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Fukushima radioactive emissions – a guarded secret

”The notion that you can track an air parcel precisely as it travels across the Pacific is fanciful,” he said. “The difficulty in doing that is we really don’t know what is being emitted.” That information, if known at all, is being closely held by Japanese authorities and the U.S. government,

Computer models aid Japanese nuclear response,  The Washington Post, By Andrew Freedman, 23 March 11, U-Md. research team wants more data made public.  As the Japanese nuclear crisis continues to unfold, the airborne spread of radioactive materials from the stricken reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power station continues to be a key concern of Japanese and American officials. Continue reading →

March 24, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, technology | Leave a comment

Chairman of Japan’s nuclear watchdog call for rethink on nuclear power

Nuclear energy promoter apologises The Australian, March 24, 2011 The pro-nuclear chairman of Japan’s atomic watchdog has called for a worldwide review of the nuclear energy industry after admitting that mistakes had been made in the design of the Fukushima power plant.In comments that will provide ammunition for anti-nuclear campaigners, Haruki Madarame said assumptions behind the building of the now dangerously radioactive nuclear plant had been wrong and global safety guidelines for the industry should be reconsidered.His admission and accompanying apology represented a U-turn from an individual who has advised the Japanese government on nuclear matters for 30 years and chaired its Nuclear Safety Commission since April last year.”As a person who promoted nuclear power, I have a personal feeling of apology,” he said. Nuclear energy promoter apologises | The Australian

March 24, 2011 Posted by | Japan, politics | Leave a comment

Mixed oxide fuel means danger for No 3 Fukushima nuclear plant

New Problems Arise at Japanese Nuclear Plant, NYTimes.com, By KEITH BRADSHER March 23, 2011 “…..Fukushima Daiichi’s Reactor No. 3 began belching black smoke for an hour late in the afternoon, leading its operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, to evacuate workers.. No. 3 is considered one of the most dangerous of the reactors because of its fuel — mixed oxides, or mox, which contain a mixture of uranium and plutonium and can produce a more dangerous radioactive plume if scattered by fire or explosions. The cooling system at Reactor No. 5, which was shut down at the time of the earthquake and has shown few problems since, also abruptly stopped working on Wednesday afternoon, said Hiro Hasegawa, a spokesman for Tokyo Electric.New Problems Arise at Japanese Nuclear Plant – NYTimes.com

March 24, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, technology | Leave a comment

Fukushima nuclear plant will be scrapped

Japan signals nuclear plant to be scrapped – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 21 March, The Japanese government has signalled the Fukushima nuclear power plant at the centre of an ongoing crisis will be scrapped……Japan signals nuclear plant to be scrapped – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

March 24, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission is not independent

“In 2008, when the president of the Canadian Nuclear Safety  Commission CNSC (Linda Keen) tried to bring Canadian nuclear safety regulations in line with international standards, the government fired her,……The independence of the Commission has been compromised with the appointment of a pro-nuclear industry president”

Who controls nuclear control agencies? Japan’s earthquake caused a nuclear crisis which could be repeated in other countries .. Al Jazeera Stephen Leahy 23 Mar 2011 “…..Canadian connectionThe reactor buildings at Fukushima held up well, but there clearly was a problem with the back-up power for the cooling systems, says John Luxat, professor and Industrial Research Chair in Nuclear Safety Analysis at McMaster University, near Toronto. Continue reading →

March 24, 2011 Posted by | Canada, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Nuclear waste is the really most serious problem

nuclear waste lasts forever. That’s the real horror of Fukushima – that the spread of radioactive material could make an entire chunk of Japan uninhabitable. We could afford to be smug if we knew how to deal with our nuclear waste. But we don’t.

Forget meltdowns. The real nuclear problem is waste, thestar.com Thomas Walkom , 21 March 11, For Canada, the danger of nuclear power lies not in a Japanese-style meltdown. When industry boosters say such an event is unlikely here, they are right.

But what the boosters don’t talk about is radioactive waste.

That’s the main hazard, the part of the nuclear question that has never been properly addressed. No one knows what to do with nuclear fuel rods that remain highly radioactive for thousands of years.

The industry talks of burying them. But this is not a real solution. Sealed containers leak. Ground shifts. Over decades, unforeseen events occur. Continue reading →

March 22, 2011 Posted by | Canada, wastes | 5 Comments

Wide area around Fukushima nuclear plant will be radioactively contaminated for decades

“Given the weather, it is likely that contaminations have occurred beyond that, up to 100 kilometres or so.”…..

Contamination at Fukushima nuclear plant for decades, says France’s Nuclear Safety Authority | Herald Sun, From: NewsCore * March 22, 2011 LOCAL contamination from Japan’s quake-damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant would be a problem that would last “for decades and decades”, France’s Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) said. Continue reading →

March 22, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) faked nuclear safety records

for many in Japan, Tepco’s track record of safety issues and attempts to cover them up add to suspicion over a flow of opaque, erratic information about Fukushima.

Power company failed to maintain safety checks, Kimiko De Freytas-Tamura SMH March 21, 2011 OSAKA: Days before Japan plunged into an atomic crisis after a giant earthquake and tsunami knocked out power at the ageing Fukushima nuclear plant, its operator had admitted faking repair records.

The revelation raises more questions about the scandal-tainted past of the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) and the government’s perceived soft regulation of the industry. Continue reading →

March 22, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Poll shows British rejection of nuclear power future

Fewer than 10 per cent of people now believe nuclear should be the priority for energy investment in coming years, while more than 75 per cent think that the Government’s top energy investment priority should be either renewable energy, or energy saving…

Britain goes cold on new plants in Fukushima’s wake, The Indpendent  By Michael McCarthy,   22 March Japan’s nuclear crisis has stalled the growing support for a UK “nuclear renaissance”, a new poll reveals. Continue reading →

March 22, 2011 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, UK | Leave a comment

Radiation in air, seawater and food show seriousness of Japan’s nuclear disaster

the measurements from food and water were important because they helped confirm that “there has been a very serious release of radioactivity” at Fukushima…..

UPDATE 4-Japan nuclear progress tempered by seawater concern,  By Scott DiSavino and Kate Kelland. NEW YORK/LONDON, March 21 (Reuters) – The reconnection of power at the earthquake-damaged reactors in Japan is a big step in managing the nuclear crisis, experts said on Monday, but concerns about radiation in the air, seawater and food showed the dangers are far from over. Continue reading →

March 22, 2011 Posted by | environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Political push to close down Quebec’s nuclear plant

‘It’s not necessary to refurbish the plant at such an elevated price when Quebec has the means – through energy efficiency, renewable energy and its hydro electricity – to avoid nuclear.’—PQ Leader Pauline Marois……The PQ said it would immediately close the plant if it were elected.

Coalition fights Quebec’s nuclear plant – Montreal – CBC News, 21 March 11, A Quebec coalition of politicians and activists is calling for the permanent closure of the province’s lone nuclear facility in light of the crisis in Japan. The group says maintaining Quebec’s Gentilly-2 power plant is dangerous, given the disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Continue reading →

March 22, 2011 Posted by | Canada, politics | Leave a comment

US senator calls for a stop to re-licensing nuclear power plants

US Sen. Sanders: Slow down on nuclear relicensing Bloomberg,  BusinessWeek 21 march11, MONTPELIER, Vt.U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is calling for a moratorium on the licensing of new nuclear plants and relicensing of existing ones, as well as other steps that would put the brakes on what’s been touted as a nuclear renaissance in the United States…. US Sen. Sanders: Slow down on nuclear relicensing – BusinessWeek

March 22, 2011 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Questions over the safety of USA’s spent nuclear fuel cooling ponds

President Barack Obama has ordered a comprehensive review of U.S. nuclear plant safety.

Martha Coakley asks feds to re-examine nuclear storage – BostonHerald.com, March 21, 2011 BOSTON – Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is urging federal energy officials to re-examine the safety of the wet storage of spent fuel at nuclear power plants, including the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth.In a letter sent Monday to Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko, Coakley said federal regulators need to take another look at the wet storage protocol, which is also used at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant near the Massachusetts border.

It was also used at the damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi plan in Japan…….. Continue reading →

March 22, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA, wastes | Leave a comment

Design flaw in General Electric Mark 1 Boiling Water Nuclear Reactors

a design flaw that does appear to be at the heart of the crisis at Fukushima – the extraordinary practice of putting the pool where the highly radioactive used fuel is stored on an upper floor of the reactor building,

Nuclear accidents will happen: human error can’t ever be eliminated, Telegraph UK,  By Geoffrey Lean,  March 21st, 2011,Thirty-nine years ago, one of the most senior nuclear safety officials in the United States penned a stark memorandum to colleagues. It warned that a key bulwark against a catastrophic accident in the kind of reactors now in meltdown at Fukushima was so flawed it should be banned.

He got a reaction within a week. The idea of a ban was “attractive”, wrote an even more senior official, who went on to head the main US nuclear safety agency. But implementing it “could well be the end of nuclear power”. Continue reading →

March 22, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, safety | Leave a comment

Distributed energy makes more sense than nuclear, or any centralised system

there are also massive losses of energy as we step it down from the plant to the grid to our homes and buildings. Instead, why not build a far more distributed energy system (or at least invest only in distributed energy going forward)?

Does nuclear power make sense?, Huffington Post, 22 march 11 Who really knows what the outcome might be from the frightening breakdown of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant ( the radioactive releases could go on for months)? But the speculation about what this means for a much-touted nuclear “renaissance” in the U.S. began in earnest last week. As the New York Times reported, “U.S. Nuclear Industry Faces New Uncertainty.”…. Continue reading →

March 22, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, decentralised | Leave a comment

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