Will not join NPT as non-nuclear weapon state - India tells UNSC
’New Delhi, Sep 25 (IANS) While the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution calling for universal adherence to non-proliferation treaty, India has reiterated it will not join the pact, which it terms discriminatory, as a non-nuclear weapon state. The UNSC Thursday passed a resolution at a session chaired by US
President Barack Obama, that called upon states that have not signed the NPT to join as non-nuclear weapons states, or pending that adhere to the norms of the treaty. It also calls upon all countries to sign and ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and support negotiations for a fissile materials control treaty. A day before the resolution was taken up, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Hardeep Puri wrote to US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice, who is also the President of UN Security Council, on India's position on the proposed meeting on nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament. "India cannot accept calls for universalisation of the NPT. As India's Prime Minister stated in Parliament on 29 July, 2009, there is no question of India joining the NPT as a non-nuclear weapon state," wrote Puri in the letter dated Sep 23, released by the Ministry of External Affairs here.’

NRC chief warns of loss of public confidence in nuclear plants
-- Mishaps at Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant such as the collapse of a cooling tower cell in 2007 and a transformer fire in 2004 can lead to an erosion of public confidence in the safe operation of nuclear power plants around the country. That's what Dale Klein, the commissioner for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said in an August speech sponsored by the American Nuclear Society. Other problems at other nuclear plants around the country -- including leaks in underground piping, cracks in nozzle welds, spent fuel pool leaks, transformer failures, tritium leaks and degraded underground cables -- only serve to reinforce the view that nuclear power isn't safe, said Klein. Even though most of the items were not matters of significant safety risk, Klein said that "low-risk significance of an issue is
sometimes irrelevant in the eyes of the public, and these incidents can undermine public co nfidence."’

Canada, Kazakhstan to cooperate on nuclear energy
’OTTAWA (AFP) - Canada's Trade Minister Stockwell Day and Kazakhstan's Energy Minister Sauat Mynbaev jointly announced Thursday the conclusion of negotiations for a bilateral nuclear cooperation agreement. Their respective governments, however, must still finalize the legal text prior to signing and implementing the pact. "This agreement will open up the civil nuclear market to Canadian companies, who have a full array of products and services to offer Kazakhstan's growing market for nuclear energy," said Day in a statement during a visit to Kazakhstan. "Given its expertise in nuclear energy, Canada will continue to play a growing role in this energy-rich country, especially in oil and gas and uranium extraction, as well as in the supply and service of pipeline equipment."’

Trailer with nuclear plant debris crashes in Pa.
’WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - Officials say a tractor-trailer that crashed in northeastern Pennsylvania was hauling concrete debris from a nuclear waste site in upstate New York. The trailer overturned on Interstate 81 in Butler Township on Wednesday. Luzerne County emergency management director Steve Bekanich said the material did not pose a danger. Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, of West Milton, N.Y., said the debris contained the same amount of radioactivity that's in a pallet of fertilizer commonly found at lawn-and-garden centers.’