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Yet another Fukushima cleanup strategy – giant polyester coverings

Giant Polyester Sheets To Cover Nuclear Reactor Buildings Wall Street Journal TOKYO (Dow Jones), 14 May 11, –Giant polyester covers will soon be placed around the damaged reactor buildings at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex to help contain the release of radioactive substances into the atmosphere, the plant operator said Friday.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501.TO) will install the first cover at the No. 1 reactor, the focus of recent stabilization efforts.Workers will erect a steel framework and place a giant polyester tent-like cover around the reactor building. The cover will be 55 meters high, 47 meters long and 42 meters wide.

The operation to fit the cover will begin next month. Similar covers will be placed around units Nos. 3 and 4. The work is expected to be completed by the end of the year…..The damaged buildings have come to symbolize the severity of the nuclear crisis at the plant, the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986. The loss of the roofs and filters above the reactors has led to the steady release of radioactive substances from the complex, prompting calls for measures to contain contamination in the surrounding areas.-By Mitsuru Obe, Dow Jones Newswires http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110513-705098.html

May 15, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Oh dear, Fukushima nuclear cleanup not really going so well

The new information about water levels in Unit 1, obtained after workers were able to enter the Unit 1 reactor building and adjust water gauges, now has officials worried that water level readings at Units 2 and 3 may also be wrong. It also throws a wrench in TEPCO’s sunny plan of having the crisis at the plant sewn up before the end of the year. And once the utility does achieve cold shutdown in all six reactors, it will face the problem of what to do with the damaged and unstable fuel rods.

Fukushima: Er, Sorry…Worse Than We Thought.TIME  by Krista Mahr , May 13, 2011  n the two months since Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was pummeled by a quake and tsunami, no news has generally been good news.

Unfortunately, today, there’s some news.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) announced on Thursday that the damage to fuel rods inside Unit 1’s reactor core is worse than the utility previously thought. Continue reading →

May 15, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Fukushima reactor No 3 building – highly dangerous radiation level

Robot finds high radiation at No. 3 reactor bldg, The Yomiuri Shimbun, 14 May 11, A robot has detected highly dangerous levels of radiation in the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant’s No. 3 reactor building, it has been learned, indicating further safety measures will be needed before workers can enter the structure.

According to plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co., the remote-controlled PackBot robot on Tuesday found radiation levels in the northwestern section of the building of 49 to 120 millisieverts per hour, which would pose a threat to human workers.Time must be spent, therefore, removing or sealing up the radiation-contaminated debris in the building, before TEPCO starts work to stabilize the damaged reactors……http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110513005828.htm

May 15, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

USA planning a short term action for securing nuclear waste

Report: Commission will outline above-ground nuclear waste strategy, THE HILL, By Andrew Restuccia – 05/13/11  A commission established by the Energy Department to find a path forward for dealing with the country’s nuclear waste will recommend storing it in above-ground containers, The New York Times reports.

The commission will outline a draft recommendation at a meeting Friday calling for “establishing one or more sites where used reactor fuel could be stored in steel and concrete structures on the earth’s surface for decades,” theTimes says. The Times says the commission will also outline steps toward determining a more permanent waste storage solution in the aftermath of the Obama administration’s decision to abandon a proposed permanent waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.

More from the Times:
“The commission will also recommend opening a new effort to find a burial site, members said, and suggest that it be led by an organization that is independent of the Department of Energy, which has been working on the waste disposal effort for decades…..http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/161075-report-commission-will-outline-above-ground-nuclear-waste-strategy

May 15, 2011 Posted by | USA, wastes | Leave a comment

Like Ukraine’s Pripyat Iitate becomes Japan’s nuclear ghost town

Fukushima village on way to becoming ghost town. By DAVID MCNEILL.  The Japan Times, 14 May 11, IITATE, Fukushima Pref. — Sleepy, idyllic and dangerously irradiated, the village of Iitate is preparing to evacuate. The junior high school is closed, its children bused every day to nearby towns. Tractors sit idle, and weeds poke through rice and cabbage in the fields. Half-empty shelves greet customers at the A-Coop supermarket.

By the end of the month, this mountainous farming village of 7,000 people in Fukushima Prefecture, recently voted one of Japan’s most beautiful places, will join the Ukrainian ghost town of Pripyat on the planet’s short list of nuclear casualties….. Continue reading →

May 15, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Japan could, and should, move from nuclear power to renewables

Iida and ISEP researchers estimate that Chubu Electric can provide 30.59 million kilowatts without nuclear power, enough to cover this summer’s projected demand of 26.37 million kilowatts.

This can be done by operating all of its thermal power plants and buying surplus electricity from large manufacturers in the Chubu region, who run their own power stations, they say.

 Renewable’s time is now, expert says, Goal should be 100% reliance on alternative energy by 2050, Japan Times, By ERIKO ARITA, May 14, 2011Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s request that Chubu Electric Power Co. shut down the Hamaoka nuclear power plant was valuable, though he should have reached this decision much sooner after the Fukushima crisis, according to an expert on nuclear and renewable energy. “Kan’s decision was late, compared with that of German Chancellor (Angela) Merkel,” Tetsunari Iida, executive director of the Tokyo-based nonprofit organization Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies, said this week in an interview. Continue reading →

May 15, 2011 Posted by | Japan, renewable | Leave a comment

Namibia: government and unions waking up to exploitation by foreign miners

“A lot of mining companies are at it to exploit people together with the minerals. They either employ people on fixed term contracts or outsource certain functions of their business simply to reduce labour costs,” he said.
“This practice results in poverty jobs where employees of these contractors sometimes earn as little as 20% of the basic salary offered by the Eastern Platinum (EPL) holder for the same job.

Second mining expo to be held amid fears of ‘nationalisation’ PDF Print E-mail
Namibia Economist,  by Nyasha Francis Nyaungwa   
 13 MAY 2011
The 2011 Mining Expo which kicks off next week in the capital is being held at a time when the mining sector faces uncertainty after government recently declared uranium, copper, coal, diamonds and rare earth metals as strategic minerals.
Last month, government through cabinet endorsed a decision that the right to own licenses for strategic minerals will only be issued to a state company.
The dramatic shift in policy has caught many investors and would-be investors unaware …..“….the mining sector’s contribution to government revenue is not commensurate with its share to the gross domestic product. Such contribution is mainly through royalties levied on the market value of the minerals. This means that Namibia benefits from its natural endowment mainly through rent-seeking. This situation is untenable” the minister said……http://www.economist.com.na/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=23739:second-mining-expo-to-be-held-amid-fears-of-nationalisation&catid=588:special-focus&Itemid=70


Union calls for a paradigm shift within the mining industry
Namibia Economist,  by Johanna Absalom   
13 MAY 2011

President of the Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN), John Ndeutepo, says that in order to create a conducive labour environment for workers in the mining sector, there is a need for a paradigm shift…. companies try by all means to prevent its employees from being organised. Some even deny them their rights to freedom of association. It is a proven fact that one cannot make people work any longer; you will need to motivate workers in order for them to perform,” Ndeutepo added.

He said that the mining labour sector is faced with great challenges that calls for urgent change. One such challenge is the ability of unions to address labour issues involving contract and agency labour cases.
According to Ndeutepo, this phenomenon is rearing its ugly face again.
“A lot of mining companies are at it to exploit people together with the minerals. They either employ people on fixed term contracts or outsource certain functions of their business simply to reduce labour costs,” he said.
“This practice results in poverty jobs where employees of these contractors sometimes earn as little as 20% of the basic salary offered by the Eastern Platinum (EPL) holder for the same job. Government through beneficiary and empowerment programmes have encouraged outsourcing by multi nationals companies but has not properly legislated this process to prevent ulterior motives. Hence the mineworkers union is fighting a bitter battle to stop this practice. As it stands now citizens of the state are being exploited together with minerals of the state.”
Another concern that Ndeutepo said needs urgent attention is health and safety.
“Quite a significant number of mining companies are paying a lot of attention on legislated safety paperwork but there is no practical attention. A lot of companies boast about their safety systems forgetting that these systems require maintenance and application from the people.”…..

Some multi national companies do not even bother to monitor adherence especially when it comes to contractors and they even end up corrupting compliance officials,” he said.
Ndeutepo also called for the recognition of unions in the sector. He said that a lot of companies cannot yet get any returns from this relationship as they view the union as an enemy.—http://www.economist.com.na/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=23738%3Aunion-calls-for-a-paradigm-shift-within-the-mining-industry&catid=588%3Aspecial-focus&Itemid=70

May 15, 2011 Posted by | employment, Namibia | 1 Comment

USA secret nuclear tests and coverups

America’s Secret Nuclear Test Revealed in Area 51, The Daily Beast, by Annie Jacobsen 13 May 11In her explosive new book, Area 51, investigative journalist Annie Jacobsen reveals for the first time secret nuclear tests and a nuclear space rocket meltdown. Plus, she explains how she uncovered the real story. Continue reading →

May 15, 2011 Posted by | history, secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | 1 Comment

Time to depart from the unethical nuclear power industry

Now, German panel backs anti-Jaitapur movement, May 14, 2011, By Yogesh Pawar | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA A draft report from Germany’s ethics commission on nuclear power has said, “The country could and should close down all its nuclear power stations by 2021.”

The 22-strong ethics commission set up by chancellor Angela Merkel to debate pros and cons of nuclear energy is set to recommend that all nuclear plants be taken out from the grid within the next decade, on May 28. The draft report says, “Ditching nuclear power is necessary to rule out risks it entails. The departure from nuclear energy does not, however, mean abandoning carbon-dioxide reduction goals or suffering ‘energy poverty’.” Continue reading →

May 15, 2011 Posted by | EUROPE, Religion and ethics | Leave a comment

Australian uranium companies take heavy losses

Risk fallout hasn’t left uranium stock, May 13, 2011, SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — Australian-listed uranium firms are sporting heavy year-to-date losses after the recent disaster in Japan, and while investors appear to be slowly returning to some shares, analysts say the risks haven’t gone away.

Further afield, Canada’s Cameco Corp.   has seen its stock fall 37.1% year-to-date, while Uranium One Inc.  shares are down 19.8% in Toronto. Continue reading →

May 15, 2011 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, business and costs, Uranium | Leave a comment