New communications can help to rid the world of nuclear dangers
Crowdsourcing Nuclear Problems, NPR 8 Feb 2012 ”….Rose Gottemoeller, acting undersecretary of state for arms control, ….. She’s behind a campaign to discover how new
communications tools can help rid the world of some of the dangers of nuclear weapons. Read more »
Japan’s media “press club”- subservient to nuclear industry and government
troubling questions whether nuclear power is safe anywhere in this seismically-active archipelago. TEPCO, as on previous occasions, provided incomplete answers, perhaps reflecting valid uncertainties—but also suggesting it is not telling the whole story.
Japan’s nuclear crisis, The meltdown and the media The Economist, Jan 16th 2012, by K.N.C. | TOKYO ”…On January 16th, the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC) held its first public hearing. Some 50 members of the public, and around 100 journalists, attended.
…..Japan’s media operate under a “press club” system that can lead to a form of self-censorship. News is doled out in unofficial interactions with the press. This serves many interests. For government and to a lesser extent business, it keeps the media on a tight leash and controls content. For individual journalists, it gives the veneer of exclusive information and inside access. For newspapers, it lessens the chance of being scooped by rivals, so everyone can work under less pressure. Read more »
Japan’s mothers using social media to pursue concerns about radiation
Can Web-savvy activist moms change Japan? Times of India AP | Dec 29, 2011 TOKYO: Japan’s nuclear crisis has turned Mizuho Nakayama into one of a small but growing number of internet-savvy activist moms.
Worried about her 2-year-old son and distrustful of government and TV reports that seemed to play down radiation risks, she scoured the Web for information and started connecting with other mothers through Twitter and Facebook, many using social media for the first time. Read more »
Facebook joins Greenpeace in renewable energy campaign
Facebook, Greenpeace partner on renewable energy, ZD Net By Emil Protalinski | December 15, 2011, Summary: Facebook and Greenpeace have partnered to promote clean, renewable energy and improve energy efficiency in data centers. The news follows a large Greenpeace campaign against Facebook. Read more »
Despite media coverage against renewable energy, British public supports it
Over at BusinessGreen, James Murray describes the survey results as ”explosive”, especially given that they “follow months during which the right-wing press has waged an increasingly virulent campaign against climate change, wind farms, renewable energy, and the greenlevies that pay for it”.
British public strongly support renewable energy, survey says, The Guardian, 14 Dec 11 56% of UK population wants to see more investment in wind power, finds a YouGov survey
Does the UK have a “silent majority” in support of further investment in renewables? You wouldn’t necessarily think so if you listen to the very vocal, media-driven opposition against, say, wind power, but a recent YouGov survey commissioned by the Sunday Times suggests the true picture might be a little different.
The Sunday Times itself chose not to report the YouGov findings related to renewables (you can draw your own conclusions as to why), but if you look beyond the headline polling about the 1,696 respondents’ political leanings you start to reach some rather intriguing environmentally themed results ….
But the real point of interest can be found on page nine, which asks: ”Thinking about the country’s future energy provision, do you think the government should be looking to use more or less of the following?”
Solar power
More than at present – 74%
Less than at present – 6%
Maintain current levels – 12%
Not sure – 9%
Wind farms
More than at present – 56%
Less than at present – 19%
Maintain current levels – 15%
Not sure – 9%… Read more »
Japanese anti nuclear activists ignored by media
activists say they are being ignored by the domestic media and threatened by ultra-nationalist groups.
“The Japanese newspapers and TV stations all take so much advertising money from the power companies that they won’t report on the strength of the anti-nuclear movement or cover our protests,”
Anti-nuclear protesters have an unlikely ally in Masayoshi Son, Japan’s richest man.
Japan’s anti-nuclear protesters find the going tough, despite Fukushima disaster Polls show the public turning against nuclear energy after Japan’s Fukushima disaster. But low coverage of protests and powerful business and political interests have complicated efforts to promote change. Christian Science Monitor, By Gavin Blair, Correspondent / November 23, 2011 Read more »
Corruption in media coverage of Fukushima radiation dangers
The corrupt reporting of Fukushima radiation risks Independent Australia 14 Nov 11 Nuclear authorities and the mainstream media have been actively minimising and trivialising the grave radiation dangers of the Fukushima disaster, says John LaForge.
The ongoing radiation catastrophe stemming from three out-of-control nuclear reactors in Fukushima, Japan, has taken a back seat to far graver news events of late — Michael Jackson’s doctor, fund-raising by presidential hopefuls and fluctuations in the stockmarket.
Meanwhile, reporting about the ongoing disaster relentlessly repeats the minimization and trivialization of radiation risk that began March 11, Read more »
Time to stop India’s media disinformation and spin on USA-India nuclear deal
Stop this spin on nuclear liability law! Rediff, 18 Nov 11 Maybe, Justice Markandey Katju, chairman of the Press Council of India has a point – India needs a media regulatory framework. Katju pointed out how ill-equipped are our journalists intellectually and otherwise to handle complex issues. Take, for instance, the new rules that have been formulated by the government on the nuclear liability law.
Climate change documentary – media self censors the facts
Broadcasters lose their nerve over BBC’s climate change program, Environmental News Network, 15 Nov 11 The final episode of the BBC’s Frozen Planet documentary series that focuses on climate change has been canned in the US and other countries, prompting fierce criticism. All seven episodes of the multi-million pound nature series, written and presented by Sir David Attenborough, will be screened in the UK — but the final show, entitled ‘On Thin Ice’, has been shelved by several foreign TV channels, including the Discovery channel in the US.
The last programme in the series looks at the man-made threat to the environment and examines how Earth’s ice caps are changing and the likely consequences for the rest of the planet. But US audiences will not be shown the final episode, where many fear a show that promotes the theory of global warming could upset viewers.
The package of six episodes has been sold to 30 countries and networks were provided with the option to buy a seventh ‘optional extra’ episode, along with behind-the-scenes footage. The documentary series is said to be an epic portrait of two disappearing wildernesses — the Arctic and the Antarctic – before they change forever, and is already hugely popular with viewers in the UK. However, according to the BBC, ten countries have chosen not to screen the final episode.
In the US, Frozen Planet is being aired by Discovery, which was jointly involved in the production of the series. The seven programmes cost £15 million to produce and took four years to film and edit.It is understood the Frozen Planet DVD will be sold overseas, including the US, containing all seven episodes as broadcast in the UK.
Ben Stewart of Greenpeace today said: “It’s regrettable that millions of viewers in the US won’t be getting the full story when they watch this mesmerising series. It’s like pressing the stop button on Titanic just when the iceberg appears. http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/43567
USA debating how to censor the Internet
Right now, the US Congress is debating a law that would give them the power to censor the world’s Internet – creating a blacklist that could target YouTube, WikiLeaks and even groups like Avaaz!
Under the new law, the US could force Internet providers to block any website on suspicion of violating copyright or trademark legislation, or even failing to sufficiently police their users’ activities. And, because so much of the Internet’s hosts and hardware are located in the US, their blacklist would clamp down on the free web for all of us. Read more »
Rupert Murdoch’s secret moves to destroy public broadcasting in Australia
In hours, Murdoch could secure his stranglehold on the Australian media by acquiring our public international TV news network — and rob a struggling ABC of $223 million in funding. Communications Minister Stephen Conroy is under pressure to give control over the network to Murdoch instead of the ABC - Murdoch’s mouthpiece The Australian has been leaking details of insider support for Murdoch in a blatant attempt to force Labor into backing his bid. Conroy knows that giving the network to Murdoch would greatly increase the media mogul’s corrupting influence and hurt the ABC, and is looking for a way out.
Rupert Murdoch already owns 70 percent of Australia’s newspapers. Now he’s on the hunt for more media control, and he’s hoping we won’t notice. Through his stake in Australian News Channel, he’s been pushing hard to take over the crucial but low-key ‘Australia Network’: an Australian international public broadcaster that’s available in 44 countries. Murdoch has shown that his empire ruthlessly puts profits above all else — even hacking a murdered school girl’s phone to increase sales. With this extra network, Murdoch would vastly increase his power and take control of Australia’s public image abroad.
The move is also a key part of his strategy to destroy public broadcasting and silence independent voices. Murdoch knows that the loss of $223 million in funding would severely weaken an already stretched ABC. It would mean the loss of many ABC journalists, and potential closures of overseas news offices. If we let Murdoch win, Australia will become the first country in the world to privatise its international news service…. Read more »
How the media underplays seriousness of Fukushima radiation
Radioactive contamination of soil, tap water, rain water, groundwater, beef, fish, vegetables, animal feed and incinerator ash are almost always said to be of little or “no immediate” danger, which helps explain why Fukushima has faded from public consciousness.
Radiation Reporting: Blind, Idiotic, Corrupt — or All Three Huntington News, , October 26, 2011 BY JOHN LAFORGE The ongoing radiation catastrophe stemming from three out-of-control nuclear reactors in Fukushima, Japan has taken a back seat to far graver news events of late: Michael Jackson’s doctor, fund-raising by presidential hopefuls, the World Series, and Netflix stock.
Japan’s media sacrificed journalistic integrity for money from TEPCO
the Japanese media which for years accepted TEPCO’s advertising cash in exchange for compromising their journalistic integrity……TEPCO used hundreds of millions to silence any possible media criticism of the company and nuclear power.
TEPCO media strategy questioned ABC Radio A.M. Toney Eastley, Mark Willacy reported this story on October 5, 2011
TONY EASTLEY: To Japan, and more revelations have emerged about the machinations of TEPCO, the giant company that operates the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
It splashed $350 million a year on advertising and took journalists on junkets just to promote its products.
AM has spoken to Japanese politicians and journalists who describe how TEPCO used its wealth to strangle any opposition to the company. Read more »
The catastrophic level of radiation to Japanese from Fukushima nuclear disaster
In March, 2006, 20 years after the accident, the people whose health had been damaged in Russia, the Ukraine and Belarus numbered 7,000,000.
excerpt from: Fukushima Meltdown: The World’s First Earthquake-Tsunami-Nuclear Disaster[Kindle Edition] Takashi Hirose http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005OD75J2/?tag=theasipacjo0b-20
Murdoch’s media monopoly misinforms Australia on Climate Change
Nowhere has the reliance on spin been more apparent than during the coverage of the climate “debate” by the Murdoch media and allied shock jocks.
Australia’s climate scientists expose shock-jock distortion tactics, Academics catalogue the deluge of spin and misinformation of climate science by various Murdoch-owned papers, Stephan Lewandowsky 1 September 2011, Guardian UK, Australia has unwittingly become a social experiment. A ruthless experiment on the fate of a society when a single media conglomerate, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, owns 167 newspapers and controls around 70% of the printed media market. Read more »
1 THIS MONTH
Uranium mining in Namibia http://namibian.me/group/canwin2?commentId=4103091%3AComment%3A47391&xg_source=msg_com_group
Nuclear industry is moribund, despite 2 new reactors licensed in USA http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2012/s3428147.htm
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/
and another WEBSITE : - New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution http://www.necnp.org/
EVENT
February 18 Hindsdale, Chicago American Association of University Women - nuclear disaster preparedness H.OB.aauw.reservations@gmail.com.
March 2012 is “March Against Nuclear Madness” and Beyond Nuclear has created a new March Against Nuclear Madness Facebook page.
March 8th & 9th – Cape Town, South Africa - The Global Conference: Nuclear Power For Africa? http://koebergalert.org/npfree/
May 31 USA - Portland, Maine, Bonnie Raitt benefit concert for New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution
Nuclear power and water – theme for February 2012
FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR PLANT and WATER – present state
That nuclear core is in direct contact with tons of water. And that containment, while not leaking down, is leaking out the sides. That contaminated water is going into every other building on site. And there is literally thousands and thousands of tons of water in other buildings. That water contains radioactive cesium, radioactive strontium, and it also contains nuclear fuel. There will be uranium in that water and plutonium in that water as well. We know for sure that that water is leaking into the ground water and into the Pacific Ocean. So while it is important to know that we are not going to release the nuclear core directly into the center of the earth, the problem is not over. And as a matter of fact, the problem will last for tens, perhaps even as long as 30 years because this contaminated water is in the basements of all the buildings on site. And not only does it contain cesium (that hangs around for 300 years), strontium (hangs around for 300 years), but it also contains plutonium and uranium and they have half lives of tens of thousands of years.
So the problem is, what do we do with all that water that is contaminated? It is already leaking into the groundwater. It is already leaking into the ocean. TEPCO is frantically catching it and putting it into tanks. But just today, TEPCO announced that they are running out of tank space on site, and eventually they are going to have to release those tanks into the Pacific Ocean. Now they will try to clean up some of the isotopes like cesium. But they have been unable to capture all the strontium. Strontium is a bone seeker that causes leukemia… http://fairewinds.com/content/fukushima-could-it-have-china-syndrome
NUCLEAR REACTORS - WATER USE : Per megawatt existing nuclear power stations use and consume more water than power stations using other fuel sources. Depending on the cooling technology utilised, the water requirements for a nuclear power station can vary between 20 to 83 per cent more than for other power stations.”- Dep of Parliamentary Services research note, 4 December 2006, no. 12, 2006–07, ISSN 1449-8456 Water consumption figures:
Nuclear: 2.3 L/ kWh
Solar (PV): 0.110 L/ kWh
Wind: 0.004 L/ kWh
(American Wind Energy Association estimate & US DOE)
A typical 1000-megawatt pressurized-water reactor (with a cooling tower) takes in 20,000 gallons of river, lake or ocean water per minute for cooling, circulates it through a 50-mile maze of pipes, returns 5,000 gallons per minute to the same body of water, and releases the remainder to the atmosphere as vapor. A 1000-megawatt reactor without a cooling tower takes in even more water–as much as one-half million gallons per minute. The discharge water is contaminated with radioactive elements in amounts that are not precisely known or knowable, but are biologically active.
Some radioactive fission gases, stripped from the reactor cooling water, are contained in decay tanks for days before being released into the atmosphere through filtered rooftop vents. Some gases leak into the power plant buildings’ interiors and are released during periodic “purges” and “ventings.” These airborne gases contaminate not only the air, but also soil and water. http://www.nirs.org/factsheets/routineradioactivereleases.htm
NUCLEAR REACTORS -IONISING RADIATION to GROUNDWATER In USA the nuclear industry has contaminated groundwater with radioactive tritium at nuclear power plant sites all across the country. Nuclear plants that have admitted leaking tritium into the groundwater include:
- Braidwood, Byron, Dresden and Quad Cities in Illinois;
- Indian Point and Fitzpatrick in New York;
- Yankee Rowe and Pilgrim in Massachusetts;
- Three Mile Island and Peach Bottom in Pennsylvania;
- Callaway in Missouri
- Catawba in South Carolina
- Oyster Creek in New Jersey
- Hatch in Georgia
- Palo Verde In Arizona
- Perry in Ohio
- Palisades in Michigan
- Point Beach in Wisconsin
- Salem in Delaware
- San Onofre in California
- Seabrook in New Hampshire
- Shearon Harris in North Carolina
- Watts Bar in Tennessee
- Wolf Creek in Kansas
- Connecticut Yankee in Connecticut
- Vermont Yankee in Vermont
URANIUM MINING – OPEN CUT or UNDERGROUND It is very difficult to find figures on the amounts of water used. All mining is water intensive, but uranium mining is the greatest guzzler Water is extensively used to suppress airborne dust levels, to try to reduce the radioactive clouds that would otherwise emanate constantly from the uranium tailings.IN SITU LEACHING – Uranium Mining Process in-situ leaching uses a hydrogen peroxide mixture to strip the uranium from the rock, which kills tissue and destroys cells in human and animal life. The addition of oxygen and sodium bicarbonate called oxygenates causes uranium and other radioactive substances and trace metals to be liberated from the rock into the groundwater.
.. judges have too often taken the stance that they are judges who know nothing of the mining industry and accept the data of corporations, claiming the corporations are in the know.
..the water taken from the extremely pristine Westwater Canyon Aquifer near Crownpoint for uranium mining and used for flushing out chemicals would not be replaced in our lifetimes.
It takes hundreds, perhaps thousands of years, to transform aquifer water back into a drinkable condition. Virginia Against Uranium Mining: Scientists Back Navajos’ Uranium Mining Fight: Tribe fears contamination of drinking water
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