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LATEST REPORT
Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Content

  1. Russian Nuclear Power
  2. DPRK Nuclear Test
  3. U.S. Plutonium Recycling
  4. Australian Nuclear Fuel Cycle
  5. Nuclear Proliferation Danger
  6. Chinese Renewable Energy
  7. Climate Change
  8. Energy Dependency
  9. Bird Flu

CORRECTION: Due to an editing error, the previous edition of EASSNet incorrectly identified the person who gave the presentation on China's nuclear futures at the Asian Energy Security conference. The actual presenter was Wu Zongxin.

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1. Russian Nuclear Power

At the Nautilus Asia Energy Security workshop held at Tsinghua University from Nov. 5-7, 2006, Alexander Dmitriev presented a summary of the policies and plans for future nuclear energy development and nuclear fuel cycle activities in Russia.

Current Status and Development Plans for the Nuclear Power Sector in Russia: Generation Capacity, and Fuel-cycle Approaches


2. DPRK Nuclear Test

In a letter to the editor of Arms Control Today, Jungmin Kang, Frank Von Hippel, and Hui Zhang question Harold Smith's claim that the type of material used in North Korea's nuclear test can be determined solely by measuring radioactive noble gases released by the test.

Letter to the Editor: The North Korean Test and the Limits of Forensics


3. U.S. Plutonium Recycling

The U.S. Energy Department announced that it has awarded more than $10 million for studies on whether 11 different sites around the country could house spent nuclear fuel recycling plants as part of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership.

U.S. Funds GNEP Site Feasibility Studies

The Chattanooga Times Free Press (Pam Sohn, "Handling nuclear waste") reports that nuclear scientists at Oak Ridge believe that they can safely recycle the nuclear waste currently being kept at power plants around the country. But opponents charge that such recycling, and the massive shipments of radioactive waste needed to carry it out, is highly dangerous, and that the project is a waste of taxpayer's money.

Handling nuclear waste


4. Australian Nuclear Fuel Cycle

The University of Sydney published a report entitled "Life-Cycle Energy Balance and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Nuclear Energy in Australia." The report brings together previous work in a concise yet comprehensive way to provide a more complete, integrative study of all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle in Australia.

Life-Cycle Energy Balance and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Nuclear Energy in Australia


5. Nuclear Proliferation Danger

Agence-France Presse ("Global warming more dangerous than nuclear weapons: Blix," 1/25/07) reported that former chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix argued that the threat from global warming is more dangerous than the spread of weapons of mass destruction. For that reason, he called for an increase in nuclear power to cut global emissions. Meanwhile, The Independent (Rupert Cornwall, "The Doomsday Clock: Nuclear threat to world 'rising'," 1/17/07) reported that scientists at the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists have moved ahead the hands of the nuclear "doomsday clock," symbolizing their belief that the threat of nuclear Armageddon is greater that at any time since the 1980s.

Global Warming More Dangerous Than Nuclear Weapons: Blix

The Doomsday Clock: Nuclear Threat To World 'Rising'


6. Chinese Renewable Energy

The New York Times (Matt Richtel, "A Light Bulb Goes on, and China Starts Thinking 'Alternative Energy'," 1/19/07) reported that venture capitalists are beginning to see opportunities in China for financing renewable energy development projects.

A Light Bulb Goes on, and China Starts Thinking 'Alternative Energy'


7. Climate Change

The International Herald Tribune (James Kanter and Katrin Bennhold, "Emerging economies are under pressure to cut emissions," 1/24/07) reported that officials attended the World Economic Forum in Davos say that emerging countries like China and India will need to play a greater role in curbing emissions when a successor to the Kyoto Protocol is negotiated. The Guardian (David Adam, "Surge in carbon levels raises fears of runaway warming," 1/19/07) reports that new figures from dozens of measuring stations across the world reveal that concentrations of CO2, the main greenhouse gas, rose at record levels during 2006, raising fears that humanity may have less time to tackle global warming than previously thought.

Emerging Economies Are Under Pressure To Cut Emissions

Surge In Carbon Levels Raises Fears Of Runaway Warming

The Washington Post, (Marc Kaufman, "Cutbacks Impede Climate Studies," 1/16/07, A01) reported that a two-year study by the National Academy of Sciences concluded that the U.S. ability to monitor climate change of all types has been greatly hampered by funding cutbacks in NASA's earth science program.

Cutbacks Impede Climate Studies


8. Energy Dependency

In an op-ed in the Boston Globe ("Calling an End to Oil Alarmism," 1/23/07) Philip E. Auerswald of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University argues that concerns about the security of oil supplies are overblown. Noting that high oil prices hurt producers as much as consumers, Auerswald maintains that dealing with climate change is far more important than worrying about dependence on foreign oil.

Calling an End to Oil Alarmism


9. Bird Flu

Writing in Policy Innovations, Matthew Hennessey argues that, while the recent number of bird flu cases appear to have dropped, experts believe that the world is closer to a global pandemic than at any time since 1968.

Remember Bird Flu?


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