2011 August 19 « nuclear-news

As Fukushima worsens, Beyond Nuclear petition accepted by NRC!

Reports indicate Fukushima nuclear crisis worsening and widening News sources are reporting that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear catastrophe, now more than 161 days old, is worsening and the scope of contamination widening. One source cites anonymous TEPCO workers reporting numerous cracks that have opened up in the ground that are releasing highly radioactive steam into the air. Another Mainichi Daily News story disclosed that excessively high radioactive cesium contamination has been discovered more than 62 miles away from the reactor ruins. In the widening catastrophe, the Japanese UPI reports excessive amounts of radioactive cesium and strontium have been detected in Chinese territorial waters threatening sea food contamination in the East China Sea. Read more.

Beyond Nuclear “Freeze Our Fukushimas” petition accepted in part by NRC:
Prompts deeper investigation of GE Mark I reactors A Petition Review Board of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission accepted and rejected in part emergency enforcement actions requested by Beyond Nuclear’s April 13, 2011 petition regarding the 23 Fukushima-style reactors operating in the US.

The petition, which NRC confirms includes more than 5,000 additional co-petitioner requests from around the country, seeks to suspend the operation of the dangerous and deeply flawed General Electric Mark I Boiling Water Reactors.
NRC accepted several of the requested actions for further review which include; 1) revoke the NRC prior approval of the “voluntary” installation of the same Mark I containment venting system demonstrated at Fukushima to have a 100% failure rate and; 2) order operators to immediately install emergency back-up electrical power for reliable cooling of densely-packed nuclear waste storage pools atop each of the reactors in the event of “station blackout.” Read more.

August 19, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Radiation caused illnesses now seen in Japan

Doctors in Japan are already treating patients suffering health effects they attribute to radiation from the ongoing nuclear disaster.
“We have begun to see increased nosebleeds, stubborn cases of diarrhoea, and flu-like symptoms in children,” Dr Yuko Yanagisawa, a physician at Funabashi Futawa Hospital in Chiba Prefecture, told Al Jazeera.

Fukushima radiation alarms doctors , Aljazeera, .Dahr Jamail Japanese doctors warn of public health problems caused by Fukushima radiation.: 18 Aug 2011 , Scientists and doctors are calling for a new national policy in Japan that mandates the testing of food, soil, water, and the air for radioactivity still being emitted from Fukushima’s heavily damaged Daiichi nuclear power plant.

“How much radioactive materials have been released from the plant?” asked Dr Tatsuhiko Kodama, a professor at the Research Centre for Advanced Science and Technology and Director of the University of Tokyo’s Radioisotope Centre, in a July 27 speech to the Committee of Health, Labour and Welfare at Japan’s House of Representatives.

“The government and TEPCO have not reported the total amount of the released radioactivity yet,” said Kodama, who believes things are far worse than even the recent detection of extremely high radiation levels at the plant. Continue reading →

August 19, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, Japan | Leave a comment

The mental health toll in Fukushima

Radiation fears bring psychological stress to Fukushima residents, Mainichi Daily News, 19 Aug 11, FUKUSHIMA — Residents of Fukushima Prefecture are increasingly visiting psychiatrists complaining of sleeplessness or the inability to concentrate as they worry about the effects of leaked radiation from the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, the Mainichi has learned…… Continue reading →

August 19, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, Japan | 1 Comment

They say radiation is safe. Don’t believe it

John LaForge discusses the unbelievable: “The Obama administration, the EPA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the FDA will be dismantling their emergency radiation monitoring.”…

Corporations influence Congress and the president through campaign contributions. PG&E will continue lobbying the public, stating how safe nuclear power is. No doubt they will use the argument about low doses of radiation being safe.

Safe radioactivity? Experts say no, Santa Maria Times, 19 Aug 11, James Murr, The nuclear industry has been telling us it is a clean and safe type of energy. In view of the problems still raging in Japan at the Fukushima plant, it is considered an uncontrolled disaster.

Nuclear engineers and physicists claim small doses are legal and cannot harm us. It was our political system, bought and paid for by corporate campaign contributions, that legalized small releases of radiation from power plants. Otherwise, nuclear power plants would not be able to operate. Continue reading →

August 19, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, spinbuster | Leave a comment

Cautious optimism of a nuclear thaw on the Korean peninsula

The Two Koreas’ Long Slog over Nuclear Weapons

Asia Sentinel, by Lee Byong-chul
, 19 AUGUST 2011 There is cautious optimism in Washington DC and other capitals about a possible nuclear thaw on the Korean peninsula since the visit of North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan to New York to discuss nuclear proliferation, and a later meeting in Bali between nuclear negotiators for both North and South Korea.

The Bali meeting, on the side of a regional meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, was the first since disarmament talks collapsed in 2008. The two events have generated at least some hope that an armed and dangerous North Korea could somehow be controlled. They appear to be at one with a three-step plan by China for resumption of the Six-Party talks. They have been accomplished so relatively quickly and painlessly that they appear to suggest that step three – the resumption of the talks, is right around the corner. …http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3399&Itemid=182

August 19, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | North Korea, politics international | Leave a comment

Nuclear industry subsidies and other payments to Japan’s local governments

2.5 trillion yen in nuclear money doled out to local governments since 1966, Mainichi Daily News, 19 Aug 11, Local governments have received at least 2.5 trillion yen in “nuclear money” in the form of subsidies, fixed property taxes and other payments since the start of nuclear power generation in Japan in 1966, a tally by the Mainichi shows.

But the total is certain to be much higher because many local governments are not releasing data on nuclear power-related fixed property taxes and donations. Continue reading →

August 19, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Japan | Leave a comment

For New Jersey, wind and solar energy a better investment than nuclear power

As for nuclear, Tittel said. it’s too expensive to build, maintain, and operate. The cost of building a nuclear plant is three to four times more than wind and then you add the environmental and safety issues, he said.

“Wind and solar is a much better investment,”

Wind And Solar Energy Overshadow Nuclear At Energy Master Plan Public Hearing, Toms River Patch, By Elaine Piniat 19 Aug 11, The public, environmental advocates, and stakeholders voice their opinions on the state’s Energy Master Plan. Wind and solar energy were the focus at a public hearing on the state’s Energy Master Plan held by Sen. Bob Smith (D- District 17) and Assemblyman John McKeon (D- District 27) at the Town Hall in Toms River.
“The New Jersey shore provides an appropriate setting for a vigorous discussion on clean energy, considering it is an ideal location for harnessing renewable sources like wind and solar…New Jersey has a unique opportunity to modernize our energy blueprint for the future,” Smith said prior to the hearing…… Continue reading →

August 19, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY, USA | Leave a comment

TVA to sell one nuclear reactor to pay for building another nuclear reactor

TVA plans sale of nuclear power unit to fund new project, Knox News, By Josh Flory, August 18, 2011 TVA plans to sell assets including one of its nuclear power units in order to generate the billions in cash needed to finish the Bellefonte Nuclear Plant. Continue reading →