Despite Fukushima, USA inexplicably weakening its nuclear emergency procedures
The latest changes, especially relaxed exercise plans for 50-mile emergency zones, are being flayed by some local planners and activists who say the widespread contamination in Japan from last year’s Fukushima nuclear accident screams out for stronger planning in the United States, not weaker rules……
Evacs and drills pared near nuke plants, Bloomberg, By JEFF DONN, 17 May 12, Without fanfare, the nation’s nuclear power regulators have overhauled community emergency planning for the first time in more than three decades, requiring fewer exercises for major accidents and recommending that fewer people be evacuated right away.
The revamp, the first since the program began after Three Mile Island in 1979, also eliminates a requirement that local responders always practice for a release of radiation.
At least four years in the works, the changes appear to clash with more recent lessons of last year’s reactor crisis in Japan. Read more »
San Onofre nuclear plant – far from safe
Fairewinds report blasts safety claims at San Onofre nuclear plant 89.3 KPCC, | By Lisa Brenner , 15 May 12, San Onofre is twisting in the breeze of the new Fairewinds safety report released by activist group Friends of the Earth.
The study raises serious doubts about safety at the Southern California nuclear facility, and says running at reduced power will not solve the tubing trouble that has plagued the plant.
Southern California Edison recently disclosed a tentative plan to run the twin reactors at an unspecified lower power, at least for several months.
Engineers believed reduced power would ease the vibration causing the unusual deterioration of tubes inside the steam generators.
The Fairewinds report, however, says running at reduced power may actually make the damage worse and increase the possibility of cascading safety failures.
The report also expands a previous allegation that Edison misled federal regulators about modifications to the generators. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) disputes that claim….. http://www.scpr.org/blogs/news/2012/05/15/6127/fairewinds-report-blows-steam-generator-safety-cla/
‘Thrill-seeking’ nuclear reactor operator hijacks car
Authorities: Nuclear engineer sought ‘thrill’ in DuPage hijacking Daily Herald, 5/11/2012 A man who operates reactors at a nuclear power plant was “thrill seeking” when he put on a mask and hijacked a woman’s car at gunpoint, DuPage County authorities said Friday. Read more »
Anarchist’s attack on nuclear executive in Italy
The letter takes aim at Adinolfi, calling him a “sorcerer of the atomic industry” and criticising him for claiming in an interview that none of the deaths during the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in 2011 were due to nuclear incidents.
“Adinolfi knows well that it is only a matter of time before a European Fukushima kills on our continent,” the letter stated.
Italian anarchists kneecap nuclear executive and threaten more shootings Group named after Greek anarchist warns it will strike seven more times at nuclear firm’s parent company, Finmeccanica, Tom Kington in Rome guardian.co.uk, 11 May 2012 An anarchist group claimed responsibility on Friday for kneecapping an Italian nuclear engineering executive and warned it would strike another seven times at the firm’s parent company, Finmeccanica. Read more »
Offline nuclear reactors still dangerous, need constant cooling
News Navigator: What danger is still posed by offline nuclear reactors? Answers by Taku Nishikawa, Science & Environment News Department The Mainichi, 8 May 12, As of May 5, all nuclear reactors in Japan were offline. The Mainichi answers common questions readers may have about the safety and dangers of offline nuclear plants.
Question: With the reactors offline, has the danger of nuclear accidents disappeared?
Answer: The danger is likely less than while the reactors are running, but it still exists. Nuclear plants make power by turning turbines with the heat from the chained fission of Uranium-235 in nuclear fuel.
This chained fission is stopped in an offline reactor, but fuel rods continue to release “decay heat” as various unstable nuclei created during the reactors’ operation until now naturally break down. This decay heat has to continually be removed.
Q: What will happen if it is not removed? Read more »
Damaged South Korean nuclear reactor to shut down for 2 years
Uljin Nuclear Reactor Faces 2-Year Shutdown The Chosunilbo, 10 May 12, Additional faults have been detected in the No. 4 reactor at the Uljin Nuclear Power Plant, which has been undergoing repairs, and a complete shutdown now seems inevitable……..
Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Corporation has found that damage in the No. 4 reactor, where operations were halted due to defects in the machine that condensates steam from the turbine, is more serious than expected and tentatively decided to replace the steam generator.
Replacing it will take one or two years, so the reactor will not operate until at least next summer. It generates 1 million kW, or the capacity of two thermal power stations. …
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2012/05/10/2012051001397.html
Edison company backs off about re-opening San Onofre nuclear plant
VIDEO http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/05/san-onofre-nuclear-plant-backs-away-from-reopening-date.html. San Onofre nuclear plant backs away from reopening date L.A. Times, May 9, 2012 Southern California Edison backed off from comments made last week by one of its executives, who said the company hopes to have the San Onofre nuclear plant — shuttered due to equipment issues — back online and operating at a reduced capacity in
June….
NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko released a statement Monday, saying the agency has yet to receive a written statement from Edison to say the required steps have been taken to investigate and make a plan to fix the issues at the plant and “any discussion of a date for
the restart of Unit 2 or Unit 3 is clearly premature.”
The plant has been shuttered for more than three months because of problems with excessive wear in steam generator tubes. On Tuesday, Edison reported it has taken about 1,300 tubes out of service because of wear — 510 in Unit 2 and 807 in Unit 3 – representing a little more than 3% of the total number of tubes in the plant, and a higher number than the company had previously reported…….
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/05/san-onofre-nuclear-plant-backs-away-from-reopening-date.html.
The risk of weakening safety standards at USA nuclear weapons facilities
Don’t let foxes guard our nuclear henhouse THE HILL, By Katherine M. Fuchs, program director, Alliance for Nuclear Accountability - 05/09/12 Today the House Armed Services Committee will debate the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), possibly overturning 25 years of safety standards at our nation’s weapons facilities. During this debate members of this committee will have a choice – they can protect communities around nuclear sites and the employees who work there or they can go on record as turning their back on those safety standards.
There are several sections of the NDAA that relate directly to nuclear safety and pose a threat to security. Perhaps the most troubling aspect of this bill is the fact that it would overturn the “adequate protection standard” that has guided nuclear safety oversight for over two decades. Read more »
Japan’s idle nuclear reactors still need huge electricity to keep them safe
The end of nuclear, CLIMATE SPECTATOR, Matthew Wright , 8 May 2012 “………When they get too old to operate safely or get shut early due to disaster they still need to be propped up on life support, to manage the site cleanup, to manage their waste and to cool that waste.
In fact right now, Japan’s 54 idled reactors are using the electricity equivalent to the output of three entire reactors, just to provide cooling and other critical services. These will need to go on being delivered to the sites for years even if the reactors are to be completely decommissioned.
That means that nuclear reactors are competing with hospitals, schools and factories for scarce electricity supplies. Due to inherent safety risks, the reactors get power ahead of everyone else in the country. It doesn’t matter if you’re in an emergency ward needing urgent medical attention to save your life, the reactors’ safety comes first……
http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/nuclear-power-and-Japan-end-of-nuclear-Fukushima-d-pd20120508-U3UUW?opendocument&src=rss
New Vogtle nuclear reactor – delays and unexpected costs
Utility: Building schedule slips on Ga. nuke plant The Telegraph, Middle Georgia, By RAY HENRY — Associated Press May 9, 2012 The timeline for building a first-of-its-kind nuclear plant in Georgia has slipped seven months, while the Southern Co. faces a dispute over who should pay for $400 million in unanticipated costs, utility executives said Wednesday. Read more »
Japan is no further on in getting new nuclear regulator
it would lead to problems in the future if the government rushes to restart Japan’s nuclear reactors without changing the current framework, in which the nuclear regulator is under the auspices of its promoter, the industry ministry.
New nuclear regulatory agency still up in air, Mainichi, 7 May 12 TOKYO (Kyodo) — Japan entered a rare period on Sunday of having no nuclear power supply following last year’s
Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant disaster, without seeing much progress on shaping a new nuclear regulatory agency that could play a key role in addressing public concerns over the safety of atomic power.
The government plans to establish a new agency under the Environment Ministry amid criticism that the existing Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency lacks teeth because it is under the umbrella of the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry, a promoter of nuclear power.
But parliamentary deliberations on a bill submitted by the government to launch the new agency on April 1 have not yet started and the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party has complained that the organization’s independence would not be sufficiently secure under the government plan. Read more »
Nuclear physicist plotted terrorist attack
Nuclear researcher sentenced in France for plotting attack (Reuters) 4 May 12, - A Paris court sentenced a Franco-Algerian nuclear physicist to five years in prison on Friday on charges of helping to plot an attack in France in 2009 with an al Qaeda militant in Algeria.
Adlene Hicheur, 35, a former researcher at the prestigious CERN physics lab in Geneva, was found guilty of providing logistical advice to Mustapha Debchi, a militant for al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), using encrypted messages sent via the Internet.
Hicheur said he had been charged over his opinions rather than his acts, but prosecutors called him a “technical attack adviser” and said he had provided Debchi with a terrorist manual….. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/04/us-france-crime-idUSBRE8431CK20120504
Apprehension in Kansas about radioactive waste shipments
Kansas regulates radioactive-waste shipments far more loosely than nearby Missouri, Iowa and other Midwestern states through which such waste travels
No one who ships nuclear waste through Kansas is required to tell state authorities of their plans
More nuclear waste headed to Kansas, By Gene Meyer | Kansas Reporter, 4 May 12, FAIRWAY — Missouri lawmakers may relax their state’s monitoring of radioactive-waste haulers, a move that worries some Kansans. Read more »
Savannah River Nuclear Site – inadequate radiation protection
NRC: SRS Saltstone facility’s radiation exposure may exceed limit in 10K years Aiken Standard 5/4/2012 By ANNA DOLIANITIS – Staff writer - email:adolianitis@aikenstandard.com A recent report released by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission expressed concern that the Saltstone Disposal Facility at the Savannah River Site may not meet the standards to prevent radiation exposure to the Site’s surrounding population in the long term….. Read more »
At critical time, San Diego radiation monitor was not working
San Diego Radiation Monitor Not Working During Fukushima Crisis, Audit Reveals San Diego Reader, Matt Potter, May 3, 2012 An April 19 audit by the Inspector General of the United States Environmental Protection Agency has revealed that major components of the government’s radiation monitoring and reporting system, including an air sampling device in San Diego, were not functioning during last year’s Fukushima nuclear plant meltdown in Japan.
“On March 11, 2011, at the time of the Japan nuclear incident, 25 of the 124 installed RadNet monitors, or 20 percent, were out of service for an average of 130 days,” auditors said.
San Diego’s monitoring device was one of 11 said to be out of service for more than 140 days, according to the findings….. http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/news-ticker/2012/may/03/san-diego-radiation-monitor-not-working-during-fuk/
1 THIS MONTH
- http://ifyoulovethisplanet.org/?p=5755 Mary Olson on how women are more vulnerable to atomic radiation
http://soundcloud.com/flashpoints/flashpoints-daily-newsmag-05-6Fukushima reactor 4 still threatens the world Dr. Micio Kaku
of the week http://www.youtube.com/user/GoddardsJournal
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San Onofre: Bad Vibrations http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP7e83MErWw&feature=share - Low-Dose Radiation ☢ NEW A-Bomb Study http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VAncqK6bl0&feature=share
“Pay-to-print”: How Media Corruption Undermines Indian Democracy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbjsQ_dYuJQ&feature=share
- VIDEO http://vimeo.com/35212151 Cancer Risk To Young Children Near Fukushima Daiichi Underestimated
- and this VIDEO Kazakhstan’s Nuclear Legacy http://www.euronews.com/2010/04/14/kazakhstan-s-nuclear-legacy/
ACTION
USA EMERGENCY PLANNING PETITION NOW OPEN FOR PUBLIC COMMENT
PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS IN FAVOR OF EXPANDING EMERGENCY PLANNING ZONES; IMPROVING REGULATIONS The deadline for public comments is July 16, 2012. You can submit your comments here. more information at http://nuclear-news.net/action/
- Shut down the nuclear restart. Sign now!! http://www.avaaz.org/en/japan_no_to_nuclear_restart_ms/
- Stop Kudankulam - Please sign http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5502/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=10090 –
EVENTS – USA
- May 31 - Portland, Maine, Bonnie Raitt benefit concert for New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution
The Nuclear Industry and WOMEN- theme for May 2012
Although women have rarely been part of decision-making about nuclear power, they have been at the forefront in opposing it.Women in organisations Strongly present in anti-nuclear activities in peace, environmental, religious and civil liberties, women have also formed their own anti-nuclear organisations . e.g. Women’s International League For Peace and Freedom, Women For Peace. Women Against Nuclear Power, Women Against Nuclear Energy,
“When it comes to opposing nuclear power in Finland, the toughest and most active and conspicuous resistance has been among women. A rather small group of women working as teachers, freelance editors, authors and in rather alternative professions. Women who perfectly well are aware of the fact that they are far too radical to be promoted for high posts within traditional parties or getting well-paying jobs in some big companies. Women who are not trying to reach equality on male values. These women have kept the resistance alive, have invited foreign speakers getting through in the mass media, have arranged post-card campaigns aiming at parliamentarians, have written inserts in daily newspapers, have collected signatures from organizations worldwide against nuclear power, etc.
If women had been asked if nuclear power should be used for energy production or if nuclear weapons should be produced there would hardly be any nuclear power stations in the world and no nuclear weapons. Women represent half of humanity. Our voice must be heard! “- Ulla Klötzer WISE – Nuclear issues information service service
Below, a note on some of the courageous women who have stood out against the nuclear forces and apologies for the thousands of such women who are not mentioned here
Dr Helen Caldicott. - Australia and The World. The single most articulate and passionate advocate of citizen action to remedy the nuclear and environmental crises, Dr Helen Caldicott, has devoted the last 38 years to an international campaign to educate the public about the medical hazards of the nuclear age and the necessary changes in human behavior to stop environmental destruction. Helen Caldicott – About
Jean McSorley. – UK. A prolific writer and activist, Jean McSorley has advised government and environmental organisations, in the UK and abroad, for many years revealing the facts about Sellafield, and other UK nuclear facilities.
Her MajestyQueen Noor ofJordan is an international humanitarian activist and an outspoken voice on issues of world peace and justice. Today Her Majesty Queen Noor plays a major role in promoting international exchange and understanding of Arab and Muslim culture and politics, Arab-Western relations, and conflict prevention. Queen Noor | Global Zero
Ulla Klötzer - Finland. A powerful speaker and writer, Ulla Klötzer continues to oppose uranium mining, nuclear proliferation, and to expose the construction of Finlands reactor, Olkiluto OL 3 – the biggest nuclear reactor in the world.
Satomi Oba –Japan. Another leading voice for non-proliferation and disarmament was Japan’s Satomi Oba, former president of Plutonium Action Hiroshima and chair member of the international non-proliferation movement Abolition 2000. For decades before her untimely death in February 2005, Oba organized grassroots events, spoke to international groups and broke ground for other activists
Dianne Stokes – Australia An Aboriginal elder of the Yapa Yapa clan, which owns land at Muckaty in the Northern Territory, has for years continued the fight against the Australian government’s plan to put a nuclear waste dump on Aboriginal land, – resisting enormous pressure from powerful interests and politicians Toxic feelings at proposed nuclear dump – National – smh.com.au
Jean Grossholtz – (USA) Professor emeritus at the Dept. of Women’s Studies, Mt. Holyoke College, Jean helped organize the Women’s Pentagon Action (1980-82) and has long been active in peace and social justice work.
Ellen Diederich –Germany A peace activist for more than three decades, Ellen Diederich is Director of the German-based International Fasia Jansen Women’s Peace Archive, an extensive collection of books, print, audio-visual and artistic resources on women and militarism and women’s action for peace, world-wide, collected over 25 years.
Corazon Valdez Fabros - Philippines A lawyer by profession, Corazon Fabros is Chairperson of the Pacific Concerns Resource Centre (the Secretariat of the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Movement) and Secretary General of the Nuclear Free Philippines Coalition, which led the successful campaign to stop the nuclear power plant projects in the Philippines . Currently Philippine Coordinator of the No Nukes Asia Forum and the International Network on Military Activities and Environmental Justice.
Karen Silkwood remembered In 1974, US anti-nuclear activist Karen Silkwood was killed in a car crash many suspect was deliberately caused by the Kerr McGee nuclear company.Karen Silkwood will be remembered as someone who fought an uphill and often unpopular battle against the ruthless nuclear industry. She is an inspiration to all who believe in environmental justice and workers’ rights BY SHARYN JENKINS. Karen Silkwood remembered | Green Left Weekly
Much of the material here was obtained from Women and Life on Earth: English by Anna Gyorgy, Women & Life on Earth Network coordinator, English website editor. Contact: info(at)wloe.org
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