nuclear-news

French and Japanese governments have vested interest in the nuclear industry

Many question whether the Japanese or French governments are telling the whole truth. After all, they’ve invested heavily in nuclear power.

Any bad publicity could turn the tide against building new plants, or even launch protests against keeping the existing ones running. So estimates of radiation, damage, and long-term effects are kept small, often hidden from the public.

California, a state just waiting for a major earthquake to occur, doesn’t need any more nuclear power plants.

Oil pipeline beats more nuclear power plants, Whittier Daily News, By Steve Scauzillo 12/17/2011  Environmentalists are against the building of a pipeline that would move crude oil from Canada to refineries in Texas because it will add to global warming. They have a point. More oil refining adds to the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere, or greenhouse gases, which exacerbates the crisis of climate change that is already under way. Plus, the process of separating the oil from the tar sands is more polluting than previous extraction methods…..
I have to look at the alternatives and wonder which is the lesser evil. One of those – more nuclear power plants – is an energy option that should not be pursued.

The dangers of nuclear power have been popping up for years and yet,
for some reason that threat does not gain much traction.

Earlier this year, we all remember the earthquake and tsunami that
devastated many northern cities in Japan. The March 11 tsunami
crippled the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The core rods were exposed
to the point where authorities desperately pumped in sea water to try
to cool them. Workers may have sacrificed their own bodies to stop a
major meltdown.
On Friday, Japan said it would try to shut the plant down. But experts
say containing the radiation and just stopping the plant from doing
more damage will take 30 years. Imagine the world living with the
threat of nuclear fallout from Fukushima until 2041. Think of the
cloud hanging over our children’s future.

Unless the government of Japan can achieve such a “cold shutdown” the
80,000 residents who are still evacuated will never be able to return,
Reuters reported Friday.

Let’s look at the costs for just containing a nuclear power plant –
just one plant – that became compromised. In Japan, Tepco may have to
pay about $57 billion in compensation for the next two years. That’s
an astronomical amount. Throw in the $13 billion that the government
of Japan says it will contribute and you have a $70 billion price tag.

And then there is the problem of what to do with all that nuclear
waste. Nuclear power plants produce spent rods that have to be buried
or destroyed. Not an easy task…..
In September, an explosion ripped through a nuclear waste processing
facility in Avignon, France. The explosion killed one person and
injured four others. French authorities said the radiation that leaked
from the Centraco site was not serious.

Many question whether the Japanese or French governments are telling
the whole truth. After all, they’ve invested heavily in nuclear power.
In France, nuclear energy provides 77 percent of that country’s power.
Any bad publicity could turn the tide against building new plants, or
even launch protests against keeping the existing ones running. So
estimates of radiation, damage, and long-term effects are kept small,
often hidden from the public.

California, a state just waiting for a major earthquake to occur,
doesn’t need any more nuclear power plants.
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_19569187

December 19, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general