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Unprecedented repression of anti nuclear protest in India

The state has unleashed savage repression on Jaitapur’s people. It routinely arrests and serves externment notices to peaceful protesters, and promulgates prohibitory orders, under which eminent citizens like former Navy chief L. Ramdas and former Supreme Court judge P.B. Sawant were barred from Jaitapur, and former Bombay High Court judge B.G. Kolse-Patil was detained for five days without being produced before a magistrate within 24 hours. Others have had false charges framed against them,

Nuclear trouble in Maharashtra, The Daily Star, 3 Feb 2011, Praful Bidwai Continue reading →

February 3, 2011 Posted by | civil liberties, India | Leave a comment

The illusion that coal and nuclear are “clean” – don’t buy it!

Don’t Buy the Clean Energy Illusion Triple Pundit, By Jeff Siegel | February 2nd 2011 President Obama told us last week he wants 80 percent of the nation’s electricity coming from clean energy sources by 2035.The illusion here is not the number; but rather what the definition of “clean” Continue reading →

February 3, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Chernobyl safety effort stalled – too expensive

Chernobyl safety structure short of funds , MOSCOW, Feb. 2 (UPI) –– A shelter to cover and secure the wreckage of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is only half funded and construction may have to stop, Russian officials say.The new shelter is being built over the existing “sarcophagus” that covers almost 200 tons of melted nuclear fuel rods left inside the damaged reactor as a result of the 1986 disaster, the BBC reported Wednesday.

Following the explosion on April 26, 1986, thousands of workers risked their lives and health to build the sarcophagus, always intended to be temporary, around the reactor.

The new permanent cover is expected to cost $2.2 billion, but despite promises made at successive Group of 8 conferences, funding is still falling short, officials said. Chernobyl safety structure short of funds – UPI.com

February 3, 2011 Posted by | safety, Ukraine | Leave a comment

Nuclear energy is not RENEWABLE, not CLEAN either

How Will Renewables Fare in a Clean Energy Standard?, SustainableBusiness.com News, 2 Feb 2011, We asked our e-newsletter subscribers what they think the ramifications will be if Congress passes a Clean Energy Standard rather than a Renewable Energy Standard (RES).A Clean Energy Standard includes all renewables, and also includes nuclear, natural gas and “clean” coal, whereas a RES only includes true renewables – solar, wind, geothermal, small hydro, ocean energy, etc……

“I think nuclear power has NOTHING to do with a clean, renewable energy future. I live in NYC, downwind from Indian Point, which should have been de-commissioned years ago. It’ caused fish kills in the Hudson, and is a terrorist target that would decimate New York…… Merideth Merideth Genin………………….. How Will Renewables Fare in a Clean Energy Standard?

February 3, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Manmohan Singh helps France, but not India, in nuclear deal

The deal between the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and Areva reflects a bonhomie between Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh and French president Nicolas Sarkozy at the cost of Indian people and the economy. Dr Singh actually came to the rescue of the problem-stricken French nuclear industry. Apart from the tariff structure, which is a very contentious issue, silence about the safety-related expenditure aggravates the suspicion.Transparency is, historically, a casualty in the nuclear energy arena.

Cost uncertainty dogs the Jaitapur nuclear project – Mumbai – DNA, Sankar Ray , February 3, 2011 Forget about the highly questionable technology for the proposed 1,650 megawatt nuclear power plant at Jaitapur in Ratnagiri district from the French power major Areva, or even the objections of the Finnish environmental watchdog body STUK for the Olkiluoto plant, which is being replicated at Jaitapur.The fact is that nothing can prevent time overruns and, therefore, cost escalation. To date, no nuclear power project has been implemented on schedule. Continue reading →

February 3, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, India, politics international | Leave a comment

USA Republicans broad attack to stop any action on Climate Change

a broad, coordinated pro-polluter legislative assault to weaken America’s clean air standards and block climate action. …..

Clean Energy Compromise Bill, New Bills Would Completely Block GHG Regulation Moves to Permanently Block Greenhouse Gas Regulations, Sustainable Business, 2 Feb 2011, “…….11 Republican senators, led by Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), introduced a bill Monday that would permanently block the Environmental Protection Agency and from regulating greenhouse gases without explicit approval by Congress. Continue reading →

February 3, 2011 Posted by | climate change, politics, USA | Leave a comment

USA’s federal government has duty to address climate change

The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 leaves no doubt that it is the federal government’s responsibility to help the nation mitigate climate change. In that act, Congress declared the federal government should “use all practicable means to the end that the Nation may fulfill the responsibilities of each generation as trustee of the environment for succeeding generations.”……..Some argue that as we struggle to get the economy back to full strength, we cannot afford to address these problems. The reality is, we can’t afford not to……

At the Crossroads: Floods, Fires and Another Teachable Moment, THE HUFFINGTON POST, William S. Becker, 3 Feb 2011, Like the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the extreme weather events occurring worldwide offer a teachable moment on the need to address climate change. Continue reading →

February 3, 2011 Posted by | climate change, history, USA | Leave a comment

Protestors highlight storm dangers to nuclear plant

“One storm and the beach in front of Sizewell can be gone and the waves will be lapping at the foundations of the nuclear plant.”

Protest blocks Sizewell nuclear power station entrance, BBC News, 2 February 2011, Protesters dressed as fish locked themselves together and blocked the entrance to Sizewell nuclear station in Suffolk for three hours on Wednesday. Continue reading →

February 3, 2011 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, UK | Leave a comment

Jaitapur nuclear plan should be scrapped – cost and safety issues

Globally, nuclear power has exhausted its technological potential. It has a bleak future. India must stop chasing the nuclear mirage — and scrap Jaitapur!

Nuclear trouble in Maharashtra, The Daily Star, 3 Feb 2011, Praful Bidwai“…….The Jaitapur public should fear EPRs. Western Europe’s first reactor after Chernobyl, an EPR, under construction in Finland, is delayed by four years and 90% over budget.Finnish, French, British and US nuclear regulators have raised 3,000 safety issues about its design, including control and emergency-cooling systems. Given its size, the EPR will generate seven times more toxic iodine-129 than normal reactors, posing many other problems.Any design changes will add to the EPR’s capital costs, already two to five times higher than for power from other sources. Its unit power cost will be two to four times higher. Continue reading →

February 3, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, India | Leave a comment

USA nuclear industry just not financially viable, despite government promotion

”…… the economics are not in place. ”Right now, it’s stuck,” John Reed, an investment banker who specialises in nuclear projects, said. of the planned nuclear revival.

Cheap gas gets in the way of new reactors The US federal and state governments want power plants but very little construction is under way, Sydney Morning Herald,  Matthew Wald. 3 Feb 2011, In his State of the Union address, the US President, Barack Obama, proposed giving the nuclear construction business a type of help it has never had, a role in a quota for clean energy. But recent setbacks in a hoped-for ”nuclear renaissance” raise questions about how much of a role nuclear power can play. Continue reading →

February 3, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, USA | Leave a comment