Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

John Pilger: Under cover of racist myth, a new land grab in Australia
‘In a report for the Guardian, John Pilger describes the deception behind the pretext for a “national emergency” declared by the Australian government in Aboriginal areas. A political cry of “save the children” can also mean the profits of uranium and toxic waste.’

Philstar.com: RP plans to start up 600-MW nuclear power plant by 2025
‘In its latest Philippine Energy Plan (PEP), it was noted that the new nuclear power facility is expected to contribute 0.885 million tonne oil equivalent (MTOE) to the projected energy mix and will reach up to 3.54 MTOE by 2035.’

China View: Jordan, France's Areva discuss plans to build nuclear plant
‘Talks between Jordan's Prime Minister Nader Dahabi and visiting Areva CEO Anne Lauvergeon covered a timetable for the project, Areva's key role in helping Jordan raise sufficient funds for construction, and operation of the nuclear power facility.’

Indybay: German anti-nuclear waste newswire now active
‘Anti-nuclear activists in Germany are gearing up for another transport of highly active nuclear waste to run through France and Germany from 7 to 9 November for dumping at the north German village of Gorleben. About 20,000 police will be deployed to guard the consignment against thousands of demonstrators. At http://www.castor.de/ticker/index_en.html is a newswire run by the protest movement. It already has some run-up stories on it. ’

AJC: ISSUE IN-DEPTH: NUCLEAR POWER: Nuclear power bad on so many levels
‘After 60 years and many billions of dollars in government subsidies, nuclear power should finally have to prove itself on its own merits —- which evidently it cannot do in a free market.’

Finland's Olkiluoto power station was meant to symbolise the resurrection of nuclear power after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and to act as a showcase for Areva of France's new EPR reactor technology.

[...]

Instead, Olkiluoto has become a showcase for the hassles, delays and cost-overruns that critics say always bedevil nuclear projects. Finland's fifth nuclear plant is now only expected to start operation in 2012 - three years late - and to cost €4.5bn, 50 per cent more than originally planned.

Read the rest…

More bad and almost unbelievable news has emerged from the ongoing and disastrous construction of the Olkiluoto 3 (OL3) EPR reactor in Finland. In September when it found that the welding of the reactor’s steel lining was substandard, the Finnish nuclear watchdog STUK ordered work to be halted.

Unbelievably, when STUK conducted another inspection a few weeks later, they found welders still at work. This is worrying because the Polish machine yard responsible for the welding was found to be making the same safety violations over two years ago. The Finnish authorities and the reactor’s builders Areva have failed to act on safety warnings and prevent safety violations.

To add to the surreal atmosphere the pipes for the reactor’s primary coolant system that were made to replace the original defective pipes are showing the exact same defect. How’s that for learning by one’s mistakes?

All in all, this is a disgraceful state of affairs considering this is Areva’s flagship project and is supposed to herald the dawn of a new nuclear renaissance. Now, you could be forgiven for thinking that, because OL3 is the first reactor of its kind and the first to be built in Europe since the Chernobyl disaster 20 years ago, Areva are bound to suffer some problems in a project this novel and complex.

If you were feeling extremely lenient and generous you might be right. The thing is the problems at OL3 aren’t exclusive to this construction project. Look at Areva’s construction of another EPR reactor in Flamanville, France. Like OL3, it’s also wildly over budget and behind schedule. The construction in Flamanville has also seen the same defects and safety violations as OL3 – cracked concrete and poor welding in the reactor’s foundations.

Ok, you’re saying, but OL3 and Flamanville are both EPR reactors. The EPR is new, third generation technology. You’re going to see the same problems in both projects. That may be true but now look to America where Areva is helping to build a MOX nuclear fuel production facility near Aiken in South Carolina.

Earlier this year, the US’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced that bad concrete and faulty reinforcing steel had been found in the foundations of the site. The NRC also found there had been inadequate inspections during the manufacturing of the steel. Bad concrete. Faulty steel. Inadequate inspections. Safety violations? Sound familiar?

This is not coincidence. This is not bad luck. This is not ‘teething troubles’. It’s starting to look like a curse. These problems are in the nuclear industry’s DNA.

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

World Nuclear News: Further delay for Rokkasho reprocessing plant
‘The trial operation of the Rokkasho used nuclear fuel reprocessing facility is not expected to be completed in November, as scheduled, according to Isami Kojima, president of Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd (JNFL). The further delay has resulted from JNFL being required to submit an additional report to the government on a test it restarted in October to produce vitrified waste.’

Dong-A Ilbo: Radioactive Waste Being Stored in Seoul, Daejeon
‘The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute has kept low and intermediate levels of radioactive waste in Seoul and Daejeon, a report by the think tank said yesterday.’

Fresh News: ‘France ready to help Bangladesh build nuclear power station’
‘France's envoy to Dhaka Charley Causeret has said that his country was ready to help build a nuclear power station in Bangladesh.’

BBN: Estonia close to pulling the plug on nuclear power project
‘Estonian leaders seem to have made a principle decision that Estonia would distance itself from the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant project.’

Counterpunch: Is Nuclear Power Green?
‘We are told that nuclear power is about to achieve a "green renaissance," "clean coal" is just around the corner, and municipal garbage is a "renewable resource," which, when burned, will yield "sustainable energy." On the other hand, sometimes we are told that solar, geothermal and tidal power are what we really need to "green" our energy system. How is a person to make sense of all these competing claims?'

‘Nuclear isn't a real low-carbon technology. Firstly, nuclear power stations take a long time to design and construct. We need carbon cuts to be as swift as possible. The same amount of emission avoided today is worth more than it being avoided in ten years time. It is a lot quicker - and cheaper - to get renewables on stream.’

Read the rest…

We at Nuclear Reaction would like to extend our hearty congratulations to Slovakian Prime Minister, Robert Fico. Yesterday Mr Fico made and announcement on Slovakia’s nuclear future stunning in its originality, innovation and sheer bravado.

The prime minister gave the go ahead for construction to recommence on the Mochovce 3 and 4 reactors in the south of the country. The go ahead was extremely unusual in that it was given without contracts been signed, any proper budget in place or environmental impact assessment being conducted. At least Mr Fico was honest when he said he did not know how much the reactors would cost.

The project also has outstanding safety problems and the plans do not include modern containment systems that would prevent the escape of radioactive materials in the event of a reactor accident. The approval for the reactors given by the European Commission in July of this year does not, unbelievably, insist on full containment measures.

The nuclear industry has always had an attitude of blind optimism; an ethos of fingers-crossed and hope-for-the-best. But this wild and reckless optimism from Robert Fico takes that to a whole other level. These attitudes seem to be spreading across Eastern Europe with Bulgaria also embarking on new nuclear build without the requisite safeguards, budgets, contracts and even valid construction permits in place.

Mr Fico is showing the kind of blind faith in his project’s success that would surely allow him to walk on water. You see it a lot amongst the advocates of nuclear power. Imagine if we could only harness that faith as an energy resource – you’d never have to build another power station ever again.

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

The Economist: When nuclear sheriffs quarrel
‘The job of keeping sensitive materials away from pariahs was always hard—and now it’s marred by squabbles’

Trading Markets: JSW signs agreement with Areva to supply large forged parts
‘Japan Steel Works and Areva have signed an agreement to supply Areva until 2016 and beyond with large forged parts, essential for the manufacture of nuclear components.’

Straight.com: David Suzuki: Renewable energy requires strength of will
‘Energy underpins everything we do. Human societies have become increasingly complex, requiring ever larger-scale sources of continuous energy. Now, energy fuels not only our activities but our economies as well. If we don’t choose our energy sources wisely, we can do more harm than good’

Punch: Nuclear power project: ‘Nigeria won’t use expatriates’
‘Nigeria’s drive to develop electricity from nuclear sources would be managed substantially by local professionals, the Federal Government said on Tuesday.’

China View: IAEA to re-examine Japanese nuclear power plant
‘An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team of up to 10 international experts will visit Japan from Dec. 1-5 to review the ongoing assessment of the impact of an earthquake that hit the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant last year, an IAEA press release said Tuesday.’

The Slovak Spectator: NGO accuses Fico of backing outdated nuclear power project
‘Prime Minister Robert Fico’s comments at a conference on the completion of the Mochovce Nuclear Power Plant (EMO) misled the public, as he is backing an outdated project that could endanger the country's security, the Supporting Mother Earth NGO stated, as quoted by the SITA newswire.’

Turkish Daily News: Gov't signals second nuclear power plant
‘Having come under fire for mishandling the tender process for the nation's first nuclear power plant, the Turkish government is already pushing the button for the go-ahead on a second station.’

St Petersburg Times: Ecologists Slam Nuclear Power Plan
‘As work started on LAES-2, a complex of six power station units with VVER-1200 reactors that is due to complement the existing four 4 RBMK-1000 units of Leningrad Nuclear Power Station (LAES), environmentalists began a protest campaign against what they call an illegitimate and potentially hazardous construction.’

As we’ve said before here at Nuclear Reaction, we admire drive, determination and ambition. Those qualities sent people into outer space, discovered cures for all manner of diseases, and gave us The Simpsons.

But while praise is deserved by those who realise their ambitions, kind warnings are needed for those who never will. Take Turkey, for example. The last four of its tendering processes to build its first nuclear reactor failed miserably. The most recent embarrassingly only attracted one bid and that bid had big problems.

Now, we hear that Turkey is pressing ahead with plans for its second nuclear power plant. Can’t someone take Turkey aside and have a quiet chat? Come on, they should say, you can’t run before you can walk. You can’t walk before you can crawl. Turkey, nuclear power projects really aren’t your strong point. Try something else.

So, the United States has a new president. Where does Barack Obama’s victory leave the nuclear industry? It means, at least, that John McCain’s plans for 45 new nuclear reactors by 2030 can now be forgotten.

Obama is more of a nuclear sceptic than is former opponent but still believes that nuclear should be part of America’s energy mix. He has accepted campaign donations from the nuclear industry. He has, however, spoken against the nuclear waste storage facility at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, and last year called for the project to be abandoned.

What else is there to say? The vagueness of Obama’s rhetoric during his bid for the presidency makes it difficult to say just what his plans are. Watch this space.

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

The Star: Energy board slams nuclear bill
‘The province's energy watchdog says Ontario Power Generation is spending far too much to operate its Pickering A and B nuclear stations and that electricity customers shouldn't have to bear the financial brunt.’

Knownews.com: MOX fuel coming to ORNL
‘Tim Powers, Oak Ridge National Laboratory's manager of non-reactor nuclear programs, confirmed that five or six mixed-oxide fuel rods from the Catawba nuclear plant near Rock Hill, S.C., are coming to Oak Ridge National Laboratory in early 2009 for a detailed analysis. The Duke Energy reactor has been testing some of the MOX fuel assemblies, which were manufactured using surplus weapons-grade plutonium mixed with uranium, as a prelim to a much bigger effort.’

Bangkok Post: Egat signs nuclear feasibility study contract with US firm
‘The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) signed a contract yesterday with a US-based consulting company to conduct a feasibility study for the country's first nuclear power plant.’

CNN: Under Obama, Dark Days Seen Ahead For Fossil Fuels
‘Under President-elect Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., the fossil fuels industry may face "dark days ahead," while alternative energy sectors are likely to flourish.’

Express India: EXPOSED: to radiation in France, to controversy near Pune
‘Vipras Castings Ltd, tucked away in Khopoli, some 70 km from Pune, is coping with one bit of international exposure it could have well done without. The source of its discomfort is a revelation last month that buttons installed in some 500 Otis elevators in France were radaioactive. The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) has traced the radioactive scrap metal to Vipras.’

Reuters: U.N. watchdog urges Spain action on nuclear waste
‘The United Nations' nuclear watchdog on Wednesday praised Spain's regulator but recommended stepping up efforts to find a permanent site for dumping spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste.’

Nanowerk : Key to closing nuclear cycle may be a thin layer of magnetic nanoparticles
‘Highly magnetic nanoparticles, originally devised for biomedical purposes, soon will be tested against one of the most toxic substances known to man – spent nuclear fuel.’

ABC: Derailment prompts uranium transport concern
‘An environment group says a BHP Billiton proposal to transport uranium yellowcake through the Northern Territory should be reconsidered in light of a train derailment near Katherine.’

When you’ve just been elected president of the United States, it pays to hire a big bandwagon. You know for a fact that just about everyone’s going to want to climb aboard and it’s going to get mighty crowded.

Quick to jump on was the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), the nuclear energy industry’s policy organization (that is, chief cheerleader and propagandist). In a statement on the face of it congratulating Barack Obama for his victory, NEI president and chief executive officer, Frank L. (Skip) Bowman cuts to the chase pretty quickly:

The nuclear energy industry congratulates Senators Barack Obama and Joe Biden on their election. One of the most important and compelling challenges facing their administration is to put in place a national energy policy to achieve energy security and to protect the U.S. economy and the environment.

The rest of the statement is pretty standard and predictable nuclear industry boilerplate: ‘reliable’, ‘affordable’, ‘the only large-scale source of carbon-free electricity’, ‘creating thousands of green jobs’, ‘scientifically sound’, ‘can raise the dead and cure the sick’. We only made the last one up. The rest is Frank’s fiction.

There is every sign that Bowman and his friends will be welcomed aboard the Obama bandwagon with all the trouble that threatens. They should be pushed off before they fall.

And while the Nuclear Energy Institute’s president and chief executive officer, Frank L. (Skip) Bowman is boasting about nuclear energy being ‘reliable’ and ‘affordable’, another nuclear reactor project is revising its costs.

Duke Energy Carolinas, who plan to build the William States Lee III Nuclear Station in South Carolina (next to the Cherokee Nuclear Power Plant which was abandoned unfinished in 1983 at a cost of $633 million), have announced that that cost of building the two nuclear reactor has doubled to $11 billion.

How’s that for ‘reliable’ and ‘affordable’? It’s certainly predictable. Nuclear reactors go massively over budget like night follows day.

The William States Lee III reactors are supposed to be online in 2018. Any bets on when they’ll actually produce any electricity?

Official Brazilian government data now corroborates Greenpeace’s findings that uranium mining has contaminated drinking water in the area surrounding the country’s Caetité uranium mine.

The state of Bahia water agency, an official governmental body, has released its finding confirming high levels of uranium in the water supply of the area of direct influence surrounding the mine controlled by Industrias Nucleares Brasileiras (INB – Brazilian Nuclear Industries).

More news as we get it.

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

Associated Press: Venezuela, Russia discuss nuclear energy, flights
‘Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez met with Russian officials on Thursday to discuss bilateral agreements on everything from nuclear energy to direct flights connecting Caracas to Moscow.’

Reuters: Bulgaria urges RWE to approve Belene nuclear JV
‘Bulgaria urged German power utility RWE (RWEG.DE:Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) on Thursday to reject pressure from green activists and approve a deal to become a strategic investor in a planned 4.0 billion euro ($5.16 billion) nuclear power plant.’

The Earth Times: GEI Consultants Completes Site Work at Proposed New Nuclear Plant for AREVA and UniStar Nuclear Energy
‘GEI Consultants, Inc., a leading national geotechnical, environmental, water resources, and ecological science and engineering firm, announced today it has completed the geotechnical and hydrogeological investigations for UniStar Nuclear Energy's proposed new nuclear reactor adjacent to Constellation Energy's Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station nearOswego, New York.’

China Daily: China aims at higher nuclear power capacity
‘China may raise its total installed nuclear power generating capacity to 70 million kilowatts by 2020, 75 percent higher than government target set in 2006, says a senior energy official.’

World Nuclear News: BHP Billiton outlines Olympic Dam grand plans
‘Olympic Dam is the world's largest uranium orebody, with uranium being a co-product with copper. The mine expansion will make Olympic Dam the largest uranium producer by around 2020 and probably well before.’

World Nuclear News: Italian Deputies vote to overturn nuclear ban
‘A government bill overturning Italy's moratorium on nuclear power has been approved by the lower chamber of the country's government and has been passed for approval to the country's Senate.’

On Wednesday we brought you the news that the Turkish government had begun plans for a second nuclear reactor despite its plan for a first being an total and abject failure.

Now we hear that Finland - home to the disaster-prone, three years behind schedule, and massively over-budget Olkiluoto 3 (OL3) reactor construction – has announced plans for yet another reactor as part of the its new climate and energy strategy.

It’s difficult to know where to begin with this. Any sane person would clean up the mess made by OL3 before starting another. That ill-fated project accounts for 85 per cent of Finland’s energy investment for 2006-2010. The opportunities lost in that time for building a renewable energy future are unimaginable. And now the Finnish government want to make it even worse.

They are moving to make the final decision before the 2011 general election. With over half of the Finnish people against nuclear power and only a third in favour, you can see why.

It’s not just the Finnish government that are hurry to make nuclear decisions. With the clock ticking on the Bush administration, it seems that outgoing energy officials are trying to get long term decisions made on nuclear waste storage before the sceptical Barack Obama is sworn in.

The Department of Energy is calling for a large expansion of Nevada’s Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage facility or the establishment of a second site. Obama is notable for his opposition to Yucca Mountain (which is 20 years over budget and 20 years late), making to difficult to see him backing either option.

While the Energy Department is in a hurry, some are calling to slow things down. This week, a public vote in Illinois’s Oak Park, Berwyn and Riverside suburbs overwhelmingly called for the phase-out of nuclear power in favour of renewable sources. Illinois is Obama’s home state and has more nuclear reactors than any other.

In the single paragraph devoted to nuclear in Obama’s ‘New Energy For America’ plan calls for ‘safe and secure nuclear energy’. Does the technology even exist to ensure that demand (if that’s what it is)?

We wait to see how strong Obama’s insistence is and how long it lasts. He took campaign funding from Illinois nuclear company and has amended legislation in the company’s favour, a fact no doubt noted by nuclear lobbyists around the country.

Whatever happens, it would seem the problem of what to do about America’s nuclear industry begins the in the new president’s own back yard.

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

London Topic: SCIENCE MATTERS: The answer is blowin' in the wind!
‘Non-renewable energy sources such as fossil and nuclear fuels are not sustainable and have also taught us that technological advances often come at great cost. These fuels can never be a long-term solution because they will run out. They also create emissions that pollute our air, water, and soil, and contribute to global warming or long-term radioactive-waste problems.’

The Slovak Spectator: Nuclear project under way
‘JUST weeks after the government approved its strategy on energy security, which is intended to guide policy for the next 20 years or so and which defined nuclear energy as one of its key pillars, Slovakia’s dominant power generator started the construction phase of two further blocks at the Mochovce nuclear plant.’

New York Times: NRG Leaves Door Open After Rejecting Takeover Bid
‘NRG Energy, a power generator based in Princeton, N.J., said Sunday it had rejected an unsolicited takeover bid by Exelon, saying the offer “manifestly undervalues” the company.’

Yahoo! News: Funding “iffy” for Ohio uranium enrichment plant
‘The nation's only provider of enriched uranium for nuclear power plants says it will go ahead with development of a southern Ohio project even though it has been unable to attract financing in the $3.5 billion venture’

The Buffalo News: Nuclear power freighted with troubling consequences
‘Nuclear power is not carbon-free. It consumes more fossil fuels in the uranium mining, refining, fuel fabrication and actual power plant construction and operation processes per unit of installed generating capacity than do the trio of the cleanest alternative sources — wind, geothermal and solar — in their production and deployment. A dollar invested in wind produces more energy, leads to a greater reduction in carbon emissions and creates more jobs than one invested in nuclear power, according to experts.’

The Guardian: Mini nuclear plants to power 20,000 homes
‘The US government has licensed the technology to Hyperion, a New Mexico-based company which said last week that it has taken its first firm orders and plans to start mass production within five years. 'Our goal is to generate electricity for 10 cents a watt anywhere in the world,' said John Deal, chief executive of Hyperion. 'They will cost approximately $25m [£13m] each. For a community with 10,000 households, that is a very affordable $250 per home.'’

8 November - A crowd of 16 000 people demonstrated against the Castor transport in Gorleben today, marching through the town and eventually settling just outside of it, near to the gates of the "Zwischenlager" - the temporary nuclear waste disposal site (also located in Gorleben) - to listen to speeches and music. Madsen, a very popular band, ended the event to a very lively and dance-happy crowd.

The protesters were accompanied by at least 400 tractors - a powerful testament to the sense of solidarity that exists around the issue of nuclear power and nuclear waste in this region. Gorleben is the 'ground zero' of the nuclear waste issue in Germany - it is the site of an old mine that the German government is hoping to turn into a permanent nuclear waste disposal site. For decades, the local people in and around Gorleben have been welcoming outside activists onto their land and into their homes, to help strengthen a movement whose aim is to force the German government and the nuclear industry to take responsibility for their decisions to propagate a dangerous and unnecessary power source.

Read the rest…

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

Haaretz.com: IAEA finds traces of uranium at Syrian site
‘United Nations investigators have found traces of uranium at a Syrian site Israel bombed in September 2007, diplomats accredited to the International Atomic Energy Agency said yesterday. Washington says the site was a secret nuclear reactor, and the diplomats said the minute uranium particles turned up in some environmental swipe samples UN inspectors took at the site in a visit last June. They added the finding was not enough to draw conclusions but raised concerns requiring further clarification. ’

Eurasianet.org: KAZAKHSTAN: ASTANA PURSUES NUCLEAR ENERGY DEAL WITH INDIA
‘Uranium from Kazakhstan will soon be powering Indian nuclear plants, the Kazakh ambassador to India revealed in a newspaper interview.’

The Scotsman: Power – and who should have it
‘The SNP administration, which is strongly anti-nuclear, has looked to ways of using its devolved powers to stymie the building of new nuclear power stations in Scotland. This anti-nuclear stance has extended to attacking plans to renew the Trident warheads on the Clyde, by suggesting the imposition of tolls on roads leading to the Faslane submarine base. ’

Guardian: Nuclear's appeal wanes in Qatar as energy prices fall
‘Nuclear power plants have become less economically attractive for Qatar with the fall in international oil and gas prices, a Qatari official said Monday. "Nuclear would not compete with the current price of gas for us," Yousuf Janahi, manager of corporate planning and business development at Qatar's state-owned power company Kahramaa, told Reuters on the sidelines of a nuclear energy conference.’

World Nuclear News: French committee reports on nuclear safety
‘A committee appointed by the French government has made 18 recommendations for the country's nuclear industry to improve transparency and information on nuclear safety.’

Der Spiegel: The Renaissance of the Anti-Nuclear Movement
‘This weekend over 15,000 people turned out to disrupt a delivery of nuclear waste across Germany -- one of the largest such protests in years. The German press expects the nuclear issue to play a big role in next year's election campaign.’

ABC News: Uranium export unpopular amongst Australians: survey
‘A new poll suggests a majority of Australians are against the export of uranium to countries that have nuclear weapons.’

World Nuclear News: Financing a concern for American Centrifuge Plant
‘USEC has said that, despite "substantial progress" with constructing the American Centrifuge Plant (ACP), it remains uncertain how the uranium enrichment plant will ultimately be financed.’

Even away from its culture of cover-up and lack of transparency in its dealings, the nuclear industry is one wrapped in riddles, mystery, and wonder. The unanswered questions stretch on as far as the eye can see.

Tom Burke, of the London Sustainable Development Commission says, ‘there are only two honest answers to the question of how much it costs to build a nuclear power station. These are "I don't know" and "I'll tell you when I've built it." Everything else is a guess.’

But the same goes when it comes to the timescales and schedules involved in building nuclear reactors. A builder who says from the outset just when a reactor will be online is being either recklessly optimistic or a liar. Which would you prefer?

Ask Areva how long it’s going to take to complete Finland’s Olkiluoto 3 reactor. Originally it was 2009. Now it’s 2012 at the earliest. Would you like to bet money on that? Or what about the reactor Areva are building at Flamanville in France? In August this year we reported that, after nine months of construction, the project is nine months behind schedule. You have to admit that’s an amazing trick. Full of mystery. We suspect time travel may have been involved.

It’s not just Areva who have a different concept of time as the rest of us. Japan’s J-Power has just announced that the nuclear power station it is building in Oma will now not be ready in March 2012. The reactor will now, hopefully, power up in November 2014.

The reason for the delay is that the plant needs further work to make it resistant to earthquakes. Why plans for these measures weren’t in place when the greenlight was given for the Oma reactor almost ten years ago, and in a country infamous for its seismic activity, isn’t clear. You could call it a mystery.

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

Mlive.com: A radioactive cheese grater at Genesee Township landfill points out toxic dangers from Chinese products
‘According to the state Department of Environmental Quality, the common kitchen utensil with an uncommon past set off the alarms at Genesee Recycling in August, sending ripples all the way to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Environmental Protection Agency. "We know it was manufactured in China but at this point we are still unsure what the source of the material is or was, or where it possibly entered the system," said Thor Strong, the state DEQ's chief of radiological protection.’

Rooted: Radioactive beer kegs menace public
‘The United Nations have called for increased screening on the disposal of radioactive goods, with reports of nuclear waste making its way into scrap smelters and ultimately consumer goods, Bloomberg reports. “Abandoned medical scanners, food processing devices and mining equipment containing radioactive metals such as cesium-137 and cobalt-60 are often picked up by scrap collectors and sold to recyclers, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s nuclear arm. De Bruin said he sometimes finds such items hidden inside beer kegs and lead pipes to prevent detection.”’

Asahi.com: Hajime Izumi: We must share costs to denuclearize N. Korea
‘The United States removed North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism. Behind the decision was the judgment by the administration of President George W. Bush that keeping Pyongyang at the negotiating table to give up its nuclear development program is indispensable, even if delisting means giving in to its demands to a certain extent.’

Forbes: Turkey to change nuclear energy tender law-source
‘Turkey will make changes to a nuclear energy tender law nearly two months after it received just one bid in a tender to build the country's first nuclear power plant, an Energy Ministry source told Reuters on Tuesday.’

The Guardian: Row over claims of Syrian nuclear find
‘Claims that traces of uranium were found at the site of an alleged Syriannuclear reactor which was bombed by Israel last year prompted a row about politically-motivated leaks yesterday.’

iStockAnalyst: Nuclear Plant Safety
‘We have long been skeptical about a federal program to convert surplus weapons-grade plutonium into fuel for nuclear plants. But if the program is to go forward, the new conversion facility at least should be built properly.’

World Nuclear News: Fuel loading starts at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa reactor
‘Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) began loading fuel rods into Unit 7 of its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant on 8 November. All 872 rods are expected to be loaded by 16 November, after which safety confirmation tests will be conducted without starting up the reactor.’

World Nuclear News: UK OKs nuclear trade with India
‘The UK government has lifted its ban on nuclear-related exports to India, following the decision by the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to allow the transfer of "trigger list" items to India for peaceful purposes.’

On the matter of the US government covering up the loss of a nuclear weapon in northern Greenland when a B-52 bomber crashed there in 1968, William H Chambers, formerly of Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory had this to say:

‘The bottom of the ocean is not a bad place in terms of environmental effects.’

Read that again. Savour it. Tell it to the clean-up workers dying of radiation-related illnesses.

(Despite the US only just admitting to losing the weapon this week, Greenpeace were on the case decades ago.)

Over the weekend, the UK’s Observer newspaper ran a story about ‘nuclear power plants smaller than a garden shed and able to power 20,000 homes’. The reactors, the story said, will be available in five years, cost $25 million each, and power 10,000 houses.

In an attempt to allay safety fears, they will also ‘be factory-sealed, contain no weapons-grade material, have no moving parts and will be nearly impossible to steal because they will be encased in concrete and buried underground.’

Sound too good to be true? That’s because it is.

The Czech company TES, which is a small supplier for the nuclear power plants Dukovany and Temelin, has ordered six of the mini reactors, according to Hyperion, the designers. They also say one has been ordered by Romania. However, Romania’s National Committee for Nuclear Control knows nothing about it.

No prototype of the reactor exists and the design is not yet finalised or approved. Despite claims to the reactors’ safety, problems of installation, transport and refuelling still exist. Hyperion claims the reactors are theft-proof but who ever heard of anyone attempting to steal an operating nuclear reactor? It’s the fuel supply chain where the dangers lie. Are we to assume that the refuelling trucks will be accompanied by armed guards?

The reactors are going to be buried where leaks and problems may not be detected early enough. And the systems that activate and deactivate the reactors will have to be above ground and therefore open to sabotage. The reactors have to be dug up every five to ten years for refuelling creating further risks.

So, they’re based on untested science, still on the drawing board and open to sabotage, attack and failure. But apart from that, mini reactors sound like a really good idea.

Following confirmation of Greenpeace’s findings that uranium has entered the water supply surrounding Brazil’s Caetité uranium mine, the mine’s operator INB (Brazilian Nuclear Industries) are to be investigated by the country’s Federal Prosecution Office.

At a public meeting attended by 1,200 people from the region and lasting over five hours, concerns were voiced about INB not properly answering questions about spills and accidents at the mine, safety issues, and the matter of contaminated drinking water.

In a precedent for Brazil’s nuclear industry, federal prosecutors announced the investigation will be fully independent from INB and CNEN (the National
Commission on Nuclear Energy who are also bizarrely a major shareholder in INB), and INB will be legally obliged to pay its costs. One of the prosecutors said: ‘We will break the policy of silence around the Brazilian Nuclear Program, at least here in Caetité where it begins’.

The prosecutors have also formally recommended that Ibama (the environmental licensing agency) refuse INB’s request to double the mine’s output. They have also recommended that the National Prosecution Headquarters begin monitoring Brazil’s nuclear programme as a whole.

This is a great victory for the people of the region and a real chance to bring Brazil’s nuclear industry to account.

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

AFP: Fire at Japan nuke power plant injures worker: operator
A fire broke out at a nuclear power plant in northern Japan on Thursday, injuring one worker but causing no radiation leak, the operator said. Firefighters put out the fire about an hour after white smoke was spotted coming out of the reactor, which was already shut for a regular check-up, Tohoku Electric Power said.

Bloomberg: North Korean Bar on Atomic Samples Harms Verification
North Korea's bar on international inspectors taking soil and waste samples from its reactor undermines efforts to check the communist state's nuclear program, South Korea's foreign minister said.

St George and Sutherland Shire Leader: Reactor's leak keeps it closed
LUCAS HEIGHTS engineers are ready to test their second attempt at fixing a water leak that has plagued Australia's $400 million nuclear research reactor since it was officially opened last year.

Thaindian News: Real mission for James Bond: infiltrate India’s nuke programme
Ahead of the latest James Bond film’s release in the US this Friday, a foreign policy journal has listed out five missions it would like the most popular fictional spy to take up, including infiltrating India’s nuclear programme to find out if the country has got a hydrogen bomb.

Missourian: AmerenUE, advocacy agency disagree on how to pay for nuclear reactor
The state agency charged with advocating for utility customers is suggesting a way for AmerenUE to pay for a potential second nuclear reactor in Callaway County that would minimize the profits of the reactor and the cost to customers.

Times Leader: US regulators inspect W. Pa. nuclear facility
U.S. regulators are inspecting a western Pennsylvania nuclear facility after air became trapped in a safety system meant to supply water to the reactor in the event of an accident.

Your Nuclear News: Russia Mulls Shipping Enriched Uranium to Japan via Far East
Russia is considering shipping uranium enriched at a plant in Siberia to Japan and other East Asian markets via a port in the Russian Far East, the chief executive of the plant says.Sufficient demand to justify investment is a prerequisite for exporting enriched uranium for nuclear power generation via the Russian Far East, Alexander Belousov, president of Angarsk Electrolysis Chemical Complex in the east Siberian city of Angarsk, told Kyodo News and other news organizations Monday.

Sydney Morning Herald: Australia 'must consider' nuclear power
Australia has no choice but to consider nuclear power as part of its future energy mix, leading nuclear industry advocate Ziggy Switkowski says.

The Enterprise: Annual nuclear power plant siren test conducted in five towns
The Pilgrim nuclear power plant conducted an annual test Wednesday of 113 sirens that would be used to alert the public in an emergency.

So just what exactly is going on with the troubled construction of the state of the art EPR reactor in Flamanville, France? Just when will the reactor be operational? There seems to be some disagreement on the matter.

The CEO of Areva, one of the partners in the project, ‘Atomic’ Anne Lauvergeon said on French radio yesterday that the reactor would not be ready in 2012 as previously stated but in 2013. France’s energy company EDF, also a project partner, later contradicted her by saying the plant would be operational in 2012 as planned.

So which is it? Who’s right and who’s wrong? Why aren’t the major partners in a project already beset with cost and schedule overruns, not to construction and safety failures, communicating properly on fundamental matters such when the thing is going to be finished? How much confusion can an operation of this complexity and expense take?

In an attempt to assuage worries, EDF say they and ‘civil engineering contractor Bouygues have taken the necessary steps to manage the "hazards of civil engineering inherent to this size of project"’. Considering Bouygues was at the centre of investigations earlier this year about substandard construction and safety violations in both the Flamanville reactor and at Finland’s Olkiluoto, this news isn’t as reassuring as EDF probably thought it would be.

Well, they’re not standing up exactly, being jellyfish, but they’re certainly being counted. Late last month, the staff at the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in California found out just what happens when jellyfish attack…

'An unprecedented invasion of jellyfish earlier this week managed to accomplish what decades worth of activists have failed to do: Shut down San Luis Obispo County’s Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant.'

We hope you’ll agree that this was a brave action on the part of our Cnidarian brothers and sisters. With pigeonkind spying on the Iranian nuclear industry, and the seagull community making the ultimate sacrifice in order to highlight the failings at the UK’s Sellafield nuclear plant, can we be in any doubt as to which side the animal kingdom has chosen in the nuclear debate?

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

Beaumont Enterprise: Silkwood, labor pioneer, to be honored 34 years after her death
‘If things had been different, Karen Silkwood would have kept that appointment with the New York Times about the alleged hazards at an Oklahoma plant. The world could have read her story and a mother might not have had to say goodbye to her daughter. Merle Silkwood is convinced that if her daughter was alive, she would continue fighting to make things better.’

Gallup Independent: ‘Poison Wind’ presents oral history of uranium victims
‘It has been nearly two years to the day that Jenny Pond first came up for the idea of “Poison Wind,” an oral history on the effects uranium mining has had on indigenous people of the Southwest.’

24 News Agency: KYRGYZSTAN: Landslides threaten radioactive waste dumps
‘Residents of the village of Min-Kush in Naryn Province, central Kyrgyzstan, are worried that a mudslide could destroy a nearby radioactive waste dump and contaminate the local river.’

The Times: Eskom’s Moody blues
‘Eskom confirmed yesterday that it remains on course to announce, before the end of the year, the winner of the bid to build South Africa’s second nuclear power plant after Koeberg. But it appears that the government might have other plans.’

Forbes: Constellation N.Y. Nine Mile 2 reactor shut
‘NEW YORK, Nov 13 (Reuters) -Constellation Energy GroupInc's 1,140-megawatt Unit 2 at the Nine Mile Point nuclear power station in New York shut by early Thursday, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a report.’

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is set to visit a wind farm in Port Alma this morning. Premier McGuinty will undoubtedly tout his government’s strides to develop wind power. What Premier McGuinty won’t mention, however, is the cap his government has put on the development of wind power.

Read the rest…

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

The Guardian: Storage fears over high-level nuclear waste
‘Government plans for a new generation of nuclear power plants face growing concerns the industry needs another waste repository involving a massive escalation in cost.’

El Khabar: A new nuclear plant and an atomic energy safety agency to be created in Algeria
‘The atomic energy code will be submitted to Government sooner, said the Minister of Energy Mr. Chakib Khelil, adding that a body specialized in research and production will be created. The main projects of the code are the construction of a new nuclear plant as by next 2020, in view of strengthening the one existent in Medea interior province.’

iStockAnalyst: Nuclear Generators' Land Grab ; A New Nuclear Power Station at Oldbury is Looking Increasingly Likely After Companies Came Forward to Snap Up Land Around the Site
‘A new nuclear power station at Oldbury [UK] is looking increasingly likely after companies came forward to snap up land around the site. Those living near the site have been told German-owned E.on, which has publicly stated an interest in having a pounds4-billion nuclear plant in South Gloucestershire, has already been buying up pieces of privately owned land around the station.’

When India was readmitted to the club of nuclear nations this year, it promised faithfully, truly, and honestly that it wouldn’t allow nuclear proliferation. It refused to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty but the rest of the world was willing to take India’s word for it. After all, billions of dollars worth of business opportunities would have been ruined by being pedantic and sticking to international law, wouldn’t it?

So, how is India’s nuclear industry looking? Not good, you’d have to say. After two high profile uranium smuggling plots were exposed in the country this year, and Indian radioactive scrap found its way into European elevator buttons, you’d have to say that the Indian nuclear industry is leaking like, well, like a French nuclear reactor.

Apparently, in one of the smuggling cases, ‘the confiscated packet bore a printed inscription of the Indian Atomic Energy Department.’ Whether the uranium escaped because of incompetence or malice, it would suggest that all is not well inside the Indian nuclear industry.

Still, it would be wrong to single out India on the matter of carelessness with radioactive materials. It’s not as if the rest of the members of the nuclear club are any better. The International Atomic Energy Agency estimates there ‘may be more than one million missing radioactive sources of various levels worldwide’ as ‘medical scanners, food-processing devices and mining equipment containing radioactive metals like cesium-137 and cobalt-60’ are scrapped and recycled.

We’re failing miserably to deal with our radioactive legacy and it is not without harm. A study in Taiwan of residents living in apartments made with radioactive steel should an increase in cases of cancer.

So who are we to lecture India on their nuclear troubles? In the short time since she joined the nuclear club she’s shown herself to be truly one of the rest.

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

The Moscow Times: Radioactive Dump Stirs Fears in City Suburb
‘What many children in a densely populated eastern Moscow suburb used to think of as a good little hill to play and toboggan on has turned out to be a radioactive waste dump — one that local residents and ecologists say could spill over and contaminate a larger area’

AFP: Algeria, Argentina strike deal on nuclear energy
‘Algeria and Argentina signed an agreement Monday to boost cooperation over civil nuclear energy as part of Argentine President Cristina Kirchner's tour of northern Africa.’

Forbes: Water allocation for nuclear plant in dispute
‘Several groups have filed protests with the state engineer to stop Kane County from selling water for a proposed nuclear power plant.’

BBC News: Syria nuclear clues 'not damning'
‘The director of the UN atomic watchdog, has said a report he is due to present later this week on Syrian nuclear activity will "not be conclusive".’

World Nuclear News: Studsvik to treat Oskarshamn 3 modernization waste
‘Studsvik has been awarded a contract by OKG for the treatment of metallic waste resulting from the modernization of unit 3 of the Oskarshamn nuclear power plant in Sweden.’

World Nuclear News: New WA government opens doors to uranium
‘The new Liberal-National government in Western Australia has formally lifted the ban on uranium mining in the state, which covers nearly one-third of the country. The new government took over from Labor in September, ending six years of ideologically-motivated stigma on uranium.’

Let’s have the good news first…

Government lawyers have warned ministers that legal challenges could delay its plan for the construction of nuclear power stations and exacerbate potential energy shortages.

(It’s a shame the article says legal challenges could ‘exacerbate potential energy shortages’ when independent research shows that if the UK meets energy efficiency and renewable energy targets – as described in Greenpeace’s Energy Revolution - an ‘energy gap’ can be avoided without the need for nuclear power.)

The news came to light after legal documents were leaked and follows Greenpeace the flawed nuclear consultation conducted by the UK government…

The Market Research Standards Board agreed with Greenpeace that consultation for the 2008 energy white paper had not been conducted in an even-handed way.

(Greenpeace UK have more details and a copy of the document.)

Unfortunately this good news was followed quickly by some bad…

Ed Miliband, the energy and climate change secretary, is to exempt from the Freedom of Information Act the new US-led private consortia taking over the running of Britain's biggest nuclear facility at Sellafield next Monday.

There aren’t many details to this story yet but it prompts some rather large questions: Why is the company running Sellafield being made immune to Freedom of Information requests? How cover-up and secrecy like this build public confidence in the nuclear industry? What does it have to hide? Surely if everything is fine there would be no need for secrecy. It prompts a serious worry that something is wrong at Sellafield or something about the deal to run the facility stinks. Which is it?

Last March, the Spanish socialist party (PSOE) won the country’s general election. The PSOE's electoral programme included the commitment to a nuclear phase-out (literally: “we keep our commitment of gradually replacing nuclear energy by clean, safe and less costly energies, closing down the existing nuclear reactors...”.

The President of the Government, Zapatero, is still publicly saying no to nukes but his Minister of Energy (Miguel Sebastian), a pro-nuclear man, is saying that “although there are going to be no new nukes in Spain, it doesn't mean that existing reactors are going to be closed down”.

But the President and his Government will have to take a key decision on nuclear matters soon.

July 2009 sees the end of the operation license of Garoña NPP, a 38 year-old 461 MW GE BWR reactor. Nuclenor, the plant owner (jointly owned by Spain’s electricity utilities Endesa and Iberdrola), has applied for a ten-year Plant Lifetime Extensions or PLEX. Minister Sebastian seems to be in favour of granting this PLEX.

Greenpeace Spain are concentrating our campaign efforts in forcing the Government to fulfil its phase-out commitment and to take the political decision of closing immediately the Garoña NPP in July 2009 - at the latest - as the first step to phase-out of nuclear energy in Spain.

As a part of our work we have recently launched the “I’m an antinuclear” campaign. It pretends to be a reference for the anti-nuclear majority of the Spanish people and collects their signatures (mainly via the internet, by means of a register on the web page www.yosoyantinuclear.org), promotes social mobilization (also via the internet as much as possible: promoting cyberactivism, videocyberactivism, and encouraging people through social networks like Facebook, MySpace, Tuenti…), and creates a common place for other antinuclear groups to join actions and share activities. In summary: to put pressure on the Government to fulfil his commitment of phasing out nuclear energy.

We have also made available a lot of awareness-raising materials, including a report: “An energy without future. Deconstructing the lies of the nuclear industry (the document in Spanish is here).

(This is a guest post by Isabel Rivera, press officer for Greenpeace Spain’s nuclear campaign.)

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

Reuters: EDF to repair hydrogen pipes at Cruas nuclear plant
‘EDF said on Tuesday it would comply within the next three months with the French nuclear safety authority's order to improve the piping of explosive liquids at the southern nuclear plant of Cruas.’

Reuters: Iran aims for 2009 launch of nuclear plant
‘Iran is aiming to commission its first nuclear power plant in 2009 after years of delays, the official IRNA news agency reported on Tuesday.’

Washington Post: Report on Nuclear Security Urges Prompt Global Action
‘When armed men attacked South Africa's most closely guarded nuclear facility a year ago, they penetrated the detection systems at the perimeter, cut through an electrified fence and broke into the emergency control center, shooting one worker there in the chest before escaping.’

Nautilus Institute: Neo-Cons in Pyongyang
‘Leonid Petrov, Research Associate at the Australian National University, writes, "As for North Korea's erratic behaviour in rejecting the nuclear sampling and verification process, again it is the conservative mood that dominates today's Pyongyang… Every time when Washington reneged on its promises given at the Six Party Talks it would undermine the power of the liberal group in Pyongyang”’

The Guardian: Russia to build nuclear reactor for Chávez
‘Russia's deepening strategic partnership with Venezuela took a dramatic step forward today when it emerged that Moscow has agreed to build Venezuela's first ever nuclear reactor.’

‘A citizens group on Lake Erie is fighting back against Bruce Power’s push to build a nuclear power plant in their community. Their complaint? No one – including their elected officials - asked if they wanted a nuclear plant in their backyard.’

Read the rest…

He might sound like a cheesemaker telling us all we must all eat cheese but Bill Coley, the chief executive of British Energy, is urging the British government to press on with a new fleet of nuclear power stations.

We can't meet our climate-change obligations without nuclear. It's just got to be done

It’s only to be expected. Coley is the chief of a nuclear company, and with its profits down 50 per cent, he’s probably a little desperate as well. He’s never going to read or acknowledge the independent Poyry findings that the UK doesn’t need any new power station let alone nuclear ones – his shareholders would go berserk. The thing is, British energy can’t even look after the nuclear reactors it’s already got, let alone any new ones.

In May this year, the Sizewell B reactor experienced an ‘unplanned’ shutdown. Cracks have been found in the boiler tubes of the Hinkley Point B and Hunterston B reactors meaning they have to run at reduced power. Reactors at Hartlepool and Heysham are out of action thanks to corroding wiring. That’s a big ’to do’ list for British Energy before they start thinking about new reactors.

Another item on the list should be the layers of radioactive silt lying on the bed of the Irish Sea close to the Sellafield nuclear plant in north-west England. The fear is that should a nuclear power plant be built there, the silt will be churned up by the reactors cooling intakes (many coastal-based reactors use sea water to cool the reactor). Somebody should warn Norway to prepare for another influx of radioactive lobsters.

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

Nuclear Engineering International: All quiet on South African nuclear plans
‘South African state utility Eskom has again deferred the announcement of the preferred bidder for its ambitious nuclear new-build programme.’

The News & Advance: Areva delays $25M expansion
‘Citing “the current economic climate,” nuclear company Areva said Tuesday it would delay the start of construction on a new office building on Old Forest Road in Lynchburg. Areva plans to continue hiring engineers and other employees to complete detailed plans for its evolutionary power reactor, which is being reviewed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, company spokeswoman Denise Woernle said.’

iStockAnalyst: Japan to Stiffen Controls on Marine MOX Transport Information
‘Japan's power industry will enhance controls on the disclosure of information connected to the marine transport of plutonium-uranium mixed oxide fuel for use in nuclear power plants to prevent terrorists from seizing cargoes of the radioactive substance, industry officials said Monday.’

Reuters: Nuclear planning to the year 1,002,008
‘YUCCA MOUNTAIN, Nevada (Reuters) - Will this barren mountain rising up to 4,950 feet from the Mojave desert look roughly the same in the year 1,002,008? That’s a million years into the future.’

The Guardian: Could nuclear sell-off be another taxpayer bail-out?
‘So who will now be responsible for the clean-up of existing BE sites. If land is transferred from BE to other atomic aspirant owners, who will hold the liabilities for radioactive remediation? Who will be responsible for the insurance cover of existing reactors, especially any accident that involves off-site radioactive contamination. And who becomes responsible for other assets or liabilities of around 15,000kg (15 tonnes) of plutonium from BE's advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGRs) and the spent nuclear fuel discharged from the reactors? EDF would not answer questions on the ownership or transfer of liabilities…’

The nuclear industry has been in Port Hope Ontario for 70 years and its environmental impacts continue to divide the community. We may not hear about it often in national and international newspapers, but local groups are fighting their exposure to radioactive emissions from Cameco’s uranium conversion facility and historic radioactive wastes.

CTV’s W5 produced a documentary “What Lies Beneath” on the nuclear industry’s radioactive legacy in Port Hope.

(More news about Canada’s nuclear industry can be found at Greenpeace Canada.)

© Greenpeace / Pedro Armestre

Early this morning 60 Greenpeace activists have started a direct action at the Garona nuclear power plant. A container was placed at the entrance of the plant with ten Greenpeace people inside, prepared to resist and connected to the Internet. The demand is to close down this plant, the oldest in Spain, as a first step to meeting the Government's promise to phase out nuclear power. The action is part of the "I'm anti-nuclear" campaign that GP Spain is running this month.

(More details of the action (in Spanish), along with video footage, are available over at Greenpeace Spain.)

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

Easy Bourse: First Australian Uranium Shipped To China – Minister
‘The first Australian uranium has been exported to China, with demand for the fuel likely to increase sharply in coming years, Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson said Friday. The shipment follows the signing of two bilateral nuclear safeguards agreements in April 2006 and their ratification in January 2007, which provide assurance that Australian uranium will be used exclusively in China for peaceful purposes, he said.‘

Brattleboro Reformer: Engineers find more cracks in VY steam dryer
‘During a recheck of the results of Vermont Yankee's steam dryer inspection, engineers found that the number of additional hairline cracks in the dryer was actually 18, and not 16, as previously reported.’

The Vancouver Courier: UBC lab spawns isotope revolution
‘Vancouver scientists are pioneering a new way to manufacture medical isotopes, using a process that doesn't require a nuclear reactor or weapons-grade uranium.’

Your Industry News: Romania to sign nuclear power deal Nov 20-GDF Suez
‘Romania is due to sign a deal with selected foreign bidders to build two more reactors at its nuclear power plant in Cernavoda on Nov. 20, one of the investors, GDF Suez ), said on Tuesday. Earlier this year, the Balkan country decided to retain a 51 percent stake in the planned reactors and leave the remaining 49 percent for the six bidders it chose last year as partners.’

Thaindian News: Pak N-scientist Dr AQ Khan files petition against his detention
‘Pakistan nuclear scientist Dr AQ Khan has reportedly filed a writ petition against his alleged detention yesterday at the Islamabad High Court.’

Media for Freedom: World Publics Strongly Favor Requiring More Wind and Solar Energy, More Efficiency, Even If It Increases Costs
‘A new WorldPublicOpinion.org poll of 21 nations finds very strong support for the government requiring utilities to use more alternative energy, such as wind and solar, and requiring businesses to use energy more efficiently, even if these steps increase the costs of energy and other products. Fewer than half of the nations polled favor putting more emphasis on nuclear energy or on coal or oil.’

The Whitehaven News: Firms fined after man fell 350 feet to his death at Sellafield nuclear site
‘The employers of a man who died after plunging 350ft down a radioactive Sellafield chimney have together been fined £250,000 for breaching health and safety practices which led to his death.’

Bloomberg: Major Quake in U.S. Midwest Might Kill 6,000, Study Estimates
‘A major Midwestern earthquake may cause 6,000 deaths and $450 billion in damage, while disrupting oil and gas supplies, a U.S. government-sponsored study said [...]There are 15 nuclear power plants in the regions covered by the study, [Amr Elnashai, principal investigator and a civil engineering professor at the University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign] said.’

Regular readers of Nuclear Reaction may be familiar with the Philippine’s Bataan nuclear reactor. Taking eight years to build between 1976 and 1984, and in a deal that gave $80 million in kickbacks to the then president Ferdinand Marcos, the reactor cost $2.3 billion to build, and for 20 years its funding was the country’s largest overseas debt (a debt that took 32 years to pay off).

And after all that, safety fears meant that not a single fuel rod has ever been processed, not a single watt of electricity has ever been produced. Bataan truly was a clean and safe (if not exactly cheap) nuclear reactor.

Talk of finally bringing the reactor online has never really gone away. But back in August this year it looked as if the Philippine government was listening to the local concerns about nuclear power. Energy Undersecretary Ramon Santos said the Bataan plan would be dropped in the event of strong objections. The Philippine government seem fully aware of the issues with nuclear power – the shortage of experts, the dangers, and the clean and safe alternatives – and are fully prepared to admit to them.

So, it comes of something of surprise to hear that Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago has recently filed a bill in the Philippine Senate to ‘re-commission and commercially operate’ the Bataan reactor. "Given the increasingly prohibitive costs of the present sources of energy and the unreliability of wind, solar and other alternative sources, there is a need to revisit and utilize the nuclear power option," said Santiago, an ally of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, betraying her ignorance of the issues of renewable energy and energy efficiency. We must hope that Undersecretary Santos holds to his assurances.

Most of us know or have known small children. They’re yapping, disobedient and impatient little creatures, unable to follow the simplest instruction or defer the smallest gratification. Ask a small child to wait five minutes before he or she can have some sweets and you might as well ask a lion to wait five minutes before attacking a wildebeest: they’re going to take them anyway the second your back’s turned.

Now, what if you scaled that behaviour up until it became a multinational corporation’s business model? It’s a ridiculous idea, isn’t it? Company’s behaving like spoilt, unpleasant children? It’d never work.

Or so you’d think.

France’s nuclear village idiots Areva, not content with seeing how far they can push schedule and cost overruns, incompetence and safety violations in nuclear reactor construction, are now conducting experiments in how far they can undermine democratically elected governments who won’t give Areva what they want.

The Finnish government’s Ministry of Economic Affairs want to consult as widely as possible on the matter of granting permits for uranium mining in the north of the country. A government consulting the people? Why, it’s outrageous, say Areva. They’ve accused the Finnish government of ‘foot dragging’ and like the child who wants the sweets NOW! NOW! NOW!, they’ve stamped their little feet and have already begun huge mining excavations in Ranua, Lapland.

This raises very real questions about the nature of corporations that cross international boundaries and the way they undermine the power and credibility of democracies. Will the Finnish government find the will and the strength to challenge corporate greed and unaccountability? Greedy little Areva should be sent to bed without any supper.

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

Gulf News: Iranian delegation set to skip Gulf Nuclear Energy conference
‘Abu Dhabi: Organisers of the Gulf Nuclear Energy conference have called on the Iranian delegation to attend the three-day meeting bringing experts from across the world to discuss peaceful uses of nuclear energy.’

IHT: Argentina offers Libya help with nuclear power
‘A Libyan official says Argentina's visiting president has offered her country's help in developing nuclear energy in the North African nation.’

Inquirer.net: Greenpeace: Go renewable, not nuclear
‘CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—The environmental group Greenpeace has opposed a proposal in the Senate to re-commission the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) in Morong, Bataan, urging the senators to push instead for the use of renewable sources to ensure energy security.’

Financial Times: Sale begins of land for more atomic stations
‘The sale of land regarded as prime sites for the next generation of nuclear power stations will be launched this week by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.’

There’s a very interesting (if biased towards the nuclear industry) film on the BBC’s website about the decommissioning programme at the UK’s Sellafield nuclear facility.

The work, as you’d expect, is complex and fraught with dangers. No timescales are given for how long the decommissioning will take. As is said in the film, the reactors ‘were built in a great hurry’ in the 40s and 50s to provide warheads for the UK’s nuclear weapons with little thought given to how they were going to be ‘taken apart’. We can assume the process will take quite some time.

So how will decommissioning the latest reactors compare? Take, for example, the state-of-the-art 3rd generation EPR reactor currently being built by Areva in Finland and France in such a disastrous fashion. According to research prepared for the UK’s department of business, ‘a 25 year timescale’ is what we can expect for decommissioning an EPR. The cost of doing so at today’s prices is estimated at £1.3 billion.

Looking at the schedule and budget overruns involved in building EPR reactors you wouldn’t bet on those decommissioning figures being anywhere near accurate. Look forward to another BBC film about the complexities and dangers of nuclear decommissioning sometime around 2050.

Here’s a very upbeat and optimistic assessment of the Brazilian unranium mining industry from INB (Nuclear Industries of Brazil) superintendent of Mineral Production, Adriano Maciel Tavares:

He said that, after entry into operation of the Santa Quitéria mine, in the state of Ceará, in 2012, the country is going to produce, in that unit alone, 1,200 tons of uranium. […] “Our projection, and we are working to realize it, is that Caetité, in the state of Bahia (an uranium mine explored in partnership with fertilizer company Galvani), will become operational at around 800 tons by 2011.”

You have to ask, does Mr Tavares not read the news or is he choosing to ignore it? He either doesn’t know or doesn’t want to remind us that INB is under investigation after uranium was found in drinking water close to the Caetité mine. He either doesn’t know or doesn’t want to remind us that federal prosecutors have formally recommended that Ibama (the environmental licensing agency) refuse INB’s request to double the company’s uranium output. He either doesn’t know or doesn’t want to remind us that the environmental and social impacts of INB’s activities are to be independently investigated.

What lies behind INB's optimism? Forgetfulness or omission? Neither speaks well.

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

Arabian Business: UK poised to play key role in UAE nuclear energy
‘The UK is poised to play a key role in the development of civil nuclear energy production in the UAE as the country seeks to meet growing demand for power.’

Edmonton Sun: Worry over nuke cooling towers
‘Brenda Brochu is afraid. If Bruce Power has its way, she worries years down the road, clouds of steam from nuclear cooling towers could rise into the sky near Grimshaw, 30 km from her Peace River home.’

Calgary Herald: MLAs table anti-nuclear petitions in legislature
‘With anticipation growing over an Alberta government report on nuclear power, a coalition of anti-nuclear groups has submitted a 2,500-person province-wide petition against development of the energy source.’

Graphic Online: GAEC Takes Inventory Of Radioactive Materials
‘The Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) has identified more than 1000 radioactive sources in the industry, health and agricultural sectors.’

Y Net News: Jordan signs two nuclear accords with China
‘Jordan Monday signed two nuclear agreements with China including one allowing the kingdom to get a Chinese "non-critical" training system, according to the President of the Jordan Nuclear Energy Commission (JNEC) Khaled Touqan.’

If the Vermont Yankee nuclear power station were a family pet, it would be long past the point when it was time to do her a kindness and put her out of her misery.

Cooling tower collapses and reactor ‘scrams’. Three coolant leaks in a year. ‘Hot shipments’. Major doubts over the financing of decommissioning.

And now metal fatigue ‘on metal nozzles used to supply water and maintain the temperature in the reactor core.’

What next, you have to wonder? The worrying thing is that it’s possible that it’s about to become more difficult to find out. The New England Coalition, a Brattleboro citizen organisation and nuclear watchdog group has, according to coalition consultant Raymond Shadis, nearly been bankrupted due to the costs of bring cases to the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, the panel that acts as the judicial arm for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

When citizen groups are having to risk their financial hardship to ensure proper scrutiny - the state Public Service Department has said Vermont will now hire experts to monitor plant manager Entergy’s handling of the metal fatigue issue – you can be forgiven for thinking that something is seriously wrong.

Where’s the proper internal scrutiny of the Vermont Yankee plant? It always appears in the news after an incident. This time, thanks to concerned and tenacious citizens, a problem has been identified and publicised before anything serious could happen. Next time New England Coalition might not have the funds and Vermont Yankee might be not be as fortunate.

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

The Seattle Times: Wash. sues feds over Hanford cleanup
‘Washington state is suing the federal government to seek a faster cleanup of the Hanford nuclear reservation, after nearly 18 months of negotiations failed to bring the two sides to an agreement.’

Energy Business Review: Areva to supply MOX fuel assemblies to KEPCO's Takahama power plant
‘Areva, a provider of technological solutions for nuclear power generation and electricity transmission, has signed a contract to supply 32 mixed oxide fuel assemblies for units 3 and 4 of the Kansai Electric Power Company's Takahama power plant in the Fukui prefecture of Japan.’

Reuters: Areva to delay Canada uranium mine project
‘French nuclear power group Areva said on Tuesday it and partners Denison-Mines and OURD had decided to delay a mining project in Canada because of the recent drop in uranium prices’

The Manila Times: Renewable energy vs. nuclear power
‘After a two-decade wait, a bill that aims to boost the development of renewable sources of energy is about to become law. All that the proposed Renewable Energy Act needs is the signature of President Arroyo.’

AP: UN nuclear agency chief critical of US
‘The chief U.N. nuclear inspector has urged caution against prematurely judging Syria's atomic program by reminding diplomats about false U.S. claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, comments released Tuesday show.’

Augusta Chronicle: Nuclear fuel reprocessing strikes out
‘The push for new nuclear reactors became a top-tier issue in the presidential race. Yet one aspect of the debate has received little attention, though it provides an interesting insight into competing visions for America's energy future: reprocessing spent nuclear fuel.’

There’s a fascinating insight into the way the nuclear industry works in the news that Exelon Nuclear has dropped plans in the US to build an Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) at Victoria, Texas. The company is looking for an alternative reactor design.

The reason Exelon give for their decision is that the ESBWR design is neither complete nor approved. With the clock ticking on the need to secure federal loan guarantees to build their nuclear plant, the company are looking for a design that will be ready sooner.

Loan guarantees made available by the US Department of Energy (DoE) to nuclear and other clean-energy technologies help would-be builders raise the necessary finance for their projects by acting as a catalyst and reducing financing cost.

Or, to put it another way, nuclear power station builders can’t or won’t build new facilities without bailouts from the taxpayer. Exelon is in a race with other builders because the available government guarantees are not sufficient to cover all of the submitted 19 new reactors proposals. Adopting the ESBWR and the associated delays would have meant Exelon risking losing its government cash and so it has dumped the design.

It’s also worth looking at how these loan guarantees work:

Should the project be delayed because of troubles with government-related consents, such as safety regulation or planning permission, the DoE would cover excess finance costs to the utility from the delay in repaying its loans.

In other words, once a guarantee is issued, the Department of Energy has to approve safety regulations and planning permission in a given time period or risk a financial penalty. Does a safety and planning system under such pressures inspire confidence? An incentive to rush or cut corners is built into the loan guarantee system.

Of course, if the nuclear industry could stand on its own two feet these concerns wouldn’t exist. But as it is, the industry has the best of both worlds – government money and the government slave to its wishes.

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

The Japan Times: Rokkasho plant too dangerous, costly: expert
‘Japan's plan to reprocess and recycle spent nuclear fuel in a reprocessing plant in the village of Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, will be a huge waste of electricity users' money and an environmental threat, according to a French atomic power expert.’

NewsWest.com: Los Alamos ships 'high-activity' waste to WIPP
‘Los Alamos National Laboratory has shipped the last of 1 group of high-activity radioactive waste drums to the federal government's waste dump near Carlsbad.’

Reuters: S.Africa power tight after nuclear shutdown
‘South Africa's utility Eskom said on Wednesday that power supply was tight, increasing the likelihood of power cuts, especially on the back of increased demand and a temporary nuclear unit shutdown.’

The Guardian: The 10 big energy myths
‘Myth 4: nuclear power is cheaper than other low-carbon sources of electricity
If we believe that the world energy and environmental crises are as severe as is said, nuclear power stations must be considered as a possible option. But although the disposal of waste and the proliferation of nuclear weapons are profoundly important issues, the most severe problem may be the high and unpredictable cost of nuclear plants.’

Bloomberg: Russia Has Contacted Obama Aides to Pursue Iran Nuclear Deal
‘Russian officials are in contact with the incoming Obama administration, urging it to normalize relations with Iran and reach an agreement over its disputed nuclear program.’

AP: Climate crisis energizes radical environmentalists
‘Under arrest, Paxus Calta raised two fingers from his shackled hand to flash a peace sign. Fellow environmental activists cheered as police escorted him to the van that would take him to jail. He had intended to get arrested, as he had before in 12 countries on three continents.’
For two hours, Calta and 19 other protesters associated with the grassroots group Rising Tide North America had occupied the visitor's center at Dominion's North Anna Nuclear Power Station.’

World Nuclear News: Economic crisis impacts North American mines
‘The partners in the Midwest joint venture in Saskatchewan, Canada, have announced their decision to postpone the uranium mine project due to current economic conditions. Denison has also suspended operations at the Tony M mine in Utah, USA.’

Newsday.com: Nuclear plant to pay fine for fish kill
‘The Oyster Creek nuclear plant in Ocean County will pay a $67,859 fine for killing more than 5,000 fish during two unplanned shutdowns. ’

The Guardian: France finally agrees to pay damages to nuclear test victims
‘They often wore only army-regulation shorts and T-shirts to protect them from atomic explosions, and were stationed dangerously close to mushroom clouds or hosed-down contaminated equipment wearing just swimming trunks. The soldiers and civilians who worked on France's notorious nuclear tests in the Sahara desert and south Pacific have long fought for compensation for the cancer and long-term health effects they blame on the state's failure to protect them.’

Yesterday we saw how the nuclear reactor builders in the US can’t or won’t launch new projects without government loan guarantees. We also saw how the loan guarantee system actually financially penalises the government should important decisions about planning and safety be delayed.

Today we see much the same attitude from nuclear companies in Canada. American reactor builders Westinghouse are withdrawing from the bidding process to build new plants in Ontario because the provincial government wants the projects to be on a fixed-price basis.

Westinghouse has withdrawn because, like all reactor builders, they can’t answer the two fundamental questions about nuclear build: ‘how much will it cost?’ and ‘when will it be finished?’ The company, not wishing to be held liable for cost and schedule overruns, has therefore decided it’s not interested. How’s that for confidence in one’s own products and competence?

(You probably won’t be surprised to hear that one of the companies still in the running in Ontario is our favourite nuclear lunatics Areva. Considering the other fixed-price project it is currently embroiled in is the disastrous construction of the Olkiluoto reactor in Finland, you might have thought Areva would have been more wary. But no, Areva’s over-optimism and self-deception apparently knows no bounds.)

But make another note of the blackmailing of governments and the grabbing of their money by the nuclear industry. Keep a list and you will soon have a nuclear industry playbook – an instruction manual used all over the world.

Some other stories from the nuclear industry you may have missed:

Tennessean.com: Foes slam nuclear waste plan
‘A Bush administration project aimed at reprocessing nuclear waste in a global sharing arrangement is bringing opposition that's not always from anti-nuclear advocates as public hearings come to Oak Ridge and Paducah next week.’

The Moscow Times: Medvedev and Chavez Sign Oil, Nuclear Deals
‘President Dmitry Medvedev and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez agreed to form joint ventures to pump crude oil and to increase military and nuclear cooperation Wednesday in the first visit by a Russian president to the South American country. ’

The India Telegraph: Status quo on uranium mining in Meghalaya
‘The meeting to break the deadlock on uranium mining in West Khasi Hills of Meghalaya failed to make any headway, with the state government expressing reservations about the health hazards and calling for a consensus among the people on the issue.’

Financial Times: Stop-start revival of the nuclear industry
‘Now oil prices have fallen sharply and economies have gone into recession, energy industry majors are starting to review – and in some cases scale back – investment projects. Even in the nuclear sector the mood seems to be changing. Areva, the other big French state nuclear champion, has postponed two projects this month. Together with its Canadian partners, for example, it is delaying a project in Saskatchewan that was originally due to start mining uranium in 2010.’

CBC News: Bruce Power eyes northwest Sask. for nuclear plant
‘Bruce Power has identified a region in northwest Saskatchewan where it could build a nuclear power plant — an area that includes Lloydminster on the Saskatchewan-Alberta boundary, the Battlefords and Prince Albert.’

The National: Region's rivalries could delay nuclear programme
‘Geopolitical rivalries in the Middle East and a skills shortage in the UAE will prove significant challenges in the quest to establish a civilian nuclear programme in 10 years, a British nuclear industry expert warned yesterday.’

Engineering News: Areva makes case for early nuclear decision as Eskom shows caution
‘There would be tangible benefits for South Africa and its aspiration to create a manufacturing industry around nuclear should Eskom make a firm commitment this year to the building of a new nuclear reactor, Areva plant business development manager Dr Yves Guenon asserted.’

The London Times: A tale of two power policies
‘It is a marriage of necessity that some will not like, but it is hard to see how Britain could even think of building half the nuclear plant needed without a French takeover of British Energy. If EDF manages to fund and complete the takeover, there will be an inexorable process of transforming Britain’s decaying nuclear industry into one of streamlined Gallic efficiency. Areva will take over Sellafield and introduce some order to the mess left by its old management.’

With only a matter of days left of his presidency George Bush is a man in a hurry. And with its future under an Obama presidency currently uncertain, so is the nuclear industry.

(Fast forward to one minute)

‘You like the Grand Canyon? Wait till you see the holes the mining companies put next to it.’