NUCLEAR LIES – theme for January 2012
In 2012 the world is on the cusp of a move to rid the world of nuclear dangers, or a move to cover up these dangers and prolong or expand the nuclear threat.
The positive, and truthful move will mean a huge program to close down the nuclear industry, to get rid of nuclear weapons, and to deal with the huge problem of the existing nuclear wastes.
The other way, the negative move will be to allow nuclear lies to prevail. It will mean getting the world to:
- forget Fukushima,
- deny and abandon those damaged by ionising radiation
- push on with ever more consumption of energy and material products
- accept the lying nuclear “experts” as respectable authorities
- accept that nuclear weapons are “safety”
And, how do we answer our grandchildren, when they ask “What did you do when there was a chance to stop it?”
National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Nuclear Weapons Testing,
http://kcpw.org/blog/local-news/2012-01-27/victims-of-nuclear-testing-radiation-remembered/ Victims of Nuclear Testing Radiation Remembered, 01.27.2012 by Jeff Robinson (KCPW News) It was 61 years ago today that nuclear testing began on the Nevada Test Site, as many residents of Salt Lake Cityand more rural areas like Kane County know too well. That’s why local leaders are marking a National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Nuclear Weapons Testing, which was designated by the U.S. Senate, to commemorate the lives of downwinders, those who were exposed to the radiation. Local resident Mary Dickson is one of them. She shared her downwinder story with KCPW’s Jeff Robinson.
America’s ineffective white elephant Blue Ribbon Commission on nuclear wastes
The Commission has entirely ignored the immense evidence that DOE’s plans for disposal of several types of defense waste pose much greater threats to water resources, most especially at Hanford
“I am dismayed that the Commission saw fit to recommend that the Department of Energy (DOE) have a large upfront role in both the next steps for repository program, … DOE was in large part responsible for the mess the program is in now,
Radioactive Wastes From Nuclear Bomb Program Given Short Shrift In Blue Ribbon Commission Report EnEws Park Forest, TAKOMA PARK, MD–(ENEWSPF)–January 27, 2012. Arjun Makhijani, Ph.D., President of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, today commented on some of the recommendations of the final report of the Presidential Blue Ribbon Commission (BRC) on America’s Nuclear Future.
The commission was created to address U.S. nuclear waste issues after the Obama administration cancelled the Yucca Mountain program….
….On wastes from the nuclear bomb program:
Makhijani: “It is tragic that the Commission did not substantively address the most pressing radioactive waste contamination threats to precious water resources – for instance hundreds of times the drinking water limit at Hanford, Washington on the banks of the Columbia River.
The Commission had a charter to conduct a ‘comprehensive’ review of the nuclear waste problem, including defense wastes from the nuclear bomb program. Yet, it simply said it did not have the resources to deal with all the problems and punted the nuclear weapons waste issue to Congress while focusing on commercial spent fuel at nuclear reactor sites.” Read more »
Growth of anti-nuclear movement in Asia
Anti-nuclear movement growing in Asia Though nuclear power still has a strong foothold in Asia, anti-nuclear sentiment and protest are growing from Mongolia to South Korea to Taiwan and even – in modest ways – in China. Christian Science Monitor, By Winifred Bird, January 27, 2012 YOKOHAMA, JAPAN
Heonseok Lee has a simple way of describing how public sentiment 
toward nuclear power has changed in South Korea since the disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant last March 11. “Before 3/11, I’d post an article criticizing the nuclear power industry, and right away there’d be hundreds of really nasty comments. After 3/11, there’ll still be a few dozen. But not hundreds,” says Lee, a full-time anti-nuclear activist in one of the world’s most pro-nuclear countries.
Though nuclear power still has a strong foothold throughout the region, and public opinion is
mixed, activists across Asia have anecdotes like this to show that anti-nuclear sentiment and protest are slowly growing from Mongolia, to South Korea to Taiwan and even – in modest ways – to China.
This month, activists from Japan and South Korea announced plans for a new East Asian civil society network to promote renewable energy and oppose nuclear power. Read more »
Florida’s nuclear cost fiasco is a wake up call to Iowa
The Iowa Legislature is currently considering similar legislation (HF 561) that would allow MidAmerican Energy to force Iowa consumers to foot the bill in advance for nuclear reactors, and let MidAmerican keep the money regardless of whether they are ever constructed.
Nuclear Cancellation In Florida Is Warning To Iowa Legislators Florida utility seeks to cancel nuclear construction plans while leaving customers on the hook for hundreds of millions as Iowa legislators consider allowing a similar
swindle IOWA --(ENEWSPF)–January 27, 2012. News that Florida utility Progress Energy plans to cancel the construction contract for its proposed nuclear reactors in Levy County — and will leave customers with a bill of hundreds of millions of dollars — should convince Iowa
legislators to finally abandon a proposal by MidAmerican Energy that could bilk consumers across Iowa, said Friends of the Earth. Read more »
12 $billion new Hanford nuclear waste facility has safety flaws
Safety at Wash. Nuclear-Waste Site Scrutinized, SciTech Today, By Peter Eisler January 27, A new plant meant to stabilize and contain 56 million gallons of radioactive waste is coming under fire by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. A chief concern is that abrasive and corrosive particles in the waste could erode pipes and mixing vessels used to pretreat the material for vitrification, ultimately causing leaks. A federal oversight panel is raising new concerns to the Department of Energy about potentially serious flaws in the design of a first-of-its-kind, $12 billion waste treatment plant that is being built for the nation’s largest radioactive cleanup. Read more »
Japan’s nuclear plant stress tests – “flimsy” and unreliable
“I don’t view their evaluation as something that is trustworthy or carries any weight,” ”The last time the IAEA inspectors came to Japan, they simply inspected sites and documents and left saying everything was fine. They submitted a flimsy report, and I fear the same will be the case this time.”
Experts cast doubt on Japan nuclear plant tests, Justin McCurry in Tokyo, guardian.co.uk, 27 January 2012 Japanese government ordered tests on all reactors after Fukushima meltdown, but advisers say they do not prove a plant is safe Advisers to Japan‘s nuclear safety agency have said power plant stress tests do not prove that a nuclear plant is safe, as the country faces the prospect of a summer without a single nuclear reactor in operation. Read more »
Bombing Iran – not the smartest way to go
Bomb Iran? Yes we can: a US plan that couldn’t possibly go wrong, SMH, Bill Keller January 28, 2012 ”…..An attack on Iran is almost certain to unify the Iranian people around the mullahs and provoke the supreme leader to redouble Iran’s nuclear pursuits, only deeper underground this time, and without international inspectors around.
At the Pentagon, you sometimes hear it put this way: Bombing Iran is the best way to guarantee exactly what America is trying to prevent.
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/bomb-iran-yes-we-can-a-us-plan-that-couldnt-possibly-go-wrong-20120127-1qlqx.html#ixzz1kmwgt4eV
China remains inscrutable on nuclear safety
China denies nuclear accident Telegraph, 27 Jan 12, China has moved swiftly to deny it has become the latest nation to experience a nuclear accident, after claims that it was forced to shut down its newest nuclear reactor last year. By David Eimer in Beijing 27 Jan 2012 A report from Japan’s Atomic Energy Agency said the China Experimental Fast Reactor (CEFR) stopped generating electricity in October following an accident. With Japan already reeling from the meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant in March last year, the incident sparked alarm there and in South Korea over the prospect of radiation leaking from the CEFR.
Those fears were intensified by Beijing’s failure to report the accident or release details of what happened, according to a Tokyo newspaper which cited the Japanese Atomic Energy Agency’s investigation. Read more »
UK’s Dounreay nuclear site still radioactive
Contamination found at nuclear site, Google News, (UKPA) 27 Jan 12, Traces of radioactive contamination have been found on the shoes of workers demolishing a former nuclear power station. It was detected on around a dozen people on Thursday as they prepared to leave a building which they were preparing for demolition.
Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL), which is overseeing the decommissioning of the site in Caithness, has launched an investigation.
It said that the building is in a “controlled” area, where contamination is possible, and controls are in place to manage it.
Dounreay’s nuclear reactor was shut down in 1994 and work to decommission the site has been under way since then as part of a £2.6 billion project. It was the only plant in Britain to use liquid metal instead of gas or water in the cooling circuits.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5gVcbsn-jVhJMOoqqQOYXqz-NAfaA?docId=N0166121327661398947A
Japan can manage summer electricity without nuclear power
Japan says can avoid summer power cuts even if nuclear By Kentaro Hamada TOKYO Jan 27, 2012 (Reuters) - Japan will be able to avoid power cuts this summer even if the nation’s last few nuclear reactors cease operating due to public safety fears after the Fukushima crisis, the government said on Friday….
“We would have to call for conservation of electricity, but there’s an excellent chance (the power lost if all nuclear plants are shut this summer) can be overcome without placing curbs on electricity consumption,” he added.
Area on endangered list, due to possibility of uranium mining
Uranium puts Southside on endangered list GoDanRiver.com January 27, 2012 Southside landed on the Southern Environmental Law Center’s fourth annual Top 10 Endangered Places in the Southeast list because of proposed uranium mining and pressure to lift Virginia’s uranium moratorium.
Many of the areas on SELC’s top 10 list are endangered by pressure to undercut environmental protections and to lower the hurdles for potentially destructive projects, …..
USA’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission – faithful servant of the nuclear industry
Nuclear Power is Clean — as Long as you Ignore ‘Safety’!, Ace Hoffman Salem-News.com, 27 Jan 12,”……On March 10, 2011, the day before Fukushima, the NRC revealed to the media that Vermont Yankee, a poorly-designed old reactor in America, would be granted a license extension in a few days. After an earthquake and tsunami in Japan the next day, a slew of nearly identical reactors began melting down and exploding before our eyes.
Did the NRC change their minds and delay their decision? NO! Did they want to find out if what went wrong in Japan was applicable to Vermont? NO! The NRC does not lack in hubris, or in skill in manipulating the media to its advantage. Every accident — even Fukushima — is an “opportunity to learn,” and so in their macabre way of thinking, every accident, no matter how severe, can be considered a GOOD thing!
Five politically-appointed commissioners make all the “big” decisions at the NRC, and so just three commissioners constitute a majority. There are about 320 million citizens in America, so in a sense, these three people — who are not elected — control the fate of more than one hundred million Americans each. That’s what we call “democracy”?
And it gets worse: They have very finely-crafted laws to protect their power, such that over the past half century, thousands of local, state, and federal judges, as well as commissioners and other officials at all levels, have all deferred to the NRC, and thus, to these three individuals, whose identities change over time, but whose basic philosophy — “keep the nuclear industry running, ignore the dangers” — remains the same.
In addition to being lobbied constantly, politicians (who pick the commissioners) are given huge campaign contributions by the nuclear industry — hundreds of millions of dollars every decade. Often, campaign contributions are given to BOTH candidates in a close election, so regardless of who wins, the winner is beholden to the nuclear industry.
In Vermont recently, a Federal judge threw out the state’s attempt to get Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant shut down permanently after 40 years of constant leaks, piling waste, and random outages, because the judge was convinced the “real” reason Vermonters want the plant shut down is safety concerns — regardless of the OTHER legal rationalities brought forth by the state’s attorneys, such as: A prior agreement by the utility to shut the plant down if requested by the state; Lies
told repeatedly by the utility to the state’s citizens, and: Overpriced electricity the utility was offering the state.
But sooner or later, it always comes down to “safety”. And as long as the NRC says the plants are safe, everyone else says they’re safe too. http://www.salem-news.com/articles/january262012/nuclear-power-ah.php
In Japan’s towns, nuclear money silences criticism
“After having received money related to the nuclear power plant like a form of drugs, this region’s capability to nurture its economy independently and actively has declined
Japanese town’s dependence on nuclear plant hushes criticism, By Yoko Kubota, OHI, Japan Jan 26, 2012 (Reuters) - Japan’s nuclear disaster has eroded trust in utilities and shown residents of the rural, mountainous region of Fukui the risk of radiation, but a dependence on atomic plants for jobs and funds means speaking out against them is taboo. Read more »
$13 billion taxpayer bailout for Japan’s TEPCO nuclear company
Japan’s stricken nuclear operator set for $13 billion bailout By Kentaro Hamada and Linda Sieg TOKYO Jan 26, 2012 (Reuters) – Japan is set to launch a $13 billion bail-out of the owner of its stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant after the utility dropped resistance to a public fund injection, sources said on Thursday, as the country debates the future of nuclear power.
The injection of 1 trillion yen ($12.8 billion) in public funds into Tokyo Electric Power Co (9501.T) would effectively nationalize the firm, supplier of power to almost 45 million people, in one of the world’s biggest bailouts outside the banking sector………. It is now resigned to the state rescue, but sources familiar with the matter said it was still dragging its feet over the form of bail-out, with the government proposing that the state-backed Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation Fund take a two-thirds share, which would let Tokyo make the key decisions. Read more »
Obama’s reckless promotion of nuclear technology will feed the arms race
the recklessness his administration is showing toward the transfer of civilian nuclear technology is astonishing and will lead us down the path to a world in which many more countries will have the ability to develop military nuclear programs if they so desire.”
Obama’s about face on nuclear non-proliferation, Washington Post, By Jennifer Rubin, 26 Jan 12, The Wall Street Journal reported: The Obama administration, in advanced negotiations on nuclear-cooperation agreements with Jordan and Vietnam, has withdrawn a demand that these countries forgo their rights to produce nuclear fuel, senior U.S. officials said.
The policy shift, adopted after an extensive interagency review, drew criticism from some U.S. lawmakers, who charged that it could ease the spread of sensitive nuclear technologies. . .
Lawmakers and nonproliferation experts also said they fear more lenient nuclear-cooperation agreements with Jordan and Vietnam could undercut the campaign to contain Iran’s nuclear program.
Both the Obama and George W. Bush administration have stressed to Tehran that it doesn’t need to enrich uranium domestically because it can buy nuclear fuel on international markets.
Remember, this entire exercise — to make the world free from nuclear weapons — is somewhat farcical given the efforts by Iran and North Korea to join the club of nuclear-armed nations. But now the Obama administration has made a mockery of its own fanciful policy. Read more »
1 THIS MONTH
http://kcpw.org/blog/local-news/2012-01-27/victims-of-nuclear-testing-radiation-
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2012/s3413882.htm Is the world facing a groundwater crisis?
of the week http://climaterealityproject.org/thin-ice/
EVENT
March 2012 is “March Against Nuclear Madness” and Beyond Nuclear has created a new March Against Nuclear Madness Facebook page.
NUCLEAR LIES – theme for January 2012
LONG HISTORY OF NUCLEAR SECRECY
Under-reporting and minimizing the lethal effects of Nuclear radiation, by Dr. Lew Patrie. Secrecy, delayed investigations and misinformation have characterized the history of nuclear weapons and power since A-bombs ended World War II. Governmental secrecy delayed mortality studies among survivors until five years after the bombings. Secrecy and deception has since characterized global nuclear history, as documented in the book “Killing Our Own: The Disaster of America’s Experience with Atomic Radiation.”
Over time many veterans exposed to Hiroshima and Nagasaki radiation experienced life-threatening malignancies, but their requests for help from our government were consistently rejected. Officials assured them of “no possibility of any occupation force member having received a significant dose, and there is no cause whatsoever for concern over an increased risk of adverse health effects.” Evidence of conflicting reports wasn’t acknowledged. Similar denial and lack of scientific scrutiny occurred regarding troops and civilians exposed to Nevada and South Pacific nuclear bomb tests.
Dishonesty and secrecy have permeated public relations efforts to promote the “peaceful atom.” The military-industrial complex has been well represented by our post-war Atomic Energy Commission, and International Atomic Energy Agency, in promoting nuclear power. Powerful corporations’ lobbyists and wealth accentuate this expansion. The findings of scientists, whose results regarding radiation’s health effects conflicted with the convictions of the promoters, have been discredited.
Nuclear power’s claims of safety came through withholding facts. Three 1961 deaths occurred at an atomic reactor in Idaho. Detroit narrowly avoided devastation in 1966 from a reactor’s near meltdown, kept secret from the media and community, but documented in “We Almost Lost Detroit.” Belatedly, information about Three Mile Island’s 1979 partial meltdown emerged when Dr. Steven Wing of UNC-Chapel Hill found a 400 percent increase in cancers among those exposed.
According to a report published by the New York Academy of Science, Chernobyl’s 1986 catastrophe resulted in an estimated 985,000 deaths through 2005.
In 2002, meltdowns were narrowly avoided at Ohio’s Davis-Besse and South Carolina’s Oconee nuclear facilities. Numerous safety incidents at other U.S. nuclear reactors have been commonplace.
Japan’s current nuclear catastrophe including radiation releases, including plutonium, from multiple reactors indicate the amount of radioactivity to be emitted over many years will likely exceed that from Chernobyl. Much land will become permanently uninhabitable. Our Northern Hemisphere will experience effects.
Despite reassurances that “it could never happen here,” even the Nuclear Regulatory Commission acknowledged the risk of a significant meltdown accident in the U.S.
Western North Carolina represents the Southeast’s nuclear heartland with seven nuclear reactors, plus Duke’s two proposed for Gaffney, S.C., not 100 miles from us, a new $6.5 billion H-bomb factory underway at Oak Ridge and Savannah River Site’s plutonium processing. http://www.wncpsr.org/nuclear-power/long-history-of-nuclear-secrecy
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