Glenn Greenwald -“The Future of Journalism”
“I dont think I was doing anything selfless because if i chose not to pursue this, if I had chose to walk away from this injustice that I had found, the pain that would have caused me for the rest of my life would be so much worse than what ever those corrupt officials could do to me…” Unknown Brazilian journalist via Glen Greenwald.
Published on 27 Apr 2014
MUST WATCH! Liberty Award Keynote Speech [FULL] (April 10, 2014)
Nuclear Hotseat #149: WIPP Radiation Leak SPECIAL
Spotlight on the New Mexico radiation leak that started on Valentine’s Day and closed the WIPP (Waste Isolation Pilot Plant) site… maybe forever?
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A trio of interviewees: Don Hancock, Director of Southwest Research and Information Center; Karen Hadden, Executive Director of the Sustainable Energy and Economic Development Coalition, a Texas ecological watchdog group, and Diane D’Arrigo, Radioactive Waste Project Director at Nuclear Information and Resource Service.
Download Here: http://lhalevy.audioacrobat.com/download/e031a54c-3edc-f424-4b5b-2c38ef0a0070.mp3<2c38ef0a0070
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The Corbett report – Aileen Mioko Smith on the Japanese Reactor Restarts
Interview 867 –The Corbett report
Aileen request people to help translate Japanese and English!
http://www.corbettreport.com/interview-867-aileen-mioko-smith-on-the-japanese-reactor-restarts/
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The Japanese Nuclear Regulatory Agency is currently considering applications from 8 different utilities companies to restart 17 of the nation’s 54 nuclear reactors, which have been taken offline in the wake of the Fukushima crisis. Today we talk to Aileen Mioko Smith of Green Action Japan about the anti-nuclear movement in Japan and their efforts to stop the reactor restarts from happening.
Dead nuclear reactors mean increasingly costly funerals
The rising cost of decommissioning a nuclear power plant Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Dan Drollette Jr 30 April 14“……. The Yankee Nuclear Power Station in Rowe, Massachusetts, took 15 years to decommission—or five times longer than was needed to build it. And decommissioning the plant—constructed early in the 1960s for $39 million—cost $608 million. The plant’s spent fuel rods are still stored in a facility on-site, because there is no permanent disposal repository to put them in. To monitor them and make sure the material does not fall into the hands of terrorists or spill into the nearby river costs $8 million per year. That cost will continue for an unknown number of years. David Lochbaum of the Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that even without the ongoing costs of monitoring and security, the average reactor now costs about $500 million to deactivate……..
Costs of dead San Onofre nuclear reactor – who pays?
Nuclear settlement costs investors $96M By Morgan Lee .APRIL 29, 2014 A San Onofre settlement proposal held back first-quarter earnings at Southern California Edison by $96 million, the Rosemead-based utility said Tuesday in federal financial filings.
The agreement, negotiated between the nuclear plant’s owners and two consumer groups, would hold customers responsible for about $3.3 billion in facility-related expenses and the cost of securing replacement power. The California Public Utilities Commission is considering the proposal amid objections from consumer groups that say the agreement favors investors over utility customers.
Including previous charges last year, Edison estimated the settlement would have a $461 million after-tax impact on its bottom line. Before-tax charges totaled $806 million.
Edison’s first-quarter earnings declined by 35 percent — to $176 million — compared with the same period last year.
Edison is the main owner and the operator of San Onofre. San Diego Gas & Electric owns a 20 percent stake in the plant; it took a $187 million impairment charge last year and said recently that it expects no further write-downs.
Crippled by the rapid degradation of newly installed steam generators, San Onofre stopped producing power on Jan. 31, 2012. Edison chose to retire San Onofre for good in June of last year, leaving state regulators to decide who should pay for an assortment of leftover costs — utility customers or corporate stockholders……..http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/apr/29/nuke-settlement-impact-reported/
Uranium – the invisible killer
Uranium Contamination Across America: Holding the Silent Killers Of Environmental Destruction Accountable By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers Global Research, April 29, 2014 PopularResistance.org The findings of the most recent IPCC report are sobering. We have 15 years to mitigate climate disaster. It is up to us to make a major transition to a carbon-free, nuclear-free energy economy within that time-frame. Big Energy and our plutocratic government are not going to do it without effective pressure from a people-powered movement.
More people are getting this concept. This year, there are several major campaigns around Earth Day, for example the Global Climate Convergence and the Cowboy Indian Alliance camp in Washington, DC. We celebrated Earth Day by launching a new national campaign to clean up the thousands of abandoned uranium mines (AUMs) scattered throughout the Great Plains and West Coast.
Uranium: The Invisible Killer
In the days leading up to the launch of Clean Up the Mines campaign, our team of eleven organizers toured Southwest South Dakota to learn more about the AUMs. Our tour was led by Charmaine White Face, a scientist and coordinator of Defenders of the Black Hills, who took us to various sites and brought her Geiger counters. There are 272 AUMs in South Dakota that continue to emit radiation, radon and toxic elements into the air, water and land. The mines were abandoned by corporations like Kerr McGee and Atlantic Richfield who walked away from them when the Uranium Rush that started in the early 1950s was over. We described this in more detail in our previous article about how uranium mines are poisoning the breadbasket of America.
The Northern Great Plains Region of Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, North and South Dakota contain more than 3,000 AUMs. There are more than 1,000 AUMs in Arizona and New Mexico. In total, in the 15 western states there are estimated to be more than 10,000 AUMs. One in 7 people in the western US live within 50 miles of an AUM, according to the EPA. This is a national environmental crisis – a silent Fukushima – for which responsibility needs to be taken………..
Accountability for Silent Killers
Exploring the legacy of uranium mining – for Earth destroying weapons of mass destruction and risky nuclear energy – reminded us how far humans have come in environmental destruction. It also showed, once again, how all is related. The Gaia theory of the Earth as a living being where all is connected is evident in the uranium toxicity that spreads through water, air and food
There is a growing movement that links native peoples with the descendants of those who colonized them. Now, many non-natives follow the lead of native peoples against fossil fuel and mineral extraction throughout the continent. It is this kind of solidarity and unity that will not only clean up the mines but will also make even greater changes in our economy, environment and government.
The toxicity of AUMs also reminds us of the cost of living under the rule of an illegitimate governmentwhere money, not the people, rule; of big finance capitalism that puts profit ahead of people and planet – and is enabled by the corrupt corporate government. The experience of the uranium mines shows us that even if it means people will die younger than they should, profit is king when we live under the ‘rule of money.’ It shows us we have an even larger task – ending a plutocratic oligarchy and creating a real democracy where the people rule……http://www.globalresearch.ca/uranium-contamination-across-america-holding-the-silent-killers-of-environmental-destruction-accountable/5379605
Near misses – the chance of a nuclear weapons accident is rising
Risk of nuclear accidents is rising, says report on near-misses
Chatham House report lists 13 instances since 1962 when nuclear weapons were nearly launched Julian Borger, diplomatic editor theguardian.com, Wednesday 30 April 2014 A report recounting a litany of near-misses in which nuclear weaponscame close to being launched by mistake concludes that the risk of potentially catastrophic accidents is higher than previously thought and appears to be rising.
Too Close for Comfort: Cases of Near Nuclear Use and Options for Policy, published by Chatham House, says that “individual decision-making, often in disobedience of protocol and political guidance, has on several occasions saved the day”, preventing the launch of nuclear warheads.
The report lists 13 instances since 1962 when nuclear weapons were nearly used. In several cases the large-scale launch of nuclear weapons was nearly triggered by technical malfunctions or breakdowns in communication causing false alarms, in both the US and Russia. Disaster was averted only by cool-headed individuals gambling that the alert was caused by a glitch and not an actual attack.
The Chatham House authors say the risks appear to be rising. Nuclear weapons are spreading – most recently to North Korea – and disarmament is stalling. Russia and the US still have an estimated 1,800 warheads on high alert, ready to launch between five and 15 minutes after receiving the launch order – a fact that becomes all the more significant with rising tensions over Ukraine.
“The question today is: are these risks worth it?” said Patricia Lewis, Chatham House research director for international security and one of the report’s authors. “You can imagine a situation in which tensions rise and signals come in and people misinterpret what is going on. Will people always have sound enough minds to take the time to make a reasoned decision?”
The mental state of some of the leaders who had their fingers on the nuclear button has sometimes been a source of worry. Richard Nixon and Boris Yeltsin both raised concerns among their top advisers with their heavy drinking. In May 1981 the newly elected French president, François Mitterand, left the French nuclear launch codes at home in the pocket of his suit……..ww.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/29/nuclear-accident-near-misses-report
Uranium at lowest prices since 2007
Fall in uranium prices points to slow nuclear restart in Japan Forex, April 29th, 2014 by Adam Button | Uranium prices fell to long-term lows today with the front-month futures contract at the lowest since at least 2007. The FX market underestimates the importance of the planned restart of nuclear energy stations in Japan for the yen. …..The fall in uranium prices today comes after producer Cameco said they don’t expect price improvement in the near to medium term……http://www.forexlive.com/blog/2014/04/29/fall-in-uranium-prices-points-to-slow-nuclear-restart-in-japan/
Arclight finds a home in Ireland and some peace in a crazy world!
Op Ed by Arlight2011part2
Date 29th April 2014
Posted to nuclear-news.net
The above song says it all ! I feel like Ive just returned to my homeland after years of battling in the trenches but my hearts go out to those still fighting in their own trenches in far flung lands.
The above is a song for all those people fighting against the odds. The friends I left behind. Those that touched my hearts. Those that helped me along the way and became casualties for causes that aligned with mine and even causes that didn`t.
Well, where to start? I have had extremely good news. In fact two bits of great news!
Firstly I have to thank the anonymous donor who paid for a months rent at the hotel I am staying in. I cant thank him enough. Not only did he pay for a room and breakfast but a dinner a day as well. This brought me literally to tears and I then thought of my special friends who are around the world who helped me get here and some of whom that became casualties of this digital Psy Ops war that is being waged against normal Mums, Dads and young people.
I understood in that moment more than I did before, why Whistle blowers epitomised by Edward Snowden and truth tellers like Julian Assange are so important to us all! If it was not for them
my situation would have been hopeless and so would the situation of many around the world such as Mari Takenouchi.
My second bit of good news is that Jennifer Schweppe believed my “story”. She understood what I had been through and though the legal battles that I might be able to undertake are not her remit she understood that I need to get an Irish passport and that I might be in fear of my life or my sanity. And so I have to thank her too! From the bottom of my heart. I can not go into details here as you might understand but suffice it to say that there may be hope for my petition for citizenship in my new home in Ireland because of the things I have had to endure. This might bring hope to others that can not get refuge in this and other European countries as, currently you need to prove that the country you have come from has broken its agreements in connection with Human Rights Legislation. I will be posting more on this as the situation develops.
In the past 2 years especially I have seen wonderful normal people being attacked with technologies that would have made Dr Goebbels proud. To be able to attack some one without the aid of storm troopers that might baulk at shooting thousands in the back of the head. Instead they use a distant and terrible weapon, the computer and a trained operator that cannot see the horrors that they unleash on their “targets”.
They follow a simple manual that describes a simple set of procedures. This is so distant they go home to their children or lovers and forget the days “work” , like they would forget a play-station game. But I am not here to damn the soldiers, I am here to damn those that allow this and encourage it to happen. The corporate heads that comply and encourage the security services chiefs that get jobs in the same corporations when they “retire”. The politicians that also have conspired, the heads of Legal firms that draw up archaic and limiting laws that restrict growth and innovation in our society. And there are many others such as the heads of the military who allow expenditure and plan for war on a scale never seen before in human history without speaking out and trying to make changes.
I now need to let the relief sweep over me and plan for the future. I have had lots of problems today with the computer and am on my spare. I am tired, relieved and sad I can not do the usual postings and research. But I will be back after I have contacted my children to let them know the good news. They have been worried sick about me and I have not been there for them as I should have because of my fears that they too would be targeted as I and others have.
And then a good nights sleep with some arrangements in the morning. And then the world is my oyster once again where I will ask the questions that are not being asked and hopefully stimulate discussion on important nuclear related questions. This time though my heart will be a bit less heavy because a heavy burden has been taken away from me.
A special shout out to my Face book buddies, the enenews.com commentators and especially Admin there, All the bloggers such as Iori at Fukushima Diary and many others who have been fughting the good fight against the odds and lastly Christina Mac Phearson (whose real name I forget a lot 🙂 ) , who has pulled me through some dark moments in so many ways, not least because of her own personal strength and love for humanity including me sometimes. I wish to name so many but you know who you all are. Thank you all! May your Gods/other bless you and keep you safe! The fight goes on! Sakado Hantai!
PS I am in tears here again, as I finish this.
PPS someone tell Libbe Halevey were still on, as long as I dont get blocked again later. 🙂
Sean McGee
AKA Arclight
Arclight update from Limerick with new hacking information by JTRIG and friendsxc sd
Op Ed Arclight2011part2 Date 29 April 2014 Posted to nuclear-news.net Hi fellow citizens of Planet Earth I have very kindly been offered another 2 days grace by 2 very wonderful people as a result of all those bloggers who got the word out there against the odds concerning Google filtering as well as manipulations on Face book. This is really helpful as I have just got some great news that Jennifer Schweppes from Limerick University is actually looking into my case. I have been trying to contact her by phone as I have not received any info, She is a very busy lady. Interestingly my new phone sim card which is Irish is now being played with by someone or it is with the support of the Irish Phone companies my laptop has developed interesting problems and different wireless networks are trying to overide the hotel one. Particularly BUS Eirean Free Wi Fi I have been trying to phone limerick University for the last three days. I thought the time it rang was a bit short and I thought that was normal. I got no answer and thought they were all on holiday. However today I thought to keep trying as I was getting suspicious. The phone eventually stopped connecting all together and i got really suspicious. having showed the problem to the staff and all the punters in the bar in the hotel. I stopped ringing for a while then tried again. I got through within 2 rings. I asked them if the phone line was manned after 9.00 am and they replied it was. So someone had been blocking my calls realtime. I am so honoured at this as I just thought I was a small time blogger. The news was good. The staff in the main office were aware of my case immediately. And they said Jennifer was busy but was looking into my case. Other issues concerning Jennifer and emails etc are that my blog partner Christina Mac Phearson (not real name) had tried to email her but the email was returned. after we discussed this however and i asked her to exactly describe the problem she tried again and got through. The UK JTRIG crowd like to be subtle and involve only one person. They realise that I am documenting incidents on my camera etc. As I write this wordpress is also playing up. :/ and my keyboard has swapped letters for numbers (lucky I have a spare wireless keypad :) phew! I contacted James Nix of the Irish environment ministry Yesterday (An Taisce) and offered information concerning the UK pollution of NO2 caused by mox fuel rod processing and decommissioning processes that cause NO2 poisoning. An Taisce are also taking the UK to court over safety issue concerning plans for Hinkley nuclear power plant expansion plans with their Chinese friends. When I was in London recently, I used my friends phone in London to call Dr Chris Busby where I discussed this, My friends phone was disconnected for 24 hours because I mentioned this issue on the phone to Chris. So whilst the nasty, so called, "Muslim extremists" are not being watched, I appear to be. I suppose this is not surprising as the UK pays their wages (according to conspirators ). It is so hard at the moment to stop them accessing my computer as they keep trying to get in and i have to keep disconnecting the little buggers.. I have loads more info stacking up on JTRIG hacking in ireland but will have to find a different computer and network on which to write it. I am posting this information in case I have an "accident" and to document it for my case for an express Irish Passport without the need for "Habitual Residence". As an aside I am unlikely to get refugee status because the UK is not deemed to have broken its Human Rights Agreements with the European Union. This needs to change if Journalists, Bloggers and Activists who live around the globe are not to be sidelined and attacked with impunity. I used to live in Limerick when i was younger. JTRIG are aware of my financial situation are trying to stop me getting help before I have to leave the hotel where there are witness`s. This might explain me being stopped to contact Jennifer Schweppes. I am moving quickly now and my Handler probably has to get permission for the various options open to them. This gives me a fighting chance to prove what is happening to myself and others. Obviously this is only a posit based on the limited information that I have gleaned from Mr Edward Snowdens revelations. Thank you Edward for giving me some tools to fight back. Thank you Edward for giving us all tools to fight back against this insidious attack on all our freedoms. Talk soon peace Light and Love Sean McGee aka Arclight
PS my wordpress is playing up so i apologise for the small print.
Wireless is slow but seems to be working ok now
🙂
A 2 $billion stop gap measure- Chernobyl’s new tomb
Chernobyl’s Steel Radiation Shield Is the Biggest Moving Structure Ever, Gizmodo Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan 29 April 14 (Terrific photos) In the normal world, it’s what you’d call a bad investment: Spending $2 billion to build the largest moveable structure ever—and knowing that it won’t work for longer than 100 years. But in Chernobyl, it’s the best available option for protecting a whole continent from the worst nuclear disaster in history.
Today is the 28th anniversary of the disaster, which killed 31 and subjects hundreds of others to extreme suffering, and left 200 tons of radioactive corium and 16 tons of uranium and plutonium exposed inside the smoking remains of Reactor 4. At the time, heroic workers quickly constructed an ad hoc shelter over the reactor to stop the spew of radioactive material across Ukraine and Western Europe, using 7,000 metric tons of metal and many more tons of concrete. But that shelter—known as the Sarcophagus—was never meant to last. And now, it’s in danger of collapsing.
Enter New Safe Confinement, a project that’s nearly as old as the meltdown it’s designed to contain. It’s a two-pronged plan: First, thousands of workers are constructing a 300-foot-tall steel arch that weighs more than 32,000-tons. Though it’s being built a few hundred meters away from Reactor 4, it’s eventually going to cover it, creating a thick steel cage around the reactor in case it collapses.
But because the area near it is too radioactive for workers to stay there for longer than a few minutes, this huge structure is being built next door—then, very very slowly, it will be slid on teflon-coated tracks to cover the
Ralph Nader shows that corporate control of politics is opposed by both Left and Right
Ralph Nader on TPP, GM Recall, Nuclear Power & the “Unstoppable” Left-Right Anti-Corporate Movement, Democracy Now, 28 April 14 “……..AMY GOODMAN: Yet we speak to you as Arkansas is devastated from a string of tornadoes. At least 17 people have died, almost all in Arkansas. You have Congress, the House, voting, though this won’t be passed by the Senate, that the National [Oceanic and Atmospheric] Administration cannot talk about the causes of climate change, can only talk about extreme weather. You have Tennessee passing legislation that would outlaw some public transit.
RALPH NADER: Yeah, I mean, this is the corporatist pressure against what I can see around the country as an emerging left-right alliance on—not just on climate change, but on the effect that it has on agriculture, effect it has on disasters that cost the taxpayer, the effect it has on the need for fuel efficiency—good for motorists’ pocketbook—and reducing pollution on the ground. This is a great opportunity for a left-right alliance here.
Remember, we defeated the Clinch River Breeder Reactor in 1983, supported by big business and Ronald Reagan, and we beat them in the House with a left-right alliance. It was a stunning defeat for then the powerful Senator Howard Baker, who wanted this boondoggle Clinch River Breeder Reactor built in his state. And not many years later, in 1986, there was a left-right alliance, Senator—Republican Senator Grassley from Ohio, Congressman Howard Berman, Democrat from California, to pass the False Claims Act, which has saved taxpayers tens of billions of dollars, protecting internal government whistleblowers. And we just got through, a little over a year ago, a further protection for government whistleblowers, overwhelmingly, in the House and Senate. Again, you see bubbling up from the grassroots. Yeah, it’s a pretty good idea to protect government employees who blow the whistle on corporate fraud, corruption, fleecing Medicare, defense contract abuses, etc…..
AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to talk about the issue of militarism in a moment. We’re speaking with Ralph Nader, longtime consumer activist, corporate critic, former presidential candidate many times over. His new book is called Unstoppable: The Emerging Left-Right Alliance to Dismantle the Corporate State. We’ll come back with him in a minute……….
RALPH NADER: Well, Wall Street will not finance any new nuclear plant because they’re so uneconomic, as Warren Buffett has said it, more than once, without a full government guarantee by the taxpayer. That alone should raise questions. The second thing is that nuclear power is a long-range, troubled construction project. We haven’t had a new one ordered and opened since 1973. The third is that nuclear power represents a national security problem. It not only is uninsurable in the private market, but is a national security problem with radioactively deep spent fuel rods and transportation vehicles carrying radioactive waste to who knows where—we still don’t have a permanent storage place in America for all this waste. Those are all very vulnerable points to accident or sabotage.
So, nuclear power is extremely costly.
It comes up from the bottom, Amy. And that’s what we’ve got to do. Right now, the bulk of new electric-generating capacity, installed, as well, in the last year was solar. So, solar power, wind power are going down in price, especially solar panels that are being put on roofs all over the country, especially in California. That is really replacing it. Now, natural gas is coming in and also tanking nuclear power. And the nuclear power barons know that. So why are we messing around with another potential Fukushima disaster such as Indian Point’s two aging reactors, 30 miles from where you are right now in Manhattan, Amy? Aging plants, even Senator Hillary Clinton and Attorney General Cuomo said, when they were in those posts, they need to be shut down. They’re near active earthquake faults. It’s totally unevacuable in case of an accident. The people can hardly get out of town in rush hour.
AMY GOODMAN: And yet, interestingly, talking about the left-right alliance, although I’m not exactly seeing left here, but Evan Bayh, Indiana Democrat; Judd Gregg, New Hampshire Republican; Spencer Abraham, Michigan Republican, former energy secretary; and William Daley, the former chief of staff of Obama, being—starting this new lobbying effort for the nuclear industry.
RALPH NADER: Yeah, and there—
AMY GOODMAN: And since we just have two minutes, if you might pivot to the issue of militarism, which you take on in your book, Unstoppable?
RALPH NADER: Well, a lot of these coalitions are funded by the nuclear industry themselves. By the way, there is a corporate-liberal convergence with corporate conservatives for years. That’s what’s driven this country into the ground—corporate liberals like the Clintons and corporate conservatives like John Boehner, etc.
The militarism part is another invitation for an emerging left-right alliance. The militarism part is another invitation for an emerging left-right alliance. Barney Frank, Congressman Barney Frank, left, and Ron Paul, Congressman Ron Paul, Libertarian, got together in 2010 to develop a caucus against a bloated military budget and the militarism that comes from it. That’s an example in Congress of a far larger number of left-right convergences being repressed by their leadership, which has other corporate campaign cash incentives in mind. So what we’re seeing here—listen, even after 9/11, there was a public opinion poll saying that we shouldn’t do war on Afghanistan; we should pursue the backers of 9/11, bring them to justice, but not this massive invasion of Afghanistan. And for years, left-right public opinion polls have said we should get out of Afghanistan. So there is a large, emerging left-right alliance here against militarism. It was against the invasion of Iraq by Bush and Cheney—the unconstitutional, criminal invasion of Iraq. You had over 300 retired generals, admirals, national security leaders and diplomats speaking out against it before the invasion in March 2003, and they were Republicans and Democrats…..http://www.democracynow.org/2014/4/28/ralph_nader_on_tpp_gm_recall
Nuclear industry front groups exposed
Nuclear Industry Front Groups – Nuclear Matters And Center For Climate And Energy Solutions – Urged To Come Clean On Funding CNBC, WASHINGTON, April 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Two organizations that inexplicably are getting a pass from most news media outlets in the United States – Nuclear Matters and the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) – are, in fact, de facto nuclear industry front groups that have failed entirely to be transparent about their financing, according to the independent watchdog group the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS).
NIRS, which relies on donations for its operations and has a total budget smaller than the salary paid to the CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute, is objecting to the fact that in a recent barrage of news releases, op-eds, full-page New York Times ads, and its Web site, the group “Nuclear Matters” nowhere reveals that its primary or currently sole source of funding is Exelon, which maintains the largest U.S. nuclear fleet: 23 reactors at locations in Illinois, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.
Nuclear Matters is represented by Sloane & Company PR, the same firm that works for Exelon itself. Sloane PR has indicated that Exelon is not just “among the funders” of Nuclear Matters. It is currently the primary funder of the front group and funds from other interests are now being sought, according to Sloane. Nowhere is this information being disclosed by Exelon or Nuclear Matters to the public … and there is little evidence that is being demanded and then reported on by the news media. Additionally, no information has been provided to date about the fees and/or other considerations being paid by Exelon’s front group to a growing list of former public officials, including Carol M. Browner, Bill Daley, Spencer Abraham, Evan Bayh, and Judd Gregg.
Also failing to be transparent about its funding is The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, which is holding a National Press Club briefing today on nuclear power and “climate solutions.” However, the news advisory for the C2ES event (featuring Nuclear Matter’s Carol M. Browner) nowhere discloses that the organization is bankrolled in large part by utilities with nuclear reactors.
In fact, Entergy is a founding sponsor and “strategic partner” of C2ES (http://www.c2es.org/about/strategic-partners). Other nuclear-oriented utilities listed on the “Business Environmental Leadership Council” of C2ES include Areva, Dominion, Duke Energy, Exelon, and NRG. (Seehttp://www.c2es.org/about/strategic-partners.) At the time of the 2011 launch of C2ES, Think Progress referred to it as “an explicitly corporate-managed organization.” (Seehttp://thinkprogress.org/climate/2011/11/10/366887/pew-center-for-climate-changes-name-now-sponsored-by-energy-companies/.)
Two and a half years later, C2ES misleadingly refers to itself in the news advisory for its April 28th nuclear power briefing as “independent,” which would not appear at all to be accurate in the nuclear power context. Making matters worse, the promotional material for the news event (as noted above) completely omits any reference to C2ES’s heavy reliance on nuclear industry funding and the industry’s active involvement in the “leadership” of the Center
NIRS Executive Director Tim Judson said: “Exelon is spearheading an aggressive, multi-front campaign today to rewrite the rules of the energy marketplace to protect the nuclear power industry, which is dying in the face of a number of factors, including safety concerns, out-of-control costs, and cheap renewable energy alternatives. Exelon, Entergy and the rest of the industry have every right to make their case. All we are asking them to do is to come clean about the funding of their front groups. Enlisting formerly high visibility government officials to act as shills for nuclear power is completely acceptable as long as the industry does not try to hide the ball about where the money is coming from.”
In addition to calling for more transparency, Judson emphasized that any notion that C2ES is a major environmental group that suddenly is “coming out for nuclear” is completely mistaken. There is a long track record that shows that the Center and its predecessor (Pew) have long defended and even openly touted nuclear power:………
ABOUT NIRS
2013 marked the 35th anniversary of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, which was founded to be the national information and networking center for citizens and environmental activists concerned about nuclear power, radioactive waste, radiation and sustainable energy issues. For more information, go to http://www.nirs.org. http://www.cnbc.com/id/101619421
Deception at the centre of the global nuclear industry
There are good reasons to believe that radiation doses were not – could not be – accurately measured, and that valuable science on the extensive negative health outcomes for radiation workers, derived particularly study of the vast army of Chernobyl liquidators, has not been properly addressed, and a thoroughgoing rethinking of the scientific orthodoxy of radiation sickness and of the global nuclear regulatory apparatus should precede any new wave of nuclear power plant construction.
Japan joins nuclear horror show http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Japan/JAP-01-280414.html
By Peter Lee 28 April 14
This is an abstract of an article available for purchase here as an offprint.
For the nuclear bureaucrat, lying seems to be as essential and continuous a human process as breathing. I am not averse to the argument that a greater reliance on nuclear energy, despite its massive risks, might provide an alternative future preferable to being cooked to death by greenhouse gases.
But I must say that I do not think that nuclear energy should be in the hands of the current crew under the current system.
The nuclear agenda is largely in control of the legacy nuclear powers, whose dominance is enshrined in the imbalanced arrangement of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and its creature, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The United States and Russia, in particular, are nuclear horror shows when it comes to the waste, haste, shortcuts, and accidents inseparable from the birth of nuclear science in the crisis atmosphere of a world war and ensuing Cold War.
Neither of these nations, I would aver, is particularly interested in a new, more conservative model of radiation risk baselining that might impose onerous economic, political, and public health costs on their governments.
The Japanese government (which, under Prime Minister Abe is set on nuclear power as a strategic national initiative) and Tokyo Electric Power Corporation (TEPCO) are pretty much cut from the same cloth.
Prime Minister Abe, in order to secure a key Japanese government priority, the 2020 Olympics, had this exchange with the IOC in September 2013 about the situation at the crippled nuclear power station at Fukushima:
Let me assure you the situation is under control,” [Abe] said.
“It has never done or will do any damage to Tokyo.” ….
It appears that Abe’s “under control” assurances were based, at worst, on shaky assurances from TEPCO that the Japanese government was in no mood to question in the crucial run up to the awarding of the Olympic bid, or at best upon the rather unsophisticated idea that TEPCO would contain the contaminated water in tanks, so it wouldn’t reach the harbor, until some other more permanent solution got worked out.Lots and lots of tanks.
The 1,000 tanks [already “approaching capacity”] hold 440,000 tons of contaminated water. Some 4,500 to 5,000 workers, about 1,500 more than a half year ago, are trying to double the capacity by 2016. [1]
The permanent solution has been slow in coming.
Add to the burgeoning storage tank farm the problems of radiation-averse contract workers hastily constructing and piping tanks and the inevitable problems of leaks, mis-routing, and overflows. Add the difficulty in getting the balky liquid processing system up and running. Add the challenges of trying out the new science of freezing a gigantic underground wall of ice to keep water from the ocean. Add the fact that 400 tons of groundwater flow through the site every day, and after TEPCO struck a deal with the local fishermen to dump 100 TPD into the ocean, it turns out that the water might be too contaminated to dump, anyway.There are many ways to describe the contaminated water situation at Fukushima. “Under control” is not the most accurate. “Fighting a holding action for the next 30-40 years” as the physics of radionucleide decay ineluctably reduces the danger (and Abe and his promises to take responsibility have entered LDP Valhalla) is perhaps a better description.
“Abe lied Tokyo’s way into the 2020 Olympics” is also not complete hyperbole. With this context, it is not terribly surprising that lawyers for sailors on the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan consider TEPCO a target-rich environment for the lawsuits they are filing to claim redress for TEPCO’s alleged negligence in the matter of the plume of radioactive material that the Ronald Reagan sailed under and, thanks to the unfortunate circumstance of the downwash of a snowstorm, into, while conducting relief operations off the east coast of Japan after the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011.
The demise of the Small Modular Nuclear reactor (SMR) dream
mPower Pullback Stalls Small Nuclear, Forbes, 28 April 14 Richard Martin Nuclear technology supplier Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) has slashed funding for its Generation mPower program, an effort to develop a small modular reactor (SMR) for power generation and other applications. The pullback represents a major blow to the development of SMRs, which have been hailed as the next step forward for the nuclear power industry.
Dead End
All told, B&W, the DOE, and partners have spent around $400 million on the mPower program. Another $600 million was needed just to get the technology ready for application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for licensing…..B&W said last year it would seek a majority investor in the project but was unable to secure a buyer. ..
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