trade agreements," says Danny Cavanagh, President of CUPE-NS and a municipal water worker. "Private European water companies are among the biggest corporate sponsors of this deal because they see dollar signs in using trade rules to privatize public utilities like Halifax Water. The Dexter government must reject any agreement with Europe that makes it easier to dismantle or privatize Canada´s public services."
Online consultations from the federal Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade have solicited business input on potential trade barriers in Europe, but there has been no broad and inclusive impact assessment of a possible CETA on the economy, poverty, gender, human rights and the environment. In other jurisdictions, such as Maine, Citizens Trade Commissions have been struck to seek input and put forward concerns from local communities regarding the impacts of
trade agreements like CETA.
Trading Options is also urging the Nova Scotia government not to support any deal that precludes the right to set environmental standards that are higher than those we currently have, or that includes an investor-state dispute mechanism such as Chapter 11 in NAFTA.
"Nova Scotians know all too well the illogic of allowing foreign companies to challenge environmental decisions under NAFTA, such as the assessment that put a stop to the Bilcon quarry in Digby Neck," says Janet Eaton of Sierra Club Canada, "The Canadian government is pushing to include these same flawed investor rights in the European trade agreement. Only this time our future as Nova Scotians is really on the line. Provincial and Municipal governments must take a stand
against undemocratic and seriously flawed agreements like CETA that threaten our sub-national governments." - 30 -
Members of the Trading Options Coalition include: Oxfam Canada - Maritimes, The Canadian Union of Public Employees, Nova Scotia Environmental Network, The Council of Canadians, The Public Service Alliance of Canada, Sierra Club Canada - Atlantic Chapter, the Canadian Labour Congress, and the Halifax Dartmouth and District Labour Council.
For more information, please contact:
Angela Giles | Atlantic Regional Organizer| The Council of Canadians 422.7811 | 478.5727
Janet Eaton | Sierra Club Canada (902) 542.1631
Danny Cavanagh | President | Canadian Union of Public Employees (902) 957.0822
=====================
15. Editorial: Brian Leslie: The ultimate conspiracy - not just `conspiracy theory´
http://sustecweb.co.uk/current/sustec17-6/editorial.htm
QUOTE: "For decades, mention of the interlinked Bilderberg Group, Trilateral Commission, European Round Table of Industrialists, Project or the New American Century - and not least, the Bank of International Settlements - has been dismissed as `conspiracy theory´, as though no `conspiracy theory´ could be based on `conspiracy fact´."
Sustainable Economics 17-6 index Dec 09
Editorial by Brian Leslie: The ultimate conspiracy - not just `conspiracy theory´ - is at last gaining attention. For decades, mention of the interlinked Bilderberg Group, Trilateral Commission, European Round Table of Industrialists, Project or the New American Century - and not least, the Bank of International Settlements - has been dismissed as `conspiracy theory´, as though no `conspiracy theory´ could be based on `conspiracy fact´.
The fact gradually becoming generally recognized, because of the blatantly damaging decisions being made by governments, is that there is a global elite working toward a corporate world government, and a world money, controlled by psychopaths prepared to start wars, allow the devastation of the `First World´ economies and the spread of poverty, starvation and diseases in the poorer parts of the world, and to spread lies and misinformation through the corporate public media.
The blatant inconsistencies in the official report on `9/11´ gave rise to many `conspiracy theories´, some or which were indeed far- fetched; but many facts emerged contradicting the official story, which give credence to the implication of the US administration as responsible for it. It is not acceptable to dismiss all these facts as `conspiracy theory´.
Obama´s election in the USA was seen as a ray of hope, but the reality is becoming apparent that however sincere he is in his pronouncements, he is in the hands of the same team of `lieutenants´ as were behind Bush, and the hope of radical change is fast fading.
As a latest example, in the UK: the British government´s recent decisions on nuclear power, coal-fired power stations, and new runways at airports, flying in the face of the need to combat global warming.
The debts generated by the money system as well as its power over money-creation are a great source of power for this elite, and its control of the media has in the past made spread of the facts about this, and alternatives, very difficult.
The main source of hope for reform - before it is too late - is the Internet. This is spreading debate and enlightenment globally, fast. (Those in power are seeking ways to control it, but so far, with little success.)
I hope that at least most of the readers of the paper edition of this newsletter have access to the Internet, because the `web´ is being flooded with articles which should be read by everyone concerned for the future.A link to a very sound, thought-provoking article, on - `WHY THIS CRISIS MAY BE OUR BEST CHANCE TO BUILD A NEW ECONOMY´ by David Korten, is:
http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/the-new-economy/
why-this-crisis-may-be-our-best-chance-to-build-a-new-economy
I also recommend a reading of a copyrighted article by Walden Bello, The Virtues of Deglobalization, which was published on Friday, September 4, 2009 by Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF).
The URL to the article is: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/09/04-4
Also recommended: James Robertson Newsletter No. 27 - November 2009 - which contains a range of links worth a look. The full Newsletter can be viewed at www.jamesrobertson.com/news-nov09.htm
If you have a group seeking in-depth education on the case for monetary reform, you can download the latest updated version of the talk Stephen Zarlenga, director of the American Monetary Institute, gave to the American Green Party´s National Convention in 2007 at www.monetary.org/greeningthedollar.ppt
It uses the history of the USA from colonial days as the main illustration of the struggle for the power to create money, and its results for society - as well as proposing reform of the current money system.
It takes about 1¼ hours to view and listen to, but is in 3 parts, which could each be followed by group discussion.
Volume 17 - Number 6 - December 2009
Main Contents: http://sustecweb.co.uk/current/sustec17-6/index.htm
======================
16. Compilation of Articles: Crisis and Despair in Haiti
Global Research.ca www.globalresearch.ca
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?cont ... &newsId=20
Compilation:
1. Tories ignoring environmental assessment panel: member
2. Nuclear debate full of grey areas
3. Strange day at Alberta Transportation
4. Radioactive Water from Nuclear Plant contaminates Ottawa River
5. Nuclear Power Regaining Favor Amid Recession, Climate Concerns
6. No Nukes News - Jan. 22, 2010
7. WATCH: Petropolis: Aerial Perspectives on the Alberta Tar Sands – Jan. 27
8. CLIMATE JUSTICE NOW – Speakers: Jan. 28 - Toronto
9. Germany to remove nuclear waste from Asse facility
10. Nuclear Power: "The ball gets rolling in Sweden" [World Nuclear News]
11. Iraq littered with high levels of nuclear and dioxin contamination, study finds
12. Glacier Meltdown: Another Scientific Scandal Involving the IPCC Climate Research Group
13. Harper´s free trade talks with Europe another attack on democracy
14. Nova Scotia groups caution Dexter government on Canada-European Union trade negotiations
15. Editorial: Brian Leslie: The ultimate conspiracy - not just `conspiracy theory´
16. Compilation of Articles: Crisis and Despair in Haiti
===========================
1. Tories ignoring environmental assessment panel: member
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/Tories+ignoring+
environmental+assessment+panel+member/2403349/story.html
By Mike De Souza, Canwest News Service January 4, 2010
A federal panel that advises the government on the environmental impact of new economic development has been left on the sidelines for nearly two years, Canwest News Service has learned. Throughout this time, sweeping changes to regulations have been passed, effectively exempting thousands of projects from mandatory evaluations.
"We haven't had any notice that the minister has dissolved the committee, but it's kind of awkward to have a committee that doesn't meet," said Gary Schneider, who sits on the panel.
Schneider, the co-chair of the Environmental Coalition of Prince Edward Island, said the last meeting of the Regulatory Advisory Committee was in the spring of 2008.
But, he said, no consultations were held with the panel in 2009, as the government introduced a series of exemptions for new infrastructure projects.
More than 90 per cent of thousands of new projects receiving funding from the Harper government will proceed without a federal environmental assessment, Canwest News Service reported in November. Although the projects may still be subject to provincial assessments, the government said the exemptions and the lack of federal assessments is the result of the need to kick-start projects.
The government argued that extensive consultations and duplicate evaluations would "slow projects and threaten Canada's economic recovery."
- - - - SNIP - - - -
A spokesperson for the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency said she could not comment on why the committee has not met since 2008. But she suggested they would be brought together again soon as part of a required review by Parliament in 2010 of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.
Two environmental groups, Ecojustice and the Sierra Club of Canada, have challenged the changes from last spring, which were introduced through regulations, without legislation in Parliament. They have suggested the government used the economic slowdown as an excuse to eliminate environmental protection legislation.
© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix
========================
2. Nuclear debate full of grey areas
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/technology/
Nuclear+debate+full+grey+areas/2467249/story.html
Prof believes public expects to be told complicated truth
By Elise Stolte, Edmonton Journal January 21, 2010
Nuclear experts trying to reassure residents risks from nuclear power are minimal are missing the point, says a university social scientist.
As experts mount education campaigns, pull out charts and try to win on the strength of their data, people turn away, unable to believe they're getting a full answer, said Debra Davidson, a sociologist in the department of rural economics at the University of Alberta.
The only way government and industry leaders are going to win people back is by admitting the debate is not black and white, she said.
"I know that's a fine political line to walk on."
Proponents worry if they come out and say "accidents are possible" they will create fear and no one will to accept their product. "What I would say as a social scientist is exactly the opposite. If you want to alleviate the concerns of members of the public than acknowledge the concerns. They're already scared. They're more likely to be afraid of people who say, that will never happen."
Davidson is the lead author on a report released this week trying to bring a new perspectives between the extremes. She worked with a group of economists, sociologists and an English PhD candidate from the University of Alberta and The King's University College and will be co-hosting a followup forum at the University of Alberta on Jan. 31. Ontario-based Bruce Power is considering building a 4,000 megawatt nuclear power plant north of Peace River, the first in Alberta, and an environmental assessment is expected later this year.
Davidson said the other element that is missing from Alberta's nuclear debate is that there are risks on all sides.
MORE:
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/technology/
Nuclear+debate+full+grey+areas/2467249/story.html
"People are more willing to accept a decision if they feel they have been given a fair hearing."
estolte@thejournal.canwest.com
NUCLEAR POWER DISCUSSION
Join the authors, policy-makers and others to discuss the prospects for nuclear power development in Alberta When: Jan. 31; 1:00-4:30 p.m. Where: Myer Horowitz Theatre, University of Alberta For a link to the report visit edmontonjournal.com/extras
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
=======================
3. Strange day at Alberta Transportation
PRESS RELEASE - January 21, 2010
On Thursday Jan 21, Pat MacNamara and myself along with five other people went into Alberta Transportation’s office in Peace River to get some answers to questions we asked two weeks ago. We went in at about 10:30AM and arranged to meet with Bill Gish, who sent out the order to remove the “No To Nuclear” signs and signed the letters instructing land owners to remove their signs from private property.
The meeting did not go well. Mr Gish would not answer any of our questions relating to the sign removal and within just a few minutes ordered us off the premises and threatened to call the R.C.M.P. We called his bluff, refused to leave, and took over the reception area, called the media, and spent the day there talking to reporters, playing cards and visiting.
At 2:00 PM, Mr. Gish entered the room all smiles and friendly, offered us coffee and donuts courtesy of the deputy minister. Sure enough, 20 minutes later a couple of guys arrive with a large box of Tim Hortons coffee and two boxes of donuts.
So we gathered that Gish’s superiors told him NOT to call the R.C.M.P, at least not in a public fashion. The department has apparently suffered enough embarrassment. We left at about 3:30 after assuring them that we will keep coming back until we find out who ordered the attack on free speech.
Gish is in a difficult position. If he squeals on whoever ordered the sign removal, it wouldn’t be a very shrewd move, career wise. If he takes responsibility for the work order, he has some explaining to do as to why only our signs were targeted. The Grimshaw newspaper Mile Zero News has initiated F.O.I.P to try to get a copy of the work order relating to the sign removal, because they continue to refuse to release it to the press. We figure it’s either Oberle our new solicitor general or Transportation Minister Ouellette who issued the order. This issue continues to blow up in their face. I’m sure they wish they’d left our little signs alone.
People in Weberville next to the proposed site have erected a giant wall of signs in response to the actions of this corrupt government. For color photos of the monument to free speech email entwork@hotmail.com I guarantee you'll be amused.
I encourage everyone to spread this message around.
Brent Reese Earth Alternatives. 780 836 3796 bgreese@telus.net
==========================
4. Radioactive Water from Nuclear Plant contaminates Ottawa River
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... &aid=17104
Global Research, January 20, 2010
Harper government allows 7,000 litres of potentially carcinogenic waste water to be dumped in major Canadian waterway
The Stephen Harper's government lack of social responsibility on environmental matters has once again surfaced through an immediate public health threat.
A radioactive spill has occurred at the aging Chalk River nuclear reactor west of the nation's capital after the facility was recently cranked up to double its normal output of medical isotopes, used in diagnosing and treating cancer, Sun Media has learned.
The Conservative Party handling of this public health threat is grounds in itself to out them through a non-confidence motion.. The reactor is supplying up to 70% of the world's medical isotopes, and a shutdown could leave millions of cancer and heart patients in Canada and around the globe without critical treatments.
But the radioactive spill and another ongoing leak at the reactor are bound to spark renewed controversy over the safety of the nuclear facility built in 1958.
An internal report to federal nuclear regulators shows radioactive tritium was released into the air during the incident at the Chalk River reactor on Dec. 5.
Atomic Energy of Canada officials running the 51-year-old apparently defective reactor reported they managed to contain another 800 litres of contaminated water now being stored in special drums.
The report alleges there was no threat to the health of workers at the reactor, and officials say the tritium released into the air posed no significant danger to the surrounding environment.
Nonetheless, after a brief shutdown, the reactor has continued to operate at full power, even though Chalk River officials admit they don't know what caused the leak, and say it could happen again.
Documents indicate officials at Atomic Energy took four days to report the spill to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.
Even then, the spill proved to be five times larger than what the officials initially reported.
They didn't go out of their way to inform the public, either.
A press release about the brief shutdown of the reactor in December made no mention of a spill, only "unanticipated technical challenges."
Radioactive water leak in the human drinking supply of water
MORE: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... &aid=17104
=============================
5. Nuclear Power Regaining Favor Amid Recession, Climate Concerns
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/01/24-4
Published on Sunday, January 24, 2010 by The Real News Network
Industries want the government to co-sign for more than $40 billion in loans
by Judy Pasternak, Investigative Reporting Workshop
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration may soon guarantee as much as $18.5 billion in loans to build nuclear reactors to generate electricity, and Congress is considering whether to add billions more to support an expansion of nuclear power.
These actions come after an extensive, decade-long campaign in which companies and unions related to the industry have spent more than $600 million on lobbying and nearly $63 million on campaign contributions, according to an analysis by the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University.
Nuclear power generates about 20 percent of America's electricity, but many existing reactors are aging. No new plant has been authorized since the 1979 incident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, when small amounts of radiation were released and authorities feared for days that a huge surge might escape.
That's in part because it can cost as much as $8 billion to build a nuclear plant, and in part because the problems of nuclear waste and safety remain unsolved.
But the problem of global warming remains unsolved, too, and as the nation struggles to rebound from a deep recession, building new nuclear reactors increasingly looks to some like a big jobs program. The industry, capitalizing on both developments, argues that nuclear energy must be part of any effort to curb heat-trapping carbon emissions.
Its longtime foes - environmentalists, some labor unions, Democrats - increasingly agree.
"This is nuclear's year," said House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., who in recent years has become one of the industry's champions on Capitol Hill.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, has pledged that the climate bill that's making its way through Congress will include new government help for the nuclear industry. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina says he would provide a much-sought Republican vote for the bill if its energy provisions include help for the nuclear industry.
Some Republicans, who have historically have friendlier to nuclear power, are pushing a plan to build 100 reactors over the next 20 years. The industry considers the forthcoming $18.5 billion in guarantees a down payment on a more ambitious expansion.
Electric utilities want more than $100 billion in guarantees for construction that's expected to cost $200 billion. Those guarantees are considered crucial to some companies' nuclear plans.
MORE: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/01/24-4
============================
6. No Nukes News - Jan. 22, 2010
The only safe nuke is 150 million kilometres away! - Vic Yanda
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Nuclear power losing in importance world-wide
The world-wide renaissance of nuclear power that has so often been predicted will not take place in the next few decades. Nuclear energy will be on the decline till the year 2030, and will continue to decline in importance globally. This is the conclusion of the Swiss “Prognos” institute based in Basel.
http://www.wieninternational.at/en/node/16702
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McGuinty heralds Samsung green energy deal
Premier Dalton McGuinty has signed a landmark agreement with a South Korean consortium that will see $7 billion invested in Ontario to create 16,000 new jobs over six years.
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/
753816--mcguinty-heralds-samsung-green-energy-deal
http://www.rechargenews.com/energy/wind ... 193520.ece
http://dcnonl.com/article/id37193
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Shocker: We don't pay enough for electricity
Consumers in Ontario and across the country should pay a higher price for electricity, especially in peak periods, to reflect its environmental cost and the cost of new generating facilities.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/
shocker-we-dont-pay-enough-for-electricity/article1434557/
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Down the Yellowcake Road
From exploration to fuel production, this website related the contamination, water consumption, waste generation, costs to the American taxpayer through government subsidies, health impacts, and the CO2 emissions that are caused by the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle.
Also, watch the fantastic 10-minute documentary.
http://www.downtheyellowcakeroad.org/
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Florida Power and Light Billion-Dollar Rate Hike Denied
The Florida Public Service Commission (PUC) denied Florida Power and Light (FPL) Company's $1.27 billion rate-hike request, granting instead a minuscule $75.5 million in a decision that could be the death knell for not only two proposed nuclear reactors in Florida, but several elsewhere in the U.S.
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/janu ... _nukes.php
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On Eve Of Nuclear Renaissance, Florida Nuke Project Gets Postponed
Can you really call something a renaissance if it consists of one or two projects, paid for by the government?
http://blogs.forbes.com/energysource/2010/01/18/
on-eve-of-nuclear-renaissance-florida-nuke-project-gets-postponed/
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Lesson in how not to go nuclear
In 2005, Finland broke ground on the world’s most advanced reactor, a 1,600-megawatt plant built by Areva of France and the German firm Siemens. The nuclear industry hoped it would be an example of a new generation of plants that were cheap and efficient and could be built faster than older models.
Four and a half years later, the project is running at least three years late, costs have doubled and both sides are locked in an ugly legal battle that spilled out in public several times last year.
http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll ... 69960/1005
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Chernobyl Nuclear Accident: Figures for Deaths and Cancers Still in Dispute
Doctors at hospitals in Belarus and Ukraine are seeing highly unusual rates of cancers, mutations and blood diseases in their young patients. An assessment by the Russian academy of sciences says there have been 60,000 deaths so far in Russia and an estimated 140,000 in Ukraine and Belarus - far higher than the ludicrous but "official" figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which claim only 56 people have died as a direct result of the radiation released by the Chernobyl explosion and that only about 4,000 will die from it eventually.
http://www.beyondnuclear.org/storage/Ch ... an2010.pdf
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Report links cancer "epidemic" to nuclear power
Calling the incidence rate of thyroid cancer in eastern Pennsylvania an "epidemic," a nuclear power watchdog group is placing the blame squarely on the shoulders of the nuclear power industry.
http://www.whptv.com/news/local/story/
Report-links-cancer-epidemic-to-nuclear-power/KkxZWpacOkub8bbm7akjzQ.cspx
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Nuclear ‘Renaissance’ or ‘Retreat’? France is not the Example
It is perhaps no accident that the nuclear power industry chose a French word – “renaissance” – to promote its alleged comeback. A failure to challenge this facile falsehood has cemented the myth of a French nuclear Utopia in the minds of the public. It masks a very different reality.
http://www.reviewmessenger.com/index.ph ... om_content
&view=article&id=4082:nuclear-renaissance-or-retreat-france-is-
not-the-example&catid=19:guest-opinion
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Pulling the plug or counting the cash
The German government has the upper hand as it meets with heads of major energy companies in Berlin. Should the government close Germany's aging nuclear plants, or collect money from the companies to keep them running?
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5154213,00.html
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Rick Mercer: Tritium Giveaway Days
This 1-minute comedy act was from June, 2009 after a tritium spill at Chalk River nuclear station. In Dec. ’09 we had another tritium spill.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuiFplYlLCg
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Nuclear-News
The latest news on the uranium/nuclear industry
http://nuclear-news.net/
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The Solar Industry Gains Ground
At a time of economic pain and planetary peril, a renewable global powerhouse takes shape. Just when we need it most.
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/131 ... rnova.html
=========================
7. WATCH: Petropolis: Aerial Perspectives on the Alberta Tar Sands
Shot primarily from a helicopter, Peter Mettler's visionary flimmaking offers an unparalleled view of the world's largest industrial, capital and energy project. This bird's eye view offers a staggering and unique perspective on how some of the world's dirtiest oil is produced—and how much we're willing to sacrifice in the pursuit of unsustainable and destructive energy sources. From the poisoning of downstream First Nations communities and the total assimilation of wildlife habitats, to the contamination of critical waterways and the clear cutting of the Boreal Forest, the tar sands have become the poster child of where our global addiction to dirty fuels has taken us. "Petropolis: Aerial Perspectives on the Alberta Tar Sands" seeks to expose the true nature of this fiercely destructive project by taking the viewer deep into the oily belly of the beast.
Royal Theatre (608 College St.), Toronto
Friday Jan. 22nd to Wed. Jan. 27th, 7:00pm
Also Sunday Jan. 24th - 4:30pm
Ticket price is $10. Students and seniors $8.
In conjunction with the screenings there will be a Q+A with a host of speakers, including film-maker Peter Mettler and Greenpeace Canada's Executive Director, Bruce Cox.
Find out more about the film: http://www.petropolis-film.com/#
========================
8. CLIMATE JUSTICE NOW – Speakers: Jan. 28 - Toronto
Toronto Report-back from UN Climate Change Talks in Copenhagen
Thursday, January 28, 7pm
United Steelworkers Hall, 25 Cecil Street (south of College, east of Spadina)
Join us as we hear from participants from different delegations as they discuss the negotiations and the "Copenhagen Accord", the 100,000-strong demonstration, the shameful role of the Canadian Government which won the "Fossil of the Day" award ten times through out the conference and what needs to be done to combat climate change!
Speakers include:
CLAYTON THOMAS MULLER Tar sands organizer, Indigenous Environmental Network
CAROLYN EGAN President, Steelworker Toronto Area Council
DAVE MARTIN Energy coordinator, Greenpeace Canada
KIMIA GHOMESHI Member, Canadian Youth Delegation
(Moderator) BRETT RHYNO Organizer, Toronto Climate Campaign
FREE! ALL WELCOME!
TORONTO CLIMATE CAMPAIGN
web: www.torontoclimatecampaign.org
e-mail: info@torontoclimatecampaign.org
------------------------------------------------------------------
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. Germany to remove nuclear waste from Asse facility
The storage area, a former subterranean salt mine research operation, has been found unstable
By Sarah Wolfe, 25 Jan 2010
http://www.energydigital.com/MarketSector/Utilities/
Germany-to-remove-nuclear-waste-from-Asse-facility_41341.aspx
Germany has a “major scientific and technological challenge” on its hands, according to the nation’s Federal Office for Radiation Protection. The government has ordered the Schacht Asse II
radioactive waste disposal facility to remove thousands of barrels after a salt dome was determined to be unstable.
Roughly 126,000 barrels filled with low-level radioactive waste including contaminated clothes, paper and equipment will be brought to the surface for alternative storage, according to World Nuclear
News. Rather than storing these contents in highly-secured landfills, Asse began putting the barrels down in tunnels and caverns from past salt mining research activity in the 1960s and 70s. Since then, the salt mine network has become unstable and allowed in groundwater. Further investigation of several other levels with waste vaults will be carried out in the near future and appropriate action taken.
Learn more at:
World Nuclear News
(Edited by Gabe Perna)
------------------------------------------------------
Germany's waste removal decision
World Nuclear News, 18 January 2010
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/WR_Ge ... 01101.html
Thousands of barrels are to be removed from Germany's Asse radioactive waste disposal
facility, a salt dome which has proven unstable.
The decision has come from the country's Federal Office for Radiation Protection (Bundesamt für Strahlenshutz, BfS), which described the job as a "major scientific and technological challenge".
Some 126,000 barrels are to be removed to the surface for alternative storage. They mostly contain low-level radioactive waste such as lightly contaminated clothes, paper and equipment. In most countries these are disposed of permanently in purpose-built landfills, carefully lined to protect surrounding land. Asse, by contrast, is within a network of tunnels and caverns left by salt mining research operations.
It was decided to use Asse in the 1960s and 1970s but this is seen as a licensing failure: The complex is in the upper portions of the salt, which are now unstable and increasingly allowing the ingress of groundwater. Ultimately this would be expected to erode waste canisters and allow contamination of groundwater.
To address this, the BfS considered three options: Filling the complex with concrete to provide a stable matrix Moving wastes to a stable area deeper in the salt mass Removing the wastes for interim storage on the surface
The BfS said that an argument against the first option was that it could not be shown to satisfy long-term safety requirements. Meanwhile, the second option relies on the identification of a deep
area of salt stable enough to satisfy German law. It would also be an especially long-lasting and challenging project.
Both of the latter options require every canister to be checked and possibly repackaged using a new underground process line.
While deciding on removal to the surface, the BfS warned that none of its options were optimal and all were uncertain. It noted that unpredictability of the salt and degradation of the packages could
potentially prove to be too great a danger to workers. However, long-term security was its priority and the BfS would proceed with removal. It concluded that it will soon present a plan to open the waste vaults and investigate the exact condition of the barrels.
Researched and written by World Nuclear News
=======================
10. Nuclear Power: "The ball gets rolling in Sweden" [World Nuclear News]
From: Gordon Edwards
Sent: Monday, January 25, 2010 11:27 PM
Background:
Sweden has had (and still has) a nuclear phase out law since 1980. However, the current government wishes to repeal the phase out and renew the building of nuclear reactors. As the following article indicates, any new reactors would be intended primarily for the export of electricity. The new legislative initiative will be presented to the Swedish Parliament in March 2010.
This article is from World Nuclear News, an industry publication.
Gordon Edwards.
====================
Nuclear Power: The ball gets rolling in Sweden
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/The_b ... 10012.html
Reporting by Daniel Westlén for World Nuclear News 25 January 2010
New nuclear is on the Swedish agenda with moves towards revised legislation and regulatory support for new build applications.
Hans Blix told a seminar he was 'absolutely convinced' of the need for new reactors.
A meeting in Stockholm on 21 January, organised by the power utility research organisation, Elforsk, heard from a range of players in the new environment for Swedish atomic energy.
Regulatory law expert Ingvar Persson has been tasked with reviewing nuclear legislation, and in particular, suggesting new language to permit the construction of new reactors -- banned since a 1980 referendum. He is also reviewing the status of nuclear liability in Sweden, with the likely result of unlimited liability for plant owners in the event of an accident. The government is expected to propose its legal changes on 22 March with the aim of bringing the new legislation into force by 1 July.
Parallel work is underway at the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (Strålsäkerhetsmyndigheten, SSM), which this month began working on a proposal for a licensing process for new reactors. SSM head Fredrik Hassel said the system could be ready for government approval by February 2011 with spring 2013 as the earliest possible time to begin reviewing an application. He warned that this required
financial investment from the government as well as the recruitment of about 60 more staff.
The moves come after last year's turnaround on nuclear policy in the name of climate change. 'The climate issue is now in focus,' wrote the coalition government in February 2009, 'and nuclear power will thus remain an important part of Swedish electricity production for the forseeable future.' That policy statement, after concessions from the Centre Party, heralded the beginning of the end of phase-out conditions.
Hans Blix, former director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, spoke at the seminar. 'We do need new reactors in Sweden,' he said, 'I am absolutely convinced of that.' Blix noted the financial gain France has experienced by exporting huge volumes of power to neighbours that had taken anti-nuclear stances -- Belgium, Germany, Italy and Spain. He said Sweden could also become a regional power exporter, bringing income while helping to reduce emissions in Germany and Denmark.
Sweden already uses nuclear power from ten reactors for over 40% of electricity, with an even larger proportion coming from large hydro and only a small amount from fossil fuels. While new reactors were banned Swedish operators concentrated on improving the perfomance and longevity of existing ones with the result that new units may result in surplus of power.
A new unit at Oskarshamn would be one possible new-build project and the region's mayor, Peter Wretlund, welcomed the idea. However, Lennart Fredenberg of Oskarshamn owner EOn remained very cautious. He said that new build would be only one option to eventually replace Oskarshamn 1, which began operation in 1972 and is Sweden's oldest reactor. However, Swedish reactors are allowed to continue operating as long as they are within safety requirements and it is EOn's policy to continuously modernise its reactors until no longer economically viable. In the meantime EOn's focus in Scandinavian new build remains the Fennovoima's project, which has progressed to the point of applying to the government for a decision in principle.
========================
11. Iraq littered with high levels of nuclear and dioxin contamination, study finds
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/22/
iraq-nuclear-contaminated-sites
* Greater rates of cancer and birth defects near sites
* Depleted uranium among poisons revealed in report
By Martin Chulov in Baghdad, The Guardian (London), January 22, 2010
More than 40 sites across Iraq are contaminated with high levels or radiation and dioxins, with three decades of war and neglect having left environmental ruin in large parts of the country, an official Iraqi study has found.
Areas in and near Iraq's largest towns and cities, including Najaf, Basra and Falluja, account for around 25% of the contaminated sites, which appear to coincide with communities that have seen increased rates of cancer and birth defects over the past five years. The joint study by the environment, health and science ministries found that scrap metal yards in and around Baghdad and Basra contain high levels of ionising radiation, which is thought to be a legacy of depleted uranium used in munitions during the first Gulf war and since the 2003 invasion.
The environment minister, Narmin Othman, said high levels of dioxins on agricultural lands in southern Iraq, in particular, were increasingly thought to be a key factor in a general decline in the health of people living in the poorest parts of the country.
"If we look at Basra, there are some heavily polluted areas there and there are many factors contributing to it," she told the Guardian. "First, it has been a battlefield for two wars, the Gulf war and the Iran-Iraq war, where many kinds of bombs were used. Also, oil pipelines were bombed and most of the contamination settled in and around Basra.
"The soil has ended up in people's lungs and has been on food that people have eaten. Dioxins have been very high in those areas. All of this has caused systemic problems on a very large scale for both ecology and overall health."
Government study groups have recently focused on the war-ravaged city of Falluja, west of Baghdad, where the unstable security situation had kept scientists away ever since fierce fighting between militants and US forces in 2004.
"We have only found one area so far in Falluja," Othman said. "But there are other areas that we will try to explore soon with international help."
MORE:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/22/
iraq-nuclear-contaminated-sites
==========================
12. Glacier Meltdown: Another Scientific Scandal Involving the IPCC Climate Research Group
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=17155
By F. William Engdahl Global Research, January 23, 2010
Only days after the failed Copenhagen Global Warming Summit, yet a new scandal over the scientific accuracy of the UN IPCC 2007 climate report has emerged. Following the major data-manipulation scandals from the UN-tied research center at Britain's East Anglia University late 2009, the picture emerges of one of the most massive scientific frauds of recent history.
Senior members of the UN climate project, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have been forced to admit a major error in the 2007 IPCC UN report that triggered the recent global campaign for urgent measures to reduce “manmade emissions” of CO2. The IPCC's 2007 report stated, “glaciers in the Himalayas are receding faster than in any other part of the world.” Given that this is the world's highest mountain range and meltdown implies a massive flooding of India, China and the entire Asian region, it was a major scare “selling point” for the IPCC agenda. As well, the statement on the glacier melt in the 2007 IPCC report contains other serious errors such as the statement that “Its total area will likely shrink from the present 500,000 to 100,000 square kilometers by the year 2035." There are only 33,000 square kilometers of glaciers in the Himalayas. And a table in the report says that between 1845 and 1965, the Pindari Glacier shrank by 2,840 meters. Then comes a math mistake: It says that's a rate of 135.2 meters a year, when it really is only 23.5 meters a year. Now scientists around the world are scouring the entire IPCC report for indications of similar lack of scientific rigor.
It emerges that the basis of the stark IPCC glacier meltdown statement of 2007 was not even a scientific study of melting data. Rather it was a reference to a newspaper article cited by a pro-global warming ecological advocacy group, WWF.
The original source of the IPCC statement, it turns out, appeared in a 1999 report in the British magazine, New Scientist that was cited in passing by WWF. The New Scientist author, Fred Pierce, wrote then, “The inclusion of this statement has angered many glaciologists, who regard it as unjustified. Vijay Raina, a leading Indian glaciologist, wrote in a paper published by the Indian Government in November that there is no sign of "abnormal" retreat in Himalayan glaciers. India's environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, accused the IPCC of being "alarmist." The IPCC's chairman, Rajendra Pachauri, has hit back, denouncing the Indian government report as "voodoo science" lacking peer review. He adds that "we have a very clear idea of what is happening" in the Himalayas.” [1][1]
MORE: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=17155
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13. Harper´s free trade talks with Europe another attack on democracy
http://www.canadians.org/media/trade/20 ... an-10.html
MEDIA RELEASE For Immediate Release January 22, 2010
Harper´s free trade talks with Europe another attack on democracy, say environmental, labour and social justice groups
As a second round of Canada-European Union free trade talks wraps up in Brussels, Belgium today, Canadian civil society organizations are demanding full transparency from the Harper government, and a halt to negotiations while countrywide public consultations can be held. The scope of the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) jeopardizes public services, sustainability, social policy and local democracy, say the organizations, which include the Council of Canadians, Canadian Auto Workers union, Sierra Club Canada, Canadian Union of Postal Workers, Canadian Union of Public Employees and National Union of Public and General Employees.
ORGANIZATIONAL STATEMENTS
"Harper is trampling on democracy yet again with a new round of secret trade talks in Europe. People around the world are demanding tougher climate and health protections, not an expansion of discredited laissez-faire capitalism," says Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians.
"We´ve seen firsthand how NAFTA has destroyed jobs, depressed working conditions and rendered governments nearly powerless to corporate interests. Canadians can´t afford to go down that path again," says CAW National President Ken Lewenza.
"We simply cannot afford another trade agreement that gives investors legal mechanisms to challenge environmental laws and bylaws, particularly at the provincial and municipal levels where European companies are hoping to further constrain policy space," says Janet Eaton, Sierra Club Canada's environment and trade campaigner.
"The European Union has made clear it wants access to procurement and services within provincial jurisdiction. This means our public services like water and health are at risk in these talks. We need the Canadian government to stand up and make clear it is not willing to trade away public services," says Paul Moist, national president, Canadian Union of Public Employees.
"The EU, which is poised to fully deregulate all post offices between 2011 and 2013, has identified postal services as one of its priority sectors, but our government has yet to tell us what position it will be taking on postal issues. The public has a right to know what the Conservatives intend to do with our post office," says Denis Lemelin, national president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.
"This proposed agreement would prevent Canada from developing any new public services, would threaten existing public services, and would prevent governments from using taxpayer´s money to develop local economies. Public sector unions both here and in Europe have common concerns about these secretive talks, with their potentially major implications," says Larry Brown, secretary-treasurer with the National Union of Public and General Employees.
BACKGROUNDERS
Open For Business: Privatization, not higher standards, the main goal of Canada-EU free trade talks - Council of Canadians fact sheet A Critical Assessment of the Proposed Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Between the European Union and Canada - A joint position of the European Federation of Public Service Unions and the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the National Union of Public and General Employees and the Public Service Alliance of Canada
PRESS CONTACTS
Dylan Penner, Council of Canadians: 613-795-8685,
Angelo DiCaro, Canadian Auto Workers union: 416.495.3754; Angelo.DiCaro@caw.ca
Michael Bernard, Sierra Club Canada: 613.302.9933; michaelb@sierraclub.ca
Canadian Union of Public Employees (Media Relations): 613-852-1494
Katherine Steinhoff, Canadian Union of Postal Workers: 613-236-7230 (ext. 7918); ksteinhoff@cupw-sttp.org
Len Bush, National Union of Public and General Employees:
613-228-9800; lbush@nupge.ca
=====================
14. Nova Scotia groups caution Dexter government on Canada-European Union trade negotiations
http://www.canadians.org/media/trade/20 ... an-10.html
MEDIA RELEASE January 21, 2010
A coalition of Nova Scotia social justice, labour and environmental groups is cautioning the Dexter government against supporting a proposed Canada-European Union free trade agreement. Federal and provincial trade negotiators are wrapping up a second round of negotiations in Brussels, Belgium this week toward a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). The groups are asking the Dexter government to be open with Nova Scotians about what is being demanded of the province. They want Premier Dexter to establish a mechanism for receiving public input to assess the broader societal impacts of free trade with Europe.
"We have serious concerns about the scope and process of the proposed free trade agreement with Europe," says Angela Giles, regional organizer with the Council of Canadians and member of the Nova Scotia
Trading Options coalition. "Specifically, we're worried about the impact of a one-size-fits-all free trade model on local communities, and the new powers European corporations will have to influence local policy. After hearing about it from the Council of Canadians, Inverness County Council was concerned enough to request a draft EU agreement from the Department of Foreign Affairs."
One especially controversial area is local government procurement - public spending on local and provincial programs and priorities. European trade negotiators want to make it nearly impossible for Nova Scotia and its municipalities to give priority to local companies when spending public funds on goods or services, including public services. Applying EU procurement rules to municipalities could also outlaw sustainable or ethical spending policies that are considered trade-distorting.
"Increasingly our municipalities are including social or even sustainable development criteria in public contracts; this must never be negotiated away in trade agreements," says Danny Cavanagh, President of CUPE-NS and a municipal water worker. "Private European water companies are among the biggest corporate sponsors of this deal because they see dollar signs in using trade rules to privatize public utilities like Halifax Water. The Dexter government must reject any agreement with Europe that makes it easier to dismantle or privatize Canada´s public services."
Online consultations from the federal Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade have solicited business input on potential trade barriers in Europe, but there has been no broad and inclusive impact assessment of a possible CETA on the economy, poverty, gender, human rights and the environment. In other jurisdictions, such as Maine, Citizens Trade Commissions have been struck to seek input and put forward concerns from local communities regarding the impacts of
trade agreements like CETA.
Trading Options is also urging the Nova Scotia government not to support any deal that precludes the right to set environmental standards that are higher than those we currently have, or that includes an investor-state dispute mechanism such as Chapter 11 in NAFTA.
"Nova Scotians know all too well the illogic of allowing foreign companies to challenge environmental decisions under NAFTA, such as the assessment that put a stop to the Bilcon quarry in Digby Neck," says Janet Eaton of Sierra Club Canada, "The Canadian government is pushing to include these same flawed investor rights in the European trade agreement. Only this time our future as Nova Scotians is really on the line. Provincial and Municipal governments must take a stand
against undemocratic and seriously flawed agreements like CETA that threaten our sub-national governments." - 30 -
Members of the Trading Options Coalition include: Oxfam Canada - Maritimes, The Canadian Union of Public Employees, Nova Scotia Environmental Network, The Council of Canadians, The Public Service Alliance of Canada, Sierra Club Canada - Atlantic Chapter, the Canadian Labour Congress, and the Halifax Dartmouth and District Labour Council.
For more information, please contact:
Angela Giles | Atlantic Regional Organizer| The Council of Canadians 422.7811 | 478.5727
Janet Eaton | Sierra Club Canada (902) 542.1631
Danny Cavanagh | President | Canadian Union of Public Employees (902) 957.0822
=====================
15. Editorial: Brian Leslie: The ultimate conspiracy - not just `conspiracy theory´
http://sustecweb.co.uk/current/sustec17-6/editorial.htm
QUOTE: "For decades, mention of the interlinked Bilderberg Group, Trilateral Commission, European Round Table of Industrialists, Project or the New American Century - and not least, the Bank of International Settlements - has been dismissed as `conspiracy theory´, as though no `conspiracy theory´ could be based on `conspiracy fact´."
Sustainable Economics 17-6 index Dec 09
Editorial by Brian Leslie: The ultimate conspiracy - not just `conspiracy theory´ - is at last gaining attention. For decades, mention of the interlinked Bilderberg Group, Trilateral Commission, European Round Table of Industrialists, Project or the New American Century - and not least, the Bank of International Settlements - has been dismissed as `conspiracy theory´, as though no `conspiracy theory´ could be based on `conspiracy fact´.
The fact gradually becoming generally recognized, because of the blatantly damaging decisions being made by governments, is that there is a global elite working toward a corporate world government, and a world money, controlled by psychopaths prepared to start wars, allow the devastation of the `First World´ economies and the spread of poverty, starvation and diseases in the poorer parts of the world, and to spread lies and misinformation through the corporate public media.
The blatant inconsistencies in the official report on `9/11´ gave rise to many `conspiracy theories´, some or which were indeed far- fetched; but many facts emerged contradicting the official story, which give credence to the implication of the US administration as responsible for it. It is not acceptable to dismiss all these facts as `conspiracy theory´.
Obama´s election in the USA was seen as a ray of hope, but the reality is becoming apparent that however sincere he is in his pronouncements, he is in the hands of the same team of `lieutenants´ as were behind Bush, and the hope of radical change is fast fading.
As a latest example, in the UK: the British government´s recent decisions on nuclear power, coal-fired power stations, and new runways at airports, flying in the face of the need to combat global warming.
The debts generated by the money system as well as its power over money-creation are a great source of power for this elite, and its control of the media has in the past made spread of the facts about this, and alternatives, very difficult.
The main source of hope for reform - before it is too late - is the Internet. This is spreading debate and enlightenment globally, fast. (Those in power are seeking ways to control it, but so far, with little success.)
I hope that at least most of the readers of the paper edition of this newsletter have access to the Internet, because the `web´ is being flooded with articles which should be read by everyone concerned for the future.A link to a very sound, thought-provoking article, on - `WHY THIS CRISIS MAY BE OUR BEST CHANCE TO BUILD A NEW ECONOMY´ by David Korten, is:
http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/the-new-economy/
why-this-crisis-may-be-our-best-chance-to-build-a-new-economy
I also recommend a reading of a copyrighted article by Walden Bello, The Virtues of Deglobalization, which was published on Friday, September 4, 2009 by Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF).
The URL to the article is: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/09/04-4
Also recommended: James Robertson Newsletter No. 27 - November 2009 - which contains a range of links worth a look. The full Newsletter can be viewed at www.jamesrobertson.com/news-nov09.htm
If you have a group seeking in-depth education on the case for monetary reform, you can download the latest updated version of the talk Stephen Zarlenga, director of the American Monetary Institute, gave to the American Green Party´s National Convention in 2007 at www.monetary.org/greeningthedollar.ppt
It uses the history of the USA from colonial days as the main illustration of the struggle for the power to create money, and its results for society - as well as proposing reform of the current money system.
It takes about 1¼ hours to view and listen to, but is in 3 parts, which could each be followed by group discussion.
Volume 17 - Number 6 - December 2009
Main Contents: http://sustecweb.co.uk/current/sustec17-6/index.htm
======================
16. Compilation of Articles: Crisis and Despair in Haiti
Global Research.ca www.globalresearch.ca
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?cont ... &newsId=20
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9887
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
NUKE NEWS (1): Jan. 31.10
by Oscar » Wed Apr 21, 2010 8:19 am
NUKE NEWS (1): Jan. 31.10
Compilation:
1. Brochure: Weberville Area Connection (WAC) (Photos missing)
2. (2008) Edmonton-based company signs major developmental agreements
3. VicePres Bruce Power on radioactive waste disposal "underway"
4. Spanish nuclear waste plans draw bidders, protest
5. Federal panel to examine nuclear waste storage
6. Thousands protest against nuclear waste site near Tarragona
7. Germany to remove nuclear waste from Asse facility
8. A French Company Is Hoping to Convince California to Rethink Its Nuclear Energy Policy
9. UPDATE: Parkland Institute - Jan. 27.10
10. WATCH: My Nuclear Neighbour - CBC TV - Feb. 11.10 - 8 p.m.
11. Chalk River nuclear reactor: NRU repair hold-ups
12. Conference urges Canada to press policies against nuclear weapons
=========================
1. Brochure: Weberville Area Connection (WAC) (Photos missing)
The farmers living closest to the proposed reactor site in Weberville banded together as WAC, out of concern for their safety and to educate themselves. They had no choice. Our governments, our scientists and the medical community abandoned them.
None of the three levels of government held a single public meeting on nuclear power in the past three years. They’ve provided no educational material or qualified speakers. No one from academia or the scientific community came to explain the impacts and dangers we face except those WE paid for. Health and social experts have been equally silent.
Mel Knight’s handling of the nuclear issue for the past two years has been shameful. He emasculated the credibility of his Expert Nuclear Panel by failing to appoint any health or environmental experts while including a Director of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. The panel’s subsequent report is biased, incomplete and fraudulent.
The “consultation” process was equally dubious. Mel Knight allowed the nuclear project to go forward after dismissing the negative results of the first survey of 3600 people, in favour of the marginally more positive results of 1,024 people in a random telephone survey. It’s also disturbing that no media was allowed into any part of the consultation process.
Mel Knight’s subversion of democracy was not over. He has tried to silence our opposition to the nuclear project by sending Alberta Transportation to take down our anti-nuclear signs yet interestingly enough, they left every other non-conforming sign in place. He went too far this time. The farmers have revolted against this intrusion on our right to free speech. The little 2’ x 4’ “No To Nuclear” signs have been replaced by the signs in these pictures. The battle lines are drawn. We will not tolerate this corrupt behaviour from our government and neither should you. We’re asking for the support of Albertans. Let your voice be heard. Put up a sign with your message on it. If you have no place to put one, contact us with your message and we’ll put one up in Hellar’s Field for you. This field sits kitty-corner to the proposed reactor site and is home to almost forty signs already. Help us send a message to our politicians.
WAC has used its member’s resources to educate our community. Our two surveys of MD 22 show 85% of residents are opposed to the project. The more that people find out about nuclear, the more they are opposed to it. This is the reason our government hasn’t held any meetings to inform Albertans.
All Albertans will be impacted by this project, yet people outside the Peace River Area know little about the project and even less about the risks and science behind it. Governments, Scientists, Academia, and Social experts have been remiss in discharging their mandated and ethical responsibilities to Albertans for the past three years. It is time they stepped up to the plate and took some of the load off of the farmers from Weberville Area Connection.
Pat McNamara -WAC entwork@hotmail.com
Brent Reese - Earth Alternatives (780) 836-3796
Please order signs by e-mail if possible
===================
2. (2008) Edmonton-based company signs major developmental agreements
http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoe ... f3&k=55978
By The Star Phoenix February 13, 2008
Seven Saskatchewan First Nations have entered into agreements with a company owned by the Edmonton-based Ghermezian family for the development of oil, gas and uranium resources. Seven Saskatchewan First Nations have entered into agreements with a company owned by the Edmonton-based Ghermezian family for the development of oil, gas and uranium resources.
Triple Five Energy, a division of the Ghermezian's Triple Five Worldwide Organization, plans significant exploration and development of what it calls Saskatchewan's largest uranium discovery located on the English River First Nation's (ERFN) territorial lands in northern Saskatchewan. The project, which is still in its preliminary stages, centres around ERFN land at Slush Lake, said company chair Nader Ghermezian.
The area is on the eastern edge of the mineral-rich Athabasca Basin and near Cameco Corp.'s Millenium uranium project, according to the Ministry of Energy and Resources.
MORE:
http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoe ... f3&k=55978
- - - -
(2008) Triple Five Energy Enters Saskatchewan With Major Undertakings
http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/Tri ... gy_Enters_
Saskatchewan_With_Major_Undertakings_999.html
by Staff Writers
Saskatoon, Canada (SPX) Feb 14, 2008
Triple Five Energy announces the signing of several major economic development agreements with seven Saskatchewan First Nations for the creation of new joint ventures in natural resource development including oil, gas and uranium exploration.
Negotiations took place with the seven Chiefs and their Councils including English River First Nation, Ahtahkakoop First Nation, Moosomin First Nation, Red Pheasant First Nation, Saulteaux First Nation, Stoney Knoll First Nations and Sweetgrass First Nation.
The signing ceremony took place at TCU Place Convention Centre in Saskatoon. In attendance were Triple Five Chairman Nader Ghermezian, several other Triple Five officials and 75 Saskatchewan chiefs attending the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations.
"We are pleased to be able to enter into these agreements with Saskatchewan First Nations," said Nader Ghermezian, chairman of Triple Five headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta. "We believe that these undertakings by Triple Five will be beneficial to the more than 140,000 First Nations members in Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan economy."
A major agreement signed calls for a joint venture between the English River First Nation (ERFN) and Triple Five for significant exploration and development of uranium on the English River territorial lands at Slush Lake, Saskatchewan, where some internationally-recognized uranium companies are currently active. ERFN anticipates the joint venture with Triple Five will result in the development of uranium resources within ERFN's Traditional Territory.
MORE:
http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/Tri ... gy_Enters_
Saskatchewan_With_Major_Undertakings_999.html
======================
3. VicePres Bruce Power on radioactive waste disposal "underway"
From: Sandra Finley
Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 5:28 PM
Has Ignace, Ontario been confirmed as the site for high-level radioactive waste disposal (for North America)? (scroll down to IGNACE ONTARIO AS SITE FOR HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL? Which includes the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal article, 11/27/2009)
Or is it someplace else, not at Ignace? Or, can you believe what the nuclear/uranium/electricity corporations say?
CLICK HERE to watch the Jan 25 discussion about a proposed nuclear power plant in Peace River.
Related to high level radioactive waste, I transcribed this from the video:
Murray Elston (Bruce Power) says: “… We also have a project underway in Canada which will in fact store high level waste which is really coming from the spent fuel rods. So we can deal with that. We already have, getting close, to 50 years experience on how to manage those issues going forward.”
If anyone knows of the location of this “project underway in Canada which will in fact store high level waste … “ please let me know.
I am aware of the town in Ontario (Ignace), scroll down for more info on it.
The industry famously speaks in half-truths. They have almost 50 years of experience on how to manage high-level radioactive waste? Yes, but nothing that is successful. And Yucca Mountain is shut down as a possible site for all the high-level radioactive waste accumulated in the U.S.. Yucca Mountain is number 8 on the list of places the U.S. has tried (all unsuccessfully) for disposal of their high-level radioactive waste.
High level radioactive waste disposal from other places, in Canada, is in-between the lines of various statements, whether about the “one” jurisdiction that will take the radioactive waste “for the whole group” or whether it’s the idea that storage in northern climates makes more sense.
Until Yucca Mountain got shut down as an option (in the first few months of the Obama Administration), after spending $10 to $13 billion to develop, it was okay to store the waste in deserts. Now cold northern climates are necessary.
“ Before 1996, Finland’s Loviisa nuclear power plant shipped its spent nuclear fuel to Russia. Trucks carried the spent nuclear fuel destined for reprocessing from reactors to railcars. Rail casks and transport cars were leased from Russia. The last delivery to Russia took place in 1996. Current Finnish law forbids the export of nuclear waste.” http://www.ocrwm.doe.gov/factsheets/doeymp0410.shtml
Maybe the decisions in Finland had something to do with ethics? I don’t know.
Murray Elston (Vice-Pres Bruce Power) speaks of the Finnish experience in the video as an example of the successes of radioactive waste disposal.
He does not tell this part of the story: the Finnish people thought they were building a deep geological repository to deal with the problem of their own radioactive waste. They did not understand that they were to become the high-level radioactive waste depository for themselves AND for various European countries.
The guests in the CTV Alberta Prime Time “debate” CLICK HERE are:
Murray Elston/Vice-President of Corporate Affairs, Bruce Power; and former President of the Canadian Nuclear Association
Adele Boucher Rymhs, President, Coalition for a Nuclear Free Alberta
Harrie Vredenburg, Professor of Strategy, and Suncor Energy Chair in Competitive Strategy & Sustainable Development, Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary; and Member of the Alberta Minister of Energy’s Alberta Nuclear Power Expert Panel
= = = = = = = = = = = = =
IGNACE ONTARIO AS SITE FOR HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL?
From: Elaine Hughes
Sent: Monday, December 21, 2009 3:51 PM
Subject: Re: Northern Ontario Town takes interest in nuclear waste storage
See Township of Ignace (ON ) Strategic Plan 2009-2012 - Page 7: Under Industry Attraction Initiatives to Diversify Economy states: "Nuclear Waste Management: Communication Maintained/Invitation issued to Proponents"
http://town.ignace.on.ca/files/%7BCB95F ... 9-2012.pdf
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Town takes interest in nuclear waste storage
http://www.chroniclejournal.com/stories ... ?id=227212
BRYAN MEADOWS, Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal, 11/27/2009
Ignace councillors want to know more about nuclear waste storage in the Canadian Shield.
And before he went on, Mayor Lionel Cloutier stressed during an interview Thursday that council is simply “investigating‘‘ the concept.
A delegation travelled to southern Ontario this month to attend the Nuclear Waste Management Organization‘s (NWMO) Learn More program, which makes information and funding available to help communities, organizations and individuals learn more about adaptive phased management of nuclear waste storage.
“I‘m not totally against it,‘‘ said Cloutier. “I just think it‘s worth investigating.”
The two-day fact-finding trip took councillors to the Kincardine area where spent nuclear fuel is being stored above ground near the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station.
MORE:
http://www.chroniclejournal.com/stories ... ?id=227212
- -- - - - - -
Also, see http://www.activistmagazine.com/index.p ... Itemid=143
= = = = = = = = = = = = == = = = = =
Email from: Sandra Finley
Saskatoon SK S7N 0L1
306-373-8078
sabest1@sasktel.net
========================
4. Spanish nuclear waste plans draw bidders, protest
Emma Pinedo, MADRID, Sat Jan 30, 2010
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60T13R20100130
MADRID (Reuters) - At least seven small Spanish towns had submitted bids to build a nuclear waste dump by a deadline on Saturday, but opposition from regional authorities cast doubt over the long-delayed project.
About a dozen towns in all have bid for the dump, according to press reports on Saturday, most with populations of 500 or less, all hoping the 700 million euro ($982.8 million) plan will bring much-needed jobs in a country with some of the longest dole queues in Europe.
Spanish voters generally shun nuclear power and regional authorities, wary of the project, have substantial autonomy from the central government and some have announced their opposition.
"I am willing to take every political, social and legal measure, whatever it takes, to stop the nuclear dump being built in Castilla-La Mancha," said Jose Maria Barreda, who is government head in the central-southern region.
He has ordered his legal team to study the legality of lodging an appeal against two small councils in his region who tendered bids this week.
MORE:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60T13R20100130
=====================
5. Federal panel to examine nuclear waste storage
http://www.lvrj.com/news/federal-panel- ... e-nuclear-
waste-storage-83143397.html
Yucca Mountain won't be included in options
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
By STEVE TETREAULT, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Jan. 30, 2010
WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration continued its march away from Yucca Mountain on Friday with the naming of a 15-member panel of experts to chart new paths to manage highly radioactive nuclear waste.
The commission will be led by two Washington policy veterans, former Rep. Lee Hamilton and longtime presidential adviser Brent Scowcroft, the Energy Department announced.
Other members are well known, including former Sens. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., former high-ranking government energy officials, and representatives of the nuclear industry, organized labor, environmental groups and academia.
The Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future will be given two years to do its work. A draft report will be due in 18 months.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the commission will have a free hand to examine a "full range of scientific and technical options" on waste storage, reprocessing and disposal, with one exception: the once-favored Yucca Mountain underground repository.
MORE:
http://www.lvrj.com/news/federal-panel- ... e-nuclear-
waste-storage-83143397.html
=====================
6. Thousands protest against nuclear waste site near Tarragona
http://www.spanishnews.es/20100125-thousands-protest-
against-nuclear-waste-site-near-tarragona/id=2093/
January 25, 2010 by Maria Sullivan
Thousands have demonstrated in Asco, Tarragona, against a planned nuclear waste storage near the town, shouting slogans calling for the resignation of the municipalities‚ mayor, Rafael Vidal.
The president of the Generalitat, Jose Montilla has announced that he opposes the candidacy of Asco to hold the nuclear waste graveyard.
MORE:
http://www.spanishnews.es/20100125-thousands-protest-
against-nuclear-waste-site-near-tarragona/id=2093
===========================
7. Germany to remove nuclear waste from Asse facility
DATE: 25 Jan 2010
http://www.energydigital.com/MarketSector/Utilities/
Germany-to-remove-nuclear-waste-from-Asse-facility_41341.aspx
The storage area, a former subterranean salt mine research operation, has been found unstable
By Sarah Wolfe
Germany has a “major scientific and technological challenge” on its hands, according to the nation’s Federal Office for Radiation Protection. The government has ordered the Schacht Asse II radioactive waste disposal facility to remove thousands of barrels after a salt dome was determined to be unstable.
Roughly 126,000 barrels filled with low-level radioactive waste including contaminated clothes, paper and equipment will be brought to the surface for alternative storage, according to World Nuclear News. Rather than storing these contents in highly-secured landfills, Asse began putting the barrels down in tunnels and caverns from past salt mining research activity in the 1960s and 70s. Since then, the salt mine network has become unstable and allowed in groundwater. Further investigation of several other levels with waste vaults will be carried out in the near future and appropriate action taken.
MORE:
http://www.energydigital.com/MarketSector/Utilities/
Germany-to-remove-nuclear-waste-from-Asse-facility_41341.aspx
------------------------------------------------------
Germany's waste removal decision
18 January 2010
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/WR_Ge ... 01101.html
Thousands of barrels are to be removed from Germany's Asse radioactive waste disposal facility, a salt dome which has proven unstable.
The decision has come from the country's Federal Office for Radiation Protection (Bundesamt für Strahlenshutz, BfS), which described the job as a "major scientific and technological challenge".
Some 126,000 barrels are to be removed to the surface for alternative storage. They mostly contain low-level radioactive waste such as lightly contaminated clothes, paper and equipment. In most countries these are disposed of permanently in purpose-built landfills, carefully lined to protect surrounding land. Asse, by contrast, is within a network of tunnels and caverns left by salt mining research operations.
It was decided to use Asse in the 1960s and 1970s but this is seen as a licensing failure: The complex is in the upper portions of the salt, which are now unstable and increasingly allowing the ingress of groundwater. Ultimately this would be expected to erode waste canisters and allow contamination of groundwater.
MORE:
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/WR_Ge ... 01101.html
==========================
8. A French Company Is Hoping to Convince California to Rethink Its Nuclear Energy Policy
http://www.alternet.org/story/145420/a_ ... ompany_is_
hoping_to_convince_california_to_rethink_its_nuclear_energy_policy
Areva SE, a French-owned power company, is betting that the Golden State's disfavor of nuclear power won't stand up after regulators and citizens look closely at its climate goals.
January 25, 2010
California's global warming law, AB32, calls for utilities to increase their use of renewable energy to at least 30 percent by 2020, and some say they may not make it. Enter Areva SA, a power developer largely owned by the French government, which has signed an agreement with the Fresno Nuclear Energy Group to build nuclear reactors in California's Central Valley. Whether they will ever be built is another question all together.
MORE:
http://www.alternet.org/story/145420/a_ ... ompany_is_
hoping_to_convince_california_to_rethink_its_nuclear_energy_policy
=======================
9. UPDATE: Parkland Institute - Jan. 27.10
To: Parkland Institute
Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 8:58 PM
We have a number of items for you today:
1. Parkland Research Director, Diana Gibson, will be on the ACCESS television show Prime Time Live tomorrow (Thursday) evening speaking about whether the provincial government is doing enough to stimulate the economy. The show airs across Alberta on the ACCESS network from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm MST, and they usually post the show segments on their website http://www.albertaprimetime.com after it airs.
2. International Week runs at the University of Alberta from February 1 - 5, and features numerous world-class speakers and many excellent presentations all revolving around this year's theme "To Boldly Go: Charting Our Common Future". Parkland Institute has been involved in the preparation of a session entitled "The Evolving World of Water Management" which takes a look at recent government trends toward water markets and their implications. The session will run from 3:00 pm - 3:50 pm on Monday February 1 in room 134 of the Telus Centre on the U of A campus. The full International Week program is available on-line at http://www.iweek.ualberta.ca
3. Parkland Institute and the Alberta Federation of Labour are proud to present Asbjorn Wahl, Norwegian Labour Leader and director of the Campaign for the Welfare State, Norway, and Parkland Research Director Diana Gibson in Calgary. What Alberta needs today is strict regulation of financial capital, massive investments in infrastructure, renewable energy and public services, and a radical redistribution of wealth from the top to the bottom in society. Find out how other countries are responding to the recession. What will the impacts of Alberta's budget cuts be? What is the high road for Alberta?
Crisis and Recession: Alternatives to tax cuts and public program cuts with Asbjorn Wahl and Diana Gibson
7:30 pm, February 11th, 2010
University of Alberta, Calgary Centre
120, 333 - 5th Ave SW
Calgary, Alberta
Tickets: $10 at the door
For more information contact Parkland Institute Calgary at 403-270-9669 or email parkcalg@ualberta.ca
4. Don't forget the upcoming Alberta Federation of Labour / Parkland Institute conference Remaking Alberta: Recession Alternatives for an Alberta that Works. With the Alberta budget, which will be delivered on February 9, largely expected to deliver across the board cuts to the programs and services Albertans rely on, Remaking Alberta will provide an opportunity to discuss some of the alternatives that the government continues to ignore. Asbjorn Wahl will share his experiences in Norway fighting to defend the advances of the public sector, and numerous local activists and academics will share their research and front-line experiences:
Remaking Alberta
Recession alternatives for an Alberta that works
February 12th and 13th, 2010
Lister Conference Centre, 86 Ave and 116 St
University of Alberta, Edmonton
$50 per person
To register contact Linda Robinson at lrobinso@afl.org or phone 780-483-3021 or 1-800-661-3995.
For more information contact Parkland Institute at 780-492-8558 or email tori@ualberta.ca
Download Conference Flyer (pdf)
http://www.ualberta.ca/parkland
***********************************************
PARKLAND INSTITUTE - website http://www.ualberta.ca/parkland
Edmonton Office: 11045 Saskatchewan Drive, T6G 2E1
Phone: (780) 492-8558 Fax:(780) 492-8738
email: parkland@ualberta.ca
Calgary Office: 2919 - 8 Avenue NW, T2N 1C8
Phone: (403) 270-9669 Fax (403) 283-6480
email: parkcalg@ualberta.ca
=========================
10. WATCH: My Nuclear Neighbour - CBC TV - Feb. 11.10 - 8 p.m.
Premieres on CBC Television's The Nature of Things with David Suzuki
www.cbc.ca/docs
Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT)
Imagine that one morning you wake up to find out your nearest neighbour may be a nuclear power plant. This is the story about two women who travel from their farms in Peace River, Alberta to Kincardine, Ontario searching for answers to questions that are devastating their families and threatening their once harmonious community.
Few now deny that our rapidly changing climate is a consequence of our consumption driven addiction to energy. Not so long ago we thought that the power of the atom would solve all our energy needs. That promise lost its lustre in cost overruns, accidents and cover-ups. After decades of fading into the background the nuclear power industry is again hot news. In Canada, and around the world, the nuclear industry is rebranding itself as the only practical solution to global warming.
In Ontario nuclear power supplies about 50% of our electricity. Almost half of that is from the Bruce Power facility near Kincardine. Home to one of the worlds first commercial nuclear reactors, this industry has made Kincardine one of the wealthiest rural towns in the province. Not surprisingly people here have learned to live in harmony with the largest nuclear facility in North America.
The situation is very different in Peace River, Alberta where citizens recently heard that the first nuclear plant in Western Canada may be built in their back yard. And this once neighbourly community is now bitterly divided.
My Nuclear Neighbour (60 minutes) follows the quest of two woman from Peace River as they travel to Kincardine to see for themselves what it means to have a nuclear plant in their back yard.
Directed by Donna Zuckerbrot, produced & written by Donna Zuckerbrot & Daniel Zuckerbrot of Reel Time Images, this is a story of global importance it's also a very local story that is both surprising and troubling.
============================
11. Chalk River nuclear reactor: NRU repair hold-ups
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_NR ... 01101.html
World Nuclear News, 29 January 2010
Welding repairs to the NRU reactor at Chalk River are taking longer than expected and the unit is now slated to return in April.
The previous return time, quoted as 'the end of March', already
represented a major strain on global radioisotope supplies, but the latest date brings NRU's outage close to that of another major producer, the High-Flux Reactor at Petten in the Netherlands. This is licensed to operate only until March when it must shut down for a major repair job.
Between them the two elderly reactors produce the vast majority of the world's molybdenum-99, which decays in a matter of hours into technetium-99m for use in medical imaging procedures.
MORE:
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_NR ... 01101.html
=========================
12. Conference urges Canada to press policies against nuclear weapons
From: Gordon Edwards
Sent: Friday, January 29, 2010 1:43 AM
Background:
NATO's policy is that nuclear weapons are "essential". NATO is prepared to be the first to use nuclear weapons if conventional weapons are inadequate to achieve a military objective. This is explicit NATO policy.
But it sends a terrible message to the rest of the world -- if nukes are essential for NATO, why shouldn't they be essential for every country in the world? If NATO is prepared to use nukes when conventional weapons fail, why shouldn't everyone else adopt exactly the same policy on the same grounds?
Canadians must put pressure on our government to challenge the NATO doctrine on nuclear weapons. Now that there is a president in the White House who is advocating a world without nuclear weapons, the Canadian government can even win brownie points with the White House by asking NATO to re-examine and revise its policy on nukes.
The abolition of nuclear weapons is essential if we are to have a sustainable future for our grandchildren.
Gordon Edwards.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Conference urges Canada to press policies against nuclear weapons
http://www.metronews.ca/ottawa/canada/article/
434754--conference-urges-canada-to-press-policies-against-nuclear-weapons
THE CANADIAN PRESS, 27 January 2010
OTTAWA - Activists are urging the Canadian government to play a bigger role in the effort to eliminate nuclear weapons.
Anti-nuclear groups including Project Ploughshares and the Canadian Network to Abolish Nuclear Weapons want Prime Minister Stephen Harper to speak out on disarmament.
They say Canada should press NATO to review its nuclear strategies and urge the removal of tactical nuclear weapons from Europe.
They also say the government should encourage the involvement of civil society in the nuclear debate by sending NGO delegates to a conference later this year which will review the non-proliferation treaty.
The activists held a two-day conference in Ottawa this week to set out a Canadian agenda on disarmament.
Doug Roche, former MP, senator and one-time Canadian ambassador for disarmament, says the world has a clear opportunity for progress since
President Barack Obama has committed himself to disarmament.
In Prague last year, Obama said nuclear disarmament can be achieved, although it will take years and may not arrive in his lifetime.
Roche said Wednesday the conference recommendations recognize the
importance of the president's move.
MORE:
http://www.metronews.ca/ottawa/canada/article/
434754--conference-urges-canada-to-press-policies-against-nuclear-weapons
Compilation:
1. Brochure: Weberville Area Connection (WAC) (Photos missing)
2. (2008) Edmonton-based company signs major developmental agreements
3. VicePres Bruce Power on radioactive waste disposal "underway"
4. Spanish nuclear waste plans draw bidders, protest
5. Federal panel to examine nuclear waste storage
6. Thousands protest against nuclear waste site near Tarragona
7. Germany to remove nuclear waste from Asse facility
8. A French Company Is Hoping to Convince California to Rethink Its Nuclear Energy Policy
9. UPDATE: Parkland Institute - Jan. 27.10
10. WATCH: My Nuclear Neighbour - CBC TV - Feb. 11.10 - 8 p.m.
11. Chalk River nuclear reactor: NRU repair hold-ups
12. Conference urges Canada to press policies against nuclear weapons
=========================
1. Brochure: Weberville Area Connection (WAC) (Photos missing)
The farmers living closest to the proposed reactor site in Weberville banded together as WAC, out of concern for their safety and to educate themselves. They had no choice. Our governments, our scientists and the medical community abandoned them.
None of the three levels of government held a single public meeting on nuclear power in the past three years. They’ve provided no educational material or qualified speakers. No one from academia or the scientific community came to explain the impacts and dangers we face except those WE paid for. Health and social experts have been equally silent.
Mel Knight’s handling of the nuclear issue for the past two years has been shameful. He emasculated the credibility of his Expert Nuclear Panel by failing to appoint any health or environmental experts while including a Director of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. The panel’s subsequent report is biased, incomplete and fraudulent.
The “consultation” process was equally dubious. Mel Knight allowed the nuclear project to go forward after dismissing the negative results of the first survey of 3600 people, in favour of the marginally more positive results of 1,024 people in a random telephone survey. It’s also disturbing that no media was allowed into any part of the consultation process.
Mel Knight’s subversion of democracy was not over. He has tried to silence our opposition to the nuclear project by sending Alberta Transportation to take down our anti-nuclear signs yet interestingly enough, they left every other non-conforming sign in place. He went too far this time. The farmers have revolted against this intrusion on our right to free speech. The little 2’ x 4’ “No To Nuclear” signs have been replaced by the signs in these pictures. The battle lines are drawn. We will not tolerate this corrupt behaviour from our government and neither should you. We’re asking for the support of Albertans. Let your voice be heard. Put up a sign with your message on it. If you have no place to put one, contact us with your message and we’ll put one up in Hellar’s Field for you. This field sits kitty-corner to the proposed reactor site and is home to almost forty signs already. Help us send a message to our politicians.
WAC has used its member’s resources to educate our community. Our two surveys of MD 22 show 85% of residents are opposed to the project. The more that people find out about nuclear, the more they are opposed to it. This is the reason our government hasn’t held any meetings to inform Albertans.
All Albertans will be impacted by this project, yet people outside the Peace River Area know little about the project and even less about the risks and science behind it. Governments, Scientists, Academia, and Social experts have been remiss in discharging their mandated and ethical responsibilities to Albertans for the past three years. It is time they stepped up to the plate and took some of the load off of the farmers from Weberville Area Connection.
Pat McNamara -WAC entwork@hotmail.com
Brent Reese - Earth Alternatives (780) 836-3796
Please order signs by e-mail if possible
===================
2. (2008) Edmonton-based company signs major developmental agreements
http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoe ... f3&k=55978
By The Star Phoenix February 13, 2008
Seven Saskatchewan First Nations have entered into agreements with a company owned by the Edmonton-based Ghermezian family for the development of oil, gas and uranium resources. Seven Saskatchewan First Nations have entered into agreements with a company owned by the Edmonton-based Ghermezian family for the development of oil, gas and uranium resources.
Triple Five Energy, a division of the Ghermezian's Triple Five Worldwide Organization, plans significant exploration and development of what it calls Saskatchewan's largest uranium discovery located on the English River First Nation's (ERFN) territorial lands in northern Saskatchewan. The project, which is still in its preliminary stages, centres around ERFN land at Slush Lake, said company chair Nader Ghermezian.
The area is on the eastern edge of the mineral-rich Athabasca Basin and near Cameco Corp.'s Millenium uranium project, according to the Ministry of Energy and Resources.
MORE:
http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoe ... f3&k=55978
- - - -
(2008) Triple Five Energy Enters Saskatchewan With Major Undertakings
http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/Tri ... gy_Enters_
Saskatchewan_With_Major_Undertakings_999.html
by Staff Writers
Saskatoon, Canada (SPX) Feb 14, 2008
Triple Five Energy announces the signing of several major economic development agreements with seven Saskatchewan First Nations for the creation of new joint ventures in natural resource development including oil, gas and uranium exploration.
Negotiations took place with the seven Chiefs and their Councils including English River First Nation, Ahtahkakoop First Nation, Moosomin First Nation, Red Pheasant First Nation, Saulteaux First Nation, Stoney Knoll First Nations and Sweetgrass First Nation.
The signing ceremony took place at TCU Place Convention Centre in Saskatoon. In attendance were Triple Five Chairman Nader Ghermezian, several other Triple Five officials and 75 Saskatchewan chiefs attending the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations.
"We are pleased to be able to enter into these agreements with Saskatchewan First Nations," said Nader Ghermezian, chairman of Triple Five headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta. "We believe that these undertakings by Triple Five will be beneficial to the more than 140,000 First Nations members in Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan economy."
A major agreement signed calls for a joint venture between the English River First Nation (ERFN) and Triple Five for significant exploration and development of uranium on the English River territorial lands at Slush Lake, Saskatchewan, where some internationally-recognized uranium companies are currently active. ERFN anticipates the joint venture with Triple Five will result in the development of uranium resources within ERFN's Traditional Territory.
MORE:
http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/Tri ... gy_Enters_
Saskatchewan_With_Major_Undertakings_999.html
======================
3. VicePres Bruce Power on radioactive waste disposal "underway"
From: Sandra Finley
Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 5:28 PM
Has Ignace, Ontario been confirmed as the site for high-level radioactive waste disposal (for North America)? (scroll down to IGNACE ONTARIO AS SITE FOR HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL? Which includes the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal article, 11/27/2009)
Or is it someplace else, not at Ignace? Or, can you believe what the nuclear/uranium/electricity corporations say?
CLICK HERE to watch the Jan 25 discussion about a proposed nuclear power plant in Peace River.
Related to high level radioactive waste, I transcribed this from the video:
Murray Elston (Bruce Power) says: “… We also have a project underway in Canada which will in fact store high level waste which is really coming from the spent fuel rods. So we can deal with that. We already have, getting close, to 50 years experience on how to manage those issues going forward.”
If anyone knows of the location of this “project underway in Canada which will in fact store high level waste … “ please let me know.
I am aware of the town in Ontario (Ignace), scroll down for more info on it.
The industry famously speaks in half-truths. They have almost 50 years of experience on how to manage high-level radioactive waste? Yes, but nothing that is successful. And Yucca Mountain is shut down as a possible site for all the high-level radioactive waste accumulated in the U.S.. Yucca Mountain is number 8 on the list of places the U.S. has tried (all unsuccessfully) for disposal of their high-level radioactive waste.
High level radioactive waste disposal from other places, in Canada, is in-between the lines of various statements, whether about the “one” jurisdiction that will take the radioactive waste “for the whole group” or whether it’s the idea that storage in northern climates makes more sense.
Until Yucca Mountain got shut down as an option (in the first few months of the Obama Administration), after spending $10 to $13 billion to develop, it was okay to store the waste in deserts. Now cold northern climates are necessary.
“ Before 1996, Finland’s Loviisa nuclear power plant shipped its spent nuclear fuel to Russia. Trucks carried the spent nuclear fuel destined for reprocessing from reactors to railcars. Rail casks and transport cars were leased from Russia. The last delivery to Russia took place in 1996. Current Finnish law forbids the export of nuclear waste.” http://www.ocrwm.doe.gov/factsheets/doeymp0410.shtml
Maybe the decisions in Finland had something to do with ethics? I don’t know.
Murray Elston (Vice-Pres Bruce Power) speaks of the Finnish experience in the video as an example of the successes of radioactive waste disposal.
He does not tell this part of the story: the Finnish people thought they were building a deep geological repository to deal with the problem of their own radioactive waste. They did not understand that they were to become the high-level radioactive waste depository for themselves AND for various European countries.
The guests in the CTV Alberta Prime Time “debate” CLICK HERE are:
Murray Elston/Vice-President of Corporate Affairs, Bruce Power; and former President of the Canadian Nuclear Association
Adele Boucher Rymhs, President, Coalition for a Nuclear Free Alberta
Harrie Vredenburg, Professor of Strategy, and Suncor Energy Chair in Competitive Strategy & Sustainable Development, Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary; and Member of the Alberta Minister of Energy’s Alberta Nuclear Power Expert Panel
= = = = = = = = = = = = =
IGNACE ONTARIO AS SITE FOR HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL?
From: Elaine Hughes
Sent: Monday, December 21, 2009 3:51 PM
Subject: Re: Northern Ontario Town takes interest in nuclear waste storage
See Township of Ignace (ON ) Strategic Plan 2009-2012 - Page 7: Under Industry Attraction Initiatives to Diversify Economy states: "Nuclear Waste Management: Communication Maintained/Invitation issued to Proponents"
http://town.ignace.on.ca/files/%7BCB95F ... 9-2012.pdf
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Town takes interest in nuclear waste storage
http://www.chroniclejournal.com/stories ... ?id=227212
BRYAN MEADOWS, Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal, 11/27/2009
Ignace councillors want to know more about nuclear waste storage in the Canadian Shield.
And before he went on, Mayor Lionel Cloutier stressed during an interview Thursday that council is simply “investigating‘‘ the concept.
A delegation travelled to southern Ontario this month to attend the Nuclear Waste Management Organization‘s (NWMO) Learn More program, which makes information and funding available to help communities, organizations and individuals learn more about adaptive phased management of nuclear waste storage.
“I‘m not totally against it,‘‘ said Cloutier. “I just think it‘s worth investigating.”
The two-day fact-finding trip took councillors to the Kincardine area where spent nuclear fuel is being stored above ground near the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station.
MORE:
http://www.chroniclejournal.com/stories ... ?id=227212
- -- - - - - -
Also, see http://www.activistmagazine.com/index.p ... Itemid=143
= = = = = = = = = = = = == = = = = =
Email from: Sandra Finley
Saskatoon SK S7N 0L1
306-373-8078
sabest1@sasktel.net
========================
4. Spanish nuclear waste plans draw bidders, protest
Emma Pinedo, MADRID, Sat Jan 30, 2010
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60T13R20100130
MADRID (Reuters) - At least seven small Spanish towns had submitted bids to build a nuclear waste dump by a deadline on Saturday, but opposition from regional authorities cast doubt over the long-delayed project.
About a dozen towns in all have bid for the dump, according to press reports on Saturday, most with populations of 500 or less, all hoping the 700 million euro ($982.8 million) plan will bring much-needed jobs in a country with some of the longest dole queues in Europe.
Spanish voters generally shun nuclear power and regional authorities, wary of the project, have substantial autonomy from the central government and some have announced their opposition.
"I am willing to take every political, social and legal measure, whatever it takes, to stop the nuclear dump being built in Castilla-La Mancha," said Jose Maria Barreda, who is government head in the central-southern region.
He has ordered his legal team to study the legality of lodging an appeal against two small councils in his region who tendered bids this week.
MORE:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60T13R20100130
=====================
5. Federal panel to examine nuclear waste storage
http://www.lvrj.com/news/federal-panel- ... e-nuclear-
waste-storage-83143397.html
Yucca Mountain won't be included in options
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
By STEVE TETREAULT, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Jan. 30, 2010
WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration continued its march away from Yucca Mountain on Friday with the naming of a 15-member panel of experts to chart new paths to manage highly radioactive nuclear waste.
The commission will be led by two Washington policy veterans, former Rep. Lee Hamilton and longtime presidential adviser Brent Scowcroft, the Energy Department announced.
Other members are well known, including former Sens. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., former high-ranking government energy officials, and representatives of the nuclear industry, organized labor, environmental groups and academia.
The Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future will be given two years to do its work. A draft report will be due in 18 months.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the commission will have a free hand to examine a "full range of scientific and technical options" on waste storage, reprocessing and disposal, with one exception: the once-favored Yucca Mountain underground repository.
MORE:
http://www.lvrj.com/news/federal-panel- ... e-nuclear-
waste-storage-83143397.html
=====================
6. Thousands protest against nuclear waste site near Tarragona
http://www.spanishnews.es/20100125-thousands-protest-
against-nuclear-waste-site-near-tarragona/id=2093/
January 25, 2010 by Maria Sullivan
Thousands have demonstrated in Asco, Tarragona, against a planned nuclear waste storage near the town, shouting slogans calling for the resignation of the municipalities‚ mayor, Rafael Vidal.
The president of the Generalitat, Jose Montilla has announced that he opposes the candidacy of Asco to hold the nuclear waste graveyard.
MORE:
http://www.spanishnews.es/20100125-thousands-protest-
against-nuclear-waste-site-near-tarragona/id=2093
===========================
7. Germany to remove nuclear waste from Asse facility
DATE: 25 Jan 2010
http://www.energydigital.com/MarketSector/Utilities/
Germany-to-remove-nuclear-waste-from-Asse-facility_41341.aspx
The storage area, a former subterranean salt mine research operation, has been found unstable
By Sarah Wolfe
Germany has a “major scientific and technological challenge” on its hands, according to the nation’s Federal Office for Radiation Protection. The government has ordered the Schacht Asse II radioactive waste disposal facility to remove thousands of barrels after a salt dome was determined to be unstable.
Roughly 126,000 barrels filled with low-level radioactive waste including contaminated clothes, paper and equipment will be brought to the surface for alternative storage, according to World Nuclear News. Rather than storing these contents in highly-secured landfills, Asse began putting the barrels down in tunnels and caverns from past salt mining research activity in the 1960s and 70s. Since then, the salt mine network has become unstable and allowed in groundwater. Further investigation of several other levels with waste vaults will be carried out in the near future and appropriate action taken.
MORE:
http://www.energydigital.com/MarketSector/Utilities/
Germany-to-remove-nuclear-waste-from-Asse-facility_41341.aspx
------------------------------------------------------
Germany's waste removal decision
18 January 2010
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/WR_Ge ... 01101.html
Thousands of barrels are to be removed from Germany's Asse radioactive waste disposal facility, a salt dome which has proven unstable.
The decision has come from the country's Federal Office for Radiation Protection (Bundesamt für Strahlenshutz, BfS), which described the job as a "major scientific and technological challenge".
Some 126,000 barrels are to be removed to the surface for alternative storage. They mostly contain low-level radioactive waste such as lightly contaminated clothes, paper and equipment. In most countries these are disposed of permanently in purpose-built landfills, carefully lined to protect surrounding land. Asse, by contrast, is within a network of tunnels and caverns left by salt mining research operations.
It was decided to use Asse in the 1960s and 1970s but this is seen as a licensing failure: The complex is in the upper portions of the salt, which are now unstable and increasingly allowing the ingress of groundwater. Ultimately this would be expected to erode waste canisters and allow contamination of groundwater.
MORE:
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/WR_Ge ... 01101.html
==========================
8. A French Company Is Hoping to Convince California to Rethink Its Nuclear Energy Policy
http://www.alternet.org/story/145420/a_ ... ompany_is_
hoping_to_convince_california_to_rethink_its_nuclear_energy_policy
Areva SE, a French-owned power company, is betting that the Golden State's disfavor of nuclear power won't stand up after regulators and citizens look closely at its climate goals.
January 25, 2010
California's global warming law, AB32, calls for utilities to increase their use of renewable energy to at least 30 percent by 2020, and some say they may not make it. Enter Areva SA, a power developer largely owned by the French government, which has signed an agreement with the Fresno Nuclear Energy Group to build nuclear reactors in California's Central Valley. Whether they will ever be built is another question all together.
MORE:
http://www.alternet.org/story/145420/a_ ... ompany_is_
hoping_to_convince_california_to_rethink_its_nuclear_energy_policy
=======================
9. UPDATE: Parkland Institute - Jan. 27.10
To: Parkland Institute
Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 8:58 PM
We have a number of items for you today:
1. Parkland Research Director, Diana Gibson, will be on the ACCESS television show Prime Time Live tomorrow (Thursday) evening speaking about whether the provincial government is doing enough to stimulate the economy. The show airs across Alberta on the ACCESS network from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm MST, and they usually post the show segments on their website http://www.albertaprimetime.com after it airs.
2. International Week runs at the University of Alberta from February 1 - 5, and features numerous world-class speakers and many excellent presentations all revolving around this year's theme "To Boldly Go: Charting Our Common Future". Parkland Institute has been involved in the preparation of a session entitled "The Evolving World of Water Management" which takes a look at recent government trends toward water markets and their implications. The session will run from 3:00 pm - 3:50 pm on Monday February 1 in room 134 of the Telus Centre on the U of A campus. The full International Week program is available on-line at http://www.iweek.ualberta.ca
3. Parkland Institute and the Alberta Federation of Labour are proud to present Asbjorn Wahl, Norwegian Labour Leader and director of the Campaign for the Welfare State, Norway, and Parkland Research Director Diana Gibson in Calgary. What Alberta needs today is strict regulation of financial capital, massive investments in infrastructure, renewable energy and public services, and a radical redistribution of wealth from the top to the bottom in society. Find out how other countries are responding to the recession. What will the impacts of Alberta's budget cuts be? What is the high road for Alberta?
Crisis and Recession: Alternatives to tax cuts and public program cuts with Asbjorn Wahl and Diana Gibson
7:30 pm, February 11th, 2010
University of Alberta, Calgary Centre
120, 333 - 5th Ave SW
Calgary, Alberta
Tickets: $10 at the door
For more information contact Parkland Institute Calgary at 403-270-9669 or email parkcalg@ualberta.ca
4. Don't forget the upcoming Alberta Federation of Labour / Parkland Institute conference Remaking Alberta: Recession Alternatives for an Alberta that Works. With the Alberta budget, which will be delivered on February 9, largely expected to deliver across the board cuts to the programs and services Albertans rely on, Remaking Alberta will provide an opportunity to discuss some of the alternatives that the government continues to ignore. Asbjorn Wahl will share his experiences in Norway fighting to defend the advances of the public sector, and numerous local activists and academics will share their research and front-line experiences:
Remaking Alberta
Recession alternatives for an Alberta that works
February 12th and 13th, 2010
Lister Conference Centre, 86 Ave and 116 St
University of Alberta, Edmonton
$50 per person
To register contact Linda Robinson at lrobinso@afl.org or phone 780-483-3021 or 1-800-661-3995.
For more information contact Parkland Institute at 780-492-8558 or email tori@ualberta.ca
Download Conference Flyer (pdf)
http://www.ualberta.ca/parkland
***********************************************
PARKLAND INSTITUTE - website http://www.ualberta.ca/parkland
Edmonton Office: 11045 Saskatchewan Drive, T6G 2E1
Phone: (780) 492-8558 Fax:(780) 492-8738
email: parkland@ualberta.ca
Calgary Office: 2919 - 8 Avenue NW, T2N 1C8
Phone: (403) 270-9669 Fax (403) 283-6480
email: parkcalg@ualberta.ca
=========================
10. WATCH: My Nuclear Neighbour - CBC TV - Feb. 11.10 - 8 p.m.
Premieres on CBC Television's The Nature of Things with David Suzuki
www.cbc.ca/docs
Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT)
Imagine that one morning you wake up to find out your nearest neighbour may be a nuclear power plant. This is the story about two women who travel from their farms in Peace River, Alberta to Kincardine, Ontario searching for answers to questions that are devastating their families and threatening their once harmonious community.
Few now deny that our rapidly changing climate is a consequence of our consumption driven addiction to energy. Not so long ago we thought that the power of the atom would solve all our energy needs. That promise lost its lustre in cost overruns, accidents and cover-ups. After decades of fading into the background the nuclear power industry is again hot news. In Canada, and around the world, the nuclear industry is rebranding itself as the only practical solution to global warming.
In Ontario nuclear power supplies about 50% of our electricity. Almost half of that is from the Bruce Power facility near Kincardine. Home to one of the worlds first commercial nuclear reactors, this industry has made Kincardine one of the wealthiest rural towns in the province. Not surprisingly people here have learned to live in harmony with the largest nuclear facility in North America.
The situation is very different in Peace River, Alberta where citizens recently heard that the first nuclear plant in Western Canada may be built in their back yard. And this once neighbourly community is now bitterly divided.
My Nuclear Neighbour (60 minutes) follows the quest of two woman from Peace River as they travel to Kincardine to see for themselves what it means to have a nuclear plant in their back yard.
Directed by Donna Zuckerbrot, produced & written by Donna Zuckerbrot & Daniel Zuckerbrot of Reel Time Images, this is a story of global importance it's also a very local story that is both surprising and troubling.
============================
11. Chalk River nuclear reactor: NRU repair hold-ups
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_NR ... 01101.html
World Nuclear News, 29 January 2010
Welding repairs to the NRU reactor at Chalk River are taking longer than expected and the unit is now slated to return in April.
The previous return time, quoted as 'the end of March', already
represented a major strain on global radioisotope supplies, but the latest date brings NRU's outage close to that of another major producer, the High-Flux Reactor at Petten in the Netherlands. This is licensed to operate only until March when it must shut down for a major repair job.
Between them the two elderly reactors produce the vast majority of the world's molybdenum-99, which decays in a matter of hours into technetium-99m for use in medical imaging procedures.
MORE:
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_NR ... 01101.html
=========================
12. Conference urges Canada to press policies against nuclear weapons
From: Gordon Edwards
Sent: Friday, January 29, 2010 1:43 AM
Background:
NATO's policy is that nuclear weapons are "essential". NATO is prepared to be the first to use nuclear weapons if conventional weapons are inadequate to achieve a military objective. This is explicit NATO policy.
But it sends a terrible message to the rest of the world -- if nukes are essential for NATO, why shouldn't they be essential for every country in the world? If NATO is prepared to use nukes when conventional weapons fail, why shouldn't everyone else adopt exactly the same policy on the same grounds?
Canadians must put pressure on our government to challenge the NATO doctrine on nuclear weapons. Now that there is a president in the White House who is advocating a world without nuclear weapons, the Canadian government can even win brownie points with the White House by asking NATO to re-examine and revise its policy on nukes.
The abolition of nuclear weapons is essential if we are to have a sustainable future for our grandchildren.
Gordon Edwards.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Conference urges Canada to press policies against nuclear weapons
http://www.metronews.ca/ottawa/canada/article/
434754--conference-urges-canada-to-press-policies-against-nuclear-weapons
THE CANADIAN PRESS, 27 January 2010
OTTAWA - Activists are urging the Canadian government to play a bigger role in the effort to eliminate nuclear weapons.
Anti-nuclear groups including Project Ploughshares and the Canadian Network to Abolish Nuclear Weapons want Prime Minister Stephen Harper to speak out on disarmament.
They say Canada should press NATO to review its nuclear strategies and urge the removal of tactical nuclear weapons from Europe.
They also say the government should encourage the involvement of civil society in the nuclear debate by sending NGO delegates to a conference later this year which will review the non-proliferation treaty.
The activists held a two-day conference in Ottawa this week to set out a Canadian agenda on disarmament.
Doug Roche, former MP, senator and one-time Canadian ambassador for disarmament, says the world has a clear opportunity for progress since
President Barack Obama has committed himself to disarmament.
In Prague last year, Obama said nuclear disarmament can be achieved, although it will take years and may not arrive in his lifetime.
Roche said Wednesday the conference recommendations recognize the
importance of the president's move.
MORE:
http://www.metronews.ca/ottawa/canada/article/
434754--conference-urges-canada-to-press-policies-against-nuclear-weapons
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9887
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
Nuke NEWS (2): Jan. 31.10
by Oscar » Wed Apr 21, 2010 8:20 am
Nuke NEWS (2): Jan. 31.10
Compilation:
1. Urgent: Act Now to Stop $54 Billion in Nuke Subsidies (USA)
2. Obama Speech a Kick in the Gut to Environmentalists
3. The President's Nuclear Vision
4. Cameco donates $2 million to virtual school in Prince Albert
5. Cameco gives $500,000 early Christmas present to St. Mary Community School – December 2009
6. All-party committee hearings on Sask.'s energy future wrap up
7. Notice of CIELAP's Annual General Meeting – Toronto – Feb. 10, 2010
8. Researchers from Sherbrooke produce technetium-99m with a cyclotron
9. Nuclear Waste Management: Key Attributes, Challenges, and Costs for the Yucca Mountain Repository and Two Potential Alternatives
10. $2 bln. of Federal funds aim to clean up nuclear wasteland/Video
11. Atomic 'black rain' may have sickened more
12. Canada’s Long Road to Mining Reform
13. Taking the measure of Canada's environmental performance (& Spoof)
======================
1. Urgent: Act Now to Stop $54 Billion in Nuke Subsidies
http://nukefree.org/news/actnowtostoplo ... guarantees
January 29, 2010
OBAMA BUDGET SAID TO TRIPLE NUCLEAR LOAN GUARANTEE PROGRAM ACT NOW!
TELL OBAMA AND CHU: NO TAXPAYER BAILOUT FOR DIRTY REACTORS
Dear Friends,
We apologize for clogging your mailbox this week, but a lot has been happening. Thank you to the thousands of you who already have taken actions this week. But we're all facing our biggest challenge yet.
We learned this morning that President Obama's FY 2011 DOE budget will triple the taxpayer loan guarantee program for new reactor construction, to $54 Billion.
The budget is not finalized and not yet submitted. A strong public outcry can still stop this outrage! Send your letters to President Obama and Energy Secretary Chu here.
Here is a link to a Business Week article confirming the $54 billion figure.
And, if you missed it in an earlier e-mail, here is a link to a video of Candidate Obama promising no taxpayer subsidies for nuclear power.
Tell President Obama to keep his campaign promise, and stop subsidies for nuclear power, not increase them!
Just in the past couple of weeks, two more reactors (in Vermont and North Carolina) have been discovered to be leaking radioactive tritium, bringing the total number to more than 20 leaking reactor sites. Far from being safe and clean, nuclear power is proving itself to be dirtier and more dangerous than ever.
It would be not only good policy, but good politics for Obama to abandon the nuclear loan guarantee program. Check this article from USA Today, which shows that Obama's nuclear/offshore oil statement in his State of the Union message was the least popular part of his speech--dramatically so--among Obama's base: MoveOn members.
Please act today, and please help us get the word out. Forward this Alert as widely as possible. Post the action page link: http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/550 ... tion_KEY... everywhere you can. Use Facebook, myspace, Twitter, whatever networking tools you have. The FY 2011 budget is supposed to be announced on Monday--that doesn't give us much time. We need the loudest possible public outcry right now.
Thanks for all you do,
Michael Mariotte
Executive Director
Nuclear Information and Resource Service
nirsnet@nirs.org
www.nirs.org
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Beyond Nuclear Special Alert
http://www.beyondnuclear.org/letter-to-president-obama/
Ask Obama on YouTube why he thinks more nuclear and “clean” coal are OK?
Suggest a question and vote for the ones you like
From the Energy Action Coalition
When we rallied more than 350,000 youth clean energy voters in 2008, we dreamed of a day when our next President would declare that developing a clean energy economy and passing a climate bill were the nation's top priorities.
Last night in the State of the Union, Barack Obama made it the centerpiece of his vision for moving forward, dedicating significant time to discussing it first before important issues like education, fiscal management, and even health care. However, the victory celebration was short-lived when he said: "That means building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country. It means making tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development. It means continued investment in advanced biofuels and clean coal technologies."
President Obama will be answering questions on YouTube about the State of the Union address next week. Help us ask him why he wants to waste our limited financial resources on dirty energy when we should ramp up efficiency, wind and solar, which are economically sustainable and create clean and safe jobs for our generation?
Is this the change that millions of young people voted for? In 2008 we turned out in record numbers and demanded bold action on the climate crisis, but promoting coal, nuclear, and oil sure doesn't look like change.
Young climate leaders like yourself challenge our President every day to speak boldly on the climate crisis. Our generation must define whether the upcoming decade will be one of exacerbating environmental injustices and climate change, or whether it will be one where our President will stand up for real clean energy jobs like those found in weatherizing homes, propping up wind turbines, and installing solar panels on roofs.
Our question about real solutions is only one among many YouTube questions submitted. Click here to vote and make sure our question to President Obama is asked!
And don’t forget to sign the Beyond Nuclear letter to President Obama on our Take Action page
6930 Carroll Avenue Suite 400 | Takoma Park, MD 20912 US
==================
2. Obama Speech a Kick in the Gut to Environmentalists
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2010/01/28-9
IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 28, 2010
CONTACT: Friends of the Earth [1]
Kim Huynh, 202-222-0723, khuynh@foe.org
Nick Berning, 202-222-0748, nberning@foe.org
WASHINGTON - January 28 - Friends of the Earth President Erich Pica had the following response to the State of the Union Address: "While we welcome President Obama's call for comprehensive climate and energy reform -- as well as his focus on job-creating high-speed rail and solar power -- it was alarming to hear him refer last night to a variety of dirty energy sources, including nuclear, coal, offshore oil drilling and biofuels, as clean.
"President Obama's support for all these dirty energy sources was a big win for corporate polluters and their Washington lobbyists, but it was a kick in the gut to environmentalists across the country. The President was essentially telling these Americans that their voices don't matter.
"It's a shame that while in so many other areas President Obama is calling for an end to the influence of corporate special interests and lobbyists, when it comes to energy policy, his approach seems to be 'the door's wide open.'
"We elected him to make tough decisions, and 'all of the above' as an energy strategy is no decision. Letting special interests write energy policy is not changing the ways of Washington.
"In addition, while it is great to talk about the job-creating benefits of clean energy, more is needed. President Obama has thus far failed to use the bully pulpit of the presidency to educate Americans about the catastrophic impacts unabated climate change threatens to create.
"Last night, President Obama also voiced support for new trade agreements with a variety of countries. During his campaign, he pledged to rethink and reform U.S. trade policy. A majority of Democrats in the House of Representatives have proposed needed reforms that could make trade agreements more fair, effective and environmentally sustainable. President Obama should adopt these reforms before attempting to push any new agreements through Congress.
"We are at a crossroads in our nation's history, a time when truly transformational change is needed. The President spoke the truth last night when he said he cannot create this change alone. Americans who care about these issues must mobilize and push President Obama and Congress to be bolder." ###
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.
Friends of the Earth Links: Homepage [1]FOE (Press Center) [2]FOE (Action Center)[3]
===================
3. The President's Nuclear Vision
Quote: "For as long as nuclear weapons are required to defend our country and our allies, we will maintain a safe, secure and effective nuclear arsenal. The president's Prague vision is central to this administration's efforts to protect the American people—and that is why we are increasing investments in our nuclear arsenal and infrastructure in this year's budget and beyond."
~ ~ ~ ~
The President's Nuclear Vision
http://online.wsj.com/article/
SB10001424052748704878904575031382215508268.html
By Joe Biden, Wall Street Journal, January 29, 2010, Pg. 15
The United States faces no greater threat than the spread of nuclear weapons. That is why, last April in Prague, President Obama laid out a comprehensive agenda to reverse their spread, and to pursue the peace and security of a world without them.
He understands that this ultimate goal will not be reached quickly. But by acting on a number of fronts, we can ensure our security, strengthen the global nonproliferation regime, and keep vulnerable nuclear material out of terrorist hands.
For as long as nuclear weapons are required to defend our country and our allies, we will maintain a safe, secure and effective nuclear arsenal. The president's Prague vision is central to this administration's efforts to protect the American people—and that is why we are increasing investments in our nuclear arsenal and infrastructure in this year's budget and beyond.
Among the many challenges our administration inherited was the slow but steady decline in support for our nuclear stockpile and infrastructure, and for our highly trained nuclear work force. The stockpile, infrastructure and work force played a critical and evolving
role in every stage of our nuclear experience, from the Manhattan Project to the present day. Once charged with developing ever more powerful weapons, they have had a new mission in the 18 years since we stopped conducting nuclear tests. That is to maintain the
strength of the nuclear arsenal.
MORE:
http://online.wsj.com/article/
SB10001424052748704878904575031382215508268.html
===================
4. Cameco donates $2 million to virtual school in Prince Albert
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/entertain ... o+donates+
million+virtual+school+Prince+Albert/2500004/story.html
By Cassandra Kyle, The Star Phoenix January 29, 2010
PRINCE ALBERT — A virtual school that specializes in math and science programs for high school students received a $2 million donation Friday.
Cameco Corp. announced its financial support of Credenda Virtual High School at the school’s new head office, which features virtual learning classrooms. The non-profit educational institute connects high school students from across northern Saskatchewan with accredited teachers in online classrooms.
“Once again, we’re seeing the benefits of the long-standing partnership between Cameco and northern people,” stated Credenda’s director Vince Hill.
“Better educated people will strengthen northern communities. Industry will have a deeper pool of qualified young people to sustain their operations.”
Hill said Cameco’s investment will help to improve educational outcomes for youth across the north and help them take advantage of job opportunities created through the development of natural resources in northern Saskatchewan.
MORE:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/entertain ... o+donates+
million+virtual+school+Prince+Albert/2500004/story.html
=============================
5. Cameco gives $500,000 early Christmas present to St. Mary Community School – December 2009
http://www.scs.sk.ca/news/documents/December_2009_
Cameco_Gift_to_St_Mary.pdf
NEWS RELEASE Friday, December 18, 2009
SASKATOON, December 18, 2009 – Cameco Corporation today announced a donation of $500,000 to help fund the pediatric wellness clinic that will be part of the new St. Mary Community School in Pleasant Hill Village.
Jerry Grandey, president and CEO of Cameco, presented the gift to the school during a brief assembly in the school’s gymnasium with the school’s students and staff.
St. Mary has long been a leader in taking a holistic approach to education and wellness.
In 2007, working in partnership with the University of Saskatchewan Department of Pediatarics and the Saskatoon Tribal Council, it opened a pediatrics clinic in a revamped classroom.
“The clinic is an integral part of our school that allows our students, their families and the wider community to access health-care right in their neighbourhood,” said Darryl Bazylak, principal of St. Mary Community School.
“Cameco’s support will provide a home for the pediatrics clinic in the new school, helping us build a healthier and more vibrant community by addressing the wellness needs of generations of children and youth,” he said.
The new St. Mary School will also feature an indoor walking/running track, exercise facilities and community gathering places. It is part of the Pleasant Hill revitalization project – known as Pleasant Hill Village – which also includes renewed park space and new housing. -30-
For further information, please contact:
Donella Hoffman
Communications Consultant
Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools
659.7077 – office
229.3743 – cell
======================
6. All-party committee hearings on Sask.'s energy future wrap up
http://www.leaderpost.com/technology/party+committee+
hearings+Sask+energy+future+wrap/2501671/story.html
By Angela Hall, Leader-Post January 30, 2010
REGINA — The people have had their say on how Saskatchewan should shape its energy future.
Tim McMillan, the Saskatchewan Party MLA who chairs the legislative committee conducting the energy inquiry, said the input gathered during hours of testimony will hopefully help guide policy development.
"We've heard a very broad range of ideas and solutions in a very positive format," McMillan said, as the last day of the inquiry wound down Friday.
"Many people have said that they've never been engaged (in this way) before," he said, adding one presenter called the process a "democratization of energy policy."
The all-party committee hearings on how Saskatchewan should meet its growing power needs were launched in the wake of criticism from the NDP Opposition over the Saskatchewan Party government's examination of nuclear power as an option. Initially scheduled to last nine days, the hearing schedule was eventually doubled to 18 days. Since the hearings began late last year, the Saskatchewan Party government has indicated it does not plan to pursue a large-scale nuclear power project at the present time. SaskPower has also announced it plans to purchase more wind power.
MORE:
http://www.leaderpost.com/technology/party+committee+
hearings+Sask+energy+future+wrap/2501671/story.html
======================
7. Notice of CIELAP's Annual General Meeting – Toronto – Feb. 10, 2010
Please join us at CIELAP’s AGM on Wednesday February 10th, 2010
Location: NFB – National Film Board of Canada
Atelier Room (2nd Floor),
150 John Street, Toronto
The AGM is scheduled from 7 to 8:30PM.
Following the AGM, from 9 to 10PM, will be a screening of Climate on the Edge. This screening will be held in the cinema-room adjoining the NFB’s Atelier Room.
Come out to learn more about CIELAP's new strategic directions; our planned youth engagement programme; the participatory approach we're bringing to our research;
and other involvement opportunities.
All are welcome.
To subscribe or unsubscribe to this list send an email to cielap@cielap.org
Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy
130 Spadina Ave, Suite 305, Toronto, ON, M5V 2L4
Phone: 416-923-3529 Email: cielap@cielap.org Website: www.cielap.org
======================
8. Researchers from Sherbrooke produce technetium-99m with a cyclotron
From: Gordon Edwards
Sent: Sunday, January 31, 2010 11:52 AM
Background:
Nuclear proponents often point to nuclear medicine as an area where nuclear reactors fuelled with uranium are needed to produce medical isotopes.
But the use of isotopes in nuclear medicine preceeded the first nuclear reactors by many decades. Medical isotopes can be produced without reactors by using "particle accelerators" which do not have the safety, radioactive waste and weapons-proliferation problems associated with nuclear reactors.
Gordon Edwards
=================================
A Complementary Solution for Production of Medical Isotopes -
Researchers from Sherbrooke succeed in producing technetium 99m with a cyclotron
http://www.advancedcyclotron.com/news/c ... e-succeed-
producing-tec
SHERBROOKE, QC, Jan. 20 /CNW Telbec/ -- Researchers at the CHUS's Centre de recherche clinique Étienne - Le Bel (CRCELB) and the Université de Sherbrooke, in collaboration with Advanced Cyclotron Systems Inc. in Vancouver, have just demonstrated that technetium-99m can be produced using a cyclotron.
Diagnostic testing indicates that cyclotron-produced technetium-99m is fully equivalent to that obtained from nuclear reactor, such as the Chalk River facility.
The team at the Molecular Imaging Center of Sherbrooke (CIMS), under the direction of Drs. Brigitte Guérin and Johan van Lier, has demonstrated that three of the technetium-99m radiopharmaceuticals most commonly used in nuclear medicine for diagnostic purposes yield exactly the same results, whether produced in a cyclotron or a nuclear reactor.
Dr. van Lier stated that "the next step is to optimize production to yield technetium 99m in quantities sufficient to meet the daily demand of local hospitals. Moreover, we intend to acquire a second high-energy cyclotron, which would enable us to secure the supply
of medical isotopes and provide for a backup supply of technetium-99m for a large part of the province of Quebec."
The CHUS currently uses an average of 10 000 millicuries of technetium per week.
The report of the expert review panel appointed by Natural Resources Canada recommended supporting research and development programs for the direct production of technetium-99m with cyclotrons. According to the experts, "the cyclotron option would be an important means by which to ensure security of supply over the long term because it would build in all of the elements needed for security -- capacity, redundancy, and diversity."
Dr. Guérin observed that "we have the expertise and knowledge to pursue research and development into cyclotron-based production of technetium 99m. A minimum investment, compared to the costs associated with nuclear reactors, would enable us to immediately play a major role in implementing this novel approach."
Repeated shutdowns of the aging nuclear reactors in Chalk River (Canada) and Petten (Netherlands) have caused the current worldwide shortage of technetium 99m. The fact that these two facilities produce 70% of the world's supply underscores the urgency of diversifying sources of medical isotopes. "A National Cyclotron Network would meet all of Canada's medical isotopes needs, while ensuring supply-chain redundancy and flexibility" says Richard Eppich, CEO of Advanced Cyclotron Systems Inc.
As Dr. van Lier firmly stated, "the cyclotron is a proven, safe technology that offers many tangible advantages. Cyclotron production of radioisotopes does not require highly enriched weapons grade uranium -- used in today's nuclear reactors --and does not generate nuclear waste. Indeed, it constitutes a solution that is sustainable and clearly more ecologically sound."
Cyclotron: A cyclotron is a particle accelerator with a circular acceleration track. Cyclotrons play an essential role in producing medical isotopes and provide for producing a wide variety of isotopes, including those already used for positron emission tomography (PET). Many of these isotopes are already being used as alternatives to technetium-99m when shortages occur. This technology allows for adjusting production in response to market demand, either upwards or downwards, and, in all probability, at a lower real cost than with a nuclear reactor.
Our Expertise in Medical Imaging
The Sherbrooke Molecular Imaging Center (cims.med.usherbrooke.ca), integrated into the CRCELB, was inaugurated in 1998. The center houses a medical-imaging platform with cutting edge technology. Our TR-19 cyclotron produces medical isotopes for PET imaging on a daily basis. From the outset, the CIMS embarked on an ambitious research and development program investigating all aspects of PET imaging, from radioisotope production to using new radiopharmaceuticals for human clinical diagnostics, including radiochemical synthesis and preclinical animal model validation.
Since 2003, the CIMS has been supplying many hospitals in Quebec and Eastern Canada with radiotracers for PET imaging. In anticipation of a growing demand, the CHUS began planning back in 2005 to acquire a second cyclotron to secure the supply of medical isotopes. This second high-energy cyclotron could be brought on-stream in the short term and provide a backup supply of technetium 99m for a large part of the province of Quebec. In 2008, the CIMS of the CHUS was granted an Establishment Licence to produce radiopharmaceuticals for medical applications by Health Canada.
About the Centre de recherche clinique Étienne-Le Bel at the CHUS:
www.crc.chus.qc.ca
The Centre de recherche clinique Étienne-Le Bel of the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke (CHUS) is at the forefront of current health issues. The center stands out for its integrated approach, bringing together fundamental, clinical, epidemiological, and evaluative research. More than 175 basic-science researchers and clinicians have been pooling their knowledge and expertise for more than 28 years targeting the shared objective of developing new knowledge to maintain health and prevent disease.
About the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke (CHUS):
www.chus.qc.ca
The Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke has two constituent institutions: the CHUS - Fleurimont Hospital and the CHUS - Hôtel-Dieu. Its mission is fourfold: care, teaching, research, and assessment of health-care technologies and modes of intervention. The fourth largest hospital center in Quebec, the CHUS plays a triple role of local, regional, and provincial hospital. The CHUS stands out for its many cutting-edge specialties such as gamma-knife radiosurgery, positron emission tomography (PET), interventional angiography, and neuro-oncology. The CHUS hospital community comprises nearly 9000 individuals (employees, physicians, researchers, students, trainees, and volunteers) with a single objective: serving life.
========================
9. Nuclear Waste Management: Key Attributes, Challenges, and Costs
for the Yucca Mountain Repository and Two Potential Alternatives
GAO-10-48 November 4, 2009
See: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-48
Highlights Page (PDF) Full Report (PDF, 84 pages) Accessible Text
Summary
High-level nuclear waste--one of the nation's most hazardous substances--is accumulating at 80 sites in 35 states. The United States has generated 70,000 metric tons of nuclear waste and is expected to generate 153,000 metric tons by 2055. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended, requires the Department of Energy (DOE) to dispose of the waste in a geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. However, the repository is more than a decade behind schedule, and the nuclear waste generally remains at the commercial nuclear reactor sites and DOE sites where it was generated. This report examines the key attributes, challenges, and costs of the Yucca Mountain repository and the two principal alternatives to a repository that nuclear waste management experts identified: storing the nuclear waste at two centralized locations and continuing to store the waste on site where it was generated. GAO developed models of total cost ranges for each alternative using component cost estimates provided by the nuclear waste management experts. However, GAO did not compare these alternatives because of significant differences in their inherent characteristics that could not be quantified.
MORE: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-48
===========================
10. $2 bln. of Federal funds aim to clean up nuclear wasteland
From: Gordon Edwards
Sent: Friday, January 29, 2010 2:56 PM
Background:
The legacy of plutonium production is chilling -- large volumes of highly toxic radioactive wastes costing billions to manage in the short term, yet still threatening ecosystems in the long term.
Nuclear proponents want to revive plutonium production in order to fuel their "nuclear renaissance" -- but they describe it as "recycling" or "recovering the unused energy" from the irradiated nuclear fuel.
Don't be fooled. Recycling irradiated fuel means dissolving it in acid and extracting the unused plutonium and uranium, while releasing radioactive gasses to the atmosphere, dumping radioactive liquids into the environment, and leaving millions of
gallons of high-level radioactive liquid wastes to be re-solidified and stored as highly toxic radioactive poisons for millennia.
It's not a pretty picture. It makes an already intractable problem even worse.
Gordon Edwards.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
$2 bln. of Federal funds aim to clean up nuclear wasteland
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/01/29/hanfor ... index.html
By Patrick Oppmann, CNN, January 29, 2010
View video: http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/01/29/hanford.cleanup/
Hanford Nuclear Site, Washington (CNN) -- The federal government has set aside nearly $2 billion in stimulus funds to clean up Washington State's decommissioned Hanford nuclear site, once the center of the country's Cold War plutonium production.
That is more stimulus funding than some entire states have received, which has triggered a debate as to whether the money is being properly spent.
The facility sprawls across approximately 600 square miles of south-central Washington, an area roughly half the size of Rhode Island. It was built in the 1940s as part of the "Manhattan Project" to develop the first atomic weapon during World War II.
Millions of dollars and thousands of jobs poured into the remote area about 75 miles east of Yakima where nine nuclear reactors were eventually built.
During the Cold War, Hanford was a buzzing hive of activity, eventually becoming the main source of plutonium production for the nation's nuclear weapons program.
Decades of improper radioactive waste disposal earned Hanford the notorious distinction of being most contaminated nuclear site in the Western Hemisphere.
Today, the Hanford site is a virtual ghost town and those involved in the clean-up project say they will need every dollar of the federal stimulus funds.
There are still millions of gallons of untreated contaminated groundwater, hundreds of buildings used for plutonium enrichment that need to be torn down, and underground tanks that are full of radioactive sludge.
MORE:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/01/29/hanfor ... index.html
=====================
11. Atomic 'black rain' may have sickened more
http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201001260399.html
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN 2010/01/27
HIROSHIMA--Radioactive "black rain" that followed the atomic bombing of Hiroshima fell on a much wider area than is officially recognized, a survey of bomb survivors and other residents has found.
Hiroshima city, which conducted the research, said it would use the new findings to lobby the central government to expand the area in which special health relief is provided.
One in 10 of those who reported experiencing black rain outside of the officially recognized area soon suffered bleeding, diarrhea, loss of hair and other symptoms of radiation, the survey said.
Hours after the world's first atomic bombing at 8:15 a.m. on Aug. 6, 1945, black rain containing radioactive soot and dust fell to the northwest of Hiroshima's city center, killing and sickening many who had not been directly caught in the blast.
But the central government currently only recognizes relatively small zones as having suffered the precipitation. Only those who were in the "heavy rain area," where authorities say black rain fell for more than one hour, are given regular health examinations at government expense.
If they suffer from specified illnesses such as cancer, they are given an atomic bomb survivor's certificate, which entitles them to free medical care and other assistance.
People who were in what the central government calls the "light rain area," which suffered less than one hour of rainfall, according to meteorological officials, are not entitled to any such relief.
The officially recognized "heavy rain area" extends roughly 19 kilometers from north to south and 11 km from east to west. The "light rain area" is about 29 km from north to south and 15 km from east to west.
The new research challenges the basis of the zoning. Inhabitants of districts not even included in the "light rain area" reported black rain and radiation sickness.
MORE: http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201001260399.html
========================
12. Canada’s Long Road to Mining Reform
http://www.truthout.org/canada’s-long-road-mining-reform56413
Tuesday 26 January 2010
by: Cyril Mychalejko, t r u t h o u t | Report
Rape. Murder. Corruption. Environmental contamination. Impunity. These are just some of the charges and incidents that have plagued Canadian mining operations abroad for years. Now one Canadian lawmaker has taken on the Herculean challenge of legislating mining reform in a country that has traditionally acted like a parent in denial.
"The mining industry in Canada is too powerful a lobby," said Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) John McKay.
Sixty percent of the world’s mining corporations come from Canada. According to a report by InfoMine, Canadian mining corporations listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange had 1,010 projects in South America, 578 in Mexico, 703 in Africa, 376 in Asia and 345 in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea in 2009. Canada also accounts for 19 percent of global mining exploration spending, which totaled at $13.2 billion. Gold, silver, copper and nickel are among the minerals the industry scours the globe for. In Canada the industry employs 193 registered lobbyists.
McKay’s bill, C-300, would empower the Canadian federal government to investigate complaints of human rights and environmental abuses leveled against mining companies. If the Ministers investigating a company find it guilty of violating social and environmental standards laid out in the bill, the company, if receiving support from the Canada Pension Plan or Export Development Canada could lose funding from the respective organizations.
"It’s limited, but a positive step forward overall," said Sakura Saunders, editor of www.ProtestBarrick.net, a website that provides research and organizing information around mining issues, with a focus on Canadian Mining giant Barrick Gold. "But this bill is simply putting ethical guidelines on the investment and promotion of mining, oil and gas projects in developing countries. It treats the Canadian government as an investor rather than a government."
MORE: http://www.truthout.org/canada’s-long-road-mining-reform56413
=======================
1. Taking the measure of Canada's environmental performance (& Spoof)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opi ... e-measure-
of-canadas-environmental-performance/article1448054/
We may be rich, but we don't rank in the top tier of 163 nations surveyed
Jeffrey Simpson Globe and Mail Jan. 29, 2010
Prime Minister Stephen Harper made the rounds at the Davos economic conference yesterday, and made headlines at home for his first visit there. Elsewhere, away from the headlines, the news at Davos was not at all good for Canada.
Environmental researchers, led by those at Yale and Columbia universities (with an assist from those at the University of British Columbia) released at Davos the world's Environmental Performance Index (EPI), a complicated, ambitious effort to rank 163 countries in the world on a range of environmental policies and results.
A rich country such as Canada should be in the top tier, in theory, with such countries as Sweden, Norway, Finland, Britain, New Zealand and Germany. But instead, Canada scored a middling 46th place. Put another chink, therefore, in Canadians' overweening moral superiority, especially the country's misplaced self-perception as an excellent custodian of the environment.
MORE:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opi ... e-measure-
of-canadas-environmental-performance/article1448054/
= = = = =
Roche and RBC named “most unscrupulous” firms
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/Ro ... RBC_named_
most_unscrupulous_firms.html?cid=8176510
Jan 27, 2010 - 16:01
The Basel-based pharmaceutical giant Roche and the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) are this year’s recipients of the Public Eye Award in Davos.
Presented on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in the Swiss resort, the annual awards are intended to remind big global players that socially and environmentally destructive business practices have consequences – in this case for the image of the company.
In the words of the organisers, the Berne Declaration and Greenpeace Switzerland, “we present shame-on-you awards to the nastiest corporate players of the year”.
The RBC, described by the organisers as “the world’s filthiest ATM”, won this year’s Global Award for “facilitating the extraction of oil from tar sands in Alberta like no other financial institution”. (Emphasis Added. Ed.)
Roche picked up this year’s Swiss Award in addition to the People’s Award for its involvement in organ transplantation drugs in China. The Public Eye says some 10,000 organ transplants take place a year in China, with the vast majority of organs coming from executed prisoners.
Roche were not immediately available for comment.
For the first time a “Greenwash” prize was given to firms that use a “social-environmental fig leaf” to make it look greener than it is.
According to the Public Eye judges, companies such as Nestlé, Coca-Cola and Dow Chemical claim to work with the United Nations and aid organisations to combat the water crisis, but in fact further their policy of water privatisation without regard for existing environmental or social standards – only with a UN stamp.
swissinfo.ch and agencies
Davos through the years
Security, pomp and platitudes.
Links
Greenpeace Switzerland (http://info.greenpeace.ch/prepage )
The Public Eye People's Award (http://www.publiceye.ch/en/vote/ )
Berne Declaration (http://www.evb.ch/en/f25001811.html )
WEF Davos meeting 2010 (http://www.weforum.org/en/events/Annual ... /index.htm)
= = = = =
THE FOLLOWING IS A SPOOF!!!
From the Yes Men: WEF pledges to build a new world
http://www.we-forum.org/en/index.shtml
World Economic Forum Pledges to End Poverty and Exploitation
A marvelous web/video satire on the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland is up and running.
For starters, check out the one minute video of Archer Daniels Midland's CEO with the words that she should be saying...
http://www.we-forum.org/en/events/Annua ... ertz.shtml
And this……
Stephen Harper: "We can not longer endanger the world for the benefit of the few."
http://www.we-forum.org/en/events/Annua ... rper.shtml
= = = = = =
This is the link to the whole site:
http://www.we-forum.org/en/index.shtml
and here is their proposal for dealing with world poverty: (note: the links below are live...)
What can be the role of world leaders and influencers in ending poverty now?
We don't need, right now, a hundred initiatives. A few simple steps will take us a very great distance towards vanquishing the primary threat to civilized life on earth. And at this year's meeting, a number of the world's prime movers and shakers are committing to these momentous yet logical steps. Click on the links below to see key leaders discuss each idea.
Human Rights Initiative: The global guarantee of food, drinking water, shelter, healthcare, education, as basic human rights that must be provided free to all.
Local Governance Initiative: An end to private monopoly ownership over natural resources, with a minimum 51% local communal ownership in corporations that control such resources. The termination of intellectual property rights on pharmaceutical drugs.
Food Sovereignty Initiative: A total redistribution of idle lands to landless farmers and the imposition of a 50% cap on arable land devoted to products for export per country, with the creation of a worldwide subsidy for organic agriculture.
Capital Flight Initiative: The termination of tax havens around the world as well as free flow of capital in developing countries. This will immediately result in billions of dollars of tax revenue per year for developing countries that can be used for infrastructure development and improvement of basic services.
Sane Tax Initiative: The cancellation of taxes on labor and basic consumption, the creation of a 2% worldwide tax on property ownership (except basic habitation for the poor), and the implementation of a global 0.5% flat tax on all financial transactions with a total prohibition of speculation on food products.
Debt Relief Initiative: The immediate cancellation of international debt by all developing countries, with no reciprocal obligations, and the payment of compensation to Third World countries for historical as well as ecological debt.
Climate Debt Initiative: A commitment by industrialized countries to decrease carbon emission by 50% within ten years and to reduce by 25% consumption of natural resources over the same period.
Watch this year's leading lights discuss these measures here. See also the press release.
Compilation:
1. Urgent: Act Now to Stop $54 Billion in Nuke Subsidies (USA)
2. Obama Speech a Kick in the Gut to Environmentalists
3. The President's Nuclear Vision
4. Cameco donates $2 million to virtual school in Prince Albert
5. Cameco gives $500,000 early Christmas present to St. Mary Community School – December 2009
6. All-party committee hearings on Sask.'s energy future wrap up
7. Notice of CIELAP's Annual General Meeting – Toronto – Feb. 10, 2010
8. Researchers from Sherbrooke produce technetium-99m with a cyclotron
9. Nuclear Waste Management: Key Attributes, Challenges, and Costs for the Yucca Mountain Repository and Two Potential Alternatives
10. $2 bln. of Federal funds aim to clean up nuclear wasteland/Video
11. Atomic 'black rain' may have sickened more
12. Canada’s Long Road to Mining Reform
13. Taking the measure of Canada's environmental performance (& Spoof)
======================
1. Urgent: Act Now to Stop $54 Billion in Nuke Subsidies
http://nukefree.org/news/actnowtostoplo ... guarantees
January 29, 2010
OBAMA BUDGET SAID TO TRIPLE NUCLEAR LOAN GUARANTEE PROGRAM ACT NOW!
TELL OBAMA AND CHU: NO TAXPAYER BAILOUT FOR DIRTY REACTORS
Dear Friends,
We apologize for clogging your mailbox this week, but a lot has been happening. Thank you to the thousands of you who already have taken actions this week. But we're all facing our biggest challenge yet.
We learned this morning that President Obama's FY 2011 DOE budget will triple the taxpayer loan guarantee program for new reactor construction, to $54 Billion.
The budget is not finalized and not yet submitted. A strong public outcry can still stop this outrage! Send your letters to President Obama and Energy Secretary Chu here.
Here is a link to a Business Week article confirming the $54 billion figure.
And, if you missed it in an earlier e-mail, here is a link to a video of Candidate Obama promising no taxpayer subsidies for nuclear power.
Tell President Obama to keep his campaign promise, and stop subsidies for nuclear power, not increase them!
Just in the past couple of weeks, two more reactors (in Vermont and North Carolina) have been discovered to be leaking radioactive tritium, bringing the total number to more than 20 leaking reactor sites. Far from being safe and clean, nuclear power is proving itself to be dirtier and more dangerous than ever.
It would be not only good policy, but good politics for Obama to abandon the nuclear loan guarantee program. Check this article from USA Today, which shows that Obama's nuclear/offshore oil statement in his State of the Union message was the least popular part of his speech--dramatically so--among Obama's base: MoveOn members.
Please act today, and please help us get the word out. Forward this Alert as widely as possible. Post the action page link: http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/550 ... tion_KEY... everywhere you can. Use Facebook, myspace, Twitter, whatever networking tools you have. The FY 2011 budget is supposed to be announced on Monday--that doesn't give us much time. We need the loudest possible public outcry right now.
Thanks for all you do,
Michael Mariotte
Executive Director
Nuclear Information and Resource Service
nirsnet@nirs.org
www.nirs.org
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Beyond Nuclear Special Alert
http://www.beyondnuclear.org/letter-to-president-obama/
Ask Obama on YouTube why he thinks more nuclear and “clean” coal are OK?
Suggest a question and vote for the ones you like
From the Energy Action Coalition
When we rallied more than 350,000 youth clean energy voters in 2008, we dreamed of a day when our next President would declare that developing a clean energy economy and passing a climate bill were the nation's top priorities.
Last night in the State of the Union, Barack Obama made it the centerpiece of his vision for moving forward, dedicating significant time to discussing it first before important issues like education, fiscal management, and even health care. However, the victory celebration was short-lived when he said: "That means building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country. It means making tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development. It means continued investment in advanced biofuels and clean coal technologies."
President Obama will be answering questions on YouTube about the State of the Union address next week. Help us ask him why he wants to waste our limited financial resources on dirty energy when we should ramp up efficiency, wind and solar, which are economically sustainable and create clean and safe jobs for our generation?
Is this the change that millions of young people voted for? In 2008 we turned out in record numbers and demanded bold action on the climate crisis, but promoting coal, nuclear, and oil sure doesn't look like change.
Young climate leaders like yourself challenge our President every day to speak boldly on the climate crisis. Our generation must define whether the upcoming decade will be one of exacerbating environmental injustices and climate change, or whether it will be one where our President will stand up for real clean energy jobs like those found in weatherizing homes, propping up wind turbines, and installing solar panels on roofs.
Our question about real solutions is only one among many YouTube questions submitted. Click here to vote and make sure our question to President Obama is asked!
And don’t forget to sign the Beyond Nuclear letter to President Obama on our Take Action page
6930 Carroll Avenue Suite 400 | Takoma Park, MD 20912 US
==================
2. Obama Speech a Kick in the Gut to Environmentalists
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2010/01/28-9
IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 28, 2010
CONTACT: Friends of the Earth [1]
Kim Huynh, 202-222-0723, khuynh@foe.org
Nick Berning, 202-222-0748, nberning@foe.org
WASHINGTON - January 28 - Friends of the Earth President Erich Pica had the following response to the State of the Union Address: "While we welcome President Obama's call for comprehensive climate and energy reform -- as well as his focus on job-creating high-speed rail and solar power -- it was alarming to hear him refer last night to a variety of dirty energy sources, including nuclear, coal, offshore oil drilling and biofuels, as clean.
"President Obama's support for all these dirty energy sources was a big win for corporate polluters and their Washington lobbyists, but it was a kick in the gut to environmentalists across the country. The President was essentially telling these Americans that their voices don't matter.
"It's a shame that while in so many other areas President Obama is calling for an end to the influence of corporate special interests and lobbyists, when it comes to energy policy, his approach seems to be 'the door's wide open.'
"We elected him to make tough decisions, and 'all of the above' as an energy strategy is no decision. Letting special interests write energy policy is not changing the ways of Washington.
"In addition, while it is great to talk about the job-creating benefits of clean energy, more is needed. President Obama has thus far failed to use the bully pulpit of the presidency to educate Americans about the catastrophic impacts unabated climate change threatens to create.
"Last night, President Obama also voiced support for new trade agreements with a variety of countries. During his campaign, he pledged to rethink and reform U.S. trade policy. A majority of Democrats in the House of Representatives have proposed needed reforms that could make trade agreements more fair, effective and environmentally sustainable. President Obama should adopt these reforms before attempting to push any new agreements through Congress.
"We are at a crossroads in our nation's history, a time when truly transformational change is needed. The President spoke the truth last night when he said he cannot create this change alone. Americans who care about these issues must mobilize and push President Obama and Congress to be bolder." ###
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.
Friends of the Earth Links: Homepage [1]FOE (Press Center) [2]FOE (Action Center)[3]
===================
3. The President's Nuclear Vision
Quote: "For as long as nuclear weapons are required to defend our country and our allies, we will maintain a safe, secure and effective nuclear arsenal. The president's Prague vision is central to this administration's efforts to protect the American people—and that is why we are increasing investments in our nuclear arsenal and infrastructure in this year's budget and beyond."
~ ~ ~ ~
The President's Nuclear Vision
http://online.wsj.com/article/
SB10001424052748704878904575031382215508268.html
By Joe Biden, Wall Street Journal, January 29, 2010, Pg. 15
The United States faces no greater threat than the spread of nuclear weapons. That is why, last April in Prague, President Obama laid out a comprehensive agenda to reverse their spread, and to pursue the peace and security of a world without them.
He understands that this ultimate goal will not be reached quickly. But by acting on a number of fronts, we can ensure our security, strengthen the global nonproliferation regime, and keep vulnerable nuclear material out of terrorist hands.
For as long as nuclear weapons are required to defend our country and our allies, we will maintain a safe, secure and effective nuclear arsenal. The president's Prague vision is central to this administration's efforts to protect the American people—and that is why we are increasing investments in our nuclear arsenal and infrastructure in this year's budget and beyond.
Among the many challenges our administration inherited was the slow but steady decline in support for our nuclear stockpile and infrastructure, and for our highly trained nuclear work force. The stockpile, infrastructure and work force played a critical and evolving
role in every stage of our nuclear experience, from the Manhattan Project to the present day. Once charged with developing ever more powerful weapons, they have had a new mission in the 18 years since we stopped conducting nuclear tests. That is to maintain the
strength of the nuclear arsenal.
MORE:
http://online.wsj.com/article/
SB10001424052748704878904575031382215508268.html
===================
4. Cameco donates $2 million to virtual school in Prince Albert
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/entertain ... o+donates+
million+virtual+school+Prince+Albert/2500004/story.html
By Cassandra Kyle, The Star Phoenix January 29, 2010
PRINCE ALBERT — A virtual school that specializes in math and science programs for high school students received a $2 million donation Friday.
Cameco Corp. announced its financial support of Credenda Virtual High School at the school’s new head office, which features virtual learning classrooms. The non-profit educational institute connects high school students from across northern Saskatchewan with accredited teachers in online classrooms.
“Once again, we’re seeing the benefits of the long-standing partnership between Cameco and northern people,” stated Credenda’s director Vince Hill.
“Better educated people will strengthen northern communities. Industry will have a deeper pool of qualified young people to sustain their operations.”
Hill said Cameco’s investment will help to improve educational outcomes for youth across the north and help them take advantage of job opportunities created through the development of natural resources in northern Saskatchewan.
MORE:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/entertain ... o+donates+
million+virtual+school+Prince+Albert/2500004/story.html
=============================
5. Cameco gives $500,000 early Christmas present to St. Mary Community School – December 2009
http://www.scs.sk.ca/news/documents/December_2009_
Cameco_Gift_to_St_Mary.pdf
NEWS RELEASE Friday, December 18, 2009
SASKATOON, December 18, 2009 – Cameco Corporation today announced a donation of $500,000 to help fund the pediatric wellness clinic that will be part of the new St. Mary Community School in Pleasant Hill Village.
Jerry Grandey, president and CEO of Cameco, presented the gift to the school during a brief assembly in the school’s gymnasium with the school’s students and staff.
St. Mary has long been a leader in taking a holistic approach to education and wellness.
In 2007, working in partnership with the University of Saskatchewan Department of Pediatarics and the Saskatoon Tribal Council, it opened a pediatrics clinic in a revamped classroom.
“The clinic is an integral part of our school that allows our students, their families and the wider community to access health-care right in their neighbourhood,” said Darryl Bazylak, principal of St. Mary Community School.
“Cameco’s support will provide a home for the pediatrics clinic in the new school, helping us build a healthier and more vibrant community by addressing the wellness needs of generations of children and youth,” he said.
The new St. Mary School will also feature an indoor walking/running track, exercise facilities and community gathering places. It is part of the Pleasant Hill revitalization project – known as Pleasant Hill Village – which also includes renewed park space and new housing. -30-
For further information, please contact:
Donella Hoffman
Communications Consultant
Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools
659.7077 – office
229.3743 – cell
======================
6. All-party committee hearings on Sask.'s energy future wrap up
http://www.leaderpost.com/technology/party+committee+
hearings+Sask+energy+future+wrap/2501671/story.html
By Angela Hall, Leader-Post January 30, 2010
REGINA — The people have had their say on how Saskatchewan should shape its energy future.
Tim McMillan, the Saskatchewan Party MLA who chairs the legislative committee conducting the energy inquiry, said the input gathered during hours of testimony will hopefully help guide policy development.
"We've heard a very broad range of ideas and solutions in a very positive format," McMillan said, as the last day of the inquiry wound down Friday.
"Many people have said that they've never been engaged (in this way) before," he said, adding one presenter called the process a "democratization of energy policy."
The all-party committee hearings on how Saskatchewan should meet its growing power needs were launched in the wake of criticism from the NDP Opposition over the Saskatchewan Party government's examination of nuclear power as an option. Initially scheduled to last nine days, the hearing schedule was eventually doubled to 18 days. Since the hearings began late last year, the Saskatchewan Party government has indicated it does not plan to pursue a large-scale nuclear power project at the present time. SaskPower has also announced it plans to purchase more wind power.
MORE:
http://www.leaderpost.com/technology/party+committee+
hearings+Sask+energy+future+wrap/2501671/story.html
======================
7. Notice of CIELAP's Annual General Meeting – Toronto – Feb. 10, 2010
Please join us at CIELAP’s AGM on Wednesday February 10th, 2010
Location: NFB – National Film Board of Canada
Atelier Room (2nd Floor),
150 John Street, Toronto
The AGM is scheduled from 7 to 8:30PM.
Following the AGM, from 9 to 10PM, will be a screening of Climate on the Edge. This screening will be held in the cinema-room adjoining the NFB’s Atelier Room.
Come out to learn more about CIELAP's new strategic directions; our planned youth engagement programme; the participatory approach we're bringing to our research;
and other involvement opportunities.
All are welcome.
To subscribe or unsubscribe to this list send an email to cielap@cielap.org
Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy
130 Spadina Ave, Suite 305, Toronto, ON, M5V 2L4
Phone: 416-923-3529 Email: cielap@cielap.org Website: www.cielap.org
======================
8. Researchers from Sherbrooke produce technetium-99m with a cyclotron
From: Gordon Edwards
Sent: Sunday, January 31, 2010 11:52 AM
Background:
Nuclear proponents often point to nuclear medicine as an area where nuclear reactors fuelled with uranium are needed to produce medical isotopes.
But the use of isotopes in nuclear medicine preceeded the first nuclear reactors by many decades. Medical isotopes can be produced without reactors by using "particle accelerators" which do not have the safety, radioactive waste and weapons-proliferation problems associated with nuclear reactors.
Gordon Edwards
=================================
A Complementary Solution for Production of Medical Isotopes -
Researchers from Sherbrooke succeed in producing technetium 99m with a cyclotron
http://www.advancedcyclotron.com/news/c ... e-succeed-
producing-tec
SHERBROOKE, QC, Jan. 20 /CNW Telbec/ -- Researchers at the CHUS's Centre de recherche clinique Étienne - Le Bel (CRCELB) and the Université de Sherbrooke, in collaboration with Advanced Cyclotron Systems Inc. in Vancouver, have just demonstrated that technetium-99m can be produced using a cyclotron.
Diagnostic testing indicates that cyclotron-produced technetium-99m is fully equivalent to that obtained from nuclear reactor, such as the Chalk River facility.
The team at the Molecular Imaging Center of Sherbrooke (CIMS), under the direction of Drs. Brigitte Guérin and Johan van Lier, has demonstrated that three of the technetium-99m radiopharmaceuticals most commonly used in nuclear medicine for diagnostic purposes yield exactly the same results, whether produced in a cyclotron or a nuclear reactor.
Dr. van Lier stated that "the next step is to optimize production to yield technetium 99m in quantities sufficient to meet the daily demand of local hospitals. Moreover, we intend to acquire a second high-energy cyclotron, which would enable us to secure the supply
of medical isotopes and provide for a backup supply of technetium-99m for a large part of the province of Quebec."
The CHUS currently uses an average of 10 000 millicuries of technetium per week.
The report of the expert review panel appointed by Natural Resources Canada recommended supporting research and development programs for the direct production of technetium-99m with cyclotrons. According to the experts, "the cyclotron option would be an important means by which to ensure security of supply over the long term because it would build in all of the elements needed for security -- capacity, redundancy, and diversity."
Dr. Guérin observed that "we have the expertise and knowledge to pursue research and development into cyclotron-based production of technetium 99m. A minimum investment, compared to the costs associated with nuclear reactors, would enable us to immediately play a major role in implementing this novel approach."
Repeated shutdowns of the aging nuclear reactors in Chalk River (Canada) and Petten (Netherlands) have caused the current worldwide shortage of technetium 99m. The fact that these two facilities produce 70% of the world's supply underscores the urgency of diversifying sources of medical isotopes. "A National Cyclotron Network would meet all of Canada's medical isotopes needs, while ensuring supply-chain redundancy and flexibility" says Richard Eppich, CEO of Advanced Cyclotron Systems Inc.
As Dr. van Lier firmly stated, "the cyclotron is a proven, safe technology that offers many tangible advantages. Cyclotron production of radioisotopes does not require highly enriched weapons grade uranium -- used in today's nuclear reactors --and does not generate nuclear waste. Indeed, it constitutes a solution that is sustainable and clearly more ecologically sound."
Cyclotron: A cyclotron is a particle accelerator with a circular acceleration track. Cyclotrons play an essential role in producing medical isotopes and provide for producing a wide variety of isotopes, including those already used for positron emission tomography (PET). Many of these isotopes are already being used as alternatives to technetium-99m when shortages occur. This technology allows for adjusting production in response to market demand, either upwards or downwards, and, in all probability, at a lower real cost than with a nuclear reactor.
Our Expertise in Medical Imaging
The Sherbrooke Molecular Imaging Center (cims.med.usherbrooke.ca), integrated into the CRCELB, was inaugurated in 1998. The center houses a medical-imaging platform with cutting edge technology. Our TR-19 cyclotron produces medical isotopes for PET imaging on a daily basis. From the outset, the CIMS embarked on an ambitious research and development program investigating all aspects of PET imaging, from radioisotope production to using new radiopharmaceuticals for human clinical diagnostics, including radiochemical synthesis and preclinical animal model validation.
Since 2003, the CIMS has been supplying many hospitals in Quebec and Eastern Canada with radiotracers for PET imaging. In anticipation of a growing demand, the CHUS began planning back in 2005 to acquire a second cyclotron to secure the supply of medical isotopes. This second high-energy cyclotron could be brought on-stream in the short term and provide a backup supply of technetium 99m for a large part of the province of Quebec. In 2008, the CIMS of the CHUS was granted an Establishment Licence to produce radiopharmaceuticals for medical applications by Health Canada.
About the Centre de recherche clinique Étienne-Le Bel at the CHUS:
www.crc.chus.qc.ca
The Centre de recherche clinique Étienne-Le Bel of the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke (CHUS) is at the forefront of current health issues. The center stands out for its integrated approach, bringing together fundamental, clinical, epidemiological, and evaluative research. More than 175 basic-science researchers and clinicians have been pooling their knowledge and expertise for more than 28 years targeting the shared objective of developing new knowledge to maintain health and prevent disease.
About the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke (CHUS):
www.chus.qc.ca
The Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke has two constituent institutions: the CHUS - Fleurimont Hospital and the CHUS - Hôtel-Dieu. Its mission is fourfold: care, teaching, research, and assessment of health-care technologies and modes of intervention. The fourth largest hospital center in Quebec, the CHUS plays a triple role of local, regional, and provincial hospital. The CHUS stands out for its many cutting-edge specialties such as gamma-knife radiosurgery, positron emission tomography (PET), interventional angiography, and neuro-oncology. The CHUS hospital community comprises nearly 9000 individuals (employees, physicians, researchers, students, trainees, and volunteers) with a single objective: serving life.
========================
9. Nuclear Waste Management: Key Attributes, Challenges, and Costs
for the Yucca Mountain Repository and Two Potential Alternatives
GAO-10-48 November 4, 2009
See: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-48
Highlights Page (PDF) Full Report (PDF, 84 pages) Accessible Text
Summary
High-level nuclear waste--one of the nation's most hazardous substances--is accumulating at 80 sites in 35 states. The United States has generated 70,000 metric tons of nuclear waste and is expected to generate 153,000 metric tons by 2055. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended, requires the Department of Energy (DOE) to dispose of the waste in a geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. However, the repository is more than a decade behind schedule, and the nuclear waste generally remains at the commercial nuclear reactor sites and DOE sites where it was generated. This report examines the key attributes, challenges, and costs of the Yucca Mountain repository and the two principal alternatives to a repository that nuclear waste management experts identified: storing the nuclear waste at two centralized locations and continuing to store the waste on site where it was generated. GAO developed models of total cost ranges for each alternative using component cost estimates provided by the nuclear waste management experts. However, GAO did not compare these alternatives because of significant differences in their inherent characteristics that could not be quantified.
MORE: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-48
===========================
10. $2 bln. of Federal funds aim to clean up nuclear wasteland
From: Gordon Edwards
Sent: Friday, January 29, 2010 2:56 PM
Background:
The legacy of plutonium production is chilling -- large volumes of highly toxic radioactive wastes costing billions to manage in the short term, yet still threatening ecosystems in the long term.
Nuclear proponents want to revive plutonium production in order to fuel their "nuclear renaissance" -- but they describe it as "recycling" or "recovering the unused energy" from the irradiated nuclear fuel.
Don't be fooled. Recycling irradiated fuel means dissolving it in acid and extracting the unused plutonium and uranium, while releasing radioactive gasses to the atmosphere, dumping radioactive liquids into the environment, and leaving millions of
gallons of high-level radioactive liquid wastes to be re-solidified and stored as highly toxic radioactive poisons for millennia.
It's not a pretty picture. It makes an already intractable problem even worse.
Gordon Edwards.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
$2 bln. of Federal funds aim to clean up nuclear wasteland
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/01/29/hanfor ... index.html
By Patrick Oppmann, CNN, January 29, 2010
View video: http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/01/29/hanford.cleanup/
Hanford Nuclear Site, Washington (CNN) -- The federal government has set aside nearly $2 billion in stimulus funds to clean up Washington State's decommissioned Hanford nuclear site, once the center of the country's Cold War plutonium production.
That is more stimulus funding than some entire states have received, which has triggered a debate as to whether the money is being properly spent.
The facility sprawls across approximately 600 square miles of south-central Washington, an area roughly half the size of Rhode Island. It was built in the 1940s as part of the "Manhattan Project" to develop the first atomic weapon during World War II.
Millions of dollars and thousands of jobs poured into the remote area about 75 miles east of Yakima where nine nuclear reactors were eventually built.
During the Cold War, Hanford was a buzzing hive of activity, eventually becoming the main source of plutonium production for the nation's nuclear weapons program.
Decades of improper radioactive waste disposal earned Hanford the notorious distinction of being most contaminated nuclear site in the Western Hemisphere.
Today, the Hanford site is a virtual ghost town and those involved in the clean-up project say they will need every dollar of the federal stimulus funds.
There are still millions of gallons of untreated contaminated groundwater, hundreds of buildings used for plutonium enrichment that need to be torn down, and underground tanks that are full of radioactive sludge.
MORE:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/01/29/hanfor ... index.html
=====================
11. Atomic 'black rain' may have sickened more
http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201001260399.html
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN 2010/01/27
HIROSHIMA--Radioactive "black rain" that followed the atomic bombing of Hiroshima fell on a much wider area than is officially recognized, a survey of bomb survivors and other residents has found.
Hiroshima city, which conducted the research, said it would use the new findings to lobby the central government to expand the area in which special health relief is provided.
One in 10 of those who reported experiencing black rain outside of the officially recognized area soon suffered bleeding, diarrhea, loss of hair and other symptoms of radiation, the survey said.
Hours after the world's first atomic bombing at 8:15 a.m. on Aug. 6, 1945, black rain containing radioactive soot and dust fell to the northwest of Hiroshima's city center, killing and sickening many who had not been directly caught in the blast.
But the central government currently only recognizes relatively small zones as having suffered the precipitation. Only those who were in the "heavy rain area," where authorities say black rain fell for more than one hour, are given regular health examinations at government expense.
If they suffer from specified illnesses such as cancer, they are given an atomic bomb survivor's certificate, which entitles them to free medical care and other assistance.
People who were in what the central government calls the "light rain area," which suffered less than one hour of rainfall, according to meteorological officials, are not entitled to any such relief.
The officially recognized "heavy rain area" extends roughly 19 kilometers from north to south and 11 km from east to west. The "light rain area" is about 29 km from north to south and 15 km from east to west.
The new research challenges the basis of the zoning. Inhabitants of districts not even included in the "light rain area" reported black rain and radiation sickness.
MORE: http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201001260399.html
========================
12. Canada’s Long Road to Mining Reform
http://www.truthout.org/canada’s-long-road-mining-reform56413
Tuesday 26 January 2010
by: Cyril Mychalejko, t r u t h o u t | Report
Rape. Murder. Corruption. Environmental contamination. Impunity. These are just some of the charges and incidents that have plagued Canadian mining operations abroad for years. Now one Canadian lawmaker has taken on the Herculean challenge of legislating mining reform in a country that has traditionally acted like a parent in denial.
"The mining industry in Canada is too powerful a lobby," said Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) John McKay.
Sixty percent of the world’s mining corporations come from Canada. According to a report by InfoMine, Canadian mining corporations listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange had 1,010 projects in South America, 578 in Mexico, 703 in Africa, 376 in Asia and 345 in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea in 2009. Canada also accounts for 19 percent of global mining exploration spending, which totaled at $13.2 billion. Gold, silver, copper and nickel are among the minerals the industry scours the globe for. In Canada the industry employs 193 registered lobbyists.
McKay’s bill, C-300, would empower the Canadian federal government to investigate complaints of human rights and environmental abuses leveled against mining companies. If the Ministers investigating a company find it guilty of violating social and environmental standards laid out in the bill, the company, if receiving support from the Canada Pension Plan or Export Development Canada could lose funding from the respective organizations.
"It’s limited, but a positive step forward overall," said Sakura Saunders, editor of www.ProtestBarrick.net, a website that provides research and organizing information around mining issues, with a focus on Canadian Mining giant Barrick Gold. "But this bill is simply putting ethical guidelines on the investment and promotion of mining, oil and gas projects in developing countries. It treats the Canadian government as an investor rather than a government."
MORE: http://www.truthout.org/canada’s-long-road-mining-reform56413
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1. Taking the measure of Canada's environmental performance (& Spoof)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opi ... e-measure-
of-canadas-environmental-performance/article1448054/
We may be rich, but we don't rank in the top tier of 163 nations surveyed
Jeffrey Simpson Globe and Mail Jan. 29, 2010
Prime Minister Stephen Harper made the rounds at the Davos economic conference yesterday, and made headlines at home for his first visit there. Elsewhere, away from the headlines, the news at Davos was not at all good for Canada.
Environmental researchers, led by those at Yale and Columbia universities (with an assist from those at the University of British Columbia) released at Davos the world's Environmental Performance Index (EPI), a complicated, ambitious effort to rank 163 countries in the world on a range of environmental policies and results.
A rich country such as Canada should be in the top tier, in theory, with such countries as Sweden, Norway, Finland, Britain, New Zealand and Germany. But instead, Canada scored a middling 46th place. Put another chink, therefore, in Canadians' overweening moral superiority, especially the country's misplaced self-perception as an excellent custodian of the environment.
MORE:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opi ... e-measure-
of-canadas-environmental-performance/article1448054/
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Roche and RBC named “most unscrupulous” firms
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/Ro ... RBC_named_
most_unscrupulous_firms.html?cid=8176510
Jan 27, 2010 - 16:01
The Basel-based pharmaceutical giant Roche and the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) are this year’s recipients of the Public Eye Award in Davos.
Presented on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in the Swiss resort, the annual awards are intended to remind big global players that socially and environmentally destructive business practices have consequences – in this case for the image of the company.
In the words of the organisers, the Berne Declaration and Greenpeace Switzerland, “we present shame-on-you awards to the nastiest corporate players of the year”.
The RBC, described by the organisers as “the world’s filthiest ATM”, won this year’s Global Award for “facilitating the extraction of oil from tar sands in Alberta like no other financial institution”. (Emphasis Added. Ed.)
Roche picked up this year’s Swiss Award in addition to the People’s Award for its involvement in organ transplantation drugs in China. The Public Eye says some 10,000 organ transplants take place a year in China, with the vast majority of organs coming from executed prisoners.
Roche were not immediately available for comment.
For the first time a “Greenwash” prize was given to firms that use a “social-environmental fig leaf” to make it look greener than it is.
According to the Public Eye judges, companies such as Nestlé, Coca-Cola and Dow Chemical claim to work with the United Nations and aid organisations to combat the water crisis, but in fact further their policy of water privatisation without regard for existing environmental or social standards – only with a UN stamp.
swissinfo.ch and agencies
Davos through the years
Security, pomp and platitudes.
Links
Greenpeace Switzerland (http://info.greenpeace.ch/prepage )
The Public Eye People's Award (http://www.publiceye.ch/en/vote/ )
Berne Declaration (http://www.evb.ch/en/f25001811.html )
WEF Davos meeting 2010 (http://www.weforum.org/en/events/Annual ... /index.htm)
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THE FOLLOWING IS A SPOOF!!!
From the Yes Men: WEF pledges to build a new world
http://www.we-forum.org/en/index.shtml
World Economic Forum Pledges to End Poverty and Exploitation
A marvelous web/video satire on the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland is up and running.
For starters, check out the one minute video of Archer Daniels Midland's CEO with the words that she should be saying...
http://www.we-forum.org/en/events/Annua ... ertz.shtml
And this……
Stephen Harper: "We can not longer endanger the world for the benefit of the few."
http://www.we-forum.org/en/events/Annua ... rper.shtml
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This is the link to the whole site:
http://www.we-forum.org/en/index.shtml
and here is their proposal for dealing with world poverty: (note: the links below are live...)
What can be the role of world leaders and influencers in ending poverty now?
We don't need, right now, a hundred initiatives. A few simple steps will take us a very great distance towards vanquishing the primary threat to civilized life on earth. And at this year's meeting, a number of the world's prime movers and shakers are committing to these momentous yet logical steps. Click on the links below to see key leaders discuss each idea.
Human Rights Initiative: The global guarantee of food, drinking water, shelter, healthcare, education, as basic human rights that must be provided free to all.
Local Governance Initiative: An end to private monopoly ownership over natural resources, with a minimum 51% local communal ownership in corporations that control such resources. The termination of intellectual property rights on pharmaceutical drugs.
Food Sovereignty Initiative: A total redistribution of idle lands to landless farmers and the imposition of a 50% cap on arable land devoted to products for export per country, with the creation of a worldwide subsidy for organic agriculture.
Capital Flight Initiative: The termination of tax havens around the world as well as free flow of capital in developing countries. This will immediately result in billions of dollars of tax revenue per year for developing countries that can be used for infrastructure development and improvement of basic services.
Sane Tax Initiative: The cancellation of taxes on labor and basic consumption, the creation of a 2% worldwide tax on property ownership (except basic habitation for the poor), and the implementation of a global 0.5% flat tax on all financial transactions with a total prohibition of speculation on food products.
Debt Relief Initiative: The immediate cancellation of international debt by all developing countries, with no reciprocal obligations, and the payment of compensation to Third World countries for historical as well as ecological debt.
Climate Debt Initiative: A commitment by industrialized countries to decrease carbon emission by 50% within ten years and to reduce by 25% consumption of natural resources over the same period.
Watch this year's leading lights discuss these measures here. See also the press release.
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