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Japan should have turned away from nuclear power – says Murakami

Mr. Murakami said Japan, having experienced the trauma of radiation, should have turned away from nuclear power…. those who questioned nuclear power were marginalized as being ‘unrealistic dreamers’,

Murakami Slams Japan’s Nuclear Choice, WSJ JUNE 10, 2011,“……..Accepting an international award given to people whose work helps ”develop cultural, scientific and human values worldwide” from Catalan authorities in Barcelona late Thursday, Mr. Murakami didn’t mince his words. Picking up the International Catalunya Prize (in Catalan), the author described the crisis at Fukushima Daiichi as the second nuclear blow Japan has suffered after the atomic bombings of World War II—and a self-inflicted blow at that, he said, one that should never have happened. Continue reading →

June 11, 2011 Posted by | Japan | Leave a comment

Japanese will need to conserve electricity as unofficial nuclear shut-downs increase

A spokesman for Kansai Electric, which supplies electricity to Osaka, Japan’s second-largest city after Tokyo, said Wednesday that it may have to ask its customers to save electricity this summer if many of the nuclear power reactors that supply electricity to the company remain idle, and if temperatures are high. 

Japan Expects Power Shortages Amid Growing, Unofficial Nuclear Shutdown, WSJ 11 June 11By MARI IWATA, TOKYO—Japan’s electricity shortages may be intensified over the coming months by a wide-scale unofficial shutdown of nuclear power plants across the country. Continue reading →

June 11, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, Japan | Leave a comment

Increasing number of TEPCO shareholders want withdrawal from nuclear

More Tepco Shareholders Seeking Nuclear Phaseout, TOKYO (Nikkei)  11 JUne 11–A total of 402 shareholders at Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501) have jointly submitted a resolution urging a withdrawal from nuclear power operations, the utility revealed in a notice for its general shareholders…http://e.nikkei.com/e/fr/tnks/Nni20110610D10JFN01.htm

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June 11, 2011 Posted by | Japan | Leave a comment

VIDEO: Fukushima meltdowns, radiation into sea

VIDEO Japan Admits 3 Nuclear Meltdowns, More Radiation Leaked into Sea; U.S. Nuclear Waste Poses Deadly Risks, Democracy Now 11 June 11 Almost three months after the earthquake and tsunami that triggered a nuclear disaster in Japan, new radiation “hot spots” may require the evacuation of more areas further from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility. Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency recently admitted for the first time that full nuclear meltdowns occurred at three of the plant’s reactors, and more than doubled its estimate for the amount of radiation that leaked from the plant in the first week of the disaster in March. “What they failed to mention is that they discharged an equally large amount into the ocean,” says our guest Robert Alvarez, former senior policy adviser to the U.S. Secretary of Energy. “As [the radiation] goes up the food chain, it accumulates. By the time it reaches people who consume this food, the levels are higher than they originally were when they entered the environment.” Alvarez also discusses his new report on the vulnerabilities and hazards of stored spent fuel at U.S. reactors in the United States. Then we go to Tokyo to speak with Aileen Mioko Smith, executive director of the group Green Action. She says citizens leading their own monitoring efforts are calling for additional evacuations, especially for young children and pregnant women. [includes rush transcript] http://www.democracynow.org/seo/2011/6/10/as_japan_nuclear_crisis_worsens_citizen

 

June 11, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

Huge public interest as Beyond Nuclear meets Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Overwhelming public interest in Beyond Nuclear’s meeting with the NRC on US Mark I reactors  – crashes agency phone line 9 June 11 Beyond Nuclear staffers Paul Gunter and Kevin Kamps met with a review board of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission on June 8, 2011 to supplement its April 13th petition calling for the suspension the operation of the 23 Fukushima-style General Electric Mark I Boiling Water Reactors in the US.

 Access via the NRC telephone bridge line attracted such “unprecedented” public interest that the line crashed, delaying the start of the meeting by nearly 30 minutes.

The meeting was convened at the request of Beyond Nuclear by the petition process and opened to the public by Federal law.Become a co-petitioner with Beyond Nuclear.

June 11, 2011 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, USA | Leave a comment

VIDEO: Save Italy from Berlusconi’s Nukes

VIDEO http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/makingwaves/from-fukushima-kumi-asks-italians-to-save-ita/blog/35224  From Fukushima Kumi asks Italians to “Save Italy from Berlusconi’s Nukes” Greenpeace by Dietlind – June 10, 2011  On June 12 -13 Italians have the opportunity to say no! to nuclear power in their country. Berlusconi’s government has plans for 4 new reactors – but the people have demanded a referendum on the issue of nuclear energy. Surveys show that a majority of Italians are against it however, if less than 50% of the population participates, the referendum will be invalid, regardless the outcome.

I am currently in Japan and have just visited the area around Fukushima where radiation levels are dangerously high. Please watch this short video to learn more about what life is like for Japanese people in the region today. This should never happen – not in Ukraine, not in Japan and certainly not in la Bella Italia.

In the aftermath of Chernobyl in 1987, the Italian government wisely decided to abandon nuclear power. Nuclear energy is never safe – keep it out of Italy. If you know someone who can vote in Italy please encourage them do so

June 11, 2011 Posted by | Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

Continuing radiation emissions into sea and air, from Fukushima

 Highly toxic radioactive iodine, cesium, strontium, plutonium and other toxic man-made radionuclides have leaked unabated since March 12 into the ocean and atmosphere…..The mainstream media is not reporting on this.

Preface Nuclear Toxicity Syndrome, The Intel Hub, By Dr. Mark Sircus –  June 9th, 2011 Arnie Gundersen, widely-regarded to be the best nuclear analyst covering Japan’s Fukushima disaster, indicates that the situation on the ground at the crippled reactors remains precarious and at a minimum it will be years before it can be hoped to be truly contained. Continue reading →

June 10, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, Japan, oceans | 2 Comments

Fukushima kids to wear radiation dose badges

Fukushima School Rule: Dosimeters for Kids, WSJ By Hiroyuki Kachi, 9 June 11, After the disclosure that much more radiation leaked from the stricken nuclear Fukushima Daiichi than previously estimated, local authorities in towns and cities nearby are taking as many precautions as they can – particularly for schoolchildren. One city in Fukushima prefecture is taking no chances: Date city, located about 60 kilometers northwest of Fukushima Daiichi, has decided to deliver basic radiation monitoring devices to all 8,000 kids in its schools.

The devices to be delivered to students, schoolkids and kindergarten attendees are badge-type dosimeters, rather than hi-tech electronic beeping equipment, according to an official at a local education committee. After being worn for a month or so, the dosimeters will be sent to a research laboratory to check radiation levels. Likely costing about 3,000 yen apiece, it is still undecided when all kids will receive their badges…..http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2011/06/09/fukushima-school-rule-dosimeters-for-kids/

June 10, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | 1 Comment

Japan may evacuate more towns, as radiation “hot spots” found

Japan Considers Evacuating More Towns WSJ By YUKA HAYASHI TOKYO, 9 June 11—Japanese government officials said they are considering evacuating more towns affected by radiation, after recent monitoring data showed new “hot spots” of elevated contamination farther away from the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Continue reading →

June 10, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Unemployed Japanese risk their health in seeking cleanup work at Fukushima

If this was happening in America we’d have every political group complaining about workers rights, living wages, working conditions, and manipulation of the poor into taking these jobs at personal risk to their own lives instead of focusing on the selfless act of one person helping another

Unemployed Japanese Workers Flock to Radiation-Contaminated Fukushima  Gizmodo 8 June 11Kelly Hodgkins — Japanese workers are so desperate for work that many are traveling to devastated areas of the country to find employment in the risky field of radiation cleanup. Continue reading →

June 10, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

USA nuclear wastes – the intractable problem that just won’t go away

U.S. nuclear operators have begun moving some of their spent fuel out of pools and into “dry casks,” considered safer because the casks require only natural air flow, not mechanically pumped water, to cool the fuel. But only about 15,000 metric tons of fuel are stored this way in the U.S., in part because the system is expensive. Even dry-cask storage isn’t a permanent solution. The casks are expected to last decades, not the thousands of years it takes the fuel to become safe…. “No one else on the planet has a solution either.”..
Problem of Where to Put Waste Besets Nuclear Industry, WSJ, By BEN CASSELMAN, JUNE 9, 2011 No question has bedeviled the U.S. nuclear-power industry more than what to do with the thousands of tons of radioactive waste generated by its reactors every year.

U.S. nuclear reactors run on enriched uranium fuel. A nuclear reaction splits the uranium atoms, emitting heat that boils water, turning a turbine and generating electricity. The process leaves behind waste that is no longer capable of sustaining a nuclear reaction but is still highly radioactive. Continue reading →

June 10, 2011 Posted by | USA, wastes | Leave a comment

Japan’s green tea now radioactive?

Japan’s green tea contaminated with radiation, Herald Sun   June 10, 2011  JAPANESE green tea, esteemed around the world for its purity and health-enhancing properties, has become contaminated with radiation, as fallout from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant continues to blight Japan’s agricultural heartlands, authorities revealed today.Authorities admitted for the first time that green tea from Japan’s biggest tea-growing area, the Shizuoka prefecture, contains radiation higher than the officially-permitted level.

The contamination has opened a furious argument among local and national officials about how to measure the radiation, and what constitutes a safe level of contamination.

Dried leaves from the year’s first harvest in the Honyama area of Shizuoka were found to contain radioactive cesium at a level of 679 becquerels per kilogram, above the permitted maximum of 500 becquerels. But the discovery was made by chance, and the authorities admit that earlier consignments, which were not examined and have gone to the market, may have also been contaminated…….The high reading was discovered not by the tea grower or the local government, but by a mail order tea company in Tokyo that carried out its own measurements….http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/japans-green-tea-contaminated-with-radiation/story-e6frf7ko-1226072822881

June 10, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Environmental hearing on AREVA’s planned uranium enrichment plant

NRC to set hearing on Areva’s Idaho uranium project, Jun 9, 2011 (Reuters) – The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said on Thursday its Atomic Safety and Licensing Board will conduct an environmental hearing on a license application of Areva Enrichment Services CEPFi.PA to construct and operate a uranium enrichment plant near Idaho Falls, Idaho.

The hearing will address various issues including the impact of the Fukushima Daiichi accident on the need for enrichment services, Areva’s plans for remediation of any NRC-authorized pre-construction activities and greenhouse gas impacts of the facility’s operation and power consumption…..http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/09/areva-nrc-idUSL3E7H93A620110609

June 10, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Doom and gloom in the uranium industry

Paladin reacts to share price drop, SMH, June 10, 2011 Uranium miner Paladin Energy Ltd has sought to dampen market rumours about the company’s financing arrangements, a potential capital raising and a potential sale by Newmont Mining of its 6.71 per cent stake in Paladin.

Paladin issued a statement on Friday to clarify its position, after the company’s shares came under “considerable selling pressure” for two days……http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-business/paladin-reacts-to-share-price-drop-20110610-1fvoe.html

EYE ON EQUITIES

Analyst urges caution as First Uranium dips to all-time lows, DARCY KEITH Globe and Mail Update  Jun. 09, Shares in First Uranium Corp. (FIU-T0.56-0.02-3.45%) remain snuggled close to all-time lows after getting smacked Wednesday in response to weaker than expected fourth-quarter results. A resurgence in negative sentiment toward uranium producers after the Japanese nuclear crisis hasn’t helped matters.

Raymond James Ltd. analyst Bart Jaworski thinks investors may be wise backing away from the stock for the time being…..http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/investment-ideas/features/eye-on-equities/analyst-urges-caution-as-first-uranium-dips-to-all-time-lows/article2053830/

 

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June 10, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, business and costs, Uranium | Leave a comment

Netherlands nuclear activists block radioactive waste train

Greenpeace block nuclear waste transport, Greenpeace International  by Justin – June 9, 2011 On Tuesday ten Greenpeace activists in the Netherlands chained themselves to railway lines to block a shipment of nuclear waste. The train, carrying highly radioactive nuclear waste from the country’s Borssele nuclear power plant, is currently en route to France. he highly radioactive waste in the three railcars contain a similar quantity of radioactive material to that released from the nuclear disasters at Chernobyl and Fukushima. The next two years will see ten such shipments to France.

The containers go by train from Belgium to the French nuclear plant at La Hague. There the waste is reprocessed. It’s a risky and polluting process in which radioactive waste is released into the environment.

Unbelievably, only 4% of the waste is converted into new nuclear fuel. The rest of it is returned to the Netherlands and remains dangerous for 240,000 years. However, the country does not have storage facilities to keep the waste safe for that incredible length of time. No-one does…..http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/nuclear-reaction/greenpeace-block-nuclear-waste-transport/blog/35204

June 10, 2011 Posted by | EUROPE, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

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