August 17, 2016 – The Sun – Cold Finger; Secret US military base hidden under ice sheet to be exposed due to climate change – IT SEEMS a story straight from a Cold War thriller — only the case of Camp Century is 100 per cent fact. Now scientists have discovered the secretive military base in Greenland created by Danish and US governments during the 1950s and thought to be locked under the ice forever could be exposed by climate change. A recent study published in the journal of Geophysical Research Letters found the submerged city could be exposed within 75 years under a “business as usual” approach to global warming, reports news.com.au. It means low-level radioactive material, sewage, diesel and other waste that governments assumed would be locked up indefinitely in the ice could be leaked into the surrounding environment with no plan as to who is responsible. “Two generations ago, people were interring waste in different areas of the world, and now climate change is modifying those sites,” lead author William Colgan, of Canada’s York University told the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES).

August 17, 2016 – The Recorder – Rowe seeks money for nuke waste storage – The Yankee Atomic Electric Co. nuclear power plant in Rowe shut down its 185-megawatt reactor in 1992, leaving in place 15 dry casks of radioactive spent fuel, along with one cask of higher-level nuclear waste, until the federal government finds a permanent home for waste like this. Now, Rowe and other U.S. communities with “de facto” interim spent nuclear fuel storage sites are seeking annual compensation for this storage from the federal government. Congressman Richard E. Neal, D-First District, has agreed to co-sponsor the “Interim Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Site Compensation Act of 2016,” which would require annual payments of $15 per kilogram of spent nuclear fuel stored at the sites of former nuclear power plants built for electricity generation.

August 17, 2016 – MENAFN.com – UAE’s nuclear regulator conducts workshop on radioactive material safety – The UAE’s Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) last week completed a workshop with the Dubai Police to support its officials’ understanding of nuclear and radioactive material safety and security as they serve in a first-responder role to UAE security incidents. The FANR workshop provided information to familiarize officials with the basics of nuclear science, nuclear safety and security, radiation protection and the UAE’s nuclear nonproliferation obligations. Participants received extensive briefings from FANR staff representing the departments of nuclear safety, security, safegurds and education and training.

August 17, 2016 – Medgadget – Gamma Knife Market Poised to Rake in US$ 411.0 Mn by 2025 – 6Future Market Insights (FMI) announces the release of its latest report titled, “Gamma Knife Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2015 – 2025”. According to the report, the global gamma knife market was valued at US$ 156.8 Mn in 2014 and is anticipated to reach US$ 411.0 Mn by 2025, registering a compound annual growth rate of 9.0% over the forecast period. Global Gamma Knife market growth is majorly driven by rising ageing population, increasing incidence of cancer and increasing prevalence of neurological disorders. By disease indication, brain metastasis cases undergoing Gamma Knife treatment accounts for highest market share as compared to other indications. Painless and non-invasive elective surgeries with high success rate have recently become the treatment of choice. Leading Gamma Knife manufacturers are entering into tie-ups with premium healthcare organisations in developed and emerging economies for setting up Gamma Knife surgery centres and Gamma Knife installations.

August 17, 2016 – International Business Times – North Korea resumes plutonium production with no plans to stop nuclear tests – North Korea has resumed its production of plutonium by reprocessing spent fuel rods, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported on 16 August. In an interview with North Korea’s Atomic Energy Institute, a spokesperson confirmed that the country has no plans to stop nuclear tests as long as they perceive a remaining US threat. The Atomic Energy Institute has jurisdiction over the country’s main Yongbyon nuclear facilities. They confirmed that North Korea is continuing to produce highly enriched uranium that is necessary for nuclear power and nuclear arms. A spokesperson for the institute told Kyodo news: “We have reprocessed spent nuclear fuel rods removed from a graphite-moderated reactor.”

August 17, 2016 – KWQC TV 6 – Cambridge looks for ways to remove radium from drinking water – The Village of Cambridge has a problem with radium in the water and it could cost a half million dollars to fix it. The village operates two wells and one of them has a radium level over 5(MCL), which is the EPA threshold for action. The city has been addressing the problem by mixing water from both wells to reduce the radium levels, but that is only a short-term solution. Village of Cambridge City Administrator Dwaine Van Meenan stresses the water is safe to drink. The Village of Cambridge held a meeting Monday night to consider its options. VanMeenan says they looked at three possible solutions to fix the problem. One involves installing a reverse osmosis system at the water treatment plant; another involves filtering with Hydrous Manganese Oxide to remove the radium; another would be to build an Absorption Resin Residue plant. Officials decided that method (ARR) would create hazardous by-products, so they decided to remove it from consideration.

August 17, 2016 – Fox28 Spokane – Radon testing at Spokane Valley apartment complex has residents feeling the heat – Last week folks living in the Pine Terra and Pine Manor Apartments got a letter letting them know that for three days starting Monday, the management would be testing for radon gas. That testing required everyone living in the apartments to keep windows and doors closed, house fans off, and air conditioning units could only be run in recirculation mode. Worried about the heat, a relative of a person living in the apartments who didn’t want to be identified contacted KHQ about what they thought could be a danger to those living there. “I’m concerned for their safety,” the woman said. “We’re talking 90 degree heat outside, and then you close everything up and it’s going to get really hot in those apartments.”

August 17, 2016 – PhysOrg – Light-emitting glass to enhance solar panel efficiency – Researchers from ITMO University have developed optical luminescent glass that emits visible light under ultraviolet radiation. Due to this property, the new material has applications for increasing the efficiency and lifetime of solar cells. Ultraviolet radiation, which normally negatively affects solar cells, will be converted and used for extra charging of the cells. The glass is easy to manufacture and can also be used to increase the lifetime of white LEDs and ensure better color rendering. The study was published in the Journal of Luminescence.

August 17, 2016 – Science World Report – Is Russia’s Financial Crunch Forcing Roscosmos To Reduce International Space Station Crew Size? – New reports suggest Russia is planning to reduce the size of its crew on the International Space Station from three to just two. The typical ISS team comprises of six members- three Russians, two Americans, and generally one astronaut from Canada, Japan, or one of the 11 countries that belong to the European Space Agency (ESA). According to Russian newspaper Izvestia, the country’s state-run space corporation, Roscosmos, is considering to reduce its presence on the International Space Station as a move to reduce costs and increase efficiency. Roscosmos director of human spaceflight, Sergei Krikalev, said that they have already sent a letter about the possible move to the participants of the ISS program, reported Space.com.

August 17, 2016 – Business Standard – Secret clocks in tree-rings may help date ancient events – Tree-rings may serve as secret ‘time-markers’ that could help archaeologists date events of intense radiation bursts from thousands of years ago, a new Oxford study has found. Harvesting such data could revolutionise the study of ancient civilisations such as the Egyptian and Mayan worlds, researchers said. Until now scholars have had only vague evidence for dating when events happened during the earliest periods of civilisation, with estimates being within hundreds of years. However, the unusually high levels of the radioactive isotope carbon-14 found in tree-rings laid down during the radiation bursts could help reliably pinpoint dates, according to researchers from Oxford University in the UK.

August 17, 2016 – Compound Semiconductor – US team develops hexagonal BN nuclear detectors – To prevent terrorists from smuggling nuclear weapons into its ports, the US Security and Accountability for Every Port Act mandates that all overseas cargo containers be scanned for possible nuclear materials or weapons. This is done by detecting neutron signals with detectors based on scarce and costly Helium-3 gas. Now a group of Texas Tech University researchers has developed an alternative approach based on hexagonal BN semiconductors. The team, led by Hongxing Jiang and Jingyu Lin, think the material fulfills many key requirements for helium gas detector replacements and can serve as a low-cost alternative in the future.

August 17, 2016 – Gulf Business – Construction of UAE’s first nuclear plant now 68% complete – The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) has confirmed that work on its four-unit nuclear energy plant at Barakah is “progressing steadily.” Overall, construction of Units 1 to 4 is now almost 68 per cent complete, it said in a statement on Wednesday. ENEC also confirmed that it has installed the Unit 3 steam generators – which play a key role in the conversion of the energy generated by nuclear fission into electricity.

August 17, 2016 – WYFF 4 – Sirens to be tested at Oconee Nuclear Station – Duke Energy officials will test sirens at the Oconee Nuclear Station today. The three-minute test is scheduled for 11:50 a.m. There are 65 sirens within 10 miles of the Oconee Nuclear Station. The testing today is part of new software installations.

August 17, 2016 – NDTV – Nuclear Plant Delay May Shift United Kingdom’s Energy Policy – Britain’s decision to stall a Franco-Chinese project to build its first nuclear power plant in a generation has fuelled speculation that the new government is reviewing its energy strategy to boost the role of renewables. Prime Minister Theresa May has given no clear reason for delaying final approval of the Hinkley Point plant, with her spokesman saying only that it was “an extremely important decision that we have to get right”. Critics cite the enormous cost of the 18-billion pounds (21-billion-euro, $23 billion) project as well as security concerns about the involvement of China’s major energy group CGN.

August 17, 2016 – NewsMaker – Global Nuclear Medicine/Radiopharmaceuticals Market 2016:SPECT, PET, Alpha Emitters, Beta Emitters – Radiopharmaceuticals, also known as molecular nuclear medicine, are pharmaceutical formulations comprising radioactive isotopes used in diagnosis and therapeutics. They are used in tracer quantities to mark, trace, and locate targeted parts of the body. Radiopharmaceuticals are most commonly used for diagnosis of various diseases and syndromes with the help of positron emission tomography (PET) and single proton emission computerized tomography (SPECT). Both these medical imaging devices use a radiation detection camera that captures the radiation emitted from radiopharmaceuticals within the body. Therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals are designed to deliver a healing dose of ionizing radiation to the specific disease site, including cancerous tumors, with high specificity in the body. These products have addressed the rising need for better diagnostics and targeted therapeutic tools. It has outpaced conventional chemotherapy by more convenient therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals for oncology and cancer treatment. Moreover, it helps physicians in diagnosis, and works as a convenient and safer alternative for the patients when compared to X-rays and other external radiation imaging devices.

August 17, 2016 – NewsMaker – Global Nuclear Power Plant and Equipment Market 2016: HTGR, PWR, BWR, PHWR, FBR – Latest industry research report on: World Nuclear Power Plant and Equipment Market. Rising need for cleaner and new energy sources have played an eminent role in increasing the importance of nuclear power plant and equipment market. Today, regions such as Asia Pacific has emerged as the largest market for nuclear power. Besides promising a higher growth rate the market will soon fulfill the growing demand for electricity generation. Popularity of clean generation of electricity has contributed to the growth of the market to a greater extent. Moreover, rising need for energy has also added to the growth of the nuclear power plant and equipment market. Growing focus on the security of supply is also driving the market worldwide. High cost associated with the nuclear power plant has hindered the progress of the market to a greater extent. However, demand for clean energy across different countries would create greater opportunities for the market. Rising need for safer nuclear operation would open new avenues for market growth.

August 17, 2016 – WSYR TV – Report: ‘Highly radioactive materials’ leaked in FitzPatrick Nuclear Plant – A new report by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission says that there has been an ongoing, uncontrolled radioactive leak at the Fitzpatrick Nuclear Plant. The report says that “Entergy, by its inaction over four years to correct the spillage, degradation of the solid radwaste system, and inaction to clean-up, package, and ship offsite the resultant accumulation of significant amounts of radioactive material, failed to minimize the introduction of residual radioactivity into the site.” The plant experienced a shutdown due to an oil leak into Lake Ontario on June 24 and has not been able to operate at full-power since, due to a condensate booster pump remaining out of service, according to the report.

August 17, 2016 – Platts – Dominion’s Millstone-2 nuclear unit at 100% capacity after maintenance outage – Dominion’s 918-MW Millstone-2 nuclear reactor in Waterford, Connecticut, was operating at 100% of capacity early Monday after completing a two-day maintenance outage over the weekend, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in its daily reactor status report. The unit synchronized with the grid at 9:20 am EDT (1320 GMT) Saturday, Dominion said in a statement provided Monday by spokesman Richard Zuercher. The adjacent 1,276-MW Millstone-3 was not affected by the shutdown and has continued to operate at 100% of capacity, according to NRC’s daily reports.

August 17, 2016 – World Nuclear News – Regulator sets out corrective actions for fabrication plant – The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has outlined corrective actions to be completed before Westinghouse’s nuclear fuel fabrication facility in Columbia, South Carolina can resume some of its uranium processing operations following the discovery of a build-up of uranium in a plant component. Plant employees discovered an accumulation of uranium-bearing material in a scrubber system, which is designed to remove unwanted material from a number of plant processes, during an annual maintenance shutdown in May. The NRC ordered an augmented inspection of the facility after further analysis found the amount of uranium was higher than anticipated and potentially exceeded limits for the section of the scrubber involved. There were no actual safety-related consequences as a result of the buildup, but the “potential for such consequences may have existed,” the NRC said.

August 17, 2016 – Mountain XPress – Seven nonprofits seek injunction to stop radioactive waste transport – Activists with a nonprofit coalition calling for an injunction to stop the proposed transportation of liquid radioactive waste from Canada to the Savannah River Site near Augusta, South Carolina say the waste could pass through Asheville along its route. One hundred fifty truckloads of inherently dangerous liquid radioactive waste are slated to drive through Canadian and US communities and across major waterway crossings, from Chalk River, Ontario, Canada to the Savannah River Site, South Carolina, USA.

August 17, 2016 – LeRoy FarmerCity Press – Local leaders urge action on nuclear plant – This week, a group of mayors and community leaders across Illinois sent a letter to Illinois’ Governor and legislative leaders urging them to follow the state of New York’s lead in adopting a new energy program that will preserve the economic and environmental benefits of nuclear plants. Backed by business, labor, and environmental groups, the New York Public Service Commission recently approved a Clean Energy Standard (CES) that includes provisions to value nuclear energy for its low carbon attributes and will help preserve several struggling nuclear plants in upstate New York. Among them, the James A. Fitzpatrick Nuclear Power Plant was slated for closure but now has new life after Exelon announced this morning it is assuming ownership and operation of the facility thanks to the adoption of the landmark CES.

August 17, 2016 – Courthouse News Service – Greens Sue to Stop Nuclear Waste Transport – The U.S. Energy Department’s unprecedented proposed transfer of “a toxic liquid stew” containing nuclear waste between Canada and the U.S violates federal law, seven environmental groups claim in court. The proposed $60 million deal would see more than 6,000 gallons of the liquid waste transported more than 1,100 miles from the Fissile Solutions Storage Tank at Chalk River in Ontario, Canada to the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, according to a 47-page lawsuit filed Friday in Washington, D.C., Federal Court. “The radioactive waste byproducts resulting from processing the HEU targets at Chalk River are acknowledged to be among the most radioactively hazardous materials on Earth,” the complaint states, abbreviating highly enriched uranium. “They would be more easily dispersed into the environment in liquid form than in solid form, in the event of a breach of containment during transport.”

August 17, 2016 – Michigan State University – Dr. Richard R. Parizek: What Ever Happened To Yucca Mountain? – Dr. Richard R. Parizek from the Department of Geosciences at Penn State joins us Friday, October 19th from 12:30-1:30pm to discuss “What Ever Happened To Yucca Mountain?”. He begins his talk in Room 204 Natural Science Building. Please feel welcome to join us!

August 17, 2017 – KTVI Fox2Now – Radiation contamination concerns after Cold Water Creek flooding in Hazelwood – Residents at a Hazelwood apartment complex woke up this morning to find their cars submerged after a nearby creek over flowed. There’s more to be worried about then just water damage from Cold Water Creek. The water has receded, but it was a different story, when the parking lot filled with water overnight damaging vehicles. As the water went down we found crawdads in the parking lot. Residents were using buckets trying to get the water out of their cars. This apartment complex sits next to Coldwater Creek. Last year the Army Corps of Engineers confirmed that it had discovered what it described as low levels of radioactive contamination. The radioactive waste is the byproduct of uranium from the Manhattan Project that was stored near the airport. So this has only added to concerns for residents living near the creek.

August 17, 2016 – Los Alamos Monitor – DOE responds to new WIPP leak theory – The Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office of the Department of Energy responded this week to a former Los Alamos National Laboratory physicist’s alternate theory about what caused a 2014 radiation leak at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad. The DOE is standing by its initial analysis of what happened to cause the rupture of a barrel of transuranic waste Feb. 14, 2014. “The overarching conclusion of the technical assessment team was that specific chemical contents inside one particular drum, in combination with physical configuration of the materials led to a chemical reaction that breached the drum,” said Steve Horak, a communications specialist with the DOE Environmental Management Field Office in Los Alamos. “A separate DOE board of experts and an independent expert board confirmed these results and we see no reason to question them now.”

August 17, 2016 – San Diego Union-Tribune – State leaders don’t see value of nuclear power – Regarding “Proposal filed to shut down Diablo Canyon” (Aug. 12): Everyone but a “climate denier” knows the vital importance of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. So why are we proposing to close the single remaining nuclear generating plant that produces 9 percent of our electrical power without any carbon dioxide emissions? Sure, they can make up the reductions through “green power,” but why not keep the nuke plant and close fossil fuel generators? Maybe there are other agendas that aren’t mentioned?

August 17, 2016 – San Francisco Bay View – Treasure Island whistleblower Mitchell Herrington faces immediate retaliation from power broker – Treasure Islanders who speak out about the radiation, chemicals, asbestos, lead and mold sickening John Stewart’s market rate renters and formerly homeless subsidized renters alike know they face swift retaliation engineered by the powers-that-be – wealthy, connected politicians who fear protest will alert potential buyers of mega-developer Lennar Corp.’s high rise and luxury condos to the toxins lurking in he groundwater of the liquefaction-prone island as they gaze at San Francisco Bay’s fabulous views.

August 10, 2016 – 81 FR 52910-52912 – NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION – Wolf Creek Generating Station; Use of Optimized ZIRLOTM Fuel Rod Cladding Material – The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an exemption in response to a January 27, 2016, request, as supplemented on May 19, 2016, from Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation (WCNOC or the licensee) in order to use Optimized ZIRLOTM fuel rod cladding material at Wolf Creek Generating Station (WCGS). DATES: The exemption was issued on August 2, 2016.

August 10, 2016 – East Idaho News – Search dogs aid in the hunt for pioneer remains on INL site – Of all the ghosts along the Oregon Trail, one of the loneliest may be James Slater, who died near the Big Lost River in the early morning hours of July 26, 1862, at age 53. For nearly 154 years the location of Slater’s remains near Goodale’s Cutoff remained a mystery. His daughter Nellie’s diary gives a vague idea of how and where his body was buried, but it wasn’t until early July 2016 that two trained noses – German shepherds named Kessa and Rocco – were brought into the hunt. Now it looks like Slater’s descendants, many of whom live in Idaho, could be visiting the site in September to pay their respects. The land where Slater’s bones rest, is now part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s 890-square-mile Idaho National Laboratory Site. INL first learned of the gravesite when it received a call in 1994 from Nellie Slater’s great-grandson, Wilbur Chitwood, now 78, of Nampa, who had asked for permission to explore the area.

August 10, 2016 – World Nuclear News – DOE legal obligation on Yucca Mountain – The US Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) has urged the Department of Energy (DOE) to pursue the completion of the licensing review for the Yucca Mountain used fuel and nuclear waste disposal facility, saying the consent-based siting process proposed by the department cannot legally substitute for the Nevada project. The Washington, DC-based organization, which represents the USA’s commercial nuclear industry, made the comments in its submission to the DOE’s request for public input on the consent-based approach, issued in December 2015. “We respectfully suggest that the Department must follow current law, under which the proposed Yucca Mountain project remains the only … repository authorized to date,” NEI Vice President and General Counsel Ellen Ginsberg said in her letter accompanying the submission.

August 10,2016 – The Recorder – Speakers in Pirie raise doubts about nuclear dump – Speakers at an indigenous forum in Port Pirie questioned the merits of proposals for a nuclear waste dump in South Australia. The forum was hosted by Jason Downs, of the Consultation and Response Agency set up after the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission. It was aimed at gathering informal views from the Aboriginal community on the findings of the commission. Gregory Waldon, of Wirrabara, said radioactive contamination on the leg of a fly could be a “problem dose” amid the scenario of handling nuclear waste. He said the issue of “risk” should be reserved for the casino.

August 10, 2016 – myfoxspokane.com – State finds feds, contractor for mishandling Hanford waste – State regulators have fined the federal government and one of its contractors $50,000 for mishandling hazardous waste at Hanford. The Department of Ecology said Tuesday it issued the penalty to the U.S. Department of Energy and CH2M Hill for violations at Hanford’s T Plant. The facility is used to store and treat Hanford waste. The Tri-City Herald reports that DOE and its contractor were ordered obtain detailed analysis of waste before storing it and properly maintain records. An Energy Department spokesman says the agency is evaluating the notice and plans to seek clarification on some items. He says records show the contractor did identify and designate all of the waste in five containers.

August 10, 2016 – fastcoexist.com – Chernobyl’s Radioactive Wasteland Could Become The World’s Largest Solar Farm – Thirty years after the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear plant spewed radioactive fallout over the surrounding area, it still isn’t a safe place to live, or grow food, or even log trees. And it won’t be any time soon, because some isotopes of plutonium last for more than 24,000 years. But the Ukrainian government hopes to put the massive area known as the exclusion zone, which is roughly the size of Rhode Island, to another use: a new solar farm. If it’s fully developed, the area could generate more than 1,000 megawatts of solar power. The exclusion zone has a few advantages for solar energy. First, because the land can’t be used for anything else, it’s cheap. The electrical transmission equipment—normally expensive to install—is still in place from the former nuclear plant. Chernobyl is also near Kiev, a city with nearly 3 million people and the largest power demand in the Ukraine.

August 10, 2016 – CNYCentral – Watchdogs criticize transfer of public funds in FitzPatrick deal – Many people are hailing the agreement for Exelon to purchase the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Plant from Entergy as a win for the region, but one watchdog group argues the deal isn’t the victory its claimed to be. In a release the Alliance for a Green Economy, otherwise known as AGREE, and the Nuclear Information and Resource Service said the deal puts public dollars into private hands and ignores “serious safety problems” both at FitzPatrick and at Exelon’s Nine Mile Point facility. Here is part of what they had to say: The sale of FitzPatrick from Entergy to Exelon was announced today and celebrated by Governor Cuomo at a rally in Oswego County, where FitzPatrick is located. The sale was brokered in order to save the unprofitable reactor from closure. Entergy had planned to shutter the reactor, but Exelon now plans to take it over with the promise of $7.6 billion in subsidies over 12 years to FitzPatrick and Exelon’s other three reactors in upstate New York.

August 10, 2016 – The Times – State prepares for nuclear emergencies annually with pill distribution – Mary Lou Wilson, 68, of Beaver took a few minutes to stop by the Center at the Mall last week to sit down with a representative from the state Department of Health. Officials visited Center Township to distribute more than 3,000 potassium iodide, or KI, pills as a part of an annual program for emergency preparedness. “I survived cancer recently, so you know what, I think I’m still meant to be here,” Wilson said, adding that in uncertain times she’s glad to feel a little safer. The pills, made of a salt compound, are offered annually for free to anyone living or working within a 10-mile radius of the state’s five nuclear power plants, including those near the Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station in Shippingport. Schools and workplaces can also arrange for a bulk supply.

August 10, 2016 – BBC News – Independent inquiry into Worcestershire hospitals’ 11,000 X-rays backlog – An independent inquiry will look into why a hospital trust had a backlog of 11,000 X-ray results. An unannounced inspection found Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust failed to make reports of the X-rays. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) raised concerns of potentially delayed treatments. The trust said it is commissioning an “independent peer review into radiology services”. The CQC inspected the radiology departments of the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, Worcestershire Royal Hospital and Kidderminster Hospital on 27 July. It has not yet published its findings. The trust was rated inadequate by the CQC in December.

August 10, 2016 – LiveMint – Kudankulam nuclear plant unit-I dedicated to the nation – Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa Wednesday jointly dedicated to the nation the 1,000 MW Nuclear Power Plant-I in Kudankulam, assuring it was one of the safest atomic plants in the world. Speaking on the occasion through video conferencing from New Delhi, Modi said Kudankulum 1, an India-Russian project, was an important addition to the continuing efforts to scale up production of clean energy in India.

August 10, 2016 – WWMT – Kalamazoo Co. offering free radon testing kits – The Kalamazoo County Health Department wants to help you detect a silent killer. The health department will be at the Kalamazoo County Fair giving away free Radon test kits. They say in West Michigan it’s especially important to have your home tested for the gas. Radon is a colorless, odorless and radioactive gas found naturally in the environment. It’s the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers and the second leading cause of lung cancer overall.

August 10, 2016 – Claims Journal – Son Waits for Late Father’s Radiation Exposure Compensation – As of last week, 219 current or former Wah Chang employees or their survivors had received more than $35 million in benefits as compensation from the federal government for cancers contracted through radiation exposure at the Millersburg, Ore., metals refinery. Most of them owe a debt of gratitude to Mark Backer, whose petition on behalf of his late father, Roy Backer, was the basis for establishing “special exposure cohort” status for the plant, a designation that made it much easier for claimants to qualify for benefits. The Backer family, however, has yet to see a dime in compensation. Even though it was Mark Backer’s petition that created the special exposure cohort covering hundreds of Wah Chang employees, his father’s claim has never been approved by the U.S. Department of Labor.

August 10, 2016 – WhaTech – Global linear accelerators for radiation therapy market manufacture, production, capacity, growth rate and revenue analysis illuminated by new report – Linear Accelerators for Radiation Therapy Market 2016 is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Linear Accelerators for Radiation Therapy worldwide. First of all, ” Global Linear Accelerators for Radiation Therapy Market 2016 ” report provides a basic overview of the Linear Accelerators for Radiation Therapy industry including definitions, classifications, applications and Linear Accelerators for Radiation Therapy industry chain structure. The analysis is provided for the Linear Accelerators for Radiation Therapy international market including development history, Linear Accelerators for Radiation Therapy industry competitive landscape analysis.

August 10, 2016 – Huffington Post – 108 Mobile Phone Towers Exceeding Radiation Limits In India – A total of 108 cell phone towers were found exceeding radiation limits in the last three years and penalties have been imposed on the concerned telecom providers, Lok Sabha was informed today. A total of 72 cellphone towers were found exceeding prescribed radiation level in 2013, while the figure came down to 24 the next year and no tower was found violating the norms till May this year, Communications Minister Manoj Sinha said during Question Hour. In 2015, the number of such towers stood at 12.

August 10, 2016 – Renal & Urology News – Adjuvant ADT May Up Mortality in Black Prostate Cancer Patients – Adjuvant androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) combined with radiation therapy for favorable-risk prostate cancer (PCa) is associated with an increased risk of death in black men compared with white men, a new study suggests. The study included 7252 men underwent brachytherapy with or without neoadjuvant ADT for low-risk or favorable intermediate-risk PCa. Men received ADT to reduce prostate size and facilitate brachytherapy, and not for therapeutic gain. Among those who received ADT, black men had a significant 77% increased risk of all-cause mortality and significant 86% increased risk of death from causes other than PCa in multivariable analysis, a team led by Konstantin A. Kovtun, MD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital-Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, reported online ahead of print in Cancer. The investigators found no significant difference in PCa-specific mortality. Dr. Kovtun and his colleagues observed no significant differences in mortality risks among patients who did not received ADT.

August 10, 2016 – Medical XPress – Boron carrier for targeted tumour therapy – Scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology have developed a boron carrier for use in targeted radiation treatment for cancerous tumours. The carrier is based on a common blood plasma protein, meaning it can be tailored to individual patients thus lessening the chances of blood contamination. Targeted radiation-based therapies for treating cancerous tumours such as ‘boron neutron capture therapy’ (BNCT), rely on the efficient and effective delivery of the capture agent (in this case, boron) to the tumour. The agent must collect in the tumour in high enough concentrations to trigger an effective reaction during thermal neutron irradiation.

August 10, 2016 – Tech Central – Drone crashes into Koeberg – Eskom has placed a safety officer at the Koeberg nuclear power station north of Cape Town on precautionary suspension after a drone crashed on the site in contravention of nuclear safety regulations. Eskom said in a media statement on Wednesday that the drone was returned to its owner without an investigation into what happened having been completed. This necessitated the officer’s suspension as a precautionary measure, the power utility said. “The matter has also been reported to the South African Police Service as Koeberg is a national key point,” it said. Such points enjoy special protection under the National Key Points Act of 1980.

August 10, 2016 – WRVO – Nuclear part of New York’s energy future – Tuesday’s announcement that a new company has agreed to take over the FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant in Oswego County — and keep it running — was cheered in central New York for the jobs and tax revenue it will keep in the region. But Gov. Andrew Cuomo says it is part of his goal for 50 percent of the state’s power to come from renewable energy by 2030. The governor announced that Exelon has agreed to take over the plant and keep it going for at least another 12 years. “And keep it producing nuclear power for years and years to come,” Cuomo said outside the plant, as workers cheered. More than 600 jobs will be saved by the decision. Cuomo said a closure could have caused a financial crisis in central New York.

August 10, 2016 – Bloomberg News – Eskom Probes Nuclear Information Leak Related to Contract Award – Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., South Africa’s state-owned power utility, said it is investigating an information leak at the Koeberg nuclear plant that could affect a court case related to a 5 billion-rand ($373 million) contract awarded to Areva SA for work at the facility. The power producer hasn’t determined whether the leak was intentional, spokesman Khulu Phasiwe said by phone. Koeberg’s station and plant managers were put on precautionary suspension after distribution of the documentation. The data were given “to one of the said parties who are related to the steam-generator replacement program and it was information that had still not been approved by the board,” Phasiwe said. A safety officer was also suspended after a drone crashed at the plant in an unrelated incident, according to Eskom.

August 10, 2016 – Tasnim News Agency – Iranian MPs to Visit Nuclear Sites in Natanz, Fordow Next Week – Several members of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission plan to pay a visit to the country’s nuclear facilities in Natanz and Fordow in coming days, a spokesman for the commission said on Wednesday. “According to the schedule, the members of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission’ nuclear committee will pay a visit to nuclear facilities in Natanz and Fordow on Monday,” Hossein Naqavi Hosseini told the Tasnim News Agency. The trip to the nuclear sites by the lawmakers is aimed at “monitoring the proper implementation of the JCPOA”, he said, referring to the July 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and other world powers, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

August 10, 2016 – Sputnik International – Modi: India Will Build More Nuclear Power Plants With Russia – India plans to build additional 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plants with Russia, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a ceremony dedicated to the handover of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant’s first unit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. “In years ahead we are determined to pursue an ambitious agenda of nuclear power generation. At Kundakulam alone, five more units of 1,000 megawatt each are planned. In our journey of cooperation [with Russia], we plan to build a series of bigger nuclear power plants,” Modi said.

August 10, 2016 – New York Times – Chinese City Backs Down on Proposed Nuclear Fuel Plant After Protests – Bowing to days of passionate street protests, a city government in eastern China said Wednesday that it had halted any plans to build a nuclear fuel plant there. The reversal was the latest indication of how public distrust could hold back China’s ambitious plans for expanding its nuclear power industry. The government of Lianyungang, a city near the coast of Jiangsu Province, announced the retreat in a terse message online. “The people’s government of Lianyungang has decided to suspend preliminary work for selecting a site for the nuclear cycle project,” it read, referring to a proposed plant for reprocessing used fuel from nuclear plants.

August 10, 2016 – Daily Mail – Thank goodness for weather forecasts! A solar storm in 1967 almost sparked a nuclear WAR – In May 1967, the US Air Force prepared aircraft for war, thinking the nation’s surveillance radars were being blocked by the Soviet Union. However, the cause of the radar jamming was not the Soviet Union. The military discovered that a solar storm had caused the disruption, and thankfully the US avoided a potential nuclear weapon exchange.

August 10, 2016 – KFYR TV – ND Health Council reapproves radioactive waste rule, asks for new study – The development of fracking brought a historic economic boom to North Dakota. It also brought issues the state rarely dealt with before, such as radioactive waste disposal. The North Dakota Health Council (NDHC) paved the way for some radioactive waste to be stored in state last year. But, landowners and activists say they weren’t given enough notice, so they took the council to court. Now, the NDHC revisited the rule in a public meeting. The NDHC gave landowners and experts 20 minutes to speak out against new rules regarding radioactive waste.

August 10, 2016 – Digital Journal – New Bikini Atoll A-Bomb test films released by National Security – On July 22, 2016, the U.S. National Security Archives declassified and released all the footage shot by Task Force One, the Army Air Force scientific photographic unit as it flew over Bikini Atoll just moments after the Able test detonation (1:00-4:30) went off. The same unedited film footage also depicts four shots of the Baker test from different ranges (5:44, 8:56, 11:28, and 14:10), showing the formation of the nuclear cloud past the height of clouds in the sky. The end of the film, (15:40) shows a roiling cauldron at the bottom of what was once a beautiful coral bay. The damage appears to be complete. Only five ships sank, but those left floating were extensively damaged, and the viewer can see the huge oil slicks contaminating the environment from ships that had suffered damage to their infrastructure. But U.S. scientists weren’t prepared for what the tests ultimately revealed.

August 10, 2016 – Bloomberg News – Customers Could Pay $2.5 Billion for Nuclear Plants That Never Get Built – U.S. electricity consumers could end up paying more than $2.5 billion for nuclear plants that never get built. Utilities including Duke Energy Corp., Dominion Resources Inc. and NextEra Energy Inc. are being allowed by regulators to charge $1.7 billion for reactors that exist only on paper, according to company disclosures and regulatory filings. Duke and Dominion could seek approval to have ratepayers pony up at least another $839 million, the filings show. The practice comes as power-plant operators are increasingly turning to cheaper natural gas and carbon-free renewables as their fuels of choice. The growth of these alternatives is sparking a backlash from consumers and environmentalists who are challenging the need for more nuclear power in arguments that have spilled into courtrooms, regulatory proceedings and legislative agendas.

August 10, 2016 – Beyond Nuclear – Radioactive Waste – No safe, permanent solution has yet been found anywhere in the world – and may never be found – for the nuclear waste problem. In the U.S., the only identified and flawed high-level radioactive waste deep repository site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada has been canceled. Beyond Nuclear advocates for an end to the production of nuclear waste and for securing the existing reactor waste in hardened on-site storage. Environmental coalition members from the Crabshell Alliance, Sierra Club Nuclear-Free Campaign, NIRS, PSR, NEIS, and Public Citizen “just say NO!” at the NRC HQ nuke waste con game public comment meeting on 11/14/13 in Rockville, MD. Photo credit David Martin and Erica Grey. Beyond Nuclear submitted six sets of comments to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), by the July 31st deadline, re: “Consent-Based Siting” for so-called “centralized interim storage sites” (de facto permanent parking lot dumps), as well as permanent burial dumps (such as long targeted at Yucca Mountain, Nevada), for high-level radioactive waste/irradiated nuclear fuel.

August 10, 2016 – Syracuse.com – Gov. Cuomo says Fitzpatrick nuclear plant saved: Whole state should be smiling – Gov. Andrew Cuomo today said a deal for Exelon Generation to take over the James A. FitzPatrick nuclear power plant in Scriba saves 615 high-skilled, well-paying jobs. The governor made the announcement at a rally in support of the FitzPatrick plant in Oswego County. The facility, currently owned by Entergy, provides enough electricity to power more than 800,000 average-sized homes.

August 10, 2016 – Albany Times Union – Cuomo touts FitzPatrick nuclear plant sale – Exelon has acquired the FitzPatrick nuclear plant from Entergy Corp., the company and state announced Tuesday, putting in sight an end to uncertainty surrounding the plant’s future even as the state continues to lean on nuclear power to help reach its clean energy goals. The $110 million agreement transfers the plant’s operating license to Exelon, according to the company. The New York Power Authority will transfer the decommissioning trust fund and liability for FitzPatrick, which is on the shores of Lake Ontario near Oswego, to Entergy, which would then transfer them to Exelon if the deal is approved by regulators and the transaction closes.

August 10, 2016 – Charlotte Observer – Is the Energy Department doing enough to protect nuclear whistleblowers? – Changes announced by the U.S. Department of Energy to strengthen protections for nuclear whistleblowers don’t go far enough to fix deep-rooted problems unearthed in a recent audit, lawmakers and worker advocates say. The audit, released last month, found that the DOE’s nuclear program rarely holds its civilian contractors accountable for unlawful retaliation against contract employees who raise concerns about health, safety, fraud and waste. The lack of enforcement has led to the creation of chilled work environments at nuclear sites across the country, according to the audit performed by the Government Accountability Office at the request of three Democratic senators: Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Ron Wyden of Oregon and Ed Markey of Massachusetts.

August 10, 2016 – The State – Once secret documents helping lawyers argue for sick nuclear workers at South Carolina complex – Lawyers are using once-classified government documents to argue that potentially thousands of sick nuclear weapons workers and their families should be eligible for federal benefits. The documents, released late last year, provide evidence that some workers at the Savannah River Site were exposed to thorium after 1972 even though the government said the South Carolina plant no longer had significant quantities of the radioactive material, said Bob Warren, an attorney representing ex-SRS employees. Warren said the federal records show that SRS had ample amounts of thorium, a metal used in nuclear reactions that can cause cancer. Warren obtained the documents under the Freedom of Information Act from the U.S. Department of Energy after a three-year wait.

August 10, 2016 – Aiken Standard – Solutions needed in MOX funding debate – It’s a shame more people weren’t on hand Thursday to hear an important legislative update from U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina. But for the approximately 30 people attending the town hall organized by the North Augusta Chamber of Commerce, the affable senator from the Lowcountry delivered a lot of important news. Scott addressed a wide variety of topics, including roads, education and issues affecting small-business owners. But the bulk of Scott’s visit centered on the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, or MOX, at the Savannah River Site. Scott echoed the sentiments of most Republican lawmakers that the approximately $7.7 billion project must move forward.

August 10, 2016 – Daily Caller – Costly Wind Turbines Are Damaging Texas Power Grid, MIT Study Finds – Wind turbines are pushing Texas’s power grid to the limit, despite more than $8 billion invested in green infrastructure, according to a report published Friday in the Technology Review, by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “Texas is learning just how costly it is to wrangle the wind,” MIT researchers found. Texas is already spending $8 billion, but the state’s utilities and transmission companies will have to spend hundreds of millions more to upgrade the system enough to transport electricity from wind-rich West Texas to market in East Texas, the report found. Texas’ new wind turbines also place dangerous stress on the power grid, potentially leading to blackouts.

August 10, 2016 – KFGO 790 FM – Health Council to revisit radioactive waste rules – North Dakota’s State Health Council will redo a meeting from a year ago during which it approved new rules for radioactive waste, in the wake of a lawsuit. Environmental groups sued in April, alleging the August 2015 meeting was held illegally. Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem had issued an opinion in March saying the council violated state law by not providing adequate notice of the meeting. The new meeting is being held on Tuesday at the state Capitol. The Health Council will consider ratifying the decisions made a year ago.

August 10, 2016 – Denver Post – Payouts to property owners in long-running Rocky Flats suit should start in 2017 – For those who lived in the shadow of the former Rocky Flats nuclear plant — and for those who still do — compensation for loss of property value triggered by the noxious stew of chemicals and radioactive elements that were produced at the sprawling facility and dispersed downwind is moving from dream to reality. Late last week, a federal judge gave preliminary approval to a $375 million settlement that was reached in May between thousands of property owners living east of Rocky Flats and the plant’s longtime operators, Rockwell International Corp. and Dow Chemical Co.

August 10, 2016 – WyoFile – Lawmakers eye nuke plant, waste – Wyoming lawmakers may consider working with the U.S. Department of Energy in a new “consent-based” effort to establish sites for storing highly radioactive nuclear waste. Storing nuclear waste was the source of terrific controversy the last time Wyoming experienced a severe energy bust in the late 1980s. The Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee has scheduled more than 2 hours to discuss nuclear waste storage and other nuclear energy-related topics when it meets Thursday at the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission building in Casper. DOE wants states to voluntarily research the potential for temporary and permanent storage of spent nuclear energy material. Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality officials attended a meeting in Denver in May at which “consent-based siting” of nuclear waste was discussed. DEQ has been ordered to examine what it would take to draft a “permit mapping process” for nuclear waste storage, however it has not been instructed to take any actions.

August 9, 2016 – 81 FR 52716-52717 – NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION – Tennessee Valley Authority; Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Unit 1; Maximum Number of Tritium Producing Burnable Absorber Rods – The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an amendment to Facility Operating License No. NPF-90, issued to the Tennessee Valley Authority, for operation of the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Unit 1. The amendment allows Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Unit 1, to irradiate up to 1792 tritium producing burnable absorber rods (TPBARs) per cycle. This amendment revised Technical Specification (TS) 4.2.1, “Fuel Assemblies,” to increase the maximum number of TPBARs allowed in the core from 704 to 1792. The amendment also revised Surveillance Requirement (SR) 3.5.1.4 of TS 3.5.1, “Accumulators,” and SR 3.5.4.3 of TS 3.5.4, “Refueling Water Storage Tank (RWST),” to delete outdated information related to the tritium production program.

August 9, 2016 – E&E Publishing – Rocky Flats refuge opens its gates, but will people come? – On a sunny morning in June, Dave Lucas sauntered among knee-high grasses with a machete in hand whacking down invasive musk thistles. The manager of this 5,000-acre wildlife refuge is waging a two-front battle as he prepares to open these lands to the public. The first is against the thistles, knapweed, toadflax, cheatgrass and goatgrass that have invaded this scenic expanse of rolling tallgrass prairie, shrub lands and wetlands about 16 miles northwest of Denver. He plans to beat those back using prescribed fires, herbicides and grazing — plus a heavy dose of his machete. His second fight is against public fear that his refuge is unsafe.

August 9, 2016 – Utility Dive – Nuclear plants safe, New York ISO CEO Brad Jones readies for a low-carbon grid – Barely a week old, New York’s Clean Energy Standard is already stirring up the power sector. On Aug 1., the state’s Public Service Commission unanimously approved a 50%-by-2030 renewable energy mandate and income supports for three upstate nuclear plants. While the PSC had solid support from state stakeholders for the hike in the renewable portfolio standard, the nuclear supports have proved more controversial. Anti-nuclear groups panned the plan as a bailout for aging, uneconomic generation and natural gas interests argued it stepped into the federal government’s jurisdiction over wholesale power markets.

August 9, 2016 – Your Industry News – ROSATOM and ABEN sign first commercial construction contracts for nuclear research and technology center in Bolivia – Moscow witnessed signing of the Contract on the preliminary site survey for the construction of the Nuclear Research and Technology Center (NRTC) in the Plurinational State of Bolivia between ASE Group (engineering division of ROSATOM) and Bolivian Nuclear Energy Agency (ABEN – from its acronyms in Spanish). On the same day JSC Rusatom Service (integrator of ROSATOM’ service offerings) and ABEN signed the Contract for the national nuclear infrastructure assessment as part of the NRTC construction project development.

August 9, 2016 – Consumer Eagle – Are Analysts Bullish Denison Mines Corp (TSE:DML) After Last Week? – Out of 2 analysts covering Denison Mines Corp. (TSE:DML), 2 rate it a “Buy”, 0 “Sell”, while 0 “Hold”. This means 100% are positive. Denison Mines Corp. has been the topic of 4 analyst reports since September 21, 2015 according to StockzIntelligence Inc. Below is a list of Denison Mines Corp (TSE:DML) latest ratings and price target changes. The stock increased 1.49% or $0.01 on August 8, hitting $0.68. About 348,622 shares traded hands or 3.07% up from the average. Denison Mines Corp (TSE:DML) has risen 1.49% since January 4, 2016 and is uptrending. It has underperformed by 6.87% the S&P500. Denison Mines Corp. is a uranium exploration and development company. The company has a market cap of $367.03 million. The Firm is engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of uranium properties, extraction, processing and selling of uranium. It currently has negative earnings. The Firm operates in three divisions: the Mining segment, the Environmental Services segment, and the Corporate and Other segment.

August 9, 2016 – Madison.com – Catherine Kleiber: Change broadband use, policy to reduce cancer risk – It is time for a change in Wisconsin’s broadband policy. The U.S. National Toxicology Program has found that the radiation emitted by wireless technology is carcinogenic and breaks DNA. A replicated European toxicology study found that wireless radiation promotes cancer growth. So, as you look at your wireless device, you should see a portable cancer generator and promoter. Medical advice should be clear: Minimize your use of wireless devices and exposure to their radiation, especially if you already have or had cancer. Unfortunately, as with tobacco, doctors are behind time in issuing such cautions. You can read an excellent write-up by The Environmental Health Trust explaining the NTP findings here. Find a list of steps to reduce your exposure here. Then, call and write your local and state officials to bring the NTP results to their attention. They should immediately take meaningful steps to reduce exposure to wireless radiation: Turn off wireless routers in public buildings, libraries, and schools; provide wired ethernet connections for their own use and public internet access; and revise Wisconsin’s broadband program so it funds only wired broadband projects.

August 9, 2016 – Associated Press – Trump links Clinton emails to execution of nuclear scientist in Iran – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is suggesting that rival Hillary Clinton’s emails may be responsible for the death of an Iranian nuclear scientist executed for spying for the United States. Hours after an unusually disciplined speech on his economic plan for the country, Trump, using the “people are saying” sentence structure he often favors to make accusations, tweeted Monday night: “Many people are saying that the Iranians killed the scientist who helped the U.S. because of Hillary Clinton’s hacked emails.” He did not say which people he meant. The FBI has said there is no evidence that Clinton’s emails were hacked due to her use of a private account and server during her tenure as secretary of state.

August 9, 2016 – News.az – Construction of Russian 5th-generation nuclear sub to start after 2020 – Russian Malakhit design bureau has signed a contract with the Defense Ministry to design a fifth-generation multi-purpose nuclear-powered submarine. Russia’s St. Petersburg-based Malakhit design bureau said Monday it had signed a contract with the Defense Ministry to design a fifth-generation multi-purpose nuclear-powered submarine with construction to start sometime after 2020, Sputnik News reports.

August 9, 2016 – The Guardian – Belarus under fire for ‘dangerous errors’ at nuclear plant – Thirty years after world’s worst nuclear accident at Chernobyl, Belarus, which saw a quarter of its territory contaminated in the disaster, is building its first energy plant powered by the atom. However a series of mishaps at the site in Astravets are raising concerns over safety, particularly in Lithuania whose capital, Vilnius, lies less than 31 miles (50km) from the site. In July it was reported by local news that a nuclear reactor shell had been dropped while being moved. Local resident Nikolai Ulasevich, who is a member of the opposition United Civic Party, claimed the 330-tonne shell had fallen from a height of 2-4m in preparation for installation.

August 9, 2016 – Daily Mail – China warns of consequences if Theresa May scraps controversial Hinkley Point nuclear power plant – China has delivered a thinly-veiled warning to Theresa May against cancelling the Hinkley Point nuclear power plant. The Chinese ambassador to London suggested ‘mutual trust’ between the countries will be damaged if the huge project does not go ahead. The new Prime Minister caused shock when she pressed pause on the £18 billion scheme just hours after the EDF board gave it the final go-ahead in July.

August 9, 2016 – MercoPress.com – Head of Brazil’s nuclear energy development sentenced 43 years in jail for corruption – The CEO of Brazil’s nuclear power company Eletronuclear, was sentenced to serve 43 years in prison by a Rio de Janeiro judge, Valor Economico newspaper reported. Othon Luiz Pinheiro da Silva considered the father of Brazil’s nuclear program and a pillar of the military-industrial establishment was convicted of corruption, money-laundering, organized crime and obstruction of justice, in the latest chapter of the country’s historic “Operation Carwash” investigation.

August 9, 2016 – Pravda.ru – Nagasaki mayor puzzled why Japan relies on US nuclear bombs – Mayor of the Japanese city of Nagasaki urged to create a nuclear-free zone in Northeast Asia and criticized the Japanese authorities for their support for US nuclear deterrent forces. Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue stated that while supporting the elimination of nuclear weapons, the Japanese government at the same time supports its own dependence on nuclear deterrent forces, RIA Novosti reports. He stressed out the need to consider the establishment of a nuclear-free zone in Northeast Asia.

August 9, 2016 – Union of Concerned Scientists – DIBs on Nuclear Power Plant Safety – Imagine that you have an extremely important appointment scheduled early tomorrow morning. To ensure that you get to the appointment on time, you might apply DIBs—Diverse Independent Barriers. You want to set an alarm as a barrier against oversleeping. You could rely on multiple clock radios plugged into wall outlets for protection against one malfunctioning unit causing you to oversleep. For diversity, you set some of the clock radios to sound a buzzer alarm and set the other clock radios to play a radio station. And being a diversity aficionado, you select a variety of music and talk radio stations to protect against a single station’s failure. But a power outage could still disable all these multiple alarms. Multiple clock radios provide redundancy, because any one going off at the proper time helps get you moving towards the appointment. But they have limited diversity because they are vulnerable to the same common cause failure.

August 9, 2016 – BBC News – Wylfa Newydd nuclear firm funds Anglesey engineering centre – The company behind an £8bn nuclear power plant will pay £1m towards an engineering centre on Anglesey. Horizon Nuclear Power, the firm behind Wylfa Newydd, will pay towards Grwp Llandrillo Menai’s Llangefni building. The Welsh Government pledged £5m to the centre in 2015. Grwp Llandrillo Menai chief executive, Glyn Jones, said he wanted to “ensure that as many local people as possible gain the world class skills required to work at Wylfa Newydd”. Horizon will provide technical support to Coleg Menai, one of the colleges under Grwp Llandrillo Menai, and apprentices will move from the Bangor campus to Llangefni once the new centre is finished.

August 9, 2016 – Wyofile.com – Lawmakers eye nuke plant, waste – Wyoming lawmakers may consider working with the U.S. Department of Energy in a new “consent-based” effort to establish sites for storing highly radioactive nuclear waste. Storing nuclear waste was the source of terrific controversy the last time Wyoming experienced a severe energy bust in the late 1980s. The Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee has scheduled more than 2 hours to discuss nuclear waste storage and other nuclear energy-related topics when it meets Thursday at the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission building in Casper. DOE wants states to voluntarily research the potential for temporary and permanent storage of spent nuclear energy material. Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality officials attended a meeting in Denver in May at which “consent-based siting” of nuclear waste was discussed. DEQ has been ordered to examine what it would take to draft a “permit mapping process” for nuclear waste storage, however it has not been instructed to take any actions.

August 9, 2016 – Canada Newswire – Veolia builds training facility at its Pennsylvania nuclear services site – Veolia in North America through its subsidiary (Veolia ES Alaron, L.L.C.) has partnered with customer Mitsubishi Nuclear Energy Systems (MNES), Inc. to build a training facility at Veolia’s Alaron Nuclear Services site in Wampum, Pa. MNES will conduct hands-on training and qualification of the Mitsubishi Water Jet Peening (WJP) process in the facility’s radiological controlled environment. Completed at the end of May 2016, Veolia built the facility at its radioactive-licensed site to allow MNES, the U.S.-based nuclear subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., to train engineers on its water jet peening process. By building the facility at the Alaron site, MNES is able to provide training under realistic plant environments with actual WJP equipment in advance of project implementation, thereby presenting a highly qualified workforce to its own customers’ worksites.

August 9, 2016 – CTV News – Residents of Chinese city protest possible nuclear plans – Residents of a city in eastern China have protested for a third day against possible plans to build a nuclear fuel reprocessing centre, a protester and a city employee said Tuesday, as police announced a ban on public gatherings. The protests in Lianyungang, north of Shanghai, reflect public unease about the safety of China’s state-owned nuclear industry and growing willingness to oppose nuclear, chemical and other industrial projects. The city government responded to the weekend demonstrations in a downtown square with an announcement that plans for the nuclear project were in early stages and no location had been confirmed. Despite that, protesters gathered again Monday, according to a city hall employee who would give only his surname, Zhang, and man who gave his surname as Wang. Wang said he took part in one weekend protest and witnessed others.

August 9, 2016 – Reuters – Britain defends decision to review $24 billion nuclear plant – Britain on Tuesday defended its decision to review a planned $24 billion nuclear power project after criticism from China which is helping to fund the deal. China has cautioned Britain against closing the door to Chinese investment and said on Tuesday relations were at a crucial juncture after new Prime Minister Theresa May delayed signing off on the project. “This decision is about a huge infrastructure project and it’s right that the new government carefully considers it,” a government spokesman said in a statement.

August 9, 2016 – Dallas Morning News – That radioactive hole in our counterterrorism barrier – If global terrorism has you concerned that our safety hangs by a thread, consider how thin that thread might be — or how close to home the threat might be. A report from the Center for Public Integrity describes a successful and admittedly not-particularly-sophisticated effort by fewer than 10 people to gain a license and buy enough materials to build a so-called “dirty bomb” right here on US soil.

August 9, 2016 – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – Westinghouse advances in Ukraine’s nuclear fuel market – To hear some Ukranian politicians talk, it might seem like Westinghouse Electric Co. is a household name in the former Soviet republic — a trusted business partner picking up the nuclear pieces of Ukraine’s unraveled bonds to Russia. Just because it’s exaggerated doesn’t make Westinghouse’s ascent in Ukraine any less significant for either side. For decades, all 15 of Ukraine’s Russian-style reactors were using 100 percent Russian-made fuel. Today, there are Westinghouse fuel assemblies in three of them. Next year, it could be six, and the country’s energy officials have said they want Westinghouse’s share to be 30 percent. Western fuel has nudged the monopoly of TVEL, the nuclear fuel fabrication arm of Russia’s state-owned nuclear company Rosatom, which is the culmination of more than a decade of diplomacy and a few commercial setbacks. The U.S. Department of Energy helped open the door for Westinghouse in Ukraine to pilot a new type of fuel for the company starting in 2005 — specifically designed for Russian reactors.

August 9, 2016 – The Virginian-Pilot – New business in Moyock makes massive concrete storage cases for nuclear waste – Marlin Stoltz put on a hard hat and bright yellow vest before walking out into the 4-acre work area of the Moyock Casting Facility, a new operation in the business of spent nuclear fuel storage. A line of concrete cases, each 21 feet long and weighing 100 tons, rested along a rail spur, ready for shipment. Several men stood atop a steel form where hydraulic power vibrated and settled four truckloads of concrete for the next case. The Moyock facility opened in January and has 25 employees . It makes concrete modules that encase steel canisters that are used to store spent nuclear fuel. From here, the modules head to nuclear plants elsewhere. “We have no nuclear material here,” Stoltz said.

August 9, 2016 – World Nuclear News – Duke receives final safety evaluation for William States Lee nuclear plant – The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has completed its final safety evaluation report (SER) for combined licences for two proposed nuclear power units at the William States Lee III site. In its response to Duke Energy’s application for the approval for AP1000 reactors at the site in South Carolina, the NRC concluded there were no safety concerns that would inhibit a construction and operating license for the project. Duke submitted a combined construction and operation licence (COL) application with the NRC for the proposed Lee plant at the end of 2007. The application is based on two Westinghouse AP1000 pressurized water reactors with a combined capacity of 2234 MWe at a greenfield site near Gaffney in Cherokee County.

August 9, 2016 – Inforum – Don’t store radioactive waste near farms, homes – Today, the North Dakota Health Council will hold another meeting to consider ratifying the decision to raise the threshold to dispose of radioactive waste in North Dakota. The previous decision was made at an illegitimate meeting held last August. Despite many comments from North Dakota citizens who opposed raising the limit, the rules were pushed through, leaving western North Dakota lands open to the highest bidder who will profit from the storage and disposal of radioactive waste. The people of North Dakota did not ask for this increase. Our health and environment should not bear the cost to store and dispose of this material near our homes, farmlands, and schools.

August 9, 2016 – Construction Equipment Guide – Feds Schedule Cleanup From Manhattan Project – U.S. Department of Energy contractors are scheduled to start removing contaminated soil left over in northern New Mexico from the Manhattan Project and early atomic Cold War research. Work is expected to begin on the south-facing slopes of Los Alamos Canyon and is part of an agreement between federal and New Mexico officials, the Los Alamos Monitor reports. Officials said the contaminated soils will be temporarily stored at Tech Area 21 at Los Alamos National Laboratory and eventually will be shipped to a permanent area once tested. The work will include five sites in a 1-acre area. About 125 cu. yds. (95.6 cu m) of soil is scheduled to be moved. One site contains arsenic and the other four contain plutonium, officials said.

August 9, 2016 – KLCC 89.7 – Eugene Residents Ride Bikes To Protest Nukes – Seventy-one years ago this month the United States dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. Saturday a couple dozen Eugene residents gathered at Monroe Park for Bike Around The Bomb to demand global elimination of nuclear weapons. After a brief rally, activists embarked on a seven mile bike ride to signify the area destroyed by the atomic bombs. Organizer Clara Schneid, says while this event is meant to remember the destruction that happened in Japan, it is also focuses on creating a positive future.