August 2, 2016 – M2 – Chernobyl Might Finally Have A Use That Isn’t Just Being Radioactive – Thirty years after the worst nuclear disaster in human history, Chernobyl is finally being put to use again. If government ministers can get enough funding, the evacuated zone could be turned into a solar and renewable energy park. In 1986, Reactor Number 4 at the Chernobyl Power Plant near the city of Pripyat ruptured and exploded, sending a huge amount of radioactive debris and waste into the surrounding area. The Exclusion Zone was the 30km around the power plant and is largely inhabited by wildlife and foliage since. There are about 300 people who refused to leave during the evacuations. Interestingly, flora and fauna have actually flourished in the absence of humans, and people are unlikely to return in the near future. As a result, tourism of the irradiated town is a big source of income for the region. If solar farms can be built in parts of the region, there are hopes that Ukraine can start to farm sunshine as well.

August 2, 2016 – MIT Technology Review – Fail-Safe Nuclear Power – In February I flew through the interior of a machine that could represent the future of nuclear power. I was on a virtual-reality tour at the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics in China, which plans in the next few years to build an experimental reactor whose design makes a meltdown far less likely. Inside the core—a superhot, intensely radioactive place where no human will ever go—the layers of the power plant peeled back before me: the outer vessel of stainless steel, the inner layer of a high-tech alloy, and finally the nuclear fuel itself, tens of thousands of billiard-ball-size spheres containing particles of radioactive material. Given unprecedented access to the inner workings of China’s advanced nuclear R&D program, I was witnessing a new nuclear technology being born. Through the virtual reactor snaked an intricate system of pipes carrying the fluid that makes this system special: a molten salt that cools the reactor and carries heat to drive a turbine and make electricity. At least in theory, this type of reactor can’t suffer the kind of catastrophic failure that happened at Chernobyl and Fukushima, making unnecessary the expensive and redundant safety systems that have driven up the cost of conventional reactors. What’s more, the new plants should produce little waste and might even eat up existing nuclear waste.

August 2, 2016 – Consumer Eagle – Perma Fix Environmental Services Inc Has Another Bullish Trade, Fundamental Global Investors Bought Stake! – Fundamental Global Investors filed with the SEC SC 13D form for Perma Fix Environmental Services Inc. The form can be accessed here: 000114420416115749. As reported in Fundamental Global Investors’s form, the filler as of late owns 5.3% or 616,750 shares of the Industrials–company. Perma Fix Environmental Services Inc stake is a new one for the and it was filed because of activity on June 28, 2016. We feel this shows Fundamental Global Investors’s positive view for the stock.

August 2,2016 – Los Alamos Daily Post – LANL Estimate Of $2.9 Billion For ‘Remaining’ Cleanup Leaves Nuclear And Toxic Wastes Behind – The Department of Energy (DOE) has announced that the cost of “Remaining Legacy Cleanup” of radioactive and toxic wastes from more than 70 years of nuclear weapons research and production at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) will cost $2.9 billion through fiscal year 2035, averaging $153 million per year. That cost estimate assumes that the Lab’s major radioactive and toxic wastes dumps will not be cleaned up. Instead they will be “capped and covered,” leaving some 200,000 cubic yards of radioactive and toxic wastes at Area G, its largest waste dump. Those wastes sit in unlined pits and trenches, 800 feet above groundwater and three miles uphill from the Rio Grande (plutonium contaminants have been detected 200 feet below Area G).

August 2, 2016 – Yibada – Black Holes Can Sing? This is the Reason Why They Emit Powerful X-ray ‘Songs’ – Black holes are mysterious, colossal cosmic objects in our universe that can devour stellar gas, dust, planetary objects, and even light and sound due to their powerful gravitational forces. They also emit powerful X-ray bursts known as a cosmic X-ray background that can be described as X-ray “songs” by a choir of a million supermassive black holes. Astrophysicists already know about this cosmic choir however, identifying the source has been very challenging and very elusive. In a new study, NASA’s NuSTAR (Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array) X-ray space telescope has gathered new data about these black holes that are emitting high energy X-rays, which has proven to be a crucial step in solving the mystery of the cosmic X-ray background.

August 2, 2016 – Mass Live – Vintage photos: Advertisements from the 1950s – Gieger counters, Edsels and color TV – Some people were watching Sen. Joe McCarthy on television and others were rockin’ around the clock with Bill Haley and His Comets during the 1950s. But it seems everyone was shopping in the 1950s. There were Geiger counters being sold at Sears to would-be uranium prospectors, while Edsel dealerships in Springfield and Northampton were looking for buyers. A look back at newspaper advertisements include fondly remembered restaurants like Vincent’s Steak House in West Springfield or stalwarts like Schermerhorn’s Seafood, then with three locations in Springfield.

August 2, 2016 – MedicalDialogues.in – Mumbai: Medical students exposed to radiation without TLD batches – The thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD), a radiation detection device, an essential measure for protection for medical staff working with radiation equipments in any hospital, has not been provided for the students of radiology at the Grant Medical College and Sir JJ Group of Hospitals. This shocking revelation came through an RTI which showed that the students in these medical colleges, have been conducting CT scans, X rays and sonographies in the absence of these badges for the past three months. The badges measure high radiation exposure, which can be the cause of cancer in those exposed. Dr Meenakshi Wahane Gajbhiye, HOD of Radiology Department of the college, tried to pass on the blame to AERB, which in its turn stated that it was merely a regulatory body and no way responsible for providing TLD badges. “We conduct regular inspections to ensure hospitals give TLD badges to all its students and employees, as failure to do so is a punishable offence. The first warning is a notice, but if the hospital ignores it, it can be asked to shut shop,” said Dr Sonawane, Head of Radiological Safety Division, AERB.

August 2, 2016 – Renal & Urology News – Survival Outcomes in Gleason 9-10 PCa Similar with Radiation, Surgery – Radiation therapy and radical prostatectomy (RP) offer men with Gleason score 9–10 prostate cancer (PCa) equivalent cancer-specific and overall survival, according to a new study. Findings also suggest that extremely dose-escalated radiation therapy plus androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) might be the optimal upfront treatment for these patients, researchers concluded in a paper published online ahead of print in European Urology. The investigators noted that their study is the largest comparative study of outcomes exclusively for patients with Gleason score 9–10 PCa. The study, led by Amar U. Kishan, MD, of the University of California Los Angeles, included 487 patients with biopsy Gleason 9–10 disease. Of these, 230 underwent external beam radiation therapy (EBRT), 87 were treated with EBRT and brachytherapy (BT), and 170 underwent RP. Most radiation therapy patients received androgen deprivation therapy and dose-escalated radiation therapy.

August 2, 2016 – MesotheliomaHelp.org – IMPRINT May Lead to A “New Lung-Sparing Treatment Paradigm” for Mesothelioma Patients – MesotheliomaHelp has recently reported on two studies showing the benefits of pleurectomy/decortication (P/D) over extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) for mesothelioma patients. Now, researchers report that following the surgery with chemotherapy and a novel radiation therapy is safe and resulted in a reduced rate of radiation pneumonitis. Researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and MD Anderson tested a newly developed hemithoracic intensity-modulated pleural radiation therapy (IMPRINT) in a clinical trial of 27 mesothelioma patients who had undergone P/D and chemotherapy. The radiation therapy specifically targets the lining of the lung, where the mesothelioma cells are, and reduces the risk of damaging the lung itself.

August 2, 2016 – Newsmaker – Radiation Dose Management Market to Hit 50% CAGR, Driven by Demand of Computed Tomography, Angiography, Fluoroscopy to 2020 – The global market for Radiation Dose is estimated to grow at a high growth rate during the forecast period of 2015 to 2020. This market is mainly driven by the increasing needs to cut radiation dose levels causing chronic diseases, need for regulatory compliance, and need for improved patient safety and for accurate and reliable systems to manage critical radiation dose levels and information.

August 2, 2016 – Business Wire – PetCure Oncology Now Serves Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, and Indiana by Opening Fourth Location – Lakeshore Veterinary Specialists, a 24/7 animal emergency and specialty hospital, is proud to announce the addition of leading-edge radiation oncology services through a partnership with PetCure Oncology at its Glendale, Wisconsin, facility (2100 W. Silver Spring Drive). As a comprehensive veterinary specialty hospital, Lakeshore has offered advanced medical oncology treatments for many years. The partnership with PetCure Oncology allows the team to add on-site radiation therapy, including a revolutionary new option for pets called stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). Lakeshore is the only private veterinary practice in Wisconsin offering comprehensive cancer care with SRS for pets.

August 2, 2016 – Associated Press – WILDFIRES: Fire burning toward the Hanford nuclear reservation – A wildfire burning toward the Hanford nuclear reservation scorched about 110 square miles of grassland Monday as it spread from Yakima County into Benton County. The blaze, the largest of several wildfires in Central and Eastern Washington, began Saturday on the U.S. Army’s Yakima Training Center and quickly grew in size over the weekend. But fire lines set overnight and low winds Monday are helping to slow the fire’s progression, said Randall Rishe, a spokesman with the Bureau of Land Management. The cause is being investigated. A section of state Highway 24 near Hanford remained temporarily closed Monday morning because of the fire, a state transportation official said. Firefighters were working to stop the fire before it reached the large wildland security zone maintained around a portion of the Hanford nuclear site, the Tri-City Herald reported. Hanford once made plutonium for nuclear weapons and is now undergoing a decades-long cleanup.

August 2, 2016 – Your Nuclear News – Sulzer to supply feedwater pumps for nuclear reactor in China – Sulzer has been awarded a contract for the delivery of main feedwater pumps and start-up feedwater pumps. The pumps will be installed in two nuclear reactors — Hualong No. 1 reactors — in China, owned by China Nuclear Power Engineering Company, Ltd. (CNPEC). Sulzer received this order in May 2016 and will complete the delivery of the equipment by the end of 2019. Sulzer will deliver six high-efficiency main feedwater pumps (HPTd), six booster pumps (HZB), as well as two start-up feedwater pumps (GSG). Electric motors of 11 600 KW and 1400 KW, respectively, will drive the pumps. Sulzer Suzhou, China, will conduct the manufacturing, testing, packaging, installation supervision, and commissioning.

August 2, 2016 – Science Alert – This poor kid literally dropped his phone in a nuclear reactor – A few days ago, a Reddit user had one of the worst summer camp afternoons you can imagine, when he literally dropped his phone into a nuclear reactor. He was visiting the McClellan Nuclear Research Centre in California, stuck his phone over the railing to take a picture of the pretty, glowing water, and, yep, dropped it in. It’s definitely not the worst thing that could happen at a nuclear reactor – and, of course, this is Reddit, so he could be making this story up. But, if it’s true, dropping your phone in any large body of water – especially once as closely guarded as a radioactive research facility – is pretty terrible… and embarrassing.

August 2, 2016 – Construction.ru – Rosatom’s Deputy CEO comments incident at Belarusian NPP – It was a subcontractor’s mistake, which didn’t follow the instruction for cargo slinging, that led to suspension of the reactor’s mounting at the Belarussian nuclear power plant. This is what Rosatom’s First Deputy CEO for Operations Management Alexander Lokshin told in an interview published on the company’s website. He said that the employees of the contractor responsible for the failure had been suspended from work at the Belarusian nuclear power plant’s site and will never be permitted to work at Russian nuclear facilities. Simultaneously, he stressed that the equipment itself and the reactor’s shell hadn’t been damaged. Nevertheless, at request of the customer, Rosatom is ready to replace the shell of the reactor at under-construction Belarussian NPP.

August 2, 2016 – Forbes – New York State Considers Nuclear A Clean Energy – Yesterday, the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) voted to approve a provision within the Clean Energy Standard (CES) that would value the emission-free energy that Upstate New York’s nuclear energy plants provide, finally recognizing that these plants are essential to meeting the state’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 40% by 2030. Since everyone agrees that this goal would be impossible to achieve without retaining the state’s existing nuclear power, this provision was critical.

August 2, 2016 – NDTV – In ‘Contravention Of NSG’, China Continues To Sell Nuclear Reactors To Pak – China continues to sell nuclear reactors to Pakistan, a US think-tank has said, expressing concern over export of nuclear materials in violation of international norms and established procedures. “China has taken significant steps over the past several years to strengthen its export controls. However, Beijing’s decision to continue selling nuclear reactors to Pakistan in contravention of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and its sales of missile technologies to countries of concern earns China a failing grade,” Washington-based Arms Control Association said in its latest report. In its updates report card 2013-2016 ‘Assessing Progress on Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament’, it gives China a failing “F Grade” on nuclear weapons related export control.

August 2, 2016 – Ohio.com – Scientists find promising ‘green’ mud for cleaner fracking – There is a promising “green” mud that frackers can use in drilling that reduces radioactive and hazardous waste to below federal guidelines, a new university study says. The State Journal newspaper reports: “West Virginia University researchers studying drilling wastes produced a pair of research wells near Morgantown say they are well below federal guidelines for radioactive or hazardous waste, the university reports. ” … Drilling a horizontal well in the Marcellus Shale produces about 500 tons of rock fragments, known as cuttings. WVU researchers have been studying the radioactivity and toxicity of the drill cuttings, which are trucked on public roads to county landfills. “… scientists found that using the ‘green’ drilling mud BioBase 365 at the well site resulted in all 12 cuttings samples passing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s test for leaching toxicity, allowing them to be classified as non-hazardous for non-radiological parameters like benzene and arsenic.”

August 2, 2016 – Englewood Herald – Controversy puts focus on water-plant sludge – Englewood’s drinking water plant is at the heart of two starkly different stories. According to lead plant operator Ken Kloewer, improperly stored piles of radioactive sediment at the plant are the source of his cancer. City officials, however, assert that the sediment piles, often referred to as sludge, have been properly handled and have never posed a danger to plant employees or neighbors of the Charles Allen Water Filtration Plant, adjacent to Belleview Park at Windermere Street and Layton Avenue. “For 25 years we had meetings about our radioactive sludge,” said Kloewer, 54, who has worked at the plant for 30 years. “Everyone thought it was funny. The city doesn’t give a damn about us.”

August 2, 2016 – PowerMag – Exelon, America’s Leading Nuclear Generator, Keeps the Faith on Nukes – The U.S. nuclear power business is in trouble, and Exelon has six units totaling more than 5,300 MW of dependable capacity on the chopping block. How will the Chicago electricity giant respond? Perhaps by acquiring more nuclear capacity? Chicago-based Exelon Corp., the largest nuclear power generator in the U.S., is facing what could be the greatest challenge in the company’s history. Exelon confronts the potential shutdown of six operating nuclear generating units at four stations, out of a fleet of 23 units at 14 stations across the country. This comes after Exelon essentially abandoned coal, selling off its interests in coal-fired generation. In late 2014, the company unloaded its last minority shares in major coal generation, the Keystone (42%) and Conemaugh (32%) plants in central Pennsylvania, once a significant element in its power mix (see sidebar “Exelon’s Generating Fleet”). RTO Insider newsletter commented, “Exelon once had extensive coal-fired generation but has either sold or retired them over the years as it concentrated on new gas-fired generation and its massive nuclear fleet.”

August 2, 2016 – Aiken Standard – Nuclear Regulatory Committee cites violations at MOX project – In a letter and report this week, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission outlined two violations at the already contentious Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, or MOX. The following day, another letter was sent to announce the findings of another investigation into allegations of misconduct at the facility. The investigation came after an October inspection in 2015 found potential safety and construction guideline violations. The inspection report noted issues with ledgers designed to support floor panels in one of the operations areas. According to previous reporting from the Aiken Standard, the NRC noted in the 2015 report that measures to assure that requirements were correctly translated by CB&I MOX Services, the MOX contractor, into design documents were inadequate. Meaning, the ledgers installed weren’t properly checked to be in accordance with the design documents.

August 2, 2016 – Los Alamos Monitor – LANS responds to Irving lawsuit – Attorneys for Los Alamos National Security have responded to a 2016 lawsuit from a Los Alamos National Laboratory employee where he said he was discriminated against because of his age and a prior lawsuit he filed against the company in 2013. The employee filed the new suit in April. Los Alamos National Security is the company that manages and operates LANL. “Defendant (LANL) has discriminated against the plaintiff by subjecting him to a hostile work environment, denying him promotional opportunities and promoting a younger, less experienced individual, interfering with his ability to perform his job duties and by giving plaintiff a negative evaluation and significantly reducing his promotional opportunities and merit raise,” said his attorney, Donald Gilpin, in the lawsuit.

August 2, 2016 – Los Alamos Daily Post – WIPP Mine Rescue Team Wins Field Competition National Championship – The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Blue Mine Rescue Team captured top honors in the field competition at the Metal/Non-Metal National Mine Rescue Championship, topping 36 teams from 18 states, spanning from Alaska to Georgia, who were competing this week in Reno, Nevada. Newmont Mining Corporation from Carlin, Nev., edged out WIPP for the overall national championship.