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"France Uses Less than 1 Percent of the Natural Uranium Resource, Has Higher Waste Volume; Reprocessing Still Requires a Repository and Increases Costs, Proliferation Risks WASHINGTON, April 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Contrary to some prevailing opinion, reprocessing would not eliminate the need for a deep geologic disposal program to replace Yucca Mountain. It aggravates waste, proliferation, and cost problems. The volume of waste to be disposed of in deep geologic repository is increased about six times on a life-cycle basis in the French approach compared to the once-through no-reprocessing approach of the United States. A new report by the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER), a nonprofit scientific research group, shows that France uses less than 1 percent of the natural uranium resource, contrary to an impression among some policy makers. The report has several recommendations for President Obama's Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future, which was created to address U.S. nuclear waste issues after the administration's cancellation of the Yucca Mountain program."

"Reprocessing of nuclear waste is neither an affordable remedy for future waste disposal in the United States nor will it eliminate the need for a deep geologic repository to replace Yucca Mountain, according to a recent study released by the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER), a nonprofit and nonpartisan research group. Even as some are urging the Obama Administration's blue-ribbon panel on nuclear waste to consider the options of reprocessing and breeder reactors, the IEER study looks at the global experience - including those of France and Britain - and finds that both approaches are widely misunderstood in the United States. France has not solved its nuclear waste problems and now needs a repository in face of strong public opposition to the development of such a facility."

"NEWS EVENT DOCUMENTS 1. 032410 IEER news release: EXPERTS: U.S. HAS AGREED TO STORE ENOUGH NUCLEAR REACTOR WASTE TO FILL TWO YUCCA MOUNTAINS … OR FACE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN NEW PENALTIES" 2. Backgrounder on New DOE Contracts for Commercial High-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal 3. Principles for Safeguarding Nuclear Waste at Reactors 4. Listen to the streaming audio of the news event"

Assessments of the harm done by nuclear weapons plants to both workers and neighbors have generally relied on the radiation data provided by the Department of Energy (DOE) and its contractors. Detailed studies of the DOE's uranium processing plant near Fernald, Ohio, (commonly called the Fernald plant), show that DOE and contractor assessments are fundamentally flawed in numerous ways and that harm to both neighbors and workers was far greater than the DOE acknowledged. Further, preliminary indications are that the conditions that gave rise to the DOE's false reassurances of safety and environmental compliance are also likely to be present at a number of other nuclear weapons plants.

Radiation exposure is measured by the amount of energy deposited in people's bodies. High dose (10 rad or more in a short time (minutes) could affect some workers in accident situations. Early symptoms of radiation sickness hours to one week (more that 1 gray or 100 rads): nausea and vomiting, diarrhea. Later symptoms of radiation sickness: dizziness and disorientation, hair loss, bloody vomit and stools, infections, poor wound healing, low blood pressure.

President, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research Before the Indian Parliament votes on limiting the liability of nuclear operators due to accidents, it should carefully consider the much higher limits that the United States has set for itself about $11 billion per incident industry maximum (under the Price-Anderson Act). The liability of the operator of the plant would be just Rs. 500 crores, about $110 million, which is just one percent of the U.S. limit, and about $450 million per accident. The proposed law allows an adjustment of this upwards or downwards to a possible lower limit of just Rs. 300 crores, or about $65 million. But more than that, Parliament should consider that the actual damages could be far greater than the U.S. liability limit. A 1997 study by the U.S. governments own Brookhaven National Laboratory, on Long Island, New York, found that the severe spent fuel pool accidents could result in damages from somewhat under $1 billion of up to $566 billion, depending on a how full and hot the pool is at the time of the accident and the intensity of the postulated fire. The high-end figure would amount to over $700 billion in 2009 dollars. Vast amounts of land --- up to about 7,000 square kilometers in the worst case would have to be condemned. Large numbers of people would have to be evacuated. Further, the maximum estimated monetary damages do not take into account some critical elements. For instance, the Brookhaven amount does not include excess cancer deaths, estimated to range from 1,500 to more than 100,000. Worst case nuclear reactor accident cancers and condemned area were estimated to be generally comparable to the upper end of the spent fuel accident estimates.

Decision an Apparent Bow to Burgeoning Nuclear Fuel Enrichment Industry The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) voted today to declare that depleted uranium (DU) from enrichment plants is a Class A low-level radioactive waste - the least dangerous kind that supposedly consists mainly of short-lived radionuclides. In 2005, the NRC had concluded that large amounts of DU were not covered by its existing low-level waste rule and directed its staff to develop recommendations regarding DU classification. The Commission's action also opens the door to classification of other dangerous radioactive wastes in the least hazardous category - Class A. Commissioner Jaczko dissented and voted in favor of a rulemaking process to determine the classification of DU within the existing low-level waste framework.

By Michele Boyd and Arjun Makhijani A Fact Sheet Produced by Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research Thorium "fuel" has been proposed as an alternative to uranium fuel in nuclear reactors. There are not "thorium reactors," but rather proposals to use thorium as a "fuel" in different types of reactors, including existing light-water reactors and various fast breeder reactor designs. Thorium, which refers to thorium-232, is a radioactive metal that is about three times more abundant than uranium in the natural environment. Some of the largest reserves are found in Idaho in the U.S. Large known deposits are in Australia, India, and Norway. The primary U.S. company dvocating for thorium fuel is Thorium Power (www.thoriumpower.com). Unlike the claims made or implied by thorium proponents, however, thorium doesn't solve the proliferation, waste, safety, or cost problems of nuclear power, and it still faces major technical hurdles for commercialization.

The NRC held a two day workshop on a proposed change in the low-level waste disposal regulation, 10 CFR 61.55, to accommodate large amounts of depleted uranium (DU) from uranium enrichment plants and other "unique" waste streams. I participated in this workshop, at the invitation of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The proceedings were transcribed. The transcript and slide presentations have been posted on the NRC's website.

"In its final days, and with no fanfare, the Bush Administration signed 21 contracts with nuclear power companies promising to store high level radioactive waste from plants that had not yet been built, even though no federal repository for such waste exists, according to documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER). At least one of the contracts is dated January 22, 2009 -- two days after President Barack Obama had been sworn into office."

RADIOACTIVE IODINE RELEASES FROM JAPAN'S FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI REACTORS MAY EXCEED  THOSE OF THREE MILE ISLAND BY OVER 100,000 TIMES Institute Calls for More Intensive Contingency Planning by Japanese Authorities; U.S. Should Move as Much Spent Fuel as Possible to Dry Storage to Reduce Most Severe Risks and Suspend Licensing and Relicensing during Review

Arjun Makhijani urges utility to seek other sources SCOTTSBORO - An energy analyst whose advice was instrumental in the Tennessee Valley Authority canceling eight reactor projects in the 1970s and '80s said the utility's plan for more nuclear plants now is a mistake. "Why is TVA leading a charge again" toward a nuclear power program that led to an indebtedness of more than $25 billion 20 to 30 years ago, Dr. Arjun Makhijani asked at a news conference Wednesday.