nuclear-news

Overview of nuclear problems – Britain, Japan ,France, USA

The Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant is still surrounded by floodwaters. Because there is so little information being released, it is difficult to assess the situation….

Nuclear Problems In Britain, Japan, France and the U.S.  WASHINGTON’S BLOG,  JULY 8, 2011

UK

The British government has finally admitted widespread contamination from the Sellafield plant.

The Guardian reports:

Radioactive pollution from the Sellafield nuclear plant in Cumbria has led to children’s teeth across Britain being contaminated with plutonium.

The Government has admitted for the first time that Sellafield ‘is a source of plutonium contamination’ across the country. Public Health Minister Melanie Johnson has revealed that a study funded by the Department of Health discovered that the closer a child lived to Sellafield, the higher the levels of plutonium found in their teeth….

Japan

A Japanese nuclear power company was caught using employees to ask questions during televised hearing. The employees were told to impersonate private citizens who want nuclear reactors restarted.

Reuters reports on the political fallout of this and other shenanigans:

A Japanese nuclear power plant has come under fire for trying to sway the outcome of a public forum on atomic safety, dealing a fresh blow to the industry’s credibility four months after the world’s biggest nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

An employee with Kyushu Electric Power Co instructed workers at the utility and its affiliates to pose as ordinary citizens and send e-mails backing the restart of nuclear reactors in southern Japan to a televised public hearing.

Analysts say the scandal reflects panic in Japan’s atomic power industry, long coddled by political, corporate and regulatory interests dubbed the “nuclear village” but now facing growing anti-nuclear sentiment as workers battle to end the Fukushima crisis.

“There is growing suspicion that power companies are playing fast and loose with data to support their cause and will go so far as to orchestrate public support,” said Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asian studies at Temple University’s Japan campus……..

The Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant is still surrounded by floodwaters. Because there is so little information being released, it is difficult to assess the situation….

July 9, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, secrets,lies and civil liberties