2011 July 29 « nuclear-news

School shuts up Fukushima teacher on radiation risks

Fukushima Teacher Muzzled on Radiation Risks, Bloomberg, By Takahiko Hyuga – Jul 28, 2011 As temperatures soared to 100 degrees Fahrenheit on a recent July morning, school children in Fukushima prefecture were taking off their masks and running around playgrounds in T-shirts, exposing them to a similar amount of annual radiation as a worker in a nuclear power plant.

Toshinori Shishido, a Japanese literature teacher of 25 years, had warned his students two months ago to wear surgical masks and keep their skin covered with long-sleeved shirts. His advice went unheeded, not because of the weather but because his school told him not to alarm students. Shishido quit this week.

“I want to get away from this situation where I’m not even allowed to alert children about radiation exposure,” said Shishido, a 48-year-old teacher who taught at Fukushima Nishi High School. “Now I’m free to talk about the risks.”…..

Radiation Exposure About a fifth of the 1,600 schools in Fukushima are exposed to at least 20 millisieverts of radiation a year, the Network to Protect Fukushima Children from Radiation said, citing the most recent government readings in April. That’s the limit for an atomic plant worker set by theInternational Commission on Radiological Protection.

More than three-quarters of the schools receive radiation readings of 0.6 microsievert per hour, said the network, a group comprising 700 parents. That’s 10 times more than the readings in Shinjuku, central Tokyo, on average….. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-28/fukushima-teacher-muzzled-on-radiation-risks-for-school-children.html

July 29, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | civil liberties, Japan | 1 Comment

Western North Carolina at risk of becoming USA’s nuclear waste host

In its first weeks, the Commission, made up of 16 pro-nuclear advocates, was presented with a history of the nuclear waste issue in the country. However, instead of all 12 of the previously proposed sites, the presentation focused on only three: Sandy Mush among them.

Specter of nuclear waste dump returns to WNC, Macon County News, , 28 July 2011 by Christopher Carpenter “…– “We’re back to where we started; it’s the same story,” said Olson, a biologist and biochemist by training who has worked with NIRS since 1991. This week the first draft recommendations of a federal commission on nuclear energy are due out. Olson cautioned to be prepared for more flashbacks to come.

Unfortunately ‘fabulous’ It was only later that Yucca Mountain became the main focus of federal planners, even though there were many indicators that the site was geologically unsound. The site was crisscrossed with four major fault lines, the porous volcanic bedrock was far from ideal and in the first three years of studying the site, more than 200 earthquakes were recorded registering over 2.5 on the Richter Scale. Twenty years and $10 billion later, the Obama Administration finally conceded that a facility at the site would be destined to leak radiation and decided to walk away from it.

Thirty years ago, Western North Carolina, with its solid granite bedrock, was identified as a possible site for a national nuclear waste repository. The community of Sandy Mush in Leicester (just 23.5 miles from the Buncombe County Courthouse in downtown Asheville) was one of twelve sites in the country that were seriously being studied by the U.S. Department of Energy. Continue reading →

July 29, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | Leave a comment

Poll shows Californians increasingly oppose nuclear power

Opposition to nukes in California grows, CalCoast News, July 28, 2011. A new public opinion poll indicates that support for nuclear energy has dropped sharply in California. The poll by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) reveals that nuclear energy, which had been enjoying an upswing in public support, is now viewed with concern since last spring’s disaster in Japan.

Nearly two-thirds of Californians now oppose building more nuclear plants in the state—the lowest level of support ever found ini a PPIC poll. The findings are consistent with a similar PPIC conducted last month……http://calcoastnews.com/2011/07/opposition-to-nukes-in-california-grows/

July 29, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | opposition to nuclear, USA | Leave a comment

UK Supreme Court backs atomic veterans right to appeal

UK nuclear test veterans win leave to appeal, LONDON Jul 28, 2011 (Reuters) – Ex-servicemen who say they were made ill as a result of being exposed to radiation during British nuclear weapons tests in the 1950s won the latest stage of their battle for compensation on Thursday.

The Supreme Court gave the 1,011 veterans permission to further argue their right to seek damages, the Press Association reported.Veterans blame ill health — including cancer, skin defects and fertility problems — on their involvement in British nuclear tests in Australia, on Christmas Island and in the Pacific Ocean between 1952 and 1958.

The Ministry of Defense acknowledges a “debt of gratitude” but denies negligence. On Thursday, the Supreme Court gave the veterans the go-ahead to appeal against a lower court ruling that the cases were brought too long after the events to be heard…..http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/28/us-nuclear-test-veterans-idUSTRE76R7LL20110728

July 29, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, UK | 1 Comment

India’s Jaitapur nuclear ambitions up against the people’s opposition

Regardless of their passionate convictions, the locals haven’t been given a choice in the matter, as the land acquired for the site was forcibly done so. Residents were offered money for their seized property, but many refused to be reimbursed as a form of protest. The government offered 1.5 million rupees ($33,000) per hectare (2.5 acres) and has seized over 2,300 acres, but roughly only 150 of the 2,000+ landowners accepted the money…….

India’s Nuclear Power Future: Tensions Rise As Plans Commence, Green Answers, By Elizabeth Barris , 07/28/2011 Jaitapur is one of India’s most productive agricultural ports, renowned for Alphonso mangoes, cashews, and its abundant fishing industry. Although many homes lack electricity, life is good for villagers, who thrive on fruit and fish exports. But this way of life is threatened by the Indian government’s plans to build the world’s largest nuclear power plant on forcibly-acquired farmland. The people of Jaitapur are not happy about this at all, and since Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi disaster, tensions are running higher than ever. Continue reading →

July 29, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, opposition to nuclear | 1 Comment

Uranium mining danger to wondrous ecology of Grand Canyon

some in Congress want to make pork of public lands by handing the Grand Canyon’s watershed over to the uranium industry. Their rider would foreclose any possibility that these 1 million acres — acres that belong to the public and are cherished for their beauty and ecological importance — get the protection they deserve…..

Grand Canyon: Iconic Landscape, Unprecedented Threat, Huffington Post, Kieran Suckling,: 7/28/11, Few places inspire like the Grand Canyon. Not only is it a geological wonder, it’s also one of the most biologically diverse national parks in the United States — home to more than 1,000 species of plants, 76 species of mammals, 299 bird species, 41 reptiles and amphibians and 16 species of fish.

That’s why it’s so astonishing that some members of Congress would put this world-famous icon in jeopardy.

As early as today, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on a budget rider that would halt years of work to protect the Grand Canyon and the surrounding area from dangerous uranium mining. The budget rider would prohibit the Department of the Interior from enacting a ban on new mining claims — and mining on the vast majority of existing claims — across 1 million acres of public land that form Grand Canyon National Park’s watershed.

If the rider passes, the iconic wildlands around Grand Canyon would be dramatically transformed. Roads and mines would be built. Wildlife habitat would be destroyed. The risk of pollution in streams, creeks, seeps and springs would skyrocket. The place that millions consider a national treasure could become a radioactive industrial zone.

Hydrologists warn that more mining would further pollute and deplete aquifers feeding Grand Canyon’s springs and creeks — pollution that would be impossible to clean up…….

Unfortunately, pollution from past uranium mining already plagues springs, creeks and soil in and around Grand Canyon National Park.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kieran-suckling/grand-canyon-uranium-mining_b_912582.html

July 29, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

Dissension in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission over regulatory changes

Rep. Ed Markey (D., Mass.), a longtime critic of the NRC, said more staff input would “actively aid and abet the nuclear industry’s dilatory efforts to ignore, perhaps indefinitely, the recommendations of the commission’s expert and dedicated staff.”……..

NRC Members Reject Quick Overhaul for Nuclear Plants, WSJ By RYAN TRACY, 28 July 11, WASHINGTON—A majority of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has rejected Chairman Gregory Jaczko’s timeline for deciding whether to endorse regulatory changes in light of Japan’s nuclear crisis. Continue reading →

July 29, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | Leave a comment

USA now has the option to turn away from nuclear energy

the options are many. By simply eliminating the energy wasted by inefficient houses lacking proper insulation, by upgrading our appliances and taking other common sense efficiency measures, the country could cut its energy needs in half…….

the country passed a historic milestone recently in which for the first time the cost of electricity per kilowatt generated by solar cells dropped below the cost of nuclear energy. And that is by the industry’s own measures.

Specter of nuclear waste dump returns to WNC, Macon County News, , 28 July 2011 by Christopher Carpenter “…….Nukes: Who needs ’em? According to Olson, the country has reached a crossroad and has several big decisions to make. “Do we build more reactors? Do we shut down the ones we have? Do we keep the waste where it has been produced and where it has been kept for decades? Or do we start moving it around?” Continue reading →

July 29, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Nuclear company moves to ensure that consumers cop their building cost overruns

Consumer, not Georgia Power, would be on hook for potential Vogtle overruns, By Kristi E. Swartz , The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 28 July 11, At an energy committee meeting in their downtown Atlanta chambers, Public Service Commission members said they would support only a July 18 deal reached between Georgia Power and the PSC’s advocacy staff, one that removed a recommendation calling for Georgia Power’s profits to be reduced should the costs to build two nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle exceed budget by $300 million. Additional costs, with PSC approval, would show up in customers’ monthly utility bills.

A consumer watchdog group on Thursday continued to press for an agreement that would make Georgia Power — and not consumers — pay for any major cost overruns at its Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion project, but Georgia utility regulators remained resistant. ….

Commissioner Tim Echols was more pointed, saying approval for such a plan would “chill the construction of nuclear plants in the United States.”

Attorney Clare McGuire for Georgia Watch argued that consumers would be left with no protection against bill increases should the project go beyond its budget. “Georgia Power doesn’t want to be held to costs beyond its control,” McGuire said. “The ratepayers have no choice.”….http://www.ajc.com/business/consumer-not-georgia-power-1055562.html

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July 29, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA | Leave a comment

British energy company pulling back from nuclear energy investment

Centrica says nuclear ‘no done deal’ as reveals £1bn profits, Centrica, the owner of British Gas, has scaled back its investment in new nuclear power, describing its plans to invest in the UK’s first two stations with EDF as “no done deal”…..Telegraph UK 28 July 11“………concerns have been growing about the risks of new nuclear power in the UK since EDF revealed that its flagship plant in Flamanville, north-west France, has suffered two fatal accidents this year and seen costs double to €6bn (£5.3bn). This means it will begin operating six years after the original start date. The nuclear meltdown at Fukushima in Japan will also to increase safety costs.

“EDF had advised us that Flamanville was having problems,” said Sam Laidlaw, chief executive of Centrica. “The reality is that post the news about Flamanville and Fukushima we are clearly going to have some changes. People have been focusing a little more on the optionality since then. It’s by no means a done deal. …..http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/8669145/Centrica-says-nuclear-no-done-deal-as-reveals-1bn-profits.html

July 29, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment