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TEPCO report highest possible radiation reading at Fukushima nuclear plant

AUDIO  http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-08-02/radiation-levels-spike-at-fukushima-nuclear-power/2820930?section=world Radiation levels spike at Fukushima nuclear power plant ABC News Radio National, Mark Willacy  August 02, 2011 Record levels of radiation have been recorded at the damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi reactor months after the nuclear accident resulting from the earthquake and tsunami in March. TEPCO reported that Geiger counters registered their highest possible reading at the site yesterday.

August 2, 2011 Posted by | Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

Fukushima nuclear plant – highest radiation levels found

Fatal Radiation Level Found at Fukushima Daiichi Plant, NYT, By , August 1, 2011 TOKYO — The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant said Monday that it measured the highest radiation levels within the plant since it was crippled by a devastating earthquake.

The operator, Tokyo Electric Power, said that workers on Monday afternoon had found an area near Reactors No. 1 and 2, where radiation levels exceeded their measuring device’s maximum reading of 10 sieverts per hour — a fatal dose for humans….http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/02/world/asia/02japan.html

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

Why Britain’s new nuclear plant might never get built

the most extraordinary thing in this whole saga is that the companies are going ahead without knowing how much this 1,600MW power station will cost.

Hinkley C – Somerset’s nuclear money pit?,  byl  1 August 2011  guardian.co.uk Uncosted, unapproved, and unwanted: why Britain’s new nuclear plant may never get built  French state-owned power company EDF has been given permission to start the pre-construction of “Hinkley C”, the third nuclear power station on the Somerset coast of the Bristol channel. Continue reading →

August 2, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, UK | Leave a comment

EPA study into uranium contamination of Navajo land

The Mariano Lake Mine is one of a handful of sites that the EPA and its Navajo Nation counterpart have targeted for investigation or cleanup so far. They’ve been assessing hundreds of abandoned uranium mines to address what has become a legacy of death and disease across the reservation.

EPA announces deal for uranium contamination probe, Canadian Business,  August 01, 2011 FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is overseeing an effort to determine the extent of contamination at a former uranium mining site on the Navajo Nation that marked a high priority for assessment. Continue reading →

August 2, 2011 Posted by | indigenous issues, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment

Florida’s new nuclear plants – costs escalating

Rising cost of Florida’s new nuclear power getting scrutiny Customer groups ask state regulators to require FPL and Progress Energy to answer how much new nuclear plants will cost and when they’ll be built, Miami Herald, Mary Ellen Klas, 1 August 11,  TALLAHASSEE –– For the past two years, customers of Florida’s largest electric companies have been paying to build new nuclear power plants that have an escalating price tag and no guarantee of completion.Attorneys for consumers and the state’s largest electricity users told the Public Service Commission on Monday to demand answers from the utilities…..

The Office of Public Counsel also wants the PSC to impose stronger standards on how FPL calculates its costs. It said that the cost of expanding its nuclear capacity at its Turkey Point plant has escalated from $1.4 billion to $1.8 billion in the last year, but the company makes the project appear more cost effective by not including what it has already spent on the project……http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/08/01/2340842/rising-cost-of-floridas-new-nuclear.html

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

Renewable energy development – the rational German example

Oh, the beauty of a system that is easy to understand and predictable……

Germany Shows How Renewable Energy Should Be Done, Daily Finance, ByTravis Hoium, The Motley Fool 08/01/11   Germany is doubling its efforts to be a renewable-energy power over the next 50 years, and it’s expanding beyond just solar power. After the country put thekibosh on exploding solar installationsby cutting feed-in tariffs (FIT), it has increased the FIT for biomass, geothermal, and offshore wind while simplifying solar rates. The wet blanketcurrently covering the German nuclear industrymeant the country needed to find a way to push renewable-energy installations to meet national renewable-energy goals before plants began closing. Continue reading →

August 2, 2011 Posted by | Germany, renewable | Leave a comment

Fears of al-Qa’ida finding refuge in a nuclearized Iran

al-Qa’ida may logically seek to achieve an untouchable strategic sanctuary within a nuclearized Iran.

Might al-Zawahiri’s al-Qa’ida come to view future nuclear power Iran as THE perfect sanctuary?, TIME,  by  , August 1, 2011 As al-Qa’ida leaders the world over signal their intent to stay the course — challenging assumptions that the integrity of their network has been perhaps irreversibly jeopardized by the death of bin Laden — national security managers must remain focused on denying its core leaders a safe base of operations.

Meanwhile, due to growing ties between al-Qa’ida’s regional network and defense officials in Iran, the strategic dimension of the West’s counter-terrorism efforts is likely to grow significantly in the years ahead. Continue reading →

August 2, 2011 Posted by | Iran, safety | Leave a comment

Connecting nuclear and renewable energy – not a good idea?

Nuclear permit, renewables issues connected, Columbia Daily Tribune, By RUDI KELLER,  August 1, 2011  A forced marriage between nuclear power issues and rules for renewable energy standards seems likely if Missouri lawmakers are to consider — in a special session — whether utility customers will be required to pay for the first step toward building a new nuclear reactor.

Reversal of ruling may affect agenda. On Friday, Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green reversed his ruling from late June that had seemingly allowed the two issues to remain separate. That ruling, nuclear power advocates and representatives of industrial ratepayers had said, settled many of the issues that remained from a 2008 initiative setting standards for renewable energy…..

PSC Chairman Kevin Gunn said he sees no reason why the two issues are joined other than as a legislative convenience. “The renewable energy should probably not be married to the early site permit,” he said…..http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/aug/01/nuclear-permit-renewables-issues-connected/

August 2, 2011 Posted by | ENERGY, USA | Leave a comment