July 2014

Nuclear Reactors 148 - The BRICS Countries Sign Nuclear Cooperation Agreements

         I have posted before about the trend among nuclear nations such as Russia, Japan, China, France and the United States to make export of nuclear technology and nuclear fuel a major part of their international trade in the near future. Recently there was a major announcement by Vladimir Putin at a BRICS summit meeting of a Russian plan to create an energy association that will include a fuel reserve bank and an energy policy institute.

CC3 is a New Material That Can Trap Radioactive Gases

         We usually think of radioactive contamination in terms of solid radioactive elements such as uranium and plutonium. However, there are also radioactive gases such as radon. This gas is created as naturally occurring uranium decays. In some parts of the country, natural radon can accumulate in basements and pose a health threat. When nuclear fuel is burned in a reactor, radioactive isotopes of xenon and krypton are generated.

Nuclear Weapons 84 - India - Pakistan - Warheads and Water

         I have blogged about Pakistan and India before in the context of their hostilities and the danger that they might engage in an  exchange of nuclear warheads. They have around a hundred warheads each. It has been estimated that the detonation of only one hundred warheads might be sufficient to trigger a nuclear winter that would end human civilization. They have gone to war three times since India and Pakistan were created in 1949.

Radioactive Waste 86 - Update on the Recent Accident at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant 9

         Time for another update on the evolving situation at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, New Mexico. Back in February, something happened in this transuranic geological repository in a salt deposit. Plutonium and americium were detected outside of the plant. When it became possible to examine the big underground room where drums of waste from U.S. nuclear weapons production, it was found that a drum had ruptured and allowed its contents to escape.

Nuclear Reactors 146 - The U.S. General Accounting Office Criticizes the National Nuclear Security Administration

         The security of the U.S. nuclear stockpile and classified nuclear research sites in the United States is overseen by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Now a new report by the General Accounting Office accuses the NNSA of increasing risks and reducing security in the past few years to reduce overhead costs.

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