Nuclear N-Former: Four more nuke plants by 2030 in Brazil
’The Brazilian government is indeed planning to build four new nuclear power plants by 2030, a ministerial spokesman has told a governmental climate change committee. Altino Ventura, energy planning and development secretary at the Ministry of Mines and Energy, told a public hearing of the Joint Committee on Climate Change that two sites would be developed, one in the north east and one in the southeast of the country. According to the Brazilian governmental news agency, Agencia Brasil, the first plant would be built between Recife and Salvador in the north east and would come on line by 2019. The new plants would be in addition to Angra 3, the country's third nuclear unit, construction of which was put on hold over two decades ago but looks likely to resume this year.’

Daily Camera: Commentary: Test the respirable dust at Rocky Flats
’The most contentious issue regarding the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) plan to open the refuge for hiking, biking, picnicking, school field trips and other activities. Before public access is allowed at the refuge, the surface soil there should be sampled for respirable dust with the samples analyzed for plutonium content. This type of sampling, which has never been done at the Rocky Flats site, will demonstrate whether or not plutonium is present in breathable particles -- its most dangerous form. Newcomers to the Denver-Boulder area may not be aware that for almost four decades the Rocky Flats nuclear bomb factory located about eight miles south of Boulder produced the explosive plutonium "pit" at the core of every nuclear warhead in the U.S. arsenal. Routine operations as well as major fires and accidents released very fine particles of plutonium to the environment both on and off the plant site. Inhaling or ingesting plutonium or taking tiny particles into the body through an open wound can result in cancer, disruption of the immune system, or harm to the gene pool. Because plutonium has a half-life of 24,110 years, its presence in the environment in particles so small they can attach to dust poses a permanent danger.’

New York Times: Why Beijing Props Up Pyongyang
’SEOUL - The situation around North Korea is deteriorating fast. A missile launch in April was followed by an underground nuclear test in May, and an intercontinental ballistic missile seems to be on its way to the launch pad. Two American journalists arrested in North Korea received an unusually harsh prison sentence, and North Korea has made new demands that are bound to undermine the last surviving North-South cooperation project. International sanctions, introduced after the first nuclear test in 2006, have not had any noticeable effect - in part because they have not been seriously implemented. It is clear that no "stern warnings" from the United States or the United Nations Security Council will have any effect on Pyongyang's behavior. With all other approaches failing, one last hope is often cited - China. Today, some 45 percent of all North Korean trade is with China, and between 30 and 50 percent of China's entire foreign aid budget is spent on this one small country. So, the reasoning goes, Beijing must have tremendous leverage over Pyongyang.’

China View: Lawyers: Israel uses uranium in Gaza offensive
’GAZA, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Lawyers investigating possible war crimes by Israel in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip Thursday said the Jewish state used uranium in recent offensive on the blockaded territory. Findings indicated that Israel heavily used uranium materials in its war in Gaza, Haitham Manna of the International Coalition for Trying Israeli War Criminals told a news conference in Gaza city. The samples were collected from the Gaza Strip after Israel ended a three-week offensive on Jan. 18 to check if they contained prohibited weapons. Some of the results that French, Italian and British labs released showed that "the amount of depleted uranium in the areas of the samples were more than 75 tons and this is a very dangerous percentage for the overcrowded places in Gaza," Manna said.’

Bulatlat: Critics of Bataan Nuclear Plant Revival Gear for House Battle
’MANILA - The Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) is one of the most controversial projects of former president Ferdinand Marcos. When Marcos was ousted, the succeeding administration of Corazan Aquino closed down the power plant citing 4,000 defects in its design and construction. "The people will not forgive the representatives that will pass this folly of a bill," Dr. Giovanni Tapang, spokesman of Network Opposed to BNPP Revival (NO to BNPP Revival), said. He added that the government would only pass on the responsibility of paying all the unnecessary expenditures that would be used for the construction of the power plant to the tax-paying Filipino people. Last June 5, the NO to BNPP Revival organized a fundraising event at the Bahay Kalinaw at the University of the Philippines in Quezon City titled "No to Revival, No to BNPP: A Night of Songs, Poems and Dance." The participants were served lugaw (rice porridge). "Rice porridge is the cheapest food that we can afford. This is all that we have compared to the billions of pesos that are being used to betray the people," Tapang said.’