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Fukushima’s unsolved nuclear radiation problem

Fukushima Radiation Readings at Their Highest, Japan Is Contaminated Financial Feed,  by Chris Hartley on Apr 27, 2011  Robots sent to get Japan’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi reactor No. 1’s radiation readings reflected 1,120 millisierverts of radiation per hour, said the general manager of Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) Junichi Matsumoto. The reading is 4 times higher than the yearly dose a nuclear worker is allowed to be exposed to……..Tepco said it is not possible to push through with the planned flooding of more water to reactor No. 1 to expedite its emergency cooling efforts. Kyoto University nuclear engineering professor Hironobu Unesaki said Tepco must figure out the high radiation’s source. If it’s from contaminated water leaking from inside the reactor, Tepco’s so-called water tomb may be jeopardized because flooding the containment vessel will result in more radiation in the building, added the professor. The explosion at the plant damaged reactors 1, 2, and 3’s cores and reactor 4’s fuel rods. Tepco has used several emergency measures to cool the units, such as pouring millions of liters of water.

April 28, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

USA needs to compete with China on renewable energy

“China knows that clean energy creates jobs and, in reducing its reliance on oil, makes it more secure,” “.With its vast renewable energy resources, the United States “can’t afford not to be a globally competitive leader in this important area,” 

Reid: US must compete with China to lead on energy, Google News, 28 April 11 WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States must step up its efforts on renewable energy to compete with China and other countries for global leadership, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Wednesday … Continue reading →

April 28, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

USA worries over aging nuclear reactors

Of those granted extensions, more than half received permission to produce more electricity. And some, according to anti-nuclear groups, operate with less government oversight than decades before.

Anti-nuclear groups say the trend does not pose an immediate threat, but they question the wisdom of pumping more power from an aging fleet of reactors.

U.S. nuclear strategy worries scientists…More than half the nation’s reactors, including Virginia’s four, received license extensions, Daily Press, By Cory Nealon 26 April Continue reading →

April 28, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Green Party’s victory as Germans reject nuclear power

The Green vote was helped by the argument in Germany over its 17nuclear power plants, heightened by the Fukushima disaster

German Greens hail state victory in vote overshadowed byFukushima, Helen Pidd inBerlin, guardian.co.uk,  27 March 2011  

• ‘Historic’ first ever victory in regional Landtag vote

• Chancellor suffers after U-turn on nuclear power Continue reading →

April 28, 2011 Posted by | Germany, politics | Leave a comment

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) ugly – but much better than nuclear

the increased demand for LNG……There is clearly a growing need and interest in natural gas around the world.

The Ugly Stepsisters, Forbes, Pamela Rosenau, 27 April 11, In the US, the energy industry is much maligned. Oil and natural gas are the ugly stepsisters of alternative energy. The BP spill in the Gulf received intense media coverage and inspired protests and outrage. We are starting to see similarly heated reports about natural gas, as journalists and activists draw attention to the potential negative environmental effects of shale drilling practices. But relative to the specter of nuclear meltdowns, these ugly stepsisters don’t look so ugly. Continue reading →

April 28, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, ENERGY | Leave a comment

Fukushima’s contract workers exposed to radiation

What is clear is that the contract laborers are routinely exposed to the highest level of radiation….the whole system is opaque, thus complicating the procedure for workers who need to apply for occupational hazards compensation.

Dying for TEPCO? Fukushima’s Nuclear Contract Workers, The Asia Pacific Journal , Paul Jobin, 28 April 11, Liquidators recruited by ads In the titanic struggle to bring to closure the dangerous situation at Fukushima Nuclear Plant No1, there are many signs that TEPCO is facing great difficulties in finding workers. At present, there are nearly 700 people at the site. As in ordinary times, workers rotate so as to limit the cumulative dose of radiation inherent in maintenance and cleanup work at the nuclear site. But this time, the risks are greater, and the method of recruitment unusual. Continue reading →

April 28, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, employment, health, Japan | Leave a comment

Decentralised renewable energy – the way of the future

 small and medium scale solar power has the potential to become the Internet of distributed electricity generation – a network resilient to a single point of failure; whether caused by natural disasters or attack by hostile parties.

Centralised Vs. Decentralised Solar Power Renewable Energy News, by Energy Matters, 28 April11,  As the U.S. begins a major push to become the leading player in the global solar revolution, the topic of sprawling solar farms built away from communities vs. small and medium scale solar arrays utilising rooftops and smaller parcels of already developed or degraded land is becoming an increasingly important issue. Continue reading →

April 28, 2011 Posted by | decentralised, USA | Leave a comment

Jaitapur nuclear project threatens rich agricultural region

is it fair to label the fears of the people of Jaitapur as anti-national because they do not want radioactive nuclear waste in their backyard?

Different rules for different people, Bahar Dutt, Hindustan Times, April 27, 2011 “……the problems for the people in Jaitapur are far more complex: a thriving vibrant economy, rich in natural resources, is being destabilised and only a handful of people have been offered employment……. Continue reading →

April 28, 2011 Posted by | environment, India | Leave a comment

Excess radiation exposure to woman at Fukushima

Woman at Fukushima Nuclear Plant Received Excess Level of Radiation, Forbes, Apr. 27 2011 – A woman working at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant (FDI) was exposed to radiation three times higher than the legal limit, according to a statement today by the plant operators.

The woman worked at FDI for 11 days in March, according to the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), after the March 11th crisis began. TEPCO didn’t say why it waited a month to make the news public.

The woman was exposed to 17.55 millisieverts of radiation. The legal exposure limit for female nuclear plant workers in Japan is 5 millisieverts over 3 months…….TEPCO minimized the incident, saying that, “we have confirmed by a medical diagnosis that there is no impact on her health.”

Such a statement can be misleading. Only extremely high doses of radiation have an immediate impact on a person’s health. The primary threat to nuclear workers is the long-term prospect of developing cancer from lower levels of radiation…..http://blogs.forbes.com/oshadavidson/2011/04/27/woman-at-fukushima-nuclear-plant-received-excess-level-of-radiation/

April 28, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

How the nuclear establishment distorts radiation surveys

One problem is that the survey only calculates mortality ratios, ignoring people who might have cancer but are still alive at the time of the survey. Such obvious methodological bias is frequent in this sort of surveys. In France and other countries, another bias is the tendency to ignore contract workers, though they receive the highest cumulative radioactive doses. Therefore, it is difficult to resist the conclusion that the very goal of these epidemiological surveys is to minimize the risks of nuclear radiation and encourage the nuclear industry’s business as usual.

Dying for TEPCO?Fukushima’s Nuclear Contract Workers, TheAsiaPacific Journal , Paul Jobin 28 April 11, “…..What is the objective of epidemiological surveys?An epidemiological survey published in March, just before the catastrophe, was based on a huge cohort of 212,000 persons recorded between 1990 and 1999, out of the total of 277,000 who had worked in nuclear plants. The survey found a significant mortality ratio for only one type of leukemia and judged that other forms of cancer among this population could not be attributed to their exposure to radiation at nuclear plants. Continue reading →

April 28, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Government and nuclear industry intertwined in Japan

 nuclear industry officials, bureaucrats, politicians and scientists — have prospered by rewarding one another with construction projects, lucrative positions, and political, financial and regulatory support. ……Japan would make the sale of nuclear reactors and technology the central component of a long-term export strategy to energy-hungry developing nations. A new company, the International Nuclear Energy Development of Japan, was created to do just that. Its shareholders were made up of the country’s nine main nuclear plant operators, three manufacturers of nuclear reactors and the government itself.

Safety Left Out in Japan’s ‘Nuclear Power Village, Culture of Complicity Tied to Stricken Nuclear Plant, New York Times, By NORIMITSU ONISHI and KEN BELSON, April 26, 2011 “……..Revolving Door In Japan, the web of connections between the nuclear industry and government officials is now popularly referred to as the “nuclear power village.” The expression connotes the nontransparent, collusive interests that underlie the establishment’s push to increase nuclear power despite the discovery of active fault lines under plants, new projections about the size of tsunamis and a long history of cover-ups of safety problems. Continue reading →

April 27, 2011 Posted by | Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Fukushima will eventually be many times worse than Chernobyl

Chernobyl is over.  Fukushima hasn’t really begun.  Chernobyl released a huge radioactive cloud when it blew up.  Fukushima will exceed the Chernobyl release in a year no matter what else happens…..Fukushima will be many times worse than Chernobyl and will continue for, possibly, hundreds of years.

Fukushima Could Be Worse — And It Will Be, April 25, 2011, Hawaii News Daily, By Tom Burnett  “.. F-Daiichi is releasing 154 teraBecquerels of radionuclide particulate matter a day.  Almost all of the reports repeat the statement that Fukushima has (so-far) released only about 10% of the radiation Chernobyl released.  No problem.  Well, they say, “It COULD have been worse.”  IT WILL BE! Continue reading →

April 27, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Majority of Americans expect eventual USA nuclear crisis

Poll: Most Americans think a nuclear accident is likely here, Miami Herald, BY DAVID LIGHTMAN, 27 April 11, MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS, WASHINGTON — Most Americans fear that the United States someday could face the kind of nuclear emergency that’s plagued Japan in recent weeks, according to a new McClatchy Newspapers-Marist poll.

“There’s clearly a good deal of concern, and there’s division about whether we’re suited to handle this,” said Lee Miringoff, the director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion in New York, which conducted the survey.

“Nuclear power is very controversial,” he noted.

The McClatchy-Marist survey found that a solid majority of Americans – 57 percent – think that a nuclear crisis is probable here; 41 percent thought such a crisis was likely, while another 16 percent said it was very likely.

Far fewer think it’s not going to happen: 31 percent said it wasn’t very likely, while 9 percent said it wasn’t likely at all…….Overall, the poll’s findings “are directed by attitude, not demographics. They cut across the traditional political demarcations. This is not a Democratic or Republican issue,” Miringoff said.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/26/2186643/poll-most-americans-think-a-nuclear.html#ixzz1KkwV1IxD

April 27, 2011 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, USA | Leave a comment

Jaitapur anti nuclear protestors continue, despite police crackdown

 Fresh charges against Sena MLA Salvi for Jaitapur role, Times of India, Simit Bhagat, TNN | Apr 27, 2011, MUMBAI: The Ratnagiri police have slapped fresh charges on Shiv Sena MLA Rajan Salvi for his role in the protest against the Jaitapur nuclear power project in Sakhri Nate village on April 18. The violent protest led to police firing, which caused the death of a local fisherman. …..In Mumbai, around 300 activists from Left parties like the CPI and the CPI(M), and environmental activists demonstrated against the Jaitapur nuclear project.shouted slogans against the nuclear power plant and took out a rally from Dadar station till Lower Parel.

The idea of the rally was to protest against the repressive measures being used by the police to crush any peaceful protests against the nuclear power plant,” said Vivek Sundara, an activist from Azadi Bachao Andolan, who was a part of the rally.
Krishan Takhar, a student of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) said, “We will continue to protest against the nuclear power plant ….http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Fresh-charges-against-Sena-MLA-Salvi-for-Jaitapur-role/articleshow/8094659.cms

April 27, 2011 Posted by | India, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

No room for complacency about Japan’s nuclear reactors

Every functional nuclear plant is being pushed to the limit and beyond in order to maintain a semblance of normality – but they are ALL in bad repair and are sitting ducks for the next mega-quake….or for ONE overworked plant manager to make a bad decision. Or simply overuse…………There also seem to be problems at :

Onagawa reactor #3
Fukushima Daini reactor #3
Tokai Reactor #3
Kashiwazaki reactor #3……the core is generating deadly radiation

Fukushima Could Be Worse — And It Will Be, April 25, 2011, Hawaii News Daily, By Tom Burnett “……..I  have information from Yoichi ‘boots on the ground’ that smoke was emitting from Kashiwazaki last week after the MAG 7,1 EQ. which occurred off Honshu on 7 APR 2011.  Continue reading →

April 27, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, Japan, safety | Leave a comment

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