The week’s nuclear news in brief
Christina Macpherson's websites & blogs
Nuclear “decommissioning” United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) is concerned about the global unsolved problem of dealing with dying and dead nuclear reactors
Japan – Fukushima nuclear reactor heating up again. Anti nuclear protests by thousands, in Japan. Japanese nuclear companies are happy, as they are getting lucrative contracts to do radiation cleanup work.
Poland: a refrendum in Baltic Sea resort Mielno results in 94% rejection of nuclear power plant.
USA: NRC approves 2 new nuclear reactors, and within aweek, it’s expected that an $8.3 billion tax-payer funded loan guarantee will be provided for them. Not everyone in Washington is happy about this.
Britain: Sellafield nuclear reprocessing project in trouble, especially financial.
Russia: government deception over the true danger of athe fire on a nuclear submarine. Medical science showing that exposure to ionising radiation to male foetuses increases the risk of cancer of the testicles.
France – Government is to pressing on with expensive safety upgrades of existing nuclear reactors, because that’s cheaper than new ones. Nuclear power becoming an election issue in France.
15 tonnes of water hourly, as Fukushima nuclear reactor hots up again
Fukushima reactor heats up again, ABC News, By Mark Willacy in Fukushima The operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant has begun injecting more water into one of the reactors, after the core temperature rose above Japan’s safety limit.
A gauge inside Fukushima’s reactor number two showed the temperature rising to 82 degrees Celsius over the weekend, its highest level since the reactor was put into a state of cold shutdown two months ago. Operator TEPCO insists there has been no nuclear reaction and that the reactor can be controlled.
Responding to the increase, the operator began injecting 15 tonnes of water an hour into the reactor in a bid to get the temperature down. TEPCO says it has not detected any xenon gas, which is created when a
nuclear reaction has been triggered.
The company suspects that cooling water has not been flowing freely into the the number two reactor, causing the
In Japan thousands rally for “Sayonora to nuclear plants,”
Thousands rally against nuclear power in Japan Business Recorder FEBRUARY 12, 2012 Thousands demonstrated in Tokyo on Saturday against nuclear power generation, 11 months after a massive earthquake and tsunami sparked reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Kenzaburo Oe, the 1994 Nobel prize winner for literature, told a central rally at Yoyogi Park, “Radioactive waste from nuclear power plants will be borne by generations to come.” Continue reading
Local community against nuclear power, as Poland’s government launches pro nuclear campaign
“People are very determined not to have the nuclear plant here,”
Poland’s centrist government plans to launch a pro-nuclear public campaign in March,….
Polish sea resort poll rejects nuclear plant
* Some 94 percent of local community opposed to nuclear plant
* Warsaw says will consider the decision
By Maciej Onoszko MIELNO, Poland, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Residents of popular Baltic Sea resort Mielno, one of three sites shortlisted to host Poland’s first nuclear plant early in the next decade, on Sunday voted overwhelmingly against the plan.
Some 94 percent of the 2,389 people who took part in the referendum opposed the plant, and only 5 percent supported it, Mielno Mayor Olga Roszak-Pezala told Reuters…
The village of Gaski in the Mielno municipality is one of three sites selected by Polish power company PGE last November to host a power station with a capacity of 3 gigawatts, which is set to double in the 2030s.
The emergence of Gaski on the PGE shortlist caught local authorities and citizens by surprise, with some 90 percent of them earning their living from tourism, Roszak-Pezala said. Continue reading
Testicular cancer linked to ionising radiation affecting fetus
Fetal exposure to radiation increases risk of testicular cancer Medical Express February 13, 2012 Male fetuses of mothers that are exposed to radiation during early pregnancy may have an increased chance of developing testicular cancer, according to a study in mice at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
According to the American Cancer Society, more than 8,500 new cases of testicular cancer are diagnosed each year in the United States. During the past 50 years, the incidence has tripled in young Caucasian men throughout the world. Continue reading
Global problems of the nuclear industry
Nuclear Problems, Environmental Research Web, 12 Feb 12, The European Pressurised-water Reactor (EPR) being built at Olkiluoto in Finland is now unlikely to be completed until 2014- five years late- and $3bn or more over-budget. Similar problems face the EPR being built at Flammanville in France.
And similar problems have emerged at the two 1.7GW EPRs being built at Taishan in China, 140km west of Hong Kong: variable concrete quality, unqualified or inexperienced subcontractors, poor documentation, language issues.
Unit 1 is meant to be ready in 2013, Unit 2 in 2014, followed by two more. China has also had some problems with rapidly deploying its re-engineered version of the Westinghouse AP1000, Continue reading
Monumental mess of UK’s monumental nuclear reprocessing project
Sellafield faces nuclear option as overspending threatens plant’s future, The Independent UK, 13 Feb 2010 Britain’s biggest single nuclear project has run into serious trouble, with missed deadlines and cost overruns threatening the future of the nuclear reprocessing operation at Sellafield in Cumbria.
Nuclear authorities have ordered a review of a monumental construction project at Sellafield that is millions of pounds over budget and more than four years late following a series of delays and financial mismanagement. Continue reading
Global problem of burying dead nuclear reactors
Abandon nuclear energy programme, Unep boss urges Kenya , Standard, BY PETER ORENGO, 13 Feb 12 “……..According to the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Year Book 2012, one of United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) ‘s emerging global concerns is the challenge of decommissioning the growing number of end-of-life nuclear power reactors….
The UNEP Year Book says the cost of decommissioning varies greatly, depending on the reactor type and size, its location, the proximity and availability of waste disposal facilities and the condition of both the reactor and the site at the time of decommissioning….. Continue reading
Russian government lied over danger of nuclear submarine fire
Report: Russian sub carrying nuclear missiles during fire; govt had said none aboard , Washington Post, By Associated Press, February 13 MOSCOW — A fire at a drydocked Russian nuclear submarine in December could have sparked a radiation disaster because it was carrying nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles and other weapons, despite official
statements to the contrary, a Russian news magazine reported Monday.
The respected Kommersant Vlast said the fire aboard the Yekaterinburg could have triggered powerful explosions that would have destroyed the submarine and scattered radioactive material around a large area. When the fire erupted on Dec. 29, Russia’s Defense Ministry said all weapons had been unloaded before the submarine was moved to a drydock
for repairs at the Roslyakovo shipyard in the Murmansk region. Continue reading
Where to put Japan’s 22 metric tons of perhaps radioactive debris?
Radiation concerns keep municipalities from helping with disaster-area debris, Mainichi Daily News, 14 Feb 12, Concerns about radiation are preventing the massive amount of debris left in areas hit by the March 2011 tsunami from being sent to other areas for processing…..
According to the Ministry of the Environment, 22.52 metric tons of debris remained in the three prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima as of Jan. 31. The national government hopes to have debris from Iwate and Miyagi processed in other municipalities, as the amount
is 11 to 19 times the regular amount of waste generated in each of the prefectures in one year…. http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20120213p2a00m0na017000c.html
Unseemly haste for tax-payer to supply $8.3 billion nuclear loan
the loan guarantee is nearing final approval, less than a week after the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) greenlighted the license for the project.
Energy Dept. nears approval of $8.3B nuke loan, setting up clash in Congress, The Hill, By Andrew Restuccia – 02/13/12 Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Monday he expects to finalize an $8.3 billion taxpayer-backed loan for two new nuclear reactors in Georgia, setting up another battle on Capitol Hill over the government’s investments in energy projects. Continue reading
The mental scars for Fukushima radiation evacuees
Japan Earthquake Anniversary: Nuclear Evacuees Scarred By Disaster One Year Later Huffington Post: 2/13/12 “….Nearly a year has passed since a massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit Japan, Okuma town, but the site of the reactors at the centre of the Fukushima nuclear crisis remains off limits for residents, save for short trips to hastily abandoned homes.
For the about 11,000 residents of Okuma, and the nearly 80,000 people across the prefecture who have been unable to return to their homes due to high radiation, the mental scars run deep even though many of their homes are physically intact.
Many do not know when, if ever, they can return to land that has been in their families for generations…….
The Japanese government declared the Daiichi nuclear plant to be in a state of “cold shutdown” late last year but the Environment Ministry has said about 2,400 square km (930 square miles) of land around the plant may need to be decontaminated — an area roughly the size of Luxembourg…. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/13/japan-earthquake-anniversary_n_1272447.html#254326
Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s poor oversight of safety enforcement
US nuclear watchdog questions oversight of safety enforcement, msnbc.com, By M. Alex Johnson 13 Feb 12, The federal government’s nuclear watchdog has faulted the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for failing to follow through on safety agreements with nuclear facilities, saying its system for tracking corrective action raises questions about its oversight of nuclear safety and security. Continue reading
Class action in Israel, by cancer sufferers who worked for nuclear centre
Israel nuclear reactor sent unprotected workers to search for uranium ore, lawsuit claims Haaretz 13.02.12 Former employees at the Negev Nuclear Research Center in Dimona saywere given only dusk masks, goggles during an official search for the rare mineral.
By Gili Cohen Workers at the Dimona nuclear reactor were sent to search for uranium ore across Israel without the necessary protective gear, a court hearing discussing the class-action suit advanced by the reactor’s former employees indicated on Sunday.
The hearing in the Petah Tikva District Court was held on the complaint by 44 employees and their families that the workers are suffering from cancer and other diseases due to radiation at work . According to claims made by the plaintiffs, some of the reactor’s workers were employed at a “project to search for uranium ore inIsrael,” working week-long stints, equipped with only goggles and dusk masks…… http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israel-nuclear-reactor-sent-unprotected-workers-to-search-for-uranium-ore-lawsuit-claims-1.412648
Kenya urged to adopt renewable energy, not nuclear
Abandon nuclear energy programme, Unep boss urges Kenya BY PETER ORENGO, 13 Feb 12, Kenya has been advised to shelve its intended development of nuclear power to meet its growing energy needs, but instead concentrate on the vast renewable energy resources.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Year Book 2012, one of United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) ‘s emerging global concerns is the challenge of decommissioning the growing number of end-of-life nuclear power reactors.
Countries have also been reviewing their nuclear programmes following the tsunami that struck Fukushima and its nearby nuclear power plant in Japan, last year…. Considering dangers and cost involved, it will be surprising if Kenya opted for nuclear energy rather than the clean, cheap and available energy potential the country has,” said Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director at Gigiri.
He said Kenya has the option of getting energy from bioenergy, geothermal, solar, hydropower, ocean and wind energy… …http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/politics/InsidePage.php?id=2000052072&cid=4
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