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

With nuclear industry’s uncertain future, uranium miners cut back production

Nuclear Uncertainty Causes Uranium Production Pullback The Bedford Report Provides Investment Research on Denison Mines & First Uranium 16 June NEW YORK, NY–(Marketwire – Jun 15, 2011) – Uranium spot prices are facing downward pressure this month amidst uncertainty regarding global nuclear demand. These consumption worries have led several uranium explorers to slash production estimates going forward. The Bedford Report examines the outlook for companies in the Uranium Sector and provides equity research on Denison Mines Corporation (NYSE Amex: DNN) (TSX: DML) and First Uranium Corporation (TSX: FIU)…….http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/nuclear-uncertainty-causes-uranium-production-pullback-nyse-amex-dnn-1526989.htm

June 16, 2011 Posted by | Uranium | Leave a comment

South Africa moves radioactive wastes to Northern Cape

Low-level nuclear waste moved to Northern Cape, Mail & Guardian JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – Jun 15 2011 Low-level radioactive waste packages accumulated from the 1960s at the Nuclear Energy Corporation South Africa (Necsa) in the North West have been removed to a waste disposal site, the corporation said on Wednesday. ….The trip to Vaalputs took two days over about 1 200km…..http://mg.co.za/article/2011-06-15-lowlevel-nuclear-waste-moved-to-northern-cape/

June 16, 2011 Posted by | South Africa, wastes | Leave a comment

34000 Japanese children to wear radiation badges, as “hot spots” found

Fukushima’sPlan  To Put Radiation Badges on Children Not pleasing parents NPR by MARK MEMMOTT  15 June 11 The news that the city of Fukushima, Japan, plans to give badge-like dosimeters to 34,000 children in September — to gauge how much radiation they’re exposed to from the nearby nuclear power plant that was crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami — isn’t sitting well with some parents. ..As Lucy Craft reported forMorning Edition, those parents say the government should be evacuating everyone 18 and under and any woman who is pregnant, not waiting three more months and then only issuing badges that will be checked one a month to determine exposure.

But, as Reuters reports today, the nuclear plant “is estimated to have released just 15 percent of the radiation at Chernobyl, but a complicated software modeling system created by the government to predict where the radiation would drift proved useless.” So-called hot spots are showing up hundreds of miles away

About 40 miles from the crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant, Fukushima City (population 300,000) is outside the Japanese government’s 12-mile “no-go zone” around that facility…..  http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/06/15/137195386/fukushimas-plan-to-put-radiation-badges-on-children-not-pleasing-parents

June 16, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Radioactive cesium found in whales off Japanese coast

Whales in Japan Could Face Radiation Poisoning Gamut News 15 June 11 Japan is reporting that two whales, caught by whalers there along the northern coast, had traces of radiation assumed to come from leaks at the damaged nuclear power plant. Out of a total of 17 whales caught off the Pacific coast of Hokkaido, two showed traces of radioactive cesium…..http://gamutnews.com/20110615/25100/whales-in-japan-could-face-radiation-poisoning.html

June 15, 2011 |

June 16, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Pictures of planned sarcophagus for Fukushima nuclear reactor

PICTURES Fukushima entombed: Nuclear firm reveal how it plans to put a covering shield over reactor to stop leaks By DAILY MAIL   15th June 2011

  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2003901/Fukushima-entombed-Nuclear-firm-reveal-plans-covering-shield-reactor-stop-leaks.html#ixzz1POAlcnht

The is the first picture of the giant polyester cover Japanese nuclear scientists hope will shield the doomed Fukushima reactor No.1.

The giant construction will be built by the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) as part of a bid to stem dangerous radiation being released into the atmosphere.

TEPCO said that it would start to build a giant cover shield around the No.1 reactor building on June 27, as a temporary measure to prevent further release of radioactive substances into the atmosphere.

Fukushima entombed: Nuclear firm reveal how it plans to put a covering shield over reactor to stop leaks By DAILY MAIL 15th June 2011 The is the first picture of the giant polyester cover Japanese nuclear scientists hope will shield the doomed Fukushima reactor No.1.

The giant construction will be built by the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) as part of a bid to stem dangerous radiation being released into the atmosphere.

TEPCO said that it would start to build a giant cover shield around the No.1 reactor building on June 27, as a temporary measure to prevent further release of radioactive substances into the atmosphere.

June 16, 2011 Posted by | Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s poor record on fire safety

According to NRC records, there have been at least 154 fires at nuclear plants since 1995, an average of 10 a year. On June 7, a fire at the Fort Calhoun nuclear plant in Nebraska temporarily knocked out cooling to a pool holding spent fuel at the site, prompting an emergency declaration.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chief Blasts Agency’s Approach to Fire Safety by John Sullivan,   ProPublica June 15 In a forceful critique of his agency’s approach toward fire safety, the chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission declared that the policy of not enforcing most fire code violations at dozens of nuclear plants is “unacceptable” and has tied the hands of NRC inspectors. Continue reading

June 16, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | 2 Comments

The menace of humanity’s growing environmental footprint

Are we all doomed?, New Statesman, Martin Rees,11 June 11 “…….We have entered an era when human beings pose a greater threat than nature to the earth’s future. This started with the invention of nuclear weapons. Robert McNamara, US defence secretary during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, later said: “We came within a hair’s-breadth of nuclear war without realising it. It’s no credit to us that we escaped – [Nikita] Khrushchev and [John F] Kennedy were lucky, as well as wise.”
The threat of global nuclear annihilation involving tens of thousands of bombs has been in abeyance since the end of the cold war. But, in future decades, a global political realignment could lead to a stand-off between new superpowers which could be handled less well or less luckily than the Cuban crisis was. In the meantime, there is more risk than ever that smaller nuclear arsenals will be used in a regional context, or even by terrorists……
Humankind’s collective footprint is growing. It may irreversibly degrade our environment as our numbers grow and we each consume more. Advanced technology threatens us with other vulnerabilities…….
“The bells which toll for mankind, are – most of them, anyway – like the bells on Alpine cattle; they are attached to our own necks and it must be our fault if they do not make a cheerful and harmonious sound.”
New Statesman – Are we all doomed?

June 14, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

94% vote against nuclear energy in Italy’s referendum

a historic result. …The expected majority against nuclear power was 94%……The outcome was a huge success for the anti-nuclear movement in the world’s first nationwide vote on the issue since Japan’s Fukushima disaster….”The era of nuclear [energy] is coming to an end today….”

Berlusconi’s nuclear power plans crushed Referendums see huge votes against PM’s plans – a second setback in under two weeks John Hooper in Rome,guardian.co.uk,   13 June 2011  The anti-nuclear movement won a crushing victory in Italy on Monday when well over 90% of voters rejected Silvio Berlusconi‘s plans for a return to nuclear power generation.

The result represented an overwhelming setback for the prime minister, who had tried to thwart the outcome by discouraging Italians from taking part. Continue reading

June 14, 2011 Posted by | Italy, politics | Leave a comment

Anger of Japanese as thousands protest against nuclear power

AUDIO Thousands protest against nuclear power in Japan, ABC Radio AM Mark Willacy reported this story on Monday, June 13, 2011 “…MARK WILLACY: Marching on the headquarters of the Tokyo Electric Power Company, thousands of Japanese rallied against nuclear power in one of the biggest demonstrations since the triple disaster.”I’m really worried that my children’s kids will be born with defects,” says Yu Matsuda, holding her young daughter.

“I have no choice but to live in the radiation zone even though it’s dangerous,” says school teacher Yoshihisa Satou.

Last week, radioactive strontium-90 was found as far away as 60 kilometres from the crippled Fukushima plant. And that’s a particular worry, because strontium has a half-life of 30 years and is known as a bone-seeker because it can cause bone cancer and leukaemia.  And now radioactive caesium above legal limits has been detected in tea, grown in Shizuoka more than 350 kilometres away from the nuclear plant….
AM – Thousands protest against nuclear power in Japan 13/06/2011

June 14, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Fukushima Investigation Panel might be taken over by Nuclear Industry

the possibility of METI officials renewing their push for control of the panel. With Kan expected to step down in the near future, the energy mandarins may still have their way. ( Image below from Japan Nuclear Industry Trying To Hijack Fukushima Investigation Panel  )

Japan Nuclear Industry Trying To Hijack Fukushima Investigation Panel by Alexander Higgins – June 13, 2011 Japan’s largest newspaper is reporting that bureaucrats associated with the nuclear industry in Japan are trying to hijack the Fukushima investigation panel.

While the prime minister has rebuked their first attempt, he is expected to step down any time now at which point they will try to take it over again. METI tried to gain influence over Fukushima panel Asashi Shimbum 2011/06/12 – BY SHINJI MURAMATSU Continue reading

June 14, 2011 Posted by | Japan, politics | Leave a comment

For first time,U.S. utilities name nuclear wastes as their top worry

While respondents of the annual survey have cited nuclear waste disposal and storage as a concern in the past, respondents ranked it as a top concern for the first time this year,

US Utilities Concerned About Water, Nuclear Waste Disposal – Study WSJ, DOW JONES NEWSWIRES,-By Cassandra Sweet, * JUNE 13, 2011 U.S. utilities are increasingly concerned about adequate water supply and nuclear waste disposal and storage, Continue reading

June 14, 2011 Posted by | business and costs | Leave a comment

Deception and mistrust crippled Japan’s response to Fukushima disaster

many of the residents around the plant who evacuated went north, on the assumption that winds blew south during winter in that area. That took them directly into the radioactive plume, he said — exposing them to the very radiation that they were fleeing….

In Nuclear Crisis, Crippling Mistrust NYT, By NORIMITSU ONISHI and MARTIN FACKLER, June 12, 2011 “…..it became clear that a prime minister who had built his career on suspicion of the collusive ties between Japan’s industry and bureaucracy was acting nearly in the dark. He had received a confusing risk analysis from the chief nuclear regulator, a fervently pro-nuclear academic whom aides said Mr. Kan did not trust. He was also wary of the company that operated the plant, given its history of trying to cover up troubles… Continue reading

June 14, 2011 Posted by | Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Over-exposure to radiation- six more Fukushima workers reported

Six more Tepco staff exposed beyond limit | The Japan Times Online June 14, 2011 Radiated workers may be drop in Fukushima bucket Kyodo Six more workers involved in efforts to contain the nuclear crisis at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 power plant are feared to have been exposed to radiation above the emergency limit, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Monday. Continue reading

June 14, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Threat of nuclear war and ecological calamity is not diminishing

“One Week on Earth” – Michael Tobias – Green Conversations – Forbes 13 June 11 “…..Sweden: A new report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute declares that with over 5,000 nuclear weapons ready for use just within the U.S., Russia, France and Britain – and a total of 20,530 nuclear weapons known to exist – the threat of nuclear war is not diminishing. A single mad person, with the stroke of a key, could cause the greatest ecological calamity since the extinction of the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago….
“One Week on Earth” – Michael Tobias – Green Conversations – Forbes

June 14, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Public kept in the dark as Taiwan passes unpopular pro nuclear budget

Green Citizen Action Alliance secretary-general Tsuei Su-hsin (崔愫欣) said it was undemocratic for legislators to arbitrarily pass the huge budget when many of the details are kept secret from the public, not to mention barring citizens from observing the voting process from inside the legislature.

Lawmakers pass new nuclear funding,  Taipei Times, By Shih Hsiu-chuan and Lee I-chia14 June The legislature yesterday voted down a set of anti-nuclear motions proposed by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Holding just one-third of the legislative seats, the DPP failed in 11 attempts to block the use of nuclear power, despite support from anti-nuclear activists who have staged a protest outside the legislature since Sunday night. Continue reading

June 14, 2011 Posted by | politics, Taiwan | Leave a comment