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The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope

Physicians, not nuclear physicists, know the facts about radiation

There’s no group better prepared than doctors to stand up to the physicists of the nuclear industry….Physicists had the knowledge to begin the nuclear age. Physicians have the knowledge, credibility and legitimacy to end it.

Unsafe at Any Dose, New York Times, By HELEN CALDICOTT,  April 30, 2011 “………There’s great debate about the number of fatalities following Chernobyl; theInternational Atomic Energy Agency has predicted that there will be only about 4,000 deaths from cancer, but a 2009 report published by the New York Academy of Sciencessays that almost one million people have already perished from cancer and other diseases. The high doses of radiation caused so many miscarriages that we will never know the number of genetically damaged fetuses that did not come to term. (And both Belarus and Ukraine have group homes full of deformed children.) Continue reading →

May 2, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, health, spinbuster | Leave a comment

30,000 tons of Chernobyl radioactive waste to last thousands of years

there is no long-term plan for dealing with a radioactive legacy that will remain for several millennia…..no one knows where the radioactive wreckage of the ruined reactor and the roughly 30,000 tons of material containing fuel are to be stored…the water problem remains unresolved.

Beyond the Sarcophagus, The Overwhelming Challenge of Containing Chernobyl, Spiegel Online, By Benjamin Bidder, 1 May 11,   Work on the new sarcophagus meant to contain Chernobyl’s reactor 4 is a decade behind schedule. But significant problems will remain even once it is complete. For one, it is only meant to last for 100 years. For another, no one knows what to do with the vast quantities of radioactive waste left behind. Continue reading →

May 2, 2011 Posted by | safety, wastes | Leave a comment

Fukushima care worker exposed to internal radiation emitter

the worker in question, who is in her 40s, was found to have suffered more internal than external radiation exposure, with the internal exposure reaching 6.71 millisieverts.

She was providing care to workers who had become sick at a building on site that was being used as the operation center for the crisis, the utility known as Tepco said.

Second woman over legally set limit, Worker found overexposed to radiation, Japan Times, 2 May 11,  Kyodo, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Sunday that a woman at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 power plant has been overexposed to radiation, making her the second at the plant to be subjected to more than the legal limit. Continue reading →

May 2, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Japanese parents fight government over changed radiation limits

Parents and lobbyists are scheduled to meet bureaucrats today to hand over a petition demanding the withdrawal of the new radiation standard

Parents fight back over raised radiation limits, Independent, 2 May 11, By David McNeill in Fukushima City, Thousands of parents living near Japan’s stricken Fukushima Daiichi power plant have condemned a government decision to lift radiation limits for schools in the area by 20 times, saying the move is based on incomplete science and could put children in danger. Continue reading →

May 2, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, Japan, politics | Leave a comment

Uncertainties about radiation in Fukushima region

The disagreements came to the forefront on Friday, when a government adviser on radiation safety quit, calling on Japan to lower the permissible radiation dose of 20 millisieverts per year that the Education Ministry has set for schools for younger children, including elementary and junior high, in affected areas.

Life in Limbo for Japanese Near Nuclear Plant, New York Times, By MARTIN FACKLER and MATTHEW L. WALD,  May 1, 2011 TENEI, Japan — For seven generations, Yoshitoshi Sewa and his ancestors have tilled this farm in a gently curving valley filled with green rice paddies. But now he will not let his young grandchildren play outside their tile-roofed home for fear of an invisible and potentially long-lasting threat, radiation. Continue reading →

May 2, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Thousands of Taiwanese in anti nuclear protest

Thousands protest against nuclear plant in Taiwan, Google News, (AFP) 1 May 11, TAIPEI — Thousands of Taiwanese took to the streets on Saturday to protest against a new nuclear power station as safety concerns mounted in the wake of the atomic crisis in Japan, an organiser said. Continue reading →

May 2, 2011 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, Taiwan | Leave a comment

Calvert Cliffs nuclear project a dead cat

 a new one [nuclear plant] would cost many billions with big financing costs. The French would like the state of Maryland or somebody else to guarantee the purchase of electricity from Calvert Cliffs 3, but that’s not going to happen.

Exec: Exelon deal won’t revive Calvert Cliffs project, Baltimore Sun, by Jay Hancock, APRIL 29, 2011, Exelon’s announced purchase of Constellation Energy prompted speculation that the dormant project to build a third reactor at Calvert Cliffs on Maryland’s Chesapeake shore would be revived. Continue reading →

May 2, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, USA | Leave a comment

Two Japanese women risk deportation in Taipei anti-nuclear protest

Japanese citizens could be deported for participating in nuclear power protest, Taipei Times May 02, 2011, Two Japanese citizens could be deported for attending an anti-nuclear power rally in Taipei on Saturday, because officials said their participation in the protest was contrary to the stated purpose of their visit to the country. Continue reading →

May 2, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Non nuclear nations call for nuclear weapons abolition

Ten Non-Nuclear States Plead For Nuke Abolition, By Jamshed Baruah, IDN-InDepth NewsReport, 2 May 2011,  BERLIN (IDN) – While public attention worldwide is focussed on one authoritarian regime after another tumbling down on the Arab shores of the Mediterranean Sea, foreign ministers of 10 non-nuclear nations stretching across continents have called for “a Middle East free of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction”. Continue reading →

May 2, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Uranium mining threatens Grand Canyon’s water, and itseconomic viability

Polluting the Grand Canyon with uranium mines and radioactive tailings would have a drastic, negative effect on the area’s economic viability.

Uranium mining and Grand Canyon, Salt Lake Tribune, BY WALKER MACKAY 1 May 11, “……..Uranium mining in the Grand Canyon area will have a huge impact on the area’s watershed. The uranium excavation process known as “breccia pipe-type” results in ore and waste rock being piled on the land’s surface, where precipitation and run-off waters can transport it into the Grand Canyon via aquifers, springs, and drainages. There is a real potential for uranium contamination to occur in the creeks, seeps, and other tributaries that supply water to Grand Canyon National Park. Continue reading →

May 2, 2011 Posted by | Uranium, USA, water | Leave a comment

Fukushima a disaster for the uranium industry

Today , in Fn Arena   Greg Peel reports that the Uranium Market is Becalmed. USA’s  Energy department is continuing to sell its uranium   the spot price continues to fall.

Uranium Prices Plummet in the Wake of Nuclear Explosions, Insane Planet May 1, 2011 By N. Solomon,   The Japan disaster has spelt a concomitant disaster to uranium prices as both spot prices as well as shares of uranium-mining companies crash. Uranium prices have suffered due to the explosions that happened in Japan and the attendant problems which are obvious to everyone, many countries in the world which had nuclear agendas especially as a means of power generation are either developing cold feet or planning to scrap the project is completely–and justifiably so.

As it stands, it is believed among investors that many countries are going to react to the radiation leaks that followed explosions at the Japanese Fukushima plant by enforcing tighter restrictions even if they do not take the alternative of completely abandoning the project. Either way, uranium prices will be forced down.

May 2, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, Uranium | Leave a comment

New Zealand joins International Renewable Energy Agency

NZ becomes member of energy agency, NewsTalk ZB, 2/05/2011 , New Zealand has become a full member of the International Renewable Energy Agency, which is dedicated to the rapid development of renewable energy worldwide.

Acting energy minister Hekia Parata says we’re one of the leading countries in the area, with 74% of our electricity last year coming from renewable sources.

By joining this organisation, Ms Parata says, we have the opportunity to contribute to international efforts to increase the deployment of renewable energy technologies and drive down their costs… http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=195799

May 2, 2011 Posted by | New Zealand, renewable | Leave a comment