nuclear-news

The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope

The week in nuclear news

Christina Macpherson's websites & blogs

Christina Macpherson’s websites & blogs

Japan –  A pro nuclear government was elected, but resuscitation of the global nuclear industry is unlikely,  and Japan’s nuclear reactors will not be restarting any time soon. Fukushima  plant situation is still critical, with a makeshift cooling system,   a year after “cold shutdown” was declared.  Information leaks out: 100% of Fukushima white rockfish have radioactive caesium levels:     trouble with nuclear fuel rods in  Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant: subsiding of land, since 2011 earthquake.

UK. Now I really liked this one – reported as “happy evidence” – (and it is good, I suppose). UK  has found that although environmental radiocaesium from Chernobyl still persists in Welsh and Cumbrian farms, levels found in sheep have gradually declined over time. Radiation levels are still high in Scandinavia. So –  3000 km away, and nearly 30 years later Chernobyl radiation persists in  UK, as well as in Europe.

USA – following the gun massacre of little schoolchildren, gun sales have soared. What can I say?  USA needs Australia’s gun buy-back scheme, and to ban assault weapons.

Germany going ahead with 88 km of power line, to facilitate wind energy.  Berlin city is buying back the grid, and going for 100% renewable energy

December 20, 2012 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

How the nuclear industry bungled things in 2012

nuclear-comedyA Year Of Nuclear Bungles, New Matilda,  By Jim Green, 20 Dec 12,  The nuclear industry’s biggest enemy in 2012 was itself. Security breaches, leaks, illegal dumping and poor oversight – anything that could go wrong, did. Jim Green rounds up this year’s nuclear hijinks

The nuclear industry inflicts far more damage on itself than its opponents could ever hope to.  The mere mention of the easily-preventable Fukushima disaster probably suffices to establish that point, but there are many more examples. To make the task manageable, this snapshot of recent nuclear shenanigans, jiggery-pokery, goings-on and own-goals is restricted to countries that Australia sells uranium to (or plans to sell uranium to). Continue reading →

December 20, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, EUROPE | Leave a comment

The public opinion battlefield for 2013: ionising radiation

text-Please-NoteThe public opinion battlefield for 2013 will be about IONISING RADIATION – (that is, failing another dramatic Fukushima style disaster).
This subject will be publicly discussed, including the groundbreaking work of Dr Vladimir Werteleck on Chernobyl and birth defects.
March 11-12, 2013  – New York Symposium on The Medical and Ecological Impacts of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident To Be Held at the New York Academy of Medicine  nuclearfreeplanet.org

December 20, 2012 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Youtube: deception in radioactive food use

YouTubeFull presentation here         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_NjEaUmQHQ&feature=player_detailpage#t=4264s

Professor: Japan’s radioactive crops being shipped to cleaner areas and mixed into food supply? (VIDEO) http://enenews.com/highly-recommendedprofessor-japans-radioactive-crops-shipped-clean-areas-mixed-food-supply-video December 18th, 2012 
 Title: Where are the People?
Source: A Mountian of Waste 70 Years High; NEIS
Date: Dec 1, 2012
Dr. Jeffrey Patterson, President, Physicians for Social Responsibility: How can they plant crops here [near Russia’s Kyshtym disaster], its too radioactive? [The man replied] “Oh we take the crops from this area, we ship them to areas where there is no radiation then we mix the crops together.” […]

And I’ll bet you dollars to donuts that’s happening in Japan today. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_NjEaUmQHQ&feature=player_detailpage#t=4264s

 

December 20, 2012 Posted by | Resources -audiovicual, Russia, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Trouble with nuclear fuel rods in Japan’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant

Kyodo: Level 1 incident at Japan nuclear plant — Deformed fuel rods stuck together in pool http://enenews.com/kyodo-level-1-incident-at-japan-nuclear-plant-deformed-fuel-rods-stuck-together-in-pool
December 19th, 2012 
  Regulators confirm ‘level 1’ incident (on 7 level scale) at TEPCO nuclear plant in west Japan. Deformed fuel rods stuck together in pool
18 Dec 12 
Title: Regulators confirm level 1 incident at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant
Source: Kyodo
Date: Dec. 19, 2012
Japan’s nuclear regulatory authority said Wednesday that recently confirmed trouble with fuel rods stored in a spent nuclear fuel pool at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant is a level 1 incident on a 7-point international scale.

A pair of fuel rods was touching as a result of deformation in the bundle of fuel rods, leading the Nuclear Regulation Authority to determine that the fuel had likely been loaded to the reactor core “in an abnormal situation.” The NRA’s assessment of the incident is provisional. […]
also: Nuclear fuel rods touching — “Serious fuel failure accident” risked at Japan plant

December 20, 2012 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

South Korea’s nuclear power bungles

flag-S-KoreaA Year Of Nuclear Bungles, New Matilda, By Jim Green, 19 Dec 12,“……In South Korea, five engineers were charged with covering up a potentially dangerous power failure at the Kori-I reactor in May. The accident occurred because of a failure to follow safety procedures. The manager of the reactor decided to conceal the incident and to delete records, despite a legal obligation to notify the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission.

In early November, the South Korean government shut down two reactors at Yeonggwang to replace thousands of parts that had been supplied with forged quality and safety warranties. Plant owner Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) has acknowledged possible bribery and collusion by KHNP officials as well as corruption by firms supplying reactor parts. In late November there were further revelations and the current total stands at 8601 reactor parts, 10 firms and six reactors. Inadequate and compromised regulation has been a key contributor to the problems in South Korea’s nuclear industry — just as it was a key factor behind the Fukushima disaster in Japan.

South Korea wants to develop uranium enrichment technology (a direct route to nuclear weapons material) in violation of its commitments under the 1992 Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula……. http://newmatilda.com/2012/12/19/year-nuclear-bungles

December 20, 2012 Posted by | safety, South Korea | Leave a comment

“Uranium widows country” – prolonged task of cleaning up Navajo land

NavajoUranium cleanup on Navajo Nation complicated by scope, history of problem   19, 2012 By MARYANN BATLLE  Cronkite News WASHINGTON – For seven weeks this fall, workers and scientists labored from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., six days a week, digging up and hauling off thousands of cubic yards of uranium-tainted soil in Cove, Ariz., and sealing what remained.

The $1.5 million project by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was an emergency measure to clean up two former uranium transfer stations because of their proximity to a day school, a house – which sat on top of one station – and a highway on the Navajo Nation.

The goal was to remove the immediate threat of uranium contamination, stabilize the soil and keep uranium from becoming windborne.

It’s a stopgap measure on two tainted sites among at least 500 – possibly more than 2,000 – that pose a threat to people on the Navajo reservation that spans parts of Utah, New Mexico and Northern Arizona.

More than six decades after the first mines opened on Navajo lands, it is still unclear how many sites need to be cleaned up, how many people may be suffering from the effects of uranium exposure and what can be done to contain all the hazardous material in these communities – if that’s even possible.

What everyone can agree on is that overcoming the legacy of uranium mining will take a long, long time.

“They say it’s a widow community,” Eugene Esplain said of Cove, where this fall’s cleanup took place. “So many men have died from the impacts of uranium mining.”….. http://cronkitenewsonline.com/2012/12/uranium-cleanup-on-navajo-nation-complicated-by-scope-history-of-problem/

December 20, 2012 Posted by | environment, indigenous issues, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment

South Korea keen to sell nukes: must clean up their act

Buy-S-Korea-nukesThere is a lot at stake for South Korea, which aims to export 80 nuclear reactors by 2030, expected to be worth up to $300 billion, according to government plans.

South Korea urged to restore trust in nuclear Australia Network News  Nov 24, 2012  The International Energy Agency (IEA) says South Korea needs to rebuild public trust in nuclear power by boosting transparency and improving regulation, after safety scares have closed reactors and threaten to trigger blackouts over winter. Continue reading →

December 20, 2012 Posted by | marketing, South Korea | Leave a comment

Shutting down the critics of Lynas rare earths project in Malaysia

” there will be no discernible risk for the public or anyone else from this facility.”

But this is far from true.

flag-MalaysiaLynas’ waste plans a toxic pipe dream  Aliran,   19 December 2012 Scientists and community leaders are concerned about radioactive waste from Lynas’ Malaysian plant but the company representative who took Wendy Bacon’s questions brushed off the criticism. “…….

New Matilda asked to interview Lynas Executive Chairperson Nick Curtis but he was not available. Instead we interviewed a Lynas spokesperson who insists that the waste products of the Lamp project are “not hazardous in any way”. Continue reading →

December 20, 2012 Posted by | Malaysia, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

USA/Russia slowing down on nuclear disarmament

With the election over, Kristensen is calling on President Barack Obama to “once again make nuclear arms control a prominent and visible part of his foreign policy agenda.”

Rate of US, Russian Nuclear Disarmament ‘Slowing’ AntiWar.com by , December 19, 2012 Although the United States and Russia have massively reduced their collective number of nuclear weapons since the heyday of the Cold War, the rate of that reduction is slowing, the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) warned Monday.

Further, these two countries alone continue to account for more than 90 percent of the world’s total nuclear arsenal, 15 times the rest of the seven nuclear weapon states combined.

“The pace of reducing nuclear forces appears to be slowing compared with the past two decades,” Hans M. Kristensen, director of the FAS Nuclear Information Project, said Monday. “Both the United States and Russia appear to be more cautious about reducing further, placing more emphasis on ‘hedging’ and reconstitution of reduced nuclear forces, and both are investing enormous sums of money in modernizing their nuclear forces over the next decade.” Continue reading →

December 20, 2012 Posted by | Russia, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

.Mining uranium – A recent history of uranium on Navajo lands

NavajoUranium cleanup on Navajo Nation complicated by scope, history of problem   19, 2012 By MARYANN BATLLE  Cronkite News “…..

• 1940s: The mining and milling of uranium ore for U.S defense and energy begins on the Navajo Nation. Continue reading →

December 20, 2012 Posted by | indigenous issues, Reference, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment

3000 km away, and nearly 30 years later Chernobyl’s radiation is a BIT better

text ionisingWhile other areas of Europe, such as Scandinavia, continue to record substantial levels of radioactivity in stock animal populations, the UK has provided happy evidence that the impact of Chernobyl radiation is diminishing.

British Sheep vs. Chernobyl Radiation 18 December 2012 by Stephanie Swift,   http://www.scilogs.com/mmmbitesizescience/british-sheep-and-chernobyl-radiation/
The explosion of reactor number four of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986 is widely regarded as the worst radiation disaster in human history. The radioactive fallout spread from Northern Ukraine throughout Northern Europe, dispersing large quantities of radioactive elements, including two caesium isotopes, Cs-134 and Cs-137. Continue reading →

December 20, 2012 Posted by | environment, UK | Leave a comment

Lynas rare earths company aims to discredit National Toxic Network (NTN)

flag-MalaysiaLynas’ waste plans a toxic pipe dream  Aliran,   19 December 2012 Scientists and community leaders are concerned about radioactive waste from Lynas’ Malaysian plant but the company representative who took Wendy Bacon’s questions brushed off the criticism.  “……Discrediting sources is a familiar public relations tactic used by companies to protect themselves against journalists relying on their critics as sources. So NM asked if the company had prepared a response to the NTN report. The spokesperson said it had but it was “unfortunately contained material before a [Malaysian] court and I can’t share that with you”.

The NTN report deals with Lamp waste steams which include non radioactive fluoride, dust particulates, gas, acidic waste water as well as more than 22000 tonnes of low level Water Leach Purification (WLP) radioactive waste which a year. The most critical issue is the control and disposal of the WLP wastes — which for radioactive material may mean for many hundreds of years.

On the basis of specific criticisms, NTN has two main recommendations. First, that the temporary licence issued by the AELB should be revoked until the issue of long term waste disposal is resolved and second, that the plant should not be allowed to operate until the release of millions of litres of effluent into the Balok River that runs past the site has been “further modelled and assessed”.

“The lack of data on these issues (the impact on the river) means the Lynas EIA is well below international standards and insufficient for granting of operational licences,” theNTN says; the Lamp temporary licence would never have been granted in Australia…….http://aliran.com/11018.html

December 20, 2012 Posted by | Malaysia, spinbuster | Leave a comment

Lands subsiding in Japan, following earthquake 2011

Japan Officials: Ground subsidence spreading after quake — Concern about sinking buildings being damaged — Only an inch can jeopardize stability  http://enenews.com/japan-officials-ground-subsidence-is-spreading-after-quake-concern-about-sinking-buildings-being-damaged-only-an-inch-can-jeopardize-stability-video
 December 18th, 2012
Title: Quake-caused subsidence spreads
Source: NHK WORLD English-
Date: Dec. 17, 2012
The Environment Ministry says nearly 6,000 square kilometers of land across Japan have subsided by more than 2 centimeters in the last fiscal year. […]

This level is judged to have a potential impact on buildings’ stability.

The ministry says Kesennuma in Miyagi Prefecture sank deepest by 73.8 centimeters, followed by Ichikawa in Chiba by 30.9 centimeters [Fukushima Prefecture NOT tested]

The ministry officials say the subsidence is attributable to last year’s March 11th earthquake. They have expressed concerns over the spread of subsidence and further damage to buildings.

December 20, 2012 Posted by | environment, Japan | Leave a comment