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"Moscow Uses 'Infamous' Ship to Move Spent Nuclear Fuel Even as It Announces Plans to Build More Nuclear Power Plants Abroad Paul Goble Staunton, June 15 - Russia's Atomic Energy Corporation is using a refitted ship that became "infamous for dumping liquid radioactive waste from the Soviet ice-breaker fleet in the Barents Sea," Barents Observer reports today, even as Moscow announces plans to dramatically expand its involvement in the construction of atomic power plants abroad. The "Serebryanka," the news agency reports, has picked up "the first load of spent nuclear fuel from the run-down storage facility" near the Norwegian border without Russian officials informing Oslo in advance as they had pledged to do (www.barentsobserver.com/first-shipment-of-highly-radioactive-waste-from-border-area.4793260-116320.html) Eldri Holo, an official at the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority, told the news portal that "we expect to be informed about the dates for shipment of spent nuclear fuel." But she added that the first she had heard about this move was from the news agency rather than from the Russians. "

Greek conservationists from the Greek NGO, Archipelagos, work to protect endangered common dolphins and monk seals and also the region's marine ecosystems from the effects of overfishing, shipping, and the military. Dr Anastasia Miliou, manager and head scientist from Archipelagos Institute of Marine and Environmental Research of the Aegean Sea, based on the Greek island of Samos in the eastern Aegean, explains about seals, uranium deposits and sonar * Digg it * Buzz up * Share on facebook (6) * Tweet this (14) * Guardian Weekly, Friday 30 October 2009 09.00 GMT * Article history Monk seal An endangered monk seal. Photograph: Phil Mislinski/Getty Images The Mediterranean monk seal is the world's rarest and most endangered marine mammal. Its population is less than 450 and one of the most important remaining populations survives in the Aegean region. We are urging fishing communities and authorities to understand that the marine biodiversity needs to be conserved, not only for the sake of productive marine ecosystems or the endangered species, but also for the benefit of human communities, whose livelihood depends on the health and productivity of the seas."

"Easter 1958: some 10,000 people marched from London to the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) in Aldermaston to protest against Britain's first hydrogen bomb tests. Fast forward to the Easter weekend this year and people have come together from across Britain - some of whom protested in the original march - to participate in the 50th anniversary event. Rowenna Davis, interested to find out whether anti-nuclear campaigners are 'noble or naive', went along for the ride The snow didn't stop them coming. Half a century since the first march to Aldermaston in 1958, members of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament were going back to the base to protest against the government's plans to renew Trident, the UK's nuclear weapons system. And this time I was going with them. As a general rule, anti-nuclear protesters are considered to be the most unrealistic of all campaigners - and I wanted to see for myself whether they were noble or naive. "

Government will ease the way for extra plants but not provide subsidies, energy minister Charles Hendry to tell industry chiefs Energy minister Charles Hendry will today set out the government's support for new nuclear power, in the face of opposition from the Tories' coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats. Hendry will tell the Nuclear Industry Forum that there is a role for new nuclear plants, provided they do not require public subsidies."

"By most accounts, Brad Duguid is more committed to nuclear power than his predecessor as Ontario's energy minister. But, because of circumstances that mostly predate his time on the job, Mr. Duguid may wind up presiding over the continued decline of the nuclear industry in his province. That industry revolves around Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., the troubled Crown corporation that the federal government is desperately trying to unload. Under the right circumstances, the sale of its Candu division could mean the revitalization of a sector with room for growth and job creation - particularly in Mississauga, Ont., where much of its operations are centred. But by most insider accounts, the circumstances really couldn't be much worse. "