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"On the surface, the United States pretended it didn't care when the Democratic Party of Japan-led government released documents on a secret pact that allowed the U.S. military to bring nuclear weapons into Japan. Secretly, before the documents were released in March 2010, U.S. officials raised concerns that Washington's global strategy of nuclear arms deterrence would be compromised by the disclosure. The Asahi Shimbun obtained about 7,000 diplomatic cables dated between 2006 and February 2010 from WikiLeaks and analyzed those related to the release of documents surrounding the secret pact. "

" Workers at the Grand Gulf Nuclear Plant in Port Gibson, Miss., last Thursday released a large amount of radioactive tritium directly into the Mississippi River, according to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and experts are currently trying to sort out the situation. An investigation is currently underway to determine why the tritium was even present in standing water found in an abandoned unit of the plant, as well as how much of this dangerous nuclear byproduct ended up getting dumped into the river. Many also want to know why workers released the toxic tritium before conducting proper tests. The Mississippi Natchez Democrat reports that crews first discovered the radioactive water in the plant's Unit 2 turbine building after heavy rains began hitting the area last week. Unit 2 was a partially-constructed, abandoned structure that should not have contained any radioactive materials, let alone tritium, which is commonly used to manufacture nuclear weapons and test atomic bombs (http://www.nirs.org/radiation/triti...)."

Germany's new coalition government put the finishing touches to its policy program this weekend, promising moderate tax cuts to help support the economy, a reduction in the length of compulsory military service, and the continued operation of the nation's aging nuclear power plants. No big surprises there. But one detail could have interesting international repercussions: the man designated to be foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, is pushing for the U.S. to remove its remaining nuclear weapons from German soil.

Germany's new coalition government put the finishing touches to its policy program this weekend, promising moderate tax cuts to help support the economy, a reduction in the length of compulsory military service, and the continued operation of the nation's aging nuclear power plants. No big surprises there. But one detail could have interesting international repercussions: the man designated to be foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, is pushing for the U.S. to remove its remaining nuclear weapons from German soil.

German activists show how to shut down a nuke plant video, followed by news report over social democrats opposition in meetings. 

"he government of Japan has issued an official order to telecommunications companies and web masters to censor reports which contradict the state media reports that the Fukushima nuclear radiation disaster is over. Japan Government Officially Censors Truth About Fukushima Nuclear Radiation Disaster Japan Government Officially Censors Truth About Fukushima Nuclear Radiation Disaster The supposedly free democratic nation of Japan, which supposedly values and promotes freedom of speech, has officially issued orders to telecommunication companies and webmasters to remove content from websites that counter the official government position that the disaster is over and there is no more threat from the radiation."

"A government official who released a book on May 20 criticizing the government's response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster has been asked to leave his post. Sources say that Shigeaki Koga, 55, attached to the secretariat of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), was asked by Kazuo Matsunaga, a high-ranking METI official, whether he could resign on July 15. Koga is said to have held off on responding, saying the request was "too sudden." Koga has also pushed for changes to the country's energy policy, such as a separation of electric power generation and transmission fiercely opposed by power companies, and criticized the Democratic Party of Japan's (DPJ) reforms to the civil service."

"The Japanese prime minister has predicted it will take well over ten years to decommission the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. Water crippled the cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi plant following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. In the first government announcement since the disaster, Prime Minister Naoto Kan told members of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan on Saturday that the entire clean-up would require a long time-frame. "

A Monday morning fire at Port Gibson's Grand Gulf nuclear power plant has left the facility operating at 65 percent capacity. The fire was not considered major and ranked in the lowest of the plant's four emergency levels. Jami Cameron, the site's communication specialist, said the fire started in a water pump turbine when an oil-saturated piece of insulation ignited.

It's amazing that nuclear power is considered clean and safe when its by-products require burial deep under Earth's crust for 10,000 to 100,000 years before it no longer poses a direct threat to life. Nuclear power is certainly more environmentally-friendly than fossil-fuel- driven power plants - humans have literally changed the environment using fossil fuels. But, it's clearly not the winner of the "Go Green" award.

A congressional leader pledged yesterday to introduce legislation that would block an eleventh-hour proposal by the Labor Department that would make it more difficult to limit workers' exposure to chemicals on the job.

Concerns that mining exposes workers and the public to elevated levels of radioactivity have been raised since at least the early 1980s. And the Florida Institute of Phosphate Research has sponsored about a dozen studies in response.

A Missouri House committee added some consumer protections Tuesday while endorsing legislation designed to help AmerenUE build a second nuclear power plant. But the bill still has a long way to go before passage. The House Utilities Committee approved the bill 12-1 after making some changes designed to help consumers. But the legislation still faces resistance from some senators and from Gov. Jay Nixon, who contends AmerenUE should get a federal license for a second power plant before any state laws are changed.

Germany's education and research minister has warned against demonizing nuclear power after two more reactors were temporarily taken offline, adding to the controversy over the future of atomic energy in the country. German Minister of Education and Research Annette Schavan has cautioned against a demonization of nuclear power following the shutdown of multiple reactors across the country due to technical malfunctions.

Germany's education and research minister has warned against demonizing nuclear power after two more reactors were temporarily taken offline, adding to the controversy over the future of atomic energy in the country. German Minister of Education and Research Annette Schavan has cautioned against a demonization of nuclear power following the shutdown of multiple reactors across the country due to technical malfunctions. In an interview with the Abendblatt daily on Saturday, Schavan, who is a member of Chancellor Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Party (CDU), said that those concerned about Germany's future energy supply "shouldn't demonize nuclear power."

Progress Energy customers have experienced a different kind of heat as the $9 billion dollar, privately owned, highly profitable utility company seeks further rate hikes. Those customers will have a chance to voice their displeasure at upcoming Florida Public Service Commission public hearings in Inverness and Ocala on Friday, July 17th (see details at the end). Progress Energy customers have already felt the sting of an allowance in a 2006 Florida law (s366.93) that permits the utility to pass along certain capital costs in rate hikes to customers.

A federal judge has overruled a request from AmerenUE to stop television ads in opposition to a proposed new nuclear plant. The ads were paid for by industrial users of electricity, led by Noranda Aluminum. They're opposed to AmerenUE's attempts to change Missouri law so it can charge consumers for some costs of a new nuclear facility while the plant is being built. Current law doesn't allow utility companies to pass expenses on to consumers until after a plant is running. The Ameren-backed proposal faces a vote in a Missouri Senate committee Tuesday.

In late 2009 Indonesia revived a proposal to build a nuclear power facility on the seismically active Muria Peninsula of north central Java over sustained civil society opposition including the voice of moderate Islam. The following assessment by Richard Tanter, Arabella Imhoff and David Von Hippel poses a range of issues about siting decisions in light of state-society relations and nuclear power feasibility. The issues are as relevant to mature democracies as to "emerging democracies," as Indonesia is now sometimes styled. Muria poses formidable challenges to Indonesian democracy while posing equally important questions about the nation's developmental trajectory. The siting of airports, dams, and nuclear power plants, are all examples of major siting decisions and contestations. As Daniel Aldrich observes in Site fights: Divisive Facilities and Civil Society in Japan and the West (Cornell University Press, 2008), even within democracies, some targeted communities have low potential for resistance. More generally, he terms siting decisions targeting vulnerable social elements, as "public bads," as opposed to "public goods," the latter conferring public benefits. Rather than neutral technocratic grounds, he shows, official frequently single out localities with weak civil societies for controversial siting decisions. Moreover, coercive measures are frequently employed, as opposed to incentive packages such as those frequently cited in the NIMBY literature. Only intense societal resistance obliges the state to adopt soft solutions.

In late 2009 Indonesia revived a proposal to build a nuclear power facility on the seismically active Muria Peninsula of north central Java over sustained civil society opposition including the voice of moderate Islam. The following assessment by Richard Tanter, Arabella Imhoff and David Von Hippel poses a range of issues about siting decisions in light of state-society relations and nuclear power feasibility. The issues are as relevant to mature democracies as to "emerging democracies," as Indonesia is now sometimes styled. Muria poses formidable challenges to Indonesian democracy while posing equally important questions about the nation's developmental trajectory. The siting of airports, dams, and nuclear power plants, are all examples of major siting decisions and contestations. As Daniel Aldrich observes in Site fights: Divisive Facilities and Civil Society in Japan and the West (Cornell University Press, 2008), even within democracies, some targeted communities have low potential for resistance. More generally, he terms siting decisions targeting vulnerable social elements, as "public bads," as opposed to "public goods," the latter conferring public benefits. Rather than neutral technocratic grounds, he shows, official frequently single out localities with weak civil societies for controversial siting decisions. Moreover, coercive measures are frequently employed, as opposed to incentive packages such as those frequently cited in the NIMBY literature. Only intense societal resistance obliges the state to adopt soft solutions.

"U.S. President Barack Obama will shortly issue a Nuclear Posture Review, a task each new president must perform. The Nobel Peace Laureate must decide what to do with America's 5,500 nuclear weapons - enough to destroy the planet at least five times over. Obama, strongly influenced by Defence Secretary Robert Gates, will likely decide to spend $7 billion US modernizing nuclear weapons and plants. This when the U.S. is bankrupt and running on borrowed money."