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France grapples with the eternal unsolved problem of nuclear wastes

A pyramid to warn of a French nuclear waste site?, By Muriel Boselli, PARIS | Tue Nov 8, 2011  (Reuters) – How can mankind signal to future generations thousands of years from now that hazardous radioactive waste is buried deep underground in eastern France — by building a giant pyramid, a museum or a site for art projects or by employing geology? Continue reading →

November 13, 2011 Posted by | France, wastes | 2 Comments

Radiation standards for children made stricter in Japan

Japan to Tighten Radiation Exposure Standard for Minors NTI Global Security Newswire, Nov. 11, 2011 Japan on Friday backed plans to cut by August 2013 the maximum, yearly quantity of radiation minors are allowed to receive in regions impacted by contaminants from the Fukushima Daiichi atomic facility, Kyodo News reported (see GSN, Nov. 9). Continue reading →

November 13, 2011 Posted by | health, Japan | Leave a comment

Legal actions against oil companies on effects of global warming?

Playing the climate blame game, New Scientist 11 November 2011 by Fred Pearce A claim that global warming caused the 2010 Russian heatwave could bring closer the day when climate victims can sue oil firms Editorial: ”Climate blame: send for the lawyers“  BLAMING climate change for extreme weather events, like the 2010 heatwave that set the Moscow region of Russia alight in 2010 or the floods that have ravaged the UK since the 1970s (see “Atmospheric rivers cause the UK’s worst floods“), is one of the hottest topics in climate science. The Russian fires are currently the subject of debate, and the stakes are high. Solving the issue could bring closer the day when disaster victims can successfully sue oil and coal companies. Continue reading →

November 13, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, climate change, Legal | 1 Comment

Scathing criticism of Koch brothers and climate change denialists

THEY’RE LIKE SMOKERS: Malcolm Turnbull turns on climate change sceptics, Perth Now November 06, 2011 Turnbull highlights new study by climate sceptics It still found the planet was 1C warmer than in 1950s FORMER Australian Liberal Party leader Malcolm Turnbull has compared climate change sceptics with people who refuse to admit smoking causes lung cancer.

Mr Turnbull, who lost the Liberal leadership almost two years ago when he backed Labor’s old emissions trading scheme, has seized on a US study showing global temperatures are rising….. In his attack on climate-change deniers, Mr Turnbull highlighted a study of the world’s surface temperatures by Richard Muller, which was partially bankrolled by a foundation connected to global warming deniers.

But despite drawing funding from industrialist brothers David and Charles Koch, the study by the University of Berkeley in California, still found the Earth was 1C warmer than in the 1950s. ”One of the big financiers of the anti-climate change movement is a family called Koch, K-O-C-H, and they put a lot of money into these climate sceptic organisations and they’ve got big interest in fossil fuels,” Mr Turnbull told the Seven Network on Sunday.

Mr Turnbull said the backers of the study “presumably” hoped to demonstrate climate science was not reliable, and used the results to criticise people who continually question global warming. ”They’re like the guy who gets told by his doctor to stop smoking, lose weight and decides not to do that,” he said. ”He met a mate down the pub who said his Uncle Ernie had lived ’til 95 but he smoked a packet every day. It’s ridiculous.”….
http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/special-features/theyre-like-smokers-malcolm-turnbull-turns-on-climate-change-sceptics/story-e6frg19l-1226186990042

November 13, 2011 Posted by | general | 2 Comments

Climate Change has cost $14 billion in health toll

Health Tab for Climate Change: $14 Billion, Mother Jones, —By Kate Sheppard  Nov. 8, 2011  Climate change-related disasters caused $14 billion in health costs in first decade of the 2000s, according to a new paper published this week in the journal Health Affairs. The paper looks at six case studies of weather events in the US, all of the type predicted to increase or grow more severe as climate change progresses, like hurricanes, floods, and heat waves. It then determines the cost of disease, injury, and death related to those events…..

The US has already seen a record number of billion-dollar weather disasters in 2011. And those tallies don’t include the kind of health-related costs that these public health experts discuss in the paper. Meanwhile, the forthcoming IPCC report anticipates more extreme weather down the line… http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2011/11/health-tab-climate-change-14-billion

November 13, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, climate change | Leave a comment

Scene inside wrecked nuclear reactor in Japan

Scene of devastation inside Japan reactor SMH, 12 Nov 11Media allowed into Japan’s tsunami-damaged nuclear power plant for the first time on Saturday saw a striking scene of devastation: twisted and overturned trucks, crumbling reactor buildings and piles of rubble virtually untouched since the wave struck more than eight months ago.

Representatives of the Japanese and international media, including The Associated Press, were allowed into the plant with the government’s chief official in charge of the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. The tour was intended to demonstrate how much the situation at the plant has stabilised since the March 11 tsunami, though reporters had to wear full-body protective gear and submit to radiation scans afterward.

Mangled trucks, flipped over by the wave, remain along the roads inside the complex. Piles of rubble stand where the walls of the plant’s reactor structures crumbled, and large pools of water still cover parts of the sprawling campus…….

the government has predicted that it will take another 30 years at least to safely remove the nuclear fuel and decommission the plant. It could also be decades before tens of thousands of residents forced to flee the 20km exclusion zone around the plant will be able to return. Some experts say even that estimate is optimistic….   –http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/scene-of-devastation-inside-japan-reactor-20111112-1ncx4.html

November 13, 2011 Posted by | Japan, safety | 1 Comment

Fukushima nuclear disaster: how it was for the workers when it happened

Report Details Initial Chaos at Stricken Nuclear Plant, NYT By MATTHEW L. WALD  November 11, 2011 Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1 was stuck in darkness, and everyone on site feared that the reactor core was damaged. It was the day after a devastating earthquake and a towering tsunami had hit the plant, and the workers knew that they were the only hope for halting an unfolding nuclear disaster. Continue reading →

November 13, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Mystery of radioactive iodine particles in Europe

Low levels of radioactive particles in Europe: IAEA, By Sylvia Westall and Fredrik Dahl VIENNA  Nov 11, 2011   (Reuters) – Very low levels of radioactive iodine-131 have been detected in Europe but the particles are not believed to pose a public health risk, the U.N. nuclear agency said Friday, saying it was seeking to find the source.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Vienna-based U.N. watchdog, said it did not believe the radioactive particles were from Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant after its emergency in March.

Experts said the origin of the radiation — which has been spreading for about two weeks — remained a mystery but could come from many possible sources ranging from medical laboratories or hospitals to nuclear submarines.

The Czech Republic’s nuclear security watchdog said it had tipped off the IAEA after detecting the radiation it thought was coming from abroad but not from a nuclear power plant. It suggested it may come from production of radiopharmaceuticals.

Germany’s Environment Ministry said slightly higher levels of radioactive iodine had been measured in the north of the country, ruling out that it came from a nuclear power plant…….

Iodine-131 is a short-lived radioisotope that has a radioactive decay half-life of about eight days, the IAEA said. Massimo Sepielli, head of the nuclear fission unit of Italy’s national alternative energy body ENEA said any number of sources could be to blame for the readings.

“It could be coming from the transporting of (nuclear) material, it could come from a hospital … it could even come from a nuclear submarine, even if it’s a more complicated possibility … but you can’t rule that out.”….http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/11/us-nuclear-iodine-iaea-idUSTRE7AA4U020111111

November 13, 2011 Posted by | environment, EUROPE | Leave a comment

Fire at Idaho National Nuclear Laboratory

Fire reported at nuclear research lab in Idaho, SALMON, Idaho Nov 12, 2011  (Reuters) – A sodium fire was reported on Friday at a U.S. nuclear research laboratory in Idaho but all workers had been moved to safety and there was no risk to the public, the lab said.

The fire was reported at the Materials and Fuels Complex at the Idaho National Laboratory, a sprawling Department of Energy site in the high desert of eastern Idaho about 40 miles from Idaho Falls…. The lab said fire crews had responded to the building, which is owned and operated by the private Idaho Cleanup Project, and that state, county and tribal officials had been notified.

The Idaho Cleanup Project is a private company contracted with the Department of Energy to clean up waste at the site  On Tuesday, at least six workers were contaminated by low-level plutonium radiation and 11 others were exposed following a mishap at the lab, the lab has said.

Some 6,000 employees and contractors work at the Idaho National Laboratory, the Energy Department’s leading facility for nuclear reactor technology. It opened in 1949 as a national reactor testing station… http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/11/11/idINIndia-60481720111111

November 13, 2011 Posted by | incidents | Leave a comment

USA Republican presidential candidate calls for preemptive strike on Iran

Rick Santorum Calls for a ‘Preemptive Strike’ if Iran Is Developing, Nuclear Weapons, ABC News, Nov 10, NEW BOSTON, N.H. – Rick Santorum said the United States should be open to a military strike to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. “A country that is developing a weapon of mass destruction to use it to destroy another country must be stopped in a preemptive strike,” Santorum told a crowd of about 50 people in a rural part of New Hampshire this evening.
This was his second policy speech in a series of three in his “Faith, Family and Freedom” tour…. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/11/rick-santorum-calls-for-a-preemptive-strike-if-iran-is-developing-nuclear-weapons/

November 11, 2011 Posted by | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Call to Iran and the West for diplomacy – United Nations – Ban Ki-moon

UN’s Ban Urges Diplomacy in Iran Nuclear Dispute Voice of America,  November 10th, 2011  United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is calling on Iran and the West to resolve the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program through talks instead of military action.

A Ban spokesman said Thursday that diplomacy is the only way to settle the issue. Recent Israeli media reports say Israel has been considering a military strike on Iran’s nuclear sites to stop what the West suspects is Iranian plans build nuclear weapons.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Thursday Iran will respond to any military strike by Israel or the United States with “iron fists.”….http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2011/11/10/uns-ban-urges-diplomacy-in-iran-nuclear-dispute-2/

November 11, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, politics international | 1 Comment

Iran warns against Israeli military strike

Nuclear standoff: Iran warns US, Israel against strike News.com.Au 11 Nov 11 IRAN will hit back against any attack or even threat of military action, the country’s supreme leader says after Israel warned the world must act to prevent Tehran getting nuclear weapons.

Iran “will respond with full force to any aggression or even threats in a way that will demolish the aggressors from within”, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told students at a Tehran military college, according to his official website. Continue reading →

November 11, 2011 Posted by | Iran, Israel, politics international | Leave a comment

France’s spy court case shows up dirty tactics of nuclear lobby

This spying scandal and verdict against EDF couldn’t have come at a worse time for the global nuclear industry

 Nuclear giant EDF found guilty of spying on Greenpeace, Greenpeace,  by JustinMcKeating – November 10, 2011, As the great Mahatma Gandhi (nearly) said, ”First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they spy on you, then you win”.

That’s pretty much the chain of events that lead to today’s conviction by a French court of French state electricity company, Electricité de France SA (EDF) for spying on us. The court fined the company 1.5 million Euros and ordered it to pay €500,000 in damages to Greenpeace France. In addition, the court sent the four men involved, two of them senior EDF executives, to jail as well – and fined three of them. Continue reading →

November 11, 2011 Posted by | France, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Parliamentarians taking up the cause of South Africa’s sick former nuclear workers

Political allies for past and present nuclear workers  Workers at Necsa are not alone. Support for their plight is at hand.  The New Age Mel Frykberg, 10 Nov 11 Former nuclear workers who have died or are suffering ill health, allegedly from working at the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa’s (Necsa) nuclear complex, have found an ally in the DA’s new chief whip.

 

Wattie Watson, who was sworn in yesterday, has pledged to speed up answers to Parliamentary questions, including those affecting the nuclear workers. “I support the establishment of an independent enquiry into the former nuclear workers’ case,” Gareth Morgan, the DA shadow minister of water and environmental affairs told The New Age. “These workers haven’t received a fair hearing and we want to know how the government is going to respond,” said Morgan.

Watson said at the top of his priority list would be a request to Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe to pressure government ministers to respond to unanswered questions raised in Parliament. Labour Minister Nelisiwe Mildred Oliphant was asked on July 1 how many workers at Necsa’s Pelindaba, Koeberg and Ithuba laboratories had applied for occupational health compensation since inception and how many had applied annually.

The minister was further asked about the number of successful applications, the number who had received compensation, the amount compensated and the names of the recipients. To date, the DA has still not received a response despite the Parliamentary custom of responding in writing within 10 days.

The Habitat Council, the Pelindaba Working Group (PWG), comprising antinuclear activists and former workers, Earthlife Africa and former Atteridgeville workers, have also called for an independent enquiry, particularly into “Necsa’s suspect rebuttal of workers’ sicknesses”.
The public protector is investigating the case but told The New Age that more medical files were needed to support the compensation claims. However, Judith Taylor, Earthlife Africa Johannesburg’s coordinator, said that the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR), the nuclear watchdog, was largely to blame for the stalemate.

Mariette Liefferlink, a NNR board member, who expressed concern in her capacity as an activist and the CEO of the Federation for a Sustainable Environment, is deeply concerned by the plight of former nuclear workers. http://thenewage.co.za/34642-1007-53-Political_allies_for_past_and_present_nuclear_workers

November 11, 2011 Posted by | health, South Africa | 1 Comment

Blockade by protestors delays Kudankulam nuclear plant

Commissioning of India Kudankulam nuclear plant delayed BBC News, 10 Nov 11 Commissioning of a controversial planned nuclear plant in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu has been delayed by a few months, officials have told the BBC. Kudankulam plant Chief Superintendent MK Balaji said that the delay was due to public protests at the site which had disrupted building work.

He said that the site had been subjected to a total blockade by protesters since 13 October. Protesters say the facility is unsafe and in an earthquake area. They fear a repeat of the disaster at Japan’s Fukushima plant…. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15684591

November 11, 2011 Posted by | India, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

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