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Nuclear physicist recommends permanent relocation for Fukushima area residents

Mamoru Fujiwara, assistant professor of nuclear physics at Osaka University, said the residents from these locations “need to be relocated permanently.”

Japan Finds Radiation Spread Over a Wide Area, WSJ, By MITSURU OBE, 31 Aug 11, TOKYO—The first comprehensive soil survey from areas around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant showed extensive ground contamination and another report warned of the continued threat to Japan’s food chain, underscoring the major challenges the country still faces in its radioactive cleanup efforts…. Continue reading →

September 1, 2011 Posted by | environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Evacuate high radiation area North West Japan, says Caldicott

Dr Helen Caldicott says radiation many times in excess of that which led to the evacuation of Chernobyl has been reported in North-West Japan — so the area should be evacuated immediately.

Fukushima Crisis: Caldicott Says Evacuate North-West Japan, 31 August 2011,by: David Donovan, Independent Australia .………The problem is that the reliability of claims from TEPCO, NISA and the Japanese Government are – as we have reported before – highly questionable. All three bodies have a major credibility crisis, with clear evidence that they colluded to cover up evidence that they knew the nuclear reactors melted down within hours of the March 11 tsunami. The reason for this seems to be that Japan is highly dependent on nuclear energy for its power needs, such that NISA has become more or less a branch of TEPCO – with staff perenially shuffling between the two bodies – and with a Japanese Government that is primarily concerned with talking down the extent of the crisis to avoid widespread panic amongst the Japanese population and allay rumblings about the viability of nuclear power…. Continue reading →

September 1, 2011 Posted by | environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Risk of active geological faults near 14 Japanese nuclear power plants

14 locations near nuclear plants could become active faults, agency warns, Mainichi Daily News, 1 Sept 11  Some 14 locations near nuclear facilities in Japan have been found to have the possibility of turning into active faults in the future, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) has announced.

NISA said on Aug. 30 that it has confirmed a total of 14 faults and other locations whose possibility of turning into active faults in the future cannot be ruled out near the Fukushima No. 1 and No. 2 nuclear power plants and Japan Atomic Power Co.’s Tokai No. 2 Power Station in Ibaraki Prefecture.

NISA had instructed plant operators to re-evaluate those locations after aftershocks following the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake triggered the Yunotake fault in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, to slip even though it had been believed to be inactive.

As a result of the re-evaluation, it emerged that five locations near the Fukushima nuclear plant, including the Yunotake fault, have a possibility of moving in the future due to crustal twists and increased seismic activity in the wake of the March 11 quake. A total of nine locations near the Tokai No. 2 Power Station and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency’s Tokai nuclear fuel reprocessing plant were also revaluated….http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110831p2a00m0na024000c.html

September 1, 2011 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

New Jersey nuclear plants powered down due to floods

Flooding causes 2 NJ nuke reactors to power down, The Sacramento Bee, 1 Sept 2011, The Associated Press LOWER ALLOWAYS CREEK, N.J. — Two of the three nuclear reactors in a southern New Jersey county have powered partway down because debris from Hurricane Irene is blocking cooling water intakes.

PSEG Nuclear spokesman Joe Delmar said Wednesday that the Salem I and Salem II units in Salem County are getting unusual amounts of grass and trash at the screen where water is taken in from the Delaware River. …. Delmar says it’s unclear when the plants will return to full power…….. http://www.sacbee.com/2011/08/31/3875617/flooding-causes-2-nj-nuke-reactors.html#ixzz1WjCDaQI8

 

September 1, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Wikileaks reveals plotting by USA and Australia to remove atomic energy chiefve

US, Australia ‘schemed against IAEA chief’, SBS World News, 31 August 2011  Source: AAP, The United States and Australia schemed unsuccessfully in 2005 to block Mohamed ElBaradei’s election to a third term as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, a newly leaked US diplomatic cable shows.

Both countries were unhappy with ElBaradei’s “unhelpful” response to Iran’s nuclear program, but the bid to prevent his re-election to the nuclear regulatory agency’s leadership ultimately failed for lack of international support. Continue reading →

September 1, 2011 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

Germany’s nuclear reactors to remain closed

Nuclear reactor not to be kept on stand-by, The Local  31 Aug 11  Germany’s Federal Network Agency has decided not to keep any nuclear power stations operational as back-up in case of electricity shortfalls this winter. Eight reactors were shut down earlier this year after the Fukushima disaster in Japan reignited German fears. Continue reading →

September 1, 2011 Posted by | Germany, politics | Leave a comment

Uranium brings lower and lower prices

Uranium transactions fail to raise spot price, Industrial Fuels and Power August 31st, 2011  The uranium spot market reported five transactions totalling 1Mlb in the week ended 26 August, but each transaction was conducted at successively lower prices as sellers dropped offer prices to attract buyers. Consequently, the spot uranium price was cut by US$1.05 WoW to US$48.85/lb by the end of the week, according to TradeTech……

On 29 August, The Ux Consulting Co reported a US$1.50 fall in the uranium spot price to US$49.00/lb of uranium oxide.

Over the past month, uranium oxide prices decreased by US$2.50 while conversion rates at both sides of the Atlantic saw 75 cents shaved of their end-of-July price to US$10.00/kgU. Uranium hexafluoride prices fell by US$7.28 to US$138.03/kgU during this period……

September 1, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, business and costs, Uranium | Leave a comment

France’s Flamanville nuclear reactors problems downplayed by management

Bouygues CEO Downplays Problems at Flamanville Nuclear Plant, Fox Business, By Inti Landauro, August 31, 2011 PARIS – – Martin Bouygues, chief executive of French construction and telecommunication group Bouygues SA, Wednesday downplayed problems in the construction of a nuclear plant in Flamanville, saying the project  is a prototype and as such normally faces difficulties.

September 1, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Chernobyl’s “liquidators” not compensated for radiation caused cancers

neither governments nor nuclear industries have provided any significant funding for researching more controversial health effects of radiation such as breast cancer and heart disease. Whenever you hear that “there are no studies proving any connection between radiation and [insert medical condition]”, you can be pretty sure it’s because no studies have actually been done……

Nuclear Family Bonds, Open Salon 25 Aug 11, “…..Japan has supported Chernobyl studies and projects in Ukraine for years.  Though one people suffered from the Bomb, and the other, a civilian nuclear plant explosion, both were bound by scars of the atomic age. That both, after Fukushima, are now also victims of the “peaceful atom” is almost getting weird. Continue reading →

September 1, 2011 Posted by | health, Ukraine | 1 Comment

Study into second cancer risk for testicular cancer survivors

Diagnostic radiation and second cancer risk in testicular cancer survivors  ” ecancer medical science 30/08/2011 ,by ecancer reporter Clare Sansom The link between radiation exposure and cancer first became evident in studies of survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

Later studies established a link between therapeutic radiotherapy for cancer and increased risk of a second subsequent malignancy. There have, however, been few large, comprehensive studies to date of the association between the lower radiation levels associated with diagnostic testing and subsequent cancer risk.

Testicular cancer is one of the most treatable solid tumours, but survivors of this disease need regular monitoring for recurrence, generally through repeated X-ray computer tomography (CT) scans……..

As cancers are known to take a minimum of five years to develop following radiation exposure, all patients who received a second cancer diagnosis or died within five years of developing their testicular cancer were also excluded from the study…………. The resulting study population included 2,569 men with a mean age at diagnosis of 34.7 years, and who were observed for a median time of 11.2 years….

Van Walraven and his co-workers concluded from this study that the risk of developing a second abdominal-pelvic cancer following recovery from testicular cancer and its associated diagnostic radiation is very low.. http://www.ecancermedicalscience.com/news-insider-news.asp?itemId=1968

September 1, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, health | Leave a comment

Japan’s Parliament – vote for renewable energy tariff

The move has global implications, as the world’s third largest economy follows that of the world’s second-largest economy, China, and the world’s fourth-largest economy, Germany, in implementing feed-in tariffs in order to rapidly develop renewable energy.

Japan Creates Major Feed-In Tariff for Renewable Energy, SustainableBusiness.com News, By Paul Gipe   31 Aug 11, In a major breakthrough for the feed-in tariff movement worldwide, Japan’s upper chamber has approved a new law implementing a feed-in tariff policy for renewable energy. Continue reading →

September 1, 2011 Posted by | Japan, renewable | Leave a comment

France’s President warns on possibility of pre-emptive military strike against Iran

Sarkozy says Iran nuclear bid could provoke preemptive military action, 31 August 2011,By AL ARABIYA AND AGENCIES ,PARIS French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned on Wednesday that Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile ambitions could provoke preemptive military action against it.

“Its military nuclear and ballistic ambitions constitute a growing threat that may lead to a preventive attack against Iranian sites that would provoke a major crisis that France wants to avoid at all costs,” he said.

 Sarkozy did not say which country might launch such a strike, but it has been reported that Israel – perhaps with US support – has considered bombing Iranian nuclear sites if it believes Tehran is close to building a weapon.

The French leader placed the blame for the crisis on Iran, which insists it has no intention of building a nuclear weapon, and is merely enriching nuclear fuel for medical research and a domestic atomic energy program…. http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/08/31/164882.html

September 1, 2011 Posted by | Iran, politics international | Leave a comment

Beleagured uranium mining industry now fearing nationalisation of mining in Africa

Mining nationalisation threat is real, says government adviser, MATT CHAMBERS, THE AUSTRALIAN, September 01, 2011 A SENIOR South African government adviser says investor worries about nationalisation of the mining industry are justified. Continue reading →

September 1, 2011 Posted by | politics, South Africa | Leave a comment