Call to replace nuclear proponent Srinivasan with an independent expert on safety panel
‘Remove pro-nuclear Srinivasan from panel’ Press Trust Of India, Hindustan Times, Chennai, February 10, 2012 The anti-nuclear forum spearheading the stir against Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project on Friday demanded removal of former Atomic Energy Commission chief MR Srinivasan from the state expert panel to allay people’s safety concerns, calling him “pro-nuclear”.
People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) said it welcomed constitution of the four-member state panel but pointed out that Srinivasan was a “well-known pro-nuclear person.”
Srinivasan was the former chairman and a current member of India’s Atomic Energy Commission. He was also a member of the site selection committee in the 1980s for the KNPP and has been writing and speaking in favor of nuclear power and the Koodankulam project itself, S P Udayakumar, leading the anti-nuclear movement, said in a statement.
He said people had expected that the state expert team would be neutral and independent “but Dr Srinivasan is neither.So it is hard for the PMANE to accept Dr Srinivasan.”
It asked the chief minister to replace Srinivasan with another expert and expand the team with experts in Geology, Oceanography and
Hydrology. PMANE also requested Jayalalithaa to make the State Expert Team meet its own experts, consider their findings and engage in a ”genuine dialogue” and listen to the fears and concerns of the people and arrive at a conclusion in a democratic manner on the basis of majority opinion.
He alleged that having failed to allay the fears of the people, the Centre was sending spies into the areas around Koodankulam “to divide
our communities, create fear and panic among the people and instigate violence..”… http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Chennai/Remove-pro-nuclear-Srinivasan-from-panel/Article1-809419.aspx
Tamil Nadu government appoints pro nuclear enthusiast to head nuclear safety panel!
N-expert to head Kudankulam panel, TNN | Feb 10, 2012, CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday constituted a four-member expert committee, headed by former chairman Atomic Energy Commission M R Srinivasan, to look into the safety aspects of the Kudankulam nuclear power project and address the fears of the locals. Srinivasan’s inclusion is significant as he isknown to be a strong votary of nuclear power. He was one of the .architects of the Indo-US nuclear deal.
Canadian govt to sell nuclear laboratories, to reduce taxpayers’ financial risks
Government of Canada to Unload AECL Laboratories, TechFinance, February 9, 2012 Government of Canada is seeking “Expression of Interest” as a process of selling Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL)’s Nuclear Laboratories.
Government of Canada said this process will help inform the restructuring process, a critical step to further strengthen Canada’s nuclear industry while reducing taxpayers’ exposure to financial risks in this sector.
AECL’s Nuclear Laboratories include two main sites: Chalk River Laboratories (CRL), located in Ontario, and Whiteshell Laboratories, located at Pinawa, Manitoba…….
http://news.techfinance.ca/government-of-canada-to-unload-aecl-laboratories/
5 million signed anti nuclear petition – enough for referenda in 2 Japanese cities
Japanese Anti-Nuclear Campaign Says It Has 5 Million Petition Signatures, VOA, 08 February 2012 Steve Herman | Tokyo A citizen’s group in Japan says it has collectedfive million signatures – halfway to its goal – on a petition calling on the government to permanently shut down all nuclear power plants in the country.
But amid traditional apathy among Japanese toward political movements and longstanding strong ties between power companies and lawmakers in a resource-poor country, anti-nuclear
campaigners are acknowledging an uphill struggle….
Petitioners in Tokyo and Osaka separately say they have collected enough signatures
for referenda in Japan’s two largest cities. But it is unclear if those campaigns will clear all the legal hurdles to get on the ballot. Read more »
Brazil postpones its nuclear power project
Brazil delays nuclear plans after Japan disaster RIO DE JANEIRO (MarketWatch) Feb. 8, 2012, – Brazil’s plans to build four new nuclear power plants have been delayed by about 18 months following last year’s accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan, an official of Brazilian state-owned nuclear power company Eletronuclear said Wednesday….
France in financial problem, with all its energy eggs in the nuclear basket
presidential contender Holland now says that he would only close the nation’s oldest such nuclear plant in his first five years in office……
Critics say that the billions it will cost to make such [necessary safety] upgrades is money that could otherwise be spent developing the country’s green energy program.
French Nuclear Debate Ignites Amidst Presidential Race, Forbes, 2/08/2012 Japan’s nuclear tragedy is igniting a debate in France , which generates more than three-quarters of its electricity from nuclear energy. And while that nation’s presidential candidates are squaring off on the issue, an independent audit agency there may have settled the dispute for them. Read more »
England’s Conservative Party – a shambles of Climate Change Denialists
In the main, the Tories are a coalition of climate change sceptics ….. Despite the fact that 60 per cent of voters think it is ‘right’ to ‘subsidise wind farms to encourage more use of wind power’.
Far from being ‘intermittent’ wind turbines operate between 70-80 per cent of the time, currently providing power for the equivalent of 3.3 million homes.
Climate change sceptics and rural romantics – the Tories are a shambles on renewable energy Left Foot Forward, by Kevin Meagher, February 7th 2012 It took less than 24 hours from the resignation of Chris Huhne for the Tories to strike. A hundred and one Tory backbenchers have written to David Cameron calling for an end to public subsidies designed to support Britain’s wind power industry.
They claim that subsidies should be drastically cut and draft planning guidance strengthened to make it easier for objectors to block wind farm schemes. Read more »
Call for independent radiation monitoring of nuclear plant in San Clemente
Group Wants New Radiation Monitors In San Clemente, Concerns About ‘Information Flow’ From San Onofre Nuclear Plant, KPBS, February 7, 2012, By Ed Joyce, Inspectors at the plant are trying to find signs of a leak at the Unit 3 reactor. The leak forcedSouthern California Edison, which operates the facility, to take the reactor offline. The other reactor, Unit 2, was already offline for scheduled maintenance and refueling.
……..members of an environmental group want the San Clemente City Council to demand public release of inspection findings before the two reactors are restarted.
Gary Headrick is the founder of San Clemente Green. He plans to bring up several items at tonight’s San Clemente City Council meeting.
“We have some immediate concerns about wanting to get an independent radiation monitoring system in San Clemente,” said Headrick. “That way we won’t have to rely on the sources from the industry to tell the public exactly what’s going on. Maybe they have a conflict of interest and they don’t want to share all the information right away, that’s what we saw happen in Japan and information was delayed getting to the public.”
He also wants the City of San Clemente to pay for an epidemiological study of cancer trends near the nuclear plant…… http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/feb/07/group-wants-new-radiation-monitors-san-clemente/
Progress Energy to continue getting nuclear advance, “dumb money”, from customers
Senators reject efforts to repeal so-called ‘nuclear tax’, Miami Herald, 7 Feb 12, Some call it a nuclear tax. Others call it a fee. Whatever the name, Florida legislators decided Monday they don’t want to take it off the electricity bills of Progress Energy and Florida Power & Light customers — even though the companies gave legislators no guarantees that they will build the nuclear plants the money is being collected to construct.
The Senate Communications, Energy and Utilities Committee voted down a proposal by Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, Monday to repeal the so-called nuclear cost recovery clause embedded in customer bills. Read more »
Virginia Uranium’ s lavish gifts to law-makers
Va. Uranium tops in 2011 gifts to state lawmakers, By David Sherfinski-The Washington Times, February 7, 2012 Virginia Uranium, which is pushing to mine a 119 million-pound deposit in southside Pittsyvania County, gave more than $120,000 in gifts and trips last year to state lawmakers — tops in Virginia — according to figures released Tuesday by the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project.
Lawmakers reported receiving a total of nearly a quarter million dollars’ worth of gifts.
The top five donors were Va. Uranium ($120,336) , Dominion Power ($16,916), Jonnie R. Williams Sr ($15,233). Alexander B. McMurtrie Jr. ($12,322) and the State of Taiwan ($11,000.)
Virginia Uranium flew 15 lawmakers to examine mines on fact-finding missions in France and/or Canada. Read more »
Lynas rare earths company suits greedy politicians, not the Malaysian people
Lynas plant a done deal from the start , malaysiakini, Feb 7, 2012 “……Manjit Bhatia: These protests against Lynas are very worthwhile. The Lynas project should never have been given the green light in the first place, let alone a temporary licence by the Umno-BN regime.
What’s really galling is that the regime went ahead with the latter despite Lynas failing to provide all of the mandatory guarantees needed. Worse, though: were there any public consultations about the project to start with? I feel the protests at Lynas aren’t big enough to put sufficient political pressure on the company to reconsider its operations…..
Although Malaysians have to cop a huge compensation bill to Lynas, it’ll be worth it. Just wear the fiscal pain for a decade.
Pemerhati: This is the price Malaysians pay for electing corrupt and greedy Umno thieves as their leaders……
CiViC: The concern now is exposing our people, our land to radioactive waste, radiation and pollution. This is not the people’s needs.
Thousands of people have protested, and still the dirty corrupt BN government pushes it through. And please don’t start with economic gains and such bull, there are no gains here since Lynas needs not pay tax, and the guarantee they have posted is not even enough to clean the plant itself, what more pollution beyond that…. http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/188438
Russia is privatising its State nuclear corporation Rosatom
Russia Prepares Privatization of State Nuclear Giant Rosatom, Publics BG 6 Feb 12, Russia has compiled a plan for the reorganisation of each state holding company and their subsequent entry into the market Having spent five years combining its nuclear power, engineering and research enterprises into the single entity of Rosatom, the Russian government now sees privatisation of the firm as part of a plan for industrial modernisation…
… its civil nuclear assets – for example nuclear fuel, reactor technology, supply chain, power plant operation, services and waste management – are to become a “public liability
company” with its shares “subsequently sold off….
….. Rosatom had a preliminary agreement with Siemens to partner in nuclear energy in
2009, but this faltered and in 2011 it signed with Rolls-Royce to consider possibilities “for mutually beneficial cooperation in a comprehensive series of activities in Russia, the UK and third countries.”, World Nuclear News reported. http://www.publics.bg/en/news/7037/Russia_Prepares_Privatization_of_State_Nuclear_Giant_Rosatom.html
Lynas rare earths company and Malaysia’s general election
Rare earth plant and general election 2012-02-03 , By LIM SUE GOAN Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE Sin Chew Daily, 6 Feb 2012, “……….Since the AELB has granted the Lynas a temporary operating licence (TOL), Lynas should have complied with the 11 recommendations made by the IAEA. The authority has also listed another five extra conditions under the TOL, including a detailed plan for a permanent disposal facility (PDF), to avoid repeating a similar waste disposal issue of the Bukit Merah rare earth plant.
However, why is Lynas given 10 months after the TOL’s issuance date to submit the plans and location of the PDF? In addition, the authority also has the right to appoint independent consultants to evaluate Lynas’ adherence to the set standards and regulations. Does it mean that the government may suspend the plant’s operation, if the conditions are found broken?
Also, Lynas must comply with the financial assurance condition by paying the government a US$50 million security bond in installments. However, it is not the main concern as the people’s health is priceless. With Lynas’ financial strength, US$50 million is nothing.
Would the anti-Lynas protest groups compromise after so much have been done by the government? Would the MCA and Chinese community groups change their stand? From the attitude of the Anti-Lynas groups and the public response, the Bukit Merah rare earth plant tragedy seems to be still clear in their minds. Under the international trend of concern over environmental issues, it is quite impossible to eliminate the opposition voices from the public.
The people resist even high-tension cables, telecommunication towers and garbage incinerator, how would they tolerate a rare earth plant that could bring radiation problems?
In addition, the authorities have left some doubts in dealing with the issue. For example, why the construction work of the plant was not suspended during the period when Lynas is required to fully comply with the 11 recommendations put forward by the IAEA? The progress of the construction work of the Mount Weld plant in Western Australia has even gone beyond expectation. Lynas had also constantly announced the date of operation, seemed like it was very sure of being granted an operation licence.
The uproar might be avoidable if the government has high credibility and supervision efficiency, which are also the key of the issue. http://www.mysinchew.com/node/69705
Although the Lynas rare earth plant is the world’s largest rare earth plant with the capacity to meet a fifth of the world’s demand, the people’s health is still the most important issue. The rare earth plant issue will be a thorny issue for the election.
TEPCO and Japan’s nuclear lobby under siege from Tokyo’s mayor
Anti-Nuclear Tokyo Mayor Challenges Big Utilities, WSJ, By George Nishiyama, 6 Feb 12, Tokyo’s Setagaya ward is over 260 km away from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, a long way from the evacuation area imposed bythe Japanese government after last year’s March 11 disasters….
But Setagaya’s mayor is determined to turn this city ward of 840,000 people, the largest in Tokyo, into the front-runner of a movement that will put an end to Japan’s reliance on atomic power and accelerate the use of renewable energy. Read more »
Nuclear power plans on the back burner in Southeast Asia
In Malaysia, the government has quietly put a proposal to build two 1,000 MW nuclear power plants “on the back burner,” said a senior government source.
The decision came after environmentalists targeted a plan by Australian rare earths miner Lynas Corp to commission a processing plant in central Malaysia that would have to dispose of radioactive waste….
Analysis: Southeast Asia goes slow on nuclear, Reuters, By John Ruwitch HANOI Feb 2, 2012 ”…..Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore are among some 35 countries considering going down the nuclear path, likely doubling the number of operational reactors in the next few decades, according to Lloyds Register.
But even the most ambitious plans will run up against barriers and constraints. In most Southeast Asian countries where there is interest in nuclear power, politics are holding it back. Indonesia’s National Atomic Energy Agency has been researching reactors for more than four decades and preparing the human resources, but the political will is lacking. 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
-
Archives
- February 2012 (126)
- January 2012 (259)
- December 2011 (274)
- November 2011 (331)
- October 2011 (249)
- September 2011 (272)
- August 2011 (249)
- July 2011 (227)
- June 2011 (195)
- May 2011 (286)
- April 2011 (336)
- March 2011 (295)
-
Categories
- 1
- 1 NUCLEAR ISSUES
- business and costs
- climate change
- ENERGY
- environment
- health
- history
- indigenous issues
- Legal
- marketing of nuclear
- media
- opposition to nuclear
- people
- politics
- politics international
- Religion and ethics
- safety and incidents
- secrets,lies and civil liberties
- spinbuster
- technology
- Uranium
- wastes
- weapons and war
- 2 WORLD
- ACTION
- AFRICA
- AUSTRALIA
- Christina background info
- Christina's notes
- Christina's themes
- general
- Reference
- resources – print
- Resources -audiovicual
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
