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Supreme Court upholds State’s rights over water intake at nuclear plant

SJC upholds state’s right to regulate water intake at Pilgrim nuclear –  Boston Globe , by Beth Daley, 12 April 11, The state Supreme Judicial Court has upheld Massachusetts’ right to regulate the intake of vast amounts of water by the Pilgrim Nuclear Station and other power plants, which can harm fish and other marine organisms.Power plants use the water to cool equipment then discharge it later — and hotter — into waterways. Environmental studies show the heated water can harm aquatic life. The state and environmentalists have also long argued that the sucking in of water can kill vast amounts of fish larvae, eggs, shellfish, and other aquatic organisms – larger creatures become trapped on screens covering the intake pipes, and smaller ones are sucked into the cooling system. Continue reading →

April 12, 2011 Posted by | Legal, USA, water | Leave a comment

Goanese join opposition to Jaitapur nuclear plant

No to Jaitapur Nuclear Project, The Times of India, TNN | Apr 12, 2011, PANAJI: A group of around 60 Goans voiced their opposition against the Jaitapur Nuclear Project by participating in a candlelight vigil at Bandodkar Samadhi, Miramar at 6pm.   The protesters held candles and placards to express their solidarity with the people of Japan on the one month anniversary of the nuclear catastrophe. Similar vigils were held in 10 cities across India on Greenpeace National Day of Action against Nukes. Continue reading →

April 12, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Tonga leads Pacific push for renewable energy

AUDIO Tonga steps up its renewable energy push Radio Australia:Pacific Beat: April 11, 2011 There is a growing push towards renewable energy in the Pacific with both Cook Islands and Tuvalu setting ambitious targets to achieve 100 percent renewable energy networks.Tonga too is moving down the same road, having just been admitted as the Pacific’s sole representative on the council of IRENA, the International Renewable Energy Agency.And tomorrow the country’s first sustainable energy expo will open.It’s been organised by TERM – the Tonga Energy Road Map.
Radio Australia:Pacific Beat:Story:Tonga steps up its renewable energy push

April 12, 2011 Posted by | OCEANIA, renewable, Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

Call for new rules on USA’s nuclear wastes

US lawmaker calls for new nuclear waste rules
*  Feinstein says waste should move to dry storage faster

* Study found that dry cask storage less risky than pools

* NRC has said waste could stay in pools for 100 years

By Ayesha Rascoe WASHINGTON, April 11 (Reuters) – A top Senate Democrat on Monday urged the U.S. nuclear regulator to require plants to speed up the shift of radioactive waste to dry cask storage from pools. Continue reading →

April 12, 2011 Posted by | USA, wastes | Leave a comment

License application withdrawn for Diablo nuclear plant

PG&E withdraws license renewal application for San Luis Obispo nuclear plant,  PolitiCal | Jack DolanApril 11, 2011 Pacific Gas & Electric asked federal regulators to hold off on granting them a new license to run the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in Central California until the company can complete a new round of seismic safety studies.

The company, which runs two reactors at the coastal site south of San Luis Obispo, cited “considerable public concern” about nuclear reactors situated in earthquake zones after a massive quake and tsunami crippled the Fuskushima Daichi plant in Japan last month…….In 2008, the U.S. Geological Survey revealed that it had discovered a previously unknown fault less than a mile from Diablo Canyon. Another fault, about three miles offshore, had been discovered in the early 1970s. Geophysicists are concerned that movement of one fault could trigger an earthquake along the other, potentially compounding any damage to the nuclear plant…..PG&E withdraws license renewal application for San Luis Obispo nuclear plant | PolitiCal | Los Angeles Times

 

April 12, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, USA | Leave a comment

California moving to 33 percent renewable energy

California to set 33 percent renewable energy goal for 2020 Govenor to sign bill  The Desert Sun |, Apr. 12, 2011 Gov. Jerry Brown is expected to sign a new law Tuesday committing California’s private utilities to producing 33 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2020.

The signing is scheduled for around 11:15 a.m. when the governor attends the dedication of SunPower’s new solar panel manufacturing facility in Milpitas…..California to set 33 percent renewable energy goal for 2020 | The Desert Sun | MyDesert.com

 

April 12, 2011 Posted by | renewable, USA | Leave a comment

Facts on plutonium and Mox nuclear fuel

some reactors do use Mox, but only as a small percentage (less than 30 per cent) of the total fuel. The rest of the fuel is conventional uranium oxide…Mox, which in any case remains far more expensive than conventional uranium fuel…

(UK) Government’s doomed  £6bn plan to dispose of nuclear waste,  The Independent, 11 April 11“……Q & A: Why has it come to this?

Q: What is Britain’s “plutonium mountain”?

A: It is the nation’s stockpile of radioactive plutonium, kept as plutonium dioxide powder, packed into special drums stored at Sellafield in Cumbria. A further, smaller amount is stored at the Dounreay nuclear facility in Scotland, the site of the doomed nuclear fast-breeder reactor programme. Continue reading →

April 11, 2011 Posted by | - plutonium, reprocessing, UK | Leave a comment

Dangerous nuclear work done by low paid contract workers

thousands of untrained, itinerant, temporary labourers who handle the bulk of the dangerous work at nuclear power plants here and in other countries,….

Japan’s two-tiered work force, with an elite class of highly paid employees at top companies and a subclass of labourers who work for less pay, have less job security and receive fewer benefits. Such labour practices have both endangered the health of these workers and undermined safety at Japan’s 55 nuclear reactors

Lured to work with radiation, Hiroko Tabuchi Interviews with past and current workers at Fukushima Daiichi and other plants in Japan paint a bleak picture of what happens on the nuclear circuit. Hiroko Tabuchi The Hindu 11 April 11, “ …. 

Untrained labour Continue reading →

April 11, 2011 Posted by | employment, Japan | Leave a comment

Thousands rally against nuclear power, in Japan

‘‘We hope to halt the Hamaoka plant which is said to be the most dangerous, and the campaign to halt nuclear plants will spread elsewhere.’‘

17,500 gather for Tokyo rallies against nuclear plants , Japan Today, 11 April 2011 TOKYO —About 17,500 people gathered Sunday for two rallies held in Tokyo against nuclear power plants amid the prolonged crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station some 220 kilometers to the northeast. Continue reading →

April 11, 2011 Posted by | Japan, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

As global temperatures rise, there will be expensive nuclear plant shutdowns

the prolonged spell of hot weather put the TVA at risk of violating environmental permits, with hefty fines as one consequence and potential harm to the Tennessee River ecosystem as another…..The total cost of the lost power over that time? More than $50 million dollars, all of which was paid for by TVA’s customers in Tennessee….. What happened last summer at Browns Ferry may be a sign of what people living in the Southeast can expect in the future. As average global temperatures rise,

Heatwaves cause problems for nuclear power plants | Climate Central, By Alyson Kenward,  11 April 11, On July 8, 2010, as the temperature in downtown Decatur, Alabama climbed to a sweltering 98°F, operators at the Browns Ferry nuclear power plant a few miles outside of town realized they had only one option to avoid violating their environmental permit: turn down the reactors. Continue reading →

April 11, 2011 Posted by | climate change, USA | Leave a comment

Fukushima nuclear reactors still not under control

Engineers at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant north of Tokyo said on Sunday they were no closer to restoring the plant’s cooling system which is critical if overheated fuel rods are to be cooled and the six reactors brought under control.

The Japan Times said authorities would soon forcibly close the 20 km zone, stopping people returning to their shattered homes to pick through the rubble for belongings.

Japan set to extend nuclear evacuation zone | Reuters, 11 April 11, – Japan plans to extend the evacuation zone around its crippled nuclear plant because of high radiation levels, local media reported on Monday, with engineers no closer to regaining control of six reactors hit by a giant tsunami one month ago. Continue reading →

April 11, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

India’s ramshackle infrastructure a danger for nuclear safety

Japan crisis fuels India nuclear safety concerns, Daily Times. 11 April 11,  “…….experts say the government has not properly addressed a crisis scenario, given India’s ramshackle infrastructure and largely untested emergency procedures. The Department of Atomic Energy has “cavalierly minimised” the potential of an accident, said Balaram’s letter, which was also signed by Gopalakrishnan and former power secretary E.A.S. Sharma.The Japanese crisis has focused domestic attention on India’s plans to construct what would be one of the world’s largest nuclear plants at Jaitapur in a seismically sensitive region of Maharashtra state.French company Areva has signed a $9.3 billion deal to supply the first two of Jaitapur’s six planned third-generation pressurised water reactors.But the region has experienced 92 earthquakes since 1985, including one measuring 6.2, according to environmental group Greenpeace.“The dangers have been swept under the carpet,” Greenpeace spokesman Hofeza Merchant said.
“With our corrupt and poor quality practices inherent in the system, it is very dangerous to meddle with such high-risk projects,” said B. Ramakrishnam Raju, convenor of the National Alliance of People’s Movements.
Daily Times – Leading News Resource of Pakistan – Japan crisis fuels India nuclear safety concerns

April 11, 2011 Posted by | India, safety | Leave a comment

Germany’s nuclear industry publicly pulls the plug on renewable energy fund

On Saturday 9 April, all four nuclear operators — RWE, EnBW, Vattenfall and E.ON — announced that they were stopping payments into the green energy fund.

Nuclear Industry Shows Their True Green Cards : TreeHugger,by Christine Lepisto, Berlin 04.10.11 Now the nuclear power plant operators have fired a shot across the political bow: they have stopped supporting green energy. Why is the German nuclear industry investing in green power? And why are they stopping now?  Continue reading →

April 11, 2011 Posted by | Germany, politics | 1 Comment

Fukushima stimulating new burst of nuclear energy “spin”

As nuclear energy markets feel the squeeze, we can expect to see the industry going into PR overdrive to promote the safety of nuclear technology in the coming months, often air-brushing existential threat dimensions from the nuclear equation out of the public’s consciousness…..

Fukushima sets faithful to spin mode James Norman The Australian April 11, 2011 EVEN as the steam was still rising from the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan last month, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was busy personally signing a $US9 billion ($8.5bn) deal with Belarus for a new nuclear-powered reactor.

That deal was the result of lengthy prior negotiations, but the reality is that the industry now faces a spectacular global image problem. Continue reading →

April 11, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, spinbuster | Leave a comment

Five USA nuclear plants at earthquake risk

Five U.S. nuclear reactors in earthquake zones – USATODAY.com,By Steve Sternberg, 11 April 11, At least five U.S. nuclear reactors are located in earthquake-prone seismic zones, potentially exposing them to the forces that damaged the Fukushima plant in Japan, a new analysis shows. The at-risk reactors are the Diablo Canyon Power Plant and San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in California; the South Texas Project near the Gulf Coast; the Waterford Steam Electric Station in Louisiana and the Brunswick Steam Electric Plant in North Carolina…..Five U.S. nuclear reactors in earthquake zones – USATODAY.com

April 11, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

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