2011 November 04 « nuclear-news

Japanese mothers demand radiation protection, and closure of nuclear power

The women are calling for two things. First, they want to protect children living in highly contaminated areas by giving them the officially sanctioned ‘right to evacuate.’ This would include government compensation and support that would enable children and their families to relocate on a voluntary basis.

Secondly, they want to close down all nuclear power plants in Japan. “Fukushima women feel very strongly that there is no safe nuclear power,” “This is the lesson to be learned from Fukushima.”

The women have asked for a response from the state by Nov. 11—exactly eight months after the deadly quake.

Fukushima Women Demand Better Protection for Children Exposed to Radiation, TIME.com , November 3, 2011 Lucy Birmingham. About 100 women from Fukushima, Japan, have started a week-long sit-in at a government office in Tokyo to demand greater protection for children affected by radiation. “Many children and their families are trapped in Fukushima because they can’t afford to move,” explains Ayako Oga, 38, a housewife living in the prefecture and one of the sit-in organizers. “The government has set the accepted radiation exposure rate too high.” Japan’s standard rate for exposure to radiation is 1 millisievert per year. For Fukushima residents alone the accepted exposure rate is up to 20 millisieverts per year. The International Commission on Radiological Protection considers this rate the top level and says it should not be exceeded over the long term.

National and prefectural governments have determined that until the 20 millisieverts level they are not obligated to offer financial support to residents, certain businesses or schools wanting to relocate outside the irradiated areas. At the heart of the debate is the question of who has a ‘right to evacuate.’ “At Chernobyl, the right to evacuate, which means government support, was given from 1 to 5 millisieverts. In Japan it’s 20,” Continue reading →

November 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, politics, women | 2 Comments

What it’s really like to be a cleanup worker at Fukushima

Those on the lower rungs, say labour advocates, are particularly
vulnerable. They often have no corporate health, pension or redundancy
benefits. ….

the hardest work was done by the low-level labourers. They had so much rubble to clear, he says, that they often keeled over in the heat under the weight of their protective gear.
Taken out in ambulances, they would usually be back the following day.

Cleaning up Japan’s nuclear mess, The twilight zone, Its owner fears not just radiation leaking out of the Fukushima plant, but also bad news, The Economist Nov 5th 2011 | IWAKI | IT IS another world beyond the roadblocks stopping unauthorised traffic from entering the 20km (12.5-mile) exclusion zone around the
Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. ….

The air of secrecy is compounded when you try to approach workers involved in the nightmarish task of stabilising the nuclear plant. Many are not salaried Tepco staff but low-paid contract workers lodging in Iwaki, just south of the exclusion zone. Continue reading →

November 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | employment, Japan | Leave a comment

India’s Kudankulam nuclear project halted

Work halts at Kudankulam, The Hindu, T. S. SUBRAMANIAN 4 Nov 11,Personnel unable to enter plant: AEC chairman Work at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) in Tamil Nadu has “halted” because the plant personnel are “unable to go inside” and this situation has arisen “when we need several thousands of people to work inside during the last phase of work” of commissioning of the first reactor there, said Srikumar Banerjee, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission. Continue reading →

November 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, India | 2 Comments

India’s top nuclear scientist wants a stop to nuclear power programme

India does not need nuclear energy: Top scientist, Nov 3, 2011, By Kumar Chellappan Chennai DNA One of the pioneer nuclear scientists in the country says that India can very well suspend its entire nuclear programme. “It is true that we have spent thousands of croresof rupees to set up nuclear power plants. But we will be forced to spend thousand times more than that in the eventuality of a nuclear disaster,” said Dr MP Parameswaran, former scientist of the Atomic Energy Commission. Continue reading →

November 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, politics | Leave a comment

The $64 billion question – 3 reasons why Japan should nationalise TEPCO

Japan’s nuclear conundrum, The $64 billion question, Once the Fukushima nuclear plant is stable, the government should temporarily nationalise its operator The Economist Nov 5th 2011

The government should act fast to nationalise Tepco and hold it temporarily in public ownership as it clears out the old management and oversees the clean-up. Then it should reprivatise a thoroughly reformed utility. Three reasons argue for Tepco to be nationalised. Continue reading →

November 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, politics | Leave a comment

Taiwan’s President Ma contradicts himself on nuclear power shutdown

Ma’s promises on energy policies — advocating commercial operations for the fourth nuclear plant, and in the meantime offering that the government would rather sacrifice the power plants than allow nuclear disasters to happen — sound tempting, but are completely contradictory, DPP’s presidential candidate, Tsai Ing-wen, proposed, yesterday.

Ma’s government had only promised to give up on the use of nuclear energy when natural disasters strike, but by then nothing done could relief the calamity that had taken place, Tsai argued.

Existing nuclear plants to be shut down: MaThe China Post, 4 Nov 11President Ma Ying-jeou promised yesterday that the licenses of the existing three nuclear power plants will not be renewed after they expire, and if the fourth power plant begins stable operations before 2016, early shutting down of the first nuclear power plant will be considered Continue reading →

November 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, Taiwan | Leave a comment

Florida schools save money while kids manage mini solar power plants

The systems also will be used year-round to save schools an estimated $1,200 a year in electricity costs. Schools are already thrilled with the educational prospects.

the newest program has created several much-needed small-business and contractor jobs.

Solar power is coming to a school near you, $10 million federal project will be educational, ease utility costs By Erica Rodriguez, Orlando Sentinel, November 3, 2011 Schoolchildren across Florida will soon be managing mini solar-energy power plants this fall designed to ease utility costs, educate kids and supply campuses with power during natural disasters. Continue reading →

November 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | decentralised, USA | Leave a comment

Japanese fears on radioactive debris

Radiation fears behind debris refusals / Remaining refuse may cause secondary damage, hinder reconstruction efforts, The Yomiuri Shimbun, 4 Nov 11 The start Wednesday of shipments of debris from the Great East Japan Earthquake to Tokyo, the first destination for such refuse outside the Tohoku region, was a long-awaited first step toward wider disposal of the wreckage.

However, an Environment Ministry survey released Wednesday showed that only 54 local governments and garbage-disposal unions, less than 10 percent the figure in a previous survey, were considering accepting debris from disaster-hit areas. Continue reading →

November 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, Japan | Leave a comment

USA Republican presidential candidates’ opposing each other on nuclear wastes

Candidates can’t come to Nevada, which is fifth in line with its Feb. 4 caucus, without being quizzed about how they feel about the state becoming the nation’s nuclear dumping ground.

Nuclear waste politics seep into Republican presidential race, Oregon Live.com , November 03, 2011, By Jeff Mapes, The Oregonian The Reno News & Review provides a useful summary of the politics roiling around the nuclear waste issue after Republican presidential
candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Perry said they opposed opening a national waste repository at Nevada’s Yucca Mountain.

Their stance — which was perhaps not surprising since they made their statements at in a GOP debate in Las Vegas — has worried fellow Republicans in Washington and South Carolina, two other states with big nuclear waste problems that want Yucca Mountain opened. Continue reading →

November 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

USA Republican politicians crusade for uranium mining around Grand Canyon

Republicans Continue Crusade To Mine Around the Grand Canyon, Think Progress Nov 3, 2011 by Jessica Goad, Manager of Research and Outreach, Center for American Progress Action Fund. Last week, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced plans to withdraw 1 million acres around Grand Canyon National Park from new mining claims for 20 years. After a two-year stakeholder involvement process, nearly 300,000 public commentswere received on this proposal, 90 percent of which were in favor of the full withdrawal according to Bureau of Land Management Director Bob Abbey. But that has only caused Republicans from both chambers to hurriedly introduce bills that would prevent the Department of the Interior from taking this action and throw open the areas to new mining. Continue reading →

November 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Support for UK’s nuclear test veterans in their legal fight for justice

Nuclear test veterans get backing, Google News (UKPA) – 4 Nov 11 Veterans minister Keith Brown has written to the UK Government, raising concerns of Scottish nuclear test veterans before the next stage of their legal battle for compensation. The UK Supreme Court has given veterans permission to further argue their right to seek damages for illnesses allegedly caused by exposure to radiation during nuclear testing.

Mr Brown led a debate in Holyrood outlining the Scottish Government’s initiatives for veterans before Remembrance Day. SNP MSP Kevin Stewart said: “I’m glad that the minister has outlined all that the Scottish Government is doing for veterans but it seems that the UK Government are failing on certain issues.

“We now have the military covenant but we still have veterans who have to fight through the courts for their rights, and I`m thinking particularly of nuclear test veterans. I wonder what the minister thinks of the fact that certain veterans have to fight the UK Government in court to get their rights.”…. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5ghwZq4FalFCtciulDe5hIdBOzFCg?docId=N0436821320317726729A

November 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | 1 Comment

UK government hypocrisy when it comes to nuclear waste dumping

Localism loses out in High Court decision, PS Public Service.co UK 03 November 2011 Campaigners from the village of Kings Cliffe near Peterborough have lost their High Court battle to overturn a decision by Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles to let radioactive waste be dumped at the nearby East Northants Resource Management Facility.

The case was seen as an example of how the government may speak of encouraging localism in one breath but in the next force communities to accept decisions that they have opposed through democratic means.

The Kings Cliffe Wastewatchers had protested at Pickles overturning local planning decisions on the low-level waste, allowing it to be dumped between now and August 2013. There were also fears that the waste disposal company Augean could go ahead with its plans to expand the site’s operation for hazardous and nuclear wastes until 2026.

Before the verdict, spokesperson Louise Bowen-West said: “We feel the [Pickles] decision is unlawful and must be stopped in order to set a precedent. I get the impression that the government thinks that because we’re a tiny community they can stamp all over us. But we plan to fight this all the way. Whatever the verdict in the case we will battle on to make sure this is stopped.”

The campaigners’ defence lawyer had said this was a “classic case of the developer obtaining, through this permission, a foot in the door for the extended landfill”. He added that the Pickles decision was unlawful and should be overturned.

http://www.publicservice.co.uk/news_story.asp?id=17921

November 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | UK, wastes | Leave a comment

UK judge rules in favour of nuclear waste dump, rejects local opposition

Kings Cliffe campaigners lose nuclear waste legal battle, The Peterborough Evening Telegraph., By Ken McErlain 3 November 2011 A decision to dump low-level nuclear waste by a village near Peterborough was upheld today

More than 50 people from Kings Cliffe travelled to the High Court in London hoping to overturn a Government decision to allow Augean to dump radioactive waste at its East Northants Resource Management Facility, in Stamford Road, King’s Cliffe.

But Deputy Judge Stewart QC upheld the decision to allow Augean to use half of the site for dumping waste up until August 2013. The judge also refused to give the campaigners permission to appeal.

Villagers had voiced fears about the environmental impact of the decision and were concerned that Augean would look to expand the site’s operation for hazardous and nuclear wastes until 2026 by using the other half of the site. Campaigners against the plans, who raised £30,000 to mount the legal challenge, said they are now considering their next move.

Campaigner Clare Langan, who travelled to London for the hearing, said: “We were very upset and disappointed to hear the verdict.“We will be meeting with our barristers in the coming weeks to see what options are available to us.”… http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/et-business/business-news/kings_cliffe_campaigners_lose_nuclear_waste_legal_battle_1_3212591

November 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, UK, wastes | Leave a comment

The unwisdom of a pre-emptive strike against Iran’s nuclear facilitiesar

the most damning case against pre-emptive over-reaction is that, for all the horror that underpins the nuclear military option, not one of the 50,000 or so warheads held by the two superpowers at the insane height of the cold war was ever fired in anger….

let’s not start any more avoidable wars …..as the cold war showed, patience works.
It’s best to play the Iranians at the long game.

Iran’s nuclear ambitions: let’s not do anything rash, Guardian UK , by Michael White 3 November 2011 Should the US seek to destroy Tehran’s atomic sites? No. The security case is not made and the risks are disproportionate….. Continue reading →

November 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

South Korea’s radiation hotspot – from Japan, or from China?

The Institute of Nuclear Safety has previously reported that cesium-137 has been detected over the past 10 years in South Korea’s air and soil when so-called yellow dust blows in from China .

Radiation Hot Spot Detected in South Korean Pavement,Voice of America , November 3rd, 2011 South Korea’s Institute of Nuclear Safety says it has discovered a patch of pavement in Seoul is emitting radiation at levels 10 times higher than normal. Continue reading →