Tiny fragments of plutonium may have been carried more than 200 km by caesium particles released following the meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan in 2011. So says an international group of scientists that has made detailed studies of soil samples at sites close to the damaged reactors. The researchers say the findings shed new light on conditions inside the sealed-off reactors and should aid the plant’s decommissioning.

Physics World 20th July 2020 read more »

Tehran urges IAEA to shed light on Saudi ‘covert’ nuclear program. “Despite the fact that Saudi Arabia is a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and has a comprehensive bilateral safeguard agreement with the Agency, it has unfortunately refused to abide by its commitments to the Agency’s inspections despite repetitive calls,” Kazem Gharibabadi said, according to Tasnim. Gharibabadi urged the IAEA to carry out investigations and submit a full report on the status of nuclear activities in the Saudi kingdom. Raising alarm about Riyadh’s nuclear ambitions, the ambassador said the international community will not accept Saudi “deviation” from a peaceful nuclear program and will confront it. The comments came after American intelligence agencies reportedly said they had spotted an undeclared nuclear site near Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh, scrutinizing attempts by the kingdom to process uranium and move toward the development of atomic bombs. The New York Times reported on Wednesday that the agencies had in recent weeks circulated a classified analysis about Saudi attempts to build up its ability to produce nuclear fuel that could potentially lead to the development of nuclear weapons. The study shows “a newly completed structure near a solar-panel production area near Riyadh, the Saudi capital, that some government analysts and outside experts suspect could be one of a number of undeclared nuclear sites,” the report said.

Tehran Times 9th Aug 2020 read more »

Iran’s permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, Austria, has called on the International Atomic Energy Agency to clarify Saudi Arabia’s “covert” nuclear activities. “Despite the fact that Saudi Arabia is a member of the [nuclear] Non-Proliferation Treaty and has a comprehensive bilateral safeguards agreement with the agency, it has unfortunately refused to abide by its commitments to the agency’s inspections despite repetitive calls,” Kazem Gharibabadi also said on Saturday, Tasnim News Agency reported.

Financial Tribune 9th Aug 2020 read more »

Legacy of Canada’s role in atomic bomb is felt by northern Indigenous community. As the world marks the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a little known part of the legacy is the impact on the Délı̨nę First Nation of the Northwest Territories. I explore their stories in the film A Moral Awakening, which is available online.

The Conversation 9th Aug 2020 read more »

“It looks like crime might well pay after all.” That was the weary and only slightly tongue-in-cheek conclusion drawn by longtime anti-nuclear campaigner, Tom Clements recently, after a former South Carolina nuclear utility executive pled guilty to fraud in federal court. Clements is the director of Savannah River Site Watch, but his activism has, for decades, extended well beyond the perimeter of that vast nuclear site. For years, Clements and others have followed — and attempted to stand in the way of — the forced march of South Carolina ratepayers toward nuclear fiasco. When it finally unraveled in late July, there was only cautious cause for celebration. On July 23, Stephen Byrne, the former COO of SCANA, the South Carolina utility originally in charge of the construction of two new nuclear reactors in the state, pled guilty in a massive nuclear conspiracy that defrauded ratepayers, deceived regulators and misled shareholders. Byrne is charged with lying about progress on two Westinghouse AP 1000 reactors under construction — and since abandoned — at the V.C. Summer site, where costs ballooned to more than $9 billion. The lies — or “intentional misrepresentations” as court documents described them — were necessary to make the case that the two new reactors would be finished on time, thereby qualifying the company for $1.4 billion in future federal tax credits. But when Clements did the math, Byrne still came out ahead. “One of the court filings says Byrne earned $6.3 million from 2015-2017,” Clements said. “The project originally started with a filing with the SC Public Service Commission in 2008 and ended in July 2017. His plea agreement says he will pay a $1 million fine, though the judge could make it higher.”

Beyond Nuclear 9th Aug 2020 read more »

Cattenom: the power plant prohibits Lake Mirgenbach to the public. Due to the low flow of water from the Moselle, linked to the drought, the water intended for cooling the power station will be taken more from the Mirgenbach reservoir. Public access is therefore no longer authorized from this Thursday, August 6.

France Info 8th Aug 2020 read more »

Despite the Nuclear Regulation Authority’s recent technical go-ahead for a reprocessing plant under construction in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, the nuclear fuel cycle policy that the government has pursued for decades remains effectively stalemated. The ¥14 trillion project, if completed and run at full capacity, would produce more plutonium than can be consumed at the nation’s nuclear power plants under current conditions. The Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd.’s plant to reprocess spent fuels from power reactors from across the country and extract plutonium for plutonium-uranium mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel is a key component of the nuclear fuel cycle that the government has sought to achieve since the 1950s. The problem is that the fast-breeder reactor project that would use the MOX fuel — once deemed a dream technology for this resource-poor country that produces more plutonium than it consumes — has gone nowhere. The alternative use of MOX fuel at existing light-water reactors continues to be sluggish due to the slow restart of nuclear power plants idled in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. The Rokkasho plant’s passing of the NRA’s safety screening does not represent a vindication of the stalled nuclear fuel cycle policy. Rather, it should serve as yet another reminder of the de facto breakdown of the policy and prompt the government and the power industry to rethink whether the costly policy remains relevant at a time when the nation is trying to reduce its dependence on nuclear energy following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Japan Times 6th Aug 2020 read more »

Belarus has begun loading fuel into the first of two reactors at its new Russian-built Astravets nuclear power plant, which it says it expects to become operational later this year. Built by Russian state firm Rosatom and financed by Moscow with a $10 billion loan, the project is opposed by neighboring EU member Lithuania, whose capital, Vilnius, is just 50 kilometers away. Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia are moving to fully decoupling from their Soviet-era common power system by 2025.

Oil Price 8th Aug 2020 read more »

Ukraine may develop missile systems with nuclear waste for use in case of threat from Russia or other states, journalist Maxim Kukhar said on the air of UkrLife channel. He described four ways by which, in his opinion, Kiev would be able to defend itself from its opponents “if war begins”. By that time, according to Kukhar, arms control would “weaken” and Ukraine would be able to put into operation about 500 old Soviet missiles, which would be filled with nuclear waste.

Donbass Insider 8th Aug 2020 read more »

Low Nordic power prices cast doubt on Swedish nuclear return.

ICIS 7th Aug 2020 read more »