Nuclear News: Anti-radiation pills raise questions for residents near nuclear power plants
Today's big stories from the nuclear industry:
Anti-radiation pills raise questions for residents near nuclear power plants
’BERRIEN COUNTY - It's a potential danger that many people living near a nuclear power plant don't always consider. But now, potassium iodide pills will be given to people who live and work near nuclear power plants, including the Cook and Palisades Nuclear Power plants in southwest Michigan. In the case of a nuclear accident, potassium iodide pills can limit the amount of radioactive iodine absorbed by a person. Starting in October, people who live or work within a 10-mile radius of one of the three nuclear plants in Michigan can get those anti-radiation pills for free. "If something did happen down the road there, I think we'd be happy we have something that could help us," said Pat Bormann of Bridgman. Potassium iodide pills are also known as KI tablets. If an accident were to occur, residents who have the pills would be instructed to take them. The pill works by "filling up" the thyroid with stable iodine so radioactive iodine cannot enter the system.’
UAE poised to award $40 bln nuclear contract-sources
’DUBAI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates is days away from awarding the largest ever energy contract in the Middle East for the development of a nuclear power plant, industry sources said on Tuesday. The contract to build at least four reactors is expected to cost the world's third-largest oil producer as much as $40 billion, consultancy Eurasia Group said in a research note published in August. The consortium from France, which includes nuclear group Areva, GdF Suez, and Total, is in pole position to win the contract, sources familiar with the negotiations said. "We think we are still well positioned to win it, we have the nuclear expertise," a source from the French group said. "The winner will take it all, the bid was for two reactors originally but then they (UAE) wanted four and maybe six, whoever wins gets the whole package." The United Arab Emirates denied on Tuesday that it was days away from awarding the largest ever energy contract in the Middle East for the development of a nuclear power plant.’
IAEA hikes nuclear power projections for 2030
’VIENNA, Sept 8 (Reuters) - The International Atomic Energy Agency raised its nuclear power projections for 2030 on Tuesday, with China, India, Japan and South Korea seen embracing atomic energy more than before. The Vienna-based agency expects installed nuclear power capacity to rise by at least 40 percent worldwide over the next two decades to around 510 gigawatts. It could more than double in one scenario, the agency said. The projections were eight percent higher than last year's estimates for 2030 and predictions for Asian countries in particular helped pull up the total. "The financial crisis that started in late 2008 has affected the prospects of some projects, but its impact has been different in different parts of the
world," the IAEA said in a statement. "The medium- and long-term factors driving rising expectations for nuclear power have not changed substantially."’
Merkel Favors Extending Nuclear Phase-Out by Up to 15 Years
’Sept. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Chancellor Angela Merkel said she favors extending Germany's planned nuclear phase-out by up to 15 years as the government tries to keep power costs down in pushing to expand generation from renewable sources. In a town-hall-style meeting in Cologne three weeks before elections, Merkel told voters that prolonging the phase-out that's planned for 2020 is "justifiable" to avert having to import power from nuclear sources in other European Union states. Utilities including RWE AG and E.ON AG have pressured the government to let them keep nuclear plants running longer. Environment groups including Greenpeace Germany have criticized Merkel's proposal to the nuclear plants' life-cycle. The German taxpayer may subsidize the nuclear industry in direct and indirect aid by about 92.5 billion euros between 2008 and the planned phase-out, Greenpeace claimed on Sept. 3.’
Envoy wants nuclear solution for all
’Russia's deputy nuclear envoy called for a solution acceptable to all that would help revive the stalled six-party talks on denuclearizing North Korea as he headed into talks with South Korean officials Tuesday. Grigory Logvinov, deputy head of Moscow's delegation to the multinational forum, met with his South Korean counterpart Hwang Joon-kook at the foreign ministry here. "It is very important ... to find solutions acceptable for all parties that will enable [us to] restart negotiations [on the] denuclearization of the peninsula," Logvinov said. The six-way negotiations - involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia - have been stalled since Pyongyang boycotted the talks after international sanctions were imposed on it for its recent nuclear and missile tests.’
MOX hearing delayed as more details sought
’The Nuclear Regulatory Commission wants more details on how waste generated by the Energy Department's mixed oxide fuel facility will be managed. Until more information can be gathered and evaluated, a hearing to discuss environmental groups' concerns over the waste stream will be postponed -- possibly until 2010 or later, according to a letter dated Monday from commission staff to the Atomic Safety & Licensing Board. The $4.86 billion MOX plant under construction at Savannah River Site will dispose of plutonium from dismantled warheads by blending it with other materials to make fuel for commercial nuclear reactors. Because commercial power plants would use the fuels, the MOX plant will require an NRC license. In 2007, environmental groups led by Nuclear Watch South requested a hearing on the absence of MOX waste plans in Shaw AREVA MOX Services' application to possess plutonium and operate a plutonium fuel factory at the former nuclear weapons complex in South Carolina.’
