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Officials at the Omaha Public Power District say there have been no releases of radioactive material since flooding from the Missouri River caused them to declare a low-level emergency June 6 at the Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant. The emergency level, declared as "a notification of an unusual event," is the lowest possible of four standard emergency classifications set by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and, as of now, there has been no risk to the public. Officials say they have sandbagged the area surrounding the plant to a level greater than what the projected water levels will reach, and...

It is becoming evident to many that the March nuclear catastrophe at Japan’s six reactor Daichi Fukushima complex has dealt a huge, possibly fatal, blow to the nuclear industry’s hopes of a revival. A year ago even global warming enthusiasts reluctantly embraced nuclear power as a carbon-free energy generating system, and the industry was ramping up for glory days as a result. The triple whammy against nuclear power beginning with the 1979 partial meltdown at Three Mile Island, followed by 1986’s Chernobyl disaster and now Fukushima, effectively present a “three strikes and you’re out” call against civilian nuclear energy power...

Jaczko has broken promises to Congress, put Americans at risk, and treated the lives of our allies with reckless disregard. On April 20, 2005, two men appeared before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works for hearings relating to their appointments as members of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). One of, them, Peter Lyon, presented credentials including three patents, 160 technical publications, and three decades of experience working at Los Alamos National Lab. The other, Gregory Jaczko, had no patents, no publications, and no technical work experience whatsoever. The contrast in qualifications between Jaczko and Lyon, or...

In a dramatic about face, Angela Merkel agreed last month to phase out nuclear power in Germany by 2022 -- part of a gloabl backlash after the Fukushima disaster. Now many Germans are recognizing the downside to her decision, according to SPIEGEL. First, higher emissions. The German Energy Agency warned that by 2020 they will not be able to achieve a 40% reduction in carbon emissions relative to 1990. Instead they will manage only a 30-33% reduction. Second, higher electricity costs. Jürgen Grossmann, head of energy giant RWE, accused Merkel of creating an "eco-dictatorship" and promoting de-industrialization. On Friday, he...

The narrative of the Obama presidency has been a soap opera, with the lead character careening from one dilemma to another -- never resolving any. Each episode ends on a cliffhanger -- a promise that the next show will grant resolution on whether the economy will grow or descend into a double-dip recession or will the Middle East become a idealized democratic wonderland or the tinderbox of a new world conflict. Yet the lead in this drama is so self-assured that he feels a sense of entitlement to the trappings of the role he now portrays. President Obama has become...

BERLIN (AP) — Europe's economic powerhouse, Germany, announced plans Monday to abandon nuclear energy over the next 11 years, outlining an ambitious strategy in the wake of Japan's Fukushima disaster to replace atomic power with renewable energy sources. Chancellor Angela Merkel said she hopes the transformation to more solar, wind and hydroelectric power serves as a roadmap for other countries. "We believe that we can show those countries who decide to abandon nuclear power — or not to start using it — how it is possible to achieve growth, creating jobs and economic prosperity while shifting the energy supply toward...

Chancellor Merkel is pinning her hopes on an expansion of wind power Germany's dramatic rethink over nuclear power has thrown up new problems, as the consequences of a retreat from atomic technology emerge. Just after Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster in March, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced a review of energy policy and ordered Germany's oldest reactors to be shut down immediately, and perhaps permanently. Only a few months earlier, she had decided to keep the reactors running past their original shutdown dates. But only now comes the hard bit. Power companies have warned of higher prices because of the shutdown; Germany...

Despite the managed media campaign by Tokyo Electric Company, the Japanese government and nuclear industry flacks worldwide, the 11 March 9.0 on the Richter scale earthquake, followed by a tsunami that off-lined TEPCO’s six reactor Daiichi Fukushima nuclear power complex represents a global mortal blow to the nuclear power industry, which had been optimistic of a renaissance following worldwide concerns about global warming. While TEPCO’s PR spin doctors along with Japanese government flacks will continue to parsimoniously dribble out information about the real situation at the stricken reactors while blandly assuring the Japanese population and the world that all is...

ANDECHS, Germany (AFP) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday that 2022 was "a good time" for Germany to end nuclear power, backing a proposal by the Bavarian wing of her party. ... Following the earthquake and tsunami which wrecked the Japanese nuclear plant of Fukushima in March, Merkel ordered the closure for three months of Germany's seven oldest reactors. She also announced a moratorium for the same period of an earlier decision by her government to extend the lifetime of Germany's 17 reactors by an average of 12 years.

New satellite images have shown the alarming speed at which Pakistan is constructing a weapons-grade nuclear reactor. The aerial images, taken on April 20, show the rapid building progress of the fourth reactor to produce plutonium in Pakistan's Khushab facility. The site was barren in 2009 and the facility 'costing billions' was undetectable by satellite just 17 months ago, but has since grown at an alarming rate. The facility in Khushab is the fastest growing nuclear program in the world, with the speed of the latest reactor's construction prompting concern from U.S. officials

Why is nobody talking about safe nuclear power? By Julian Cribb - posted Wednesday, 4 May 2011 Sign Up for free e-mail updates! In the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the most extraordinary thing is the lack of public discussion and the disturbing policy silence – here and worldwide – over safe nuclear energy. Yes, it does exist. There is a type of nuclear reactor which cannot melt down or blow up, and does not produce intractable waste, or supply the nuclear weapons cycle. It's called a thorium reactor or sometimes, a molten salt reactor – and it is...

(Reuters) - Iran's Bushehr nuclear power station has begun operating at a low level in a crucial step toward bringing it online, the Russian company that built the plant said on Tuesday. The reactor near the Persian Gulf was brought to the "minimum controllable level of power" on Sunday, state-run RIA reported, citing the state company Atomstroyexport.

There is revival of interest in small and simpler units for generating electricity from nuclear power, and for process heat. This interest in small and medium nuclear power reactors is driven both by a desire to reduce capital costs and to provide power away from large grid systems. The technologies involved are very diverse. As nuclear power generation has become established since the 1950s, the size of reactor units has grown from 60 MWe to more than 1600 MWe, with corresponding economies of scale in operation. At the same time there have been many hundreds of smaller power reactors built...

A vice president of Tokyo Electric Power Company says he believes the nuclear crisis at Fukushima nuclear power plant is a man-made disaster. TEPCO vice president Norio Tsuzumi visited Iitate village in Fukushima Prefecture on Saturday and apologized to about 1,000 villagers who gathered to hear him speak. When he was asked if he thinks of the nuclear crisis a man-made disaster or a natural disaster, he said personally he thinks it is a man-made disaster. All of the 6,000 residents of Iitate were instructed to evacuate by late May based on accumulated radiation exposure levels caused by emissions from...

Wednesday’s storms took out all of TVA’s electric power transmission lines in Mississippi and North Alabama, and forced Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant unto diesel backup power and into emergency and automatic cold shutdown. Bill McCollum, the chief operating officer of Tennessee Valley Authority, said it may be weeks before power can be restored to all of the 300,000 customers whose power is supplied by the federal utility. “With the level of damage we have, it will be — we hope it will be days until we get most of the customers back on, but it will be weeks before we’ve...

The original moonbat, GeorgeMonbiot, columnist for the left wing UK Guardian, now admits that he was bamboozled by fearmongers whipping up anti-nuclear fears. Over the last fortnight I've made a deeply troubling discovery. The anti-nuclear movement to which I once belonged has misled the world about the impacts of radiation on human health. The claims we have made are ungrounded in science, unsupportable when challenged, and wildly wrong. We have done other people, and ourselves, a terrible disservice. I began to see the extent of the problem after a debate last week with Helen Caldicott. Dr Caldicott is the...

April 18, 2011 - Officials from the Surry nuclear power station in southeastern Virginia say this weekend's strong storms forced a shutdown of the facility's reactors. Download Dominion Virginia Power reports that an apparent tornado touched down on the switchyard supporting the Surry Power Station and the facility's access road Saturday. The storm cut off the electrical feed from the grid to the station, which is located in Surry County, Va. Both reactors at the station shut down automatically as designed and backup diesel generators started immediately to provide the electricity necessary to maintain both units. A spokesperson for the...

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — The owners of Vermont's troubled nuclear plant sued state officials Monday to stop them from closing the plant down next year, setting up a court fight about who has jurisdiction — the state or federal nuclear regulators. Entergy Corp. has a new federal license in hand for the Vermont Yankee power plant, but state officials are vowing to shut it down next year. The company's federal lawsuit says Vermont's law giving it the power to block relicensing violates the Atomic Energy Act and the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution. Vermont contends it has the power...

NEW YORK - When parts of Japan were devastated recently by an earthquake and subsequent tsunami, news of the human toll was quickly overshadowed by global fears of radioactive fallout from the Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plant. The concern was understandable: radiation is very frightening. I grew up in Denmark at a time when fear of nuclear power was pervasive. But our latest nuclear fears have broader implications, especially for energy supply and our desire to shift away from reliance on fossil fuels. It is difficult to step back at the time of a natural disaster to gain a broader...

When parts of Japan were devastated last month by an earthquake and subsequent tsunami, news of the human toll was quickly overshadowed by global fears of radioactive fallout from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The concern was understandable: Radiation is very frightening. I grew up in Denmark at a time when fear of nuclear power was pervasive. But our latest nuclear fears have broader implications, especially for energy supply and our desire to shift away from reliance on fossil fuels. At the time of a natural disaster, it is difficult to step back and gain a broader perspective; even...