2011 September 05 « nuclear-news

Japan’s crisis of radioactive waste in sewage plants

VIDEO Radioactive waste swamps Japan sewage plants – Asia-pacific – Al Jazeera English 3 Sept 11, Environmental experts warn of new crisis over build up of contaminated sewage far from Fukushima plant.

Environmental experts in Japan are warning of new fallout from the country’s nuclear crisis.

Radioactive waste is piling up at several sewerage plants, well away from the crippled Fukushima reactor.

Months after the tsunami and earthquake that triggered the nuclear meltdown, the government still has no policy on what to do with the waste.

September 5, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

Nuclear company Exelon sued over child’s brain cancer

The demand came about after the parents of a girl sued Exelon claiming their daughter developed brain cancer as a result of living close to the nuclear plant, Dresden Generating Station in northern Illinois.

Judge Orders Exelon to Divulge Radiation Data in Child Brain Cancer Lawsuit, AllGov – News, -Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky, September 03, 2011, Energy company Exelon has been ordered by a federal judge to turn over data regarding radiation leakage from one of its power plants. Continue reading →

September 5, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, USA | 1 Comment

Kazakhtsan – land of nuclear human nuclear radiation guinea pigs

As for the locals, they were little more than guinea pigs…. it is so hard to prove the link between nuclear fallout and the diseases that may strike afterwards.According to Dr. Marat Sandybaev, head of the local oncology centre, cancer rates in the area are still twice as high as the national average, and it is estimated that birth defects are up to 10 times higher.

Bringing life to a nuclear wasteland Can a nuclear test site be reclaimed? The Soviets detonated hundreds of bombs in Kazakhstan, poisoning the land and people. Louise Gray of the Telegraph travels to the notorious Polygon site and reports on plans to restore the region By Louise Gray, The Telegraph September 4, 2011 “…. Between 1949 and 1989, the Soviet Union detonated more than 456 nuclear devices on the Semipalatinsk test site, better known as the “Polygon.” Continue reading →

September 5, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, Kazakhstan | Leave a comment

Germany’s renewable energy use increases to 20%

Green Energy Use in Germany Passes 20 Percent of Total Power Mix Environmental News Network, 4 Sept 11, During the first half of 2011, Germany for the first time generated more than 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, a new report says. While the country’s total electricity demand remained stable during the first six months of 2011, the share generated by renewable sources increased from 18.3 percent to 20.8 percent, according to the German Association of Energy and Water Industries.
hat increase provides a boost to government initiatives to produce 35 percent of the country’s electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020, while phasing out all of the nation’s nuclear reactors, an aggressive target announced after the Fukushima disaster in Japan.
Alternative Energy and Fuel News: Green Energy Use in Germany Passes 20 Percent of Total Power Mix

September 5, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, renewable | Leave a comment

Pictures of Fukushima’s nuclear ghost town

PICTURES Eerie echoes of Chernobyl: Inside Fukushima’s nuclear ghost town abandoned by people fleeing the fallout, Mail Online 4 Sept 11,By Daniel Miller, 4th September 2011
Inside Fukushima’s nuclear ghost town abandoned by people fleeing the fallout | Mail Online

September 5, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

Renewable energy a a sound investment for USA

“We will need subsidies for a little while, but not for the indefinite future and we do expect that renewables will, whether it’s going to be competitive 10 years or 20 years from now, it’s going to be on that time scale,” Chu said. “And it will certainly be far less than the amount we needed for other traditional energies, like oil and gas.”….

Congress should see potential in renewable energy and invest in it Las Vegas Sun, , Sept. 4, 2011 Under President Barack Obama’s administration, the federal government has taken a more aggressive stance on developing renewable energy. It has been met with resistance by the fossil fuel industry and its supporters in Congress.

They have groused about the cost of subsidies and tax breaks for renewable energy projects (never mind the billions of dollars a year in handouts the oil industry gets). Continue reading →

September 5, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Farmland ruined by radioactive “superdumps” from uranium mining

He blames the recent toxic and radioactive spillages on Mine Waste Solutions, a subsidiary of Canadian First Uranium, which is reprocessing mining waste from 15 old slimes dams – some of which are located on his expansive farm – in the Klerksdorp area….

Superdumps are huge dams that store toxic waste form the smaller, historical dumps that are reprocessed for gold and uranium.

(South Africa) Radioactive spillages condemn farmlandAugust 31 2011 IOL Science Tech, By Sheree Bega INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS Johan Kondos can only use a small portion of his land to grow lucerne. “……This lone field, and a few beloved cattle, is all Kondos has left of his farm in Hartbeesfontein in the North West.

Like many of his neighbours, he blames surrounding mining operations for contaminating his farm, situated about 5km from the Vaal River.

“Some of the pollution is historic but some of it is so recent, it’s still wet,” he explains.

“I’ve had calves born with two heads on my farm. At one time I was having 70 percent abortions and very high mortality with my animals. They drank from the Koekemoerspruit and ate the lucerne I produced.

As part of this, the company is also constructing a controversial central tailings storage facility, or superdump, about 2km from the Vaal River, touting it as a model rehabilitation plan, where the mining waste from the 15 tailings dams is piped. Superdumps are huge dams that store toxic waste form the smaller, historical dumps that are reprocessed for gold and uranium.

In July, the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) shut down Mine Waste Solutions’ operations after its inspection revealed spillages and leakages of tailings materials along the company’s extensive pipeline and on the properties of farmers like Kondos.

But a week later, Mine Waste Solutions was back on line, stating it said it had been given conditional approval to restart operations provided it follow an “enhanced pipeline maintenance programme” and submit monthly reports.

Radioactive spillages condemn farmland – IOL SciTech | IOL.co.za

September 5, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, South Africa, Uranium | Leave a comment

Editor resigns over sloppy anti climate change publication

Journal editor resigns over ‘problematic’ climate paper, BBC News, Richard Black, 2 September 2011 The editor of a science journal has resigned after admitting that a recent paper casting doubt on man-made climate change should not have been published. Continue reading →

September 5, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, media | 1 Comment

Nuclear power company Exelon in court over child’s cancer

Plant Must Disclose Data to Fight Cancer Lawsuit, Courthouse News serBy JACK BOUBOUSHIAN CHICAGO (CN), 3 Sept 11 – The parents of a girl who developed brain cancer can access over a decade of data on an Exelon power plant they claim discharged harmful radiation, a federal judge ruled, but the energy giant can withhold certain other information.
Joseph and Cynthia Sauer say their daughter, Sarah, was diagnosed with a medulloblastoma, a highly malignant brain tumor, roughly three years after the family moved to Grundy County, where Exelon operates the Dresden Generating Station and Unitech Services Group has a nuclear facility.
They claim that radioactive discharges from the plants traveled through the groundwater, causing Sarah’s cancer……..
Courthouse News Service

September 5, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

Poor radiation safety at Indian university

Atomic energy regulator shuts down radiotherapy machines at Safdarjung – Indian Express, 3 Sept 11, In line for its first MCI inspection after being brought under the Indraprastha University (IP), the radiotherapy department of Safdarjung hospital and Vardhaman Medical College, faces risk of derecognition. The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), the apex body monitoring radiation safety standards in hospitals, has already directed the department to shut down two cobalt and one brachytherapy machines due to a dearth of radiation safety norms and inadequate posts of radiation safety officers. ..Atomic energy regulator shuts down radiotherapy machines at Safdarjung – Indian Express

September 5, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, safety | Leave a comment

Kazakhstan’s land of danger due to nuclear testing

Soviet nuclear legacy surfaces at atomic museum , By Keith Rogers, LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, Sep. 3, 2011 Kazakhstan is grappling with lingering health issues and trying to rehabilitate the land 20 years after nuclear weapons testing stopped at the former Soviet Union’s proving ground .

Heavily contaminated areas of the Semipalatinsk nuclear site are closed to access by Kazaks who used the land for farming and grazing. The government, with the United States, is working to keep dangerous materials out of sinister hands, said Erlan Idrissov, Kazakhstan’s ambassador to the United States.

“All those years we have been trying to make a full assessment of the dangers that were brought to the land by nuclear testing,” Continue reading →

September 5, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, Kazakhstan | Leave a comment

IAEA report on Iran’s compliance with NPT

New IAEA Report Reaffirms Dangers of Iran’s Nuclear Program – MarketWatch, 4 Sept 11, “This latest IAEA report underscores yet again the danger posed by the Iranian nuclear program,” said AJC Executive Director David Harris.The nine-page report, released on Friday, examines Iran’s compliance with the Non-Proliferation Treaty and binding UN Security Council resolutions that address Iran’s nuclear program.Among its key highlights:The IAEA is “increasingly concerned about the possible existence in Iran of past or current undisclosed nuclear-related activities involving military-related organizations, including activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile, about which the Agency continues to receive new information.”
AJC: New IAEA Report Reaffirms Dangers of Iran’s Nuclear Program – MarketWatch

September 5, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment