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Ontario political party promising energy efficiency, ending funds for nuclear power

NDP Look Past Nuclear In Energy Plan. Radio 1010 Newstalk  By: Katie Franzios  · 8/3/2011 The Ontario NDP plan on laying down $980 million over four years for retrofit programs, if elected.

 Leader Andrea Horwath says these programs would save people money by reducing electricity use, noting the Liberal government ended a home energy savings program last year.
Horwath promises to give a $5,000 rebate for energy-efficient home renovations, such as replacing windows and doors, as well as installing an energy-efficient furnace.

She says they won’t be spending any extra money to provide these programs but will use the money set aside for Darlington nuclear projects. Horwath says they would be put on hold if elected, so the NDP could review them…

August 4, 2011 Posted by | Canada, politics | Leave a comment

Japanese govt passes law to prop up TEPCO company

Japan Passes Law Supporting Stricken Nuclear Plant’s Operator, NYT 3 Aug 11, By , TOKYO — Japan’s Parliament passed a law on Wednesday that will allow the use of public funds to shore up the company operating thecrippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, and help it pay what is expected to amount to billions of dollars in compensation claims.

The law creates a state-backed fund that will pay damages to victims of the disaster at the plant, where three reactors melted down and spewed radiation after cooling systems were lost in the March tsunami and quake. The government will initially pay nearly $26 billion into the fund, Banri Kaieda, the trade minister, told lawmakers on Tuesday….http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/04/world/asia/04japan.html

August 4, 2011 Posted by | Japan, politics | Leave a comment

Nuclear waste company fined for violation, but can leave the waste there anyway

EnergySolutions identifies violation and pays fine, Examiner.com. Shad Engkilterra , August 3, 2011 -“……EnergySolutions has paid an $80,000 fine, which meets the statutory limit that can be imposed according to Rusty Lundberg, DRC director.

EnergySolutions will not be required to remove the non-Class A waste…. http://www.examiner.com/community-activism-in-salt-lake-city/energysolutions-identifies-violation-and-pays-fine

August 4, 2011 Posted by | USA, wastes | Leave a comment

How to hide highly radioactive waste – “down blending”

Utah lawmakers banned classes B and C waste in 2005, and the state Radiation Control Board opposes blending done “when the intent is to alter the waste classification for the purposes of disposal-site access.”
Blended waste decision is weeks away, regulator says, BY JUDY FAHYS, The Salt Lake Tribune 2 Aug 11, A state regulator said Tuesday it will be at least a few weeks before a decision is made on allowing “down-blended” radioactive waste to be buried at the EnergySolutions’ landfill in Tooele County. Continue reading →

August 4, 2011 Posted by | USA, wastes | Leave a comment

“Blenced nuclear wastes” – a way to get around restrictions on toxic wastes

Green groups: State to OK blended nuke waste, BY JUDY FAHYS, The Salt Lake Tribune 1 Aug 11 State regulators appear poised to sign off on a request from Energy Solutions to allow “down-blended” waste from nuclear reactors to be buried at the company’s Tooele County radioactive landfill, says an environmental group…..

But HEAL said the prospect of more blended waste should be the subject of a more focused study of the Tooele County site to address the long-term safety and health questions raised by federal regulators and the state Radiation Control Board. In addition, said Thomas, blending will allow the company and its customers, in effect, to bury waste more hazardous than the Class A waste currently allowed in the state.

“It circumvents the state’s ban on Class B and C waste, which has been in place for years,” said Thomas.

He added that one analysis estimated the radioactivity at the EnergySolutions site would increase eight-fold if blended waste is permitted… http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/52305223-90/waste-blended-radiation-state.html.csp

August 4, 2011 Posted by | USA, wastes | Leave a comment

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

The Lie of Nuclear Power – best selling Japanese book

His new book, “Genpatsu no uso (The Lie of Nuclear Power),” is a bestseller.1 The “Unofficial Koide Hiroaki Matome,” a blog that collects daily links and video footage of Koide’s talks and appearances, is one of the most important—and popular— Fukushima-related websites.

The Truth About Nuclear Power: Japanese Nuclear Engineer Calls for Abolition Koide Hiroaki Introduction and translation by Sakai Yasuyuki and Norimatsu Satoko,1 August 11, IntroductionKoide Hiroaki began his career as a nuclear engineer forty years ago drawn to the promise of nuclear power. Quickly, however, he recognized the flaws in Japan’s nuclear power program and emerged as among the best informed of Japan’s nuclear power critic. Continue reading →

August 1, 2011 Posted by | resources - print | 1 Comment

Japan’s PM slams ‘cosy relationship’ between regulators and nuclear industry

Japan’s leader rips nuclear regulators  – The Boston Globe,  August 1, 2011 TOKYO – Japan’s prime minister criticized the country’s nuclear safety agency yesterday for allegedly trying to plant questions aimed at supporting atomic energy at public forums.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency was siding with the industry rather than acting as a regulator. He said that underscored a cozy relationship and the deep-rooted problem that must be corrected following the March 11 tsunami and the nuclear crisis. “NISA, which is supposed to check nuclear safety to represent the interest of the general public, provided support for the promoters. It was more than just a help, if true,’’ Kan said at an energy symposium.

Kan’s comment followed a government report showing NISA allegedly tried to manipulate public opinion at town meetings to promote nuclear power.  Public support for nuclear energy has eroded since the March disaster that crippled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant….Japan’s leader rips nuclear regulators – The Boston Globe

August 1, 2011 Posted by | Japan, politics | Leave a comment

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