NRC finds more problems at Vermont Yankee Nuke, calls for shutdown begin
‘The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has found that the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power plant has been using the wrong kind of electrical cables in part of its operation, potentially short-circuiting and disabling the plant’s safety system. Also this past week, the Vermont Natural Resources Council and the Conservation Law Foundation have filed testimony with the Vermont Public Service Board saying the plant has violated the state’s groundwater protection laws and should be shut down immediately. The PSB opened an investigation of the plant’s operation in March, in response to a major leak of radioactive tritium and other problems at the southeastern Vermont plant. According to Vermont Public Radio, there are cables at the plant that are often under water, but that the cables in use are not designed for that. The fear is that they could degrade and short-circuit. As a result, 20 manholes at the plant have been drained to keep the cables above water until the situation is remedied. “This finding is more than minor,” according to the NRC report. “If left uncorrected the performance deficiency has the potential to lead to a more significant safety
concern.”’

Pakistan nuke deal within IAEA framework, says China
‘WASHINGTON—China has again rejected the US objections over Pak-China civil nuclear deal, saying deal was made under the observation of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). According to a statement issued from Chinese Embassy in Washington. Pak-China civil nuclear pact did not violate IAEA laws and it has been designed in accordance of International law, therefore no one should raise objections on it. It was also emphasized that that China has been a friendly and neighboring country of Pakistan and China will cooperate to meet Pakistan’s energy needs. It was also stated in the statement that both countries have closed cooperation in different sectors and China signed the agreement keeping in view Pakistan’s energy needs. Pakistan once again said its nuclear deal with China is purely for peaceful purposes and under the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) the world should not be worried about this peaceful nuclear deal.’

Germany May Let Nuclear Plants Operate Longer Than Planned, Spiegel Says
‘Parliamentary leaders of Germany’s government coalition agreed on extending the operating life of the nation’s nuclear power plants by more than 10 years, Der Spiegel reported, without saying where it got the information. Volker Kauder, leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic bloc in the lower house, and Birgit Homburger, his Free Democratic Party counterpart, agreed to draft a bill “that leans on” Economy Minster Rainer Bruederle’s position, the magazine said on its website. Bruederle wants an extension of at least 15 years. The plan contradicts Norbert Roettgen, minister for the environment, who wants to limit any operating extension to 10 years. Parliament will deliberate the bill in the last week of September, according to Der Spiegel.’

Blaze inside Sizewell B nuclear power station takes firemen seven hours to bring under control
‘A fire inside a nuclear power station took firefighters seven hours to extinguish yesterday. Emergency plans were put into effect as more than 45 firemen tackled the blaze at the Sizewell B station near Leiston, Suffolk. The blaze in a building which is used to control fuel started at 8.45pm on Friday and was not fully extinguished until 3.40am yesterday. Crews wearing breathing equipment entered a charcoal absorber used to filter gas and flooded it with water to cool the surrounding area. Anti-nuclear campaigner Charles Barnett of the Shut Down Sizewell Campaign said: 'This fire is regrettable and very worrying. 'Making electricity from nuclear power is a highly-dangerous process. 'I want to find out what went wrong here.' The station has been closed since March for repairs to failed heaters which caused moisture levels to rise in the station's containment building.’

Is a Lewiston radioactive storage site leaking?
‘LEWISTON — Signs of leakage have turned up at a nuclear waste storage cell since shortly after it was built two dozen years ago, an engineer and chemist has told regulators. And some of the federal regulators responsible for the site — almost from the beginning — seem to have been looking the other way, she said. Ann Roberts, a former Town of Porter resident, has recently questioned the Army Corps of Engineers on its monitoring of the radiological waste buried in a 10-acre cell in Lewiston. She believes the cell is leaking, and wants to know why officials deny it’s happening, even though nuclear waste materials have been found outside of it. “If you find contamination,” Roberts said last month at a public meeting on the environmental investigation, “you don’t stop measuring.” But federal regulators, in some sections of the site, did just that, Roberts said. Roberts, who lives in Wisconsin but still researches the issues surrounding the former federal weapons production and storage site in Lewiston and Porter, sent a letter to regulators late last month in which she believes she points to holes in the monitoring system.’

Iran to halt 20 per-cent-enrichment if uranium swap implemented
‘Hamburg - The head of the parliament's foreign policy commission said Sunday that Iran would halt its 20-per-cent uranium enrichment programme if the uranium swap were implemented. Alaeddin Boroujerdi told official news agency IRNA that Iran would not insist on continuing the 20-per-cent enrichment if fuel for the Tehran medical reactor were provided from abroad. Officials have recently made contradictory remarks regarding the enrichment programme but President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has noted that stopping it would be economically and politically advantageous. According to a plan brokered in October by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran's low-enriched uranium was to be exported to Russia for further enrichment, and then to France for processing into fuel for the medical reactor. That plan fell through, and Iran started enriching its uranium to 20 per cent in February. Tehran claims to have already produced 17 kilograms of the 20-per-cent uranium. In May, Turkey and Brazil negotiated a deal with Iran to store 1.2 tons of its low-enriched uranium in Turkey until could be swapped for 120 kilograms of reactor fuel.’