Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Middle East Nuclear News

2006-04-25T13:35:00.000-04:00

Iran's Ahmadinejad Rejects UN Deadline On Uranium Enrichment
24 April 2006

BLOOMBERG (TEHRAN) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rejected a United Nations deadline to suspend Iran's nuclear program, threatening to quit the Non-Proliferation Treaty if the UN doesn't recognize Iran's right to nuclear technology.

Ahmadinejad also said Israeli Jews should go back to the European countries from which they came, as the exodus was created by World War II belligerent nations, not by the Palestinians.

"Why should we suspend our nuclear program? Those who are saying we should suspend should give us a rational answer,'' Ahmadinejad told foreign and Iranian reporters at a press conference in Tehran today. Iran, which is "unwavering'' on its nuclear program, will "reconsider'' its position vis-a-vis the nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty if the UN nuclear watchdog doesn't respect Iran's "rights.'' Source: http://tinyurl.com/ef2zy (Reliability: 7.0)

Middle East Nuclear News

2006-04-22T10:27:00.000-04:00

Iran Says It Has "Basic" Enrichment Deal With Russia
22 April 2006

REUTERS (TEHRAN) - Iran's ambassador to the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Saturday that Iran had a basic deal to enrich uranium in a joint venture in Russia but said details were still being worked out, Iranian state radio reported.
Russia has offered to enrich uranium for Iran to allay concerns that Tehran could use domestically-produced enriched uranium to make nuclear bombs.
But progress on the deal has been hindered by Iran's refusal to bow to international demands that it halt all home-grown enrichment work. A "basic agreement" on enrichment with Russia was previously announced by Iran in February but talks subsequently appeared to stall.
Ali-Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said a full agreement was now close in reach. Source: http://tinyurl.com/oebhx (Reliability: 6.0)

Comment: As of this post, this story has not been completely confirmed, but if it turns out to be true it obviously has tremendous implications for the United States. First, one of the major arguments the U.S. put forth for sanctions against Iran in the UN Security Council has to do with Iran's transparency regarding nuclear enrichment. Now that this major issue has been alleviated, at least on the surface, Iran will likely play the victim in this fight and back off the rhetoric to try and draw more support for this new deal, especially from China and the more flighty European nations. (Analytic Confidence: 6.0)

Transport Of Radioactive Materials

2006-04-21T15:01:00.000-04:00

Nuclear Flask Falls Off Sellafield Lorry
21 April 2006

NEWS AND STAR (UNITED KINGDOM)-- A nuclear flask carrying plutonium-contaminated material fell off the side of a wagon at Sellafield on 20 April 2006. It is the second time in less than three weeks that British Nuclear Group has had trouble with its nuclear transports - a Sellafield train was derailed at Barrow Docks at the end of March. Sellafield Station Gate had to be closed and site traffic was diverted via the site’s main, north and Calder gates. British Nuclear Group has stressed that there was no release of radioactivity during yesterday’s incident and no-one was hurt. The stainless steel waste package container was carrying plutonium-contaminated material which had been recovered from the low level waste repository at Drigg, It was being taken to Sellafield to be stored on the site. It was transported to the site by rail and was being transferred by forklift truck to a road trailer when it slipped and fell. Source: http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=358020 (Reliability 7)

Middle East Nuclear News

2006-04-12T13:06:00.000-04:00

Iran Could Produce Nuclear Bomb in 16 Days, U.S. Says (Update2)
12 April 2006

BLOOMBERG (GERMANY) -- Iran, defying United Nations Security Council demands to halt its nuclear program, may be capable of making a nuclear bomb within 16 days, a U.S. State Department official said.
Iran will move to ``industrial scale'' uranium enrichment involving 54,000 centrifuges at its Natanz plant, the Associated Press quoted deputy nuclear chief Mohammad Saeedi as telling state-run television today.
"Using those 50,000 centrifuges they could produce enough highly enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon in 16 days,'' Stephen Rademaker, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation, told reporters today in Moscow. Source: http://tinyurl.com/q6ozz (Reliability: 7)

Middle East Nuclear News

2006-04-12T12:30:00.000-04:00

Report: Saudi Arabia May Be Hiding A Secret Nuclear Program
05 April 2006

IHC NEWS (GERMANY) - A report in the German magazine Cicero stated that Western security sources confirm Saudi Arabia has a covert nuclear weapons program that is being aided by Pakistani scientists.According to the magazine, the Saudis helped finance the Pakistani program, which became public in 1998, and worked closely with them since the mid 1990s.Now it appears Pakistan is aiding its Middle Eastern ally with the dangerous know-how.The article quoted German security expert Udo Ulfkotte as describing how scientists from Pakistan posing as pilgrims during the Haj pilgrimages to Mecca in 2003 through 2005 secretly visited the clandestine program at Al-Sulaiyil, an underground city south of Riyadh.The Pakistanis stayed for weeks at Al-Sulaiyil, a place said to house dozens of missile silos. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has officially denied the claims calling it “totally unfounded.” Source: http://tinyurl.com/lyu9v (Reliability: 5)

Pictured above: The alleged location of Saudi Arabia's secret nuclear facility, al-Sulaiyil (Global Security Satellite Photo)

Middle East Nuclear News

2006-04-12T11:57:00.000-04:00

Iran Celebrates Uranium Enrichment
12 April 2006

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE (TEHRAN) - Iran's announcement that it has "joined the club of nuclear countries" by successfully enriching a small amount of uranium may have more political than technical importance, U.S. nuclear experts said Tuesday, but it signifies that the country has not wavered in its determination to defy the international community and develop a nuclear capability.

"Iran is still not any closer to a weapons capability with this," said Jon Wolfsthal, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington and a former nuclear inspector in North Korea. "But this does reaffirm they are serious about pursuing the technology. They aren't going backwards." Source: http://tinyurl.com/gl2ps (Reliability: 8)

Pictured above: Artists perform while holding aloft purported samples of enriched uranium after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech in Mashhad, Iran. (REUTERS PHOTO)

Nuclear Fuel Management

2006-04-11T21:45:00.000-04:00

NNSA Outlines Future Of Nuclear Weapons Complex
10 April 2006

SOP (WASHINGTON DC)-During a recent congressional hearing , the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) deputy administrator for defense programs, Tom D'Agostino, outlined a plan to establish a smaller, more efficient nuclear weapons complex that will be able to respond to future challenges. The principal elements of the proposed plan, dubbed "Complex 2030", focus on continuing development efforts on a reliable replacement warhead, increasing dismantlement of retired warheads, increasing security and reducing related costs, establishing a consolidated plutonium center, and increasing technical and business uniformity. D'Agostino stated, "By 2030, the vision I set forth is of a world where a smaller, safer, more secure stockpile, with assured reliability over the long term, is backed by an industrial and design capability to respond to changing technical, geopolitical or military needs. Source: http://www.thesop.org/article.php?id=873 (Reliability: 7)

Enrichment & Processing

2006-04-09T13:25:00.000-04:00

What’s Driving Prices Higher
7 April 2006

PRWEB (COLORADO)-- As global interest in nuclear power continues to peak, increased demand for nuclear fuel is triggering higher uranium and enrichment prices. TradeTech’s uranium spot price climbed to $41 this month, while the long-term price for uranium enrichment rose for the third consecutive month to $122 per Separative Work Unit (SWU) a sharp contrast to last year when enrichment prices remained flat at $113 per SWU. The price of uranium, used to fuel nuclear power plants that generate about 16 percent of the world's electricity, has increased significantly in the past year due to demand from nuclear utilities that rose faster than mine production and drew down stockpiles. Similar to the uranium market, enrichment prices are experiencing upward pressure due to strong demand from the nuclear energy industry. On a worldwide basis, total uranium enrichment requirements increase gradually through 2015 to about 55 million SWU per year by the end of the period, according to TradeTech’s "Uranium and Enrichment Industry 2006 Market Report." “Unfilled uranium enrichment requirements increase in an almost linear fashion throughout the period, reaching about 60 percent of requirements for the year 2012,” said R. Gene Clark, chief operating officer of TradeTech, LLC. Source: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/4/prweb368748.htm (Reliability 7)

Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing

2006-03-31T17:16:00.000-05:00

Japan's 1st Full-Fledged Nuclear Reprocessing Plant Begins Trial Run
31 March 2006

TMCNET (JAPAN)-- Japan launched a test run on 31 March 2006 of its first full-fledged spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in a nuclear fuel cycle complex located on the northern tip of Japan's largest main island of Honshu. Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd., the operator, plans to put the reprocessing plant into full operation in August 2007 to reprocess some 800 tons of spent nuclear fuel a year into more than 4 tons of plutonium which will be used as uranium-and-plutonium mixed fuel at the country's nuclear power plants. Japan Nuclear Fuel, a national-policy organization established by the country's nine regional utility firms and 84 power-related firms, said the test run, which it calls active tests, will last for 17 months. The International Atomic Energy Agency will station nuclear inspectors at the Rokkasho reprocessing plant because the plutonium to be extracted is fissile and can be used for nuclear weapons. Besides the reprocessing plant, there is a uranium enrichment plant, a mixed fuel processing plant, a low-level radioactive waste site and a high-level waste storage center in the Rokkasho nuclear cycle complex. Japan Nuclear Fuel is also headquartered there. Source: http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/03/31/1524579.htm (Reliability 7)
Image Courtesy: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1077836.stm

Nuclear Exploration, Mining, & Milling

2006-03-30T15:00:00.000-05:00

Uranium Mining May Be Opened Up
30 March 2006

BUSINESS STANDARD (INDIA)-- The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) in India is contemplating outsourcing uranium exploration and mining under the ambit of the Atomic Energy Act, Anil Kakodkar, chairman of atomic energy commission and DAE secretary said. "Opening up uranium mines for private parties is the policy decision of the government, but we are exploring the possibility of exploration of uranium in-house as well as through outsourcing mode," he said. "Data interpretation and data collection could be part of the activities that DAE is contemplating to outsource," he stated. He was speaking at an international technical meeting on 'Aerial and ground geophysical techniques for uranium exploration and advanced mining and milling methods and equipment' under the aegis of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria. Source: http://tinyurl.com/p6hkg (Reliability 7)

Enrichment & Processing

2006-03-28T13:49:00.000-05:00

UN Nuclear Chief Lays Out Plan To Counter Proliferation, Terrorist Threat
27 March 2006

UN NEWS CENTRE (VIENNA)-- Faced with the threat of nuclear proliferation and the prospect of such weapons falling into the hands of terrorists, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has laid out a five-point plan of action ranging from tighter controls and protection of materials to strengthening the Security Council. IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei called for placing sensitive nuclear operations such as the enrichment of uranium that can be used for producing both electric energy and an atomic bomb under multinational control. “The five measures I have outlined – tightening controls, protecting materials, supporting verification, reinvigorating disarmament and strengthening the Security Council – are all necessary and urgent steps,” Mr. ElBaradei told a conference of dentists in Karlsruhe, Germany over the weekend. Detailing his plan, Mr. ElBaradei stressed the need to tighten controls for access to nuclear fuel cycle technology in an era of globalization which has made the industrial marketplace more complex and fluid than 30 years ago when the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was drawn up. “At the root of this measure is the concept of making these operations multinational, so that no one country would have exclusive control over the most sensitive parts of the fuel cycle,” he said. “It is urgent that the international community develop a unified approach on this measure and begin moving forward.” Source http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=17948&Cr=terror&Cr1= (Reliability 9)

Image Courtesy: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=17948&Cr=terror&Cr1=

Transport Of Radioactive Materials

2006-03-24T14:45:00.000-05:00

U.S. Hiring Chinese Company To Scan Nukes
23 March 2006

THE GUARDIAN (WASHINGTON)-- In the aftermath of the Dubai ports dispute, the Bush administration is hiring a Hong Kong conglomerate to help detect nuclear materials inside cargo passing through the Bahamas to the United States and elsewhere. The administration acknowledges the no-bid contract with Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. represents the first time a foreign company will be involved in running a sophisticated United States (U.S.) radiation detector at an overseas port without American customs agents present. Hutchison Whampoa is the world's largest ports operator and among the industry's most-respected companies. It was an early adopter of U.S. anti-terror measures. But its billionaire chairman, Li Ka-Shing, also has substantial business ties to China's government that have raised U.S. concerns over the years. Three years ago, the Bush administration effectively blocked a Hutchison subsidiary from buying part of a bankrupt U.S. telecommunications company, Global Crossing Ltd., on national security grounds. And a U.S. military intelligence report, once marked ``secret,'' cited Hutchison in 1999 as a potential risk for smuggling arms and other prohibited materials into the United States from the Bahamas. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) currently has no security concerns about Hutchison's port operations, and the administration believes the pending deal with the foreign company would be safe, officials said. Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5706766,00.html (Reliability 8)

Source: www.travelsinparadise.com/bahamas/bahamas.jpg

Transport Of Radioactive Material

2006-02-24T14:48:00.000-05:00

Low Level Radioactive Transport Leaks In Utah
24 February 2006

REUTERS (LOS ANGELES)-- Low level radioactive water from a Southern California nuclear power plant leaked from a transport truck this week on its way to a waste site in Utah, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reports. Waste water leaked on dirt and asphalt at a truck stop parking lot on 22 February 2006 near Parowan, Utah. The leak provides no threat to the public, said NRC spokesman Scott Burnell. The radioactive water came from the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station near San Clemente in northern San Diego County operated by Southern California Edison (SCE). Ray Golden, spokesman for SCE, said the company is looking into the transportation of the water. He, also, said the leak this week was not extremely dangerous. "If you were standing next to the water for an hour, you would get less than one-tenth (the radiation) of what you would get from one chest X-Ray," Golden said.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/gn2j4 (Reliability 8.5)

Source: http://pix.epodunk.com/locatorMaps/ut/UT_25972.gif

Enrichment & Processing

2006-02-10T20:34:00.000-05:00

Uzbekistan Welcomed Into Emerging Nuclear Alliance
8 February 2006

THE MOSCOW TIMES (MOSCOW) - Russian President Vladimir Putin pitched Russia as a site for one of a handful of international nuclear fuel cycle service centers that would be overseen by the International Atomic Energy Agency, in line with a recent proposal by the nuclear watchdog. Having a center on Russian soil could help solve domestic nuclear fuel supply issues and prove lucrative, earning Russia tens of billions of dollars, analysts said. "Uzbekistan was a major base of uranium ore in the Soviet Union. Bringing it on board is a weighty contribution" to Russia's ability to rebuild its nuclear energy capabilities, said Gennady Pshakin, an expert on the nuclear industry who heads a nonproliferation analytical center in Obninsk, near Moscow. A stronger CIS nuclear energy block would also help Russia lobby internationally to have a nuclear fuel processing center on its territory, Pshakin said. Such a center would enrich uranium to for use as fuel at power stations and recycle the irradiated waste produced by nuclear power stations when they burn uranium or plutonium. "We have all the things necessary to accommodate [a processing] center, but who will be prepared to let us have it?" Pshakin said, adding that Putin's call was only "the start of a dialog." Putin will raise the idea of the processing center at the Group of Eight meeting later this year in St. Petersburg.
Source: http://www.turkishweekly.net/news.php?id=25677

(Reliability 8)

Nuclear Fuel Fabrication

2006-02-10T17:50:00.000-05:00

How To Keep Iran Honest
9 February 2006

FOREIGN POLICY (WASINGTON DC) - It won’t make the hawks happy, but helping Iran build its civilian nuclear program may just be the best way to keep it from building bombs. The United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and China are now brandishing the threat of U.N. Security Council sanctions in an effort to stop Iran’s march toward a full-scale nuclear program. Unless Iran and the powers reach a negotiated agreement, the path apparently leads either to economic sanctions or military action—deeply problematic options for all involved. Lost in the debate over options for containing Iran’s nuclear ambitions is potentially the most effective one—Iran’s proposal to set up a nuclear fuel fabrication consortium on its own soil, in exchange for the transparency of intrusive inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Source: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3362

Image Source:http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3362

Nuclear Waste Disposal

2006-02-10T17:37:00.000-05:00

India Considers Joining GNEP
10 February 2006

HINDUSTAN TIMES (NEW DELHI)-On the face of it, the US invitation to India to join the so-called Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, or GNEP, is worth considering. Provided Washington manages to clear its own domestic hurdles. Reprotedly, the US Undersecretary of Energy David Garman made the offer during meetings last Wednesday in meetings with Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran in New Delhi.

Comment: The idea behind GNEP is to create a new worldwide nuclear power system in which a group of supplier countries provides nuclear fuel and technology to another set of user countries. The GNEP would give energy-starved countries nuclear fuel for generating power, and take back the dangerous nuclear waste.

Transport Of Radioactive Material

2006-02-10T13:24:00.000-05:00

US Nuclear Waste Strategies Evaluated
10 February 2005

NEW SCIENTIST (UNITED STATES)--Methods planned for transporting radioactive spent fuel from nuclear power reactors are generally safe, but questions remain over the safety of nuclear casks in the event of a sustained, hot fire, a review panel of the United States National Academy of Sciences (NAS) concluded. The NAS report released in Washington D.C. on February 10, 2006, found there are "no fundamental technical barriers" to safe transportation, but that a number of "serious challenges" remain. Assuming no new plants are built, disposing of fuel from the United States 112 operating plants will require a two-decade-long program of daily shipments, and more planning needs to be done for managing this massive operation, the report says.
The report assessed the adequacy of planning for every kind of accident scenario, but not the potential for deliberate acts such as terrorist attacks. To evaluate that aspect, it says, would require creation of a new committee with full access to classified materials. Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8705
(Reliability 8)

2006-02-09T20:33:00.000-05:00

Facility To Incorporate Gatling Guns For Security

ET (LOS ANGELES)- In an effort to beef up security at its nuclear lab, California's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory deployed an undisclosed number of Dillon Aero M134D Gatling guns. Each gun is capable of firing 50 rounds per second and has a range of over 1,500 yards. Lynda Seaver, the lab's Manager of Media and Communications stated that each weapon equates to ten to twelve security guards, however, community watchdogs fear these weapons could threaten the surrounding community and the lab's own employees. Along with Los Alamos, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is one of the United State's two labratories whose mission includes designing nuclear weapons.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/cbqpd (Reliability: 7)

Aerial view of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Image Source: http://tinyurl.com/bp6rz

Comment: The 1.3 square mile labratory site is located near a suburban area with houses directly across the street from the facility. Most other labs that design nuclear weapons, including Los Alamos, are miles from residential communities.

Nuclear Exploration, Mining, & Milling

2006-02-08T23:12:00.001-05:00

Mining Project Concerns Villagers
6 February 2006

NDTV (INDIA) - The Ministry of Environment and Forests has cleared Uranium Corporation of India (UCIL) mining project at the Nagarjunasagar reservoir in Andhra Pradesh. UCIL will be mining 1250 tons of U3O8, enriched uranium ore or yellow cake, every day. The mine located in Andhra Pradesh sits on an extensive 1300 acres, however 85% is forestland. This mine will compromise the reservoir used daily by the local natives located by the Nagarjunasagar mine as well as India’s largest Tiger sanctuary, Rajiv Gandhi Tiger Reserve, which sits three kilometers from the open cast mining site. Legal experts say the project violates the Supreme Court ruling preventing polluting industrial activity within 10 kilometers of a water body and the villagers, mostly Lambadas, are determined to stop the open cast mining fearful of what may become of their peoples future health.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/cyjw7 (Reliability: 9)

Comment: Uranium mines are becoming more of a concern for those who live within a close proximity to the open pits. Many local residents are fearful the radioactive waste from the mines will cause defects in young children and adults over long periods.

Image Source: http://tinyurl.com/7fn2o

Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing

2006-02-08T23:12:00.000-05:00

Japan Offers To Contribute To US Nuclear Fuel Program

PEOPLE'S DAILY (CHINA)-Japan has expressed its willingness to cooperate with the United States on a program to expand civilian nuclear energy within and outside of the United States. Experts from the two countries will work out the details of the program titled the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, or GNEP, in the near future. The GNEP is aimed at safely providing nuclear fuel to developing nations and advancing technologies for recycling and protecting nuclear fuel and waste. Japanese officials said Japan can contribute by developing the latest technologies for fuel reprocessing and for fast-breeder reactors.

Source: http://english.people.com.cn/200602/08/eng20060208_240996.html (Reliability: 7)

Comment: The US also hopes to work with nations such as France, Great Britain, and Russia, which already posses nuclear reprocessing technologies. The Department of Energy is requesting from Congress USD 250 millon to launch this international effort.

Nuclear Fuel Fabrication

2006-02-05T14:26:00.000-05:00

Belene Nuke Plant Bidder Stakes on Proven Safety
2 February 2006

SOFIA NEWS AGENCY (CZECH REPUBLIC) - Czech consortium Skoda Alliance, one of the bidders in the tender for the design, construction and commissioning of two units at Bulgaria's second nuclear plant presented publicly its offer. Skoda Alliance offers a project with proven safety of highest level. The Czech consortium has based it offer on the conception of the Czech Temelin nuke plant, which boasts two VVER 1000 reactors. The consortium says that their bid would allow Bulgaria use a proven practice and technology. Source: http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=58610 (Reliability: 9)

Comment: VVER reactors are quickly becoming a very popular reactor design. This is due to the combination of productivity and safety. With safety as such a political concern VVER reactors will make up a sizeable percentage of the next generation of reactors.

Transport Of Radioactive Materials

2006-02-03T19:06:00.000-05:00

Port Of Singapore Risk
02 February 2006

THE MARKETING CORP.NET (UNITED STATES)--The Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) is highly sophisticated and efficient, but the port remains a possible high-profile terrorist target. A significant part of the world's oil and trade flows through the Malacca Straits, whose waters are shared by Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Singapore is a close diplomatic ally of the US and has been supportive of its "war on terror". This, together with the large number of foreigners living in the island state, makes it a target for Islamist terrorist groups operating in the region. As a result, Singapore's government remains concerned that these groups could hi-jack a ship, place conventional or nuclear explosives on it, and then detonate them. Should this occur in one of Singapore's ports the world economy could suffer, as trade routes would no doubt be affected, particularly as Singapore's ports are among the busiest transshipment hubs in the world. However, Singapore has stepped up its surveillance activities with regards to ships entering its coastal waters. Measures include electronic tagging of vessels and co-ordinated naval patrols with Malaysia and Indonesia. Source: http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/02/02/13374 00.htm (Reliability 7)

Source:http://www.whisprwave.com/uploaded_images/straits-of-malacca-788041.jpg

Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing

2006-02-03T18:05:00.000-05:00

NRDC Says Reported Bush Nuclear Reprocessing Plan 'Unworkable'
1 February 2006

ENERGYWASHINGTON WEEK (WASHINGTON)-Nuclear expert and Director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s (NRDC) nuclear program, Tom Cochran, slammed President Bush's plan to focus on nuclear reprocessing as a waste solution, saying it would squander an overwhelming amount of taxpayer dollars and ultimately encourage non-nuclear states to join the arms race. Administration sources believe Bush is planning to propose a DOE task force called the Global Nuclear Energy Initiative (GNEI), which would, among other things, heighten spent fuel reprocessing as a priority. Cochran insists the plan would result in exponentially increased costs for building new reprocessing plants, "lead to huge inventories of separated plutonium" and dramatically increase the risk of proliferation. And in addition to those concerns, Cochran said the U.S. would need "several 10s" of the new reactors just to "attack existing backlogs of waste." But proliferation risks aside, Cochran maintains that of the many reasons he sees for not going forth with such a proposal, the heart of the problem lies with the costs and timing that render the idea not feasible.

Source: "NRDC Says Reported Bush Nuclear Reprocessing Plan 'Unworkable'", Washington, in EnergyWashington Week 1 Feb 06 (accessed through LexisNexis Database). (Reliability: 8)

Comment: GNEI is the major component of the administration's reprocessing initiative. The administration views the plan as one that will allow emerging economies access to nuclear fuel without giving those countries the right to process the fuel.

Nuclear Waste Disposal

2006-02-03T16:24:00.000-05:00

Envirocare Buys BNG America, Changes Name
3 February 2006

AP (SALT LAKE CITY)-British Nuclear Fuels PLC has sold its U.S. nuclear clean-up business BNG America to Envirocare of Utah LLC for $90 million, a person close to the deal said. Envirocare marked the purchase by changing its name Friday to EnergySolutions, which takes in another operation it bought in October, Scientech's Decontamination and Decommissioning Division. Salt Lake City-based EnergySolutions now has more than 1,000 workers in 14 states. "With the acquisition of BNG America, EnergySolutions will have the depth and breadth of experience to pursue a broader set of business opportunities across the nuclear fuel cycle, including operations, decontamination, decommissioning and waste minimization and disposition," Steve Creamer, chief executive of EnergySolutions, said in a statement. Source: http://tinyurl.com/axu6p (Reliability: 9)

Comment: The Guardian newspaper added that Steve Creamer, CEO of EnergySolutions, said he would use the purchase of the U.S. firm as a springboard for an assault on the UK atomic clean-up market. The paper quoted him saying "we already run low level landfill waste sites and will look at a bid in April for the site at Drigg in Cumbria". (source: http://tinyurl.com/92d78) (Reliability: 9)
Image Source: http://tinyurl.com/b36a9)

Nuclear Fuel Management

2006-02-03T14:52:00.000-05:00

China To Build First VHTR By 2010
2 February 2006

CRI (CHINA) — China is planning to build the world’s first Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) by the year 2010. China holds the role as the leader in new nuclear technologies worldwide. The VHTR is graphite-moderated and helium-cooled and operates on a once-through uranium fuel cycle. The VHTR also has the flexibility to adopt uranium or plutonium and offers enhanced waste minimization. China’s Tsinghua University, the China Huaneng Group, and the China Nuclear Engineering and Construction Corporation are currently shifting their focus towards constructing this new reactor. China sees nuclear energy as an important energy source to power its economic development over coming decades.

Source: http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/2238/2006-2-2/135@296739.htm (6)

This diagram illustrates how the VHTR operates.

Image Source: http://nuclear.inl.gov/gen4/i/vhtr.gif

Nuclear Exploration, Mining, & Milling

2006-02-03T10:55:00.000-05:00

Uranium Hope From Domisaist Twin Site
2 February 2006

TELEGRAPH (INDIA)- Encouraging exploration results emerged from another spot in Meghalaya where mining of uranium may poses as an option. Located near Domiasiat in West Khasi Hills, Wahkyn stood out in a map prepared by the Atomic Minerals Directorate (AMD) for extensive exploration and research two years ago. The Wahkyn mine appears similar to those in Domiasiat where the existence of the yellow cake remains apparent, yet further rounds of exploration are in the plans before mining can begin. The AMD identified five more spots in the Northeast located in West Kameng and West Siang in Arunachal Pradesh and Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya where the possibility of mining remains high. Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060203/asp/northeast/story_5797050.asp (Reliability: 8)

General News

2006-01-30T01:44:00.000-05:00

Before Nuclear Regulators' Meeting, Iran Allows Inspectors Access To One Site
29 January 2006

NYT (PARIS)—After more than a year and a half of resistance, Iran has given inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency access to a razed military site, but it has failed to meet other demands under its international treaty obligations, officials knowledgeable about the inspections said Sunday. The concession seemed aimed at derailing an American and European initiative to immediately send Iran's nuclear case for judgment by the United Nations Security Council. But the limited cooperation given to the inspectors leaves open a number of major issues about the nature and scope of Iran's nuclear program that have been raised by the United States and Europe. News of Iran's uneven cooperation came as the Iranian foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, in an interview in Tehran on Sunday, reiterated Iran's position that it would not close down its uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, as demanded by the United States, Russia, China, the Europeans and the atomic energy agency. Like other Iranian officials, he argued that Iran has only restarted nuclear research, a sovereign right it would never relinquish. Source: http://tinyurl.com/9y746 (Reliability: 8.5)

Comment: U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the foreign ministers of Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany will meet in London on Monday (30 January 2006) to plot a joint strategy on how best to curb Iran's nuclear activities. Then on Thursday (2 February 2006), the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-country board will hold an emergency session in Vienna to decide whether and how the case should be considered by the Security Council. Image Source: http://tinyurl.com/ao24j

Nuclear Fuel Fabrication

2006-01-27T17:27:00.000-05:00

Iran Says Russian Nuclear Proposal Not Enough
27 January 2006

Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Larijani on Friday said that Russia's proposal on production of Iran's nuclear fuel inside its soil does not fully respond to his country's nuclear energy demands. He added that the proposed plan cannot fully satisfy Iran's nuclear requirements. Concerning China's approach towards Iran's nuclear case, he said that Chinese officials believe that the Europeans should not make rush decisions rather they should let the case be assessed by the United Nations nuclear watchdog professionally. Source: http://www.albawaba.com/en/news/193995 (Relability: 8)

Image Courtesy: http://www.albawaba.com/en/news/193995

Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing

2006-01-27T16:25:00.000-05:00

US May Overturn Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Ban
26 January 2006

NEW SCIENTIST (UNITED STATES)-Reports in US newspapers have suggested that the Bush administration is planning to reverse a policy that Presidents Ford and Carter introduced in 1976 and 1977. Their policy promised that the US would not reprocess the spent fuel from nuclear reactors to extract plutonium because of the risk that hostiles could use it to make nuclear bombs. But now, US Department of Energy officials are proposing a USD 250 million program to restart reprocessing using a new technology known as UREX, developed by the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois. This chemical separation process produces a mix of plutonium and uranium, which can be recycled to fuel reactors. According to Damon Moglen, from the Union of Concerned Scientists, an environmental lobby group in Washington DC, "This would legitimize the widespread separation and commercial use of plutonium that could be used in nuclear weapons." Moglen also argues that it would send the wrong message to potential proliferators like Iran and North Korea and encourage reprocessing in Russia.

Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8639 (Reliability: 8)

Comment: According to the Bush Administration, the type of plutonium UREX produces is harder to make into warheads. In addition, the Administration claims that if countries allow the US to reprocess their fuel, it would reduce the risk of countries' plutonium being created by hostiles into bombs. It also sees this as a way to reduce the amount of waste that facilities would have to dispose at Yucca Mountain, in the Nevada Desert.

Transport Of Radioactive Materials

2006-01-27T14:24:00.000-05:00

Baltic Nuclear Hearing
25 January 2006

NORDEN (DENMARK) -- The Nordic Council Environment and Natural Resources Committee decided to support the call for a hearing on the issue of nuclear installations around the Baltic Sea proposed by the Left-wing Socialist and Green Group (VSG). A number of potential sources of radioactive pollution in the countries around the Baltic worry the VSG. The proposal stated that Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Russia all house plants that represent a potential danger to the Baltic Sea. The Group also expresses deep concern about test drilling to explore the potential for uranium mining in Karelia on both the Russian and Finnish sides of the border. The proposal, also, notes that all transport of radioactive materials constitutes a risk of polluting the Baltic. Source: http://www.norden.org/webb/news/news.asp?id=5894&lang=6 (Reliability 7)

Image Courtesy: http://johan.lemarchand.free.fr/cartes/europe/europe1.gif

Nuclear Waste Disposal

2006-01-27T13:23:00.000-05:00

Bush Seeks To Jump-Start Nuclear Power
26 January 2006

WSJ (WASHINGTON)— The Bush administration plans to announce a $250 million initiative to reprocess spent nuclear fuel, a first step toward reversing a 1970s policy that rejected reprocessing as too dangerous to pursue. The administration's decision to put the money into its fiscal 2007 budget to test new technologies is part of an effort to jump-start the nuclear-power industry at a time when energy prices are high and concerns about global warming make nuclear power plants more acceptable. The Bush proposal, tentatively called the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, would also give U.S. vendors, such as General Electric Co., opportunities to sell nuclear-power reactors and nuclear fuel to developing nations. It would promote the export of simpler, smaller and less-costly reactors and nuclear fuel on the condition that the U.S. would take back the spent fuel for reprocessing. While a safe way to reprocess nuclear waste also would remove a licensing hurdle to new nuclear plants in the U.S., building nuclear plants here will remain a costly and lengthy process. Source: http://tinyurl.com/7w2b7 (Reliability: 9)

Analysis: The bill is unlikely to pass and will be highly controversial. Americans will not want spent nuclear fuel imported back into their country. Nuclear power itself only has tenuous support nationwide and likely sites for the reprocessing plant (Savannah River as a research facility and Yucca Mountain as a permanent home) already face stiff citizen opposition. That said, several high ranking republicans led by Pete Domenici (NM) are proponents and the Administration would have the ability to push the bill through congress despite popular opposition among citizens, but this would come at the expense of significant political costs. (Analytic Confidence: 8)

Nuclear Exploration, Mining & Milling

2006-01-25T13:23:00.000-05:00

World’s Largest Producing Uranium Region
20 January 2006

CCN (CANADA)-The Athabasca Basin located in Saskatchewan Canada contains the most significant high grade, low cost uranium deposits in the world. It accounts for 100% of Canadian production of uranium. The Athabasca Basin remains the world's largest producing region (producing approximately 30% of global supply), and hosts reserves of approximately 40 years at current production rates. Several world-class deposits are located in the Athabasca Basin including Rabbit Lake, Cluff Lake, and Key Lake. An imbalance between current new mine supply versus current nuclear power plant consumption trends are among factors contributing to a steady increase in the spot price of uranium from US $10.10/pound in March 2003 to over US $37/pound at present.
Source:

http://tinyurl.com/8szhw
(Reliability: 8)

Image Source:
http://www.uex-corporation.com/s/AthabascaBasin.asp

Nuclear Fuel Management

2006-01-23T22:21:00.000-05:00

Savannah River Site Plans To Consolidate Plutonium
23 January 2006

AP (SOUTH CAROLINA)- To improve defenses against terrorism and better monitor radioactive material, the United States (US) Department of Energy (DOE) is preparing to consolidate the plutonium at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, South Carolina into a single location. In 2005, the Government Accountability Office reported the current storage complex lacks proper fire protection, ventilation, and filtration. The plan is to move an unspecified amount of plutonium from a production site to an old reactor where there are other stockpiles of plutonium, and the plans include clearing 220 acres around the reactor in order to extend security fences farther out. The storage facility will handle both plutonium that is suitable for conversion to reactor fuel and plutonium not clean enough for conversion.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/dgawk (Reliability: 7)

Image Source: http://sti.srs.gov/fulltext/ms2002083/image30.gif

Comment: The DOE committee is studying the possibility of consolidating excess plutonium from around the US in one place, but there are legal restrictions that prevent the Savannah River Site from receiving more plutonium that is not suitable for fuel conversion.

Processing And Enrichment

2006-01-20T21:34:00.000-05:00

France Rejects Iran's Request for Resumption of Nuclear Talks
18 January 2006

BLOOMBERG (NEW YORK) - France today, 18 January 2006, rejected an Iranian proposal to resume talks with the European Union (EU) on its nuclear program until the Islamic Republic suspends research that could lead to the production of nuclear weapons.
``The unilateral resumption of sensitive activities announced by Iran on Jan. 9, 2006 means it is not possible for us to meet in satisfactory conditions to pursue these talks,'' said Denis Simonneau, a spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry, on the ministry's Web site today. ``Iran must first return to a full suspension of these activities.''
The U.S., Britain, Germany and France want the United Nation’s (UN) International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to hold an emergency vote to refer the matter to the Security Council, where Iran may face censure or sanctions. The EU wants IAEA governors to convene on Feb. 2, Simonneau said.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/duh78 (Reliability 8.5)

Iran Threatens No Inspections
18 January 2006

PEOPLE’S DAILY ONLINE (CHINA) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday, 18 January 2006, that Iran was capable of frustrating the attempt by the European Union (EU) and the United States to push for referral of its nuclear case to the U.N. Security Council. He asserted that the EU and the US would fail if they continued to use "language of force". Iran has threatened to stop voluntary confidence-building measures, including an end to snap inspection of its nuclear sites by the IAEA and suspension of uranium enrichment, if referred to the Security Council.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/bkfhc (Reliability 6)

Comment: Once referred to the UN Security Council, an Iranian rejection of IAEA inspections will bring them closer to military action by the US or Israel. Iran’s hard line stance will make it much easier for the US to find support for a military strike. Ahmadinejad’s reference to “language of force” apparently does not include his call for Israel to “wiped off the map.”

Iran Threatens Full-Scale Enrichment
23 January 2006

ASSOCIATED PRESS (VIENNA) - Iran will immediately retaliate if referred to the UN Security Council next week by forging ahead with developing a full-scale uranium enrichment program, Tehran's senior envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday. The comments by Ali Asghar Soltaniyeh reflected Iran's unwillingness to bow to growing international pressure, especially in the West, to end all nuclear enrichment activities. Iran recently announced it was resuming limited nuclear enrichment. The process can be used to provide fuel for nuclear reactors or, if taken far enough, material for nuclear weapons.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/060123/w012330.html (Reliability 9)

Transport Of Radioactive Materials

2006-01-20T19:40:00.000-05:00

Sandia Researchers Aim To Keep Points-Of-Entry Safe Through Systems-Level Modeling Of Operations
16 January 2006

SCIENCE DAILY (UNITED STATES)-- The Borders Grand Challenge, funded by a three-year, $6 million laboratory-directed research and development (LDRD) project, focus is to develop simulation-based systems analyses characterizing the security of the United States Border System and the impact of new detection technologies and concepts of operation. The interactive analysis that serves as the hallmark of the program has largely focused on the illegal smuggling of radiological/nuclear material but can also relate to other threats such as explosives or chemical/biological agent attack. Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/01/060112034244.htm (Reliability 8)

Nuclear Waste Disposal

2006-01-20T17:21:00.002-05:00

Scottish Nuclear Waste Dumped On Public Land
15 January 2006

SUNDAY HERALD (NORTH AYRSHIRE)—Scottish investigators are looking into the risks to public health and safety posed by secret radioactive waste dumps on the North Ayrshire, Scotland coast. Five publicly accessible shoreline pits contain thousands of cubic meters of contaminated rubbish from Hunterston nuclear power plant. Accidental destruction of the official papers detailing the pits contests has aroused suspicion. Recent monitoring of the Ayrshire foreshore has uncovered unexpectedly high levels of radioactivity, and there are mounting concerns that the pits could be eroded or flooded by the rising sea levels caused by global warming. The five pits are on reclaimed land outside the perimeter fence of the Hunterston, a nuclear site near West Kilbride, Scotland. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, the government agency that is now overseeing the nuclear clean-up, says the pits contain about 6500 cubic meters of low-level radioactive waste, including contaminated soil, rubble and concrete dumped between 1977 and 1982. Source: http://www.sundayherald.com/53590 (Reliability: 8.5)

Map Indicating Nuclear Power Plants Across The UK:
Comment: This is the second nuclear waste mishap at Hunterston in recent years. In October of 2004 it was determined that leaks from Hunterston had contaminated a huge area of land. Radioactivity laced some 81,000 cubic meters of soil that for years had been spilling from pipelines and blowing off open-air ponds of nuclear waste. Image Source: http://www.insc.anl.gov/ pwrmaps/map/united_kingdom.png

Spent Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing

2006-01-20T16:35:00.000-05:00

Ireland Likely To Lose Dispute Over Britain's Reprocessing Plant
18 January 2006

AFP (LUXEMBOURG)-The European Union's (EU) top legal counsel urged the EU's highest court to rule against Ireland in a long-running dispute over a British nuclear reprocessing plant which Dublin wants closed. Ireland, which has no nuclear power, has for years been seeking the closure of Sellafield, a plant for reprocessing spent nuclear fuel situated on England's northwest coast -- just across the Irish Sea from Dublin and Ireland's heavily populated east coast. Britain has fought the case, claiming the MOX plant does not generate any significant radioactive waste.

Source: http://www.breitbart.com/news/na/060118131735.en2spk7d.html (Reliability: 7)

Sellafield Reprocessing Plant in England

Image Source: http://www.breitbart.com/news/na/060118131735.en2spk7d.html

Nuclear Exploration, Mining, & Milling

2006-01-20T11:11:00.000-05:00

Pacific Bay Commences Field Work On Chacho Uranium Property, Argentina
19 January 2006

FMNN (ARGENTINA)-Consolidated Pacific Bay (PacBay) Minerals Ltd. a Canadian company, announces the fieldwork underway on the Cueva del Chacho uranium property in La Rioja Province, Argentina. Here Government surveys in the 1970's discovered significant surface radiometric anomalies. PacBay has made the Chacho property their top priority among its Argentine uranium prospects because it lies on a favorable mineralized horizon 8 km to the north of the Los Colorado’s mine, which produced over 55,000 kg of uranium oxide in the 1990's.

La Rioja Province, Argentina
Image Source: http://tinyurl.com/e3qq6

Source: http://www.freemarketnews.com/Press-Release.asp?nid=1307
(Reliability: 8)

Nuclear Fuel Fabrication

2006-01-19T16:54:00.000-05:00

Ukrainian Prez Calls for Nuclear Fuel Production
14 January 2006

FOX NEWS (KIEV) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said Friday that his country should produce its own nuclear fuel for power plants. This is part of the West-leaning leader's effort to reduce its reliance on Russia following a dispute over natural gas prices. Ukraine is the site of the world's worst nuclear accident, the 1986 explosion and fire at a reactor at the Chernobyl plant. Nearly two decades later, the nation of 47 million relies on four operating nuclear power plants for about half its electricity production — and it depends on Russia for fuel that feeds them. Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,181659,00.html (Reliability: 8.5)

Nuclear Fuel Management

2006-01-17T20:17:00.000-05:00

Japan Reactor Undamaged By Earthquake; Will Reopen

THE DAILY YOMIURI (JAPAN)-One of the three reactors at the Onagawa Nuclear Power Station in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan will restart by the end of January 2006. Officials shut down the reactors, operated by Tohoku Electric Power Company, on 16 August 2005 due to fears of the facility's structural integrity following a magnitude 7.2 earthquake. The government authorized reopening the No. 2 reactor after Tohoku Electric officials concluded from their examinations that the earthquake did not damage the reactor. Although the shock from the earthquake exceeded the acceptable levels of the original reactor design, the earthquake did not significantly damage the reactor or affect the safety of the facility. Tohoku Electric official expect to restart Onagawa's No. 1 and No.3 reactors after they conduct further examinations on those two reactors.

Source: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20060118TDY04002.htm (Reliability: 7)

Onagawa Nuclear Power Station located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan
Image Source: http://www.gns.ne.jp/eng/sta/jpn_npp/onagawa.jpg

Comment: According to the article, experts predict an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6 or more to hit the Miyagi Prefecture region within the next 30 years. As part of their examination of the No. 2 reactor, Tohoku Electric officials tested whether the reactor could withstand the predicted quake and concluded that no damage would occur from a magnitude 7.6 earthquake.

Processing And Enrichment

2006-01-13T23:55:00.000-05:00

Iran Threatens to End Nuclear Cooperation
13 January 2006

AP (TEHRAN)-Iran said Friday (13 January 2006), that if referred to the UN Security Council, they would end surprise inspections and other cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency. The president vowed that sanctions would not intimidate his country. Iran's tough line came as Europe and the United States were trying to build support for hauling Iran before the Security Council. They faced resistance from China, which warned the move could only escalate the confrontation. In Washington, President Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged U.N. intervention. The world needs to "send a common message to Iran that their behavior ... is unacceptable," Bush said. Source: http://tinyurl.com/8oqdc

Comment: Iran insists its program is peaceful, intended only to produce electricity. But it has insisted on its right to conduct uranium enrichment, a process that can produce reactor fuel or material for a nuclear bomb.

Transport Of Radioactive Materials

2006-01-13T19:27:00.000-05:00

British Radioactive Transport May Have Crossed Into Romania
9 January 2006

BUCHAREST DAILY NEWS (ROMANIA)-- Bulgarian customs officials at the Turkish border stopped a truck loaded with 1,000 kilos of zirconium silicate supplied by a British firm on its way to Tehran, Iran on August 31, 2005. The Bulgarian customs official who stopped the truck became alarmed after its cargo emitted unusual radioactivity levels. Bulgarian authorities arrested the driver, a Turkish citizen, on August 31, 2005. The investigation was "for violating international treaties by transferring across the border dangerous wastes, toxic chemical substances, biological agents, toxics and radioactive materials." After a two-month investigation, the British and Bulgarian authorities agreed that the British cargo did not need an export license and could be released and driven to Iran. There were no weapons of mass destruction end-use concerns by the UK Dept. of Trade and Industry. Source: http://www.daily-news.ro/article_detail.php?idarticle=21121 news.ro/article_detail.php?idarticle=21121 (Reliability 6.5)

Image Source: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/middle_east_pol_2003.jpg

Nuclear Fuel Fabrication

2006-01-13T14:32:00.001-05:00

Japan's New Energy Strategy
13 January 2006

ASIA TIMES (TOKYO)- Resource-poor Japan is barreling ahead to rev up its energy security, driven by the specter of another oil crisis, the global rush for energy resources and a simmering gas dispute with China. The nation's controversial nuclear-fuel-cycle policy has entered a new phase. The government unveiled a plan to construct a new 1 trillion yen (US$8.7 billion) fast-breeder reactor, and domestic power firms also announced their plutonium utilization plans ahead of the start of a key test operation next month to extract plutonium at a spent-nuclear-fuel reprocessed facility.

Source: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Japan/HA13Dh01.html (Reliability: 8.5)

Comment: The booming economies of India and China are intensifying Japan's energy problems. Japan has to compete with both India and China for regional resources. Japan has unique nuclear capabilities since they are the only member of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to be permitted both to enrich uranium and reprocess spent nuclear fuel for peaceful civilian purposes. An increase in nuclear energy will improve their energy situation.

Nuclear Waste Disposal

2006-01-13T13:22:00.000-05:00

Feds Halt Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Project
12 January 2006

AP (LAS VEGAS)-The US Department of Energy (DOE) suspended design work on the national nuclear waste repository in Nevada after internal whistle-blowers reported more problems at the Yucca Mountain site. But officials with the DOE and project contractor Bechtel SAIC Co. LLC said work is continuing at the site that Congress and President Bush picked in 2002 to bury the nation's most radioactive waste. According to federal documents and government and nuclear industry officials, the problem was that Yucca management guidelines and databases are outdated. The guidelines are the rules that lay out in detail how scientists, engineers and analysts need to document their activities to comply with federal regulations and industry practices. Source: http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/37404.html (Reliability 8.5)
Image Source: http://www.kued.org/skullvalley/images/road/maps/yucca.jpg

Comment: This is the latest of setbacks facing the national nuclear waste repository in Nevada. On 14 December 2005 the US Senate and House introduced the Spent Nuclear Fuel Security Act in identical bills that would allow nuclear waste to stay in containers at nuclear power plants versus moving it to Utah or Nevada with the federal government assuming legal liability. Recent setbacks include the project missing its license application deadline, congressional funding cuts and revelations that geologists may have falsified data. The government also is rewriting radiation safety rules after a federal court threw out the first ones.

Spent Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing

2006-01-12T21:29:00.000-05:00

Japan To Conduct Test Run Of Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Plant Next Month
11 January 2006

SIN CHEW DAILY (MALAYSIA)-Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd is to conduct a test run of its nuclear fuel reprocessing plant at Rokkashomura, Aomori Prefecture, next month. The electric power industry has unveiled its plutonium-thermal plan of burning a composite fuel made of plutonium that reprocessing plants extract from spent fuel and uranium. Local governments, including Aomori prefectural government, made the announcement of the plan a prerequisite for test operations at the nuclear fuel reprocessing plant. However, there is a potential barrier, in that local governments hosting nuclear power plants show little understanding of their benefits. Already, governments have voiced opposition, stemming chiefly from concerns over safety.
Source: http://e.sinchew-i.com/content.phtml?sec=2&artid=200601110002 (Reliability: 5)

Image Source: http://web-japan.org/region/pref/img/aomorimap.gif

Comment: The loudest opposition has come from Fukushima and Niigate prefectures. However, to date there have been no major accidents in the world resulting from plutonioum-thermal programs.

Nuclear Fuel Management:

2006-01-12T13:02:00.000-05:00

EU Powers Agree To Refer Iran To UN Security Council

REUTERS (BERLIN)-The European Union's (EU) three biggest powers agreed that talks with Iran over Iran's nuclear program are no longer an option and want Iran referred to the United Nations (UN) Security Council for possible sanctions. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters after meeting with British and French Foreign Ministers on 12 January 2006 that "the time has come for the Security Council to become involved to reinforce the authority of the IAEA." The agreement to refer Iran to the Security Council signals an end to the EU's 2-1/2 year diplomatic effort to convince the Islamic republic to abandon its uranium enrichment program. The EU plans to call an extraordinary IAEA board meeting soon to initiate the necessary action for UN Security Council involvement.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/US/print?id=1498193 (Reliability: 8)

Comment: The EU's actions follow Iran's removal of UN seals on equipment to enrich uranium at Iranian nuclear sites. Iran removed the seals at the Natanz, Pars Trash, and Farayand Technique sites ealrier this week. Iran insists its nuclear ambitions are for peaceful purposes, but the EU, along with the United States, believes Iran is developing nuclear weapons.

Nuclear Exploration, Mining, & Milling

2006-01-10T22:34:00.000-05:00

Mawson Stakes Swedish Uranium Rare Earth Project
9 January 2006

AZOM (SWEDEN)-Mawson Resources Limited, a leading explorer in the mining districts of Sweden, announced the staking of a 100% interest in the 5047.5 hectare Tasjo uranium - rare earth element ("REE") - phosphate ("P2O5") project. Tasjo is located in the Jamtland and Vasterbotten counties, 200 kilometers north of the town of Ostersund in Northern Sweden. Ten nuclear power reactors provide approximately 50% of Sweden's electricity. The Tasjo field is geologically analogous to the Florida Phosphorite Uranium Province, which contains the largest uranium resources in North America. The near-surface exploration target at Tasjo is vast. This project underpins Mawson's developing uranium portfolio and holds the potential to host an excellent uranium deposit, with significant rare earth credits. Mawson Resources Limited applied for 12 exploration permits for a total area of 5047.5 hectares. To date seven permits areas are as follows: Kronotorpet nr 1 (199.99 hectares), Bodkullarna nr 1 (154.05 hectares) and Tasjo nr 1 to 5 (2956.9 hectares). Five permits, Tasjo nr 6 to 10 (1736.1 hectares), remain under application and are expected to be granted soon.

Source: http://www.azom.com/details.asp?newsID=4699 (Reliability: 8.5)