Free Republic

American Thinker has commented before on Edward Markey's affection for America's enemies (for example, Venezuelan tyrant-in-the making Hugo Chavez ). Now we have this principle on display again (with an added dash of hypocrisy) when it comes to supplying nuclear technology to nations in the Middle East.   Today's Boston Globe has an article  about the growing interest among some "experts' and Congressmen in having the international community supply a nuclear processing plant to Iran as a way to discourage its own nuclear program-which is quite extensive and certainly on the verge of being beyond the point of return given the billions...

U.S. Wary Of Small Boat Terrorism As boating season approaches, the Bush administration wants to enlist America's 80 million recreational boaters to help reduce the chances that a small boat could deliver a nuclear or radiological bomb somewhere along the 95,000 miles of U.S. coastline and inland waterways. According to an April 23 intelligence assessment obtained by The Associated Press, "The use of a small boat as a weapon is likely to remain al Qaeda's weapon of choice in the maritime environment, given its ease in arming and deploying, low cost, and record of success." While the United States...

Bringing juice to both Carolinas, but at what cost? The plan to build a duke nuclear power plant in Cherokee County is gaining steam. And questions over the plan and its impact are heating up Many turned out in Gaffney thursday night to say what they think of the plan, as did officials close to the project. Mike Cherin, a local resident concerned about the impact said, " We need to organize the community a lot more now..to make sure they are aware..the costs of this plant..what damage its going to do to our water sources..specifically the broad river."...

Corzine Eyes New Nuclear Energy PlantWNYC Newsroom NEW YORK, NY April 18, 2008 — Governor Corzine continues his efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in New Jersey. But his latest proposal to help reach that goal is sparking much debate. Corzine's office has released a proposal that calls for a review of the siting, permitting, financing, and waste disposal issues involved with bringing a new nuclear power plant to the state. The administration will also look at other technologies with minimal or no carbon dioxide emissions. But environmentalists pan the governor's plan, saying nuclear power is dangerous and creates hazardous...

MIAMI (AP) — The federal government wants to fine Florida's largest electric company $130,000 because security guards slept on duty at a nuclear plant. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says Florida Power & Light Co. violated security requirements at the Turkey Point plant from 2004 to 2006. It says guards served as lookouts while others slept on the job. The commission says in a letter to the utility that its "inattentive behavior" is of particular concern and can't be tolerated. The utility's nuclear spokesman says the company has made security changes to ensure this doesn't happen again. The guards were employed...

ISLAMABAD: Two workers were killed on Tuesday after a gas leakage at a Pakistani nuclear facility, the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission said in a statement. The accident took place at the Khushab heavy water plant, which had been shut down for annual maintenance, the commission said, adding that it was immediately evacuated and there was no threat to the public. "(The) situation was immediately brought under control and two workers lost their lives while controlling the incident," the commission said in a statement. "There is no threat to public life as all the leaking gas has been burnt in the...

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's Toshiba Corp. said Thursday it is in talks with US firms on securing nuclear power plant contracts, as a report said it was set to clinch the 13.7-billion-dollar deals. "It is true that our subsidiary Westinghouse is holding negotiations with the aim to get final contracts but no decision has been made at the moment," Toshiba said in a statement. The comment followed a report by the Nikkei economic daily that the group was set to win deals worth a combined 1.4 trillion yen (13.7 billion dollars) to build four nuclear power plants in the United...

New York state officials took their battle against relicensing of the aging Indian Point nuclear power plant on the Hudson River to another level today. New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, and Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano have submitted documents asking the federal government to deny the relicensing of Indian Point sought by owner-operator Entergy Corporation. The papers filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NRC, identify dangerous deficiencies in Entergy's relicensing application for Indian Point related to terrorism, earthquakes, evacuation plans, and the surrounding population density. "The Indian Point relicensing application wholly fails to address a number...

A brazen attack by four gunmen on the Pelindaba nuclear facility has left a senior emergency officer seriously injured. Anton Gerber, Necsa emergency services operational officer spoke to the Pretoria News from his hospital bed hours after the attack. He was shot in the chest when the gunmen stormed the facility's emergency response control room in the early hours of Thursday morning. The shooting comes four months after Necsa's newly appointed services general manager Eric Lerata, 43, was gunned down in front of his Montana home after returning from a business trip in France. Pelindaba is regarded as one of...

CBS) PEACH BOTTOM TOWNSHIP, Pa. They're on duty and fast asleep, security guards that are supposed to be protecting a major terrorist target in the United States. CBS 2 HD's three-month investigation into the security gap at our nation's nuclear facilities yielded some shocking information and video, and now officials have told CBS 2 first that the contract with the major security firm that hired the guards will be terminated. The video shows the inside of the nation's largest nuclear facilities. There are images of security officers responsible for protecting the plant against a terrorist attack, an attack that could...

ATHENS, Ala. -- The Tennessee Valley Authority shut down one of three units at the Browns Ferry nuclear plant on Thursday because water drawn from a river to cool the reactor was too hot, a spokesman said. The nation's largest public utility shut down Unit 2 about 5:42 p.m. CDT because water drawn from the Tennessee River was exceeding a 90-degree average over 24 hours, amid a blistering heat wave across the Southeast. "We don't believe we've ever shut down a nuclear unit because of river temperature," said John Moulton, spokesman for the Knoxville, Tenn.-based utility. __ TVA: http://www.tva.gov

Toshiba Corp. has been selected by American power supplier NRG Energy Inc. to construct a nuclear power plant in the U.S., a news report said Wednesday. Toshiba is to build two 1.35-million-kilowatt advanced boiling-water reactors in the suburbs of Houston, Texas, in a project that had been expected to go to Hitachi Ltd. and General Electric Co., Japanese business daily Nikkei reported. The total cost of the project is estimated at 600 billion yen (US$4.88 billion; €3.63 billion) and the reactors will begin operations as early as 2014, according to the daily. Nikkei reported that NRG President David Crane met...

HOUSTON - Exelon Nuclear has identified two possible sites in southeast Texas for a new nuclear power plant. The Illinois-based company is preparing a federal application to build and operate a new plant. Officials said the company hasn't committed to building a plant, but it expects to submit the project application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in November of 2008. The favored prospective site is about 10 miles south of Collegeport in Matagorda County. A secondary site is about 20 miles south of Victoria in Victoria County. Matagorda County judge Nate McDonald said the project would be welcome. The county...

MOSCOW - The state-run Russian company building Iran's first nuclear power plant said Monday that the reactor's launch will be postponed because of Iranian payment delays. ADVERTISEMENT "It will be impossible to launch the reactor in September, and there can be no talk about supplying fuel this month," Atomstroiexport said in a statement that followed the collapse of bilateral talks last week on the funding dispute.

An engineer at a nuclear power plant near Sacramento has been charged with sending threatening letters containing a powdery substance to the same Sierra foothills country club where President Bush will appear Tuesday for a Republican campaign event. Michael Lee Braun, 51, appeared Monday in U.S. District Court in Sacramento on two federal charges of sending threats through the mail. The FBI said he also is a suspect in mailing dozens of similar threats since shortly after the 2001 terrorist attacks. The charges relate to two letters prosecutors said Braun mailed on Thursday to the Serrano Country Club and Serrano...

AMSTERDAM — Shots were fired as police raided a building on the Moerweg in The Hague on Friday. Dutch parliament buildings hermetically sealed by police Witnesses reported seeing masked men with automatic weapons entering a flat complex on Moerweg which has been sealed off by the police. Radio 1 News was told of people hearing gunfire. The police in The Hague have declined to comment at this stage about the reports. A spokesperson would only say police operations are taking place at several locations in the city. She would also not confirm that a raid was carried out at a...

RAINIER, Ore. -- Demolition crews on Sunday destroyed the 499-foot cooling tower at a defunct commercial nuclear power plant. With a rumble, the tower leaned to the side and collapsed upon itself - leaving a cloud of dust and multi-ton pile of rubble. It took less than 10 seconds and roughly 2,800 pounds of explosives to complete. Portland General Electric ordered the implosion at Trojan Nuclear Power Plant, about 40 miles north of Portland, as part of its decommissioning. Trojan closed in 1993 for financial and safety reasons, and the facility has been decommissioned in stages since then. It was...

Indonesia to have major nuclear plant by 2015 Indonesia will have its first nuclear power plant on densely populated Java island by 2015, the country's energy minister has said. "We have the blueprint. We will start the construction in six or seven years," Purnomo Yusgiantoro told AFP. The power plant, to be built in East Java, will have the capacity of 1,000 megawatts in the first phase, with the cost estimated at $US8 billion ($10.35 billion), he said. The capacity will later be increased to 4,000 megawatts. "We are open to any investors who are interested in developing this project,"...

"As of October 31, 2005, however, no U.S. nuclear company has yet applied for a new construction permit.".......

COVERT, Mich. - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission launched a special inspection at the Palisades Nuclear Plant after several workers were exposed to radiation, officials said Thursday. The workers were not expected to suffer any adverse health effects and no medical treatment was necessary, the agency said in a statement. About six workers were handling a two-part storage container underwater in the refueling area early Wednesday when an inner portion of the container briefly rose to the surface, the NRC said. The employees were exposed to radiation emitted from highly radioactive equipment inside the container. According to radiation detectors worn by...

FLORIDA CITY, Fla. (AP) -- One of two reactors at the Turkey Point nuclear plant was shut down Friday after damaged equipment was discovered during a routine inspection, officials said. Florida Power & Light, the state's largest electric utility, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission declined to elaborate on what was damaged or how bad the damage was, citing security reasons. The reactor had been shut down for a routine refueling, utility spokeswoman Rachel Scott said. The damage was discovered late Thursday during tests and inspection that had to be performed before bringing the reactor back online, Scott said. An NRC...

An emergency alert has been raised at the Susquehanna Nuclear Power Plant in Salem Township in Luzerne County, but officials said the public is not in danger. According to PPL officials at the plant, there was a release of halon in one of the non-nuclear structures at the plant. Halon is a fire suppressant. Officials at the plant said no flames were present, but there was a burnt smell detected. The Luzerne County Emergency Agency also responded to the incident, and local E.M.A officials are on alert. Officials said there have been no evacuations. For any questions, residents of Luzerne...

LONDON (AP) - Japan's Toshiba Corp. is buying nuclear plant builder Westinghouse Electric Co., the U.S.-based unit of the British government's British Nuclear Fuels PLC, for $5.4 billion US. Toshiba said it will acquire 100 per cent of Westinghouse but it expects to have several minority investors who want to become involved. "With Westinghouse, Toshiba will be a global nuclear power business organization committed to delivering world-class nuclear power generation systems and services, backed up by proven technology, reliability and superb efficiency," Atsutoshi Nishida, president and CEO of Toshiba, said in a statement. The high-profile battle for control of Westinghouse...

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India and the United States said on Friday they had made some progress toward a landmark nuclear deal but more work was needed to try and clinch it in time for President George W. Bush's visit to New Delhi next week. The deal, first agreed to in principle last July, aims to give India access to long-denied U.S. nuclear equipment and fuel to meet its soaring energy needs. But it had run into trouble with the United States insisting that a plan to separate India's civilian and military nuclear programmes, on which the deal hinges, must...

Georgia Power and Southern Nuclear Operating Company yesterday said they want to expand an existing plant with new nuclear power technology from Westinghouse Electric Co., the latest in a series of announcements that apparently put the Monroeville-based nuclear plant designer at the forefront of a resurgence of nuclear power in the United States. The move comes on the heels of Progress Energy Inc.'s announcement earlier this week that it was considering buying a nuclear reactor from Westinghouse for its power plant near Raleigh, N.C. In the fall, both Duke Power of North Carolina and NuStart Energy Development, a consortium of...

Nobody likes to be "had," but that is precisely what has happened to the American public with the documentary Chernobyl Heart. Since winning the Academy Award for "Best Short Documentary" in February 2003, it has received international accolades, has been uncritically quoted in major newspapers, and is being recommended for America's classrooms on the National Education Association's website. HBO has run it continuously since September 2004. Yet while presented as a documentary on the 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, it relies to a shocking extent on scientifically unsupportable claims and in some cases outright falsehoods.

The nuclear industry is pushing ministers to approve sweeping changes to the way atomic power stations are approved in an attempt to fast-track a new generation of reactors. Documents obtained under freedom of information laws show that British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) wants to restrict the scope of local planning inquiries. Instead it proposes effectively discussing issues such as safety, security and environmental impact behind closed doors. The move comes as the government is to launch a review of its energy policies on Monday, which is widely expected to recommend restarting Britain's controversial civil nuclear programme. In the documents, BNFL warns...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Iran has secretly built thousands of centrifuge machines for its nuclear plant at Natanz, an exiled opposition figure alleged. ADVERTISEMENT The claims by opposition figure Alireza Jafarzadeh could not be independently verified, but if confirmed, they would likely enflame the worsening standoff over Iran's nuclear program. The new allegations came hours after Iran resumed sensitive nuclear research after a two-year suspension, triggering fierce Western condemnation and risking censure by the UN Security Council. Jafarzadeh, citing what he said was intelligence from the Iranian opposition and sources within the Iranian nuclear program, said Tehran had already committed serious...

NRC OKs Westinghouse nuclear plant design Westinghouse Electric Co.'s nuclear plant design using pressurized water was approved Friday by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a move the company said could lead to the first construction of a nuclear power plant in the United States since before the Three Mile Island accident in 1979. Pittsburgh-based Westinghouse's Advanced Passive 1000 nuclear plant design uses pressurized water to fire the plant. France's Areva also has a pressurized-water design, while General Electric Co. uses a boiling water model. In a statement, Westinghouse senior vice president Daniel Lipman said the action was a positive step. "Westinghouse...

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. (AP) - The California Public Utilities Commission approved a massive $680 million renovation that would extend the life of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station by at least 13 years. The commission on Thursday gave Southern California Edison the green light to replace four aging steam generators that power the two nuclear reactors at the seaside plant about 60 miles south of Los Angeles. Under the PUC's decision, Edison's ratepayers would be on the hook for up to $782 million, including possible cost overruns. Customers would pay about 50 cents extra on their monthly bills beginning in...

MOSCOW - An explosion ripped through a smelter at a Russian nuclear power plant in the northern Leningrad region but radiation levels were normal, the RIA-Novosti news agency reported Friday. The news agency, citing the state nuclear agency Rosenergoatom, said the blast occurred on Thursday. It said that the smelter was located on the territory of the plant's second unit.

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran opened the door Sunday for U.S. help in building a nuclear power plant — a move designed to ease American suspicions that Tehran is using its nuclear program as a cover to build atomic weapons. ADVERTISEMENT The offer, which did not seem likely to win acceptance in Washington, was issued as Israel said it had not ruled out a military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities. "America can take part in international bidding for the construction of Iran's nuclear power plant if they observe the basic standards and quality," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said in...

Tehran: Iran opened the door today for U.S. Help in building a nuclear power plant a move designed to ease American suspicions that Tehran is using its nuclear program as a cover to build atomic weapons. The offer, which did not seem likely to win acceptance in Washington, was issued as Israel said it had not ruled out a military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities. "America can take part in international bidding for the construction of Iran's nuclear power plant if they observe the basic standards and quality," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's Foreign Ministry on Sunday offered the United States a share in building a new nuclear power plant in an apparent effort to curb U.S. opposition to its atomic program. "America can take part in international bidding for the construction of Iran's nuclear power plant if they observe the basic standards and quality," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said at a news conference.

Iran plans to construct a second nuclear power plant despite international concern over its nuclear program, state television reported on Monday. The broadcast said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Cabinet ministers decided Sunday night to build the reactor in Khuzistan province, southwestern Iran. Previously Iran had said it would build a second power plant at Bushehr, where its first nuclear reactor is due to begin generating electricity in 2006. Khuzistan province was the site of a French-built power plant that began in the mid-1970s and was stopped after 1979 Islamic revolution. The Iranian parliament is seeking the construction of 20 nuclear...

LIANYUNGANG (China), November 26 (RIA Novosti, Alexei Yefimov) - China expects Russia to build the third and fourth energy units of the Tianwan nuclear power station. "We would like to see Russia continue its participation [in the project]," Wang Jianhua, the first secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Lianyungang city committee, said. He stressed that Russian technology used in building the first two power units had proven excellent. "The decision on building units 3 and 4 will be made by the central authorities of course," Wang Jianhua added. The first unit is to go online in early 2006, while the...

An American Christian minister who recently called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says the Venezuelan leader poses a nuclear threat to the United States. In August, television evangelist Pat Robertson made headlines when he suggested the United States assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez rather than watch the South American leader spread Marxist ideology throughout the region. Days later, Mr. Robertson apologized for the remarks. But appearing on CNN's Late Edition program, Mr. Robertson, a one-time Republican presidential aspirant, made new charges against President Chavez. "This man is setting up a Marxist-type dictatorship in Venezuela. He is trying...

Venezuela has asked to buy a nuclear reactor from Argentina in a request being handled like a "hot potato" in Buenos Aires because of leftist President Hugo Chavez's clashes with Washington, a newspaper reported on Sunday. Venezuela's state-owned oil firm PDVSA requested a medium-strength reactor in a meeting with Argentine officials in Buenos Aires in late August, saying it wanted to develop alternative energy sources in its Orinoco oil region, the Clarin newspaper said. Officials were not immediately available to confirm the report on the request by Venezuela, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter and a key energy supplier to the...

WASHINGTON - A consortium of utilities narrowed the potential locations for what could be the first nuclear power plant built in the United States in more than three decades. The group chose sites of existing nuclear power plants in Mississippi and Alabama. The consortium emphasized that no decision had yet been made on whether to seek a license for a new plant from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The group is developing an application for advanced approval of the two sites, which would allow for quicker completion of the project if a go ahead is given. The group decided the new...

NEW DELHI: India unveiled before the international community on Thursday, its revolutionary design of a 'Thorium breeder reactor' that can produce 600 MW of electricity for two years 'with no refuelling and practically no control manoeuvres.' Designed by scientists of the Mumbai-based Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, the ATBR is claimed to be far more economical and safer than any power reactor in the world. Most significantly for India, ATBR does not require natural or enriched uranium which the country is finding difficult to import. It uses thorium -- which India has in plenty -- and only requires plutonium as 'seed'...

Richland, Wash. -- The U.S. Energy Department evacuated some workers at the Hanford nuclear reservation Wednesday because of a suspected container leak.

Monday August 22, 3:43 PM S.Korea's Doosan Heavy may bid for WestinghouseSEOUL, Aug 22 (Reuters) - South Korea's Doosan Heavy Industries said on Monday it was considering bidding in a consortium to buy U.S. nuclear power plant builder Westinghouse Electric Co. from British nuclear energy company BNFL. South Korea's largest manufacturer of power generation equipment would be able to reduce costs and acquire nuclear technology and know-how from the U.S. firm if a bid was successful, analysts said. Westinghouse provides nuclear fuel services, technology, plant design and equipment for nuclear power producers. State-owned BNFL bought the business, which employs about...

Mitsubishi Heavy offers to buy nuclear plant builder WestinghouseSunday, July 10, 2005 at 07:00 JST TOKYO — Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd has offered to purchase major U.S. nuclear power plant builder Westinghouse Electric Co in a multibillion yen deal, company officials said Saturday. The move is intended to increase Mitsubishi Heavy's profitability by tapping new fields as its bottom line has been squeezed by cutbacks in public works spending in Japan, they said. Westinghouse's parent firm, British nuclear reprocessing group British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL), said last week it was putting the U.S. company up for sale. Apart from Mitsubishi, France's...

"There is a growing consensus that more nuclear power will lead to a cleaner and safer nation," President Bush said on Wednesday during a trip to a nuclear power plant in Maryland. "It is time for this country to start building nuclear power plants again," he said to applause at the Calvert Cliffs plant. "We're taking practical steps to encourage construction of new plants, Bush said, as he pressed Congress to send him an energy bill by August. President Bush joked that he didn't understand all the buttons and dials in the control room of the Calvert Cliffs plant --...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sixteen illegal immigrants gained access last year to one of the most sensitive weapons sites in the country, according to a report issued Monday by the Department of Energy's inspector general. The inspector general's investigation found the illegal immigrants were construction workers on jobs at the Y-12 National Security Complex near Knoxville, Tennessee. The workers used "false documents" and "gained access to the ... site on multiple occasions," the report said. The report details how the workers, apparently using fake green cards, were able to obtain access badges.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Sixteen foreign-born construction workers with phony immigration documents were able to enter a nuclear weapons plant in eastern Tennessee because of lax security controls, a federal report said Monday. Controls at the Y-12 weapons plant have since been tightened and there was no evidence the workers had access to any sensitive documents, said the National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees nuclear weapons facilities for the Department of Energy. However, the DOE inspector general's office said in the report issued Monday that its field agents found "official use only" documents "lying unprotected in a construction trailer which...

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Sixteen foreign-born construction workers with phony immigration documents were able to enter a nuclear weapons plant in eastern Tennessee because of lax security controls, a federal report said Monday.

A search for clues in the latest shutdown of the Hope Creek nuclear reactor. A radioactive steam leak caused the shutdown Sunday night. The plant's operator says the slow leak began in February. That was just weeks after the trouble-plagued plant had been shut for three-and-a-half months because of a bigger leak. P-S-E-and-G Nuclear said yesterday the problem could be diagnosed and fixed within the next few weeks. The company also said no radioactivity was released outside the plant and no workers were harmed in either of the steam leaks. The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission put Hope Creek and two...

WASHINGTON -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and other agencies are investigating how at least one illegal immigrant used a false Social Security number to work inside the Crystal River nuclear power plant.The Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the Department of Homeland Security detained three Mexican citizens at the site Thursday and charged them with entering the country illegally. At least one worked inside the nuclear complex under supervision, a spokesman for the power plant said. All three men used false Social Security numbers to obtain work through a contractor for Progress Energy, which owns the site north of Tampa...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - State regulators have cleared the way for Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to charge its customers $706 million to renovate the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant. PG&E wants to replace eight steam generators at the San Luis Obispo-area plant. But the plan has drawn fire from environmentalists and consumer advocates, who question spending hundreds of millions on a $5.8 billion facility just 20 years old. On Thursday, the California Public Utilities Commission unanimously agreed that PG&E's customers will probably be responsible for the costs of the work. The bill could run as high as $815 million if...