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Japan nuclear disaster puts spanner in the works of USA’s energy policy

Why Japan’s Nuke Disaster Could Upset US Energy Policy Assumptions WSJ By Russell Garland, 7 April 11, Although the extent and consequences of the Japanese nuclear disaster are still unknown, it will ripple through U.S. energy policy and could upset an underlying assumption, according to an energy expert speaking at the annual meeting of the National Venture Capital Association in Boston.

Ernest Moniz, a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and director of MIT’s Energy Initiative, gave four “very sure bets” about the effects of events at the earthquake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex.

Two seem givens: that nuclear industry costs are going to go up and that there will be an end-to-end review of waste-storage practices. But Moniz also predicted that 20-year license extensions “are going to be looked at with a lot more scrutiny.” Some that have already been granted might be revisited, he said……

April 8, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Tighter radiation checks at European ports

European Ports Tighten Radiation Checks as Japan Ships Approach, Bloomberg, By Niklas Magnusson – Apr 8, 2011 European ports including Rotterdam and Antwerp are tightening safety checks as they prepare to unload the first ships from Japan since last month’s earthquake led to radioactive discharges from a damaged nuclear plant.

Rotterdam, Europe’s biggest container port, will screen for radiation while ships are still at sea. Antwerp, the No. 2, will make similar checks aboard vessels for which Japan was one of the last 10 ports of call, with any abnormal readings triggering an inspection by Belgium’s Federal Agency for Nuclear Control……European Ports Tighten Radiation Checks as Japan Ships Approach – Bloomberg

April 8, 2011 Posted by | EUROPE, safety | Leave a comment

Hitachi nuclear company freezing its proposed new projects

Nakanishi indicated a grim outlook on exports of nuclear power infrastructure to Vietnam, which is being jointly pushed by Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 plant…..

Hitachi to cut back on new nuclear power projects, asahi.com, BY SATOSHI DAIGUJI , 8 April 11 Hitachi Ltd. will scale back its nuclear power projects following the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, Continue reading →

April 8, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, Japan | Leave a comment

Scientists measure radiation in the Pacific

Voyage measures radiation in the Pacific, Australian Network News, 8 April 11, Scientists aboard the Malaspina Expedition ship will search for signs of radiation from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant in the Pacific.  Sally Block 8 April 11, Scientists aboard a Spanish research ship are about to search for signs of radiation from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant in the Pacific Ocean.The Malaspina Expedition ship is making a brief stop in Sydney, Australia, after surveying the southern ocean for effects of climate change.Samples of water and air have been taken to measure for pollution temperature and carbon dioxide….
Plankton has been collected to discover how it is already capturing carbon.The next task for the scientists is to measure the amount of radiation in the central Pacific.Radiation from Japan has already been discovered in fish in Spain.However, the scientists on board the ship say the radiation is unlikely to travel south……
Australia Network News:Stories:Voyage measures radiation in the Pacific


April 8, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Are they telling you the truth about the nuclear situation in Japan?

Here’s my question to you: Do you believe you’re being told the truth about the nuclear accident in Japan?

Tell Jack how you really feel   – Do you believe you’re being told the truth about the nuclear accident in Japan? CNN’s Jack Cafferty, 7 April 11, :A 7.1 magnitude earthquake shook northeastern Japan today, the strongest aftershock since the massive 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that followed devastated the nation four weeks ago. Continue reading →

April 8, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Safety concerns raised about global nuclear industry

VIDEO   Japanese Nuclear Crisis Renews International Safety Concerns | East Asia and Pacific | English “……. Jeffrey Young April 07, 2011 While the international nuclear power industry says it is strongly focused on safety, the events at Japan’s Fukushima facility raise concerns that – no matter how carefully designed these nuclear facilities may be – accidents can happen……Officials monitoring the Fukushima disaster are carefully monitoring the concrete and steel structures called “containment vessels” that encase the nuclear reactors.  These containment vessels are designed to prevent radiation from escaping. There are concerns that at least one of the vessels at Fukushima may have been breached….
Japanese Nuclear Crisis Renews International Safety Concerns | East Asia and Pacific | English

April 8, 2011 Posted by | Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

NRC report shows up danger of USA nuclear plants

“When a major earthquake, flood or fire was assumed to knock out all of the power of a nuclear reactor that is the same design as Fukushima and stands less than 40 miles from Baltimore — well within the contamination zone the US called for in Japan — that plant came less than an hour away from partial nuclear meltdown” in the NRC simulation,

US unprepared for Japan-style nuke accident: lawmaker, Google News, (AFP) – 8 April 11, WASHINGTON — A US nuclear reactor near Baltimore would come dangerously close to meltdown within two days of a disaster on the scale of what happened in Japan three weeks ago, a lawmaker said, citing a draft report by the US nuclear watchdog. Continue reading →

April 8, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Dirty bomb or nuclear accident would catch US health system unprepared

U.S. health-care system unprepared for major nuclear emergency, officials say   The Washington Post, By Sheri Fink, Thursday, April 7, U.S. officials say the nation’s health system is ill-prepared to cope with a catastrophic release of radiation, despite years of focus on the possibility of a terrorist “dirty bomb” or an improvised nuclear device attack.

A blunt assessment circulating among American officials says, “Current capabilities can only handle a few radiation injuries at any one time.” That assessment, prepared by the Department of Homeland Security in 2010 and stamped “for official use only,’’ says “there is no strategy for notifying the public in real time of recommendations on shelter or evacuation priorities.”

The Homeland Security report, plus several other reports and interviews with almost two dozen experts inside and outside the government, reveal other gaps that might increase the risks posed by a nuclear accident or terrorist attack…..

President Obama’s proposed budget would cut funding for a federal hospital preparedness program by about 10 percent. The release of proposed federal regulations that would require hospitals to meet emergency management standards has been delayed…..U.S. health-care system unprepared for major nuclear emergency, officials say – The Washington Post

April 8, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Claims that Iran has another secret nuclear facility

Iran opposition backers claims find of secret Iranian nuclear facility, By Pam Benson, CNN  April 7, 2011 Washington — Supporters of an Iranian opposition group claimed Thursday they have information about another secret facility tied to the Iranian government’s nuclear program.

According to Alireza Jafarzadeh, an Iranian-American with ties to the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran, the facility is at a site referred to as TABA, just west of Tehran, and is designed to manufacture parts for centrifuges used to enrich uranium, a key component for civilian nuclear power as well as for nuclear weapons. A U.S. official who is not authorized to speak on the record said the United States is aware of the facility…..Iran opposition backers claims find of secret Iranian nuclear facility – CNN.com

April 8, 2011 Posted by | Iran, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Pacific peoples endangered by radiation in fish

claims by some Japanese scientists said that the radioactivity found in fish will be concentrated in the bones, and thus not harmful to humans, didn’t make sense. “Each year, thousands of tons of fish and their bones are processed into fish meal, animal food and in part to fish sticks,”

Radioactive Decay an Emerging Threat for Pacific People, Online Journal Apr 5, 2011,   by David Hope Radioactive decay is looming as a tremendous threat to the Pacific people. Radioactivity unleashed by the Japanese Fukushima reactor into the Pacific Ocean endangers the livelihoods of millions of people, Continue reading →

April 7, 2011 Posted by | environment, OCEANIA | 2 Comments

No one knows how to deal with Fukushima’s radioactive water

international law forbids Japan from dumping contaminated water into the ocean if there are viable technical solutions available down the road….So Tepco is considering bringing in barges and tanks, including a “megafloat” that can hold about 2.5 million gallons….Yet even using barges and tanks to temporarily handle the water creates a future problem of how to dispose of the contaminated vessels.

Cleaning up Japan’s radioactive water could take decades, latimes.com, 7 April 11, No one is sure how to safely dispose of millions of gallons of highly radioactive water at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. ‘There is nothing like this, on this scale, that we have ever attempted to do before,’ a U.S. expert says. Continue reading →

April 7, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, environment, Japan, technology | 1 Comment

Never mind the Fukushima tragedy, it’s the nuclear COST, stupid!

It’s time to let the market pick our winners, not outrageous government subsidies for nuclear power…..we should abandon this costly boondoggle for more cost-effective and renewable energy sources.

Cost, Not Japan Crisis, Should Scrub Nuclear Power, RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD, By John FarrellApril 6, 2011 The plumes of smoke rising, and radiation leaking, from Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor provoke a visceral reaction.  But the crisis should not persuade Americans to abandon nuclear power.

Instead, Americans should abandon nuclear power for its prohibitive and un-competitive costs. Continue reading →

April 7, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, USA | Leave a comment

Radioactive Cesium can travel up the food chain, in fish

Power company back pedals over reactor plans, Sydney Morning Herald, Andrew Higgins April 7, 2011, FUKUSHIMA:”…….After unsuccessful attempts with concrete, and even newspapers and sawdust, engineers used sodium-silicate to stop the leak, but radioactivity in fish exceeding health guidelines has been detected for the first time off northern Japan.Caesium radioactivity in sand lance caught south of the Fukushima Daiichi plant was 526 becquerel per kilogram, compared with a health ministry standard of 500 becquerel.With a radioactive half-life of 30 years, caesium can build up in the meat of marine predators as they eat smaller animals…..Power company back pedals over reactor plans

April 7, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Increase in CT scans for children brings radiation danger

Children are far more vulnerable to radiation exposure than are adults:

  • Children’s organs are more sensitive to radiation than adults’ organs.
  • Children have a longer life expectancy than adults, giving cancer a longer time to form.
  • Radiation settings often may not be set to match children’s body size.
  • Because CT use is increasing, children may eventually receive a higher lifetime dose of medical radiation……..

As Kids’ CT Scans Rise, So Do Radiation WorriesMore Kids Getting More Scans at ERs, but Few See Pediatric Radiologists By Daniel J. DeNoon WebMD Health News Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD April 6, 2011 — Emergency CT scans for kids are on the rise — and so are worries that too many children are getting too much radiation too early in life. Continue reading →

April 7, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, health | Leave a comment

Nuclear power’s secrets and lies to protect the industry from public scrutiny

Secrets, lies and why we need scrutiny of the nuclear industry The Guardian, David Byers, Founder director, Renewable Energy Association, ex-nuclear integrity scientist, 7 April 2011 “…..the essential truth. Civil nuclear power is shrouded in the UK not to protect facts from terrorists but because it has well understood risks and is captured under the Official Secrets Act. The economics, the legacy situation and the carbon cycle are hidden from the population. The Sellafield site is “privately managed” but publicly owned, its liabilities being passed like a parcel between successive “managers”, because of its toxic contents.
I am not anti-nuclear but pro-renewable energy. The scrutiny exacted upon renewable energy is absent when it comes to nuclear energy. My objection is not the nuclear option, it is the secrecy. This is a political and economic decision related to energy futures, security of supply and carbon. I find it mesmerising when journalists and politicians conspire to debate the issue, never telling the technical truth of the legacy, mostly because they don’t know.
I call for a public and independent assessment of our UK Sellafield complex. Risks and costs need to be explained to the population. If this technology is part of our future energy mix, take the lies and the secrecy away. Letters: Secrets, lies and why we need scrutiny of the nuclear industry | Environment | The Guardian

April 7, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

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