Radioactive gravel in school building in Japan
Radioactive gravel finds way to school, Japan Times, 20 Jan 12, Hunt is on for other shipments from quarry in evacuation zone Kyodo FUKUSHIMA — Radiation-contaminated gravel shipped from a quarry in the evacuation zone around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant found its way to an elementary school building as well as roads and pathways around
houses, sources said Wednesday. The gravel went into concrete that was used to make an elementary school in Nihonmatsu, Fukushima Prefecture, more resistant to earthquakes. The area where the gravel was used had a radiation reading of 0.1 to 0.2 microsieverts per hour.
“We are surprised at the news as we had never expected it. We’d like to make efforts to ensure children’s health by checking the radiation level on a regular basis,” the school’s principal said. Continue reading
Betrayal of Japanese people in government silence on radiation
With no information coming from Tokyo, mayor Tamotsu Baba decided to lead the people of his community further north away from the plant. He did not know it at the time, but that was the very direction the plumes of radiation were also blowing.
For the 20,000 people of Namie – they have lost their homes and many fear for the health of their children.
A system that was designed to protect and warn them has clearly failed.
Japan ‘betrayed citizens’ over radiation danger, ABC News AM By North Asia correspondent Mark Willacy January 20, 2012 Japan has been accused of betraying its own people by giving the American military information about the spread of radiation from Fukushima more than a week before it told the Japanese public.
The mayor of a Japanese community abandoned because of its proximity to the Fukushima nuclear plant has told AM the government’s actions are akin to murder.
An official from Japan’s science ministry, which was in charge of mapping the spread of radiation, has acknowledged to AM that perhaps the public should have been told about the dangers at the same time the US military was informed.
In the hours after the meltdowns at Fukushima, unseen plumes of radiation began to roll over the Japanese landscape. Just a few kilometres from the oozing remains of the nuclear plant the people of Namie village gathered to evacuate. Continue reading
American public opinion – wanting renewable energy, not nuclear power
Americans overwhelmingly support greater investments in renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and hydropower. They favor requiring utilities to use more alternative energy (even if this proves more expensive) and providing tax incentives to encourage the development and use of such technologies.
in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, a clear majority of Americans opposes building new nuclear power plants
Americans on Renewable Energy, Council on Foreign Relations by Stewart M. Patrick January 18, 2012 With Iran threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz, energy security is once again at the top of the global agenda—and not just in Rick Perry’s debate talking points. But true “energy security” will require more than independence from unreliable or unstable suppliers. It will also oblige governments and companies to invest in a wider range of energy sources—many of them renewable.
That is the message of the World Future Energy Summit, which opened in Abu Dhabi this week. In his keynote address, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for the world to double its use of renewable energy by 2030. Ban’s words should resonate strongly in the United States, according to a new digest of polls on energy security released by the International Institutions and Global Governanceprogram and worldpublicopinion.org.
Americans, it turns out, are deeply anxious about energy security. An overwhelming majority (85 percent) consider it important (67 percent “very important”) to “decrease American dependence on oil imported from the Middle East”. Nearly two in three Americans (64%) favor creating a new international institution to “monitor the worldwide energy market and predict potential shortages.” Large majorities worry that energy shortages and higher prices could lead to destabilization of the world economy, that energy competition could lead to international conflict (or even war), and that current energy production is causing unacceptable environmental damage. Continue reading
Idaho National Laboratory did not properly assess plutonium risks
The effects of radiation worsen the longer radioactive material remains in the body.
Plutonium is considered more dangerous when inhaled than ingested because particles lodge in the lungs instead of being eliminated by the body, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Federal panel faults Idaho lab for radiation exposure mishap, By Laura Zuckerman SALMON, Idaho Jan 18, 2012 (Reuters) – The radiation exposure of 16 workers at a nuclear research lab in Idaho stemmed from a failure to properly assess the risks posed by the handling of decades-old plutonium fuel cells, federal investigators concluded on Wednesday. Continue reading
Fukushima nuclear accident – not all that bad?
For Tipton, When Does “Reasonably Well” Become “Horribly Catastrophic”? HUFFINGTON POST, Jason Salzman, 19 Jan Rep. Scott Tipton said in a radio interview last week that Japan’s Fukushima nuclear reactors “held up reasonably well” after being struck by an earthquake and tsunami.
So they could have been flattened, yes. But did they really hold up reasonably well?
It’s widely agreed now that the disaster caused a meltdown in three Fukushima reactors. Over ten thousand people were evacuated, and the fate of dozens of plant workers who experienced serious radiation exposure is unknown but of serious concern (at least three died). Elevated levels of radiation have been found in rice, beef, milk, spinach, and tea. Leaks of radioactive material to the ocean and land still threaten fish and wildlife. The reactors remain vulnerable to earthquakes, and cleanup is estimated to take 40 years…… http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jason-salzman/for-tipton-when-does-reas_b_1216153.html
Virginia Governor on pausing action on uranium mining regulation
Uranium Moratorium, Governors Journal Daily By GoJo Staff January 19, 2012 (Richmond, VA) – Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell(R) is asking the state legislature to take no action this year on the regulation of uranium mining, while the issue is studied further. In the meantime, he is asking a multi-agency task force to review “scientific and legal” issues associated with uranium mining and he is asking that task force to report back with recommendations by the end of the year.
McDonnell’s decision comes after a review of a National Academy of Sciences report that looked into the prospects for uranium mining in Pittsylvania County where there is the potential for an operation at Coles Hill….
McDonnell’s request to extend the current Virginia moratorium on uranium mining, may be seen by some as at odds with a general policy held by the Republican Party nationally to move forward aggressively with the development of homegrown sources of energy. McDonnell clearly believes the unknowns associated with uranium are far greater than those involving pipelines, or drilling for natural gas, or oil.
“Public safety must be the primary factor in the ultimate determination as to whether to proceed with uranium mining,” McDonnell said in his statement. http://governorsjournal.com/2012/01/uranium-moratorium/
Radioactive cesium in the ocean fish food chain
Some cesium was found in 16 of these 22 species in November, the last
full month for which data was available.
Cesium was especially prevalent in certain of the species:
– 73 per cent of mackerel tested
– 91 per cent of the halibut
– 92 per cent of the sardines
– 93 per cent of the tuna and eel
– 94 per cent of the cod and anchovies
– 100 per cent of the carp, sea-weed, shark and monkfish
After Fukushima, fish tales, By Alex Roslin, The Montreal Gazette January 14, 2012 “…………evidence has emerged that the impacts of the disaster on the Pacific Ocean are worse than expected.
Since a tsunami and earthquake destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant last March, radioactive cesium has consistently been found in 60 to 80 per cent of Japanese fishing catches each month tested by Japan’s Fisheries Agency. Continue reading
Scotland’s radioactive beach a political hazard for UK government
Mr Brown branded the “dumped” material an “undeniable hazard” for people living nearby.
He told MPs: “They are particles which should be removed quickly …and the urgent action is necessary not just because of risks to safety,
but because the Scottish Environment Protection Agency has now stated publicly that unless the Ministry of Defence brings forward a remedial plan for the area, the agency will designate Dalgety Bay as a radioactive contaminated piece of land and this will be the first and only land to be designated as radioactive contaminated in the UK and they say that they will nominate the Ministry of Defence as the culpable party.”
Brown urges beach radiation action Google News, (UKPA) 19 Jan 12, Gordon Brown has repeated his demand for a face-to-face a meeting with Defence Secretary Philip Hammond to discuss radiation poisoning. Continue reading
Protestors denounce Japan’s nuclear watchdog agency
Japan Protesters Block Meeting on Restarting Nuclear Plants WSJ By MITSURU OBE, 18 Jan TOKYO—Protesters denouncing Japan’s nuclear watchdog agency as having a pro-nuclear bias, held up the initial approval of stress-test results for two idled reactors, as police were called in to break up the demonstration.
More than a dozen demonstrators, carrying anti-nuclear signs and shouting, “Shame on you,” disrupted what was to be a closed meeting of government agency representatives, nuclear experts and energy officials gathered to review test results. The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency was set to give its preliminary approval for the restart of the two plants ahead of the arrival next week of a mission from the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The protesters called the meeting a sham, and said the majority of the panel members are known to have pro-nuclear views and are merely giving a rubber stamp to reactors.
More than 100 uniformed and plainclothes police officers were called in to end the action. The panel members were escorted out of the meeting room and resumed the session in a different ministry building, where they approved bringing the two plants back online.
The vote represents the first step in a process for restarting plants, which also must get the approval of other nuclear agencies, the Japanese cabinet and local communities……
Israel will not pre-emptively strike Iran
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-19/israel-defence-minister-denies-jewish-state-about/3782256?section=world Israel Defence Minister denies Jewish state about to strike Iran ABC Radio News, January 19, 2012 Israel’s Defence Minister Ehud Barak has denied that his country is close to carrying out a pre-emptive strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. He was speaking on the eve of a visit to Israel by the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey who is reportedly on a mission urging Israel to show restraint.
Source: AM | TONY EASTLEY: Israel’s defence minister Ehud Barak has denied that his country is close to carrying out a pre-emptive strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
He was speaking on the eve of a visit to Israel by the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey who is reportedly there on a mission urging Israel to show restraint.
Foreign affairs editor Peter Cave reports from Jerusalem….. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-19/israel-defence-minister-denies-jewish-state-about/3782256?section=world
Time France gave back its atomic test islands to their Pacific peoples
The two atolls Moruroa and Fangataufa were ceded to France at no cost in 1964 to allow its military to begin testing its nuclear weapons.
The two islands were used as nuclear weapon testing sites in the late 1960s by the French government which made use of ship-based, bomb, and atmospheric detonation trials.
TAHITI LEADER PUSHES FOR RETURN OF NUCLEAR ATOLLS President calls for France to give back Moruroa and Fangataufa WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, ) 19 Jan 12, Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of Hawai‘i – The French Polynesian president Oscar Temaru has called for street protests should France refuse to return the two atolls used for its nuclear weapons tests.
Mr. Temaru made the call as one of the territory’s senators, Richard Tuheiava, is to submit a proposed law in Paris seeking the atolls’ return and a review of the compensation offered for the tests’ impact. Continue reading
Virginia’s uranium lobbyists should stop pressurising legislators
Uranium lobbyists need to back off Star Tribune, Phillip Lovelace January 18, 2012 The National Academy of Sciences said Virginia faces steep hurdles. I say the uranium industry and the lobbyists they have hired should stop pressuring our legislators and go with the timeframe the National Academy of Sciences has contracted with the state of Virginia to do public education until May.
The National Academy of Sciences recommended site-specific studies. Continue reading
Canadian authorities keep mum about radiation in rainwater
Radioactive iodine in rainwater: Public was in the dark By ALEX ROSLIN, The Montreal Gazette January 14, 2012 After the Fukushima nuclear accident, Canadian health officials assured a nervous public that virtually no radioactive fallout had drifted to Canada. Continue reading
Inadequate monitoring of Fukushima radiation in ocean
Buesseler has already reported some results from the 15-day cruise last May and June….. ”It implies the groundwater is contaminated or the facility is still leaking radiation.”
”There is no safe level of radiation. They should be making every effort to monitor food.”.
After Fukushima, fish tales, By Alex Roslin, The Montreal Gazette January 14, 2012“.………..evidence has emerged that the impacts of the disaster on the Pacific Ocean are worse than expected.
“People want to know what’s happening with the cesium and how much is in the fish, but we don’t know. It’s frustrating,” said oceanographer Buesseler.
“It’s disconcerting how big of an event Fukushima was and how little data are out there. No one has taken responsibility for studying this in a single agency (in the U.S.), even though we also have reactors on the coast and other events could happen,” he said. Continue reading
Solar energy investment looking up in India
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Cuba Is Not a Failed State – It Is a Besieged State
PETITION: “Global Appeal to Endorse Palestinian Right of Return of Refugees”
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