![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
"Worse than Chernobyl"
Jun. 20th, 2007 09:48 amMore news from the on-going "renaissance"...
Worse than Chernobyl: 'Dirty Timebomb' Ticking in a Rusting Russian Nuclear Dump Threatens Europe - The Independent (UK)
"20,000 discarded uranium fuel rods stored in the Arctic Circle are corroding. The possible result? Detonation of a massive radioactive bomb experts say could rival the 1986 disaster."
"Best scenario: a limited explosion of one rod could contaminate a three-mile radius around Andreeva Bay. Wildlife could die out. Worst scenario: the entire facility explodes, radiation could destroy life in a 32-mile radius and make areas of Norway, Finland and Russia uninhabitable. Contamination could reach the UK and beyond."
[South African] Taxpayers Face Massive R400bn Nuclear Bill - The Herald (South Africa)
[Note: 400 billion SA rand is about 56 billion US dollars.]
"South African taxpayers will have to fork out a massive R400- billion to pay for Eskom‘s planned nuclear programme, an independent study has revealed. And the cost of decommissioning the proposed nuclear power stations at the end of their lives will add on several hundred billion rands.
This massive expenditure is not going to solve South Africa‘s present energy crisis, as the proposed nuclear power plants will be unlikely to make any significant contributions to the national grid before 2020, the study has found.
Eskom is forging ahead with the proposed nuclear programme in an energy policy 'vacuum' as South Africa has no integrated energy plan, while the public, who will foot the massive nuclear bill, has had no chance to have its say over the nuclear programme."
Governments Called Irresponsible on Nuclear Power - Globe and Mail (Canada)
"Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty's claim that elevated levels of radioactive tritium found in the Great Lakes pose no health threat proves he's ignoring his responsibilities to the public, an environmental conference heard Saturday.
“The government's general theme is to duck and dodge and avoid responsibility for (nuclear) issues,” said Shawn-Patrick Stensil, an energy campaigner with Greenpeace. Mr. Stensil was speaking in Toronto at the annual conference of Great Lakes United, an international collective of environmental lobbyists who want to see the U.S. and Canada take greater action to keep the waterway clean.
A Greenpeace report released last week found that levels of tritium in Lake Ontario, which is flanked by 10 nuclear reactors, were three times higher than levels in Lake Superior, which has no reactors. The report also criticized Canada for having regulations for tritium concentrations 10 times less strict than those in the U.S. and 70 times less strict than those in Europe."
Ong: BNPP: Off the Books, Off With the Crooks - Sun Star (Phillipines)
"What the BTr [Bureau of Treasury] report implies is that the BNPP [Bataan Nuclear Power Plant] is finally paid-off despite not having produced a single watt of electricity since its construction 32-years ago. Filemon Condino, the BTr's head of the fiscal planning and assessment division took a step further by saying that 'today it is just a big white elephant.'"
"Just this April, the Philippine government has shell-out US$15 million as final payment to the creditors of the BNPP. The project was originally pegged at US$1.109 billion in 1976 through a loan grant extended to the National Power Corporation. However, by end of December 1988, the nuclear plant loan went up to US$2.67 billion."
"Now antiquated and useless, Energy Secretary Rafael Lotilla suggested that 'it might attract tourists who want to see what a nuclear power plant looks like.' What a stupid idea coming from a cabinet secretary but what more can we expect from a project which was conceived with all stupidity? Moreover, what can we expect from our government - when it can honor illegitimate regimes, it can likewise honor illegitimate debts arising from onerous countracts."
Worse than Chernobyl: 'Dirty Timebomb' Ticking in a Rusting Russian Nuclear Dump Threatens Europe - The Independent (UK)
"20,000 discarded uranium fuel rods stored in the Arctic Circle are corroding. The possible result? Detonation of a massive radioactive bomb experts say could rival the 1986 disaster."
"Best scenario: a limited explosion of one rod could contaminate a three-mile radius around Andreeva Bay. Wildlife could die out. Worst scenario: the entire facility explodes, radiation could destroy life in a 32-mile radius and make areas of Norway, Finland and Russia uninhabitable. Contamination could reach the UK and beyond."
[South African] Taxpayers Face Massive R400bn Nuclear Bill - The Herald (South Africa)
[Note: 400 billion SA rand is about 56 billion US dollars.]
"South African taxpayers will have to fork out a massive R400- billion to pay for Eskom‘s planned nuclear programme, an independent study has revealed. And the cost of decommissioning the proposed nuclear power stations at the end of their lives will add on several hundred billion rands.
This massive expenditure is not going to solve South Africa‘s present energy crisis, as the proposed nuclear power plants will be unlikely to make any significant contributions to the national grid before 2020, the study has found.
Eskom is forging ahead with the proposed nuclear programme in an energy policy 'vacuum' as South Africa has no integrated energy plan, while the public, who will foot the massive nuclear bill, has had no chance to have its say over the nuclear programme."
Governments Called Irresponsible on Nuclear Power - Globe and Mail (Canada)
"Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty's claim that elevated levels of radioactive tritium found in the Great Lakes pose no health threat proves he's ignoring his responsibilities to the public, an environmental conference heard Saturday.
“The government's general theme is to duck and dodge and avoid responsibility for (nuclear) issues,” said Shawn-Patrick Stensil, an energy campaigner with Greenpeace. Mr. Stensil was speaking in Toronto at the annual conference of Great Lakes United, an international collective of environmental lobbyists who want to see the U.S. and Canada take greater action to keep the waterway clean.
A Greenpeace report released last week found that levels of tritium in Lake Ontario, which is flanked by 10 nuclear reactors, were three times higher than levels in Lake Superior, which has no reactors. The report also criticized Canada for having regulations for tritium concentrations 10 times less strict than those in the U.S. and 70 times less strict than those in Europe."
Ong: BNPP: Off the Books, Off With the Crooks - Sun Star (Phillipines)
"What the BTr [Bureau of Treasury] report implies is that the BNPP [Bataan Nuclear Power Plant] is finally paid-off despite not having produced a single watt of electricity since its construction 32-years ago. Filemon Condino, the BTr's head of the fiscal planning and assessment division took a step further by saying that 'today it is just a big white elephant.'"
"Just this April, the Philippine government has shell-out US$15 million as final payment to the creditors of the BNPP. The project was originally pegged at US$1.109 billion in 1976 through a loan grant extended to the National Power Corporation. However, by end of December 1988, the nuclear plant loan went up to US$2.67 billion."
"Now antiquated and useless, Energy Secretary Rafael Lotilla suggested that 'it might attract tourists who want to see what a nuclear power plant looks like.' What a stupid idea coming from a cabinet secretary but what more can we expect from a project which was conceived with all stupidity? Moreover, what can we expect from our government - when it can honor illegitimate regimes, it can likewise honor illegitimate debts arising from onerous countracts."
