2011 May « nuclear-news

US doctors say that Japan’s revised radiation rules endanger children

the exposure limit set for school grounds in the area affected by radiation from the crippled nuclear power plant – 20 millisieverts per year – puts children and pregnant women at an unacceptable risk for cancer.

Japan: Are Kids Being Exposed to Too Much Radiation?, TIME by KRISTA MAHR , May 3, 2011 , A U.S. medical group has slammed the Japanese government and senior nuclear adviser Toshiso Kosako has tearfully resigned over the levels of radiation exposure Tokyo says are safe for students at elementary and junior high schools in Fukushima prefecture. Continue reading →

May 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, Japan | 3 Comments

Grave financial risk for Japanese government if TEPCO insolvent

unlimited liability could push TEPCO into insolvency and force the government to take a majority stake in the company

Japan’s Nuclear Rescue Plan: The Unintended Consequence of Unlimited Liability, BNet, By Kirsten Korosec | May 3, 2011, The Japanese government — once bosom buddies with Tokyo Electric Power — wants the company to face unlimited liability for damages from itstroubled Fukushima nuclear power plant. Continue reading →

May 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Japan | Leave a comment

Robot reveals high radiation inside Fukushima nuclear plant

Robot sends back footage from inside Fukushima plant. Telegraph 4 May 11, Tokyo Electric Power Company release new video shot by a remote-controlled robot, showing inside reactor No. 1 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

…. monitoring equipment showed that radiation levels were far higher than expected.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said it will combat the danger by installing fans with filters at the damaged reactor in an attempt to reduce radiation inside to one-twentieth of current levels.

TEPCO has said it may take the rest of the year to bring the nuclear plant back under control…… http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/8491624/Robot-sends-back-footage-from-inside-Fukushima-plant.html

May 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Suspected terrorists arrested at Sellafield nuclear plant

TERROR ALERT: FIVE ARRESTED AT SELLAFIELD NUCLEAR PLANT Express co, UK May 4 2011 by Paul Jeeves and John Twomey, ANTI-TERROR police were questioning five men last night amid fears of an Al Qaeda-inspired plot to attack the Sellafield nuclear plant.

The suspects, in their 20s and believed to be of Bangladeshi origin, were caught filming at the highly sensitive site in Cumbria – 250 miles from their homes in London.Armed police arrested the men on bank holiday Monday only hours after Osama Bin Laden was killed by US special forces in Pakistan.

The nuclear plant has been placed on high alert following Al Qaeda threats to unleash a “nuclear hellstorm” in revenge for the terror chief’s death. Last night police seized a small container of “suspicious material” at one of the suspects homes……http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/244616/Terror-Alert-Five-arrested-at-Sellafield-nuclear-plantTerror-Alert-Five-arrested-at-Sellafield-nuclear-plant#ixzz1LRTP0QrS

May 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, UK | Leave a comment

Seabed near Fukushima highly contaminated by radiation

High-Level Radiation Found on Seabed Near Japan’s Crippled Nuclear Plant, The Chosunilbo, 4 May 11, Japanese officials say radiation readings are 100 to 1,000 times the normal level on the Pacific seabed near the Fukushima nuclear power plant that was damaged in a natural disaster in March.

Local news media Tuesday quoted the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, as saying that high levels of radioactive materials were found in samples taken from the seabed at points 20 to 30 meters deep….. http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2011/05/04/2011050401113.html

May 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Despite the Nuclear establishment’s power, Japanese anti nuclear protestors persist

“The nuclear power industry is a strong political force here,” said Masae Yuasa, a professor of international studies at Hiroshima City University. “Their solution will be not to abandon nuclear technology; they won’t allow it politically. They’ll advocate spending even more money on nuclear power to perfect the science.”

The industry conducts detailed studies to find communities where resistance will be minimal. It pays millions of dollars a year to towns that agree to host a nuclear plant, building roads and hiring residents for well-paying jobs.

Japan islanders oppose proposed nuclear plant, year after year, For decades, residents of Iwaishima have taken an aggressive stand, turning their backs on negotiation. Graying residents, mostly in their 70s, have allied with young antinuclear activists., Los Angeles Times, By John M. Glionna, May 4, 2011 Continue reading →

May 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

France doesn’t want airline crashes included as nuclear safety threat

principally France, see the measure as excessively burdensome, fearing it could force the closure of plants that would otherwise be deemed fit for operation.

EU divided over inclusion of plane crashes in nuclear tests, EU Observer, ANDREW WILLIS, 4 May 11, BRUSSELS – EU member states are divided over the need to include airplane crashes as a criterion in European nuclear stress tests, currently being drawn up in response to Japan’s accident….. A final decision on whether the voluntary stress tests should be limited to natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods is likely to be taken by national nuclear regulators next week. Continue reading →

May 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Philippines ban plant products from 6 Japanese prefectures

The department said that the well-being of the consuming public is its priority in protecting the country from harm coming from radiation-contaminated product

PHL bans Japanese agri products on radiation fears, GMA News, 05/04/2011Plant products and planting materials including fruits and vegetables from six prefectures affected by the nuclear radiation in Japan have been banned from entering the Philippines for now, the Department of Agriculture said Wednesday. Continue reading →

May 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Greenpeace now blocking construction of dangerous Flamanville nuclear reactor

The EPR design in particular has a number of safety risks similar to Fukushima, as the French nuclear safety authority ASN pointed out a few weeks ago.

Greenpeace Blocks Construction at France’s Flamanville Nuclear Reactor, Greenpeace by Justin – May 4, 2011 , At dawn on Monday this week, Greenpeace activists began blocking the construction of the European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) under construction at Flamanville, France. Two trucks were anchored to the ground, blockading the entrance carrying activists. More activists scaled four cranes, attempting to impede further construction work at the site. Continue reading →

May 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | France, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

USA rally against new nuclear plant at Turkey point

Rally opposes new nuclear reactors at Turkey Point, Sun Sentinel 3 May 11….. nuclear power opponents rallied Saturday near the Turkey Point plant in southern Miami-Dade County, staging a mock evacuation to protest Florida Power & Light’s plans to expand the plant with two new reactors.

South Miami Mayor Philip Stoddard and representatives from nine environmental groups expressed concern about the state’s evacuation plan, the likelihood that FPL customers would see higher bills to finance the new reactors and the strain the new reactors would place on the region’s supply of fresh water…… http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/blogs/green-south-florida/sfl-rally-opposes-new-nuclear-reactors-at-turkey-point-20110502,0,1771069.story

May 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | opposition to nuclear, USA | Leave a comment

Threat of nuclear revenge of Bin Laden’s death

9/11 Mastermind Reportedly Warned of ‘Nuclear Hellstorm’ if Bin Laden Killed, May 02, 2011, FoxNews.com The self-proclaimed mastermind of the 9/1l terror plot told interrogators at Guantanamo Bay that Al Qaeda has a nuclear bomb somewhere in Europe and would detonate it if Usama bin Laden was ever captured or killed, The Daily Telegraph reported, citing WikiLeaks’ cables.

Continue reading →

May 3, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, safety | 1 Comment

Just how safe are Pakistan’s nukes?

the fact remains that the security of these weapons rests in the hands of those who somehow missed bin Laden’s mansion just down the street from their training facility, who receive their information from the same intelligence services that consider the Taliban a strategic asset, not an enemy

Pakistan can’t be trusted with nuclear weapons, National Post, Matt Gurney, 3 May 11, “…bin Laden wasn’t hiding in some dank cave, but was in fact living in a newly built mansion in an affluent Pakistani city, apparently within a 10 minute walk — a mere thousand yards — of a Pakistani military academy …… The government of Pakistan is divided up into competing factions, with their own agendas and plots against each other. This breeds instability and the risk of rapid shifts in the balance of power within Pakistan.… Continue reading →

May 3, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Pakistan, weapons and war | Leave a comment

USA’s Nuclear Establishment Ponders About Nuclear Wastes

Nuclear waste storage a top issue for NRC-chairman, * How long should plants store waste in pools? * NRC studies issue after Fukushima pool damage * Task force also studies power blackouts, flooding By Roberta Rampton, WASHINGTON, May 2 (Reuters) – The U.S. nuclear safety regulator is studying whether to require plants to more quickly move radioactive waste out of pools as part of a review on safety in the wake of Japan’s nuclear disaster, its chairman said on Monday.

…….. Dry casks use air to keep fuel cool, rather than pumped water, which needs steady power. A recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology study has pushed for a system of regional dry cask storage sites to hold nuclear waste.

Jaczko said it’s too soon to say what the NRC will do. A task force is studying what the U.S. regulator can learn from the Japan disaster and will issue recommendations in a couple of months.

The task force is slated to hold its first public briefing on its progress on May 12. It will also conduct a longer six-month review.

……… A “blue ribbon” panel also is currently studying long-term solutions for handling U.S. nuclear waste after the Obama administration shut down plans for a permanent dump site deep inside Nevada’s Yucca Mountain. That group is slated to deliver a draft report by July 29.

…….. http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFN0230128220110502

May 3, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | Leave a comment

German Chancellor wants definite date for closing nuclear industry

Merkel seeks to accelerate nuclear power exit-paper, BERLIN May 2 (Reuters) by Christian Ruettger, – Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to accelerate Germany’s planned exit from nuclear energy by fixing a precise date, business daily Handelsblatt quoted senior government sources as saying on Monday.

In a high-level meeting last week with Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen and her chief of staff Ronald Pofalla, Merkel pressed for an exact year when nuclear power will be taken off line, the sources said.

Merkel would like to have the nuclear plants switched off before the previous date of about 2022 agreed by the former centre-left government of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, the sources said…….. http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE7410MU20110502

May 3, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, politics | Leave a comment

Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant the world’s most dangerous complex

Making Hamaoka a special concern to its opponents is the presence of plutonium. Chubu is the only utility in Japan to have signed a contract to process mixed oxide fuel containing plutonium and uranium with the Sellafield plant in the UK.

The industry’s clout, its collusion with government watchdogs and a largely compliant media have helped smother concerns about this potentially explosive collision of state-of-the-art atomic power with primordial seismic instability

‘We all said disaster would strike here, not Fukushima’, The Independent, 3 May 11, After a 40-year campaign, warnings about the vast nuclear power station on Japan’s earthquake faultline are finally being heard. By David McNeill in Omaezeki and Nanako Otani, Norihiko Watanabe is pointing to his home, 600m from what he calls the most dangerous nuclear power complex on the planet. “There’s nothing like it anywhere in the world,” he says, eyes widening. “If it blows up, we’re all finished.” Continue reading →