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Nuclear energy not safe for USA, but fine to export to ‘developing’ countries

For the United States, nuclear power has become an export industry….“Most of the action that one can really care about, frankly, is in the developing world,”

Nuclear Industry Thrives in the U.S., but for Export – NYTimes.com By MATTHEW L. WALD March 30, 2011 THE American nuclear renaissance is going strong, even if hardly any nuclear reactors are being built in the United States.

Japan’s continuing nuclear calamity has heightened concerns about the future of nuclear power and its safety, Continue reading →

March 31, 2011 Posted by | marketing, USA | 1 Comment

Fukushima nuclear reactors to be scrapped, as Japan considers entombment

Japan to scrap four of the six stricken nuclear reactors at Fukushima plant, The Independent Officials consider entombing plant as workers battle radiation By David McNeill in Tokyo, 30 march 11, Japan has conceded defeat in its frantic three-week battle to save a crippled nuclear plant, with the announcement that four of the six reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi complex will be shut down. In a further blow, tests on seawater near the plant showed radiation levels well above the legal limit, heightening fears of widening nuclear contamination…..
Japan to scrap four of the six stricken nuclear reactors at Fukushima plant – Asia, World – The Independent

March 31, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | 1 Comment

Solar energy stocks up, as Germany turns against nuclear power

Solar Stock Winners: German Elections Propel Stocks by Eric Rosenbaum  03/29/11 – NEW YORK (TheStreet) — Solar stocks experienced a surge on election results in Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party suffered big losses, and with the German electorate citing anti-nuclear energy policy as a primary issue. The long-term implications of the Green Party election victories in Germany have to be viewed as a positive for green energy,…..All solar stocks, from the German solar manufactures to the Chinese and U.S. solar companies, rallied on Monday after the German election results. German solar companies Conergy, Q-Cells, Solon and Solarworld were all up on Monday, with one-day returns between 8% and 12%, and Conergy leading the way..”

March 31, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, Germany | Leave a comment

China to boost solar power, scale down nuclear?

China mulls to switch over to solar photovoltaics to scale down N-power  The Times of India | Mar 30, 2011, BEIJING: China is seriously considering to down size its massive expansion plan of nuclear plants in view of radiation crisis created by ruptured Japanese nuclear reactors and weighed option to double the target capacity of solar photovoltaics (PV) to meet future power requirements. Continue reading →

March 31, 2011 Posted by | China, renewable | 1 Comment

USA’s nuclear wastes continue to pile up, mainly in cooling ponds

There is about 70,000 tons of spent fuel stored at reactor sites around the country. Three-quarters of the material sits in cooling pools.

While Nuclear Waste Piles up in U.S., Billions in Fund to Handle It Sit Unused,  ProPublica, by Joaquin SapienProPublica, March 30, 2011 “……In 1982, Congress passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, and the federal government effectively struck a deal with the nuclear industry: Reactor operators and their customers would pay a tax on the waste they produced, and the government would use the money to create a safe place to store it for generations. Continue reading →

March 31, 2011 Posted by | USA, wastes | Leave a comment

No safe level for ionising radiation as cancer cause

there may be a threshold for some effects of radiation, but not for cancer…….There is unfortunately a continuing tirade of statements by self-interested parties and some official agencies … implying a threshold for radiation exposure below which there are no adverse consequences,”

No ‘safe’ threshold for radiation: experts, Analysis (ABC Science)31 March 2011 Anna Salleh,As Japanese authorities work to contain radiation at Fukushima, concerns have been raised about public communication on radiation risk. The US advocacy group, Physicians for Social Responsiblity, recently criticised press reports implying there is a safe threshold for ionizing radiation exposure. Continue reading →

March 31, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, spinbuster | Leave a comment

Fukushima’s radioactive iodine and cesium a greater danger at present than plutonium

How Dangerous Is the Plutonium Leaking from the Japanese Nuclear Reactor? – By Joshua E. Keating | Foreign PolicyMARCH 30, 2011“……..Plutonium may be grabbing the headlines right now, but it’s not the most dangerous substance being emitted from Fukushima. The steam intentionally vented from the plant contains iodine and cesium, both of which have a far shorter half-life than plutonium, but are being released in much higher amounts and, being airborne, can travel much farther. Radioactive iodine-131 has been detected off the coast of Fukushima at levels 1,150 times higher than normal. These elements may not be quite as radioactive as plutonium, but if ingested or inhaled, they also pose a risk of causing cancer. …”
FP EXPLAINER: How Dangerous Is the Plutonium Leaking from the Japanese Nuclear Reactor? – By Joshua E. Keating | Foreign Policy

March 31, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, health, Japan | Leave a comment

TEPCO could face Fukushima compensation claims of $133 billion

TEPCO claims could top $132 bln on Japan nuclear crisis -analyst | TOKYO, March 31 (Reuters) – Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) could face compensation claims of up to 11 trillion yen ($133 billion) if the crisis over its Fukushima Daichi nuclear complex drags on for two years, an analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch wrote in a report.But claims could be limited to less than 1 trillion yen if the crisis triggered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami was resolved in around two months, or up to 3 trillion yen if it took around six months, research analyst Yusuke Ueda wrote. ($1 = 82.875 Japanese Yen) (Reporting by James Topham)
TEPCO claims could top $132 bln on Japan nuclear crisis -analyst | Energy & Oil | Reuters

March 31, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Brockovich’s push for mapping disease clusters

Christina Macpherson's websites & blogs

This could embarrass nuclear and uranium industries big-time!

Erin Brockovich Pushes For Disease Cluster Law – Planet Ark, 30 March 11, Erin Brockovich, a U.S. consumer health advocate whose life story was the basis for an Academy Award-winning film, urged senators Tuesday to pass a law to document disease clusters in the United States.A disease cluster is an unusual number of health events, such as reports of cancer, grouped together in a time and location, according to the Centers for Disease Control.Brockovich, who came to prominence investigating the prevalence of cancer cases in Hinkley, California, said she has become an informal reporting agency for those who worry that something in their immediate environment is a health hazard.”Thousands of Americans contact me every month asking for help and telling me about unexplained diseases in their neighborhood or on their streets,” Brockovich told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee….

A study by the Natural Resources Defense Council and the National Disease Clusters Alliance reported 42 disease clusters in 13 U.S. states, showing incidence of numerous types of cancer, birth defects and other chronic illnesses….
World Environment News – Erin Brockovich Pushes For Disease Cluster Law – Planet Ark

March 31, 2011 Posted by | health, USA | Leave a comment

Entergy can’t sell its Vermont nuclear power plant

Entergy Abandons Bid To Sell Vermont Nuclear Power Plant, WSJ.com By Naureen S. Malik  MARCH 30, 2011 NEW YORK (Dow Jones)–Entergy Corp. (ETR) ended a bid to sell its Vermont nuclear power plant Wednesday after failing to find a buyer for the reactor, which may be required to shut down next year.

The second-largest U.S. nuclear-power generator put the Vermont Yankee plant up for sale last November amid strong opposition in Vermont to it operating for an additional 20 years. The reactor’s operating license expires in March 2012.Opposition to the plant grew after the New Orleans-based company reported several leaks of radioactive material from underground pipes. State officials said Entergy had told them the piping didn’t transport radioactive materials…..Entergy Abandons Bid To Sell Vermont Nuclear Power Plant – WSJ.com

 

March 31, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, USA | Leave a comment

Renewable energy feed in tariffs for Botswana

Botswana sees renewable feed-in tariffs for 2012 Mar 30, 2011 JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Botswana will introduce renewable energy feed-in tariffs for electricity generation by March next year, a senior government official said on Wednesday.

Under such a scheme, renewable energy suppliers are paid for generating electricity to the country’s national grid….Botswana sees renewable feed-in tariffs for 2012 | Reuters

 

March 31, 2011 Posted by | AFRICA, renewable | 1 Comment

Japanese village Iitate has dangerous radiation levels

IAEA worried about radiation in Japan village(, Google News, AFP) – 31 March 11, VIENNA — Radiation levels recorded at a village outside the evacuation zone around the quake-striken Fukushima nuclear plant are above safe levels, the UN atomic watchdog said Wednesday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said safe limits had been exceeded at Iitate village, 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of Fukushima, well outside the government-imposed 20 kilometre exclusion zone and the 30-kilometre “stay indoors” zone.”The first assessment indicates that one of the IAEA operational criteria for evacuation is exceeded in Iitate village,” the IAEA’s head of nuclear safety and security, Denis Flory, told reporters here……Iitate lies 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of the Fukushima nuclear power plant,……AFP: IAEA worried about radiation in Japan village

 

March 31, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Danger in USA’s 71,862 tons of spent nuclear fuel rods

A 2006 study by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) warned Congress and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that spent fuel pools were vulnerable to terrorist attack, with some nuclear plant designs more than others. With water gone from the pools, the spent fuel could easily catch fire and see “the release of large quantities of radioactive materials to the environment,” the study found…….

Fukushima warning: US has ‘utterly failed’ to address risk of spent fuel Nuclear experts told Congress Wednesday that spent-fuel pools at US nuclear power plants are fuller than safety suggests they should be. They say the entire US spent-fuel policy should be overhauled in light of the nuclear crisis at Japan’s Fukushima plant. CSMonitor.com, By Mark Clayton,   March 30, 2011 Continue reading →

March 31, 2011 Posted by | USA, wastes | Leave a comment

AREVA’s nuclear plant could cost Ameren $10 billion

Expert: New Ameren nuclear plant cost could balloon to $10 billion St. Louis Business Journal – by Kelsey Volkmann, March 30, 2011, The cost of Ameren’s proposed second nuclear plant in Callaway County could balloon to more than $10 billion, an energy expert said Wednesday. Continue reading →

March 31, 2011 Posted by | business and costs | Leave a comment

Obama risking political fate in continuing to support nuclear?

After the Japanese nuclear disaster, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party lost a huge upset in that country’s election over her support for nuclear power. Is Obama running the same risk? Death and Taxes By Alex Moore   March 30, 2011 Continue reading →

March 31, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

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