Source: International Business Times

Iran's outgoing president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said 5,000 new centrifuges are ready to start operating at the country's nuclear facilities. These are in addition to the 12,000 centrifuges already in operation.

"12,000 centrifuge machines are now running in our nuclear sites and 5,000 new centrifuges are ready to start operation," the hardline president told the country's IRIB1 TV.

The development has come despite Yukiya Amano, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), expressing concern over Iran's controversial nuclear programme.

The IAEA said in June that Tehran was violating international regulations by increasing the number of centrifuges.

<snip>

Read more: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/495787/20130731/iran-nuclear-program-centrifuge-tehran-ahmadinejad-uranium.htm

Source: Reuters

Power company Entergy Corp is mulling the future of its wholesale nuclear operation and plans to cut 800 jobs to save up to $250 million by 2016, Chief Executive Officer Leo Denault told investors on Tuesday.

As part of his reorganization plan to simplify Entergy's corporate structure, Denault said the company is studying options for its non-utility owned power plants, mainly its aging nuclear plants operating in the U.S. Northeast which face falling wholesale prices and a difficult regulatory environment.

"As we consider strategic alternatives for (Entergy Wholesale), all options are on the table," Denault said.

Denault, who took the reins of New Orleans-based Entergy earlier this year after the retirement of J. Wayne Leonard, outlined seven strategic imperatives he said he hopes will make the company easier "to follow, predict and value."

<snip>

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/30/us-utilities-operations-entergy-ano-idUSBRE96T11S20130730

Source: Wall Street Journal

French power group Electricité de France SA said Tuesday it has signed a deal with U.S. partner Exelon Corp., marking the start of the French firm's gradual withdrawal from its multibillion-dollar foray into U.S. nuclear power and illustrating the shale-gas boom's continued wide impact on energy companies' strategies.

<snip>

"We see no room for nuclear to expand in the U.S. at this time," EDF's Chairman and Chief Executive Henri Proglio said, citing the dramatic drop in U.S. gas prices compared with other types of energy. "So we are being realistic; U.S. nuclear is no longer a priority for us," he said.

<snip>

Tuesday, EDF's Chief Financial Officer Thomas Piquemal expressed relief. The deal with Exelon "is the epilogue to the Constellation story," he said, referring to former U.S. partner Constellation Energy, which merged in 2012 with Exelon.

EDF has booked around €2 billion ($2.65 billion) of write-downs over the past three years for its U.S. nuclear operations, he said.

Controlled by the French government, EDF owns 58 nuclear reactors in France and 15 in the United Kingdom. It initially paid $6.4 billion for a stake in U.S. energy group Constellation Energy back in the early 2000s, as part of a grand plan to become a major nuclear operator in the U.S., betting on a revival there of the energy source.

<snip>

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324354704578637871199992276.html

---

Another nail in the coffin of the "Nuclear Renaissance",
which was never more than PR, bad math, and ad hominem attacks.

Source: Connecticut Post

Low-income mothers in New Haven who can't afford enough diapers to keep their babies clean and dry are more likely to report trouble with stress, depression or trauma, according to a study published today in the journal Pediatrics.

The survey of 877 New Haven mothers found nearly 30 percent said they didn't have enough diapers to change their children as often as they would like, and the problem was more common among Hispanic women and caregivers over age 45, usually grandmothers. Women who reported diaper need were nearly twice as likely to experience mental health issues, although the nature of the link is unclear.

The authors hypothesize that the link could be direct, or it could be part of more complex interaction between mental health and poverty.

"It could be that moms who have more mental-health difficulties have trouble obtaining diapers," said the lead author, Megan Smith, an assistant professor of psychiatry, child study and public health at Yale University. "We're not assuming causality."

<snip>

Read more: http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Study-lack-of-diapers-linked-to-depression-4693718.php

Source: AP

Two security police officers at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant have been slightly injured when a firearm discharged.

A federal spokesman told the Knoxville News Sentinel (http://bit.ly/12XtfTi ) both officers were released after treatment at the Oak Ridge Methodist Medical Center. Steven Wyatt of the National Nuclear Security Administration described their injuries as minor.

The incident overnight Saturday was described as the accidental discharge of a firearm. No details were available and the officers' names were not released.

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is operated by the U.S. Department of Energy. Every weapon in the U.S. nuclear stockpile has components manufactured, maintained or ultimately dismantled by Y-12.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/article/2-offers-at-nuclear-weapons-plant-slightly-hurt-4693045.php

---

The incompetence continues at Y-12 security.
How did two officers get hurt?
Did the bullet ricochet?
Or was it an automatic weapon that fired multiple rounds?

Source: Global Security Newswire

India's first ballistic missile submarine is primed to begin sea trials now that its shipboard atomic reactor has achieved critical status, the Indian Tribune newspaper reported on Sunday.

"The nuclear reactor that will power the submarine can be formally declared 'critical' anytime now, while the nuclear-tipped missiles to be launched from underwater are in place," an informed insider said.

The INS Arihant will likely not leave harbor until the middle of next month at the earliest, when India's seasonal heavy rains have subsided, according to sources.

Once the domestically built submarine is at sea, the strategic vessel will progressively be supplied with its missiles and other munitions. Assessments will be conducted after each new weapon is added.

<snip>

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/indias-first-ballistic-missile-sub-ready-sea-trials-120206589.html

Source: The Hindu

Two influential U.S. senators have lamented that even after eight years of the announcement of the landmark civil nuclear agreement, which lifted the U.S. moratorium on nuclear trade with India, New Delhi is yet to provide a workable nuclear liability agreement that will companies to move forward.

In a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, the co-chairs of the Senate India Caucus, Mark Warner and John Cornyn, said the agreement was arrived to provide U.S. assistance to India’s civilian nuclear energy programme and expand bilateral cooperation in energy.

“Yet, eight years later, the agreement has not been implemented, and we have yet to see India provide a workable nuclear liability agreement that allows nuclear companies to move forward. We need to finish what we started and realise full commercial potential of this important agreement,” the letter states.

<snip>

Read more: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/us-senators-lament-lack-of-progress-on-nuclear-deal/article4966778.ece

---

"Nukes for Mangoes" was one of Bush's stupidest ideas.

And he had a LOT of stupid ideas.

Source: NDTV, Indo-Asian News Service

The Madras High Court today directed the Tamil Nadu government to abide by the Supreme Court direction to withdraw cases filed against those opposing the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP).

The court, however, refused to stay the functioning of the power plant.

The People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), which has been protesting against the project, welcomed the judgment and hoped that the state government would withdraw the cases soon.

City-based advocate P Pugalenthi filed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking to know what action the state government had taken to comply with the Supreme Court direction to withdraw all cases filed against the protestors, so that peace and normalcy was restored.

<snip>

Read more: http://www.ndtv.com/article/south/drop-cases-against-kudankulam-activist-court-tells-tamil-nadu-government-398672

Source: CTV

A plan to ship 16 radioactive steam generators through the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River for recycling in Sweden has been cancelled after delays caused by public opposition.

An agreement was reached in 2009 between Bruce Power in Tiverton, Ont., and Swedish company Studsvik but company president Duncan Hawthorne said they delayed the plans to allow further discussion with First Nations, Metis and other groups.

The move has been strongly opposed by aboriginal groups, the Bloc Quebecois, the NDP and a number of community organizations over the past two years.

Emma Lui of the Council of Canadians says there are many concerns but the "big one" is the possible threat to the Great Lakes if something went wrong with the shipment.

<snip>

Read more: http://london.ctvnews.ca/plan-to-ship-radioactive-material-to-sweden-for-recycling-cancelled-1.1388494